Terminated ArcelorMittal workers are up in arms as their pension plan is in jeopardy.

The workers stand to lose their pensions after it was discovered at a meeting on Thursday that the company had been delinquent in its payments to the plan. 

According to the 2012 Actuary Report, which Sunday Guardian was privy to, the market value with accrual at March 31, 2013, for 2014 was $815,396,571.22

The executive summary states the company was supposed to have increased its pension plan contribution from six per cent to 12 per cent and by August 2016, increased to 23.7 per cent. 

However, the company failed to do this and continued paying six per cent. 

Sunday Guardian understands that a lump sum payment of $9 million was made in February towards the plan. It is unclear why this sum was paid or whether the sum had covered the total amount they had failed to pay over the years, but questions have been raised about the company’s motives since it closed down in March. Up to the end of March when workers received their final salaries, workers’ deductions had been made. 

With moods starting to change, the union is warning that it can no longer keep calm and is anticipating that there will be unrest in this country. 

The meeting, held between members of the Steel Workers Union of T&T (SWUTT) and the trustees of the pension plan, Republic Bank Ltd, along with the actuaries, raised questions about workers’ pensions, especially those who were encouraged by the company after its closure on March 11, to apply for their pension contribution reimbursement even though they had worked for more than five years. 

However, the union said this was against the Trust Deed and Rules which govern the plan. 

When the company closed its doors in March, 644 workers were sent home—206 had applied for early retirement and within the next 12 months, in excess of 100 would qualify for early retirement. Currently, there are close to 600 pensioners whose pensions range from $7,000 to $9,000.

Calls to ArcelorMittal’s managing director and CEO Robert Bellisle’s mobile went unanswered.

Questions were also emailed to Lisa Ann Joseph to be relayed to ArcelorMittal executives.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert did not answer calls to his mobile. Questions emailed to him were also not answered. 

Trustees in the dark

At Thursday’s meeting, Sunday Guardian was told the trustees and the actuaries said they had not received communication from the company that it was heading into a liquidation and were not informed of the status of employees. They said the only information they received was through the union and media.

Explaining the pension reimbursement arrangement, SWUTT second vice-president Ramkumar Narinesingh said under the plan, workers who have five years or less service and who were terminated or resigned were entitled to get back their contributions. 

He said those with five years or more service, under the age of 50 and who were terminated or resigned, had to wait to get a deferred pension. 

“So you cannot get back your contribution after five years of service. The company has been telling workers that they could write a letter requesting their pension contributions even though they have more than five years service.”

But Narinesingh, who was present at Thursday’s meeting, said the trustees were very concerned, since under the rules, there was not a scenario where a member could simply get back contributions unless that person was migrating. 

“Outside of that, you cannot get it back,” he said. 

He added that failure by the com

pany to send the applications to the trustees in time, especially if a liquidation takes place, would result in workers not receiving any pension at all. 

Also, he said, the company had not officially informed the union of its decisions. 

After months of pressures with their jobs and now weeks of uneasiness over their monetary entitlements, workers were now in a hopeless situation, but Narinesingh said not even the word hopeless could sum up the workers’ feelings. 

The situation had gone to a whole different realm, he said. 

“The pension plan was the last hope for workers,” Narinesingh said. 

His comrade, chief labour relations officer, Timothy Bailey said he was informed by sources that it was made clear that it would be a battle for the workers to get their pensions.

Bailey said the company was selling workers a dream. 

Liquidation looms

Narinesingh said when the union asked the trustees about the status of the applications for the early retirement, “They told us they have had no such applications. Nothing was forwarded.”

With fear of liquidation looming over their heads, Narinesingh said, “What we understand is this—when this company is liquidated on the day that the liquidators announce, it is also the same day that automatically puts the pension plan in winding up status.”

He explained that the penalty for liquidating the investment from the plan prematurely could be around $300 million leaving the plan with about $500 million cash value.

He said after the plan is liquidated, the first step by the trustees would be to buy pension annuities from insurance companies to secure current pensioners. That’s a tender process that can take months. Those who have early retirement requests would be the first ones to be addressed. But without the letters from the company to the trustees, all seems lost, Narinesingh said. 

Narinesingh and Bailey expressed the disappointment and hurt their members were feeling. 

They said workers saw the pension as their last ounce of hope. 

Narinesingh said, “We have an avenue where workers from 50 could take early retirement, minus ten per cent of their pension benefits, which is more or less two per cent per annum. At 55, you are guaranteed a full pension.”

He and Bailey, a ladleman and dispatcher, respectively, said they could not begin to imagine the sheer disappointment that workers over the age of 50 would feel since it is now more difficult for them to seek alternative employment. 

Narinesingh: Govt has hands-off approach

According to an executive report to the Parliament in 1994 on the sale of Iscott to the Caribbean Ispat Ltd (CIL), 40 per cent of the shares of the company was supposed to be placed in the public domain.

It states, “CIL shall within three years after the completion date take all the necessary steps for the sale of 40 per cent of the shares of CIL on the Trinidad And Tobago Stock Exchange with the said issue giving preferential allotment and treatment to CIL’s employees and to the trustees of the ESOP for CIL’s employees.”

Narinesingh said, “This means that the current situation could have been avoided if previous governments had enforced this clause in the sale agreements.” He said for the past 15 years the union has been attempting to rectify this by engaging discussion from Ministers of Finance.

He said the union had numerous letters asking for government’s intervention for enforcement.

“Now the Government continues to have a hands-off approach, in that it is still unwilling to facilitate new investors which the union has sourced to ensure the future of the formers workers.”

The union wrote to the current administration but there has been no positive feedback. 

The approval for the selection of Construtora OAS as a preferred contractor for the Solomon Hochoy Highway to Point Fortin was given by the Ministry of Works under then minister Colm Imbert.

According to the last report of the National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) for October 2015 and its former president Dr Carson Charles, on May 13, 2010, the Tenders Evaluation Committee recommended that Nidco enter into negotiations with Construtora OAS Ltd as a preferred respondent.

At the end of the Tender Evaluation process, the recommendation was sent to the Ministry of Works and Transport.

On May 25, 2010, one day after the general election, under then Nidco president Keisha Ince, Nidco informed OAS by letter that it was the preferred respondent. 

Ince appeared on a PNM political platform for a meeting of the PNM’s Women’s League at St James during the party’s May, 2010, general election campaign. 

On Friday, Minister in the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Stuart Young during a statement in Parliament, called for an investigation into the project and the highway’s main contractor Construtora OAS’s cost overruns in excess of $8 billion.

Young also said that three days before the last general election the Government “entered into a written agreement with OAS called Contract Addendum No 2, whereby they expressly recognised that OAS was bankrupt, and stated that they could invoke Clause 15.2 (e) of the FIDIC contract immediately terminating the contract.” However, despite this, they proceeded secretly to give up this right of termination and waived all claims against OAS, thus releasing and discharging OAS from any liability. 

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian yesterday, Charles said the tendering was done under the previous PNM Government which did the procurement at the beginning of 2010.

“In May 24, 2010, the Government changed. When the OAS was selected there was a PNM minister in charge, that was Colm Imbert,” Charles said. 

Charles said this meant that OAS would be called for negotiations as they were the lowest of three bids submitted. 

OAS’s bid was $5.285 billion, China Railway Construction Corporation’s was $6.366 billion and the Italian firm GLF, $5.378 billion. 

He said even though the letter was sent out on May 25, 2010, to OAS the day after the general election, the incoming administration did not feel that the project should be stopped because the Government had changed. 

He said the date of the letter was not an issue.

“It wasn’t a big deal. Nidco did not go into elections and neither did Ms Ince. What I did in July 2010 was simply to pick up where she left off. There was no reason to go a different way as the procurement appeared to have been done properly.”

He said all the studies were done before consultants AECOM were recruited in 2009 and they played a role in selecting OAS.

Charles said before he left Nidco in December 2015, he provided reports on the highway to the Government in November.

He said the Government was in possession of all the pertinent data relating to the project and Young's comments were political.

“Either he does not understand what he is reading or he is being mischievous.”

Charles said contrary to what Young said, OAS was not paid $5.1 billion, but $3.482 billion up to October 2015.

He also said the project was 63 per cent complete as the initial scope of the project included design and build, and he described any contradictory information as “sensational and misleading.”

“Not one cent was paid to the contractor unless it was certified by AECOM.”

He said AECOM was satisfied with OAS’s work and that was why the percentage payment matched the percentage completion. 

Charles acknowledged that Nidco could have terminated the contract under International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC).

He said, however, that the contractor had the equipment and over 1,000 workers on site and Nidco wrote to them regarding the contract ending in May 2016.

“Instead, we said, we want you to finish in May 2016 and we would give the rest of the work to local contractors.”

He said OAS would not have been paid for work they had not completed.

“You can’t get paid for what you didn’t do. We would have paid the local contractors.”

He said the reason for the delay in the completion of the project stemmed from the government’s inability to hand over two sites, one in La Brea, which involved negotiations with oil giant BP.

The other site was Penal to Mon Desir, which was delayed due to protest by the Wayne Kublalsingh-led Highway Re-Route Movement..

At the end of the Tender Evaluation process, the recommendation was sent to the Ministry of Works and Transport.

On May 25, 2010, one day after the general election, under then Nidco president Keisha Ince, Nidco informed OAS by letter that it was the preferred respondent. 

Ince appeared on a PNM political platform for a meeting of the PNM’s Women’s League at St James during the party’s May, 2010, general election campaign. 

On Friday, Minister in the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Stuart Young during a statement in Parliament, called for an investigation into the project and the highway’s main contractor Construtora OAS’s cost overruns in excess of $8 billion.

Young also said that three days before the last general election the Government “entered into a written agreement with OAS called Contract Addendum No 2, whereby they expressly recognised that OAS was bankrupt, and stated that they could invoke Clause 15.2 (e) of the FIDIC contract immediately terminating the contract.” However, despite this, they proceeded secretly to give up this right of termination and waived all claims against OAS, thus releasing and discharging OAS from any liability. 

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian yesterday, Charles said the tendering was done under the previous PNM Government which did the procurement at the beginning of 2010.

“In May 24, 2010, the Government changed. When the OAS was selected there was a PNM minister in charge, that was Colm Imbert,” Charles said. 

Charles said this meant that OAS would be called for negotiations as they were the lowest of three bids submitted. 

OAS’s bid was $5.285 billion, China Railway Construction Corporation’s was $6.366 billion and the Italian firm GLF, $5.378 billion. 

He said even though the letter was sent out on May 25, 2010, to OAS the day after the general election, the incoming administration did not feel that the project should be stopped because the Government had changed. 

He said the date of the letter was not an issue.

“It wasn’t a big deal. Nidco did not go into elections and neither did Ms Ince. What I did in July 2010 was simply to pick up where she left off. There was no reason to go a different way as the procurement appeared to have been done properly.”

He said all the studies were done before consultants AECOM were recruited in 2009 and they played a role in selecting OAS.

Charles said before he left Nidco in December 2015, he provided reports on the highway to the Government in November.

He said the Government was in possession of all the pertinent data relating to the project and Young's comments were political.

“Either he does not understand what he is reading or he is being mischievous.”

Charles said contrary to what Young said, OAS was not paid $5.1 billion, but $3.482 billion up to October 2015.

He also said the project was 63 per cent complete as the initial scope of the project included design and build, and he described any contradictory information as “sensational and misleading.”

“Not one cent was paid to the contractor unless it was certified by AECOM.”

He said AECOM was satisfied with OAS’s work and that was why the percentage payment matched the percentage completion. 

Charles acknowledged that Nidco could have terminated the contract under International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC).

He said, however, that the contractor had the equipment and over 1,000 workers on site and Nidco wrote to them regarding the contract ending in May 2016.

“Instead, we said, we want you to finish in May 2016 and we would give the rest of the work to local contractors.”

He said OAS would not have been paid for work they had not completed.

“You can’t get paid for what you didn’t do. We would have paid the local contractors.”

He said the reason for the delay in the completion of the project stemmed from the government’s inability to hand over two sites, one in La Brea, which involved negotiations with oil giant BP.

The other site was Penal to Mon Desir, which was delayed due to protest by the Wayne Kublalsingh-led Highway Re-Route Movement.

SURUJ: MONEY ADVANCED TO CONTRACTOR INSURED

Former minister of Works and Infrastructure and Opposition MP Dr Surujrattan Rambachan said the $296 million advanced to OAS, which was still to be deducted, was completely insured and the Government had nothing to worry about.

He said on the matter of obligations OAS had to local contractors and workers, Nidco had certain monies to pay to OAS called retention money and performance bonds amounting to US$80 million. 

Rambachan said Nidco can withhold this sum in negotiations with OAS which can be used to pay contractors and workers who were owed money. He said $5.1 billion had been spent overall on the project and there was still $2.4 billion dollars remaining in the budget to finish the project.

Rambachan said restarting the shut down project meant additional money.

He said what they should have done instead was to do an audit but let the project continue, let the workers be employed and the project would have been finished this year. 

Rambachan said all payments to OAS were certified by AECOM even in the determination of the costs for doing the rest of the highway by local contractors. 

He said Young can proceed with his investigation, but the Government was trying to deflect from its own internal party problems.

Calls to Rodrigo Ventura, OAS country superintendent, were not returned.

Calls to Colm Imbert’s cell phone went unanswered. 

Former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj says if the People’s National Movement (PNM) Government is serious about investigating the Point Fortin Highway project, it would establish a task force to start gathering evidence.

He said this task force would comprise attorneys and police officers and would be charged with taking witness statements to forward to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for prosecution.

In an interview yesterday, Maharaj said it was not sufficient to say “send it to the Integrity Commission or police.”

“That has not worked in the past. The Government must set up a task force of attorneys and police officers to take witness statements and send these to the DPP for prosecution,” Maharaj said.

His comment comes after Minister in the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs, Stuart Young, called on the Integrity Commission to investigate the Solomon Hochoy Highway to Point Fortin project, which he described as a “travesty.”

On Friday, Young said the Government was also exploring all legal options regarding the highway’s main contractor Construtora OAS, since the project was now estimated to cost taxpayers in excess of $8 billion.

Young said the former government did not pursue ways and means to terminate OAS’ contract to protect the public interest, despite having the opportunity to do so.

Maharaj, who was this country’s attorney general from 1995 to 2001, said from the information presented by Young in Parliament the former government may have broken the law.

“On the face of it, there are criminal offences committed by the former government.”

He said the possible criminal offences include misconduct and corruption.

“The public cannot be satisfied with being told it is going to the Integrity Commission and police.

“That is a way of burying the whole thing.” KC

YOUNG: A PNM CABINET DID NOT APPROVE THAT

Maharaj also commented on a Nidco document which was circulated to the media.

The document showed that one day after the 2010 election, Nidco had approved Construtora OAS as a preferred choice.

According to Maharaj, this was strange.

“I can tell you as a former AG for that approval to be given there would be a process for a few days before OAS could be selected as a preferred contractor.

“It is curious, suspicious and outrageous that one day after election this was done.”

In a telephone interview yesterday, Young reiterated that prior to May 24, 2010, a tender was put out for the project.

“There would have been an evaluation where Nidco would have then said to go ahead but the PNM did not approve going ahead. That approval could have only come from Cabinet and I can tell you a PNM Cabinet did not approve that.”

The T&T Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) says it will be disappointed if transnational corporations copied ArcelorMittal, pulling up stakes and throwing their workers on the breadline.

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian, TTMA president Dr Rolph Balgobin said, “The association feels that T&T over the years has been very generous to the steel company in terms of concessions given and the support that it had been given in gas and electricity prices. 

“What is particularly worrying was how the country has been treated and in particular how the workers had been dealt with.

“We would also be disappointed if other companies followed suit in this manner to cut losses. It is a fact of global business, however, it boils down to money. If they pull out and not meet basic obligations to workers is what we’re very concerned about.” 

When asked how many workers could the manufacturing sector absorb, he said in the recent past the sector had thousands of vacancies available.

Balgobin said it was not a question of simply hiring people who had just been laid off, but also a matter of the skills of the displaced workers.

He said there must be a match between the skill sets the sector has a shortage of and the skills that were now becoming available. 

Balgobin said to this end, the association was prepared to work with workers if their skills could be used in the manufacturing sector. 

In a release, the TTMA invited the 644 dismissed ArcelorMittal workers to explore new jobs in the manufacturing sector by using its Web site http://ttma-careers.com 

The release stated that affected people seeking employment may also register with the TTMA careers Web site so that their skills may be searched for by employers who may not have jobs posted but were nonetheless looking for skilled citizens. 

The TTMA also proposed a collaboration with the State for a job fair in the near future so that displaced employees will be aware of employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector.

The association was prepared to work with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to assist displaced people. 

Balgobin said T&T’s workforce had a major productivity problem which was unfortunately reinforced by archaic and dysfunctional industrial arrangements which created an unnatural dichotomy of interests between labour and management which should not exist.

Balgobin said the two groups’ interests should be aligned, since a healthy company, whether private organisation or state enterprise, was better able to sustain good wages and good working conditions.

He said this problem of productivity damages businesses which in turn damages what labour can get from business.

Balgobin said he expected as the economic climate grew tighter and work became more scarce some elements of the workforce would pay closer attention to the jobs they currently hold, as alternatives for employment may not be as plentiful as in the past. 

• See Pages A10, A11

The Manatee Trust has partnered with the United States Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey (USGS), to conduct research on local manatees with the intention of understanding the animals and conservation of their habitat.

Founder of the Manatee Trust and president of the Zoological Society Gupte Lutchmedial said there may be more than 30 manatees in the country, living in a protected site maintained by the trust.

Manatees used to be a source of meat, preyed on by hunters. However, after education and protection from the trust, hunting of the animals has been eliminated.

The population size remains low, even while there have been sightings of baby manatees in the Nariva swamp.

On Friday, members of the Manatee Trust and USGS wildlife biologist James Reid met with Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Clarence Rambharat to discuss the ministry’s role in the protection of the animals.

According to Reid, who has been in T&T for just over a week observing the animals, there is a persistent population in an adequate habitat.

He said his aim was to identify areas of potential research.

While Lutchmedial estimated that there were 30 manatees in the country, this estimate was based on observation. 

The trust is hoping for scientific data which will assist in securing the future of the local species.

“The US has taken manatees from being critically endangered to being downgraded to threatened so instead of reinventing the wheel we are going to use their expertise,” Lutchmedial said.

“We have a responsibility to protect everything. We are all part of the food chain and if they go we go. It is important that we protect them. They used to be around the country but they were all hunted down for meat.”

Another founding member, Nadra Nathai-Gyan, said the research would address information gaps that exist to allow for a proper conservation plan for the manatee and their habitat.

“We need to understand the population structure. 

“We assume we have a viable population that is breeding. We don’t know the structure, how many males and how many females.

“We also talked about the regional connectivity of our species. Sometimes when a population reaches a level so low, sometimes we have to bring in species.”

She said these were decisions made based on science. 

“We have to look at vegetation types, food availability, seasonality.”

As part of the thrust to protect the species, Rambharat said his ministry was considering expanding the conservation scope of the trust to ensure protection of wildlife and encourage eco-tourism.

A San Fernando man is warded in the hospital after being shot whilst liming at a bar in San Fernando yesterday morning.

Police reports state that around 6.20 am, Shamba Lewis, 31, of Roy Joseph Scheme, was liming at Dynamite Bar on the corner of Cipero and Sutton Street, when a gold-coloured Nissan Almera pulled up and one of its occupants shot Lewis in the right arm.

Lewis was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital where he was warded in stable condition up to late yesterday.

In an unrelated incident, a 20-year-old Pleasantville man was arrested for possession of a firearm without a licence.

According to reports, around 1.25 am yesterday, PCs Ramdeen and Trim of the Rapid Response Unit were on patrol along Betrand Street, in San Fernando, when they observed a white AD wagon being driven in a dangerous manner.

The car stopped and a man came out and began to run.

The officers gave chase and held the man. After searching him, Trim found a Glock pistol with 18 rounds of .40 ammunition on him.

The man is expected to appear in court on Monday. 

In a third incident, PCs Mohammed and Hanuman were on patrol along Amarsingh Street, Marabella, around 4 am when they saw two men standing on the side of the roadway.

When the men spotted the police vehicle, one of them dropped something on the ground and they both ran off. On checking, police discovered a 9 mm pistol with five rounds of ammunition.

The officers gave chase but the men managed to escape.

Meanwhile, an immigration officer was arrested during a road block exercise on Friday night for driving under the influence of alcohol.

According to reports, the officer of Indian Walk, Moruga, was held along with six other people during the exercise, which was held between 10 pm and 4 am on Cipero Street, San Fernando.

The seven are expected to appear in the San Fernando Traffic Court tomorrow.

Farmers talk about the glory days of agriculture, cocoa and coffee in a time when the country did not have oil and gas and services and manufacturing.

Today, agriculture contributes 0.4 per cent of GDP and of that 0.4 per cent, 40 per cent comes from poultry.

With the Government looking at diversification, the agriculture sector is getting some attention.

In order to contribute, the sector needs to create jobs and earn foreign exchange.

According to Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat, agricultural exports are not as high a priority as reducing the food import bill and creating job opportunities in the sector.

In rural communities, agriculture still contributes significantly to the economy.

While Rambharat said he has not set targets to decrease the food import bill, estimated to be around TT$5 billion, he was exploring the option of food substitution.

There is a significant lack of reliable data, both from the ministry and the Central Statistical Office (CSO) however, and this means the ministry must now gather and analyse data before making certain decisions.

“I don’t think we really know what is in that food import bill. My challenge is first determining the components of that bill. What are we importing? 

“And then identifying those things that we should not import because we are capable of producing in T&T.”

He said as the country was a signatory to several trade agreements, it could not erect barriers to trade. 

“We must allow free trade but at the same time, there must be fair trade.”

Rambharat said he believed the agriculture sector could create jobs and if not earn foreign exchange, decreasing spending on imported goods.

Jobs

“There are about 12,000 direct jobs in poultry. It’s a lot of women, a lot of single mothers from rural communities.”

He said in terms of import substitutions, the Government was also looking at proposals for a parboiling plant in T&T for rice.

“We are importing coconut water but we shouldn’t be.”

He said once farmers with the support of the ministry began looking at opportunities for agro-processing, the jobs would come. 

“Across the country the farmers say they have problems getting people to work and that is because there are other easier opportunities to work.

This year will see the launch of a Community-based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (Cepep) pilot programme in agriculture, particularly in the rehabilitation of agricultural estates.

“Working with the Cepep company we have gone out to farmers and asked them to identify their labour needs.

“We will provide support through Cepep to expand cultivation, rehabilitate parts of the estate to improve the yield and productivity, and pilot programme in cocoa.

“With the pilot programme, estate owner would identify workers, who would then be engaged by a Cepep contractor. 

“The owner would select the workers they know are reliable and Cepep would contract those workers.” 

The bill for this project would be paid by both government and the estate owners.

“The estate owner will contribute toward wages and the workers are going to have a defined responsibility so when work is finished, the workers will move to another estate. The aim is to bring the estate into production.”

Complaints of high food prices

Amidst the complaints of high food prices, the ministry is also looking at ways in which the consumer and the farmer can benefit the most from the sale of crops.

Rambharat made the comparison of a 20 lb watermelon purchased in St James for $100 costing $25 in Rio Claro.

It may not be that local produce is more expensive but that it passes through too many hands.

The said the ministry was placing focus on a farm-to-table approach, to bring farmers closer to consumers and get better prices for both sides.

Rambharat said there was a proliferation of middle men in the agriculture sector, which resulted in consumers paying higher prices and farmers getting lower rates for their crops.

Rambharat said this was one of the many issues affecting the agriculture sector in T&T.

He said the other main issues in order of priority, were the issue of land tenure, agro processing opportunities, and support from the ministry.

The ministry has already started working on making it easier for farmers to access consumers directly, with the introduction of farmers markets such as the one in Macoya and the Wholesale Market in Debe, both run by the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation (Namdevco.)

He said more farmers’ markets would be on stream soon.

“It allows the customer to engage directly with farmer and both the farmer and the consumer gets a better price.

“I want to improve the way in which we offer fresh fruits and vegetables, prolong freshness with packaging and more locally processed food. We need to find ways to extend the shelf life of produce.”

Rambharat, who said he was not surprised by the complaints shared by farmers, having conducted around 90 outreach visits in his first six months in office, said most of the changes in the sector needed to be structural.

The changes, he said, would surround increasing production and agro-processing, import substitution and the rehabilitation of agricultural estates.

Agro-processing is done on a limited basis by individual farmers and Namdevco has one packing house on stream for the processing and packaging of agricultural produce, though this is used mostly for export.

Namdevco’s Piarco packing house isn’t fully utilised and two others at Brechin Castle and in Tabaquite remain unfinished.

Rambharat said the pricing of produce was responsive to demand and quantity and unless the sector had some way of processing to extend the shelf life of produce, it would not be sustainable.

Processing at a minimum means peeling and packaging.

He gave an example of Pineapple farmers and specifically noted the Tableland Pineapple Farmers Association.

Brent Eversely, a 31-year-old university student and agricultural entrepreneur began agricultural production in 2012. 

His farm, which covers an area of one lot in Malabar, does its own processing, packaging and distribution.

Eversely and a team of other students grow fresh produce, which are usually imported, such as cherry tomatoes, coloured lettuce, and coloured sweet peppers. 

The team cleans and packages their produce to sell in community supermarkets and most recently in a large popular supermarket chain.

He chooses to market and distribute privately because he said Namdevco cannot give him the price he needs.

Like other agricultural entrepreneurs, Eversely faced challenges in getting his crops started.

“We went to the Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) but we had some challenges. The requirements to start the business was a lot. If I need $100,000 to start then I had to have $100,000. If I had that then I wouldn’t need it,” said Eversely.

He eventually got a loan of $150,00 and intends to increase his production, but Eversley now faces the other challenges of land tenure and additional funding from the ADB.

He said the ADB makes it difficult for young people to get into farming.

This is one of the areas Rambharat said he had mandate the board to change.

He said after entering office in 2015, he found that there was little alignment between the government policies and the actual work of state enterprises such as Namdevco, ADB, and other state agencies under his ministry.

“Each of these boards have been given a very clear mandate. In terms of ADB and Namdevco, I have written to them and outlined my expectations. ADB must become more responsive to farmers in terms of the loans they offer, the terms of those loans, and the accessibility of the ADB officers. That they would do outreach in specific areas we want to see growth such as cocoa, coconuts, fisheries, hot peppers and pineapples, and agro processing.”

I have complaints from farmers about the inflexibility of the ADB. “As a minister I can’t run the bank, but I can talk to the board about government policy and ensuring what they do is in alignment with government policy.

“These sectors must belong to the farmers. This is not going to be a top-down approach. The ministry and the Government is here to support the sector, not create the sector.

“With reduced resources we must ensure that we are able to account for the financial allocation and that what we spent actually benefits farmers,” Rambharat said.

One day before he was recaptured, wanted murder accused Sheldon “Rhino” Thomas claimed he escaped from St Ann's Psychiatric Hospital last Tuesday because he was being beaten too much by prison officers. Thomas, 31, is due to appear before a before a Port-of-Spain magistrate today charged with escaping lawful custody.

In a text message sent to the T&T Guardian on Saturday at 11.34 am, Thomas, 31, wrote: “Morning to you sir, this (is) Sheldon Thomas, from small I ran away from home because of licks. I am getting plenty licks in d prison 12 years without a trial. Last year prison officers tape me an it is very prejudice 4my trial, its unbearable I cant take it no more they force me to take my freedom, mask men at d prison beat me for absolutely nothing I got licks 3 times this year on the 18 of February I was beaten in the ecrc (Eastern Correctional Rehabilitation Centre) prison. it got a camera system there get a view u will see wat am going tru (through) I thank GOD FOR MY FREEDOM I AM NOT COMMITTING A SINGLE CRIME, AM ENJOYING PEACE.”

Thomas’s mother Claudine Henry gave a similar story when she spoke to the T&T Guardian the day her son escaped. She said she believed her son, one of six who had escaped, was frustrated and that was his reason for escaping. She said her son had been incarcerated for the past 11 years and that would frustrate anyone, but she alleged he was also constantly abused by prison guards.

The taping Thomas referred to was footage which went viral on Facebook showing him threatening the lives of prison officers if they entered his cell to beat him. Thomas was captured by officers from the Western Division Task Force and the Coast Guard on Saturday night. He was captured alongside a 21-year-old Venezuelan national at a jetty in Carenage. 

According to police, on Saturday they received information and went to the jetty where they saw Thomas. However, when he saw the officers Thomas jumped into the sea and swam underneath the jetty. The Venezuela national was apprehended but the police called the Coast Guard for their assistance. Several hours later, Thomas was arrested and Immigration officers were called in. 

—With reporting by Camille Clarke

A Belmont taxi driver yesterday became the country’s latest murder victim. Police said Nicholas John was shot to death by a man who walked up behind him as he was playing a game of cricket with friends along Erthig Road, Belmont.

Police said around 3.30 pm, John, a father of one, was playing cricket when a car pulled up nearby. A man then got out, approached John from behind and shot him several times. John fell into a drain at the side of the road as the driver then calmly got back into the car, which sped off. Police did not have a motive for the killing up to last evening.

In an unrelated incident, a 23-year-old man is now warded at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, after he was shot by a patron at a bar on Lopinot Road, Arouca.

Police said around 2 am yesterday, the man, who is from Windy Hills, D’Abadie, entered the bar and announced a holdup. It is alleged that he then robbed the patrons and attempted to make an escape. However, one of the patrons, who is a licensed firearm holder, took out his firearm and shot him in the leg, police said. Investigators said a revolver was recovered at the scene but they assumed the firearm was empty. 

Police officers said they had been looking at the suspect for quite some time, as he was a suspect in numerous shootings and robberies in the Arouca district. Arouca CID is continuing investigations. 

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday expressed alarm at the brazen and brutal way criminals have been killing citizens, saying crime in T&T had now become a national crisis.

In addressing hundreds of delegates at the People’s National Movement (PNM) special convention at St John’s Ambulance Brigade Hall, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, Rowley said there were three issues—security, economy and unemployment—that had been affecting the country and “attracting the attention of the Caribbean in a way that we have not anticipated.” 

Of the three issues, Rowley said the most worrying was crime, since the murder rate for 2016 had reached 122 as of yesterday.

“So for January, February and March the criminals have put away 122 of us. At that rate, if it does not abate we could be looking at about 500 people being killed in Trinidad and Tobago. That is a whole unacceptable state of affairs...unacceptable,” Rowley told the crowd at the convention, which was themed “Enriching Our Democracy”.

Despite increasing the strength of the protective services, Rowley said it was disheartening to know that firearms have been flooding the streets and people have been losing their lives by way of “strangulation and gasoline. The last person I saw being killed was by gasoline...something like that.”

He said while people continue to kill one another in a brutal and uncaring way, the Government has a responsibility to find the perpetrators “and put them where they belong.” He said while many people believed that crime was a political issue, it was currently a “national crisis”, noting criminals were now using the Internet and cellphones to conduct their illegal operations.

While criminals continue to become a law unto themselves, Rowley said the detection rate of the T&T Police Service was poor. “Our detection level is totally unacceptable. We cannot have a detection level in the face of a crime wave and a killing spree like this. The criminals now know the odds are in their favour. We have to undo this,” he said.

It is for this reason Rowley said the Government was attempting to amend the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) Act to give the Government greater ability in collecting and gathering information on people who are intent on committing crimes. However, he said the Opposition was now finding issue with the SSA Bill, describing it as a deadly molotov cocktail waiting to explode.

“I am telling you here today, we are inviting the Opposition to join this battle against the criminals...and with or without them we are going to pass the bill.” Rowley said the PNM supported the Interception of Communications Act in 2010, which gave the then People’s Partnership government the power to intercept people’s conversations in a bid to find criminals. 

“Is to hear them now...who will spy on who. I easily led my team to support that bill because the prime minister of the day, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, had told the country that she had found evidence of the last prime minister (Patrick Manning) and his government spying on a whole range of people. And I was upset about that. I said we have to have a law to control that. And we supported the bill and we ask the last prime minister where is the evidence? To this day they have not provided one iota of evidence.”

In the last six months, Rowley said the Government had done a proper assessment of the state of the country and were now in a position to act.
 
Point highway under scrutiny
Rowley also spoke about the People’s Partnership entering into a contract with OAS Constructora for the extension of the Solomon Hochoy Highway to Point Fortin three days before the September 7 general elections last year.

“You would have thought that they would have learnt from Section 34. A leopard does not change its spots. On that day (September 4) they entered into the contract that existed before with OAS and waived the clause and allowed the Government to fire the contractor for being bankrupt. 

“And they trying to explain today that there was good reason for doing that. That was a conspiracy between the Government and the contractor. Very much like section 34 or in the same vain. If we find evidence of one suspicion they will be prosecuted.”

He said “if our institutions cannot function to hold people accountable when they do wrong,” T&T was in a bigger risk than we thought. He said T&T could no longer depend on oil and gas as its main revenue earners, but we needed to keep afloat.

“We may not survive the same way...the same level...splurging the same way. We will survive. What it calls for is good level headed thinking and serious leadership.”

The economic crisis that is before us, Rowley said, will affect all in some way or the other. 

“There is nobody in this country who could say that what is ahead of us will not affect me. Is either you not aware or you don’t care. We are all in this together. We will ensure that the burden is shared by all in a way that is equitable, reasonable and practical.”

Just in case the West Indies Cricket Board had plans to take credit for the victory of the men’s team in the World T20 competition, captain Darren Sammy, with the certainty he often shows as a late-order hitter of tremendous power and precision, scuttled the thought from board president Dave Cameron. And he did so before the watching world.

“We had a new manager in this tournament in Rawle Lewis, he had never managed any team before. He came here, we were at a camp in Dubai, but we had no uniforms, no printed … he left Dubai, went to Kolkata, that’s where he started,” said Sammy at the end of his team’s thrilling victory in the 2016 World T20 final yesterday.

Asked by the end-of-match interviewer (Nasser Hussain) to make comparisons between the 2012 first victory of the WI in the T20 championships and yesterday’s, Sammy deliberated for a second before responding. In the end he thought it a grand opportunity to tell it like he and his team must have felt it.

“Disrespected by our board,” was how captain Sammy chose to characterise the relationship between the players and the WICB. To be noted too in the conflict between team and board, the players objected strenuously before the T20 World Cup of the board reducing player pay without consultation with the team.

But Sammy was far from finished with the board, its perceived inefficiencies and its lack of the basic managerial ability to give guidance and inspiration to the team. To do so, the skipper compared the absence of inspirational motivation from the board to that of Caricom prime ministers who have been asking Cameron and his board to leave office.

“I really want to thank the heads of Caricom, throughout this tournament they have been supporting the team, we've got emails, we've got phone calls, Prime Minister [Keith] Mitchell [from Grenada]. He sent a very inspiring email for the team this morning … and I'm yet to hear from our own cricket board. That is very disappointing,” Sammy told the tens of millions watching the telecast all over the cricket-playing world on several continents.

Sammy’s comment seemed a definite intervention in the contention between the Caricom prime ministers, who have asked the board to resign on the basis of a report put forward by a specially appointed committee to examine the way forward for West Indies cricket and the insistence of Cameron and the board that they are not planning to leave anytime soon.

Perhaps predicting a negative response by the Cameron board to his open exposure and denunciation of them, the St Lucian-born former Test captain said his farewell to the 15-member West Indian touring party and coaching staff.

“I don’t know when I’m going to be playing with these guys again because we don’t get selected for one-day cricket,” said Sammy. And he sought to reinforce his criticism of the board by adding that “we (this champion T20 team) don't know when we’re going to be playing T20,” the suggestion being that the board may not be capable of organising series against quality opposing teams notwithstanding the “champion” status of this team.

He had a special word of praise for coach “Phil Simmons, who has gone through quite a lot,” he having been suspended from duties a couple months ago by the board for reporting what he considered to be inappropriate interventions by the board in team selection.

But Sammy did not forget at least one of the critics of the West Indies, who seemed to have engaged in a mind game, or maybe in the mind of Sammy it was traditional antagonism that has long been agitated against the West Indies, and this time it started long before the series got under way in India.

“Mark Nicholas described our team as a team with no brains,” noted Sammy, but making it clear that the team with “no brains” had “the ability to just put all those adversities aside and to come out and play this type of cricket in front of such passionate fans, it's just tremendous.”

Even before Sammy had said his piece to Nicholas, man-of-the match Marlon Samuels singled out former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warner for special attention, donating (with much sarcasm) his award to him: “Shane Warner has been talking continuously and all I have to say without talking, this is for Shane Warne (as he held the trophy as if stretched out to the former leggie) I answer with my bat not with the mike.”

For the future, captain Sammy said the all round performance by several players during the series “shows the depth we have in the Caribbean in T20 cricket and hopefully with the right structure and development our cricket will continue to improve in one-day and Test cricket.”

Finance Minister Colm Imbert yesterday said he would speak with the senior official at the Ministry of Finance appointed to liaise with Republic Bank Ltd, the trustees of the ArcelorMittal Point Lisas pension fund, to determine the true facts of the state of the fund. This comes one day after the Steel Workers’ Union of T&T (SWUTT) said the pension plan was jeopardy.

Imbert had announced at a March 21 press conference that a senior ministry official was instructed to get the facts on the adequacy of the company’s pension plan. But yesterday, Imbert said he had still not received information from the official. “The senior official has not yet reported back to me. I would speak with him tomorrow (today),” Imbert said in a telephone interview

Meanwhile, ArcelorMittal, via a press release from Lisa-Ann Joseph, yesterday denied certain reports in a Sunday Guardian article about the pension plan. In the release, ArcelorMittal said it complied with the recommendations made by the actuary, Bacon Woodrow & de Souza Limited, in its 2012 report. 

The company said this compliance was to pay contributions at six per cent up to September 30, 2015 and then 23.7 per cent for the period October 2015 to March 2016. However, the actuaries advised that because the economy was small and developing, it meant that the outlook for key economic factors such as inflation was uncertain. The actuaries said both the plan’s financial position and the company’s contribution rate in the future were volatile. The company was therefore advised to increase its contribution for employees to 12 per cent before October last year. 

The actuaries also advised that if the plan’s experience followed the assumptions in the valuation, the company could continue to contribute at the 12 per cent until August 31, 2016. However, yesterday’s press release did not address this. ArcelorMittal issued termination letters to 644 workers on March 11. 

The Sunday Guardian, in an email on Saturday night, also directed questions to Joseph about a $9 million payment made in February towards the plan. She did not address this. Yesterday, the union said it was convinced the company had defaulted in its pension payments and called on the relevant parties “to come clean.”

The 2014 financial statements for the pension plan showed that the surplus of revenue over expenditure for 2013 was $$64.791,005, the union claimed. The fund at the beginning of that year was $799,588,165. The surplus of revenue over expenditure for 2014 was $1,920,962—a drastic drop by about $62 million. The fund as at 2014 was $864,379,170.

T&T Guardian received a copy of the financial statements. SWUTT second vice president Ramkumar Narinesingh said, “It seems that the company’s failure to follow the actuaries’ suggestion in the 2012 report to increase from the six per cent to the 12 per cent, resulted in the surplus diminishing.”

Yesterday’s press release from the company spoke to the 2012 surplus which was then $53.6 million. The 2015 financial statements are outstanding. The union also maintained yesterday that at last Thursday’s meeting with the actuaries and trustees, it was not told of any decision regarding closure and terminated workers. 

Yesterday, however, the company said, “Both trustee and the actuary were informed of the current status of the company and termination of all employees, having had both telephonic conversations and a meeting with the company as early as on March 14, 2016.”

As the unemployment rate continues to rise, the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services is offering an array of social services to help the jobless get back on their feet. The services range from grants, temporary food cards and counselling, Minister of Social Development and Family Services Cherrie-Ann Crichlow-Cockburn said in an interview over the weekend.

Crichlow-Cockburn spoke about the services the unemployed can access through her ministry in the wake of Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus’ claim that approximately 5,000 people were thrown on the breadline in the last seven months.

Told that the projected figures of retrenchment were likely to reach more than 100,000 in the economic downturn, Crichlow-Cockburn said she did not think the figure would be that much.

“If we have 100,000 people, that translates into many families,” she said.

“We will do our best to try and accommodate everyone, even if it means having to get to private sector in terms of accessing counsellors out there. If it means that the ministry would have to utilise those services, that is something I would be prepared to take to Cabinet and get approval.”

In an interview on CNC3 on Thursday, Prof Karl Theodore, Director of the Centre for Health Economics at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, said the country should brace itself for more unemployment, which is expected to peak in about three years to about 15 per cent of the working population. Theodore, a member of the Government-appointed Economic Advisory Board, urged restraint on the expenditure of foreign reserves, noting that in the 1980’s recession the unemployment figure rose to 22 per cent.

But in addressing the concerns, Crichlow-Cockburn said her ministry had partnered with the Ministry of Labour to develop a mitigation plan to treat with individuals who were retrenched.

Although the ministry offers social programmes to help the vulnerable, disabled and elderly, she said they would try to encourage the jobless to access a $15,000 grant through the Sowing Empowerment Through Entrepreneurial Development (Seed) programme to help establish small businesses ventures like farming, hair-dressing and mini marts. To access the grant, she said applicants must send in a business proposal and legitimise the reasons for starting a business. 

“You have to show that you cannot do it on your own and that you need financial assistance. It is very easy to access. We have been focusing and pushing on that. We have been trying to offer the grant to people whose living conditions are poor.”

Some of the areas they have targeted are Sangre Grande, Rio Claro and Mayaro.

Another area of assistance was through the distribution the Targeted Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, more commonly known as the food card. The minister said once a family’s disposable income is below $410 a month, they could be provided with a card which carries values between $410 to $700. For a person to qualify for the card they must provide information about their expenses and income. In the last seven months, Crichlow-Cockburn said the ministry had issued 3,049 cards, but she could not state how many were distributed to the unemployed.

She said the ministry is also working to provide counselling for retrenched workers. 

“Sometimes it is very difficult for people to deal with this change that has taken place in their lives. We recognise that people who have lost their jobs would be looking for something else...to go into a small business and to get food for their families, she said.” Under the Family Services Unit, Crichlow-Cockburn said they would provide counselling to the unemployed and their families.

Tomorrow, the Labour Ministry will host a jobs expo at the National Energy Skills Centre (NESC) in Couva, where retrenched workers will get to meet employers who are seeking more staff.

She came from a humble single parent household in a crime hotspot in Central, but today, 36-year-old Brigette Hyacinth is teaching T&T and the world how to be a good leader. A former bank employee, she has written a book called “The Edge of Leadership: A Leader’s Handbook for Success”.

Hyacinth, of Chase Village, Chaguanas, who has a Masters degree in business administration, said a lot of the information in the book is original and comes from her own experiences.

According to her, people in the corporate arena all over the world are astonished at the teachings in the book and amazed they are coming from someone from the Caribbean. The interest in her teachings are so keen that she has 70,000 followers on LinkedIn, twice the amount world leadership guru John C Maxwell has, she said.

She has founded her own motivational company, MBA Caribbean Organisation, and with a staff of about 20 consultants visits schools and companies across T&T giving lectures. So what’s in this book that’s fascinating the corporate world so?

Hyacinth may mash some corns but she said true leadership is not about power. She even lists her own version of the “seven deadly sins” that will eventually crumble leaders, whether in the workplace, politics, the home or wherever. Giving a holistic definition of a good leader, she even said practising good health habits is important for success. “A leader is supposed to motivate, inspire, lead. It’s about finding a solution and having a vision for the future. It’s not about power, it’s about dealing with the needs of your followers,” she told the T&T Guardian.

“A good leader is supposed to listen to his followers and take feedback. A leader does not talk down to his staff. A good leader will not underestimate the power of followers.” The seven deadly sins that will, sooner or later, crumble someone in a leadership position, according to Hyacinth, are lust, pride, jealousy, greed, wrath, gluttony and sloth.

“A lot of CEOs all over the world fell because of these sins,” she said. Inspiration is another major fact of good leadership, Hyacinth said. 

“Those who know about the wisdom of failure and the glory of rejection make better leaders,” she said.

“Wisdom is one of the greatest teachers. Sometimes, you cannot do something without falling first, like a child learning to walk.

“Rejection is one of the most painful stakes to the heart but there’s a flip side to that coin. If you don’t focus on the rejection but see it as a bend in the road and make a turn, you will come out.” Something she developed which is not found in any other leadership manuel, she said, is the leader’s tool kit. A leader uses the level, hammer, needlenose pliers, screwdriver, socket wrench, cordless drills and bits, cross cut saw, tape measure and utility knife (for trimming and cleaning). 

Her leadership book is really a life lesson, she said.     The recession is doing her business good, she said, because companies are no longer bringing down foreign consultants but are sourcing them locally to save money.

Hyacinth said employee morale in many T&T companies is low because of cost cutting exercises going on. Asked if she could offer some advice to workers who had lost their jobs in recent times, said, “Take things one day at a time. Don’t look to the future, it can frighten you. Don’t look back at the past.”

She said stringent budgeting is needed. Told people may not even have money to budget, she replied, “Not preparing for the future is part of the Trini culture.” She has walked the hard road to success, she said, and recalled she did her Masters without a computer, printer or vehicle.

“I came from a background of nothing. My mother did washing, ironing and ten days to take care of us.

“Don’t despair. This is not the end of your story. You have the power to write the ending.”

The police are currently investigating two murders that happened overnight on Sunday and one murder which occurred shortly before midday today. 

At about 7 pm on Sunday night a man was killed in northern Manzanilla. According to police reports, residents said they heard loud explosions before contacting the police. Upon investigating, officers found a man lying dead on ground near a Ford Ranger pick-up truck. There were multiple gun shot wounds about the body. He was later identified as Wendell Thomas, 43.

In an unrelated matter, at about 11.30 pm residents from the Arima Old Road reported hearing loud explosions to the police. A man lying dead on the ground was later found. He was shot in the head and chest. Police are yet to identify the body. Investigations continue.

In another unrelated matter, the police responded to a call about gunshots being heard at Upper Cunapo Road, Coalmine, Sangre Grande around 11.45am.

There they found a man lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds.

He was still breathing and so officers transported him to the Sangre Grande General Hospital where he was pronounced dead around midday. 

He was identified as 43 year old, Sheldon Sutton, he was shot and found in front of his home.

Police are still at the scene of the murder and are working to ascertain a motive for the killing as their investigations are on going.

The Family Planning Association of T&T (FPATT) is calling on the government to revisit its position on abortion.

A statement from FPATT says women must be able to access safe abortion services, especially those who may have been diagnosed with the Zika virus and wish to have an abortion because of microcephaly.

The release said research has shown that unsafe abortions continue to be a major public health problem for many women in the country. While the law was inherited from the UK, it has been changed in the United Kingdom and revised in many commonwealth countries including Barbados, Guyana and St Lucia.

FPATT is calling on the Ministry of Health to engage with them as well as other professional health association on the issue. 

A warehouse and office owned by Carib Brewery was destroyed by bush fire in Mt Lambert this afternoon. 

According to reports, the fire began shortly after midday on a strip of dry grass between the building and the Eastern Main Road. 

It quickly spread to wooden pallets and plastic bottle cases being stored on the compound and then unto the building itself. 

Fire officers and tenders from several fire stations between Morvant and Tunapuna responded to the scene but were unable to save the building from the fire that was being fueled by the contents of the warehouse. Staff of the building were immediately evacuated and stood in a adjacent empty lot of land as the fire officers battled with the inferno.

They eventually extinguished the fire after the roof of the two story building caved in. The managed to stop the fire from spreading to the Mt Lambert Community Centre located next door. 

Fire investigators are still attempting to evaluate the cause of the fire but believe that it may have been started by a discarded cigarette butt. 

A notice of violation was served to businessman George Aboud over the clearing and burning of 19 hectares of land at Las Cuevas yesterday. However, the developer remains confident this will not hinder the over $1 billion project.

T&T Guardian was told that the notice was served by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) yesterday.

EMA’s Corporate Communications manager, Mario Singh, said that over the past few days, EMA officials visited the area and were able to determine that the clearing of the land by bulldozing and burning of trees negatively affected the environment.

Singh said the developer had taken immediate steps to prevent further violations and both parties would soon be heading towards a consent agreement where strict guidelines would be laid down.

“As part of due process, the developer will be given the opportunity to come in and provide their information and data for the EMA to hear their side of the story. Nothing is fixed in stone,” Singh said.

When contacted for a comment yesterday, Aboud insisted that there was no violation as he had approvals from the EMA. He, however, said it was just a mere misunderstanding.

“The violation is for about 46 acres, which is a small piece compared to the close to 500 acres that I have there. What happened is that we did not notify them (the EMA) that we are supposed to start development. We have been doing little portions of work consecutively for the past three years,” Aboud said.

Asked if he was found to have committed any violations with regard to the Las Cuevas fishing bay or caused a threat to the fish in the area, Aboud replied, “No. It have nothing to do with the fish at the bay. We didn’t turn up dirt, didn’t dig. All that was done was cut down bamboo and we burnt it right there.”

Aboud said that he acquired the lands in Las Cuevas about 15 years ago and he would abide by and obey the restrictions set by the EMA. 

Asked about his plans for the area, Aboud said his main focus would be to improve local tourism. “I plan to construct luxury homes and apartments for rent. I will also be looking for foreign partners to develop one quarter of that land which will be over $1 billion alone.”

Last week, secretary of the group Fishermen and Friends of the Sea, Gary Aboud, said that there was cause for serious concern over the bulldozing and burning of the land in Las Cuevas as it would adversely affect the Las Cuevas fishing community.

Chaguanas Mayor Gopaul Boodhan wants the Central business community to invest more in arts and culture. 

He was speaking at the Chaguanas Carnival Committee prize-giving function for this year’s celebrations on Sunday at the Chaguanas Borough auditorium at Cumberbatch Street.

Boodhan said despite hard economic times the business community should inject capital where it was needed to ensure cultural growth takes place and there was no stagnation. 

He said through culture, arts and sports young people could attain more and contribute positively to the development of their community. On this note, Boodhan said the Chaguanas Borough would be paying special tribute to the successful T&T players on both the men’s and women’s T-20 squad. He said the cricketers would serve as positive role models for the borough’s youths. He said this event would be done in conjunction with the T&T cricket board.

Boodhan said now that the Continuous Assessment Component (CAC) of the SEA exams had been scrapped he would like to see more youths get involved in arts and culture. Boodhan said the junior calypso competition for Carnival 2016 had suffered a lack of participation because many students were wrapped up in doing assignments for exams.

The mayor said that the borough would have a mid-year consultation with bandleaders and schools to suggest the way forward for next year’s events. Boodhan said Carnival 2016 was a success as more bands participated than last year. He said the play park erected for children also proved to be a success in making the event a family-oriented one. 

Boodhan said the goal was to increase greater local participation in Carnival events in the borough. He said in the past years J’Ouvert celebrations had been growing. He said that was a positive sign that more people were being attracted to regional Carnival. Boodhan said the traditional mas celebrations, introduced for the first time this year, were also successful. He said this move would assist in the growth of traditional mas characters.

Carnival Committee chairman Ronald Heera said the committee had to maximise and use a reduced budget for this year’s celebrations. Heera also praised committee member Vashty Persad who coordinated the Carnival Queen Show. Heera said the pageant was entirely sponsored by the private sector.

Winner’s row

The Band of the Year title went to Chase Village Carnival for its presentation of Not So Traditional.

The Traditional Band of the Year went to Traditional Warriors from the band The Original Jab Jab.

The J’Ouvert Band of the Year went to Junabo’s Blu Hawaii, a presentation of Philip Jordan.

The Kiddies Band of the Year went to the 50th Anniversary House of Jacqui by band leader Jacqui Koon How.

Kyla Rigsby won the Calypso Monarch competition.

Special awards went to Ivan Ryce and Ali Rahaman. This duo have been playing midnight robbers since the 1950s.