The financial standing of Canadian-based ferry service provider Bridgemans Services LP was yesterday described as disastrous.

The comment was made by Joint Select Committee (JSC) member Wade Mark, as the hearing into the sea bridge and the procurement of the Ocean Flower 2 and Cabo Star entered its second day.

Mark said Dun and Bradstreet, which deals with the global commercial database of firms, reported that Bridgemans' finances were "disastrous," while they were totally unviable as a company, which was only formed in September 2015.

"They (Dun and Bradstreet) said they had no experience in the ferry service industry nor had an established office. You couldn't locate them at all. They were from Mars essentially. They only have six employees from our records. No trail data," Mark said, as vice president of Bridgeman's Andrew Purdey, who attended the JSC, bent his head.

Mark said so weak were Bridgemans they used the Port Authority of T&T to issue two press releases.

He asked Charmaine Lewis, PATT acting CEO and general manager, how they arrived at the daily rental rate of the Ocean Flower 2 which was US22,500, while the Cabo Star fetched US$26,500.

Mark said the vessels were so old they should have been in a scrap yard.

"The Cabo Star should not have cost the taxpayers of this country more than US$10,000 or max US$14,000. The Ocean Flower should not have been between US$10,000 to US$12,000."

Mark said Dun and Bradstreet's information should have raised some "red flags" with PATT and asked Lewis how they arrived "at these phenomenal figures for the two vessels" when the country was faced with financial constraints.

"One vessel is 29-years-old and the other is trailing rapidly on its heels. Given the figures and age of these vessels, they do not add up," Mark told Lewis.

In clarifying, Lewis said the T&T Inter-Island Transport Company Ltd members were not privy to the Dun and Bradstreet document.

"That document was dealt with by the board of the Port Authority. The pricing was submitted by the various proposals or offerings. Those were the prices submitted. In terms of negotiations, those negotiations, as indicated earlier, were held by deputy chair of the Port Authority," Lewis said.

Joint Select Committee (JSC) member Wade Mark says the People’s National Movement Government had taken a decision to terminate the contract of the Super Fast Galicia since December 2015.

He made the disclosure during yesterday’s JSC meeting chaired by Stephen Creese at the J Hamilton Maurice Room, Tower D, Port-of-Spain.

Mark said on December 16, 2015, the Government, through a letter written by Pamela Ford, took the decision to terminate the Galicia contract.

"So it is nothing about ransom," he insisted.

He said this decision was taken days after the Port Authority of T&T had appointed a new board, who in turn "instruct the ministry” to take measures "to end and terminate" the Galicia’s contract.

“So when they are looking for the real root of the crisis, I am saying the blame has to go all around.”

Mark said what was strange was days after the 2015 general election, Bridgemans Services LP, a virtually unknown company, was established.

He also queried from the Ministry of Works and Transport's acting permanent secretary Sonia Francis-Yearwood, if her ministry had executed a note which had been submitted to Cabinet for an 18-month extension of the Galicia.

“Did the ministry prepare a Cabinet note on this matter at the time of this unanimous agreement, including the Minister of Works and Transport?” Mark queried.

Francis-Yearwood said the ministry had no record of a Cabinet note being submitted for an 18-month charter. She said if a note was prepared, submitted and withdrawn, the ministry would have it on file.

“So you are telling me that the team that is here, headed by you, have no recollection of a Cabinet note being generated by the ministry to execute an agreement that was unanimously agreed upon by the board and management of the Port Authority, by the permanent secretary and the minister? So there is no recollection of a note being prepared?" Mark asked.

Mark said the ministry “was guilty of dereliction of duty and failed to generate a Cabinet note” for the vessel's extension.

Instead, Mark said the ministry stalled and refused to do anything.

“So if that is not dereliction of duty, then the ministry and its officers must take full responsibility for the crisis that has taken place in Tobago. Because my information is that the Cabinet note was generated. It was taken to the Cabinet by the minister and it was rejected by Cabinet," Mark said.

Mark said having invited Prime Minster Dr Keith Rowley to the JSC “he would have to do a lot of answering.”

He said what happened with the sea bridge was a manufactured crisis, which could have been avoided.

“I would tell you that when the Prime Minister is invited here, he would have to account for this debacle that took place that affected the people of T&T.”

Mark said a stench was now emanating.

A 44-year old woman and a 58-year-old man have been killed in separate incidents, carrying the murder toll to 332 for the year.

In the most recent case, police reports are that Tabatha Richards died just after midnight yesterday, shortly after arriving at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.

Police reports stated that Richards, of Sixth Avenue, Barataria, along with her daughter Missy, 18, had been accosted by a group of women who stabbed the mother and daughter. While Richards died, her daughter remained warded in a serious condition up to yesterday.

A 17-year-old was arrested and is assisting police with their investigations. The stabbing took place around 11.30 pm, police said.

But this version of events differed from what residents said took place. When the T&T Guardian visited Sixth Avenue yesterday, residents said the mother and daughter were the aggressors after the daughter was involved in a fight with the other teenager and lost. The residents gathered near the scene of the killing said the 17-year-old acted in self-defence after she was attacked. They claimed the teen was dragged out of her home and beaten and during the fight took a knife away from one of her attackers and stabbed them both. Region Two Homicide detectives are continuing this investigation.

In an unrelated incident, Roger Rivers, of Mohammed Street, St Augustine, was found dead by a neighbour on Monday afternoon.

Rivers was chopped in the back of the head five times, with one chop wound severing the spinal cord, his autopsy said yesterday.

In a telephone interview yesterday, the father of two was described by his children as a humble man who did handy work in the area and was well liked.

Police said Rivers was threatened in the past but could not say for what reason and suspect his death may be linked to this as he was not known to be involved in any criminal activity.

A grandfather who had just dropped one of his grandchildren to school on Monday was killed instantly when the van he was in slammed into a concrete poll.

Police are now searching for a friend of 51-year-old Narth Mahabir, after he fled the scene of the accident that ended Mahabir's life.

Mahabir, a former logger, lived at Dow Village, South Oropouche. The grandfather of two died instantly when the Kia pick-up truck he was in slammed into a concrete pole along Beres Trace, South Oropouche, around 10.30 am Monday.

When relatives heard of the accident and arrived at the scene they found Mahabir dead and another passenger pinned in the vehicle and in agony. He related to them that after the accident the driver called a woman who came and picked him up, leaving both men in the vehicle. The driver reportedly fled after ensuring the vehicle could not roll away and the tent poles he was transporting were secured. He has not been seen or heard from since.

Speaking with the media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, one of Mahabir’s four children, Angeline Mahabir, said her father left home with the man to drop off one of his grandchildren. She said the driver was well known to the family and had been friends with her father for some time. She added that alcohol was also found in the vehicle. The concrete pole, she said, was broken about eight feet high from the impact. She said her father was a humble man who was friendly and did not deserve to be abandoned in his most vulnerable time by a man he considered a friend.

Seventy-six-year-old Ramdevi Singh was stabbed once in the back of the neck, a wound which paralysed her before her killer/s used her pajama pants to strangle the remaining life out of her.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian after completing her autopsy yesterday, pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov said Singh might have been chased by her attacker/s after they broke into her Imamshah Street, Chaguanas home Monday morning. Singh's cause of death was a combination of the stabbing and the strangulation, Alexandrov said.

“In death certificate I indicated that this was a ligature strangulation, combined with a stab wound to the upper cervical spinal cord. What I am trying to say, even if she survived she would have been paraplegic, which was unlikely,” Alexandrov said.

Relatives of Singh said on Monday they had been lamenting the state of the country and reading the comments made by Broadbridge’s son Stephen just before being told of Singh’s murder. Police suspect Singh’s killing took place around 3.30 am but was only discovered around 9 am Monday morning.

The retiree was the second woman killed during a home invasion.

The Port Authority of T&T board would have preferred more time to obtain ferry vessels instead of the recent 10-day time-frame, which was too “tight,” PATT board chairman Alison Lewis has admitted.

Lewis spoke about the time-frame - and confirmed Port management weaknesses - during yesterday’s day two of the Joint Select Committee scrutiny of the ferry service, including procurement and management aspects.

While People’s National Movement members on the JSC— like Government’s Franklin Khan— focused on issues concerning the “Galicia,” acquired under the past People’s Partnership government, United National Congress members on the panel - like Wade Mark - focused on ferries acquired under the current PNM administration. Questioning kept switching focus from one to the other.

Lewis acknowledged much discussion had occurred on what went awry with the ferry situation recently. But she said it had to be considered in the context of the emergency provision the Port was asked to deliver and the 10 days time frame it had to work with.

“We’d have preferred more time but didn’t have that,” Lewis said, adding there were other things the Port would have also liked to do as well, but couldn’t.

On the board’s overall relationship with Port management, Lewis said the board had to relate to management “quite frequently as there are fundamental weaknesses.”

“While there’s no animosity of fractiousness between us, we’ve made it quite clear to management - because of certain weaknesses we see, especially regarding documentation and ability of management to do certain instructions - that we’d hold them accountable.”

Lewis said the board wasn’t an executive board and management was therefore accountable.

“It’s correct to say we’ve had issues which we’re not happy with. We recognise the Port has been left to languish for many years and the question of how it’s structured and organised,leaves a lot to be desired.

“There’ve been a lot of vacant posts for a long time, and instances of one person doing two jobs - not ideal.”

Lewis said the Port wasn’t properly structured to be a modern day profitable entity.

“Attention to the port hasn’t been there. There are practices that need modernising, some need to be stamped out.”

Its business model needs changing and governing legislation needs examination, she said, adding the question of restructuring/reorganisation was already discussed and the board was given until year-end to obtain a business plan.

Lewis said the controversial Ocean Flower 2 was inspected by Lloyd’s Registry in South Korea. Acting Port CEO Charmaine Lewis said the tenders team for the vessel included three Port board members and a Central Tenders Board representative - but she said the CTB representative didn’t attend meetings on it.

Inter-island Ferry Transport Service acting CEO Leon Grant also said he inspected the Ocean Flower 2 and observed sea trials in Panama. But he said it has technical and engineering problems.

Grant said the previous “Galicia” had no technical problems, only five berthing issues some of which were dealt with.

KHAN: GALICIA ‘IMPROPRIETY

Inter-Continental Shipping (ICS), which had not tendered for procurement of the “Galicia” vessel, ended up winning the bid even though it was the agent for attorney Nyree Alfonso, who was initially involved the procurement process.

JSC member Franklin Khan, making that contention yesterday, added, “If that’s not, at best, impropriety, I don’t know what is.”

Khan said he had letters showing where Alfonso told Port management ICS will act as agent for her.

Replying to Khan’s queries, Port acting CEO/GM Charmaine Lewis said Alfonso was retained by the then Works Ministry initially to assist the procurement process and was eventually invited to identify vessels available for the ferry service.

Acting CEO of the T&T Inter-Island Transport Service Leon Grant said there had been problems with the vessel then - “Warrior Spirit” - and the ministry retained Alfonso to assist. He believed she was asked to assist finding a replacement for the “Spirit.”

Khan queried how Alfonso’s company was among nine tendering for a vessel. Grant said she may have been invited, but couldn’t recall if it was by the Port.

Lewis confirmed Alfonso’s name was on the list, prompting Khan to query what due diligence was done in allowing an adviser on an issue to tender in the same issue.

Lewis said the then GM and Port Secretary who made the decision are no longer at the Port. She said Inter-Continental Shipping (ICS) wasn’t invited to tender, but that company replaced Alfonso’s on the list.

Khan said, “My information was ICS claimed it acted as agent for Alfonso’s company, - making it curiouser and curiouser.”

A public war of words has developed between former Port Authority of T&T chairman Christine Sahadeo and current acting Port CEO Charmaine Lewis following their appearances during Joint Select Committee looking into the ferry service.

So much so that Sahadeo wants to reappear before the next JSC session to defend herself against “the inaccuracies being made about me...”

Sahadeo, who appeared before the JSC on Monday, complained of issues at the Port involving management officials, although she was also the subject of criticism by former board member Ferdie Ferreira.

During yesterday’s JSC, acting Port CEO Lewis refuted Sahadeo’s allegations. She said there’d been a “lot of interference” by the former chairman (Sahadeo). Lewis said Sahadeo felt maintenance dredging at the port ought to have been done and be done by Kallco - but management disagreed as Kallco didn’t have such experience.

Lewis also accused Sahadeo of changing minutes of meetings and acting as executive chairman.

“She was always behind the scenes going counter to management, everything Ferdie Ferreira said (about her) was true,” Lewis told the JSC members.

Lewis said Sahadeo was allowed to make denigrating statements on Monday and Port management wasn’t present. “I wrote the Minister about her, so I’m not making denigrating statements,” Lewis said.

But in an immediate response, Sahadeo, who told T&T Guardian she’s trying to reappear before the JSC - which next meets in Port-of-Spain September 18 - to defend herself, said, “I didn’t interfere.”

She added, “On one issue, I can say the board took a decision to reissue the tenders to participants of the previous tender to prevent legal challenges.

“When it went out and we reviewed tenders, we realised certain previous participants were left out. The question was asked how could a decision by the board not be followed by management?”

Sahadeo said she was also standing by her claim on Monday that nine senior Port managers had sought Lewis’ removal. She said this was done in the presence of two other officials.

Bridgemans to set up local shop

Yesterday’s JSC session revealed that it was “proposed” to Bridgemans Services Ltd - owners of the controversial Ocean Flower 2 and Cabo Star - that they set up a local company and hire people to please its T&T client.

Bridgemans’ local agent Lester Kenny, who confirmed this, said the company is still in the process of setting up the local company.

He said it was proposed that because Bridgemans received the ferry contract and, “you appreciate, we’ve been brutalised by the media and it was suggested we could incorporate a company to hire people to kind of inject a good relation to the client which (sic)we were desperately trying to please, under all the stress we been under.”

He didn’t say who proposed the idea.

Bridgemans vice president Andrew Purdey said he was first contacted in April by international broker Horizon, which stated there was something of interest in T&T.

His first official contact with the Works Ministry was in May. The Cabo Star and Ocean Flower 2 were bought this year on completion of the TT contract, Purdey said.

Bridgemans was registered in 2013. He gave a Vancouver address for operation offices (with six staffers and 100 across Bridgemans’ profile) and corporate offices in Norton Rose Fulbright.

Purdey said Bridgemans was still hoping to work with the Port Authority and Ministry of Works and Transport on the Ocean Flower 2 deal for “co-operative outcome.”

Sounding testy, he also complained about T&T media, adding he wanted to bring the ferry matter to an end as it was “frustrating.” He refused to talk to reporters afterwards.

Bring on the probe.

This was the response from some members of the Association of School Maxi Transport Concessionaires of T&T who protested, for a second day, outside the Education Ministry on St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain yesterday.

Carrying placards which read, “Empty bread baskets” and “Rowley please intervene” the association’s president, Rodney Ramlogan, denied the existence of “ghosts drivers” adding that the school maxi transport system has been in existence for 28 years.

At a press conference on Monday Education Minister Anthony Garcia called for an investigation into ghost gangs or ghost maxi-taxi drivers who he claimed were being paid although they were providing no service.

He had said this problem was brought to his attention in a recent conversation by a senior member of the association.

“I am not casting aspersions on anybody. Ghost gangs and workers seem to be a thing,” Garcia had said.

But Ramlogan vehemently denied this, saying drivers were “hard-working people” who deserved better from the minister.

He said the drivers must be registered with a school before getting permission to transport school children to and from their homes.

On statements made by Garcia that some $12 million owed to drivers would be paid, Ramlogan said, “Is only when we insert our bank card and actually see the money then we will believe the minister because he has made promises like this before.”

He also dismissed claims that drivers were holding school children to ransom, saying parents understood the plight of the drivers.

Sixty-year-old Clyde Mackhan, who has been operating the Point Fortin to Fyzabad and the La Brea to Fyzabad routes for the past 17 years, described his kitchen as “bone dry.”

Added to which he has to pay exorbitant medical bills for his wife who has a terminal disease.

“It’s just bills upon bills. There has always been problems regarding the payment but over the years the situation has deteriorated,” Mackhan said.

Speaking on CNC 3’s Morning Brew Programme yesterday Garcia accused the association of “gloating” over the fact that school children were without transportation yet again.

He reiterated that there would be a “total overhaul” of the school maxi system as there were some who were “exploiting the situation.”

“I have testimony from school children that tells me the maxi taxi drivers, in some cases, stop and pick up passengers along the routes and they charge them. That is not supposed to happen. There are too many instances like these where services are exploited,” Garcia said.

Speaking about the $12 million owed to the association he said, “That association is gloating over the fact that children were affected and certainly that is not the way we should to go.

“They are supposed to be providing a service. I understand their view that they have been working and have not been paid for some time and my view is that a worker should always been paid but to gloat over the fact that some 30,000 children were affected,” Garcia said.

He said last Sunday night he got a call from the Works Minister who informed him (Garcia) that drivers would be withholding their services.

“I made every effort to contact the president. He refused to speak to me. They were owed approximately $12 million and approximately $1 million was paid about two weeks ago.

“Yesterday (Monday) $6.1 or $6.5 million was also paid and we have given the assurance that the remaining would be paid by the end of this week,” the minister said.

Chief Education Officer Harrilal Seecharan, who was also on the programme said not all drivers however, protested Monday and yesterday.

Teachers walked off the job at two secondary schools and a primary school in South Trinidad on the second day of school yesterday, because electrical and air-conditioning problems.

This was confirmed by Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association president Lynsley Doodhai, who called on the Ministry of Education to urgently address these problems.

Doodhai said the ministry has also been given until Monday to address issues of rat and pigeon infestations, falling ceilings and rotting floors at the San Fernando Boys’ Government Primary School, or the teaching staff will take similar action.

Concerned for their safety and welfare, teachers, on the advice of TTUTA, walked off the jobs at Princes Town East Secondary School for the second day, the San Fernando Central Secondary (Mud Sec) and the Buenos Ayres Government Primary School.

Speaking in front of San Fernando Central yesterday, Doodhai said they had issued a press release on Monday afternoon indicating that teachers would have withdrawn their services yesterday because of electrical problems at the school.

He said teachers reported for duty but left around 9.30 am.

“It seems that the school is in need of an electrical upgrade. The panel box, it was reported to us, is getting very hot, even may be smoking and the panel box is located in close proximity to the chemistry lab where there are dangerous chemicals stored and also to gas reserve tanks. So it will pose a danger if anything happens with the electrical system and the school with respect to a fire.”

He said an ongoing problem with the air-conditioning system resulted in teachers walking off the job at Princes Town East Secondary on Monday and again yesterday around 8.45 am.

Doodhai said Buenos Ayres Government Primary in Erin also had electrical problems, resulting in teachers leaving the school around lunchtime.

With regards to the San Fernando Boys’ Government School, he said, “We have given the Ministry of Education until Monday to step in and rectify the problems. If that is not done the staff will also be removing itself from that school.”

Expressing displeasure about how the ministry has prepared the schools, he said, “The 142 schools which were earmarked for repairs, it is common knowledge now that not all of these repairs have been completed.”

Apart from those schools, Doodhai said there are other schools, including San Fernando Boys’ Government, which are in critical need of repairs but could not be repaired because of financial constraints.

Reiterating that TTUTA will take a zero tolerance stance to health and safety issues at schools, he said if the environment is unsafe for teachers, then it is unsafe for the students.

“I will just like parents to know that teachers will not be coming back out to school to perform their duties until the problems are rectified and they can pick sense from nonsense and they could make a decision based on what I have said.”

When contacted yesterday, Ministry officials said a contractor has been hired to do the necessary repairs at the boys’ school, a team had visited the Central Secondary yesterday to assess the scope of the work to be done and at Princes Town Secondary efforts were being made to rectify the problem. The official said they were told that at Buenos Ayres there was an electrical outage because of an upgrade being done by TTEC, but electricity has since returned.

Joint Select Committee member Franklin Khan yesterday admitted that the agent for the Super Fast Galicia, Inter-continental Shipping Ltd, was paid $18 million by the former People’s Partnership government for services it never provided to the sea bridge.

Khan also disclosed that in April 2014, a cheque was sent from the then Ministry of Transport to the Port Authority of T&T (PATT) to be placed in an account until a contract was executed for the Galicia, which raised a lot of questionable circumstances.

He made the revelation during the second day of the inquiry into the inter-island sea bridge which specifically focused on the procurement and maintenance of the ferries.

Khan said the 18-month contract between Inter-continental Shipping and PATT was breached on Inter-continental’s part when they unexpectedly withdrew the Galicia from the sea bridge service in April of this year.

“The nation should know that this precipitated the crisis, ”Khan said, referring to the ongoing sea bridge fiasco.

Khan said before departing our shores the country did a lot of good things for the Galicia, which the public was unaware of.

“And check how they behaved at the end. I want to go on public record,” he said.

Khan recalled that a contract involving the Galicia was signed on May 7, 2014 with an effective date of May 1 at $15,000 Euros per day. However, he said the boat started to work the sea bridge on August 4.

“Is it that we paid over that period approximately $18 million before the vessel worked a single day? Is that true? So this country paid Inter-continental the sum of $18 million for services not provided?”

This figure was confirmed by the Ministry of Works and Transport acting permanent secretary Sonia Francis- Yearwood.

Khan also drew reference to another matter involving the Galicia, regarding an April 2014 cheque which was sent from the then transport ministry to the Port Authority of T&T to be placed in an account on hold until a contract was executed.

“Something about this company and this boat found favour with the then administration,” he said.

Khan said while Francis-Yearwood should not be blamed for this action, he queried if it was normal practice for a cheque to be issued without there being an executed contract or an invoice submission.

Francis-Yearwood said she had never experienced such a situation.

“Then who possibly, from your experience, in the hierarchy of the ministry, could have initiated an event like that... far less, get a cheque cut and sent to the Port Authority under these questionable circumstances?”Khan enquired.

Francis-Yearwood said that would have been an activity between the Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Finance.

“I don’t want to put you in a spot, it could have very likely involved a minister,” Khan said.

Francis-Yearwood said she would not place herself in that spot.

“I have absolutely no record of that time,” she responded.

A 19-year-old mason who chose not to disclose what he was doing with a loaded revolver in his possession will spend the next 18 months doing hard labour in prison.

Jerrel Alexis, of Pleasantville, pleaded guilty to having a .38 revolver and two rounds of ammunition in his possession when he appeared before San Fernando Magistrate Kerianne Byer.

When asked by the magistrate why he had the gun, Alexis remained silent.

Court prosecutor Sgt Krishna Bedassie said around 5.30 pm on Friday, PC Hayden Dookhie and other officers of the Southern Division Task Force were patrolling the Toradale area when they saw Alexis walking along the road.

Dookhie became suspicious when Alexis turned in the opposite direction and walked away quickly.

Dookhie came out of the vehicle, searched Alexis and found the revolver, loaded with two rounds of ammunition, was tucked in his pants waist.

Asking for leniency, Alexis said his common-law wife was pregnant and she had no one else to care for her. The prosecutor confirmed Alexis was a first time offender.

However, the magistrate said the offence was serious and carried an eight-year jail term and a $25,000 fine. Noting the prevalence of the firearm-related offences in the country, she said a message must be sent as guns were causing destruction in society.

"God knows what you were going to do with this," she said as she sentenced him to 18 months on the gun charge and nine months on the ammunition charge, but the sentences were ordered to run concurrently. The magistrate also commended Dookhie for his keen sense of observation and quick response.

Lack of sustainable economic plans and parliamentary autonomy were two key topics which were brought to the fore during yesterday’s ParlAmericas workshop on Fiscal Transparency Practices and a Co-creation Meeting on Citizen Participation. The event was held at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain.

Independent Senator David Small said it was terrible that many economies were racking up huge debt bills rendering them unsustainable.

He said each time there was a change of government, programmes also changed which also amounted to wastage.

Regarding parliamentary autonomy, he said T&T’s Parliament was still beholden to the Finance Ministry which resulted in constraints for resources.

Saying that he was a “strong supporter” of parliamentary autonomy Small added that resources were not consistently given.

House Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George, who also spoke said PalAmericas, as a convener of some 35 national legislatures of member states of the OAS, provided a platform for the widening of duties which was a bedrock of Parliaments beyond respective geographic boundaries to encompass.

She said the role of modern Parliaments was continuously evolving adding that in addition to fulfilling its traditional roles parliamentarians were now duty bound to hold the Executive accountable for its policies and expenditure.

Annisette-George added that yesterday’s workshop “could not be more suitably timed” as this country’s Parliament was near the end of its fiscal year and was preparing for its 2017-2018 budget.

President and CEO of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy and former parliamentary budget officer of Canada Kevin Page, who facilitated, urged that without fiscal transparency there would not be any accountability in any country.

In identifying some of the gaps in ensuring proper processes, Page said the third biggest was the willingness on people’s part to change, especially when the roadmaps were already in place to change the system.

Teenager Mitchelle Francis was shot twice in the head at close range on Tuesday night. One of the bullets severed his upper spinal cord.

According to pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov, 17-year-old Francis was shot in the left side of the forehead exiting on the other side. The bullet did not damage the brain, Alexandrov said. The second and data shot entering the left cheek, exited the right neck. The second shot was the fatal one Alexandrov said adding that the first shot to the head caused a “key hole” wound but there was no damage to the brain. The first shot came at a distance and the second was at close range rupturing the brain stem.

Police said Francis, of Williams Trace, Five Rivers Arouca, was liming with friends around 9.30pm. Residents, according to police, heard the gunshots and later found Francis dead. Police could not give a definitive motive for the killing.

Until the amended Marriage Act is proclaimed, people under the age of 18 can get married and such marriages will be considered legal, child rights activist Hazel Brown said yesterday.

She was commenting on the recent incident where police arrested a 28- year old Aranguez man, Mitchum Deosingh, folowing his marriage to his 17 year old girlfriend but were later forced to release him after his attorney Nikolas Ali told them the Miscellaneous Provisions Marriage Act 2017 is yet to be proclaimed.

The legislation was passed by both houses of Parliament in mid-June and assented to by President Anthony Carmona on June 22 but is yet to be proclaimed. Attorney General Faris Al Rawi explained that input from the finalisation of forms from the Parliamentary Counsel and the Registrar General has just been provided and the matter has to go to Cabinet for consideration.

Only after the Cabinet considers the matter and gives approval can the President proclaim the Act.

Brown told the T&T Guardian: “The fact that the law was passed will not change a lot in terms of the relationships children under 18 have. They will continue to do it. The only thing is they will not be married.”

She said for this reason a coalition of organisations including the Family Planning Association and other NGOs lobbied the Attorney General to include exceptions in the Act. The groups felt the law needed to be applied to “real situations and real people.”

“There will be circumstances which require exceptions and that has to be dealt with because that is the reality,” Brown said.

Among other things the groups proposed that the only exception to marriage by persons under 18 that should be considered is a person over 16 who intends to marry someone no more than three years older.”

A document prepared by the NGOs noted that the provision permitting such a marriage should outline the process for review by an appropriate authority such as the Family Court to ascertain informed consent on the part of the minor as well as for provision of counselling.

Opposition Senator Gerald Ramdeen took issue with the delay after the Government’s rush to amend the legislation. He said this was similar to the SSA Act which is yet to be proclaimed 18 months after being passed in the Parliament.

The debate on changes to the Marriage Act which affects Hindu, Muslim and Orisha marriages was contentious. Secretary General of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha Sat Maharaj voiced his objections and said religious practices are guaranteed under the Constitution.

Maharaj said the Maha Sabha is pursuing legal action.

“We are of the view that our constitutional rights have been tampered with by the Attorney General in his anxiety to get this Bill passed,” he said

He described the action by the police in the case of Deosingh as “high-handed”.

“I am not surprised that the people involved are considering legal action against the police,” he said.

The Office of the President meantime explained that once assented, the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs must prepare and submit a Note to Cabinet requesting that the Proclamation for the Act be prepared for the President to affix his seal and signature.

A statement from the President’s head of communications Theron Boodan said as of yesterday’s date no Proclamation has been forwarded from Cabinet for the President’s Proclamation.

The President according to Boodan awaits receipt of the Proclamation for his seal and signature.

Inter-island Truckers and Traders Association president Horace Amede yesterday called for the one-year contract of the Cabo Star to be scrapped, as the vessel is creating severe headache for his members and Tobagonians.

Amede made the call before the Joint Select Committee (JSC) chaired by Stephen Creese at the Bruce Financial Complex in Scarborough, where stakeholders who have been adversely affected by the ongoing sea bridge fiasco were able to vent their feelings.

Yesterday marked the third day of the inquiry into the inter-island ferry service focusing on the procurement and maintenance of the vessels.

At the start of the hearing, Creese read a letter sent by senior legal counsel Alvin Pascal on behalf of the Tobago House of Assembly, which indicated its representatives would not be attending because the sea bridge issue fell under Central Government, which was already represented by the Ministry of Works and Transport.

In his testimony, Amede pointed out that the ferry service was the lifeline for Tobagonians, who have been losing millions of dollars in business. Committee member Franklin Khan tried to comfort Amede, telling him he felt their pains and Government was trying its best to get the matter sorted out in the shortest possible time.

During a discussion with Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan in 2016, Amede said they were assured the owners of the Super Fast Galicia would not pull the vessel out of service because they needed the money. He said the association then began hearing rumours that the chartered agreement for the Galicia was not signed.

“Everything was working fine with the Galicia. There were one or two minor problems. We made recommendations for the Galicia to stay, lo and behold it was gotten rid of and we are faced with a crisis that some of us are still under stress up to today,” he said.

He said he remained perplexed that the Ocean Flower 2 was bought on June 26 but the Government made the announcement of its contract on June 30.

“We believe that something is wrong in the procurement of those vessels.”

Amede outlined a list of problems on the cargo vessel, ranging from an infestation of rats, roaches and mites, inadequate washroom and bathroom facilities, no food and water on sale, no sick room or air conditioning. He said truckers also have to sleep on the ground during its nine hours of sailing.

“If we had a choice the Cabo Star would not have been here today because of the problems we are faced with. We should not be living like that in this modern society.”

Committee vice chairman Rushton Paray told Amede that Sinanan, in his testimony on Tuesday, said when the proposal for the Galicia came to him he was not in position to make the taxpayers pay a $200 million bill over the next five years.

Paray asked Amede what message he would send to Sinanan to bring a resolution to the crisis, taking into consideration if the Cabo Star’s contract is broken taxpayers would have to pay a heavy price.

Amede said, “Replace the boat because it is definitely not working for us. My recommendation to him would be get rid of that vessel and get rid of it now.”

Amede said seeing that Government has expressed an interest in buying a vessel, they should ensure it is custom built to suit their needs and its sailing time is four hours.

Association vice president Robert Tardieu also queried if the Cabo Star was certified.

“What measures were taken to allow people to travel on the vessel? Who is providing the insurance? Who issued the extension of the certificate for the Ro-Ro vessel, because it was only valid for three months? All these questions need to be answered.”

Tardieu said as far as he understood “people who are travelling on that vessel are doing so, unless I am mistaken, at their own risk.”

Tobago hoteliers are making a case for compensation over the losses they have suffered as a result of the sea bridge crisis.

Appearing before the Joint Select Committee of Parliament yesterday, Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association vice president Carol Ann Birchwood-James said the past five months have been harrowing for Tobago, with “families being abandoned on the ports with no food or communication while boats were delayed or cancelled due to mechanical problems.”

She said many visitors were forced to return to their hotels after delays and cancellations and were accommodated at reduced cost. She said the sea bridge problem evolved to bigger issues, with even the air bridge affected, but conceded that the “airlift on the domestic route is inadequate and cannot be fixed without fixing the sea bridge.”

The cancellation of the Ocean Flower 2 contract sent “shock waves,” and there were many cancellations as a result, she said.

“The situation on the sea bridge is catastrophic for the tourism industry, which saw tourists clamouring for refunds. Businesses are unable to pay banks, utility bills and staff,” she said.

In light of this, she said the association was recommending that “the Government consider compensation for losses, that Government intervene with a moratorium on hotel taxes and all taxes to stay foreclosure of tourism plants by commercial banks” and that the association have a presence on the Caribbean Airlines and Port Authority boards. The association also wants input in the procurement of any future passenger vessel.

While the association is yet to quantify losses as a result of the fiasco, president Chris James clarified that the TT$25 million figure which he had given earlier was “just for the four-month period when we had cancellations.”

The situation is so bad that when people book now they first check whether they have a flight or ferry ticket because “it was becoming too expensive for refunds through the credit card system.”

What is more difficult to estimate, James said, is the loss of confidence of people who may no longer view Tobago as their choice of destination.

“We don’t have the ability to work out costs but you talking many many millions of dollars,” James said.

Bed and Breakfast Association president Kaye Trotman said one to three rooms are now occupied per month as a result of the travel crisis.

“That is a significant blow, there is no way to survive on that. It is because people cannot get to you.”

The inconsistency of the ferry service and CAL flights because of the sea bridge problems had “nullified the Stay to get Away Project launched by the Ministry of Tourism.”

Shirley Cooke, of the Restaurant Association, said “this is a man-made crisis.” Since the departure of the Galicia, she said “we looking at losses of TT$20 million and that is conservative.”

Cooke lamented that no one saw the sea bridge as an essential service.

“The Minister may not understand the full impact on the economy, when you tabulate the cost Tobago suffered tremendously economically.”

The business owners told the committee with occupancy now down to under 25-30 per cent survival is hard.

“People tried to keep staff three days a week, we have asked utility companies for payment plans and properties are in trouble,” James said.

But the ray of light on the horizon is a meeting with the Bankers Association on September 20.

Minority member of the Tobago House of Assembly Farley Augustine wants the Port Authority of T&T board fired and “perhaps if it were my decision to make I will drop the board in the Bocas and ask them to swim.”

Augustine, who joined Minority Leader Watson Duke in a protest swim from Scarborough to Toco last week to highlight the sea bridge problems, made the comment yesterday before the Joint Select Committee looking into procurement and maintenance of the Cabo Star and Ocean Flower 2 on the inter-island service.

Augustine also suggested that works and transport Minister Rohan Sinanan be fired over the sea bridge fiasco.

According to Farley, it would be inconceivable for New York City governors to sit and watch the subway down for a week. Similarly, he said “the Central Government must see the inter-island service as a critical service akin to the subway in New York or London or the red band going to Arima.”

Both he and committee member Wade Mark were critical of THA Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles’ failure to attend the session. Farley said under the THA Act, the THA “has responsibility for infrastructure, including sea and air transportation.”

Tobago, he said, “cannot lay claims to greater autonomy without first laying claim to greater responsibility. We must take responsibility for what happened, the Executive Council has failed us on this matter, they have ducked the issue all along.”

Augustine said the ferry crisis had damaged the Tobago economy but it also affected Trinidadian businesses.

“We are purchasing goods and services from Trinidad businesses, truckers spend TT$100,000 every single day, that is a significant loss in economic terms.”

He said many other people were affected, including students, people wanting to join the police service and who could not make it to write their exams, as well as those travelling to Trinidad to attend to medical issues, because he said it was “impossible for the hospital in Tobago to provide 100 per cent of the medical treatment required.”

Augustine suggested the committee put “punitive measures” in place against those who “damage the public purse,” suggesting the crisis on the sea bridge was “created, it did not happen by accident, it was not an emergency.”

ST JOHN’S, Antigua—Monster Hurricane Irma, the most powerful hurricane ever recorded over the Atlantic Ocean, is still pummelling parts of the northern Caribbean with its Category 5 winds and heavy rains.

Irma made landfall on Barbuda in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and initial reports indicate that roofs of homes and other buildings were blown off by the hurricane packing 185 mile-per-hour winds.

While there was similar damage reported in Antigua, the National Office of Disaster Services (NODS) said in a statement issued around 8 am yesterday that “the preliminary report is indicating that damage across Antigua and Barbuda is minimal”.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne issued a statement after 9 am, indicating that Antigua had indeed been spared the worst, as he gave thanks to God for his mercy on the twin-island nation and congratulated residents for heeding his warnings to treat Hurricane Irma with absolute seriousness and ensure they were as prepared as possible.

“The forecast was that Antigua would be devastated, our infrastructure demolished, people killed and our economy destroyed. In the light of day, the picture is very different. In Antigua, no life has been lost—all the people survived. The guests in our hotels are all well. Even our animals were protected from this massive storm,” he said.

Browne announced that flights into and out of Antigua would resume by 2 pm yesterday.

“We received feedback from the District Disaster Co-ordinators, who have already begun some assessment. An initial situation overview is being conducted which will give an indication of the damage and where pockets of damage are concentrated,” it said.

However, NODS did acknowledge that there is still no clear picture of the extent of the damage in Barbuda, as there had been no communication with Barbuda since 12.30 am.

“We are presently trying to re-establish communication with Barbuda to get a clearer picture of the situation there…Before communication was lost, we got reports of several buildings having damaged roofs, [including] the police station. The Barbuda Weather Station, monitored by the Met Office, recorded sustained winds of 119 mph and gusts of 150 mph,” it reported.

After impacting Barbuda, Irma headed towards the French Caribbean islands of St Martin and St Barthélemy.

The French government has confirmed widespread flooding and electrical blackouts on both islands.

In St Martin, government offices—the most sturdy on the island—were partly destroyed, the fire station damaged and several roofs were blown off. The island has been without electricity since 6 am yesterday.

“We know that the four most solid buildings on the island have been destroyed which means that more rustic structures have probably been completely or partially destroyed,” French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said.

In St Barthélemy, firefighters had to take refuge on the first floor of the fire station which was under a metre of water; several homes have been damaged and roofs blown off and there is a total blackout.

At 8 am, the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) in Miami said the eye of Irma had passed over St Martin, while the northern eyewall was pounding Anguilla.

By 2 pm, the extremely dangerous core of the hurricane was passing over the northernmost Virgin Islands.

At that time, Hurricane Irma was about 20 miles east northeast of St Thomas, US Virgin Islands and 90 miles east of San Juan, Puerto Rico, moving west northwest at 16 miles per hour.

“On the forecast track, the extremely dangerous core of Irma will continue to move over portions of the Virgin Islands during the next couple of hours, pass near or just north of Puerto Rico this afternoon or tonight, pass near or just north of the coast of the Dominican Republic Thursday, and be near the Turks and Caicos and southeastern Bahamas late Thursday,” the NHC said.

More than 2,000 illegal firearms, mostly pistols and revolvers and approximately 37,000 rounds of assorted ammunition have been recovered by the police in the past 36 months.

Most of the illegal guns come through the South American mainland originating from North America.

This was disclosed yesterday by acting ASP Vernly Gift of the Organised Crime, Narcotics and Firearms Bureau (OCNFB) during the T&T Police Service’s weekly media briefing.

Giving a breakdown, Gift said in total 2,158 firearms were recovered from January 2015 to August 2017, “In 2015, 691…in 2016, 765 and from January 2017 to August 31 2017, 702…of the nine divisions, the majority of seizures were made in the Northern, Western and Southern divisions.”

Gift also said that during the period January 2016 to August 31 2016, a total of $109,637,067 in cocaine and marijuana were seized, while in 2017 during the same period, $30,727,305 were seized.

He said that despite the fact that the T&T Police Service (TTPS) has had notable success in the recovery of illegal arms and ammunition, it is difficult to measure the quantity of firearms entering the country.

“Whilst the threat of firearms is real and ever so evident, the effects of the narcotic scourge is equally as devastating and contribute to the loss and diminishing quality of life locally,” Gift said.

With respect to marijuana eradication exercises, police have increased its initiative from 29 exercises in 2016 from January to August 31 to 41 exercises in the same period this year.

“In 2016 233,330 fully grown trees were destroyed while this year same period 1,108,737 fully grown trees were destroyed...a 41 per cent increase in exercises and 375 per cent increase in trees being destroyed,” Gift said.

When asked if the Police Service had full co-operation with the Customs and Excise Division with respect to carrying out exercises at the respective ports of entry throughout T&T, Gift replied: “Yes. We often have meetings and they are fully cooperative”

He, however, could not give any statistics with regards to the amount of illegal firearms and narcotics seized from those respective ports of entities.

“The effort in drug supply reduction by local agencies such as Customs and Excise, T&T Coast Guard, security agencies at all ports of entry should not go unnoticed and for this the TTPS commends them for their efforts,” Gift said.

New Prisons Commissioner William Alexander says the Prison Service will be updating the technology used to safeguard the prisons in wake of recent posting of videos on social media by inmates.

Yesterday, a video of several inmates arguing with cell phones and one with an unidentified object in his hand was posted on social media.

One of the inmates was heard verbally abusing another prisoner while telling him to leave his cell.

Another video posted last week saw two inmates rolling on the ground, wrestling in front of a prison cell.

In an interview yesterday, Alexander said the two prisoners in the first video were interviewed and they claimed they were wrestling.

“The inmates were interviewed and they said they were wrestling but we have rules and regulations and their movements were restricted. The prevalence of these inmates with phones and Facebook is as though somebody has an agenda. I don’t want to venture but to tarnish the image of the service,” he said.

Williams said because of the updated technology the inmates were able to get through the blocks used at the prison.

He said the officers have already started some searches for cellphones and other devices. He said, however, he did want to alert anyone on when the searches of the prison would be conducted.

“It will alert other persons in addition and we have identified the inmates involved all who took pictures who post them and sent them out,” he said.

Williams said he would do everything possible to make the prisons as safe as he could.

“This commissioner, William Alexander, I love T&T and I will do all in my ability and my power to make the improvements necessary to make sure the safety of T&T and these things that are causing anxiety and comfort we need to deal with and there are challenges and all who are willing to make a contribution,” he said.

He said prison officers have been trying to teach inmates to gather a new perspective on life than to destroy and hurt people.

Meanwhile, the Prison Officers’ Association has called for an investigation into the video and to hold any member of staff accountable.

A release from the association said the officers were disgusted by the apparent negligence of members of staff which allowed this atrocity to occur in the video circulating on social media.

“As a staff representative organisation we cannot stress enough that the members of staff who contributed to this must be held to account for this act of negligence.

The responsibility of the organisation to hold in safe custody surely was being flaunted and undermined since clearly this altercation could have resulted in the injury or even death of the offenders, the release said.