In what may have been his last Good Friday mass as Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church, Fr Joseph Harris yesterday appealed to the population to forgive even the most vicious of criminals, even at a time when the country is faced with a spiralling crime rate.

Harris delivered his message as Christians around the world continued a thousand-year-old tradition on yesterday’s Good Friday holiday by re-enacting the Stations of the Cross. This is a Catholic devotion where each Station represents an event which occurred during Jesus’ Passion and death at Calvary on Good Friday.

Making reference to the washing of the feet tradition on Holy Thursday, Harris said Christ also washed the feet of Judas, who had betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver.

“Jesus forgave and the calling for the death penalty is a sign of the lack of forgiveness and I know people will say it is the law of the land, but laws can be changed if we have the will to change them,” Harris said.

He said on Good Friday, Christ gave the new commandment which was to love as he (Christ) loved everyone.

This, the Archbishop appealed, must also be emulated if society is to become a better place.

“When you look at what the cross represents, it is Christ thinking about us before he thought of himself. If we are to love as Christ loved, the first question is not ‘what is there in it for me’ but should be ‘what will this do for others.’

“If we could do that T&T would be in a far better place than it is now,” Harris said.

Asked whether even the most heinous crimes ought to be forgiven, he said there was ‘nothing more heinous’ than Jesus’ crucifixion, adding that Christ also prayed for his perpetrators to be forgiven.

Regarding criminals becoming younger and younger, Harris said society must share this responsibility.

“When you have a system in which the poor is getting poorer and the rich getting richer what do you expect?” he said.

“Do you know any rich person in Trinidad who lost their job because of the downturn in the economy? It is always the poor who get the lash. The directors of the banks and the managers of the big corporations...are they losing their jobs?”

In March this year, Harris, who turned 75, submitted his resignation to Pope Francis. This was in keeping with canon law.

Yesterday, he said he was still awaiting word from the Vatican on whether his resignation was accepted.

Born in Surrey Village, Lopinot, Harris said during his formative years he was fortunate to be in a community where people always helped one another.

“They didn’t live behind bars as they do now,” Harris said.

On his biggest challenges as Archbishop, he said, was always to inspire people to live in the footsteps of Christ and follow the message, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Harris was ordained as the tenth Archbishop of the Diocese of Port-of-Spain on September 14, 2011, succeeding Edward Gilbert.

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The murder of Quincy Allen in the Port-of-Spain division yesterday had senior police officers suspecting that there are people now targeting men recently released from prison.

In a telephone interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Irwing Hackshaw said the Port-of-Spain division is now experiencing gang warfare from men recently released from prison who targeting each other.

“We are seeing people released from prison belonging to Muslim gang from Laventille being targeted and there is some concern that people who were Muslims defecting to Rasta City, so there is some reprisals for that. Also, there is another theory that the recently released men are being targeted by others from the East Dry River area,” Hackshaw said.

Allen, who police said was released from prison recently, had stopped near East Side Bakers around 12.30 pm yesterday, when a gunman approached him and opened fire. After shooting the father of one, the gunman stole the dying man’s gold chain. Allen, of Duncan Street, was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Allen’s murder is being linked to the attempted murder of Kenwyn “Mang” Fagan on Wednesday night. Gunmen opened fire on Fagan around 8 pm near the recently opened Besson Street Police Station, but their bullets instead hit Ricardo John, 42. Fagan was released from prison two days before this shooting incident.

Police are also investigating a link between a man released on a murder charge recently and the increase in gun violence in the Port-of-Spain division.

In an unrelated incident, police are perusing reports of missing persons in a bid to identify burnt skeletal remains found at Orange Grove Road, Tacarigua, yesterday morning. Homicide detectives said they will be seeking to get DNA samples from relatives of missing persons in a bid to identify the remains. The gender of the remains will be determined by a pathologist on Tuesday and police hope that the information, along with a possible age of the victim based on the bone structure, will narrow their search.

According to police, a farmer along the Orange Grove Road contacted the Arouca Police Station after finding the dismembered burnt skeletal remains on what appeared to be burnt tyres around 9.30 am. A burnt cutlass was also found nearby.

The murder toll is now 153 for the year.

Amidst calls for corporal punishment to be reintroduced in schools, Roman Catholic priest Fr Martin Sirju yesterday made a stirring appeal for an end to violence in schools.

Saying there were better ways to discipline children, Sirju said he was not in support of using violent methods in the nation’s schools.

Delivering his sermon after trekking up the San Fernando Hill for the annual Good Friday Stations of the Cross, Sirju said he was never personally exposed to violence but had vivid memories of violence against children.

“I remember there was a child who was very afraid of licks and was pleading with the teacher not to hit him. The teacher promised that he would not hit him and then made him kneel down and when he knelt down from behind the teacher plastered him with a leather strap. I still have those vivid memories,” Sirju told the parishioners who gathered in their numbers at the top of the hill.

He added, “I also remember in secondary school there was some homework to be done and not all of us did it well. The biggest boy in the class was asked why he did not finish his work and then he was beaten. He tried very much to keep a straight face but the teacher hit him until he started to cry. It is for reasons like this I am not a supporter of corporal punishment.”

Even though there were groups wanting the return of corporal punishment, Sirju said, “I think that there is a better way of lifting up children and lifting up our schools than by the way of violence.”

He also lamented that violence had permeated every aspect of T&T society.

“When we look at the present, we see in so many quarters of the country, not only the so-called east west corridor, but in many other parts of the country, activities of violence, high levels of criminality. How do we respond to that?” Sirju contended.

Calling on citizens to find non-violent ways of living, Sirju added, “If we live from young non-violently, then our society will become non-violent.”

He said it was the obligation of every Catholic and every Christian is to create “a victim-less world.”

“As much as possible, let us commit to a non-violent way of life, starting not only late in life, but from young with our children and our marriages,” Sirju said.

He noted that people become violent when they feel powerless.

“People become violent because justice is not given to them. So often we as Christians deny people justice in simple little ways,” Sirju explained.

“We need justice for others, justice for other communities, justice for other populations, we need justice for our neighbour.”

Sirju noted that too often justice becomes violence, as people take “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”

Saying Jesus Christ lived a non-violent life, Sirju said citizens must be mindful of the way Christ lived and emulate his standards.

During the commemoration, the youths of Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church did a skit on crime. They called for unity among the family, schools, church and government as the answer to crime.

Despite having the protection of over 70 state police and privately hired security guards, the numbers of Hindu and Catholic pilgrims who go annually to worship the statue of La Divina Pastora in Siparia on Holy Thursday and Good Friday have continued to dwindle, presumably because of the worsening crime situation.

Surprisingly, even the numbers of beggars seemed to have declined. Unlike previous years where thousands of worshippers lined up inside and outside of the La Divina Pastora RC Church in Siparia, only about 500 people were seen inside the church’s compound yesterday. Outside the church, the usual brisk trade of market goods, clothing and haberdashery continued but vendors said sales were slow.

One vendor, Carmen Peters, said, “We have to sell out everything cheap because people are not buying like before. People pinching their pennies.”

Luther Jack, a director of Trinco Security Services, which was hired to keep order at the church, said barricades were set up to ensure crowd control but the expectant crowds never materialised.

“We did not see the crowds of previous years. It is six years now we are working here and everything is really more orderly this year because of the barricades,” Jack said.

But a senior police officer, who did not want to be identified, said many people had stayed away from the festival on Holy Thursday night because they were afraid of being robbed.

“People prefer to come in the day time, they feel safer. I know of several people who said they do not feel safe coming here any more because robbers know they are coming with cash to distribute to the poor,” the officer said.

He noted that 60 police officers from the Siparia Divisional Task Force, CID, Rapid Response Unit and Community Patrol Unit, as well as plain clothes officers kept watch in and around the church.

Geeta Ramlochan, a businesswoman from New Jersey, USA, who has been coming to the pilgrimage for the past five decades to distribute food to the poor, said she was also surprised by the few numbers.

“Usually we cater for 1,000 to 1,200 people but this year we saw just over 500 people coming to beg for alms. It is surprising, but we also think that people are no longer coming in their large numbers because of the fear of crime,” Ramlochan said.

But she said her family will not allow crime to deter them from carrying on the Good Friday tradition.

“We feel good when we give back. We make money all year round and we look forward to coming back home and giving to the poor,” Ramlochan said.

Seventy-six-year-old Margaret Seuraj, who is an elder in the historic church, said despite the challenges, people continue to flock to the statue because of the miracles they witness every year.

“People who want to have children are blessed with child and they dedicate their lives to coming here. We have people who are suffering from cancer and all kinds of ailments and they get healed. The Divine Mother answers prayers and this is why people continue to come,” she said.

The devotees make offerings of rice, candles, oil, flowers and jewellery to the statue. Catholics trace the statue’s origin to the Capuchin Catholic monastic order which came to Trinidad through Venezuela in the mid-18th century. In 1795, the special patroness was proclaimed to be La Divina Pastora by Pope Pius VI. Surgeon-Major D. W. D. Comins’s 1893 Report on Indian Emigration to Trinidad reported that Capuchin monks fleeing persecution in Venezuela brought the statue to Trinidad in 1730.

Hindus worship the statue as a reincarnation of Mother Lakshmi, Mother Durgaa and Mother Kali. People usually go to the venue from throughout the country and several parts of the world to see the pilgrimage.

Works Minister Rohan Sinanan is assuring that the collapsed part of the South Trunk Road in La Romaine, which caved in following a bush fire on Thursday night, will be repaired in the quickest possible time.

Speaking to reporters hours after the road collapsed near the St Mary’s Interchange, Sinanan said yesterday that the Director of Highways had visited the site and rehabilitation works began immediately.

Traffic was diverted through Berridge Trace, South Oropouche and Woodland as teams worked throughout yesterday’s Good Friday holiday to reclaim the road.

But there was a heavy traffic pileup for most of the day yesterday as motorists tried to get to their favourite beach spots in South Trinidad using the alternative routes.

Also visiting the site were Dennis Harricharan, NIDCO’s project manager for the Solomon Hochoy Highway and Franchesque Manickchand, civil engineer one for St Patrick district.

In an interview with the T&T Guardian, Harricharan said the collapse occurred around 9 pm on Thursday.

“There was a bush fire in the area and the culvert, which is incomplete, became susceptible to damage. This impacted the culvert and there was collapse of the roadway. The road is closed to traffic and there is a diversion in place,” Harricharan said.

He added, “It is our intention to have the road restored at least by the end of today (yesterday). We are now organising resources. We have evaluated the extent of the work needed and hopefully we should get it completed.”

Harricharan said a 1.2 metre wide cylinder which was part of the drainage system was burnt in the fire.

“The highway is incomplete so draining system is not fully completed. It is our intention to complete it soon, but in the meantime we have to continue to protect against pouring water, but in this case fire,” Harricharan added.

Asked when the highway construction will resume, Harricharan said, “The intention is to complete the work as soon as possible. I believe within the next month or two months we should have work started back on this section of the highway.”

He also advised motorists to stay away from the affected area until the road is fully restored.

A massive operation by Fraud Squad on Thursday led to the arrest and charges against three people in connection with multi-million dollar credit card fraud, card skimming and phishing ring activity across the country.

The trio, Akeil Sullivan and Jenna John, of Embaccadere, San Fernando and Melissa Carrington, of Lady Hailes Avenue, San Fernando, were charged yesterday by Fraud Squad officers following months of investigations associated with the skimming of bank cards.

According to a police source, for several months Fraud Squad Unit officers, led by Snr Supt Totaram Dookhie, ASP Ken Ghisyawan, Insp Dipchand, Sgt Samuel and WPC Adams, were engaged in an intensive and extensive investigation and had gathered intelligence into a big credit/debit card fraud ring.

The officers, not wanting to disclose too many details, said yesterday that after gathering sufficient evidence, they went to an undisclosed location where they made the bust and arrested the three on Thursday. Two electronic skimmers and a sophisticated card maker were also seized, police said.

Further investigations are being conducted and a fourth person is expected to be charged soon.

The accused were charged with three counts for possession of forged drivers’ permits, trafficking three counterfeit cards and possession of card making equipment.

Police described the equipment as “sophisticated machines.”

This bust came on the heels of another recent exercise of similar nature, where seven foreign nationals from Bolivia, Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, Spain and the United Kingdom were arrested and charged. Some of the foreigners have already been convicted and imprisoned.

Several motorist were issued tickets as police officers from Eastern Division started road block exercises on Thursday to ensure the safety of the public during the long Easter weekend.

The joint police exercise began at 11 am and ended at 3 and was conducted at the Valencia Roundabout and the corner of Cumaca Junction and the Old Valencia Road.

The joint police exercise saw Licensing and Immigration officers teaming up with the police.

Motorists were issued with traffic tickets for several offences, including smooth tyres, illegal tints and lights and no horn, while others were charged for driving without a driver’s permit and insurance.

Some motorists and the truck drivers were more disturbed over the time due to the road block.

Assistant Supt Gabriel Joseph and Cpl Manickram led the police officers from Eastern Division.

ASP Joseph said police exercises will be conducted continuously for the Easter weekend and will not be restricted to the roadways, but extended to the beaches and communities .

The objective, he said, is to ensure that people going to the beaches and popular rivers reach their destinations safely.

Joseph also cautioned all motorists to refrain from drinking alcohol and driving as police officers would be conducting the breathalyser tests on motorists as well.

Snr Supt Nelson coordinated the exercise while Supt Phillip supervised.

RALPH BANWARIE

Expressing surprise that T&T had not taken advantage of the latest oil production technology despite the crisis in oil production, Canadian reservoir engineer Eric Delamaide is recommending that polymer flooding and foam flooding be used in Trinidad to extract oil.

This comes at a time when oil production has dropped from 230,000 barrels of oil in the late 1970’s to 60,000 barrels of oil in 2016.

Delamaide, who has conducted numerous studies in North and Latin America, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Asia, was speaking at a symposium hosted by the University of T&T in Point Lisas, titled “Enhancing Oil and Gas Production,” on Thursday.

Saying there was lots of oil still left in the ground, Delamaide said polymer flooding - an enhanced oil recovery technique using water viscosified with soluble polymers—has not really been tested in Trinidad although it has worked well in Suriname, Canada and China.

As a principal reservoir engineer of the Enhanced Oil Recovery Alliance (EOR), a global entity, Delamaide said T&T had a bright future in enhanced oil production.

“We need to find an economic and efficient way of taking the oil out of the ground and putting it in the tank on the surface. Lots of things have been done in the past and I think we can continue that and try new technologies and new ways of doing things that would increase production, recovery and the revenue for the people of T&T,” Delamaide said.

Asked whether polymer and foam flooding would impact negatively on the environment, Delamaide said no.

“Polymer is a product you use to purify water so I wouldn’t go and eat polymer, but it is not a toxic product and it is used commonly in the industry for water purification and water treatment. Foam is a soap, a disinfectant which you can use to wash your hair. It is not going to destroy the environment,” Delamaide said.

Even though polymer flooding was experimented on it was never continued, Delamaide said, adding that he did not know why.

“It’s difficult to say why it was not continued. I think people don’t want to change. They are accustomed to doing it one way and if they are not aware of what is going on outside, they don’t try new techniques.

“Steam has worked well and you continue using co2, but you can improve on that by using foam and polymer flooding,” Delamaide added.

Although admitting that Trinidad’s geological structure is complex, Delamaide said this did not mean that the newest technologies cannot work.

“Polymer flooding worked better in horizontal wells. Our geological structure is very complex and it’s a challenge, but geologies in Peru, Thailand are also very fractured and it’s not a problem. It is a challenge and we can overcome it,” Delamaide added.

Petrotrin chairman Professor Andrew Jupiter meanwhile said he was excited about the new prospects for oil recovery in Trinidad.

Saying Petrotrin had 29 expressions of interest for improved oil recovery, Jupiter said, “We will not limit this to steam, carbon dioxide, water flooding or gas injections. Polymer was tried many years ago but it was not continued. The technology done 15 to 20 years ago has improved and the effects of that can also ensure that we can extract more oil from our reservoirs,” he said.

He added that the environmental impact of these extractions will continue to be carefully monitored.

“In every secondary recovery that we perform, whether steam, co2, polymer, we will look at the environmental impact. Our process is we go to the Environmental Management Authority and indicate the process we use, the effect it will have on reservoir and on our environment. We will use stringent rules that will apply to those countries that will also be applied to T&T,” Jupiter added. Despite Trinidad’s faulted rock formations, Jupiter said he was optimistic that new technology could be utilised effectively.

The People’s Partnership Cabinet approved $56 million ($56, 343,000) to lease the Super Fast Galicia in 2014, nine days before it received board approval by the Port Authority of Trinidad & Tobago.

However, the multi-million-dollar approval was green-lighted despite a report that pointed to a number of deficiencies that likely made the Super Fast Galicia unsuitable to service the Tobago sea bridge.

This is just one of several issues Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi will be asked to investigate following Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s statement last Thursday that there was possible “criminal conduct” in the handling of the contract for the Galicia.

Documents obtained by Guardian Media point to possible conflict of interest and dereliction of duty by parties involved in the contract.

The AG may also be asked to examine the involvement of ND Alfonso & Co Ltd, the law firm of former First Citizens chairman Nyree Alfonso, in the deal.

According to documents obtained by GML, the Port Authority board approved the selection of the boat on April 12, 2014. Two days later, on April 14, the Port Authority received a cheque in the amount of $23,933,722 representing “the cost of mobilisation & infrastructure,” with instructions to hold the money in escrow until the contracts were executed. Two weeks earlier, on March 28, a draft minute was taken to cabinet for the funding of the Galicia and on April 3, via cabinet minute No 972, the funding of the vessel was approved, which was some nine days before the port board sat and ratified its selection.

But in his contribution to the debate in the Parliament on Wednesday, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan, in outlining why Government felt the Galicia was no longer a good option, noted several reasons why the vessel was unsuitable for the sea bridge.

Those deficiencies were in fact outlined in an internal memorandum dated March 24, 2014, which was compiled by then acting CEO of the Trinidad & Tobago Inter-Island Transport Corporation, Leon Grant, who had visited Gibraltar in early March 2014 to conduct “sea trials” and “inspection” of the vessel.

In the memorandum on the issue, Grant stated that the approved charter of the MV Super Fast Galicia was subject to the assessment of the vessel. A technical, commercial and statutory assessment was done during his trip to Gibraltar and he concluded that the vessel only satisfied two of the six areas deemed critical for its suitability to service the sea bridge.

According to Grant’s memo, the vessel did not satisfy passenger capacity, operational costs, utilisation and configuration for the route.

However, in a detailed breakdown of her bill to the Port Authority on July 18, 2014, attorney Nyree Alfonso, in a note on the vessel’s suitability, stated the “Super Fast Galicia was deemed most suitable by Mr Leon Grant.”

Contacted yesterday, Grant refused to answer any questions about the apparent conflict between his first report and the final recommendation, only saying: “I am not allowed to speak on this issue relative to the ferry at this point in time.”

Told that he had pointed to several weaknesses in the vessel in his 2014 report, he directed questions to the newly-appointed chairman of the board Allison Lewis.

There are also questions about the management of the Galicia’s contract over the last three years and why at least four tenders put out by the Port Authority were eventually scrapped, including under the former People’s National Movement board led by Christine Sahadeo.

The vessel was brought into this country in June 2014 on a temporary basis, but was subsequently granted several contract extensions.

According to Works & Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan, there was an agreement for an 18-month contract extension on April 8, 2016. It is unclear whether all parties involved in the 2016 lease negotiations were ever made aware of the findings of the 2014 report when renegotiating that deal. However, in January 2017, Sinanan claimed Intercontinental Shipping managing director John Powell was no longer interested in a short-term deal and demanded a three-year contract with the option to renew for another two years or he would pull the vessel. A well-placed source told Guardian Media the PNM Government felt “strong-armed and bullied” by this tactic.

ND Alfonso & Co paid $840,750

In responding to a motion brought by Tabaquite MP Dr Suruj Rambachan in Parliament last week, Works Minister Rohan Sinanan alluded to the alleged involvement of Nyree Alfonso’s law firm, ND Alfonso & Co.

According to a timeline of events seen by Guardian Media, Alfonso was retained by the Port Authority for six months, beginning December 2013. She was hired to terminate the charter of the Warrior Spirit vessel.

Alfonso confirmed to GML she was subsequently asked by the port to assist in locating vessels to help replace the Warrior Spirit because of her expertise as a maritime lawyer. She was able to find six vessels.

In an interview with Guardian Media on Friday, Alfonso denied submitting any tender during the process. She provided an excerpt of a letter sent to the Port Authority where she indicated she had “terminated her efforts” on the basis that she would be unable to meet the normal industry required criteria, and informed the European brokers to work with a local agent.

In a February 19, 2014 tender that was eventually scrapped, Intercontinental Shipping was listed as the preferred tenderer, although it was not on the list of nine companies invited to submit a bid for the provision of services. After tenders were evaluated however, Intercontinental, which is the local agent for the Super Fast Galicia, was listed as one of the three preferred bidders.

Although Alfonso was employed by the port at the time, she was invited to tender for the provision of a vessel, where two of the three vessels she found were short-listed.

In a 12-page breakdown of her bill, she charged for a number of services, including locating temporary vessels, contacting the Super Fast team to tell them of the selection and arbitration proceedings, among others.

There were no dates provided for the last section of her bill. This dealt with confirmation that the Galicia had been accepted by the Port Authority, assistance in putting in place a payment facility and letter of credit, as requested by the owners of the Galicia.

It also addressed the preparation of the charter party agreement and multiple in-person meetings with Intercontinental general manager John Powell and the permanent secretary. On October 2, 2014, the Port Authority approved the payment of $840, 750 to the law firm for its services.

Alfonso—No conflict of interest

Attorney Nyree Alfonso says Government can “do all the investigations” it wants into the Super Fast Galicia deal, as she believes it is nothing but “smoke and mirrors.”

She said the probe by the Attorney General will not change the fact that Government was aware the vessel was pulling out and there appeared to be inaction by the Government.

Alfonso reiterated that she declared her interests to the Port Authority, informing that John Powell of Intercontinental Shipping and his other companies were her client. She noted, however, that many people in the shipping industry are her clients.

“I am an attorney for more than 20 years, I know what conflict of interest is,” she told Guardian Media.

While she assisted in locating the vessels, Alfonso said she never selected Powell to be the local agent for the Galicia.

“The choice of Intercontinental was not my choice, but Intercontinental is my client,” she said, adding that she extricated herself from the process.

She said she is not this “Machiavellian” person that she was being made out to be.

Powell—No ‘strong-arming’

Intercontinental Shipping managing director John Powell is denying any strong-arming of the Government in securing a contract extension for the Super Fast Galicia.

Contacted in Gibraltar yesterday, Powell said Intercontinental could not threaten to pull the ship from service because it always operated on instructions from the owners and international broker of the vessel. He explained that his company was nominated by the European Broker Astral Shipping.

Asked to explain how Intercontinental was listed as one of three preferred tenderers, he said Intercontinental could not have been on the initial tender in February 2014.

“It’s not like Intercontinental walked in and suddenly appeared on the list, we couldn’t have done that,” he added, saying they are an agent that works through a broker or a principal.

Last Wednesday, Works Minister Rohan Sinanan described as “economic blackmail” a situation in which Intercontinental sought a change to the existing 18-month contract in January 2017.

However, Powell said yesterday that he would be “disappointed” if Minister Sinanan said that.

“At no time did we strong-arm the Port Authority, the Ministry of Transport or the Government,” he stated.

According to Powell, the owners wanted to sell the vessel or attain a long-term contract and he questioned why the Government would offer a month-to-month contract knowing there was the possibility the owners could pull out.

A 54-year-old Valencia man is the nation’s latest road fatality, after he was killed in a hit and run incident along the Eastern Main Road, Wallerfield, on Good Friday.

Gastry Thomas, of Old Valencia Main Road, died on the spot after he was hit by a passing vehicle along the road around 6 pm.

Passers-by said the driver of the vehicle, a gold coloured Nissan Almera which was heading east along the roadway, never stopped.

Police later found the vehicle abandoned about 300 metres from the accident. The front door was opened and its right side was damaged with traces of blood on its front. The vehicle was towed to the Arima Police Station where it is being kept.

It is alleged that the driver of the vehicle is a soldier and Arima police are calling on him to show up to report the accident.

District Medical Officer Dr Gangaram viewed the body and ordered its removal to Arima Hospital Mortuary, from where it will be taken to the Forensic Science Centre, St James, for a post mortem on Tuesday.

ASP Kanhai, Cpl Joseph, PC Carrington and other officers of Arima station visited the scene. Cpl Joseph is continuing investigations.

The death of Thomas brings the number of people killed in road accidents to 25 for the year.

RALPH BANWARIE

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The Super Fast Galicia has reportedly caused damage to the Hyatt Regency hotel now estimated at US$200,000 (TT$1, 354, 000).

Two letters sent by the hotel chain to UDeCOTT and the Port-of-Spain Infrastructure Company between September 2015 and May 2016 lament the “daily disturbance and interruption” the vessel causes.

It said the “vessel shakes our hotel every time it moves, causing concern to guests as it feels like an earthquake.”

The hotel complained that the Galicia also “causes severe cavitation” when it departs and it is now experiencing “cracks in the windows and failure of the window seals.” It said 58 windows were damaged and are now in need of repair as a result of this.

Hyatt Regency said it receives daily complaints from guests and says it has been forced to sell some of its rooms at drastically discounted rates due to the disturbance and discomfort caused when the Galicia is moored behind it.

The letters are contained in a pile of documents forwarded to Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, who is now conducting a probe into whether there may have been and wrong doing in the Galicia deal.

Some of the documents now in the AG’s possession, which GML got hold of, also show that the Galicia was initially deemed unsuitable for the sea bridge. Following a technical, commercial and statutory assessment done in March 2014 by then acting CEO of the Trinidad & Tobago Inter-Island Transport Corporation, Leon Grant, it was concluded that the vessel only satisfied two of the six areas deemed critical for its suitability to service the sea bridge.

Contacted on the issue, former transport minister Stephan Cadiz said while the Government claims the vessel is not suitable, Tobago stakeholders and users of the sea bridge were satisfied with the performance of the Galicia.

He said the Warrior Spirit was not perfect and “neither was the Galicia.” However, he said it served the route at 100 per cent reliability.

Asked why funding was approved even before the board sanctioned the use of the vessel, Cadiz told Guardian Media he would need to “go through the paper work” to verify the actual dates. He said traditionally, the port would do its evaluation and inform the ministry on how it wants to proceed.

He responded specifically to the weaknesses identified in a report by Grant, saying he was not wrong, but he did not factor in the long term planning which the Port Authority and the government had to consider.

Cadiz also said some of the existing port infrastructure was old and trying to match a vessel with what existed would “not serve Tobago’s best interest at all.”

According to Cadiz, the area where the Warrior Spirit was docking was an old wooden ramp and what was needed was “infrastructure that is going to last 30-40 years.”

He also said he was not aware of any strong arm tactics by Intercontinental, saying the contract was “negotiated in good faith.”

GALICIA’S WEAKNESSES

Vessel passenger capacity (Inadequate) The Super Fast Galicia’s passenger capacity is only 120, which may not meet the requirements of the number of truckers/drivers currently accessing the cargo vessel facility.

Additionally, should the fast ferries be out of service due to mechanical issues or drydocking, or during times of increased demand on peak periods, the cargo vessel passenger capacity may not be able to serve as an alternative.

Operational costs Operational costs likely to triple in the next six (6) months due to the presence of both vessels (MV Super Fast Galicia & Warrior Spirit).

Vessel Utilisation The MV Super Fast Galicia, operating in conjunction with the MV Warrior Spirit, may create instances where the supply of available space exceeds customer demand. 

PATT therefore may not achieve full use of the MV Super Fast Galicia as it may remain unused for periods of time.

Vessel Configuration (deemed incompatible with PATT infrastructure) MV Super Fast Galicia has five decks.

However, based on limitations at the berthing facilities in PoS & Scarborough, only one of the decks can be used. The entire deck five rendered completely unusable because of current infrastructure in Tobago.

Maximising usage of the Galicia will require major infrastructure works. Additional works will include fortification of the docking jetty due to the increased tonnage of the new vessel, an increase in the length of the jetty and considerable dredging.

Landing ramps on the quay will require widening, particularly in Tobago, to facilitate maximized use of cargo decks. Berthing arrangements will have implications for domestic and export cargo, customs, security, vessel traffic and space restrictions.

Vessel will not be unusable when the TCL vessel docks in Tobago Because of the unsuitability of the vessel, an additional cost of a barge USD$1500 (TT$10, 155)/day and USD$25000 (TT$169250)/ month.

That does not include the $50 million in initial dredging and an additional $20m every two years.

The Port-of-Spain building that once housed the official Office of the president for Concacaf (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) is currently up for sale at a cost of $15 million.

The building is owned by former Concacaf president Jack Warner, who acquired the property in 1997 for $875,000.

During his time as Concacaf boss Warner received a monthly payment of US$25,000 from the body for rent of the confederation’s Trinidad office located in his building at 113 Edward Street.

The T&T Football Association was also paying rent for the other side of the same building, which stretched across to Dundonald Street. The TTFA was said to be paying about $40,000 a month in rent.

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian, Warner said the property has been put up for sale because he is currently in the process of building apartments and will be using the proceeds of the sale to invest in that project.

“I am selling the property because I am building some apartments. The property has been down there for the past two years and nothing is happening to it, so I am selling it to reinvest,” Warner said.

Apart from once being the official office for the head of the governing body for football in the region, the building also once was the headquarters for the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) which Warner founded in 2013. It is currently painted in the party’s trademark green.

In December 2013, the ILP closed the doors of its office on Mulchan Seuchan Road in Chaguanas and moved to the building at 113 Edward Street, Port-of-Spain. Warner eventually resigned as the party’s political leader following the 2015 general election defeat and the party is now based at Caroni Savannah Road, Chaguanas.

On Thursday, Jaydees Real Estate announced in an advertisement that the “iconic building” was up for sale. The purchase of the building was described as a “Great Business Opportunity”.

“This property that spans Dundonald, Oxford and Edward Streets in Port-of-Spain is now on the market. It features a twenty (20) car, parking facility, multiple offices, an eighteen (18) luxury seat conference room, several kitchens and kitchenettes, central air conditioning, back-up generators and many other features for a revenue earning investment,” the advertisement stated.

According to the information of Jaydee’s Facebook page, the company deals with “residential and commercial property in any area of Trinidad and Tobago but has a main focus on the East West corridor and Central Trinidad.”

Losing a job affects family life, social interactions and physical and mental health with a spiral effect on all parts of life, says secretary of the Psychiatric Association of T&T Varma Deyalsingh.

In an interview with the Sunday Guardian last week, Deyalsingh described losing a job as one of the most stressful life experiences a person could face.

“It rocks the structure of your life and creates a vacuum and your whole sense of purpose leaves. You wake up and feel rudderless. It not only affects you, but also your family and children,” Deyalsingh said.

He said people who were new to unemployment sometimes experienced a loss of identity, self-esteem, self-confidence and an inability to fit in with the social network they have at home.

“They lose their sense of security and experience a fear of poverty and have to change their whole daily routine.”

Deyalsingh, who sees unemployed people go through harsh psychological changes, recommended that unions set up a programme to offer counselling for people who have lost jobs.

“Unions should have some mechanism to track them and provide counselling and form a social network. The union may have to come into play to give support at least up to a year. These people are paying union dues and this is something I think they need.”

He said in some cases, the companies who dismiss the employees could also implement some type of psychological counselling.

“The advantage of the union is that you have the peers. If they need further counselling there are clinics available,” he said.

Deyalsingh said many people did not know there was an outlet for them in terms of mental health clinics and social relief from the state.

The second quarter 2016 report from the Central Statistical Office (CSO) stated that the labour force had decreased by 16,200 people since 2015.

A national retrenchment register, launched by the Ministry of Labour in March 2016, has seen 587 people sign up, mainly from the manufacturing sector and the oil and gas sector.

In the coming weeks, the Sunday Guardian will interview and talk to people who have lost their jobs over the last two years mainly due to the economic downturn.

Some have found new employment, some have opened businesses, while others have learned new skills, but many remain unemployed.

OAS worker’s tribulation

For 33-year-old Hosein Mohammed and the approximately 900 OAS Construtora workers retrenched in April last year, the past 12-months have been fraught with financial frustration.

Mohammed, who was a shop steward at the company, approximates that around 50 per cent of the workers were still unemployed.

He said he himself had only been able to secure a job in February as a heavy equipment operator at a new company.

He recalled the difficulty of taking care of his family of four during the time he was unemployed.

“The lack of income in my personal situation brought me to a stage in my loan where the bank sent it to the collections agency.

“I had to cut the utilities from my home such as electricity and I cut the cable because I wasn’t employed and could not pay my bills,” Mohammed, who did not want to be photographed, said in an interview.

He said sending his two daughters to school everyday became a burden.

“Our priority was to put food on the table and ensure that our girls go to school.”

He recalled times of emotional upheaval when he couldn’t afford to purchase birthday or Christmas gifts for his daughters, aged four and seven.

“How my kids are, once you perform good in school and are obedient, they expect something for birthday and Christmas, so when that time came and we couldn’t give them anything, emotionally it was really difficult.”

He said his children understood, to an extent, that things had changed and he continued to support them when he got one-day or two-day jobs, stretching the pay to provide for his family for as long as possible.

“I got medical issues, with my blood pressure fluctuating a lot. Last year I realised I had kidney stones and that threw us back.”

Now, Mohammed has a job, but he still feels the pain for his colleagues who went through and are still going through financial constraints.

He said his best advice to anyone in the current economic and job climate is to save enough money to make it through a year of unemployment.

“While the finances are running we need to put something to keep us afloat for a year,” he said.

The OAS workers had anticipated that they would get severance and other benefits within six months. But even after discussions with the Government they are still waiting.

He said if the former workers had received their severance money as they should have at the time, they would have been able to put some aside “because we don’t know the current state of the economy.”

“We have not even gotten a hint to know if Government will help with payments,” he said.

The Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU), which represents the workers, currently has a matter in the industrial court with OAS for outstanding salaries for employees, payment for 45 days retrenchment notice, unused vacation, severance benefits and fringe benefits.

In the interim, the workers who laboured to build the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension under the former government continue to wait.

Efforts to contact Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus were unsuccessful, as she did not respond to calls to her cell phone and did not return messages.

OAS FIRED

In June 2016, the Brazilian firm Construtora OAS was fired from the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension project to Point Fortin after the project had stalled.

The company was informed of its termination in a letter from Nidco.

This followed the company’s decision to lay off 860 workers in March that year.

Following the termination, workers, through the OWTU, lobbied for Government to assist in the payment of outstanding monies from the firm.

When we were invited to visit Canari Bay as part of our local tourism series, the Sunday Guardian team did not imagine we would find a modern day recluse living along the coastline.

But that’s exactly what we found when we met Canari’s “landlord”, Sydney Roberts, who has lived alone on the bay for the past 25 years.

He stays in touch with society via a wireless postpaid phone, although to get service he needs to walk about five minutes away from his wooden two-storey house, further up the hillside.

The secluded bay is located along the coastline between Moruga and Guayaguayare and can be reached either by hiking through the forest or by boat. The hike is said to take around two hours, but by boat the journey is just 20 minutes. The boat sets off at the Moruga Fishing Facility, a stone’s throw away from the Moruga Police Station. To get to the facility, you have to drive until the end of the Moruga Road.

Our team was taken by captain Brian Julien and Casiel Hankey and councillor for the area Joseph Lorant accompanied us.

On the way to Canari, Julien pointed out the “Green Grass”, a mountain covered in shockingly bright green grass, which he said fishermen use as a marker while out fishing.

Shouting to be heard over the roar of the boat’s diesel engine, Julien said the grass marks an area where fish are plentiful.

When Hankey anchored the boat at Canari Point around noon, the tide was low, allowing Julien to guide the boat almost onto the shore.

The shoreline is about two miles long, but as we were still a bit shaken from the trip we decided to visit the landlord first.

A short walk up an incline brought us to Roberts’ house, where we were allowed to take in the view of the beach front from his front porch and given tall glasses of cool rain water to drink.

Originally from La Lune, Moruga, Roberts decided to make a life for himself on the bay as he said there was no room for his agriculture to flourish in La Lune. He cultivates over 10 acres of land with coconut, pommecythere, banana, plantain, watermelon and tomato crops.

Fishermen and hunters frequent the house and Roberts keeps an extra mattress lying around in case he gets an overnight visitor. He makes his own coconut oil and collects rain water to drink. Anything else he needs can be brought to him by fishermen. He says whenever he reaps any crop he would call a fisherman to take him and his produce to the Moruga Fishing facility. From there, he would usually hire a car to take him to various market places to sell his produce.

He is a quiet, well spoken person and quite generous with the coconuts from his towering trees.

When we had cooled off, we ventured back down to the beach front. If you walk along the coastline for a little over a mile, you will come to a marble statue of the Virgin Mary erected on some rocks by the Moruga “Prince”, Eric Lewis.

Other than the occasional piece of driftwood, the shore is clean. There are few signs of human activity and the only sounds are the waves cr ashing against the shoreline.

Our captain, Julien, said during the holiday weekends residents of Moruga often camp overnight on the coastline, cooking, bathing and relaxing the weekend away.

It is also an ideal place for fishing and the warm, bubbling waters beckon you to take a dip. If you want a beach lime with a difference, then Canari Bay is the place for you.

You can contact Julien at 332- 1253 for safe transport and Roberts will be more than happy to welcome you to the bay.

And if there is a natural site in your community that you would like to see featured here, send an email to sharlene.rampersad@ guardian.co.tt or give me a call at 225-4465 ext 6104.

A Penal couple was left with a burden yesterday after their house was destroyed by fire.

A report stated that around 7 am, Safiyah Gibson-Morel was at her Scott’s Road home with her husband, Jason Morel, when she woke up and smelled smoke. The two quickly left the house and the Siparia Fire Station and Penal police were contacted.

Cpl Harripersad, PC Khallie and PC Ratool visited the scene and interviewed the victims. Preliminary reports suggested that the fire may have started due to an electrical problem. Police are yet to estimate the cost of the damage.

When the T&T Guardian visited yesterday no one was at home and neighbours said they had gone to stay with relatives.

Fire-fighters were in the village yesterday afternoon as there were several bush fires.

As a construction crew continued working to repair a collapsed portion of the Southern Main Road at South Oropouche yesterday a third sinkhole developed, further delaying the reopening of the road.
But Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan visited the site yesterday and said repairs should have been finished by last night.
The affected part of the Southern Main Road, near St Mary’s Junction, is expected to form part of the Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension Project. Because work was halted by the former contractor, Construtora OAS, it meant that the ends of the plastic culvert under the road were left exposed. On Thursday, a bush fire caused damage to the ends of the culverts, causing the structure to weaken and resulting in the As a construction crew continued working to repair a collapsed portion of the Southern Main Road at South Oropouche yesterday a third sinkhole developed, further delaying the reopening of the road.

But Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan visited the site yesterday and said repairs should have been finished by last night.

The affected part of the Southern Main Road, near St Mary’s Junction, is expected to form part of the Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension Project. Because work was halted by the former contractor, Construtora OAS, it meant that the ends of the plastic culvert under the road were left exposed. On Thursday, a bush fire caused damage to the ends of the culverts, causing the structure to weaken and resulting in the collapse of the road. As one culvert was being replaced yesterday, another part of the road collapsed approximately 50 metres away.

Sinanan defended the use of the plastic culverts, saying they were proven to work and what was missing was a concrete casing to protect the ends. However, he said his advice was that the ministry reassess that kind of engineering for future projects.

“Because it is unfinished work, they just left it like that and a bush fire passed, caught the ends and travelled to the centre of the roadway. What they are doing right now is getting the road passable. NIDCO will continue an exercise to finish all the ends moving forward,” Sinanan said.

He said the period for submitting tenders for the completion of that section of the highway project was closed and bids are now being evaluated. He said a contract will be awarded in May and work will restart at the end of that month. The contract will be for the completion of the segment from La Romaine to South Oropouche, which has been partially opened.

Fyzabad MP Dr Lackram Bodoe said the sinkholes were caused by the abandonment of the project. Bodoe said although the collapse was unforeseen, it was also very unfortunate. After meeting with Sinanan on site, he said he got an assurance that the work would be completed speedily, but the biggest concern remained the completion of the highway project.collapse of the road. As one culvert was being replaced yesterday, another part of the road collapsed approximately 50 metres away.
Sinanan defended the use of the plastic culverts, saying they were proven to work and what was missing was a concrete casing to protect the ends. However, he said his advice was that the ministry reassess that kind of engineering for future projects.
“Because it is unfinished work, they just left it like that and a bush fire passed, caught the ends and travelled to the centre of the roadway. What they are doing right now is getting the road passable. NIDCO will continue an exercise to finish all the ends moving forward,” Sinanan said.
He said the period for submitting tenders for the completion of that section of the highway project was closed and bids are now being evaluated. He said a contract will be awarded in May and work will restart at the end of that month. The contract will be for the completion of the segment from La Romaine to South Oropouche, which has been partially opened.
Fyzabad MP Dr Lackram Bodoe said the sinkholes were caused by the abandonment of the project. Bodoe said although the collapse was unforeseen, it was also very unfortunate. After meeting with Sinanan on site, he said he got an assurance that the work would be completed speedily, but the biggest concern remained the completion of the highway project.

President Carmona, in his Easter message yesterday, made an impassioned call for sacrifice, regeneration and renewal in individuals and society, saying: “Easter empowers us to exhibit real, genuine compassion and kindness regardless of what our personal circumstances are.”

He spoke of the lessons from the Christian figure of Jesus Christ: “Jesus Christ stood his ground in the face of an unrelenting adversary in the form of social injustice, religious persecution, jealousy, envy and hate. His spirituality was grounded in affirmative action and faith in the resolute power of mercy and forgiveness.” He said Christ’s endurance of suffering should inspire all people to “seek salvation through prayer, affirmative action and good deeds.”

President Carmona spoke of the sanctity of all life, stating: “The life of the man with riches and the vagrant on the street are equal in the eyes of God. We must therefore not marginalise persons in challenging communities nor trivialise the senseless demise of many in those communities... We must not be flippant about the lives and needs of the downtrodden.”

He spoke against hypocrisy, stating: “We must not say that we care when we do not, we must not say that we feel and do not, we must not say we are concerned and show neither mercy, compassion nor forgiveness. Easter is about enforcing genuine humanity in our lives.”

“The Holy Cross is not a ‘Bling’,” he said, speaking of Christianity as not a being a matter of mere surface style that a person adopts, but rather a matter of a lived practice of showing love to people through actions, words and deeds.

President Carmona said T&T needs “service leadership rather than power leadership....listeners that hear and talkers that act and perform.”

He spoke of the unifying, divine spirituality present in T&T’s annual La Divina Pastora observances in Siparia, where the divine shepherdess/divine mother is worshipped by Hindus, Christians and others, in an experience of “the tangible presence of the living God.” Referring to the pain and hurt in the land, he asked whether we could invoke this same unifying, healing energy to heal ourselves beyond Easter.

Referring to the Christian traditions of Lent, prayer, fasting and abstinence preceding Easter, Carmona said Easter calls upon people as Christians and as a nation to “celebrate renewed life, with new positives and great acts of goodness.” He wished all Christians and the republic of T&T a happy, holy and blessed Easter.

In an Easter message in which he compared T&T to Golgotha, the place of Jesus’ crucifixion, former independent senator Rev Daniel Teelucksingh said just as Christ rose from the dead, so should citizens rise and reclaim this country.

In his sermon at the Susamachar Presbyterian Church, San Fernando, Teelucksingh said T&T was just as bloodstained as Golgotha, where cruelty and violence plagued the people.

“Blood stained Golgotha was the place of Jesus’ crucifixion and it represents the cruel side of life. The worst of human wickedness, sin and pain is in the Golgotha story.

“Golgotha and the cross hold messages of distress, disappointment, discouragement, disaster and death. If there is a blood stained Golgotha and you do not know that there is a blood stained Trinidad and Tobago, you are out of touch.

“In blood stained Trinidad and Tobago, it is no different. By Holy Thursday this week we counted 151 murders. In the last 16 months in this country, there were 613 murders. Some of them were so violent and so brutal, some of them were just as barbaric as the Roman crucifixions,” Teelucksingh said.

He further warned that with several T&T national joining ISIS, global extremism was reaching T&T. Since Holy Thursday, he said several churches have been attacked and Christians killed because of their belief. As part of the global community, he said T&T is exposed to influences that are both “good, bad and ugly.” He said in T&T, places of worship are being desecrated and there needs to be respected for other religions.

“Let me tell you this, Trinidadians love to follow fashion. We are copy cats and radicalism is a very real force globally and we in Trinidad and Tobago need to be watchful. So far we have good exemplars of religious harmony and we need to preserve that on this Sunday morning as we identify with our brothers and sisters in the Coptic Church of Egypt,” Teelucksingh said.

Laughter filled the dilapidated home of the Baash family at Height of Guanapo, Arima, on Good Friday as non-profit organisation Foundations 141 delivered a van load of food stuff, clothes, bottled water, pillows, towels, bedsheets and books to the destitute family.

An emotional Nicolette Moses, mother of five-year-old Khadijah Baash said: “Christmas came early for us. It came on Good Friday, a day when Christians commemorate the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.

“Jesus died on this day, but a new beginning has begun in our lives. God has opened up new doors for us. When God can’t come he would send his angels. And that is what he did here today.”

Last Monday, the family’s plight was highlighted in the T&T Guardian. This attracted an outpouring of support on social media.

Although facing an upward struggle, little Khadijah managed to top her pre-school class in Mathematics and reading last term.

She uses a kerosene lamp to do homework in the family’s roofless home which does not have pipe-borne water or other basic furnishings.

Moses, who was herself deprived of an education, wants to ensure that her eldest daughter completes school.

Several charitable organisations and individuals, including Habitat for Humanity and former attorney general Anand Ramlogan, have offered to help the family.

Among those who has already visited the family is Moses was Varma Ramdhan, a member of Foundations 141, a group headed by Stefan Jugmohan.

The group has written to the Agriculture Ministry asking for Moses to be granted a certificate of comfort (CoC) since the agricultural land she has been occupying for the past eight years belongs to the State.

They also wrote to the Ministry of Education asked for Khadijah to be placed in a primary school in September. Once this is done, Ramdhan said, the group will provide her with all her school supplies and books.

“We can’t move forward unless we get the necessary approvals from these two entities,” Ramdhan said .

Four members of Foundations 141 visited the Baash family to hand over boxes and bags of items donated by the public.

The organisation also took the opportunity to assess the family’s living conditions.

Having examined the structure, Foundations 141 realised it was not structurally sound.

“We spoke to a T&TEC official who indicated that if the integrity of the house is weak they would not supply electricity connection. We would have to build a ten by ten home, a concrete structure at least for the family.

“We are willing to do so, but we still need to obtain a CoC before we undertake any work,” Ramdhan said.

He said the group was inspired by Khadijah’s drive to learn and obtain an education despite living in deplorable conditions.

“We will go all out to help her because we know that education is the key to eradicating poverty,” Ramdhan said.

Moses, 24, a mother of four thanked those who offered her family a helping hand.

“Just hearing the laughter and seeing the joy in my children’s faces lifted my spirits. There are still caring and kind people out there. I never expected this overwhelming support,” she said.

Three people arrested last week for alleged possession of electronic card skimming devices will appear in court tomorrow.

Charles were laid against Akeil Sullivan and Jenna John, of Embaccadere, San Fernando, and Melissa Carrington, of Lady Hailes Avenue, by Fraud Squad officers.

Their arrests followed months of investigations into the skimming of bankcards. Two electronic skimmers and a sophisticated card maker were seized. Police said a fourth person is expected to be charged soon.

Fraud Squad officers have in recent times arrested and charged seven people from Bolivia, Bulgaria, Spain, UK and the Dominican Republic. They are believed to be part of an alleged international card skimming racket.