SECURITY was tight, the crowd was appreciative, the weather was fine and the calypsos were good. That was the Rehab Calypso Tent comprising inmates of the various institutions in the Prison Service.

It has become a regular feature on the Prison Service’s calendar for the inmates to display their talent to the public. As usual, with inmates “on the loose”, the security forces had to ensure that security was tight in the event of any untoward incident. There was a large turnout of uniformed prison officers on the perimeter of the calypso square. There was also back-up support from the Police Guard and Emergency Branch (GEB) and the Crime Suppression Unit (CSU). The programme got underway before midday and this attracted the lunch time crowd passing through Woodford Square. Commissioner of Prisons Leo Abraham opened proceedings with an address, expressing his support to the idea of the inmates displaying their talent.

Junior Culture Minister Eddie Hart, himself a pan man, arrived on the scene to take in the show. Minister of National Security Howard Chin Lee did not turn up until around 2.10 pm. He had engagements, firstly launching the drug and crime report at the United Nations at 11 am and then the launch of surveillance cameras in Port-of-Spain with DOMA at City Hall at 1 pm. Eventually, he arrived at Woodford Square with DOMA President Gregory Aboud and spent ten minutes. It was ironic that when Chin Lee turned up, prisoner Eric “Country Man” Benjamin, an inmate of the Maximum Security Prison, was performing a jumpy tune “Pier I Mash Up.” (Chin Lee was the proprietor of Pier I Entertainment Centre before he became Minister in 2002). Before leaving, Chin Lee moved across to the performers’ tent where he met some of the inmates. Among them was a section from the Women’s Prison at Arouca. Music was supplied by the TT Prison Service Inmate Steelband and the Golden Grove Fascinators. One of the performers was Rachael “Blondie” Biemon, a national of the United Kingdom, who sang “Wine, White Girl, Wine.” The Women’s Prison was also represented by Diane Lewis (Letter to my Son), Sparkle “De Doc” Springer (Private Practice), and Lystra “Copie” Copeland (Doh Sing Dat).

Three men were yesterday remanded in custody by Magistrate Melvin Daniel in the Port-of-Spain Four B Magistrates’ Court when they appeared before him charged with trafficking almost $600,000 worth of marijuana.

Officers of the Organised Crime and Narcotics Unit (OCNU) allegedly held Anslem Phillip, 25, Frank Seebrath, 43, both of San Juan, and Floyd Brathwaite, 28, of Chaguanas, with 99.84 kilos of  marijuana at Igneri Road, Valsayn, on Tuesday at 3.30 pm. The officers reportedly found 83 packets of  compressed marijuana in two crocus bags and two garbage bags in a motor vehicle. The charges were laid indictably and they were not called upon to plead. A B-14 Sentra and $5,600 in cash were also seized.

Attorneys Kenneth Munroe-Brown and Clyde Constantine made bail applications for the accused stating that the prosecution had sufficient time to trace the defendants’ criminal records. However, police prosecutor Sgt Ian Raeburn said the tracing of the defendants was not completed and would be ready by today. Magistrate Daniel said he would transfer the matter to the Tunapuna Magistrates’ Court but was interrupted by Constantine who suggested that he delay the transfer until today when the prosecution would receive the tracing. Constantine said the issue of bail could then be examined before the transfer to Tunapuna. The magistrate agreed stating he would transfer the matter to the Four A Court which deals with narcotics matters. He then remanded the men into custody to today pending tracing and for transfer to the Tunapuna Magistrates’ Court.

COMMISIONER of Police Hilton Guy has instituted ten temporary police posts for Carnival Monday and Tuesday, a release from public relations manager, Annmarie Grant said yesterady. 

Nine of the ten police posts will be located in Port-of-Spain, while the other one is in the San Fernando district. However, while there is only one police post in the South, the statement said, police will also be strategically placed at the intersections of High Street, Coffee Street, Mucurapo Street, Pointe-a-Pierre Road, and also at Cipero and Coffee Streets. The lone police post in San Fernando will be placed at the Grant’s School, corner Coffee and Carib Streets. 

The nine police posts in Port-of-Spain have telephone numbers, while the San Fernando does not. In Port-of-Spain, Guy’s statement said the police posts will be set up at the Frederick Street entrance to the Queen’s Park Savannah, opposite Memorial Park (625-1796); the main entrance to the Grand Stand, Queen’s Park Savannah (625-5731); Royal Bank Car Park, South Quay (624-4595); Knowsley Building, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (624-4624); Piccadilly Government School, on the greens (625-5881); Adam Smith Square, Park and Shine Streets (624-4489); Sacred Heart Girls RC School, Park and Dundonald Streets (624-4503); Rosary Boy’s RC School, corner Park and Charlotte Streets (624-4606); Queen’s Park Oval near Havelock Street (628-1814).

ALL SYSTEMS are go and the National Carnival Commission (NCC) will be running the show.

This was the elated declaration yesterday from NCC chairman Kenny De Silva outside the Hall of Justice, minutes after a High Court judge discharged an injunction ordering the NCC to pay $1 million to the National Carnival Bandleaders Association (NCBA). De Silva also revealed that the NCC will extend “an olive branch” to the various Carnival stakeholders through the reconstitution of the Joint Management Committee (JMC).

When the matter continued before Justice David Myers in the Port-of-Spain Fourth Civil Court yesterday, NCBA attorney Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC maintained that the NCC had abused its power by refusing to pay these monies to his client.  Maharaj claimed that the decision to refuse payment to the NCBA was actually taken in July 2002 and was merely “rubber-stam-ped” at the January 31, 2003 meeting of the NCC.  He argued that even if the NCC had the power to change or recommend policy changes, they had a duty to inform the NCBA, give them a chance to raise objections and allow ample time for those objections to be heard.

Myers inquired what constituted an abuse of power and Maharaj replied that if the NCC took actions to frustrate Cabinet policy, this qualified as an abuse. In his arguments before the court on Tuesday, Maharaj said the former United National Congress (UNC) Gov-ernment took a decision in 1997 to provide monies for certain agencies, including the NCBA, to undertake activities which pertained to the promotion of Carnival. Maharaj claimed this denial of funds by the NCC was the only disruption in the otherwise smooth running of Carnival since 1998. However in his argument, NCC attorney Martin Daly SC declared that the 1997 decision by the Basdeo Panday Cabinet did not give the NCBA the right to expect automatic payment from the NCC.  Referring to the Cabinet minute at which the decision was made, Daly said the then Attorney-General had said that the decision was arrived at following a review of the NCC Act of 1991. However he noted that “Cabinet can’t bypass an Act of Parliament,” and unless there was a proper review of the relevant legislation, the NCBA could have been running Carnival illegally since 1998. He further contended that the NCBA had “not told the full story” to the court about the reasons why the NCC decided not to pay them the $1 million.

THE RANSOM demand for kidnap victim Saran Kissoondan was again changed with the abductors calling for $3 million.

Sources told Newsday that Kissoondan’s family was contacted by telephone yesterday morning, threatening to kill the prominent car dealer if the demand was not paid by late evening. It was the third ransom call to the family in the last 72 hours, with a different sum of money being demanded on each occasion. Hours after Kissoondan was abducted, the family was contacted to pay one million dollars. On Tuesday, the ransom demand was lowered to $200,000, and then hours later, skyrocketed to $3 million. Kissoondan, 35, also known as “Billy”, was abducted at the gates of his house at Reserve Road, Palmyra, on Sunday night by a gang of men. Kissoondan is the owner of Auto House, a foreign used car business, which he runs in the yard of his premises. Police reports said that around 7.30 pm, the victim was alighting from his car, a white Nissan Wingroad, when a gold Nissan Sentra pulled alongside and a man masked in a bandanna pointed a gun at Kissoondan’s head. A shot was fired into the air and the assailant dragged the victim into their vehicle and sped off.

Police said the incident happened in full view of his wife, Estella, and their two young children Vedhan, eight, and Shastri, 10, who were seated in Kissoondan’s vehicle. Members of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad are continuing investigations into the incident. Meanwhile, Toco farmer Renwick “Blair” Locario was released early yesterday morning, sources at the Anti-Kidnapping Squad told Newsday. Locario, 42, was said to have been released around 3 am on the Lady Young Road, Morvant.  He then telephoned his relatives after which the police picked him up. Police sources said he was battered on the head and on other parts of his body, and lawmen said he appears to not want any police action. What was strange about the kidnapping, police said, is that the alleged kidnappers did not make any negotiations regarding a ransom demand. Locario was reportedly kidnapped from his home early Monday morning by four men, who were said to be heavily armed and clad in army-type camouflage fatigue. They bundled Locario into his own pick-up truck and sped off.  Investigations are continuing.

THE British Government has toned down its terrorist warning on Trinidad and Tobago.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in a travel advisory dated December 6, 2002, stated “we believe Trinidad and Tobago to be one of a number of countries where there may be an increased terrorist threat. British nationals should exercise vigilance, particularly in public such as hotels, restaurants and shopping malls.” As a result, two cruise lines from England cancelled cruises to Trinidad. The Government reacted angrily to that advisory and decided to send representatives to England, the United States, and the United Nations to say otherwise. In an updated advisory dated February 26, the British stated “there has been no recent history of terrorism in Trinidad and Tobago, although an Islamic group, the Jamaat-Al-Muslimeen, attempted to overthrow the government by force in 1990.”

The updated advisory followed a trip to England in January by Minister of Foreign Affairs Knowlson Gift who met with senior Government officials, including the British Foreign Secretary and the media, to allay fears that Trinidad and Tobago posed a threat to non-nationals. While Government moved to counteract the advisory, cruise ships pulled into Port-of-Spain where visitors said they felt safe in this country. On the issue of crime, the British advised that “sensible” precautions should be taken against theft, which can be a problem at night in parts of downtown Port-of-Spain and in other urban areas. The F&CO also advised that particular care should be taken when travelling from Piarco International Airport as there have been incidents of violent theft by gangs who follow cars and attack their victims when they reach their destination.

“You should not carry large amounts of cash or wear eye-catching jewelry. Use hotel safety deposit boxes to store valuables, money and passports,” the advisory warned. The British also reported the recent spate of kidnappings of wealthy local businessmen and women. So far, no foreigners have been targeted although the British advised that their nationals should be aware of this problem. In Tobago, the British said crime against tourists remains a problem. They warned against visiting isolated beaches. One positive thing for TT was the warning that drug traffickers face severe penalties in this country. “The authorities are very alert to the carriage of illicit drugs of any kind and checks are thorough.” There are several British nationals serving time in prison for attempting to leave Trinidad with cocaine. According to the British, there is a very high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, including TT, while Dengue continues to pose a problem during the rainy season.

The San Juan-based steelband, Pamberi, yesterday had its steelpans seized following a levy by its former arranger. The band is said to be owing arranger Godwin Bowen for musical arrangements valued at $92,000 for the past five years. Bowen showed up with police officers at the pan site yesterday morning and confiscated steelpans as well as other items on the compound. Pamberi recently missed out on the Panorama finals by placing 16th in the semi-finals.

There is no better time to promote Best Village than at Carnival time when foreign tourists and returning nationals are in the country.

This, according to Minister of Community Devel-opment and Gender Affairs, Joan Yuille-Williams when she gave the feature address at the grand finals of the ‘Traditions of Carnival’ last Tuesday evening at the Lord Kitchener Stand, South Quay, Port-of-Spain. The large audience comprising performers, villagers and supporters listened attentively as Yuille-Williams outlined the work her ministry is doing to promote the development of communities through art and culture. “Last year we signalled to the national community that Best Village would be bigger and better than before. We kept our promise and provided tangible evidence that our objective had been met,” she said.

She noted that the Folk Fair held recently at the Queen’s Park Savannah attracted a record attention of 30,000 persons with more than 100 booths participating. She added that apart from the overwhelming demonstration of people’s power, the noticeable presence of Carnival characters has added variety and enhanced quality to the presentation of Best Village. In closing she said, “You have made a powerful statement. A statement which will reverberate far and wide that Best Village is the undying soul of the nation, which keeps our communities harmonious and in turn fosters national pride.” For the first time in the history of Best Village, the sum of $200,000 was given to the overall winner to be used to implement community projects.

People of some 25 villages from all parts of TT gathered at 2 pm for the interfaith service at the Queen’s Park Savannah. They then  joined in a street parade down Frederick Street to South Quay where the competition began. Past Best Village winner and former Calypso Monarch, Singing Sandra gave an outstanding performance, singing her new calypsos, “Laventille” and “Ancient Rhythm”. Other guest performers included, Machel Montano, Iwer George, Rikki Jai, Karega Mandela, Bunji Garlin and Shammi Salikram. Both the Mayor of Port-of-Spain, Murchison Brown and Miss La Reine Rive, Ria Rishma Soodeen brought messages to the crowds. The programme, which started at 2 pm, was completed around 1 am with the Individual of Old Mas.