THE EDITOR: Ladies and gentlemen, Paradise has gone to hell, all thanks to the wannabe, badjohn politicians who have skillfully managed to maintain control of this town. Of course it won’t be politically correct for Manning or Panday to admit this. All hell would break loose if Manning were to admit that he and Chin Lee doesn’t have a clue as to what their next move should be. So what Bim and Bam do is blame each other. And while they blame each other, citizens of Paradise continue to live in fear. One wonders, do these two individuals, and by extension, the gangs they represent, recognise the economic fallout of the crime situation in the country? Evidently not! The “average citizen” is forced to sleep with one eye open, many turning to prayer, several not knowing when their numbers would be called; others believing it is only a matter of time. People go to sleep not knowing when bandits posing as police or vice versa would kick in their doors and add mass mayhem to their already fragile lives. And the advice from Mr Nice Guy is that crime prevention is everybody’s business.
Well Mr Guy, if crime prevention is everybody’s business, and I agree, then everyone should have the right to bear arms to protect themselves and their loved ones. Should I be brave enough or stupid enough, (and there is a fine line that distinguishes the two) to go to someone’s assistance knowing that the perpetrator is most likely armed? Would I be willing to be my brother’s keeper in a state where witnesses are neutralised to prevent them from testifying in court, while the present AG plays politics instead of putting in place a meaningful witness protection programme that would actually protect witnesses. And what about “criminologist extraordinaire” and senator, Ramesh Deosaran? What does he do in the midst of all the bacchanal? He flies off to Italy to engage in a “crime conference.” How convenient! He is off to Italy where he will discuss “Crime in the Caribbean.” Here is an individual who cannot deal with crime in any chosen area of Trinidad, yet wants a bite of the whole Caribbean. Just what we need! More ole talk which they conveniently term “conference” where meals with wines are provided at tax-payers expense, while paradise goes to hell. At the end of which a boring paper will be presented listing theories A-Z in an appendix format. Thanks a lot “professor.” We need that. The people of TT will sleep much better knowing that you are on your way to Italy to attend a “crime conference” where TT will be well represented, I am sure! Let it be stated here that there are no easy answers to the crime problem. The crime problem experienced is but one part of the social problems, and to a large degree attributable to the education system which has failed TT miserably.
The generation of bandits all came through the education system. Something evidently went wrong somewhere, while TTUTA and the teachers were on strike, or too busy giving lessons under their homes to those who could afford to pay, while students in the classrooms suffered, or yet were labelled inappropriately. But leave it to those in authority, they will probably blame the “deportees.” You gotta blame somebody, right? Accepting responsibility for one’s behaviour is perhaps the defining moment in the maturing process. The pack of politicians/opportunists should, by now, be able to stand up and face the nation with courage and stop insulting our collective intelligence. Support for the Kidnapping Bill is not going to prevent kidnapping anymore than the death penalty prevents the murder rate from escalating. What TT needs is a new generation of leaders, (and here again, there is a fine line between leaders and misleaders) who can take the proverbial bull by the horns and deal with the issues that confront us as a nation, not as a political party. We do not need another manifesto from party A, B or Z. TT needs a national agenda which the elected body must adopt and stop spending enormous sums of our tax dollars on witch hunts trying to discredit regime after regime. More later.
RUDY CHATO PAUL, SR
D’Abadie
THE EDITOR: There was something about this year’s Labour Day celebrations at Fyzabad of which I was very pleased. Absent on both platforms — National Trade Union Centre and Federation of Independent Trade Unions and NGOs — were the annual rhetoric and disparaging remarks about their comrades in struggle on either side, that would only have served to create deep wounds and perpetuate disunity. The difference was clear and present, it was all about the business of workers and the less fortunate, sending rays of hope for labour unity and there seems to be a growing sense of awareness and responsibility among the leadership. I saw the spirit of the demonstrators and heard the positive and productive speeches from both platforms. I felt the power of the working class crying out for forthright leadership. In the present political climate of divide and rule, there is no other time in our history than now, when unions need to cling desperately to their inspiring mottos: “United we stand, divided we fall” and “forward ever, backward never”.
On the journey towards labour unity, the leadership must rely heavily on dialogue, trade union democracy, understanding, workers participation and the will to succeed. “Truth” has always been the pillar of moral and spiritual values but, in this divided partisan country today, it is evident that it is losing friends, supporters; and citizens who will pay the price for this seemingly popular erosion of “truth” are the less fortunate in the society. These deprived citizens are collectively a constituency of every creed and race with the majority being Afro and Indo Trinbago-nians, sharing the same political abuse and inequalities in the social, economic and education systems. Unfortunately the traditional active and reliable support of the labour movement that was evident in the past got lost in the divisive rubble of self-aggrandisement, partisan politics and petty jealousies. A situation that left the constituency in the hands of so-called grassroot leaders who are under the influence of partisan party politics and judging from the irrelevant issues they bring into national debates is an indication that they have neither arrived nor liberated to fill the void left by the leadership of the labour movement.
This reliable “vote basket” community who continually puts Governments into power and receives little reward, is expanding as a result of the shrinking middle class community, accelerated by the increasing disparity in salaries and wages of workers at the top and those at the bottom in Government and private business across the country, together with other policies that influence the concentration of the country’s wealth into the hands of a few. Our history has shown that the labour movement has more in common with poor people than politicians will ever have, and it has always been the driving force behind social change. Therefore, if the underprivileged citizens hope to share in the country’s expected financial boom and have a say in keeping the political 2020 vision transparent and focussed on people’s needs, to ensure they are not left behind, they must stop being like the Owl — “the more light you shine on it, the less it will see”. Unorganised workers across the country must become proactive and join trade unions of their choice to actively participate in influencing labour unity and the movement’s return to its traditional role as the united voice of the poor and less privileged. There has been a timely divine intervention that workers must not ignore — the “disabled” was chosen to give the “abled” object lessons on facing the truth, racial unity, the will to succeed, how to remain focussed in spite of detractors and the public relations statements of those in authority.
WYCLIFFE MORRIS
Former Director of Education
NUGFW
December 2, 2002 marked the anniversary of the bankruptcy of the Texas-based, international energy company Enron, which was touted to prove that the era of boom and bust was over and disprove the theory that what goes up must come down. The fallout which was severe in the USA began a trend that saw legislators, regulators and even the accounting profession trying to clean up the awful mess that Enron unraveled. What was initially regarded as an American problem has begun a wave of changes around the world. No half-decent accountant would claim that the accounting rules did not contribute to the several failures which have surfaced since Enron. Indeed, one may have to thank Enron for the revelations which followed including the even more crookish bookkeeping at WorldCom and other problems at Tyco, Global Crossing, Adelphi Communication and Xerox, to name a few. It has just been reported that four of the top dogs in KPMG LLP have been sued for their role in connection with the audits of Xerox which had earlier admitted to having published wrongly reported profits for the years 1997-2001, necessitating earnings restatement of US$1.4Bn in reported income. In America, the response was swift and effective and the Republicans have been quick to put space between themselves and the “corporate crooks.” Indeed within months America passed the Sarbanes-Oxley act which is perhaps the most wide-ranging piece of business legislation since the nineteen-thirties.
Accountants however no matter how discredited will argue their case and that of their clients and were vehemently opposed to substantial reforms until the evidence became so overwhelming as to warrant a Mea Culpa. Even so, they took advantage of their still powerful lobby to dilute provisions in the bill that would have forced companies to rotate their auditors every five years on the grounds that the close relationship built up during that time could impair objectivity. All that is required by the act is rotation of the audit partner. The ludicrousness of this watered down provision has been severely exposed at Xerox where rotation was more like shuffling of the deck. The problem for the US however was that legislators had moved on to Iraq and to a lesser but more hypocritical extent North Korea, leaving the regulatory bodies almost rudderless. The Treasury Secretary had resigned and has only just been replaced by John Snow; there was no chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission or the new accountancy regulator. Harvey Pitt, the staunchest backer of the accounting profession finally mustered up the decency to resign his position as Chairman of the SEC but, only after he had recommended William Webster as head of the new accountancy regulator. Pitt had somehow forgotten to tell the SEC appointments panel that Webster’s company was being investigated for fraud. Sounds like it is still an awful mess!
In the UK the attitude was “that it could not happen here, not with our principles-based system of accounting rules” and relying partly on the fact that they had addressed their problems in the seventies. Many however would disagree and there is a view that the profession has been molly-cuddled and given just about everything it has asked for. During the year twelve months following Enron, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India issued no less than twelve new accounting standards and has moved the issue of audit rotation right up front. Like every where else the major firms are strongly resisting audit rotation with what is considered the typical objection – that it will reduce audit efficiency and increase costs. What nonsense!
In the Caribbean the interest has been largely academic although in Trinidad and Jamaica the accounting profession in those countries has agreed to examine the accounting standards in use in those countries. From all reports the regional umbrella accounting body, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean appears to have done nothing even in the form of a study to examine any weaknesses which we may be harbouring. The state of the profession in Guyana reflects the backward capitalism that Professor Clive Thomas has been writing about in his columns and is almost as tragic as our political situation. Criticisms of bad corporate governance and poor accounting practices are stifled with the threat of legal action and we recall the Editor-in-Chief apologising to Banks DIH and DDL for certain references to their companies in the Business Page series on Enron.
Later on, Guyana Stockfeeds Chairman and Managing Director also threatened legal action after Business Page reviewed and found it necessary to comment on some deficiencies in accounting and governance reflected in that company’s annual report. (Badal’s letter appeared in S/N October 27, 2002). In what was the most egregious example of disregard for shareholders, DDL has also failed to respond to questions from a shareholder raised both in a letter to the company as well as in the press. To make matters more laughable however, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana has spent the better part of 2002 looking for reasons to discipline Business Page contributor who is a member of the Institute. The “complaint” was made orally by a senior member of the Council of the ICAG whose zeal in pushing and influencing the case raises doubts about whether his concern is entirely professional. Surely after the great job done by Enron and its auditors Andersen, the profession is in disrepute and it would be giving too much credit to any member to suggest that he can bring the profession into disrepute. There are many lessons we can learn from Enron, the first of which is that it would be wrong to conclude that serious questions concerning the reliability of accounting information and the conduct of the auditing profession are present day issues or that there are no more bad apples. Abuses and failures have been known to the profession and business community for several decades and have often been attributed to auditors being asleep at the wheel. At the same time one only needs to read the professional press to see the several cases of professional misconduct and legal action against the top auditing firms.
Auditor independence while always considered a foundation of the profession has never been fully possible in the past, nor indeed is it possible now. Some of the difficulties faced in practice are the inherent, close ties between auditors and the company’s management including many who are recruited directly from the audit firms, the potential conflict which arises when the audit firm derives very high non-audit fees from its audit clients and the fact that the auditor challenges the management at the risk of losing the audit or having his justifiable request for fee increases rejected. The very foundation of the profession has been shaken as financial considerations are perceived to have become dominant in the client relationship. In other words, profit before the profession. While in the past key financial positions were held by qualified accountants operating at least in theory under strict rules of professional conduct, this has changed with the rise of the business school graduates as exemplified by the former CFO of Enron, Andrew Fastow who is now facing a jail sentence for his role in conceptualizing some of the cleverest schemes in the Enron affair. In most countries the accounting profession is self-regulated i.e. it sets its own standards of entry, examinations, post qualification experience, conduct and discipline. Accounting firms check themselves and sometimes each other (peer review) and it is known that one year before the Enron scandal broke Deloitte and Touche had given Andersen a clean bill of health following such a review. The US standards are rules-based and can often be circumvented by clever lawyers and accountants while the international standards are principles-based and are sometimes considered too loose. Enron was yes, a failure of accounting but also of many things else. Everybody got greedy and while the dividends kept rolling in and the stock prices soaring who cared whether the directors were overpaid or whether the books were cooked? The financial press failed to do its job while the politicians were all too happy to take donations in cash or kind from the business community and even, as in the case of Enron, go out there and bat for it.
Christopher Ram is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and is the managing partner of Ram & McRae in Guyana, South America.
CONSUELO PARIS-Celestine yesterday flew in from New York after Tuesday’s funeral of her only child, Eugene Celestine and his wife, Pramatee, and entered into Room 1103 of the Philadelphia Criminal Justice Centre to catch a glimpse of Trinidadian Cyprian Diaz, the man accused of shooting the couple to death. But after the court appearance in which Diaz failed to appear, Paris-Celestine said she did not want to make a comment on the person who allegedly killed her son and Trinidadian daughter-in-law on June 17 at 54th and Arch Street, West Philadelphia. “I have so many feelings that I don’t want to say right now. He took my only child. Why did he have to do that?” she asked. Eugene and Pramatee Celestine were buried at St Michael’s Cemetery, East Elmhurst, Long Island, following a funeral service at St Gabriel’s RC Church, also in East Elmhurst. Soon after the burial, Paris-Celestine, who did not want her photo taken left for Philadelphia, and armed with a trolley filled with several travelling bags, Paris-Celestine entered Judge Seamus Mc Caffery’s courtroom just after 10pm with her son’s godmother, Valerie Desir. They sat together unwittingly in the area that was plainly marked out for policemen, lawyers and members of the press.
Paris-Celestine, a nurse by profession, later told Newsday she did not know Diaz, only heard of him. She went on to say that Diaz was “sharing a space” with her son and daughter-in-law at 54th and Arch Street, West Philadelphia under an agreement. The woman, however, could not say what the agreement was, but stressed: “Knowing my son, he would know that he (Diaz) is the father of the two boy children.” Philadelphia police also confirmed that Diaz, his former common-law-wife and Eugene Celestine all lived together at one time, but they could not say if the three were living at the same apartment at the time of the killings. One detective said Diaz left Trinidad May 9, 2001, and came to Philadelphia from New York in September 2002. The detective said he could not say where Diaz was during the period, but pointed out that checks have confirmed that he was not deported from the USA. He said when Diaz came to Philadelphia he stayed with Pramatee and Eugene, who got married in December of 2002. Assistant District Attorney Mark Gilson also said the prosecution had been informed that all three were living together. “It’s strange that husband and wife are living together with children’s father then they are both killed in front of the two children,” Gilson said after the court hearing. The Philadelphia lawman added that sometime after Diaz moved in, something went wrong and that Pramatee was going to close a restaurant they had at the end of the month. Diaz’s twin brother, Felix Diaz said that the restaurant started as a result of benefits his brother earned after his retirement as a watchman at the Tunapuna County Council approximately five years ago. But Paris-Celestine said yesterday the restaurant was owned by two people including Pramatee and another person. She said neither Diaz nor her son was the other person. She added that she was aware her son and daughter-in-law had their “ups and downs” but she said she was convinced that Eugene loved his wife and her two children, Michael and Randy.
Asked if she was against the marriage, Paris-Celestine said: “He was my only child. I supported the marriage. What could I do?” She said she last saw her son in April at a family gathering in New York, but that Pramatee was not there. Asked if she and Pramatee had a good relationship, Paris-Celestine would only say: “We met each other and I was at the wedding.” She also said the wedding between Eugene and Parmatee was legal and performed by a Minister, and pointed out that she never knew Pramatee had other children. Paris-Celestine went on to describe her son as a good child, one who helped anyone including elderly people off buses. She also said he was involved with several community groups and at one time was an auxillary policeman in New York. “He came from a good family, loving parents and people with good hearts,” she said. Paris-Celestine added that she is not in a position to care for Michael and Randy since she now wears a back brace and walks with a cane following a car accident in New York in March 2001. “It was an effort today but I had to see the person who killed my son,” she said. A custody hearing will be heard today at the Family Court in Philadelphia.
WHILE Trinidadian Cyprian Diaz did not make a court appearance as scheduled yesterday before Judge Seamus Caffery in Room 1103 at the Philadelphia Criminal Justice Centre, the prosecution has said they are convinced they are going to do well. “I know we are going to do well,” Assistant District Attorney Mark Gilson said at the court yesterday while waiting for Diaz’s court appointed attorney, Thomas McGill, to put in an appearance on behalf of his client. When the matter was called just after noon, Gilson told the court the defence had received the court appointment only on Tuesday, the same day McGill left for London. Attorney Tyrone Norwood, who held for McGill informed the court that McGill was in London visiting family. Diaz, 57, did not appear in court, but the matter was adjourned to July 9 and transferred to Room 903 of the same court. The Trinidadian national is charged with five offences, including two counts of murdering his former common-law-wife Pramatee Ramcharan-Celestine, 40, and her New York-born husband, Eugene Celestine, 29, on June 17 at their home on 54th and Arch Street, West Philadelphia.
Diaz has also been charged with possession of a firearm in a public place, possession of a firearm without a licence, and possession of an instrument of crime. Charges were laid by Detective Lawrence McGuffin of the Philadelphia Police Department. After the hearing Gilson assured Consuelo Paris-Celestine, mother of Eugene Celestine that Diaz will not be getting out of jail in a hurry, and that alleged murderers don’t just “slip through the system.” Norwood, holding for defence counsel McGill, said he did not want to comment, saying the defence knew “absolutely nothing” about the case and that McGill is the one on record. He added that they have not yet spoken to Diaz, who up to late evening had not given a statement to the Philadelphia police. Gilson stressed that it was Diaz’s right. The prosecuting attorney also said that if the matter had started yesterday at least “one or two witnesses” would have been called to give evidence to show that there was evidence to send the case for trial. Asked who the witnesses were Gilson said: “It might very well have been his children.” Philadelphia detectives who worked on the investigations said the prosecution is in good hands with the case, with the appointment of Gilson, who was the lead attorney in the December 2001, Lex Street massacre, described as the largest mass murders in the history of Philadelphia. In that incident, ten people were shot. Seven of them, including one woman, died. Three others were injured. Two persons have so far pleaded guilty. One of them will be sentenced Monday to seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. The other person who pleaded guilty, Gilson said, is co-operating with the police, and under a plea agreement he will not be sentenced, but will instead testify against two other accused who are awaiting trial. Gilson has been with the District Attorney’s department for the past 18 years.
The National Library and Information Service (NALIS) has categorically denied a claim that children had viewed pornography on a computer in the Diego Martin Public Library, as reported in a letter to the editor in a daily newspaper (not Newsday). In a statement yesterday NALIS said that it “categorically states that it strictly prohibits the viewing of pornographic material at its libraries. “NALIS, since the introduction of its internet services in 1998, has been extremely vigilant, and has taken a zero tolerance approach to patrons caught breaking the rules and regulations regarding use of the internet facilities.” NALIS said each library displayed its policy prohibiting pornography on its computers. Disclosing that at the National Library, NALIS used an internet server which daily filtered all websites, she added: “This service ensures that all sites containing pornographic material are blocked for use in the library.” This filter, she assured, was currently being installed at all NALIS libraries. She admitted that NALIS was unable to monitor the content of e-mails. She said an investigation into the alleged viewing of pornography at Diego Martin Public Library reported on June 16 had not substantiated the complaint in the letter. “Checks revealed that the computer usage and internet history showed no record of this prohibited activity.” She invited the public to send their comments on the proper use of the library facilities to NALIS at 624-4466 or 624-1130.
A man wanted in connection with the shooting of a 17-year-old Form Three student of the Aranjuez Junior Secondary School, was arrested yesterday when he visited his victim at the Port-of-Spain General Hos-pital. He was arrested by alert security guards around 1 pm after leaving Ward 22, where he had visited the victim. The man was handed over to the Besson Street Police who had several warrants for him in connection with shootings, robberies and other crimes. Reports revealed that during visiting hours at the hospital, the man armed with a bag containing juice and snacks visited Alana and reportedly begged forgiveness for the shooting. At the end of visiting hours, the man was making his way out of the Ward when he was arrested by security guards. Police reports re-vealed that the student was at her Beetham home around 6.50 pm on Tuesday when she had an argument with a 26-year-old man. Reports revealed that Ram locked herself in her bedroom which caused the man to become enraged. He reportedly gained entrance to the house by removing a louvre pane. Caroline Ram, the 22-year-old sister of the victim said her sister was shot four times on the left leg, while a bullet grazed her on the right leg.
She claimed the gunman then fled the scene shortly after the shootings. In an interview with Newsday at the scene of the shootings yesterday, Caroline claimed that her sister was rushed to the Port-of-Spain Gen-eral Hospital by an EHS ambulance. Her sister she said, was treated and warded in serious condition at Ward 22. She described her sister as beautiful and talented. Alana recently represented Beetham Estate in a beauty contest. Relatives of the victim said the suspect was recently released from prison after serving an eight-year sentence. Checks with the Besson Street Police revealed that the man will be placed on identification parades today and a search will be carried out for the gun used in the shootings.
Ryan Sagar, a 25-year-old fireman charged with killing his wife, Debbie-Ann Ramnath, appeared yesterday before Magistrate Mark Wel-lington in the San Fer-nando First Court. Sombre relatives of Sagar, filled the court in a show of support for him. On Tuesday, Sagar’s attorneys filed a writ of habeas corpus in the Port-of-Spain High Court to determine why he was detained by police for 120 hours. However the writ was overturned by High Court Justice Allan Mendonca, paving the way for his appearance yesterday in the San Fernando Magistrates Court to answer the murder charge. The charge against Sagar, who attended his wife’s funeral service, was that sometime be-tween Friday June 13 and Tuesday June 17, he murdered Ramnath. After the charge was read out, Magistrate Wellington remanded Sagar in custody and adjourned the case to July 8. As the accused was led away by Court and Pro-cess police, his relatives and friends quietly left the court-room, leaving the public sitting area of the court-room almost empty. Ramnath, 28, a train-ee teacher was found dead at the side of the road leading to the Corinth Teachers Train-ing College on June 16. An autopsy carried out at the Forensic Sciences Centre revealed she was strangled to death.
PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning’s burning desire to be “Godfather of Caricom” is the reason for Government’s urgency in amending the Immigration (Caribbean Com-munity Skilled Nationals) Act 1996 before he attends the Caricom Heads of Govern-ment summit in Jamaica on June 28. This was the accusation levelled against Manning by Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar during a special sitting of Parliament yesterday to amend that Act. Persad-Bissessar claimed the new Act was “a dangerous piece of legislation” that would leave Trinidad and Tobago vulnerable to an invasion of persons from “lesser developed Caricom nations”. She identified Haiti as one such nation and expressed fear at the possibility of 3.6 million Haitians flooding into the country and depriving citizens of jobs. Persad-Bissessar called for Haiti to be “taken off the schedule” of countries covered by the Act. “What is the urgency of this Bill?” she asked. The UNC MP answered her own question, saying that yesterday’s session was linked to Manning’s “mission to deal with Caricom not Trinidad and Tobago. “He now wants to be the Godfather of the Caricom,” Persad-Bissessar declared. She wondered what was the “mesmerising effect” which St Vincent and the Grenadines PM Dr Ralph Gonsalves seemed to have on Manning and claimed Parliament was being rushed into amending the Act “to make the Prime Minister look good in Jamaica”. Persad-Bissessar recalled that “Caricom never stood up for justice” during the 18-18 electoral deadlock in 2001 and reiterated the UNC’s condemnation of plans to establish the Caribbean Court of Justice in TT. She also claimed under the Representation of the People’s Act, Caricom nationals would be able to gain residential rights and can vote in any election.
“Pack the hills of Laven-tille,” Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath scoffed. Persad-Bissessar declared that the PNM had clear legislative agenda and it was simply “government by vaps”. She recalled that in 1998 then Prime Minister Basdeo Panday declared “we must look after TT citizens first”. Persad-Bissessar told Parliament that this is the position Manning should adhere to at the summit. Earlier in the sitting, Labour Minister Larry Achong slammed Oropouche MP Dr Roodal Moonilal for misleading the public that locals would lose their jobs to Caricom nationals. “The question of jeopardising jobs does not come into play,” he declared. He said a labour market council has been created to guard against that threat and Government was now “well-poised” to reduce national employment to five percent within a short time. Referring to the categories of workers under the new Act, the Minister said the UNC were qualified to work in other islands as artistes or “court jesters”. Achong’s remarks that the UNC would support a TT-Guyana-Suriname political union evoked shouts of “racist” and “shame on you” from the Opposition benches.
LOOKING on as his son’s body was retrieved from a river in Woodland yesterday, father of five and policeman Jaglal Singh said he had dreams of his 16-year-old son following in his footsteps and joining the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. But Constable Singh’s dream was shattered when his son, Govinda, a pupil of the Siparia Senior Secondary School drowned in the Oropouche river on Tuesday, after he and nine schoolmates hired a maxi-taxi and went to lime at a picnic site near the river.Govinda, of Penal Rock Road, drowned while bathing in the murky waters. His body was recovered around 9.30 am yesterday by Coast Guard divers after a brief search. Investigators said the body bore bruises to the face. Govinda and his friends decided to go and lime after they had written examinations. With tears in his eyes, Singh, 53, a police constable attached to the Princes Town police station, questioned why no one could have rescued his son, since his (Govinda’s) body was recovered around the same spot where he disappeared. He said the children went to the picnic site without the knowledge and permission of their parents and teachers. Describing Govinda as his favourite son and “the light of the household,” the grieving cop said the youngster had recently started learning how to swim. Singh said his wife, Sushilla, 44, was in denial that her son had drowned.
