A Laventille businessman was left homeless after his home and hardware were reduced to ashes yesterday after fire gutted his business place.

Ramesh Bachew, part owner of H Bachew Hardware, along the Eastern Main Road, adjacent to Simpson’s Funeral Home, told the media his home and business went up in flames after the fire began at the warehouse, located to the back of the hardware and adjacent to his home.

“The fire started in the lumber warehouse and it quickly enveloped the entire place. That section of the hardware was closed. My house next to it was burnt as well. 

“Fire happened about 11.30 am and fire officers responded within five minutes. They tried their best, at times, but was hampered by lack of water,” Bachew said.

The business was gutted in 1978 and has been in existence since 1968, he said.

Bachew said that he would have to start over “from scratch” as he did not have insurance. The damage to the property was estimated at $3 million, according to fire officials.

President of the Fire Services Association Leo Ramkissoon, who was at the scene, called on the powers that be to give the Fire Services the recognition it deserves. 

He commended his officers who he said did an excellent job in extinguishing the blaze despite a lack of equipment. 

“I can’t say what is the plan of the Government regarding the provision of funds for the purchase of equipment for the Fire Services, however, the Fire Services is an essential service and if priorities are to be made it should be top priority. 

“The safety of the citizens of T&T must be taken very seriously and Fire Services should be placed high on priority listings for provisions of adequate equipment and appliances,” Ramkissoon added.

He said yesterday’s fire, though unfortunate, highlighted the lack of equipment for his officers including breathing apparatus sets which he said were limited. 

Ramkissoon said at present the Fire Services was not satisfactorily equipped, adding that the fire would have been put out sooner if the officers had the proper equipment. 

Ramkissoon said two fire stations responded—Wrightson Road headquarters and San Juan—with three trucks from Wrightson Road and one from San Juan. 

He said that of the 23 fire stations within the division there were only three ladders, which was unacceptable.

Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie says the Government is not overly concerned about international reports on the state of the local economy.

He said instead the focus would be on reviving the economy and raising revenue.

Cuffie said this while speaking to the media after a tour of the Government Printery in Frederick Settlement, Caroni, yesterday.

“We are not unique in this situation.

“You’ll find many other countries have found themselves in a similar situation and it isn’t just energy-dependent countries,” Cuffie said, when asked whether the Government was concerned about the perception of T&T’s economy by the international community.

The state of T&T’s economy has received attention by foreign media such as the Associated Press, the Seattle Times, and several regional newspapers.

“Brazil, for instance, is not an energy-dependent country but it is also going through a similar economic stagnation so we understand that internationally the same thing is happening but we recognise that the important thing is that we put our house in order.

“If you listen to the messages from the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, that is what we are doing.”

Cuffie said the Government was seeking to increase revenue. He said by the end of this month all ministries would report on how they were going to achieve the seven per cent cut in government expenditure that was mandated by the Prime Minister. 

“We recognise it is going to take some sacrifice from all of us but so far and I can tell you from my interaction with staff at the Ministry of Communications, I see a willingness by Trinidadians and Tobagonians to make this work and to work hard for a new economy and I think we’ll be fine.”

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No roll-back on VAT on books

Cuffie also said the Government would not be making any special Value Added Tax (VAT) exemptions for books, despite several calls from the public.

Yesterday, University of the West Indies lecturer and historian Bridget Brereton called on the Government to review its decision to add VAT to literary publications, adding that too many university entrants still had problems reading.

“As somebody who likes reading I understand why Prof Brereton and I have seen letters in the newspaper from other people on the same matter but I also see the need to earn more revenue for the Government,” Cuffie said.

“When you start making exceptions, you say a reader, then you say computer enthusiasts, everybody will find some reason why they should be exempt and the only way this can work is if everyone plays a part in making the kind of sacrifice and contributing to the growth of the economy that will take us into a relative comfort.”

Cuffie said any exemptions would lead the country back to a situation where only 40 per cent of the items used were VAT listed. “The country can’t afford it.”

Convicted terrorist Kareem Ibrahim has died in a United States prison. 

Ibrahim, 70, reportedly lost his battle with cancer yesterday after serving a little over three years of his life sentence at the US Medical Centre for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri. 

Ibrahim was convicted on May 26, 2011, of conspiracy to launch a terrorist attack at the John F Kennedy Airport in Queens, New York, in 2007.

He and Guyanese nationals, Russell Defreitas and Abdul Kadir, were accused of plotting to explode fuel tanks and the fuel pipeline under the airport.

The evidence at the trial established that Ibrahim, an imam and leader of the Shiite Muslim community in T&T, provided religious instructions and operational support to a group plotting to commit a terrorist attack at JFK Airport. 

Ibrahim and his co-conspirators believed their attack would cause extensive damage to the airport and to the New York economy, as well as the loss of numerous lives. 

The trio were arrested in Trinidad in June 2007 and were eventually extradited to the US to face trial. 

He was found guilty after a four-week trial in which US prosecutors relied heavily on an informant's secret recordings of conversations between the three men. 

In November last year, the Office of the Attorney General invoked the Anti-Terrorism Act for the first time as it moved to seize Ibrahim’s local assets. While it was successful in its application, it was unable to identify any assets—cash, property or business interests—which could have been seized. 

The legislation empowers the AG’s office to apply for the power to seize the assets of a person, once there is evidence of that person committing a terrorist act either locally or internationally.

Police intend to step up their efforts to recover illegal guns, the weapon of choice used to commit murders, and called for more to be done to stop them from reaching the shores. This after another overnight killing and the death of a man in hospital from gunshot injuries pushed the murder toll to 31 for the year, surpassing last year’s comparable figure of 24 by seven.

At a press briefing yesterday at Police Administration Building, Port-of-Spain, police boasted of a $6 million drug seizure and recovery of two more illegal guns.

Police Information Officer ASP Micheal Pierre said the police officers have intensified their efforts to get guns off the streets and boasted that the results speak for themselves as they have already recovered 50 guns in 20 days while for the same period last year, 16 guns had been recovered.

But the dent in the illegal gun supply seemed to be minimal as more illegal guns enter the country through the porous borders, officers admitted. Pierre said although the police have exceeded the number of guns seized for the year by 200 per cent compared to last year, more guns make their way into the hands of killers.

“Despite the seizure of firearms, we still have a high amount of murders in the country. The TTPS has increased its efforts in the seizure of firearms and ammunition but we recognise the connection between firearms coming through our borders and the murder rate. Therefore, it is imperative that our borders are protected,” Pierre said.

Asked whether those mandated with that task, the Coast Guard and other arms of the Defence Force, should be blamed for failing to stop the influx of guns, Pierre repeated that the borders were porous and that the Police Service was not responsible for that.

“We have 31 murders to date as opposed to 24 for the same date last year and we have seized 50 guns for the year compared to 16 for the same period last year. 

“What this suggests is there is a proliferation of firearms coming into the country which is a challenge to the TTPS. The seizure of firearms for last year were 671 as compared to 585 in 2014, showing a constant increase of firearms in the country. 

“The Police Service have aligned the increase of firearms to our porous borders... we do not have the capacity to close the borders what we do have is the capacity to deal with the land,” Pierre said.

Contacted yesterday public affairs officer of the Coast Guard, Lieutenant Commander Kirk Jean-Baptiste, said his members worked assiduously with all other agencies in stopping the illegal importation of guns and drugs. He added that the gun trade was married to the drug trade. Jean-Baptiste added that for the year the Coast Guard has seized four guns.

While the figure is small compared to that of the police, Jean-Baptiste said one reason was that gun and drug smugglers dumped their illegal cargo whenever they were spotted. He added that guns were the first to go overboard as they sank the fastest. 

Told that the porous borders are being blamed for the increase in guns and gun related violence mostly murders Jean-Baptiste said:

“This is a joint effort with the arms of the Ministry of National Security which is intelligence-driven. I will not be engaging in any tit-for-tat. We do work side-by-side. 

Latest murders

The two latest victims of gun violence are Al Mohammed and Jean-Pierre Assee. Mohammed, 24, according to police, was a suspect in several shooting in the Western Division but was never charged because of a lack of evidence. 

Police said around 6.30 pm on Tuesday, Mohammed was with a woman along Sagram Street, Petit Valley, when a gunman approached him and opened fire. The killer then ran off leaving the hysterical woman unharmed. 

Assee, 30, a car dealer, was shot at least ten times in December last year and died Tuesday night at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Centre. 

Assee, of Sierra Vista Drive, Omera Road, Arima, was outside his business at Ramcharan Street, St Augustine, with Dave John, 48, and 11-year-old Kadeem Whiskey when a car drove by and opened fire. John was shot in the right hip and Whiskey in the right ear. 

A Cedros man yesterday succumbed to head injuries he sustained during an altercation with another man last Friday. The T&T Guardian understands that Ramdath Ramchandar, 59, of Bonasse Village, Cedros, died from injuries sustained after he was allegedly pushed by a 71-year-old man.

A post mortem done on his body yesterday revealed he died from blunt cranio-cerebral trauma. In the report by forensic pathologist Dr Hughvon des Vignes, Ramchandar’s death was deemed unnatural but undetermined.

Reports say he was pushed down by the other man and was treated at the Cedros Health Facility and discharged on Friday. However, when a friend went to check on him the following morning, he was found unresponsive. He was taken to hospital, where he remained warded until he succumbed to his injuries around 6.30 am yesterday.

His alleged attacker was taken to the Point Fortin Magistrates’ Court on a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm yesterday. However, with Ramchandar’s death, homicide detectives have taken over the matter.

Central Division officers on Tuesday seized more than $6 million worth of drugs, two guns and arrested six people during an anti-crime exercised in the division.

According to police around 10 am, officers of the Central Division were on patrol in Freeport, when they stopped a car with three people.  Police said they found a pistol with one round of ammunition in the car and arrested all three.  

Officers on patrol in Felicity found another gun with three rounds of ammunition. Police said acting on a tip from a concerned citizen they were able to recover that illegal gun. So far, officers from the division have seized ten guns and recovered 504 rounds of ammunition.

Officers said they searched a bushy area, adjacent to a known drug block in Union Village, Felicity, near the cemetery, where they found the loaded Sig Sauer 9 mm pistol. The drugs, police said, was seized after a police exercise, lead by ASP Michael Sooker and which included Sgt Jitindra Tooleram and Sgt Glen Persad. 

Around 3 pm, the officers went to Ramkalia Trace, Calcutta Road, Freeport, where 19 kilogrammes of cocaine were found and two people arrested. The drugs have a street value of $6 million.

Later that afternoon, officers went to a house at Old Road, Longdenville, and searched the house. There, one man was arrested for possession of three kilogrammes of marijuana worth $120,000. The drugs was a mixture of local and Jamaican grade, officers said.

A 61-year-old man died at the Sangre Grande District Health Facility yesterday, making him the sixth victim of the H1N1 virus, since the first reported death last year. Jewan Maharaj died after spending 18 days in the Intensive Care Unit of the facility, due to complications from a combination of hypertension and the H1N1 influenza, also known as swine flu.

The Health Ministry reported Maharaj’s death in a release yesterday and reminded citizens to begin taking preventative measures.

“At this time, we take the opportunity to remind citizens that influenza can cause severe illness in some persons, including the elderly, infants, young children and pregnant women as well as those with chronic medical conditions, such as heart, lung, kidney disease, hypertension and diabetes,” it added.

The release said the virus could be spread when an infected person coughed or sneezed and droplets containing viruses get into the air and were inhaled by people nearby. “People can also become infected by touching surfaces contaminated with flu viruses and then touching their eyes, mouth or nose,” the release said.

It urged the public to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, like influenza, by covering their mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing.

It also advised citizens to wash hands with soap and water regularly, avoid close contact with people who have flu-like symptoms and seek immediate medical attention if they had difficulty breathing, chest tightness, the inability to eat or drink, persistent vomiting, or confusion. 

The ministry said safe and effective vaccines that could prevent influenza or reduce the severity of illness were available at local health centres and citizens seeking those were asked to contact their local health centre or Regional Health Authority to set an appointment.

“Vaccination is especially important for people at higher risk of serious complications of influenza and for people who live with or care for high risk individuals.

“After vaccination, persons still ought to take preventative measures to reduce the spread of viruses,” it added.

More vaccines available, says Deyalsingh

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said citizens could go to health centres to obtain free H1N1 vaccine since T&T now had more vaccines than last year. Replying to Opposition questions in Parliament yesterday, he said the ministry had obtained 40,000 vaccines where there were only 10,000 last year. 

He said there were now six H1N1 deaths, latest being a 61-year-old man who was in the “at risk” category and was overweight and hypertensive.

Deyalsingh said deaths due to viral pneumonia were really due to H1N1. H1N1 testing took one to two weeks and if a patient was suspected of having it, they should start on Tamiflu and ensure friends and relatives were vaccinated, he added.

 Deyalsingh was unable to say if Government planned to build a health centre at Tableland. He said a review to determine health centre needs in T&T would be completed in the next three months. 

Afters spending four nights in prison on remand, six police officers accused of a string of criminal offences have finally managed to secure their bail. 

Although the six officers, last assigned to the North Eastern Division Task Force, were granted a total of $4.5 million in bail on Monday, their relatives were unable to obtain approval of their documents required to secure their release. 

During a brief hearing in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court yesterday, their lawyer Vince Charles asked Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar to clarify the discrepancy. Ayers-Caesar acceded to Charles’ request, clearing the way for the Clerk of the Peace 3 at the courthouse to approve the officers’ bail. 

The officers: Steve Williams, 35, of Heights of Guanapo Road, Arima; Brandon Thompson, 25, of Seeyjagat Trace, Tumpuna Road, Arima; Ronald Samuel, 32, of Duncan Trace, San Juan; Kevon Patrick, 30, of Kingdom Avenue, Bypasss Road, Arima; Ryan Grandison, 27, of Tunip Lane, La Horquetta; and Dion Ottley, 31, of Bon Air Gardens, Arouca, are charged with a combined 46 offences.

Williams, Thompson, Samuel and Patrick are charged with misbehaviour in office, false imprisonment of four people and robbing one of them of $53,000 and $4,200 worth of jewelery. The offences allegedly took place on January 5 at Kelly Village, Caroni.

Williams, Grandison and Ottley are charged with threatening to charge falsely three people for possession of cocaine, marijuana and a gun. The officers were also charged with robbing one of the trio of $125,000 and $55,000 worth of jewelery.

All offences took place on December 12, last year, at Frederick Settlement, Caroni. Ottley faced two separate charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice on December 13 at the Santa Cruz Police Station and on December 12, last year.

They will reappear in court on February 15. 

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi says the independence of the Police Service Commission (PSC) was not under threat by a provision in a new police Order governing the appointment of a police commissioner and deputy commissioner. 

Al-Rawi said instead the autonomy of the PSC was being broadened. He sought to dismiss claims by the Opposition that the new Orders were seeking to interfere in the independence of the PSC. He was speaking during the debate on an Opposition motion, which began in the House of Representatives yesterday, to annul the Orders.

Al-Rawi spoke after Chief Whip Ganga Singh presented the first motion. The new Orders relate to the selection criteria and process for the appointment of the top police officers in the Police Service. 

The Attorney General said there was adequate consultation on the issue over the past six years and because of the need to appoint the officers the Government was attempting to address the matter.

There has been no substantive Commissioner of Police in T&T since 2012 after Canadian Dwayne Gibbs resigned. Stephen Williams has been acting as commissioner since then.

The Opposition had claimed a new provision to have the National Security Minister request the PSC to contract an appropriate local firm to invite applications for the jobs was effectively interfering with the independence of the commission. But Al-Rawi denied that claim yesterday. 

“We have broadened the powers of the PSC... it is the client, the Police Service Commission, which dictates the terms of reference by which the firm is to operate,” he said, adding that “by setting terms of reference, et cetera, we have in fact broadened the powers and I wish to add that we have removed restrictive conditions contained in the 2009 Order.

“What we have said is that there is a distinction between selection and recruitment. It allows the client to dictate the terms of reference and far from being a restriction on the PSC, this is a broadening of its mandate which it has ben crying for the last umpteen (several) years,” he added.

He said the provision for the minister was “merely requesting that the process be started is not to the exclusion of the PSC. They maintain unto themselves their autonomy where the unduly prescriptive approach has been removed.”

Al-Rawi told legislators: “They (PSC), as the client through the Central Tenders Board Act, have the liberty to dictate their own terms of reference through the Director of Personnel Administration (DPA).”

Al-Rawi insisted: “It is the commission and only the commission that has the power to select and appoint. They could turn it upside down, they could get a list from the firm, they could take number five and put it number one. They could do anything they wish with the firms recommendations but it is their power alone.”

Noting a threat by the Opposition to initiate legal action if the motions were, as expected defeated, Al-Rawi said: “What we have done is purely within the remit of the law and constitutionality. 

“It is proportionate, in that it allows a process to move faster, the PSC does not lose any of its autonomy, it and it alone makes the decision for a PSC to act within the appointment of a commissioner of police and a deputy commissioner of police.”

The minister said the new provision was intended to “ensure that at least there is another arm watching but not crossing the line of where that boundary should stand.”

While there has been no Government decision “at this stage” to cut the number of scholarships awarded to T&T nationals pursuing tertiary level studies, the “level of generosity that existed before” may not be prevailing due to T&T’s stringent circumstances, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has warned.

The PM said so in reply to questions from Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar during the segment on yesterday’s Parliament agenda relating to questions for the Prime Minister. Persad-Bissessar had asked if a cutback on scholarships was being proposed as a cost- cutting initiative.

In response, Rowley said: “Government has taken no decision at this stage to specifically cut scholarships. What we have done is indicate there’s a requirement to cut back on operational expense to the extent that we have been advised by the relevant ministries how those cuts can be made... and we will be so advised.”

On whether UWI’s Debe Campus for the Law Faculty would register students for the 2016-2017 academic year, Rowley said that was a matter within UWI’s control. He said he did not want to give the impression Government was involved in its management. 

He said he had no information from UWI whether the campus could receive students or if the university had taken steps to ensure the physical facilities became operational.

On continuation of the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension to Pt Fortin, Rowley said Government had to first find out how much public monies had been spent and how much overpayment was made before determining any future payment.

Due to the volume of work to be done on payments and design changes, he said a statement would be made on the project in the “not to distant future” in Parliament. 

Rowley said he didn’t know how much NIDCO’s monthly report on project spending might change the picture since Government didn’t have much confidence in such reports where “overpayments and redesigning had been hidden from the public.”

He also emphasised Government did not propose to revise the policy on importation of foreign used vehicles which his Government changed a week ago. Foreign used car dealers now have to import cars not older than four years. 

Too many students are falling though the cracks and while millions are spent on education there are less educated people in the country.

So said Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley after distributing letters of appointment to members of the Committee to Review the Early Childhood Education and Primary School Curriculum and the Committee to Develop a Refereed Foundation Textbook on the History of T&T.

“We in T&T, we have seen and we are living a situation where we are spending a lot of money on education but if we are honest with ourselves a lot of our children are simply passing through school.

“If we get the right approach, direct the right quantum of resources to the base of that education pyramid then it becomes easier as you go up the pyramid to get the benefits of that initial investment,” Rowley said.

The Prime Minister also urged parents to play their part by not only ensuring their children received a sound education but also proper morals and values.

“Our young people have inculcated some very dangerous values. Values that you could get something for nothing, values that somebody owe you something... that you don’t know where you come from... you have no idea of where you might go and who is influencing you,” Rowley said.

He said added to that was the fact that the world was constantly changing as computers seemed to be replacing books.

“The computer chip... it’s now in your pocket. Most parents don’t even know what a chip looks like,” Rowley said.

Regarding the deadlines for the committees, he said none was specifically set but at the same time the work was expected to be produced with reasonable expectation. The PM also assured the work would not be shelved but taken into consideration.

Regarding the history textbook, Rowley said it was critical that people knew where they were in the world otherwise they would be lost and if they did not know where they came from they would be lost.

“If we have a good grounding in our history it would motivate us in our future. If we don’t teach our children the proper and accurate version of our history... some of them not meaning well could teach them the revised version according to their agenda and that is unacceptable in any developing nation,” Rowley said.

On the issue of revisiting VAT on non-textbooks Rowley maintained that tax must be paid.

Echoing his sentiments was chairman of both committees Prof Theodore Lewis, who said research, which was documented and even reported in the media over the years, had shown that some 100 primary schools were not performing up to par. He urged that early childhood education was key, especially in rural communities where that may not be easily accessed.

On the issue of private primary schools outperforming government schools, Education Minister Anthony Garcia said while the primary school system had good management, there was greater parental support in the private primary schools.

REFORM COMMITTEES
Members of the Committee to Review the Early Childhood Education and Primary School Curriculum:
• Chairman: Prof Theodore Lewis
• Dr Jerome Teelucksingh
• Dr Eastlyn McKenzie
• Allyson Hamel Smith
• Theresa Neblett-Skinner
• Lisa Ibrahim-Joseph
• Maureen Taylor-Ryan

Committee to Develop a Refereed Foundation Textbook on the History of T&T:
• Chairman Prof Theodore Lewis
• Prof Bridget Brereton
• Shri Ravindranath Maharaj
• Dr Walter Look Lai
• Dr Heather Cateau
• Dr Hollis Liverpool
• Lisa Kewley

Members of the media were barred from entering the New Testament Church of God, California, yesterday, where the funeral of murdered mother of three, Hassina Sarah Khan, took place.

When the T&T Guardian visited the church yesterday, a woman who identified herself only as a church member, said Khan’s elder daughter had requested the media be barred from the funeral. 

As soon as the hearse bearing Khan’s body came into the churchyard and her cream and gold coffin was carried into the building, ushers closed the church doors and stood watch outside.

Last Tuesday, Khan, 41, of Dow Village, California, went missing and relatives launched a frantic search for her. However, it would be three days later when her youngest daughter asked for her that a former lover led police to a shallow grave in a track off Incogen Road, California. 

Khan’s body bore multiple stab wounds to the neck and was already decomposing. A handbag containing her personal belongings was found nearby. 

An autopsy done at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, on Monday, confirmed Khan bled to death. She was last seen alive on the morning she went missing near her workplace at Universal Foods Ltd, Point Lisas, arguing with the same former lover.

Khan had taken out a restraining order against him the day before. Relatives told the media last week she had broken off a five-year relationship with the man two years ago but had remained on speaking terms with him.

ACCUSED REMANDED TO ST ANN’S

Christian Reynold, appeared in the Couva Magistrates’ Court charged with Hassina Khan’s murder. Reynold, 53, was represented by attorney Nigel Brown, when he stood before Magistrate Lucina Cardenas-Ragoonanan yesterday. Cardenas-Ragoonanan read the charge that sometime between January 11 and January 16, at Railway Road Extension, California, Reynold murdered Khan.

 Brown asked that his client be sent to the St Ann’s Hospital. Brown said he had tried getting instructions from Reynold on how to proceed but was experiencing difficulties. Brown said Reynold attends the Couva Health Centre for a psychiatric condition. 

Cardenas-Ragoonanan remanded Reynold’s to St Ann’s for evaluation. The matter was adjourned to February 16.

The ten men still on trial for the murder of businesswoman Vindra Naipaul-Coolman have all chosen not to testify in their own defence. 

During a hearing in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday, each of the accused men individually informed presiding Judge Malcolm Holdip they did not wish to take the witness stand to respond to the case presented against them by State prosecutors. 

Only one of the men, Keida Garcia, indicated he wanted to call a witness to testify in his defence, another option made available to them after the State closed its case last November. 

After Garcia’s witness, who was not identified yesterday, testifies before the 12-member jury and three alternates next Monday, prosecutors will be given an opportunity to cross-examine him. 

Defence attorneys representing the accused men will then have to decide if the wish to deliver a closing address to the jury, before Holdip sums up the case to them and allows them to deliberate over their clients’ innocence or guilt. 

Prosecutors will only be able to present their own closing address only if the accused men elect to utilise their option. Naipaul-Coolman was abducted from her home at Radix Road, Lange Park, Chaguanas, on December 19, 2006. A $122,000 ransom was paid by her family but she was not released and her body has never been found. 

Since the trial began in March 2014, prosecutors have claimed that the former Xtra Foods chief executive was held captive at a house in Upper La Puerta, Diego Martin, before she was eventually executed and her body disposed of. 

The evidence presented during the trial included circumstantial evidence recovered at the men’s homes in the community and an illegal gun that was found at the home of one of the accused men that was allegedly linked to spent shells found on the scene of the businesswoman’s kidnapping. 

Prosecutors are relying on the sworn statements of their main witness, Keon Gloster, who allegedly witnessed the murder but did not participate. However, Gloster has repeatedly claimed he was coerced by police into implicating the accused men, most of whom are his relatives. Gloster was deemed a hostile witness and his statements were tendered into evidence and read to the jury. 

Last Friday, Holdip upheld a no-case submission for another accused Joel Fraser, whose attorneys claimed there was no evidence presented by the State linking their client to the crime and Fraser walked free.

Who’s in court

A total of 12 men went on trial before the jury and Justice Malcolm Holdip charged for the crime in March 2014.

They are twin brothers Shervon and Devon Peters, and their older brother Anthony Dwayne Gloster, siblings Keida and Jamille Garcia, brothers Marlon and Earl Trimmingham, Ronald Armstrong, Antonio Charles and Lyndon James.

A 13th man, Raphael Williams, was charged with the crime but died in prison in 2011 of complications from sickle-cell anaemia.  Allan “Scanny” Martin was on trial for the majority of the case before he was shot dead by police after staging a daring prison break from the Port-of-Spain State Prison in July last year. Joel Fraser was freed after the judge found there was insufficient evidence to refer his case to the jury.

Legal teams

Their team includes Ulric Skerritt, Joseph Pantor, Selwyn Mohammed, Lennox Sankersingh, Ian Brooks, Wayne Sturge, Mario Merritt, Richard Valere, Colin Selvon, Vince Charles, Christian Chandler, Delicia Helwig and Alexia Romero. The prosecution includes Senior Counsel Israel Khan and Gilbert Peterson,  assisted by senior state prosecutors Joy Balkaran and Kelly Thompson.

Slaughter of the innocents. That was how Laventille residents yesterday described the double murder of two schoolboys, who were dragged from a taxi and shot dead while on their way home at Upper Picton Road.

The victims have been identified as Success Laventille Secondary School students Denelson Smith, 17, and Mark Richards, 16, by residents of Upper Picton Road, Laventille. 

Mark Thomas, a member of Project Reason, who lives in the community, told the T&T Guardian that the killing of the two was a slaughter. 

“If I could speak to the gangsters and them I will tell them that in all wars there are rules of engagement, please excuse the non-combatants. If you know there are people who not in this war, I can’t even call this a war that what happened was slaughter. They picking out the best fruits,” Thomas said.

He said Smith was an aspiring pilot, and had been attending aviation classes every July-August vacation. Thomas said crime was a disease and it should be treated as such, adding that one cure was for the people to unite against the wrongdoers and co-operate with the police.

“Maybe we could stop a retaliation, we as the people have the power but we keeping silent. We have to come together and take away the power from them (killers),” he added. 

Police said the teens, both Form Four students, were on their way home with two other classmates when gunmen stopped the car they were in, ordered all the children out and shot the two teens.

Smith collapsed and died near Fatima Trace while Richards died a short distance away. The teens lived not from where they died. Smith lived at Mulrain Trace, Picton, and Richards at Sogren Trace. The killing police said happened around 3.15 pm.

At the murder scene yesterday Smith’s brother, Devin, called for a ceasefire among warring gangs.

He said his brother was always indoors and only ventured outside when it was time for school or when he was going out to lime with friends out of the area. He said his brother was a good person who got along well with all.

“I hear people laughing up the road, saying they get two and they laughing,” Devin said. 

Smith’s mother screamed that her son’s death will become just another statistic and that no justice wil come out of her son’s killing. Overcome with grief she could not be interviewed when approached at the scene. 

Both police and residents were wrestling with a plausible motive for the shooting as neither teens were said to be involved in anything illegal. 

A woman, who lives not too far from where the boys were killed, said she has lived in the area for most of her 60-plus years and described the tragedy as “heart-rending.” The woman said the presence of police officers in the area could not be a deterrent until the minds of mankind change.

Her neighbour said he was just entering his home when he heard the gunshots and later saw Smith’s body a short distance from his car which was parked along Picton Road. 

“I accustomed to this but this is the first time that it was so close. I living here all my life, 54 years, and we tired of this shooting,” he said, suggesting a police post in the area may be a deterrent. 

Cops concerned over murder rate

In a telephone interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday head of the Homicide Bureau, Snr Supt Oswald Cudjoe, said the police would work to solve the murders as soon as possible, given that from all initial information the teens were not involved in anything illegal. 

In an interview before the murders yesterday, Cudjoe said the hierarchy of the Police Service was concerned with the murder rate and have been trying to combat it but was being starved of vital information that the public could offer.

 He said while the police were doing what they could, without the public’s assistance it was a major stumbling block.

Cudjoe added that of the 33 murders for the year two have been solved with a teenager and a 53-year-old man before the court charged with murder. 

He added: “Between December and January that is normally a high period and we are conscious of that and have put things in place like increased patrols to help stem the tides. 

“But there are sporadic murders and murders happening out of the hot spots. I believe we have capacity and ability to arrest the thing. People want the murders solved but they don’t want to come forward. 

“We cannot do it alone, we need the assistance. The solve rate will increase. We will bring it down to an acceptable level but as I read, man heart is evil.

“No one knows when a man is going to kill someone. What we will tackle are gang violence and organised crimes. We have to focus on that,” Cudjoe added.  ​

There will be a probe—Garcia 

Education Minister Anthony Garcia reacted with horror and anger yesterday after being informed about the double murder of two students.

A statement from the Education Ministry last night said Garcia, who is attending a University of the West Indies meeting in Jamaica, stated that officials of the Student Support Services would visit the Success Laventille Secondary School today to provide grief counselling to both classmates and staff.

“I am disturbed by the fact that our students are not safe while using public transport and what is even more disturbing is that they were killed while in school uniform. I will be calling for a full investigation into this matter as incidents such as this should not be allowed to occur,” the release quoted the minister as saying.

Police have identified the students as Mark Richards, of Sogren Trace, Picton Road, and Denelson Smith, of Mulrain Trace, Laventille. The release said both the police and MTS security at the school have confirmed that Richards was a student of the school but did not attend classes yesterday morning. 

According to police they were passengers in a taxi when gunmen pulled up and opened fire on them. They were killed instantly. Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh is currently acting as the Minister of Education. 

The tiny village of Parlatuvier, Tobago, reacted in shock yesterday after two villagers — a husband and wife — were killed after their pickup van plunged off a precipice on the winding North Side Road, near Castara.

The couple was identified as Maurice “Brown Boy” Lewis, 65, and his wife, Verna, of Rock Top, Parlatuvier.

According to reports the accident occurred around noon when Maurice lost control of his Toyota Hilux pickup van. Eyewitnesses said the vehicle struck a lamp post, ran off the road and plunged down a precipice and landed in a ravine.

Police say Maurice was pinned behind the steering wheel and rescuers had to use hydraulic cutting tools to free his body. He died on the scene. His wife, Verna, who was in the front passenger seat of the vehicle was taken to hospital by an ambulance. However, she succumbed to her injuries while undergoing emergency surgery at hospital.

Maurice was a retiree from the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA while Verna was employed as a checker with the Division of Infrastructure and Public Utilities.

Acting Sergeant Baird of the Scarborough Traffic Branch is spearheading investigations.

In a statement issued hours after the double fatality, the Police Service noted the sharp increase in the road death toll which now stands at 13, ten more than last year’s comparable figure.

The Police Service said many of the fatal accidents could have been prevented and urged motorists to be responsible on the roads.

“With Carnival less than three weeks away, we appeal to drivers to manage their time when heading to events to reduce the chance of speeding. 

“Traffic injury research has shown a causative relationship between driving speeds and occupant injuries, so that in a vehicular crash with an impact speed of 80 km/h, the likelihood of death of the vehicle’s occupants is 20 times what it would have been at an impact speed of 30 km/h,” the statement added.

It advised fatigued drivers to stop at a safe, secure location to rest, such as a mall car park or close to a police or fire station and rest.

It cited research by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) which stated that a fatigued or sleepy driver was even more dangerous than a drunk driver.

Evidence suggests that a 20-minute nap is the most effective counter-measure against fatigue related collisions, the statement said.

The Police Service noted that on Saturday 18 drivers were arrested and charged for drunk driving offences by the Traffic and Highway Patrol Branch DUI Task Force. Sixteen of those drivers pleaded guilty and are to re-appear before Magistrate Ali in the Port of Spain Sixth Court for sentencing. Two of them pleaded not guilty and have their cases fixed for trial.

Even as Finance Minister Colm Imbert tried to convince citizens that the increased prices in food due to the changes in the Value Added Tax (VAT) schedule would be counter-balanced by increases in the pension cap and tax exemptions for low income earners, he announced that there may soon be a further reduction in the list of non-vatable items.

Speaking at a post-Cabinet press conference yesterday at the Office of the Prime Minister, Imbert said he may reduce the items exempt from VAT further and lower the rate of the tax.

Imbert said exemptions created avenues for cheating. Government as part of its manifesto promises reduced VAT from 15 per cent to 12.5 per cent but added processed food to the list of taxable items.

“The fewer exemptions you have, the fewer avenues you have for cheating. That’s what weakens the VAT system,” he said.

Using a power-point presentation to illustrate his point, Imbert said the average increase in the grocery bill of citizens caused by changes to the VAT schedule would be absorbed by Government’s other changes which gave almost 330,000 people more disposable income.

He said there was some confusion and misunderstanding with respect to the fiscal measures that the Government had introduced since it came into office.

He noted that as of December 1, Government had increased the cap on people who received both the National Insurance pension and the senior citizens pension to $5,000, giving approximately 27,000 senior citizens an additional $500 of disposable income.

“The next thing is we have increased the personal income tax allowance from $60,000 a year to $72,000 a year so people who make less than $6,000 per month do not have to file income tax returns.”

Imbert said that gave approximately 59,000 people making between $5,000 and $6,000 a month, an additional $210 of disposable income a month. 

“When you take the total of persons in the under $6,000 bracket you get 302,000 people exempted from paying tax on their income.

He said the net increase in personal allowance and pensions were about four or ten times more than the additional charges incurred due to some goods being removed from the zero-rated list.

“The net effect of the changes we have made is positive. People will be better off under these measures than they were before the new People’s National Movement (PNM) Government came into power,” he noted.

Imbert said according to a Central Statistical Office (CSO) survey conducted last November, one-third of the country would be spending about $50 more at the grocery due to VAT changes.

He said the CSO surveyed 34 per cent of the population which spent about $700 a month on groceries.

He added goods purchased in the markets were exempt from VAT. 

Asked whether the figure of $700 a month was realistic, Imbert said the figure was arrived at through the survey and scientific calculations.

Imbert also said both the Consumer Affairs Division and the Ministry of Finance would publish the prices of goods affected by the changes to the VAT schedule in an attempt to embarrass businesses who attempt to raise prices indiscriminately.

He said there was a basic misconception that the VAT system should be an instrument of social policy.

“It is not. It is simply a tax collection measure. We are trying to make VAT as efficient as possible,” he added.

He said a compelling and strong argument could be made to exempt VAT from any product but that was not the purpose of the VAT system.

“The VAT system is simply there to collect revenue and it has to be strong and robust because it has to counter balance the general lowering of income tax rates and the increases in personal allowance over the years,” he explained.

He said the PNM’s policy was to take the money from taxation and use it to support social programmes.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert says public servants will receive back pay long before the end of fiscal 2016.

He said so during yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing while responding to questions from reporters.

“That will be done long before September 2016. I don’t want to give a precise date at this time but I will say in a month or two, I will be able to give a precise date as to when we will be settling the arrears,” he said.

He added that he was meeting with the banking sector to determine how much money was available.

“We are out there in the banking sector right now determining how much money is available, what it will cost but we will be borrowing to pay the arrears because we simply don’t have the cash.” 

Imbert also said the Government still needed more money to pay billions of dollars to contractors.

“Every day, we are discovering more and more contracts and more debts that are piling up and more and more payments that are due and it will require a debt management strategy on the part of the Ministry of Finance. 

“It’s running into the billions I can tell you. Every day we hear about some other contract that was entered into on the eve of the general election and contractual obligations entered into the hundreds of millions. It’s something we have received from the past administration. They didn’t pay their bills,” he added.

He said the Government was seeking to pay these debts by issuing bonds.

Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie announced yesterday the Government would contribute $1.1 million to schools Carnival competitions, including junior soca monarch and schools’ Panorama.

He said the contribution was a decrease from $1.3 million last year.

He also announced that the Government would be upgrading the Moruga fishing port. He said the first phase will begin with the fishing facility.

"It includes an upgrade of the facilities and utilities for the Moruga area, constructing a new fishing port and facility, constructing parking facilities within walking distance of all the town services and amenities.

The project would also include creating a pedestrian-oriented environment around the commercial heart of the town and building a waterfront at the end of Moruga Road.

President of the National Parent Teachers Association (NPTA) Zena Ramatali is not surprised that 100 primary schools are failing.

In fact, two years ago the figure was 132, she said.

Ramatali was responding yesterday to statements made by Prof Theodore Lewis, who has been appointed chairman of committees to review Early Childhood Education and Primary School Curriculum and develop a refereed foundation textbook on the history of T&T.  

In an interview on Wednesday after receiving his instrument of appointment from Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, Lewis said research, which was documented and even reported in the media over the years,  had shown that some 100 primary schools were not performing up to par.  He said this figure was alarming and if problems in education were not identified, it could not be solved.

“We have to bear in mind there are schools that are not doing the kind of job with the curriculum and the children who are coming in do not have a chance to do better. “If there are schools that are not performing, we will never fix them until we say they are,” Lewis had said.

Interviewed yesterday, Ramatali said the research was usually done by the Ministry of Education in conjunction with the University of the West Indies, St Augustine.

“The NPTA worked in three communities last year and the children were reading below their level,” Ramatali said, adding that an initiative to improve pupils would be welcome.

She also endorsed comments made by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, who after handing out the letters, said despite millions being spent on education there were less educated people in the country.

Success not only academic

But success of a school cannot solely depend on academic success, says president of the T&T Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) Davanand Sinanan.

When asked whether he was aware there were 100 primary schools failing, Sinanan said he did not know if there was a list of “successful and unsuccessful schools”  which was compiled or made available to the national community on a periodic basis.

Asked where he had gotten his information from, Lewis had said it was research conducted which was even published in the media.

In terms of a pass rate,  Sinanan, who said there must be proper definition for the term “failing,” added, “This depends on what yardstick you are using to measure failing or success. If you are just using a very narrow construct of educational attainment.....certification, passing exams, there are many reasons why that is so.

“But I will not sit and pass judgment without being able to go into the school and do that kind of in-depth analysis and understand all the circumstances and factors that would have contributed to such a situation and that is what needs to be done. You can’t just paint all schools with a common brush like that,” Sinanan said.

He also disputed the notion that private primary schools were performing better than the public ones, saying he took umbrage to this.

Sinanan added that even former education minister Dr Tim Goopeesingh had said there were some private primary schools which were doing abysmally poor.

“And that is a fact. But in terms of specific numbers.... the benchmark to determine what is a successful or unsuccessful school...do we have these standards?

“I am not aware that we have such established standards. Schooling is much more than simply passing examinations,” he said.

Future of society

National developmental agenda must play a key role in the development of the primary school curriculum and  what are the goals of the Government in terms of the future of the country, Sinanan said.

“What kind of citizens we want to see coming out of our school system in alignment with that vision. That’s where the curriculum has to be adjusted.

“If we are clear on that, what is the kind of society we want to create for the future...15, 20 years down the road. Only when we are clear about that then the curriculum must be aligned to those kind of long-term goals as a society then the school would locate its role,” he said.

He said when this was done then the teacher could also locate his or her function in the process,  urging the curriculum must not be reviewed in a vacuum.

Using Singapore as an example, he said more than 40 years ago that country reexamined its curriculum which entailed taking information and doing something with it as a society.

“They realigned their curriculum with that in mind, that is why they are described as a highly advanced society,” Sinanan added.

Coupled with this was the fact that teachers were well paid and schools were well resourced.

On the history textbook he said while this country’s history was well documented there was need to have the subject infused in both primary and secondary schools.

“History must not be taught as a separate subject but from a clear perspective that children have an understanding of who they are and where they came from,” Sinanan added.

In 2007, the birth of Renelle Joseph would have been a Christmas gift to her family.

When she was born, three days before the holidays, she had just one leg.

Renelle’s mother, Leona Ollivere, said all went well for her baby to enter this world and she did all the necessary procedures, including five ultrasounds. 

Leona, now 27, said: “Renelle was the first of everything for her family, a daughter, granddaughter and a niece. Knowing that Renelle was born with a disability, the questions were whether she would be able to take care of herself and be able to fit in this world.”

As the years passed, Leona, who lives in Longdenville, said Renelle started to do extraordinary things with just one leg.

She started to speak early and she was always eager to learn and she quickly devised her own way to move around, using her three limbs.

“The time had come to get Renelle in school,” Leona said. “I was afraid of the environment but again I was wrong, Renelle fitted in school like any other child but she has to use a wheelchair.”

Renelle is a Standard Two student of Longdenville Government Primary School.

She contends her school has also made extra accommodations for her by allowing her classes on the ground floor.

“Renelle is an A student. She loves to read and write. Her teacher, Ms Ragoonanan, said Renelle is one of her best students who can read,” she added.

Renelle is registered at the Princess Elizabeth Home since she was three years old but about eight months ago she was sent to the Wendy Fitzwilliam Paediatric Hospital, Mt Hope, but since then is on the waiting list to be able to access prosthesis.

So far, Leona said they are waiting on Government funding to access the prosthesis. She said that since the last time they visited they have not heard anything from the hospital as to what is Renelle’s position.

Leona said Renelle could walk once she got the prosthesis and she might have to do a surgery on her single leg.

“I will not trade Renelle for anything else in the world as I always tell her God has her that way for a reason,” she said.

Little Renelle said her wish is to walk and she intends to do just that since she wants to become a doctor to help others.

Already, Renelle has been asking the question, Leona said, and this hurts not being able to give her the opportunity to walk.

She said once Renelle is able to walk she will move mountains as with just three limbs she puts on her own clothes, uses the bathroom by herself and at times prepares small meals.

“I want to see Renelle make a difference and I know she will do it despite all,” she added.

Renelle was very enthusiastic to show us how she moves around, a technique which devised from a toddler. 

  First, she has an array of gloves.

A simple process, Renelle puts on her one-sided shoe and then her gloves and then using her arms and leg moves around quickly and doing what any normal child her age will do.

Renelle intends to lead a normal life and hopes her dream of walking will become a reality soon.

T&T has lost two potential “bright stars” with the slaying of Laventille teens Deneilson Smith and Mark Richards who were well-adjusted young men, acting Education Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said yesterday.

Deyalsingh spoke about the slain youths during his contribution to an opposition motion on educational materials in Parliament, yesterday. 

Smith and Richards were murdered after they were pulled out of a taxi on their way home from school on Thursday afternoon and shot dead. 

It has prompted action from Prime Minister Keith Rowley who announced yesterday that soldiers would be deployed to patrol the hills of Laventille permanently. Two men described as being of interest in the case have also been held by police.

The murders of the teens also featured in remarks by MPs from both the Government and Opposition, in and out of  Parliament, yesterday.

 Deyalsingh said he wanted to correct a previous statement issued by the Ministry of Education which stated that one of the boys had missed school. He said he had checked with the Chief Education Officer and the ministry’s permanent secretary and confirmed that both teens had attended school that day and had been model students.

 He noted one had been captain of the school’s cricket team and the other was a school prefect.

“Excellent people...we have lost two potential bright stars,” Deyalsingh said.

 Deyalsingh said a high-level government team including the minister of Social Development, from the Office of the Prime Minister and MPs for the areas in which the boys lived would be visiting their school and parents and giving the community their full support.

“We’ve arranged counselling and this Government remains committed as it has always been to the community,” he added.

National Security Minister Edmund Dillon, expressing deep condolences to the families and community, condemned the murders. He told T&T Guardian the authorities would not stop until they had brought the perpetrators to justice.

Housing Minister and Port-of-Spain South MP Marlene McDonald told reporters she was sure the area MP would be taking care of  the youths’ funerals. She said she normally does that for her constituency and MPs usually take “up the slack” on this and a Social Development grant was also available.

She added, “I will be visiting the families tomorrow. This shows our concern and our support to let them know there are people who care about them. This situation is very sad. lt’s cause for concern. It happened in an area that borders two constituencies—Laventille West and Port-of-Spain South—though I understand the boys both live in Sogren Trace which is Laventille West.”