SENIOR Supt Shahid Ali, head of the Port-of-Spain Division, has instructed the police to investigate the disappearance of $700 after a police search at an apartment house on Nelson Street, Port-of-Spain. The decision to call in the police came after Jennifer Drakes told Newsday yesterday that the money disappeared after police searched a bedroom of her house, following the murder of her son-in-law, Jerryl Wiltshire. When Newsday contacted Sr Supt Ali, he said he has instructed Insp Manswell of the Besson Street Police Station to take a statement from Drakes. Drakes, 48, a part-time worker at Service Commission, said she had $1,500 in a purse in a drawer in the bedroom where Wiltshire, 21, was shot and killed around 1.30 am yesterday. The money, she said, was to pay a bill. Drakes said when she checked her purse just after 7 am yesterday, she discovered $700 missing. She said she told a male police officer who had returned to the scene of the crime just before 10 am yesterday about the missing money.
Drakes said the officer told her that she should make an official complaint to the Police Complaints Unit. Drakes said during the search, none of her family members were allowed into the room. She said it was only when the DMO came that relatives were allowed into the bedroom. Police sources said it is a customary thing for members of the public to be kept away from a crime scene, which is usually cordoned off. Drakes added that during the police search, she heard cupboards opening and closing. “I don’t know what they (police) were looking for,” she said, adding there were several officers in her bedroom. Asked if her deceased son-in-law could have stolen the money, Drakes said: “Jerry never stole any money from me.” She said the other $800 was used to pay the bill. Investigations are continuing.
THE prostitute who allegedly stabbed and killed 14-year-old George Junior Langford reportedly over sexual favours remained at large up to late evening. A warrant has been issued for her arrest. Langford, former student of the Tranquillity Secondary School, was stabbed to death last Wednesday night in the Woodbrook district. Police have claimed that Langford was soliciting sexual favours but his relatives have denied the allegations, saying the young man was coming from cricket practice. Investigations are continuing.
THREE gunshots were fired during Sunday night’s kidnapping of Central businessman, Outer Maraj, who was reportedly snatched for a $2 million ransom. Maraj, 38, of Grand Central Park, Chag-uanas, is now the 16th person to be kidnapped for a ransom demand for the year. According to reports, Maraj, a car rental businessman, was driving his brown Medallist vehicle along Jerningham Junction, Charlieville, around 11.02 pm Sunday. Maraj was said by the police to be on his way home when he was stopped by a Hilux van. An eyewitness told the Emergency 999 that there was an altercation during which three shots were heard.
Maraj was bundled into the Hilux van, which drove off. The eyewitness told police that the Medallist vehicle remained in the road, but that there was no movement in it. Some time after, police sources said Maraj’s relatives received a call, asking for the ransom demand. A report was made and a party of officers from the Central Division responded. Members of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad (AKS) under Sr Supt Gilbert Reyes and including acting Supt Henry Millington were later informed and are continuing investigations. A relative of the person who called in the police told Newsday yesterday that the shooting incident occurred a short distance from their home on Marchin Street, Jerningham Junction, Charlieville. The relative added that the area has no street lights and is near a canefield. Police sources said they have had no leads in the latest kidnapping. All persons kidnapped have been either released or freed by the police except six-year-old Marc Prescott, who was snatched for a $150,000 ransom from outside his San Fernando school, nearly three weeks ago.
POLICE have contacted their international counterparts seeking assistance as investigations continue into the kidnapping of six-year-old Mark Prescott, who was grabbed by persons unknown three weeks ago, while heading home after leaving his school. Police sources revealed that local officers had sought the assistance of foreign police, after investigators worked on a theory that Prescott may have been whisked out of the country after he was snatched. However, sources were quick to add that this theory was just one of several they were working on in an effort to locate the youngster. Sources did not say if they had gotten any useful information from their foreign counterparts.
A senior police source told Newsday that they have contacted their foreign counterparts via Interpol to aid in the investigations as local investigations have turned up very little thus far. The foreign link is one of several leads police are investigating as little Mark’s abduction enters a fourth week. Pressed for further information, the source declined to disclose which country the authorities have notified. Mark’s father, Wayne Prescott, an offshore worker, has appealed to kidnappers to release his first son, a Second Year pupil of the San Fernando Boys’ RC School. Mark disappeared on May 15 after being dismissed from the school located on Harris Promenade, San Fernando. Last week police arrested six women on St James Street, San Fernando, who were allegedly making prank calls to Wayne Prescott. Five of the suspects were released, while one Michelle Donovan, was charged for wasting police time and fined $650 in the San Fernando Magistrates Court.
THE CCN Group of Companies has placed a gag order on Trinidad and Tobago’s delegate at the 2003 Miss Universe Pageant, Faye Alibocus. Alibocus told Newsday that CCN,franchise holder for the local leg of the Miss Universe International competition instructed her not to talk to any other local media houses since they wanted total exclusivity on interviews with her pertaining to the competition. When told that she was representing a country and not a media house, an apologetic Alibocus insisted that she had to get the okay from CCN to give the interview.
The 23 year-old Alibocus will try to capture the coveted Miss Universe 2003 crown when the show comes off at the Figali Convention Centre in Panama City, Panama, from 8 tonight local time. The singer/aesthetician, who will have to stave off some 71 other delegates for the title, was up to yesterday ranked 17 by the Beauty Stock Market. Should Alibocus win the title tonight, it will be the third time this country has done so in the 49 years that we have been participating in the competition. Apart from the two winners in 1977 (Janelle Penny Commissiong) and 1998 (Wendy Fitzwilliam), Trinidad and Tobago has also had two finalists in the competition – Margot Bourgeois, who placed second, and Arlene Peterkin who placed fifth.
IN 1996 Corporation Sole, the Minister of Finance, owned over one million ordinary shares in Maritime Life Caribbean Ltd. Deputy Registrar in the Registrar General’s Department Francis Sandy said this was very rare. However Junior Finance Minister Kenneth Valley yesterday said government has always owned 18 percent of Maritime shares. The disclosure about government’s shareholding in Maritime, a private company, was made by Sandy at the Commission of Inquiry into the Piarco Airport Development Project. Sandy was summoned to provide the records on the annual returns of Royal Castle Ltd, Northern Construction Ltd (NCL), Maritime Life Caribbean Ltd and Calmaquip Ltd for the period 1996 to present. Led by attorney for the Commission, Margaret Rose, Sandy listed eight persons as directors of NCL in 1996. Among them were Edward Bayley, Hugh Eastman, Steve Ferguson, Barbara Gomes and John Henry-Smith.
He listed over a dozen shareholders, including Corporation Sole, Minister of Finance, who in 1996 owned 1,058,557 ordinary shares. At that time Brian Kuei Tung was the Minister of Finance. Kuei Tung also personally owned 610 shares. Sandy also pointed to a number of shares being transferred from Maritime shareholders to subsidiary company Fidelity Finance and Leasing Co Ltd. In response to questions from Commissioner Marie Ange Knights, Sandy said it was very rare for Corporation Sole to invest in a private company. He said usually Corporation Sole would invest in State-owned companies, or companies in which the State had an interest. He was also asked if Corporation Sole owned shares in Maritime Life Caribbean Ltd prior to 1996. Sandy will provide the answer to the Commission when he returns to provide further information on other companies. Sandy also provided information on the directorship and shareholding of Royal Castle and NCL. However Valley told Newsday, Corporation Sole has always owned 18 percent shareholding in Maritime.
John Humphrey, former Housing Minister and Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee overseeing the project, also continued to be questioned by the Commission’s lead attorney, Theodore Guerra, SC. Last week Humphrey said he was unaware that Government guaranteed two loans taken by the Airports Authority (AA) on behalf of Calmaquip for US$30 million to finance CP13. However, yesterday he said he knew about the principle behind the guarantee. He said Government was concerned about media and public complaints about the cost of the project and decided to transfer the CP13 contract from NIPDEC to the AA. Asked if government hid the cost, Humphrey said no, explaining that it was a technique used by Ministers of Finance with billions of dollars. He said the Auditor General would eventually find the full cost of a project. When he was told that the cost was “ex-post facto”, in that it would be found after the project, Humphrey agreed. Humphrey also said Cabinet usually would not know the details of certain issues. Asked by Chairman Clinton Bernard if Cabinet could be hoodwinked, Humphrey said, “Anybody could be hoodwinked.”
TWO days after shutting down operations at State-owned oil company, Petrotrin, refinery operators returned to work yesterday following marathon negotiations between the Oilfields Workers Trade Union (OWTU) and company officials. OWTU vice-president Hollis Alexander, told Newsday the company agreed to several “terms of settlement”, including payment of overtime shift bonuses, amounting to some $14,000 per worker. Alexander said the company also agreed to a number of occupational health and safety issues, including specialised training for doctors in emergency occupational medicine. He said the company would also be providing improved safety footwear for operators as part of the settlement. Alexander said the company had also promised to “fast-track” upgrades and job reclassification for operators. Meanwhile, a Petrotrin source said the company “welcomed” the return to work by the 200-plus operators, adding that the company “remains committed to improved industrial relations with all employees.”
The source also confirmed that discussions would continue until all of the workers’ grievances were resolved. The refinery is expected to resume full operations by Thursday. The OWTU negotiating team was led by President-General Errol McLeod, while Petrotrin was represented by President (Operations) Wayne Bertrand, Vice-President (Human Resources) Rollinson Agard and Vice-President, (Refinery and Operations) Kelvinn Harnanan. Negotiations are expected to resume today at the company’s Pointe-a-Pierre offices.
VIOLENCE and mayhem broke out at the cell block of the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court yesterday afternoon as a group of about 65 Remand Yard prisoners started shouting, throwing faeces and smashing fixtures in the cells, resulting in police struggling to restore order and leaving at least one prisoner hospitalised with minor injuries. Newsday understands that the riot broke out after prisoners started complaining of bad treatment meted out to them by members of the Court and Process Branch. After smashing lighting fixtures and pieces of wood from the walls and ceilings of the cell block, some of the prisoners used the wire and wood to secure the cell doors and prevent police from entering the cells to restore order.
Eventually the San Fernando Fire Services were summoned to assist police in breaking down the prisoners’ makeshift wood and wire “locks”. Firemen were also seen hosing down the floor and walls of the cell block which was coated with blood and human faeces. Surprisingly, operations at the Court were not affected since a major part of the disruptions occurred in the late afternoon and only six prisoners of the 102 Remand Prisoners were actually taken before the Courts. According to police reports, around 10.30 am yesterday many prisoners started behaving in a disorderly manner, shouting loudly, smashing lights and even throwing food around the cells. Newsday received a report that the prisoners even took water from pails placed for their use in the cell and threw it at the police who came to see what was going on. Reports also stated that some of the inmates excreted inside papers and threw the smelly missiles at the police officers. Later on in the afternoon, around 2.30 pm, the Fire Services were called in to break down the barriers placed by the prisoners. Sources told Newsday that when the cell doors were opened, about six prisoners lunged at the policemen, forcing the firemen to douse the prisoners with blasts of water in an effort to restrain and prevent them from trying to escape. While police struggled to separate the inmates from each other and place them in vans for transport back to Remand Yard, the prisoners cursed loudly at the officers and banged on the prison vans.
The seriousness of the matter and lack of manpower resulted in Court and Process police calling for back-up which was provided by members of the Guard and Emergency Branch, Crime Suppression Unit, E999 Rapid Response, Southern Division Task Force and the San Fernando CID. Acting Snr Supt Nimrod, ASP Jemmott and Ag Insp Boodram arrived on the scene and spoke to several Court and Process officers who were involved in the incident. Sources said three prisoners were injured but only one was taken to the nearby San Fernando General Hospital, since the others refused to be taken. In light of yesterday’s disturbances, security measures at the court house are expected to be beefed-up. Investigations into the matter are continuing.
A PORT-OF-SPAIN man went on trial yesterday before a San Fernando High Court judge charged with shooting at two policemen who tried to arrest him three years ago. Odai Callendar appeared before Justice Alice Yorke-Soo Hon in the Second Criminal Assizes charged with shooting at Constables Edmund Sanoir and Wayne Charles, possession of a nine-millimetre semi-automatic pistol and possession of three rounds of ammunition. Callendar is being represented by attorney Mehwalal Chatoor, while the prosecution’s case is being presented by State attorney Joan Honore-Paul. According to the prosecution, on April 24, 2000, PCs Sanoir and Charles were in a party of Port-of-Spain CID officers on inquiries in Mayaro when they spotted Callendar standing at the corner of St Ann’s Road.
As the policemen stopped their vehicle and started to approach Callendar, he tried to flee. PC Sanoir, the first witness to take the stand yesterday, testified that he called out to the accused: “Police! Odai stop!” However, instead of heeding the command, Odai took out a gun and began shooting at the officers. Sanoir said he saw Callendar hiding behind a tree, and as he approached him, the accused came out with the gun pointed at him. The officer told the Court that he called out, “Odai drop the gun!” and fired a shot. PC Charles also fired a shot, Sanoir said, and Callendar fell to the ground. PC Sanoir said when he searched the accused, he found a red satchel tied to his waist. Callendar said: “That is my jumbie, that is my protection.” The bag was found to contain ammunition. After PC Sanoir completed his testimony, Prosecutor Honore-Paul told the court the State would be calling two more witnesses. The case continues today.
INDIAN High Commissioner Shri Virendra Gupta seemed yesterday to condemn the words of many prominent citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, such as Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday and Maha Sabha General Secretary Sat Maharaj, when he criticised Indo-Trinidadian leaders for continually portraying its members as victims of racial discrimination. Gupta’s criticisms came in the wake of Panday’s constant cries of rampant discrimination against East Indians in the country and Maharaj’s claims about discrimination being levelled against East Indians by the National Lotteries Control Board. Addressing the opening of a forum entitled “From Indentureship to Entrepeneurship” at UWI’s Learning Resource Centre in St Augustine, Commissioner Gupta said while East Indians in this country faced several challenges since the first indentured labourer arrived here 158 years ago, it was wrong for certain individuals to constantly stress upon the alleged negative aspects of the Indian Diaspora. He declared that Trinidad and Tobago and India are global examples of functioning multi-cultural societies.
Gupta said East Indian indenturers devoted themselves to the development of their new home and it was wrong for anyone to claim that East Indians were today denied equal opportunity in shaping Trinidad and Tobago’s future. Addressing last Friday’s Indian Arrival Day celebrations in Debe, Panday accused some East Indians of selling out to the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM). He named Lionel Seukeran (father of Junior Trade Minister Diane Seukeran) and Ashford Sinanan (uncle of House Speaker Barry Sinanan) as two such individuals. The UNC leader accused the PNM of practising racism and discrimination of State resources never before experienced by the East Indian community. “Don’t be surprised there were a few selling out for a little senatorship and ambassador position,” he said. Maharaj claimed the NLCB was discriminating against the East Indian community with respect to its corporate sponsorship of cultural groups in 2002 with only two Indian groups receiving meagre funding compared to other non-Indian groups. “It is a joy to see such a level of integration,” Gupta declared yesterday, however.
He admitted that while inequities and prejudices have not disappeared altogether, people should follow Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s advice about being “large enough to accept others” regardless of ethnic or other considerations. UWI Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr Bhoe Tewarie shared Gupta’s views and noted that several indenturers developed family businesses that made positive contributions to the nation’s socio-economic development. However he noted in an increasingly globalised environment, those businesses could no longer act as “one-man shows” and need to be reformed along guidelines in keeping with modern business practices. Tewarie stressed that East Indians were an integral part of the national community and they could not be “sidelined or pushed over”. Indian External Affairs Secretary Shri JC Sharma said it was a myth that East Indians were slow to assimilate into their adopted countries and he saw evidence to the contrary while at his previous diplomatic postings in North America and Israel. Sharma added that a strength of the East Indian was his ability to avoid confrontation and seek mutual accommodation with persons of different ethnicities.
