Forty members of the Highway Re-route Movement (HRM), mostly young people, have begun a 40-day “relay fast” outside the Office of the Prime Minister in support of the HRM’s leader Dr Wayne Kublalsingh. They will each fast for a day in turn. The initiative, called the “Project 40 movement,” was kicked off by HRM member Staroi Hassanali from Santa Cruz.

Hassanali, who said he recently joined the HRM, said he felt compelled to do so as he wanted more accountability and transparency from the Government. A psychotherapy graduate who recently returned to T&T, Hassanali said he would be fasting for 24 hours until 9 am today. “It was important to be involved because I recognise that Dr Kublalsingh’s cause impact us all in so many ways. It’s about taking a more active stance,” Hassanali said. 

Another supporter, Gerry Williams, said the primary aims of the Project 40 movement was to show solidarity with the broader issues the HRM was highlighting. “We are also concerned for the health of Dr Kublalsingh and want to show we are willing to take up the baton. Ultimately we want to do what we can to achieve the objective of mediation on the highway re-route issue,” Williams added.
The group said it was important to continue the initiative, as although Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar visited him on the weekend while he was hospitalised, she gave no commitment to agree to mediation on the matter.

In fact, in an interview with the media outside the St Clair Medical on Sunday night, the PM said she remained firm in her position on the matter. Fr Clyde Harvey, who visited the group yesterday, said it was important to think about the things which may be sustaining Kublalsingh. “The things which he believes to be prayers, faith and a connection to the ‘source,’ which is how Wayne frequently refers to God and to remember that sustenance could die tomorrow and that Wayne could die,” Harvey said. He said the HRM must think about how it would continue if Kublalsingh died and urged those wanting to support him by fasting should also inherit Kublalsingh’s spiritual values.

At least three boys at a denominational school in San Fernando had to be screened for HIV last month after they were buggered by a martial arts instructor. Cpl Cedeno-Figaro of the Mon Repos Station arrested a 50-year-old Cocoyea man at his home on Sunday, shortly after a 14-year-old victim took police to a lonely area on San Fernando Hill where he was raped under the pretence of being trained. The alleged incidents also happened at the instructor’s home, where he would take them to read and chant from spiritual books.

A source told the T&T Guardian yesterday: “Apparently he had them reading bad books and would take them to a room at his home where he would blow smoke in their faces while chanting stuff. He told them that it was part of their spiritual growth.” Police have already received statements from the boys and school officials and were awaiting legal advice yesterday before laying charges. They said the rapes started in May but were only reported last month when one of the boys confided in a friend who then reported the incident to the school principal. 
Another victim said his 19-year-old friend said the man had done the same thing to him. The T&T Guardian was told school officials wanted the matter to be dealt with quietly because it “was a good school.” 

Speaking by telephone yesterday, a school official denied any teacher at his school was involved in a police investigation but confirmed police were investigating a matter which involved students at the school. Another official told police a teacher had recommended the suspect to train students because he was a martial arts experts who taught at other schools. Several years ago, the instructor was arrested while teaching karate at a gym in Freeport for the same offence. Back then, he trained students from another secondary school in San Fernando, where it was alleged he would massage them until their muscles were weak and then rape them. The matter was dismissed when it reached the magistrates court because the victims did not attend the hearings.

Residents of Cocorite are bracing for further murders that they fear may take place in their community after the shooting death of former Jamaat-al-Muslimeen insurrectionist turned contractor, Junior Matthew Neptune. He was killed yesterday morning while on his way to his mini-mart. The 41-year-old father of four had just left his home at Ethlyn Trace around 9.45 am yesterday when a car pulled up and a man opened fire on him. 

Neptune, who went by the Muslim name Abdul Jabbar, was shot several times and died outside his business place which was being renovated. He was a contractor and had been hired to do renovations on two Housing Development Corporation (HDC) buildings in the area. Residents told the media Neptune was “a good boy” who used to keep the peace in the area.  Two elderly women, seated on an old air-conditioning unit, spoke of the horrors they were sure would follow Neptune’s death. “It would be real war now. Allyuh photographers would have plenty work in Cocorite because of that man lying down there,” one woman said. 

Another said yesterday was “Black Monday” and said the appropriate Play Whe mark would be four for “dead man.” Another resident said despite Neptune being like a fairy godfather to many youths in the area, he lived by the sword and died by it. One woman said she was planning on staying indoors during the night. At the murder scene Neptune’s sister Sue-Ann Neptune said she got a phone call yesterday to say her brother had been killed. “He was a good man, always hustling to provide but was also quiet and used to keep to himself. He had four children. “Really and truly, I don’t know why they did this. I don’t live down here so I can’t say I hearing this or hearing that. I really don’t know,” Neptune said. When undertakers removed Neptune’s body around 2 pm his widow screamed out for him and had to be consoled by a female police officer and her mother. 

According to residents this was the second time Neptune was shot within the space of four weeks. Earl St Bernard, a 32-year-old PH driver who worked for Neptune, was killed on September 23 after gunmen saw him bring Neptune home from the hospital after he had been shot. Neptune, they said, told his shooters if they wanted war they could get it and believed yesterday’s killing was one battle in the upcoming war. Police said a high-powered weapon was used in the killing as over 25 spent shells were found at the scene. Neptune is believed to have been hit by at least half that number of shots. His murder took the toll to 317 for the year, six more than the corresponding period last year.

Protesters have crippled the construction of the $7.4 billion Solomon Hochoy highway extension by shutting down 12 construction zones stretching from Point Fortin to Mon Desir, as they intensified their struggle for compensation yesterday. They have been locked in battle with the National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) over the non-payment of compensation for loss of crops and lands at Perseverance Estate, Guapo. Before dawn, over 30 residents began their siege at Battery Road, Guapo, before moving to the South Central Road, Point Fortin, where they stopped highway workers from entering the job site.
 
By midday, they chased workers off the jobsite at Oilsand Quarry Road, Jangal Road, Guapo and three construction areas off Grant Trace, Rousillac. They stopped heavy machinery from entering the construction zones. Police from the Guapo, Point Fortin and Cap-de-Ville police stations took the OAS workers to safety. Although the police kept guard, the protesters prevented water and food from being delivered to the workers and after shutting down the construction site, they again pushed down signs erected by the main contractor OAS Construtora. Leader Brendon Julien said they planned to move to the OAS construction site at Debe today, close to the Namdevco market, where the Debe interchange is being constructed. They also planned to go to Golconda, where the new highway is being connected to the Golconda interchange. Julien said they were displeased with the slow pace of compensation. 

He said 32 residents of Guapo have been farming land for more than ten generations and even though they have no legal deeds to the lands, Julien said they have been planting acres of mangoes, chatagne, breadfruit and short crops. But three weeks ago, he said, OAS began clearing the Perseverance Estate without consulting the residents. “We are going to turn up the heat. We are going to show them that we will not allow any highway to be built unless we are properly compensated,” Julien said. He added that Guapo residents should be getting adequate compensation, like that given to Penal and Debe residents. “All we are asking for is fair compensation. We are not asking for title to the lands. They are offering people $5,000 and $4,000. This is unfair,” Julien said. 
He added that they were totally in support of the highway. “We know it will bring progress but we believe that this should not be at our expense. If we have been occupying lands for so many generations how can they seize it without consulting with us?” 

He said the displacement of residents had not been addressed in the southwestern regions. “They have relocated the Penal residents, but what about us?” he asked. He urged other affected residents to meet with the protesters at 7 am at the Mon Desir jobsite before going to the Debe interchange and also expressed solidarity with the call by activist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh for the highway to be reviewed. Nidco chairman Dr Carsen Charles said yesterday claims were being processed but must be investigated after which compensation would be arranged.

Minister of National Security Gary Griffith yesterday confirmed  T&T was officially monitoring migrants from African countries as the country prepared itself in the face of the growing global threat of Ebola. Employers of migrant workers, particularly illegals, should also ensure their employees’ health statuses were safe as T&T bid to secure borders from the deadly virus, Griffith said.

The National Energy Skills Centre already, on Health sector advice, has postponed the arrival of the latest batch of trainees from Nigeria due to the threat. Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan is liaising with Living Water, which handles people from all parts of the world seeking asylum in T&T, to ensure that avenue is also protected.

Following 8,914 cases and 4,000-plus Ebola deaths in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria, one in the US, where a Liberian national died, and isolated cases in Spain and Germany, World Health Organisation assistant director-general Dr Bruce Aylward yesterday revealed the Ebola death rate had risen to 70 per cent. He said there could be up to 10,000 new cases a week in two months. 

Aylward said if the world's response to the crisis was not stepped up within 60 days, "a lot more people will die" and there will be great need to deal with spiraling numbers of cases. The Ivory Coast was also said to be threatened, he added. Yesterday, Griffith said the Immigration Division would be seeking to adhere to regulations to ensure T&T’s interests were protected. 

He said he was also liaising with Immigration on confirmation of statements by US Marine Corps General John Kelly (US Southern Command) that people from Liberia had passed through T&T last month while attempting to enter the US illegally. Kelly was discussing trans-national criminal networks smuggling people who could be carrying Ebola at a National Defence University forum last month when he made the claim.

 Kelly said a group of people from Libera who were found on the Costa Rica border waiting to head north, had said they “met up with the network in T&T” and were en route to the US. Kelly said there was no way to keep Ebola contained in West Africa.

Security firms at risk

Griffith said he had, therefore, taken a strong approach concerning migration to T&T in order to deal with various challenges posed by global security concerns on the Ebola issue, as well as terrorism, both of which posed challenges where border infiltration was concerned. He said: “It involves movement of persons from the Caribbean, globally as well as vice-versa, and where Ebola is concerned, possible exposure to the virus. This is very serious and not a matter of profiling anyone.

“As a result of movement, the immigration aspect is even more important now - and cannot be a rubber stamp - since persons entering T&T legally or illegally can be a liability, not only where health issues are concerned but also other areas.”

Griffith said there was also a problem with migrant workers, especially from Africa, and due to concerns about Ebola, local employers may need to monitor those they sponsored for work - or those who work for them temporarily - on  possible movements back and forth from T&T to any overseas territories, particularly western Africa where the virus had claimed the most lives

Stressing the situation was not profiling, Griffith said a number of private security companies, for instance, employed migrant workers, including Caribbean and African nationals. A private security sector spokesman told the T&T Guardian that of the 534 local companies, ten to 15 use non- nationals and several agreed the Ebola threat was a discussion point due to the migrant factor in their sector.

NESC stops African batch of students

National Energy Skills Centre (NESC) chairman Feroze Khan confirmed yesterday that they had, on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer (of Health), postponed the arrival of a batch of trainees from Nigeria last month. He said: “The batch is about 100 students who were coming for training in welding pipe fabrication and similar skills at NESC’s drilling academy. 

“But as a result of the existing threat, the CMO of Health advised we delay their arrival until T&T better understands the risk and we’ve complied. “We are not yet in position to say when they will be coming but we will be guided by the CMO’s advice. At this stage any visitor coming into the NESC, we will also have to seek the CMO’s advice on appropriate action.” 

Health Minister Fuad Khan also says he has to hold talks on the Ebola issue with Living Water, the local representative for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) which takes in people seeking asylum or refugee status assistance. Several months ago, Khan noted its role in that. It was reported in January that Living Water had 100 people seeking asylum in T&T, mainly from African countries, and had helped 1,200 in its work overall.

Khan said: “We will have to hold talks with Living Water so they can let us know who is coming in and we will have to do assessments to ensure all protocols on this issue are followed.” Yesterday, Living Water’s Rosemary Scott said it had been doing such work for 20 years, estimating it had assisted about 500 people between the 1990s and currently.

Scott said in recent years it had received an influx of people from Liberia, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana and other locations. But she said it had not received people from that region in a year. She said when the Ebola issue arose, it contacted health authorities on the issue and were told to refer suspected cases to hospitals. Living Water does not house refugees but interviews cases for processing. 

In a media report earlier this year, Scott is quoted as saying most recent applicants were from Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Security firms at risk
Griffith said he had, therefore, taken a strong approach concerning migration to T&T in order to deal with various challenges posed by global security concerns on the Ebola issue, as well as terrorism, both of which posed challenges where border infiltration was concerned. He said: “It involves movement of persons from the Caribbean, globally as well as vice-versa, and where Ebola is concerned, possible exposure to the virus. This is very serious and not a matter of profiling anyone.

“As a result of movement, the immigration aspect is even more important now - and cannot be a rubber stamp - since persons entering T&T legally or illegally can be a liability, not only where health issues are concerned but also other areas.” 

Griffith said there was also a problem with migrant workers, especially from Africa, and due to concerns about Ebola, local employers may need to monitor those they sponsored for work - or those who work for them temporarily - on  possible movements back and forth from T&T to any overseas territories, particularly western Africa where the virus had claimed the most lives

Stressing the situation was not profiling, Griffith said a number of private security companies, for instance, employed migrant workers, including Caribbean and African nationals. A private security sector spokesman told the T&T Guardian that of the 534 local companies, ten to 15 use non- nationals and several agreed the Ebola threat was a discussion point due to the migrant factor in their sector.

National Energy Skills Centre (NESC) chairman Feroze Khan confirmed yesterday that they had, on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer (of Health), postponed the arrival of a batch of trainees from Nigeria last month. He said: “The batch is about 100 students who were coming for training in welding pipe fabrication and similar skills at NESC’s drilling academy. 

“But as a result of the existing threat, the CMO of Health advised we delay their arrival until T&T better understands the risk and we’ve complied. “We are not yet in position to say when they will be coming but we will be guided by the CMO’s advice. At this stage any visitor coming into the NESC, we will also have to seek the CMO’s advice on appropriate action.” 

Health Minister Fuad Khan also says he has to hold talks on the Ebola issue with Living Water, the local representative for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) which takes in people seeking asylum or refugee status assistance. Several months ago, Khan noted its role in that. It was reported in January that Living Water had 100 people seeking asylum in T&T, mainly from African countries, and had helped 1,200 in its work overall.

Khan said: “We will have to hold talks with Living Water so they can let us know who is coming in and we will have to do assessments to ensure all protocols on this issue are followed.” Yesterday, Living Water’s Rosemary Scott said it had been doing such work for 20 years, estimating it had assisted about 500 people between the 1990s and currently.

Scott said in recent years it had received an influx of people from Liberia, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana and other locations. But she said it had not received people from that region in a year. She said when the Ebola issue arose, it contacted health authorities on the issue and were told to refer suspected cases to hospitals. Living Water does not house refugees but interviews cases for processing. 

In a media report earlier this year, Scott is quoted as saying most recent applicants were from Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

As members of civil societies meet with Works Minister Surujrattan Rambachan today, leader of the Highway Re-Route Movement (HRM) Dr Wayne Kublalsingh says his fate lies in the hands of the Government. He said the outcome of today’s meeting would determine if he stops or continues the hunger strike.

In an interview with the T&T Guardian at his home at D’Abadie yesterday, Kublalsingh urged the Government to accept the alternative route as outlined in the HRM’s optimum connectivity proposal. “It’s very solid. It’s very comprehensive. It’s very workable and moderately priced compared to the Government’s alternative,” Kublalsingh said. On whether he believed today’s meeting was an attempt to mediate the environmentalist disagreed.

“Mediation is when you have a third party and the third party intercedes and tries to look at the sides of both parties and trash out issues and tries to see if you have compromises if required and come to the best optimum solution... so this is not really mediation. “It is basically two sides meeting as a first step to resolving the issue and of course has the interest of nation at heart,” Kublalsingh said.

But Kublalsingh applauded the Government for its effort, saying today’s meeting was a step in the right direction. However, he was still skeptical whether the Government would accept the alternative route as proposed by the HRM. “The Prime Minister said they have considered the Armstrong Report and we want to know how they have considered and to what extent they have considered it. 

“Again that is nothing really because we have not yet been given anything from them so the hunger strike continues,” Kublalsingh added. Asked if he believed today’s meeting was a genuine attempt by the Government to listen to the concerns of the HRM Kublalsingh made references to previous meetings. He said: “The past has been decisions already being made and the Government basically saying déjà vu and holding on to their positions and not willing to make any adjustments.

“And there has been in the past a great deal of insincerity and stonewalling... basically refusing to answer questions, saying that you forget, saying that it is in the hands of other people, saying that you couldn’t remember those details... just giving answers to get rid of the person. That has been our dealings with the government,” Kublalsingh added. He said he hoped that situation had changed so as to have more fruitful discussions on the issue.

Those expected to attend the meeting include leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) David Abdulah and founder of the Adult Literacy Tutors Association (ALTA) Paula Lucie-Smith.

Fuad wrong
On statements made by Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan which cast doubt over Kublalsingh’s health, the HRM leader said such comments only strengthened his spirit. He said: “I don’t think that Dr Khan’s version is at all relevant. He has not seen me and he has not examined me. That is not an issue here. That is a diversion.

“The issue here is the Government is ransacking part of the northern range to ransack part of a lagoon, to ransack communities, to attack the treasury in the most serious kind of way and I’m standing with my body between the Government and those type of actions. I’m using my body as an instrument of social attrition.” Saying he had to keep his body intact, Kublalsingh urged his detractors not to abuse it with “such verbal mis-statements.” 

“Yes I am strong but perhaps the reason why I am strong is perhaps because he (Khan) is weak. The reason why my handshake is strong is because his handshake is weak. “I didn’t feel any how when Dr Khan made those statements because they do not bother me. They make my spirit stronger,” Kublalsingh added.

Vilma Kublalsingh, mother of environmentalist and hunger striker Wayne Kublalsingh, says government supporters have been spreading false rumours about her son and her family. She said so while sitting in solidarity with 30-year-old Kahlil Hassanali, a researcher who began a 24-hour fast in support of the Highway Re-route Movement yesterday. The protesters are camped outside the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair. 

The latest rumour, Vilma said, was that the Kublalsinghs owned property in Mon Desir. “People have been calling and asking us about this but that is not true. We do not own any land in Mon Desir,” Vilma said. She said government supporters had also been spreading incorrect information that the Government had paid her son’s medical bills after he was taken to the St Clair Medical Centre on Sunday. “That is not true. We have paid our own bills,” she added.

Vilma said Kublalsingh was resting but had said he would continue his hunger strike today. “We will have to see how he feels,” she said. Hassanali, whose brother, Satori, spent 24 hours without food and drink at the protest camp overnight on Monday began his own 24-hour stretch of the “relay fast” at 9 am yesterday. The brothers are related to deceased former President Noor Hassanali. He was their great-uncle.

Saying he supported transparency, truth and justice, Kahlil sat with members of the HRM, reading a book and responding to questions from the media. He said he had never met Kublalsingh but had observed his activism and had decided to join friends on Sunday to show support during a rally at Nelson Mandela Park (King George V Park) on Sunday.

The rally coincided with Kublalsingh’s being admitted to the medical centre after he collapsed on Maracas Beach on Day 26 of his hunger strike. Hassanali, from Santa Cruz, said he was in solidarity with Kublalsingh and had decided to be a part of a youth movement called Project 40 after observing the activist’s strikes. “I had often wondered why it seemed as though it was him alone in the struggle,” he said. 

Project 40 is a group of young people, committed to showing support to the HRM by taking part in individual fasts over a 40-day period. Each member is expected to fast for 24 hours, sometimes outside the OPM. “The young people need to come out and be part of the struggle. It is clear that Government has been disingenuous and I understand Wayne’s frustrations,” said Hassanali. 

“There is a need for studies to be done with regard to the highway. There were broken promises and we as a society need to increase our social, environmental and moral consciousness,” he added.

Works Minister to meet groups today 
Works Minister Surujrattan Rambachan is expected to host a meeting today with civil-society groups who petitioned on Kublalsingh’s behalf, along with a technical team from his ministry and Nidco. This meeting will take place at 9 am at the ministry on Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain. Rambachan had originally invited the groups to tour the proposed highway site today but they refused, saying that would be repeating the work of the Armstrong Committee. 

A release from the ministry said points of concern raised by the groups in their letter to the Prime Minister would be addressed These included requests for the Government to:
• Properly consider the report and recommendations of the Highway Review Committee (the Armstrong Committee).
• Give serious consideration to the new proposal by the HRM as an alternative route for the Debe to Mon Desir stretch.
• Stop all further work on that segment of the highway in the interim which would mean that work could proceed apace on the San Fernando to Point Fortin section.

A Chinese national fell to his death at the National Tennis Centre construction site, Tacarigua. The Sport Company of T&T (SPORTT) confirmed the death in a release yesterday but said all safety protocols were in place at the time. The release said around 9 am, Yumao He, 49, fell 30 feet off a scaffold and landed on a pile of lumber and iron. Eyewitnesses said He, who died on the spot, was wearing a safety harness at the time.

Work at the site has been stopped until further notice. SPORTT said it was now working with the firm which hired He to investigate the incident. SPORTT said yesterday’s accident is the first at any project initiated by it since 2010.

Under the watchful eyes of police, protesters from Guapo marched through two construction zones in Golconda and Debe and interrupted work on the Debe and Golconda interchanges of the $7.4 billion Solomon Hochoy Highway extension. They started their protests at the Debe site before moving to Golconda and then to Mon Desir.

Some of the protesters chased excavators and ordered the operators off the site. Protester Natasha Fletcher jumped inside a dump truck transporting backfill and switched off its engine. Looking startled, the driver asked Fletcher what was going on, but she responded: “Doh ask no question. Just clear out of here.” 

Another protester, Clevon Vespry, climbed inside the bucket of a backhoe and sat down, while their leader Brennan Daniel told OAS Construtora country superintendent Rodrigo Ventura to send all the workers home. “We not taking this. We want we money... else there will be no highway,” Daniel shouted. The OAS workers seemed only too happy to leave the job site with a few commenting that they needed a break. 

Ventura pleaded with Daniel to allow the work to go on but he said they would disrupt every job site until they were adequately paid for loss of crops and lands. “We also want the Government to give us lands with titles of ownership like they did for the people in Debe, so we too can go to the bank and get loans,” Daniel said. 

He admitted that many of the residents had no deeds to the land as it was owned by Petrotrin but added that the land had been cultivated by Guapo residents for over ten generations. The protesters carried sheets of paper listing all the crops that they say were destroyed when OAS bulldozed the lands. Curtis Matthews, who wore a thick gold chain with his initials engraved on it, said he lost $30,000 in crops. 

“I have three acres of land at Cochrane planted with 37 breadfruit trees, 100 lime trees, 150 ochro trees and 200 sorrel trees, which they mashed down. I want money for that,” Matthews said. Asked if he owned the land, he said he had been squatting on it for the past ten years. Melissa Sarju, who said she had a deed, also called for relocation. Another resident with teardrop tattoos on his face, who did not give his name, said Nidco was paying too little for compensation.

“They owe us $40,000 and $50,000 but all they paying is $9,000 and $12,000. We don’t want that,” he shouted. The OAS workers returned to work after midday when the protesters left.

Nidco responds
President of Nidco Dr Carson Charles said yesterday there was an ongoing problem with the claims to the land, some of which could not be substantiated. “This seems to be an organised protest. They are going to different sites and are shutting down work. We are trying to complete the tasks ahead whilst dealing with these claims but first every claim has to be properly assessed,” Charles said.

Asked if the project would suffer cost overruns because of the work stoppages, Charles said: “We are managing the problem so right now we do not have any cost overruns.” He said the timing of the protests was “curious,” but added he did not want to speculate whether they were politically motivated. Charles and his staff were expected to distribute cheques to affected residents at the Guapo Community Centre at 5 pm yesterday.

Police: Our hands tied
Senior police said yesterday they could not interfere with the protesters as they were peaceful. Asked why they were being allowed to walk through a construction zone without protective gear, one officer said: “All we are here to do is keep the peace. Once they not breaking the law, we cannot do anything.” First Response Service Ltd’s Markaso Ullina, who is in charge of security operations at OAS, also said it was dangerous for the residents to walk through a construction zone without proper safety gear.

“We have tried to advise them to leave but they do not want to leave. We were expecting assistance from the police and we are still waiting. We are trying to be reasonable with them,” Ullina added.

A High Court judge has issued a plea for the revamping of the Prison Services which he says will protect the safety of both inmates and staff and prevent costly civil litigation over human rights abuses. Justice Frank Seepersad made the call yesterday as he awarded over $100,000 to two prisoners— Tesfer Jones and Fabian La Roche —who were beaten by prisons officers at Golden Grove, Arouca, on the same day in October 2007. 

Describing the current rules and regulations governing the Prison Services as archaic, Seepersad called on the Government to address urgently the situation, as he warned it had the potential to spill over prison walls if left unchanged. 

As part of his recommendations for reform, Seepersad suggested besides more intensive training, prisons officers should undergo periodic physical and emotional assessments to ensure their harsh working conditions were not having a detrimental psychological effect on them. “It may very well be that if these officers were properly trained they would not allow themselves to overstep the parameters of their authority,” Seepersad said. 

Seepersad also said once reforms had been instituted for the entire prison system, the Government might consider forcing prisons officers, who use unreasonable force against inmates, to foot the bill in prison litigation cases. “At the end of the day, it is taxpayers who bear the brunt of these awards. Funds that could be used for healthcare, education and national security are being diverted to pay damages to prisoners on whom unjustifiable force is being inflicted,” Seepersad said.

In his oral judgment, Seepersad awarded Jones a total of $60,000, with La Roche receiving $70,000.  Jones is awaiting trial for murder, while La Roche is serving a 17-year sentence he received when he was convicted of manslaughter in May last year. Although Jones’ injuries and beating were worse than La Roche’s, Seepersad ruled he was entitled to less as there were inconsistencies in his claim and there was evidence that his beating was provoked. 

According to the evidence, on October 16, 2007, Jones was reportedly involved in an argument with prisons officer Joseph Prieto, when he hurled a bucket containing urine and faeces at the prisons officer. Jones’ beating began when the baton-wielding members of the Emergency Response Unit were summoned to force the defiant prisoner to clean up the mess.

While Seepersad ruled that the officers’ attack on Jones was justified when he initially resisted them, he ruled that their actions were excessive in continuing the beating for over five minutes. “There was evidence that he was still struck on the ground when he was cleaning up the mess,” Seepersad said. A short while after Jones was beaten, La Roche claimed he was attacked by the same group of officers, who were searching cells for contraband items. 

National Security Minister Gary Griffith is inviting Jamaica’s Foreign Affairs Minister and his Opposition counterpart to join him for talks. He said so yesterday after the Jamaican Government and Opposition officials criticised his statements on 13 Jamaicans who were denied entry to T&T recently. 

Jamaican Foreign Affairs/Trade Minister A J Nicholson called on Griffith to “refrain from continuing to muddy the integration waters” in his comments that the influx of thousands of illegal Jamaicans into T&T was putting a strain on its resources. Jamaica’s opposition spokesman on foreign affairs and foreign trade, Edmund Bartlett, also criticised Griffith’s statements. 

Griffith said his proposed talks would be “aimed at arriving at amicable resolution in the best interest of both countries and all their citizens at the earliest possible opportunity.” Last week, Griffith supported the immigration officers who deported 13 arriving Jamaicans last month, saying the authorities cannot act as a rubber stamp when it comes to allowing people into the country. 

He said there were more than 19,000 Jamaicans in T&T who entered at legitimate ports of entry but over 8,000 had remained illegally and could not be accounted for. Griffith said yesterday the Jamaican Foreign Minister’s comments showed that the latter didn’t “get it”.

He said it demonstrated “an unfortunate posture in a situation where efforts toward diplomatic resolution should be a priority, especially in circumstances where the restrictions placed on entry by citizens from specific countries were as a direct result of overt breaches against T&T’s immigration parameters.” He said the passengers who were refused entry were in breach of local immigration laws by providing conflicting information on the reasons for their visit.

Griffith said T&T had spent $2.3 million between October 2012 and September 2013 to send non-nationals back to 11 states. The cost of sending back those of Jamaican nationality over that period was $39,204.60. 

He added: “The accusation of me attempting to ‘Muddy integration waters’ by ensuring that the rule of law is applied to all persons who have demonstrated a reasonable breach of T&T’s immigration guidelines begs the question as to whether such integration is pegged on member territories conveniently breaching their own internal rules of law to accommodate other member territories. 

“As National Security Minister, I will not expect any of my regional counterparts to assume any such posture that has the potential to impugn their sovereign territory and national safety and security.” Griffith added the longstanding immigration issue “should be treated in a responsible and non-emotive manner by governments, without the unwarranted and personalised condemnation of neighbouring Caricom partners.

He said: “Full clarity must be sought in all matters before pronouncements are made. “Statements were made by the Jamaican officials, based solely on the accounts received from the persons who were legally refused entry on very specific grounds, whereas when the issue is being clarified by the relevant Minister of National Security, it is seen as ‘unacceptable.’”

A Gasparillo couple is calling on the San Fernando General Hospital to release the body of their baby, who died hours after his birth so they could give him a decent cremation. The parents — Oneil and Leela Ganga — also want hospital authorities to tell them how their baby died after he was born healthy and had a strong heartbeat. 

The mother said no one at the hospital wanted to give answers and she was hoping and praying the hospital did not dispose of the body without her permission. The parents are seeking legal advice. Ganga said her baby was delivered by caesarean section and she and her husband were able to hold him and even take a photo of him on their cellphone. 

That picture, plus a sympathy card from the hospital, which bears the baby’s hand and footprints, a lock of his hair, his navel string and hospital identification are all the reminders she has of her baby. Ganga, who was almost seven months pregnant with her first child, said she was admitted to the hospital on October 10 after arriving there in excruciating pain. 

She said an ultrasound showed the baby was on his side and one of his hands was pointing towards her womb which might have been responsible for the pain. She said her amniotic sac was broken by a nurse. “I don’t know what happened when the nurse broke my water bag (amniotic sac) but I started to bleed heavily... from my pillow to my blanket, they were all soaked with blood.”

Ganga said she was taken into the theatre to have a c-section and was given seven injections but still felt every cut into her flesh. “I kept bawling, ‘Ouch, ouch,’ every time they jook me with the knife. They tie my foot and hands and then they put me under anaesthetic and placed a tube down my throat. After that I went into a sleep.” She said when she woke around 4 am that Saturday morning, she asked for her baby and the nurses told her he was all right.

Around 6 am, she said, the baby, although premature, was brought to her in her bed at Ward 13b. She and her husband, who both held the baby, were emotional and were in tears, she said, and she begged the nurse on duty to allow her to take a picture on her cellphone which she is now glad she did. Ganga said her husband left shortly after around 7 am to get clothes for her and the baby.

“Shortly after he left the nurse came and asked me for his cell number. He had only reached by the security booth when they called him. “He run up because he thought something had happened to me. He came up to the ward and stood by the nursery door, which was two beds away from my bed. I saw him crying and I knew something was wrong and he told me that the baby had died.”

Geeta said she was discharged on Sunday, without the body of her baby and when they asked for the baby, staff at the hospital told her husband he had to come and sign a death certificate, then get a birth certificate and sign some other document before they would be told how the baby died. “It seems as though they are hiding something, “ Ganga said. 

CEO of the South West Regional Health Authority Anil Gosine said he was not aware of the incident but now that it has been brought to his attention he would have the matter investigated.

Days after the launch of a book commemorating his work, veteran masman Stephen Lee Heung, 93, died on Monday night from pneumonia at St Clair Medical Centre. The book, We Kind ah People, by American judge and Carnival researcher Ray Funk and local photographer George Tang, was launched on October 7 at the National Library, Port-of-Spain. Yesterday Lee Heung’s son, Shane, said: “Dad died of a chest infection. Mucus had developed in his lungs and he was having problems breathing properly. 

“Dad suffered a stroke in 1997 but was mobile afterwards with the aid of crutches and a cane. “After a while he simply gave up and stopped going out. The last time he went out was to attend Dimanche Gras in 2012.” Peter Minshall designed Lee Heung’s 1976 Band of the Year winner, Paradise Lost, the first band Minshall had designed. 

Yesterday he said: “There are bandleaders and then there are bandleaders. The current crop is blatantly into making money on the work that they had learnt from the likes of Stephen Lee Heung, who never ever lost the love of making mas. We have lost one of the great producers of classic Caribbean art.” Five-time Band of the Year winner Edmond Hart, now 91, said: “I am taken aback by Stephen’s death. We were very friendly and were in the same Lions club. 

“When I first produced mas, Stephen played one year with me. He and his wife, Elsie, and my wife, Lil, and I were regarded as the couples of mas. We worked together abroad on a number of occasions,” he added. Hart’s son, Luis, now leader of Harts International, added: “Stephen and Elsie were responsible for giving many of the big designers their first break in mas. He did so much for T&T Carnival and was a true pioneer. 

“Many of the people who began by collaborating with Stephen ended up being some of the greatest contributors to mas in terms of visual excellence. My parents and the Lee Heungs were Carnival’s mas couples. “They were close as they were couples dealing in mas, closer than the others, like George Bailey and Harold Saldenha.” The late Wayne Berkeley also designed some of Lee Heung’s winning bands and his producer Earl Patterson said:

“Stephen was one of the best bandleaders of all time. The type of person he was... he had a welcoming heart to everyone. “The first time we were really close was when we travelled to Dallas, Texas, with Wayne Berkeley’s band. We sat for hours during the day, playing rummy and bonding. “On our return to Trinidad we continued playing rummy at Stephen’s home on Alberto Street. I remember that he loved a fried breadfruit very much. 

“I want to express my deepest condolences to Shane and the family.” D Midas Associates leader/designer Stephen Dereck said: “Another one from the glory days has passed. “Artistes like us cannot forget the creations he gave us. Stephen was one of the founders of the bandleaders’ association and he was also one of the first people to tour abroad with our mas, going to Montreal for Expo ‘67.”

Shane Lee Heung said funeral arrangements would be announced later this week, with the funeral tentatively scheduled for next week.

Despite nearly four hours of intense discussions between Government and members of civil society organisations, the controversial Debe to Mon Desir section of the San Fernando to Point Fortin Highway will go on. And there is also no need for mediation, Works Minister Surujrattan Rambachan said yesterday.

The meeting, which was chaired by Rambachan, also included Minister in the Ministry of Works Stacy Roopnarine, head of the National Infrastructure Development Company of T&T (Nidco) Dr Carson Charles and Doolar Ramlal, director of health and safety in the Works Ministry. It was held at the ministry’s head office at Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain. 

Initially, some 29 civil society groups had supported the Highway Re-Route Movement (HRM) in its call for mediation and further dialogue but that figure has now grown to 41. The specific areas of concern raised by the groups in a letter were:
1. That Government properly considers the Armstrong report and recommendations. 
2. That Government give serious consideration to the new proposal by the HRM as an alternative to the construction of the Debe to Mon Desir Highway.
3. All further work be halted on the Debe to Mon Desir Highway only but work could proceed apace on the San Fernando to Point Fortin Highway.

At the start of yesterday’s meeting, Rambachan made it clear the matter was before the court and was therefore subjudice. Paula Lucie-Smith, founder of the Adult Literacy Tutors Association (ALTA), said civil society groups were not technical experts and as such they could not assess any particular aspect of the Armstrong Report and were also unable to pronounce on the optimum connectivity proposal which the HRM wanted implemented as an alternative route.

“Our concern as civil society is the process and this will help us to be able to live together in our communities. We are not here to discuss the merits or demerits of any particular roadway system,” Lucie-Smith said. There were tense moments during the meeting, as Rambachan pressed civil society members to state exactly what they wanted, noting they kept repeating they were not technical experts and could make no pronouncements.

“I came with the technical team and I made it very clear those are the three points to discuss and they came to say that’s not what they want,” Rambachan said. “They want to discuss the process... the process about what? The highway or about general development and there was no clear answer with regard to that also but I had a duty to meet with them. “I don’t see the need for mediation. What I see is civil society asking three particular questions and we came to respond.” 

Charles, in referring to the Armstrong Report, said there was never an agreement on Nidco’s part to abide by it. He said it was the Joint Consultative Council (JCC) which decided to publish the report and make public statements on the issue. Political leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) David Abdulah, who was also present, said another step was needed, as there were different judgments on technical issues which required determination to the satisfaction of the country.

But some civil society representatives also described yesterday’s meeting as a “charade”, adding that they were forced to listen to a presentation from the Government on the merits of its objectives.

Hunger strike continues

Contacted yesterday, HRM leader Dr Wayne Kublalsingh said he would not budge from his hunger strike as nothing solid or meaningful has been offered by Government. The environmentalist also reiterated his call for mediation.

Saying he was not disappointed at the outcome of yesterday’s meeting between the Government and civil society bodies, Kublalsingh said he was still hopeful an alternative route would be taken into consideration. He also maintained that wetlands would be adversely affected by Government’s plan. “Our position is the Prime Minister has promised to put it on hold and review it. She is yet to do that and so the strike continues,” Kublalsingh said.

Leader of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen Yasin Abu Bakr was denied entry to Jamaica last night and then detained there. He is expected to be deported back to T&T today. Bakr had reportedly left Port-of-Spain for Jamaica to attend the ‘Million Man March’ event at the National Arena, Kingston, on Sunday. The event is being hosted for the first time outside the United States and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan is slated to speak.

On his Facebook page yesterday, Abu Bakr’s son, Fuad, said his father was to be a guest of Farrakhan and was also using the opportunity to visit one of his daughters at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies. But shortly after disembarking from the Caribbean Airlines flight at the Norman Manley International Airport, he was denied entry and taken into custody, RJR News reported.

Sources told the T&T Guardian earlier that Abu Bakr was initially handcuffed and put on board flight BW457, which was due to return to Piarco shortly after 9 pm last night. But minutes later he was taken off the flight and detained by authorities in Kingston. Abu Bakr reportedly protested noisily when detained by the Jamaican officials and tried to insist on being allowed to attend the event. The flight left without him.

Contacted yesterday, National Security Minister Gary Griffith denied Bakr’s detention was an act of retaliation by the Jamaican authorities over T&T’s refusal to allow entry to 13 Jamaicans last week. Griffith is expected to meet with Jamaican officials to discuss that issue. Griffith said the Jamaican authorities have a right to deny entry into their country anyone they considered to be a national security.

He said the granting of a CSME certificate “does not prevent the authorities from denying entry to anyone who was considered to be a national security threat into any Caribbean state. “No one must be allowed to walk into another state as if he has a divine right to do so with a CSME certificate,” he added. A statement from Jamaica’s National security Ministry yesterday said Abu Bakr was refused entry under Section 4 (1) h of the Immigration Restriction (Commonwealth Citizens) Act, which states: 

“The following Commonwealth citizens (not being persons deemed to belong to the Island as defined by sub-section (2) of section 2) are prohibited immigrants:

(h) any person who, from information or advice which in the opinion of the Minister is reliable information or advice, is deemed by the minister to be an undesirable inhabitant of or visitor to the island.” It said the decision was taken in the interest of national security, given the present threat posed to public safety. Jamaican media reported last night that arrangements were being made for Abu Bakr to spend the night at the Horizon Adult Remand Centre or the Gun Court Rehab Centre.

While neighbouring Caribbean islands yesterday initiated “lockdown” measures against the Ebola threat, T&T’s health authorities were considering a 21-day quarantine for people who have a history of travelling to Ebola-stricken territories to ensure they are virus-free, Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan confirmed.

Khan said the proposal is in the works but said T&T would not go as far as banning nationals of West Africa, where Ebola has killed almost 4,500, from travelling to T&T, as St Vincent and St Lucia have done. He said: “We are not contemplating anything like that (banning) but obviously the virus is a case for concern and we will have to discuss the way forward concerning measures to protect everyone in T&T and sensitise people to the issue.

“What we are contemplating are protocols for screening and ensuring the entrance to T&T of people with poor travel histories, particularly from Ebola-stricken states, are flagged and assessed.” Khan spoke about T&T’s moves to strengthen systems to protect the public after a second Texas nurse was identified as having the virus. 

The nurse had attended to a Liberian Ebola victim who had gone to the US but later died at a Texas hospital. The nurse had later flown on a US airline with 132 other people, it was reported. And in the Caribbean, often known as the US’ “backyard”,  St Vincent and St Lucia yesterday placed a ban on nationals of Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea entering the two islands. 

St Vincent Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said the ban on nationals of Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Guinea was implemented due to St Vincent’s lack of infrastructure to deal with Ebola which has no cure. 

St Lucia PM Kenny Anthony also advised immediate prohibition on people from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone wishing to travel to St Lucia, given the extent of the outbreak of Ebola affecting those locations. Such visitors are denied entry into St Lucia until further notice. Nigerian visitors to St Lucia will also be required to present a recent medical certificate clearing them of the virus, in addition to a visa to be allowed entry. 

Anthony noted that the recent new victim in Texas had prompted “a heightened awareness and necessitated strong action to ensure St Lucia is protected.” On Tuesday also, Grenada’s government said it was considering suspending travel visas to West African nationals. Rising mortality rates there and the growing potential of spread were cited.

Regarding T&T, Khan said the disease was now in the early stage of spread “and we have to protect everyone here which will require stringent measures until something is forthcoming that will give us a sense of security and comfort on the issue. “This is not about dropping ‘restrictions’ on people just ‘for so.’ It is about doing what the rest of the world is trying to do: Taking measures to secure your country from an Ebola threat using mechanisms for any eventuality.”

Khan said the proposal contemplated was that people with a history of travelling among Ebola-hit areas be quarantined for 21 days for active surveillance on any sign of the virus. The quarantine location would be the Caura Hospital. Once they did not show signs of the virus, they would get medical clearance, he said. 

Khan said it was also proposed that people showed their travel history and demonstrated they were not anywhere close to any Ebola-stricken territories. After that, they would be cleared by Immigration and National Security, he said. The Health Minister said he had been discussing the proposal with Chief Medical Officer Dr Colin Furlonge but no decision had been taken on implementation. Cabinet would have to decide on such a matter, he said. 

Khan stressed the virus was contagious, especially where bodily fluids of a patient were concerned. He said the situation was particularly dangerous since people who have pre-existing medical conditions or were in poor health, with a depressed immune system, would be more susceptible to any infective virus and suffer its effects worse than someone who was healthy, without medical issues.

Khan added: “Persons with pre-existing conditions or depressed immune systems will have an increased risk of getting the virus more acutely and showing stronger symptoms.” He noted, for instance, that occurred with the chikungunya virus, where some people with strong immune systems had milder symptoms or for a shorter duration than others who exhibited extreme full-blown symptoms over a longer period.

On the National Energy Skills Centre’s move, advised by the CMO, to postpone the arrival of 100 Nigerian welding students of its drilling school, Khan said the students would eventually arrive in T&T after they showed proof they were Ebola-free.

The Ministry of Health is procuring a specialised bio-containment unit for the treatment of possible cases of Ebola, Chief Medical Officer Dr Colin Furlonge said yesterday. The unit, along with protective equipment for health care workers who may have to screen and treat possible cases of Ebola, is expected to cost the ministry between $5 million and $10 million.

“Of course the issue of recurrent expenditure will be significant as well,” Furlonge said after addressing a meeting of senior national security personnel at the National Operations Centre, Port-of-Spain. The meeting assessed the country’s preparations for the virus which has already claimed the lives of over 4,000 people in five west African countries.  

While he admitted the equipment would take a little over a month to arrive, Furlonge said his ministry was still capable and prepared to deal with possible infections. In the event a case occurs in the interim, Furlonge said the ministry would use an isolation room at a hospital as a temporary measure. 

“Although the risk is real, it is small. The risk of contracting it in our setting is small,” Furlonge said, as he noted that preparations would focus on training and equiping health care professionals and educating the population on proactive safety measures. Asked about the potential risk to health care workers, Furlonge said the ministry would train them in the latest international safety protocols for staff who may have to interact with infected people. 

Referring to the recent case of a Spanish nurse who contracted the virus while treating a missionary taken to Madrid for treatment after being infected in west Africa, Furlonge said: “Those units were not specifically trained to deal with those cases.”

WHO rep: Ebola not airborne

Also speaking at the meeting was Dr Yitades Gebre, adviser on disease preventional and control at the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO)/World Health Organisation (WHO). 

In presenting information on the virus gathered by WHO and its recommendations on containing the outbreak, Gebre rejected the suggestion of attempting to contain it by putting travel bans on travellers from the seven countries affected so far: Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Nigeria and most recently Spain and the United States.

“Ebola is not airborne and can only be contracted through contact with bodily fluids. Usually a person suffering with Ebola is so unwell that they can not stand, yet alone walk on an aeroplane,” Gebre said. He said his organisation would host a seminar in Barbados next month where training on screening potential cases of Ebola, which he said was a vital tool in tracking and containing the ongoing outbreak, would be conducted.

National Security officials are denying allegations that a group of immigrants from Ebola-ravaged Liberia passed through T&T recently en-route to the United States. However, the T&T Coast Guard has increased its patrols in coastal waters to ensure such people do not sneak into the country.

Speaking after an Ebola preparation meeting at the National Operations Centre (NOC), Port-of-Spain, yesterday Deputy Chief Immigration Officer Charmaine Gandhi-Andrews said preliminary checks with her division’s records showed no Liberians had arrived in T&T recently. 

Gandhi-Andrews’ claims were verified by NOC director Garvin Heerah, who said the Ministry of National Security was doing its own investigation into the claim made last month by commander of the US Southern Command, Marine Corps, Gen John F Kelly. 
“We are speaking to our international counterparts to confirm or deny the veracity of the information,” Heerah said. 

However, Heerah and Gandhi-Andrews admitted if Kelly’s claims were true, the group may have entered T&T illegally, and hence would not have been registered in the immigration division’s database. In an address at a forum at the National Defence University in Washington, DC, last month, Kelly said: 
“(The) embassy persons asked who they were and they said, ‘Well, we’re from Liberia and have been on the road for about a week and were on the way to New York City,’... illegally... so not on network. They had flown in through, I think, Trinidad and met up with traffickers and are on the way in. They still could have made it to New York City and still be within the incubation period for Ebola.”

Questioned on the possibility of the Ebola virus arriving here through infected west African illegal immigrants, Heerah said the Coast Guard had already increased its offshore patrols and other arms of the protective services were ready to lend assistance. Saying the NOC was in communication with law enforcement personnel operating in coastal communities used by human traffickers and illegal immigrants, retired deputy police commissioner Mervyn Richardson said: 

“The intelligence community is out there ensuring that anybody who comes in that don’t belong to that area of society is reported to police and dealt with, using the protocols set by the Health Ministry.”

Public Services Association president Watson Duke yesterday demanded $10 million in insurance for doctors, nurses and all health care workers who would potentially have to deal with the Ebola virus if it entered T&T. He said those workers should be paid four times their original salaries whether they contracted the disease or not. Duke also threatened to stop Carnival 2015. 

“We have influence and the power to make things happen or to change the direction of things and when we say there shall be no Carnival, there will be none,” Duke said. He also demanded that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar should make a public statement expressing Government’s policy measures on the virus and that Health Minister Fuad Khan must provide proper training for hospital staff by sending a medical team to Africa to gain practical experience of treatment for the virus.

He made those demands during a press conference at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, yesterday, while doctors, nurses and other staff looked on. He complained that Khan had misled the country when he said health institutions were 75 per cent ready for the Ebola virus. He added: “It is a hoax. Hospitals are not ready. They have no medication, no test kits to test for Ebola. They have some ‘jokey’ suits available and this is why the media has not been invited on a tour. 

“They do not know what they are doing. They are playing a hit-and-miss game and so we have challenged them. “The days for ole talk is over. He (Khan) has to come clear with us and settle the score with all the stakeholders and so we reject the view that we are 75 per cent ready. We believe that it is more 25 per cent.”

Duke said the PSA believed people who were at risk of coming in contact with an Ebola patient and becoming contaminated must be given insurance of $10 million and that money must be made available and placed in escrow for them. “We are talking about port health workers. We are talking about immigration, customs, airports authority, ambulance drivers, attendants, dieticians, nurses and doctors.

“This is not just a doctor business. Who told them it is only doctors alone at risk? It is everybody’s business and so everybody must be paid quadruple their salary and must be given extensive training,” he added. He said the PSA was moving toward a strike of the entire health care system and added that T&T should not send aid to Africa but should partner with African countries to send a medical team abroad to learn best practices in treating with the virus.

“So send these workers out there, protect them and let them come back and deal with this first-hand. “If they fail to make us ready, we will be taking action. Right now we are mobilising because the nation needs to be safe,” he said. Speaking out against temporary visa bans to be applied to certain countries, Duke said he did not support any temporary measures.

“We support T&T being ready to treat with Ebola. We may have nationals abroad in African countries who may want to come back home. Do we discriminate against their spouses?” he asked. Doctors also demand higher salaries Doctors are also demanding enhanced pay packages if they are part of the Ebola response team.

CNC3 News reported last night that following a meeting among medical practitioners on Monday at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, a memo was sent to the Director of Health of the North Central Health Authority Dr Rodney Ramroop, following a meeting on Monday, outlining the proposed terms and conditions.

In it, medical chief of staff for the North Central Regional Health Authority Dr Andy Bhagwandass says all medical doctors are of the view that all infrastructure and equipment must be put in place to care for a patient and ensure full protection of medical doctors.

According to the memo, the team will involve all grades of medical doctors who form part of the Ebola response team, including a payment of three times their salary, in addition to their existing salary, a $10 million payment to the family of the deceased in the event of death of a medical practitioner, separate from any insurance coverage, and a lumpsum payment if a health worker contracts the virus.