The State has been ordered to pay over $4 million in compensation to a Valencia quarry operator whose fleet of vehicles were impounded for almost three years after he was cleared by police on suspicion of operating an illegal quarry.

High Court Judge Ricky Rahim ordered the compensation yesterday, almost two months after State attorneys conceded liability in the trial after one of its witnesses admitted that the vehicles, valued at $6.4 million, should have been returned to Danny Guerra 15 days after they were seized in January 2013.

In his testimony, Sgt Francis Collins, who led the investigation, admitted that within two weeks of the seizure of Guerra’s 12 dump trucks, a concrete mixer, a tractor and a ATV, he informed then deputy police commissioner Mervyn Richardson, the vehicles should be returned as there was no evidence they or Guerra were involved in illegal quarrying in east Trinidad. 

Despite Collins advice the vehicles were not released. 

Senior Counsel Israel Khan, who lead the State’s case, said the police were willing to return the vehicles. However, Guerra refused to accept them, saying that they had all developed mechanical faults from lack of use. 

Guerra had initially claimed $6,408,205 in compensation, the amount at which he valued the vehicles. 

In his 27-page assessment, Rahim said he was only entitled to $3,831,205 plus 2.5 per cent interest as the court had to consider that some of the vehicles were purchased years before the seizure and would have depreciated in value. 

Rahim also ordered that the State pay Guerra $30,000 in compensation for the police’s repeated refusals to return the vehicles before the trial in October. The State was also ordered to pay Guerra’s legal costs for bringing the lawsuit. 

Guerra was represented by Gerald Ramdeen, Wayne Sturge and Lemuel Murphy.

 Larry Lalla appeared alongside Khan for the State. 

Whether the continuing imposition of the death penalty which has not been carried out since 1999 continues to be a deterrent to capital offences was argued by Justice Frank Seepersad as he made a case for its abolition in T&T.

Advocating his case for its abolition, Seepersad said judges were yoked with the obligation of imposing a mandatory death sentence on an accused convicted of murder.  

The contentious issue of the pros and cons of the death penalty was brought to the fore at a symposium focusing on human rights issues, organised by the Faculty of Law at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, in partnership with the European Union, on Wednesday evening.

Seepersad said even though there had been no execution since 1999 and convicts, most of whom have been incarcerated for periods that exceed the Pratt and Morgan time line, continue to have the sentence of death ominously hanging over their heads.  

“But this is the law of the land which a judge is constitutionally mandated to follow,” he noted.

 The symposium, which featured leading jurists, intellectuals and activists, involved key issues of human rights, including children’s rights, LGBTI rights, the death penalty and prison/detention issues. Seepersad said the issue of the continuation of the death penalty was shrouded with a lot of emotion and had possible political ramifications.  

“There is also a lack of empirical data as to whether it has proven to have had a deterred effect in this jurisdiction and one must therefore ask how effective a deterrent it has been, given that no one has been executed for close to two decades and although it is the law, the number of murders continue, to increase. 

“It must also be acknowledged that our retention of the death penalty is inconsistent with the position that has been adopted by significant sections of the developed world.”

He said punishment that was cruel, inhumane and degrading should not be a facet of national life. He recalled Chief Justice Ivor Archie, at the opening of the 2015/2016 law term, identifying the number of convicted people that were on Death Row and asked whether as a nation, T&T could stomach the number of executions that would be required, if the orders of the court were to be carried out.  He said the case for abolition must be considered and in pursuit of the spirit of partnership with global partners in particular European partners’.

The judge said human rights challenges that face judges could be readily remedied if there was the political will to do that which was right.  

“Judges have a responsibility to ensure that the law develops so as to meet the just demands and aspirations of an ever developing society and decisions of the court should accord with the international human right norms.”

He said he hoped that the discussion started by the Law Faculty would pave the path for a meaningful review of issues such as the death penalty, discrimination based on sexual orientation and matters of privacy and that judges would be saved from embarking upon path of Judicial activism in an attempt to ensure that their decisions accord with internationally accepted norms.

Police are investigating the murder of a Guyanese national whose body was found in El Socorro, yesterday.

According to a police report, at about 2 pm, Andrew Garraway, believed to be in his early 40s, was found dead behind an apartment building at Mohammed Trace, El Socorro Road Extension.

Police said Garraway was found lying on the stomach with his pants pulled down to the ankles. There was a gaping wound to his head.

A resident yesterday described Garraway as “a very pleasant and kind person.”

"He treated everyone around here like his own family and was always willing to help whoever needed his help" the resident said.

Officers of the San Juan Police Station are investigating.

Crime Watch host Ian Alleyne has been ordered to pay businessman Shaun Sammy over $600,000 in compensation for defamation. 

Sammy received the award from High Court Master Marissa Robertson yesterday months after the High Court entered judgment in default because Alleyne failed to enter a defence in court. 

Speaking with reporters outside the Hall of Justice yesterday, Sammy said he was happy with the legal victory. 

“I have to look at the figures but I definitely want to give a portion to charity,” Sammy said. 

Sammy, his father, business magnate Junior Sammy, and the family’s company Junior Sammy Group of Companies sued Alleyne last year, after Alleyne spoke about Sammy’s then pending case for drunk driving on his Crime Watch programme. 

The programme is aired on television station CNC3, which is part of Guardian Media Limited, which also publishes this newspaper. As with previous hearings of the case Alleyne was not in court yesterday. Alleyne was also ordered to pay Sammy’s legal costs for bringing the lawsuit. 

According to police reports, Sammy was driving his vehicle along French Street, Woodbrook, around 5 pm on August 23, last year, when he was stopped by police.

A breathalyser test was done which showed he had a blood alcohol level of 86 microgrammes (mcg) of alcohol in every 100 millilitres of breath, 51 mcg above the legal limit. 

Sammy eventually pleaded guilty to the offence in October and was placed on a bond to keep the peace for three years. 

Sammy was represented by Senior Counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, Om Lalla and Derrick Balliram. 

A former head of the Police Service Commission (PSC) Ramesh Deosaran wants the Government to make public the cabinet note which has changed the rules for appointment of a commissioner of police.

Deosaran told the GML Enterprise Desk that “if it’s a mere administrative change they want to make to the legal notice, which has to do with the appointment criteria for hiring a commissioner and the manner in which the post is advertised by the Director of Personnel Administration, then it could be easily done.” 

However, he said, it was a different matter if they intended to make constitutional changes with regards to the powers of the police commissioner.

He said, it was only “if the Government publishes the note for public comment that the public will know how far the extent of the changes would go and whether it would need a special majority.”

But Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie explained that there was no need for constitutional change, since it was simply a case where Cabinet has approved an order to change the process for the appointment of a CoP, “so that where before we had to advertise with an international firm, a local firm will now handle the advertisement for the post on behalf of the Police Service Commission.” 

Cuffie said, “We are not changing the law but the process.”

The change would still be brought to the Parliament, he said, but once it was gazetted it would become law. Currently, the advertisement for a commissioner says locals, regional and international professionals can apply. That will now have to be re-defined to say only applicants from T&T will be considered. Cuffie said nationals living abroad could apply.

Deosaran raised concerns about whether the cabinet note sought to fulfil the government’s stated intention to establish an Inspectorate of Police as well as a Police Management Board. If that were the case, he said, then it would mean that there would have to be constitutional change since the two bodies would interfere with the role of the police commissioner and the Police Service Commission.

He said the wisest thing to do at this stage was to publish the note which would “have to come to Cabinet in any case, because we do not want to do something which will lead to complexities and a tangled web where they are trying to change what they already have. We cannot make the mistakes of the past.”

Asked what he felt was the best criteria for the selection of a CoP, Deosaran said, “competence, integrity, experience and a sound academic as well as professional background.” 

He said every effort must be made to ensure that those conducting the interviews “are quite capable and knowledgeable. All we can hope is that the interview process is vigilant and meticulous.”

President of the Police Service Social and Welfare Association Anand Ramesar says the association welcomes the opening up of the system. He said, “We have tried the methodology of going international and that failed. When we met with the Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon we indicated we wanted a local person. It’s a decision we are on board with.”

Ramesar said there were a lot of people with capabilities and the association was looking forward to “fresh ideas and a paradigm shift.”

But he said the process of selection must be “free and fair and free from manipulation, so that the person who becomes commissioner will be selected on merit.”

In August 2014, Deosaran resigned as chairman of the PSC, citing frustration over the failure of the government to amend the cumbersome process to appoint a CoP.

​MORE INFO

The post of commissioner of police has been vacant since 2012 when the then commissioner Dwayne Gibbs, a Canadian, resigned two years after assuming office.

Gibbs had been hailed as a face of change for the local police service who introduced a 21st century policing initiative which he said would improve the level of policing in the country. 

In his first year in office the murder rate fell by just under 30 per cent, but by 2012 he had lost the confidence of key people and the PSC under Deosaran, in evaluating the then commissioner, found his leadership skills “terribly lacking” and his level of enthusiasm to be “far from satisfactory.”

Gibbs got a “fair” grade along with his deputy Jack Ewatski, another Canadian. By July of 2012 both men were heading back to Canada with golden handshakes having each received ex-gratia payments of just over $2 million.

It would be the man who got a “satisfactory” grade from the PSC, Stephen Williams, then a deputy commissioner of police, who would then assume the role of acting Police Commissioner. It is a post which he still holds three years later.

Williams will have to apply for the job of commissioner of police and be interviewed like any other applicant.

Baby Khristha Knutt’s mother, Tiffany Rawlins, was released from police custody on Thursday night, but did not attend her daughter’s funeral yesterday.

She was not mentioned except during angry outbursts by relatives and friends.

Khristha, who would have turned two in January, was struck on the head and electrocuted, in what police described as a botched attempt to resuscitate her, after she was found unresponsive by relatives on Monday.

Khristha’s mother along with her boyfriend, a 32-year-old Coast Guard officer, and two relatives were detained by police.

The Coast Guard officer up until late yesterday evening remained in police custody and is represented by attorney Israel Khan, SC.

An autopsy by forensic pathologist Dr Hughvon Des Vignes revealed the toddler died from head injuries and electrocution.

While the two relatives were released, one on Tuesday and the other on Thursday, Rawlins’ attorney Fareed Ali served a writ of habeas corpus on the Office of the Commissioner of Police and the Office of the Attorney General, challenging the continued detention of his client.

Ali said the mother of the child had been unlawfully and wrongfully kept against her will without any reasonable or probable cause and added that she should be immediately released. 

He raised concerns that Rawlins would miss her daughter’s funeral.

Despite being released at around 9 pm on Thursday night, Rawlins, who spent five days in police custody, was not seen at Saint Rose Funeral Services Chapel in Tunapuna.

Instead, Khristha’s father, Ernest Knutt, cried inconsolably and had to leave the chapel during emotional outbursts, returning moments later.

Pastor Brian Hutchinson, a close friend of Khristha’s father, who presided over the funeral service, asked the mourners to show support.

He called on anyone wishing to show support for Knutt and his family to say a few words.

Friends and relatives spoke about a sweet and smart child who was loved by her father and by all the people she came in contact with.

Relatives spoke about asking for custody of the child, who died just over a month before her second birthday, and made curious references to her well-being while alive.

Hutchinson said he was certain that there were questions which needed to be answered but asked the mourners to leave it up to God.

“Leave everything in God’s hands. What has to be worked out will be worked out. There is a saying what in the dark must come to light. You can run but you cannot hide.”

He advised the relatives to reflect on happier days with the toddler.

“In God’s timing you will be vindicated. He is still well able to make wrongs right.”

Knutt’s mother, Desiree, was the second to have a loud, tearful outburst.

“I told Tiffany to give me the child and if she had done that then today the child would not be dead.

“I begged her and she never gave me the child. I begged her. I beg and I beg,” she said.

Kristha’s maternal grandmother, Marlene Rawlins, was one of the many people who called for justice following the child’s death.

Several other relatives expressed similar sentiments, claiming that they had asked to be given the child but were ignored.

Many seemed to view the child’s death as avoidable and the chapel was filled with an underlying tension.

Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the toddler’s death.

A High Court Judge has urged attorneys for the country’s two main political parties to work together to expedite the hearing of six election petitions challenging the result of the September 7 general election. 

Justice Mira Dean-Armorer made the plea yesterday during the first hearing of the petitions since the Court of Appeal, in a majority ruling, threw out an appeal from the People’s National Movement (PNM) and the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) challenging Dean-Armorer’s decision to grant the United National Congress (UNC) permission to pursue the petitions. 

“I hope that everyone would work together and focus on what is important—peace and order in our country,” Dean-Armorer said, as she noted that the petitions should be dealt with expeditiously since they would affect the stability of the Government. 

“This is a matter of national importance and everyone in this court will have to clear their schedules to deal with it,” Dean-Armorer said. 

During yesterday’s hearing, Dean-Armorer set timelines for each party to file their evidence and written submissions for the petitions, with three days between June 27 and 30 being set aside for oral submissions. 

Dean-Armorer stated that she did not think that the oral hearings in June should take much time as she would not be allowing the parties to cross-examine each others’ witnesses. 

Each petition will be heard separately as evidence from voters from each of the six marginal constituencies being challenged is likely to be different. 

As the EBC and the two parties prepare their witness statements over the next three months, the High Court Registry is also expected to issue notices calling on members of the public in the affected constituencies who may wish to testify as independent witnesses to come forward. 

Central to the UNC’s petition is its claim that EBC returning officers acted illegally when they followed the EBC’s directive to extend the poll in Trinidad by one hour due to heavy rainfall. 

The party will now have to bring evidence to prove that its defeat in the constituencies was marginally affected by the EBC’s decision to extend the polling hours. 

The constituencies being challenged are Toco/Sangre Grande, Tunapuna, St Joseph, San Fernando West, Moruga/Tableland and La Horquetta/Talparo. 

The PNM on Thursday filed an application to have the petition for La Horquetta/Talparo immediately struck out due to an apparent procedural error made when it was filed shortly after the election. Attorneys for the UNC and PNM were yesterday also given instructions to file submissions on the issue. 

A hearing to determine the matter will be held on March 3.

Related cases

Besides the petitions, Dean-Armorer has also been assigned two cases in which three private citizens are challenging the EBC’s decision. Social activist Ravi Balgobin Maharaj has filed a judicial review seeking the court’s clarification on whether the EBC had the constitutional power to make the decision, while Irwin Lyne and Melissa Sylvan are claiming that the EBC breached the constitutional rights of Tobagonians by not allowing them an extension. Both cases have been deferred as they would be directly affected by the outcome of Dean-Armorer’s decision on the petitions. 

The UNC is being represented by Timothy Straker, QC, Anand Ramlogan, SC, Gerald Ramdeen, Wayne Sturge and Kent Samlal. The PNM’s legal team is being led Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes and John Jeremie and includes Michael Quamina, Kerwyn Garcia, Terrence Bharath and Celeste Jules. Senior Counsel Russell Martineau and Deborah Peake are leading the EBC’s legal team. 

A pre-trial review of the petitions, in preparation for the oral hearings, will take place on April 28. 

Support from the Opposition and an online petition may not be enough to keep Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran in office.

In a stinging statement yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said that Rambarran has engaged in a series of “reckless and even illegal” actions during his time as governor which made “his own situation untenable.”

Rowley, in a text exchange with the Sunday Guardian yesterday, said the media “missed the point” of his statements in Parliament on Friday and sought to further clarify the context of his debate contribution on the future of the Central Bank governor.

Rowley said contrary to media reports that his Government would not take action against Rambarran, the Government now has to act to protect the citizenry,

“The Government would simply be responding to protect the wider public interest,” Rowley said.

Rowley reiterated his denial that his Government was seeking to “hound” Rambarran out of office but said that Rambarran was in an “untenable” situation.

Hours after the media reports of Rowley’s contribution in Parliament Friday night, the Office of the Prime Minister sought to clarify the misinformation that Rambarran’s position was safe.

“The report in the media stating that the Prime Minister has told the Parliament that Government has no intention of dismissing the Governor of the Central Bank is entirely incorrect and is a patent misrepresentation of what was said in the House,” the release said.

“In response to a question as to whether the Government was taking action which could result in the dismissal of the Governor of the Central Bank the Hon Prime Minister replied that if any action was being taken which could result in the Governor being dismissed ‘such action was not being taken by the Government’,” the statement noted.

However, it added that “if it turns out that the Governor is dismissed it would be as a result of a series of his own actions and not by any action initiated by the Government. The Government would wish to make it quite clear that no public officer, regardless of what office he or she may hold, is beyond the requisite disciplinary procedures which are open to the employer acting lawfully in the interest of the people of Trinidad and Tobago”.

“The statement was issued immediately upon my observation that the media missed my point,” Rowley told the Sunday Guardian.

“If the Governor ends up being removed, it would not be because of any action initiated by the Government but as a result of his own series of reckless and illegal actions,” Rowley said in a text to the Sunday Guardian.

Speaking at the PNM’s children’s Christmas treat yesterday, Rowley said the issue was “diminishing the public’s confidence in the Central Bank’s ability to conduct public’s business in finance, and two, diminishing the public’s confidence in the Governor himself. If the Government allows this to continue unimpeded it will diminish the population’s confidence in the Government itself.”

Rowley said there are laws which govern the conduct of the Central Bank affairs.

“If the Governor breaches those laws then the Minister of Finance would have to look at the matter....and the Minister of Finance is looking at the matter.”

Rowley said he trusts that good sense will prevail.

On Wednesday, the Opposition Leader, former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, defended Rambarran, saying that he was being “hounded” out of office by the People’s National Movement (PNM) Government. Rambarran was appointed by the People’s Partnership on Friday, July 13, 2012, after a series of meetings at a governmental retreat in Tobago. Two years later, Rambarran implemented a revision of the 20-year old foreign exchange allocation system, increasing the number of financial institutions accessing forex from eight to 12. Rambarran came under fire earlier in the month for announcing that the country was in a recession without first informing Finance Minister Colm Imbert. Rambarran also faced criticism from the business sector and Chamber of Commerce for revealing the companies utilising the largest chunk of foreign exchange. Rambarran is also facing possible legal action by the Massy conglomerate for breaching confidentiality when he revealed the names of the companies using forex.

The Sunday Guardian attempted to contact both Rambarran and Central Bank communications manager Charlene Ramdhanie by mobile phone and email but was unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, president of the Penal/Debe Chamber of Commerce Shiva Roopnarine is calling on Rambarran and Minister of Finance Colm Imbert to settle the debate privately. 

Roopnarine also said there needs to be a clear and precise message sent to the population on the current state of the economy.

He said, “There is a need to stop posturing and turf-protecting.”

He was addressing members of various chambers of commerce and the banking sector on Friday night at an awards function at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts. 

A 33-year-old able-bodied seaman with the T&T Coast Guard has been charged with the death of 23-month-old Kristha Knutt. 

Emile Garraway, of Erica Street, Rock City, Laventille, was charged on Friday night with manslaughter by officers of the Homicide Bureau of Investigations. 

Garraway is expected to appear before a Port-of-Spain magistrate tomorrow.

Baby Knutt was pronounced dead at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital on December 7 after being brought in unconscious by a relative. 

Doctors observed marks on the baby’s body and an autopsy later revealed that Knutt died of blunt craniocerebral trauma, aspiration pneumonia and electrocution. It was revealed that a male relative attempted to use live wires from a fan on the child in a botched attempt to revive her.

She was laid to rest at the Tunapuna cemetery after a funeral service held at the Saint Rose Funeral Home, Basilon Street, Tunapuna.

Knutt’s mother was released from police custody on Wednesday night and it was reported that she viewed the child’s body but was not present at the funeral.

The investigation was spearheaded by Supt Corbett and included Asst Supt Nurse, along with other officers. WPC Lezama of the Belmont Police Station laid the charge.

Under a dim street light at Grass Trace, Flanagin, brothers Mark Halbal, 14, and Aaron, 11, study at nights.

It’s not an ideal place for the boys to beat their books, but for their poverty-stricken parents, Winston and Harriet Halbal, better cannot be done.

Hard-pressed for cash and unable to land permanent jobs, the Halbals have been facing an uphill battle to survive in the far-flung community in which they live.

They are known as the poorest family in Flanagin, as they manage without electricity and pipe-borne water, and with only limited food, in an old one-bedroom wooden hovel whose furnishings consist of two pieces of dingy sponge, a makeshift fireside stove, and a faded kitchen cabinet.

Of the couple’s eight children, only Mark and Aaron live with them. The other six live on their own.

Eight years ago, Winston, a farmer, was the sole provider for the family.

“I worked for a reasonable salary and took care of my family’s needs. Life was good back then,” said Winston, showing the callouses on the inside of his palms.

But Winston’s life came crashing down when he was involved in a vehicular accident eight years ago. The accident left Winston, 48, medically unfit after he suffered multiple injuries.

With mounting bills and an empty cupboard, Winston said Harriet, 49, became the main breadwinner doing household chores in the district for people.

The backbreaking work earns her between $100 and $150 a job.

On a good week, Harriet would take home $300, which is inadequate to feed the family and send Mark to Asja Boys’ College. Every week, the Halbals have to cough up $135 to get Mark to and from his Charlieville school. 

Aaron, a Standard Four pupil of Flanagin RC, walks to school.`

Winston pointed to several missing floorboards in his verandah, where he and his wife sleep.

Three years ago, Winston said, the boys’ bedroom caved in, while the kitchen partially collapsed.

“We gave the boys our bedroom and we moved into the gallery to sleep, which is open to the elements. Whenever it rains we would still get wet,” Winston explained.

Expecting the worst in 2016

As the country faces a recession, Harriet said the family expects the worst in 2016.

“When things get bad I would go in the back of the yard and dig for yam. This is what we does eat almost every day. It’s yam and yam. Christmas coming and I don’t have nothing to offer my sons. It’s a happy time for many but not for us. It tears us apart. On Christmas morning when everybody eating their ham, lamb and jam, we does stay inside we old house. We don’t come out for nobody to insult we. Whatever we have to eat...if it is rice and salt, we don’t ask nobody for nothing,” Harriet said.

She said many days the family would go without food.

Harriett spoke proudly of her two sons, who often complain about the conditions in which they live. 

“Aaron has the potential to pass for Presentation College in Chaguanas. This is what his teachers have been telling me. He tops the class in mental Maths questions. It grieves my heart to see them struggling.”

Mark, she said, was also excelling in the science subjects.

At the time of the visit, the boys were in school. The family had no photos of them. Yesterday, speaking to Aaron on a neighbour’s phone, he said that he placed fourth in test. He said he had gotten used to studying under the dim street light. Mark, meanwhile, said the only difficulty he faced when using the street light was when there was no electricity in the community. Both boys said they want to become lawyers when they grow up.

Winston admitted that in an attempt to give his sons a better life, he sent them to live with one of his daughters.

“Yes, it’s true, I couldn’t afford to feed them and sent the boys by one of my daughters. But after about nine months, they started to fall back in their school work and I brought them back home. There have been more downs than ups for us,” Winston said.

Villagers confirmed Winston’s claims.

Winston said he did not get a proper education and wanted the best for his sons since this was the only way out of poverty.

Harriet said it was no secret that Mark and Aaron would study under the street light once the weather was good.

“We cannot afford to buy candles so they can study at home. Purchasing food is more important,” Harriet said. 

The couple said the boys would do their homework as soon as they got home on evenings, but at nights when they wanted to read, study or revise for exams, they would use the street light.

“I know it’s not the best condition because the light is dim, but it’s better than nothing.” 

Amid all the hardship, the couple, who have been living together for the last 30 years and have been married for the last 22 years, still find something to smile or even laugh about in their daily lives. Winston said through thick and thin, their love for each other remains strong.

National Commission for Self Help CEO: 

We will help

Yesterday, CEO of the National Commission for Self Help, Amy Harripaul, offered to provide the Halbals with a $15,000 minor repairs/reconstruction grant through a purchase order, with which they could buy building materials at a hardware of their choice.

Harripaul said she would first send someone from the commission to interview the family and examine their home.

“The family would have to provide us with some documents. Once that is done, we can help them before Christmas.” 

Pan Trinbago’s president Keith Diaz says pan tuners should be recognised as natural treasures and should be held in the same regard as Michelangelo and Michel-Jean Cazabon.

He was speaking during his tribute at the funeral service for veteran pan tuner Herman “Guppy” Brown, at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain, yesterday.

Diaz said, “Guppy tuned pans and took them all over the world; people cherished them in all different aspects and didn’t mind waiting a little more for one of his pans.

“But we don’t look at it in that way because he came from Laventille, and we don’t recognise his work and the quality of his instruments.

“We should cherish every single pan tuner who brings into Panorama the tonal quality and artistry of their pans. We don’t take time to see how hard these tuners and arrangers work or the art they put in place and I would compare them to great artists like Michelangelo and Cazabon.”

He said the country was not even conscious of how great these pan tuners were, and it was about time that T&T’s artistes were taken care of. Diaz said a space must be found in T&T where its artistes could be given the tribute they deserved, especially members of the pan fraternity before they passed away.

Canon Knolly Clarke called on Diaz to not only make sure that everything was all right with Guppy’s family, but also the young men coming forward who needed the skills, dedication, discipline and commitment to tune the pan, as too many people were hired hands in T&T.

He said they knew the skills but were charging money for everything.

Clarke said culture at the grassroots level would take the country out of the state it was in. 

He said the future of T&T was in the hands of people like those who performed in the church that day that gave Guppy a musical sendoff with the pan, poems and song.

Clarke also challenged the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation to look after young calypsonians and teach them how to compose, present songs and be committed about their art form, as there was too much half-hearted work being done.

He said young people must benefit from Guppy’s legacy. Guppy also tuned pans to be played in the church.

Arranger Len “Boogsie” Sharpe performed a stirring rendition of Take It To The Lord In Prayer.

Also present were members of the pan fraternity, “Birch” Kelman, Dr Phaedra Pierre and Jamaat-al-Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr.

The officiating clergy was Fr Carl Williams.

The nationwide million-dollar Christmas toy drive—a brainchild of former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is no more. Persad-Bissessar will only be focusing on her Siparia constituency this year.

While the toy drive brought smiles to the faces of over 200,000 children in the last four years, don’t expect Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to continue this initiative. With T&T facing a recession, Rowley indicated at a public meeting on December 4 in Malabar, Arima, that he had no intention of distributing toys to children this Christmas.

“They say children will be crying because the Prime Minister will not be giving out toys. But let me tell all you parents something, all of you parents, all who have and all who eh have, the best thing you can give your children for Christmas is your love, and give them within your own circumstances and you’ll see the difference.”

Rowley said he will not go around giving out millions of dollars in toys and not say to the public where the toys came from. 

In 2011, Rowley had called on Persad-Bissessar to say who were the sponsors of the annual initiative and questioned why contractors were being bullied into financing the then prime minister’s Christmas toy drive.

In dismissing the allegation back then, Persad-Bissessar stated that Rowley was behaving like “Scrooge” since children were happy to receive the gifts.

The then minister of the people Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh also defended the initiative, stating that the toy drive had grown as a result of donations from business and private citizens. 

Rowley further told the Arima crowd, “Is when they leave office and they’re fighting for office in the party, you’re hearing whose money buy the toys and who didn’t buy it, and who shouldn’t have bought it. That’s not what Christmas is about.” 

On Friday, Persad-Bissessar, in a brief telephone interview with the Sunday Guardian, said she treated 50,000 children with toys and a party bag containing treats annually when she was PM.

In addition, parents and guardians enjoyed themselves with the live entertainment which was provided as they waited in long lines to collect the toys from Persad-Bissessar, who wore her traditional red dress complete with a Santa Claus hat. 

At some of the distributing venues, adults also received a tea cup bearing Persad-Bissessar’s photo.

Persad-Bissessar said the initiative was managed by an organising committee, chaired by Peter Kanhai, who sought sponsors from 2010 to 2014.

In 2011, Kanhai declined to say whether or not the committee had a detailed listing of the funds provided for the toy drive and if he would make that information public. He could not be reached last week for comment. 

Asked what was the overall cost of the toy distributed, Persad-Bissessar said “again, you would have to work with the committee.”

For 2015, however, Persad-Bissessar said she can only distribute toys in her constituency. 

“This is what I have been doing for over 20 years. I will continue. In terms of other locations, it depends on whether we get sponsors to do that. So we may not be able to do the entire country, which we had done before... depending on donations coming in thus far,” the Opposition Leader said.

“I guess with the position now...thus far, I can service my own constituency.” 

Thirty-one months after losing her 14-year-old son Renaldo Dixon to school violence, Camille Taitt is still trying to come to terms with his death. 

Taitt, 34, admitted that Renaldo’s passing will forever leave a void in her life.

However, the recent upsurge in school violence has opened afresh Taitt’s wounds and rekindled her grief.

Every time Taitt hears about a brawl or fight in school, she remembers how her second son met his death at the Waterloo Secondary School.

Renaldo, a form three student, was stabbed four times with a knife in May 2013 by another student over a girl, as he sat on a bench with his friends. 

In November 2014, another student, Salim Delzell, 17, a Success Laventille Composite School student, also lost his life after being gunned down by two armed men as he exited the school’s compound. 

Posted on the internet in the last two months have been videos of schoolchildren fighting in and outside of school.

In one of the videos, two schoolchildren were seen fighting with a police officer who, after trying to break up the fight, was also beaten by the girls.

Another video showed schoolgirls fighting with MTS security guards when they intervened to try to break up a fight.

There was also an incident at the Chaguanas North Secondary School involving students who threw firecrackers into a classroom while teachers were there. 

One video highlighted a student hitting another with a chair in class.

This is in spite of the “$400 to $500 million spent annually” in the last four years to curb school violence, according to former education minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh.

In the last four years, between $1.6 and $2 billion was spent to reduce school violence. 

“There was very little that we could have put in except to make sure that all these areas worked well and were implementable,” Gopeesingh said. 

Gopeesingh said he was shocked at the rise in the level of school violence.

He said Success Laventille and Waterloo Secondary got additional security and hand-held scanners following the murders. 

Taitt: School violence 

opening old wounds

Taitt has little hope that school violence will be reduced, stating that within the last few weeks, fighting among students has been taken to a different level.

“It’s getting out of control. When will it stop?” she asked. 

“Every time I hear a student is attacked Renaldo’s death would come back fresh in my mind. It’s like opening up old wounds,”

Economist Mary King says the Government intends to spend an unprecedented TT$63.1 billion and none of it looks like it is designed to boost the country’s exports or reduce its import bill. Instead, King said, it would increase the already burgeoning demand for foreign exchange.

She was responding to questions via email on Thursday sent to her by the Sunday Guardian on the recession the country was experiencing.

King said: “We are in an economic downturn, recession or whatever name you prefer, simply because our small, open economy needs foreign exchange as the fuel on which it runs. 

“When this foreign exchange income is reduced, in this case because of sustained low prices of petroleum and commodities, the local business sector cannot import as much as before or ramp up exports to compensate for loss of foreign exchange income, nor can it replace many of the things we import. 

“Hence, economic activity has to decrease with, eventually, a concurrent negative impact on incomes.” 

She said this meant that the country’s onshore sector needed imports to enable and continue its economic activity and growth. 

King said that it was useless talking about the Central Bank not releasing foreign exchange since to release more than the Government earned in energy sector rents was to run down the country’s reserves, to operate on its reserve fuel tank, at best a short-term measure.

King said the Central Bank and Government had to use the tools at their disposal to reduce aggregate demand onshore since the country imported some 70 per cent of what was consumed locally.

She said one way to do this could be to increase the cost of all imports by devaluing the T&T dollar. 

King said this was a broad-brush approach since it increased the price of essentials such as medical drugs and non-essentials like Mercedes Benz cars with the same stroke. 

She said, however, the country could use instead the vectored approach, which targeted certain imports for price increases via higher taxation and not essentials such as medicine.

King said commercial bank credit also facilitated local business, and the importation of goods and services. She said via reduction of the money supply and increases in the repo, interest rates could be nudged upwards, so increasing the cost of the T&T dollar to conduct certain business activities and, hence, the costs to import certain goods.

King said government spending helped to drive onshore demands and, in particular, spending on infrastructure, some of which should be postponed since it would require related imports, again increasing aggregate demand for foreign exchange. 

She said that it was a fallacy to think that the Government could spend its way out of such a recession since such an activity did not address the cause of or combat the recession unless it was in areas that directly built export capacity or relieved the need to import while encouraging economic diversification.

King was asked what would consumers be likely to buy in a recession as the price of goods would have increased and there would be less disposable income in a recession/stagflation. She said the ordinary household would have to prioritise its spending since income would most probably be reduced by the recession. 

King said a vectored approach by the Government and the Central Bank leading to increases in the prices of non-essential goods and services would assist households in prioritising. 

She said locally produced goods that needed no associated imports would feel less of an adverse impact in a recession. King said taxes should not be increased on basic food imports. 

She said T&T’s food import bill was now $5 billion and the country could not quickly replace imports with local products. 

However, a devaluation as opposed to the preferred vectored approach would affect the population’s most vulnerable since the demand for food was somewhat inelastic, King said.

Leader of the Movement for Social Justice David Abdulah is calling for Governor of the Central Bank Jwala Rambarran to go. Abdulah made the call at a press conference at the party’s St Joseph Village, San Fernando headquarters, yesterday. 

He said Rambarran’s recent revelations on which companies use the most foreign exchange have alienated the financial and business sectors.

“What the Central Bank Governor has done, he has alienated the financial and banking sector, he has alienated a large portion of the business community and has generated probably internationally as well, a lack of confidence in the economy,” he said. “Which is why we have called for his head and not only now, but from very early this year because he is affecting the confidence in the economy of T&T.”

Rambarran was appointed to the position of Governor of the Central Bank on July 17, 2012. According to the Central Bank website, he is currently chairman of the Deposit Insurance Corporation and a member of the Board of Governors of the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund.

Abdulah said while the party agrees with the disclosure of information about the country’s economy, he believes full disclosure should have been made. He accused Rambarran of trying to play “populis” by releasing the names of companies that used the most forex in the country over the last few years. 

“We are very much in favour of information provided to citizens about the economy, but you cannot play hot and cold with the information as the governor has done. So when it comes to Clico, for example, the governor hides behind the law and says he cannot provide information to the country about who bought Clico’s assets.”

“He hides behind the Central Bank secrecy act and says he cannot talk about who has been fired, who has been hired in the last three years and what qualifications they have, so he hides behind secrecy in some matters and in other matters now, he is trying to play populist by trying to out big consumers of foreign exchange.”

He claimed Rambarran has deteriorated the confidence level in T&T’s economy.

“What he therefore did was further deteriorate the level of confidence in the economy of T&T, all business people and economists know that confidence is a critical component of economic stability, leading to investment, growth, additional forex earnings and increased employment.

“When there is a lack of confidence then a difficult financial situation is exacerbated a hundred times over because people will not invest or save locally, therefore there is no impetus to growth.”

He added there cannot be a situation where the government’s Minister of Finance and the Central Bank Governor are not working together.

“We need to restore confidence. If it is not done, the shock of internation oil prices will be much worse and the process to the return to growth and stability will be further delayed. You cannot have a situation where the Governor of Central Bank and the government, through the Minister of Finance, are not working in harmony to address monetary and fiscal policy that are critical to economic stability and development. So therefore, in our view, he has overstayed his welcome.” 

The Government is remaining tight-lipped on its next move concerning Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran and whether it can continue to work with him following Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s stinging statement last Saturday on Rambarran’s actions. 

However, T&T Guardian sources said last night the State is well “advanced” towards action. Following what was tantamount to an indictment, Communication Minister Maxie Cuffie was asked by the T&T Guardian yesterday if  the Government can continue to work with Rambarran and is prepared to do so. He said he had no comment.

Cuffie referred queries to Finance Minister Colm Imbert whom he said has to work with Rambarran. Imbert had no comment. Government’s legal adviser Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi was unavailable. 

However, The T&T Guardian learned that the State is “deep into the management of the situation,” and  was advanced in its deliberations. One source said the Government knew it has to “act with certainty in order to foster and preserve T&T’s financial stability and the economy.”

Rambarran’s media assistant Charlene Ramdhanie didn’t answer calls yesterday, nor did he.

Three years into his five-year term—and barely three months into the new PNM Government’s tenure—the Government has made its displeasure with Rambarran plain, even as it has sought to be circumspect in language. What raised its ire was the Central Bank governor making the politically and financially explosive call that the country was officially He has also been roundly criticised for his revision of the 20-year-old forex system which the new Government asked him to restore to the original system,  and most recently, by big business for revealing which companies use the largest amounts of forex. Several business companies last week complained to Imbert on possible breach of laws.

The two-pronged attack of the last week, culminating in Rowley’s statements on Saturday, has left the impression of a Central Bank governor under siege, and in danger of losing his job.

 Rowley, in a sharp statement, said the situation regarding Rambarran was diminishing public confidence in the Central Bank’s ability  to conduct the public’s business in finance and diminishing public confidence in the “governor himself.”

Rowley was quoted as saying, ”If the Government  allows this to continue unimpeded, it will diminish the population’s confidence in the Government itself.” 

The PM also said there are laws governing the conduct of Central Bank affairs, and if the governor breaches those laws, the Finance Minister would have to look at the matter and the Minister “is looking at these matters.”

Rowley said if Rambarran ends up being removed, it would not be because of action initiated by the Government, but as a result of his ”own series of reckless and illegal actions.”

A Chaguanas man died yesterday after the car in which he was an occupant ran off the Uriah Butler Highway and crashed into the cable barrier at the Guayamare River. Police identified him as Clyde Victor.

Also injured was Curtis Raymond, 31, of Edinburgh 500, who police said lost control of the white Nissan B15 he was driving on the southbound lane of the highway. The accident happened shortly after 9 am.  

Raymond, police said, fell out of the car and landed in a patch of bushes on the narrow banks of the river. He was rescued by Michael Sitney of Belmont who was passing in a van. Sitney was able to pull him from the riverbank.

Police and members of the Fire Service arrived shortly afterwards and took Raymond to the Chaguanas Health Centre by ambulance. Firemen had to use a crane to remove the car from the water.

Victor, also in his 30s, was removed from the back seat of the vehicles after fire officers used the Jaws of Life to rip open a section of the car. Victor was pronounced dead by District Medical Officer Dr Indarjit Birjah. 

Natasha Chin, the common-law wife of Raymond, said she lives in Morvant. However, Raymond stayed in Chaguanas at the home of Victor’s grandmother. She said the duo may have been coming from a party in San Juan which they attended on Saturday.

She said Victor and Raymond were self-employed. She said she and Raymond had no children together but he had two children attending primary school, who lived at the homes of relatives in Morvant since the death of their mother several years ago.

Victor also had two children but was not married. Chin said she was deeply traumatised by the accident and was grateful Raymond survived.

Hansraj Roopnarine, 47, of Endeavour, Chaguanas, died on the spot yesterday when the Mitsubishi Lancer, driven by his brother, Roland Roopnarine, slammed into a pickup truck on the M2 Ring Road in Debe. Hansraj was seated in the front passenger seat of the vehicle.

The accident occurred around 11.45 am and police reports state it was raining at the time of the accident. Police said Roland lost control of the car while heading east to Barrackpore and slammed into the van.

The male driver and female passenger of the van were not identified. They were taken to the San Fernando General Hospital along with Roland for treatment. The two road fatalities yesterday took the figure to 139 the number of people killed in accidents for the year. A total of 150 people died in road accidents last year.

When Hansraj’s wife, Sheryl-Ann Roopnarine, was brought to the scene after the accident, his body was still in the car. Surrounded by relatives, Sheryl-Ann denied Hansraj’s death and kept repeating, “It’s not true, it’s not true.” The couple has an eight-year-old daughter. Relatives on the scene said Hansraj was a builder by profession.

The District Medical Officer who visited the scene said Hansraj’s neck was fractured in the collision. Police confirmed he was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the accident.  

Another of Hansraj’s brothers, Randy Roopnarine, said the brothers were heading to Rio Claro to help another sibling with some roof repairs at the time. He said Roland, who lives in Nanan Trace, Barrackpore, had picked up Hansraj in Endeavour earlier in the day. 

 The accident occurred in the same area where WPC Rashma Sirjudeen, 26, her infant son Rahul, 13 months, died along with Rashma’s mother, Una Samkarran, in an accident along the M2 Ring Road, Debe, on June 26.

The Government must declare its reasons if it wants to fire the Central Bank Governor says former finance minister Conrad Enill.

 He added that the governor and the Government cannot be at loggerheads on the direction of the economy. “One has the responsibility of fiscal policy and the other manages monetary policy. So the minister and governor must co-exist to deal with the economy’s problems and tell the public what is the correct situation and what policy choices they’re going to pursue on that basis.”

He said the governor has leeway in terms of how he performs his job, “And it’s not uncommon for differences to occur between the governor and Finance Minister.” Enill said Jwala Rambarran had simply reported data that he has, but whether that was a basis to fire him, Enill couldn’t say since he said he didn’t have all the facts. 

On claims Rambarran broke the law in listing the largest forex consumers, Enill said if the Government had been asked in Parliament to state who the biggest forex consumers are, ministers  would have had to answer. 

On whether T&T is in a recession, Enill said there was no question that T&T is “in a different place.” He said the governor and government should be addressing questions by the public to guide them on financial matters “as basic as if people had to borrow money to play mas for Carnival, whether they should do so. In this period, they shouldn’t.” 

Former minister of finance Mariano Browne has said, “If there are issues between the governor and minister, sort it out privately. Not publicly, lest you undermine the institution of the Bank, destabilise T&T’s smooth running and send negative signals to the international market.”

Former central bank governor Winston Dookeran and former PP finance minister said his understanding of the act indicated there wasn’t any legal argument on the removal of a CB governor that would apply to Rambarran.

“This appears to be a matter of politics rather than laws. But I do not think the public display in which this has been handled can boost confidence in the system; handling a matter as big as this in this way can’t instill confidence,”

“There are always issues between central bank governors and finance ministers, but there’s a dignity in how it is to be handled and dealt with on fundamental disagreement of policy—not this kind of tit for tat. It is unfortunate to see this.” Dookeran said when he was finance minister, then-CB governor Ewart Williams had made statements about recession and as finance minister, Dookeran had chosen to ignore any public fight in a bid to build confidence in the system.

Dookeran said a number of matters were raised about Rambarran and each had to be dealt with separately. He said the current situation reminded him of the issue concerning former chief justice Sat Sharma, whom the Manning PNM government unsuccessfully attempted to impeach.

Dookeran said the Central Bank governor doesn’t have to “report” to the minister since there are mechanisms via which both work together. He said the CB is independent. “There’s a big issue about that but the Bank is supposed to be independent of political influence. During my tenure there was a survey on trusted institutions and maintaining that trust requires independence. If you deal with it in narrow political terms, you destroy that trust.”

GROUNDS FOR TERMINATION

• Being of unsound mind/incapable of doing duties.
• Is convicted/sentenced to jail
• Convicted of any offences involving dishonesty
• Guilty of misconduct in relation to duties.
• Is absent, except leave if granted by the board from all Board meetings, from all board meetings in two consecutive months or any three months in a year.
• Fails to comply with section 16.1 (regarding declaration of interest.) 
• Contravenes any provision of any prescribed code of ethics.
• Becomes disqualified for office due to section 9 (re persons who are state/THA/corporation office holders, financial institutions.)
• Fails to carry out duties/functions conferred on him/her under the act.

A few footsteps away from where Roger Romaine was shot dead in May, the man accused by relatives of killing him was shot dead yesterday morning. 

Micheal Matthews, 57, of Fazal Avenue, Penal, was gunned down outside his home about 1.35 am yesterday,  moments after being dropped off by a friend from a parang lime.

According to Matthews’ common-law wife, Monica Gumbs, Matthews was returning home after a parang lime at Latchoos Trace, Penal, when the incident occurred. “There was no one at home then, but I was told he dropped out of the car in front of the house and walked into the yard,” Gumbs said. “Apparently whoever it was standing by the tanks shot him when he walked in.” Gumbs said she was unsure why he was killed but she said Mikey, as he was affectionately known, was accused of killing her nephew Roger Romaine seven months ago.

“I would like to know myself why he was killed, but when Roger was killed, people was saying Mikey did it. But he was lying down in bed with me the night that happened, so I don’t know where that (accusation) came from.”

Gumbs said Matthews was shot twice in the head. An autopsy is expected to be done today. When the T&T Guardian visited the house yesterday, there was a message painted across the family’s driveway in white paint, to Romaine’s killer. The fading sign read, “God forgive those who murdered Roger.” 

A collage of photos of Romaine was also hung on the front wall of the house, laminated to protect. On May 18, Romaine was shot dead outside the same house where he also lived. No one has been arrested for his killing.

In an unrelated killing, police said Chaitram Tokai was gunned down after a visit to his brother at Chickland Village, Freeport, yesterday. According to them, at around 2.45 pm Tokai was crossing the road to go home as he lived across the road, when a gunman approached and shot the 45-year-old in the head.  As his body hit the ground the gunman again fired several times at Tokai before leaving in the getaway car, a silver Nissan Tiida. 

Sgt Jitendra Tooleram and Insp Teesdale visited the scene along with Homicide officers. Police could not give a motive for Tokai’s murder. The murder toll for the year stood at 396 up to late yesterday.