CARIBBEAN Star flight attendant Beena Rampersad was killed in a motorbike accident Saturday night, while her boyfriend, Marvin Wilson, was up to late last night fighting for his life at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Mount Hope Medical Sciences Complex. Rampersad, who lived with her boyfriend at his parent’s Greenvale Avenue, Valsayn North home would have turned 26 today, and had returned from Antigua hours before she met her death at the nearby Mayfield Road. According to the police, around 9.30 pm Saturday, Wilson, 28, was riding a motorbike west along Mayfield Road, in company with Rampersad, the pillion rider.  The two were on their way home, police said.

Wilson, a joiner, is said to have lost control of the motorbike, which collided into a palm tree that was completely knocked. The motorbike then slammed into an outside wall at 71 Mayfield Road.  Wilson and Rampersad were both rushed to the Mount Hope Medical Science Complex, where the former flight attendant was pronounced dead on arrival. Wilson, police said, is in critical condition suffering from head injuries.  At his home yesterday, relatives told Newsday the doctors told them to wait 24 hours to see the progress.  They could not say what his prognosis is. “We are just holding on,” his brother, Mark, said, explaining that Wilson appears to be hearing but is unable to respond. Mark said he could not say where the couple was coming from because he only learned of the news when he came home yesterday morning.

Other relatives of Wilson, however, said when Rampersad returned from Antigua Saturday, she brought a part for the motorbike, which they said belonged to her, but was used by both. “We just don’t know what happened,” Wilson’s relatives said regarding the cause of the accident.  Police also said that the motorbike bore no registration number. At the Dookiesingh Street, St Augustine  home of Rampersad’s mother, Janice and her stepfather, Ashmir Mohammed, said the deceased was a good person to her mother and him, even though he is not her father, who had passed away some time ago. Janice was not at home, and was said by Mohammed to be making funeral arrangements. “She was a good girl and she never showed me any badface,” Mohammed said, adding that he last saw his stepdaughter on May 17 because of her job.  Rampersad first worked as a flight attendant at Air Caribbean, before leaving for Caribbean Star, which is owned by Texas billionaire Allan Stanford, who lives in Antigua. Cpl Flaveney of the St Joseph Police Station is continuing investigations.

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning disclosed that Cabinet will meet in special session today to determine the fate of national airline BWIA and new proposals for regional political integration will be laid at the next Caricom Heads of Government summit which takes place in Jamaica. Questioned at yesterday’s post  PNM General Council news conference about conflicting statements from Trade Minister Ken Valley and BWIA CEO Conrad Aleong about the true state of affairs at BWIA, Manning said: “We will call a special Cabinet meeting tomorrow (Monday) after which I will tell you what the latest is. This matter involving BWIA is a serious matter. It has a lot of implications for the way we conduct our business in the future.” Recalling that Government had decided “to make money available to BWIA under certain circumstances,” the Prime Minister said the Cabinet sub-committee on BWIA met last Friday and recommended there be no change in Government’s policy towards the beleaguered airline. 

Manning also revealed that arising out of recent discussions between himself and St Vincent and the Grenadines PM Dr Ralph Gonsalves, new proposals on regional political unity will be presented at the next Caricom leaders summit which takes place in Montego Bay, Jamaica in either June or July. Manning said progress has also been made regarding the LNG shipments from Trinidad and Tobago to Jamaica but said his Jamaican counterpart PJ Patterson indicated that the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) and its sustainability would impact on such an arrangement. He added that this will be discussed further at the upcoming summit.  The Prime Minister also revealed that the PNM expects to complete the screening of Local Government Elections candidates this week.

Asked if this meant the election date was July 7, Manning replied: “ The one thing a Prime Minister does not do and no Prime Minister should do is just be part of the speculation of an election date. When an announcement is made it will be clear and decisive.” Manning said he would not be intervening in the Caroni land dispute involving Pastor Vishnu Lutchmansingh and expressed interest at former PNM MP Dr Joe Laquis’ suggestion to be made a temporary senator so he could respond to allegations levelled against him by Opposition Chief Whip Ganga Singh. The Prime Minister said the General Council strongly condemned attempts last week by UNC Senator Wade Mark and Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath to use Parliament “as the springboard for political activity of a destructive nature.

A KNIFE-and cutlass-wielding man, described as mentally unstable by the police, was yesterday shot and killed by law officers after he allegedly attacked them in Valencia. The man has been identified as Gideon Edwards, 45, of Kangalee Street, Valencia.  He is also known as “Tony”, and was a St Ann’s Hospital outpatient. Reports are that around 11.05 am yesterday, Valencia police received a distress call from residents of Kangalee Lane, stating that a man from the area, armed with a knife and cutlass, was threatening villagers.  The man, later identified as Edwards, reportedly told one of the residents, Lisa Panalal, 25, that he was going to slit her throat.

Two officers, one of them a female, from the Valencia Police Post responded. Police said when the officers arrived, Edwards was armed only with a cutlass.   Police said the two officers tried to pacify Edwards and subsequently called for back-up, after which officers from the Highway Patrol responded. Police said the party of officers spoke to Edwards for about 30 minutes, during which time he is said to have become more agitated.
The party of officers is said to have tried to then surround Edwards to take away the cutlass.  Police said Edwards became enraged and officers began closing in on him.  However, police said, Edwards raised the cutlass and began advancing towards the officers, one of whom discharged a service revolver. ASP Earl Gonzales of the Sangre Grande Criminal Investigations Department  is continuing the investigations.

 

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning yesterday announced the appointment of Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Orville London as the PNM’s fourth deputy political leader in what appears to be a political strategy to strengthen the hand of the THA regarding the acquistion of lands at Pigeon Point from the Ansa McAl Corporation. The Prime Minister also dismissed reports of an alleged Cabinet reshuffle and slammed Opposition Chief Whip Ganga Singh for trying to politicise Canadian forensic investigator Bob Lindquist’s probe into alleged corruption at WASA.

Addressing a post PNM General Council news conference at Balisier House, Manning announced  London’s appointment as the party’s fourth deputy leader with specific responsibility for Tobago affairs and London said he will be briefing Manning directly on issues pertaining to Tobago. The Prime Minister said one such issue was the ongoing Pigeon Point controversy and the PNM’s General Council was updated extensively on the matter yesterday. “The General Council endorsed the position being taken by the THA in this matter which reflects the position of the Central Government,” he stated.

London said Manning “has been kept in the loop throughout the negotiations which have been going on for the last 27 months, under this administration, in addition to three years under the previous admininstration.” He added that Manning has “consistently demonstrated a sensitivity to the autonomy of Tobago and the needs of Tobagonians. “This is not just about a piece of rock jutting out into the sea. This is about the patrimony of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. Pigeon Point is to the people of Tobago and Trinidad as Chaguaramas is to the people of Trinidad and Tobago. This has served to undermine the dignity of Tobagonians as nothing else has,” he declared. Asked if this meant the THA was prepared to pay a reported $200 million to purchase Pigeon Point from the present owners, London replied: “I want us to understand is that there is an application process that has been going on in this country for decades. Even if Pigeon Point is a more high profile property, the process is the same.

One of the things that we are going to guarantee that we do not discriminate for or against any individual or entity in the application process. We will not do that in the Assembly and the Goverment, I know, will not condone it even if we attempted to do it.” He added that a motion on Pigeon Point has been passed in the THA and will be submitted to Cabinet for approval. London said while the lands at Pigeon Point were bought for approximately $17 million six or seven years ago, he was no real estate agent and a valuation process had to be undertaken to determine their present worth. Referring to previous land acquistions in Plymouth, London explained that once the public purpose for the lands was valid “then the acquistion takes place.”

On reports of an alleged Cabinet reshuffle, the Prime Minister said: “I am not in the habit of discussing Cabinet matters in public. All I can say is that report did not come from me. The Prime Minister reserves the right to make changes to portfolios in his government as he considers appropriate and that is not a right I’m about to give out,” he said. “If you think that a minister is demonstrating a particular quality or that quality might be brought to bear to superior advantage in a particular portfolio, then you make that change,” he explained. Manning also urged Singh not to politicise Lindquist’s investigations in any way. “We have done in this matter all that the Opposition has asked for. We thought that if the Government and the Opposition can agree on a course of action in the matter, then we can depoliticise it and really do what has to be done in the circumstances and that is really seek to root out any semblance of corruption wherever it might be, assuming of course there was corruption in the matter,” he said. “That might not have been so at all. Our intention was to investigate it and find out what happened.”

WEST Indies cricket captain Brian Lara hit a sparkling 80 yesterday to pilot his team to an upset victory against World Cup champions Australia at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain. One day after the Aussies clinched the seven-match Cable and Wireless rubber 4-0, “Man of the Match” Lara engineered the unexpected result, halting his opponents’ 21-match winning streak in One-Day Internationals. Bating first, after Lara won the toss, the fourth time in five matches, the Caribbean cricketers posted 290 for five wickets and restricted the Australians to 251 for nine with a disclipined and well-cordinated bowling and fielding performance.

Again the Oval was blessed with brilliant sunshine and a near capacity crowd. Lara however came to the wicket at the early fall of opening batsman Chris Gayle’s wicket with the score on five. He then proceeded to clinically take apart the Australian bowling attack. The double world record-holder featured in a 178-run partnership with the struggling Wavell Hinds to set the stage for a challenging total on a wicket that played true for the duration of the back to back matches over the weekend. Hinds and his Jamaican team-mate opened the batting but Gayle, after making five, was sent back to the pavilion, adjudged leg before wicket to a delivery by Brett Lee that looked to be heading down the legside.

Promoting himself in the batting order, Lara came out to a thunderous ovation from the Oval crowd and proceeded to demoralise the much vaunted Australian bowling attack with an array of dazzling strokes all around the wicket. And following the lead of his captain, Hinds gained in confidence and in the latter part of his confidence boosting innings produced some awesome strokes of his own including two massive sixes on his way to a well-played 79 off 102 balls. The left-hander  hit eight fours before snicking Andy Bichel to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist. Lara, seemingly set on his third one-day century on his home ground, was deceived once again by Bichel, the third consecutive time in the series, beaten outside the off stump in the previous two balls only to get the faintest edge with the next, which was gleefully accepted by Gilchrist. During his 143-minutes at the crease, Lara faced 101 balls and hit ten scintillating boundaries departing with the score on 192 and his team well set to post a big score.

Vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan and Marlon Samuel built on this foundation with a 70-run partnership with sensible strokeplay and running between the wickets. Sarwan hit 32 in a 37-ball innings with three fours before departing, another caught behind victim off Bichel while Samuels came into his own, striking five beautiful fours on his way to a 38-ball 42. He left, trapped leg before wicket, hit on the toe by a yorker from Australia’s fastest bowler, Brett Lee. Ricardo Powell and Ridley Jacobs rallied to the end pushing the score to 290 at the end of the 50 overs. Lee was the best bowler for the men from Down Under, with three for 56; while the persevering Bichel took two for 67.

Australia, attempting to make one of the highest scores to win a One-Day International at the Oval got off to a poor start when their enigmatic opener and vice-captain Adam Gilchrist lasted only 13 balls, caught by Hinds off the square leg boundary off Corey Collymore for 11. This let in Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who togetether with opener Jimmy Maher tried to force the scoring along but were bogged down by some accurate bowling and creative bowling  choices by the captain Lara,. After the opening spell by Collymore and Mervyn Dillon, Lara introduced Ricardo Powell for one over, then the off-spin of Chris Gayle followed by the leg spin of Ramnaresh Sarwan whose ten overs cost 53 and the wicket of Brett Lee. Marlon Samuel also featured prominently in the Caribbean attack, his ten overs yielding  two wickets for a miserly 48 runs. But the best bowling came from an improved Dillon who took three for 40.

Faced by the unorthodox strategy, Ponting was powerless to make any impression and was sent back for 10, caught by Hinds on the deep square leg boundary off Dillon. Maher contributed a pateient 21 before being brilliantly caught by debutant Ryan Hurley behind the bowler. The Australian hopes then rested on the dangerous Andrew Symonds who compiled a courageous 77 off 85 balls with eight fours but had his offstump knocked back by Samuels. Michael Clarke, who had not been dismissed in his three previous innings attemped to pull his team out off trouble but was well caught by Lara at deep mid-on for a quick-fire 39 off 53 balls with three fours. From then it was a steady procession as Ian Harvey was bowled by Gayle for two; Andy Bichel was bowled by Samuels for seven; Lee fell to leg-spinner Sarwan, caught by Gayle leaving Hauritz unbeaten on 20 and McGrath, three not out. The sixth match is in Grenada on Friday with the final contest on Sunday, also in St George’s.

A 32-year-old Pentagon security officer was up to late yesterday fighting for his life after he was shot in the wee hours of yesterday during a robbery incident in which one of his colleagues had his firearm stolen. Glen Forde, of Railway Road, Guaico, was undergoing emergency surgery at Port-of-Spain General Hospital up to press time last night. It is reported that around 1am yesterday Pentagon officer Gerard Flanders, 30, of Olton Road, Arima, was on duty at Caribbean Steel Mills, with three other security guards, one of whom was Forde.

Police said three masked and armed men approached and held them up.  They then robbed Flanders of his firearm and four rounds of ammunition. The bandits then shot Forde in his lower left abdomen, they made good their escape.  Forde was rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. No arrests have been made and PC Gyan of the Arima Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is continuing investigations into the robbery/shooting.

TWO Petit Valley men are due to appear before a Port-of-Spain magistrate today to answer charges arising out of an incident last Thursday at Cassia Drive, Petit Valley. One of the men, age 20, of Spring View Drive, has been charged with two counts of attempting to murder PC Raymond Wallace of the Four Roads Police Station and Kerry Joseph, 27, also of Petit Valley. He is also charged with shooting with intent to do grievous bodily harm. Another man, age 19, also of Spring View Drive, has been charged with possession of ammunition. 

The charges were laid by Sgt Anthony Lezama of the West End Police Station. During Thursday’s incident, PC Wallace was grazed in the head, while Joseph is shot in the head and up to late evening was still warded in critical condition at Port-of-Spain General Hos-pital. PC Wallace, who was off-duty at the time, is reported to have received information and went to Cassia Drive  where he was reportedly attacked by five men, who police said wanted to steal the officer’s firearm. Following a combined police and army search in the Petit Valley hills, four men from the area were picked up for questioning. The other two were released pending further investigations, police said.

A 16-year-old boy was kidnapped Saturday night for a ransom demand that included money, firearms, ammunition and a quantity of marijuana.
However, police said Christopher Babwah, of Parry Lane, Chanka Trace, El Socorro Extension, was released just before 4 am yesterday after his father, Basdeo Babwah, 46, paid the kidnappers $2,000 and seven kilogrammes of marijuana for his son’s safe return. According to police reports, around 8 pm Saturday, Chris-topher was in company with his 16-year-old girlfriend, Nadia Shamshoodeen in front of the gate of her Aranguez home. Police said a black Nissan Sentra vehicle pulled up alongside the young couple.  Two men, wearing bandanas over their faces, subsequently alighted from the car and forced Christopher into the vehicle, which sped off.

Officers of the Barataria/El Socorro Criminal Investiga-tions Department (CID) received a report at 9.05 pm and a party of officers headed by Cpls Patrick Thomas and Liston Taylor, along with PCs Sunil Ramoutar and Maraj visited the scene and conducted investigations. Police said during the night, Basdeo Babwah received several telephone calls demanding that he find money, drugs, guns and ammunition for the safe return of his son. However, police said around 3.40 am yesterday, Basdeo Babwah contacted the Barataria station, saying his son had been released after he paid $2000 and seven kilogrammes of marijuana. Christopher had been released by the Quik Shoppe in the vicinity of Morvant Junction. The Anti-Kidnapping Squad (AKS), whose head is Sr Supt Gilbert Reyes, said they had been informed about the boy’s kidnapping, but that relatives went behind their backs and paid money and marijuana. The AKS also said they are working on the theory that the kidnapping is related to a Venezuelan drug deal that went sour. PC Maraj of the Barataria/El Socorro CID is continuing enquiries.