ELEVEN youths, including two sons of a Member of Parliament, were injured when a car illegally drag racing ploughed into a group of persons in San Fernando early yesterday morning.

According to police reports, the crash occurred around 1am while a group of almost 100 spectators crowded the pavements along the Rienzi Kirton Highway and Cipero Street. Reports said a 19-year-old was driving a silver-grey Honda Civic when he lost control at the traffic light intersection near Skinner Park, where he ploughed into the spectators. Of the eleven injured, the most critically injured was Arun Ramdeen, 14, who was with UNC MP Chandresh Sharma’s two sons, Moonish, 13, and Devaan, ten, watching the racing. Also on the injured list were three brothers, Kerry Warner, 20; Kendell, 13; and Kirk, nine, all of Caratal Road, Gasparillo. They received injuries to their arms and legs and are warded in stable condition. Police have detained the driver of the drag racing car and expect to charge him with a series of driving offences, including ten counts of dangerous driving.

Ramdeen, of St John’s Trace, Avocat Village, Fyzabad is a close friend of the Sharmas. He suffered massive head injuries and is fighting for his life at the Intensive Care Unit of the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH). Little Devaan, witnesses said, was pitched into the air and landed in the sun-roof of the car. He escaped serious injury, with bruises and abrasions about his right eye, but is being kept at Ward 5 at SFGH. Newsday spoke to Fyzabad MP Sharma yesterday at the San Fernando Hospital. He came straight from Piarco Airport saying he had cut short his attendance at a conference in New Jersey, United States to return to his sons’ bedside. Sharma told Newsday: “It was about two in the morning when I got the call. I just immediately started packing and booked the first flight home.” His wife, Lynn, was on vacation in Canada and was due to return last night. The MP said he would be spending the night at the hospital. His sons’ cousin, Rajendra Sharma, 16, who was with Moonish and Devaan looking on at the illegal racing, said the three were at the Quik Shoppe at Cross Crossing with an older relative, Rudradeva, who went to fill gas in his car. While Rajendra was paying at the cashier, the boys slipped away and crossed the busy intersection to watch the races.

Rajendra recalled that shortly before the accident the driver was showing off in the road. “He (the driver) made a 180-degree turn and was flaunting his car,” Rajendra said. Newsday learned that the three Warner brothers went out to purchase barbeque and stopped for the first time to spectate the drag racing. Eyewitness Larry Lall recalled feeling “empty” when he saw the car lose control and “bodies flying in the air.” Lall said: “It was the worst thing I ever saw. Everybody just rush to see what going on and I tried to tell them to move away to give them (injured) some room to breathe.” Lall said a driver of a pick-up van put three persons in tray and rushed them to hospital. Another eyewitness, Sean Sookraj, recalled: “Everyone was standing around when he (the driver) ‘geared up’. The car just jumped onto the pavement. Everybody start to run and a lot of people got little lashes.” Eyewitnesses said that upon impact Ramdeen was pitched some ten feet into the air then crashed to the ground.  Within 15 minutes the police and ambulance arrived on the scene. Cpl Anthony Wolfe and PC Bishop of the San Fernando Traffic Branch are leading police investigations.

Ag Police Commissioner Everald Snaggs’ assault on Crime continued on Saturday night, when more than 40 officers of the Central Division swooped down on the Santa Maria Hotel at Chase Village early yesterday, announced their presence and arrested 26 persons, most for lewd dancing and stripping.

They also seized two guns and a quantity of drugs and arrested a man for living off the earnings of prostitution. Eight Venezuelans and two Colombians were among those arrested. Officers of the Immigration Department were called out to determine if the foreigners were in the country illegally and an interpreter was also called in to assist police in securing information from the Colombians and Venezueleans. Reports reveal that around midnight on Saturday, the party of officers led by Inspector Gopiecharan, Sgts Dennis Housend, Keith Sylvester and Ag Sgt Ajith Persad executed the search warrant at the hotel and surrounded the building. Women, who were on a stage dancing and stripping, were quickly arrested while other women involved in other illicit activities were also arrested. Nineteen of the women were charged with prostitution, while four others were charged with lewd and suggestive dancing and indecent behaviour. The ages of the women arrested were 18 to 45 years old.

A 31-year-old customer of the hotel was charged with aiding and abetting while another man was charged with keeping a disorderly house, keeping a brothel and living off the earnings of prostitution. A 19-year-old boy was searched by officers and a .380 Jennings pistol and a 9 mm semi-automatic gun with two rounds of ammunition were seized. Officers also discovered a large quantity of cocaine and marijuana carefully concealed in a toilet at the hotel. The police activities caused some of the patrons at the hotel to flee the scene bringing an abrupt end to all activities at the Santa Maria Hotel. Newsday learned that on Saturday, an entrance fee of $20 was charged for entry into the hotel. Customers were being offered a wide range of services starting from $100.

The exercise was coordinated by ACP Crime Oswyn Allard following complaints by Bhagna Trace residents about the illicit activities at the hotel and the prevalence of strange persons and cars transporting persons to and from the hotel during the early hours of the morning. The ACP Crime contacted officers of Central Division and surveillance work was carried out, which led to the arrests and seizures of the guns, ammo and drugs. All those arrested will appear before a Chaguanas Magistrate today. Other officers taking part in the exercise included PCs Ramsook, Williams, Narcis, Dhanai, Alexander, Guelmo, Tooleram, Francis, Edward Ali, Basraj, Samad and others. Following the police action on Saturday, residents of Bhagna Trace were in high praise of the police and called for swift action to be taken against other hotel owners where open prostitution and other illicit activities continue to flourish especially on weekends. Immigration officers told Newsday that several of the Colombians and Venezuelans who are arrested for prostitution have overstayed their time and are in the country illegally. The crackdown against prostitution and other illicit activities will continue. The same officers involved in the exercise, also went to a house at Carapichaima where they arrested a 25-year-old man and seized 1.4 kilos of marijuana.

A 27-year-old man who was a suspect in the larceny of a firearm belonging to a police inspector was shot dead in a shootout with police officers at Teelucksingh Street, California early yesterday.

Anderson Bramble, was wanted on six warrants for a series of robberies and firearm offences in Central Trinidad. Police officers acting on a tip off went to the house at California around 5 am yesterday where they attempted to execute a search warrant. They were greeted by gunfire and returned fire. When they made a check, they discovered the body of Bramble lying in a pool of blood.  He was shot in the head and other parts of the body. The body was viewed by a District Medical Officer who ordered the removal to the Forensic Science Centre. An autopsy will be carried out today to determine the cause of death. Police investigators told Newsday that Bramble was a notorious bandit in Central. They added that he was one of three men who held up Inspector Samlal of the San Fernando Police while he was at a bar at Laing Street, Chaguanas, last week and robbed him of his service revolver. Inspector Samlal was also robbed of $4,000 and beaten.

Reports revealed that Bramble was hiding out at the house and was intimately involved with a woman who lives in California. Bramble is the fourth person within recent times to be shot dead in a shootout with police officers. Last week Aaron Whiley of Enterprise Village, Chaguanas who was a suspect in several robberies was shot dead. Then last Thursday Mokesh Dyal, said to be the leader of a killer gang, was shot dead at a house in Curepe. On Thursday night Marlon McPherson, who allegedly robbed a gas station was shot dead in a shootout at Maraval, while Bramble was shot dead early yesterday.

Freed kidnap victim Yves Ayoung Chee who spent nine days in custody at the hands of his abductors was dropped off close to his St Clair home around 8 pm on Saturday. The 18-year-old student reportedly walked to his home where he was met by anxious relatives who quickly ushered him inside the house. He was later treated by doctors.

Yesterday, friends and relatives of  Ayoung Chee gathered at his Scott Street, St Clair home where they took part in a prayer meeting to give thanks for the safe release of the 18-year-old student. Ayoung Chee who was kidnapped on Thursday July 17 along with his friend Benedict Barette will be interviewed today by officers of the Anti Kidnapping Squad. AKS officers told Newsday that no ransom was paid for the release of Ayoung Chee. At the home of Ayoung Chee yesterday, four guards in plain clothes stood watch over all activities, both inside and outside the house. Relatives refused to be interviewed when Newsday approached them yesterday. Friends were seen taking bags of ice into the house while Ayoung Chee who was seated close to a window at the house munched on something and was constantly hugged by friends and relatives. Several cars lined the side of Scott Street as scores of persons were seen entering and leaving the house.

AKS sources revealed that despite several calls by kidnappers to the Ayoung Chee family for a ransom to be paid, no negotiation ever took place. Ayoung Chee told police officers that he was kept blindfolded most of the time but he could not say where he was kept. He was treated by doctors and found to be in good health. Around 1.30 am on Friday Benedict Barette, a friend of Ayoung Chee who was also kidnapped was released in Chaguanas and a note was given to him by the kidnappers to deliver to the family of Ayoung Chee. The note listed demands for relatives. AKS officers said yesterday that they intend to interview Ayoung Chee today and every effort will be made to find the kidnappers and bring them to justice. AKS officers also revealed that the search for the body of kidnap victim Darryl Chootoo will continue. Chootoo is believed to have been shot dead and his body dumped in Caroni. The only other outstanding kidnap victim is six-year-old Marc Prescott of San Fernando who is believed to have been abducted and taken to North America by relatives.

A 30-year-old Point Fortin man has reported to police that he was kidnapped, beaten, robbed and threatened.

Sheldon Lavine told lawmen that he was standing at the Frisco roundabout in Point Fortin around 8.15pm when he was approached by three men he knew, one driving a green B-14 Sentra motorcar and two men on foot. The three men reportedly ordered Lavine into the car and when he refused, one of his attackers struck him with a gun-butt on his head. He was bundled into the backseat of the car and taken to Egypt Village, to a lonely street off the South/Central Point Fortin Road. Lavine reported he was robbed of TT$900 by the men. 

According to Lavine, the driver of the car threatened to kill him. One of the attackers reportedly told him that he would have been killed if people had not seen them put him into the car at the roundabout. Lavine’s kidnappers released him, and bleeding from the head, he stumbled towards the  Point Fortin Police Station to report the matter. PCs Sookraj and Mitchell took Lavine to the Point Fortin District Hospital.

Yesterday, a team of police officers, led by Ag Insp Wells, conducted an exercise and arrested two men in connection with the incident. A 35-year-old man was arrested at a house in Fyzabad, while a 27-year-old  was arrested in the New Village district. A warrant was issued for the arrest of a third man of New Village. The arrested men are expected to appear in the Point Fortin Magistrate’s Court today to face charges of kidnapping and robbery with violence. Point Fortin police are continuing investigations.

More than two billion dollars is expected to be spent by the Ministry of Education as part of its School’s Construction and Rehabilitation Programme for the period of 2003 to 2006.

Additionally, repairs to existing schools during July and August will cost $40 million. This is part of the Ministry’s move to ensure that quality education is made more accessible to all children, according to a release from the Ministry yesterday. The Ministry, the release said, has promised textbooks for all primary school children from September, as well as text book rentals/loans for Forms One and Two students of all Public and Private Secondary Schools in four subject areas as selected by each school by September. Books will be provided in Language Arts, Mathematics, Spanish and Science. No rental or loan fees will be charged during this first phase, it was noted.

Furthermore, a $1,000 Book Grant will be provided for each child placed in Forms three to Lower Six of Secondary schools. The Book Grant initiative is expected to cater for approximately 53,000 Secondary School students. Where Curriculum reform is concerned, the Ministry said there would be a modernised curriculum in ten core subject areas, including History, Geography, Morals and Values to begin in September. Training of teachers and educational administrators will also be implemented to ensure effective supervision in the execution of the new Curriculum. A National Curriculum Council is also expected to be established, in addition to a Teacher Professional Development Init-iative which, it is hoped, will pave the way for a comprehensive integrative approach to teacher preparation and development. This initiative will include Curriculum Writing Teams of Teachers and Curriculum Officers to develop Curriculum for Forms three to five from September.

The Ministry, the release stated, has also provided in-service training for 40 teachers in Visual Arts and Performing Arts up to Post Graduate Diploma Level, 90 teachers in the SEMP Curriculum and 90 specialised craft teachers in the new Technical Education Curriculum. The Caribbean Ad-vanced Proficiency Examination is carded to be inaugurated in secondary schools from September. In terms of technology improvements, the Ministry has made plans to have computers and computer-aided instruction/management software installed in Primary and Secondary Schools.  Some schools will be provided with computers and Internet Access.

Where the School Feeding Programme is concerned, the Ministry yesterday said it would provide 90,000 fully subsidised lunches daily. Schools will also receive 25,000 breakfast meals five days a week by the National School Dietary Service Limited, while a cafeteria-type service will soon be introduced in a number of schools. The School Transport Service is expected to be expanded. PTSC and the Ministry will provide 20,000 seats per day at a cost of $20 million and Maxi Taxis, through sponsorship by the Ministry, will provide 21,500 seats per day also at a cost of $20 million annually. 200 Maxi Taxis will be engaged in providing transport for school children in rural areas, while bus transport will soon be provided for physically challenged/differently-abled school children. In partnership with the Ministry of Health, all children up to the age of 16 are expected to receive free medical services, according to the release. The Education Ministry has also devised several School Intervention Strategies to create and sustain a “culture of peace and civility in the classroom.”

In 2003, 282 primary schools were secured, with security personnel being installed and infrastructure works being completed at a cost of $63.5 million. Five secondary schools are presently being repaired and increased lighting put in place at a cost of $11.31 million. Additionally, 28 high risk Secondary Schools are to receive reconstruction and repair to perimeter fences and security lighting at a cost of $25 million. The renewal of contract for maintenance and security for 83 schools is set at a cost of $88 million.

The National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) yesterday marked the 13th Anniversary of the 1990 attempted coup with a wreath laying ceremony held at the Red House. At about the same time, at their headquarters in Mucurapo, the Jamat-al-Muslimeen, members of which were directly responsible for the 1990 attempted coup, were having their own commemorative dinner. The entrance to the compound was decorated with a number of colourful flags put up to mark the occasion.

Describing the events of 1990 as “an act that caused violence and destruction on society,” political leader of the NAR, Lennox Sankarsingh, stressed the importance of remembering the innocent persons who lost their lives. “It was one of the most significant moments in our post-independence period,” he said, noting that it served to remind us of the nature of the our society and the serious challenges we face in the development process. “It reminds us that ours is a fragile society and that every one of us must contribute to its development, even if that contribution may be small,” Sankarsingh stated. In delivering greetings from the Government, Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education, Senator Danny Montano, expressed the government’s admiration for former Prime Minister Arthur NR Robinson for the courage he displayed during the insurrection.

Montano said, “he stood staring down the barrel of what would be his end and said ‘attack with full force.’  These sentiments embody the courage and the history of the people of TT.”
“Those were fighting words to be honoured and recognised for all times,” he stated. “The Government remembers and honours those who fell in 1990 and the leaders of the day who led us through our darkest hours.” Invocations were led by members of the various religious faiths after which commemorative wreaths were laid by a number of persons who were present during the events of 1990. They included former President Robinson and former NAR MP, Jennifer Johnson and Dennis McCombie. The ceremony ended with a Walk of Remembrance to the NAR Headquarters.

“The Cuban doctors and nurses are not here to compete with locals or introduce their system of medicine.We are here to work and help,” said Dr Juan Ulises Castillo Sanz in an interview at The Normandie hotel yesterday.

A specialist in internal medicine and intensive care, Castillo Sanz arrived in TT last Thursday with 35 other colleagues (30 nurses and five doctors). Castillo Sanz said he became aware that their presence is an “issue” from reports in the media. He said they wanted no “sensationalisation.”  “I don’t like giving interviews.  We have not come here for that,” said Castillo Sanz with a smile. But he conceded because the Cubans had “nothing to hide,” while some of his countrymen and women played a game of dominos, a popular pastime in Cuba, on the verandah of the St Ann’s hotel. Though there has been much debate locally about the Cuban doctors’ level of English and their ability to communicate with their local patients, Castillo Sanz said the doctors know their “medical English” and a language barrier had never caused problems to the detriment of patients, when the Cubans have worked in non-Spanish speaking countries. Castillo Sanz said he and his colleagues would simply adapt to TT’s laws, language, culture and health system. 

In Cuba, he said, the health system is divided into levels—the first involves walk-in consultation with a family doctor. These provide health care to 90 percent of the population. Polyclinics, hospitals and research institutes offer more specialised care. The “institutes” offer a wide range of specialised areas in medicine—cardiology, oncology, neurology, hematology etc. “Very ill people go to institutes,” the Cuban medic said. Forty-Six year old Castillo Sanz has 20 years experience in medicine. He worked at a hospital for many years until a promotion two years ago put him in charge of the national system of health emergency. He was based in Havana. His job was to organise, coordinate, supervise the functioning of all Intensive Care Units at hospitals and the mobile emergency (ie ambulance) service. While declining to say how much he earned in Cuba, he said the amount was enough to live “normally.”  Castillo Sanz said the State guarantees “basic things to live in peace”.  Assistance is provided for study, health care, social assistance, housing, employment. Castillo Sanz said the long standing United States economic embargo has caused hardship in Cuba and has had an “enormous” impact on the health sector, in terms of the acquisition of equipment, accessing medication and the latest medical literature. Cuban doctors also do not have “exchanges” with their colleagues abroad.

Despite this, Castillo Sanz said there is no problem with the level of care provided. He attributed this to the will of the government which sources pharmaceutical items and equipment at higher cost in markets very far away—China, Japan, Switzerland and Germany. He said approximately US$180-$200 million is spent annually on health care in Cuba. TT spends TT $1.2billion. Sanz Castillo, who is employed as a consultant in TT, does not know where he will be assigned to work. He said the doctors and nurses in the group come from most of Cuba’s 14 provinces. No novice to working abroad, he has left a family behind to work in TT for two years. He will have a month’s vacation each year. His reasons for coming to TT are: “For a new experience, opportunity, and to have a relationship with my Caribbean family.” He said the doctors and nurses all signed up voluntarily, as Cubans always were willing to help out abroad. The doctors and nurses celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Fidel Castro’s first attempt to overthrow the Batista government with a “quiet toast” at Normandie. They have not yet had an opportunity to see any sights in TT. Neither have they met with any of their local counterparts or visited any hospitals. Castillo Sanz said he has been taking short walks and resting. A female doctor and nurse were due to arrive yesterday to join their colleagues. They are in time for the first orientation sessions in TT language and culture which begins today at the hotel. A second batch of medical personnel will arrive on August 10 comprising 34 doctors and ten nurses.

Yesterday, the final scheduled day for Caroni daily-paid workers to accept their Voluntary Separation of Employment Packages (VSEP), saw one senior Caroni official pleading with the media not to make the eventual date of payment public.

“This can make them potential  kidnap victims,” he said. “We cannot do that to our people.” He further added that such precautions were in  the best interest of the workers and that  making  the payments public knowledge given the present  spate  of kidnappings in the country would be “irresponsible  behaviour.” The final working day  for daily-paid workers is August 15, 2003. Section Offices were opened from 7am to 2pm yesterday to serve the last daily-paid workers accepting the offer. Up to yesterday, approximately 8,000  to  9,000  daily-paid workers had accepted their VSEP. “It was a very good response from the daily-paid workers,” the Caroni official said. “Right through the week since Tuesday we received a steady, consistent flow of near 2,000 workers per day.” 

Since last Tuesday, the VSEP  Letters of Offer were available at  some 18-20  Section Offices. The official said these offices were strategically located to “facilitate all  the employees.” He added that staff were made available to assist the workers with completing the forms  and to deal with their queries  to have “a uniformed informative response.” He called this a “joint union management approach.” Checks by Newsday yesterday at two Section Offices Cedar Hill, Princes Town/Exchange and Petit Morne/Bronte indicated that there were 19 – 25 workers showing up to accept the offer yesterday. The Caroni official said the “real rush” was for the first two days the offers were being presented at the Section Offices (Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22.) Of the 376 workers listed at Cedar Hill, one employee said only six individuals did not show up  and of these some were deceased, others out of the country. At the Petit Morne and Bronte offices, employees indicated that by lunchtime yesterday, of the 601  workers listed, around 597 had accepted their offer.