NATIONAL Security Minister Howard Chin Lee has asked for a report on the killing of two persons by the police in recent weeks.
In one incident, Glenroy Elder, 42, was shot dead by a police officer at L’Anse Noire, Toco, on May 14. This sparked off protests by villagers which caused the Police Commissioner to send in an independent investigator. The second incident occurred last Sunday at Valencia, when an outpatient from the St Ann’s Hospital, Gideon Edwards, 45, was shot dead when he reportedly attacked the police.
Yesterday, Chin Lee told reporters that he has asked the Commissioner of Police to prepare a report on both killings. “Today, the police are faced with a situation where crime is on the rise and they are under a lot of intense pressure to be more pro active in their approach. However, that does not mean they ought to practise any lawless activities. If there are any injustices, the Commissioner of Police will deal with that,” the Minister said.
Chin Lee said the joint police/army operations are continuing in Laventille. “Oper-ations are on going and very soon there will be a centre being developed where both the police and the army will be based at headquarters. Our main objective at this time is to ensure there is sustainability and that we are in for the long term.” Police and soldiers have been deployed to crime hit areas in east Port-of-Spain, where gangland activities accounted for more than 25 deaths this year.
The Senate took an unusual twist yesterday as Minister of Public Utilities, Rennie Dumas, and Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate, Wade Mark, clashed over the membership of the panel established by the Solid Waste Management Company Limited (SWMCOL) to select companies/contractors for CEPEP projects. The Opposition has consistently criticised the programme, claiming it is the ruling party’s payback to political supporters.
In a written question, Mark had sought to find out the number of persons, their names and professions, qualifications and experience, who comprised the panel. Dumas replied that the panel consisted of four SWMCOL officers and two contracted consultants. He listed them as the SWMCOL Project Officer for Support Services, a business administrator with an MBA and 15 years of experience of senior management; SWMCOL Internal Audit Officer, an accountant with ACCA Level 3 and some eight years of experience in management accounting; SWMCOL Manager of Projects, an engineer and project manager with a BSc in civil engineering, project management certification, and 12 years experience in middle to senior management; and SWMCOL Executive Chairman, a human resources professional and OD specialist with an MBA and 15 years experience in senior management. Another panel member was a contracted consultant, as yet unknown, who was a management consultant with a BSc commerce, and post graduate qualifications in systems engineering, and 20 years experience in marketing, operations research, business planning, and information technology.
The final panel member was also a contracted consultant who was an event management specialist with extensive training in strategic planning, marketing and sales management, plus 20 years experience in the import, retail distribution, and broadcasting industries. After Dumas’ reply, the Opposition complained that he had not answered properly because he had omitted to name the holders of each post. Saying he had noted the request for names, Dumas replied: “Given the vilification of this programme by the Opposition throughout the country, the danger is that the individual can become individual targets, not in their public function. We are asking the House to accept identification through the positions.” Wade Mark rose and retorted: “This is a very strange course. We have asked, in the highest court of the land, for their names. Could the Minister provide Parliament the names!” Dumas said his reply carried the same weight as if he had called the names of the members of the panel. To this, Opposition and some Independent members cried out: “No, no!” Meanwhile Newsday understands that the SWMCOL post-holders are as follows: Project Officer for Support Services is David Fraser; Internal Audit Officer, Pedro Britain; Manager of Projects, Gina Wharwood; and Executive Chairman, Ray Braithwaite.
GOVERNMENT yesterday called upon Opposition parliamentarians Wade Mark and Kelvin Ramnath to apologise to their respective Houses of Parliament and the national community for their blatant disrespect of Trinidad and Tobago’s democratic institutions.
In a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister, the Government said it was very concerned about “the deterioration of standards” in Parliament, and this was aptly highlighted by Mark and Ramnath’s actions last week in the Upper and Lower Houses respectively.
The first instance saw Mark launch a verbal assault on Government Senator Danny Montano while in the second, Ramnath challenged House Speaker Barry Sinanan to suspend him from Parliament. Government said while it understood tensions could arise during the mildest sittings of Parliament, it could not condone behaviour that “threatens the harmony and democratic institutions of Trinidad and Tobago.”
“We call on the Opposition to respect the nation, its Parliament and the democracy that we practise in Trinidad and Tobago,” the Government said. Government urged the Opposition to use persuasive argument to advance their cause, and said some members of the UNC “are quite downcast” over their behaviour.
Hazel Manning, Minister of Education has announced that the Ministry of Education is working on engaging with school principals to put in place a “lock down” programme for situations of high risk in the nation’s schools.
Mrs Manning was speaking at the launch of the first School Intervention Strategies(SIS) for Primary Schools with the theme “Together We Light the Way” at Guaico Government Secondary School Turure Road, Guaico, yesterday. She said the “lock down”programme would address school safety and effective response in cases of emergency. She said, as a result parents should be encouraged to become involved in school safety programmes at their children’s schools and to discuss personal safety with their children, particularly after school. “Parents , teachers and students need to recognise that we are in a dynamic situation,” the minister said “and no security guards, high fences, security cameras, electronic screening devices and the rush to complain to the news media when there is a problem will have any fruitful effect or bring and end to the problem.”
According to the Minister, her ministry is committed to healthy schools where students feel safe and comfortable and in an environment where they can enjoy fair treatment. She said, “We will continue to work to provide the resources for our schools.” She promised to ensure that her ministry spends the money wisely and it is spent on what works best. To this effect the Minister sent an open invitation to parents, teachers, administrators, students, and counsellors to come on board and help structure the school environment, so that students, teachers and parents can have a healthy on-going rapport. “It is not enough for parents to leave their children at school. We want parents to provide order, structure and consistent discipline. “Children absorb a lot of information and unfortunately, much of it is inaccurate or from questionable sources,” she said.
The Minister advised the parents “to let your children get all the information but the correct information from you as parents or guardians. “Give it to them in a non-threatening and non- embarrassing manner. Provide consistent discipline in the home,” she said. She also appealed to teachers to teach the appropriate strategies for dealing with feelings of anger and inappropriate behaviour.
THE PAYMENT of US$504,296 (over TT$3 million) made by the Airports Authority (AA) to Birk Hillman Consultants (BHC) is being queried by auditors Ernst and Young.
The money was paid to BHC between September 7, 2001 and September 25, 2001 from the AA’s credit and US savings accounts with First Citizens Bank (FCB) Piarco branch. The bank was authorised to pay the sum by Joshey Mahabir, AA’s Finance and Administration Manager and Krishna Hayban, the AA’s Revenue and Treasury Accountant. The disclosure was made yesterday by Peter Cateau, the Ministry of Works and Transport client representative on the Piarco airport development project, who said he could not say what the payments were for. He said he could offer no logical explanation for the payment.
Cateau was giving evidence yesterday at the Commission of Inquiry into the airport project based on questions by the Commission’s lead attorney, Theodore Guerra, SC. President Maxwell Richards, on the advice of Cabinet, has issued a fresh warrant to the Commission to allow four of the five Commissioners to form the quorum to hear evidence. Commissioner Peter Bynoe’s illness forced the Commission to not hear evidence for four days pending the President’s warrant. Cateau said he was a signatory to the bank accounts of the project. He supplied bank statements and return cheques to the Commission covering the period January 2000 to April 2003. Cateau said in January this year auditors Ernst and Young conducted an internal audit at the AA.
Based on his discussions with the auditors he said he did a search and found several bank drafts, some of which were given to the Commission. He also produced a spreadsheet showing the payments by the AA for service by BHC. Seven of the payments were under query. Cateau read three letters signed by Mahabir and Hayban in which they requested FCB Piarco branch manager Norman Chang to pay monies to BHC. In the first instance a payment of US$300,000 from the AA’s current account was made on September 7, 2001. On September 14, 2001 US$82,296 was paid from the same account to BHC and on September 25, 2001 a payment of US$122,000 from AA’s US savings account was made to BHC. The three payments amounted to US$504,296 or over TT$3 million.
Asked by Guerra what the payments were for, Cateau said he didn’t know. He said as watchdog of the project he should have been aware of all payments to BHC. He said the payments did not come from the airport project account but the AA account and therefore he could offer no explanation as to why the AA paid BHC. He said he knew the AA had three contracts with BHC, but the payments did not seem to relate to any of them. However Cateau said the payments were made immediately before BHC signed substantial certificates of completion for several aspects of the project. Cateau said some of the certificates were premature. The certificates are to be issued when the particular area of work is fully completed. Cateau also said yesterday after reviewing documents BHC is being owed US$3.1 million and not US$5.1 million as NIPDEC’s records showed.
So far NIPDEC has approved US$18 million to BHC while Cateau has approved US$12.6 million for the Miami-based company. Commenting on the work done by one of the main contractors on the project, Northern Construction Limited (NCL), Cateau said the firm did $500 million worth of work over a 24-month period, but they appeared to lack top level management capability and their work appeared to be of a questionable quality in the areas of flooring, wall and ceilings. Cateau will return on Monday to be questioned by NIPDEC’s attorneys. The hearing will resume at 9.30 am today when former Housing Minister John Humphrey will be questioned by NIPDEC’s attorney.
Magistrates were advised yesterday not to hesitate to jail first offenders on any gun or ammunition related offences. The advice came from Chief Justice Sat Shar-ma as he affirmed a three-year sentence imposed on Amos Dick in July 2002 for armed robbery by Magistrate Nanette Ford-John.
The CJ, sitting with Justice Anthony Lucky in the Court of Appeal yesterday, said that the offence committed by Dick “was a very serious offence and that the Court must send a message, even on a first conviction.” “A magistrate must not hesitate to impose a custodial sentence for these type of offences — the offence relating to possession of arms and ammunition is prevalent and the Court will take a very serious view of anybody properly convicted of any such offence,” he said. He further warned those who use guns to perpetuate their crimes not to expect any leniency. He added that since the offence is so inherently serious, very little, if any, attention will be paid to that factor in cases involving firearms and ammunition in the prevailing circumstances.
Special State prosecutor Joan Charles agreed with the Court that given the seriousness of the crime, the sentence was appropriate. Dick’s attorney Sean Cazabon had appealed against the sentence, arguing that the magistrate in her reasons did not go into sentencing principles, and therefore did not take into account any mitigating factor in sentencing his client. But the Court dismissed the argument, stating that when a matter comes before the Court of Appeal, the court is entitled to look at the matter as a whole. The fact that the Magistrate did not give a catalogue of reasons does not invalidate the decision, the Court found. The CJ reiterated that the appeal is not against the reasons, but the decision.
The CJ further stated that if the Court is satisfied that the magistrate acted reasonably, then the Court will do what is necessary, “and in this case the Court is satisfied that the appellant participated in an armed robbery as part of a joint enterprise.” Dick, 22, a carpenter, was charged with robbing Deryck Charles at gun point on April 21, 2002, at Bhagaloo Street Extension, Enterprise, Chaguanas. Dick made off with Charles’ wallet, two Linx cards and $145 in cash. He was arrested by PC Rommel Persad and sentenced on July 21, 2002.
A state witness yesterday scolded a defence attorney for speaking to her in a “bad manner.”
Lisa Joseph, 56, unemployed neighbour and friend of murder accused, Veta Layne, appeared yesterday before Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls in the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Eighth Court. Joseph gave evidence in the preliminary inquiry under the direction of State Attorney George Busby and was later cross examined by defence attorney Larry Williams.
During the cross-examination, the witness attempted to scold the attorney, saying, “When you talking to me, talk in a proper manner.” She continued, “I went to school you know!” Following a heated exchange between the two, and the resulting refusal of the witness to answer questions posed by the attorney, Magistrate McNicolls intervened. “Ma’am, if you continue to refuse to respond to counsel, I will have you put in the holding bay. You will respect this court!” said the Magistrate. Layne quietly slept throughout the exchange.
The 59-year-old resident of Brunton Road, St James, was charged with the December 2 murder of her 93 year old mother, Doris Layne, at Brunton Road, St. James. She was also charged with unlawfully and maliciously setting fire to the dwelling house of Simone, Brisanne and Adrian Webb. Magistrate McNicolls adjourned the matter to June 2.
An Irishman allegedly held with one kilogramme of cocaine hidden in an inner sole of his shoe at Crown Point airport on Saturday, pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of attempting to export a prohibited substance.
Brian Patrick Reenan, 31, of Ireland, pleaded guilty to the Customs charge when he appeared before Senior Magistrate Annette McKenzie in the Scarborough First Court. Reenan is also charged with cocaine possession for the purpose of trafficking. He was not called upon to plead as this second charge was laid indictably.
Reenan was reportedly arrested by members of the Organised Crime and Narcotics Unit (OCNU), in collaboration with Customs Officers, as he was preparing to board a British Airways flight to London Saturday evening. The cocaine was said to have been sewn into the inner lining of the sole of the shoes he was wearing. Reenan was remanded in custody and is to reappear in court on June 5.
BWIA officials would not comment on Government’s latest move to help the airline, but union leader Christopher Abraham is still not happy.
“It is unfortunate that people are not taking us on,” Abraham, president of the Aviation, Communication and Allied Workers Union, said, “but workers and unions stand behind Government and are willing to work with them to ensure that BWIA will survive.” Planning Minister Dr Keith Rowley said yesterday Government will be talking to aircraft lessors International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) to pay the outstanding money and head off possible seizure of more aircraft.
Abraham, though, said Government needs to make a clear statement on BWIA’s management. While the unions have called for chief executive officer Conrad Aleong to step down, Rowley said yesterday that Government is waiting on the management review, due in July, before it takes any action. “Government must make a clear decision on what to intends to do,” Abraham said. “Obviously someone must be responsible for this crisis.” Abraham also said unions have not received any word on severance payments for workers retrenched in January. Part of the $116 million bail out Government promised in April is earmarked to cover about $50 million in severance payments.
Agriculture Minister John Rahael has confirmed that management officials at Caroni (1975) Limited were under “strict instructions” to evict all persons from illegally occupying its lands.
He was speaking to reporters after the commissioning of the Rehabilitated Trinidad Sluice Gate System, at the M2 Ring Road, Woodland, South Oropouche, yesterday. Asked to comment on the developing battle between the State-owned company and reputed millionaire pastor, Vishnu Lutchmansingh, the Agriculture Minister stated that the lands were “State lands” under the purview of Caroni Limited.
“Caroni Limited has strict instructions that anyone that goes onto the lands at Caroni that does not have a lease, nor does not have approval to go on the lands must not be allowed to stay on the lands,” Rahael said. He further stated that squatting, in any of its manifestations on prime agricultural lands, would “not be tolerated.” “The Caroni Estate police and the management of Caroni Limited have very clear directions to not allow any forms of squatting from persons or groups or companies to go onto Caroni’s lands,” Rahael said. Earlier, Rahael reiterated to farmers who had gathered to witness the formal commissioning of the sluice gates, that Government’s 2020 vision included equipping farmers with the necessary infrastructure to grow their crops.
