BESSON Street police are investigating two unrelated shootings which occurred within an hour of each other on Monday night in Laventille.

In the first incident, around 10.10 pm, Anderson Gouldston, 35, was walking towards his Pashley Street, Laventille, home when he was confronted by two masked men armed with guns. One of them demanded that Gouldston, “pass everything”. When Gouldston hesitated, the bandits fired several times at him. One of the bullets struck him in the right wrist. At 11 pm, Allan James, 23, of Eastern Quarry, Laventille, was sitting on a chair at the side of the road, while Marlon Ross, 23, of the same address, was speaking to his girlfriend at a nearby phone booth.

Two masked, armed men came out of some bushes, pointed guns at Ross and opened fire, forcing him to run off. One of the bullets struck James in his nose, as Ross ran in front of him (James). The gunmen then ran off. Both victims were taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for treatment and discharged. Besson Street police were alerted and officers under Ag Insp Persad and including Cpl Reuben Alleyne and PC Sookdeo, visited the scene and carried out unsuccessful searches for the two gunmen. Up to late yesterday no arrests had been made and Cpl Alleyne and PC Sookdeo are continuing investigations.

A HIGH COURT judge presiding over the Kenrick and Chandrouti London murder trial walked out of the courtroom yesterday after warning a defence attorney about his line of questioning.

Justice Ivor Archie rose without warning while attorney Wilston Campbell, who is Chandrouti’s lead attorney, was conducting his cross examination of State witness Sgt Godson Andrews. The judge absented himself from the courtroom chamber for approximately ten minutes. Chandrouti and her husband Kenrick are on trial for the murder of their daughter, Vidya. Justice Archie and a 12-member jury are hearing the case in the Third Criminal Assize at the San Fernando High Court.

Yesterday, Campbell pursued a line of questioning, asking Sgt Andrews to recall between 11.45 pm on December 1, 1997 and 12.10 am on December 2, 1997, at the Chaguanas CID office. Campbell inquired of the police officer: “How many questions did you ask the accused while she was giving the police a statement?” At this point, Jusice Ivor Archie intervened, asking Campbell about the questions’ relevance to his client’s case. “It goes towards the credibility of the witness,” Campbell responded. Justice Archie then remarked: “Every time I ask about relevance when we go astray, the questioning is always credibility.”  However, attorney Campbell sought to assure the judge: “I am sure that I can persuade you that it is relevant.” The judge permitted the attorney to continue but asked that he be guided. Campbell returned to questioning the witness, and asked: “At what point during the interview did you ask the first question?”

Justice Archie then rose quickly and exited the courtroom chamber. However, when the judge returned ten minutes later to the court and proceedings resumed, the defence attorney repeated the last questioning, this time without any objection from the judge.
The case continues today.

DOCTORS have given a resounding thumbs down to the latest offer made to them by the Joint Negotiating Team (JNT) concerning new wages and allowances for medical practioners in Trinidad and Tobago for 2003. The doctors have also demanded that the Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) bring wage negotiations to a close by March 28.

In a statement yesterday, Medical Professionals Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MPATT) Assistant Secretary, Dr Lakhan Roop, said MPATT’s negotiating team met Saturday with its membership to apprise them of the offer made by the JNT. “The doctors unaminously expressed their total dissatisfaction with the offer made. The offer is completely unacceptable; it is inferior to what their Tobago counterparts received for the years 2001 and 2002. This does not even take into consideration the additional benefit of 25 percent Tobago Incentive Allowance,” Roop declared.  He said the RHAs have yet to explain the reasons for this disparity between the respective offers.

“The doctors are disappointed that thus far the RHAs have not made all efforts to bring all doctors in Trinidad and Tobago into parity. They are not expediting the process in order to complete the negotiations for mutually accepted terms and conditions by March 28, 2003. They seem to want to extend it beyond this stipulated deadline as laid out and accepted in good faith by the Inter-Ministerial Team and the doctors,” he said. Roop added that further meetings will be held in individual institutions to plan the way forward.

FEMALE police officers from the North Eastern Division set aside their traditional duties yesterday and visited the Cantaro Geriatric Home in Santa Cruz in commemoration of International Women’s Day.

The 17 officers, headed by Insp Julie Carrington, spent about two hours with residents of the home, chatting with them and even feeding some of them on occasions. The officers also sang songs for the elderly and walked around comforting them. They also donated two hampers consisting of food items and toiletries on behalf of female officers of the North Eastern Division.

Cpl Carol Hinkson told a beaming Norma Sorzano, the matron at the home, that the officers were there to give thanks to the elderly.
“Thank God for another year. We are working together with all the protective services.” Sorzano thanked the officers on behalf of the elderly residents.  She later told Newsday she was happy that the officers had visited the home for a second year running. “We felt good and it is encouraging to the elderly, some of whom don’t get much visitors,” Sorzano said. Insp Carrington said it was a pleasure to be with the residents.  She also said the officers will be doing a community walk through one of the depressed areas in Morvant today and tomorrow the female officers will visit two other homes in the North Eastern Division. On Friday, the female officers will be on the road, directing traffic, Carrington said.

A GUYANESE national will face an extradition hearing from March 17 after the Court of Appeal dismissed an application for extension of time made by the non-national’s lawyer, Senior Counsel Desmond Allum.

The extradition hearing in which Guyanese Leon Paul Williams is charged with trafficking cocaine, will be heard before Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls at the Port-of-Spain Eighth Magistrate’s Court. The foreign extradition warrant charged Williams with drug trafficking offences which allegedly occurred in Washington DC between the years 1993 and 1997. Interpol officer, Sgt Wendell Williams then laid the corresponding domestic charges against him.

Williams was arrested on November 10, 2000, and the matter was called before Deputy Chief Magistrate Deborah Thomas-Felix. However, hearing was discontinued because the State wanted to introduce certain documents into evidence. Williams was re-arrested on May 3, 2001, and the matter called before the Chief Magistrate during which time Allum said the re-arrest was illegal. On July 13, 2002, a constitutional motion was filed but was dismissed by Justice Mira Deane-Armourer on that same day. 

Allum then served notice of appeal on July 22, 2002. The appeal matter came up on Monday at the Court of Appeal before Justices of Appeal Margot Warner, Rolston Nelson and Stanley John.   David West, head of the Central Authority Department of the Attorney General’s office, and Senior State attorney Karlene Seenath asked the court to dismiss the appeal for want of prosecution because since July 22, 2002, the defence did nothing to prosecute the Appeal with dispatch. The three judges unanimously agreed that the affidavit in support of an extension of time showed no good and substantial reasons and subsequently dismissed the appeal. 

A CONFESSION statement by murder accused Chandrouti London in which she admitted to wrapping her baby daughter before throwing her alive in a latrine was admitted into evidence on Monday.

The statement was read to Justice Ivor Archie and mixed 12-member jury in the Third Criminal San Fernando Assizes where London and her husband Kenrick are on trial for the child’s murder. It was admitted into evidence during the testimony of Sgt Edwin Noel. Chandrouti made the confession to Sgt Noel in the presence of other officers at the Chaguanas CID and it was recorded around 12.10 am on December 2, 1997. In it Chandrouti stated: “On the 25th October, 1993, that was when my first child was born good and everything in Couva Hospital. She didn’t born with any sickness or anything. I spend a week in the hospital with high blood pressure. “When she was born we stay a good long while in California and then we went to Caratal to rent and then one day I wrapped up child Vidya either in a blanket or in a plastic bag, tie a piece of rope over it and then tie the rope on a big stone and drop her alive in the toilet hole outside in the yard …”

When asked by police how old the child was at the time, Chandroutie responded that she thought she was about five months old. Asked what date the baby was thrown down the toilet hole she replied: “I don’t know. I can’t remember the date”. Chandroutie was defended by attorneys Learie Alleyne Forte, instructed by Stedson Jack, and Kenrick is defended by attorney Wilston Campbell.

THE CANADIAN Intern-ational Development Agency (CIDA) will soon be disbursing Can$5 million to regional associations to assist the private sector in fulfilling its role in the trade negotiation process.

This announcement was made yesterday by Pierre Pettigrew, Canadian Minister for International Trade when he addressed Government Ministers and  prominent members of the business community at the Trinidad Hilton. He spoke on the topic “Integrating Developing Countries Into The Global Economy”. Pettigrew, who said his visit to Trinidad and Tobago and the region was long overdue, said this country was Canada’s ninth largest trading partner in the Americas and “an important destination for Canadian investment”.

He said he was impressed with the establishment of ties with non-traditional partners in Latin America since “courage, confidence and innovation in the business community is one of any country’s most valuable assets” and Trinidad and Tobago was fortunate enough to have these “qualities in spades”. Pettigrew said Canada’s confidence in the future of this country was demonstrated in record levels of investment valued at well in excess of Can$3 billion. He said one of his reasons for meeting with Trade Minister Ken Valley was to get his first hand view on the challenges Trinidad and Tobago faced in it efforts to move to a more globalized economy. He added that he was aware of the potential impact on industries such as agriculture, tourism and manufacturing. Pettigrew said the issue was definitely “on the minds of Canadians who depend for much of their prosperity on international trade and foreign investment”.

Trade liberalisation has been shown to be an important engine of development, Pettigrew declared, adding that Trinidad and Tobago had been successful in attracting investment. He said plans by government to send a trade and investment mission to Canada in May “was a wonderful step towards bringing our business communities and countries closer together”. According to Pettigrew, Canada now exports 43.3 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), up from 28 percent in 1990. Trade, he said, has created or sustained one Canadian job in four. Pettigrew expressed his belief that initiatives such as the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) can “complement and reinforce multilateral liberalisation”.

He acknowledged the legitimate concerns of developing countries and small  island economies and said Canada shared the same concerns regarding trade distorting subsidies, as they too could not compete against the treasuries of larger trading partners. Accompanying Pettigrew at yesterday’s conference was his colleague Murray Calder, Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary.

CARNIVAL is the answer to Trinidad and Tobago’s crime problem, according to Miami Beach resident Bob Bunst.

Bunst, a visitor to Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival for the last 12 years, said a lot of foreigners would like to come to this country to experience Carnival but most of them have difficulty getting here for February or March. However, he believes if Carnival-type celebrations,  minus the competitions, are held throughout the year in different parts of the country, visitors would come. Bunst, 49, said he has produced two Carnival celebrations in Miami Beach — “Second Chance” and “Lovers Carnival” —  and he knows there are demands for more festivals of this type. He suggested that the Government target the energy sector to fund the festival since “that kind of funding  would be like a drop of oil in an oil drum for petroleum companies, they could afford it and besides they will also benefit from this”.

He pointed out that a lot of foreigners saw the country as the party capital of the world and the government should take advantage of this and market it as such. He further pointed out that conferences and seminars could be organised so that visiting delegations could hold their business meetings and  have a place to relax, party  and have fun. “Trinidad will become a fun place to come to, to hold conferences, seminars and trade shows. In that way businesses will be making money, the Government will be making money, the mas men will have a forum to showcase their costumes all the time instead of destroying them after Carnival and the ‘little man’ or the man on the street would also have the opportunity to make money. “With everybody benefiting the crime situation will automatically be reduced,” he suggested. Bunst said he has arranged to meet with Prime Minster Patrick Manning, TIDCO and other stakeholders to try to sell the idea that all-year community Carnivals is the answer to the country’s crime problem.

He also said he is currently working on a World’s Fair Pavilion in Miami Beach to promote Caribbean Carnival, its costumes and music. He believes the two countries could work together to make this a success. Bunst explained that he could publicize Trinidad Carnival at his festival in Miami Beach and during the Miami Beach Festival costumes and calypsonians from Trinidad could make appearances. He explained that the celebrations could be planned for a different community every month of the year, that way the members of that particular community would be able to benefit and these mini festivals would be a lead up to the actual competitions in February/ March. Bunst further explained that twining the countries to host these festivals would benefit Trinidad since Miami Beach is already a tourist destination that attracts over 75 million visitors per year. “With all the problems the world is facing with wars and terrorism, Trinidad could be marketed as the country that offers stress relief, the party capital of the world,” he said.