A MEMORANDUM of Agreement was signed on Friday between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and two re-leaf blocs to reafforest burnt hills in the Western part of Trinidad over a ten-year period, at a cost of $.5 million in the first year. The signing ceremony took place at the Carenage Community Centre. The Petit Curucaye and Carenage community re-leaf blocs are to participate in the reafforestation projects. They are to respectively establish a close canopy of forest and fruit trees on 40 hectares and 120 hectares of land over a ten-year period on lands which have been degraded due to severe fires.

The reafforested lands are State lands located on the Northern range. Resident TT UNDP representative Dr Inyang Ebong-Harstrup speaking at the ceremony, said the UNDP will provide two grants in the sum of $257,000 for both projects under the Global Environment Facility/Small Grants Programme (GEF/SGP). Two additional grants in the sum of $36,000 will be provided to the blocs by the Tropical Re-Leaf Foundation (TRF), which will execute the projects. Dr Ebong-Harstrup said so far the UNDP had provided grants totalling $3 million to fund 41 non-governmental and community-based organisation projects.

President of the TRF, Eden Shand, in his remarks at the ceremony said the start of the reafforestation projects marked the beginning of the end of forest fires. He noted that the two blocs were now empowered to prevent the fires. He also pointed out that some 10,000 hectares were now ravaged lands which would require $630 million to “re-green” it at a cost of  $63,000 per hectare. In the same breath, Shand appealed to the government to get the Green Fund operational. Molly Gaskin, Chairperson of the National Steering Committee of GEF/SGP in her remarks, reminded the gathering of the possibility of heavy rains, massive mud slides and even death which could result when the rains begin to fall, as a  result of the burnt hillsides and the bare earth. Member of Parliament for Diego Martin West and Minister of Planning and Development, Dr Keith Rowley, was listed to speak at the ceremony but he is out of country. Public Utilities Minister Rennie Dumas, who was present was unable to stay.

SIX-YEAR-OLD Mark Prescott remains captive for a fifth day today at the hands of kidnappers who snatched him on Wednesday outside his school – San Fernando Primary Roman Catholic.

The fate of this child remains unknown up to late yesterday. But the pain of his anxious father, Wayne Prescott, 40, at his Cocoyea Village home yesterday was quite evident. “I’ve had a few winks of sleep and little to eat since Wednesday; I want my son with me,” a tearful Prescott appealed to his son’s kidnappers yesterday. The home of the Prescotts is a small downstairs apartment where life started afresh a year ago at Cocoyea Village for Prescott (Wayne). Mark’s mother died in child birth four years ago. She had given birth to twins who survived.

When Sunday Newsday visited the family around midday yesterday, Prescott was dozing off on his bed. He is re-married and wife was fixing him a meal while Mark’s sisters, twins Syanne and Arianne, four, were sitting quietly in the living room.  Its mind-boggling why a ransom of $150,000 was demanded by  the kidnappers, Prescott said. It was the only telephone call he received since Wednesday night from the kidnappers. “But why nothing yet,” Prescott, his face swollen and eyes red through lack of sleep, asked himself. Prescott works with a contractor supplying services to with BpTT. He is pursuing a computer course and has a 19-year-old daughter living the United States. He said Mark was usually taken to school on mornings in a van with other children by a woman, Margaret Pierre. It was around 3.30 pm, Prescott said, when Pierre pulled up in front the house, the van packed with school children, but without Mark.

Prescott rushed off to the school on Harris Promenade. Just how was it possible for the kidnappers to snatch the boy and escape without anyone seeing is baffling. The school is a stone’s throw from the Police Station.  The High Court and mere foot’s away form busy Library Corner.  Police told Sunday News day yesterday that Mark was leaving his Second-year classroom, but was called back by his teacher for a book. One of his classmates walked behind him as they left the classroom. “Since then, no one can tell me anything more than that,” Prescott said.  The father said Mark is a “smart kid” who likes to talk a lot. He said he is fearing the worse with each passing day. “The phone rings and we are all excited; then is like you feel sunken,” the father said. Asked if he would pay the $150,000 ransom, Prescott, said: “Where in the world I could get that money? But they (kidnappers) are not calling.”

Various confectionery companies around the country are now dealing with the repercussions of decreased output from Caroni 1975 Limited.

The shortfall in output is due to mechanical failures and high levels of worker absenteeism at Caroni. According to Hayden Charles, Manager at Joseph Charles Bottling Works Limited ( Solo Beverages), Caroni was unable to provide the necessary 150 tonnes of sugar to the company. As a result, the company has been unable to meet its export orders and was forced to lay-off numerous employees.

Other firms threatened by the shortage include S M Jaleel, KC Confectionery and Caribbean Bottlers.  Caribbean Bottlers has obtained a licence to import sugar from abroad, and other companies are considering doing the same. However, the imported sugar would take two to three weeks to reach Trinidad. Minister of Trade and Industry Ken Valley said that Government had anticipated the shortage and has put appropriate measures in place. He added that companies interested in obtaining an import licence for sugar would receive the licence on the same day it is applied for. Supermarket managers throughout the country including TruValu, Back to Basics, and FHS claim that they have not been affected in any way.

Two uniformed policemen were yesterday present at both the Kamal Mohammed and Savitri Ramkissoon residence for the reception and viewing of their bodies. While scores of mourners congregated at the respective homes, there were those who attended the funeral of Ramkissoon and then returned later for Mohammed’s. Although the secret five-year love affair of the in-laws was frowned upon by many, there was no hostility between the relatives and friends of the couple. If there was any tension, police were there, ready to step in.

Pundit Deneshwar Maharaj at Ramkissoon’s funeral said it was the breakdown of marriage and slack behaviour that had led to Ramkissoon’s death. Pundit Maharaj said that while nobody deserved to die they way she did, it was partially her fault that it ended that way. Pundit Maharaj said people must keep their marriage vows and not go for the slack way of  life, or if there is a problem in a marriage, they must not look for comfort in the arms of another. And at Mohammed’s funeral service, Pastor Seebaran Buchoon said that the last time he saw Mohammed, he asked him to return to church to which Mohammed had replied: “I will, but not now”. Pastor Buchoon reminded the mourners at the Calvary Tabernacle church that “ If you trust Jesus, he will bring you strength”.

Mohammed was described in the eulogy read by his friend, Paul Samaroo, as “an active person in the community especially in sports and always willing to give a helping hand”. Another friend, Shafina Mohammed Singh, asked the congregation to “take this as a lesson, when bad things happen, turn to the Lord”. Following the service, Mohammed’s body was taken to the South Oropouche Cemetery for burial. The Hindu funeral service of Ramkissoon, took place at her Partap Trace home and was attended by scores of mourners. On Wednesday, Mohammed, a janitor at the Fyzabad Police Station, strangled Ramkisson, an employee with the School Feeding Programme. Mohammed then hanged himself. The spouses of both Mohammed and Ramkissoon were siblings.

Minister of National Security Howard Chin Lee yesterday made a vow to little Keiwon Sullivan, nine, the student who was kidnapped, and beaten to near death, that he will do all in his power to ensure that the police bring to justice the person who did that wickedness to him.

An emotional Chin Lee visited Sullivan at the Intensive Care Unit of the Children’s Orthopaedic ward at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex around 2.30 p.m. yesterday, and spoke briefly with the victim. The minister was also allowed a few minutes alone with Sullivan. Following the assurance by the Minister to have the suspect arrested, Sullivan whose head is heavily bandaged acknowledged the presence of the minister and said goodbye to the minister as he was leaving. Following his visit with Sullivan, Minister Chin Lee told Sunday Newsday. “I am certainly appalled by this criminal act and I made a promise to do all that I can to ensure that the criminal element who perpetrated this brutal attack is brought to justice.”

He added that from information received the police is expected to make a breakthrough in their investigations soon. The Minister added that he was concerned over the safety of the nation’s children. Minister Chin Lee also spoke with Andy Williams, the father of Keiwon and assured him that the matter was being thoroughly investigated by the police. Williams told the Minister that he is now certain that the person who attempted to kill is son is a “mad person”. He also told the Minister that although his son is recuperating, he is hoping that the damage does not affect him mentally. “All I want right now is to take my son home, and see him talking, laughing and running around,” said a distraught Williams.

A “PH” taxi driver plying his car from Chaguanas to Enterprise was held up and robbed of a quantity of cash, jewelry and a cell phone. However, as the bandits were fleeing the scene, the driver pursued the two men in his car and knocked down one of them.

The suspect of Never Dirty, Morvant, is in critical condition at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. Reports revealed that around 11.30 pm, Inandiwe Aminata was plying his car from Chaguanas to Enterprise, when he picked up two men who asked to be taken to Jackson Street, Enterprise. Reports revealed that on reaching close to Enterprise, the two men proceeded to rob Aminata of a quantity of cash, jewelry and a cell phone. He was also beaten about the body. The bandits then proceeded to run away. Aminata pursued the men in his car and struck one of the two men.

The man received multiples injuries while his accomplice escaped. WPC Rawlins, Dhanai and Pierre of the Central Division Task Force who were on patrol responded to the report and found a 20-year-old man of Never Dirty, Morvant, bleeding on the roadway. He was searched and a cell phone belonging to Aminata was found. The bleeding man was taken to the Chaguanas Health Centre and transferred to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital under police guard. Sunday Newsday learned that the suspect will be placed on identification parades for similar offences in the Central Division. Investigations are continuing.

THE Ministry of Education has lashed out against the distribution of condoms to school children. It will not sanction or support it, the ministry said in a statement yesterday. But if it were to ever agree that school children should be given condoms, the ministry said, it would prefer parents take on that responsibility.

The ministry’s disclosure came in the wake of the continued public demonstration to school children of condoms’ use by the lobbyist group — Advocates for Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (AYSHR). The group’s latest activity stirred much attention at the new National Library in Port-of-Spain among scores of young school children attempting to catch a glimpse of the group demonstrating the use of the condom. The group has vowed to escalate its lobbying for Government’s sanction to allow free condom distribution in schools for promoting safer/healthier sex. But the ministry yesterday, though not naming AYSHR, stated that the nation’s children must not be targetted by sensational protest and disruptive actions. It expressed its views on the issue in a two-page letter which was disclosed around midday yesterday via the ministry’s Communication’s Unit.

It stated that sex education in schools was a matter for teachers, parents, religious leaders and the national community. It is the ministry’s view that school children’s early exposure to sexual intercourse tend to put them at risk of socially transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS and unplanned pregnancy. Not that it was against sex education, but the statement said that the ministry was of the view that it must be initiated through a comprehensive curriculum through a school Guidance Programme. And drugs, violence, child abuse and neglect are no different in terms of the approach to educating the nation’s children. The statement also pointed out that the issue of sexuality and child development “is a very complex matter” because our society was multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic. The statement ended: “The ministry of education wishes to advise that the subject of condom use and its distribution is a matter for authorisation by parents and for guardians as appropriate. In the circumstances, the Ministry of Education will not sanction or support the distribuition of condoms in the school system.”

Twenty-two persons were arrested during a series of raids and searches carried out by officers of the Northern Division.

The exercise which started around 4 pm on Friday, and ended at 6 am yesterday resulted in two persons being charged with possession of arms and ammunition, 18 others for possession of drugs and two others for obscene language and resisting arrest. The exercise was led by Cpl Jones and PC Gyan and coordinated by ACP Nazamul Hosein.