The Education Ministry is bracing for possible electrical overloads in the nation’s schools because of the installation of air-condition units in classrooms.

In a bid to prevent any fires or electrical surges, the ministry has already started doing full electrical overhauls in some schools.

Speaking to reporters after touring 18 schools in south Trinidad yesterday, Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh said over $15 million was spent in August to do electrical upgrades in 15 schools.

“A number of schools have installed air-conditioning systems which is throwing a load on the electrical situation. Pretty soon we may have lots of problems,” Gopeesingh said. Earlier this month, the electrical wiring at the Princes Town Presbyterian Primary school caught fire, causing a one-week disruption and subsequent protest action by parents.

However, Gopeesingh said the Education Facilities Company Ltd and MTS will continue to monitor the school conditions to ensure that teachers and students had a safe and comfortable environment. 

Measures taken to stop spread of chikungunya

He also said measures were being taken to prevent the spread of the chikungunya virus.

“We had a campaign started last week to educate and to eradicate in the context of the spread of the Aedes Egypti chikungunya virus and dengue. We want to ensure that all of our schools are safe and clean in their surroundings to prevent the spread of these diseases,” Gopeesingh said. 

He said it was important for students to become actively involved in cleaning up their own environment. 

Praising MTS for leading the way to cleanliness, Gopeesingh said he has seen a marked improvement in how schools are being maintained.

“We have common problems in infrastructure, the toilet areas, the water system, the troughs in the school, the walls, the flooring, the ceiling, the roofs, all of these have been looked at, but I am very pleased to see what is happening regarding the school infrastructure,” Gopeesingh said. 

Throngs of Trincity residents yesterday came out to protest the construction of a proposed five-storey building by Bhagwansingh’s Hardware.

Bearing placards at the proposed site at Trincity Central Road, and accompanied by their Arouca/Maloney MP Alicia Hospedales, the residents chanted in unison “Bhagwansingh must go!”

Hospedales said the residents decided to protest because they were not consulted about the development.

She said they were alarmed to see that a fence was erected on the bank of a water channel, while a guard booth and tool shed were built days after the sod was turned in August.The site is a stone’s throw from the Trincity roundabout.

“The Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation stepped in an issued a work stop order after a complaint was made. The residents are contesting the decision by Town and Country Planning Division to approve the construction of such a facility without consultation,” Hospedales said.

She said the community was already overwhelmed with flooding, traffic congestion, and an overburdened sewage system. The development, she said, would only add to their woes. Some of the areas likely to be affected are Roland, Sunrise, Cassleton and Dinsley, Hospedales said.

The residents said they heard that upon completion of the building, it will be rented as commercial space.

Yesterday, chairman and CEO of Bhagwansingh’s Group of Companies Helen Bhagwansingh said tomorrow the company will issue a statement on the matter.

Almost five years after Haiti’s devastating earthquake, the country is trying to stabilise and expand its flagging economy.

To get the country moving forward, Haiti’s Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development Thomas Jacques has been using the catch phrase “Haiti is open for business” to attract investments.

Addressing regional agriculture ministers and stakeholders at the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) in Paramaribo, Suriname, at the Chamber of Commerce on October 9, Jacques said Haiti was now wooing foreign companies to invest in three areas—agriculture, tourism and trade to stimulate economic development.

The CWA was partly sponsored by the Technical Centre of Agricultural and Rural Cooperation.

While Haiti is on the road to recovery, Jacques said some of its citizens still live on less than US$ 1 a day. The country remains one of the poorest in the Americas.

In the last two years, Jacques said Haiti was able to reduce its poverty rate from 32 to 24 per cent, but more needed to be done.

He said poverty and hunger can be eradication through strategic objectives.

“A new Haiti is coming back. We are confident that Haiti will become a strong nation again. Haiti will not be a problem but a solution with economic development,” Jacques said.

“The ministry of agriculture has created a new unit to help and guide investors coming into the country. If you don’t have a clear project, there are people who can help you put together a business plan.”

He also said if the investor has insufficient funds to start a business, the government can help with finances. 

In the past, Jacques said, it took investors 110 days to register a business in Haiti, now it can be fast tracked in one to five days.

“We are trying to break down the barriers that have been blocking businesses and associations from setting up business in Haiti. It’s one way of making a smooth flow.”

Jacques said his ministry was working to improve food security, reduce poverty, reinforce family farms and promote agro industries.

For this to be achieved, he said infrastructure, irrigation and proper drainage are required.

He said his government also needed to provide a safety net for farmers.

“We are thinking of putting in place credit and insurance for farmers. We had discussions with the World Bank about insurance for farmers against drought, hurricanes and climate change. All this will help re-launch the sector. Investors will not invest if this is not in place.”

Although Haiti has 1,000,000 family farms, the country imports 50 per cent of the food it consumes.

Calls for skilled haitians to return home

According to Jacques, one of their major setbacks was attracting skilled nationals back home.

Droves of Haitians migrated to the Dominican Republic, Caribbean, USA and Canada before and after the 2010 earthquake.

“Fifteen years ago, the government did their best to attract professionals to come back. However, only 100 nationals returned. After working as consultants they wanted to leave. We need the expertise of these people to make it work. They are critical for our development.”

Ambassador of the Bahamas Godfrey Eneas said there were 50,000 Haitians in the Bahamas working in the construction and agriculture sectors.

Of the few investors they have attracted, including USA, Dominican Republic and Mexico, Jacques thanked Jamaica Broiler Group of Companies (JBC) for coming on board.

Two years ago, JBC established a large chicken farm equipped with a feed mill, hatchery and processing plant, costing US $10 million.

It also created jobs for hundreds.

Project manager of JBC Richard Sadler said the biggest challenge for Haiti was “dumped products” which retards the growth of the economy. 

​

Some investments in haiti

 In collaboration with the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), the IDB is supporting the government of Haiti to increase agricultural productivity for nearly 30,000 small-scale farmers in the north and north eastern part of the country through a Technology Transfer Program.

The IDB has financed the project with US $15 million, while the GAFSP has injected US $25 million. 

The programme, which was launched in 2012 by Haiti’s Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, has facilitated access to improved seeds and modern agricultural technologies.

 On October 10, Haitian firm Agritrans SA invested US$27 million to cultivate organic plantains exclusively for exportation. The Haitian government injected US $6 million into this project and plan to invest an additional US $15 million in the coming months to increase the plantation to two million banana trees.

Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS) José Miguel Insulza says more than 70 million people have been lifted out of poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean in recent years.

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian at the Hyatt Regency hotel, Port-of-Spain, recently, Insulza said, “The explosive growth of the last decade has lifted a lot of people, more than 70 million, out of poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“Most of it occurred in 2009. This period was marked by economic growth, decline in poverty, and more stable democracies. 

“These levels were not equal for every country however, some may have had critical moments, others grew at a double digit pace, but in general the decade provoked a reason of optimism for Latin America and the Caribbean. 

“During this period, some economists felt that the world had turned upside down and that it was the era of Latin America.” 

“The reason for that was basically the fact that some countries were better managed from an economic point of view, they had saved a lot of reserves in the previous years, had a lower rate of debt, banks were not exposed, but what played a major role was the large increase in exports.” 

He said in that decade, the price, volume and frequency of commodities grew. Mining and food products increased to a great extent for the export market.

Insulza said trade and exchange with China also grew exponentially during this period—from US$4 billion to a staggering US$71 billion. 

He said trade between China and the region was still ongoing, but not on the scale from that period. 

The secretary general said despite the progress, the economies of Latin America were going to be faced with more difficulties since internal consumption had not risen, probably because of the distribution of income and the slowdown of foreign investment in the region.

He said several countries were already tackling some of the problems. Some of the measures undertaken are: more economic reforms, an improvement of the quality of education, improvement in the investment in science and technology, and more progressive tax systems that will increase the value and power of middle class people.

Insulza said there was a social danger that needed to be address—that of the vulnerable people who had left poverty but were on the threshold, if the economy declined, of slipping back into poverty. 

He said there was good news forecast for the future. Insulza said even though the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted a slowdown in economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2014, there will be recovery in 2015, according to the organizations latest report called “Legacies, Clouds, Uncertainties.”

Insulza said the IMF predicted that an increase in oil prices will benefit the region’s oil exporters as Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, and will also affect the rest of countries.

14 and under and female headed households in T&T are high risk groups—Ahmed

Minister of State in the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development Raziah Ahmed in a telephone interview with the Sunday Guardian said that in T&T the percentage of people living below the poverty line—of US one dollar per day —stood at 14.8 per cent. She also said only 1.2 per cent of the population fell below the minimum dietary consumption.

Ahmed said the population aged 14 and under totalled some 273,280, while female headed households accounted for some 33 per cent or 27,098 of households in the nation. These are the two high risk groups in the country, Ahmed said. 

She said based on poverty data the world over, women and children were most likely to be vulnerable and defenceless against the scourge of risky behaviours that lead to noncommunicable diseases, adolescent pregnancy, inadequate schooling, illicit drug use, alcohol abuse, delinquency, and other similar matters. 

In addition, Ahmed said those that preyed upon young women and teenagers making them drug mules, gang members, or illicit traders of varying kinds continued to be a burning problem.

The media and public are invited to a lecture on the late journalist Patrick Chookolingo, on Wednesday at 5.30 pm, in the AV Room at the National Library, Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain. 

Hosted by Friends of Mr Biswas, the speaker is former editor-in-chief of the T&T Guardian, veteran journalist Lennox Grant, who worked with Choko and has done research on his work and life.

Friends of Mr Biswas said in a press release: “Although he has been officially recognised as a national icon, and although this controversial newspaperman was a legend in the 1970s and early 1980s, the present generation hardly know his name. Those who worked with him remember his energy and his ebullience, but there has not been much reflection on or analysis of the kind of journalism Chookolingo practised or what it might have come out of.

“Patrick Chookolingo began his journalistic career in the 1940s, the last decade of the ground-breaking Seepersad Naipaul. In many ways, not least in his unfettered imagination, his investigative bent, his intuitive grasp of what mattered in the news, and his commitment to story and personalities he was the inheritor of a kingdom created by Seepersad Naipaul.

“After early work with the Chronicle and the Gazette, Choko moved in the early 1960s to the Trinidad Daily Mirror which was owned by an Englishman. The staff also included George John, Owen Baptiste, David Renwick, Kitty Hannays, Bootkins Alkins and Ric Hernandez, and was soon to be joined by young folk like Raoul Pantin and Keith Smith.” 

When the Mirror was bought in September 1966 by Lord Thomson, who already owned the Guardian, he closed down the Mirror, and this led to the establishment of the Trinidad Express. Choko became the new paper’s general manager.

“To follow Choko’s career,” says the release, “is to trace the arc of T&T journalism in the second half of the 20th century. 

In 1972, he started the Bomb and the Sunday Punch, and in 1981 he launched the Mirror. He was the pioneer in Trinidad of the weekly tabloid, and many rank him high as an investigative journalist who was quite fearless and not averse to adding hot pepper and exciting spice to what he was serving up. He was respected by his peers, read by high and low, and had many run-ins with the law as he tested the boundaries of journalism drawn up by the powers that be.”

How would Choko have treated with 21st-century Trinidad? Veteran journalist and T&T Guardian sports editor Valentino Singh remembered: “Patrick Chokolingo, the best newspaperman that I have ever known and under whose tutelage I made my entry into this profession, once told me that no matter how convincing you think you are, and despite the strength of your argument, people are going to see what they want.”

Bleeding from gunshot wounds to his chest, Anil Jaikaran drove at full speed out of the Marabella Train Line, desperately trying to get his brother and sister-in-law to safety. Jaikaran’s brother, Naresh, dodged most of the bullets except one, which struck him on the leg. Miraculously, his sister-in-law Lystra, who was in the back seat the car, escaped injury. However, 30-year-old  Jaikaran, of Coconut Drive, Pleasantville, managed to drive only a short distance before he slumped behind the wheel of his car and died.

The incident occurred around 10.25 pm on Saturday when Jaikaran and his brother went into the crime infested community at Marabella to pick up Lystra who had gone there to visit her children. 
As they were leaving the area, two assailants dressed in black with bandannas over their faces opened fired on Jaikaran’s car, shooting him seven times in the chest and neck. Speaking at the family’s home yesterday, Jaikaran’s sister, Eva, said Naresh called her while the shooting was in progress. “He told me that people were shooting up the car and to call the police and come to the Marabella (train) line,” Eva said. She met officers from the Marabella Police Station and went to the scene of the shooting where she saw the bloodied body of her younger brother. “When I got there, Anil was slumped backwards in the front seat. He was already dead. Naresh was sitting in the car bleeding from his leg,” Eva recalled. She said she often warned her brothers to stay away from that area. “Normally, if they going to pick up Lystra, she would walk out of the line and meet them on the main road. I do not know why they drove in there this time,” Eva said. She explained that Lystra had two grown children who lived in the Marabella Train Line.

She said her brothers did not have any enemies. Anil Jaikaran worked as an attendant at Glen’s Distributors and Naresh was a market vendor. She said Anil Jaikaran was planning to build over his home next year. “He already had a house plan and a contractor to start the job. He was looking forward to this,” she said. Another relative, who asked not to be identified, said a resident of the Train Line had often warned Jaikaran not to go into the area. “Three years ago, he went there and was planassed,” the relative said. Jaikaran’s body was removed to the Forensic Science Centre where an autopsy will be done today. No motive has yet been established for the killing. Senior Supt Cecil Santana, and PC Hercules of the San Fernando Homicide Bureau are continuing investigations.

Constitutional reform will be on the cards if a PNM government  implements the one man-one vote system at national level “as we must,” Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley signalled yesterday. Rowley hinted at this during yesterday’s People’s National Movement (PNM) delegate convention at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain. At the meeting delegates fine-tuned the Manning Vision 2020 plan for PNM’s Vision 2030 package. Decisions from discussions will form the basis of PNM’s 2015 manifesto. 

The opposition party’s policy may  be ready in two weeks. Rowley said Vision 2030 will focus on “the road ahead” since PNM will not look back after it is elected to government. He said the next PNM government will make fundamental changes to delivery. He said people liked the one-man one-vote system the PNM used in its May internal election and if the party has to do it at national level “as we must”—since some adjustment were needed—constitutional reform might be involved.

Saying revenue collection is very important, Rowley reiterated PNM’s Revenue Authority plan and expressed concern about mass transportation problems. He also reiterated plans to abolish the Local Government Ministry giving more responsibility to local government bodies and to focus more on primary schools and rolling back crime. Rowley said “pretenders” weren’t giving the truth and the real story on crime is more than the figures “out there.” “The criminal element has too much room to manoeuvre,” he said.

Noting that the Eric Williams’ PNM involved what he said were captains of industry, the professional class, barefoot people, others from St Patrick, Caroni and other areas, Rowley said today’s PNM, adding youths and experienced people, was getting close to its “original moorings as it was in 1956.” He said a vision wouldn’t always go to plan, but when things went wrong, one addressed it, built and stayed the course. He said the PNM hadn’t been the perfect opposition but was vibrant. Rowley said some had felt the PP would last one or two years only, but it seemed likely to last five years. He said no other party has done what PNM did with yesterday’s delegate planning deliberations. PNM chairman Franklin Khan asked delegates to take into consideration T&T attitudes on issues including dependency, lack of self reliance, productivity, space and environmental protection. 
 

The sex-offender registry promised by Government since 2011 will not come on stream this year. Minister of Gender Youth and Child Development Clifton de Coteau said a bill had been drafted and a report is before the Legislative Review Committee. He promised that it wouldbe brought to Parliament before year end. He did not say why the registry was taking so long to set up. In 2011, former Minister of the People and Social Development Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh said announced plans for an online sex offender registry as part of an aggressive plan to protect minors. The Children’s Authority was mandated to set up the registry. Ramadharsingh was unavailable for comment and Minister of National Security Gary Griffith said he wanted to investigate the matter before commenting.

Child rights activist and head of the Child Protection Task Force (CPTF) Diana Mahabir-Wyatt said the registry should be higher on the agenda of the Legislative Review Committee. She said while the CPTF was working on legislation for the protection of children, the registry had been forgotten. “I must confess and I am ashamed that I had forgotten the registry when the Child Task Force was working so hard at other legislation. Its been so long since we debated that issue. We were wrong and we should have included that as part of the  Children’s Act. We will have to start lobbying for that registry now,” Mahabir-Wyatt told the T&T Guardian.

She said it was sad the registry was taking so long to be set up, noting: “Since 2011, so many children have been either abused or murdered by people we did not know were capable of that. What the offenders register does is help protect children from these repeat offenders so that the Children’s Authority will know these offenders and they will not be put in schools or hospitals to work with children.”  Mahabir-Wyatt said the Children’s Authority Act is due to be proclaimed before the end of this month. “We are hoping the President will proclaim the act so that we can offer better protection to our children,” she said.

Criminologist calls for action
Criminologist and principal of the Caribbean Institute for Security and Public Safety Ian Ramdhanie said sex crimes against children should be given high priority by the relevant authorities. 
“It is an area that should not be allowed to lag behind. Consideration should be given to have these registries available to the public and also online as is done in many jurisdictions.” Ramdhanie said bureaucracy may be holding back the process. “It usually takes some time from an announcement to policy, legislation, procedures, facilities, staffing, training, etc. Sometimes, these things take a considerable amount of time that may be unacceptable to the public who rightful“It is a herculean task to get done, but it must tackled with utmost urgency so that there can be some drastic reductions in these types of crimes,” he said.

He also recommended that a comprehensive independent study be done to ascertain the prevalence of sex crimes. “There is a big difference between reported crimes and actual crimes which take place. The two don’t necessarily match.” Ramdhanie said psychologists, counsellors, police officers, medical doctors, school officials, parents and siblings must play a role in resolving tragic experiences.  “Interventions need to take place for the victims, offenders and their friends and families, who are all affected by these crimes.  “Don’t feel it is only the victim—he/she probably suffers the most, but there are hosts of others who are directly negatively affected and need healing,” Ramdhanie said.

To minimise offences, he called a massive education campaign in the short term. “The relevant ministries like education, national security, youth, gender, etc, as well as the Children’s Authority, need to dive straight into the school system and implement the necessary campaigns. These should inform children—from pre-school to primary to secondary and even post-secondary and tertiary—about how they should prevent themselves from being victims of sexual crimes. “They should be taught the ways sexual predators make their advances, to be on the constant lookout for them, to know what to do when they are faced with a potential sex offender, who to go to, where, emergency numbers, etc,” Ramdhanie said.

He suggested that social networking sites be used to educate children. In the medium to long term, Ramdhanie said, there should be a more strategic approach  to get the legislation in place.  “Police youth clubs, community groups, religious youth groups, non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations, faith-based organisations—all can get on board a national plan to reach their membership,” he added.

Children’s Authority Responds
A senior source at the Children’s Authority said the sex offender registry will be overseen by the Ministry of National Security. The Children’s Authority was established to champion the wellbeing of all children, to safeguard them from abuse and neglect, to provide care and protection for those who are at-risk and vulnerable and to restore childhood. Anyone wanting to report a crime against children can call Childline at 800-4321, National Family Services at 627-1163 or Child Guidance clinic 726-1324.
 

Government expects to save more than $600 million by refitting five secondary schools that had been earmarked for demolition. This was announced yesterday by Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh as he and Tertiary Education Minister Senator Fazal Karim toured schools in central Trinidad. Karim joined Gopeesingh at the Carapichiama West Secondary School on the second leg of school visit programme to assess clean-up work being done to reduce the risk of mosquito borne diseases.

Gopeesingh said the previous government had planned to demolish the buildings, which once housed junior secondary schools, at a cost of $90 million. Instead, he said, by next April students will be relocated so work can start on refitting the Five Rivers, Carapichiama, St Joseph, Marabella and Couva schools. The minister said the country’s 11 government and 14 private special needs schools were not sufficient to accommodate disabled students, so some of the school buildings would be refitted for that purpose. He said the buildings will be used jointly by the Education and Tertiary Education Ministries.

Karim said his ministry plans to use one of the buildings in central Trinidad as a UTT campus for teachers’ training to complement the existing colleges at Valsayn and Corinth. He said the buildings will  be used by his ministry for three major programmes—Caribbean Vocational Qualification, the OJT and National Life Skills.

The Chaguanas Borough Corporation is seeking private sector support for an aerial spraying exercise. Mayor Gopaul Boodhan made the appeal over the weekend, saying there had been an increase of people with flu like symptoms in the borough. 

He said an emergency meeting has been scheduled with officials of the Public Health Department and the Chaguanas Health Centre to discuss the matter. The mayor said an aggressive ground spraying exercise to curb the mosquito population and prevent the spread of the chikungunya virus and dengue was ongoing and litter wardens were increasing surveillance of properties in the borough. 

Boodhan commended the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation for embarking on aerial spraying. He said he plans to ask  Chaguanas businesses to help pay for aerial spraying of the many acres of abandoned sugar estates that surround Chaguanas.

US-based e-mail service provider Google has requested more time to comply with a subpoena from a California court to provide the e-mail records of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Attorney General Anand Ramlogan to the Integrity Commission. A CNC 3 News report said last night this has been the third request for an extension following the ruling on August 14. Deputy chairman of the Commission retired Justice Sebastian Ventour told CNC 3, when the second extension expired last Thursday, Google requested a further extension. 

The extension was granted, Ventour said, although the Commission opposed the application but complied with advice from its attorneys to avoid any contention in the matter. Ventour said Google was still awaiting responses from attorneys representing the Prime Minister and the Attorney General but was assured that their legal teams have expressed all willingness to cooperate.
Ventour said it was difficult to proceed with the investigation without the information from Google. 

Back in September 2012, Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, disclosed a 31 e-mails alleging a criminal conspiracy, to harm a journalist, spy on the Director of Public Prosecutions, and get him out of office, in the aftermath of the Section 34 proclamation, which many felt was passed to favour two government financiers charged with a series of fraud offences. Ramlogan says the e-mails are fake and claimed that Google had effectively cleared both him and the Prime Minister of any involvement in the E-mailgate fiasco.

A Caricom meeting to discuss the Ebola issue has been tentatively set for next month. This is according to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who called for such a meeting to also discuss the ChikV epidemic in the region.

Persad-Bissessar said T&T remained committed to such a meeting, adding that Caricom Secretary General Irwin Le Roche had said last week that the travel plans of Caricom heads had caused the meeting to be scheduled for next month. She said no fixed date had been given for the high-level meeting. THA Chief Secretary Orville London also spoke about the issue at yesterday’s news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.

He said the fight against Ebola cannot be a Tobago or T&T response but a regional effort. He said: “If we have one Ebola case in the region, then you brand the Caribbean as how you brand Africa. When you hear Africa you think Ebola, regardless of which country it is.” London said a similar situation could develop in the region if one Caribbean state had an Ebola victim.

He said the region must continue to do all it can to prevent Ebola from entering, prepare if it does and pray that it does not.

President Anthony Carmona has been asked to intervene in the dispute involving the Highway Re-route Movement (HRM) and the controversial Debe to Mon Desir portion of the Solomon Hochoy Highway. Several members of the Project 40 movement, a group that supports the HRM, delivered letters to Carmona, Anglican Bishop Claude Berkley and RC Archbishop Joseph Harris yesterday. 
The group gathered at Kublalsingh’s camp outside the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair around 9 am and then delivered the letters on foot.  

Only Harris accepted his letter in person. A security guard at the President’s office took the letter on behalf of Carmona. Berkley’s letter was accepted by a member of his office staff. A member of Project 40, Gerry Williams, who described the brief conversation with Harris as a warm encounter, added, “It was very short, just about five minutes, because he didn’t get into details of the letter, as he had just received it. We exchanged pleasantries.” 

On the contents of the letter, Williams said it acknowledged Carmona’s office and endorsed the call for mediation. “As a concerned person in society I have recognised things have gotten out of hand with governance and it’s up to regular citizens like us to be more responsible in society,” Williams added. Contacted yesterday, Harris said he had glanced at the letter but had not had a chance to read it in detail, as he had to attend several meetings. Berkley was also unable to respond to the letter, as he too said he was caught up in other matters. But he promised to read it thoroughly as soon as possible.

Alyssa Rostant, who was the 15th member of Project 40 to take part in its ”relay fast” yesterday, also reiterated the call for good governance. Rostant, who said she is a writer, said it was also an opportunity for like-minded people to speak out on matters affecting the country. Fr Clyde Harvey, who visited Kublalsingh’s camp yesterday, declined to speak to the media. The Joint Consultative Council (JCC) is expected to receive a report from the National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) on how the state agency has considered the Armstrong report and what recommendations have been implemented thus far. 

HRM leader weak but happy
Leader of the HRM Dr Wayne Kublalsingh, when contacted said it was fantastic to see young people challenging the Government to do the right thing. Kublalsingh completed day 41 of his second hunger strike yesterday. “It is not only to do the right thing, but also to justify their actions and to account, and these young intelligent people are unafraid to lobby the highest public offices in the land, and I commend them enormously. “We are calling once more on the Government to mediate, as this is the only way forward,” Kublalsingh said.   On his health, he said his body was getting weaker daily and was trying its best to survive. “But my body can only go so far and I don’t know if it will hold out until the end of the week.  I am taking it day by day and going forward,” Kublalsingh added.
 

San Fernando Magistrate Margaret Alert sentenced a man to two months’ imprisonment for indecent exposure yesterday, saying it was “a bit disturbing” that that was the maximum penalty. She made the comment as she sentenced Marabella resident Felix McMillan, who exposed himself while travelling in a taxi in which a policewoman was also a passenger. Describing his actions as “very disgusting,” she said the penalty should be “more like 20 years.”

McMillan, the 56-year-old father of three daughters, pleaded guilty to the charge that at Gulf View Link Road, La Romaine, a public place, he wilfully and obscenely exposed his person. Police prosecutor Sgt Veano Ragoo said around 6.35 pm on Friday WPC Keisha Cruickshank was travelling in a taxi. When it reached near Gulf City Mall, he said, Cruickshank saw McMillan unzip his pants, expose and touch himself.

When Cruickshank identified herself and cautioned him, he said, “I did not mean for it to happen.” McMillan, a sign painter, told the magistrate he was intoxicated, but she told him not to hide behind alcohol. She noted he had 13 previous convictions, including one for a similar offence in the Siparia Court in 2006 and also a pending case for grievous sexual assault. McMillan claimed he was found ot guilty on the latter charge. The magistrate said, “It is clear that the penalty outlined by the law is insufficient for you to walk on the straight and narrow path. I am a bit disturbed that the maximum penalty for this offence is two months, it should be more like 20 years. It is very disgusting for someone to take public transport to find themselves subjected to this type of behaviour.” 

T&T Olympic medallist Ato Boldon has denied an Australian media report which alleges he had an affair with one of that country's former top athletes four years ago, saying it was nothing but a fabrication.

The US-based Boldon issued a statement on Facebook yesterday after the internet and social media sites lit up with commentary on the story, which was published by Northern Territory (NT) News and written by political reporter Christopher Walsh.

The story alleges that Boldon was invited to Australia in 2010 by former track star Nova Peris, when she was working with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and was an ambassador for Athletics Australia.

Peris made her name as an Olympic hockey and track star and is now a senator in the Northern Territory district.

The article claims Boldon was initially believed to have been invited there to help Peris stage "Jump Start for London," a ten-day programme for young athletes, for which he was paid a fee of at least US$22,000. 

It alleges Peris sourced government funding for the trip but that once Boldon was in Australia Peris also used the time to pursue him romantically, although she was married at the time.

Walsh wrote his story based on a series of intimate e-mails Peris and Boldon allegedly exchanged and which he obtained.

The story was run on several local media stations yesterday and as it created a social media frenzy and Boldon was inundated with calls and messages from T&T media and Facebook and Twitter friends, he took to Facebook to deny the allegation.

"Nova Peris is a former training partner of mine and has been a friend for almost 20 years," Boldon wrote in a posting just before 4 pm.

"My last trip to Australia, almost five years ago, was for the purpose of holding several youth clinics and it was a successful undertaking. The trip was co-organised by one of my now-deceased colleagues at Athletics Australia.

"The article recently written by the Northern Territory News includes gross fabrications. 

"I will be following the senator’s lead, including, but not limited to, pursuing all legal action possible for this malicious misrepresentation of the details surrounding my presence in Australia in 2010."

Peris: Clinic a success

In a statement in response to questions from Walsh, Peris, who turns 43 next month, said she categorically rejected the suggestion she was involved in any untoward activity with Boldon.

Sh said: “During his trip Mr Boldon promoted athletics, attended and promoted specific events and conducted clinics for young indigenous athletes. 

“Other organisations, including the West Australian government, supported some events during the visit. I understand Athletics Australia was pleased with the outcome of the visit.

“The highs and lows of my athletic career, and now political career, are public. The highs and lows of my private life are matters for me and my family.”

On questions about the e-mail exchanges, Peris said: “Documents provided to the NT News are private. It appears they were not lawfully obtained by a third party. I cannot vouch for the veracity of e-mails I have not seen.”

The article claimed Boldon did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.

More about Boldon, Peris

​Ato Boldon is one of T&T’s most decorated athletes. 

After a successful youth career, he won 100 metre bronze at the 1995 World Championships, double bronze (100 and 200 metres) at the 1996 Olympics and 200 metres gold at the 1997 World Championships. 

He also picked up 100 metre gold at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. When added to his exploits with T&T’s relay teams, Boldon has a career total of four World Championship medals and four Olympic medals.

Boldon currently has a successful media career as a track and field analyst with ESPN and NBC Sports.

Nova Peris initially made her name as part of the Aussie women’s hockey team which won gold at the 1996 Olympic Games, becoming the first Aussie woman on aboriginal heritage to win a gold medal.

She then switched to the track and at the 1998 Commonwealth Games was a double gold medallist in the individual 200 metres and as part of the 4x200 metre relay team.

Peris was elected to the Australian Senate in the 2013 federal election, after then Prime Minister Julia Gillard named her as a "captain's pick," installing her as the pre-selected Labour candidate over incumbent Labour senator Trish Crossin.

Another student of the Mason Hall Secondary School has gone missing, the second student from the school in a week. 

Relatives of 14-year-old Form Two student Shenel Forbes say she has been missing since Monday afternoon. Forbes left her Darrell Spring home at 6.23 am for school but never arrived there.

Her mother, Denise Tobias, told the T&T Guardian Shenel has never done anything like this before. She described her as an outspoken and brave child who did not take nonsense.

Tobias said she became concerned when Forbes did not return home at the regular time of 4 pm and calls to her cellphone went unanswered. 

She said checks at the school revealed she never turned up for classes and a report was made to the Scarborough police. Tobias, a single parent, said she has health problems and is unable to cope with her child's disappearance.

"I am not a well person. I suffer with my pressure and since Monday night I have not slept. I can't eat because my mind is on my child. Honestly speaking, Shenel has never done anything like this," Tobias said. 

Asked if there was any connection between her daughter and her missing schoolmate, Shulease De Gale, Tobias said: "When the other girl went missing last week I asked Shenel if she knew her and she said she only knew her by her face but they were not friends. I just don't know what is going on now." 

Up to yesterday, De Gale remained missing. 

Teachers and students at Mason Hall Secondary remained puzzled at the sudden disappearance of both girls yesterday. 

In August 2010, Peaches Sebro, a Form One student of the same school, went missing. Her skeletal remains were found months later buried behind a house metres from her Cinnamon Hill home.

Her remains were found among five other separate bodies, including 71-year-old Gloria Quashie, who was her neighbour. But due to the decomposition of the remains a cause of death could not have been ascertained and the autopsy was inconclusive. 

Christopher James, then 23, was arrested and charged in connection with the discovery of the other bodies but the matter is still in the magistrates court.

Anyone with information on Forbes can call 289-1315, 332-5417 or the Scarborough police at 639-2512, or for De Gale 341-2595, 631-0606 or the Old Grange police at 639-8888.

T&T’s borders remain open to trans-Atlantic drug traffickers, gun-runners and smugglers despite the allocation of funds by Cabinet to fund at least 21 crime-fighting initiatives which remain on hold.

These include Coast Guard installations, radars, unmanned aerial vehicles, armoured personnel vehicles and an emergency warning system in the event of nationwide panic and looting.

Confidential documents obtained by the T&T Guardian showed that 21 out of 35 critical crime initiatives remain on hold because of delays from the Ministry’s procurement and finance divisions.

The documents show that last November, approval was granted for a critical audit of the K-9 Unit in the Police Service. 

“The audit cost less than a million and it has not been touched yet. This was critical to ensuring that we have sniffer dogs in airports and roadblocks,” a senior security official said. Prior to the announcement of the audit, police officers were accused of selling the canine dogs.

The official also said in February, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and his company were contracted to do an overhaul of law enforcement to improve detection rate, intelligence gathering, improved performance of policing and crime scene investigation.

“That has not been touched either. The process was to extract the allocated funds and send it to Giuliani, yet this has not been done,” the source said.

In another initiative, Bill Bratton’s company Harnett was also contacted to do a police audit since March 2014. 

“The Hovercraft was approved in May and that too has not been touched. It involved the use of specialised equipment for the T&T Regiment for the movement of troops and equipment around the west and southern coastline of the island,” the source added.

The armoured personnel carriers were also approved in Cabinet since March to provide necessary protection for elected heads of government and visiting diplomats has also been on hold.

“Attempts to hire New Century, a United Kingdom firm to train T&T’s counter-terrorist unit has also been stalled along with the IR Consilium, a United Kingdom firm, which was contacted to deal with security policies to secure oil and natural gas facilities,” the source added.

Among the 35 national security initiatives were standardised customer service and public relations training for the protective services which was approved by Cabinet since February 6. 

Radar upgrade proposals for a complete surveillance system for Galeota site and electro optics for day and night, as well as maintenance of the 360 degree radar system was approved over a year but has not been implemented.

Griffith responds

Asked about the stalled crime-fighting initiatives, Griffith confirmed that was hampering the crime fight.

He added: “It is indeed unfortunate, especially when projects of a more elaborate nature were approved previously within days.

“Several of these policies, which were approved by Cabinet several months ago, with funds being made available, are still somewhere in the ministry awaiting commencement.

“When I ask about these projects, all I am being told is there is a process to follow. 

“The process, which is yet to be explained, is unfortunately stalling many critical initiatives that would play a major part in crime reduction.

“Whereas one can fully understand a system to ensure proper accountability and transparency but to state that after several months, after acquiring state approved projects and funds being made available yet none of the projects have been anywhere near commencement because of the process, something is definitely wrong.” 

The anxiously awaited report from the National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) on its use of the recommendations of the Highway Review Committee may not be submitted until the end of the week.

Nidco’s chairman Dr Carson Charles said yesterday the State agency was still tweaking the report which was supposed to be handed to the Joint Consultative Council (JCC) by late yesterday.

"I don't see that it would be beyond this week," Charles said, adding the phrasing of the document was still being worked on.

The report, which was requested by the JCC, is supposed to give an account for Nidco's consideration and use of the document produced by the committee last year on government's $7 billion Solomon Hochoy Highway extension into Point Fortin.

It was sparked by protest over the Debe to Mon Desir leg of the highway. It was commissioned in 2012 by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to end the hunger strike by Highway Re-Route Movement (HRM) leader, Dr Wayne Kublalsingh.

The JCC had formed part of the multi-stakeholder committee, which was led by Dr James Armstrong and ended Kublalsingh’s 21-day first hunger strike in December 2012.

Last week the JCC's demanded to know how the committee’s report had been handled by Nidco. Yesterday marked 42 days Kublalsingh had gone without food and water.

The activist, who was hospitalised after collapsing two weeks ago, has been unable to return to his camp set by the HRM opposite the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.

President of the JCC, Afra Raymond, up to yesterday was still expecting the document which was initially set for submission last Friday.

After 41 days of fasting, hunger striker Dr Wayne Kublalsingh does not think he can make it beyond the next two or three days.

And if he does not, his death will be a gift to the people of T&T, he says.

Admitting he did not want to die, he made no mention of changing his mind about his strike. 

Kublalsingh spoke to the T&T Guardian in an interview at his La Florissante, D’Abadie, home yesterday, 42 days since he embarked on a second hunger strike.

He said: “I’m good to go for another day. I don’t think I could go beyond the next two or three days. This week is critical.

“I am very happy where I am. I am very contented. I see it like a gift of love to the people. There is no fear, there is no despair. People go to war every day and die. This is a social war.”

Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake played from two small speakers on a table close to his bed.

While he spoke, his son, Ori, cheerfully got ready for law school and his wife, Sylvia, recovering from an attack of ChikV, shuffled around painfully. 

Kublalsingh said he did not believe his spirit would die along with his body.

He has been monitoring his body in a close way, he said, and felt it “will now relent.”

“My urination got very weak. I almost don’t use the bathroom at all. I have some heart palpitations, signs my body is on the edge.

“I keep bringing it back with prayer and meditation but can only do this for so long,” he added.

He said he had rejected the intervention of all medical personnel and even an ambulance but if his body “relented,” he did not know what would happen.

More info

​

Eight days ago, after 34 days on the pavement outside the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in St Clair, Kublalsingh said he could no longer continue the strike there because he was too weak so would continue it at home.

Kublalsingh embarked on his second hunger strike on September 17 outside the OPM. It is in protest against Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s refusal to meet with him to discuss the Debe to Mon Desir segment of the billion-dollar Solomon Hochoy highway extension to Point Fortin.

He and the Highway Re-route Movement he leads have been protesting the planned route of the construction of this segment because of what they argue will be the negative ecological impact and social disruption.

Persad-Bissessar has refused to meet with Kublalsingh and has stood her ground, saying the highway, for the benefit of thousands, will go on.

More info

Nine days ago, on October 20 on the pavement outside the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in St Clair, Kublalsingh said he could no longer continue the strike there because he was too weak so would continue it at home.

Kublalsingh embarked on his second hunger strike on September 17 outside the OPM. It is in protest against Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s refusal to meet with him to discuss the Debe to Mon Desir segment of the billion-dollar Solomon Hochoy highway extension to Point Fortin.

He and the Highway Re-route Movement he leads have been protesting the planned route of the construction of this segment because of what they argue will be the negative ecological impact and social disruption.

Persad-Bissessar has refused to meet with Kublalsingh and has stood her ground, saying the highway, for the benefit of thousands, will go on.

The media and President Anthony Carmona have been described as “biggest failures” of this country by chairman of the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) Jack Warner.

Warner, who was the guest at the Port-of-Spain Rotary Club yesterday, also waded in on it, questioning what had it done to uplift the country.

He said: “The biggest failure in the country are the media because if anybody in this country should be the fourth estate in this country are the media... the media... one of the dailies they so lodge in the Government bosom you could hardly make it out and surprisingly they have a new editor.

“Another daily is opposed to the Government and the third daily is neither fish nor fowl. How could you run a society that way? And when you ask them what’s happening they say they can’t do anything because they will lose advertising,” Warner added.

He said it was better to complain and lose business than lose a country.

Warner also added his voice to the criticism regarding the pre-action protocol letter to comedienne Rachel Price requesting she cease and desist from discussing the attire of Carmona’s wife, Reema.

The letter was sent two Fridays ago to Price by attorneys acting on behalf of Carmona’s wife and the Office of the President in respect of “certain defamatory statements.”

Price has maintained that she never received any legal letter.

The complaint arose out of Mrs Carmona’s dress, showing her mid-section exposed as she stood alongside a conservatively-dressed Ban Soon-Taek, the wife of United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon, at a United Nations function for first ladies in New York. 

“The biggest failure in all is President Carmona. What has he done in all this sea of corruption and nepotism and the first time he makes a stand is to sully the Office of the President by writing a 

pre-action protocol letter against a comedian.

“Yuh see next year every calypsonian and they mudder will be singing about him and his wife. Didn’t the government cross the line so many times? What have you said?” Warner asked.

Calling on the Rotary Club to play a more active role, Warner said: “If ever a country needed a Rotary to stand up the time is now. Saving this country must be a collective effort and there are no halfway measures to do so.”

On the deadly Ebola virus Warner said T&T was unable to combat dengue and Chik V, far more Ebola.

“Pray to God it does not reach here because I tell you something if it does we all in trouble,” Warner said.