PRESIDENT George Maxwell Richards will today receive the report on the Commission of Inquiry into the Piarco Airport development project. A release from the Ministry of Information said the report will be presented to His Excellency at 1 pm at President’s House. Chairman of the Inquiry, retired Chief Justice Clinton Bernard, is expected to present the report. Contacted yesterday for a comment on Newsday’s front page story yesterday that there was a rift among the four Commissioners and that a minority report would be presented, Chairman Bernard refused to comment. Newsday sources have suggested that the four Commissioners were unable to agree on certain matters and several meetings were held this week in an attempt to gain unanimity.
The four Commissioners are Bernard, Victor Hart, Marie Ange Knights and Keith Sirju. The fifth Commissioner, Peter Bynoe, who was forced to withdraw in May this year because of illness, died on Monday. He will be buried today at 11 am. The Inquiry, the longest and most controversial in TT’s history, began on August 23, 2002 and ended on July 4, 2003 after 170 days of sittings. A total of 66 witnesses gave evidence although the key persons involved in the project refused to participate, claiming the Inquiry was biased. Up to the end of April this year, The Inquiry cost taxpayers $5 million. Bernard and lead attorney for the Commission, Theodore Guerra SC both received $1 million each before tax. The other Commissioners were paid $335,000 each, which was taxable. The administrative cost of the inquiry was put at $406,559.90 up to the end of April.
THE AMERICAN Em-bassy has refused to comment on statements made by Trade and Industry Minister, Ken Valley, on Thursday to the effect that the United States was prepared to spend millions of dollars to allegedly bribe governments to support the US bid to be the seat of the permanent headquarters of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Speaking at the Post-Cabinet press conference, Valley noted that the US saw Trinidad as their major competitor with respect to the headquarters.
“US authorities,” he maintained, “are quite aware that being the permanent site of the FTAA Headquarters would bring certain pluses. “It would help Trini-dad and Tobago in the overall positioning of the 2020 vision,” he said. “I know as a fact that the reports out of Miami, which seems to be our main competitor, are that the US is not averse to bribing governments to get their votes,” he added. Valley revealed that TT’s candidacy was well advanced since it already had commitments from 14 Caricom countries and two unnamed Latin American nations. The FTAA, which is scheduled to commence in 2005, is expected to unite approximately 800 million people in 34 countries in the Americas and the Caribbean in a US $13 trillion trading bloc.
RESIDENTS of Point Ligoure and New Lands in Point Fortin, who claimed operations at Atlantic LNG presented health and environmental hazards to their community, are most likely be moved to a new residential settlement by the end of the year. Labour Minister and Point Fortin MP Lawrence Achong told Newsday yesterday that “the target date” was the end of the year in relation to the completion of these living quarters. However, Achong cautioned that the project could run into early next year. A total of 100 apartments are expected to be built by the National Housing Authority at Southern Gardens. Around 80 may be occupied by families from Pt Ligoure and New Lands, Housing Ministry, sources said. Each apartment would have between two to three bedrooms, sources added. The area for the housing overlooks Egypt Dam. At present access and other road works are being done for the settlement.
Achong, recalling the stir of controversy the residents caused, further said that “negotiations (between himself and Atlantic LNG) have been going on for quite some time. While the residents were agitating, I was quietly negotiating.” Corporate Communications Manager at Atlantic LNG, Esther Le Gendre said, “Atlantic is moving to create a buffer zone, which is a transition zone between heavy industrial estates and residential areas.” “The company is seeking to relocate at its own expense some 80 families of Pt Ligoure and New Lands from the proposed zone to Southern Gardens, not far from their present location,” she added.
She said that Atlantic LNG will fund the building of homes earmarked for relocated families. “The focus of our relocation effort is on land owners, land tenants and owners of buildings whether they are rented or owner occupied.” She said that door-to-door and community meetings were held between Atlantic LNG officials and the residents. Atlantic LNG President Rick Cape visited homes annexing the company’s LNG facilities as a “first step” in consultation towards arriving at an acceptable solution for the problems articulated by residents. MP Achong also disclosed to Newsday that Atlantic LNG would also assist in the construction of a beach facility for the residents. “There are other things in the pipeline, negotiations are yet to be concluded. Point Fortin is going to be alright,” Achong assured.
The Trinidad and Tobago Regiment will establish a Second Infantry Battalion in South Trinidad to defend the area’s oil and petrochemical industries. So said Minister of National Security, Howard Chin Lee, addressing a Recruit Passing-out Parade Thursday at Teteron Barracks. He said: “The process for recruiting and training of officers and other ranks has already begun. It is expected that by 2006, this Battalion should be up to its full strength of 41 officers and close to 1,000 soldiers. The battalion will be located in south Trinidad and will form the nucleus of first defence for the oil and petrochemical industries located in that part of Trinidad.”
Chin Lee also announced changes to the Regiment’s Special Forces Detachment to improve its role in maintaining peace and order. He said: “This specialised unit is capable of precluding, preempting, disrupting and responding to any insurgent, narcotic-driven or terrorist threat within the sovereign territory of TT. “The Special Forces Detachment will be reviewed and reorganised into a Special Services Unit that is more efficient and capable of taking its place in various anti-crime fighting initiatives.” Assuring that the country was in safe hands, he pledged to give this unit inceased personnel, training, equipment and infrastructure.
Chin Lee saluted the four-month-old Inter-Agency Task Force (ITF) comprised of Police and Army personnel, saying it had made a significant impact in reducing crime in Morvant/Laventille. He explained: “Over 1,500 mobile and foot patrols were conducted, 14 stolen weapons and 100 rounds of ammunition were seized, 14 murders were solved, and over 222 persons were detained.” He told the 186 recruits that they would benefit from the Regiment’s emphasis on modernisation training, disclosing that last year, some 48 officers and 150 persons of other ranks had received training locally and abroad. Chin Lee hailed the Regiment’s role in youth programmes like the Civilian Conservation Corps, Artisan Youth Programme and National Youth Service Training Programme.
Prime Minister Patrick Manning yesterday gave the undertaking to the Disabled People International/TT Chapter (DPI) that in one week’s time, Devon Garraway and Antonio Diaz would be employed. This was stated yesterday by George Daniel, President of the DPI following a meeting between the PM and members of the DPI held at the office of the Prime Minister. When asked which company would be employing the two, VP of the DPI Dr Emmanuel Hosein said that Manning did not say but instead expressed the concern that state enterprises, such as the National Flour Mills (NFM) and the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (TTEC), would not be pressured into taking anybody.
However, Daniel told Newsday: “We will take the Prime Minister at the word as he is the Prime Minister of his country.” Dr Hosein, on the other hand, said that they would be prepared to accept the PM’s undertaking for employment wherever it can be found, apart from NFM and TTEC. And with that, following a prayer meeting at 5 pm yesterday, the tent outside the NFM compound came down after members of the DPI had been camping there for the last 116 days. Also coming out of the hour-long meeting was that the Prime Minister was in agreement with the DPI’s proposal for a Citizen Disability Act. Dr Hosein said, “We wanted legislation along the lines of the United States’ Disability Act which came into effect 10 years ago.” He added that Manning told them that his government would look into it.
Another factor that came to the fore was that a team from the Ministry of Finance will include members of the DPI in their budget planning. Hosein said: “We would be in consultation with a committee for the preparation of the budget. We wanted a standard committee but the PM wasn’t prepared to go that far.” The Prime Minister agreed for the government to make it mandatory that all state agencies, enterprises and government buildings be made accessible to all disabled people. Apart from the above, the DPI have been pursuing a whole range of other matters affecting them. Hosein said that in pursuit of those things, they have been fighting for housing, transportation, education, insurance, rehabilitation and an increase in subvention. Therefore he is now looking forward to the consultations with the team from the Finance Ministry. The DPI also forewarned the Prime Minister that they would be calling on the DPP to take the appropriate action, following the alleged beating incident by the police outside the NFM compound a couple months ago.
AN 11-MONTH-OLD baby girl was among six persons injured during a two-car smash-up along the San Fernando Bypass yesterday. Up to late yesterday, the exact condition of the victims was not known. According to police reports, around 2 pm, Roy Mahabirsingh, of Tunapuna, and his wife Rachel were heading to Marabella in their silver Sentra. Upon reaching old Twilight Cinema, their car collided with a Mitsubishi vehicle driven by Lawrence Gopaul, of Bonne Aventure Road, Gasparillo. In the car with him were his sister, her baby and his mother. The Sentra reportedly overturned landing on its hood, while the other vehicle crashed into a pile of rocks. All injured persons were rushed to the San Fernando General Hospital where up to late yesterday, they were still being treated. Marabella police are continuing investigations.
After 15 weeks of training some 186 new recruits to the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment will now join the frontline war against crime, announced Commanding Officer, Colonel Peter Joseph, as he addressed their Passing-out Parade on Thursday at Teteron Barracks. He said the recruits had answered the call of duty to their country now when there was a need for rededication to the cause of keeping the country safe. Joseph disclosed: “Initially all of you will be posted to the 1st Battalion to contribute to our support of the Police in their war against crime.” Noting the recruits had undergone very rigorous training, he praised them for now possessing the qualities of loyalty, courage, single-mindedness, camaraderie, and duty to country. But he added that the Regiment was now undergoing vital changes to ensure it could quickly and effectively respond to changing scenarios, and that each soldier also had to keep up with change.
The Regiment, he said, had to be able to function in an increasingly technical world and sustain itself at the cutting edge of military excellence. He said: “You have joined our organisation at a time when the method for advancement is being shifted away from an exclusively seniority-based system to one that includes seniority but also adds merit and in which high performance is rewarded. “Today’s soldier cannot be regarded as someone merely marking time, waiting to defend the country in case of an internal attack or external aggression. Today’s soldier must operate in an international context. He/she is expected to operate in a global environment of internet and satellite technology.” Each recruit, he said, was expected to be disciplined, goal-oriented and flexible, and to show initiative and intelligence.
Joseph then warned the recruits on their conduct towards civilians enrolled in the army’s youth programmes like the Civilian Conservation Corps which enrols both males and females. Noting they had a role to defend all our peoples and to work with young adults, he admonished: “Although there will not be a significant difference in ages we expect you to live up to the responsibility placed on your shoulders. Stay focussed and be part of the solution, not part of the problem.” Joseph concluded by quoting United States Army General Douglas McArthur: “In no other profession are the penalties for employing untraineed personnel so appalling or so irrevocable as the military.”
Two persons wanted for questioning in the murder of state witness Kevin Richards, and a cleaner attached to the Cunupia Police Station were among 20 persons arrested during an early morning exercise carried out by officers of the Central Division yesterday. The exercise which started around 2 am and ended at 4 pm was led by Sgts Housend, Burke, Sylvester and Ag Sgt Ajith Persad. Officers first went to a house in Cumuto where they executed a search warrant for three suspects wanted for murder and a series of robberies. A CD player believed to have been stolen from the Cumuto area was recovered. Officers then went to Munroe Road, Cunupia, at the home of a 51-year-year old woman. Officers seized a computer believed to stolen. They then moved to Marshall Trace, Warrenville where they seized a quantity of jewelry and electronic items.
A 27-year-old woman who only got married on Sunday was arrested along with her 30-year old brother. At Ajodha Trace, Bejucal, officers executed a search warrant at the home of a 51-year-old man and his wife and seized a quantity of electronic items believed to be stolen. Five others were arrested for selling alcohol without a licence while at Felicity a man was held with a quantity of cocaine rocks. Others were held for questioning into a series of outstanding crimes in Central Division while the two murder suspects were arrested at Enterprise. During the exercise, officers received a report of a robbery at Bisram Enterprise at Montrose, Chaguanas. Two men armed with guns entered the businessplace and robbed the cashier Sherry Ramlochan of $30,000. Officers rushed to the scene and recovered the getaway car at Xavier Street, Chaguanas. The car was checked for prints and police say arrests are imminent. Other officers taking part in the exercise included PCs Ramsook and the Task Force, and detectives Guelmo, Francis, Alexander, Toolaram, Sheppard and others.
A 22-year-old man, who was found nude and drifting in the Gulf of Paria late Thursday afternoon, was rescued by two fishermen and taken to the Point Lisas Port, where he attempted to escape. He was apprehended by two estate constables and later handed over to officers of the Chaguanas Police Station. Reports revealed that around 5.30 pm on Thursday, two fishermen were returning from a fishing expedition five miles off the Gulf of Paria, when they saw a man drifting in the sea. The man appeared dehydrated and almost lifeless.
He was rescued and placed in the fishing boat and taken to the Point Lisas Port. The skin on the man’s body appeared to be sun burnt and his heels were cracked and filled with sores. He told the fishermen that he is 22-years old and is from Success Village, Laventille. He also gave a name, but when officers attempted to locate relatives of the man at Laventille none could be found and no one claimed to know the man. Newsday learned that the man was taken to the Chaguanas Health Centre where he was treated for dehydration.
BETTER sugarcane quality and a more efficient factory have been identified as the key ingredients for the survival of the sugar industry in Trinidad and Tobago. And Agriculture Minister John Rahael expressed his confidence in the industry as he spoke to reporters yesterday after touring a series of career-training booths at the Metal Industries Company compound in Usine Ste Madeleine. The mini-expo, organised by the Caroni Management Unit and the Employers Consultative Authority, featured booths from the Trinidad and Tobago Institute of Technology (TTIT), Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme, (YTEPP) and the Agriculture Ministry.
Rahael, who also expressed “pleasure” at the “tremendous” turnout of former Caroni (1975) Ltd workers, said the ailing sugar industry stood a “very good chance of survival,” now that the restructuring process was being allowed to take place without interference by “recalcitrant elements.” “The Government is giving the sugar industry an opportunity to survive,” Rahael said. He added that a potential upgrade of the Usine Ste Madeleine sugar factory was also being explored by the Sugar Manufacturing Company of Trinidad and Tobago. “The new company will now look at this possibility, what type of upgrading the factory needs and to what extent would the upgrade be done since the whole idea is to make the factory much more efficient.” However, he pointed out that sugarcane quality was also a necessary ingredient for the industry’s survival, reiterating that this held the “unenviable” record for cane-to-sugar ratio among sugar producing countries. “Our ratio is 13 tonnes of cane to one tonne of sugar while other countries have a ratio of between eight or nine tonnes of cane per tonne of sugar,” Rahael said.
