N Touch

Man found hanging was murdered

AN AUTOSPY performed yesterday on the body of the father of one who on Sunday was found hanging from a shed at the back of his Penal home, revealed the man was murdered. As such, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Geoffrey Henderson, yesterday ordered South-Western Division police to formally charge two men for the murder of Sunil Ganga, 26. The two men, ages 20 and 22, and from Scotts Road, Penal, were charged late yesterday evening by Cpl Flanders of Penal CID, for Ganga’s murder, and will appear before a Siparia Magistrate this morning to face the charges. Ganga, a gardener, of Snail Trace, Scotts Road, Penal, was discovered hanging in a shed at the back of his home by his wife, Roseanne Ganga, 23, mere hours after he had an altercation with two men at his home. When Newsday visited Ganga’s humble home yesterday, relatives and friends were gathered on the roadside still trying to come to terms with Ganga’s death. His wife, Roseanne, who assisted her husband in the garden, said she and her husband were frequently threatened by the suspects because they (the suspects) were envious of them. “They (the suspects) say we building up too fast. They were jealous of us,” the grieving woman said. Roseanne said two weeks ago the suspects dealt her husband several blows which left him hospitalised. She said she had made several reports to the police but the men continued harasssing them.                                                                           

Recalling the events leading up to her husband’s death, she said on Saturday she and her husband had gone to the Penal market to sell barbadine, caraille, avocadoes, pimentos and peppers. She said when they returned home around 12.30 pm, she cooked lunch, and sometime later, her father-in-law Chandra Ganga, came over and they started to drink. Some hours later, Roseanne said she, her husband and their seven-year-old son Sanjay, went across to her father-in-law’s residence, some 200 feet away, where they continued drinking. Around 10. 50 pm, Roseanne said she and her husband left their son at her in-laws, and returned home. She said she went inside her house, leaving her husband outside. “When he drink he is talk to he self. But I hear him say ‘who is that’ and then I hear he say ‘(name call) what yuh doing meh.’ Then he shout ‘Roseanne run’,” she recalled. Too frightened to run out of the house, she peeped through the  window and saw two men holding her husband. She said she heard a bottle break and she heard as though the men were dragging her husband to the back of the house. Minutes after she heard noises by the shed and then everything was quiet. After a few minutes she started hearing people moving about. Hours after, around 4 am, when she was sure that the men were gone, Roseanne said she came out of the house and found her husband hanging in the shed. She ran to her in-laws’ house and they contacted the police. Penal CID is continuing investigations. Roseanne said she felt safer now that the two men had been caught by the police.

Heritage treasure opens in Tobago

Curtains went up on the 2003 Tobago Heritage Festival in a burst of colour and excitement embodied in the TSTT-sponsored Opening Night presentation at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex on Sunday night. With the storyline revolving around this year’s theme “Our Heritage — A Legacy To Treasure,” it was an action-packed and powerfully dynamic opening to the 17th edition of Tobago’s annual cultural potpourri.  The precision-timed production was characterised by an explosion of song, dance and drama featuring the island’s leading artistes and groups, including the Pembroke Folk Performers; Les Coteaux Cultural Theatre who left patrons in awe with their daring limbo routine; Delaford Village Council Youth Arm who performed the “cleansing” ritual dance to get proceedings underway; among other groups and performers.

But the night belonged to Tobago-born calypsonian “Tobago Crusoe” (Orthneil Bacchus), now residing in England, who returned especially for the 21-day cultural feast and delivered a command performance. “Robinson Crusoe” (Deryck Brathwaite), a “European tourist” (Linda Dick) and “Ras” (Percival Trim) were the main characters in the production which focussed on aspects of Tobago’s rich and diverse indigenous cultural artform which will be showcased at village venues throughout the island over the next three weeks. The Heritage bandwagon rolls into Bethel tonight for the presentation “Rites of Passage” at the Bethel Hard Court and moves on to Delaford, east Tobago, tomorrow night. Both shows begin at 8.30 pm.

Morvant man charged with Chootoo kidnapping

A morvant man ap-peared yesterday before Port-of-Spain Magistrate Jo-Ann Connor charged with the kidnapping of 29-year-old construction worker Darryl Chotoo. Kasib Celestine, 21, labourer, of Pelican Road Extension Morvant, is accused of the June 30 kidnapping. Chootoo was reportedly taken from his El Socorro home by armed men who forced their way into the house and threw him into a waiting car. Nicholas Smith, 18, unemployed, of Malick Barataria was also charged with one count of demanding money from Chootoo’s father Lalchan Chootoo between July 8 and 9. Connor adjourned the matters to tomorrow when the men will appear separately in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ First Court. After extensive police searches Chootoo has not been found.

UN ‘racism’ expert visits TT and Guyana

SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Doudou Diene, will visit Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana at the invitation of the governments of both countries from July 14 to 26. According to a release from the UN Information Centre for the Caribbean area yesterday, Diene will seek to understand the origins of ethnic tensions that have recently affected the political and social fabric of both countries. He will also learn about the policies and measures of both governments “aimed at guaranteeing the rights of equality and non-discrimination of citizens from culturally diverse backgrounds.”  During his visit, Diene will meet with government officials in Port-of-Spain and Georgetown as well as members of the international community. Diene will also hold consultations with members of the judiciary, the media and non-governmental organisations in both countries.

The UN Information Centre indicated that Diene’s visit “should further contribute to strengthening current efforts by the UN aimed at supporting the building of social cohesion in Guyana in particular.” Diene will submit his findings to the 16th session of the Commission on Human Rights in March 2004. After July 26, Diene is scheduled to visit Canada, Colombia and the Ivory Coast. Diene is a former UNESCO Director of the Department of Intercultural Dialogue and Pluralism for a Culture of Peace and was appointed to his current post on April 25, 2002.

Moean Mohammed is dead

Popular radio and television announcer Moean Mohammed is dead. He died around 5 pm yesterday at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. He was ill for some time. Moean, said to be in his late 60s, was the brother of Kamaluddin Mohammed, a founding member of the People’s National Movement (PNM), who in later years was an ambassador in the UNC government. Moean was also the brother of the late Sham Mohammed, who was also a popular television announcer, widely known for his work with the Indian television show Mastana Bahar. He was also the uncle of Nafeeza Mohammed as well as Alimudeen Mohammed, also a popular radio and television announcer. Moean was the father of two children — Sadro and Aruna, both television and radio personalities. Funeral arrangements will be announced later.

Montserrat declared a disaster area

Montserrat has been declared a disaster area, and an emergency meeting of the Eastern Caribbean Donor Group (ECDG) has been called to determine the extent and type of relief required by the Caribbean island.  According to reports from the Caribbean Disaster Reponse Agency (CDERA), a large section of the Soufriere Hills Volcano’s dome collapsed around 10.45 pm last Saturday, causing ash and pumice to fall islandwide. Pyroclastic flows were also reported mainly down the Tar River Valley and only one person was reported injured by stones from a rock fall.  Ash falls were also reported in the neighbouring states of Antigua, Anguilla, St Kitts/Nevis, St Croix and St Maarten. Contacted yesterday at CDERA headquarters in Barbados, head of CDERA’s Preparation and Response Unit Major Shelton De Four told Newsday that following Saturday’s explosion, the entire island has been declared a disaster area and members of Montserrat’s Central Services are currently out assessing the extent of damages to the roads, water supply, the St John’s Hospital and other parts of Montserrat’s infrastructure. In addition, an island-wide clean up is underway. Major De Four said the ECDG was scheduled to meet in emergency session at 3 pm at its Barbados office in order to assess the situation and determine the type of aid required by Montserrat and, how group members can contribute. He stated that the ECDG will also determine whether any extra-regional assistance should be sought.

De Four said scientists have advised that the major explosion was over, but smaller explosions may occur intermittently over the next few days or weeks. He said volcanic activity at Soufriere was being closely monitored. However, he indicated that while scientists expect minimal pyroclastic and mud flows, the 4,500 persons living in the “safe zone” in the northern half of the island are in no danger. Major De Four also indicated that operations at St Kitts/Nevis’ Airport were returning to normal following clean-up activities there. Flights in and out of St Kitts/Nevis were cancelled on Sunday, due to ash falls from the Soufriere Volcano. The airport in Anguilla was also closed on Sunday, due to the ash falls, but there was no damage to that island’s infrastructure. Lars Ottemoller, a seismologist at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, said air flights were back to normal and there was no immediate danger to the islanders. He reported that emergency officials in Montserrat were meeting yesterday to discuss downed power and telephone lines affecting some sections of the island, and mud-covered roads. Some area were still without water, he added. The Soufriere Hills volcano sprang to life in 1995, chasing away more than half of the British Caribbean island’s population. An eruption in 1997 killed 19 people and buried the capital of Plymouth. The peak he reported, still cast a reddish-orange glow at night. Scientists monitor it and report any changes to the island’s 4,500 residents who live in northern areas that have been declared safe.

Happy, Law Lords?

WELL at least three members of the Privy Council should be very pleased that, thanks largely to their absurd ruling, two men convicted of  murder and sentenced to hang by a TT court were set free last week. It seems the Law Lords have chalked up another success in their long running and consistent campaign to impose their abolitionist views on Trinidad and Tobago and other Commonwealth Caribbean states. Beneficiaries of the Law Lords’ unprecedented decision are Kizza Sealey and Marvin Headley who were found guilty of murdering Don Christopher Prescott in January 1999 but whose conviction was quashed by a 3-2 majority decision of the Privy Council on the single ground that their defence counsel had failed to put evidence of their “good character” to the jury.

As we stated in a previous editorial, we find this decision unbelievable. In the first place, it is unprecedented. In all the TT murder appeals heard before by the Privy Council this is the first time that such a point was argued. In the face of overwhelming evidence of the guilt of the two accused, we would have thought that the Law Lords would consider such a ground as vexatious and frivolous. We could hardly imagine that evidence of “good charactger” — which, by the way, could be cooked up by any accused person — would be sufficient to sway a jury confronted by the kind of evidence produced by the prosecution in this trial. In such circumstances, what really are the Law Lords saying? That evidence of the accused’s “good character” in any murder —  or any  criminal case for that matter — could be sufficient to override or negate overwhelming evidence of their guilt? Indeed, is it their view that a person of “good character” cannot commit murder or a serious act of violence?

The inconsistency of the Privy Council in dealing with this appeal is troubling. On the one hand, they recognised that the case against the two accused “was a very strong one and that, from a reading of the transcript, the alibi evidence appeared unimpressive.” On the other hand, they stated: “While it appears probable that the jury would have convicted, their Lordships are unable to conclude that the jury would inevitably have convicted” had the “good character” direction been given. This majority decision of the Privy Council, as we see it, can only be understood in the context of the determined effort of the British Law Lords, starting with Pratt and Morgan several years ago, to circumvent the process of our criminal justice system which requires the death penalty to be imposed on all convicted murderers. In the case of Sealey and Headley, they were convicted on February 29, 2000, before Justice Herbert Volney who duly sentenced them to hang. The TT Court of Appeal considered their case on March 20, 2001, and dismissed it.

Our experience of criminal trials tells us that accused persons are convicted on the weight of evidence brought against them and that defence counsel are entitled to submit evidence of their “good character” to the court as part of a plea in mitigation of sentence. The death penalty imposed on convicted murderers, of course, is not susceptible to such a plea. The prosecution’s case against Sealey and Headley centred on the evidence of former Police Corporal Roland Holder who was an eye witness to the killing of Prescott on the morning of January 25, 1999, on Independence Square, Port-of-Spain. Holder told the court he saw “a commotion” among four men on the sidewalk and the two accused running away while blood flowed from bodyguard Prescott and his employer businessman James Chen. Holder said he recognised the two accused men who lived in his neighbourhood and whom he saw almost every day. However the former police officer refused to return to Trinidad from the United States to testify at the retrial which had to be held as a result of the Privy Council ruling. So the convicted men were freed and the Law Lords should be quite pleased.

Making suckers out of the people


I believe that it was American President Abe Lincoln who said that, “You can fool some of the people some of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”

Poor Abe could hardly have been expected to have the current political situation in mind when he surmised this political maxim. Our politicians seem to act on the belief that they can fool all the people all the time — and they at least succeed in fooling most of the people, most of the time. I am, accordingly, reminded of American showman PT Barnum attributing his success to “the fact” that, “…there’s a sucker born every minute.” In our neck of the woods, remember Valmond Fatman Jones? Well Fatman Jones is hardly remembered for his portrayal of Caesar (or was it Nero?) in an historical carnival band, but he’s hardly forgotten for his Sam Cooke’s scam when he sold tickets for a Sam Cooke show that never came off for the very simple reason that Sam Cooke never heard of it and the ticket holders’ money disappeared together with Fatman into thin air. At the time, we wanted to skin Fatman alive, if we could put our hand on him. But the worst thing that happened to Fatman Jones was that the scamp was the subject of some calypsonian’s ditty, “Bring back de Fatman/Fatman, Fatman, Fatman….” which we sang to our heart’s content.

A few years later, guess who was “liming” on Frederick street like nobody’s business? — cool, cool, cool like if he’d never left his “liming” spot. The fellow probably had acquired local mini-celebrity status by then. That may have something to do with the “Anancy syndrome” of our national psyche which can’t distinguish between genuine intelligence and low cunning and leads us to promote the proverbial “smartman” to hero status. Remember the Three Canal’s Osama bin Laden promotion to bin Lion. I reckon that should a penitent, reformed and retired bin Laden ever end up as “a limer” on one of our main streets, it would simply be dismissed as the old bin Laden trying to ketch up with local cousins — “bin lying and bin tiefing.” Talking about lying and tiefing, it could be quite embarrassing (not to the politicians, of course) if someone from some extra-terrestrial planet landed here unannounced. He/she/it/ or whatever might well come to the conclusion that there was no more to our politics than lying and tiefing — sleeping with the devil or being in bed with the mafia.

Now, for good or ill, I’ve never been very good at “intellectuallising complex issues out of existence” or, as Bertie Gomes might put it, “burying my understanding of apparently complex issues in an exegesis of obfuscation,” so you might have, gentle reader, to bear with me while I connect the dots and reduce issues to such simple terms so that even I and similarly placed unsophisticated minds and simple souls can begin to understand the issues of the day. Having said this, let me reiterate my own considered view that the NAR (National Alliance for Reconstruction) was one of the biggest political hoaxes perpetrated on an unsuspecting populace.

I make absolutely no apology for so saying. Perhaps I’m too dumb and all that, but I don’t get bowled over by mossy political slogans and empty platitudes. That’s not to say that there was not a general yearning among a substantial portion of the population for genuine unity of the different strands of humanity deposited here by slavery, indenture or otherwise. But politicians are motivated more by personal and their support base interests than by noble sentiments or ideals. So the so-called “party of parties” was driven by a cabal of leaders who saw the so-called “national unity” clarion call as the means of creating the political vehicle that would drive a badly discredited (by plausible allegations of massive corruption) PNM out of town and possibly into oblivion.

The three political leaders who agreed to bring their electoral resources together under the umbrella of the NAR were Basdeo Panday, ANR Robinson and Karl Hudson-Phillips. Karl had substantial electoral support but it was too widely dispersed to win individual seats, Bas could deliver the traditional DLP seats. ANR had two Tobago seats in the palm of his hand and besides that there was a general feeling that Robinson (his aloofness and perceived autocratic demeanour notwithstanding) was, unlike Panday of Prime Ministerial timbre. Subsequently stung by the gibe that he was angling for some future Presidential appointment, Hudson-Phillips said that when the NAR came to office, the Presidency of the Republic was his for the taking.

Ken Gordon claimed that Lloyd Best had approached him to arrange a rapprochement of sorts between Robinson and Panday at some stage. I mention this as having no more significance than another instance of Panday approaching Robinson in what he might call his quest for political collaboration or “national unity” ? la Panday. Ken Gordon subsequently served as a NAR minister together with Panday and claimed that they had a problem with Panday’s penchant of seeing almost any issue through an ethnic prism (my words). As Prime Minister, a seemingly paranoic Panday had “a hate list” that included the President, the Chief Justice, the three musketeers, Selwyn Ryan, Raffique Shah, the media, Lloyd Best, Ken Gordon and others too numerous to mention. “Hell hath no fury like a paranoid politician,” completely out of his depth. Then PM Patrick Manning claimed that when he decided on the date of the snap general election, only the PNM party leadership was informed. However, what’s-his-name leaked it to one of his UNC friends.

Panday had a secret (call it private) meeting with Robinson. Panday was accompanied by Brian Kuei Tung (who did the talking) and Robert Mayers accompanied Robinson. According to Mayers’ public account, Kuei Tung told them that they knew the date of the snap general election and, whatever the package contemplated, President ANR Robinson could emerge as a “distinct Presidential possibility.” In fairness, I might add that Robinson’s reported response was a disdainful, “I didn’t know that his (Panday’s) was the presidency to offer!” Play wid Bas, Nuh!

Singh out WICB president race

ROSEAU: The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) chief Chetram Singh, withdrew yesterday from his pending appointment as West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president, and Val Banks will serve temporarily in the position.

Banks was re-elected vice-president over the only other nominee, Lennox John, and will be interim president until a ‘Special Meeting of the Members’ is held to elect a president. Singh’s pending elevation to presidency after the only other candidate Willie Rodriguez withdrew, became contentious this past week after it was revealed that his job as proprietor of a betting establishment would make him ineligible to represent the region on the International Cricket Council (ICC). “It is with regret that I advised the West Indies Cricket Board (yesterday), July 13, of my decision to withdraw from the election for the post of president,” Singh stated in a release last night. “I accepted the nomination for the post out of my love for West Indies cricket and my desire to continue to serve wherever I am most needed. It is that same love of this game and our region that has prompted me to withdraw from this election,” he said.

Singh, who has been president of the GCB since 1991, said West Indies cricket needs “continued unity” at this time and he did not wish to accept a presidential position “without the broad-based support of the board and the cricket-loving people of the Caribbean”. Singh also defended his own credibility and emphasised that his bookmaking operation, Goodwood Racing Services, is a legal and legitimate business. “I make no apologies for my business, Goodwood Racing Service, which I have run legally and with integrity for over 20 years. During my 35 years in a variety of businesses and over two decades in cricket administration, I have earned the respect of corporate Guyana and the cricketing fraternity.

Singh also pledged his continued commitment to West Indies cricket and said his decision to withdraw his bid for presidency does not mean he is stepping away from administration in regional cricket. “I have assured my fellow directors (yesterday that this turn of events has not in any way diminished my commitment to the work of the WICB and I look forward to continuing my service to West Indies cricket,” Singh said. The WICB will shortly announce the date of the Special Meeting and invite nominations for the office of president in accordance with the Memorandum and Articles of Association.

TT crowned CAREBACO champs

Sparked by the brilliance of national champion Anil Seepaul, his youthful doubles partner Kerwyn Pantin and former three-time junior champion Kesma Bonito, Trinidad and Tobago were crowned 2003 Caribbean Regional Badminton Confed-eration (CAREBACO) champions when they defeated Barbados 3-2 at the Jean Pierre Complex yesterday.

In an absorbing duel between the players of the two countries in the gold medal match, it was three-time champion Seepaul whose forceful smashes and tactical play with skilful 19-year-old Pantin which allowed the local fans and the players to celebrate TT’s third lien on the coveted CAREBACO title, having won in 1990 and 1996 when the championships were held locally. It was third time at home. Seepaul and Pantin were bronze medallist at last year’s Central Ameri-can and Caribbean (CAC) Games. And they displayed wonderful co-ordination to down their opponents in clinical style.  The strategy used by national team coach Daren Dasent to replace Glendon Thomas and Darron Charles tandem with the Seepaul/Pantin combination proved right as they whipped the Barbadian pair of Andre Padmore and Curwin Cherubin 15-3 and 15-11. At that stage,TT clinched the title with an insurmountable 3-1 lead with only the ladies doubles to be contested.

Earlier, 27-year-old triple-crown champion Seepaul started the triumphant march when he stopped Barbadian three-time champion Ryan Holder 15-13 and 17-15 after 34 minutes of exciting action from both rival champions. Former national girls champion Bonito, 19, spent 12 minutes on court as she easily disposed of Mariama Eastmond 11-5 and 11-1 and the local supporters were on a high. However, there was a hiccup when Canadian-based Thomas teamed up with Zeudi Mack in the mixed doubles encounter. The newly-formed pair succumbed to the Bajan champion duo of Holder and Dionne Holder after three tension-filled sets at 8-15, 15-3 and 8-15  after 34 minutes of gripping action. Suriname took the CAREBACO junior trophy in convincing fashion when they whipped Jamaica 5-0 in the gold medal match which was played simultaneously at the JP Complex.

Summarised scores: Seniors —TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO beat BARBADOS 3-2. —  Anil Seepaul bt Ryan Holder 15-13,  17-14; Kesma Bonito bt Mariama Eastmond 11-5, 11-1; Glendon Thomas and Zeudi Mack lost to Ryan Holder and Dionne Holder 8-15, 15-3, 15-8; Anil Seepaul and Kerwyn Pantin bt Andre Padmore 15-3, 15-11; Sabrina Cassie and Zeudi Mack lost to Dionne Holder and Mariama Eastmond 14-17, 4-15.

Junior — SURINAME beat JAMAICA 5-0 — Mitchell Wongsodikromo and Stephanie Jadi bt Kirk Francis and Shaunekka Phillips 15-3, 15-8; Virgil Soeroredjo bt Kasif Bernard 15-3, 12-15, 15-3; Stefania Esajas bt Tracy Morgan 11-4,  11-7; Wongsodikromo and Soeroredjo bt Bernard and Francis 15-2, 15-6; Stephanie Jadi and Stefania Esajas bt Tracy Morgan and Shaunekka Phillips 15-6, 15-13.