ACTING Commissioner of Police Everald Snaggs said yesterday that there are still things to be cleared up in the file on investigations relative to the alleged beating death of Fyzabad mason, Shaun Mc Leod. Snaggs told Newsday that the file was submitted on time by lead investigator, ASP Ruthven Paul of the Homicide Department on Friday. “But there are still some matters to be cleared up,” Snaggs said.  The ACP said further that the file was handed over to acting Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime/Operations) Glen Roach, whom Snaggs said should re-submit the file back by the middle of next week.  After, the file will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Geoffrey Henderson for directions. McLeod, 23, died while in police custody on September 5. A post mortem performed later revealed that he died from cerebral haemorrhage caused by blunt force trauma. His relatives have since charged that he was struck in the head with a gun butt. South Western Division police had arrested McLeod at Library Corner for allegedly using obscene language.  He was buried Friday.

Snaggs also told Newsday that the matter in which it is alleged that members of the Anti Kidnapping Squad (AKS) failed to take action on a kidnap attempt on Barataria businessman, John Sam Chee is still under investigation. Sam Chee’s sister, Mildred, claimed she contacted the AKS on Tuesday, hours before the attempted kidnapping took place at Sam Chee’s businessplace, Tenth Avenue Drugs, Eastern Main Road. His 31-year-old son, Sean was shot during the incident when he responded to his father’s cry for help. However, Mildred said she was told by an AKS officer to contact the district police station. Acting head of the AKS has since confirmed that Mildred had contacted the department the day she said she did. Sean was still warded at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Mount Hope Medical Sciences Complex up to late evening and no arrests have been made. Snaggs also told Sunday Newsday that the million dollar cocaine audit report has been referred for “continuing enquiries” relative to the origin of the cocaine and the identity of two bodies. The cocaine and bodies were found along the Manzanilla/Mayaro beaches.  Subsequent to that, Snaggs ordered the Organised Crime and Narcotic Unit (OCNU) to do an audit.

A POLICE officer who is currently on suspension was up to late yesterday evening resting comfortably at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital after he allegedly ingested a poisonous substance in an attempt to kill himself. The officer, husband of a Port-of-Spain nurse, was reportedly suffering from deep depression following his suspension. He is now warded and medical personnel are continuing minor tests and treatment. Senior officers investigating the matter refused to comment when questioned.

THE Tobago House of Assembly (THA) is moving to establish its own security service. A motion to that effect is likely to be laid in the House shortly, according to Leader of Executive Council Business, Hilton Sandy. He made the disclosure at the regular, weekly post-Executive Council Meeting’s press briefing. It came in response to queries over several recent break-ins at THA offices in which computers and other items of office equipment were reportedly stolen. The break-ins, which occurred separately at the Education and Social Services Divisions within a one-week period, are under police investigation.

“Well, I don’t know if it is coincidence but it is obviously something about which I and every member of the Executive Council would be concerned”, THA Chief Secretary Orville London told reporters. “One of the things we are looking at is a dedicated THA security force, and that is something we got to look at very seriously; because I believe that there is need for a special kind of training, a special kind of orientation and so on, if we are to secure our assets”, he stressed. “And I am not just talking about computers etc, but ‘assets’; and therefore that is something that we must look at very, very carefully!” He noted that every time something like that happens, it leads to introspection and “a revisiting of the policies and a revisiting of the activities not just in the particular area but throughout the Assembly. “I think that from an holistic perspective we have to now look at whether we don’t have to change and maybe introduce the THA ‘dedicated’ security services”. He said other THA officials are adamant that such a move should be implemented and some initial work had already been done in that regard.

Sandy reported that the Executive Council has approved the formation of the THA security service. “We have put in the budget already funding for that exercise, and it’s just yesterday (Wednesday) I have been speaking to the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Tobago), Mr (Deochand) Gosine, about the assistance in the formation of this service”, he told reporters. “What you may see happening soon, maybe a motion going to the House of Assembly to sort of give the approval, final approval for the formation of this Tobago House of Assembly Police Service”, Sandy added.

MURDER charges were slapped yesterday on two teenagers and another man for the killing of bottle contractor Soodesh Sawh. The two youths, aged 16 and 18, along with a 32-year-old labourer were held when police swooped down on their homes at Cottons Hill, Mayo, on Friday afternoon. The three are expected to appear before a San Fernando Magistrate today.

Investigators said the labourer worked with Sawh, and was aware of a $30,000 bank withdrawal made by the deceased the day before his murder. Sawh, 39, of Lightbourne Road, Gasparillo, was killed outside his home on Wednesday in an early morning ambush in what police believe was a robbery attempt. During the bloody confrontation, one of Sawh’s employee’s, Ansari Karim, was chopped on his head. Karim remains warded at the San Fernando General Hospital.

A VISIT to his friend’s home in Diego Martin almost turned fatal for a nine-year-old boy who was attacked and bitten by a Rottweiler on Saturday night. Officers of the West End Police Station told Newsday that Rebecca Jaggernauth, of Gopaul Avenue, Diego Martin, reported to them yesterday morning that her son, Rishie, was invited to a neighbour’s home to play with some children. Rishie was reportedly escorted into the neighbour’s yard around 7 pm, and police said sometime after the boy’s sister, Rheanna, came to get him. On his way out of the yard, however, the little boy was attacked and bitten by the four-year-old dog, who goes by the name of “Sampson.”

The bleeding Rishie was first taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital and later transferred to the Mount Hope Medical Sciences Complex, where he was treated and discharged. The Standard Two student of Diego Martin Boys’ RC received 15 stitches to the right side of his head, three to his right ear, one to his right finger and there were two bites on his shoulder. Explaining his ordeal Rishie said: “I could not have done anything,” the petite Rishie told Newsday from his home yesterday. He said he was playing with his friends and his sister came to call him.  “A boy was teasing the dog and then he (dog) jumped on me.  He started on my hand and then went to my head,” Rishie said. He said when he entered the yard “Sampson” was placed on another side of the  yard to allow him to pass, but the animal remained loose.

“He just stood up and took it. He then screamed out for help. He is in lots of pain right now and can’t go to school,” his mother, Rebecca, said. Marlon Banfield, the man who said he feeds “Sampson” told Newsday that if something is not done about the situation, something worse can occur. He said he is not the owner of the dog. Banfield said it was the third time a child has been bitten by “Sampson.” He said two of his children, Amanda and Stephen were bitten in separate incidents almost four years ago. “He (Sampson) is like a human. He does not like to be harassed,” Banfield said. Senior police officers told Newsday that the owner of the dog will be interviewed and if there is a need for prosecution, then the relevant action will be taken. Officers of the West End Police Station are continuing investigations.

A FORMER Jamaat Al Muslimeen member was shot dead by unknown assailants at Plaisance Terrace, Beverly Hills, Laventille, on Saturday night. According to police, Noel Ross, 19, an NHA labourer, of Mc Kai Lands Belmont, was shot about the body by unknown assailants at approximately 8.30 on Saturday night. Residents of the area said after several gunshots broke the silence of the night they conducted a brief search and found Ross’ body  in a nearby track covered in blood. Ross was reportedly on his way to his girlfriend’s house at the time of his death. A team of officers lead by Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police Glen Roach, Asst Supt Martin Murrain, Insp Manechand Ramnarine and Cpl Grant visited the scene and conducted investigations. District Medical Officer Cynthia Low-Chee-Tong viewed the body and ordered it removed to the Port-of-Spain Mortuary.

A post-mortem is to be conducted at the Forensic Sciences Centre today. When Newsday visited Ross’ home, his father, Francis Ross, said he found it peculiar that he was not contacted by the police concerning his son’s murder. He and his three other children were given the disturbing news yesterday morning by Ross’s older sister. The man indicated he last spoke to his son on Friday and said that to his knowledge his son had no enemies and could not think of  a reason why anyone would want to kill him. “He was a real loving guy, always minding his own business and always willing to work,” said the  seemingly baffled father. When asked if his son had ever had any brush with the law, an irate Ross declared, “that information should not be equivalent to this interview. You see how I get disrespected already!” Police are continuing their investigation into the murder.

THOUSANDS of people  were jolted out of their beds, chairs, cars and even police roadblocks when they were greeted by a strange text message on their mobile phones Saturday night and early yesterday morning. The strange text message read: “Aissa handle your REAL business before you lose your daughter…that is if you still care.” Up to last night, the Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) could not trace the source of the text message. However, the telephone company stated that they have been able to identify that the text message came via the Internet and has since shut down the Internet server that is being used to send text messages.

This, according to TSTT, means that customers who send text messages from a computer to a mobile telephone will not be able to do so. However, customers can still send SMS text messages from mobile phone to mobile phone. The matter is being addressed at the highest level of the Police Service, which received reports from thousands of terrified customers. TSTT’s Vice President Customer Relationship Manager, Stephen Shep-pard has since assured that the organisation will find the source of the problem, which they deemed in a release as a “hoax.” Speaking in a telephone interview, Sheppard told Newsday that the company will be able to find the source through the Internet Protocol (IP) adjust, and referred to the person or persons responsible for the strange text message as “very intelligent pranksters.” Sheppard could not say to whom the message was intended, but one woman, Alisa King, of Maraval, told Newsday she believes the text message might have been meant for her.

“They probably missed out the “L” in my name. I believe there is some kind of connection,” Alisa King said. Her 16-year-old daughter, Rachel, went missing last Tuesday, after an argument at their home. The child, a Fifth Form student of the Bishop’s High School showed up at her Monticello Drive, Le Platte, home sometime yesterday. The girl and her mother were interviewed by officers of the Maraval Police Station, and police sources said there was “a lot of misinformation” regarding the initial missing person report. The text message started infiltrating people’s mobile phones just after 8 pm Saturday and those who did not get it then, woke up yesterday with the beeping sound indicating that a text message had been received. The exact number of people that received the text message could not be clearly ascertained up to late evening.  However, Sheppard said approximately 40,000 people actually got the message and the same amount was waiting in the server to be sent out, but were subsequently stopped. Sheppard told Newsday that several postpaid number ranges were affected, including codes such as 680, 620, 682, and some 684.

THE BODIES of the two teenaged girls who drowned at the Morne Diablo beach on Saturday were found washed ashore later that night. Around 9.30 pm, relatives said the bodies of Nikela Rogers and Rafi Fermin were discovered on the sand nearby where they were swimming when they disappeared. Rogers and Fermin, both 16 years old, were Form Five pupils of the Siparia Senior Comprehensive School. Fermin, of Robert Village, Siparia, was spending the weekend with Rogers at her Morne Diablo home.

The teens went to the beach on Saturday morning with Rogers’ boyfriend, Ryan McNish, when around 2.30 pm they got into difficulties while bathing near a rock. McNish managed to rescue Rogers, but she dived back into the sea to save Fermin. On Saturday night, within minutes of the girls’ disappearance, relatives and Morne Diablo fishermen launched a sea and man-hunt for the bodies along a five mile stretch along the south-western coastline. Some ten hours later, Roger’s uncle, Harold, spotted Fermin’s body on the shore. Rogers’ body was also found nearby, her face buried in the sand. Rogers’ aunt told Newsday: “Nikela’s face was really mashed up, probably from hitting on the rocks.” Both of the girls’ mothers reside in the United States. Penal Police are continuing investigations.

THE North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) said yesterday that the Labour and Delivery Departments at Mount Hope Women’s Hospital were fully operational as the area has been “thoroughly clean and sanitised.” In a short media release, the NWRHA also said expectant mothers could access the unit for delivery of their babies. Meanwhile, at the evacuated neo-natal unit workmen were busy yesterday afternoon refurbishing the area. Lockers and equipment from the unit were left outside. Babies from the neo-natal Intensive Care Unit were being accommodated across the hallway from where the work was taking place. A sign on the door stated that only parents would be allowed inside the room.

A source told Newsday yesterday that 15 pounds of dust were removed from the air ducts of the east wing (neo-natal unit) last week in the sanitisation exercise which began on Wednesday and was completed yesterday. He said the ceiling also had “pounds of dust.” “The whole building is filthy,” he said. Mattresses being used at the hospital were old and appeared as if they were never cleaned. The source said it is believed they are responsible for patients having itchy skin. Chairs are old and cabinets rusty. A thorough cleaning of the neo-natal unit and surrounding areas was ordered by the Health Ministry after reports of an increased incidence of enterobacter bacteria in babies at unit. Health Minister Colm Imbert has ordered an investigation to determine who is responsible for unsanitary conditions at Mt Hope and if there is any connection between conditions at the hospital and the deaths of 15 babies last month.

The source said cleaners have complained that they don’t have equipment to work with except dirty, old mops and buckets. They also griped about not receiving training in cleaning. He said the building accommodating the women’s hospital is in a “bad condition.” A crew of about 30 workers from Century 21 Janitorial Services and Caribbean Air Duct have been busy sanitising floors, beds, mattresses, hospital furniture and equipment. They are using a vacuum cleaner/super heated steam to 180 degrees to kill the organisms responsible for the majority of Hospital Acquired Infections including staphylococci, Entero-cocci, Coliforms (including Salmonella), and also fungi.

AN executive member of the National Carnival Bands Association (NCBA) Tobago Region has claimed that despite the group’s repeated efforts, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) refused to give financial assistance to a children’s mas craft development programme. Operations Manager Jemma Bedlow scoffed at the THA Education Division’s claims that it had no funds to meet the $48,000 sought by NCBA Tobago for the development of mas in the island’s schools. Speaking at a media briefing in Scarborough Friday, Bedlow explained that the group had organised the programme in which wire-benders and other skilled persons from Trinidad would train Tobago’s children in the art of mas costume making and related subjects. She said Geraldo Viera and others eventually conducted a mini-seminar/workshop for several youngsters with no help from the THA.

Chairman of NCBA Tobago, Wilma Bedlow lamented that while the other Caribbean islands were benefitting from the expertise of Trinidad bandleaders and skilled mas craftsmen, Tobago, where the need was critical, was not.  “We need bandleaders from Trinidad, the skilled people, to come up here,” Wilma stressed. Wilma noted that NCBA Tobago had previously organised such training in the island several years ago and it had been a success. “This year I was looking to see if I could have gotten that course, because we had a lot of things in store for the children; you know, have a little competition among themselves to see what they and doing, if you could give out little certificates,” said the NCBA Tobago Chairman. “But everytime you go (to the THA), is one thing over and over, and they sending you to this one and they sending you to that one, and is the same thing; and I am tired of it!” Wilma declared.  She stressed that there should be some sort of Fund set aside for Culture, which would cover such programmes.
Operations Manager Jemma Bedlow, who is Wilma’s daughter, explained: “We did a budget estimate and a programme, and handed it to the THA Chief Secretary as he is the man (also) in charge of Education; we handed him an estimate for the development of mas in the schools under Education, the estimate was $48,000. Mr London said he will look after it,” related Jemma, “but again he just makes promises.” Jemma added: “And Mr Geraldo Viera, along with certain wire-benders from Tobago, came to Tobago on their own expense and did a small semi-seminar —- That’s why the Carnival for 2003 was improved, with bands from Roxborough coming out for the first time, schools, John Dial, all of those small villages came out and made the carnival this year better, with the skills that the NCBA wire-benders did on their own with no help from the THA,” claimed Jemma. “They only promising!”

Jemma explained that they had subsequently been referred to the Education Division Administrator, Peter O’Neil, on the question of the assistance for the programme. “I myself went, and my former secretary, on many occasions. He gave us the assurance to get the wire-benders up (from Trinidad); (and) on the day when the wire-benders supposed to come up, he called my office and said ‘no funding is available’”, as Jemma reported. “But they came up on their own, pay for their place to stay, bring up their own material, and had classes. And I am hoping…we have been knocking on Mr London’s door day and night for that children’s programme,” the NCBA (Tobago) Operations Manager lamented.