Contrary to their expectations, thousands of Caroni workers were angry yesterday when they did not receive their VSEP money. But Agriculture Minister John Rahael assured that Government would be paying out hundreds of millions in severance benefits to all 9,000 workers over the weekend. He was speaking at a post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall. As operations closed at the 28-year-old company yesterday, Rahael said he anticipated no serious social fall-out. Government had done enough to provide an adequate social safety net for the workers, he said.

On the problems involving the Caroni pensions, Rahael said the matter was being resolved. He said Government got involved in the pension fund of the daily paid workers because it was underfunded (to the tune of $300 million) but the pension of the monthly paid workers was another issue. He said that while there would be no further operations at Caroni (1975) Ltd, the company would continue to exist until such time as all the administrative matters are completely tied up. Overseeing this process would be Board chairman Jerry Hospedales. Other members are Jagdanath Soong, Lloyd Walters, Joy Donaldson, Trevor Murray. Rahael said that while Government “had some numbers” in mind, he was not prepared to pre-empt the Board of the new company — the Sugar Manufacturing Company Limited (SMCL) — in deciding how many persons would be hired.

Rahael said the SMCL would be responsible for the purchasing of cane from private farmers, the testing, grinding, refining and marketing of the cane. Rahael assured that the Board of this company — which will be chaired by Prem Nandial — would act in a transparent matter in the hiring of persons. All the Board members —  Govine Maharaj (Deputy Chairman), Umar Khan, Anthony Radhay, Vernon Douglas, Ken Dalip, Owen Hinds Jr, Michael Harrilal, Paula Rajkumarsingh, Clive Scott, Nicole De Coteau and Nandial — would take up duties next week, Rahael said. The other new company — Rum Distillers Limited — would run the distillery. This board would include Anthony Phillip (Chairman), Juwan Singh, William Benjamin, Dawn Callender, Henry Rajkunanan and Deo Maharaj.

Manning, in response to a comment that the restructuring of Caroni (1975) Limited was a serious political blow to the UNC and  Panday, whose base was the All Trinidad and General Workers Trade Union, stressed  that the restructuring of the sugar industry had nothing to do with any political objective to strike at the base of the UNC support.  “Whatever effect it would have…we are quite capable as you can see of pursuing our politics otherwise. We have restructured Caroni Limited because the circumstances warrant it. And we are making every attempt to ensure that those who have been displaced by the move get as soft a landing as possible,” he said. He said considerable effort had gone into the programmes that had been put in place to ensure that people can be retrained and redeployed elsewhere in the public and private sector. He added that counselling services were being provided.

On Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj’s threat to take the issue of the Caroni pensions to court,  Manning said he saw it as another move by Maharaj to regain political supremacy. Expanding on the issue of the safety net, Rahael said Government had set up an enterpeneurial business office for former employees to get information on what agricultural lands were available and what crops were likely to yield financial gains. Rahael said $25 million was also set aside for training and retooling for those who did not want to continue in agriculture. Former Caroni workers would also get priority in receiving Government housing, the Minister stated. Rahael said many companies such as Peake’s was interested in getting lands at Caroni and within a short space of time, these lands would be leased to interested companies.

A massive exercise involving 60 police and Coast Guard officers at Bamboo Village, in the vicinity of the banks of the Caroni River, yesterday resulted in the seizure of several crocus bags containing 30 kilos of compressed marijuana with a street value of $1 million, and the arrest of three persons.

Police investigators believe that the drugs was transported by boat along the Caroni River, and then taken to a house where it was concealed in crocus bags. It was reportedly purchased in Venezuela, and one of the three men arrested has a matter pending in court for drug trafficking in cocaine at the Tunapuna Magistrate’s Court. Around 8 am yesterday, officers acting on information contacted the Coast Guard and the Police Helicopter Unit for back up assistance. Several Coast Guard officers boarded Coast Guard boats and carried out surveillance on the Caroni River, while officers of the Guard and Emergency Branch, the Canine Section and the Central Division officers hid in bushes while doing surveillance of the area.

Officers waited for more than one hour until they received a tip off, then cordoned off the Bamboo Village. At the banks of the Caroni River, all occupants in boats were searched as the Coast Guard officers boarded the vessels with sniffer dogs as part of the exercise. Some residents of Bamboo Village complained bitterly about the police presence, while others welcomed the searches. They claimed that the Caroni River is being used to transport drugs purchased in Venezuela and the illicit activities continue to flourish on a daily basis. Newsday learned that  officers of the police helicopter unit carried out surveillance by air to ensure that no occupants in boats tried to escape.

The search of houses along the banks of the river continued with the assistance of sniffer dogs, Kiki and Asha. At one house, officers found the crocus bags concealed under a wooden flooring. The three occupants of the house ages 42, 37, and 28 were promptly arrested by the team of officers. Officers also searched a car at Bamboo, following reports that the occupants were in possession of a gun. Sniffer dog Kiki sniffed in and around the car for more than five minutes but nothing was found. The occupants of the car were made to sit on the ground as police searched  the vehicle. Following the arrests and seizures, ACP Crime Oswyn Allard was high in praise of the police activities. He said that officers of the Central Division have been working around-the-clock to keep crime down to a minimum in that division and their efforts have resulted in seizures of guns, ammunition, drugs, arrests of hard core criminals and raids on brothels where illicit activities take place. He revealed that he will be rewarding the officers for their hard work next week.

The exercise yesterday was coordinated by the ACP Crime and led by Inspector Burt Raphael, Sgt Dennis Housend and Ag Sgt Ajith Persad. Other officers taking part in the exercise included PCs Ramsook, Williams, Dhanai, Sinnan, Alexander, Tooleram, Wiltshire, Sheppard, Brandon John, Edward Ali and others. The Coast Guard officers were led by officer Best.

MORE than $2 million worth of marijuana was reduced to piles of smouldering ashes following a massive counter-narcotics eradication exercise in the Moruga forests on Wednesday.

A National Security helicopter and members of the Organised Crime and Narcotics Unit joined the Moruga police in a seven-hour marijuana eradication exercise in the La Lune and Moruga forests. The officers trekked several miles into the dense forests uprooting and slashing over 650,000 fully grown marijuana trees, which were placed in heaps and set afire. The officers also destroyed agricultural implements used to cultivate the illegal but lucrative herb. Three make-shift camps, equipped with wooden racks to dry the marijuana, were also destroyed by the police.  Despite the success of this particular eradication exercise, sources told Newsday the police have only began to scratch the surface in terms of destroying the well-organised local cultivation of marijuana (Cannabis Sativa).  Involved in the exercise were a team of officers led by Sgt Rodriguez and including PCs Nurse, Mohammed, Lee, Chaitan, Morales, Jagdeo and Willis.

A REPORTED glitch in the settlement of pension packages for monthly paid staff at Caroni (1975) Ltd forestalled payment of Voluntary Separation of Employment Package (VSEP) cheques to the 9,000-plus daily paid workers at the cash-strapped sugar company yesterday.

From as early as 6 am, scores of workers milled about the company’s distribution centres at Brechin Castle and Usine Ste Madeleine factory compounds awaiting word on when and where their cheques could be collected. And with disappointment etched on their faces, the workers were informed by union officials that the company would not be distributing VSEP cheques but had instead prepared final salary cheques for distribution. All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers Trade Union (ATSGWTU) General Secretary Pooran Rattan told Newsday the union was informed that a number of reasons were being forwarded for the delay, including alleged discrepancies in application forms. And asked when workers would begin receiving cheques, Rattan said the union was “optimistic” that payments would be ready by next Monday.

However, Rattan laid the blame for the non-payment of VSEP cheques squarely on Government’s doorstep, saying the union was “hoping” that sugar workers would not be given the type of treatment meted out to national airline, BWIA. “We hope that they don’t treat our workers like how they are treating BWIA workers,” he said. Efforts to contact acting Caroni CEO, Chandra Bobart, proved futile as he was said to be in a meeting with members of the Administrative, Technical and Supervisory Staff (ATASS).

CRIME Stoppers have decided to stick with the $100,000 reward they are offering for the capture of the country’s most wanted man, Sheldon “Skelly” Lovell.

There is speculation by police and others that there might be some sort of collusion between the wanted man and others to get the money for themselves. Asked about this yesterday, Crime Stoppers co-ordinator ASP Wayne Richards told Newsday there is nothing they can do since this was the way the organisation operates. “Unless it can be proven that collusion took place, we are duty bound to pay if someone calls in and he (Lovell) is arrested based on the information,” Richards said. The senior officer added that Crime Stoppers is not an investigative unit, and that the information would be passed on to the police. “If they (police) can verify that he (Lovell) and that person works together, the police will have to direct us accordingly,” Richards said.

Police on Monday issued warrants of arrest for Lovell, 27, of Morvant and two other men identified by police only as “Gumbo” and “Fruity.” The warrants charge the three men with kidnapping and falsely imprisoning teenagers Yves Ayoung Chee and Benedict Barrette on the morning of July 17 at Marli Street.  The two boys were coming from Club Coconuts and were forced to stop after a black car with a siren approached them. Two other men, former Special Reserve Police (SRP) officer Reginald Gibson and TSTT technician Kenny Bonnett have also been charged with the teenagers’ kidnapping, and are due to put in another court appearance on August 8. The three wanted men remained at large up to late evening, but Lovell has since contacted his attorney, who indicated that Lovell would more than likely surrender on Monday to avoid spending the holiday weekend in jail.  However police said that no bail has been endorsed on the arrest warrants.

Newsday learned that Lovell’s attorney received another telephone call from him yesterday and sources said it appears that the wanted man is “playing games.” The day before, Lovell contacted a lawyer and indicated his willingness to surrender Monday to face the charges. Later Wednesday, however, sources said Lovell changed his mind and decided he wanted to surrender Wednesday night, hours after his photograph appeared in the daily newspapers.  Lovell never showed up and sources said his attorney believes the wanted man is afraid to leave his hiding place for fear of being killed. In the meantime, however, members of the Anti Kidnapping Squad (AKS) said they are continuing to look for Lovell, who reportedly owns a stretch limousine. Asked if Lovell was the lone operator in his kidnapping ring, senior police officers replied in the affirmative, but stated that at one time he worked together with several popular kidnap kingpins. Lovell was also under investigation at one time by the Stolen Vehicles Department and was discharged on a auto theft charge because of a technicality.

BARATARIA police were up to late evening questioning three men in connection with the kidnapping of Darrell Chotoo, who is feared dead by police.

Chotoo, 25, was snatched by four armed men on June 30 at his El Socorro, San Juan home and a ransom of $300,000 was subsequently demanded. However, he was reportedly shot during a struggle with the kidnappers and is believed to have died the same day he was grabbed. The three men, whose ages range between 19 and 28, of El Socorro and San Juan, were picked up by police around 3 am yesterday in the Barataria and San Juan areas. They were held during a combined exercise including officers from the North Eastern and Northern Divisions. It was spearheaded by Ag Snr Supt Bishop and Insp Coa and carried out by Sgt Abraham, Cpls James, Jacobs and Maharaj of the Arima CID and PCs Frederick and Marsleir.

Police sources said the three men told them that they were in the Caroni area when some people brought Chotoo, who they claimed was alive then. The three men also reportedly told the police that they were not involved in Chotoo’s kidnapping and suspected murder. However, police said they will continue to question the men until they are satisfied that there is insufficient evidence to charge the three. Police said they were told that Chotoo had died as a result of the bullet wound to his chest and his body dumped in the Caroni River. However, several searches in the vicinity proved futile.  Police said a helicopter as well as dogs were used in the futile searches. Following the revelation that Chotoo might be dead, police charged two men,  Kasib “Jep” Celestine and Nicholas Smith with kidnapping Chotoo and demanding money by menaces respectively.

Meantime, a fourth man was also arrested by the same police party in connection with the July 16 shooting of Lester Solomon, 23, of Cap-de-Ville. Caretaker Andy Boodoo was walking north on the Churchill Roosevelt Highway in the vicinity of Moonan Road, Wallerfield, when he stumbled upon an unconscious Solomon, whose body bore gunshot wounds to the legs and abdomen. The police were contacted and a party of officers including Cpl Maraj and PC Pamphille visited the scene and conducted investigations. Solomon was first taken to the Arima Health Facility after which he was transferred to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he is reported stable and under police guard.