kalifa.clyne@guardian.co.tt

Taxpayers will pay an estimated $3.2 million (TT) to local consulting firm KPMG in its search for a new Commissioner of Police (CoP) and new Deputy Commissioner of Police.

The search has already begun with advertisements of the positions placed in local newspapers from September 4 to 29.

The funding for the search came from the Police Service Commission's budgetary provision for "other contracted services" for financial year 2017. This provision was revised and increased from $2.5 million to $4.55 million in order to facilitate the search for a new CoP.

No one has held the substantive post since 2012, when Stephen Williams was appointed as Acting Commissioner of Police, a position for which he has received 11 six-month extensions since that time.

Williams is expected to apply for the substantive post.

The Guardian understands that last month the Police Service Commission (PSC) contacted the Service Commissions Department regarding outstanding payments for the firm.

The firm has already submitted invoices for several deliverables, including monitoring and evaluation consultancy services to operationalise the new performance appraisal framework for the commissioner and deputy commissioners of police, and a public perception and satisfaction survey of the general public.

The firm is expected to supply the PSC with recruitment process guidelines, job competency models, application forms, feedback documents, prospectus of the Police Service, advertisement of vacancies, list of applicants and a list of eligible and ineligible applicants.

Only this week, the PSC published a vacancy notice for the positions of commissioner and deputy commissioner in the daily newspaper.

•The advertisement said the applicants must possess "a strong work ethic, thrive on challenges, be committed to reducing the level of crime within the country and dedicated to providing outstanding public service".

•It also said the applicants should be proficient in leading and managing large, complex law enforcement organisation with high public visibility.

The last such recruitment process cost the Government a reported $4 million dollars, paid to foreign consultants Penn State university, who were retained by the PSC to assist in the recruitment process.

When the position was first advertised in 2007, it was reported that 41 people applied for the job, four were locals.

The payment of a reported $4 million to Penn State had come under criticism at the time from criminologist Prof Ramesh Deosaran. That same figure was reported as $2.3 million in Parliament hansard by then Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner during a motion to notify the President to approve Dwayne Gibbs as Commissioner of Police. The Guardian has not been able to confirm the actual figure.

Deosaran, at the time, said he believed the PSC needed to be re-examined because the evidence showed that there were “some elements of disrepair and shortcoming” in its operations. (See story on Page A4)

Sources close to prior recruitment searches, who did not want to be named, said $3.2 million was a high price tag for a local firm to search for a local Commissioner of Police.

In August the PSC told the public that KPMG had been awarded the contract to assist with the recruitment and selection process of the CoP.

The release said on July 20, a meeting took place at the commission’s offices which brought together representatives from the Police Service Commission and KPMG T&T to discuss implementation of the project.

The recruitment phase of the project is expected to take four months.

Parliament still has veto power

According to section 123 (2) of the Constitution of T&T Parliament can veto the decision of the PSC and force the search to be restarted.

Under the Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Selection Process Order) the PSC must take into account all information on the candidates and thereafter establish an Order of Merit list.

The PSC must then select the highest graded candidate on the list and submit that candidate's name to the President.

If the House of Representatives does not approve of the highest graded candidate on the Order of Merit List, subsequent Nominations in order of merit may be submitted to the House from the Order of Merit List only.

If the Order of Merit list is exhausted, the process must be recommenced.

A brief history of CoP searches

After Trevor Paul retired as Commissioner of Police in 2008, James Philbert, who was the most senior officer in the service after Paul, was appointed to act in the role.

At that time, Acting Deputy Commissioner Stephen Williams, who was the PSC’s nominee for CoP in 2008 after being recommended by Penn State, had been rejected by the PNM in Parliament.

In 2010, during a search under the People's Partnership coalition, Parliament rejected Canadian Neal Parker for the post, citing that he had been part of the evaluation team for the selection of the commissioner in 2008.

The last appointed commissioner, Canadian Dwayne Gibbs was the second-rated nominee on Penn State's evaluation.

An emergency CARICOM Heads of Government meeting was held yesterday to coordinate the region's response to Hurricane Irma. The meeting was held around 9.30 am yesterday with leaders joining in using video conferencing technology.

Meanwhile, Guardian Media Limited (GML) is partnering with the American Chamber of Commerce of T&T (AMCHAM) and the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) to raise much needed funds to provide immediate assistance to those affected by Hurricane Irma.

One of the most powerful storms ever recorded in recent history, Irma has devastated many of our Caribbean neighbours.

At least 11 people were killed on Saint Martin and Saint Barts, four in the US Virgin Islands, four in the British Virgin Islands, and one each in Barbuda, Anguilla and Barbados.

Irma is expected to hit South West, Florida, this morning, with winds up to 110 mph.

We must help those in dire need immediately. PADF, which has worked to rebuild devastated communities across the Americas, has created a special portal for any financial contributions.

Join us and make a difference.

Go to http://www.padf.org/irmaamchamtt to make a donation if you can.

KEVON FELMINE

kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt

Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan says he has been concerned about the operations of the Port Authority of T&T (Patt) since he became a minister.

The Joint Select Committee's (JSC) investigation into the procurement of the Cabo Star and the Ocean Flower 2 raises serious questions about the conduct of the Patt,.

Sinanan said while he could not comment on the JSC until the probe was complete, he was interested in the outcome as both line minister and citizen and added that he does not expect the outcome to be pleasing.

"I am really looking forward to the results because I think coming out of this JSC, it will tell us exactly what problems we have at the Port of Port-of-Spain that have been there for quite a while. It is time that we do something about it. I have been concerned since one week after I became minister. I raised that the port was in a mess and the problems that we are experiencing now were inevitable," Sinanan said.

Last week, Energy Minister and JSC member Franklin Khan said based on the information being shared in the probe, there was no discipline and no governance at Patt.

Asked whether there would be any management changes if they were found wanting, Sinanan said, "As the minister that is way out of my league. There is a board in place and I expect that when the report comes in, the board will look at it and the board will make the decisions to take the port from where it is to where a port should be."

Asked what would happen if the problem was at the board level, he said he will wait for the report before making any statement.

KEVON FELMINE

kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt

A thunderstorm in Port-of-Spain, lasting less than 30 minutes, caused the drainage to overflow in Belmont, Queen's Park Savannah, St Clair, and South Quay. Along Colville Street, Tragarete Road and Ariapita Avenue, the roads had disappeared and a river took its place. Pedestrians who took cover outside businesses were forced to wade through the flood and motorists had to find alternative routes.

And while the US National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration predicted 11-17 named storms for the 2017 hurricane season, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said it was impossible to engineer solutions to mitigate the kind of weather brought by Hurricane Irma.

Although Sinanan, who was touring the Fyzabad constituency yesterday, was not asked about the Port-of-Spain flooding, he said the ministry continued to clear watercourses to lessen the effects of flooding.

"The engineering that has to take place for these levels of storm is virtually impossible. Basically what we’re doing is precaution and then we want to be a lot more proactive."

Asked if the country was in a better position to withstand a storm, Sinanan said his ministry will try to be as prepared as possible. He said T&T needs to learn from the experiences of its storm-ravaged neighbours as given the current weather patterns, "it is only a matter of time before something serious hit us". (See Pages A 8, editorial on A 16)

KEVON FELMINE

kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt

The son of a Pleasantville businessman has been whisked away from his home by gunmen wearing police tactical gear. The abduction was similar to the disappearance of hairstylist Ria Sookdeo almost a year ago.

The search for Clint Beharry went late into last night. Video footage from the Born Free Recreation Bar in Blitz Village, Pleasantville, showed two men dressed in police uniform running into a premises with firearms in their hands. Two minutes later, the suspects and a third gunman wearing a blue jersey walked out with Beharry in handcuffs. One of the gunmen was holding a box. The gunmen sped off with Beharry in a silver Nissan AD Wagon. Relatives declined to speak to the media yesterday.

Investigators said there was no warrant for Beharry's arrest executed yesterday and they did not believe that that the men dressed in uniform were police. While no motive was revealed for his abduction, investigators are probing whether it was related to him witnessing the murder of a relative.

On September 22, 2016, Sookdeo, 34, a hairstylist, dropped off her two children at the Picton Presbyterian Primary School. As she drove her red Nissan X-Trail to Picton Estate Drive to turn, a black Nissan X-Trail SUV pulled up behind, blocking her path. Two men wearing tactical gear forced her out of her SUV and into theirs and drove off. She has not been seen or heard from since.

Ferdie Ferreira is not the only PNMite with concerns about the PNM Government's performance and leadership. Ferreira—the PNM foundation member whose 2012 endorsement of Keith Rowley for Prime Minister ended up in Rowley's autobiography—has, with some deep concern, altered his view.

"I backed him unswervingly in a 2012 Guardian acticle," Ferreira said yesterday.

"Unfortunately both myself and T&T continue to await the standard of leadership we expected when Dr Rowley assumed office."

While he emphasised he was not "disappointed," Ferreira was among several PNMites expressing concerns about Government's two-year stint.

Ferreira, a foundation PNMite of 1956 vintage, added, "Under their inherited circumstances, Government hasn't done badly. It's one thing to have manifesto promises; another to enter office and realise you can't implement them.

"Unfortunately Dr Rowley assumed office as the most experienced politician in T&T—a background in Government, Opposition, the Senate—I'd said that in May 2012 .

"One would have expected him to be in a better position to empathise with the standards of leadership required to deal with the current situation. But I'm still awaiting fulfillment of expectations. Our greatest expectations of him as the most qualified leader haven't been met.

"However, he has three years to meet requirements. I hope he'll apply the appropriate standards to meet the electorate's expectations—I continue to have greatest expectations of him."

Late former leader Patrick Manning's San Fernando East constituency is among PNM's strongest. Constituency chairman Kennedy Fleming believes areas of Government operation require more attention.

"We needed to tell the population what our Vision 2030 really encompassed and how we'd move from A to B. This wasn’t clear.

"Government needs to defend its objectives and convey it so citizens can understand. A piss-poor job has been done on that aspect. Plus, with limited resources, it’s important recommendations we chose are ones that reinvigorate and regenerate revenue.”

Fleming is concerned at over-detachment from the public.

“Yes, we don’t have money. People know that, but we can’t keep repeating it all the time. We need polices that give hope and not false hope. I don’t think we’re giving them hope. We need to do a better job of guiding people in all aspects.

"We also need to examine how we govern and the direction in which our leaders operate. If we don’t have the experience and expertise, please encamp with the people who have necessary skill sets to help guide us. And we must be able to accept criticism, reflect and see if it’s true or not.”

Former PNM youth officer, Dane Wilson, staunch 2010 campaigner, believes Government is doing what is necessary.

"But some mistakes have been made. Recent reviews were not unanticipated as Government approaches mid-term. The administration just needs to be a little more straightforward and communicate better on the economy's true state.

"Still, elected and appointed members also need to pull their weight and not depend on the Prime Minister and Finance Minister to handle everything.”

Wilson is perturbed with Tobago House of Assembly chief secretary Kelvin Charles’ non-appearance during the recent Joint Select Committee's scrutiny of the ferry service.

“It demonstrated lack of commitment, ‘spine,’ if you will. It was disrespectful to Parliament's JSC and PNMites who elected him to stand for Tobago and its issues. The ferry problem is Tobago's biggest. He had a right to be there even if not answering queries. Representation involves broad duty.”

While Wilson said PNM’s leadership was “doing the right things to stabilise T&T, they’re somewhat disconnected from what’s happening on the ‘ground’.

"You see it when you hear what the average person says compared to what Government says. The party also needs to have units functioning and fill the general secretary’s post.”

Ex PNM Minister Conrad Enill maintains the eight he gave on Government's performance, "given all the crap they've had to handle".

"Performance is based on how external global environments impact locally, and if T&T's population had to make the same adjustment as others similarly challenged, we may not have been.

"But we may need to adjust if external environments change T&T's service delivery infrastructure. So yes, Government needs to re-examine delivery mechanism, changing them to respond to new environments.

"We need management in sync with the external environment. Particularly, the Prime Minister needs to decide who's Government CEO. The PM isn't the CEO who handles day-to-day issues. Dr Lenny Saith was CEO of the last PNM Government."

When Nicole Olivierre, the current parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Energy, was retrenched as an assistant manager from the National Gas Company (NGC) in January 2015, “she presented herself to the office without authorisation, deceptively went past security, entered her department and made use of the computer”, NGC told the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC).

Olivierre, however, claimed that during the “notice period” of her retrenchment she went to the office to process her fuel reimbursement claims and was met by security guards who asked her to leave the compound.

“During the retrenchment period of 45 days (Olivierre) was of the view that the terms and conditions of employment remained unchanged, inclusive of the reimbursement of fuel purchase for her vehicle,” the EOC’s report on the matter stated.

On April 16, 2015, Olivierre lodged a complaint of victimisation against NGC with the EOC. It was the second complaint she had filed at the EOC about NGC—the first was lodged on December 13, 2012, when she complained about racial discrimination at the company. That complaint was referred to the Equal Opportunities Tribunal on June 7, 2015.

Olivierre was employed with NGC from 2002 until her eventual retrenchment. She claimed that following her initial complaint of racial discrimination she became “the subject of acts of victimisation contrary to Section 6 (1) of the Equal Opportunity Act”.

She said she believes she was victimised because of the previous complaint made against NGC and this culminated in her retrenchment.

She further stated that her position of assistant manager enterprise risk management was the only one “eliminated from the company’s risk management area” and that no other position “was even retrenched from the NGC,” the EOC complaint stated.

Olivierre said three departments—Insurance and Risk Management, Environment, Health and Safety, and Enterprise Risk Management—were merged and all existing positions were maintained except hers.

She said she was never advised of the new positions created, nor was she offered an alternative position, despite a new positions being created within the department.

“Further to this there was no other identified individual that was retrenched within the department, nor any information regarding efforts made to find any suitable alternative position for Olivierre,” the complaint stated.

NGC said the positions of head risk management and risk management assistant were eliminated. However. according to the EOC: “They did not indicate whether there were persons in these positions at the time, and if they were, whether they were accommodated elsewhere.”

NGC said Olivierre applied for a new management position in the organisation’s structure but was unsuccessful.

The company said one of the reasons for creation of the new position and Olivierre’s job becoming redundant was because her risk reports “did not assign accurately the respective level of risk and that further expertise was required”.

“Despite a request from the commission, (NGC) did not indicate in what way her reports were defective,” the EOC said.

As part of her claims of victimisation, Olivierre said when she was acting as senior manager in the Office of Strategy Management she submitted the second-quarter risk report but then NGC president Indar Maharaj did not allow it to go to the audit committee.

NGC said it would make a May 2014 risk report done by Olivierre available to the EOC for viewing but later “changed their position and said that they had decided that the report and its contents do not concern the allegations made by (Olivierre),” the EOC said.

NGC claimed it was being threatened by the EOC.

“At no point did the commission threaten NGC as they have asserted. The commission’s request for information has been in pursuant to Section 33 of the Equal Opportunity Act which empowers it to send a notice to any person requesting that they furnish information as specified therein by a given date,” the EOC said.

The matter has been referred to the Equal Opportunity Tribunal.

“Much of the disputes are questions of fact, the commission is not in the position to engage in cross examination of parties, weigh evidence or make findings of facts, these are matters for the Equal Opportunity Tribunal,” the EOC said, adding that the matter could not be resolved by conciliation as there are “significant variances between the parties”.

“Moreover the parties are already before the court, their swords are drawn and they are currently engaged in battle,” the EOC said.

Olivierre had indicated her desire for the complaints to be brought before the tribunal, the EOC said. The investigation is ongoing.

More info 

Olivierre served as the Minister of Energy from September 11, 2015, to October 30, 2016. She was appointed parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries on June 30, 2017.

The brutal murder of former director of the National Museum and Art Gallery Dr Claire Broadbridge at her Fondes Amandes St Ann’s home last week Saturday continues to transfix the nation as her death has sparked outrage and discussions about the perception of the Government’s inability to deal with crime in the country.

Her death triggers the grisly benchmark to the 2001 triple murder of British national John Cropper, 59; his mother-in-law Maggie Lee, 83, and sister-in-law Lynette Lithgow-Pearson, 51, a former BBC television broadcaster, at Cropper’s Mt Anne Drive, Second Avenue, Cascade home.

The St Ann’s/Cascade area has recorded more gruesome homicides that many people have forgotten about.

• Retired Neal and Massy manager Clyde Commissiong, 80, and his 79-year-old wife, Denise, were killed after robbers stormed their Riverside Road, Cascade home on January 30, 2007.

• Brentor Straker, 29, of Cascade, was shot and killed at Mt Hololo Road in St Ann’s, on May 12, 2009. Police said he had been a suspect in the murder of 34-year-old Roberta Patterson, who was found dead near a river at Fondes Amandes Road in St Ann’s, on April 29, 2009.

• Eighty-two-year-old retired businessman Ousman Ali, the founder of the Medicine Chest Pharmacy at West Mall, was strangled at his Coblentz, Cascade home on September 1, 2011.

• Timothy Clarke, 30, was shot in his bed at his Ariapita Road, St Ann’s, apartment and his girlfriend Crystal Grey sustained a gunshot wound to her leg on May 6, 2013.

• “Big Brent” Miller, 38, survived an assassination attempt while driving along St Ann’s Road around 10.30 am on August 23, 2013. He was ambushed by two gunmen who shot him in the chest, arm and lower back.

• Cascade pensioner Donaldson Mottley, 67, was found murdered at his Hislop Trace home in March 2016.

• PH taxi driver Colin “Crabby” Harewood, 35, from Casablanca Road, Cascade, was shot and killed near his home on March 22, 2016.

• Motape Hutchinson, 30, of Ariapita Road, St Ann’s, was shot to death on the roadway on August 1, 2016.

Fear among residents, the elderly at greater risk

The Guardian reported in 2012 and 2014 that residents from St Ann’s/Cascade, an area known for its lush vegetation, quiet and peaceful, had been the victims of violence, frequent robberies and home invasions.

No one is immune from the ravages of crime in the area—from large companies, small mom-and-pop establishments to individuals.A 54-year-old St Ann’s resident who was chopped about his body in a robbery in 2014 said he along with members of the St Ann’s/Cascade community were saddened by Broadbridge’s death.

He said there was a pervading fear among residents, especially among the elderly who were “jumpy” when they heard the news how Broadbridge was murdered.

The resident said that there seemed to be a trend to attack the more vulnerable and he warned his aged and retiree friends to be more careful.

After his attack he stopped wearing jewelry. But he said most of the serious crimes were committed by “outside people”.

He said a police post should be re-established by Queen’s Hall as was done in the past because when it was stationed there the incidents of break-ins were drastically reduced.

The man said when former prime minister Patrick Manning was in office, there were regular security patrols around the area and robberies were halted at the nearby shops.

He said a police presence—on foot and vehicle patrols— will reassure residents.

A local branch of a coffee shop chain, several food places and shops in the neighbourhood have all been the victims of armed holdups which included some of their customers.

Once such victim is lifestyle blogger Michelle Eng Leang who had a cutlass placed to her throat while the assailant took her cellphone and cash from her when she went to buy a juice for her son at a neighbourhood shop in St Ann’s in August.

Eng leang said “I lived in London for eight years and returned in 2011. I came out of one of the train stations affected by the bombings in July 5, 2005, and was living in east London during the acid attacks by gangs in 2011 and I did not feel as scared then as I do now.

“Since the incident I haven’t walked the street and would only go out to shop with my husband. The area has so many outdoor venues but I can’t take my son out because I’m scared.”

On Broadbridge’s murder Eng Leang asked what did the 80-year-old woman do to have her throat slit to make it so unforgivable to end her life when she was in her last glory innings.

Cascade resident Claudia Sheppard, 78, who had been living in Cascade for 50 years had her house burgled twice with six other attempts all in the same year in 2008.

The retired principal said perpetrators gained easy access from the Lady Young Road and the Morvant/Laventille area to perpetrate their crimes in Idlewild and the Cascade area.

Sheppard said two elderly residents residing in the development houses on the adjacent hillside were attacked and she knew of one resident who had his dogs poisoned.

She said the majority of these crimes were not committed by the young men from the area as she knew them all growing up as little boys.

Sheppard said they were more into PH driving, would not commit such gruesome crimes and would quicker look to protect residents.

She said areas like Knightsbridge and Idlewild in Cascade had their fair share of break-ins.

Sheppard said during the last administration when several members from the now disbanded Community Comfort Patrols (CCP) were stationed at Idlewild and did patrols in the area, incidents of break-ins and criminal activity were reduced.

She said they were a great help to the community and residents.

Sheppard said now that the patrols were removed the residents felt more vulnerable.

She said virtually every house in the area had burglar proofing and since the break-ins she had hardened her house with added security such as replacing her louvre windows with metal windows, increased the height of her wall, installed deadbolts, padlocked her garden gate and was one of the first early adopters of Blink Vigilance’s security system.

Sheppard said one resident resorted to hiring security guards, while some were forced to find other ways to protect their families and homes.

MP for Port-of-Spain North/St Ann’s West Stuart Young did not return the Sunday Guardian’s calls yesterday.

Women who live in the Assaraff Road, Charlieville, Chaguanas area plan to arm themselves in order to ensure their safety. The women made the claim yesterday after a Dominican Republic woman was found stabbed to death near a walkover in the community on Monday night.

Police said a resident was crossing the walkover around 10.30 pm when he saw Esther Rodriguez's body on the southern side. The man stopped a nearby Highway Patrol vehicle and the officers cordoned off the scene. Rodriguez was stabbed repeatedly.

Speaking with Guardian Media yesterday, women from the area said the area near the walkover is poorly lit and women have been raped and robbed there in the past as the area is frequented by drug dealers. They said the killing is just a culmination of other criminal activities that have been taking place in the area.

One woman said she will now have to start walking with a knife in her bag while another said she will no longer be travelling home from school. A neighbour said her husband heard the screams but when she looked out she could see nothing. Some 30 minutes later Rodriguez’s body was found.

One man called on Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley to visit the area and address the escalating crime. Stephen Ramkumar said he used the walkover daily and with the killing there is need for “drastic measures.” He added that in his 57 years living in the area he had never heard of a murder and called on the PM and National Security Minister to intervene.

“I might have to move like the wild wild west and walk with a firearm because it is inhumane for someone to lose their life like that. It is out of control,” Ramkumar said.

An intense search by police and relatives of an elderly La Romaine couple who had been missing since last Thursday, ended in relief yesterday when it was found that they were on vacation in England.

Visually-impaired Harold Howard, 82 and his wife Gloria, 70, were at a hotel in Manchester last night. They are expected to return to T&T tomorrow.

Harold’s son, Victor Howard, who lives in Philadelphia, USA, had told police yesterday that he was spending his vacation in an apartment on the ground level of his parents’ home.

He said was supposed to leave the country on Monday night but when he went upstairs to say goodbye, he found the doors locked and no one answered his calls. Howard said he last saw his parents on Friday, but a neighbour reported seeing the couple leaving home around 1 pm Saturday.

When San Fernando CID detectives, Insp Don Gajadhar and Cpl Nanan, went to the home they broke the locks and entered. Everything was intact and nothing appeared unusual.

The Homicide Bureau of Investigations, Region III and the Anti-Kidnapping Squad joined the search and checks were made at the back of the house, relatives’ homes and medical institutions with no success. But as news of the couple’s disappearance reached the media, a travel agent contacted the San Fernando CID saying they had booked the couple’s vacation.

When officers went to the agency, the agent showed documents proving the couple left on a Liat flight to Barbados en route to Gatwick Airport last Thursday. Police said the couple did not tell any of their relatives they were leaving the country, which caused concern when they could not be found. Gloria, who was born in Jamaica, has dual citizenship for T&T and England.

​

Fifty families and several government and commercial operations will soon be relocated as Government moves to start the San Fernando Waterfront Redevelopment Project later this year.

Earlier this year, Cabinet approved Phase 1 of the project, which includes dredging and reclamation of 3.8 hectares of land, development of a harbour at King's Wharf, relocation of squatters along the Old Train Line, relocation of the Public Transport Service Corporation's (PTSC) maintenance facility and the upgrade of Plaza San Carlos, where the PTSC hub is located.

San Fernando East MP Faris Al-Rawi and Housing and Urban Development Minister Randall Mitchell toured the marked areas for development to assess the work to be done yesterday and revealed Government had sourced $500 million to start the project.

Al-Rawi said: "The Cabinet has already earmarked financing which the Minister of Finance has put into place for certain starts. We're also looking for some loans and developmental facilities as well."

He said social surveys and positioning have been completed and tenders will be advertised soon.

Besides PTSC, the Customs and Excise Division, Immigration Division and fishing facilities will be relocated.

Mitchell said social surveys were already carried out on the occupants of 50 structures. As work moves ahead, he said those families will be relocated to a nearby area until a permanent arrangement can be found.

According to a Cabinet note, the Land Settlement Agency (LSA) estimates there are 144 squatters to be relocated. Areas considered for relocation include San Fernando, Corinth, Pranz Gardens, Claxton Bay and sites under the Estate Management and Business Development Company. An estimated $26 million has been provided to the LSA for the construction of 200 residential lots for the relocation. There was also a recommendation for the PTSC maintenance operation to be relocated to Tarouba.

The San Fernando City Corporation was charged with the redevelopment of the historic Plaza San Carlos buildings and there is already a proposal to house a museum there. Work was expected to start in 2015 after numerous public consultations, but it never did.

An Arima community last night paid their respects to a well loved resident who lost her life trying to save her grandson from a massive wave during the passage of Hurricane Irma in St Maarten last week.

Melan “June” Salvary, 54, and her grandson, Oliver Gedio both died when they were swept away by a massive wave as they fled from their home which had been torn apart by Irma's heavy rain and powerful winds.

Gedio’s tiny body was found last Wednesday along the coastline while Salvary’s body was found on Friday. Both bodies were said to be in a badly decomposed state.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Salvary’s youngest sister, Emily Pasqual, said Salvary, Gedio and other relatives were at their home at French Quarter when the house began to fall apart.

“A wall of the house they were in crashed down and the entire structure began ripping apart. I heard that they attempted to go to another relative’s house that was close by and just before my sister reached a massive wave came up from the sea and swept she and her grandson away,” Pasqual said.

Pasqual said the news had sent them into a “state of shock” and although preparations were under way at her home for last evening's vigil, she wished deep down in her heart that they could have been still found alive.

“My sister was a happy, go-lucky person who lived today for today and who did not have any kind of worry in this world,” Pasqual said.

She added that over the past five years, Salvary has been frequenting St Maarten for vacations to spend time with one of her daughters, Daphne, and grandchildren who live there.

“She would have usually spent weeks, sometimes two months there and come back home. This time she left Trinidad just over two weeks ago for another vacation.”

Pasqual said because communication services were disrupted on the island during Irma's passage they had not been able to make proper contact with Salvary’s daughter.

Another relative said they are now hoping they will get assistance to repatriate Salvary’s body to Trinidad for burial.

“We don’t know how to go about it but we are trying to find out and it is our last wish for her (Salvary),” the relative said.

Meanwhile, the 12 Trinidadian nationals who were evacuated by the Government from St Maarten on Monday are expected to return home tomorrow.

IRMA RELIEF DRIVE

If you wish to help Hurricane Irma victims please donated to the joint drive by Guardian Media, the American Chamber of Commerce Trinidad and Tobago (AMCHAM) and Pan American Development Foundation (PADF). (See editorial on Page A18)

Join us and make a difference by going to: http://www.padf.org/irmaamchamtt to make a donation.

From rejection by the Children’s Life Fund Authority to being rescued by kind-hearted citizens, five-year-old Haleema Mohammed was on her way to India yesterday with the hope of securing a healthier life.

Along with her hero brother Haleem, aged seven, the bone marrow donor for her life-saving surgery, their mother Kristal and father Hamil, they left the Piarco International Airport around 1 pm on a flight to London, England.

Haleema suffers from Beta Thalassemia Major, a blood disorder which reduces the production of haemoglobin.

Patients with the disorder usually suffer fatigue, shortness of breath, jaundice, deformities of the facial bones, slow growth and a swollen abdomen.

Kristal told the T&T Guardian that they were expected to reach India tomorrow where Haleema and Haleem will undergo surgery at the Fortis Memorial Institute for Allogeneic Transplant in Gurgaon.

Kristal was grateful for the support she received from the public after having to find $400,000 for the surgeries.

In a telephone interview, she said they held prayer sessions for a safe and successful travel and operations.

Even before they left yesterday, relatives were at their Penal home to bring comfort and best wishes.

However, Kristal said Haleema did not know that she will undergo surgery and she will wait for the doctors to explain the situation.

“I want the doctors to explain it to her and maybe she might feel different to how I may put it. I didn’t want to tell her to bring her spirits down. She just thinks we are going to Tobago, so she asked me if I brought her bath suit.

“I’m just frightened because this is the first time we are going through anything like this.

I’m thinking about everything and hoping that it all goes well. It is the first time we’ll be travelling so far and I’m worried about the stress and then it is my two children that will be going through surgery,” Kristal said.

On August 15, Kristal filed a lawsuit challenging the delay by the Authority to consider her application as urgent.

The authority had previously stated that it would take between one and three months to consider.

The board conceded and committed to reviewing the case. The following day, the authority rejected the application, saying that the disorder was not considered a life-threatening illness as required by Section 19(e) of the Act and once managed properly, life expectancy can extend into adulthood.

But with the contributions of both private and corporate citizens, enough money was raised. The family is expected back in Trinidad in three months time.

As the mentally disturbed continues to roam freely in San Fernando, a street dweller had customers and employees scampering for cover when he ran amok at Plaza Montano, smashing glass panels in the process.

Business owners now fear for their safety as it was not the first time that the street dweller acted out violently and has been known to terrorise employees in the stores.

Previously, he caused a commotion along High Street when he beat another homeless man with the metal cover of a trash bin.

Last week Thursday, he walked through the streets naked, causing parents to cover their children’s eyes.

Responding to the outcry by the business community for the homeless crisis to be addressed, San Fernando mayor Junia Regrello said it was a sensitive situation that the San Fernando City Corporation was dealing with.

He said when drastic action is taken, human rights advocate protests, although some of the street dwellers’ actions pose a threat to people and themselves. He said new legislation was needed to remedy homelessness and when this is done, they would need qualified workers to tend to mentally ill street dwellers.

“We will have to do some investigations and seek guidance on how to deal with it because it is definitely getting out of hand now,” Regrello said.

Police reported that around 8.30 am on Monday, the man went to the plaza along High Street with a piece or iron in his hand.

He smashed a glass showcase at Tora’s Cafe before walking to the front of the building and breaking the glass pane at Subway Restaurant.

Plaza security Louis Albarado said the enraged man came around 7.30 am, irritated that someone had stolen his pair of slippers.

Albarado said a vendor selling CDs told the man to go to a nearby booth where he would get a free pair.

However, the man was adamant that he must have his slippers back and began hurling expletives at everyone who passed.

More furious than before, the man smashed the glass at the café, causing the workers to run and then went to Subway. When he was done, he went outside a nearby bank and banged on the glass, but was quickly chased away by another security officer.

Prime Minister Keith Rowley, back from his US medical check-up yesterday, will be answering queries from the public in St Augustine tonight.

Rowley, who had medical checks in the US over the last week, returned at 5.30 am yesterday, the T&T Guardian confirmed.

He’ll host the third segment in Government’s public feedback forum—Conversations with the Prime Minister. Venue is St Augustine Secondary School.

Rowley’s medical involved follow-up to prostate checks he did in Los Angeles last August. Then, he’d returned with a clean bill of health, and advice to check up again within a year.

Rowley left September 1, returning yesterday after a one-day delay, detouring around his initial Miami route due to Hurricane Irma.

Tonight’s forum will likely shed light on Rowley’s US check-up, PNM sources said.

Meanwhile, Communication Minister Maxie Cuffie is progressing daily following his medical episode last week, says his wife Hermia Tyson-Cuffie.

Cuffie, who remains warded at St Clair Medical Centre’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU), had surgery last Friday.

His wife added yesterday, “I’m convinced it’s all the prayers he’s receiving that have helped him progress so nicely. Once the doctors and nurses are happy, I’m happy also.”

Also in the ruling party, former chairman and Senate President Dr Linda Baboolal was released from Mt Hope Medical Complex on Monday after undergoing triple by-pass heart surgery last week Wednesday.

Speaking in her usual strong voice, Baboolal said she didn’t have a heart attack but had surgery to prevent possibility, “I’m feeling alright, thank God, everything went well. I’m taking it easy, my daughter’s due home, my son’s doing the cooking and my husband’s at my side.”

The Ministry of Education is being urged to pay almost 500 nursing students who have not been receiving their monthly stipend of $800, for more than a year.

Clad in their uniforms and armed with placards, dozens of students of the University of the Southern Caribbean (USC) yesterday staged a mid-morning protest in front the Ministry of Education’s office in Port-of-Spain as they demanded the settlement of outstanding monies.

Advocating on behalf of the students, Stacy Mahabal explained that they embarked on the action after receiving no communication on the issue from the ministry.

Mahabal said, “We want some redress in the matter because it has been over a year. It has been a long time and no one is coming to us to say if we are going to get it, if it would be in portions or anything.”

She said the stipend was important as it enabled students to access the requisite training conducted at the various health centres and hospitals across T&T.

Mahabal added, “It is a necessity because as a full time nursing student, you can not hold down a job.”

President of the T&T Registered Nurses Association (TTRNA), Idi Stuart, who accompanied the student nurses, endorsed their concerns as he said, “I want to reiterate that the students play an important part in nursing, due to the fact that there is a shortage of nurses in all regional health authorities. It is the students that take up the slack, so they actually work alongside the nurses.”

Stuart also claimed that the stipend was small compared to other costs associated with health care.

“A consultant’s salary can pay all these students here.

That is to tell you how minuscule the amount is and yet, they are still unwilling to pay,” he continued.

He if the matter is not addressed by Education Minister Anthony Garcia by today, the students will be joined by nurses for another protest.

Contacted yesterday, Garcia said he was unable to meet with the students as they had already left the ministry prior to his arrival.

He explained that the stipend was originally paid by the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (Costaatt), when it ran the programme in conjunction with the USC.

Garcia said a decision was taken during the latter half of 2016 for his ministry to pick up the slack as Costaatt could no longer afford to shoulder the financial responsibility. He was unable to say if this was because Costaatt had also introduced its own nursing programme.

Another Chinese restaurant being robbed has been caught on tape again and circulated on social media.

This comes in wake of several robberies and other attacks against Chinese nationals over the past few months.

This time the Chinese restaurant in question is located on the Eastern Main Road between Petit Bourg and Mt Hope.

In the video, a gunman is seen entering the restaurant and shortly after he demanded money from one of the restaurant employees seen behind a burglar proofing counter.

The employee then moves his hand around as if he does not know how to open the cash register.

The video does not show the employee taking out money to give the bandit or how the situation ended.

When contacted, a member of the Chinese Association said Chinese restaurant owners were in need of protection.

He did not want to be named for fear of any reprisal attack.

“Yes, I think they need to do something. They (bandits) focus on the Chinese now and they need to find a way to give the Chinese protection. All the criminals focus on the Chinese. They think the Chinese are weak,” he said.

He said that many of the business owners do not report the crimes because they will be targeted.

In an interview, one of the employees said several businesses closed down due to the robberies.

He said seven restaurants along the main road in the Chaguanas area were closed for business over a period of time.

“Seven Chinese closed. It is trouble. Trinidad no good for Chinese. I want them (my family) go back (China),” he said.

Michael Pierre police public information officer said the Chinese nationals were not being targeted.

“I wont say they are targeted, when you look at comparative statistics from year-to-year it does not show an increase of Chinese businessman being robbed. We have to take into consideration we have a wide ethnic groups and they are a small amount and are a minority,” he said.

In an interview, one of the employees said several businesses closed down due to the robberies.

He said seven restaurants along the main road in the Chaguanas area were closed for business over a period of time.

Former leader of the Congress of the People (COP) Prakash Ramadhar yesterday sent a letter to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley asking him to “investigate” the alleged transfer of Assistant Commissioner of Police Ainsley Garrick for failing to take instructions from a “politician” to arrest and charge a police constable with terror-related offences.

The St Augustine MP raised the issue yesterday at a press conference at his Tunapuna office as he called on Rowley to probe what triggered Garrick’s transfer.

Last Sunday, Ramadhar said he became concerned after reading a daily newspaper, which stated that Garrick, who once headed the elite Special Branch unit, had been transferred after he failed to take instructions from a politician to lay charges against a PC who had been absolved of having any link to a terrorist organisation.

The transfer led to Garrick applying for leave with immediate effect.

If the content of the article was true, Ramadhar said, the politician stood accused of misbehaviour in public office and perverting the course of justice.

The letter sent to Rowley was also copied to President Anthony Carmona, Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, chairman of the Integrity Commission Zainool Hosein and head of the Police Complaints Authority David West.

Ramadhar said the country’s rule of law ensuredthat preservation of the independence of its institutions and the separation of powers were important to its democracy.

He said: “No politician in this country should have the authority or belief that they could instruct any officer of the Police Service to lay charges against anyone.”

Calls and text messages were sent to both Williams and Dillon on the matter. However, there was no response up to late yesterday.

Two men, including a senior police officer, yesterday assaulted a Guardian Media photographer while he was on official duty in Penal. Kristian De Silva was covering the fake oil fiasco and seeking an interview with the owner of A&V Oil and Gas, Nazim Baksh, in the southern part of the island at the time of the incident.

De Silva suffered injuries to his face after being cuffed several times by the men while at Nazim Avenue, San Francique Road, Penal, in front of the A&V Gas & Oil premises.

Around 2.30 pm, De Silva was standing on the road taking photos of the expansive compound when a black Toyota Hilux drove towards him in an attempt to run him over. De Silva stepped back to avoid the oncoming vehicle, only to see the vehicle coming toward him again. The driver then stopped, jumped out and accosted De Silva in an aggressive manner.

De Silva’s glasses fell to the ground and he identified himself as a Guardian Media photographer in an attempt to prevent the attacker from assaulting him further. However, the man, who was also shouting obscenities, began cuffing De Silva about his face, telling him he was on private property.

A second man who came in a second vehicle then hit De Silva on the side of his neck. This second individual was later identified by senior officers at the Penal Police Station as being a police officer.

At this point, De Silva’s colleague, news reporter Sascha Wilson, who was seated in De Silva’s vehicle a short distance away when the attack started, heard the commotion and on realising what was happening went to his assistance.

The second attacker then took up De Silva’s camera from the ground, where he had put it after he was first accosted, and walked towards Wilson and repeated that they were on private property.

When Wilson told him to hand over the camera, the man smashed it against a nearby security booth, which resulted in the camera shattering. Both men continued threatening and cursing the journalists. One of them then stamped on De Silva’s glasses before returning to the Hilux.

A security officer and another man who was painting a wall witnessed the attack, but they were warned by the assailants not to say anything. De Silva subsequently sought medical attention at the Siparia Health Facility and obtained a medical.

While De Silva and Wilson were filing their reports at the Penal Police Station last evening, the second man who assaulted De Silva arrived and began talking loudly, but did not interfere with the two.

Speaking about the incident, De Silva admitted to being severely traumatised. He said he could not understand why the men attacked him in the first place and especially after he identified himself as a member of the media.

“While everything was happening I said sir I’m from the Guardian newspaper and he said F the media, I don’t care who you are, you’re on private property, while I was on the road,” De Silva said.

“Before everything happened we asked the ... there was a security guard there, I asked him if the road was private, he said no. So I knew I was well within my rights to take pictures on the road, I never entered onto the compound of AV Drilling.”

Officers of the Penal Police Station are investigating.

Vidya Deokiesingh, against whom allegations were made in Petrotrin’s internal audit report on the “fake oil” matter, is expected to submit his resignation from the Lake Asphalt Board shortly.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley confirmed this yesterday in Parliament while replying to Opposition MPs - led by MP Roodal Moonilal - who grilled him on various aspects of the Petrotrin issue.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar last weekend revealed the details of Petrotrin internal audit report of August 17, 2017, on alleged volume discrepancies over January to June 2017.

This stemmed from alleged fraudulent activity by an operator in collusion with a Petrotrin employee.

Petrotrin’s probe of the matter was completed this week and a report was given to the Energy Minister on Thursday.

Yesterday, Rowley said Deokiesingh was appointed to Lake Asphalt’s board in December 2015.

“Given the fact he’s now implicated in this investigation, my information is he intends to resign from the board. I expect that resignation in a short while,” the PM said.

Rowley also confirmed that in the last seven years he’d been to the home of A&V Drilling owner Nazim Baksh about five or six times .

“...Which is a whole lot less than the number of times spent by the last Prime Minister in Gopaul house,” he added.

He was alluding to claims Persad-Bissessar, soon after being elected into government in 2010, spent “in transit” time at a Tunapuna home owned by family friends - the Gopauls - while the Prime Minister’s official residence was being prepared for her.

On whether a Government senator was a shareholder and/or director of A&V Drilling, Rowley said ,”I don’t have that information and I have no such knowledge.”

He also refused to answer queries on if such a senator was a shareholder, whether they’d be in receipt of monies of alleged fraudulent arrangements.

Rowley also said he had no information “with me” on whether A&V Drilling had bid for a three-year contract to replace the Super Fast Galicia ferry.

“If you put that question to the Minister or Port, you’ll get an extensive answer and very accurate one -

I don’t want to speculate on that,” he said.

Energy Minister Franklin Khan also described what he said were antiquated systems to measure daily oil production figures.

He said the current volume discrepancy matter “shows we need more reliable systems.” He advocated a digital system which didn’t fall under one person.