A police inspector attached to the San Fernando Police CID was robbed of his personal service .38 pistol, 13 rounds of ammunition, a wallet containing $4,500, his police ID card and beaten while at a bar in Central Trinidad early yesterday. Sixteen patrons of the same bar were robbed of cash and jewelry valued at $61,000. Reports revealed that around 1 am yesterday, Inspector Samlal went to Salvo’s Bar at Laing Street, Chaguanas. While at the bar, three men wearing bullet-proof vests entered and announced a hold up. They robbed Inspector Samlal of the items and then beat him about the body. They then proceeded to rob the other patrons and escaped in a waiting car.

Officers of the Chaguanas Police Station were contacted and they went to the scene. Police investigators said yesterday that they are observing a trend where bars are now being targetted by gunmen. Several bars in Central and Southern Divisions have been held up and patrons robbed within recent times. Most of the robberies took place between midnight and 2 am. Senior officers said yesterday that they are putting certain measures in place to ensure that the perpetrators of those crimes are apprehended.

POLICE are searching for a 36-year-old man who ran away from the San Fernando General Hospital shortly after he was treated for chop wounds to his neck and back. Francis Brown, of Mendez Village, Siparia, was attacked with a cutlass and chopped twice following an argument with a man over drugs, around 10.30 pm,  on Friday night. Investigators said the man, who lost a lot of blood, was rushed to the Accident and Emergency Department of the San Fernando General Hospital where he was treated and referred to the Urology Ward — Ward 3. However when investigators visited the hospital late Saturday evening they were told that Brown had walked out of the ward without informing the medical staff and never returned. Doctors informed the police that the man’s injuries were life threatening.

Brown disappeared before investigators could have taken a written statement from him, but they did obtain his medical certificate. A 41-year-old suspect, who was held hiding out in a shack shortly after the chopping, was interviewed by the police and has since been released.  Cpl Minors, PCs Ramdass and Badree are continuing investigations. Meanwhile a 28-year-old man who was stabbed in his chest and back on Saturday, after his refusal to buy someone a beer, remains warded in a serious but stable condition at Ward 3 of the San Fernando General Hospital. According to reports, around 2.30 am, Shakir Seetahal, of Grand Street, Couva, was at Back Stage Pub, Issac Junction, Couva, when he was accosted by a man, whom he did not know. The man asked Seetahal to buy a beer for him. Seetahal refused causing the man to become angry. During an argument, the suspect pulled out a knife and stabbed Seetahal on the right side of his chest and back.  The suspect then fled. PC Nanan is continuing investigations.

 

 

 

Members of the local business community yesterday met with Prime Minister Patrick Manning at White Hall to voice their concerns about the escalating crime situation in the country. After the hour-long meeting, it was confirmed by President of the TT Manufacturers Association (TTMA), Anthony Hosang, that another meeting would be held today at 4 pm to further the talks. Describing the nature of the meeting as “frank and open,” President of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA), Gregory Aboud, revealed that they again raised several issues which were discussed at a meeting held on Saturday at the Hilton Hotel. “Everyone is concerned about the crime situation,” he said, “and I assure it exists inside with the Prime Minister and the Government.”

However, they refused to say anything further on the matter. Responding to questions from the media after the meeting, Prime Minister Manning confirmed that the business community had indeed put forward some proposals to deal with the crime situation. However, he noted that they would be discussed further at today’s meeting. He also revealed that he had met with Acting Commissioner of Police, Everald Snaggs and Minister of National Security, Howard Chin Lee. On Saturday, 15 business organisations were also said to have met with Chin Lee and Snaggs at Police Headquarters under an invitation from the National Security Minister.

Attorney General Glenda Morean yesterday dismissed talk that she was to be shifted in a Cabinet reshuffle, suggesting that with no court and no Parliament, people were looking for news. “I have no worry and I have no problem. Remember I have a profession,” she told Newsday. “Let people speculate. Now you have no Parliament, no courts, no news. So things are not as exciting — at least on the political front,” she said. Reports in the media stated that Morean and National Security Minister Howard Chin Lee are to be relieved from their ministerial portfolios. Asked whether she felt funny that  she was being placed in the same category as Chin Lee, Morean said both  offices were  high profile and attract a lot of attention. Asked whether she had been told of an impending Cabinet reshuffle , Morean said  that if even she were she would not talk about it now.  She later said what she had read in the newspaper was not correct. But she stressed that once someone decided to take public office and enter the government “you know that there are certain rules and conditions of engagement”.
 
Asked how she felt reading the speculation, she said: “I have read worse things”. Told that the position she now held was one of the most prestigious ones in the government and that any movement (unless she is to become Prime Minister) would be perceived to be less favourable, Morean said “Well if there is any movement it may be different, (not necessarily less favourable).”. She stated that the position of  AG was not only one of the  prestigious positions in the government, it was also one of the most stressful positions. Meanwhile, Chin Lee, was not in office yesterday, according to his secretary, while his press officer said she had not spoken to him all day. Sources said that the Prime Minister is to announce a Cabinet reshuffle on August 15.

Carol Elizabeth Mora, wife Timothy Mora, lost her battle against abdominal cancer on Sunday morning at her house in St Ann’s. Carol had been battling the disease for some years. Carol was the former manager of Video Associates, which had been established in 1980 by her husband Timmy. She is survived by her husband and her three sons, Matthew, Jonathon and Kenneth. Her funeral will be held 10 am Friday at the Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Maraval. Carol was described by her father-in-law, Newsday’s Stan Mora as “a very caring woman with a charming personality.” The staff at Newsday sends its sympathy and condolences to the Mora family.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT Minister Jarrette Narine yesterday predicted there would be no quarrelling between PNM and UNC local government bodies over the allocation of funding to each body. Speaking with reporters following the swearing in of the new Port-of-Spain City Corporation at Port-of-Spain City Hall, Narine said: “The fighting for funding is with the budgetary allocations, and that is with the Ministry of Finance because each corporation gets their funding out of the national budget, and it’s not the Ministry as a matter of fact. We have improved from the last UNC budget, $6.5 million, and last year 2003 budget has gone to $28.7 million. So the Government has given about four times more than what was allocated in the UNC’s last budget. So that’s an indication that we are serious about Local Government.”

The Minister said Government remains committed to Local Government reform, and a draft policy document on this matter is being drafted. Narine added that once the document is completed it will be laid in Parliament.  Narine dismissed suggestions that CEPEP was taking over some of the duties of local government. He believed there was “a better calibre” of local government representatives on this occasion and announced that a local government training seminar will be held next month at the Rudranath Capildeo Learning Resource Centre in Couva. The Minister said he had no favourites for Mayor of Port-of-Spain. “I have to work with anyone,” he stated. Belmont East councillor Joel London, who has reportedly been tipped for mayor, said he had received no such indication from Prime Minister Patrick Manning. Incumbent mayor Murchison Brown declined to say whether he would be re-elected. Brown, Lorraine Holder, Tenea Reece and Farris Al-Rawi were sworn in as aldermen during yesterday’s ceremony. Al-Rawi is the son of Junior Trade Minister Diane Seukeran.

DRAWING of lots today will determine whether the People’s National Movement or the United National Congress gains control of the Mayaro/Rio Claro Regional Corporation, where both parties obtained the same number of seats (three) following voting in the Local Government Elections, two Mondays ago. The procedure gets underway at 10.30 am, first with the  nomination of two aldermen each by both parties. The names will be written on paper, folded and sealed, then placed in a jar. Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Regional Corporation, Motilal Ramsingh, will take charge of the proceedings in which he will dip into the jar and draw a lot.  The UNC had control of the corporation with four seats on the council as against the PNM’s two. The PNM won the Ecclesville district to equal the number of seats on the council (3-3).

The last such tie at a Local Government Elections occurred in the Siparia Regional Corporation in 1999. The drawing of lots resulted in the UNC winning control of  that Corporation. There will be the names of four aldermen — two PNM and two UNC — in the jar. If the first name which the Acting CEO pulls is that of a PNM-nominated alderman and it turns out that his second pull is also a PNM, the party will win control. The same applies to the UNC. If, however, the first pull shows up a PNM alderman and the second, a UNC, the result is considered a tie and the procedure is conducted a second time. If upon a second drawing, a tie occurs, a pro tempore (temporary) chairman is appointed. The appointed chairman will then have a casting vote. Should the PNM strike it lucky in the draw, that ruling party will control the Rio Claro/Mayaro Regional Corporation, bringing to ten the number of corporations under its control. Today’s drawing will be supervised by Permanent Secretary in the Local Government Ministry Terrence Jurawan and the Ministry’s legal adviser Carlton George.

The Court of Appeal yesterday dismissed an application by two former Government ministers and others for leave to go to the Privy Council to challenge the recent Court of Appeal ruling, striking down Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls’ decision on “disclosure” in the Piarco Airport fraud case. However, attorneys for the applicants indicated their intention to appeal the Court’s rejection of their application to the Privy Council. The Court of Appeal had ruled that McNicolls had exceeded the limits of his function when he made a ruling that the State should provide the accused and the Court a list of all documentation, and state its connection with regard to the various charges against the accused. In dismissing the motion, Chief Justice Sat Sharma pointed out that the application was “cloaked in language” to give the appearance that the issues raised at the level of the High Court and the Court of Appeal were constitutional, when in fact they were not.

The Court which included Sharma, Justice Rolston Nelson and Justice Stanley John, said that no constitutional grounds were agitated before the court below or the Court of Appeal, and therefore, counsel cannot come at this time to say that leave is being sought to raise constitutional issues before the Privy Council. The Court emphasised that it was willing to consider the application, but not as a constitutional issue. Attorneys for the applicants, Fayard Hosein and Devenish Maharaj, accepted that while the issue raised in the matter was not tackled as a constitutional protest, the basis of their objections was of a constitutional nature, and especially now in light of the Court of Appeal’s ruling against McNicolls. Hosein argued that it brought into question the constitutional issues of the right to due process and the right to a fair trial, among other things. The application was filed on behalf of former Government Ministers Brian Kuei Tung and Russell Huggins, businessmen Ishwar Galbaransingh, Amrith Maharaj, John Henry Smith, Renee Pierre, Barbara Homes, and Steve Ferguson, together with Fidelity Finance Leasing Company Ltd, Northern Construction Ltd and Maritime General Insurance Co Ltd. These men are before McNicolls charged collectively with 21 offences of common and criminal matters, including fraud.

High Court Justice Pamela Elder yesterday in the Port-of-Spain Fifth Criminal Court ordered a re-trial for two men who are charged with attempted murder and wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm. The re-trial is estimated to begin in September. Leroy Hoyte and Dereck Madoo, both from Chaguanas, allegedly attacked Michael Walker with a cutlass when he was walking along Lawrence Wong Road, Longden-ville, with his common-law wife Judy Bishop on September 2, 1998 between 9 and 10 pm. Walker received wounds to his head, hands and shoulder.

Justice Elder in aborting the trial, which began on Friday, said that the State elicited inadmissible evidence from Walker which is highly prejudicial against Hoyte and potentially prejudicial against Madoo, and due to the nature of the evidence, no warning to the jury would overcome prejudice to both defendants. She also said that the State conceded that no direction from her could remove the prejudice and in the circumstances, the trial is to be aborted, jury discharged and a re-trial ordered for both accused. The State prosecutor was Alexander Prince while Hoyte was represented by attorney Ryan Cameron and Madoo was represented by attorney Mario Meritt.

The first batch of Cuban doctors and nurses are expected to arrive this week from Havana. however, refurbishment work is far from complete at the quarters where they will be staying. There are reports that the doctors will be accommodated at a local hotel while waiting for their quarters at the POS Hospital to be ready. At the Port-of-Spain General Hospital there were old mattresses, cushions, and dilapidated appliances to be taken away for disposal. Rooms were sparsely furnished. Newsday was reliably informed that clean-up work started about two weeks ago. Electricity and water connections were done yesterday. Approximately 37 doctors and 45 nurses will be coming to work in TT as the first grouprecruited by the Ministry of Health to address the shortage in the public health sector.

Information has been scarce about the distribution of the doctors across the Regional Health Authority managed hospitals and health centres. In April, Health Minister Colm Imbert said the doctors would be employed on two-year contracts “in the first instance.” He said facilities where they will work had been selected and accommodation was being prepared. One of the conditions under which they were hired was that their compensation package does not exceed that of locals holding similar positions.