Former UNC government Minister Carlos John has appeared in court charged with drunk driving.

John pleaded guilty to the charge when he appeared before Magistrate Duane Murray in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

According to the evidence that was read in court after his guilty plea, John was charged after being involved in a car accident on Sunday night.

John was driving his Range Rover SUV along Saddle Road in Maraval when a Nissan Caravan panel van crashed into his vehicle near to Massy Stores.

John drove to the Maraval Police Station to make a report and was asked to undergo a breathalyser test after police officers noticed a strong scent of alcohol on his breath.

John recorded a reading of 79 microgrammes for every 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35. He was released on $500 bail at the police station and was ordered to appear in court yesterday morning.

During the hearing, John’s lawyers requested an adjournment to make submissions on the appropriate sentence for their client.

Murray agreed and adjourned the case to September 7.

John entered politics in 1996 and held posts on several State boards including the National Carnival Commission (NCC). He contested several general elections and briefly held the post of Minister of Infrastructure Development and Local Government.

Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Kazim Hosein last evening slammed former minister in the People’s Partnership government and current activist Devant Maharaj of attempting to embroil him in a possible scandal over the award of Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme Cepep contracts.

Hosein made the comment in response to calls by Maharaj for the acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams to launch a probe into a voice recording purported to be a telephone conversation between a Government minister and Member of Parliament (MP) discussing the award of Cepep contracts.

The 24-second recording was posted on social media yesterday and was attached to photographs of the two Government officials.

In the recording, a male voice is heard saying, “Them Cepep contractors in the pool, you want any of them again?”

A female voice is heard answering no, while the male warns “Dr ..... tell me to talk to all yuh directly…don’t send no email and no text….whatever email you have delete eh.”

In his letter to CoP Williams, Maharaj said if the contents of the recording is true, it suggests “a collusion and conspiracy to award contracts to individuals in circumstances where you are making a specific request to delete email documentation.”

He said such inference of deleting emails suggested that the people speaking wish to conceal the method of distributing these contracts.

“I call upon the minister and MP involved to confirm or deny that these are their voices and to clarify the manner in which Cepep contracts are being currently determined,” Maharaj said.

But in a written response to the social media clip yesterday evening, Hosein, the line minister for Cepep, said he received the Whatsapp clip bearing the photographs of high-ranking Government officials.

“It is my understanding that this clip originated from Devant Maharaj - an individual who has fallen out of favour with his colleagues and is grasping at any way back in. I see it as an attempt to make allegations against me and draw me into a scandal,” Hosein wrote.

In defence, Hosein said he speaks with all Members of Parliament, as well as Opposition on many matters, including Cepep “and I direct them to contact the board of the company. I remain dedicated to serving my country in this office and I will not let untrue narratives prevent me from fulfilling this mandate.”

The recording made its rounds on social media one day after the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government published a notice for the pre-qualification and registration of new Cepep contractors. In the ad, applicants who applied for Cepep contracts in 2017 or 2018 were advised not to re-apply.

Documents acquired by the T&T Guardian yesterday also showed what appeared to be a letter dated January 27, 2016, sent by another Government Minister and MP to the secretary of Cepep’s Tenders’ Committee titled “Priority List for Cepep Contract Amended.”

The letter listed nine contractors and read: “The following are the names of contractors who are well-known to me and they all operate in the constituency and have a record of performance in keeping with the highest level of reliability, cost efficiency and quality of work done.”

The letter came from the MP’s constituency office with a signature attached.

Contacted on the issue yesterday, Cepep chairman Ashton Ford said he was unaware of the audio, which the T&T Guardian forwarded to him via Whatsapp. Told of its contents, Ford said he could not comment as he was “new on the job”.

Asked if he would launch an investigation into the recording, Ford replied, “He (Hosein) is the minister. He will be responsible for that, not me.”

Ford said he could also not answer any question just yet as he had a board to report to, adding he could not conduct Cepep’s business through the media.

Questioned about the transparency of the award of Cepep contracts, Ford replied, “We will see.”

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and Communications Minister Stuart Young also failed to respond to Whatsapp messages sent by Guardian Media Ltd yesterday about the audio.

Several calls to the cellphones of the Government officials purported to have been involved in the alleged conversation had also gone unanswered yesterday before Hosein issued the statement.

But Opposition MP Dr Roodal Moonilal, who served as line minister for Cepep for five years, said the practice of ministers and MPs submitting names of contractors was not new. He said during the People’s

Partnership administration and “over the years” MPs and government ministers had put forward recommendations to assist companies in their constituencies. However, he said no one made demands and all contractors were subject to the same evaluation process and had to meet all the necessary requirements before being selected for a contract.

A La Brea man is now hoping either Government or private citizens will help reopen an orphanage which once housed several youths.

Lester Joseph is keen to re-established the home which was set up by his mother Carmen Joseph in 1958.

Speaking to Guardian Media yesterday, Joseph said his mother began taking children from the Majuba Hill area into her three-bedroom home back then and did so without ever asking for any state assistance. He said eventually the orphanage was established and it became known as the happy home for children. He said his mother was eventually awarded the Hummingbird silver medal for her contribution to the community.

But in 1994 as his mother lay on her deathbed, Lester promised that the home’s door will remain open and after marrying his wife Annmarie the couple set out providing a safe haven for children. “They were all happy, the house was full of laughter and cheer, every children from the area would come and when it was time for them to leave they would cry,” he said.

In 2016, however, life changed for Lester when his wife passed away. Shortly after, Lester suffered two strokes and failing health and lack of support forced him to ask the Children’s Authority to relocate the remaining children.

But sadness soon overwhelmed him.

“I felt real disappointed, I made a promise to my mother and now I broke it. I loved each of those children,” a tearful Joseph said yesterday.

Joseph’s cousin, Kevin Greenidge, said Lester has never been the same after the home closed. However, Greenidge is now appealing to citizens willing and to be part of a board of directors to come forward and help them reopen the home.

Greenidge can be contacted at 282-9134 while Joseph can be contacted at 342-9612.

JESSE RAMDEO
 

The first local public consultation on the issue of the decriminalisation and possible legalisation of marijuana is expected to be held as early as next month.

This was the key outcome as cannabis activists met with Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Fitzgerald Hinds for around two hours yesterday.

Yesterday’s meeting was facilitated after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley received a petition from Caribbean Collective for Justice (CCJ) head Nazma Muller which featured 10,000 signatures calling for the legalisation of marijuana.

Muller and her team, including criminologist Darius Figueira, CCJ director Denise Carew, Colin Stephenson, co-founder of T&T’s first incorporated marijuana law reform NGO, C420, and media personality Joshua Seemungal attended the meeting.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian after the meeting, Muller was pleased at the outcome.

“It was a productive meeting, we are going to cooperate and collaborate on the consultation so that the process can move forward and so that all stakeholders get a chance to air their views, including the medical fraternity, the drug rehab people and the church people,” Muller said.

Muller called on the public to come out to the consultations so that “everybody can have a chance to have their say on a policy that is very radical”.

She said the group is working on having the first consultation in the third week of August.

“The CCJ is pleased, at least we have brought things on to the frontburner. It is now being dealt with as a priority and we are satisfied with that and we move forward in good faith because we want to see T&T progress, we want peace and a reduction in the crime rate, which we think this will do,” Muller said.

Previously, the Government had denied a request from the Caricom-appointed commission established to look at the issue of the reform of marijuana laws in the region, when they sought to have national consultations on the issue here.

Speaking after yesterday’s meeting, however, Al-Rawi said Government needed to have criminal justice reform in place before the consultations could be held here.

“So the place and space to have this discussion could not have happened from a governmental perspective before that criminal justice focus was given,” Al-Rawi said.

Al-Rawi said the Government has spent the last two years focusing very heavily on our criminal justice system, including a fast-track court. He said the country is now ready for the discussion on legalisation of marijuana to take place.

One of the things the CCJ is lobbying for as part of the legalisation of marijuana is recognition for Rastafarians who use it as a sacrament. Muller said the timing of the meeting was perhaps divine given that it occurred the day after 126th birthday of former Ethiopia Emperor Haile Selassie I.

Commissioner of Prisons Gerard Wilson yesterday called for closure “once and for all” in the deadly jailbreak at the Port-of-Spain (PoS) Prison.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, which marked the three-year anniversary of the event, Wilson said closure was of utmost importance because “it will inform the Prison Service what type of security lapses would have taken place”.

But Prisons Officers Association president Ceron Richards said he believes there is a major cover-up of the true facts in the jailbreak.

On July 24, 2015, at about 12.30 pm inmates Hassan Atwell, Christopher “Monster” Selby and Allan “Scanny” Martin pointed guns at prison officers on duty inside the prison. Martin got the keys to the front gate, which he opened for them to run out onto Frederick Street. PC Sherman Maynard was shot as the escapees targeted the vehicle he was sitting in. He subsequently died at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.

Martin was shot dead by police on the hospital’s compound. Atwell and Selby escaped but Atwell was gunned down on July 25 at East Dry River, PoS. On July 26, Selby surrendered at the Barataria Police Station. On August 3, 2015, two suspension letters were handed out - one to an acting Supt of Prisons and a prisons officer. A third prisons officer was subsequently suspended the next day.

Yesterday, Wilson said it is critical the matter is concluded.

“The fact that there are prisons officers on suspension as a result of the incident, including an Assistant Superintendent, makes it imperative that we can come to some conclusion,” he told the T&T Guardian.

Richards meanwhile said the fact that no one was held culpable makes it “even more of a serious security concern”. He added that no investigation seems to be pointing in the direction of who would have taken the guns and grenades into the prison.

He also called on the Public Service Commission (PSC) to drop all charges against the three prisons officers and reinstate them.

Richards based this call on the fact that no report on the jailbreak was given to the PSC by the Prisons Service.

“We would have learnt also that no investigation was done and nobody in the prison service or anywhere we can find made allegations against those three officers. So we will still want to know, after three years, where did the PSC get the information from and what did they use to arrive at charges filed against those three officers?” Richards said.

Senior Counsel Martin Daly says the Government has tried to “duck” the matter involving an investigation by the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) into allegations made in the public domain against Chief Justice Ivor Archie as he accused Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi of making “unscholarly” statements on the issue. Daly is cautioning that the Ag should “not be taking sides,” in the matter.

Daly said the time may be coming soon when representation may have to be made to the Prime Minister to trigger 137, in light of the current situation where the matter now before the Privy Council may not go in favour of the CJ Archie.

Speaking on the CNC3 Morning Brew, Daly said while the country has to wait for the written reasons from the Privy Council “it is unlikely that we are looking at a victory for the CJ’s team.”

On Monday the five Law Lords of the Privy Council Johnathan Sumption, Robert Reed, Brian Kerr, Nicholas Wilson and Baroness Brenda Hale, reserved judgment in Archie’s appeal in which he is challenging the decision of three of his colleagues in the Court of Appeal to dismiss his lawsuit over an investigation launched by LATT into the allegations of misconduct.

Hours after the CJ’s office issued a press release indicating for the “purpose of clarification,” that the issue before the Privy Council is “not whether the Chief Justice is guilty of misconduct,” but the “main issue is whether LATT has the authority to investigate the Chief Justice (or for that matter any judge) with a view to finding fact.”

Daly laughed when he heard the contents of the press release. He said it was clear that the CJ’s appeal went “very badly” and the release from his office was a “puerile attempt to contain damage that the appeal is likely to be lost.”

He said whatever the Privy Council writes the fact is that matters surrounding the CJ are again going to “assume extremely high profile and the only persons that will lose is the reputation of the judiciary and the image of the country. The longer this matter drags on with all the fights and so on the worse it is going to be.”

The learned Senior Counsel noted that the “particular allegations of misconduct” against Archie are “very important.” He noted that it is difficult to contemplate how the CJ will return to the Court of Appeal to preside there when “with great regret and words chosen very carefully so as not to inflame the situation, the three most senior judges have been critical of his refusal to give full answers.”

They had done so in giving their ruling in the matter he said “at personal risk of being abused themselves by zealots.”

Daly said the reputation of the judiciary is taking a “battering,” and cautioned that if the judiciary “becomes a laughing stock or the subject of general criticism the country looks bad, it affects al sorts of things how people feel about the judiciary generally it is very jaundiced already and how foreign investors view the validity of the country’s legal infrastructure.”

He said AG Al-Rawi “cannot keep ducking it, ducking it, ducking it in the manner in which he has been doing,” because all of it will come to a head once the written judgment of the Privy Council comes in.

According to Daly, the AG had made “some very unscholarly statements about the threshold of 137 had not been triggered, he has no business making those statements. He does not have the facts and he ought not to be taking sides.”

But Daly said if the matter assumed high profile again all the focus will turn to what the Prime Minister will do, “he will have to make a number of assessments including political assessment as to what is more harmful to his political party and the Government’s standing if to leave it alone and duck it or the trigger 137.”

Expressing concern about statements made by the AG on the matter, Daly said he is “poised to have some very choice words to say to him (the AG) in the future if the government does not delink itself from a defence of the Chief Justice.”

He said as AG, Al-Rawi “cannot continue to say in his cavalier fashion that the threshold of 137 is not triggered, he cannot know that.”

He said the government must pay attention to the matters as they unfold “and depending on what guidance the privy Council gives, representations may be made to the Prime Minister to trigger 137,” he would not hazard a guess as to what will happen if such representation is made.

Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan says his ministry will “not bow to the pressure” of persons who burn tyres and debris on the nation’s roads saying they will not condone such action as he cautioned communities which take such action that they hurt themselves and their communities.

He said, “When you burn things you damage the road, and put stress on the roadway.”

Such protests, he said, “Make it worse for the area,” and will not force the ministry into action.

On Monday, residents in Barrackpore from Monkey Town to the Number Two Scale, threw tyres and debris on the roadway and set fires along intermittent points demanding that the road be fixed, motorists had to find alternative routes in and out of the area.

Sinanan said, “Strange enough that area where the protest was held, Dr Roodal Moonilal spoke to me last week and we put in place a crew to go down there Monday morning to do some patching, unfortunately the crew could not go because of the protest.”

Moonilal is the MP for Oropouche East in whose constituency the road falls.

Because of the protests, Sinanan said, “the director called me and said he cannot go Monday because the staff was unwilling to go down there.”

Sinanan said while the ministry recognised “there are a lot of areas that do require road reconstruction and road paving but we do have a challenge with funding at this point in time.”

He assured there is a plan to fix roads across the country. “We have a programme of works to be executed throughout Trinidad and Tobago, unfortunately all cannot be done at the same time.”

Only yesterday, he said, he approved a programme for 49 projects from the Director of Highways who is the person in charge of all the major roads.

Sinanan said, “This programme is across the country and it’s based on availability of funding. It is also based on priority and the physical nature of the road. The priority is done by the director of highways who is in charge of all roads in Trinidad and Tobago.”

The minister insisted this was not “a response to what happened on Monday, this is something the director had been working on and he brought it to me for approval.” Sinanan could not say whether the Barrackpore Road, which prompted the protest was included in the programme.

Sinanan appealed to communities for “patience and understanding.”

He said for everybody who think their roads are the worst, “if they do a survey throughout Trinidad and Tobago they would realise there are other people in worse condition than they are.”

Acknowledging that there are a number of roads to be rehabilitated Sinanan said it was “unfortunate” that not all roads can be repaired and rehabilitated “at the same time,” but he made it clear that the ministry will not bow to the pressure of protesters “we do not support the burning of tyres and that behaviour and we will not condone that behaviour. It will not speed up the process for any area,” he said.

Mark Francois, Managing Partner of Beston Engineering Consultants, a company which does roadways across the Caribbean, told the T&T Guardian the structural damage done from such protests are not significant “if you overheat asphalt it will soften it, and then it would come back to normal.”

But he cautioned that if the fires go for hours “without being put out it could do permanent damage, it would make the road worse. They should not be doing that.”

He said it was “lawlessness,” and while he admitted to understanding people’s frustration because they may feel their issues are not being attended to, Francois said such protests are “ not helping the situation.”

Francois said the bigger issue is quality control in roadworks.

“You see highways being paved all over, when they should at least be lasting seven years without resurfacing, you see them being resurfaced under seven years, which means the country is paying two and three times for something they should pay once for,” Francois said.

While fixing potholes is important. Sometimes more is required he said.

Six years after her son was fatally shot near their Mon Repos home, a mother of nine lost another child, Reon Massey, 34, under similar tragic circumstances on Monday night.

No longer feeling safe in the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) apartment in San Fernando where she called home for decades, Janice Massey is appealing to HDC to be relocated to another community.

Even though the HDC apartment buildings are adjacent to the Mon Repos Police Station, she said her two sons Reon and Dillon were still murdered.

Massey said she did not know whether Reon, a CEPEP worker, was threatened or had any problem with anyone.

According to a police report, the murder took place around 8.45 pm at a washing shed to the back of one of the buildings.

Investigators have identified a person of interest who was known to Reon and lives in the area.

Massey said, “I was at home when I heard the shots. I knew it was gun shots because we get that now and again. They come and tell me Reon get shot. When I went outside I saw the police taking him.”

When she got to the San Fernando General Hospital she was informed that he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Lamenting the crime situation, she said, “Too many people are trigger happy. I don’t know where they getting the guns.

The Ministry of Health is urging the public that during the rainy season to avoid the health risks associated with flooding.

Flood waters may carry silt, raw sewage and bacteria that can contaminate food and water and make it unsafe.

The ministry said the risk of the infectious disease Leptospirosis is especially high in flood situations, such as after a hurricane or heavy seasonal rains.

Leptospirosis is spread by bacteria and, once diagnosed early, it can be treated. Leptospirosis is spread through the urine of infected animals (usually rodents, dogs, farm animals and horses).

Animals and humans become infected by direct contact, by drinking or inhaling the infected urine, or water contaminated by urine.

The time between a person’s exposure to a contaminated source and becoming sick is 2 days to 4 weeks. Illness usually begins abruptly with fever and other symptoms.

If you believe that you may have Leptospirosis please visit your nearest health centre or your doctor immediately.

To reduce the risk of Leptospirosis, members of the public are advised to:

• Avoid contact with animal urine, especially if you have cuts or abrasions of the skin.

• Avoid contact with potentially contaminated water (e.g. streams, rivers and ponds)

• If working in areas that may be prone to contamination, wear protective clothing such as boots, aprons, eye protection, or face masks.

• Consume only clean drinking water

• Inspect food carefully to determine if it may have come into contact with flood water. Discard open containers, packages and foods contained in bags, paper, cloth, fiber or cardboard boxes e.g. flour, cereal, rice even if the packages were sealed.

• Throw away fresh fruits, vegetables, fish and meat that may have come into contact with flood waters.

Members of the public in need of assistance in this regard should contact their County Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) office.

SYMPTOMS

In humans, Leptospirosis can cause a wide range of symptoms, including:
• High fever
• Headache
• Chills
• Muscle aches
• Vomiting
• Jaundice
(yellow skin and eyes)
• Red eyes
• abdominal pain
• Diarrhea
• Rash

A man was gunned down yesterday in Diego Martin.

He was identified as Shaquille “Max” Samuel originally from Richplain.

According to a police report, at about 1.30 pm Samuel was walking along a track from his home which runs parallel to Mercer Road when he was approached by a lone gunman who shot him several times.

Samuel attempted to run away but fell and died.

Police said he was well known to them, as he was a suspect in several gang-related activities.

Samuel’s murder has been recorded as 316 for the year so far.

Investigations are continuing.

The Emancipation Support Committee (ESC) has received $1.8 million from the State for its 2018 celebrations.

This figure is $200,000 less compared to what the ESC was given by the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and Arts in 2017.

Confirmation came yesterday from chairman of the ESC Khafra Kambon who said they received funding a few days ago from the ministry. He said the organisation was thankful and appreciative of what was offered to them which would go a long way.

“The figure is $1.8 million. It’s a reduction from what we received in the past. It (allocation) has been going down every year. Last year we collected $2 million.”

Asked if the sum was sufficient for the annual celebrations, Kambon opted not to comment.

“What worries me about that, is that it loses sight of what is happening. It always says that Kambon complaining about money and begging for money. That is how the headlines in the newspapers go all the time.

I don’t want to deal with the financial question. We will deal with the money question in time, in an organised systematic way.”

Pressed if they were facing any challenges with planning the celebrations, Kambon said erecting the village which consists of booths was very costly.

“It’s a hard environment where that is concerned. We will always use our will to overcome it. We are fighting the challenges. If you go to the Emancipation Village you would wonder how we even construct that.”

Kambon said this year’s celebrations will kick off on Saturday at 10 am with the opening of the Emancipation Village at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain.

The village will showcase concerts, African drumology, calypso, dance, theatre, drama, storytelling and steelpan, as well as local foods, a business symposium and creative learning workshops for the young participants until August 1.

Among those who will tour the village will be deputy chairman of the African Union Commission Kwesi Quartey, while a small delegation from Nigeria will also be present.

On August 1, Kambon said there would be a street parade starting at 8 am in front of the Treasury Building, downtown Port-of-Spain, which will end at the Queen’s Park Savannah where there will be a packed programme of cultural activities and speeches for guests and local and foreign dignitaries in attendance.

Kambon said an invitation has been extended to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to take part in the emancipation parade.

“Yes, we have extended an invitation to the Prime Minister. I don’t know what his schedule will be this year. Since Dr Rowley assumed office in 2015, he has attended our function every year. Every year at the parade, you see the Prime Minister and his ministers. This has become customary. We don’t expect this year to be any different,” Kambon said.

The informer who supplied former People’s Partnership minister Devant Maharaj with a voice recording which allegedly features a conversation between Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Kazim Hosein and colleague La Brea MP Nicole Ollivierre, over the award of Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (Cepep) contracts, has gone into hiding after allegedly being threatened for leaking the clip.

On Tuesday, Maharaj forwarded a copy of the voice recording to the media attached with photographs of the two high-ranking Government officials, which later surfaced on social media. Maharaj also called on acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams to launch an investigation into the recording.

In the recording, a male voice is heard saying, “Them Cepep contractors in the pool, you want any of them again?”

A female voice is heard answering no, while the male warns, “Dr …tell me to talk to all yuh directly…don’t send no emails and no text. Whatever email you have delete eh.”

Maharaj said if the contents of the recording are true it suggests a collusion and conspiracy to award contracts to individuals in circumstances where there was also an attempt to delete documentation surrounding those awards.

In response, however, Hosein slammed Maharaj for attempting to embroil him in a possible scandal over the award of Cepep contracts.

In his defence, Hosein said he speaks with all MPs, as well as Opposition, on many matters, including Cepep and he directs them to contact the board of the company.

“I remain dedicated to serving my country in this office and I will not let untrue narratives prevent me from fulfilling this mandate,” Hosein added in a statement on the matter on Tuesday.

United National Congress MP Roodal Moonilal also confirmed that MPs recommending people in their constituencies for Cepep contracts was nothing new and that this was also the practice under the People’s partnership government and over the years.

Yesterday, Maharaj said shortly after the recording surfaced on social media the informer was threatened.

“He (informer) called me and say somebody big in the PNM threatened him. He refused to say who because they gave him strict instructions not to share any information with me. The man is scared for his life.

He is very concerned. He has gone into hiding.”

The informer, Maharaj said, is a former government employee.

Adding the informer has little confidence in the police, Maharaj said while Hosein sent out a release on the issue on Tuesday, he was yet to answer the direct questions about whether the voices in the alleged recording were those of his and Ollivierre’s.

“I just hope this matter is put to rest. Come out and say if the voice recording is yours or not,” he said.

When the T&T Guardian attempted to contact Hosein yesterday for a response to the latest allegation surrounding the issue, calls to his phone went unanswered. However, in response to text messages he replied: “I gave my simple response yesterday. Thank you.”

Meanwhile, Communication Minister Stuart Young yesterday defended his colleagues.

Saying he’d noted that even UNC MP Roodal Moonilal had said consultation between Parliamentarians on potential Cepep contractors was nothing unusual, Young said “And I understand this to be so also. I don’t think there’s anything untoward with the Minister having a conversation with an MP on this.”

Young, however, couldn’t verify if it was Hosein on the video Maharaj had queried. But Young was quick to point out that very shortly, the public will be hearing some “stuff” on UNC activist Maharaj which he’ll need to hunker down and deal with himself.

New TTT launch Aug 31

Communication Minister Stuart Young says the new Trinidad and Tobago Television Ltd (TTT) will be launched on August 30 with new programming.

He noted the previous TTT was launched live on August 31, 1962— Independence Day.

Changes are currently being made at the station’s Maraval Road location where its current incarnation—CNMG—is housed. The CNMG sign is being taken down in preparation for the change.

Young said changes are being made to the broadcast content of what will soon be the new TTT. After meeting with CNMG’s board and management yesterday, he said apart from a new logo, he wanted new programming and had some “interesting ideas for the news” going forward.

He also said he’d made presentations to Cabinet last week on the issue of fast ferries from Australia and Cabinet would take some decisions “very shortly” and announcements would be made on the future of fast ferries.

Young made the announcements after yesterday’s official swearing-in of the Port-of-Spain Spain Corporation’s Belmont East councillor Nicole Young.

Young warned his namesake that she had “some shoes” to fill following late Belmont East Councillor Darryl Rajpaul, but he said he was sure she’d do so in her own unique way.

Trinidadian author Kevin Jared Hosein has won the Commonwealth Short Story title—one of the world’s most global literary prizes.

The announcement was made by novelist and poet Sarah Hall, chair of the judges, during the prize-giving ceremony at the Centre of Visual Arts and Research in Nicosia, Cyprus, last night.

Having been named the Caribbean regional winner for the prize in 2015 and again this year, Hosein convinced the jury with “a truly crafted piece of fiction” that was “immediately and uniformly admired” in Passage, she said.

In the piece, Hosein sends a mid-life crisis-ridden protagonist into the wilderness in search of a mystery woman—with unforeseen consequences for others and for himself.

“Our winning story, Passage, was immediately and uniformly admired by the judges. It is an uncanny bar story about a man who hears a strange tale, only to become part of the tale’s re-lived strangeness. It balances between formal language and demotic, ideas of civility and ferality, is tightly woven and suspenseful, beautifully and eerily atmospheric and finally surprising,” Hall said.

“It is, in essence, all a reader could want from the short story form; a truly crafted piece of fiction that transports the reader into another world, upends expectations, and questions the nature of narratives and narrative consequence.”

Commenting on his victory, Hosein said: “I wasn’t expecting it. First to be among this eclectic quintet of winning stories, all with central resonating themes—happiness, connection, isolation, freedom, repression, acceptance. Then to be chosen from that, I feel incredibly honoured that this Trinidadian tale has travelled so far.”

He added: “I hope others in my region are inspired by this accomplishment.”

Hosein is the author of three books, The Beast of Kukuyo (Burt Award for Caribbean Literature), The Repenters (OCM Bocas Prize for Fiction shortlist) and Littletown Secrets.

He has been twice short-listed for the Small Axe Prize for Prose and his work has been featured in numerous publications, such as Lightspeed, Adda and most recently, We Mark Your Memory: Writing from the Descendants of Indenture.

Archbishop Jason Gordon says Trinidad and Tobago must do everything it can “to remove the death penalty off the books.”

Speaking yesterday on the online programme Archbishop Speaks, Gordon said while many people will pour scorn on the idea and may express concern that the already high murder rate will go up more, “what people are not accepting as a truth is that the high murder rate will not be deterred by the death penalty.”

Gordon said the last time he checked, “about eight years ago, only ten per cent of murders were being detected and ten per cent of the detected murders were being convicted, so that’s one per cent, that is not a deterrent.”

The Archbishop said the “real deterrent is a higher rate of detection and a higher rate of conviction.” He argued that 60 per cent is detected and 60 per cent of the murders detected were convicted, then “we will have a real deterrent to stop people in their tracks and think.”

Gordon is hoping the new Commissioner of Police will pay attention to increasing the detection rate.

The Archbishop later told the T&T Guardian that a meeting with the Attorney General and Government was on his agenda but said he said no time-lines yet. He said there was a Caribbean-wide movement to eliminate the death penalty.

Speaking on the issue during his live programme, Gordon said the Bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) had done a pastoral on the death penalty “and we have asked all governments to remove the death penalty from the books. We believe human dignity is not annihilated because of anything that anyone does.”

One month ago, the CCJ ruled that Section 11 of the Barbados Constitution, which gives the right to protection of the law, was enforceable. It found that the mandatory death penalty breached that right as it deprived a court of the opportunity to exercise the quintessential judicial function of tailoring the punishment to fit the crime.

Prior to the ruling, if somebody was charged and convicted of murder it had to be a death sentence, but following the ruling “the judge has discretion and that is the first step out,” the Archbishop said.

Gordon said, “What happened in Barbados was wonderful. It is no longer a mandatory sentence. That’s amazing as a first step in taking it off the books.”

Parliament will meet on Monday to debate the Police Service Commission’s nomination of Gary Griffith for the Commissioner of Police post. But one senior counsel is advising that Government “tread cautiously” on this, as he accuses Government of playing the race card in the process, an allegation which has been summarily dismissed as “absurd” by the leader of government business.

A notice from Parliament yesterday advised that Griffith’s nomination will be the only order of business on the parliamentary agenda. It will be the second time Parliament will meet in the current vacation period to debate a candidate sent by the PSC via the Office of the President.

Griffith’s name was submitted to the President following its statutory meeting on Tuesday and Parliament, as it has done on three past occasions, is being asked to approve the nomination.

But will the Parliament approve it? The Government holds the majority in Parliament and once it agrees Griffith will be appointed.

Yesterday, Leader of Government Business in Parliament, Camille Robinson-Regis, said she could not say if Griffith’s was the last name on the merit list before the PSC, but said the process, as it was done before, will continue.

On June 6 when Parliament debated Deodat Dulalchan’s nomination for the post, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said the PSC had established its “own merit list. At the end of the process we have four candidates for Commissioner: D, H, S and G. It is difficult to get it without calling people’s names”. Rowley made reference to “a source document which was not available in the public domain” and spoke of flaws in the process as the Government rejected Dulalchan.

Parliament subsequently rejected the nominations of Harold Phillip and acting Commissioner Stephen Williams.

Robinson-Regis admitted that although there are “flaws in the process we have been going through the process, which is when the notification comes we ask the Parliament to come and we have gone through the process of either agreeing or negatizing the motion.” The same will happen on Monday, she said.

She said the “process will have to be re-examined because it is a very convoluted process and it also leads to it becoming very untidy. People’s reputations could be tarnished because Members of Parliament can say so many things and the person has no real recourse. It is a very untidy process”.

But the race bogey raised its head yesterday as Israel Khan SC alleged the Government claimed the process was flawed only as “a subterfuge not to appoint Deodat Dulalchan”.

“I am of the very firm view they did not want Dulalchan because he was an East Indian,” Khan said.

But Robinson-Regis dismissed this allegation.

“The PNM does not operate in that way. Those who want to raise that factor I think they should check their conscience. It is absurd.”

Khan said while on the face of it, “on the basis of his merit, ability and integrity” Griffith seems to be a good choice there was a stumbling block.

“He is a potential witness against the former Attorney General Anand Ramlogan in a very serious offence, the pending matter of an attempt to pervert the course of public justice,” Khan said.

Khan said Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley needs to “tread cautiously” in endorsing Griffith’s appointment because Griffith may be compelled by the Director of Public Prosecutions to give evidence against Ramlogan. (See Page A24)

Member of Parliament for Arouca/Maloney Camille Robinson-Regis admits to being “aghast” that the contractor constructing the community centre has been forced to leave the project because of intimidation and demands for “protection money.”

But she is warning the criminal element that she will not “stand for that,” and the police are now being asked to do regular patrols and monitor the project which will be completed by a different contractor.

Robinson-Regis told the T&T Guardian yesterday that “it appears there are elements in the area who want to get work by intimidation and we not going to stand for that.”

She said the contractor had sent her a message indicating that “due to security challenges in the community he decided to move on.”

Robinson-Regis said another contractor is now being sought to complete the project at Emperor Boulevard Bon Air Gardens, which she said is “about 40 per cent complete, it is well underway.”

The MP recalled that the community centre was to have been built several years ago “and there were issues regarding the location and so on and we have gotten it up and running and now we have this concern. It is very disturbing for me as the Member of Parliament,” she said.

Robinson-Regis who is also the Minister of Planning and Development said she was “aghast to hear what was taking place at the community centre.”

And as a result she said he had spoken to the ACP in charge of the division McDonald Jacob and “he has given the assurance that whosoever gets the contract will be well-protected and they will ensure they have regular patrols.”

Robinson-Regis said it appeared that there were “some elements in the area who want to get work by intimidation and we not going to stand for that.”

She said the police have committed to meeting with whoever is the next contractor “in terms of making sure that the security is increased on that site and also that the police make regular patrols in that area.”
Robinson-Regis said she would not “tolerate lawlessness in the constituency of Arouca Maloney.”

She noted that in the recent past “you may have noticed that you have not been hearing anything much about that constituency in terms of gang-related violence or lawless behaviour, because we have been working very closely with the police to ensure that that does not occur in the constituency of Arouca/Maloney and we have been getting a very good response.”

What had been taking place in relation to this particular contract, she said, “is some nefarious element trying to shake down contractors and we are not allowing it to happen.”

Admitting that she became “very concerned” when the contractor told her that he was being asked to pay “thousands of dollars in protection money,” Robinson-Regis said she immediately sought the intervention of the police, “that is not supposed to be taking place it is highly illegal and we not going to stand for it,” she said.

Robinson-Regis admitted that the contractor had made a previous complaint “and we spoke to the police and Udecott and then this complaint came in and he just could not work on the project any longer,” it was “unfortunate” she said that she had only been told about “this after the fact.”

Asked whether she had reports from other contractors in the area that they were experiencing similar issues Robinson-Regis said “I have not heard of it taking place elsewhere, as a matter of fact we have other jobs in the area like URP and the HDC working on some of the houses and so on and we have had no problems of this nature.”

She said there is a large HDC project in Bon Air near the Government Secondary School where town houses are being constructed “and there have been no such complaints on that project. What we have done is involve members of the community in the employment and that has certainly worked in our favour,” she said.

Checks with the Contractors Association indicate that there have been no reports from the membership of the Association about demands for payment of protection money.

President of the Association Ramlogan Roopnarinesingh told Guardian Media the Association had received no recent complaints. The last time such a complaint was made he said was “about five or six years ago from a contractor on the Beetham.”

President of the Joint Consultative Council Dr James Armstrong said the Council was also not aware of any such reports.

In an Intelligence-led exercise assisted by drone technology, officers from the Stolen Vehicles Squad (SVS) were able to recover an SUV belonging to the Ministry of Works and Transport.

According to a police report, shortly after midday on Friday a driver hired by the ministry parked and secured the vehicle at the ministry’s headquarters at Clarence House, corner Duke and St Vincent Streets in Port-of-Spain.

When the driver returned to duty on Monday he discovered the white Toyota Fortuner missing. A report was made at the Central Police Station’s Criminal Investigations Department.

The matter was handed over to Sgt Christopher Swamber of the SVS, who acted on intelligence received.

In a joint search exercise with the Air Support Unit, led by Sgt. Ronny Rampallard, between 8 am and 10.30 am yesterday the vehicle was spotted parked between two buildings at Phase 5, Beetham, also known as Hell Yard, close to the Churchill Roosevelt Highway, Beetham.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Swamber said the ministry’s logo, which was affixed on both front doors, of the vehicle were removed.

He added that the vehicle was towed to the CID for processing. No arrests were made.

The recovery exercise was headed by Swamber under the supervision of acting Senior Supt Ajith Persad and a party of officers including Sgt Bernard Dolloway, Cpl Ramcharan, PC Forgenie and PC Hinds.

PC Hinds is continuing investigations.

The Ministry of Finance and Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) came under fire yesterday for allowing billions of dollars in tax revenue to be loss annually through non-filers without raising a finger.

The issue was raised by Ramnarine Ramdass, a chartered accountant and a former BIR employee who worked up to the level of assistant commissioner, during a T&T Revenue Authority (TTRA) stakeholders meeting with accountants and tax professionals at Government Plaza, Port-of-Spain.

The meeting was held in collaboration with the Finance Ministry and Institute of Chartered Accounts of T&T.

Delivering a presentation under the theme—A Practice in Good Governance, Dr Andre Vincent Henry, TTRA’s programme director for implementation revealed that an assessment done by Prof Karl Theodore last year gave a conservative estimate of between $11 to 16 billion in “tax revenue being loss every year” through non-filers under the current system.

Henry said a mechanism was needed to ring fence “to catch those who are engaged in bad practices as early as possible.”

He said looking out, people at BIR have been saying they were making track for agouti “the dishonest business community” to run.

With the facilitation of business and trade to allow the country to prosper, Henry said it “is seen as making an opportunity for unscrupulous business people to take advantage of the country.”

During a question and answer segment, Ramdass queried what has been preventing the BIR and the Finance Ministry from collecting those billion of dollars being loss yearly.

“We have all the laws, positions and know-how in place. Why aren’t we holding people accountable for the work they are supposed to be doing?”

Ramdass came to the conclusion that there was a tremendous amount of inaction on the part of the powers that be while staff was not being trained, stating that we are heading down a slippery slope.

“We always had an internal audit section and they are supposed to be looking after corruption. What is happening? Don’t they have somebody they report to? Don’t they have minister in charge of them?”

He said if we continue along this path, the country’s revenues will soon be dried up.

In defence, Minister in the Ministry of Finance Allyson West said the difficulty in the system was lack of accountability.

“The significant staff storage. While I recognise the need for the exclusion of the powers from these specific attempts, there is clearly a need to ensure that there is communication and action in respect to tax policies,” West said.

She said the decision as to what units the BIR are to be staffed with was solely their discretion.

“So the internal audit unit now has two people. What can two people do in the context on what we have to do?”

Decisions that are made, she said impacts on the collection of revenue.

“So that the system has to change. We need to set firewalls…but the firewalls cannot be used to debar the communication and enforcement of policy decisions.”

It was revealed that between 2008 and 2018 taxpayers have injected $400 billion in revenues into Government’s coffers.

West said the explosion of the narcotics and firearms trade, menace of terrorism, tax avoidance and the internationalisation of criminal activities have fuelled the complexities of tax administration.

She said T&T must ensure we have a tax administration that can be efficient in tax collection and duties.

Stating there was a need for fairness and equity in the tax system, West admitted that the tax burden currently falls on the shoulders of a few.

While employees have no choice but to pay taxes and some members of the business community have been compliant, West said “and what we see, is that, the people who are in the system and complying are the ones against whom all the tax collection action tend to be taken, while we leave the defaulting many out of the system all together. That is inequitable and it is demoralising. It makes paying taxes a psychological and financial burden and that has to change.”

West said the Government intends to build the TTRA with strong work rules and policies which will be buttressed by transparent and firm processes to deal with misconduct.

She appealed to the stakeholders to give vocal support for the enactment of laws to facilitate the implementation of the authority in a bid to stamp out corrupt practices by those who facilitate, encourage and instigate wrong doing.

“Because we all know tax administrators could not be corrupt unless taxpayers are encouraging them in being that way.”

The son of a retired police inspector was gunned down yesterday in his vehicle in what investigators believe was a gang-related incident.

Two others were wounded, however, up to late yesterday their names were not disclosed and they were said to be at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mount Hope receiving medical treatment.

Dane Hazarie, 33, lived at corner King and De Gannes Street in Arima. He was the son of retired Insp Mungal Hazarie.

According to a police report, at about 9.50 am, Hazarie was driving a white Hyundai Elantra along Boys Lane in D’abadie when a gold coloured Nissan Almera drove up to him and stopped.

The occupants emerged from the vehicle and opened fire on Hazarie and two other men who were in the car.

The gunmen then got back into their vehicle, which sped off, in a southerly direction towards the Priority Bus Route.

Hazarie died behind the steering wheel. His body was viewed by the District Medical Officer and removed to the Forensic Science Centre in St James where an autopsy is expected to be done today.

A team of police officers including Northern Division’s Supt Ramkhelawan and Sgt Highly and Homicide’s Insp Shaun Craig and Sgt Stanisclaus visited the scene. No relatives of Hazarie were at the scene.

Investigations are continuing.

Four Trinbagonian dance acts are heading to California, USA, this week to participate in the next phase of screening for the NBC hit series, World of Dance which takes place on July 28 and 29.

Dancer Thema Williams; salsa duo, Stefan Maynard and Karline Brathwaite; hip-hop duo, DREN and group, The Academy will all represent Trinidad and Tobago at the international qualifier and also attend two informative workshops in Burbank, California during their stay in the Western state.

Franchise holders Lequay Edge have fulfilled their responsibility to host the local qualifier and to assist the winning crews to get to in Pasadena, California and are hoping for a great showing at the international qualifier this week.

“Win, lose or draw,” stated Lequay Edge Director, Kyle Lequay, “we will be the first Caribbean nation to field an entire contingent at this international qualifier and of course, the experience will be invaluable to our local dancers and dance crews moving forward in their careers. We must give special thanks to the NLCB, Sunshine Snacks, Be Well Medical Group, 63 Lounge and the Ministries of Culture, Sports and Tourism respectively - Thanks to their support, we were able to organise everyone’s flights, accommodations and transportation arrangements in time, so now we can field this contingent of over 25 dancers for this great international competition. Now, we’re all ready to show NBC what Trinidad and Tobago has to offer.”

Stay tuned to the WOD Trinbago page on Facebook for updates on the contingent.