EVEN while San Fernando West MP Diane Seukeran has publicly given her approval for the implementing of a visitor fee for the landmark San Fernando Hill, San Fernando Mayor Gerard Ferreira is sticking to his guns and insisting that the fee did not make sense since the Hill was not a “private sector” concern but belongs to the people. Ferreira drew reference to the Queen’s Park Savannah, which he said takes more money than the San Fernando Hills to maintain yet there was no user fee for the Savannah. He also told Newsday of his intention to speak to Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Public Utilities Minister Rennie Dumas on the controversial issue. Meanwhile, Dumas confirmed that the fee would be imposed on persons wishing to tour the National Heritage site but could not give the timeframe before the fee goes into effect. Speaking to Newsday yesterday, Minister Dumas sought to justify the user fee system saying, “There must be a shift in the way we treat our natural reserves. The maintenance of these facilities is costly.”

He said the main argument for the fee was because “there was neglect in caring and maintaining the Hills.” As a result, the proposed visitor’s fee would be used to rehabilitate, maintain and manage the National Park site. The San Fernando Hill, Minister Dumas said, is a “Government facility.” The Minister went on to say that the public would have to see and understand the context in which the recommendations for a visitor’s fee are being made and the role these recommendations play. The Minister said he thought the decision would be understood and accepted by the wider public since the aim was to make the landmark a location of “safety and comfort.” The Minister then asked, “Have you gone anywhere in the world and walked into a park without a user fee?” However, he could not say when the fee system would be activated.

Attorney General Glenda Morean-Phillip yesterday assured that Government will be “properly represented” in the legal battle for the Pigeon Point estate in Tobago. Advising that very little ought to be said about the issue, now before the court, the AG gave this assurance during a hastily convened media briefing following her meeting yesterday afternoon with Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Orville London, at his offices in Scarborough. Owners of the popular beachfront property, Robinson Crusoe Limited — a subsidiary of the Ansa McAl Group — recently filed a constitutional motion challenging the move by the THA to compulsorily acquire Pigeon Point for “public purposes.”

The AG told journalists: “I don’t know if I am qualified to say too much on Pigeon Point but what I do know is that there is a matter before the court and it is being dealt with in a certain way.  What I really mean is that the State will be properly represented in the matter”. Morean-Phillip added that from the history of the longstanding impasse between the THA and the property owners over public access to the area, “it would appear that we have tried all sorts of mediation; we have tried discussion; we have tried all means, and it seems that we have reached the point now where there is really only one course that can be adopted. And this is as much as I can say on that,” the AG asserted.

EIGHT Curepe farmers were yesterday granted leave to apply for judicial review of the decision by the National Housing Authority (NHA) dated May 2 to enter and take possession of  agricultural lands at Ramgoolie Trace, Curepe. Madame Justice Maureen Rajnauth-Lee granted the leave to the farmers after hearing submissions on an ex-parte application by Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC. However, the judge refused to grant an interim order to stay the decision of the NHA. The affected farmers named were Garvin Thomas, Trevor Le Gendre, Ali Buckreedam, Nizamodden Ali, Elico Goolsair, Razack Mohammed, Mayhew Charles, and Nezamel Goolrir. The eight farmers claimed they have been in occupation of the lands known as St Joseph Farm for continuous periods of time ranging from ten to 15 years. The farmers contend that the State knew that at least 20 persons farmed lands at Curepe. There was correspondence between some farmers and the State with a view to regularising their occupation.

The Cabinet of the UNC Government decided on February 25, 1999 that occupation of State lands by persons such as the applicants would be regularised by the grant of agricultural leases. On April 22, 2003, officials of the NHA entered upon the Curepe lands and attempted forcibly to take possession, but were prevented from so doing by the farmers. On May 2, the NHA officials entered and took possession of the lands through the use of bulldozers and other mechanical equipment which destroyed the crops and the buildings. The NHA plans to commence the construction of a low-cost housing project on the land. The farmers pointed out that the controversial parcel of land owned by the State falls within the St Joseph constituency, a marginal constituency which was lost by the PNM Government in the last General Election. Maharaj, in his submissions, told the court that his clients were never given an opportunity to make representations to the NHA or the State. A meeting arranged for April 25 between the farmers and the NHA was aborted when the NHA failed to attend. Maharaj, who appeared with Rikki Harnanan and Darrel Allahar,  argued that no application had been made by the State to recover possession of the lands, nor have the farmers been paid compensation for their crops.

Maharaj said his clients have attempted a resolution of the matter through discussions with the Minister of Agriculture, but without success. Senior Counsel said by virtue of the 1999 Cabinet decision, his clients had a legitimate expectation that they would have been granted leases, and that procedural fairness required that they should have been heard. Maharaj said the farmers were also denied the legitimate expectation of a substantive benefit — payment of sums of money in respect of the value of buildings and crops on the lands. He argued that the NHA had to get an order of the court to take possession of the land. “The court has to intervene; the NHA cannot just go and take possession of the land,” he argued. Maharaj said there was merit on the issues raised and felt there was need for a judicial investigation.

Health Minister Colm Imbert yesterday delivered a blistering attack on the “antiquated, outdated and retrograde” practices of the Medical Board, disclosing that one of the  major “ringleaders”, who featured prominently  in the doctors strike, defeated UNC candidate Dr Anirudh. Mahabir, cost the government some $577,000 during a strike. He was piloting the Medical Board Amendment bill in the House of Representatives. He said it was “a ridiculous situation where a small group (of doctors) were determining who practise in the public hospitals and who did not. “It would be irresponsible for us not to take affirmative action to deal with the critical shortage of doctors in the country,” he said, to loud desk-thumping. “It would be irresponsible of us not to put an end to the ridiculous situation where you have doctors sending in sick leave certificates in the public sector, signed by other doctors and then they are working in the private hospitals on the same day,” he said. Saying that a bill of $2.3 million was run up as patients had to be transferred to private hospitals during the doctors strike, Imbert said: “The bombshell (Mahabir) was responsible for a bill of  $557,000 — Surgi-Med Clinic, sent to the Ministry of Health. While he was a ringleader in the strike, sending patients to his own private hospital. This is what we have to deal with —  conflict of interest,” he said.

He said senior doctors in the public health system, who had private hospitals, were sending patients to these hospitals, and then sending a bill back to the public system. “And they kept a patient although we told them after the strike to bring back all the patients. They say post-operative complications.  They keep the patient in the private institution for three months and send us a bill for $111,000. One patient. That is the conflict of interest situation they have to deal with and that is why this legislation is necessary,” he said. Imbert gave the Parliament a detailed account of the kind of difficulty he had getting the Board to accept the idea of registering Cuban doctors and to accept the concept that lay persons should be included in its membership. He said the Government could not sit and wait for “this little group of himself who elect himself” to come around to the progressive systems employed in other countries. Imbert said it took the Medical Board 18 months to begin to “condescend” to the idea of registering Cuban doctors. But even after this, it imposed conditions for registering these doctors which it didn’t impose for other foreign doctors, Imbert noted. These conditions included that the doctor must have five years postgraduate experience, be in good standing with the Cuban medical board, must be certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as being fluent in English, must only practice in the public service and must be supervised by a special medical officer, a performance appraisal must be forwarded to the Medical Board every three months, including a report on the competence to practice medicine and the ability to speak English. Imbert said none of these conditions were imposed on other foreign doctors.

Imbert said the Council also opposed the “progressive” idea of having lay persons as part of its membership. “If yuh hear noise, men fall down around the table [saying] ‘Lay people! No doctor?’’ He said after he showed them the evidence that the greater medical council in England, the boards all over the world  had lay people, he conceded “after nine months” to three members on the Board. “And check who the three are. The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, a lawyer from the Law Association and the Chief Medical Officer, none of whom are chosen by the Government and two of whom would be doctors. “That is their idea of lay people,” Imbert said. Stating that the Medical Board was “stuck in a 1950 colonial mindset where they believe it must be himself to himself.” Imbert said they were fighting to preserve a system which no other country in the world used. In the US, Imbert said, all the medical boards were selected by governors, who are politicians elected by popular vote. In Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth countries  board  members were lay people, selected by politicans. He  went through the list of foreign universities which “this arbitrary” Council had registered persons from without any conditions. Imbert slammed the UNC for continuing the “cronyism and the closed shop” saying that it was the PNM which had the courage to revolutionise health care.

On top of all this, Government had to deal with the “mischief” being planted “every day” into the newspaper by doctors who had agendas.  He said one of the senior members of MPATT who,  just like Mahabir, had argued that she was not interested in  any politicial position, wanting to become a UNC senator. Imbert said that after four strikes in 12 months, the country was seeing that one by one “they are UNC candidates.” The Board, which is currently exclusively comprised of doctors, was determined not to register the Cuban doctors, he noted. And when Government sought to deal with the chronic shortage of doctors in Trinidad by seeking to bring in Cuban and United Nations volunteers, the Board placed all the “spurious arguments” for not wanting to register these persons. Noting the Board came up with “this foolishness” that it did not register persons who qualified in non-English-speaking territories, Imbert said he produced evidence that the daughter of a former UNC Minister, Daphne Phillips, who studied medicine in Cuba and was registered by the very Board. “They feel we don’t know, you know. That is the thing with members opposite and their friends and supporters,” he said. He said the “next excuse” was that her native tongue was English. He added that during the UNC tenure, that government also sent people on scholarship to study in Cuba. He noted that the Veterinary Board refused to register Jennifer Jones-Kernaham, who was trained as a vet in Cuba.Saying that there was a shortage of 250 doctors in the public service, Imbert said he was hearing the “ludicrious” statement that the way to deal with the chronic shortage was not to bring in foreign doctors. Saying that it took five years to train a doctor, Imbert said: “You can’t just go to PriceSmart or Hilo and pick up a medical practitioner.”

JAYWALKING is being blamed for yesterday’s road accident which claimed the life of Arouca resident, Terry Matthews, who died on the Priority Bus Route (PBR) in the vicinity of Second Avenue, Barataria. According to police reports, Matthews, said by the police to be about 47, was talking to someone on the northern side of the PBR about 11.25 am. Police said after the conversation, Matthews suddenly attempted to cross the road to the southern side of the PBR. Matthews walked into the path of a TSTT van which was driven by technician, Andy Joseph, 39. Matthews died on the spot and senior police officers told Newsday that because of the suddeness in which Matthews attempted to cross the road, Joseph had no time to take evasive action.

A report was made and a party of officers from the Barataria/El Socorro Police station headed by PCpl Carol Hickson visited the scene and conducted investigations. District Medical Officer (DMO) Dr Shurland Taylor viewed the body which was later ordered removed to the Port-of-Spain mortuary for post-mortem. Contacted yesterday, Assistant Comm-issioner of Police (Mobile) Deochan Gosine described the accident as unfortunate and likened it to jaywalking. “People are quick to blame drivers, but safety also lies with pedestrians. They have the right to execute traffic instructions,” Gosine said. Matthews’ death is now the 106th for the year from 86 road accidents, according to statistics from the Traffic Branch. The last two road deaths occurred Wednesday night when Ministry of Works labourer Arnold Herreira and Chabianath Dhagal died in separate accidents in Central Trinidad.

A 30-YEAR-OLD San Fernando mason escaped the maximum jail sentence of 15 years after he was found guilty of wounding with intent in the San Fernando High Court yesterday. Instead, Nigel “Oscar” James was imprisoned for five years, following a stirring plea for leniency by the man’s attorney. In mitigation for James, attorney Learie Alleyne Forte told the court that James was the sole breadwinner for his two children, ages eight and four, and his family would be forced to turn to the Government for social welfare assistance if he was jailed. According to Forte, James was a mason who, when faced with financial problems, would turn to cane-cutting. Forte made the plea before Justice Prakash Moosai after a nine-member jury found favour with the prosecution’s case against James for a chopping incident which occurred three years ago. James was charged with attempted murder and wounding with intent. After a 45-minute deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict on the lesser charge. State attorney Brambhanan Dubay led evidence that on the night of February 11, 2000, James chopped Sherwin Baptiste several times about his head and chest. 

Baptiste said he was walking from his home on Inverness Road, San Fernando when James ambushed him with a “three canal” cutlass (a cutlass with three grooves running along the blade) in his hand and a chopper concealed in his waist. In his defence, James testified that Baptiste threw a stone at him then later ambushed him with a cutlass. James also testified that he was acting purely in self-defence when Baptiste was chopped. Defence attorney Forte said the evidence showed the matter arose out of some provocation, and there was animosity between the families of Baptiste and James. The attorney asked Justice Moosai to also consider that James ran away from the scene of the fight. Prosecutor Dubay revealed to the Court that James was convicted in April 1998 for indecent assault for which he served a three-month prison term. Justice Moosai said while James’ two children “weighed heavily on my mind,” he was obligated to mete out a punishment that would deter others from committing a similar crime. “With a slight or more degree of force, he (James) could have been facing a murder charge,” the judge said.

THE Chaguanas Borough Corporation (CBC) will appoint its next mayor and deputy mayor during a ceremony at CBC headquarters on Friday July 25 at 10 am. The new councillors for the CBC will be sworn in at the same venue on Wednesday July 23 at 10 am. When contacted yesterday, incumbent mayor Orlando Nagessar declined to say whether he would be serving a second term. Nagessar told Newsday that decision lay in the hands of the United National Congress’ (UNC) leadership. Prior to Monday’s elections, reports surfaced about Nagessar being replaced as mayor by Suruj Rambachan, a former ambassador under the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR). UNC Chairman Wade Mark dismissed the reports as “mischievous”.

As part of their accommodation for Monday’s polls, the UNC agreed to appoint one NAR alderman in each of the corporations it won. Questions about the future of the UNC-NAR accommodation were raised following the UNC’s loss to the People’s National Movement (PNM), with UNC leader Basdeo Panday hinting that the accommodation may not have had the desired effect it was intended to. NAR Political Leader Lennox Sankersingh has been walking a political tightrope with the party’s Tobago arm for renewing ties with the UNC. Nagessar also indicated that concerns the UNC had about alleged activities being carried out by the PNM during Monday’s elections are currently being dealt with by the party.  The PNM won three of the CBC’s eight seats in Monday’s elections.

A COMPANY which was ordered to pay $45,000 to a dismissed worker, has appealed the decision of the Industrial Court. Frank Mouttet Limited filed the appeal earlier this week against the decision of the Industrial Court to order it to pay former worker Colin Jattan $45,000 for wrongful dismissal. The Industrial Court found that Jattan’s dismissal was a grievous breach of the principles of good industrial relations. Jattan was dismissed in October 2000 for alleged lack of application to his duties, abuse of company vehicles and insubordination — refusal to carry out instructions within the scope of his work.

But in the appeal filed, Frank Mouttet Limited believed that the Industrial Court exceeded its jurisdiction and displayed bias in descending into the arena of cross-examining the witnesses in favour of the Bank Insurance and General Workers Union, thereby clouding its judgment and making it impossible to arrive at a fair or just and impartial decision. The company contends that the Court erred and/or misdirected itself in law in that it selectively and improperly assessed and/or evaluated the evidence before it arrived at its decision. The company wants the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgment of the Industrial Court.

The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) has been assured of the relevant funding to conduct its affairs for the rest of the 2002/2003 fiscal year which ends in September. The assurance came yesterday from THA Chief Secretary Orville London following a meeting with Junior Finance Minister Conrad Enill at London’s offices in Scarborough. At the same time the THA Chief Secretary told Newsday,  that his burning ambition was to make the Dispute Resolu-tion Commission (DRC) report “irrelevant” to the administrative politics between the THA and the Central Government. (The DRC is a mechanism provided for in the THA Act No 40 of 1996, which can be triggered by the Government or the THA to resolve any issue over which either party may be dissatisfied, and which seems unable to be rectified through normal channels. The DRC was triggered by the previous Hochoy Charles-led NAR THA administration over the question of alleged inadequate funding to the Assembly by the Central Government.)

London, who was accompanied at the meeting by Finance/Planning Secretary, Dr Anselm London, and Secretary for Public Utilities/Infrastructure, Hilton Sandy, described the session with Enill as a “post-THA budget/pre-national budget” discussion. “We believe that one of the ways by which a number of the problems could be resolved is, if we as partners in governance start discussions as early as possible and treat some of those nuances that could become irritating, even critical, down the road,” he explained. He added that basically, it was a discussion from more a general perspective than specifics. “What our plans are for development in Tobago, and how are we going to translate those plans into the kind of funding and the kind of programmes that will make them a reality?” London said the question of funding for the THA for the rest of the current fiscal year, as well as projections for 2004, were also reviewed. With respect to the question of THA funding for the rest of this current fiscal year, London explained: “We want to make sure that we do all the ‘housekeeping’ and so on, that will ensure that we get all that is due to us by the end of 2003 (fiscal year).”  London reported: “We have got the confirmation that the funding would be made available according to the provisions of the THA Act (1996).”

PERSONS in the San Fernando Magistrates’ First Court were literally glued to the television on Thursday as video footage of a TV6 news story was shown when the ballot-box tampering case against a top PNM activist resumed. The video footage, which was recorded by TV6 cameraman Ivan Toolsie on October 4, 2000, was shown while Toolsie was on the witness stand as a prosecution witness, against Ian Artherly — former campaign manager of San Fernando West MP, Diane Seukeran. Artherly is accused of tampering with a ballot box at the South Fire Service Headquarters, Mon Repos, on October 4, 2000 – a day of special voting for General Elections, which was held that year. The footage, less than 2 minutes long, was tendered for viewing by attorney from the Director of Public Prosecutions office, Marissa Joseph, who is leading the State’s case. Artherly’s attorney Theodore Guerra SC objected to the video saying it was an edited version of the footage recorded in which original audio was voiced over by a reporter. Guerra said it was not a true depiction of the event. 

Senior Magistrate Mark Wellington rose and went into his chambers for 20 minutes. When he returned, he ruled that the footage be shown. The State also called to the witness stand TV6 senior reporter, Rosemarie Sant. Sant, who is six months pregnant, gave evidence for about 15 minutes, then complained of feeling unwell. Magistrate Wellington stood down the matter for a short while and when he resumed the hearing, Joseph was at Sant’s side comforting her. Guerra rose an objection saying that Joseph was communicating with a witness who was still under oath. “I know my friend is qualified in law, but I don’t know if she is qualified in medicine,” Guerra said. Hearing was adjourned to July 30 when Sant is expected to continue her testimony.