THE All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers Trade Union (ATSGWTU) will know whether it will be succeed in obtaining an injunction to stop the restructuring of Caroni (1975) Limited when the matter comes up in the Industrial Court today at 1.30 pm.

Last week, the union filed the application for an injunction pursuant to Section 84 of the Industrial Relations Act Chapter 88.01 for Orders.

“The company has unfolded a VSEP without meeting and treating with the union and has failed to divulge the true contents of its restructuring plan for the benefit of clarification for all the daily-rated employees of Caroni,” ATSGWTU President-General Rudranath Indarsingh said.

Indarsingh said once the injunction has been obtained, the substantive matter would be heard in May. Within recent weeks, the issue of Caroni’s restructuring has been bandied about by the Government, Opposition United National Congress (UNC), the ATSGWTU and several other sugar industry stakeholders.

The union is being represented by attorneys Douglas Mendes, Dave Cowie and Ashvani Mahabir. Caroni is represented by attorneys Kerwin Garcia and Ria Ramdeen.

A 27-YEAR-OLD man accused of killing a San Juan barber admitted yesterday that he was in the area of the killing at the time but maintained that he did not commit the crime.

Murder accused Marvin Boisselle, told the jury he was on Maraj Street in El Socorro when  three men questioned him, then followed him.

He told the  Port-of-Spain First Criminal Court that at about 7 pm on November 4, 2000, he was going to visit his family on Maraj Street when three men, Nigel Joseph, Wayne Joseph and Clinton Jones, asked him if he had seen “someone with a long sleeve white shirt walking up the road”.

He said he told them: “I don’t know what all yuh talking about.”

Boisselle, of Beetham Estate, is before Justice Rajendra Narine charged with the November 4, 2000, murder of  Earlon Gill Sr. He is being defended by Joseph Pantor and Karla Prime, while Althea Alexis and Candia James are prosecuting.

Boisselle said when he passed Adjoha Street and reached the corner of Maraj Street, the three men stopped him. After his conversation with the men, Boisselle said he stopped and boarded a car but to his surprise the men followed him. He came out the car and the trio told him that “someone down the road got shot”.  He told them he did not know what they were talking about.

Boisselle explained that he then walked to the Croisee and crossed the Priority Bus Route.

“But the men came behind me again. They wanted me to come back down the road. I told them I am not coming. I don’t know what they talking about, and I jump in a car and I went down home.”   He said he visited his relatives about 5.30 pm and was dressed in a white vest and blue long pants.

In earlier evidence, the eight year-old son of the deceased Earlon Gill Jr, said he saw Boisselle shoot his father in the head and had pointed him out in an ID parade.

When hearing resumes today, defence and prosecuting attorneys will address the jury. The judge will sum-up the case on Tuesday. 

A HIGH COURT judge yesterday told three men who tried to pass off flour as cocaine, that they needed to be protected from themselves rather than for society to be protected from them.  Justice Herbert Volney placed Damien Baptiste, 21, of Santa Flora; Hayden Lewis, 26, and Rodney Robinson, 24, both of Siparia on five-year bonds.

Referring to the trio as “scamps” rather than criminals, Justice Volney said they should count themselves lucky that the police arrested them before the buyers were able to get to them.

Baptiste, Lewis, and Robinson were caught red-handed over two years ago, trying to sell flour which they claimed was cocaine. But while attempting to sell the white substance, members of the Organised Crime and Narcotics Unit (OCNU) intervened and arrested them.  On the first day of the trial in the Second Assizes of the San Fernando High Court before Justice Volney and a nine-member mixed jury, the three pleaded guilty to the charge of trafficking a substance representing it to be cocaine.

Their admission of guilt came after State prosecutor Narissa Ramsundar called OCNU PC Wayne Abbott and he testified that on November 21, 2000, he and a party of police officers were on a stake out operation opposite the Gulf City Shopping Complex, near the food stalls. PC Abbott said after a short while a white vehicle pulled up with four occupants, including the three accused.

After approximately one minute, a man came over to the vehicle and the four alighted from the car and opened the trunk of the vehicle. Abbott said he walked up closer to them, while communicating with the other policemen via his wireless communicator.

The police officer testified that he overheard Baptiste asking the East Indian man if he had “brought the money” and the man replied: “I want to test the cocaine first”. According to Abbott, the accused said: “Don’t worry it’s good stuff.”

Within minutes, police surrounded the men and Abott testified that Lewis said: “Oh God officer, is Roger tell me is ah easy piece of money I go make selling this flour as cocaine because them fellas an them he dealing with inexperienced and they have plenty money.”

Police searched the accused’s vehicle and found five packets containing a white powdery substance. The substance, which was found to have a weight of 3.9 kilogrammes, was later analysed at the Forensics Sciences Centre and was confirmed not to be cocaine.

THE NATIONAL Union of Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW) expressed outrage yesterday at reports that the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation was planning to lay off more than 400 daily-paid workers on April 1.

 “They must be joking,” said NUGFW President Robert Giuseppi, who reminided reporters that April 1 is All Fool’s Day.

He said NUGFW will file a complaint at the Industrial Court charging the Corporation with breach of Article 1 of the Collective Agreement between the parties. A mass meeting of Corporation workers has been arranged for 7 am today outside the Corporation’s Aranjuez headquarters. At that meeting, NUGFW will outline a plan of action aimed at reversing the Corporation’s decision.

At a hastily summmoned press conference yesterday morning, Giuseppi said he would not be surprised if the planned lay off was an attempt by the government to reply to the accusation of racism in the planned downsizing of Caroni (1975) Limited. He speculated that it might be a deliberate effort to make it look like they are sending African workers too “to make it look balanced”.

The NUGFW leader also questioned the fact that members of the union are the ones targetted for retrenchment, while others hired just prior to the last general elections are being retained.

Giuseppi accused the government of seeking to weaken the trade union movement by getting rid of unionised workers, to bring in cheap labour and strengthen CEPEP.

He said money being wasted on the Unemployment Relief Programme and CEPEP should be used instead to provide employment and ensure job security.

Giuseppi described the URP was a recipe for corruption and predicted that CEPEP would turn out to be the same. President of the Works Section of NUGFW, Alexander Toby, warned Works Minister Franklin Khan against touching any of the daily-paid workers in that Ministry. He felt if young people could not get work, the road would be open for them to turn to crime.

Our 1976 Republican Constitution, in section 1 (2), actually breaches international law and Trinidad and Tobago could well find itself embarrassed in the international arena.

So said Independent Senator Parvatee Anmolsingh-Mahabir on Tuesday evening in the Senate while speaking on Independent Senator while Prof Ken Ramchand’s  private members’ motion which urges constitutional reform.

Reading out the offending section, she remarked: “The territory of Trinidad is being incorrectly defined as inclusive of the seabed and the subsoil of the Continental Shelf outside of the territorial sea.

“This claim is contrary to international law. The Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf in 1958 and the United Nations’ Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982, confer on the State only sovereign rights over the Continental Shelf as distinct from sovereignty. The correct jurisdiction we exercise under the regime of the Continental Shelf is the exclusive right to explore and exploit the mineral wealth and sedentary resources thereon but not ownership of the seabed and subsoil as the Constitution claims”.

She added: “This must be seen in the context of the increasing extensions of coastal state jurisdictions that are so fundamentally important for an offshore oil and gas producing island state such as Trinidad and Tobago”. 

Assuring that our country would continue to enjoy its exclusive rights to our oil and natural gas reserves in the marine area, she said: “What I am taking issue with is the error that is inherent in this section of the Constitution. We need to review the definition of our territorial boundaries especially in light of a new corpus of laws that have been agreed to by the international community, principles of which must be reflected in our Constitution in setting the limits of our maritime jurisdictions as well as he airspace above the land territory”.  The senator also criticised the Cabinet’s law-making capacity under the Constitution.

She said: “Cabinet can circumvent the exclusive law-creating capacity of Parliament by negotiating bilateral and international agreements and simply introduce enabling legislation in Parliament when necessary… Segments of territory of Trinidad and Tobago claimed and annexed in the 1942 Treaty of Paria with Venezuela were ceded in the process without parliamentary approval…Therefore I suggest that prior parliamentary approval must be accorded to all agreements before Trinidad and Tobago can become a contracting party”.

Multiculturalism, she urged, should be enshrined in the Preamble to the Constitution, like enlightened countries like Canada, Sweden and Australia. She said: “This Constitution needs to be revisited and reviewed to reflect the new prevailing socio-economic and political reality”.

Urging the establishment of a Constitution Commission, she added that what was also needed was a reform of the attitudes of some of our politicians to put nation before self.

Thousands of persons yesterday filled the Centre of Excellence at Macoya to catch a glimpse and listen to the sermon delivered by Bishop TD Jakes of the US, at the Born to Lead Leadership Conference and Youth Rally.

With a lusty round of applause and voices in unison calling for him, Bishop Jakes walked on stage at approximately 11.30 am.

Stating that he had never visited TT before, yet did not feel like a stranger, Jakes said he believed that something would happen this weekend that would change the lives of everyone present.

He claimed that it would be difficult to get rid of him after the “3 Days of Heaven on Earth” conference, as he has become spoilt by the warmth and hospitality of the people.

Jakes began by telling the audience that “real ministry does not begin until you’ve been pushed to the breaking point,” and stated that if persons present were content to be satisfied, average or ordinary, then they did not belong in the hall, as true leadership meant that you had to step out of the mould, and let yourself be vulnerable.

A true leader will be controversial, but clearly understands his purpose  claimed Jakes, adding that it was important not to define yourself by the views of others. He sought to dispel misconceptions that leadership was about affluence, stating that “the present generation had misdefined leadership,” and that it was really about influence.

Even as the audience rushed up to him to place money before his feet on stage, Bishop Jakes said “You can have lots of things but never be a leader, and if you are not influencing others then you are not a leader,” he said, as “a real leader can enter a room and change the atmosphere.”

He drew laughs from the capacity crowd as he said leaders were always thrust into the spotlight, and that he was tired of seeing too many leaders who could not take the heat.

 He explained that the same apparatus which creates light also generated heat, and that “leadership was sitting in the hot seat.”

He acknowledged that leaders were both born and made, and that they had to be committed and dedicated.

“God puts great leaders in trouble so that they can be trained,” Jakes stated, and urged everyone to live each day as a “significant” one as time was irreplaceable.

DESPITE ongoing military action in Iraq, there is no need for the deployment of an elite, military unit at Piarco International Airport to guard against possible terrorist attacks. This was the statement made Wwdnesday by Works Minister and Acting National Security Minister, Franklyn Khan, following the signing of a US$ 500,000 grant agreement from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to strengthen airport security.

Speaking with reporters at the Ministry of Works’ offices on Richmond Street, Khan stated: “Airport security is no longer a guard standing up by a door and looking around in a uniform. It has become a very intellectualised business.”

Asked whether the deployment of a Special Forces team at Piarco was necessary given the possibility of terrorist attacks due to the war in Iraq, the Minister said: “ What kind of security you put in place will obviously depend the type of risk associated with this area and this airport. That is a continuous evaluation process. By just putting a  military and or security presence has its own counterbenefits, so to speak, because you might be unecessarily energising the situation when the situation does not call for it.

“Today the world is energised about security, and rightfully so, based on 9/11 and the Iraq war, but ultimately it is not man’s intention to be on a state of alert ad infinitum. We all want peace and security.”

Khan added that Trinidad and Tobago’s airport security surpasses that of many of its Caricom neighbours and through the Civil Aviation Authority, this country is helping those countries improve their security mechanisms.

Khan said the progamme to strengthen the country’s airport security was three-fold, concentrating on regulatory strengthening, implementation of new administrative services and training of security of personnel. The third component which will see security officers undergoing specialist training in areas such as bomb detection and hostage negotiation, will run over an 18-month period at a cost of US$ 715,000.

The Minister said this programme was in keeping with an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Action Plan approved in June 2002, to improve aviation security in the ICAO’s 187 member nations.

Local IDB representative, William Robinson revealed that a 1998 ICAO assessment, showed  77 countries had persistent problems with airport security. Robinson said with an increased flow of investment and visitors into Trinidad and Tobago and this country’s ability to be a regional transport hub, improved aviation security was essential.

DR STEVE Fletcher of the Water Resources Agency, Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA),  said on Wednesday that they were constantly being challenged to deal with water management. He compared the current scenario to the water situation in 2001 when the country experienced critical water shortages.

Fletcher was speaking at the Youth Forum on “Water As A Resource” at the Faculty of Engineering. 

The project is a joint venture between the Ministry of Public Utilities and the Environment, WASA, UWI’s Faculty of Engineering and the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of TT to gather constructive input from youths on water management.

“As we speak, the issue of  allocation of water resources within the Caroni Water Basin, our country’s major water source, is indeed a worrying one,” said Fletcher.

He said supply and demand for water did not balance and the availability of fresh water on a yearly basis was 3,600 million cubic metres.

demand is 368 million cubic metres and supply is approximately 346 million cubic metres.

Availability is about ten times the demand, which indicates that TT is not a “water scarce country by any means,” Fletcher said. However, he said the problem was getting an adequate water supply when and where we need it.

Prudent management is necessary to fill the gap between supply and demand, Fletcher said, in addition to preserving the quality of the water which is being threatened by effluent discharges in water courses. He added that one volume of polluted water affected eight volumes of good water.

Public Utilities Minister Rennie Dumas said the draft national policy was working towards a sustainable and environmentally sound approach to achieving developed country status by 2020.

Dumas pointed out that “water is everybody’s business” and urged the youths to become part of the participatory and decision-making process on the future of water in this country.

Sports Minister Roger Boynes also delivered remarks at yesterday’s promotion, and complimented Dumas on the fact that over 1,900 households in his constituency benefitted from water infrastructure last year.

“TO A large extent, the crime situation in this country today is the result of fathers who merely see themselves as sperm distributors.” Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of National Security Anthony Roberts made this categorical declaration in an address recently in San Juan.

The St Ann’s East MP was at the time delivering an address at The Nazarene Worship Centre, on Santa Cruz Old Road. The occasion was the launching of the church steelband orchestra’s fourth CD.

In addressing the members of the mostly teenaged steel orchestra and the rest of the congregation, Roberts stressed that the young Christian musicians were “making shining examples of themselves to other youth not only in Trinidad and Tobago, but on indeed foreign shores as well.”

In their seven-year existence, The Nazarene Worship Centre Steel Orchestra has toured Toronto, Santo Domingo, Indiana, Chicago, Ohio, and North and South Carolina in the US, and in the region, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Barbados and St. Lucia.

Making reference to the country’s penal system which falls under his portfolio in the Ministry of National Security, Roberts told the gathering, the prisons’ structure was shameful and in shambles.  Roberts said the country’s  alarming crime rate was a direct consequence of repeat offenders who were primarily the youths of the nation.

A great amount of the repeat criminals are fatherless youths with extremely low self-esteem. Fathers, he noted, “need to make worthwhile and continuous contributions to the nurturing of their offspring.”

“Once this is achieved,” he went on, “the benefits will include a better society, less plagued with crime.”

Roberts vowed to use every muscle in his being “to ensure that effective prison-reform makes provisions, to address the plaque of uncaring fathers.” He urged the young Christian pannists to continue the work they were doing spreading the gospel while using the medium of the national instrument as a unique backdrop.

Church pastor and musical director of the steelband Rev. Lealand Henry thanked Roberts for his presence and for what he presented in his address. Henry told the gathering Roberts was instrumental in the church’s acquisition of the initial set of steelpans from the area’s top steelband — the Pamberi Steel Orchestra — with which the Nazarenes started their band in ‘95.

Sheldon Blackman gave a special performance to an audience that included prolific composer David Boothman, CD producer Everard Seaton and Dr. Manswell, District Superintendent of the Nazarene Church.

VILLAGERS stumbled upon a badly burnt and decomposing body in a bamboo patch in  a forested area off Sewlal Trace, Pepper Village, Fyzabad, on Wednesday.

Police believe the body may be that of 83-year-old Joseph Bernard, a pensioner, of Bamboo Trace, Fyzabad, who went missing nine days ago. 

The body was found around 8.30 am, about a mile inside the Petrotrin Fields located to the back of Bernard’s house. The grisly discovery was made by a group of villagers, including the pensioner’s two children, who had been searching for him since last weekend.

Because of the advance stage of decomposition and extensive burns to the body, police could not say whether the body bore any marks of violence. They believe the body may have been burnt during a bush fire since bushes in the surrounding area were also burnt.

Investigators are working on the theory that the man may have committed suicide after becoming frustrated over a relationship with a young woman. However, they have not ruled out foul play  and are searching for two women who may be able to assist them in their investigations.

The pensioner, a father of six and grandfather of 14, lived alone and was said to be an active member of the Oropouche Anglican Church.

Bernard’s neighbour, Thomas Julien, the last person to see him alive, said he saw the elderly man walking at the back of his house, around 7 am last Tuesday.

Following the discovery of the body, officers from the Siparia CID, Fyzbad Police Station and San Fernando Homicide Bureau, led by Insp Valdez, including Ag Insp Harry, Sgt Wells and Ramlal, Cpl Flanders, Ag Cpls Dodough and Hunt, WPC Johnson and PC Dhipaul, visited the scene.

District Medical Officer Dr Ian Furlonge viewed the charred remains and ordered its removal to the Forensic Sciences Centre, Port-of-Spain, where a post mortem is expected to be performed today.

Bernard’s son, Layne, 49, a teacher who was in the search party that found his father, said after they made a report on Friday, they started searching for the elderly man.

“We found it strange that he was missing because he doesn’t eat or sleep out,” he said.

Layne told Newsday that while walking through the bushes, they encountered a foul stench which they followed.

“We saw a hand sticking out and we knew that this was him,” he said.

Pointing out that his father was a healthy man, Layne said he did not believe Bernard, who celebrated his birthday on March 1, would have killed himself.