Most Government ministers were mum yesterday on negative ratings received by their administration and leader in their second year of office - but the Opposition wasn’t silent.

For yesterday’s second anniversary of the PNM Government, a poll by T&T Guardian-commissioned pollster Louis Bertrand, of HHB and Associates Limited, showed 83 per cent of respondents believe T&T is going the wrong way.

The poll also showed that 32 per cent of respondents approved of the job Dr Keith Rowley was doing as Prime Minister, in comparison to 43 per cent approval for Kamla Persad-Bissessar as Opposition Leader.

“Two years ago, Dr (Keith) Rowley convinced T&T that he could lead our country. I warned the country he had no plan and no ideas,” Persad-Bissessar said via statement after low ratings on the People’s National Movement (PNM) Government were unveiled in the media.

“As a former prime minister myself, I can confirm the job does not allow you to just fly off without serious consideration as to what is happening here at any given time.”

Persad-Bissessar was particularly alluding to Rowley’s absence from T&T. The PM is in the US for medical check-ups and is due home Monday, and so missed the ratings and polls.

However, feedback from within his administration was minimal yesterday. The usual weekly post-Cabinet media briefing (where some Ministers are often available) wasn’t held yesterday.

Acting PM Colm Imbert also didn’t immediately reply to queries on the poll, nor did PNM deputy leader Rohan Sinanan. Other frontline Ministers said they didn’t see the poll as they’d been in Cabinet all day yesterday and several PNM party officials referred queries to “... Government people.”

However, the T&T Guardian was able to confirm some Ministers did exchange brief conversations on the polls/ratings after Cabinet ended.

But Persad-Bissessar accused Rowley of “running away whilst the nation is in crisis.”

“Dr Rowley would be very aware of the questions he would face from the media, pollsters and the society on his second anniversary in Government. Well the polls are out, the media are asking questions and the society is speaking out - and as planned, he’s absent. The Prime Minister has run away.”

She said it was clear to the UNC, “as it was to many of the high-ranking members of his own party two years ago, that the man lacked the compassion, leadership skills ​and vision to move T&T forward.”

“Two years later, 75 per cent of the nation thinks the Government has failed because of runaway crime, that Dr Rowley has chosen to put citizens on the bread line by cutting jobs instead of diversifying the economy. Two years later, Dr Rowley has taken the country in the wrong direction, because of his incompetence as a leader - and now he’s run away while T&T is in crisis.”

Two political analysts yesterday urged Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to take a firmer grip on his Cabinet in order to rebuild the population’s confidence.

Their call follows the results of the T&T Guardian-commissioned Louis Bertrand poll on Government’s two-year tenure in office, which revealed the country was deemed to be “going in the wrong direction” under the People’s National Movement administration by the majority of respondents.

The findings of the poll conducted by Bertrand’s HHB and Associates showed this to be the view of a startling 83 per cent of respondents. Crime and violence was ranked as the single most pressing problem facing T&T by 66 per cent of respondents.

Political analyst Prof John La Guerre yesterday agreed that crime had worsened under Rowley’s stewardship.He suggested that the PM needs to re-assess his Cabinet and bring a few “mature ministers” to manage the country.

“The Government needs to have a firm plan as to what they are going to do in the present and in going forward, which should be communicated to the public.”

He said the Government was currently stumbling from one day to next and there were too many mistakes and missteps in the last 24 months.

“There just have been too many glitches in the Government and people are losing confidence in their ability to grapple with the crime and violence that is stalking our land.They need to do better,” La Guerre said.

If the Government fails to address the concerns of the people, Le Guerre said this “could lead to unconventional forms of protests, especially over crime” in the coming months.

Political analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath also expressed similar sentiments, saying crime and violence were the most pressing issues affecting citizens.

Ragoonath said leading up the 2015 general election, Rowley had given a commitment to fight corruption and noted it was recently shocking to hear him describe the deal involving the Cabo Star and Ocean Flower 2 as being crooked.

“So if the Prime Minister has indicated this which happened under his watch, clearly all the things he had promised to get done they are not doing it. Dr Rowley had also promised and campaigned that they would get a handle on crime and they have failed in that regard. This is why people are of the view that they are not going in the right direction,” Ragoonath said.

In going forward, Ragoonath said the PM “has to take a firmer grip on his Cabinet,” to show that they can get the job done and rebuild the population’s confidence.

A 17-year-old from Aranguez, who allegedly went missing after eloping with her 28-year-old boyfriend last month, has surrendered to police.

The T&T Guardian understands that after the teenager read an exclusive report in Tuesday’s edition of this newspaper on her husband Mitchum Deosingh’s arrest over their marriage and her subsequent disappearance, she decided to go to police to clarify the issue.

The teenager contacted her husband’s attorney Nikolas Ali and the pair went to the Barataria Police Station yesterday morning to make a report.

Contacted yesterday, Ali said the teenager gave a statement to investigators in which she claimed she was never missing. She allegedly said she decided to leave her relatives’ home and stay by a friend after police ordered her to return there after she attempted to move out with Deosingh on August 27. She allegedly said her relatives were aware of her decision and the location where she was staying.

After giving the statement, the teen was allowed to leave the station with Ali and return to her husband.

On Monday, Deosingh, a mechanic, was arrested by detectives of the Child Protection Unit, who mistakenly believed that the marriage was illegal. He was released the following day after his lawyer pointed out that the Miscellaneous Provisions (Marriage) Act, which raised the marriage age to 18, is yet to be be proclaimed.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi has said that the proclamation will take place soon.

“The proclamation is just awaiting the finalization of the forms which Parliamentary Council and Registrar General has just provided. The issue will then go to Cabinet for its consideration,” Al-Rawi said in an interview on Tuesday.

In a interview on Tuesday, Deosingh explained that he met his wife in December last year and they decided to get married after a seven-month relationship. The couple allegedly informed his wife’s relatives of their plans but they were strongly opposed to it.

Under the Hindu Marriage Act, which will be repealed when the new legislation is eventually proclaimed, parental permission is only required when children are under 14-years-old.

On August 23, the couple eloped with the assistance of a pundit from Bamboo Settlement, Valsayn, in the presence of two witnesses.

Deosingh said several days after the ceremony he and his wife went to the Barataria Police Station to seek assistance in retrieving her clothes and personal items from her home.

However, he said police intervened and began questioning the validity of their marriage. They later returned his wife back to her relatives, but did not arrest Deosingh until this week.

Energy Minister Franklin Khan yesterday defended the People’s National Movement’s (PNM) administration during its first two years in office, as he acknowledged there was bound to be a popularity fall-out due to the trying economic times and hard decisions which had to be made as a result.

However, he believes the party has not lost the favour of its core supporters and denied it was a worrying development for the party.

Questioned on the findings of the T&T Guardian-commissioned Louis Bertrand poll that public support for the PNM had waned in the past two years, Khan said, “We are in an economic downturn, so obviously when you do not have the goods and services to share with the population there will some level of disappointment. But to say that the party has lost popularity, at its core level, I don’t think so.”

Asked to comment specifically on the findings of the poll which reflected that the majority of population was dissatisfied with how the PNM was running the country, Khan promised to respond shortly.

“The actual polls are being studied now in detail and the party will be making a statement shortly.”

Khan noted too that he only became aware of the poll yesterday morning.

“Polling and statistics are very scientific events and you have to understand what the poll is telling you, what questions are asked and you have to do a clinical analysis of what it is. A lot of the polls conducted in T&T are not truly scientific polls based on scientific sampling theory.”

A statistician himself, Khan added, “I did courses at the university and I understand what it is. I have to drill deeper down into the poll and understand what it is asking and understand the numbers that are churning out, whether it is statistically valid.”

Pressed to say if the PNM had conducted any polls of their own to rate their performance during the last two years, Khan said he was unaware of such activity, as this was directly under Rowley’s portfolio and he could not speak to it.

Asked if he could offer a rating of the party and its performance thus far, Khan said while discussions have been had with others, it was not something he wanted to divulge at this time.

However, Khan stressed that Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley had not run away as was being claimed by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

He defended his political leader, saying “Dr. Rowley is out of the country for medical reasons. It is not a dereliction of duty.”

Questioning why this was hard for the Opposition to understand, Khan added, “He has gone for his annual check-up. It has nothing to do with a poll coming out or what issues are facing the country.”

Noting that he himself recently had to undergo medical treatment, Khan added, “Your health and your family comes before anything else, so he was just taking care of his health in a cautionary manner based on what the doctors had prescribed when he last went up, that he should come for an annual check-up and this is the time for it.”

Also asked for an update on the medical condition of Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie, who remains hospitalised at the St. Clair Medical Centre, Khan, offered, “I am aware he had a medical event and he is hospitalised at St. Clair.”

Khan said all other details regarding Cuffie’s condition were being handled by Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh.

Editor’s note: Louis Bertrand and his HHB and Associates unit continue to be T&T’s leading team of pollsters and were the only ones to successfully call the seats the People’s National Movement would have won in the 2015 general elections. Bertrand, who is the firm's managing director, has been in the business for over 28 years and has done work for several media companies and government organisations.

With the most powerful hurricane ever to form in the Atlantic, Category 5 Hurricane Irma is approaching the east coast of the United States and Trinidadians in Florida are becoming more and more nervous.

The hurricane, which is expected to hit landfall this weekend, has caused scores of people to evacuate their homes and some of them, including Trinidadians, are said to have driven all the way up to North to Georgia and New Jersey.

Trinidadian Cindy Saroop McNeal, who lives at Boynton Beach, Florida, one mile from the coast, told the T&T Guardian yesterday that she has decided to stay at home with her husband and two small children, ages seven and three.

Mc Neal said she experienced a Category 3 hurricane before and believes she can survive Hurricane Irma.

“I am still hoping that by the time Hurricane Irma approaches us it would have downgraded to a lesser category. My home’s foundation is concrete so I am not quite worried. However, I will be putting up the shutters to block off all the windows,” McNeal said.

McNeal said all schools have been closed since yesterday as a state of emergency has been declared by the governor. “Right now we are stocking up on food, water supply, batteries, flash lights, candles and first aid kits. All gas stations have been ordered to stay open. It is very scary at the moment. A lot of people are scattering all over. It is scary.”

Sharing her experience of her last hurricane, McNeal said she had to dodge fallen trees and live power lines while on her way to work during the category 3 event.

“Everyone’s roofs were on my vehicle…fences were gone…trees fallen all over…flood in front my house at waist heigh. It was really horrifyingly bad. I still had to go to work and remembered dodging power lines and trees on the roadway,” McNeal said.

“Right now all my friends have left Florida already on their way to Georgia and New Jersey. I have chosen to stay because I believe my family and I will be okay, my house is strong enough and I don’t have shingles on my house so I really should be okay,” she added.

According to AccuWeather.com’s website, Hurricane Irma is expected to unleash destructive winds and rain which will cause flooding across Florida starting from tomorrow.

The current track of Irma will bring the most severe impacts to the eastern side of the state, including Miami, West Palm Beach, Melbourne, Daytona Beach and Jacksonville. Tropical-storm-force conditions could be felt as far west as Tampa and Key West.

See Page A18

In the aftermath of Category 5 Hurricane Irma, Barbuda has been totally devastated and will need in excess of US$150 million to rebuild.

Yesterday, many Islanders grappled to get wifi access to make contact with relatives to at least inform them that they are alive and well.

In Barbuda, according to Prime Minister Gaston Browne in an interview on CNC’s Morning Brew with host Hema Ramkissoon, all telecommunications have been disrupted.

He described sheer sadness as he was being airlifted in a military helicopter from Antigua to Barbuda yesterday evening to get a first-hand view of the damage sustained.

“I was horrified and saddened to see the damages in Barbuda. About 90 per cent of all infrastructure have been destroyed and it will take a very long time for us to rebuild, months into years,” Browne said.

He said he has already approached Caricom and international bodies for help as he believes it would take in excess of US$150 million to rebuild.

“Right now Barbuda is uninhabitable and we are relying on temporary relief. People are bunking in small places, one of which is a concrete building that houses a television station.”

A Trinidadian family residing in Rhode Island in the United States, who wished not to be identified, said they were desperately trying to get in touch with their relatives in St Maarten but were having great difficulty as all communication had been lost on the island. Their relatives have been residing there for over a decade.

Tortola, one of the mostly populated islands of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), also suffered severe infrastructural damage as its hospital, fire station and police stations were identified as being completely destroyed by the hurricane.

One resident, Germain Smith, managed to connect to wifi and took to his Facebook page and in an emotional live video feed to show some of the damage.

“Everything mash up…Nothing saved…nothing…We need help,” Smith cried.

He said he and his son had to run from their home to save their lives and were forced to sleep in a corridor on Wednesday night.

Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, expressed solidarity and offered support and assistance to critical post disaster assessment using ECLAC’s established Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA) methodology.

The United Nations donor agencies in the Caribbean, including USAID/OFDA, ECHO, DFID, Global Affairs Canada and others, are coordinating their aid in light of the impact of Hurricane Irma and in readiness for the approaching Hurricane Jose.

As Hurricane Irma is expected to make its landfall in the United States this weekend, Caribbean Airlines (CAL) has cancelled a dozen flights directly affected.

All flights in and out of Kingston and Montego Bay, Jamaica; Nassau, Bahama; Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Orlando in Florida on September 10 (Sunday) were cancelled.

Passengers have been advised to contact its reservation offices for rebooking on the next available service. Affected customers travelling on September 10, 2017 will be permitted to change or cancel their reservations without penalty subject to the following conditions: Passengers must have a confirmed ticket issued before September 10, 2017; Passengers who choose to have their tickets refunded, must do so by September 17, 2017; Passengers who choose to change their reservations, must complete their travel by September 17, 2017, unless travel on the original booking was after this date.

Travel must be in the same cabin as the original.

CAL, however, made it clear that the airline will not be responsible for arrangements or transportation to/from an alternate airport or hotel/overnight expenses incurred by affected passengers.

FLIGHT ROUTING

BW 414Kingston to Nassau
BW 415Nassau to Kingston
BW 031Kingston to Fort Lauderdale
BW 030Fort Lauderdale to Montego Bay
BW 039Montego Bay to Fort Lauderdale
BW 036Fort Lauderdale to Kingston
BW 484Port of Spain to Miami
BW 483Miami to Port of Spain
BW480Port of Spain to Fort Lauderdale
BW481Fort Lauderdale to Port of Spain
BW482Port of Spain to Orlando
BW485Orlando to Port of Spain

MORE INFO

Customers are advised to visit www.caribbean-airlines.com and check their flight status before going to the airport or call the Caribbean Airlines Call Centres for further details:
USA, Canada & St. Maarten + 1 800 920 4225
Caribbean & Guyana + 1 800 744 2225
Trinidad & Tobago and Suriname + 1 868 625 7200
Caracas + 58 212 335 7405
Jamaica (International calls) + 1 800 523 5585
Jamaica (Local calls) + 1 888 359 2475
All other locations + 1 800 523 5585

Stephen Broadbridge, son of murdered ex-curator Dr Claire Broadbridge, has no intention of giving the Police Service months in bringing his mother’s killer/s to justice.

He also stated that he had zero confidence in Government’s ability to fight escalating crime and violence taking T&T.

Broadbridge, 80, was murdered last Saturday during a home invasion at her Cascade home.

Her throat had been slit, and the assailants apparently set furniture on the ground of the floor of the home in an attempt to burn down the two-storey building.

Yesterday, throngs of residents along Fondes Amandes, where Broadbridge lived, lit flambeaus at dusk in solidarity for the murdered woman, who was an outstanding member of the community.

Today, Claire Broadbridge, a former director of the National Museum and Art Gallery will be laid to rest.

While the police have been withholding information from Broadbridge, he said he hoped law enforcement officers “would not take months” to conduct their investigations and bring the killer/ killers to justice.

“I would like them to have an arrest soon. Not take months. I know the time my mother was killed was in the day and she had people working in her yard. All I care about is the end result. Once they (Police Service) are being affective…if they are not, I would be most upset.”

He said while the detection rate of the police was poor, the resources allocated to the case have been good.

“But I would imagine they would narrow down what they have to do. I have done a few things for them including locating security cameras along the road. Quite a few faces were seen in the footage.”

Broadbridge said since the killing, a lot of people have expressed fear, while others are furious.

Having to identify his mother’s body at the crime scene and before the autopsy was performed on Tuesday, Broadbridge said this “weakened” him and created a lot of stress just imaging the fear, pain and suffering his mom faced at the hands of her savage and heartless attackers.

Yesterday, Broadbridge supported the result of Louis Bertrand’s poll, which said that after two years in office the People’s National Movement led Government did not have a grip on crime and violence, which respondents agreed was the most pressing problem facing T&T.

“I have zero confidence in the Government when it comes to crime. I don’t think they have a plan. There are simple solutions that have been ignored and rejected. They have had more years in government that any other political party and therefore, I hold them more accountable for what is happening. They are in the same position that they have always been,” Broadbridge said.

If the Government fails to get a handle on crime, Broadbridge predicted a path of “steady decay” for our country and citizens.
 

With tensions high in Fifth Company, Princes Town, following multiple shootings and the killing of Lance Corporal Marcus Gay, Southern Division Task Force police officers and personnel from the T&T Regiment have been deployed in the community.

Residents were still bracing for the return of army officers in the Dougla City area, who they said threatened to wipe out even women and children in their pursuit of Gay’s military issued firearm.

Contacted on the residents’ claim, T&T Defence Force senior public affairs officer, Flight Lieutenant Monique Sprott would only say that the “TTPS (Police Service) is currently investigating.”

Investigators said their probe into the shootings was continuing and they were taking statements with the hope of identifying the shooters soon.

Six people were shot, including Gay, his colleague Cpl Mark Blunt, brothers Victor and Vincent Brown, Gerard Graham and church member Renwick St Clair.

All of the victims remain warded at the San Fernando General Hospital up to yesterday with two of them under police guard.

The Browns’ younger brother, Isaiah Gibson, said they were doing better and Vincent has been talking. He said residents were a bit calmer when they learned that their injured neighbours were doing better.

Police said that around 11.15 pm on Monday, St Mary’s officers responded to a report of a shooting in Fifth Company and found Blunt lying on the roadway with gunshot wounds to his leg. Gay was lying in the grass at the side of an unfinished house with multiple gunshot wounds.

Officers also found Victor, 30, with a gunshot wound to his head and Vincent, 26, with a wound to his chest, Gerard Graham, suffered a gunshot wound to his hand and St Clair had been shot in his leg. They were all taken to the Princes Town District Health Facility where Gay was pronounced dead.

The soldiers were on reportedly on surveillance duty when they went to a wake of Angela Willie, the mother of Victor and Vincent.

The officers, who were members of an army intelligence unit were working alongside the Southern Division police to locate a suspect, who is a relative of Willie.

They said the suspect was wanted for a murder and assault among other crimes. A 26-year-old man from St Mary is being looked for as part of the police investigation.

​

How did Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley have the confidence to tell citizens that Opposition MP Roodal Moonilal will be brought before the courts?

That’s the question Israel Khan SC has officially put to Acting of Commissioner Police Stephen Williams on Moonilal’s behalf. Khan sent a letter on the issue to Williams on Tuesday.

The move is the fall-out from the remarks Rowley made about Moonilal when the PM spoke at a media briefing last Friday before he left for a US medical check-up. Rowley alluded then to a warrant he claimed Moonilal was “under” and also alluded to “when” Moonilal “appears in court” under the warrant.

Khan prefaced his concerns on the matter by noting a June 7 letter which he’d also sent to the CoP on Moonilal’s behalf over a newspaper report, which stated Moonilal was a person of interest in a police probe and his premises were searched concerning this.

Khan said Moonilal ought to have been informed of the nature of the investigation and provision of the details to the media indicated a “conspiracy between the executive and the police service” to damage Moonilal.

But following Rowley remarks last Friday, Khan said in Tuesday’s letter, “Unfortunately, it appears the fears of my client may have been legitimate based on statements by the Prime Minister.”

While Rowley had said his Government has no involvement in law enforcement matters, Khan added, “In the same breath, the Prime Minister referred to my client by his name and as a person ‘who has questions to answer about the handling of public monies and for which information was provided in a court of T&T and the court being so satisfied allowed warrants to be issued.’”

Khan quoted Rowley as saying,“‘What Dr. Moonilal was doing was protecting himself because as he named others, he carefully did not name himself while currently being under warrant – when he appears in court under the warrant that now exists he will be a victim of this same development.’”

Khan told Williams, “We are of the view that by the Prime Minister’s statements, he has indicated to citizens in a sound to those who will hear it, with its content being clear without it being spelt out, that he [Prime Minister] is sure my client will be brought before the court.”

Khan said his client “... Fears that the Prime Minister’s indication to the citizens that my client will be brought before the courts is an indication the Prime Minister is so desirous of such an outcome and may have the influence and the intrusion that compromises the police independence.

“Even the mere mentioning of such investigations by such a highly influential official such as the Prime Minster may amount to intrusion and therefore an unconstitutional action and against the rule of law.”

Khan added, “I think it is only proper that you as the Commissioner of Police make a public statement categorically stating the current state of affairs and how in fact the Prime Minister can make these promises to the citizens that my client will be brought to the courts.”

Khan also told Cop Wiliams, “One of the pillars of police-government relations is full police independence. Police must be immune from government intervention, most importantly in matters regarding the process of investigations.”

The T&T Guardian confirmed there’s been no response from the CoP yet. Williams didn’t answer calls yesterday.

David Woods, a 33-year-old watchman, of Coconut Drive, Valencia, appeared before Senior Magistrate Nanette Forde-John, in the Port of Spain court yesterday charged with the murder of Sheldon Rampersad.

Rampersad, 47, a labourer, of Silver Mill Street, San Juan, was found close to his home, with multiple injuries about his body, on January 13, this year.

He had been allegedly beaten by two assailants and later died at hospital.

Woods, was charged by PC Chad Bushell, of the Homicide Bureau of

Investigations, Region 2, on Friday after advice was received from Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, George Busby, on Thursday.

The matter was adjourned to October 16.

The medical condition of Public Administration and Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie has not been changed as he is still being treated at the St Clair Medical Centre, Port of Spain.

However, he is said to be improving.

There has been no specific announcement by Government about what happened to the former journalist and MP of La Horquetta/Talparo.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh, at a press conference held at the the ministry’s Port-of-Spain office when asked whether Cuffie suffered a stoke as rumoured said, “What I can confirm is that the medical episode that occurred on Tuesday night needed ICU intervention and he is receiving that.”

Giving an update on Cuffie’s condition Deyalsingh said he (Cuffie) “continues to improve” as reported by his doctors up to yesterday morning.

“ I spoke with his doctors around 9.30 am and there has been no change as from yesterday (Thursday) to now (yesterday). They are satisfied with his progress,” the health minister said.

Cuffie’s condition was reported to have stabilised. He began ailing at around 1.30 am at his residence in Port of Spain.

The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in a statement had said Cuffie was receiving medical attention for an undisclosed illness, adding that his doctors were pleased with his progress.

The OPM had said, “His family appreciates the outpouring of prayers and well wishes and thanks everyone for their support as he takes the time to heal.

“We pray for a speedy and full recovery and will provide information as appropriate.”

Cuffie, a former journalist, was said to have suffered a mild stroke a few years ago while he was editor of the TnT Mirror.

Just recently Cuffie announced that CNMG would be closed to make way for a return to TTT with a format of local content. GA

Officials of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) said grade changes made for some students who wrote the CAPE examination were the result of a pre-emptive quality control mechanism and there had been a “deliberate update of information” on the site where the results were released.

This was the explanation offered following complaints from parents and students that result slips given out by schools were completely different from what they saw when they checked the student portal on the day the results were released.

Responding to e-mailed questions from the T&T Guardian, Cleveland Sam, CXC’s Assistant Registrar for Public Information and Customer Service, said while candidates may have received the original results online, it is the corrected preliminary slips that will be reflected on their certificates and any transcripts issued by CXC.

“Corrective and preventive measures are being put in place to ensure that such discrepancies do not occur again,” he said.

Sam did not respond to questions about how the discrepancies occurred in the first place but pointed out that there was “a deliberate update of information on the site.”

Sam explained: “The protected core database is not the same database as the students’ portal space. Therefore, there is no chance of the CXC database being hacked from the students’ portal.”

He did not respond to questions about how the error occurred.

The proposed dates for the release of the results were changed twice by CXC, first from August 12 to August 15, then the actual results were released to the Ministry of Education on August 18 and students received them on August 22.

Within days of going to the students portal to access their results, some students were claiming their grades had changed. In some instances, the grades had improved while others received grades less than what they originally saw.

Parents said school officials advised them to file official queries with CXC but they have to pay for this procedure which is simply a recounting of the marks. Many have chosen to go this route, however, because entry into university is dependent on grades.

Economist and political analyst Indera Sagewan-Alli said her daughter was one of those affected and she wrote to Minister of Education Anthony Garcia and CXC Registrar Glenroy Cumberbatch on the matter but got neither an acknowledgement or response. She has since written a letter to the minister for publication in the press.

Sagewan Alli said she found it unacceptable that the issue was brought to the attention of Garcia three weeks ago but to date he has not acted on it. She said the issue requires the minister’s urgent attention even if it means making an emergency trip to Barbados to meet with CXC officials and she is prepared to hold a protest outside the minister’s office to get action.

Sagewan-Alli has also written to CXC demanding that her daughter’s papers be re-marked,

“The result does not reflect the work she put in and I have no faith that the marking process was fair,” she said.

Asked whether scripts can be remarked Sam said: “Candidates who receive results but are of the opinion that they should have received a better grade in the subject/unit, may request, through the relevant local examinations authority, a review of their scripts.”

Attorney Hilda Goodial has sent legal letters to the Education Minister and the CXC Registrar on behalf of a student who was affected but is yet to get a response. Her client got an ungraded mark in one subject but the grade was subsequently changed. Goodial said her client is also querying other grades.

Students at schools in north, east and central Trinidad were affected by the changes in grades.

Garcia confirmed that several principals had spoken to him about the grade changes and said the ministry had written to CXC asking them to send a delegation to discuss the matter. He could not say when that meeting will take place.

“If people lose confidence in CXC the students will suffer,” he said but it was a very sensitive issue and he does not want to say more until he gets an explanation from CXC.

Education Minister Anthony Garcia yesterday said the date for the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) will be pushed forward for the 2018-2019 academic year.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday at the Ministry of Education’s head office 0n St Vincent Street, in Port-of-Spain, Garcia said the date was brought forward from May to the month of March.

“Cabinet has decided from the academic year 2018-2019 the SEA will be held on the last week of the second term which is March and not May.”

He said the pupils in Standard Four this year would write examination in March in 2019.

“The exam allows access from primary to secondary school and it started in 1962, named Common Entrance. In 2001 the format was changed and SEA was introduced and the exam held towards the end of the second term. In 2012 it was changed to May to give teachers extra time to improve their performance,” he said. Chief education officer Harrilal Seecharam, who attended the press conference, said the date change created time and a process for loading marks, registration, early response to transfers, the reduction of stressful parents and savings of lessons fees.

On the topic of teachers requesting large sums of money for building funds or other school donations, Garcia said: “Parents don’t have to contribute. You are not compelled to do so.” He said efforts were made to assist schools while voluntary contributions can be made by parents.”

Garcia said teachers who were behind on the syllabus and offering lessons, was a cause for concern.

“I was a teacher myself and taught lessons and teachers not teaching the syllabus and it has no evidence of that. in all my years teachers have been working hard. Parents insist on giving private lessons and pressure is brought in my parents. Parents get anxious and are in a state of panic,” he said.

The minister said all ministry stakeholders should unite and work together for the interest of the children

Large numbers of T&T-born residents in Miami and surrounding South Florida areas have evacuated away from the path of Hurricane Irma, which is expected to hit the Florida peninsula between tonight and tomorrow (Sunday).

And T&T-born residents in other areas away from the hurricane's path are also under pressure in preparation for the fall-out.

After ploughing through the Caribbean - killing 14 - Irma was downgraded yesterday from Category Five Category Four (Very Dangerous) status.

En route over Cuba and the Bahamas, Irma was heading for the Florida peninsula with Miami in its direct path. US authorities urged coastal residents particularly to evacuate to avoid deaths.

Among T&T-born residents evacuating from Miami was the family of Irwin Alexander who've lived in the US for over 40 years.

"Properties built as far back as 1982 may be challenged by a Category Five hurricane, even though they may have been upgraded following Hurricane Andrew years ago. Irma is described as being worse than Andrew. Some of the family is already at another location with concrete structure and steel roof," Alexander told the T&T Guardian.

As he spoke, Alexander was completing two days of hurricane preparations: erecting storm shutters, reinforcing fencing and glass fittings. He was packed, readying to leave Miami before midday yesterday.

"Neighbours have left also. Getting out of Miami, however, is the other problem. It usually takes an hour from Miami to West Palm Beach. Yesterday it took me four hours. Today it'll take about eight."

President of the T&T/Florida Diaspora Association Karim Abdul, who lives at Del Ray Beach, said, "At least 1,000 Trinis who live in areas along Irma's path have already left or are leaving. Most are going to Tampa, Orlando or even New York. At this point - around 11 am - the weather is calm, cool and sunny. But we're waiting."

The association was founded in 2007 and is open to the 40,000 Trini-born people who live in Florida. There are 30,000 in South Florida alone, he added. The heaviest T&T concentrations are in Miami (Broward), West Palm Beach, Port St Lucie, Tampa and Orlando.

"People have boarded up and bought supplies - and yes, there's fear. The one good thing, Florida has an excellent system for these things. All we can do is to put up our shutters and lay in supplies for a week - the real issue is after the storm."

Abdul, formerly of South Trinidad, has lived in Florida for 30 years and is retired. He added, "My kids came from Boynton Beach and helped put up my storm windows. My Haitian neighbours gassed up my car for me. Tomorrow (today), I'm going to my kids' place to ride out the storm."

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said staff of T&T's Miami consulate was evacuated already.

Trinis outside Miami are also under siege. Pamela Sobit's family in Tamarac - near Fort Lauderdale - weren't asked to evacuate like residents further south.

"But the storm is so powerful and large it's expected to encompass the whole of Florida so many shelters are opening up all the time," Sobit said.

"We've pulled out our shutters and a lot of people have boarded up with ply board. People are helping each other secure homes. Shelves in all the stores have been cleaned out as we and others prepare to weather this storm. Many gas stations are running out of gas and those who have, the lines are miles long. "

She added, "It will be a rough weekend for Floridians. Please keep us in prayer as we wait out this long, dangerous storm."

The ball is now in the court of the Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard to act on the report of the Police Complaints Authority into the day of Total Policing in March 2015.

Acting National Security Minister Stuart Young told the media yesterday that “the DPP would have to advise as to what or if any charges can come out of it.”

Having completed its investigations more than two years after the incident, the PCA said the detailed report with a total of 21 recommendations had been sent to the Police Commissioner, the DPP and the Police Service Commission.

Young said in addition to advising on charges if any, “the DPP may also advise certain investigative work be done."

The PCA, he said, had to be careful how much information was put into the public domain “because it has to understand its role very carefully. They are not supposed to be making pronouncements. They make recommendations. If they go beyond that remit it can actually affect the infinitive outcome in the end."

Substantive National Security Minister Edmund Dillon returns home later today.

Meantime, member of the Police Service Commission and attorney Martin George says Police Commissioner Stephen Williams must act with urgency on the report from the Police Complaints Authority which has recommended disciplinary and or criminal action against some of the officers who were involved.

George said, “The nation had called repeatedly for the executive of the police officers to deal with rogue officers,” but there has been a lack of “seriousness” in the Police Service to deal with it.

The events of March 23, 2015 he said had engaged the Parliament’s Joint select Committee where several questions were asked about the failure of the Police Service to deal with the issue.

Now that the PCA report is in he said there is no excuse for inaction, “it is not something that the police service can ignore.”

George said although there had been several calls from the population for the service to deal with “rogue officers it appears there is not enough seriousness in the police service to deal with it.”

He repeated his call for an “Internal Affairs unit within the service,” where he said officers will investigate their peers, “unless you do that you will never be able to root out the core that is so rotten within the police service.”

SHALIZA HASSANALI

The date for the country’s 2018 budget will be announced next week by Finance Minister Colm Imbert.

But Imbert assured the budget will be delivered in the House of Representatives before October 30.

“I will be announcing the date soon. Maybe, not today. Maybe some time next week I will be announcing the date for 2018 budget, which will be before 30th of October. Next week I will let you know the date,” said Imbert, who is acting as Prime Minister.

He made the disclosure at a press conference at the Parliament building in Port-of-Spain yesterday.

Imbert said Government had to complete the budget exercise, which is required by law.

He said this exercise must be completed in the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament by October 30th.

The debate in the Houses, Imbert said, will allow the Government to speak about its policy and performance as well as put forward its plans.

“It will speak about what they (Government) would be doing about the issues facing the country and so on. So a lot of that would be coming in the budget statement in itself. So I would prefer not the pre-empt that until the actual budget statement is delivered, which would not be long from now,” Imbert said.

The Government is allowed to spend in October ten per cent of what was spent in the previous year, Imbert said.

Although Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley had indicated that the budget could be delivered in the last week of September, Imbert has kept the date close to his chest.

Asked yesterday how he would describe the upcoming budget in a nutshell, Imbert insisted he would let the media know next week.

Will the budget turn around the disappointment within the citizenry which the polls on Government’s two-year performance published this week have picked up?

Imbert said: “I will let you know during the budget debate about that one.”

The Appropriation Bill has to go to the President Anthony Carmona for his assent before October 30th.

MPs will return to the House of Representatives today after the annual mid-year break.

Probe the Sandals initiative. That request has been made to the Integrity Commission by UNC activist Devant Maharaj who wants an investigation into the Rowley administration's procurement practices regarding award of a management contract for the Tobago Sandals Resort.

Maharaj sent a letter on the matter to Commission chairman Justice Zainool Hosein last Friday.

He said he was concerned about the Sandals matter because of the issues which have arisen from the procurement process for the inter-island ferries.

Submitting a list of reports on the issue from the public domain, Maharaj referenced statements quoting Sandals magnate Gordon "Butch" Stewart as saying that Dr Keith Rowley—while in Opposition—had discussed with him the possibility of Sandals being established in Tobago.

Maharaj said this particular conversation was reported in the media and has not been contested.

"Subsequently in 2016, the newly elected Rowley Administration without any tendering process essentially hand-picked Sandals Resorts to be awarded a management contract of a government-built hotel and will be the recipient of a variety of lucrative concessions.

"From all media reports it appears Government is proceeding with the Sandals arrangement and there has been no question or public enquiry as to how Sandals was selected to be the management service provider."

Maharaj said the public has not been advised if the Central Tenders Board has been involved in the award of this management contract.

He noted the plan involves a government-built hotel/resort, tax concessions, and other concessionary arrangements.

"There has been no disclosure of any Cabinet or any State Agency or entity approval of the awarding of same following a transparent competitive tendering process.

"The events in the public domain that transpired following the announcement of Sandals Resorts being offered the management contract presupposes some procurement process employed by the State to employ the services of Sandals. From all information in the public domain this appears not to be the case."

He said the issue has not been conducted under the new Procurement law, either. And the procurement process in this issue "is markedly different from the process being used by the same administration in an identical project in Trinidad".

Maharaj noted that on August 10, 2016, Udecott published a request for Expressions of Interest for the Design, Finance, Construction and Operation of a luxury hotel on the site of the Ministry of Agriculture at St Clair Circle.

"This raises significant queries regarding the Sandals Tobago proposal: why a similar approach of advertising for Expressions of Interest and Requests for Proposals was not taken in relation to Sandals Tobago.

"Why the shift away from the previous pattern in which the large international hotels were designed, built and fitted/furnished at our expense."

Maharaj claimed the award of a management contract “by invitation” by the administration, to the Sandals Group "after what appears to be a private and singular proposal to Government, goes against all international procurement benchmark standards".

Government officials have said negotiations are still on-going with the Sandals group. There was no indication on when this would be concluded or if ground would be broken on the project by year-end.

Shastri Boodan

Homeowners occupying the Felicity Residential Development are pleading with the relevant authorities to bring some measure of relief to them.

David Martin, chairman and spokesman for the community, said the area was overrun with bush, bandits and lacked basic services such as garbage collection. Armed with brush cutters, Martin and a group of residents started cleaning up the main road into area yesterday morning and launched their own neighbourhood watch group. He said the development has 800 housing lots at Peters Field, Chaguanas, but only 30 lots are occupied.

Martin said there are no basic services because the Estate Management Business Development company and Caroni (1975) Limited did not hand over the development to the Chaguanas Borough Corporation. Martin said because of this there are no clearing of bushes along the roadways, no garbage collection services, Cepep does not operate in the area and there is limited street lighting.

Martin said there was also a lot of criminal activity in the area. He said earlier in 2017 a woman was murdered and her body was dumped 200 feet from his house. Residents claimed that T&TEC came into the community and removed transformers and street lights from the poles and took it to another area, but had not replaced any of the fixtures. The area is also littered with massive pipelines that were for the Beetham Waster Water Project. Stefan Lai said bandits can hide in these pipes and rob residents. Lai said he and his wife are living in fear of being robbed and assaulted.

Mayor backs residents

Chaguanas Mayor Gopaul Boodhan, who was part of the exercise, said he stood in solidarity with the residents. Boodhan wants the relevant authorities to hand over the the development to the Chaguanas Borough Corporation so the necessary work can be done. Boodhan also made an appeal to landowners to clean up their empty lots. Boodhan said the Chaguanas police also needs additional manpower to police the rapidly expanding borough.

Raphael John-Lall

Graduates of the Queen’s Royal College (QRC) have made their contribution around the world says President Anthony Carmona.

“I have always been a very strong advocate of nationalism and regionalism. I have seen how vibrant intellects from QRC have been able to engage the world with a level of competence. Every single life mentioned (of inductees) that has left us can be a block buster movie of human spirit and human resilience,” he said.

Carmona spoke on Friday night at the 6th QRC Hall of Honour Induction Ceremony at the Central Bank Auditorium, Port-of-Spain.

Fifteen past students of QRC were inducted. Out of this, seven were inducted posthumously and the other eight continue to make their contributions to society.

Some of the inductees who collected their awards include Lutalo Masimba aka Brother Resistance, Dr Merlyn Price and Prof Emeritus Felix Durity.

“All of these men have contributed in defining ways to shape the social, economic, political and cultural tapestry of this great nation, touching lives locally and internationally in an undeniable way.”

Carmona said QRC graduates will continue to make contribution in all fields.

“My wish for this College is that it will continue to grow, thrive and flourish even though your hall does not have a ceiling because the sky is the ceiling. Produce more distinguished CEOs, olympic athletes, diplomats, media personalities, entrepreneurs and innovators. Each generation that enters this institution must be able to supersede that which came before,” he said. (See Page A 16)