DR LAKHAN ROOP, Assistant Secretary of the Medical Professionals Association (MPATT) said yesterday the Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) are still unwilling to make changes to the package being offered to junior doctors.
Speaking to Newsday following another meeting with the RHA’s yesterday, Roop said Health Minister Colm Imbert had promised to look at the compensation packages offered in the United States and the United Kingdom. Roop said doctors were not satisfied with the current offer because the salary packages were not competitive. He said the doctors also want change in the overtime proposal but the RHAs are not yet willing to concede on this point. Roop said the authorities could not continue to provide “less than adequate level of care at this level of income”. He said they needed to commit to an increase in the health sector budget if they wanted to be a first world competitor like the US and UK. “The problem is just not this negotiation, but the administration’s refusal to commit to an increase in the budget for health care for the last 10 -15 years.”
He said health is “high in consumables,” especially in pharmaceuticals because the public keeps expecting a first world level of health care. While the RHAs have submitted proposals for increases in the package offered to House Officers of !5 percent (first year), 17 percent (second year) and 19 percent (third year House Officers). Roop said the increase in basic salary worked out to be $300 (first year), $500 (second year) and ($900) third year. The doctors’ current salary is $8,000. The joint RHA negotiating team is expected to respond today to counter proposals submitted by the doctors.
TWO gallons containing gasoline have been seized by a team of experts from the Forensic Sciences Centre, from among the burnt rubble at Caroni’s Sevilla Club.
Together with experts from the Electrical Inspectorate and Fire Prevention Department, the forensic officers seized other items as well, which they have taken in for analysis at the Forensic Sciences Centre, Federation Park, Port-of-Spain.
The exercise was conducted at the weekend, in which experts surveyed the rubble for clues regarding the arson attack on the club last week Saturday, in which an area of the building which housed Caroni’s Human Resources Department was destroyed. It was around 1am when two men accosted two watchmen on duty at the Sevilla Club entrance. The men reportedly tied up the watchmen before beating them, according to police reports. Minutes later a loud explosion was heard and the Human Resources Department was seen on fire. Police believe it was an arson attack on the building.
Caroni officials said yesterday that company personnel were assessing the value of the losses. ASP Carmona of the Chaguanas Police Station who is supervising the investigations, said yesterday that the experts are expected to compile a report on their findings. He said that police will then use the report to assist in their investigations.
Prime Minister Patrick Manning yesterday gave the assurance that his Government “was moving to implement increases to the National Insurance pension provisions”.
At present NIB pensions are about half of the old age pension. But the Prime Minister in his address at the launch of the 2003 Geriatric Adolescent Partnership Programme (GAPP) at the Crowne Plaza, also lamented that there was a comparatively low level of involvement of adolescent males in GAPP. “It is worrisome, the low ratio of males to females in so many positive aspect of our social development. And it is therefore clear to me that these and other related challenges must engage the government, planner and architects of social reform programmes,” he said.
Manning stressed that care, respect, responsibility and commitment were personality or character traits which needed to be developed in both the male and female population. “We would have to find ways of climbing out of this situation,” he said. Manning — who was scheduled to be the feature speaker at the launch of the 2003 Geriatric Adolescent Partnership Programme at the Crowne Plaza yesterday — had to attend the funeral of former Chief of Defence Staff, Commodore Mervyn Williams. But his address was read by Minister of Community Development and Gender Affairs, Joan Yuille-Williams
Manning in the address noted that the old population was increasing at a faster rate than any other group in Trinidad and Tobago. He said the projection for the next 20 years was that the percentage of persons sixty and over in Trinidad and Tobago would rise by over 50 per cent, compared with the previous two decades. He said that while some people saw the increasingly ageing population as a problem, the Government did not view the elderly and increases in their life expectancy as a problem.
A PREGNANT mother of eight testified in the San Fernando High Court yesterday against her neighbour who is accused of chopping her five times about her body.
Mary Mollineau, of 7 mile mark, Penal Rock Road, Penal, said Deochan Ramnath, also known as Sangram Ramnath, came with a cutlass in each hand into her yard and shouted: “Is a long time I have this for you. I eh like nigger”. At the time of the incident, Mollineau, whose children’s ages ranged from 19 to two years old, said she and Ramnath were not on speaking terms. Ramnath is accused of attempted murder and committing grievous bodily harm against Mollineau, on October 17, 2000.
The trial is being heard in the Third Criminal Court before Justice Pamela Elder and a nine-member jury, with State attorney Didanath Ramkissoon leading the prosecution’s case, and Frank Seepersad for the defence. Mollineau said the incident occurred around 5 pm while she was alone at her home. She was sitting in her gallery after she had sent her children to fetch water in a pond, which is almost a two-hour walk from her house. The woman recalled that Ramnath, who lived in a house behind hers, came into her yard armed with a gilpin and a swiper, and started hurtling obscenities at her.
Mollineau said she walked down her steps and was looking down the road for her children when Ramnath attacked her with the cutlass. She told the court: “I get two chop on my head, one on each side. And I get two chop on my waist and two on my foot. I fell to the ground. I get dizzy and start to roll”. Under cross-examination, Mollineau said that as Ramnath chopped her she began screaming, but none of her neighbours came out to lend assistance. The mother said that when she recovered, she took a taxi to the Penal Police Station where she made a report. The prosecutor said that Mollineau was taken by the police to the San Fernando General Hospital for treatment. Later that day, PC Maharaj visited the scene of the crime and seized two cutlasses, and subsequently laid charges against the accused. The case continues today.
KERBALA, Iraq: US military officers said yesterday first tests on substances found in a central Iraqi town suggested the presence of banned chemical agents — but said they could turn out to be simple pesticides.
Major Michael Hamlet of the US 101st Airborne Division told Reuters that initial investigations of 14 barrels found at a military training camp on Sunday revealed levels of nerve agents sarin and tabun and the blister agent lewisite. He said the find could be the “smoking gun” which proved US and British charges that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had been hiding banned weapons of mass destruction — the central plank of their case for military action to overthrow him. But General Benjamin Freakly, also of the 101st Airborne, said later that tests on substances at the camp and a separate agricultural site, both in the town of Albu Mahawish, could show they had a less sinister purpose.
“This could be either some kind of pesticide,” Freakly told CNN. “On the other hand it could be a chemical agent — not weaponised, a liquid agent that is in drums.” A team of experts would carry out further tests as early as today on the substances, discovered in Albu Mahawish, on the Euphrates river between the central Iraqi cities of Kerbala and Hilla, site of ancient Babylon. “If tests from our experts confirm this, this could be the smoking gun. It would prove (Saddam) has the weapons we have said he has all along,” Hamlet said. “But right now we just don’t know.”
The substances under investigation were found in three 55-gallon barrels and 11 25-gallon barrels, he said. “They look like cocktails. They look like they’ve all got a bit of each in them,” said another officer. Iraq is believed to have used sarin against Kurdish Iraqis in the 1980s. No chemical or biological weapons have yet been fired at US troops in 19 days of fighting, even after advance forces entered Baghdad in recent days. Some American soldiers have even been ordered to discard their chemical protection suits.
The US National Public Radio, reporting what appeared to be a separate discovery to the one in Albu Mahawish, said US forces found a weapons cache of around 20 medium-range missiles equipped with potent chemical weapons. NPR said the rockets, BM-21 missiles, were equipped with sarin and mustard gas and were “ready to fire”. It said the cache was discovered by Marines with the 101st Airborne Division, which was following up behind the Army after it seized Baghdad’s international airport. Officers from the 101st Division and the 3rd Infantry Division at the airport were unable to confirm the report. US Central Command headquarters in Qatar had no immediate comment.
On Saturday, a US officer said first tests of a suspicious white powder and liquid found on Friday in thousands of boxes south of Baghdad indicated it was not a chemical weapon. Over the weekend, US Marines in the central Iraqi town of Aziziya began digging up a suspected chemical weapons hiding place at a girl’s school.
A small contingent of employees of the National Insurance Board staged a mid-morning demonstration yesterday outside the Board’s office at Furlonge Street, Point Fortin.
Armed with placards reading “After 31 years service, salary is $3,641 and no more”; “we need a better salary in step with NIB” and “let salary and work balance”, workers expressed dissatisfaction with the Board’s management. They claimed NIB’s management had refused to meet with their representative union, the Public Services Association, to discuss proposed increases in wages and salaries. They were joined by several pensioners who called on Government to implement the proposed increases to NIB pensions.
PSA representative, Terrance Regis, said employees did not have an increase in salaries since 1998, while the Board’s top management had secured increases for themselves for the past five years, he said. An NIB employee, who did not wish to be identified, said they were “fed up” with management’s attitude towards workers and would continue to demonstrate until their grievances were addressed by the Board. Similar demonstrations are being planned for tomorrow at the Siparia area offices, with a mass demonstration at the Southern Regional offices, Harris Promenade, San Fernando, on Friday.
BWIA has come to an agreement with aircraft leasor ILFC to extend credit until the airline gets a response from Government on its newest survival proposal, Communications Director Clint Williams said yesterday.
The cash strapped airline has appealed to Government for help in the face of rising cancellations in the past few weeks. Government has said, though, that it will only help if the airline presents a viable survival plan. Williams also said about 30 ex-Bwia employees have accepted the payment of half a month’s salary but unions are advising members to refuse the payment. President of the Aviation Communication and Allied Workers Union (ACAWU), Christopher Abraham, has maintained his stance stating: “The union never agreed to it. We agreed that it should be paid as a penalty for not meeting the deadline.”
Ex-employees have been paid sums ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 and Communications Director Clint Williams said another half month’s payment will be made on April 22. BWIA announced last week that it could not pay severance owed to the workers retrenched in January. Abraham said so far, he has not been able to contact BWIA Chairman, Lawrence Duprey, since “they claim he’s out of the country”. Letters were written to Duprey’s assistants requesting that a clear statement be made of ACAWU’s position.
A meeting has been planned for today at 4:15pm. When asked about what the union plans to do next, Abraham stated that this will be discussed at the meeting. Of the severed workers, 29 with amounts of under $25,000 owed have been paid. Another 39 in that category have received Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) approval and their payment is being processed. The remaining 127 ex-employees owed $25,000 or less have not received BIR approval.
THE JURY in the Clint Huggins murder trial heard yesterday that blood found on a pair of shoes belonging to one of three men charged with the murder did not match the victim’s blood type.
Scientific Officer Emmanuel Walker testified that blood found on blue and white track shoes was identified as blood group O while Clint’s blood group was B. This information was on a certificate of analysis tendered into evidence through Walker by defence attorney Osbourne Charles SC. The certificate also dealt with eight pieces of clothing and three other pairs of shoes. State prosecutors Wayne Rajbansie and Natasha George had two other certificates of analysis admitted into evidence through Walker. One dealt with blood samples from Clint and the other dealt with a piece of rope, vegetation, moulding from the burnt car in which Clint’s body was found and a piece of asphalt. With the exception of the rope, all the items were stained with blood which matched Clint’s blood group.
Also testifying was firearm expert Derek Sanker, who explained that between four and five feet there is a variation between pellets and wadding from a cartridge when fired. Sanker, one of three witnesses recalled to the witness stand yesterday, explained that when a bullet is discharged from a gun both bullet and the wadding from the bullet will travel in the same direction within four to five feet, but after that, the bullet alone continues to its target. Insp Nadir Khan, who was recalled for further cross-examination, testified that he had spoken to Major Garcia of the Defence Force. He said he was told Clint Huggins’ personal items such as his watch and gold chain were handed over to his wife. Justice of the Peace Ackbar Khan, another witness to be recalled, denied there was any conversation about accused Junior “Heads” Phillip being granted immunity from prosecution while he witnessed Phillip dictate a statement to Supt Stephen Quashie.
Phillip, Arnold Huggins and cousin Leslie Huggins, are before Justice Alice York Soo-Hon in the Port-of-Spain Third Criminal Court charged with the murder of Clint, the key witness in the murder trial of Dole Chadee and his gang, on February 20, 1996 at the Uriah Butler Highway, Mt Hope. Phillip is being defended by Charles and Christilyn Moor, Leslie by Keith Scotland and Dawn Mohan, and Arnold by Ian Stuart Brook. Hearing continues today.
A FORMER NIPDEC manager yesterday revealed that Birk Hillman Consultants (BHC) “called the shots”on every decision taken regarding the Piarco International Airport Project. As the Commission of Inquiry into the Project continued at the Caribbean Court of Justice yesterday, it was also revealed that BHC and Northern York Consortium (NYC) were protected on several controversial project decisions by the former United National Congress (UNC) government.
Under questioning by NIPDEC attorney Christopher Hamel-Smith, former NIPDEC senior project manager Ian Telfer testified that he was part of the company’s team to deal with the Project. Telfer said a March 31, 1998 contract between Government and NIPDEC, showed that the latter (NIPDEC) was supposed to be the designated overseer for the Project. “That was our understanding,” he told the Commission. However Hamel-Smith pointed out that regardless of Telfer’s understanding of NIPDEC’s role in the project, the contract recited that “BHC is the project manager”. The former manager agreed with Hamel-Smith assessment of that contract. Telfer said in his professional opinion, Trinidad and Tobago would not be getting its money’s worth on the Project if anyone else other than NIPDEC was the project manager. He noted that when NIPDEC took charge of the Project in April 1998, BHC had already been retained as the principal contractor. Telfer said the scope of that retainer was very wide and included design services, tender procedures, project and construction management services. The former manager said when NIPDEC questioned the extent of duties given to BHC and asked the Airports Authority (AA) to suspend some of these functions, NIPDEC’s recommendations were rejected by the AA. Telfer also explained that on a project of such as the Airport, value engineering was essential and NIPDEC “pressed BHC to do that as part of its contract”. The former manager agreed with Hamel-Smith’s argument that while NIPDEC “persuaded BHC to comply”, the Government intervened and told NIPDEC that “it was no longer necessary for BHC to do that”. Telfer stated that by its actions, Government had undermined NIPDEC’s ability to bring value to the Project.
The former manager also claimed that the NYC (of which UNC financier Ishwar Galbaransingh’s Northern Construc-tion Limited is a part) received favourable treatment from the former UNC regime regarding the scope of works it did on the Project. Under earlier questioning by Sonny Maharaj SC, attorney for former NIPDEC chairman Edward Bayley, Telfer said Clause 213 of Government’s contract with NIPDEC gave the company authority “to negotiate in terms of legitimate claims” advanced by contractors regarding different aspects of the Project. He stated that he was part of the NIPDEC team which participated in negotiations with NYC regarding the scope of works on the controversial CP6. Asked by Maharaj if he knew that Government terminated NYC’s previous contract for CP6 after questions of irregularity arose, Telfer replied affirmatively. However he said during the negotiations for the new CP6 contract, NYC seemed to be “expecting the entire project”. Questioned later on the same issue by Hamel-Smith, Telfer said NIPDEC’s directive was to “treat NYC fairly” by offering it a reducing scope of works on CP6. However he said the Cabinet subsequently took a decision to award CP6 to NYC. He further disclosed that a report from Ministry of Works and Transport representative on the Project, Peter Cateau, recommended that NYC receive “almost all of CP6 at prices that were not the product of any competitive tendering procedure”. Telfer declared that for him this was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” and he tendered his resignation from NIPDEC.
He claimed that Government placed greater emphasis on protecting NYC than “the interest of the project. Telfer agreed with Commission lead attorney Theodore Guerra SC that when NIPDEC assumed control of the Project, BHC should have submitted all of its preliminary works to NIPDEC for review. Telfer added that NIPDEC was “wearing two hats” on the Project in terms of its dealings with Government and BHC. Under earlier cross-examination by Maharaj, Telfer said NIPDEC’s attorneys had no problem with Clause 213 and he could not recall Bayley ever discussing the specifics of the Project with him. He also referred to an April 1998 between NIPDEC and the AA which allegedly prevented NIPDEC from requesting changes to the design of the terminal building. The hearing continues today.
TORTUGA GARDENER Eugesh Sookhoo was found guilty by a jury yesterday of attempting to murder teenager Tishura Chinnia by choking her. The jury presiding over Sookhoo’s case took just about one hour to bring the guilty verdict before the court.
Chinnia, 19, gleefully hugged her mother and smiled broadly with relatives and friends in the courtroom, who had come out to support her during the case in the San Fernando First Criminal Assizes. Sookhoo, 39, of Cedar Hill Road, Tortuga, denied the charge when he testified before Justice Melville Baird and the nine-member jury, which included four women.
Chinnia, who was left physically disabled after the incident, testified last Wednesday against Sookhoo and identifed him as the man who attacked her two years ago. As she was reduced to tears several times during her testimony, Chinnia recalled that on February 11, 2001, around 3.30 pm, she awoke when she felt a pair of hands around her neck strangling her. The teen said she opened her eyes to see Sookhoo, her neighbour and her father’s employee, choking her. Chinnia detailed to the judge and jury how she bravely fought her attacker around their house, as he repeatedly told her he wanted to kill her.
The girl testified that she evenutally lost consciouness and when she awoke Sookhoo had left. She said she crawled out of her house and fell onto the road, and neighbours came to her assistance. PC Steve Haynes of the Gran Couva Police Station laid the charge against Sookhoo. In mitigation, Sookhoo’s attorney, Ian Gray, asked Justice Baird to consider that his client was a father of four children, the oldest being ten years old. Gray also indicated that Sookhoo had not been previously convicted of a crime. Justice Baird remanded Sookhoo into custody until today when he will pass his sentence.
