UNITED STATES Ambassador Roy Austin yesterday said criminals and terrorist organisations are seeking out countries “of opportunity” where laws are lacking or weak and existing laws are poorly enforced. He noted Trinidad and Tobago’s tardiness in implementing anti-terrorism legislation and recommendations to combat terrorist financing and money laundering and warned that it would affect businessmen looking for a safe place to invest. “Terrorists and other criminals have made extensive use of global financial networks to finance their activities”, Austin said as he spoke at a conference of the Employers’ Consultative Association on International Crime and Terrorism: Implications for Business and Caribbean Economies at Trinidad Hilton yesterday.

Austin said the most obvious deterrent to international crime is to strengthen law enforcement and Judicial systems. He said Trinidad and Tobago has not implemented the eight recommendations of the Financial Task Force, a 29-nation group of experts dedicated to establishing legal, regulatory standards and policies to fight money laundering. He said the recommendations, intended to deny terrorists assets to the world should be implemented by all governments. He cited the work of the Caribbean Action Task Force in halting terrorist financing.

“This effort has yielded encouraging results by end of 2002 more than 166 countries had issued orders freezing over $121 million in terrorist assets.” Austin said virtually all countries in the Lesser Antilles have passed anti-terrorism legislation but Trinidad and Tobago and St Lucia are yet to do so. He said the prospects for economic growth and foreign investment in the Caribbean will depend on how the region responds to international crime and terrorism. Just as travellers are avoiding air travel to countries which they perceive as targets for terrorism investors will also avoid doing business in a country or region “where they perceive it as being unsafe”.

Austin said US investors are carefully examining how the Caribbean is responding to international crime and terrorism. The Economic Section of the US Embassy frequently receives calls from US investors expressing concerns about the threat or terrorism, capability of local law enforcement, strength of the legal framework and safety of their investments. Austin said while much of combating crime and terrorism will be the job of government agencies, private industry and organised labour have a critical role to play by giving support and their ideas. “The private sector is important because this sector will be the target of global terrorism and international crime,” he said. Austin said those who fail to adapt to the new realities will be vulnerable to attack and lose business to competitors who are better prepared by offering a safe environment.

OFFICERS of the Besson Street Police said yesterday that since the introduction of police/army patrols in Laventille, there have been no reports of serious crimes. National Security Minister Howard Chin Lee said yesterday that the joint patrols are having the desired results. He said more anti-crime measures will be introduced in the area shortly, but declined to give details of those measures. “We are determined to clean-up Laventille, despite whatever obstacles are placed in our path,” the Minister said.

He praised the work of ACP Crime Oswyn Allard, and the commitment of the police officers and others who are on temporary transfer to the Port-of-Spain CID, for round the clock mobile and foot patrols in Laventille. On Saturday, police and soldiers combed several areas regarded as “high crime” in Laventille, including Picton, Pump Trace, Dan Kelly, Africa, Beverly Hills, Rock City, Block 22, Rudolph Charles Link Road, Rose Hill, St Barb’s, Observatory Street, Blundell Alley, Alexander Place, Leau Place, Canada and Plaisance.

Some of the officers involved in the patrols walked through tracks and greeted residents. More than 75 percent of the murders for the year took place in Laventille, Gonzales and Belmont. The last murder in Laventille was last Wednesday night when Prison Officer Winston Sandy was shot five times. His body was discovered in a dirt track at Alexander Place by officers who were involved in “Operation Baghdad”. Senior officers from other police divisions said since the introduction of the patrols in Laventille, many of the criminal elements may have shifted their operations elsewhere, and they are putting measures in place to deal with any criminal activities.

It was a miserable 40th birthday yesterday for Wayne Prescott, whose six-year-old son, Marc, was abducted a week ago. Kidnappers had demanded a ransome of $150, 000 for the boy’s release, but they have not contacted the family since last week. An obviously distraught Wayne refused to speak with the media when Newsday visited him at his home in Cocoyea yesterday morning. On his 40th birthday, not knowing the location of his son, Prescott simply said “no comment” to Newsday’s queries. Investigators yesterday returned to the Marc’s school in San Fernando, from where he was taken last Wednesday.

They again questioned teachers but none of them could recall seeing Marc leave with anyone after walking out of his Second Year classroom, at San Fernando Boys’ RC school. Investigators are working on the theory that the child was abducted by someone who was known to him and his family. They are looking for a suspect whom they believe may be able to assist them in finding the little boy. Since the child’s abduction, school officials and family members have held daily prayers for his safe return. Over 300 persons attended a vigil at the child’s school, on Harris Promenade, on Tuesday night where they prayed for the kidnappers to release the child.

 

 

A TEENAGER was committed to stand trial yesterday for the murder of a Petit Bourg man. Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls ordered the16-year-old boy to stand trial for the murder of 20-year-old Kerry Chinkeefatt at the end of a preliminary inquiry in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court. Chinkeefatt, of Ryan Street, Petit Bourg, was allegedly slashed across his stomach while at his workplace at Rasheed’s Tray Repair Shop, Silver Mill, Petit Bourg on July 11, 2002. 

Cpl St Aude of the Port-of-Spain CID, who laid the charge against the teen, was the last of 12 witnesses to give evidence in the matter. When asked if he  wished to call any witnesses to give evidence on his behalf, the boy declined in the absence of his defence counsel Theodore Guerra SC. Magistrate Mc Nicolls told the teen he was satisfied that a prima facie case had been made against him and he would stand trial at the next sitting of the Assizes. The teen has been remanded in custody to the Youth Training Centre.

ANY POLITICIAN, including a Prime Minister, can defame an individual’s reputation and escape unscathed once his statement is determined to be political in nature. This was the argument advanced by former PM Basdeo Panday’s attorney, Fenton Ramsahoye SC, as an appeal filed by Panday against the $600,000 libel lawsuit judgment CCN chairman Ken Gordon won against him was heard in the Appeal Court yesterday. On October 11, 2000, Justice Peter Jamadar ordered then PM Panday to pay Gordon $600,000 plus interest and legal costs for libel arising out of a statement which Panday made on May 30, 1997 in which he (Panday) called Gordon a “pseudo-racist”.

Appearing before Chief Justice Sat Sharma and Justices Roger Hamel-Smith and Margot Warner, Ramsahoye said there was nothing defamatory against Gordon in Panday’s speech and even if there was, Gordon’s hands were tied because Panday was protected by Section 4(e) of the Constitution which grants individuals the right to “join political parties and to express political views”. According to Ramsahoye, Section 4(e) “affects the law of defamation itself”. Asked by Sharma if he was implying that libel and slander were wiped out as far as the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech was concerned, Ramsahoye said they were not. The attorney declared this case “has been tried on a misunderstanding of the law of defamation” and even if Panday libelled Gordon, the former PM was protected under the law once his statement was political. He said while there will be sacrifices to individual reputations every time a politician speaks, it was impossible to dissect every political speech to determine whether it contained any defamatory element.

Ramsahoye said Panday’s speech was a call for national unity and a response to Gordon’s “scathing attack” against the then UNC government’s Green Paper on media reform. He claimed the former CCN chairman was “exerting his influence” and had political motives in seeking to allegedly monopolise the media. The attorney said the population views political corruption as “a bad thing but not this racism talk” because of its commonality. While referring to previous defamation judgments by the Privy Council, Ramsahoye was reminded by Sharma that the Appeal Court “was in the best position” to adjudicate on this matter. Ramsahoye said Panday was not promoting racism in his speech and the racial divisions he alluded to were already well-entrenched in the society. The attorney added that Justice Jamadar “did not once address” people’s interpretation of the psuedo-racist remark before making his ruling.

Gordon’s attorney Douglas Mendes replied that it was unacceptable for a Prime Minister to promote national unity and in the same breath, “single out a person who is an obstacle to that”. “In no country, a charge of racism has less sting,” he declared. Mendes said while Panday had the defence of qualified privilege available to him in 2000, “that defence cannot be pursued” now because it was never pleaded then. The attorney said the evidence showed Panday never proved Gordon was a pseudo-racist or that Gordon was a “supporter of any party or critic of any government”. He declared Panday was being contradictory, having held Gordon “in high regard” during the UNC’s time in office and even appointing him chairman of BWIA.  He added that in Panday’s speech, the UNC leader directly tarnished Gordon’s reputation as CCN chairman. The attorney said there must be limitations to things politicians say about private citizens and the court must “devise rules to deal with those competing interests”.

A man on trial for murder was sent to the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) yesterday where he has been warded after being diagnosed with symptoms of tuberculosis. Murder accused Kamal Pooran is in critical condition, under police guard at Ward nine of the hospital, but he has not been placed in quarantine. TB is a disease caused by a bacterial infection. It can affect many parts of the body, but is found most commonly (80 percent of the time) in the lungs, where it is called “pulmonary tuberculosis”. Since last Thursday, Pooran’s trial at the San Fernando High Court has been cut short almost every day because the accused has been complaining of nausea, stomach cramps and vomitting.

Yesterday around 9 am, shortly after he sat down in the prisoner’s dock next to his co-accused Ramzan Asgarali, he again vomitted. Pooran complained through his attorney that he had not received treatment at the Infirmary of Remand Yard since he complained of feeling ill. Pooran has been in custody at Remand Yard since his arrest some three years ago. Pooran, 25, and Asgarali, 22, both of Rio Claro, are on trial for the murder of Rio Claro taxi driver Surujbally Mohan, 62. Yesterday trial judge Justice Herbert Volney ordered medical treatment for Pooran, and the accused was taken from the High Court by ambulance. Newsday learnt the accused was almost immediately warded after he was seen by doctors at the Accident and Emergency Department.

Several police officers of the San Fernando Court and Process Department, who have been dealing with Pooran on a daily basis, have become concerned for their own health. Unaware of the prisoner’s medical condition, the officers had not worn facial masks to protect themselves from contracting the disease. Medical Chief of Staff at SFGH, Dr Austin Trinidade, said the prisoner would have to undergo a series of tests before tuberculosis can be confirmed in his body. The tests and results, Dr Trinidade said, could take several days. Communications Specialist of the South-West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) Zenobia Nanan said Pooran’s condition was classified as “Query TB” and that his blood-sample was taken for testing. Meanwhile, Commis-sioner of Prisons Leo Abraham, told Newsday he was not yet aware of Pooran’s case but said it was “an issue of serious concern”.

Commissioner Abraham said that at Remand Yard a minimum of three prisoners and a maximum of five prisoners are kept in a single cell. “If the case is indeed diagnosed with tuberculosis then he (Pooran) would have to go through the Prison’s medical set-up for treatment,” either at Caura District Hospital or Mount Hope Hospital. He commented that it was “higly unlikely” that a prisoner would be refused medical treatment at Remand Yard, but said he would look into the matter. Commissioner Abraham said Pooran’s cellmates would also have to undergo testing for the disease. Police sources revealed that almost two months ago, a prisoner coming to the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court died in jail from TB.

Planning and Development Minister Dr Keith Rowley said yesterday that there was nothing improper about Govern-ment’s decision to hire Kenrick Burgess and to pay his company $90,000 to run the Project Management Unit at the Ministry of Education. He also said that the Opposition UNC suddenly seemed to have discovered that corruption was wrong. Rowley stressed: “But they would never to able to come here and say that any of us in these chairs stole money,” he said. “Ask the people at WASA, Ask Jackie Lazarus,”  Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar shot back. He was speaking in the House of Representatives yesterday during debate on the Local Government Elections Order.

Earlier Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar charged that Government’s decision to pay Burgess $90,000 a month was a “payback” for his Report on the Biche High School. She said despite what Burgess wrote in the Report — “that the school was going to fall” — the school was still standing.  The decision of the PNM to hire him was a clear case of “payback time”, she argued. But Rowley said the Government never had to pay off Burgess for anything because the Burgess Report was commissioned under the last Government. Rowley explained that the IDB, which was funding the construction programme for the schools, was so horrified at what was taking place that it hired Burgess to do an independent investigation of the school-building programme. He said it was the IDB which paid Burgess.

Saying that the PNM had nothing to do with the Burgess Report, Rowley said all the PNM Government did was to bring to the country’s attention the fact that there was a report which pointed to gross misconduct and dereliction of duty. Rowley said maybe if the last UNC Government had established a project management unit (such as the one set up by Burgess), schools would not have cost what they cost under the UNC. He said this Government had embarked on a $2 billion construction programme to put a solid  education structure in place and this was why a proper management unit to ensure that the project is brought in properly, on time and within budget.

Rowley also slammed the UNC for its “sudden” discovery that there were problems with the configuration of the local government election boundaries. Noting that the UNC had been in Government for six years and fought two local government elections, Rowley said the UNC also took the position that the EBC should not be criticised and that it was sacrosanct. But now, the same UNC was asking the government to shred an EBC report. He said it was hard to take the UNC seriously in such a situation. “They have no credibility,” he said, adding (it was a case of the UNC saying) “Today the EBC is sacrosanct. Tomorrow mash it up,”

He said it was the same way that the UNC “all of a sudden” knew about reform of the constitution. “And all of a sudden my friend from Couva North knows corruption is a bad thing. All of a sudden they know about equity. Where was the equity when you were in government?” he asked, drawing supportive table-thumping. Rowley said for four years “until Dhanraj went to jail”, the Diego Martin Regional Corpora-tion got not one cent from the Road Improvement Fund. He said every year for three years, the UNC government collected $50 million in the RIF and not one cent on no yard of road in Diego Martin was spent even though that was the area with the most cars. “Where was equity then?” Rowley thundered. “In those days it was ‘we time now’.

We in the PNM subscribe to the fact that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago is for all the people of Trinidad and Tobago. And if today you hear them talking about equity and lack of equity is just they conscience bothering them,” he roared. He said the UNC spent all their time trying to redress some perceived imbalance and did some of the most inequitable acts. “They thought they were in government forever and so they did this country all manner of evil. Now they are in Opposition all of a sudden they want to bring down the Angel Gabriel to paint his wings,” Rowley said, provoking a mixture of laughter and desk thumping from the government bench. Looking directly at Panday, he said people wouldn’t believe that he was the Prime Minister who oversaw the most corrupt government in the history of this country. “Half his government in jail, some on their way to the country and others are to go soon,” he said. “But the one thing they looking for they would not find…is that money is being stolen…You will never be able to come here and say that any of us in these chairs has stolen any government money,” Rowley concluded.

Lower reserve requirements and more competition in the banking sector are among the recommendations made by the Cabinet-appointed committee to review the financial sector. The committee’s report was laid in Parliament on Tuesday as a Green Paper. The committee, created in March last year, made general and sector-specific recommendations. Some of the general recommendations were that the legislative framework should be upgraded and that more emphasis should be placed on accounting standards for tighter regulation.

The committee also called for the development of a national competition policy, along with the creation of a Competition Bureau to protect against monopolistic practices. The committee said reserve requirements for commercial banks should be lowered to “prudential” levels to remove the distortion between banks and non-banks. The reserve requirement was lowered three points to 18 percent in 2001, with the promise of further reductions. The committee also said interest rate spreads are too high. “The magnitude of interest rate spreads remains an issue of some concern although spreads have narrowed somewhat, compared to the era preceeding currency liberalisation,” the committee stated.

The report adds that spreads are comparatively higher than those in economies of similar size. The committee recommended the establishment of an independent credit rating agency and automated credit rating bureau to improve assesment of risk. In terms of the capital market, the committee recommended a review and upgrade of the Securities Industry Act (1995) and improving standards for corporate governance.

Another recommendation was to encourage more equity-based financing, as opposed to debt financing, to boost the use of capital markets. The committee identified the shortfall in supervisors to oversee the insurance sector as one of the major weaknesses in the system. The shortfall has led to a four-year lag between current year and the last published report of the Supervisor of Insurance. Another concern was the low capital requirement of $3 million which has led to oversaturation in the sector with less efficient service providers. “Further, a lack of minimum solvency levels has led to a perpetuation of the problem by making it easy for loss-making insurers to remain in business,” the committee stated.

FORMER President Arthur NR Robinson said yesterday the answer to crime and terrorism is not in having more laws and mobilising more force, but in the “rule of law”. He said small and isolated countries in the Caribbean need to come together in a collective approach to achieve the desired results. While acknowledging the importance of law enforcement, Robinson said, “force needs to be mobilised in many cases, but force is not the answer.” He said the most effective and immediate answer to crime and terrorism is the universal application of the law. When this happens and people know, then “those who are inclined to break it would be less so disposed,” he said.

Addressing the Employers’ Consultative Association’s (ECA) International Conference 2002 on “International Crime and Terrorism: Implications for business and Caribbean economies” at the  Hilton Trinidad, Robinson appealed for the region to support the application of the rule of law and not a reversion to “dictatorial and other such methods to think this issue of crime can be defeated in that manner”. Robinson, who was instrumental in the establishment of the International Criminal Court, said it is most important in the battle against crime and terrorism.

Feature speaker at the two – day symposium, Frank Razzano, had the audience engrossed with his touching first – hand account of surviving the attack on the World Trade Centres in the US on September 11, 2001. He said the lesson to be learnt from that day was terrorism has escalated and now permeates all parts of the world. Razzano said no country is immune and even the threat of terrorism can be devastating to economies. He gave examples of terrorist acts around the world, most recently in Saudi Arabia and Morocco. Posing the rhetorical question of  “can terrorism happen in Trinidad and Tobago”, Razzanno referred to the 1990 coup by a “fanatical group” and reports of a terrorist cell operating in Trinidad.  

He said the UK advisory warning British travellers from visiting Trinidad and Tobago demonstrated the tremendous effect not only of terrorism but the threat of terrorism. Razzano said Trinidad and Tobago could face a terrorist threat because of the long tradition of following the rule of law. He made mention of various pieces of legislation (Proceeds of Crime Act, Dangerous Drug Act) to deal with drug trafficking and money laundering. Razzano expressed support for government’s Anti-Kidnapping bill saying it would be a “tremendous step forward”. He said terrorists were using kidnapping to finance their criminal activities. Although he personally endorsed the International Criminal Court, Razzano said the US reluctance to be involved is deeply rooted in the American concept of self.

Among the reasons he put forward was the fear that US leaders (military, political) could be prosecuted for their actions. He said the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution allows for someone to be indicted by a grand jury for a criminal offence, however, the International Court did not have this provision. He said Trinidad and Tobago and the US may not be moving together in the ICC, but they could stamp out terrorism through cooperation in the international effort and sharing information.

TATIL MANAGING Director Gerry Brooks is soon to become chief operations officer of the Ansa McAl Group of Companies, Ansa McAl chairman Norman Sabga announced at Tatil’s 40th anniversary Gala and Awards Ceremony on Tuesday evening at the Hilton Trinidad. Sabga said Brooks would not actually be leaving Tatil because the Ansa head office would be relocating to the Tatil building. Sabga said Tatil had prevailed, succeeded and grown while other companies had disappeared, and this was due to clients’ confidence in Tatil’s ability to satisfy their financial needs and aspirations.

He emphasised both the commercial and humanitarian aspects of Tatil, saying: “Tatil’s contribution to the group over the last 40 years is reflected not only in its contribution in earnings per share and profitability but is also measured in the fact that through Tatil, we have been able to positively intervene in the lives of thousands of clients at crucial moments.” He said Tatil had paid over $500 million in claims, businesses had benefited from Tatil’s mortgage facilities, families had been aided by its estates and insurance policies, businesses had been paid for fire losses, and the Government and private sector had made investments through Tatil’s bonds.

He assured: “Tatil is and has been much more than an insurer.” He told staff to utilise Tatil’s new information technology and Internet facilities, Ansa’s recently renovated centre at Royal Road, San Fernando, and Ansa products and services which staff could cross-sell and cross-market. He congratulated staff but added that even more work needed to be done to add value to the country and region, through Ansa’s Vision 2003. “Vision 2006 mandates a doubling of our earnings per share and a doubling of share price to $40.” Saying the economy was strong and that GDP growth was projected at four percent, Sabga said: “The possibilities are boundless.”

Tatil chairman, Anthony Sabga, recounted that Tatil had been founded at a time when this country had gained independence, when there had been an attempt to form a West Indian Federation, and when the world was sharply divided between capitalism and communism. He said: “We applaud Mr Louis Rostant and his team who initiated the successful execution of this dream.” Noting that companies could only succeed in the financial services arena by being able to quickly transform and continuously adapt, Anthony Sabga recalled how Tatil had changed over the years.

“We have grown our asset base from an initial investment of $490,000 in 1969 to over one billion in assets and investments.” He concluded: “You, the good people of Tatil, provide families with the greatest of all benefits — peace of mind. You offer the opportunity for each and every citizen to have an umbrella of security over their lives.  Remember that the keys to success in your relationships with your clients are honesty and sincerity.”