Things turned nasty in the House of Representatives on Wednesday night during the debate on the Caricom (Skilled Nationals) (Amendment) Bill 2003, reaching a low point when one Government MP made remarks, which the Opposition branded racist.
Laventille East/Morvant MP Fitzgerald Hinds, a Government backbencher, read out a passage from “Inward Hunger” by Dr Eric Williams, including phrases like “by hook or crook they brought out the Indian vote” and “a hostile and recalcitrant minority.” Hinds said: “This is the danger facing the people of Trinidad and Tobago — exploiting race as the basis of political power. Dr Wiliams saw it as a danger then, and it is a danger now. Since that time ‘they’ have been construing these noble words in their own racist terms.” Opposition MPs vocally took offence to Hinds interrupting his speech with shouts of “You are being racist!” and “In 2003?!”
Opposition heckling became so loud that Speaker of the House, Barry Sinanan, intervened to warn them: “Whether you like it or not, he is in possession of the House. If you don’t want to listen the door is right next to you”. The ruling brought audible gasps from the Opposition. After Hinds, Opposition MP for Chaguanas, Manohar Ramsaran, rose and complained: “I can’t sit here and have that MP repeat words like ‘recalcitrant minority’ and ‘hostile’ while you talk about Caribbean unity and spreading our wings. That kind of statement is taking us backward. We have to be very careful what we say; We are leaders. We have this member trying to introduce race into this debate. “Whenever the member for Laventille East/Morvant gets up to talk he brings racism and hate. The Chief Whip must talk to him. We on this side will never describe another group as recalcitrant.”
Opposition MP for Nariva, Harry Partap, also voiced his dismay with Hinds, saying: “He (Hinds) was in open defiance of his leader…Mr Prime Minister. “You must take action against the MP for Laventille East/Morvant,” he declared. During Hinds’ contribution his colleagues on the Government benches remained silent, several with heads bowed, and reports reaching Newsday are that they were very upset with his speech, especially as he had not even been carded to speak.
Government is not contemplating any state of emergency, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said yesterday.
“We do not believe that the circumstances warrant it,” he said. He added that even “when you (do) decide that the circumstances warrant it, you have to do so taking into account the fact that this country is on a major thrust to attract investments here. And we have to be very careful about the kinds of signals we send.” The National Security Council meets this morning to discuss measures to deal with the crime situation. Addressing a post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall, Manning also dismissed rumours that National Security Minister, Howard Chin Lee was going to be replaced by media magnate and Chairman of the Committee on Crime, Ken Gordon. “You are trying to ask me is if I am considering Mr Ken Gordon as National Security Minister? The answer is no,” he told reporters.
Manning also elaborated on his views on the Executive President, which would marry the positions of Prime Minister and President. He said the Executive President could either be elected by one man/one vote or he could be the leader of the party that commands the majority of the seats in the House of Representatives. Therefore in this arrangement the Prime Minister would assume the position of President. Manning noted that Trinidad and Tobago’s position was anomalous. He said that when the country moved to Republican status, the President replaced the Governor-General as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. But, Manning asked, who was in charge of the armed forces the President or the Government?
Results of this year’s Secondary Entrance Assess-ment (SEA) will be released on July 3, and not on June 27 as reported. At the same time, Education Minister Hazel Manning at the post Cabinet press conference denied a report in yesterday’s Guardian, which claimed there was a shortfall in the number of places for the students who wrote this year’s SEA. Instead, the Minister reaffirmed that all students would gain a place in a secondary institutions.
Communications Assistant Hilton Braveboy yesterday said there was never any delay with regards to the results, as there had never been any intention on the part of the ministry to release the results today. “These false claims only served to create panic and chaos among both parents and students,” stated a source at the Ministry of Education, “whilst forcing the Minister to implement damage control tactics.” Manning also said the erroneous report had gotten information mixed up, and confirmed that construction work was currently being done at various schools. However, she stressed that it was being done on Form Six Blocks, and not on additions expected for Form One’s.
A release from the Ministry stated that 21,912 places existed at both private and public secondary schools throughout TT, and that 20,669 students had written the exam.Explaining that the only shortfall existed in the Caroni area as there were only 3,009 places in schools within that area, Mrs Manning stressed that the ministry would try its best to place the excess 153 students in schools closest to their homes. She said that in the other seven zones, there were excess places to accommodate this move. For example in south east Trinidad, she said, there were 1,554 places, an excess of 90. The release further stated that 20,300 places existed at government and government-assisted secondary schools, whilst 1,575 places were available at private secondary schools, the Servol Junior Life Centres and at pre-vocational schools.The release concluded that computer and science laboratories in several schools were being upgraded, and that rehabilitation works to improve security and cafeteria facilities were underway.
IN A MASSIVE show of strength and solidarity, the National Union of Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW) took to the streets of Port-of-Spain yesterday to highlight the plight of government daily-paid workers.
Thousands of NUGFW members drawn from all government departments, accompanied by their counterparts of other unions, started their march from Memorial Park and ended at Woodford Square. The placard-bearing protesters marched to music provided by improvised musical instruments. At Woodford Square, they were addressed by a battery of speakers, headed by NUGFW’s President-General, Robert Guiseppi and his second in command, James Lambert. Lambert highlighted three main areas of concern – the classification of workers, pension plan and negotiations for a 2002-2004 Collective Agreement. He made it clear that NUGFW was neither against the duly-elected government, CEPEP nor the URP and were not protesting because of the upcoming Local Government elections.
“What we want are better wages as a working class people, amendments to both the Industrial Relations Act and the Recognition, Registration and Certification Board and better wages for CEPEP workers. “Government is paying wages like in the colonial days. We want better pay packets for URP and CEPEP workers, and we want sustainable jobs for the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” said Lambert. He noted that in Trinidad and Tobago, the rich was getting richer and the poor poorer. Promising that the workers would not give up, Lambert said: “We will march until our demands are met and are able to enjoy the wealth of the country the way others do.” The heads of all sections of NUGFW, representing government daily-paid workers and state enterprises, also addressed the mass of people.
RUNAWAY crime coupled with the high prevalence of illegal guns in the country prompted an Appeal Court Judge to call for life imprisonment for repeat gun offenders yesterday.
Justice Roger Hamel-Smith, who is hearing magisterial appeals in the San Fernando Supreme Court, described possession of an illegal firearm as an act intended to kill. “Therefore, the crime should carry life in jail,” Hamel-Smith said. Appeal Court judge Lionel Jones sat with him adjudicating on an appeal of Tony Huggins, 34, of San Fernando, against a jail sentence imposed by a magistrate for possession of a gun and ammunition. Huggins was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment with hard labour on November 22, 1999, by Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan, after being found guilty of possession of arms and ammunition. Huggins appealed against the severity of the sentence.
Acting Senior State attorney Trevor Ward, submitted that Huggins had two previous convictions for a similar offence. Their Lordships upheld the submission, saying in the circumstances, the magistrate’s sentence was appropriate. In disallowing the appeal and affirming the sentence, Justice Hamel-Smith said it was his view that the penalty for repeat gun offenders, should be life imprisonment. “It was too prevalent in society, the objective of having a gun is to kill. It is close to committing murder,” Hamel-Smith said.
A 17-YEAR-OLD Cedros youth was disqualified from obtaining a Driving Permit (DP) for 12 months and also fined a total of $1,300 for a series of charges arising out of an incident last year, in which a 21-year-old woman was dragged some 30 feet along the road, after her feet became entangled in a length of rope attached to the back of a van, driven by the youth.
According to the court order, the 12-month disqualification takes effect from the date when it becomes legal for him to hold a DP. The sentence was handed down on Calvin Ramnarinesingh on Monday, after he was found guilty by Point Fortin Second Court Magistrate Rae Roopchand. The case against Ram-narinesingh was that around 6.30 pm on April 13, 2002, 21-year-old Angela James was walking along Icacos Main Road when her foot got entangled around a piece of rope which was trailing from a van driven by Ramnarinesingh. James was dragged some 30 feet along the road before her screams alerted Ramnarinesingh, the driver, who was then 16 years old at the time.
The woman sustained serious injuries to the lower part of her body and had to undergo emergency surgery at San Fernando General Hospital, where she was subsequently warded for two weeks. As a result of the injuries, the woman was left with permanent scars about her body. Ramnarinesingh was later arrested and charged by Cpl Davbid Subero of the Cedros police station with dangerous driving, failing to report an accident, having no DP and Certificate of Insurance. If the youth does not pay the fines, he will be sent to the Youth Training Centre (YTC) for six months.
A 20-YEAR-OLD woman was granted $50,000 bail when she appeared before a Couva Magistrate yesterday charged with the attempted murder of her common-law husband.
Tricia Maharaj appeared before Magistrate Jo-Anne Connor for the attempted murder of Jason Nyck, at their Pascall Road, Couva, home on Tuesday evening. After the charge was read out in court, Magistrate Connor granted Maharaj $50,000 bail to be approved by the Clerk of the Peace, and adjourned the matter to July 7. Police are alleging that Maharaj had a heated argument with Nyck on Tuesday over their 18-month-old son, Nicolai. Up to late yesterday, Nyck remained warded in serious but stable condition at the San Fernando General Hospital. Detective Constable Brandon John of Couva CID, is the complainant in the matter.
A welder told a jury yesterday he could not have kidnapped Kevin Weeks and his girlfriend, and robbed Weeks, because he was drunk and at home sleeping on Boxing morning 1999 when the incident is alleged to have happened.
Otis Samuel, of Esmeralda Road, Cunupia, is before Justice Herbert Volney in the Port-of-Spain First Criminal Court, charged with kidnapping Weeks on the morning of December 26, 1999 and robbing him of his sneakers valued $1,200; a gold chain valued $800 and three gold rings together valued $1,600. Weeks and his girlfriend were awaiting transportation at Macoya Junction about 5.15 am when Samuel is alleged to have pulled alongside the couple with a car and ordered them in the vehicle at gunpoint. There were three other men in the car. Samuel raised the alibi defence yesterday by testifying that he spent Christmas day at home, drinking. He claimed that he had so much to drink that he got intoxicated and slept through Christmas night until Boxing morning.
Samuel admitted to State prosecutor Alexander Prince that he did not raise an alibi defence at the Magistrate’s Court and had only given notice of such a defence on Tuesday. At the Magistrate’s Court, Samuel told the Magistrate that he did not intend to give alibi evidence, but was still advised by the Magistrate that within the following ten days he could still give notice to the Director of Public Prosecution of an alibi defence. Prince suggested to Samuel that the reason it took him two years (until Tuesday) to give notice of an alibi defence was because he was not at home, but at Macoya committing the crime. Samuel denied the allegation.
Samuel also admitted to having a scar under his right eye, which was one form of identification Weeks said he was able to recognise him. In response to defence attorney Mario Meritt, Samuel complained that the other men on the police identification parade in which he was pointed out by Weeks, were not of the same height, build, complexion etc. However, he admitted that he did not complain about “fairness” to Insp Michael Lashley who was conducting the parade. When hearing resumes today Volney is expected to sum up the case to the jury.
Michael Po-tella, Chief Exe-cutive Officer of the National Flour Mills (NFM) stated that the State enterprise will soon be employing one disabled person to fill the vacant position of an inventory clerk. The announcement came yesterday during a press conference at their Wrightson Road office.
Potella said that the decision to hire the differently-abled person was in keeping with an earlier commitment they made at the start of the protests by disabled people outside the NFM compound. Potella went a step further by issuing a challenge to other national companies to follow where they have led in the hiring of disabled people. To support his claim that the NFM has never discriminated against disabled people, present at the conference was staff member and physically disabled Iqbal Mohammed. Mohammed is a Custom Services Super-visor at the company and said that he was very happy and proud to be part of an organisation that has taken the decision to hire another challenged person. When he started with the company 5 years ago, he was on crutches. Mohammed said: “At NFM I had no biasness. In fact, I bravely moved upward. I was never discriminated against and under the health plan, I benefitted.” When asked if the government had mandated the company to hire a disabled person in light of the ongoing protest outside their compound, Potella replied in the negative. He said: “We acted independently in hiring the disabled person.”
Potella then informed the media that he would be meeting with George Daniel, Chairman of the Disabled People International/TT today to personally relay the information. However, less than a couple hours after the conference, some CEPEP contractors approached Daniel and his members to also offer employment to them. One of the contractors, Mac Donald Padmore, said: “It is 52 days now they are here. It is time we get them out of the street.” Padmore, together with Kent Shields of KG Environmental Services, Kenny Brooks and other contractors went to Daniel for the latter to furnish them with names, addresses, qualifications and/or skills of the members of his association to assess how they can be absorbed by the CEPEP companies. Shields said: “We have been paying attention to the disabled people for a while and we are now negotiating with them to try and absorb as much of them as possible.” He added that it was his hope to get every CEPEP contractor in Trinidad and Tobago to employ at least one of them.” There are approximately 100 CEPEP contractors in the country while over 200 disabled people are registered in the association.
While the threat posed by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) appears to be abating with the removal of Hong Kong and Beijing from the World Health Organisation (WHO) list of countries with recent transmission, a Health Official yesterday said surveillance at TT’s sea and air ports will continue.
Hong Kong and China had the largest number of SARS cases and deaths worldwide. Ag Chief Medical Officer Dr Rampersad Parasram yesterday said caution has to be exercised and surveillance will continue “as long as necessary.” He said the Health Ministry has been receiving periodic reports and the local response plan has been reviewed. In April the Ministry instituted a system whereby visitors to TT are required to complete a SARS Declaration Form detailing their travel history for the past two weeks and stating if they are presently with any SARS symptoms (fever, respiratory symptoms). Any probable SARS cases will be referred for further medical assessment.
To date there has been no local reports of SARS. SARS, a member of the coronavirus family has been traced to southern China but scientists are yet to determine its origin. Up to yesterday the WHO website reported 8,456 cases (between November 1, 2002 and yesterday) with 809 deaths. It said only Taiwan and Toronto continue to experience “chains of local transmission.” WHO said former SARS “hotspots” Hong Kong and Singapore plan to continue with high levels of surveillance supported by measures for screening and detection until at least the end of the year.
