ATTORNEY GENERAL Glenda Morean yesterday said a family court system would have been established in Trinidad and Tobago were it not for the “virtual war” between former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday and the Judiciary.
Piloting a Bill in the Senate to amend the Supreme Court of Judicature Act, the AG recalled that the need for a family court in TT dates back to 1979 and her predecessor Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj had devised the Family Court Bill 2001 to address the matter. Morean lamented that were it not for Panday’s “clear attempt to control the Judiciary” while the UNC was in power, the split in the UNC in 2001 and certain flaws in the Bill, the court would have been a reality today. Morean said since the PNM came into office, she has worked hard to mend fences between the Executive and the Judiciary because the AG “is a conduit” between these two bodies. She disclosed that Cabinet agreed to implement an April 2002 report from a committee headed by former Law Association president Stephanie Daly to create a “well-established family court” in TT.
The AG explained there were currently nine Court of Appeal justices (excluding Chief Justice Sat Sharma) and a maximum of 20 High Court justices and the amended legislation will allow for three additional judges for the latter area. Morean added that these three judges will be the pioneers for the new family court. The AG also recalled concerns raised by CJ Sharma and his predecessor Michael de la Bastide about increased numbers of judges and said the amended legislation would go a long way towards addressing these longstanding concerns. The Opposition and Indepen-dent senators expressed their support for the amended Bill but asked that the numbers of judges be larger than the figures proposed by the Government.
A 23-year-old man appeared before Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls yesterday charged with four murders and one attempted murder which all took place earlier this year in the Morvant and Laventille areas.
Elton Davis, unemployed, of John Street Pelican Road Extension, Morvant, is charged with the February 9 murder of James La Rode at Pashley Street Laventille, the May 30 murders of Kirt Rosal and Julien De Gannes, both at Trou Macaque Road, Laventille, and the June 18 murder of Trevor Bermudez at Pelican Road Extension, Morvant. Davis is also charged with the February 9 attempted murder of Natalie Duncan. The victims were all reportedly shot.
The charges were laid indictably by Sgt McIntire of the Besson Street CID. Davis was reportedly arrested during a series of raids in the Morvant and Laventille districts. After reading the charges, Mc Nicolls asked the man if he had an attorney. Davis shook his head from side to side then replied, “Nah.” Mc Nicolls then informed the man that he would be remanded in custody until July 25 when he will re-appear in Court.
A Trinidad woman was sentenced to life in prison in San Francisco, United States, on Monday with no hope of parole for gunning down a man she mistakenly blamed for molesting her granddaughter.
Dianna Mae Preston, 59, said Monday, “I easily pay this price” as she was ordered to jail for the slaying last July 19 of Kevin LaPorta, 47, the little girl’s father. Preston waited for LaPorta outside his Eureka acupuncture office and shot him several times as he loaded his dogs into his truck. He managed to stagger into a nearby restaurant, but Preston followed him inside, reloaded and shot him twice more in the head. Testimony revealed that Preston was told by her daughter, Heather Pearce, 38, just hours before the killing, that the Eureka Police Department told her DNA evidence found on the toddler did not belong to LaPorta.
Preston was convicted of the murder with a special allegation of lying in wait by a Napa County jury May 28. The trial was moved to Napa County when Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Timothy Cissna decided Preston couldn’t get a fair trial on the North Coast. “In an unfortunate case such as this there’s one victim but there are so, so many losers,” Cissna said before handing down the sentence. “There are no winners.”
GOVERNMENT is working on a special programme to handle investments in Trinidad and Tobago’s social sector. This was revealed by Junior Finance Minister Conrad Enill as he wrapped up debate on amendments to the Income Tax Act in the Senate yesterday.
The Minister dismissed earlier claims from Senate Minority Leader Wade Mark that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was unhappy with the fiscal policies of the ruling PNM. Mark claimed the IMF was dissatisfied that Government was not following its advice about placing energy sector revenues in the Oil Revenue Stabilisation Fund and then placing these revenues abroad “for future revenues.” The UNC chairman further alleged that the PNM had no medium macro-economic plan which was underpinned by a three-year budget. However Enill declared that nothing could be further from the truth. Quoting from the IMF’s report on Article Four discussions with Government, the Minister said the IMF noted that TT had experienced nine years of successive economic growth despite global trade liberalisation trends and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.
Enill said the IMF was pleased with Government’s efforts to restructure Caroni (1975) Limited and make it economically viable. He then revealed that Government was working on a “social sector investment programme” which was similar to its public sector investment programme and more of this would be revealed in the upcoming Budget. Adding that the legislation would ensure greater equity in the society to all persons regardless of political affliation, Enill quipped that the PNM had proven their superior ability on that score during Monday’s Local Government Elections. Enill also dismissed claims from Mark that Government was taking away the duties of the National Training Agency and placing it solely in the hands of Science, Techonology and Tertiary Education Minister Danny Montano. Mark alleged that under such a system, Government could give tax credits to certain businesses such as CEPEP firms.
More than half — 53 percent — of the women who offered themselves as candidates in Monday’s 2003 Local Government election were successful in their bids to represent their communities, accor-ding to a release issued by the Network of NGOs.
A total of 38 women were elected in the July 14 poll, marking a 31 percent increase from the last election in 1999. In that year, 29 women were elected and even fewer entered office in 1996 when the figure was just 19. The organisation said it expects the total number of women in Local Government to increase when Aldermen are appointed to office later this week. This phenomenon, said the release, should push the total number of women serving past 42, the total figure in the 1999-2002 term. The best showings for women in the Local Government elections of Monday were in San Fernando, where seven out of nine women were elected; Tuna-puna, where seven out of 13 were successful, and in Diego Martin, where five out of nine were elected. However, said the Network, there still remain two Councils with no women represented; the UNC-controlled Penal/ Debe, and Siparia. The organisation congratulated all the women who offered themselves for office this year and wished them continued success in the coming term.
THE PEOPLE’S NATIONAL MOVEMENT plundered the Treasury to the extent of $400 million to win the Local Government Elections on Monday night. By so doing they won 14 seats that were previously held by the United National Congress and “I wonder how long this feeding frenzy would last?” asked Basdeo Panday, leader of the UNC.
He was addressing a 300-strong crowd of UNC activists around 11.00 pm after the Local Government Elections results were known at Rienzi Complex, Mc Bean, Couva. He told members: “Go ahead and celebrate because all of this will soon come to an end and we will have to take over the government.” Before Panday addressed the small crowd, he spoke to the media giving them reasons why the UNC lost and stating categorically that he was prepared to go as leader having reached the age when he should be considering retirement from active politics. At that time the atmosphere at the complex was a picture of gloom until the arrival of Allan “Taxi” Seepersad, who was the victorious UNC candidate for the electoral district of Felicity/Calcutta/Mc Bean, making a dramatic entrance with a tassa-beating group and flag-waving supporters dancing along the street. Trickling in were Kelvin Ramnath (MP Couva South), Chandresh Sharma (MP for Fyzabad), Kamla Persad-Bissessar (MP for Siparia), Senator Sadiq Baksh, as well as Boya Sahadeo and Paras Ramoutar, who were victorious in the Local Government Elections for the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation. Then Panday decided to address the meeting before departing for home, and said, “You have nothing to be ashamed about by the result of the Local Government Elections. You have won a victory which you will only realise down the road.”
Panday pointed out that in the 1999 Local Government Elections, the PNM had 68 seats and the UNC 58, and now they are in control of 82 seats against the UNC’s 44. “What they have done is to spend $400 million to win 14 of our seats and that means that they would have to continue to spend $ 30 million for every other UNC seat if they want to take all,” Panday said. “This feeding frenzy cannot continue and it is only a matter of time before the UNC takes over,” Panday stressed. He said, “After spending $400 million, I expected that they would have taken all the seats, but that was not to be and I am glad that you are here celebrating our performance.” He then asked, “How long will they continue this feeding frenzy? What we know is that they cannot continue like that and the time is coming when they bound to collapse and we have got to be prepared to take over.” He congratulated Chandresh Sharma for co-ordinating the Local Government Elections and said that “he and his team had done a tremendous job to prevent the PNM from running away with a landslide victory, which they were hoping to achieve.” He said that there was no vacuum in the country for another political party to come into existence as long as the UNC and the PNM were existing. “Anybody who thinks he could come forward and form another political party is only fooling himself,” Panday said, “take that and put it into your back pocket and go home and smoke it. “We have a struggle ahead which is something bigger than anyone of us could comprehend and that is to unite the people of Trinidad and Tobago. “Nothing can stop us from continuing this struggle and it is only a matter of time before this is achieved.”
DOCTOR Anirudh Mahabir proved he was no “bombshell” candidate for the People’s National Movement’s Leslie Lynch, when he lost the Cocoyea/Torouba electoral districts by a much wider margin, compared to the UNC candidate’s narrow one-vote loss at the 1999 Local Government elections.
Lynch defeated eye specialist Mahabir, at yesterday’s Local Government Elections by approximately 343 votes. The much-touted “bombshell” candidate told Newsday last night, that he was disappointed, but found comfort in the fact that he never vied for higher political position in his party — the UNC. In the last Local Government elections in 1999, the then UNC candidate Rabindra Moonan, lost to Lynch by a mere one vote. Lynch had polled 1,425 and Moonan, 1424. At exactly 8:30 pm, MP for Pointe-a-Pierre Gillian Lucky, conceded defeat on behalf of Mahabir. Mahabir later told Newsday: “Yes, I’m disappointed. A winner has been declared but I think I fought a good battle.” Asked what role he intends to play in politics, Mahabir vowed to continue to work in the UNC.
An elated Lynch told Newsday that Moonan (in the 1999 elections) more than Mahabir, was a “bombshell” candidate. “I had no fears about him (Mahabir). I think Moonan was a bombshell more than him,” Lynch said. She obtained 1,578 votes, compared to Mahabir, who polled 1,235.
WITH settlement of the VSEP dispute between Caroni (1975) Limited and the sugar workers union, the Government can now proceed expeditiously with the long-overdue rationalisation of the outdated and deficit ridden sugar industry. The country can now feel a great sense of relief that the horrendous financial burden of manufacturing sugar will soon be lifted and that the alarming trend of rising subsidies — which tops $600 million this year and would have crossed a billion by 2006 — is about to be drastically reversed. This newspaper is pleased that, in the final analysis, good sense has prevailed on both sides. After protracted opposition to Caroni’s VSEP offer by the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers Trade Union, which reached the Industrial Court, the company and the union were able to reach an agreement as a result of which 8,116 daily paid workers are expected to accept their voluntary retirement packages by August 15. With the conclusion of this exercise, the first historic change in the rationalisation plan takes place with the ending of Caroni’s cane cultivation and the subsequent shutting down of the old delapidated Brechin Castle factory.
From next year, Caroni will be operating one factory, the plant at Usine, which will process canes bought from cane farmers on the basis of quality — in other words, sucrose content — and not according to weight as before. This reduction means that Caroni will no longer be producing sugar for export, which had become a totally uneconomic dead-end business, and will now lower its annual output from over 90,000 tons to some 75,000 tons to satisfy the domestic market. With all the emotional rhetoric once directed by some politicians against the restructuring of the country’s sugar industry, we are especially pleased that the process is now proceeding with the apparent consent and satisfaction of the various parties concerned, particularly the company’s daily paid workers who, it seems, have eventually accepted the necessity for change and the opportunities offered by the attractive VSEP package representing an average increase of 30 percent above their retirement benefits. Another important benefit of the plan, in our view, is the fact that it offers sugar workers an opportunity to remain connected to the land, as those interested in a career in agriculture, in becoming full-time farmers, would be given parcels in areas suited for this kind of activity. Indeed, they would also have the chance of moving up from the status of sugar workers to joining the company of cane farmers.
As for the ATSGWTU, they may consider the concessions they have obtained for the workers as a victory of sorts. Counselling, financial advisory services, retraining centres are to be provided by Caroni and committees are to be established to ensure transparency and fairplay. Also, the company and the union are to meet to discuss the distribution of lands to workers for agriculture, housing and agro business. Finally, Agriculture Minister John Rahael, who had taken considerable opposition “pressure” after declaring the restructuring plan, should now be a happy man. But he still has before him the task of ensuring that the extensive land holdings of State-owned Caroni are developed in ways that would enhance the life of the “sugar belt” including the establishment of agricultural, housing and light manufacturing industrial estates. The restructuring of Caroni represents an historic event in TT’s history, a significant chapter in an industry that once dominated the economy. We are pleased that it is proceeding without disruption, with the apparent good will of all concerned.
As part of the tenth anniversary celebrations of Indian Radio this column, recounted the history of Marcel Mahabir’s FM 103 as well as the impact of Indian radio stations. It will be remiss to conclude this series without also exploring the failings of Indian radio stations. While the rationale to start the first Indian radio station was economic the essential reason that the station flourished was that it connected at an emotive and psychological level with the Indian Community. It was this connectivity with the Indian community that the first Indian radio station was made a success and so inspired several copycats. When FM 103 was first launched the station achieved a total market share of over 25 percent of the national listening audience. Yet currently the six Indian radio stations combined struggle to achieve fifteen percent of the national audience. Within ten years market surveys reveal there was a decline in the listening audience of Indian radio. Where have all these Indian listeners gone to? The distance between Indian radio stations and the Indian audience appears to be at the heart of the decline of the Indian radio industry. The stations have failed to remain connected with the Indian community. The mainly non-Indian and non-Hindu radio station managers appear not to care or find out about the product or audience they are attempting to target. The love of money takes precedence over the love for Indian culture, and the Indian audience. It must be noted that the flag-bearers and foot soldiers of Indian culture in Trinidad and Tobago are chiefly Hindus. Yet this significant audience almost does not figure in the decision making process of Indian radio stations.
The growing distance between the Indian audience and Indian radio stations is often exhibited by the very music played. The Indian community first flocked to Indian radio stations due to the dearth of Indian music on the existing radio stations — a classic case of niche marketing. Yet this successful niche concept currently escapes the managers, as non-Indian music such as calypsos, and extempo, are commonplace on Indian radio stations. One station manager even purchased thousand of dollars in Country Western music as he ‘felt’ Indians will like that also. The Indian audience is now seen only in terms of numbers and potential advertising revenues while the Indian needs are almost ignored. Shows with names such as ‘Caffeine Rush’ and ‘Insomnia’ reflect this drift from the traditional Indian moorings. New shows and promotions are now done with an American type voice rather than a Trinidadian or Indo-Trinidadian voice on some major Indian radio stations. Indian radio station programme managers now include the ‘Carnival product’ and a ‘Christmas product’ in their packages while Shivratri, Kartik, Ram Navmi, Ramayanas Phagwa and other Hindu religious observances have to lobby to be covered. Indian conferences and Hindi language seminars do not even warrant the attention of the Indian media.
The community outreach programme of Hans Hanoomansingh in the early days of FM 103 is virtually abandoned by all Indian stations as a model to follow. Hanoomansingh made an effort to solicit the support of all Indian based groups. This strategy of fostering a sense of community ownership was reflected in the number of free programmes given to the Hindu and Muslim communities. These groups and their followings in turn felt essentially as part owners of the station. Now these groups that built the Indian stations are all but alienated from the stations. The lack of creativity and imagination also is a major reason for the decline of Indian radio stations. Most stations start the programming with a form of devotional programming almost identical in nature. Every station now has an announcer who is a singer or performer. On a Friday night most stations start their weekend of Chutney music that follows into Saturday. Horoscope or Psychic readings are also a fixed feature of most stations. The programming template pioneered by Marcel Mahabir’s FM 103 ten years ago is essentially still the format generally used by all six Indian radio stations. Indian radio stations have now jumped on the talk-show bandwagon that has swept the nation. These Indian talk-shows have been developed to be neutral in nature.
Hosts fail to connect to the Indian audience and on some stations hosts openly boast to a largely Indo-Trinidadian audience that they are not to be defined as Indo-Trinidadian. The management supports this position as the Indian ethos is incorrectly viewed solely in a political or racial perspective. Again the Indian audience does not see themselves reflected in some of these talk-shows. Indian radio stations promote Indian music yet ironically these stations do nothing sustainable and substantial to develop Hindi among its listeners and thus ensure their life span extends into the future. One will think that the continuity of the language being transmitted will hold some interest among the management of these Indian radio stations. All Indian stations now have the annual ‘mela’ which is essentially a gloried free fete. These melas are characteristically classless and appears more like the sacrifice of Indian culture and as such deserves a brief examination. These melas are dominated by local performances — Chutney. What passes for chutney amounts to nothing more than vulgarity, semi nudity, crude degenerate lyrics, and of course, the alcoholic/suicidal overtones of “rum till I die.” As a result of the on going efforts of these stations to win audience share, the average chutney routine is now a scandalous wining exercise, laced with hip hop, dub, and soca. These melas often display desperate, ugly, and unskilled wining. Guided by a management lacking connection with the Indian community this denigration of Indian culture is what Indian media houses promote. The failures of Indian media industry are easily identifiable the challenge is however to arrest the declining Indian audience by once again connecting to the Indian community in a substantial manner. The media management must now invest into the Indian community some of the revenues it took out over the past decade.
On Sunday July 6, you published the last of an excellent series of reports on the 170 days of public hearings of the Airport Inquiry. There should now be little doubt in your readers’ minds that a lot went wrong in the Airport Project. After the Commission’s report is published there should be no doubt at all in anyone’s mind. And we should have a much better understanding of how things can go wrong in any project where public money — our money — is being spent. So we must now ask, if we haven’t asked before, “What can be done to prevent such abuses?” The first thing that can be done is to punish any wrongdoers. If this is done justly and fairly, with all due process, it will be a powerful deterrent. We need to turn corruption and mismanagement of public funds into high risk occupations. Another thing to do is reform the public procurement system in such a way that no-one entrusted with public funds will be free to spend any of those funds outside the control of clear, properly enforced laws, rules and procedures. In the case of the Airport Project it appears that there was at times too much discretion allowed to individuals or groups whose actions were not always monitored effectively. There seems to have been, at times, a considerable lack of transparency and accountability. At the symposium on Transparent Public Procurement held by the Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI) in April, we learned that, under the present system, State owned enterprises for example can in effect, spend public money without the oversight of a body such as the Central Tenders Board. Some would justify this in the name of efficiency, but the airport project shows how it can be abused. What we need is a system that includes all projects involving public funds and, provides as much control as the complexity of the project requires yet, not so much as to tie up the process in red tape.
A difficult balance to achieve, but one to which Governments in many countries-including our own-are working. When opening our symposium, Ms Alison Lewis, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance spoke of Government’s commitment to uphold ”…the highest standards of integrity in public life…” To fulfill this commitment, it had “…embarked on a number of reforms, one of which is Financial Management Reform.” She described this as “…a comprehensive reform effort which will have far reaching consequences, since it involves systemic changes to ensure, among other things, we get value for money….” The reform, she said,”…is intended to enhance the ability of line managers to manage more effectively by giving them the opportunity to do so more flexibly but in the context of full transparency and accountability.” During the symposium discussions, a technical officer of the Ministry of Finance explained some of the options that Government is considering for reforming public procurement. She expected that the work being done on these issues would soon enter the public domain. We are looking forward eagerly to the results of this work. Publication of serious proposals for reform will reassure the public of Government’s commitment, and provide all stakeholders with the opportunity to discuss and help improve these proposals.
TTTI’s project is to promote such discussion and so contribute to reform. So we urge the Government not to delay much longer in sharing their proposals with the nation. A third thing is to build special safeguards against corruption, into the procedures of one or two major public projects and monitor these projects in such a way as to ensure that they are corruption free. This, in essence is what Transparency International’s (TI’s) Integrity Pact does. Under a legally enforceable agreement.
* tenderers undertake not to offer or pay any bribes in connection with the contract;
* the public authority on its part commits itself to prevent extortion and the acceptance of bribes by its officials, and to follow transparent procurement rules;
* all parties agree to the application of specific sanctions for violations of the Pact;
* disputes are resolved through international or, where appropriate, national arbitration;
* all steps in the process are monitored by an independent body; and
* there is extensive and easy public access to all relevant information.
Participants at our symposium generally agreed that, using this tool — which does not have to wait on new laws being passed — could go a long way to restoring public confidence in public institutions. It would reassure suppliers that there can actually be such as a thing as a level playing field. It would set directions for reforms that could eventually render Integrity Pacts unnecessary. Most discussions of corruption tend to concentrate more on bribe taking than on bribe giving. But in procurement, as in all transactions “one hand can’t clap.” We must do what we can to discourage suppliers of goods and services from offering bribes. Better anti-corruption legislation, such as what could be drafted by the proposed independent Commission Against Corruption, should help here. In the meantime, we can work with the private sector suppliers to develop a corporate culture that prohibits the offering of bribes. TI has developed a set of `Business Principles for Countering Bribery’ that we propose to discuss with the business community. These are some of the things that can be done to bring greater integrity to the way Government and the Private Sector do business. The Enquiry findings should be of great help to those who seek to do them.
