Trinidad Guardian photographer Kristian De Silva and reporter Sasha Wilson were asked to make themselves available for an interview shortly after 2 pm yesterday. The two journalists complied with the request and were interviewed at length involving an alleged physical and verbal assault levelled against them last Friday.

On Saturday, acting Police Commissioner Harold Phillip revealed that a police investigation was launched into reports of attacks on the media and that ASP Hunte of the Professional Standards Bureau was mandated to carry out the probe. Another media worker, Phil Britton of One Caribbean Media (OCM) and a female reporter of that company were also attacked by a person while seeking an interview on the compound of A & V Oil and Gas Limited last Wednesday.

Britton was yesterday still awaiting information from the police on when he will be called to be interviewed. The windshield of Britton’s private vehicle was smashed by a beer bottle last Wednesday and he was threatened while on official assignment for TV6 outside the A & V compound in Penal.

The matter was reported to the Penal police and sources revealed that officers were hesitant to take the report.

However, sources revealed that an officer of the Penal Police Station who is allegedly a close relative of a person identified in the fake oil allegations, has been named as being one of the persons involved in the attacks against media workers.

The officer was supposed to be interviewed yesterday, but investigators decided that a few matters had to be sorted out before this officer was interviewed. Senior police officers said that if it is confirmed that a policeman was involved in assaulting media workers, this would be condemned in the strongest manner and also that the matter will not be swept under the carpet. On Sunday, both Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and members of the Opposition condemned attacks against media workers.

However, he added, “There is clearly room for a lot of correction but I don’t think we should pull the entire administration of justice down to correct those systemic errors.” Armour made these comments to reporters following a service at the Trinity Cathedral in Portof- Spain,which formed part of the ceremonial opening of the 2017-2018 law term.

Asked to comment on the issue of accountability in the Judiciary in response to the topic being raised during the service by former Canadian High Commissioner to TT, Gerard Latulippe, Armour replied, “We all have to put shoulder to the wheel. All of us have a role to play and we would play that role better by participating rather than by declining to participate.” While the interior of the cathedral was not filled during the service, Armour said, “I thought it was a decent turnout.” Armour could not tell whether or not the number of lawyers in the cathedral for the service meant there was any kind of boycott of the law term opening by lawyers. “ I can’t judge quite frankly because I don’t normally come to the church. I usually go to the Convocation Hall in the Hall of Justice,” he said. Armour added this was the first time in five years he had attended the service.

On Latulippe’s remarks that in Canada, a chief justice can file a complaint against a judge, Armour said, “Canada has its own constitutional framework as does TT.” He explained that in TT, “ there is quite an evolved, elaborate process for disciplining judges under Section 137 of our Constitution.” Armour reminded reporters,”The Chief Justice is not the person to discipline judges.” He said Section 137 of the Constitution states, this role is performed by a tribunal which subsequently makes recommendations to the President. While admitting there will always be room for improvement, Armour said, “That will have to be done by constitutional amendment.

While he was uncertain that such a question arose on that issue at this time, Armour said the legal profession, “ would be prepared to contribute to a full lively discussion on what ultimately will be constitutional amendments.” President Anthony Carmona, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and his wife Sharon, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, Speaker of the House of Representatives Bridgid Annisette-George, Senate President Christine Kangaloo and Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Fitzgerald Hinds attended the service. Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar was absent.

In his address, Latulippe noted TT’s high crime rates and said it was time to reset this country’s criminal justice system. He praised Chief Justice Ivor Archie, Al-Rawi and Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard for taking meaningful steps in this direction.

Alleyne claimed that the police, while holding a warrant, and facing no opposition from Synergy staffers, still broke down the door to his studio.

The officers including members of the Central Division Central Task Force arrived at Alleyne’s studio at 3.45 pm and executed their search warrant. The raid was aired ‘live’ via Alleyne’s social media page and on Synergy television.

“Mr Jones, you can’t take that. It take months to format those things.

You cannot seize that…those things are aired on television,” Alleyne is heard telling officers. His attorney Gerald Ramdeen is also seen in the ‘live’ feed.

The officers, some heavily armed, stood guard outside the studio and prevented Synergy staffers and Alleyne from entering while other officers examined laptops, computers and other recording devices.

An officer warns the person recording the incident to step back.

“Listen mister the borse, how many times have we spoken to you? This is a police operation move back,” the officer tells the cameraman.

“The warrant states that police came to look at footage of a homicide that took place last week. The warrant says nothing about seizing equipment,” a female Synergy staffer says. Alleyne then accused the police of working on behalf of the government to terrorise him.

“I know what going on. They break down the door to get in here.

I am not giving out my sources they will come for Roodal Moonilal, David Lee. They will come for the Opposition Leader…

anyone who speaks out against them, they will come for,” Alleyne says.

He then claimed that what the police really came for was a document related to the Petrotrin fake oil scandal. “They did not come for arms and ammunition or drugs…

they came for information. This is the next step by government to muzzle those who are standing up against them. All those who called those jamette are now coming after them,” Alleyne said. As the officers began to leave, the crime show host shook hands with several of them before muttering sarcastically, “great is the PNM!”

To make things worse, Ganesh was last week given an eviction notice by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to leave his Cashew Gardens, Longdonville home. Speaking to Newsday on Sunday, Ganesh wept unashamedly as he spoke of his fear for what the future may hold.

He recalled being handed keys to the house by the HDC in April 2015 under the People’s Partnership.

Ganesh said he is unable to make payments because of his condition.

“I have a disability grant of $1,800 in which I must pay utility bills and maintain my wife Karen and daughter Emily,” Ganesh said. The monthly installment for his home is $800.

And while this sum may appear to be paltry to some, Ganesh said that apart from having to pay for groceries and utilities, his disability cheque must also cover the cost for his medication.

He is pleading with Minister of Housing Randall Mitchell and Minister of National Security Edmund Dillion to look into his matter and allow him tenure on grounds of him suffering a disability cause through no fault of his.

“I am a victim of crime. I have become paralysed and now my family is fighting to survive on what little government assistance we get,” he said, adding that his wife has to see to his every physical need during the day and night as they cannot afford a nurse. As such, she is unable to go out and work.

In 2012, Ganesh was at his home in St Helena when bandits entered.

He was shot twice. In April 2015, then prime minister Kamla Persad- Bissessar gave keys to houses for physically challenged individuals at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA). “It was a good feeling to have some place that my family could call home,” he said.

“Please, I am begging the government to please help me, please. I don’t want to end up on the street with my family.

I have gone through enough when I was attacked and shot in my own home,” Ganesh said.

“Any further delay in submitting and dealing with the contents of the report may result in evidence tampering and give time for implicated persons to cover their tracks,” she said.

In a release, she said, the internal audit report which establishes that there are two major players, one pretending to supply and one pretending to receive giving rise to fraud, should already have been shared with these authorities.

“It is clear that criminal conduct occurred,” she said, adding, “The bigger issue is the number of players involved.” The issue of fraud, she said, should not be confused with poor management and lack of due care and diligence, which provided the opportunity to commit this crime.

Given its current financial crisis, she said, Petrotrin cannot continue to court these types of disasters.

Poor management practices allegedly allowed an employee to capitalise on procedural deficiencies and weak controls to perpetrate this crime.

In this regard, the board of Petrotrin should already have taken appropriate action against those who facilitated the offence, she said

On Friday, at about 5.30 pm, a 19-year-old man was held at his Mentor Alley, Laventille home where officers of the IATF exe- cuted a search warrant.

Officers recovered a black and silver pistol loaded with a magazine containing 15 rounds of .9mm ammunition stashed inside a bedroom of the house.

In a separate incident in San Juan, a 35-yearold man was held for the possession of a firearm and three rounds of ammunition. According to reports, the man was standing in a carpark of a business place in Saddle Road where he was stopped and searched by officers of the Barataria Police Station.

Also on Sunday, officers of the Southern Division Task Force were conducting anti-crime exercises in the La Romaine area when they visited a forested area at Pond Street and discovered a loaded revolver, two rounds of .32mm ammunition, 340 grammes of marijuana and a pair of camouflage pants. No one was held in connection with the find and officers are continuing investigations.

That operator, through its attorneys, issued a pre-action protocol letter to Persad- Bissessar on September 15, advising her to retract and apologise for her statements to avoid legal proceedings.

At the United National Congress’ (UNC) national congress in Couva on September 10, Persad-Bissessar cited the audit report and alleged the lease operator inflated its oil production figures.

Persad-Bissessar’s attorney Douglas Bayley of Freedom Law Chambers, in the response, said as Opposition Leader and political leader of the UNC, his client has a public and constitutional duty to critically examine the actions of the government of the day, which includes the manner of governance, performance and transparency of the affairs and dealings of state-owned enterprises, including Petrotrin and any third-party contractors.

“Petrotrin is a stateowned enterprise in the integrated oil and gas industry. Petrotrin therefore plays a pivotal role in the economy of TT and inevitably would be the concern of citizens and more so our client acting on behalf of the citizens of our country,” he wrote.

Bayley said they have advised their client that as Opposition Leader, her ability to comment freely on all aspects of governance, including the performance and transparency and accountability of stateowned enterprises is constitutionally protected and vital to the democracy of TT.

He said his client, having been provided with a copy of the report from a reliable source, felt duty bound to disclose it to the public adding that Petrotrin has since confirmed that the audit report was authentic.

“Our client’s comments were therefore based on an official and bona fide document.” He said the lease operator would have been aware that its dealings would be held to a high level of accountability and transparency.

He told the Joint Select Committee on Land and Physical Infrastructure yesterday at the Office of the Parliament that his familiarity with the operations of the management of the port before and after he became Prime Minister has led him to the conclusion that “it is an area of darkness into which some severe lighting needs to be shone.” What has happened overtime at the port, he said, is that certain practices, conflicts, irregularities and indifference have developed on the port and its operations.

In any rectification, he said, there would be those who would want to vigorously defend the status quo, and even defend themselves because as bad as the situation is, it works very well for them.

Noting that the port spends a large amount of money to obtain goods and in particular services, he said, the arrangement in which public money is being spent to make these services available has attracted a certain kind of behaviour and response which is worrisome.

Unhappy about the situation, he said, he took certain steps to address it including commissioning a one-man investigation into the procurement process of the cargo vessel the Cabo Star to replace the Superfast Galicia, as well as, the passenger vessel, the Ocean Flower 2.

The report of the one man investigation done by businessman Christian Mouttet, he said, he will make available to the Parliament by way of the JSC, and to the Attorney General for further advice. The Mouttet report, he said, is a compendium of documents that could assist any proper investigation.

“If there is any rectification, and worse, if there is any accountability of persons to be held accountable at any stage,” he said, there will be evidence “if it is likely to end up in a court of law.” Noting that the issue of procurement of vessels for the sea bridge has been engaging the public since April 2014 with the search to replace the Warrior Spirit, Rowley said, documents showed that in operations at the port the procurement exercise for a new vessel morphed into the attorney who was hired to give legal advice became the searcher, and when five vessels were found, the attorney sought to advice on which should be chosen.

The lawyer subsequently became a supplier of the vessel, the Galicia, by way of agent.

This contract, he said, involved many tens of millions of dollars. This was just one incident that convinced him there was wrong doing or corrupt practice taking place on the port.

That way of doing business, he said, continued until April 2016 under two governments and under three boards.

During that time several attempts to go out for tender were aborted. All extensions to contracts were without tendering and all tender processes were frustrated.

“This and similar interests at the port,” he said, “had the effect of fracturing the board and dividing the management into camps as to who was for and against certain decisions.” Even with a new minister in place in 2016, he said, the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago was putting to Government that the arrangement of the a five-year $300-million a year contract by the principals of the Galicia failing which they would pull the vessel from service.

“This is a procurement process to which no Government of Trinidad and Tobago should subscribe, and no Government should find itself in a situation where a supplier of a service or goods could tell a Government that, I am going to do this on these terms failing which I will make trouble for you,” he said.

“The Government which I lead will in no way be so blackmailed.” He said a lot is happening at the port beyond the ferry issue and all are having a negative impact on it as its business contracts into oblivion as the ports in Jamaica and Santo Domingo takes over its business. There is also at present, he said, a questionable procurement of tractor/trucks.

Taking responsibility for the current fiasco involving the questionable acquisition of the Cabo Star and the Ocean Flower 2, Rowley it just goes to show how the management of the port misled the board, which in turn misled the minister with responsibility for the port and who in turn misled Cabinet.

He also apologised to the people of Tobago who have been inconvenienced, saying that out of this issue, they should come a better service.

Magistrate Michelle Maharaj-Brown granted Devon Wilson and Dillon Thomas a total of $400,000 bail when they stood before her charged with four offences.

The accused men both of Fifth Company Village in Moruga, were not called upon to plead in the First Court.

Supt Pragg of the Southern Division charged both with larceny of the firearm and ammunition as well as possession of the firearm and ammunition.

Siparia resident Gay, 31, a member of an elite unit of the Regiment, died on September 4 following a shootout at a wake in Fifth Company Village. Reports are that the dying soldier fell to the ground with his service weapon still in his hands. But by the time police arrived at the scene, the weapon was gone.

Five other persons including colleague Lance Cpl Marc Blunt and four civilians, sustained gunshot wounds. The soldiers, both dressed in plain clothes, were working undercover at the wake. Yesterday, attorney Dane Halls represented Thomas, 35, while Wilson was unrepresented by counsel.

The magistrate granted each accused man $200,000 to be approved by a clerk of the peace and adjourned the matter to October 16. Police attorney Ramdath Phillip prosecuted. No one has been charged with Gay’s killing.

Thus, while some banks may provide some measure of seating, nevertheless this is not the norm and invariably, notwithstanding even this modicum of comfort, these citizens are made to stand in long lines or to wait for hours on end, before being able to reach a cashier.

In any event, one senses that bank personnel, by their attitude and body language, perhaps out of frustration and “pressure” by dint of the numbers alone, seem to convey the impression that a favour is being rendered.

I am suggesting that this occurrence does not convey the impression that “there is a government that cares.” I am wondering what has become of the announcement by the Minister of Social Development, some months ago, that payment of old age pensions and disability grants were to be made by direct credit to bank accounts.

Also, I am wondering how difficult is it, as an interim measure, to bring relief to all concerned (recipients as well as bank personnel) by avoiding the “first of the month” syndrome.

Of course, this could be done by staggering payment dates. May I suggest that payment by “name alphabet” be considered.

ERROL OC CUPID Trincity