Death, politics hold spotlight

DEATHS RESULTING from traffic accidents, murders, drownings and other unnatural causes — dominated the news headlines in Tobago for 2005, with the island registering a record 11 murders and 12 road fatalities. Politics was also a big headline grabber, with the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) elections in January where political history was made when the People’s National Movement (PNM) overwhelmingly defeated the Hochoy Charles-led Democratic Action Congress (DAC) 11-1. Ironically, this was the configuration in the Assembly for more than 15 years when veteran Assemblyman William McKenzie was the lone elected PNM member of the House. However, the PNM took control of the Assembly by an 8- 4 margin in 2001 and increased its majority to 11- 1 in 2005.

Political intrigue figured prominently. The PNM’s Hughford McKenna “jumped ship” to the DAC in full public glare, actually donning a DAC jersey on a DAC platform at the Scarborough Market Square. Former Tobago House Assembly Chief Secretary Hochoy Charles, who lost his seat in the House but was returned as a Councillor, cried foul over the DAC’s 11- 1 defeat, complaining in a letter to President George Maxwell Richards of “election” irregularities by the ruling PNM. The President called for evidence to support the allegations and that was the last that was heard of the issue. Threatened court action by Charles over the matter failed to materialise. As the year progressed, murders hit the news spotlight. Two occurred on Easter Sunday — that of 24-year-old mother of one Jiselle Grant at Buccoo and 20-year-old Larry Renwick Phillips, of Moriah, at a Glen Road, Scarborough apartment.

The island was also rocked by the brutal unsolved murder of pensioner John “John Plug” James, 76, at Crown Point on March 16. James’ murder reportedly stemmed from a land dispute. On July 1, 14-year-old American schoolgirl Kitty Pepe was stabbed to death at Charlotteville. Sean Antoine, 22, has been charged with her murder. On July 14, Sandra Miller, a 42-year-old mother of seven, was chopped to death. Uriah Woods, a 41-year-old fisherman, has been charged with Miller’s murder. A Trinidadian soldier was stabbed to death during an incident at a bar in downtown Scarborough. A 15-year-old boy was killed during an alleged stabbing incident at the Scarborough Port and an inquest has been ordered by the DPP. The partly decomposed bodies of two teenaged boys were discovered in an unoccupied house on Government House Road, Scarborough. So far, there has been no progress in investigations into that incident.

More recently, on December 4, the body of 36-year-old Dave Nelson was found at Bon Accord.  No motive for this murder was established and investigations have so far turned up no leads. Elsewhere on the crime scene, there continued to be a steady increase in the number of persons charged with possession of cocaine at Crown Point Airport. In addition, robbery attacks against tourists continued to occupy the attention of lawmen on the island. Tobago was also plagued by several untimely deaths. In February, Paul Roberts, 48, fell to his death from a coconut tree at Mt St George. The partly decomposed body of 82-year-old Abraham Legall was found at his Mt Grace home and Shirley Nimblett-Ferguson, whose 16-year-old daughter Kathy was killed during the November 2004 mudslide at King’s Bay, Delaford, succumbed to her injuries at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital on February 23. Five days later, on February 28, 56-year-old tractor-driver Rodney Thomas, of Mt Hay, Prospect, near Black Rock, was killed when the compactor roller he was operating on the Blenheim Housing project, overturned and pinned him to the ground.

Tobago mourned the passing of well-known educator and Cadet Major Victor Wheeler on February 25. Among other noteworthy news events, Tobagonians breathed a sigh of relief when the long-standing impasse over the Pigeon Point beachfront property came to an end with its acquisition by the THA. A Board of Management has been put in place to oversee its day-to-day administration, with specific emphasis on preservation of its fragile natural environment. Meanwhile, the new Tobago hospital project, which has been mired in controversy with allegations of corruption and cost-overruns, came to a standstill. The project was the subject of a commission of inquiry related to allegations that materials and labour were transferred from the project to the Landate development project at Mason Hall, which is owned by the family of Housing Minister Dr Keith Rowley. Conditions at the existing Scarborough Hospital were harshly condemned by the Health Sector Commission of Inquiry, even as the island awaits completion of the new hospital.