This was announced by Housing Minister Randall Mitchell during a media tour yesterday of five under-construction HDC developments along Trinidad’s East-West Corridor.

“On or before the end of the year, we will have approximately 360 units that will be added to the housing stock. Throughout the country, we should have about 700 on or before the end of the year that will be added.” This will include, by the end of September, 44 apartments in Building A of the Vieux Fort Housing Development in St James. Another 78 keys are expected to be given out by December, when 36 single family units and 42 townhouse units at the Real Spring Housing Development in Valsayn are scheduled to be completed.

These are phase one units in two of five HDC housing developments for which the total construction cost is approximately $1.2 billion. After visiting Vieux Fort and Real Spring, the media was then taken to see Bon Air North in Lopinot/Bon Air, Trestrail Lands in D’Abadie and River Runs Through in Arima.

“It’s $140 million for Vieux Fort in St James. Real Spring Housing Development (in Valsayn) is $114 million. For this development; Bon Air North, $398 million.

Trestrail Lands (in D’Abadie); those 100 units as well as the townhouse units, that is $564 million, I believe, and for River Runs Through (in Arima), the contract price was around $48 million,” Mitchell said.

In total, these five housing developments would cost about $1.2 billion. In all, the ministry has 23 active construction sites, which Mitchell estimated “would add about 4,500 units to the overall housing stock” by 2020 at an estimated total cost of $2.4 billion.

Asked what sort of dent these 4,500 units would make on the HDC’s waiting list, the minister replied, “Not a significant dent because there are 170,000 persons on the database.” He noted however that the five sites toured yesterday form part of the ministry’s “accelerated housing programme, which is just one programme under our overall housing policy.

“There are some other initiatives we’re bringing forward under the Ministry of Housing; you will hear about it (and) our squatter regularisation programme…in the (upcoming) budget presentation.” The ministry is doing construction at each development in phases so that as units in phase one are completed, they can be given out to applications to the HDC.

Whether units are sold, occupied on a rent-to-own basis or simply rented out, Mitchell said money coming in from the occupancy of phase one of these developments will go towards financing the remaining phases.

“We have prioritised a lot of our developments. So for example, in Vieux Fort, we’ve done it on a phase by phase basis and the money coming in from Victoria Keys (in Diego Martin) would be used as collateral to entering into a loan to fund the completion of Vieux Fort on a phase by phase basis.” “With respect to Real Spring, (that) will also be completed on a phase by phase basis. In fact, the contractor has funded the first phase and the monies that we will get from the allocations of those first 78 units, as well as other monies coming in from our mortgage conversions, we will fund the additional phases.” Mitchell also shared that in terms of Bon Air North, “at the end of first phase, we will have 92 units; both townhouse units and apartments which will be done on or before the end of the year, and we will go onto the other phase.” “Of course, with respect to the economic climate, the way we fund our housing construction programme is partly through Government sources as well as through our mortgage conversion programme.” Regarding the speeded up delivery of completed homes, Mitchell told reporters the ministry and the HDC had “realised that over the last years, there was some time lag between the delivery and allocation, and during that time, there was vandalism, theft.

“Of course, we also realised that, that is a cost burden to the HDC, so we need to allocate them and of course, the home seeker, who really desperately needs shelter, we have them first and foremost in our development plans.” Asked about the money HDC owes contractors, Mitchell said, “right now, about TT $700 million” for the 23 sites currently under construction. An HDC official noted that as contractors are paid, new invoices are certified, “so as we go down (in what’s owed), we go back up.” Meanwhile the Housing Minister was keen to point out the higher quality of work being done at River Runs Through in Arima, thanks to a 22-point Quality Assurance Plan that he came up with in conjunction with HDC Chairman, Newman George and HDC Managing Director, Brent Lyons.

“In the past, one contractor would have been given, say, a $1 billion contract to do 700 units and they would just do the units and when they are finished, then you would discover all the problems.

Now, construction is done via a protocol. So before you do your foundation, the project managers must sign off. After you put up your block walls, the project managers must come and sign off and before you get paid as well, all these things must be signed off and quality checked.

So that is what makes it different and I’m sure you can see the difference in quality with our townhouses and our single family units here,” Mitchell declared with a smile.

These were replaced by the new role of executive manager of corporate services.

This meant that for Lyn Lopez, executive manager of legal and Shane Ram, executive manager of human resources and administration, Thursday was their final day on the job. In a statement issued on Thursday, Angostura said it “can confirm that, as a result of a commercial performance review of the Company’s operational requirements, we have undertaken a restructuring of our executive management team.” The person who assumes the new post of executive manager of corporate services will have “responsibility for services in the areas of legal, human resources, information and communication technology, administration, property, facilities and security.

“This restructuring re-aligns Angostura’s organisation and management at the executive level in support of our business objectives, and will improve the company’s efficiency and profitability. It is an important measure to ensure the competitiveness of the business and to ensure that Angostura is positioned to take advantage of opportunities to expand our business both locally and globally,” the company said.

Thompson is at the Championships with teammate Kael Yorke.

Today, after 9.45am, Yorke is scheduled to mount the Lane Five starting block for the 50m butterfly in Heat 7 of 10. The 200m breastroke event which occurs sometime after 10:50am, will feature Thompson in Heat 2 Lane 3.

The competition ends on Sunday, with the team returning on Monday. The team is accompanied by Head Coach Joseph Mc Leod.

However, she says while enrollment may be affected, the institutions cannot give up but must continue to provide their services and be able to provide the facts about the benefits of education to an individual.

“What we have to do is define and continue to emphasise to citizens and students the importance of education in the long term because education is a tool and a mechanism to take us and catapult us out of many situations, such as poverty and take us to the next level.” Persadie made the comments during an interview with Newsday following an Accreditation and GATE Funding Informative Session at the school on Thursday evening.

The session dealt with the present and future of funding for education in TT; international accreditation vs foreign degree; the importance and relevance of accreditation by the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT); and “Why now is the right time to pursue your MBA.” Participants at the session also heard from Nigel Forgenie, the Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP) on the benefits of getting an International MBA from the Lok Jack Business School as he did.

Persadie said in light of the current economic situation and the GATE means test, the school will have to take a new look at its recruitment and see how it can adapt in the event there is a decline in enrollment.

“So it doesn’t mean that Lok Jack will say ‘Okay, recruitment and enrollment are down so we will downsize.’ We won’t say that, we will say what other services can we offer and we are not only postgrad, we are also undergrad, we are in company development, we are in short term programmes, we are in research, so we impact differently and while one sector might take a little hit, we can impact somewhere else and make up the shortfall and continue to survive.

So we don’t rely on one mechanism or one revenue earner to survive.”

According to reports, the constable was on duty when he was struck. He suffered some injuries after being thrown from his motorcycle. He was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex where he was treated and warded.

It seems that at the moment there is a shortage of field officers at the Ministry of Agriculture, making it almost impossible to eradicate the problem. I posit that it can be solved almost immediately with the implementation of this not-new technology.

A search on the Internet reveals that there are several types of drones available, both in the US and even here in Trinidad, that can do the job. They are relatively inexpensive, about US$1,200 and even lower.

The drones come with HD cameras that can be monitored and recorded from a laptop and they can be airborne for more than 45 minutes on one battery charge with speeds of up to 22 miles an hour, recording all the while.

Picture it: our field officers can pinpoint the location of the poacher and have the evidence from their base before going out to arrest the culprits. No need to employ extra staff in this downturn.

I hear that there are people with the expertise and the equipment right here in Trinidad (I know of none personally) and I am sure if approached they can give a demonstration for, say, a month to prove the usefulness of this technology.

The drones can also be used in locating missing people both at land and at sea. I am not even mentioning the use that the Defence Force can also make of it for patrols.

I love both national birds with a passion and I appeal to the relevant ministry to do something now to wipe out this poaching menace. Do not wait to introduce the technology after all the birds are gone. Get the amateur drone aviators on the job now. One arrest or even the advertisement of the drone use on a trial basis and I feel that all poaching of the birds and other wildlife will stop.

It may be that we already have the equipment here as I seem to remember Gary Griffith recommending it to the then government when he was in the Ministry of National Security as a replacement for the much hated and misunderstood blimp. If so, please immediately deploy the technology.

TERRY INNISS Cascade

This is my suggestion for anyone who wants to go to Tobago urgently and cannot swim like Watson Duke.

Catch a flight to London or Frankfurt and take the once weekly flight by British Airways or Condor Airlines to Tobago.

Problem solved.

JAN WESTMAAS San Fernando

In passing sentence on Donnie James, Magistrate Alicia Chankar scolded him for selling the stolen phone.

“I know times are hard and people are struggling, but that in no way means you can take something that is not yours.” James pleaded guilty to stealing the Samsung J7 valued at $2,000 from Daniel Johnson on Tuesday in the parking lot of Jing’s Supermarket at Southern Main Road, Marabella.

Prosecutor PC Cleyon Seedan said, Johnson parked his car and went into the supermarket at about 6.30pm. He returned about 15 minutes later and discovered his phone missing from the front passenger seat.

A report was made to the Marabella Police Station and PC Ramlal conducted investigations. The court heard police viewed surveillance footage provided by the supermarket. On Thursday police arrested James who admitted to stealing the phone.

Unrepresented by an attorney yesterday, he told Chankar he sold the phone to get cash to make a down payment on a place to rent. The unemployed man said he is on welfare but did not get his cheque on time. He said he has a disability which renders him unable to work.

Last year on March 11, a San Fernando magistrate had sentenced him to serve two years in prison with hard labour for marijuana possession.

Six days earlier, another magistrate reprimanded and discharged him for stealing clothing off a clothesline.

The samples taken from Aleena Babwah and Surendra Harrylal would confirm via Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing if the charred unrecognisable remains is that of Harrylal.

Harrylal, 26, her common- law husband Michael Applewaithe, 35, and another male were believed to have been tied up and the house set ablaze. At about 8 am, a villager in a car was alerted to the tragedy when she saw Harrylal’s four year old son wandering barefoot along the roadway.

The villager said the boy appeared to be traumatised. The crying child told the woman his mother was burnt in a fire and is in heaven.

The villager, who knew the boy, drove to the family’s home and saw the house burnt to the ground.

The house is located miles off the Carlsen Field Road in a forested area and there are no houses in close proximity to the structure.

Members of the Police and Fire Services were contacted and when they arrived, police said a trail of blood was found near the ruins. Investigators are working on the theory that the occupants were killed and their bodies set on fire in the house. Residents said they had seen smoke earlier that day but many assumed it may have been a bush fire in the area.

Yesterday Harrylal’s step father Errol Babwah told Newsday was still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.

“We know it is Michelle. This is really hard and I don’t know if we will ever be able to get over this. My step daughter did not deserve this.” Police are asking members of the public to assist them with any information they may have with respect to the unidentified person believed to be an adult male. Homicide Region Three members are investigating.

Twenty-five-year-old Venesh Boodram, from Granville in south Trinidad is thanking God for sparing his life. He said in an instant his whole life changed when he was diagnosed with Leptospirosis. “My life as I knew it just slipped before my eyes all because of rat poisoning, “ he said tearfully According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Leptospirosis is an infection in rodents and other wild and domesticated species. Rodents are implicated most often in human cases. The infection in man is contracted through skin abrasions and the mucosa of the nose, mouth and eyes. Exposure through water contaminated by urine from infected animals is the most common route of infection.

Human-to-human transmission is rare. It is caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira.

In humans, it can cause a wide range of symptoms, some of which may be mistaken for other diseases. Some infected persons, however, may have no symptoms at all. Without treatment, Leptospirosis can lead to kidney damage, meningitis (inflammation of the membrane around the brain and spinal cord), liver failure, respiratory distress, and even death.

Speaking with Newsday recently , Boodram said he wanted his experience to be a wake-up call to all citizens that you should never take life for granted. The young construction worker recalled that he went for a swim in pond in his village with some friends on July 16 . “I just went out to lime with my friends and have a good time “ he said. The next morning he fell ill. “It felt like a normal virus, I was taking Panadol, it was only when I started to cough up blood that I went to the health centre.” According to Boodram, he was told he was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) and awoke seven days after.

“I am thankful to the Lord that I opened my eyes to see another day.” he said.

Lecturer Anaesthetics and Intensive Care, Department of Clinical Surgical Sciences, UWI and consultant in intensive care, Dr Keevan Singh ,explained that severe leptospirosis, also known as Weil’s disease, can cause kidney failure and bleeding in the lungs. The mortality rate for this condition is very high. These patients are usually admitted to the ICU, placed on mechanical ventilation and in most cases would need some form of dialysis (kidney support) as well as treatment for the underlying condition which may have already started. When asked about the survival rate from leptospirosis, Singh said that this usually depends on the age and the underlying condition.

He stated that older patients will generally not do as well as a young person and if the underlying condition is curable, the outcome is usually good.Generally, the more organs affected by the disease condition (e.g heart, lungs, kidney, brain, liver) the worse the outcome – this is referred to as multi-organ failure.” When asked what are some challenges for recovering patients from the Intensive Care Unit, Singh said, “ Even if a patient survives and is discharged from the ICU, there are still many challenges to face. Most ICU patients will be extremely weak, a condition referred to as ICU acquired weakness, this means they will need help with most of their basic activities.”Singh also explained that in most cases leptospirosis is mild and uneventful.

Boodram expressed thanks to all the doctors and nurses at the SFGH, who helped him recover from this illness. In a final message to citizens, he said, “This has been a very traumatic experience for me , I am still recovering. My family ,friends and villagers have supported me a lot, I would like to tell everyone to be very careful about where you go and what you eat.”