Newly appointed National Carnival Commission (NCC) Chairman Lorraine Pouchet yesterday announced the approved route for the parade of the bands and the return of the Socadrome for Carnival 2015. The commission has also approved the traditional routes for the senior and junior parade of the bands, taking Carnival for juniors back to downtown Port-of-Spain.

The new route is flexible and allows alternative parades, which means bands can choose to either bypass the Piccadilly Street judging points or the big stage at Queen’s Park Savannah. “It is up to the bands and what they choose to do. Carnival is about the people and it is up to them,” said Pouchet. She was speaking at the launch of the parade routes at the VIP room of the Queen’s Park Savannah.

“We sought to take into account as many public voices as we could because we understand what is at stake if this decision does not take into account and bring together all interested stakeholders,” Pouchet said. Pouchet said the entire route would be manned by the T&T Police Service (TTPS). She could not say whether the Socadrome, at the Jean Pierre Complex, would be opened to more bands this year.

Last year it was managed by five of the major mas bands including Tribe, Bliss, Yuma and Harts. The few changes made to mas on Monday and Tuesday include a new rule that requires all bands to register with the NCC in addition to registration with the National Carnival Bandleaders Association (NCBA).

“The reason I have emphasised this is we are under strict instructions from the Ministry of National Security and the T&T Police Service, as the TTPS must be aware of all persons or organisations using the routes.” Yesterday, the T&T Carnival Bandleaders Association (TTCBA), in a press release, thanked the NCC for maintaining the traditional routes and expressed its desire to continue working with the organisation.

In recent years, the TTCBA has threatened protest and a boycott of the parade route after disagreeing with several proposed changes to the route, including a reversal of the procession across the Savannah stage from west to east.

Socadrome

Bands will proceed west along Queen’s Park West from Victoria Avenue, south along Cipriani Boulevard, west along Tragarete Road to the Roxy Roundabout, south on Damian Street, south along Taylor Street, west on Ariapita Avenue onto Maraval Parkway. Bands will enter the Hasely Crawford Stadium through the ‘Castro Gate’ going anti-clockwise around the Hasely Crawford Stadium into the Jean Pierre Complex. 

Having exited the stage, bands will proceed onto Fitzblackman Drive, north along Hamilton Holder Street, then east onto Ariapita Avenue, rejoining the parade route.

Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Harris says the Catholic Church has not yet received the $2.2 million promised by the Government for bringing “Christmas cheer” to the less fortunate. In an interview yesterday, Harris said a representative of the Catholic Church had attended a function at the Diplomatic Centre last month and was given a voucher for $2.2 million.

“I enquired what the money was for and I was told it was to bring Christmas cheer to the poor,” said Harris. He said he then asked the St Vincent de Paul Society, which runs 19 homes across T&T, to ensure each home had a good Christmas meal and to bring the bills to Archbishop’s House. He said the homes had complied and had already started sending bills to Archbishop’s House, though he added a final figure had not yet been calculated.

“If there is money left over after we calculated how much was spent, I will ask the Government what to do with the rest of it. “If it was simply for Christmas cheer then we would have to give the rest of the money back,” Harris added. He said, so far, the church had used its own funds to cover the costs incurred by St Vincent de Paul.

“I have been informed that we should expect the cheque from the Government on Friday  (tomorrow) at a meeting,” Harris said. The Roman Catholic Church has 62 parishes in T&T, with 125 worship centres and is the country’s largest church. It is undertaking a major funding drive to restore the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Independence Square, Port-of-Spain.

President Anthony Carmona was stumped momentarily during a tour of schools at his former hometown of Santa Flora yesterday when a Standard Three pupil innocently asked him where he lived. “That’s a sensitive issue,” Carmona responded, adding: “Let’s just say I live in a humble place.” Carmona’s remarks brought chuckles from members of the audience who accompanied him to six schools, including his alma mater Santa Flora Government Primary School.

He came under fire last year for accepting $28,000 a month for housing even though he is currently provided housing at Flagstaff for his family and staff. When he arrived at his alma mater yesterday, Standard Four pupils greeted him with a song called “We Love You.” The notice board had a daily news bulletin which read: “The President is visiting our school today.”

Carmona shook the hand of every pupil and personally handed out a token from the Office of the President. At his alma mater, he recalled how he made “traps” in the Savannah as a child and bought toolum and sweet cherries from a nearby parlour. Saying he never imagined that one day he will hold the Office of President, Carmona told the pupils they had the potential to study anywhere in the world. 

He added: “People may say you come from the bush but don’t let that stop you. You can be anything you want to be with hard work and sacrifice.” Urging his listeners to be the best they can be, Carmona asked the pupils to recite a pledge “to do the right thing because it is the right thing to do. 

“Don’t talk ill of people. Be kind, compassionate and caring,” Carmona said, adding that the worst bullies in the country were adults. He added that kindness could open doorways that people never dreamed were possible. Some of the pupils got the opportunity to ask the President questions. “What is it like to be the President?” Elijah Mendes asked.

“It’s a humbling experience. I have done various jobs but this one is different because you lose your sense of privacy,” Carmona replied. Aaron Karabai, of Standard Three, asked: “Sir, do you know my father? His name is Lennox Karabai.” Carmona then laughed out loud and said Lennox was his very good friend. Carmona also told the pupils that it was not a perfect world and they would make mistakes in life. 

“When that happens get back up and run again,” Carmona said. He hoped to build a nation of patriots within the next few years, rather than to have a nation of citizens. Carmona also visited Santa Flora AC Primary, Palo Seco Government Primary, Erin Road Presbyterian, Erin RC Primary and Erin SDA Primary schools.

An emotional group of relatives looked on in sombre silence as police excavated a body believed to be 19-year-old Shabana Mohammed, missing since January 3.

The body, which was found after a foul stench led to its discovery near Mohammed's Santa Cruz home, has been taken to the Forensic Sciences Centre, St James, for autopsy.

The teen was last seen on January 3 at home. On the day that she went missing, relatives found signs of a struggle, and reports were made of screams coming from the house.

North Eastern Division officers returned to the scene on January 8, along with Crime Scene Investigators and Homicide Bureau officers, who collected two large bags of evidence. 

A manhunt may soon be underway, as heavily armed soldiers were also at the crime scene.

Missing teenager Shabana Mohammed’s family were left distraught yesterday after five days of intensive searching by the police ended when her badly decomposing body was discovered buried in a shallow grave behind their Santa Cruz home. 

The discovery was made around 10 am by Mohammed’s neighbour, who decided to conduct his own search behind the family’s property after he and others in the community noticed a strong foul scent in the area. 

Mystery surrounds the find, however, as it was made in an area searched by police armed with cadaver sniffer dogs on several occasions since Mohammed, a sales co-ordinator at a shipping company in Woodbrook, was reported missing on Saturday. 

Investigators believe she may have been killed somewhere else before her killer returned to dispose of her body between Wednesday and yesterday morning. 

This theory was disputed by a senior police source close to the investigation, who yesterday suggested the area where the shallow grave was hidden was possibly overlooked by investigators and relatives. 

“Because of the state of the body it would have been nearly impossible to move it to that location without being noticed,” the source said. 

Homicide detectives have already identified a prime suspect in the crime, a male friend of Mohammed. 

The suspect, whose father is a member of the Special Branch, was initially interviewed by police on Monday but later released. 

“There were some irregularities in his original statement so we need to question him again to get some clarity,” the police source said.

Investigators are expected to interrogate him again after they obtain a report on Mohammed’s post mortem, which is to be conducted at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, today. It is also needed to determine Mohammed’s cause of death as it was not immediately recognisable due to the advanced state of her body’s decomposition. 

​

Torture for family

When a team from the T&T Guardian visited the crime scene yesterday, scores of curious neighbours and friends lined the street outside the family’s home. 

Many could not hold back their tears as they openly recounted their memories of the teen, who they described as beautiful, kind and a “jewel” in the community. 

Over two dozen heavily-armed T&T Regiment soldiers were seen patrolling various parts of the community, which featured utility poles still plastered with missing posters of the teen. The posters were also stuck to the windows of most vehicles driving through the area. 

Mohammed’s family, who spoke extensively with media personnel on her disappearance earlier this week, were too distraught to speak after her body was removed from the scene. 

“It is torture for them. They need to come together and comfort each other at this time,” a spokeswoman for the family said briefly before returning to the house to comfort her grieving relatives.

According to reports, around 7.30 am on Saturday, Mohammed’s relatives left her home alone. When they returned several hours later she was missing and an area of the house had been ransacked. 

Relatives reported her missing after neighbours said they heard screams coming from the house and Mohammed’s cellphone went unanswered.

Insp Roger Alexander and Sgt Cornelius Samuel of the North Eastern Division Task Force (NEDTF) are assisting detectives of the Region One Homicide Bureau in investigating the murder.

Central Division police have seized $6 million worth of cocaine. They believe the drugs were seized minutes after it was shipped into T&T yesterday when they arrested two men following a high-speed chase that ended in Freeport.

The T&T Guardian was told the Central Division Task Force and Major Crime Unit, led by Snr Supt Johnny Abraham, Insp Terrence Williams and Sgt Jitindra Toolaram, led a surveillance team to the Carli Bay Fishing Depot, Couva, around 4.30 am, after gathering information in an ongoing operation.

The unit reportedly saw the suspects putting two crocus bags into the back seats of two Nissan Tiidas. Police approached the men and they got into the cars and sped off. This led to a chase through Bank Village, Carapichaima.

The men were eventually caught in a roadblock at St Mary’s Junction, Freeport. On searching the cars, police found two bags weighing seven and eight kilograms each, containing parcels of cocaine. The Organised Crime Narcotics and Firearms Bureau said the drug was pure cocaine.

The suspects—a 43-year-old Longdenville man and a 35-year-old El Dorado man—were taken to the Chaguanas Police Station where they were questioned. It was not yet known where the cocaine came from. Both were arrested previously for various crimes.

Contacted yesterday, Abraham said more Central Division police had been on the ground recently to keep criminals at bay. He said since 3 am Sunday to yesterday morning, his colleagues had arrested over 100 people, given out 160 tickets for traffic violations and done nearly 2,000 stops and searches.

He said: “I want to thank my officers in Central for keeping it down and we are going to continue this drive until after Carnival. I just want the public to bear some patience with us with the roadblocks. 

“I don’t want them to be agitated but what we are doing is for their own safety and security.”

Abraham said police also would be pulling over drivers with heavily-tinted vehicles, as many of them were being used to conceal guns, drugs and victims of crimes.

He said even if they were not engaged in crime, it was an offence to tint so heavily that it obstructed the view from outside and warned that it carried a $3,000 fine.

He said last week two women police officers stopped a vehicle that was so heavily tinted they had to wait for backup before approaching it.

Declaring that this is not the time for “sudden changes in the direction of economic development policies,” Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar last night announced that the national budget will now be pegged on a price of US$45 a barrel for oil and US$2.25 per mmBtu for natural gas. 

She did so as she unveiled a series of measures to deal with a $7.4 billion budgetary shortfall caused by falling energy prices in an address to the nation on the state of the economy in light of the continuing falling oil prices.

The cost cutting measures announced in an address broadcast live from the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s, include ongoing reviews of the Public Sector Investment Programme and recurrent expenditure to yield $4.5 billion in savings, a 15 per cent reduction in expenditure on non-critical goods and services in selected ministries and a halt to infrastructure projects for which funding has not yet been confirmed. 

Additional revenues are to be generated through Government’s ongoing public offering programme.

The latter initiative, she said, follows the success of the First Citizens bank’s initial public offering which added approximately $1 billion to the public coffers. As a result, the programme will continue with the National Gas Company of T&T Limited (NGC) offering 49 per cent shareholding in T&T NGL Limited, which holds the 39 per cent shareholding of the NGC in Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited.

“This will be the first ever listing of an energy stock on the local stock market, giving citizens a direct stake in our energy sector,” she said.

Persad-Bissessar said since last October, Government had been evaluating a number of scenarios to be prepared for possible challenges resulting from falling oil prices

“It is worth noting that our fiscal discipline has allowed us to deliver a budget deficit for 2014 of $2.6 billion. This figure is $3.7 billion or 55 per cent less than the budgeted $6.3 billion,” she said.

There will also be intensification of collaboration for public/private partnerships. According to the PM, to create “a fully transformed and diversified economy” there are plans to “increase the private sector footprint in our economy.”

Energy corridor

Persad-Bissessar said the San Fernando to Mayaro Highway remains a key investment for creation of an energy corridor in south Trinidad, “where, for decades, a great deal of our energy wealth has been extracted and/or generated.”

“By providing a strong link between the marine operations in the south east and the industrial operations in the south west, we will be securing energy for today, and for future generations with the energy corridor.”

She said the macroeconomic indicators by which T&T’s economic strength is measured are far better than in 2010:

 Unemployment is historically low at 3.6 per cent

 Foreign reserves stood at US$11.3 billion (TT$73 billion)

 Import cover is up from 10.4 months in 2012 to approximately 12.7 months in 2014

 The Heritage and Stabilisation Fund has increased by over US$2 billion since 2010 to US$5.5 billion

 New Investment in the energy sector is projected in 2015 to be well over US$2 billion (TT$13 billion)

 Inflation remains in single digits.

The PM said Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank will work closely to ensure fiscal policy and monetary policy are “calibrated and aligned.” In addition, she said the Central Bank has stepped up its supervisory vigilance to respond to any emerging risk to domestic financial stability caused by falling energy prices.

“I have instructed the Minister of Finance and the Economy to collaborate with the relevant stakeholders in our country to monitor the state of the economy in the coming months and report on a regular basis to Cabinet,” Persad-Bissessar said.

She added: “We can withstand the lower oil prices and the right Government is in place at the best possible time. Since 2010, whilst the world reeled from recession, this administration has curbed wanton spending and redirected resources in the best ways.This has kept us strong and progressive.”

Opposition Senator Faris Al-Rawi says the Prime Minister’s statement on the economy last night “just made no sense.”

He said during her address she looked “jolted as she read from a prepared text that seemed unfamiliar to her.”

He said the content of her presentation was “unbelievable as it was illogical in its make-up.”

Al-Rawi said Persad-Bissessar’s “delivery was absent of detail as to specific expenditure cuts and even the calculations of the deficit.” 

He said the Opposition PNM would make more detailed responses in Parliament today.

Political analyst Dr Winsford James says the significant reduction in the price of oil could affect the results of the 2015 general election.

James spoke in a brief telephone interview last night after the PM’s statement. He said he was not clear on all the Prime Minister said so he would be unable to make a detailed comment. 

However, he said the former PNM government, led by Patrick Manning, lost the 2010 general election partly because of a similar reduction in the price of oil in 2009.

And economist Indira Sagewan-Ali, in her comments on the PM’s statement, told CNC3 she had concerns about the Government’s ability to create jobs.

“Where is that employment going to come from,” Sagewan asked.

She said if the State’s recurrent revenues continued to decline “then its capacity to sustain that employment also would fall. Which sectors of the economy were going to pick up the slack?” she asked.

She said that was one matter which must be put on the front burner.

Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran was among those in the audience at the Diplomatic Centre for the statement.

As Persad-Bissessar took to the podium she was unable to deliver her statement for a few moments as she forgot her reading glasses.

“I need my eyes, please. I have everything except my eyes (glasses). I need enhanced vision,” she said.

Two senior members of the Congress of the People (COP) are out of the running for this year’s general election.

The party has decided to remove its founder, Tunapuna MP Winston Dookeran, and his long-time supporter, San Fernando West MP Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan, from its electoral line-up for the election, citing their failure to attend high-level talks regarding the party’s choices for election.

The decision comes after two letters were sent to Dookeran and Seepersad-Bachan notifying them they had until November 25 to respond to the request for a meeting. 

In that letter, the COP executive said since the two did not respond to previous letters “the party will be constrained to assume that it is your intention not to seek re-election or be considered as a candidate in the general election 2015.”

But even as Seepersad-Bachan is denying she was invited to any meeting, the T&T Guardian understands that party leader Prakash Ramadhar is expected to announce their removal from the line-up after the party’s national council meeting on Sunday.

Party chair Nicole Dyer-Griffith said yesterday she could not discuss party matters but confirmed the national council meeting on Sunday.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Seepersad-Bachan said she never received any such letters from the party executive inviting her to any meetings.

Seepersad-Bachan also was surprised the party would be making a definitive statement on the issue on Sunday.

This is fresh contention between the Dookeran Seepersad-Bachan faction and the rest of the COP.

The two MPs were the only party members to a make a “conscience vote” against the Government during the Constitutional Amendment Bill and Dookeran also showed his support for Seepersad-Bachan when she challenged Ramadhar for the COP leadership election last year.

The T&T Guardian was told that Seepersad-Bachan’s supporters believed the bid to remove her was a bid by the United National Congress (UNC) to undermine the independence of the COP.

They say the UNC only recently established an office one block away from Seepersad-Bachan’s MP office on Harris Street, San Fernando, and has not been inviting her to constituency meetings held there.

The T&T Guardian was also told by party insiders that Dookeran has signalled his refusal to re-contest the Tunapuna seat in the upcoming election and that is the seat Dyer-Griffith has been eying for her bid as an MP.

“I am not sure this is the way to treat MPs, especially those who have been in leadership,” Seepersad-Bachan said.

Insiders close to the situation though have taken a different view, saying Seepersad-Bachan was aware of the letters because it was discussed with party general secretary Clyde Weatherhead. 

This group also claimed that Ramadhar attempted to meet with Seepersad-Bachan on several occasions, making the requests verbally and in a mobile text but she claimed to be busy on those occasions.

Ramadhar and Dookeran did not respond to calls to their cellphones yesterday. 

Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh said Cabinet has approved an initiative to allow students to ‘Dial-a-Teacher’ to assist those in need of extra assistance in preparation for the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) levels.

He said so during yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.

He said students would be able to call a toll-free number “and connect with teachers specialised in various subject areas to receive tutoring and have problematic concepts explained.” 

The minister added: “Alternatively, students can pose problems or questions to teachers on a blog and teachers, as well as peers, can respond appropriately.”

He said the teachers would be “housed at a central location of the Ministry of Education’s head office, which will be equipped with toll-free trunk lines provided by TSTT.”

Gopeesingh said the initiative “will allow students from all economically-challenged circumstances to access support from qualified tutors at no cost.”

He said suitable qualified and experienced teachers would be recruited to provide assistance and coach students to complete homework assignments.”

He said that also would be done at homework centres which were to be established soon across T&T.

Gopeesingh said teachers would assist at the SEA level in mathematics, English and language arts and at the CSEC level the subjects would be mathematics, English and integrated science.

The service would be available Monday to Thursday every week from 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm, he added. 

He said the measure would be implemented and executed “between now and May.”

A proposal to have remedial teachers go to primary schools to assist Standard Five students in need of help also was approved by Cabinet, Gopeesingh said.

The minister also said Cabinet agreed to a proposal for the development and implementation of a comprehensive ICT solution “to enhance students’ outcome through e-books and an education intelligence solution.”

He said Cabinet also agreed to offer 250 scholarships to teachers in the existing Caribbean vocational qualification skilled areas.

Gopeesingh said the scholarships would be offered at the University of T&T (UTT), National Energy Skills Centre (NESC) and the Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP).

They would be implemented in two phases, each of a two-year duration, Gopeesingh added.

A joint steering committee was to be established to monitor the programme, he said.

With the continuous drop in the price of oil, Minister of Land and Marine Resources Jairam Seemungal is assuring that his ministry will not be cutting programmes which generate employment.

He made the statement at yesterday’s post-Cabinet briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair. 

Describing his ministry as “very small,” Seemungal added: “ The ministry, being a new ministry, is also a very small ministry. The allocation to the ministry is just about $230-odd million.”

But in areas which cuts could be made Seemungal said those could be taken into consideration.

He added: “I met with the entire staff of the ministry on Monday and we have started looking at areas in which we can, if we have to, cut back on. 

“One of the areas we are sure we are not going to cut back on is things which create sustainable employment.” 

The fish-landing sites in particular, he said, employed many young people and the ministry would continue to develop those sites.

Speaking on the issue of regularisation programmes Seemungal said the squatter regularisation and land for the landless continued to engage attention.

But the minister maintained if there were areas to cut back that would be done. “These are essential programmes that create living quarters or living communities... households based on their requirement and essentials,” he added. Quoting figures, he said sometimes one community comprised 10,000 squatters and throughout the entire country there were close to 60,000 people illegally living on State lands.

He added: “Applications for the land for the landless alone have reached to 55,000 people. 

“In these communities that we have gone into we have also noticed that there could be another 15,000 to 20,000 persons who did not apply for squatter regularisation. 

“It is an area in which we will never have enough funding but we will always try to see whatever we can do and what we have done is see how the programme can operate,” Seemungal said.

He said some 115 squatter sites were being surveyed to bring them under the squatter regularisation programme.

“These are the areas we are trying to move money to... seeking the approval for these sites so that we can regularise it and once that is done we will be in a position to regularise some 6,000 to 7,000 persons,” he added.

The 2015 National Junior Panorama competition is in dire straights, says Pan Trinbago Youth Arm chairman Rudo Forteau.

In an interview yesterday Forteau said this year’s competition was in jeopardy because monies have not been paid to schools and service providers by the Ministry of Education.

He said: “To date no payments were made by the Ministry of Education, the agency which funds the competition.” 

He said approximately $1.4 million was outstanding. 

Forteau explained: “Before the event a note has to be sent to Cabinet for approval. That approval was given, that is how the 2014 competition was staged. 

“Right now, we are being tossed around between the Education Ministry and the permanent secretary Jennifer Daniel. The other person involved is Bruce Roberts, the project co-ordinator of the ministry’s Multicultural Music Programme Unit, Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain. He is supposed to be the main person acting on behalf of the ministry.”

He said: “The first prize for the non-schools category was paid by National Petroleum Company of T&T (NP) last year.”

Contacted yesterday, Roberts said: “The files were submitted and some of the primary schools were paid.” 

Referring the T&T Guardian to the ministry’s communications specialist Alicia Busby, Roberts said: “I cannot say when the other schools will be paid.” 

Efforts to contact Daniel and Busby proved futile. 

Forteau said: “All we want is some form of reassurance that the ministry will keep its end of the bargain and pay 2014 monies to enable us to proceed with the 2015 competition.

“On behalf of the Pan Trinbago Youth Arm and participants in this competition, it is unfortunate that young people have to go through this kind of thing. 

“You don’t see this kind of thing happening with the senior Panorama as they are presented with their prize cheques on the same night of the finals. I really hope that the Ministry of Education will rectify this situation expeditiously.”

The defending champions of the National Junior Panorama competition are St Paul’s Anglican School (primary schools); Providence/QRC (secondary schools); bp Renegades (non secondary bands). (PRB)

Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley says he spent the last four days wondering whether he could have done anything which would have changed fate and kept former national security minister Martin Joseph from dying on Monday.

Rowley said so during a wake for the former People’s National Movement (PNM) strategist on Wednesday night. Joseph drowned on Monday morning after going for a swim in Grange Bay, Tobago. He was visiting his friend Andre Monteil at the time.

Rowley was in Tobago at the time, preparing to leave after spending time with his family. 

In a speech to give tribute to Joseph, Rowley recited a series of events, from slaughtering two goats and five ducks to a conversation with friends, which occurred over last weekend in Tobago, trying to connect the dots to see whether any decision he could have made would have saved Joseph’s life.

Rowley had considered meeting Joseph that morning before departing for Trinidad. He had also been asked to go swimming at Grange Bay earlier that morning.

“On Friday, we slaughtered two goats and five ducks. We had a cook and had a nice lime on Sunday. I was due to return to Trinidad on Monday and Martin (Joseph) was due back on Tuesday. I hadn’t seen Andre (Monteil) over the weekend I was there so the only time I could have seen him had I chosen to go was Monday morning,” Rowley said.

Rowley said it was while he was getting ready to return to Trinidad that he saw a series of missed calls on his phone, returned the call and was told Joseph was dead.

“Since then to now I have been thinking, if I had gone to breakfast by Andre, maybe they might not have gone for a walk. And if they hadn’t gone for that walk, maybe Martin might not have gone into the sea,” Rowley speculated.

“We all just have to accept that there are powers beyond us. I kept thinking how all these little things that come together, was their anything that could have been done differently under my control that would have had a different outcome and the answer is I don’t know.”

Rowley praised Joseph’s drive and said he stood out as a perfectionist. “I don’t know many perfectionists who are doers. Martin Joseph was a perfectionist who was a doer.”

Rowley spoke about the 2012 Tobago elections, during which time Joseph ran the PNM’s campaign and worked hard to ensure the PNM got 12 seats.

“I would have settled for 11 seats but he wanted all 12, and he knew we had to get 12. He was the consummate perfectionist doer,” Rowley said. 

“He was a different kind of man in the political arena, a man who prefaced his work by saying he was not doing it for any personal gain.”

Other verbal tributes came from PNM chairman Franklyn Khan, former Port-of-Spain mayor Murchison Browne and former president of the Senate Linda Baboolal.

Khan said he owed his political career to Joseph, after Joseph gave up his seat to be Khan’s campaign manager for the Ortoire/ Mayaro constituency in 2002.

Even as Joseph was praised and remembered, some subtle digs were taken at the People’s Partnership Government’s expense. 

While Browne praised Joseph for stopping the rise in kidnappings in this country during his tenure as national security minister, he added that Joseph avoided “unnecessary states of emergency.”

He said while Joseph was patient there was a sense of injustice in how he was treated by the media.

Baboolal said she felt a stab in her heart when she heard the news, as if her own brother had died.

In fact, Baboolal’s own brother had died on the same day about five years before.

Joseph’s funeral will take place at 10 am tomorrow at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Port-of-Spain after which he will be laid to rest at the Lapeyrouse cemetery.

The controversial billion-dollar Point Fortin Highway will not face the axe in Government’s cutbacks for 2015 due to falling oil prices. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar did not state where cuts will be made in her national address on Thursday, but United National Congress deputy political leader Dr Suruj Rambachan told Parliament yesterday the project is on. The estimated $7.5 billion dollar highway contract was awarded to OAS Construtora of Brazil.

The deal was signed when former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner was Works Minister. PNM MP Colm Imbert had charged then the Brazilian firm had a link with FIFA. The Highway Re-route Movement, led by hunger striker Dr Wayne Kublalsingh, has been clamouring for the Debe to Mon Desir leg of the highway to be stopped. Kublalsingh has said the oil price crisis will force the Government to stop the project.

But saying yesterday the Government does not intend to threaten jobs, Rambachan said project managers, the National Infrastructure Development Co, had secured a final loan of $1.5 billion last December for the completion of the highway. “For those who don’t think we have the money, we have the money.” Rambachan also disclosed the Couva Children’s Hospital and Oncology Centre projects will also continue.

The hospital, awarded to Chinese contractors at a cost of $975 million, is earmarked to be completed by March this year. Rambachan, refuting the Opposition’s charges, said the PM was actually very clear on the Government’s plan to deal with the oil crisis in her address. He said her main concern was helping citizens tide through this turbulence with little pressure.

Responding to Independent Liberal Party leader Jack Warner’s earlier criticism of government  work programmes Cepep and URP, he said workers have actually done 1700 projects throughout T&T. “We’ll use any means we can to ease the burden, especially on the youth and children,” Rambachan said. He said the PNM, on the other hand, has been painting a picture of doom and gloom and threatening to bring pressure on the people.

Rambachan said Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley’s contribution indicated he planned to follow IMF austerity measures if the PNM comes into power. Challenging the Opposition to say what would be its plan to deal with the oil crisis if it came into power, Rambachan asked if it will introduce heavier taxes through the revenue authority and cut back on grants and public service jobs.

“I still don’t feel like an over achiever. I just feel like a regular Jane. I hope when I go away to university, I will be able to make my parents proud again,” said Soliel Sachi Baldeosingh, one of this year’s President Medal winners. She was among six students honoured by President Anthony Carmona for their achievement in the national examinations yesterday at the President’s Medal presentation ceremony at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), Port-of-Spain.

Addressing the students, Carmona called on the awardees and all those from their generation to rise above the example set by the older citizens and be true patriots of the country who does selfless, good deeds. “When you are engaged in the business of goodness, goodness has no reciprocity,” Carmona said. Baldeosingh and Sandeep Maharajh were presented with the President’s Medal Gold in Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examination (CAPE).

Baldeosingh was a student of St Augustine Girls High School (SAGHS) while Maharajh was a former student of Presentation College, Chaguanas. Baldeosingh would begin reading for a degree in law at the London School of Economics. Though she has achieved praise for her achievement in CAPE, Baldeosingh said she never believed that she was the type of person to win the President’s Medal, but now that she has, she knows that she must continue to work hard.

“I feel nervous,” Baldeosingh told T&T Guardian. “Going off to England is the beginning of something new, and I hope that I can make it at the university level. I hope I can live up to this.” Maharajh’s family and schoolmates were there to celebrate his achievement.   

“It feels great of course to be able to attend this function. Last year I was here and I saw one of my friends receive the award and now I am here. I am proud that I am able to continue my school’s tradition of excellence. I feel honoured to join this elite group of President Medal winners,” Maharajh said. Maharajh is now a medical student at the University of the West Indies (UWI). However, his experience has not been ideal.

“I started UWI in September and the work is building and getting harder. I don’t want to sound controversial, but I wish that the infrastructure of the UWI campus could reflect the high level of scholars in the institution,” Maharajh said. The President said more students need role models at every level and decided to extend the President’s Medal to students writing the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) and Secondary Entrance Assesment (SEA) Examination. 

This is the second year students outside of the CAPE degree were honoured for their achievements in their exams.

OTHER TOP ACHIEVERS
Rajeev Ram, a Lower Six student from Naparima College, San Fernando was named the most outstanding student at CSEC. He sat the examinations for 16 subjects in Form Five and earned 13 distinctions and three “normal ones.”

“I want to be a doctor, but so much more. I have always been different and curious about so many things, so I also want to have my own business. I want to go into different fields. All these different subjects will help me focus on my dreams,” Ram said. 
Ram was honoured alongside Jesse Ramkhalawan, from SAGHS. 

Ramkhalawan earned eleven distinctions, winning her the President’s Medal silver. Ramkhalawan said she wants to study Quantum Mathematics and work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa). 

Shivanna Chatoor, the first place winner in SEA was also honoured. Now attending Naparima Girls’ High School, San Fernando Chatoor won the President’s Medial gold for primary education. Her classmate and Cameel Juman, originally from Grand Memorial Presbyterian School, San Fernando was given the President’s Medial sliver. 

One week after new maxi taxi fares along the East/West corridor took effect passengers says they are confused over the short drop fee. Commuters polled at the City Gate Hub in Port-of-Spain said they were unsure of the correct short drop price. The confusion arose owing to a misprint on the tariff cards displayed in maxi taxis working along the Eastern Main Road.

Brenton Knights, vice president of the Route 2 Maxi Taxi Association, said the cost for short drops on the Priority Bus Route (PBR) is $4 and the cost for short drops are on the Eastern Main Road is $3. “In one of the papers we clarified that short drops along the Eastern Main Road are $3 and the Bus Route short drops are $4, but you will still get people who are confused. I just think that it is the transition period that is going on now,” Knights said. The fare increase began on Monday. 

Marcial McLean, a commuter from Mt Lambert said “It is about time that they raise the fare. I think it was too cheap before.” She said she thought the price for the short drops were $3. “It should stay to three. If you want to go from here to there on a short drop, people should not have to pay $4,” McLean said. 

Another passenger, who only identified herself as Patrice, said: “This morning I was on the main road to go from Curepe to Mt Hope and I did not notice a difference. I then took the bus route to Port-of-Spain. I guess I paid $5. I did not realise that the fares went up,” she said. Nicole Derrick, of Laventille, also said she did not notice a change in fares. 

“I have been travelling whole week and no one has charged me $4 for a short drop. The whole week I have been tavelling and they have not charged me an extra dollar,” she said.

When asked about the disparity in the different experiences the commuters had, Knights said the drivers are still becoming accustomed to the new price. “When you introduce something that is relatively new, it takes time to adjust. We are not encountering any major problems. Some drivers are still charging the old prices and they have to get accustomed to the prices,” Knights said.

Glowing tribute was paid to former national security minister Martin Joseph in the House of Representatives yesterday. Joseph, who was MP for St Ann’s East from 1995 to 2002, drowned on Monday at Grange Bay, Tobago. Joseph, 64, was also a senator from 2002 to 2010. He was the deputy campaign manager for the People’s National Movement and key strategist for the 2015 general elections.

Sports Minister Dr Rupert Griffith, said Joseph was an “easy-going and down-to-earth man who never ran from challenges.” One minute’s silence was observed as a mark of respect for his passing. Griffith said he remembered Joseph’s commitment to work and his lack of fear to challenges. He said Joseph “stayed the course in doing the people’s business.” He said the country was “poorer today by the loss of this great son of the soil.”

Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley said Joseph was fully committed to serving this country and “stayed the course, which was a difficult course.” Rowley described Joseph was “a gentleman, not boisterous, not unreasonable and not a show-off.” He said Joseph’s death was a great loss to the country and the party. “We are having difficulty replacing him,” Rowley added.

House Speaker Wade Mark also joined in the tributes saying Joseph was “extremely hard working (and) a man dedicated to his responsibilities in public life.” Joseph is to be buried at the Lapeyrouse Cemetery today following this morning’s funeral service at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-of-Spain.

Hunters who continue to ignore the two-year ban imposed by the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources may fuel another ban on hunting. This according to Game Warden Steve Seepersad, who spoke to the Guardian from his office at the Forestry Division’s South office, yesterday. “Based on the data done by the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), we don’t know if another ban may be put in place,” said Seepersad. 

“If you talk to hunters who have been hunting for years, they will tell you there is not much wildlife left to hunt.” Seepersad spoke following the seizure of three iguanas from hunters in Siparia on Tuesday by officers of the Siparia Police Station. “One of them (iguanas) is pregnant, she has eggs in her stomach. When hunters continue to hunt the mothers, eventually there will be no young left,” said Seepersad. 

“There are some areas where these animals no longer exist, the number of hunters have increased while the animals keep decreasing.” He added that once there continues to be a demand for “wildmeat” there will continue to be a supply. Minister of Environment and Water Resources, Ganga Singh, who spoke to the Guardian briefly yesterday, echoed Seepersad’s statement that the number of animals have decreased significantly. 

“The density count on animals per capita has been completed in Trinidad and while I don’t want to speculate on the final decision, the preliminary data is not good,” said Singh. Singh said a final decision would be made when all the data is complied. “UWI is currently doing a density count in Tobago, when the data is complied and presented to the Ministry, then we will decide whether to lift the ban or to renew it.”

Latest case
Three men were spotted on the side of the road in Syne Village Siparia with the reptiles and when they were questioned by the officers, they admitted to have hunted the reptiles. They were arrested and the reptiles seized and handed over to Seepersad. The men will reappear before a Siparia magistrate on Tuesday for sentencing. They can face fines of $1,000 for each of the reptiles. 

About the ban
On October 1, 2013, Minister of the Environment and Water Resources, Ganga Singh announced a two-year ban on hunting. Singh said at the time over 140,000 wild animals were hunted and killed in T&T in the three-year period preceding the announcement and the measure was to keep them from going extinct. Increased fines and jail time were also implemented in an attempt to ensure that wildlife was not hunted during the ban.

Four men have been detained for the murder of a Central woman who was killed during a home invasion early yesterday. Chaguanas mayor Gopaul Boodhan was at the crime scene hours after and said he knew the victim, Rautie Esther Gopaul. Boodhan advised residents to be alert for any suspicious activities in their communities and contact the police and report any strange behaviour they believe may have some level of criminal intent.

Gopaul, 42, also known as Wendy, was found unresponsive after three bandits broke into her home at McPhill Street, Caroni Savannah Road, Chaguanas and tied up her son, Aaron, 19, a student of the University of the West Indies, and herself with duct tape and plastic tie-straps. Asked if she was shot or attacked, one investigator, Sgt Jitindra Tooleram, said, “We are awaiting the post mortem.

“We don’t know if she died of a heart attack or what.” One of Gopaul’s younger sisters, who lives at Caroni Savannah Road and asked not to be identified, said her sister and her husband separated last year and she worked as a freelance sales attendant on contract with soft-drink manufacturer SM Jaleel. She said Gopaul was apparently strangled and her body was found face down on the bed. Police said the teenager managed to free himself after the bandits left and contacted neighbours and the police.

The relative said they were shocked when they found Gopaul’s corpse sometime after 3 am. Family members said there was no reason to kill Gopaul since she was not wealthy. They said she juggled jobs to support her son. Neighbours described Gopaul as a reserved person who kept to her own business and were baffled as to the motives behind the killing.

Police said the teenager was accosted by two men, one armed with a gun and the other with a cutlass, as he was watching television sometime after midnight. A third intruder woke Gopaul who was asleep in her bedroom. The men demanded money and jewelry, police said. Both victims were beaten during the robbery and the bandits ransacked the house stealing an undisclosed sum of money and jewelry, investigators said.

The murder has taken the toll to 16, in nine days. For the comparable period last year there were 23 reported murders.

Sensitive stage
Head of the Central Division Snr Supt Johnny Abraham, who was at the crime scene said four people of interest had been detained and were being questioned at the Chaguanas Station. He said while crime continues to be low in the borough no alarm was raised when the killers entered Gopaul’s house. “So far we have certain information that we are working on, I am not willing to reveal it at this time, the investigation is a sensitive case. 

“Every time we have a murder people want to see it solve right away and when we tell the public that the investigation is a sensitive case they always believe that the murder won’t solve,” Abraham said. 

“I have been going home 3 am every morning since the new year start ensuring that the people of Central Trinidad remain safe. Central Trinidad is lockdown from every corner, from Couva in the South to Caroni in the North to Las Lomas in the East to Brasso and for this year we only have three or four reported robberies to date. 

“When a homicide like this takes place behind closed doors, even though the police vehicle may be passing here at the time of the homicide was taking place there was nothing to raise an alarm to say something was taking place because it was in enclosed premises.”

—with reporting by Yvonne Baboolal

Police sergeant Dane Sorzano who appeared in the Siparia Magistrates Court yesterday on rape charges was placed in the holding cell with other prisoners after the magistrate expressed concern that he was being shown favourable treatment. Sorzano, who is already on bail on a spearate rape charge against a minor in the San Fernando Magistrates Court, was denied bail by Senior Magistrate Armina Deonarinesingh. 

He last worked as a prosecutor in the San Fernando Magistrates Court. In court yesterday he was seated on a chair in the Siparia courtroom between the holding bay and the prosecutor’s desk waiting for his matter to be called. When his name was called, the magistrate inquired from the prosecutor why Sorzano was allowed to sit on the chair. Prosecutor Sgt Sheldon Ablacksingh told her Sorzano was a police officer.

Deonarinesingh said that was not the norm as female prisoners usually sit on those chairs. “Mr Sorzano being allowed to sit on the chair is not the norm. It appears to be favourable treatment.” She then read the three rape charges to Sorzano who has 18 years police service. All the offences allegedly took place in Fyzabad on October 24, 2010, October 25th, 2010 and December 5, 2014. The victim is 18-years-old.

Applying for bail, Sorzano’s attorney Tim Charriandy said Sorzano, of Hickling Village, Fyzabad, was the father of three children, owned a bar and had strong community ties. The attorney said Sorzano did not have any previous convictions, but had a pending matter for a similar offence. That offence allegedly took place in San Fernando on April 3, 2011 in San Fernando.

Prosecutor Ablacksingh objected to bail. Apart from allegedly committing the offences while on bail for a similar offence, the prosecutor said the charging officer Insp Anderson Parriman received threats via text message in relation to the matter. In refusing bail, the magistrate said she was concerned about the threats issued to the police complainant and that Sorzano was already on bail for a similar offence against a different victim.

Sorzano also claimed that his passport had expired and was destroyed in a flood. But the magistrate said she needed proof of that before considering bail.  The prosecutor said the file has to be sent to the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions for a state attorney to be appointed in the matter. Saying that Sorzano was concerned about the media printing inaccurate information because it could have irreparable damage to his career, Charriandy also asked the magistrate to issue a warning to the media.

Agreeing that improper reporting could have an adverse effect on the accused, the magistrate, however, said she trusted that the media knew their duty to report the news accurately and to comply with the law. She remanded Sorzano into custody to reappear on February 6.