A FAMILY in South Trinidad faces eviction by the Public Health Authority from their house which a leaking WASA pipeline undermined and caused to collapse. Sita Webb, 50,  was  given  21 days  from June 4,  to vacate her house or face prosecution by the Local Health Authority of  the  Debe/Penal Regional Corpora-tion. The house is too dangerous for occupation, the notice stated. But WASA authorities, having acknowledged that their  burst  pipeline damaged the concrete house, have offered Webb $25,000 to re-locate her home. Webb’s property, according to a Quanity Surveyor’s estimate, is worth $280,000.  The house is located at Diamond Village, a few miles from San Fernando. Living with her husband and two children in a house cracked in the centre, the bedrooms at the back hanging  precariously  on broken pillars and  its  roof  sinked in, Webb is caught between a rock and a hard place. “Imagine I have to evict a house by a court order which WASA make dangerous, not me!,” Webb said.

The house began cracking in 1999 when a leaking mainline in front of  the house seeped water under the house. The land became water-logged and the pillars gave way. Webb has  written  letters  to  WASA authorities, sought help from politicians as well as the Ombudsman, but to no avail. Last year the front of the house collapsed. The tiled floor split when the back pillars tilted, leaving several large gaping cracks and holes. Inside Web’s house resembles the ruins from an explosion. She, her husband Fitzwilliam, 45, children Kennrick Kurth, 13, and Sean Roopnarine, 16, have been forced to sleep in one bedroom. Last week, Webb said, her son Kenrick fell “flat on his chest while trying to step over one of the cracks, into the bathroom”. Webb said she cannot cook roti because it slides off the “tawah”, the kitchen having been tilted to an almost  60 degree angle. It  is  attached to the living room, but only by pieces of bent steel. “I dunno what to do now I have no where to go. I’m not taking $25,000 for my house,” said Webb, who began crying as she related her predicament to Newsday yesterday. The eviction notice states that her premises is in such a decayed, ruinous and unwholesome state, that it is likely to be injurious to Health and Safety. Failure to comply, the notice  threatened, will result in a summons being issued for her to answer a complaint before a magistrate. “This is such an injustice to me. WASA break up my house and refuse to repair or relocate me, now I have to leave,” a tearful Webb said. She has until next week Wednesday to vacate, according to the notice.

The Tobago arm of the NAR has hit out at its former head, Hochoy Charles,  for establishing a new political party, the DAC. A statement yesterday signed by NAR Tobago chairman, Christo Gift, said the fact that the DAC has not yet got a constitution showed both the naivety of those who had left NAR for DAC, and that Charles would not abide by any authority other than his own. The statement said: “His action in leading others away from the certainty of a political organisation even if in need of reform, for the uncertainty of the unknown and to do so while ill-prepared, is a reaction not of political wisdom but of self-centred selfishness. We have no doubt that his true intention is to be a ‘spoiler’ and attempt to muddy the waters for the NAR. They will not succeed and we will prevail”.

The compulsory school age should be raised from age 12 to 15, is one of several recommendations being made by Independent Senator Pro-fessor Ramesh Deosaran in his report on school delinquency and violence to the Ministry of Education. Among the recommendations are also  suggestions that the current laws regarding parental or guardian control should be strictly enforced and  a system of school wardens or school police and a School Safety and Protection Agency, to police and protect the school and its environment, be immediately established. Their duties will include patrolling the school premises and its environment, ensuring that students are not loitering, that students behave well on their way to and from school, and that students do not unduly miss or skip classes. This proposed system of School War-dens is an updated, expansion of and improvement to the existing system of “school attendance officer” which, in effect, has been virtually non-existent  or broken down. The idea is to make schools a peace zone with no smoking and drinking and to introduce an anti-crime (civics) programme, and a range of training programmes for teachers in classroom management and delinquency reduction.

The report also suggests that the Ministry review the policy of corporal punishment, in full consultation with teachers, parents and even students. At the same time, parallel emphasis should be placed on examining the role of alternative to physical forms of discipline. Deosaran, head of the Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice of the UWI, was commissioned by the Secondary Education Modernisation Prog-ramme Coordination Unit (SEMPCU) of the Ministry of Education, to look into the violence and delinquency in schools. Prof Deosaran’s 400-page survey report was handed over to the Minister of Education, Senator Hazel Manning, on May 28, 2003. In that report entitled “Benchmarking Vio-lence and Delinquency in the Secondary School: Towards a Culture of Peace and Civility,” the Independent Senator also recommended an improved code of conduct and discipline for all schools, the initiation of a social contract for student behaviour between teachers, parents and students at the beginning of each term, a benchmarking system design to measure and respond to school violence and delinquency, and also to measure the impact of other intervention programmes, and to reduce overall delinquency over time. The report said that several complaints were raised by principals regarding the lack of expeditiousness and efficiency by the Teaching Service Com-mission (TSC) in handling staff indiscipline and vacancies, both of which apparently contribute to unsupervised students and student delinquency. The recommendation was that TSC regulations be immediately reviewed and the existing procedures be tightened so as to deal with this problem. It was also proposed that all secondary schools be subjected to a system of direct service evaluation in areas of student academic performance, standards and level of student discipline, and extra-curricular activities. This proposal is not designed to be punitive or unduly competitive but a means of raising standards and benchmarking continuous improvements.
 
Further, The Children Act and Education Act should be reviewed so as to help ensure fuller obligations by parents/-guardians for the welfare of those under their charge. Given the impetus towards free secondary education for all, “we suggest that the compulsory school age be increased from 12 to 15 years so as to provide a better foundation for containing and supervising youth behaviour,” the report states. The report was strong on the point that Government should review and strengthen all legislation pertaining to parental (or guardian) control and protection of children with particular emphasis on the prevention and reduction of crime and delinquency (eg Children Act, 46:01) It stated that many of the current laws were not really enforced and that some needed to brought in line with current realities, given the domino effect such lack of enforcement is having on school discipline and family irresponsibility. The report also recommneded that the Police Service should review and strengthen its operations for enforcing the laws regarding violence and other crimes by young persons. The use of existing Mediation Centres for young people should be maximised by the police and schools. It also suggested that the relevant legislation should be tightened so as to penalise parents or guardians for having children miss school or homework without good excuse.Parents with children who are repeated delinquents at school should be held accountable with some modicum of penalties. The report called for students to known exactly what the legal penalties for such offences as assault, possession and use of illegal drugs, robbery, larceny, obscence language, under-age smoking and drinking,  etc. are.  And teachers, parents and visitors should not be allowed to smoke or consume alcohol on the school premises, and this should be made known to the entire school community. The school environment should therefore be known as a “drug free” zone with the example coming from the top. There was also a call for random searches for weapons, drugs, and other illicit materials to be undertaken of students in secondary schools. The report emphasised that children, especially now, need a heavy dose of respect for authority.

A LEADING trade unionist has warned Government of civil unrest unless the Manning administration review its position on the future of the nation’s dock workers. In a fiery address at yesterday’s Labour Day celebrations in Fyzabad, Seamen & Water-front’s Workers Trade Union (SWWTU) president Michael Annisette, said Government was “sowing the seeds of discontent” by restructuring the port of Port- of-Spain without consulting dock workers. “I am sending a warning to the government that the holiday with the SWWTU has come to an end, and if we do not see an immediate improvement in the employment of local seafarers and offshore workers, there will be unrest in Trinidad and Tobago,” Annisette stated. He said locals were being made to compete against foreign nationals for jobs at the national port. He also alleged that government’s preferred partner in the Port restructuring project “does not like the trade union movement.” Annisette, who was one of the feature speakers at the NATUC rally, also called for a united trade union movement to confront the challenges that would be presented by the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas,(FTAA). Also addressing the rally was All Trinidad Sugar & General Workers Trade Union (ATS&GWTU) president-general, Rudy Indarsingh, who presented government with an entire shopping list of demands including a $1,000 increase for NIS pensioners. “Government must honour its election promise to increase NIS pensions to $1,000,” Indarsingh said. Indarsingh, who deputised for president Robert Guiseppi, also called for a united trade union movement. He said a united labour movement would reclaim its responsibility and bring pressure on the Government to act in the best interests of all society.

The government intends to construct an agricultural processing plant in the vicinity of Tableland  to assist farmers to be efficient, self reliant and more competitive with other markets, according to Agriculture Minister John  Rahael. He was at the time, addressing pineapple farmers yesterday at the Nipal Primary School, Corosan Road, Tableland. The Minister also dealt with concerns raised by the farmers. The Minister promised, “The government of Trinidad and Tobago will give whatever support it can to developing the agro-processig plant.” The minister made it clear the plant would be built in the vicinity of Tableland as Tableland and surrounding areas are “the heart and soul of agriculture.” It is estimated that 96 percent of cultivated pineapples comes from the County Victoria District of which Tableland is a part. The Minister also stated that the National Agricultural and Marketing Development Company  (NAMDEVCO) “has been  given a new mandate to find wholesale and new markets outside  Trinidad.”

He expressed surprise that when he came into government, pineapple was not  being exported to CARICOM states. Rahael also pointed out that the farmers must do their part for this country to achieve  the 2020 vision. The minister said, “Food security and food safety is an objective  of achieving developed country status by 2020.  One of the areas is to feed ourselves not only locally but achieve comparative advantages so as to export outside Trinidad and Tobago.” NAMDEVCO CEO Sam Dowlath said that at present 8,000 to 10,000 pounds of pineappple are exported to CARICOM countries but when markerts in St Lucia and Grenada are obtained this may increase to 20,000 pounds every month. The farmers raised concerns including markets for their produce and availability of land. They also spoke of accessibilty in the farming areas, fixing of roads, obtaining affordable vehicles and use of fertilisers.   Afterwards the minister along with the farmers  visited the some 500 acres of land  cultivated with pineapple.

The Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) yesterday issued a release stating that it granted outline approval and not final approval for the proposed development situated at Vale View Terrace, off St Lucien Road, Diego Martin. WASA stated that, “the outline approval committed the Authority to provide a scheduled water supply to serve the development on condition that the developer installed water and wastewater infrastructure to given specifications.” WASA said that the developer was required to submit detailed design drawings of the water reticulation system; design data and detailed design conditions and drawings of the wastewater disposal system and design plans isometric drawings of the building sanitary drainage plumbing to the Plumbing Inspectorate. These conditions had to be met in order for the developer to receive final approval from the Authority. WASA has not yet issued final approval to the developer. The Authority also said that its final approval is contingent upon prior approvals of other agencies such as the EMA, Town and Country Planning, Fire Services and the Drainage Division.

Diego Martin Regional Corporation’s Chairman Bridgette Anisette-George on Tuesday, instructed that work at Vale View come to an immediate halt and for Vale View developer Gowkaran Mahabir to repave the terrace which he had dug up the week before. Tuesday’s stop notice was the second issued to Mahabir by the corporation after it was noted that construction of townhouses was taking place on the hillside without the corporation’s knowledge or permission. Residents of the area were protesting the construction of apartment buildings on the hillside which they said posed a serious threat to nearby properties because of the danger of landslides and which were causing huge traffic jams and inconvenience to residents. The residents also stated that the developer’s concrete mixers and trucks were mounting the sidewalks and blocking the entrances to roads and gateways. According to Anisette-George, after the stop notice was served, Mahabir was instructed to carry out “restoration work” — with police presence — to repair the “substantial scarring” of the hillside. He was also ordered to clear clogged drains on St Lucien Road and to put in a box drain on Vale View as per the requirements of his Town and Country Planning Division outline permission.  On Thursday police officers from the West End Station were present to supervise the repaving of the terrace by the developer.

Valerie Robley, Princi-pal of the Lambeau Anglican Primary School, near Scarborough, has emerged winner of the inaugural Evelyn James Memorial Award — Tobago Teacher of The Year title. The presentation formed part of Thursday’s opening ceremony of the annual Tobago Teachers’ Get Together at the Tobago Hilton. The award was instituted by the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) to the memory and honour of school-teacher Evelyn James who was allegedly stabbed to death last March 19 at the Montgomery Government Primary School at Bethel in Tobago’s west end. Jeffrey Guy, of Bethel, has since appeared in court charged with James’ murder. Robley was adjudged winner of the award from a group of eight persons nominated by schools, community groups etc. Three finalists were selected from the list of nominees. The other finalists were Angela Sosa, principal of the newly established Mason Hall Government Secondary School, and Kennetta Bobb, a teacher at Scarborough Secondary.

Schools Supervisor Eleanor King fought unsuccessfully to keep her emotions in check as she recounted a brief profile of the life and times of the murdered school-teacher. This was reflective of the sombre mood that enveloped the ambience during this juncture of the proceedings. In another highly significant gesture, well-known retired primary school principal, Simon “Teacher Simon” Lawrence was presented with the Icon of Education 2003 Award. Much glowing tribute was paid to the little dapper man by primary school principal Michael Duncan, who effected the hat-tie-shirt neatly tucked in pants-dress code by which the little man has become known far and wide. Teacher Simon, a veritable ‘institution’, whose name is synonymous with primary school education in Tobago in an earlier era, was specially saluted by all present for his invaluable contribution to the island’s socio-educational development. Ten retired teachers were also among the special honours’ roll which represented a major feature of the annual event. Activities shifted to the Signal Hill Secondary Comprehensive School yesterday for ‘Professional Development Day’ featuring educational displays and discussions focussing on ‘The Way Forward for Education in Tobago’, with ‘Teachers in Concert’ at the same venue at 7.30pm. Today the curtain comes down with a Family Day highlighting the educators at play from 4pm in ‘Games We Used To Play’ at Scarborough Secondary School. “Tobago Education Trans-formation: Strategies for Effective Implementation” was the theme of this year’s Tobago Teachers’ Get Together.

OPPOSITION MP Gillian Lucky on Thursday demanded that witness protection be given to El Socorro residents who were allegedly beaten by members of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force last week. Speaking with reporters at Barataria/San Juan MP Dr Fuad Khan’s office in San Juan, Lucky warned residents that until the police conclude their investigations into that incident, “you are vulnerable”. She questioned whether the Army had the jurisdiction to interview El Socorro residents and whether National Security Minister Howard Chin Lee now had a report listing the names of potential witnesses in the incident. Chin Lee told the Senate on Tuesday that the results of an Army Board of Inquiry’s investigation into the incident were inconclusive and the police would now be starting their own investigations. “Who mandated a committee to investigate this matter? What is the jurisdiction of the committee? If Army personnel were allegedly involved that does not mean that the Army can call the residents to give the evidence. What the Army should have done is launch an internal investigation. The real people who should be getting the protection, who are potential witnesses, those persons are not being given the protection.” Lucky declared.  She claimed that if the names of residents fell into the wrong hands, they would be at the mercy of the alleged perpetrators. “That list must never become a hit list,” Lucky warned.

The UNC MP lamented the absence of an established witness protection programme in the country but “only an  adhoc witness protection  and that has been going on for years”. Khan said former Attorney General Ramesh Law-rence Maharaj was in the process of fine-tuning the legislation but never completed the process. Attempts to contact Maharaj for comment were unsuccessful. Lucky said it was “wholly unacceptable” to have situations like this where “members of the Executive” were adopting a hands-on approach to investigations where “they ought to be independent”. “It encourages suspicion. It encourages a cover up,” she warned. Lucky said there appeared to be enough evidence to establish a prima facie case and she has formed a legal team to investigate the residents allegations and study all available options. On several occasions during the meeting, Lucky was forced to caution residents about making statements in the presence of the media. Some residents took issue with one newspaper which they said falsely claimed El Socorro residents were prepared to engage in vigilante action to defend themselves.

THE PRESIDENT of Route 2 Maxi-Taxi    Association, Costa George has criticised the Ministry of Works and Transport for inviting international tenders for the establishment of a National Transportation Study. In a letter to Minister Franklyn Khan, George said there were enough local professionals capable of doing the job. He referred to persons like Emmanuel George, a former Transport Commissioner, Augustus James, a former Minister of Works and Transport; and former Chief Traffic Engineer Roger Israel. Noting that there have been several National Transportation Studies by both local and foreign consultants over the last 18 years, George asked: “Why should we have to invite foreign consultants to come here again and advise us on what has already been studied and documented?”
  
He said the authorities are already aware of the remedial work needed to alleviate or curb the country’s transportation woes. It was Minister Khan who said last month at the launch of a shuttle service between Princes Town and Moruga that foreign tenders would be invited. George himself thought: “Our country definitely needs more roads, bridges and flyovers.  This will help the maxi taxi service to be more effective in  minimising  the hardships on the general travelling public,” said George. In another area, George said a mass system in the form of monorail or articulated buses to transport commuters from North to South and East to West just would not work. “The maxi taxi industry at this point in time is capable of moving any amount of persons from North to South and East toWest.” He said the maxi taxi service was very unique and played an integral part in the transportation needs of Trinidad and Tobago. He also said because of certain statements made by the Minister, financial institutions had put a hold on the financing of maxi taxis. He called for a removal of import duties, motor vehicle tax and vat when purchasing a new or foreign used maxi taxi. “The single most destructive factor in the maxi taxi trade, is the high cost imposed on owners — import duties, stamp duty, motor vehicle tax and vat,” said George.