Ganga Singh says Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s “political leadership is unassailable,” but he is maintaining his position that “there is need for constitutional propriety in the actions of the National Executive (Natex) to call the election of the Political Leader without her vacating the office.”

The national congress of the United National Congress meets today at 5 pm at Shiva Boys’ College in Penal when the decision of the Natex to call the election for the post of Political Leader a year before it is due will be discussed in light of a challenge from Singh that the decision is “ultra vires of Article 18 of the UNC Constitution.”

Singh wrote to the party’s general secretary Dave Tancoo last week challenging the decision, but the Natex sent a legal letter indicating that his interpretation was wrong. Persad-Bissessar herself has told Singh that in her view the decision was “intra vires the party’s Constitution,” and was legal.

In the midst of the debate over whether the party’s constitution is being violated, former St Augustine MP Vasant Bharath announced his decision to challenge Persad-Bissessar for leadership of the party.

Bharath told the T&T Guardian last week that he had been getting support from “sitting UNC MPs and activists,” but UNC chairman David Lee challenged Bharath to “name the MPs who are supporting him.”

Lee said as chairman of the UNC “I do not believe there are any sitting MPs supporting Bharath.”

When the T&T Guardian asked Singh if he was perhaps one of those referred to by Bharath, he said his issue had nothing to do with the leadership of the UNC. He said Persad-Bissessar’s “political leadership is unassailable. I don’t know what is Vasant’s intention in fighting because her position is unassailable I cannot fathom his intention.”

His position, he said, is that “there is need for constitutional propriety in the actions of the executive to call the election of the political leader without her vacating the office.”

Caroni East MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie said the constitutional issue raised by Singh “cannot just be brushed aside, it must be treated properly. There are options in the constitution.”

The manner in which the issue had evolved he said has “put the party under scrutiny and has placed it in a situation where it is going to be tested as a political party.”

He is hoping that at the end of today’s meeting “the UNC will emerge stronger than it is right now.”

But he warned that if things are “handled ineptly today then the party could end up being divided and fractured and incapable of inspiring.”

Tewarie said those who are managing the agenda must “appreciate the fact that they must begin with the end in mind. That means we have to prepare and ready the party to win an election whenever it is called. That means that we have to transform the party. It means you have to have a variety of attractive faces in the party with support from different sectors of Trinidad and Tobago.”

He said at the end of today’s meeting, the membership must feel “inspired,” and those who do not support the UNC must be able to say that the “UNC has managed its business well, it has conducted itself with dignity, and that its leaders have functioned with a level of maturity that is desirable.”

He said if those things are not achieved “we would have fallen short and it would be very difficult to justify ourselves as the alternative. The country deserves more and the people are entitled to more.”

Christine Newallo, who had previously said she was also concerned as to whether the processes of the party were being followed, said, “Both Persasd-Bissessar and Bharath are great people. I respect both.” Newallo is yet to decide which of the two she will support. While she felt that both had strong points “and if a general election is called we need both,” she felt that neither of them had what it takes to “grow the UNC outside of the traditional base.”

Newallo-Hosein said she had not received an agenda for today’s meeting, but she said “based on what happens at the congress I will decide what’s next.”

Problems continue to plague the sea bridge as Caribbean Airlines had to schedule additional flights following the cancellation of sailings of the T&T Express on Sunday at 3 pm and 6.30 pm respectively.

But president of the Inter-Island Truckers and Traders Association Horace Amede is calling for better measures to be implemented saying members were forced to fork out additional money for additional expenses.

In a statement, manager of Marketing and Public Relations of the T&T Inter-Island Transportation Company Vilma Lewis-Cockburn had initially said there were cancellation of sailings of the T&T Express on Sunday at 3 pm and at 6.30 am yesterday but efforts were being made to resume the sailings later yesterday at 3.30 pm.

But in a subsequent statement she said due to ongoing repairs on the vessel the 3.30 pm sailing had to be cancelled as well as the 6.30 am sailing scheduled from Tobago today.

Lewis-Cockburn said passengers were advised the MV Cabo Star was expected to sail from Port-of-Spain at 2 pm and from Tobago at 11 pm yesterday.

She also advised that passengers wishing to send their vehicles on these sailings could make the arrangements with the passenger area at the terminals.

Amede, however, in an interview said yesterday the disruptions were having an adverse effect on his members.

He said some left their car keys in their vehicles to be sent to Tobago and had gone to Piarco Airport but were unable to access a flight.

“This situation is really affecting the members very adversely. Some also cannot even get a flight to return from Tobago,” Amede said.

He said members also had to bear additional cost of plane tickets and ground transportation.

President of the Inter-island Transport Committee’s Tobago Division Dianne Hadad, when contacted yesterday, said she was in a meeting.

Efforts to contact Dionne Ligoure, Manager of Corporate Communications of Caribbean Airlines were unsuccessful and messages left were not returned.

A group of CL Financial (CLF) shareholders has been denied permission to challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision to appoint provisional liquidators for the company in July.

In an oral ruling at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain yesterday, Appellate Judges Nolan Bereaux, Gregory Smith and Andre Des Vignes refused the shareholders leave to go to the Privy Council in London.

Bereaux said the appeal did not raise any arguable issues as the appointment of the provisional liquidators became academic after High Court Judge Kevin Ramcharan approved Government’s bid to wind up the company in September.

The shareholders can now approach the Privy Council directly in seeking to challenge the appointment of a provisional liquidator.

Bereaux also rejected the policyholders’ claim that the appeal was a matter of public importance and pointed out that it was in the public’s interest for the company to be liquidated in order to repay Government for its bail-out of CLF’s subsidiaries in 2009.

In denying the shareholders leave, the Appeal Court ordered them to pay the State’s legal costs for defending the application.

In making the application, attorney Navindra Ramnanan, who is representing former CLF chairman Lawrence Duprey, said his client needed to challenge the initial appointment as the shareholders were not allowed to make submissions before Ramcharan made his decision.

Ramnanan said his client was unable to raise unique issues with the winding up, including the fact that the application was made by Government, which had effective control of the company since 2009 through a memorandum of understanding and a series of shareholder agreements.

He also admitted that the shareholders had filed an appeal against Ramcharan’s decision in the Court of Appeal. That case is yet to come up for hearing.

Deborah Peake, SC, and Ravi Heffes-Doon represented the State.

About the winding up

The Government made the application and a corresponding winding up petition for the company in July after the shareholders signalled their intention to change the composition of the board which had been government-controlled since Clico’s bailout.

As a condition of the bailout, CLF had agreed to honour its subsidiaries’ debt and allow Government to select four members, including the chairman, to its seven-member board. The agreement, which was renewed 17 times after being first signed, expired in August last year and the shareholders refused to agree to a new deal.

The shareholders’ refusal was reportedly based on the failure of the Ministry of Finance to consider a proposal from independent auditing firm PwC, which suggested that they are given control of the company and allowed to renegotiate its repayment arrangement for the $15 billion still owed to Government.

They are claiming the company’s debt to the Government is inflated and the company is not insolvent, as is required for winding up proceedings.

Ramcharan initially refused Government permission to appoint provisional liquidators from international accounting firm Grant Thornton. However, his decision over overturned by the Appeal Court.

In an initial report, provisional liquidator Marcus Wide said the company only had $90 million in its management accounts. In September, Ramcharan approved the winding up petition giving the liquidators permission to sell the company’s assets to clear its debt.

In his 2017/2018 budget presentation, Finance Minister Colm Imbert announced that CLF’s assets will be sold on the stock exchange and used to create a national mutual fund.

Imbert said the $1.4 billion allocated for the fund represented 29.9 per cent of CLF’s shares in Angostura and 16 per cent of its shares in Home Construction Ltd (HCL).

Public Services Association (PSA) president Watson Duke will be challenged by three candidates in the union’s November 27 election.

However, the outspoken trade unionist who is leading his own slate in the polls, the Game Changers, is not concerned.

“None of these guys have a proven track record in representing workers. They have not even done anything to improve themselves and the workers after eight years or added one certificate to their name. They have done nothing to improve their personal capacity,” he told the T&T Guardian.

Duke said the union needs to be led by someone who is passionate and able to represent the workers.

“I want to appeal to the wider membership that when the government is cutting jobs, raising the cost of living and keeping salaries low, it is not the time to experiment with immature and incompetent persons. Rather it is time for those are tested and proven themselves to be result oriented. It is time for the Game Changers led by Watson Duke,” he said.

One of the challengers, Oral Saunders, of the United Public Officers, said his team wants a united front to unseat Duke.

He said: “The vast majority voted against Duke in 2013 and he was a minority president. There were seven teams who went against him,” he said as he appealed for the membership of the PSA to unite.

Saunders said he has approached other leaders fielding slates in the election and started discussions.

“Our group comprises of former executive officers and activists. We have the most experience in industrial relations and the ability to build and restore the PSA and we are the only group that has that intellectual capacity,” he said.

Team Sentinel is led by Nixon Callender a former Duke ally, who said his team would focus on restructuring, social committees, training, wage negotiations, membership housing and public sector reform.

“Our team has a strategic plan for the PSA which we developed after interviewing the membership over the past four years. This plan was based on their response,” he said.

Although he is not a presidential candidate, Demetrius Harrison is vying for the post of industrial relations officer for Team Fixers, another group that is hoping to unseat Duke in the upcoming polls.

“I was successful against Duke in the High Court. I won that matter and was financially remunerated and was a former trustee,” he said.

“We are about a different type of negotiations than accustomed to where we negotiate for percentage increases and for the merchants move their prices. We want to become more innovative to provide different commodities in terms of stocks and bonds on the open market that public officers can now become investors,” Harrison said.

The body of an unidentified man was found in a river near Roodal Cemetery in San Fernando at around 8 am yesterday.

Game warden Rennie Lokpath, 60, said he was taking his 36-year-old son to the San Fernando General Hospital when he saw the body floating in the river.

“When we reach on the bridge my son said, ‘Daddy look I see a body inside the drain there,’” he said.

Lokpath said he was going to pull aside to assist but his son told him the person’s head was submerged in the river.

Lokpath said he dropped off his son at the nearby hospital and then returned to the scene. He said the body was clad only in chequered short pants and there were a few one dollar bills not far from the body.

He called the police. Investigations are continuing.

The Joint Consultative Council (JCC) for the construction sector is raising questions about contracts awarded to Namalco and Kallco, two local construction companies accused of “cartel behaviour” in the award of contracts by the Estate Management Development Company (EMBD) and it wants the State and Nidco to “revisit these awards.”

In its first public comment on the award of the $400 million dollar contract to Kallco for the Churchill- Roosevelt Highway Extension, the JCC said the contract “requires urgent explanation.”

It also raised questions about a newspaper report that a $436 million dollar contract was awarded to Namalco by Nidco for the completion of the Point Fortin Highway.

That report has been publicly dismissed by Nidco which issued a statement to the media indicating that tenders for the completion of the extension of the highway are still open and that it remained confident that its procurement process is competitive and transparent.

But the JCC, in a statement yesterday, said, “It is public knowledge that the State has initiated legal action against five companies,” among whom are Namalco and Kallco, who have been named for alleged “cartel behaviour.”

According to the JCC, this raises the question “is it that the legal arm of the state is oblivious of what the implementation arm is doing?”

The JCC said it would like to believe that the Attorney General would not commit “limited State resources by proceeding with litigation in the courts without tangible and compelling evidence.”

In these circumstances it said the issue of “following due process,” in making these awards by Nidco “cannot be acceptable to concerned citizens.”

In the case of Kallco, the JCC said the Maracas contract was terminated well before completion and Nidco was given the responsibility to manage the completion of that project, utilising other contractors.

It said it was left to wonder how the company got the contract which was “twice as large” and whether it can “deliver value for money.”

The JCC is now calling on Nidco to make public the performance ratings of both companies and the reasons for the termination of the Maracas Contract in the interest of “transparency and equity.”

Efforts to contact Nidco Chairman Herbert George were futile.

But in September when concerns were first raised about the Kallco contract George told the T&TGuardian that Nidco could not “blacklist Kallco” because there was no “evidence or reason” to suggest that the company should not tender for government jobs.

He assured that Nidco will monitor the project “zealously,” and if Kallco fails to deliver there are clauses in the contract which allow Nidco to terminate it.

The JCC said it was also concerned that the state “can find funds to commence new projects of this magnitude,” without making arrangements to pay contractors and consultants for work “completed many months/years ago,” and which was “certified and audited by the present government.”

It has appealed to the Minister of Finance to “properly recognise the state’s indebtedness and release funds to all state companies that have long standing overdue payments to contractors and consultants.”

BACKGROUND:

On October 17th Minister in the Office of the Attorney General Stuart Young announced that the government through the EMBD had filed claims in the high court against five contractors, Namalco, Kallco, TN Ramnauth and Company Limited, Mootilal Ramhit and Sons Contracting Limited and Fides Limited.

After eighteen months of analysis of the various work sites he said they had found “the work which they claimed to have been done and they had bene paid for doing was not performed.”

Finance Minister Colm Imbert has promised to investigate the reasons why delays in the payments of salaries for nurses have been happening.

Idi Stuart, president of the T& Registered Nurses Association (TTRNA) said the minister called him yesterday and told him that he was “a bit concerned after reading an article in the T&T Guardian that nurses had been paid late for the third straight month without any explanation or apology.”

Stuart said the minister told him “he will look into the reasons why the delays in payments were happening.”

Imbert, according to Stuart, said “the Ministry of Finance forwarded payments to the Ministry of Health on the 12th of August and 14th of September and he could not understand why there was a delay in payments for those two months.”

Stuart said the Minister indicated that he “understood the delay this month because the ministry only sent the cheque last week Friday, and by the time the Regional Health Authorities got it and processed it to the banks that would have led to the delay.”

Stuart said, “We appreciate that he was that responsive.“

He said they also “appreciated” the minister’s “direct intervention and hope it does not continue for the future months going forward.”

PSA president Watson Duke said he had received no complaints yesterday and it seemed that everyone had been paid.

Other unions also confirmed that salaries had been received by workers.

Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein confirmed that cheques for the payment of CEPEP workers had been disbursed.

CEPEP chairman Clyde Paul said workers will be paid today (Wednesday.)

Port-of-Spain mayor Joel Martinez says he is attempting to get funding to build a homeless shelter for homeless people in the capital.

Martinez made the comment following Hugh Bernard’s lawsuit which was dismissed in the High Court on Monday. Bernard the lawsuit claiming that his constitutional rights had been infringed after the Port-of-Spain City Corporation constructed a fence around the perimeter around Tamarind Square, nearly two years ago.

In an interview yesterday, Martinez said there were other accommodation for the homeless available.

“They will now have to find other accommodation after losing the lawsuit against the Port-of-Spain City Corporation in the Port-of-Spain High Court on Monday. The city will have to deliberate on it and we will make provision to reopen the square to the public,” he said.

Martinez said the squares in Port-of-Spain are usually closed around 7 pm every day.

“It was closed because we were attempting to secure the square and the homeless took position in the square. Around 7 pm we would close the square and we were debarred because of the court case. If it went the other way we would have had to make arrangements for public toilets in the square and accommodation for them in the square,” the mayor said.

He said the corporation has several locks to gates of the squares but now that the court has made a ruling, the corporation will now pen the gates for the public to traverse it.

“They took up residence in the square and one of the residents took us to court and the judge made a decision that he didn’t have the right to live in the square. We will return it to the people as soon as possible and we are currently deliberating it at council,” he said.

Martinez said there were places available and everyone has there reasons for where they live.

“Everybody have reasons where they going. If you are homeless the accommodation may not be the best but it is better than being on the street. I am trying my best to allocate a piece of land and I will ask NGOs, business companies and the Rotaries and the Chambers to assist us in a building or a homeless shelter that is adequate to house and assist,” he said.

Referring to the Christopher Columbus statue he said a letter was delivered to the Corporation and there will be a discussion on it.

“The statue was also defaced with red paint. The council has to meet on it and we haven’t deliberated or met with the First Peoples. I am against the fact people could go into the square and deface public property. I don’t know if the police did anything about it,” he added.

Fallen on hard times after her husband, a CEPEP worker, was not paid four consecutive salaries, Adana Stewart decided to sell marijuana as a supplement income.

Stewart told San Fernando magistrate Cherril-Anne Antoine she knew her actions were wrong, but she needed money to care for her seven children.

Stewart, 36, who is jointly charged with her common-law husband Dwayne Lutchman, said Lutchman is the father of her two youngest children. She said her other children also live with them, but their father died on October 2 and “I have no one to help me.”

Stewart and Lutchman pleaded guilty last week Friday in the First Court to possession of 130 grammes of marijuana.

Stewart was granted $20,000, but Lutchman was denied bail for a check to be done on his criminal record. Lutchman, however, was not brought from the prison yesterday and his matter was adjourned to November 3. The couple was arrested last Thursday after the police executed a search warrant at her Ste Madeleine home.

Court prosecutor Cleyon Seedan said a bag containing 20 foil packets of marijuana was found in ceiling in one of the bedrooms.

Stewart said her husband had not been paid for four fortnights. Asked why she was not working, Stewart said she had a young baby who did not want to stay with anyone but her. “Selling marijuana is not a way out of your debt,” said the magistrate as she fined her $5,000. The magistrate granted Stewart’s request for five months to pay the fine, but in default she could serve six months in jail.

Senior Counsel Israel Khan has penned an open letter to Political Leader of the UNC Kamla Persad-Bissessar telling her that if she fails to resign as political leader of the party before the election for the leader is held, the election would be “ultra vires of the UNC Constitution and thus illegal.”

In the letter sent yesterday morning hours ahead of a meeting of the UNC National Congress to discuss the decision by the National Executive to hold the early election for the post of political leader, Khan cautioned that if Persad-Bissessar failed to “adhere” to his advice she will be sending the “wrong signals to the floating voters on the East West Corridor and other marginal areas,” that she is “more concerned,” with “consolidating “her position as leader of the UNC and Opposition leader than adhering to the principles and rules of the party’s constitution.

Khan said if Persad-Bissessar is prepared to “breach” her party’s Constitution then she cannot be “trusted to head a Cabinet which will adhere to the spirit and rule of law of the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago.”

The Senior Counsel, who said he saw the need as a citizen with a “strong belief in the rule of law,” to give Persad-Bissessar and the UNC “pro-bono advice,” told the UNC leader that section 83-2 of the Constitution of T&T would not affect her position as Leader of the Opposition, if her position as UNC leader becomes vacant for a few days in order to facilitate your re-election.”

Section 83-2 of the Constitution gives the President the power to appoint “as leader of the Opposition the member of the House of Representatives, who, in his judgement, is best able to command the support of the greatest number of members of the House of Representatives who do not support the Government.”

There are eighteen members of the Opposition.

On Persad-Bissessar’s challenger for the post, Vasant Bharath has said he has the support of six of those 18 in his quest to become leader. Khan said Persad-Bissessar would do well to “concentrate on flushing out” any MP who may be secretly supporting Bharath.

Khan said those “traitors,” must be dealt with”decisively and effectively,” and must “never see the corridors of political power.”

He argued that nothing is wrong with others contesting the leadership position, “but it must be done openly and not with secret and underhand support. It must not be done surreptitiously.”

Kamla Persad-Bissessar will face Vasant Bharath in the battle for leadership of the United National Congress on November 26.

This after the party’s national congress yesterday voted unanimously in favour of a decision by the national executive to hold the election a year before it is due.

It was a full house at the Shiva Boys College in Penal yesterday and although Ganga Singh, who challenged the NAtex decision as a breach of article 18 of the party’s constitution, was present, he lodged no objection when the floor was opened for comments before the vote was taken. Singh instead said he was “pleased” and wanted to ensure the decision for the early election was “endorsed by the rank and file.”

One man was heard asking from the floor “where is Vasant?” in reference to Bharath, who is challenging Persad-Bissessar. However, Bharath is not is member of the party’s national congress and was not there. The national congress comprises members of the national executive, two delegates from each constituency and one additional delegate for every other 50 financial members. The turnout yesterday was good and party officials said it reflected the deep interest which supporters have.

Addressing supporters after the vote, Persad-Bissessar asked members, “Will you fight with me?”

The battle, she said, was with the ruling People’s National Movement.

“There is a great battle ahead to fight the wicked, corrupt and incompetent PNM,” Persad-Bissessar said.

She recalled her ‘no woman no cry speech in 2007 when there was “blatant betrayal” by senior party members “in whom I trusted.” She said she had never betrayed or left the UNC.

A decade later she said, “I stand before you with a track record that is unparalleled.”

To detractors who talk about how many elections were lost ,she said, “Let me remind them when we divide we lose. When we unite we win, as we did in 2010. Let us unite again and we will win.”

As she wooed support for the early election, she said it was about rescuing the country “from the evil, despicable, corrupt, destructive Rowley PNM.”

She accused the Rowley administration of selling Trinidad Generation Unit (TGU) to German firm Ferrostaal, promising to fight the battle in court if she had to. She also accused the Government of giving prime lands and tax breaks to the owners of the Sandals chain and agreeing to pay the “bestie of the Prime Minister for fake oil.”

She asked, “Is it true that the Prime Minister and the Energy Minister made phone calls to A&V Drilling in the last two weeks? The talk is they going to pay him.”

Persad-Bissessar also accused the Government of bringing “trumped up false charges against their political opponents.”

Declaring that the Government had failed to assist victims of recent floods and was failing in the fight against crime, she told supporters the early leadership election was critical.

“We will then have a comprehensive mandate from the party to carry on with the business of running the UNC and the Opposition,” she said.

She assured the UNC has been keeping to the goals and ideals of the constitution and will continue to do so.

She told supporters, “I love you more dearly than words can express. Everything I do, I do for you.”

An 88-year-old bed-ridden man who once rented out his home to a church died in a house fire on Monday night, in what police suspect may have been a murderer’s attempt to conceal their wrongdoing.

According to police reports, around 10 pm on Monday a relative of Ferdinand Felix was at the pensioner’s two-storey home at Wellington Street, St Joseph, when a loud explosion was heard coming from the apartment of his tenant Krissy Brewster. A fire started and quickly engulfed the entire structure.

Felix lived alone upstairs the house while Brewster, a 30-year-old Dominican national, had been renting the downstairs apartment for some years. She was a mother of one, residents said.

Police believe Brewster was killed and the killer then set her apartment on fire to cover the act. An autopsy today will confirm the cause of death.

Residents said after the fire began they came together to try and rescue the elderly man. One resident said Felix was seen holding on to the burglar proofing of his home as residents tried unsuccessfully to rescue him. He added that Felix held onto the burglar proofing until he was overwhelmed by smoke and collapsed. The next they saw of him was when his body was being removed from the house by caretakers.

At first police, fire officials and residents assumed only Felix was at home, but after the blaze was put out they found Brewster’s body downstairs in a room. The body was partially burnt and had what investigators suspect were marks of violence.

One man, whose church once rented from Felix some 21 years ago and celebrated his 50th birthday there, described the pensioner as a “good man.” He said Felix lived in the area for as long as he could remember and was always helpful.

Another neighbour said Felix temporarily housed another man who also stayed with relatives close by.

The two deaths came several hours after another St Joseph man, Kern Exeter, was murdered two corners away from Felix’s house.

When the T&T Guardian visited the area yesterday, one resident reminisced about how St Joseph was once labelled as the quiet city. He added that the latest killing and another one a month ago, along with the fiery deaths, was now giving the community a bad name. An elderly woman who said she lived in the area all her life said the community was not like it used to be. However, she refused to give her name, saying, “Next thing is me next.”

Tobago police are probing the circumstances surrounding the island’s ninth murder for 2017.

The victim was identified as Dave Vincent, 56, of San Fernando, Trinidad, who resided at Les Coteaux, Tobago.

Police said Vincent was found slumped in a white Nissan B14 car, registration number PBM 5912, in a CEPEP park at Golden Grove Road, Buccoo, yesterday.

Residents in the area heard gunshots and on checking found Vincent in the car with several wounds about the about the body. Police said Vincent was wanted in connection with a 2014 murder in Tortuga, Trinidad.

Homicide officers are investigating the killings of two men in separate instances between Monday night and yesterday morning.

In the most recent incident, police said an unidentified man was found at the entrance of the Beetham Landfill around 4 am yesterday.

Police processing the crime scene blocked off the far left and centre lanes near the crime scene, adding to the normal traffic peak hour traffic. The traffic backed up to Arima in the east and beyond Freeport heading south for several hours.

After police processed the scene and left, two spent shells were found in some bushes near the crime scene. Beetham residents told the T&T Guardian the deceased was chased by gunmen who murdered him outside the dump.

In the second killing, Kern Exeter, 26 was gunned down after he was followed from Curepe and gunned down near his North Road, St Joseph home. Exeter, relatives said, was charged with attempted murder and was receiving death threats which he reported to police in May. The T&T Guardian was told Exeter was killed as he came out a car after purchasing food in Curepe. He was described by relatives as a quiet person who did odd jobs in the area.

This country’s Miss Universe T&T pageant first runner-up Martrecia Alleyne is now being considered to replace stripped delegate Yvonne Clarke.

The local franchise holder for the pageant, Jenny Douglas, was weighing this option yesterday after she stripped Clarke of her title over an alleged breach of contract nine days before she was due to leave for the international event in Las Vegas.

Less than two weeks after winning the title, Clarke was told via email from Douglas that she would no longer be able to represent the country.

But during a press conference at the St James studio of soca artiste Fay Ann Lyons yesterday, Clarke demanded an apology from Douglas, saying she did nothing wrong in seeking sponsorship on her own, including from Lyons. She claimed she was left with no choice after all she received from Douglas was an “old black dress” and an admittance they did not have “all the resources” to get her to the competition.

“I asked her if there was anything else the franchise could give me beside a dress and she (Douglas) said no. I did not do anything without the authorisation of the franchise holder. She even sent me letterhead from the Miss Universe TT which to this day I did not use,” Clarke maintained at the press conference.

She said Douglas told her she could seek sponsorship from anyone locally “except from the Government.” She said from day one of the local pageant she felt something was wrong, as there were several “hiccups” along the way. This, she said, prompted her to document all her conversations with Douglas, including taping telephone conversations.

Saying she was forced to dip into her personal finances to prepare herself, Clarke said through a friend she was told to approach Lyons for help.

Lyons, Clarke said, had been instrumental in getting her a plane ticket, professional hair and make-up artists and even organising several professional photo shoots.

As she went through hardship getting sponsorship, Clarke, who broke down in tears at some points, said she also offered advice to Douglas regarding how to deal with issues on social media.

“I said to Jenny digital media management is important because she was getting into feuds with citizens on social media about the way in which the franchise was being run. I told her to avoid social media conflict because it not only brings the Miss Universe pageant into disrepute but it also brings me, as a delegate, into disrepute,” Clarke said.

“The reason why I am so hurt by this was because when T&T was bashing her and saying she was unprofessional I was the one who supported her.”

She also accused Douglas of deliberately withholding her contract after she signed it some months ago.

Douglas also hinted that Clarke may not have had a US visa but yesterday Clarke said she did.

Lyons, who also spoke, said she too wanted an apology from Douglas, as all she did was help a “beautiful and talented young lady” realise her dream. She described the incident as unfortunate, saying too many times “we as a people” refuse to support each other.

“I was very disappointed because some people had some ridiculous comments to make,” Lyons said.

In a statement yesterday, Douglas said, “The Miss Universe T&T committee has voted unanimously to disqualify Miss Yvonne Clarke from representing Trinidad and Tobago in this year’s Miss Universe 2017 Pageant competition.

“We are saddened by this turn of events, however, we have to maintain our strict contractual agreements. We will, however, make sure another suitable representative will go and who will abide by the Miss Universe T&T rules and regulations under their contractual agreement.”

In an interview with Guardian Media, Douglas also accused Clarke of making statements which “misrepresented” the franchise and of “being on television and begging for money.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Dennis Moses says he has no information that any Trinidadian was killed or injured in the terror attack in Manhattan on Tuesday which left eight people dead.

Moses spoke briefly with the T&T Guardian yesterday assuring that there had been no report of any T&T national affected by the attack, when 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov, identified as an illegal immigrant from Uzebekistan, drove a rental truck into a pedestrian and bike path along the Hudson River in Lower Manhattan in New York City on Tuesday, killing eight people and injuring 11 in the deadliest terror attack on the city since 9/11.

The Office of the Attorney General expressed “absolute shock and dismay at the horrific attack on innocent civilians,” assuring that Trinidad and Tobago “remains steadfast in the fight against global terror.”

The AG’s Office in an early morning statement said, “Our hearts go out to the victims of the attack, their families and those whose lives will forever be affected by this terrible tragedy. No personal grievance, political agenda or ideological goal can ever justify such a callous and cowardly act.”

It noted that T&T citizens “share a special sense of kinship with the people of New York, which is home to many people of Trinidad and Tobago origin,” and assured that “our friends in New York and the wider United States can also count on the support of the people of Trinidad and Tobago in this difficult time,” and promised to continue to work with US counterparts “to eliminate the threats of terrorism and terrorist financing.”

The statement said attacks such as these are “ultimately aimed at changing our way of life,” but the effect is quite the opposite, and instead strengthens “our resolve and the commitment to the values and ideals shared by our two peoples.”

Saipov was shot in the abdomen by a New York City police officer at the scene, and is currently in custody at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. Police have interviewed him and are currently waiting for an update on his condition.

Reports from New York said there was no evidence that Saipov had direct connections to or support from terrorist groups, but investigators have determined that he had been planning the attack for a number of weeks.

John Miller the New York Deputy Police Commissioner for intelligence and counter-terrorism said Saipov did this “in the name of ISIS. He appears to have followed, almost exactly to a T, the instructions that ISIS has put out in its social media channels before with instructions to their followers on how to carry out such an attack.”

Good Samaritans yesterday stepped in to assist Erica Joseph after workers from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Horticulture Division removed her belongings and partially destroyed the makeshift tent she and her husband have been living in at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain.

Joseph, 57, and her husband, Wendell, 64, an ex-boxer, set up their tent at the savannah yet again after claiming they were chased out of their Housing Development Corporation (HDC) home at Tarodale, San Fernando, last year. The couple have been living in a tent opposite the exit from President’s House for approximately one month.

On Tuesday, however, Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat warned the ministry would be enforcing regulations which forbid dwelling at the savannah.

Yesterday, while Wendell was away meeting with his wife’s doctors in San Fernando, the Horticulture Division workers moved in and removed a tarpaulin, a cooler and other items. Erica, a double amputee, said paramedics who had been sent to test her blood pressure and sugar had to intervene to stop the act.

“They take the water cooler that had the drinks and my medicine in it to keep it cool,” Erica said.

She said one of the ministry workers insulted her, called her names and attempted to take away her doll and teddy bear.

“He take the sheet, the sweet soap and he grab my children (dolls). I fight for my children. Them is the only thing that give me courage,” she said.

Boxing promoter Boxu Potts intervened and asked the workers for Erica’s items. Potts said he was there to support Wendell, noting he was a former boxer who had represented T&T and had been the national light heavyweight champion at one time.

“I am asking Dr Rowley to let good sense prevail and use his office and take care of the citizens of this country,” Potts said.

“They were taking the woman food, drinks and her clothing and I told them to give it to me. You can’t remove her basic amenities and if you carrying her in a safe place take everything, but not everything she have to live with and leave her stranded.”

Contacted for comment, Rambharat confirmed workers from the Horticultural Division had visited the couple.

“The Ministry of Housing, from what they saying, is expecting to move them into an apartment soon and I asked them to contact Social Development,” he said.

Noting previous occasions when the couple had taken up residence in the savannah, the minister said: “It is not the place for anyone to be living with a medical condition.”

Attempts to contact Housing Minister Randall Mitchell for comment yesterday were unsuccessful yesterday.

But in a release last evening, the ministry said its team and medical personnel visited the Josephs to assess their circumstances, having met with them before, as a gesture of goodwill. It said despite the urging of the medical personnel, Erica, who uses a wheelchair, declined being taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for examination. It said the couple also declined to be relocated to more suitable accommodations rpvided by the ministry.

It noted that the Josephs had been allocated at least six HDC houses over the years but issues cropped up and they have found themselves at the savannah for a third time. It noted, however, that it intends to enforce the regulation prohibiting people from residing in the savannah and will seek a resolution to the matter.

Two days after the Port-of-Spain City Corporation was given the green light to evict homeless people who were using Tamarind Square as a makeshift homeless shelter, they have begun to return to the venue.

When a news team from the T&T Guardian visited the area in down-town Port-of-Spain yesterday morning, all the temporary residents had removed their belongings as the square was being cleaned by the corporation’s workers. However, after the workers left several of the homeless were seen re-entering.

Hugh Bernard, who filed the lawsuit against corporation, was amongst the first to return and pitch his camping tent in the middle of the square.

Bernard refused to be interviewed, however, as he said he had been inundated with requests since reports of his lawsuit were published earlier this week.

“Reporters have been coming to speak to me and I have been giving out information but I got nothing in return. With the current situation, I am just thinking about myself. I deserve some privacy,” Bernard said as he crawled back into his tent.

One woman, who asked to remain unidentified, said she did not sleep in the square but merely used the area to hang laundry on trees in the square.

There are now two such homeless cases in the city, as there were also attempts yesterday to evict former national boxer Wendell Joseph and his wife Erica from a makeshift tent they have been living in at the Queen’s Park Savannah for the past month. In both cases, however, the state is unable to properly cater their specific needs. (See story below)

In the case of Tamarind Square, in an interview earlier this week Port-of-Spain Mayor Joel Martinez said the corporation’s executive still had to deliberate on the issue, but would be moving to clear the area of the homeless and reopen it to the public. The T&T Guardian attempted to contact Martinez for an update of the situation yesterday, but several calls to his cellphone went straight to voice-mail and he did not return calls.

Delivering a 19-page judgement on Monday, Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell dismissed Bernard’s lawsuit, in which he claimed his constitutional rights were infringed when the corporation constructed a perimeter fence and gates at the public square almost two years ago. Donaldson-Honeywell said Bernard’s claim failed as he could not produce evidence that the corporation fenced the property and locked four out of five gates in a bid to bar him and other homeless persons access.

In addition to ruling that the homeless did not have a right to be accommodated at the location, Donaldson-Honeywell ordered Bernard to pay the corporation’s legal costs for defending his lawsuit. The corporation’s legal team will now send Bernard’s lawyers, who represented him pro bono, the bill for their services. The two parties would then have to agree on the invoice.

In the absence of an agreement the issue will have to be resolved by a High Court Judge or Registrar, before the corporation can seek to enforce the costs order on Bernard. Considering that Bernard is homeless and has no known valuable assets, it is unlikely the corporation will be able to recoup the money.

One man is in custody assisting police with their investigations into the murder of Dominican national Chriss Brewster and her landlord Peter Ferdinand Felix.

According to police, the man was held on Tuesday and taken to the St Joseph Police Station to be transferred to the Homicide Bureau.

An autopsy said Brewster’s throat was slit before her apartment was set ablaze. Felix died from smoke inhalation, police said.

Speaking with the media yesterday at the campus of the University of Southern Caribbean, Onesi La Fleur vice-president of Student Services and Enrolment Management, said Brewster graduated from the school in May.

Brewster earned her Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree in Finance. He said he was alerted to the tragedy via a text message which simply read: “Student dies in fire, after making checks he learnt it was Brewster. His most memorable recollection of her was her waiting seven hours to see him get approval for a fashion show she was having.

Brewster, he said, wanted to showcase her sewing skills, all of which was self-taught. He was surprised to hear she had died since he assumed she returned home after graduating.

One of her friends told the media that Brewster was a quiet person, always pleasant, had a “bubbly personality” and always had something positive to say. She recalled Brewster having some issues last year with finding a job.

The friend said when she heard of the fire she began making calls to house of the mother of two, thinking Brewster was homeless as a result of the fire.

The firend said as far as she knew, Brewster had no boyfriend or was threatened in any way. Brewster was not a limer she said.

A release from the school said Brewster was an active member in the Dominican Club and was known for her bubbly personality and sense of style.

“She designed and sewed most of her outfits and outfitted several of her friends. She was naturally gifted and had a penchant for fashion. Words cannot express our deep sorrow over this horrific tragedy” the release stated adding that counselling was available for those who need additional support.

An elderly woman, who claimed to be Felix’s distant cousin, said the wheelchair bound man lived with his brother who was partially deaf. It was his brother who lived in a back room in the upstairs of the two-storey house that heard an explosion and realised the house was on fire. He along with neighbours tried to free the man but a latched window prevented it.

“By the time he try to reach back the whole upstairs was on fire already.

Chief Justice Ivor Archie has sent a pre-action protocol letter to CrimeWatch host Ian Alleyne and the Synergy Entertainment Network for defamation and breach of privacy.

The letter, sent on behalf of Archie by attorney Keith Scotland to Alleyne, accuses Alleyne of “invasion of privacy” and of “words and or actions and or imputations and or innuendo.”

Alleyne is accused of observing the CJ, identified as the intended claimant, in a public place and video recording the vehicles and escort vehicles of the CJ while they proceeded through the Price Plaza compound on Tuesday (October 30).

The letter accuses Alleyne of video recording the CJ at TGI Fridays and following him around without his permission and uttering words that “sought to impugn the character of the intended claimant (CJ) and cast aspersions on the intended claimant and his conduct.” Alleyne is also accused of publishing and or causing to be published “the defamatory words and committed the said conduct in breach of privacy.”

The letter deemed the offending words published by Alleyne as “baseless, false and malicious.” It said the “slanderous and/or libellous statements have sullied the good name of the intended claimant, have damaged his reputation and have brought him into public odium and disrepute, thereby exposing him to public ridicule and contempt.”

The CJ, through Scotland, noted the “extensive airing and re-airing of the offending publication” was “perpetrated to specifically injure” his reputation, given that he is “at all times a public figure.” Alleyne is also accused of causing a “significant security breach” by publishing in the public domain “all the registration numbers of the vehicles assigned to the intended claimant, including his personal vehicle.”

The CJ is demanding “an unqualified public retraction of all of the allegations,” as well as “a proper apology” on terms to be agreed. The apology “is required to be released to the local, and international media and placed on the world wide web, and in a manner no less prominent than the allegations” which were the basis of the complaint. Alleyne has also been asked to give an undertaking “not to repeat the said allegations or similar allegations or conduct.”

The CJ is demanding a substantial sum in damages and Alleyne is being asked to pay the CJ’s legal costs.

The CrimeWatch host has been given 28 days to apologise and withdraw publication. The T&T Guardian understands Alleyne has already given an oral undertaking not to re-air or publish the offending material. He has also been asked to remove the offending material from You tube, Facebook and any other electronic, print or any forum used to communicate to the public.