A 19-YEAR-OLD man charged with the First Citizens Bank robbery in Couva, where a senior policeman (who was off-duty at the time) was shot in the hand, was yesterday denied bail by Couva Magistrate Gillian David, before whom he appeared.

Minkah Moyo, of Frederick Street, Marabella, appeared in court charged with two counts of robbery at the Couva branch of FCB plus wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm to Superintendent Spencer Farrell. Both incidents were alleged to have occurred on Tuesday.  Moyo was not called upon to plead to the indictable charges laid by Sgt Noel Corbette of Couva CID. Court Prosecutor Sgt Moonan Deokie objected to bail on the grounds that the accused was not yet “traced” to see if he had a criminal record and/or pending matters before the court. Magistrate David upheld the prosecution’s objection and remanded the accused in to custody until September 29.

A Tobago youth was killed in a traffic accident at Moriah in the northern end of the island on Thursday afternoon. Michael George, 17, of Moriah, was riding a bicycle along Northside Road in the district around 3pm when he collided head-on with a car going in the opposite direction. George died instantly. Police investigations are continuing.

A jury of seven men and five women were selected yesterday to hear and determine the evidence in the murder trial of former Government minister Dhanraj Singh. Also selected were four alternate jurors, all women, who may be added to the panel in the event one or more of the sitting jurors cannot continue.

However, members of the media were prevented from entering the courtroom by a Marshal of the High Court while the selection of jurors was taking place. Although the Marshal, who was recently transferred from San Fernando, was told that the trial was one of great public importance and the media needed to witness the selection of jurors, he was still adamant in his refusal. After the selection, the jurors were allowed to leave by Justice Paula Mae Weekes, presiding in the Port-of-Spain Second Criminal Court. However, they will return on Monday when Dhanraj will be arraigned and put in their charge. Also, lead prosecutor British Queen’s Counsel Sir Timothy Cassel will make his opening address in which he will outline the State’s case to the jury.

Following yesterday’s  jury selection, Justice Weekes issued some advice and warning to members of the jury and the media. She told the jury that they may have read, heard or harboured thoughts about this case before, but now they must disabuse their minds from all of that. She also advised them to avoid reading newspaper articles on the trial or listening to the electronic media reports on the case since certain angles taken or highlighted in the reports may confuse them. The judge told the jury that they would be hearing the evidence “live and direct” and it is only the evidence that they hear from the witness stand that they must consider. She further warned them that it was their duty and oath to only deal with the evidence from the witness stand. She alerted them not to discuss matters of the trial with anyone outside of their panel.

Karl Hudson-Phillip QC, lead attorney for the defence, and Sir Timothy shared the view that Justice Weekes should write media houses warning their reporters to be very careful about their reports on the trial. The judge also advised members of the jury to put all their domestic affairs and other business in place since hearing will start everyday from 9 am and end between 2 to 2.30 pm. The prosecution’s team includes Sir Timothy, Assistant DPP Devan Rampersad, prosecutors Angelica Teelucksingh and Sharon Raphael while Hudson-Phillip leads Ravi Rajcoomar, Prakash Ramadhar and Jennifer Hudson-Phillip.

THE Trinidad and Tobago Civil Rights Association yesterday withdrew its judicial review application against the Government on the integrity legislation on the ground that UNC Member of Parliament Chandresh Sharma filed a similar application six days later.

According to the Section 7 (5) of the Judicial Review Act 2000, Sharma, as an MP, has a more direct interest than the association in the Government’s failure to bring regulations to Parliament to give effect to the Integrity in Public Life Act 2000. The association’s ex-parte application for leave to file for judicial review came up for hearing before Justice Allan Mendonca in the Port-of-Spain First Civil Court yesterday. The association was represented by Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC and Darrell Allahar. Maharaj sought leave to withdraw his application which had been filed on August 7 in the Port-of-Spain High Court. MP Sharma filed a similar application on August 13 in the San Fernando High Court.

The association’s application sought leave of the court to apply for judicial review of the continuing failure of the Cabinet and the Attorney General to lay regulations before both Houses of Parliament in order to give effect to the Integrity in Public Life Act 2000 which has been in force since November 6, 2000. The application was filed against Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Attorney General Glenda Morean-Phillip. The application stated, “The effect of this continuing failure by the executive arm of the State is that the Integrity Act has been suspended by the executive without the sanction of Parliament and public officials have escaped the scrutiny which was intended by the Integrity Act to ensure integrity in such public officials as well as in public institutions.”

Agnes Dora Young Hoo, a company director of Couva, filed an affidavit in support of the Civil Rights Association. The association learned through the media that an application which is similar to theirs, was filed by Chandresh Sharma on August 13. The applicant also learned through the media that on September 4, Sharma’s case was deemed fit for hearing during the vacation and that leave was also granted. The association feels it has succeeded in bringing the legislation to the court to point out the inaction by the legislative arm of the State. The association also recognises that Sharma, as a sitting Member of Parliament, and a person directly affected by the inaction of the State, is a person with a more direct interest than the association. Section 7 (5) of the Act gives the court a discretion to allow a person with a more direct interest priority to being involved in the action. The association feels that it has succeeded by having the action filed although it has now taken a decision to withdraw the proceedings. The court granted leave to the association to withdraw the application. There were no orders as to costs.

A 55-YEAR-OLD Penal man was ordered by a San Fernando High Court judge to pay $5,000 compensation to a housewife whom he stabbed in the neck five years ago. Sagar Kowlessar, of Scott’s Road, was also fined $2,000 for the wounding incident and ordered to keep the peace for two years.

Kowlessar was handed the sentence when he came before Justice Malcolm Holdip in the Third Criminal Assizes yesterday. Kowlessar, represented by attorney Subhas Panday, was charged with attempting to murder Happijan Mohammed on June 14, 1998. On Wednesday, when the accused appeared in court, he pleaded guilty to the lesser count of wounding with intent and State Prosecutor Bramhanan Dubay accepted the plea. Yesterday in passing sentence, Justice Holdip condemned the attack on “a woman who didn’t even provoke you (Kowlessar).”

The judge said, “The court takes a strict view of this type of behaviour where people use violence to settle disputes.” Justice Holdip said he was mindful to impose a jail term for the crime but ordered the non-custodial sentence after considering the mitigating factors put forward by Panday that Kowlessar was the father of seven children and was a first-time offender. According to the State’s evidence, Kowlessar inflicted a 7-cm laceration on Mohammed’s neck for which she received 22 stitches at hospital to close the stab wound which was inflicted on June 14, 1998.

Members of the business community are advising Prime Minister Patrick Manning and his government to take a very critical view of the proposed merger between State-owned companies First Citizens Bank (FCB) and the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC).

Manning on Thursday announced that government is considering a “serious suggestion” that the UTC be merged with the FCB. He said Government was trying to streamline the corporate arrangements before deciding whether the company should go public or be merged with FCB. But Peter Clarke, Managing Director, West Indies Stockbrokers Limited (WISE) said such a move needs to be looked at very carefully because the two institutions are very different in nature. He said the strength of the UTC has always been its independence and it has dealt with a wide range of clients and institutions who value that independence. “My initial opinion is that it needs to be looked at very carefully because the two institutions are very different in nature. I think one needs to thread very carefully and examine all the ramifications before any merger can be seriously considered.”

Richard Young, Managing Director, Scotiabank and president, Bankers Associ-ation of Trinidad and Tobago (BATT) believes that it is an idea worth exploring because “there is some logic in it.” He explained that the UTC deals basically with mutual funds while banks issue mutual funds. However, he said all aspects of such a merger need to be explored before any serious decision is made. “It certainly needs exploring because there are legal issues and issues of ownership among others which have to be considered. Additionally the concept has to be examined to see how feasible it is.” Young said the matter of whether FCB is going to be privatised also has to be  addressed. “The Prime Minister talked about public ownership and that also has to be taken into consideration. They have to envision what happens after a merger if it is going to be a public company.”

The suggested merger was being contemplated even as the Government was considering making UTC a public company. Manning explained that plans for making the institution public may even be considered if there were to be a merger between UTC and FCB, but stated that, in any event, the Government’s policy was to have “the widest possible participation at all levels of society in terms of share ownership in State enterprises.” Anthony Hosang, president, Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association (TTMA) said while organisations were doing well and are very successful right now, he does not know “how they will fit.” “I do not know what the objectives are but if there is a benefit from the two organisations coming together then I guess that must be taken into consideration for such a move.” However, Hosang said the benefits must be substantial for all parties involved before any action is taken to merge both entities.

OPPOSITION Senator Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan claimed the reason why Government never publicised the contents of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report was because it would have hurt their political fortunes in the July 14 Local Government Elections.

Speaking during debate on the Finance (Supplementary Appropriation) Bill 2003 in the Senate on Tuesday, Seepersad-Bachan said the United National Congress had been calling “for the longest while” for the contents of the IMF Four Consultation Report to be publicised. According to the UNC Senator, Govern-ment’s consultations with the IMF were completed and the report “was made available in early May. “They were afraid of the contents of the report and because of the Local Government Elections, they did not want the contents of the report to be made public. The reason why money being put in is because of discussions with IMF. The staff had to come down heavily on this Government as to why they were not depositing excess revenues in accordance with the policy initiative taken by the UNC,” she declared. Seepersad-Bachan explained that according to a Cabinet note of September 13, 2000 and a subsequent Cabinet note, it was agreed that 60 percent of excess government revenues would be placed in the Interim Revenue Stabilisation Fund with 20 percent being set aside to fund the Dollar for Dollar Education Programme. She also warned that Trinidad and Tobago’s energy reserves would be depleted within a decade. Speaking in the Lower House last Friday, Prime Minister Patrick Manning dismissed Opposition claims about the nation’s energy reserves being depleted within 20 to 40 years.

POLICE again questioned the Principal and staff members of the Cedros Composite School yesterday in connection with Tuesday’s riot at the school, which resulted in one student being hospitalised.

Investigators also went to the Cedros home of 16-year-old Darius Rajkumar, who was severely beaten by a student gang, and sustained a broken jaw. Rajkumar spent two days in hospital and was discharged on Thursday, after undergoing surgery. Since the incident, the 30 pupils implicated in the riot have not yet returned to school and four of them may face criminal charges when the police investigations are completed. Following an investigation by the Ministry of Education, the 30 pupils could face suspension, or even expulsion. Rajkumar was attacked by the group while eating his lunch on Tuesday. His friend, Eldon Brown, who tried to save his friend was also injured and sought medical treatment at the San Fernando General Hospital. Investigations are continuing.

IN ORDER for our society to  produce as first world nations, what we teach must be related to the requirements of the workplace.

This was expressed yesterday by Science Technology and Tertiary Education Minister Danny Montano at the launching of the $2 million Petrotrin Trinmar Marine Operational Skills Facility in Point Fortin. The first 250 students at the school would be guaranteed employment at Trinmar. Addressing the gathering the minister said, “We need to raise the standard of education to the height of international standards, what we teach must be relevant to the needs of the job market.” Because of this deficiency Montano said that we lack the skill base to meet global competition. Montano expressed the importance of creating a cadre of educated employees who can create their own  business in the community which by  extension would prevent the skilled from migrating. He added, “no government can sustain job creation if jobs can’t  sustain themselves.”

In making the statement he reminded the gathering that the government has not forgotten Point Fortin, an area known to have one of the highest unemployment levels in the country, despite its industrial base. He said a challenge faced by his ministry is defining the present needs of our market economy and forecast what it  would be like in the future. Mayor St Clair Natta, speaking on behalf of the absent area MP Larry Achong, said that the initiative was a small but vital contribution to making TT first world in one  generation.” He said that further development relied on co-operation among communities, corporate sectors and training agencies. In his turn at the podium, Malcolm Jones executive chairman of Petrotrin, said the new institution through education and training would allow added efficiency in the offshore explorations. As a result he added that the industry would remain  “on the cutting edge.” He congratulated Trinmar on its drilling of the first multi-lateral well and 830 oil wells. Trevor Boopsingh, chairman of College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (COST AATT) said that in our education system the technical training must be emphasised as it a crucial element of our expansion.

The barriers at Marli Street, erected to stop traffic passing the United States Embassy, were removed late yesterday, ending a year of controversy.

Local residents, including churchgoers to the All Saints Anglican Church had complained that the barriers hindered their access to Marli Street. The United States Embassy is thought to have been wary about its security in light of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, and subsequent bombings worldwide in countries as far apart as Indonesia (Bali) and Saudi Arabia. In an interview in Newsday in August last year, Embassy staff denied erecting the barriers, saying that it was the responsibility of the Government of the host country to protect diplomatic missions. US Ambassador Prof Roy Austin had then said the Embassy did not own Marli Street and that he was aware of residents’ concerns. Saying the Embassy employed 70 Trinidadians as compared to just 40 Americans, Austin had said the barriers served to protect everyone working at the Embassy and everyone visiting the Embassy daily.