ACTING Commissioner of Police Everald Snaggs believes the media could gather intelligence for the Police Service.
“The media has a critical role to play in information dissemination to the public as well as intelligence gathering for the Police Service. “We must build trust and respect between our organisations and ensure that there is a continuous flow of information, while making certain that confidential information is treated as such.” Snaggs spoke to heads of media houses yesterday at a meeting hosted by Ken Gordon, Chairman of a Government-appointed committee to find ways of dealing with the crime problem. Snaggs feels that the media and the police can work together in the fight against crime. “Many serious crime investigations attract substantial amounts of press interest. If effectively managed, the media can make a significant contribution to investigations by acting as a conduit for information from the general public.” The acting CoP believes the media can assist the police in deterring the youth from entering a life of crime by encouraging them to engage in positive activities. He feels the police must work with other agencies if crime is to be reduced.
Snaggs said the police are implementing a zero tolerance policy. “However, we can never hope to beat crime by acting alone, especially when it comes to interfacing with members of society — we, the Police Service, need the cooperation of the other agencies charged with law enforcement to help us control deviants.” He said the Police Service was the lead agency to enforce the laws of the country. He believes the Service is ready to confront any problem. The addition of 1,000 Special Reserve Police officers will assist the police in the fight against crime, he declared. The appointment of the 1,000 SRPs is just one of the strategies to deal with crime. On the issue of alleged corruption in the Police Service, Snaggs pointed out that if officers are involved in wrong doing, they will be dealt with by the law. “This Police Service is a very mature organisation. I disagree with the BBC report that corruption is endemic in the Police Service. That is totally misleading.” Snaggs was pleased that there have been no kidnappings over the past month, but declined to say why. He did say that there was an increased police visibility throughout the country. He thanked members of the public for their cooperation and patience with the series of road blocks being carried out across the island.
A SANTA CRUZ businessman who was ordered to hand over his gun by a bandit, put his car in reverse, collided with a lamp-post, and then shot the bandit in the leg.
He then used his cell phone and alerted officers of the E-999 who intercepted the bandits in a car at Morvant Junction. The wounded suspect and the driver of the getaway car were arrested and a rusty .38 revolver and several rounds of ammunition seized. Police believe that with the arrest of the two men, they may be able to solve a number of robberies and hold-ups along the East/West Corridor. Reports are that at about 8.45 am yesterday, the businessman and his wife alighted from the San Juan branch of Scotia Bank and were seated in their car, when they were confronted by a man who ordered him to hand over his licensed gun and cash. The businessman placed his car in reverse, struck a lamp-post and drew his gun. He fired one shot at the bandit who was struck in the leg. The man hobbled away and went to a waiting grey Lancer. The businessman used his cell phone to alert E-999 officers who rushed to the scene and saw the car at Morvant junction. The driver of the car and the wounded bandit were promptly arrested. The driver was identified as a 24-year-old man of Tacarigua while the wounded suspect is a 25-year-old man of Laventille. Both suspects will be placed on identification parades for similar offences. They were charged yesterday by PC Kitson of the Morvant Police Station. ACP Crime Oswyn Allard visited the scene of the incident and heaped praise on all officers who responded promptly to the distress call from the businessman.
A LOADED Baretta .32 semi-automatic pistol was seized by Southern Division police after they held one of two bandits following a shoot out at a Gasparillo gas station yesterday.
Up to late yesterday evening, the injured suspect was undergoing surgery at San Fernando General Hospital while police have launched a manhunt for his cohort. According to reports, around midday, a party of Gasparillo police officers, led by Sgt Blackman and including PCs Teeluck and Singh, were on mobile patrol along the Williamsville Main Road when they received a wireless All Points Bulletin (APB) advising them of a robbery in progress at the NP gas station in Gasparillo. The officers responded to the APB and as they approached the gas station, they spotted the two bandits in the process of forcing the gas station manager to hand over the morning’s earnings. On seeing the approaching police vehicle, the bandits opened gunfire with officers taking cover and returning fire. One of the suspects slumped to the ground while the other ran off.
The officers quickly held the suspect and retrieved a Baretta .32 pistol loaded with four rounds of ammunition. The suspect, a 20-year-old from McLeod Trace, Freeport, was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital where, up to news time, preparations were being made for him to undergo surgery to remove a bullet lodged in his left arm. A team of officers coordinated by Southern Division Head Snr Supt Desmond Lambert, led by Supt Maharaj and including Sgt Blackman and others, visited the scene and recorded statements from several persons. Supt Maharaj is continuing investigations.
AFTER several weeks of investigations by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) into reports of a commercial development project being started adjacent to the protected Oropouche wetlands in South Trinidad, the Authority yesterday slapped an “Order of Violation,” on southern developer/contractor Carib As-phalt Pavers Limited.
The order, which was served at the company’s Cross Crossing headquarters, was received by the company’s operations manager, Shaffick Mohammed. According to the EMA’s communications officer, Kirk Jean-Baptiste, the order was issued after investigators had determined that several land protection and environmental laws were breached by the contractor. This included the construction of a heavy industrial facility next to the nesting grounds of a protected bird species. Jean-Baptiste said the Authority was also concerned that a bitumen and cement plant was going to be built in close proximity to Petrotrin’s oil transmission lines. He also pointed to another alleged discrepancy in the company’s project, saying investigators had also determined, by using computer and satellite positioning models, that the total acreage under development was 7.2 hectares. He said the company had failed to apply for a Certificate of Clearance (COC), for development of lands over one hectare in size.
However, Jean-Baptiste said that the order, while not putting an “immediate halt” to the company’s activities, gave the contractor two weeks to come into the EMA’s offices to discuss the issue. “We are asking that Carib Asphalt Pavers come in and discuss the issue with, not only us, but the owners of the lands, Caroni (1975) Limited, as well as Petrotrin,” Jean-Baptiste said. And, if the contractor fails to meet the two-week deadline for meeting with the EMA, Jean-Baptiste said the Authority would then procure an “Administrative Order” which would effectively cause all activities at the site to come to a “grinding halt.” However, Jean-Baptiste reiterated that the EMA was not against sustainable development projects, but added that construction works should have an “environment-friendly” policy. Efforts to contact management officials at Carib Asphalt Pavers yesterday proved futile.
ACTING Senior Magistrate Ramraj Harripersad, President of the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Magistrates (TTAM), is appealing to the powers that be to improve the working conditions in the nation’s Magistrates’ Courts.
Ironically, Magistrate Harripersad is based at the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court, where last Thursday and Friday, support staff stayed away from work as a form of protest against unbearable conditions at that court house. Several problems being experienced at the San Fernando court house include a leaking roof, cracked and moss-stained windows, no air-conditioning, roosting of pigeons and bats (whose faeces stain the court room floor and furniture) and the proliferation of biting and stinging insects.
Magistrate Harripersad said that while the TTAM has not taken an official stand on the sick-out action, he was speaking out because he is being directly affected (because of his appointment) and even moreso, when no remedial action is taken, “everyone suffers.” “I am appealing to the Executive and the purse holders to touch down and give us relief,” Magistrate Harripersad said. “Between 85 to 90 percent of litigation matters are heard in the Magistrates’ Court therefore this is where justice is initially dispensed,” he added.
CHAIRMAN of the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) Imtiaz Ahamad yesterday revealed that overcrowding of patients at the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) has been brought “under control.”
Ahamad, who pointed out that patient admission and discharge figures were not immediately available, said the contingency measures put in place by the Authority last Friday, had been successful. “Apart from the transfers which took place during the height of the influx of patients, no one was transferred from the hospital over the weekend,” he said. Ahamad also sought to clarify a statement attributed to SWRHA vice-chairman, Dr Joel Sinanan, that “special authority” had been given to the Accident and Emergency Department for the hiring of doctors on a temporary basis.
Ahamad said that certain procedures existed within the hospital system which allowed for the recruitment of doctors on a “session by session” basis to “fill any gaps” that may develop in the system. Ahamad added that the practice had been implemented at the institution from time to time, but pointed out that, due to the contingency plans, the recruitment measure was not needed in this instance. And on the question of the identity of the viral illness, Ahamad said that to date, the Ministry of Health’s testing centres had not detected any signs of the dreaded Dengue virus in any of the patients who showed symptoms of the viral illness.
THE Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education, Danny Montano, is seeking to get $115 million to upgrade the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAATT). He will also take to Cabinet tomorrow, notes outlining the plans for the College.
Montano disclosed this to Newsday on Monday during an interview at his St James office, where he spoke of plans to upgrade the College. Montano promised that government would do “everything to try to upgrade” the College and “students of the College will be beneficiaries of a fair amount of government attention.” He said he met with officials of the Ministry of Finance last Friday to discuss the College. The Minister said he had requested “five times the amount ($23 million) given last year.” He said he was confident that he would get a “fair amount of that sum.” The Minister also revealed that while the construction of the College’s campus was some years away, in the short term, government was hoping to relocate students to better facilities. He said government was looking at accommodation at Victoria Avenue, Port-of-Spain and Trincity.
Montano disclosed that government was seeking to have all engineering students currently attending the John Donaldson and San Fernando Technical Institutes, assigned to the “very modern facilities” at the Trinidad and Tobago Institute of Technology (TTIT), Couva. The TTIT is a division of the National Energy Skills Centre (NESC). Montano said government will have to pay to have the students use the TTIT and that proposal may go before the Finance and General Purposes Committee (FGPC) for approval. Additionally, links with Association of Community Colleges in the US, UK and Canada are expected to be formalised which will bring a number of benefits including the exchange of information and lecturers. The Minister is hoping that the current 1500 student intake at the College will be doubled with the new plans.
The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has reported significant increases in the number of persons applying to sit the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) this year.
In a release yesterday, CXC Public Information Officer, Cleveland Sam, revealed that approximately 7,336 candidates have so far registered for the exam this year as compared to the 5,741 persons who wrote the exam last year. Adding that the number of Unit entries had increased from 15,650 in 2002 to 23,145 in 2003, Sam said the largest increases came from islands such as Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Jamaica. The subjects receiving the most entries were Communication Studies, Caribbean Studies, Management of Business, Mathematics, Sociology, Accounting, History, and Literatures in English and Sociology.
Claiming that CAPE’s performance had also improved, Sam stated that over 80 percent of candidates obtained Grade I’s to V’s in 10 Units, including Caribbean Studies, Communication Studies, Computer Science, Biology, Geography, History, Literatures in English, Management of Business, Physics and Sociology. In the grading scheme used by CAPE, Grades I’s to V’s range from “Excellent” to “Acceptable.” This year, CXC examined 27 subjects (45 Units) for CAPE. CXC offered CAPE for the first time in 1998 when five subjects were examined. Sam attested that CAPE’s offerings “are intended to provide candidates with an opportunity to obtain certification for employment as well as for entry into tertiary institutions.” Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines and TT will join their Caribbean counterparts in offering CAPE from September this year.
FORMER People’s National Movement (PNM) Government Minister Gerard Montano is back in Trinidad and recovering well from an operation he underwent in Canada last month. The 84-year-old Montano developed bleeding of the brain shortly after arriving in Canada to vacation with his son Andrew and other relatives. The operation was performed at the Trillium Health Centre in Queensway, Missussuaga, Ontario.
Science, Technology and Tertiary Education Minister Danny Montano told Newsday yesterday that his father returned home from Canada two weeks and is making a slow but steady recovery. Montano said his father is now able to move around with a little assistance and his health is improving daily. He stated that while it was “touch and go” prior to the operation, the entire family is very much heartened at his post-surgical recovery. The Minister expressed his family’s heartfelt thanks to all persons who supported them while his father was hospitalised. The elder Montano was Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s predecessor as San Fernando East MP and held several ministerial portfolios (Local Government, Housing, Works and Home Affairs) in the administrations of Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams. He was also a former mayor of San Fernando.
AFTER nearly one month in operation, the new anti-crime initiative has developed a beachhead for further assaults against criminal elements. However, the South Trinidad Chamber of Industry and Commerce believes more sustained efforts on the part of all stakeholders are needed if the war against crime is to be won. On July 23, National Security Minister Howard Chin Lee and Ag Police Commissioner Everald Snaggs announced the initiative in response to a spate of kidnappings occurring around that time.
Aspects of that initiative included the deployment of 1,000 additional police officers on the streets of Trinidad and Tobago, establishment of a National Crime Commission and the purchase of mobile police units. The initiative followed two days of talks at Whitehall between leaders of the business community and Prime Minister Patrick Manning, with the former clamouring for “results.” Addressing a post-PNM General Council news conference on Sunday, Chin Lee expressed a “measure of satisfaction” over the results of the initiative so far, especially with regards to kidnapping. Chamber president Wayne Moze told Newsday yesterday that over the last month there has been “a marked decrease” in terms of kidnapping and serious crime. “What we are seeing is a lull in the storm,” he said.
However, Moze was not satisfied that the root problems of crime were being addressed. “The real issues are societal,” the Chamber president stressed. He said there was no need for 1,000 additional police officers on the streets because TT “already has more police officers per population” compared to other countries. Moze reiterated that the emphasis must be on “more intelligent policing.” In the context of the upcoming 2003-2004 Budget, Moze said the Chamber would like to see “very focused extra spending” on national security. He added that these areas of expenditure should include areas such as law enforcement, adult education, prison reform and unemployment. Moze was, however, not optimistic of parliamentary cooperation between Government and the Opposition on crime, lamenting that his calls to both sides over the last two years has seemingly fallen on deaf ears.
