Young Guns shut down Unruly by four goals to nil in their match-up on July 27 thanks to an Andy Britto’s double.

Also contributing to the onslaught, with one goal each, were Randy Britto and Mikkial Roberts.

On the same day, Future and SKHY FC drew 1-1 where Mikel Walkes (Future) and Elijah Williams (SKHY FC)got on the scoresheet for their teams. Limited Edition won their match 3-0 against We Side by default.

And even as Port Authority (PATT) chairman Alison Lewis said a new vessel has to be acquired before October when the T&T Express ferry goes on dry dock, Persad-Bissessar said the issue is, “a scandal of the highest order which reeks of mismanagement and corruption.” Persad-Bissessar said she will write the Canadian authorities as she called for an investigation into the transaction involving Canadian company Bridgemans Services Group LP.

Bridgemans has already leased the Cabo Star, a cargo vessel that services the seabridge.

Contacted yesterday, Lewis said the Ministry of Works and Transport cancelled the contract because of Bridgemans failure to deliver the vessel within the time frame agreed on in the terms of the contract.

“When it was not delivered by the extended deadline of August 1, we invoked the cancellation clause in the contract,” Lewis said. The board is trying its best, she said, to correct a situation it met in the best possible way for all stakeholders especially the people of Tobago.

“With Government’s support in getting what is necessary,” she said, “we hope to get this behind us in the shortest possible time.” On whether Government has advanced Bridgemans any money for the vessel, Lewis said, “We have not paid any money.

The contract calls for mobilisation and delivery.

My information is that Government has reserved its legal rights in terms of its own remedies which the lawyers are looking at right now.”

MINISTER SEES NO RESIGNATIONS

Efforts to contact Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan, Attorney General Faris Al Rawi and Minister in the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Stuart Young on Government ‘legal rights’ in this matter, were futile.

Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie, the only Government Minister to answer his cellular phone yesterday, said Government told the Port Authority to take whatever action it deemed necessary.

“I can’t comment any further, because the port authority is the person you should speak to it and once you get a comment from them, that is all you need,” Cuffie said, On TV6’s Morning Edition yesterday, asked if the decision to terminate the contract was not massively embarrassing for him and Government, Minister Sinanan said, “definitely not.” Sinanan said he has faith in the PATT and its decisions.

Asked if resignations were expected, he said, “definitely not. There’s no reason for that.” Meanwhile, on leasing another vessel, PATT chairman Lewis said public tendering will begin as soon as possible.

Asked about the controversy surrounding the selection of the contractor, Lewis said, “Bridgemans is a company that is incorporated in Vancouver, Canada. Our consideration was whether or not Bridgemans had the ability to provide the vessels that they were tendering.

Whether Bridgemans was a bona fide company that was incorporated, whether the vessels it was talking about were going to be made available, the fact that there was no judgement (against Bridgemans) and nobody was suing them for anything, were some of the considerations the tenders committee looked at.

ROWLEY MUST TAKE BLAME

Pe r sad-Bi s s e s s ar said Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley must accept responsibility for “this débâcle” and account to citizens as it was not enough for government to simply cancel the contract. Rowley, Sinanan and Lewis, she insisted, “must clear the air on this fiasco.” Persad-Bissessar said she raised concerns several weeks ago about possible corruption in the ferry deal. The nation deserves to know the facts on the decision to scrap the contract, she said. She reiterated her call for answers as to how a company allegedly with no record, was awarded the contract.

A number of questions must be answered, she said, including whether advances, finders fees, legal fees and any other were paid and if so, to whom. She said there was no record of the shareholders and directors of Bridgemans Trinidad LPC in the TT Companies Registry.

The Opposition was informed, she said, that the vessel was sold from its original owners on June 26, and a few days later was in a charter party to lease it to (TT).”

Rambharat said the first step in dealing with the issue will be granting that licence to the EMBD. He said the land has to be formally leased to the EMBD by the State, and the EMBD and the State are dealing with the matter which will have to be submitted to Cabinet.

Rambharat said he is very hopeful that the matter would be resolved soon. The minister added that he is looking for other mining sites as the five already in use are showing signs of depletion. He said it was particularly important to locate new sites because the construction sector is in high gear because of the work on the highway to Point Fortin and work expected to begin soon on the Cumuto to Manzanilla Highway.

In a media release yesterday, the Ministry of Energy stated the recovery had been achieved through the assistance of Dubai-based attorneys together with executives of the NEC. “The process required assiduous and concerted efforts across multiple jurisdictions to recover the stolen money in the interest of the NEC and citizens,” the release stated. The Ministry recalled that on Monday 26 September, 2011, its US Dollar account at First Citizens Bank was debited in the amount of US$9,608,995.41 with three wire transfers from the account to banks in Boston, Antigua and Dubai. The Ministry stated that funds illegally transferred to Antigua in the amount of US$4,633,747.35 were subsequently recovered in October 2011, as it had not yet reached the recipient’s bank account.

Following this, mediation proceedings commenced between the Boston recipient, the NEC and First Citizens, with the parties arriving at a settlement in 2013 for the return of US$912,608.90 out of the total sum of US$1,250,217.71.

Criminal and Civil proceedings were also initiated against the recipient in Dubai by the NEC and the Dubai authorities.

In November 2014, the Dubai courts sentenced him in absentia to three years imprisonment.

Subsequently, the civil proceedings were heard and upon successful completion, the sum of US$3,562,566.62 was returned to the NEC account, the Ministry stated.

The victim has been identified as Lorenzo Mc Leod, 31, of Saddle Road, Santa Cruz.

According to reports, a man parked his car in the garage of his St Michael’s Road home at 8.15 pm on Tuesday and went to bed.

When he got up at about 1.40 am yesterday, he saw two men pushing his purple B15 car out of the garage.

They later drove off in the car while the victim telephones police.

Minutes later, the police intercepted the car along St Michael’s Road and a shootout ensued.

McLeod who was shot several times, was taken to the Arima District Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 3.20 am. A revolver was recovered at the scene. McLeod’s body was sent to the Forensic Science Centre in St James for autopsy.

Investigations are continuing.

The display is to honour the life of this country’s longest serving member of parliament and fourth and sixth Prime Minister.

It will also commemorate the first anniversary of his death and celebrate his birthday which would have occurred later this month.

Head of Technical Services/Special Collections at The University of Trinidad and Tobago, Janice Blake said the display is meant to give the public an opportunity to look into Manning’s life. “It’s about seeing his personal and professional life and understanding what it is like to be prime minister,” Blake said. “There is a whole other side than just running the country.” She said it aids in documenting the lives of those who served us. “What do we know about our past governors? Nothing.” Blake said in the future, our descendants can look at the artefacts and understand our history.

She said she expects a sizeable turnout. She is also expecting members of the Manning family and those who would have served with him to visit the exhibition.

Items on display include clothing, awards, photographs, newspaper clippings, Vision 20/20 documents and even a 400-year-old bible found in his office.

The exhibition can be viewed at the Adult Library, 1st Floor, National Library Building until August 31.

Viewing times are between 8.30am to 6pm weekdays and until 4pm on Saturdays.

“A question was asked of me whether I have been to the Police Academy and the answer is ‘yes’, I have been to the academy for two reasons. I think every minister, maybe every MP and a lot of people who are public officials are put through a process of personal safety and security training and in some cases you are required to check in with the police station,” Rambharat said.

“My wife would accompany me from time to time and there are visits to my home where there are sessions with the family and in that way I am not treated different from any current or past minister or public office holder,” he said.

“Very few ministers have to go into areas where you have marijuana being cultivated, where you have trap guns. I go out late at nights, I am on the road a lot and people who support law enforcement in my Ministry are exposed to a lot of risk during certain seasons like the hunting season and I have to look after their interests,” he said.

“So when you see me interface with law enforcement it is not that I am out there to have fun, I am simply doing my job and I think if it is one thing, people would like to know that I am safe and secure on a daily basis,” Rambharat said.

He believed it might be a better stance to regularise immigrants already in the country looking for work or might already have jobs as it could be a way of ensuring employers who hired these immigrants, pay taxes for them.

Griffith said this could help generate as much as $2 billion for the local economy which might be a better initiative than the property tax the government wants to implement. He said government should evaluate the immigrants who are here instead of simply arresting and returning them to their place of origin.

The former minister said that when Trinbagonians are sent back to this country from foreign places things are rarely done about it.

He also said if a person from another country was deported from here, they were able to go to their embassy or government and complain about Trinidad and Tobago abusing the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) agreement, when this was not the case.

He said this country should strive for sufficient use of labour and other factors of competitive production leading to greater variety and quantity of products and services and the these immigrants may be a good avenue for this.

He said the GATE forum yesterday gave less answers than expected and raised more questions.

“Where means testing is concerned, it seems like the ministry themselves do not know the answers to simple questions we have been asking since its announcement,” he added. He said the procedure seemed rushed and not properly planned.

Edwards posted on his Facebook account seven points which, he said, applicants still needed clarity on. These points included the issues of extended family, proper documentation and other areas which could cause the means-testing procedure to be prolonged due to “inaccurate and inadequate information.” In response to the minister’s call for applicants to be truthful, Edwards said, “Some students live with family members who will not be directly responsible for the paying of their fees. These relatives may see it as unnecessary to comply with the request for their personal information.” He added that students might not include that information and could be penalised for doing so.

He further explained that others may feel rushed to get copies of documents while others are concerned about the rate of response from GATE officials.

“Many want to know how long it is now going to take to get approval since more checks have to be done by officials and the offices were already inefficient.” He further stated that the GATE programme was first started to provide an equal opportunity for persons who wanted to access tertiary education and these recent measures appear to be reversing that initiative.

“Even if the household exceeds $30,000, how can one breadwinner be expected to pay tuition in whatever percentage, especially in cases where there are multiple children pursing tertiary education.” Edwards said.

He believes that the government is taking too strong of a stance on this matter especially when the procedure seems to be not properly planned

He is wanted in connection with the July 30 chopping and wounding of Kareem Ellis and Keane Marcano. The men were patrons at Punishers Bar at Craignish Village, Princes Town when, it is alleged, the suspect became enraged after one of the men was seen talking to a mutual female friend. The suspect, it was reported, left and returned with a cutlass and rained chops on Ellis and Marcano, one of whom had intervened to try and help his friend.

They were taken to the San Fernando General Hospital where they underwent surgery and were discharged from hospital last Thursday.

The victims and their attacker are known to each other. Police said the man has been on the run since the incident and has been changing locations.

On Sunday, police recorded statements from the victims.

The chopping incident was captured on camera and last weekend went viral on social media. Sgt Richardson of the Princes Town Police Station is investigating.