KIDNAPPED businessman Anslem Choo Woon Chee was released by his captors early yesterday morning at the Lady Chancellor Hill.

The 42-year-old father of two daughters, ages 8 and 3, was spotted at the side of a road around 5am by two joggers, who then contacted officers of the St Clair Criminal Investigations Department. Officers headed by Cpl Brian Mercer and PC Stephens, who were patrolling the area at the time, responded and found Choo Woon Chee, proprietor of Archie’s Supermarket, Cantaro Village Santa Cruz. The first thing he told the police was that he was hungry, and he was taken to the Quik Shoppe, corner Park and Richmond Streets, Port-of-Spain where he was fed.

Choo Woon Chee had been snatched by armed men from his Sandbank Avenue, Sam Boucaud, Santa Cruz home on the night of May 7. Choo Woon Chee told police that the kidnappers treated him well, but that he was feeling a bit weak, and a bit dazed. After eating, he was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, where he was treated and discharged. Officers of the Anti Kidnapping Squad (AKS) were later contacted and the businessman interviewed. AKS sources said they believe the people who snatched Choo Woon Chee broke down and released him because they had no directions from their leaders, some of whom are in jail.

AKS sources also told Newsday that the kidnappers contacted Choo Woon Chee’s relatives around 9pm Tuesday asking for a ransom of $2 million. Police said the family offered $100,000 and that the kidnappers were willing to accept. The kidnappers called around the same time Wednesday night, but police said sometime between then and 5 am yesterday, the kidnappers released Choo Woon Chee. At Choo Woon Chee’s home yesterday, relatives kept the businessman away from the media, saying he was not ready to deal with the public. A woman claiming to be a close relative, stood outside the house and said Choo Woon Chee was doing well and that she wouldn’t wish what happened to him on anyone else.

“We are just joyful that he is safe,” the woman said, also thanking the AKS and the media for their support, as well as members of the community for their constant prayers. During his week in captivity, Santa Cruz residents kept vigil in hope of the businessman’s release. The woman said further that Choo Woon Chee’s daughters were extremely relieved that their father was home with them once again. “They (daughters) couldn’t express the way they felt and they are just relieved to have him home. They are very close to him,” she said. Choo Woon Chee had entered his yard in his blue four-door van around 8.10 pm on May 7, when an armed man stopped the vehicle and abducted him.

DIRECTOR of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Geoffrey Henderson yesterday instructed Northern Division police to charge a 27-year-old Windy Hill, Arouca security guard for murdering his brother. In addition, police have also charged the accused man’s mother for possession of arms and ammunition and possession of marijuana. Mother and son are due to appear before an Arima Magistrate today.

According to police reports, police led by Sgt Johnnie Abraham (Homicide Bureau) and Arouca CID officers Cpl Beepath Samai and Cpl Hal Edwards stormed a house at Windy Hill, Arouca around 2 pm on Wednesday. The officers seized a quantity of compressed marijuana, a .380 semi-automatic pistol and six rounds of ammunition. They later arrested a 56-year-old mother of six and her 27-year-old son. Following a meeting with DPP Henderson yesterday, Cpl Beepath Samai formally charged the 27-year-old man for the murder of Anthony Jules, 23, whose decomposing body was found on April 29, in a drain near the NUGFW housing project in Arouca.

An autopsy report revealed Jules was shot through the head. Police have also seized a grey B13 Sentra in which Jules is believed to have been shot. The car’s left front door has a bullet entry. In addition to the charge of murdering his brother, the 27-year-old guard was also charged with attempting to murder another man who witnessed the death of Jules, possession of marijuana, and possession of arms and ammunition.

A 21-year-old Belmont woman was kidnapped Wednesday night by four men claiming to be police, and a ransom has been asked for her safe return, police sources told Newsday yesterday.

Members of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad (AKS) along with officers of the St Clair Criminal Investigations Department (CID) searched an area in Maraval yesterday afternoon and held a man for questioning. He was in custody up to late evening. The 15th kidnap victim for ransom for the year has been identified as Kerri Greaves, daughter of Newsday’s senior reporter Debra Greaves, and Neale Greaves, manager of the PTSC Terminal Mall. At the time of the latest kidnapping, Kerri, had just finished speaking with her boyfriend, Qwesi Toussaint at Riversdale Road, Maraval, and was going to meet her close friend Vanessa Phillip, at the corner of Scott Hill and Saddle Road.

Phillip is the daughter of the pastor of the Lighthouse Ministries, Duke Street, Port-of-Spain.  Greaves also attends the church and is a student at the School of Business and Computer Science. According to the police, around 9 pm Wednesday, four armed men, dressed in black and wearing hoods, and also claiming to be police, approached the two women in a black Nissan B13 Sentra vehicle. At gunpoint, police said the men forced Greaves and Phillip in the vehicle and drove around with them for sometime, during which time masks were placed on the faces of both women.

Police said the vehicle stopped at the traffic lights at the Morvant Junction and Phillip was thrown out. The vehicle then drove off with Greaves who remained unaccounted for up to late evening. Phillip went to the Maraval Police Station where she made a report, which was also lodged at the St Clair Station. She was then treated at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. Officers at the St Clair Criminal Investigations Department (CID) under Cpl Brian Mercer, and including PC Stephens along with PCs Williams and Matas of the AKS visited the scene and conducted investigations. Around 12.45pm yesterday, police told Newsday a male relative received a telephone call requesting a ransom (they declined to disclose how much) for the woman’s safe return. 

The caller further said that the money was to be paid by 6 pm yesterday, and warned relatives not to contact the police, or the media.  Another call came at 1.15pm. Police later traced the calls to phone booths on the Brian Lara Promenade and Tragarete Road. At the family’s home yesterday, Neale Greaves said he was mystified at his daughter’s kidnapping and appealed to the kidnappers to release his daughter unharmed. “This is disturbing and I am not satified that we should be a target. “We are a poor family and this has to be a clear case of mistaken identity,” he said. He added that the family was not involved in any illegal activities and does not have any extra revenue-earning business. “This is very much disturbing,” he said.

Neale Greaves went on to say that approximately three weeks ago, four men fitting the same description tried to grab his daughter outside the Lighthouse Ministries Church, but that she got away. This was confirmed by Phillip, who, in an interview from her Maraval home, said that when she and Greaves had been standing together on Wednesday night Greaves recognised a passing black car as one that had been following her recently. Phillip said that during the time she was held in the vehicle, with Greaves, the men kept telling each other to “pass the guns” and cautioned them to keep their heads down or else they would be shot. She declined further comment and the AKS together with officers of the St Clair CID are continuing investigations. Neale Greaves also asked the Government of the day to do something about the kidnappings, since it appears to be getting out of hand.

FATHER CLYDE HARVEY made a stirring appeal yesterday to the kidnappers of six-year-old Mark Prescott to immediately and safely return the child to his family.

“We are appealing to whoever is responsible to stop using our children as pawns. I am appealing to the kidnappers to make sure that the child is well treated and returned immediately to the family he loves,” he said. Fr Harvey, manager of the San Fernando Boys’ RC school, who spoke to the media yesterday at the school compound, added: “Anybody who is thinking of using a child, for God’s sake stop it!” The Second Year pupil, son of Wayne Prescott, an off-shore worker, was snatched after his school was dismissed on Wednesday. Hours later kidnappers contacted the child’s father demanding a $150,000 ransom for his safe return.

Harvey said the school has been conducting hourly prayer sessions for Prescott’s safe return, adding that it was a “trying time” for everyone. He said the Ministry of Education has since provided professional counselling for the pupils. Asked whether the school security had been improved, he said, principal Michael Guerra, would have to comment on that. Guerra declined to comment saying that the Ministry of Education instructed them not to speak with the media.  School bus driver, Margaret Pierre, who first discovered the child missing told Newsday that she arrived at the school before it was dismissed.

Pierre, who has been transporting the child to school for the past six months, said she did not see Precott walking out of the school with the other children. “First I thought he got confused and went into a wrong car. But I checked and could not find him,” she recalled. Pierre said she asked the other children who told her that he was “copying down work in his class.” The bus driver said she the went to Precott’s classroom and inquired from the teacher about the child’s whereabouts. “She said she gave him back his copy book and he left the classroom.” Pierre said she had a close relationship with Prescott and described him as being a very nice, smart and brave child. Meanwhile at Precott’s home, at Edinburg Crescent, Scotland Drive, Cocoyea Village, San Fernando, relatives refused to speak with the media for security reasons. The Anti-Kidnapping Squad is continuing investigations.

A 20-year-old accounting student who was among six persons injured in a two car smash up in Freeport Wednesday, has died at hospital.

Mark Lee Wong How, of Main Road, Mamoral, who sustained severe head injuries,  resulting in brain haemorrhaging, died around 4 am yesterday at the Port-of-Spain  General Hospital. Investigators said the other victims of the accident, Yuri Toolsie, 20, of Couva, the driver of one of the vehicles; Ronako Banister, 20, of Couva North and David Brewster, of Pleasantville, are all listed in a critical condition.

When Newsday visited Wong How’s home yesterday his mother, Theresa Wong How, had to be consoled by relatives and friends. The distraught woman and her husband, Manswell, declined to speak with the media. However neighbours, who were busy putting up tents for the wake, described the deceased as a “good and quiet boy.” One neighbour said Wong How was an acolyte at the village’s RC church and was attending the School of Accounting and Management at St Augustine.

In the accident, which occurred around 9.20 am, Yuri Toolsie, was driving on the south bound lane of the Solomon Hochoy Highway. Wong How was seated in the front passenger seat and another friend, Bannister, was in the back seat. About 200 metres from the Freeport off-ramp, Toolsie attempted to overtake a car and lost control. His car crashed into the median, went up into the air and landed upside down on a B-14 Sentra, on the northbound lane, which was being driven by taxi driver Glen Dickson, 36. Wong How, was trapped in the vehicle and had to be assisted by a passersby. A back-seat passenger in the taxi, Indrani Rampersad, who was also an accounting student, suffered massive head injuries and died on the spot. Cpl Satnarine is continuing investigations.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning said yesterday that Government was “likely” or “minded” to go along with the request of the Tobago House of Assembly to compulsorily acquire the land strip of land that adjoins the beach front at Point Pigeon Beach Resort.

The Prime Minister, speaking at a news conference at Whitehall, said that while it was never government’s intention to put the Pigeon Point Beach Resort “out of business,” it may be that the company which owns the Resort — the Ansa/McAl Group — may decide that their property is useless without the beach strip. “It is not expropriation. It is acquisition under the law with appropriate compensation,” Manning stressed, adding that under the Land Acquisition Ordinance, the State had the right to take over any property for public purposes, once the owners are properly compensated. “The Government is not going to act high-handedly…even if we have to acquire (land) compulsorily there is a proper way for doing so,” he said in response to comments that it might send a bad signal to the investor community.

While he stressed the Cabinet was yet to adjudicate on the matter, Manning said the issue had been the subject of long and protracted negotiations and that compulsory acquisition would only been contemplated because all else had failed. Manning said when the proposal to acquire the land had first come one year ago, government turned it down in favour of negotiations. He said if government accepted such a proposal now it would be after all other mechanisms had failed to produce an acceptable result. “I can tell you we have gone out of our way,” he said, recalling that a Ministerial team had been established last year which tried to mediate between the two parties. “If the State chooses to go the route of compulsory acquisition, it would have been a last resort,” he said. He said such an acquisition would be no different from any of the other motions which come before Parliament to acquire a property.

Told that the State had a terrible record in terms of paying landowners for property which is compulsorily acquired, Manning quipped: “the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Knowlson Gift) would be among the first to agree with you”. He said the Government was trying very hard, in terms of the financial resources available to it, to change that image. The public purpose for which the land would be acquired is for fishermen to have access to the beach, he said.

As Caribbean Government prepare for the 2007 World Cricket Series, Prime Minister Patrick Manning has conceded that the Queen’s Park Oval would not be adequate for such an event.

Manning was speaking at a post-Cabinet news briefing at Whitehall yesterday. The Prime Minister attended a meeting in Antigua at which the “financial and logistical” issues relating to the Series was discussed. He said government had already given a commitment to the Queen’s Park Cricket Club and the West Indies Cricket Board of Control that it would work with them to assist the hosting of whatever matches, Trinidad and Tobago is called upon to host. But the Prime Minister said he wanted to make it clear that Trinidad and Tobago was “not fighting to host anything.” In fact, he proposed at Sunday’s meeting  that all the countries collaborate in hosting the event rather than compete for it. “Because the resources required to do it are huge,” he stated.

He said some people said that none of the cricket grounds in the region was up to the required standard, while others argued that there was none which could match up to the name and reputation of the Queen’s Park Oval. He said others had put up a proposal to construct a new world-class facility in another part of Trinidad and Tobago for this World Series Cricket, while others contended that this was spending money for a virtual “one night stand”. “There are all kinds of permutations and that is why it is necessary for all the heads to be put together to decide what we would do,” he said. It calls for great hospitality and makes tremendous demand on the hotel industry. He said Government so far had taken a decision not to build a new cricket stadium. He said however Government would be prepared to overturn this decision, if after discussion with Caribbean Governments, it is the view of this course of action was necessary. Noting that the Queen’s Park Savannah held 30,000, Manning said any proper match normally attracts a full Oval. “And if you have as large number of visitors coming in, you see the problem”, he said.

Manning said one of the things the region would have to consider is how it would manage the large influx of people who are likely to visit the region to watch matches and what physical facilities and accommodation would be available. In Antigua, Manning also attended a meeting on the issue of having LNG from Trinidad and Tobago shipped to Jamaica. The Jamaicans are asking for special pricing arrangements for LNG as a means for addressing the trade imbalance. Manning said Trinidad and Tobago argued that the arrangements covering the Caricom Single Market did not involve this matter and therefore it should be addressed at another forum. He said it was agreed that both parties begin discussions on “a commerical arrangement” to resolve this matter.

Manning also attended a Prime Ministerial meeting to look at methods of government in the context of Caribbean regional integration. The committee looked at a proposal from a technical committee headed by Sir Shridath Ramphal. Manning noted that the proposal stated that if there were countries in the region who wished to integrate at a faster rate, they were free to do so. “And therefore the door is wide open and I remain as optimistic as I ever was that we are going to end up…with some form of political integration.” He said more and more the economics were pointing in this direction.

National Security Minister Howard Chin Lee has  assured that both the police and army in the Laventille exercises are operating within the law. He said government was not contemplating a gun amnesty because it was not found to be successful wherever it was implemented. “It just allows the criminals to hand on (old) guns in exchange for cash to buy (new) guns,” he said.

Meanwhile the Prime Minister, at the same news conference revealed that government’s suggested method for  equalising the NIS pension with old age pension did not find favour with the NIB and therefore the matter had been referred back to the Government for reconsideration. He said however that Government’s commitment to harmonising the pensions remained and it would find a way to meet the requirements. On criticisms of the Commission of Inquiry, Manning said he was aware of the view that the Chairman was wearing his bias on his sleeve, but he was also aware of the view that the Chairman was acting properly. “To which view are you prepared to subscribe?” he asked rhetorically. On the costs and duration of the Inquiry, Manning said there was no quick fix. In the InnCogen matter, Manning said he would have to pay a visit to the United States later this year in relation to this issue.