Yesterday’s Parliament saw UNC’s Kelvin Ramnath on a virtual rampage while Speaker Barry Sinanan, stood, with Standing Orders in hand, literally begging the unruly MP to behave.

According to the Standing Orders, once the Speaker is on his feet, everyone must be seated and be silent. But Ramnath in defiance,  stood shouting at Sinanan, boofing him and even daring him to suspend him. Meantime, Speaker Sinanan, also on his legs, implored and pleaded. During the exchange between himself and the Speaker, Ramnath dared Sinanan: “You can suspend me. I don’t have to be here!” The House was debating a motion on crime filed by Pointe-a-Pierre MP Gillian Lucky, who noted that what Abu Bakr had asked for in 1990 — the National Security Ministry — had become a reality under the PNM.

Government minister Camille Robinson-Regis, in responding, referred to the role of certain Opposition members, especially John Humphrey, during the attempted coup. She said Ramnath was the one who took the amnesty out of the Parliament for the then acting President to sign. Ramnath then rose to state that she was  misleading the House. “I never signed any document,” he stated, adding: “She is totally out of order to come to this Parliament and lie.” Glaring directly toward Robin-son-Regis,  he roared: “If yuh don’t know, stay silent!”. At this point, Sinanan, who as Speaker is charged with maintaining order in the House,  began what was to become a refrain, “Honour-able member, please,” Sinanan pleaded. As Ramnath sat down, Robinson-Regis continued to make the point that the records would show that Ramnath was the one who took the amnesty document outside to the acting President, Emmanuel Carter. Ramnath rose again. “I will not sit down and allow this member…” he began. 

Sinanan intervened to ask if he was rising on a point of order, which is the only condition under which one MP could interrupt another during a contribution. “I don’t know what Standing Order,” Ramnath answered dismissively. “But you cannot allow this!” he asserted, speaking directly to Sinanan. “Please!” Sinanan begged. “Making accusations against a specific member of the House!”  Ramnath thundered, unmindful of Sinanan’s urgings. “Please, please honourable member,” Sinanan implored again. “And you want to use Standing Orders against me!” Ramnath bellowed in recalcitrant fashion.  “Honourable member when the Speaker is standing, you have to take your seat,” said the soft-spoken Sinanan. “I don’t have to do anything!” Ramnath shot back. 

Humbling himself before Ramnath’s onslaught, Sinanan begged again. “If you are on a point of order, then state your point of order,” he coaxed. “My point of order is that the member is misleading the House!” Ramnath thundered. “Okay, okay, okay,” Sinanan begged. “And I did not carry any amnesty to any President of the country! And I will not stand here and allow you or anybody to incriminate me!” Ramnath remonstrated. “Honourable member,” Sinanan pleaded. “I was a hostage!” Ramnath roared. “Honourable member, please,” Sinanan begged. “For six days!” Ramnath rumbled. “Honourable member…honourable member, please,” Sinanan beseeched. But Ramnath continued: “And you feel is a frivolous matter,” he growled, looking at Robinson-Regis. “So was the member for Chaguanas (Winston Dookeran),” he added heatedly.  “Honourable member, please,” Sinanan refrained. “Don’t tell me what to do!” Ramnath stated. “Honourable member, please,” Sinanan said again. But Ramnath’s tirade continued as he howled at Robinson-Regis: “You feel yuh father leave this in a will for you!” “Honourable member you have raised a point of order and I am ruling that you are out of order,” Sinanan said meekly, calling on Robinson-Regis to continue her contribution. The PNM MP again insisted that “the information was that the member for Couva South was the one who took the document (anmesty) out.”

Ramnath shot up again, saying that he would not tolerate the lies and fabrication. “Honourable member for Couva South please, conduct yourself,” Sinanan implored. The Speaker then advised the irate MP to await his turn since  he could speak during the debate. But Ramnath, not satisfied, said “Members are not allowed to lie and use their privilege to mislead and misinform the House!” he countered. “Honourable member you would have an opportunity, 75 minutes of it,” Sinanan counselled. “So you could say anything you want in this House?” Ramnath scoffed. “No you can’t,” Sinanan replied. “So you could say anything you want, eh, eh,” Ramnath said, raising the decibel level. “But you can’t,” Sinanan responded. “What protection do I have when a Minister in the presence of the media is lying to this House,” Ramnath roared. “Honourable member please, you would have your 75 minutes, and if it continues like this, I would suspend the sitting,” Sinanan said. “You could suspend me too! I don’t need to be here!” Ramnath challenged. Sinanan virtually tired by now, then turned to the general body of MPs, saying: “Honourable members please, I appealed to you at the beginning of the session to conduct yourselves properly and in accordance with the rules.” The Speaker called on Robinson-Regis to continue. But this time she stayed clear of repeating Ramnath’s alleged role in the coup. There is no Standing Order which deals with or prevents a member from “misleading” the House, because, parliamentary experts say, there is no way that the Speaker can rule on who is speaking the truth at any given moment in a debate. Instead MPs have the right to reply via personal explanations, or they can correct the record during the course of a debate. However all MPs are in the habit of  objecting, sometimes asking a member speaking to give way, when things are said about them which they deem to be untrue.

It is a case of Ken (Valley) versus Conrad (Aleong) as the BWIA saga continues to unfold. Trade Minister Ken Valley said yesterday he was misled by BWIA’s CEO, Conrad Aleong. But the CEO is denying this.

Valley said when Aleong first spoke with him after the first plane was seized in Miami, he was given the impression that the US $5 million (which government agreed to give to the airline) would  be used for only the lease of the aircraft, and to bring the airline up to date with whatever liability they had to the lessors. That was the information Valley  provided to the Prime Minister. “As I put down the phone (with Aleong), I called the Prime Minister,” Valley said. He said he told Manning that there was an emergency — a plane was seized — and that even though BWIA didn’t meet the pre-conditions for funding, government should assist. “He said ‘fine’ and gave me the okay to release funds,” Valley said. “I spoke to the CEO. It was clear… My understanding was that US $5 million would be used for the aircraft. The following day however I was told ‘no, $3.5 million was to be used for the aircraft, and $1.5 million for severance’ and I was duty bound to let my Prime Minister know that. And my Prime Minister felt that that was not the right thing to do, especially given an emergency situation. And that is what he referred to when he spoke at the (post-Cabinet) news conference,” Valley said.

 The Trade Minister said he (Valley) did not misinform the Prime Minister. He merely told the Prime Minister what he was told by the CEO, he said. “I was simply relaying information,” he said, adding that if the Prime Minister was misinformed, it was based on information given by BWIA (CEO). Asked if he still trusted Aleong, Valley said he had no public comment on that. However Aleong said Valley seemed to be misinformed on the situation at BWIA. He said he never told Valley any such thing. Aleong said Valley was having his own problems with his party and he could not pull him (Aleong) into his problems. Valley said Aleong asked him how the Prime Minister could make the statement he made (on Thursday), and he explained to him why the Prime Minister was annoyed. He said Aleong stated that while the “first position” was that $3.5 million would go to the lessor and $1.5 million to severance, the full amount would now go to the lessors because they were now asking for a maintenance reserve. He said Aleong mentioned to him that overall the lessors were asking for US $8 million. The Cabinet sub-committee to examine BWIA met yesterday and it is expected to report to the Cabinet next week. The planes are expected to be released on Tuesday.

PUBLIC Utilities Minister Rennie Dumas yesterday underscored the need for a national waste water system as raw effluent flowed out of clogged sewer pumping stations and into roadways at a major South housing development.

He was speaking to reporters during a tour of the Palmiste Housing Development yesterday morning. Dumas was accompanied by San Fernando West MP Diane Seukeran and concerned residents from the area. “We have had numerous complaints about the waste water system here in Palmiste and we have come to see for ourselves what it is and see to what extent we can integrate it into the planned national response for waste water management in the country,” he said.

He referred to Government’s construction of a waste water treatment plant at the Beetham Estate, saying similar systems may also be necessary in other parts of the country. However, he lamented that a number of plants built by private developers had “fallen into disarray” and Government was looking at ways of rehabilitating those systems. Dumas declined comment on whether penalities would be imposed on private developers who had allowed their waste water facilities to deteriorate.

As to the waste flowing onto the roads and fields at Palmiste, Dumas said the response would involve action by Government and homeowners. A WASA engineer who accompanied the Minister said the facility had not functioned for a “number of years”. The engineer said several million dollars may have to be spent to get the facility back in top working condition. Principal of the Cedar Grove Private School Phiscilla Jute said students were affected by the smell of the waste water on a daily basis. She said in her six years at the school, Minister Dumas was the only Government official to visit the housing development.

BWIA workers are continuing to work in difficult circumstances, president of the Aviation Communi-cation and Allied Workers Union Christopher Abraham said yesterday.

“Workers are continuing their duties while a state of uncertainty exists,” he said. Abraham said the situation should not have been allowed to come to this point. He also repeated his call for a forensic audit of the BWIA’s finances. Management was mum yesterday on the negotiations to release two aircraft seized by lessor International Lease Finance Cor-poration (ILFC) last week. ILFC owns six of BWIA’s seven aircraft and seized two because of money outstanding. Government released a letter of comfort for US$5 million Tuesday to release the first aircraft but on Thursday Prime Minister Patrick Manning accused BWIA management of not be-ing honest about the situation. Manning also said the bailout of BWIA was not a done deal.

WESTERN Division officers were up to late yesterday questioning four Petit Valley men in connection with Thursday’s shooting in which a uniformed police officer and another man were shot.

The officer, PC Wallace, attached to the Four Roads Police Station, was grazed on the head, while Kerry Joseph, 27, of Spring View Drive, Petit Valley, remained warded at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital (PoSGH) in critical condition up to late evening. The officer, who was off-duty at the time of the shooting, was attended to and discharged on Thursday. The two were shot on Cassia Drive, following a shootout.

Police could not say what caused the shootout, but as the investigations, spearheaded by Sgt Anthony Lezama, continued yesterday, senior officers took a statement from Wallace in which he indicated that he was attacked by five men.  They could not say why the officer was attacked but were working on the theory that an attempt was made to rob PC Wallace of his firearm. Senior officers were also trying to determine what the officer, who was armed with a firearm, was doing at Cassia Drive alone as he was off-duty. Reports indicate that on Thursday Wallace had said he was going to a scrap yard.

Up to late evening no one could say who shot Joseph.  Police said shots were fired from the officer’s firearm as well as the other men. Forensic testing is to be done. Following the shooting, acting Commissioner of Police Everald Snaggs summoned the national helicopter, along with tracker dogs to comb the Petit Valley hills in search of the men. Approximately 100 heavily armed police officers and 20 soldiers later searched the area. The four men, three from Spring View Avenue, the other from Morne Coco Road, were subsequently arrested. They face a number of firearm-related charges arising out of the investigations.

CRIME AND illicit Drug Trade Specialist Daurius Figueira said yesterday that he has given key information to Special Branch about local trans-shipments being controlled by this society’s elites, to fund a local cell of the al Qaeda terrorist network.

But head of Special Branch, ACP Frank Diaz told Newsday yesterday he had had no discussion with Figueira and that no reports of such a nature had been forwarded to him. He said all such reports would be thoroughly investigated. Figueira said that the Jamaat Al Muslimeen led by Imam Yasin Abu Bakr is not linked to al Qaeda in any way, but the links were in the Indo-Muslim community. The outspoken crime specialist claimed that Al Qaeda members are not interested in toppling the T&T Government. “They concentrate on the drug trade, until the assignment is shifted,” said Figueira.

Figueira, who spoke publicly for the first time about the local arm of the al Qaeda network at a conference on crime on Thursday, said that based on his information, the al Qaeda network is carrying out a thriving trade with drugs in this country. He said some businessmen and even politicians are involved. Figueira said that Special Branch listened to what he had to say two months ago but they have not contacted him since. Figueira who converted to Islam in 1990, said that he has a network of persons who carry out intelligence and information gathering. “In Trinidad and Tobago we don’t know who is who since some of the most influential persons are linked to al Qaeda,” said Figueira. He claimed that al Qaeda members can be found in key offices throughout Trinidad, and their mission is to ensure that the large shipments of drugs which pass through Trinidad and Tobago are chanelled to buyers.

Figueira claimed that the local al Qaeda members are often visited by operatives from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, but revealed that those operatives have not visited the country since the World Trade Centre bombings. He claimed that al Qaeda have recruited locals who go to Muslim countries to study. He said that he is not afraid for his life because he is a Muslim and will continue to look at what is happening in the drug trade. The local author/academic/lecturer claimed that the terrorist network is also involved in the importation of guns which were being sold to criminal elements. He reiterated that Trinidad is a narco-democracy and nothing is being done to put a stop to the drug trade because al Qaeda had penetrated all the key organisations in the country.

OPPOSITION Chief Whip Ganga Singh said if Canadian forensic investigator Bob Lindquist does not find any corruption at WASA it would reveal a political cover-up by the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM). Lindquist has less than two weeks to complete his investigations.

Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday said the UNC was very concerned about threats made against Singh by former PNM MP, Dr Joe Laquis, and the party will write Police Commissioner Hilton Guy asking for security for Singh. Addressing a news conference at the Oppisition Leader’s Charles Street office, Singh did not repeat charges he made in Parliament on Tuesday concerning WASA and an alleged overpayment of $29 million to Waterfarms (Trinidad) Limited.

The allegations made in the House were made under parliamentary privilege. Had they been repeated yesterday, Singh could have opened himself to slander charges. However Singh vowed not to be cowed into silence by Laquis’ threats to prevent him from speaking publicly in the East/West Corridor. “No threat will prevent me from doing my duty as an MP,” Singh declared. According to Singh, the matter before Lindquist was very simple. “Monies have been paid out by a State agency. It is very simple for Mr Lindquist to trace those monies that have been paid out, and to where those monies went, who were the beneficiaries. “I expect Mr Lindquist’s report to be a reflection of his professional integrity, and sometime in the aftermath of charges being brought, these matters would have a public hearing.”

Singh said he was available to meet with Lindquist and hoped to do so next week, but there has been no word from Attorney-General Glenda Morean-Phillip when that would happen. Singh added that he would hold Prime Minister Patrick Manning to his word that Lindquist’s WASA probe would be thorough, transparent and those culpable would be brought to justice. He also stated there was no difference between Laquis’ threat and threats made by Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath against the safety of Government Ministers in Central Trinidad.
Singh also touched on a report on the Agricultural Development Bank which he claimed was completed two months ago, but is yet to come before Parliament. He also claimed attempts have been made since 1996 to destroy incriminating evidence at WASA. Panday staunchly defended Singh’s actions, saying: “We believe parliamentarians have the duty to bring to the attention of the Government, allegations of wrongdoing. That is why statements in Parliament are protected by absolute privilege.” He said that this power was used previously by the PNM against his government.

ATTORNEY GENERAL Glenda Mor-ean-Phillip yesterday asked Opposition Chief Whip Ganga Singh what was the delay in him providing her office with information about an alleged $29 million overpayment by WASA to Waterfarms (Trinidad) Limited, which will be turned over to Canadian forensic investigator, Bob Lindquist.

Addressing a news conference at Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday’s Port-of-Spain office yesterday, Singh said he was available to meet with Lindquist, but has received no word from the AG as to when that meeting would take place.

In a statement hours later, Morean Phillip said that despite Singh’s public utterances about having “acquired evidence linking several officials to financial impropriety,” and being  “desirous of an investigation being launched into the matter, there has been no response from Singh to her invitations to meet her and hand over his evidence.

Recalling that the UNC often said evidence about corruption “should be taken to the police” when it was in government, the AG declared: “This administration views the issue of corruption seriously, and as part of its proactive approach on the matter is inviting Mr Singh or anyone with similar information to refer it to the Office of the Attorney-General, the DPP, the police or any relevant law enforcement authority for urgent attention.’’