My name is Elizabeth Lee and I own a cosmetics kiosk in a mall. 

I am from the Deep South, the last of 13 children. A very humble home but filled with a lot of love. We were content with what we had. 

Each house in our street had an animal. I grew up on cow’s milk because we had a cow. I never get colds, or maybe for one day or two at most. Chalk that up to cows’ milk. 

I’ve always been a Full Gospel Pentecostal. My faith has always kept me.       

Both my parents are deceased now, but we were brought up with real strong values. You always put others ahead of yourself and tried to help others. That is what has shaped my life into what it is today, I think. 

We would pick coffee beans right off our own tree in our yard. I still love coffee. Anytime I go away, the first thing I look for is a café where I can sit and enjoy a good cup. 

I love dark chocolate, any dark chocolate. I probably have more than I should. 

You’ll know how you’ll be treated by a guy by looking at how he treats his mother. I learned how men should treat women from watching how my brothers treated my mother. They had the greatest respect for her. I’m well-treated by my husband; I have a wonderful one. 

I’ve been married for 12 years to David. No kids yet. I’ve left that door open. God’s in control of that. 

Sometimes I run away during the course of the day and see a movie. That’s the luxury or working in a mall with cinemas. I love dramas and true stories that touch home. 

I worked for people before I had my own business and I’m able to see both sides of the coin. I would never ask my staff to do something I would not be prepared to do. 

I learned the cosmetics trade by starting at the very bottom of a cosmetics company. In one year, I was at the very top. What promoted me was loyalty and hard work. 

I don’t take part in Carnival. Coming out of my belief, it’s not something I wanted. When I got married, because my husband is a party person, I would have attended fetes with him. The last fete I went to was a WASA fete and I was in shock. Some of the people looked like they were sleeping in their bedrooms, the outfits they were wearing. And I said to myself, “What am I doing here?” So I put Carnival behind me. My husband goes to fetes by himself sometimes. He’s cut down, maybe because I’m not going with him. 

I love food and I eat everything. But I strive for portion control.

I love Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban. Softer, more melodious music. And, of course, I listen to a lot of Gospel music. 

I used to drink a glass of wine with a meal or have a social drink but I’ve cut that out. It was effortless and I never missed it. When I want to treat myself well, I go to the spa for a couple hours. A body massage, a manicure and a pedicure and I’m rejuvenated. 

I’ve been into cosmetics for over 20 years. I started pretty young. I would do makeup demonstrations on 50, 60 faces a day! I’d be so stiff when I stood back from that makeup tray. I operate more as a manager now, do more skin analysis, patch tests, and evaluations and then I instruct my staff. The actual application of the makeup, I don’t do much any more. I miss it. 

The best thing about cosmetics is I’m able to make women across the board feel beautiful. Maybe 70 per cent of the women who come to the counter are not assertive and they look at makeup as a way of feeling good. It’s a thrill to know I’m part of that. I wouldn’t say there’s a bad part. 

A Trini is able to take the most serious of situations and make light out of it. 

I will travel the world but I love Trinidad & Tobago dearly. We are very warm people. We really don’t see “race” until it’s pointed out to us. 

Read a longer version of this feature at www.BCRaw.com

Selina Ghany, 13, of Maraval, has been found, the police have reported.

The teen is with the Victim and Witness Support Unit of the Police Service.

She called her family this morning and said she was at a friend's home in Princes Town. The Guardian understands that the teen said she went to her friend's home because she was under stress.

Ghany's family reported her missing since Saturday and issued a plea for her safe return on Sunday. It was reported that she was seen being pulled into a car on Saturday morning.

The family of 13-year-old Selina Ghany is pleading for her safe return.

The girl left her Boissiere Village, Maraval, home at around 9 am on Saturday for confirmation class at the Assumption Church.

The student of Bishop’s Centenary College has not been seen or heard from since.

Anyone with information on the missing teen is asked to call 330-3062.

Two days after returning from a trip to Canada, accountant Kyle Sooklalsingh met a horrific death when his BMW convertible crashed off the Solomon Hochoy highway in Corinth and landed 300 feet into a ditch, early yesterday morning.

Sooklalsingh’s convertible, registered PCH 41 was given to him five years ago as a birthday present by his father David, the owner of Davane Import/Export Enterprises.

Also injured in the crash was Sooklalsingh’s gym instructor Brandon Williams, 36, of Caratal Road, Gasparillo.

Williams, who suffered massive head and internal injuries remained hooked up to life support at the Intensive Care Unit of the San Fernando General hospital.

Police said Sooklalsingh, 26, of Fahey Avenue, Gopaul Lands, Marabella died on the spot.

Public support has been pouring in  steadily for Stephon Garcia, 16, who lost his left leg last January because of cancer. After the T&T Guardian published a story on Tuesday about his courage in the face of his diagnosis and surgery and his mother’s hope to get him a prosthetic leg, citizens have been calling in to make donations. Stephon relies on crutches to get around and while it does not stop him from going to school or liming with friends, it slows him down.

In an attempt to increase his mobility his parents, Stephanie and Anthony, the Piarco Rotary Club and the Holy Cross College’s Interact Club have made a commitment to raise funds and donate all to his $200,000 prosthesis. Trevor Ifill, president of the rotary club, said he received about 15 calls since the story was published and was touched by people’s kindness and generosity. “Up to this morning (Wednesday) people were calling. The feedback is positive. They were giving from their hearts,” he said.

Ifill said one caller even offered to put together another fund-raiser to help Stephon, calling it a “spin-off fund-raiser.” He added that most of the callers had a story about how cancer had affected their lives in some way, especially because they had lost a relative or friend.
“They all had a story to share. It was really touching,”  he added. While the bank account was still being finalised, callers committed to making monetary donations while one person promised her miles should Stephon need foreign medical attention. 

While the Piarco Rotary Club is taking donations, the Interact Club is planning a fashion show on Sunday on the Holy Cross College compound, Arima. Co-ordinating teacher for the club, Natasha Rahim, said ticket sales were going well, as about 200 were sold up to yesterday afternoon. The club’s target is to sell 350 tickets. Rahim said business-owner and long-standing patron of the T&T Cancer Society, Hannah Janoura, called Holy Cross on Tuesday after reading the story about Stephon and committed to making a donation.

Dave Maharaj, who oversees the Interact Club, said he collected a $1,000 cheque from Janoura yesterday. “We’re feeling positive,” he said. Ifill promised that the Rotary Club would do its part to ensure Stephon could walk again. “He’s too young. He is too nice a person and we have to help,” he added. If you would like to attend the school’s fashion show on Sunday call the Holy Cross at 667-3638 to buy a $75 ticket. If you would like to make a contribution, via the Piarco Rotary Club, Ifill can be reached at 468-2927.

Despite bad weather, ongoing protests and delays in acquiring land, the $7.5 billion Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway extension to Point Fortin remains on track for its 2015 completion date. According to Works and Infrastructure Minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan, close to 20 per cent of the 50 kilometres of highway from Golconda to Point Fortin has already been completed.

Speaking on Tuesday at the Berridge Trace Overpass, being built at Mon Desir, Rambachan estimated that drivers would be able to use 50 per cent of the highway at the end of 2014, which, he said, was in keeping with the project’s deadline. “By the end of December 2014, the population will be able to drive on about 50 per cent of the highway...Now, 50 per cent of the highway means driving area, but it does not mean to say only 50 per cent of the work will be completed,” he said.

“Much more work will be completed than 50 per cent, because you have the interchange at Debe that will be completed, you have the interchange to Golconda that will be completed, and other bridges are going to be completed, so the highway is well in progress. “I will say sometime by the end of 2015 the entire project will be completed, which will bring us right where we had targeted.” 

Rambachan toured several areas along the route, including the Dunlop Roundabout, where work has begun in Point Fortin, the Mon Desir Interchange and Mosquito Creek where expansion work is being done. The Point Fortin visit was not without contention, as Point Fortin mayor Clyde Paul, accompanied by his deputy Janelle St Hillaire, turned up uninvited to protest Rambachan’s snubbing of the mayor and council. 

Paul said it was only when he was driving to work, he noticed the gathering at the Construtora OAS site, that he knew something was going on. “I just wanted to record my displeasure,” Paul told members of the media. “I did not get any invitation and I thought that it was a classless act by the minister to come to Point Fortin, knowing fully well that he was going to deal with the Point Fortin highway as they call it.”

Rambachan, in response, said his presence in Point Fortin was only a site visit and not anything ceremonious. “The Point Fortin mayor was trying to make a spectacle of himself this morning,” he said. Asked if the mayor was invited, Rambachan said: “I don’t know. The communication department invited the Member of Parliament in that area Mr (Fitzgerald) Jeffrey.” When it was pointed out that Paula Gopee-Scoon was the Point Fortin MP and not Fitzgerald Jeffrey, who represents La Brea, Rambachan said: “Well, one of them.”

Paul has made repeated calls for the highway to be built from Point Fortin. However, Rambachan said the work started was not a result of the mayor’s request, but something that had been planned by Nidco since 2011. Rambachan said because of pipelines passing along the highway route, contractor Construtora OAS will build a 660-foot bridge over a field of gas lines which will be the country’s longest. 

At the Mon Desir Interchange, Rambachan said the public was unaware of the amount of work that had already been done in the area. The Highway Re-route Movement has sought the intervention of the High Court, to re-route the plans for the Debe to Mon Desir leg of the highway. 

However, the site visit showed certain portions ready to be paved and the likelihood that considerable progress would be made by the time the court makes a ruling. Even as he and National Infrastructural Development Company (Nidco) president Dr Carson Charles were being updated on the project, a house stood at the end of the route, blocking further excavation. The house, near Mon Desir Road, Rambachan said, belongs to a member of the highway group who was unwilling to move.

Charles said although Nidco could acquire the house without consent, it was going to work out a deal with the owner. On the issue of flooding at Mosquito Creek, Rambachan denied this was as a result of the highway construction. He said it was a recurring problem caused by a change in tidal patterns. He said the level of the roadway would be elevated to alleviate this problem.

A diplomatic row may be brewing between Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica over the deportation this week of 13 Jamaican nationals a day after they landed at Piarco International Airport. The T&T Guardian understands that discussions are being held by officials at the Jamaican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade on the matter. The Jamaican High Commission to T&T has also said it is speaking with the relevant authorities on the matter. 

The meeting comes as Jamaicans yesterday expressed anger over their compatriots’ deportation, noting there had been several similar incidents in recent times. However, in a phone interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, National Security Minister Gary Griffith said there were valid reasons for denying the Jamaicans entry. 

According to a Jamaican Observer report on Wednesday, 13 Jamaican nationals were returned home on Wednesday after being detained at Piarco International Airport on Tuesday night. The Jamaicans claimed that their passports were confiscated and they were ordered to sit on a wooden bench throughout the night before they were “rudely bundled” on a Caribbean Airlines flight and sent home.

In response to this, the Jamaican ministry issued a press release on Wednesday saying: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade is aware that over the past several weeks, a significant number of Jamaicans have been denied entry into Trinidad and Tobago and returned to Jamaica within days on the grounds that the immigration authorities of T&T have deemed them ineligible to be landed as bona fide visitors. 

“The ministry is concerned at this development and continues to interface with the relevant authorities in T&T on the matter, including in the light of the Shanique Myrie ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice,” the release stated. But Griffith, who spoke while in Barbados en route to London, said he had checked with Chief Immigration Officer Keith Sampson on the matter, and was told there were good reasons for denying the Jamaicans entry. 

“If a person makes a claim and they have a host in Trinidad and that person is coming to the airport to meet them and the person does not show up, or if they claim that they are here to work but do not have a Caricom skills certificate, or don’t have a letter from a company saying they are being employed here, then they will be turned back,” he said.

“In the case of several individuals we had similar situations. For example, one person said she was bringing the child to meet her father and the father never shows at the airport, one said she was on vacation but only had US$250, and another said they were here to work with no Caricom skills certificate.” Griffith said T&T was welcome to all Caricom nationals, but could not allow people who did not have a clear way of supporting themselves or did not have individuals to assist them on entry. 

“If we do that then we could have hundreds of people coming everyday looking for work and eventually it could lead to an increase in unemployment here and problems for the State,” he said. Further, Griffith said Immigration officers were working with clear guidelines and whenever there is a complaint there is a process to ensure the officers are not acting arbitrarily.

However, head of the Jamaican foreign ministry’s public relations office, Ann-Margaret Lim, in a phone interview, said they had already embarked on an education campaign on the free movement of people under the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME). Asked if the series of deportations were cases of Jamaicans misunderstanding the concept of free movement, Lim did not answer.

 The Jamaican foreign ministry’s release said when the incidents were brought to their attention, the Jamaican High Commission in T&T sought to have the nationals safely returned and the commission was instructed to seek clarification and information from the relevant T&T authorities. The commission’s foreign service officer, Delita McCallum, said yesterday they were consulting with the relevant authorities on the matter and would comment at a later date, adding the commission was still trying to ascertain the facts. 

The incident has brought back memories of the recent Shanique Myrie case against Barbados in the Caribbean Court of Justice. Myrie was awarded Bds$75,000 or J’can$3.6 million after being denied the right to enter Barbados. 

The CCJ found that the Barbadian government breached Myrie’s right to enter the country under Article Five of the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. Myrie took the Barbadian government to court after she said she was discriminated against, based on her nationality, after arriving in the country on March 14, 2011. Calls to T&T”s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran and Sampson went answered. 

Construction work has begun on the dilapidated, historic Boissiere House around the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, amid suggestions the property is to be turned into a restaurant or guest house. The T&T Guardian understands the house, also known as the “Gingerbread House,” has not been sold but has instead been leased out.

The first signs of action began nearly a fortnight ago when workmen were spotted toting bags of garbage they had cleared from inside the house and garden. A wooden fence has since been put up with signs that say “Heavy Vehicles Turning.” When the T&T Guardian visited the site yesterday, it found a busy worksite with around eight workmen, two backhoes and a large cement mixer truck all in action. Large piles of breeze blocks were being used to build a perimeter wall. 

Two mounds of red sand, and barrels of water were evidently being used to mix cement. The original stone wall bordering the house to the front was damaged some years ago when a car ran into it, taking out a section about five metres wide. It appears the whole wall may now be replaced with a modern wall encircling the property. 

While the house is on the National Trust’s list of heritage sites to be listed and protected from development or alteration, none of the houses on the list have been granted protected heritage status as yet and there is no indication of when that will happen—meaning the owners are free to alter the property as they see fit. The mystery of who owns the property, meanwhile, continues to be a puzzle. 

A security guard overseeing the construction told the T&T Guardian any questions about the building should be addressed to a Mr Maharaj. When asked who Mr Maharaj was, he replied, “You'll have to find that out for yourselves.” Canon Steve West, rector at the All Saints Anglican Church next door, told us that eight months ago an Indian family he believed to be from South asked him to bless the house, telling him they were the owners.

Later, he said he spoke to an associate of the family who told him they were planning to “open a business there.” When the T&T Guardian spoke to estate agent Ann Marie Aboud, who is handling the property, she said it remained unsold. Asked who was carrying out the work, she replied, “We are trying to do some repairs.” Asked whether the house was being leased she said: “It could be, it’s on the market for sale or rental. I'll find out some more information for you,” before her phone cut out.

The house is still owned by Greta Elliott, an elderly member of the Elliott family whose son is married to Aboud. The asking price for the grand old house was reduced last year from $40 million to $20 million. The cost of restoring it could total anything between $10 million and $20 million. Inside the Boissiere house lights are now on but, as yet, nobody’s home.

Close the Remand Yard immediately! This is but one of the recommendations that will be presented to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at 3 pm today by the special nine-member committee headed by Prof Ramesh Deosaran to look into the conditions at the nation’s prisons.

Speaking with members of the media outside the Maximum Security Prison in Arouca yesterday, after a seven-hour tour of the three prisons at Golden Grove, which consists of Remand Yard, MSP and Golden Grove prison, Deosaran admitted to being traumatised after the visit of his team. He said he was not only shocked, surprised and angry at what he saw, but was also saddened. 

In fact, Deosaran admitted to being at a loss for words to explain how the committee would be able to report on what they saw in a manner which would be tactful for the PM. “I don't know how I could express the recommendations tomorrow (today) in a language that will not be disrespectful but diplomatic,” he said. He said it is a very ugly situation at Remand Yard and suggested that magistrates and judges “who have something to do with this by trial delays” should visit and see for themselves the conditions.

“I am sure when we give her the recommendations and we express the level of urgency, and in my particular case, the sadness that I experienced seeing what these young men would undergo (while on remand), something would be done,” he said
Asked what impacted him the most, Deosaran said the despair on the faces of the prisoners during their visit. “The word inhumane is really too mild to describe what we have seen,” he said.

“I am worried when they come out from such an experience what sort of citizen would they be. What scared me was the look on their faces.” A criminologist by profession, Deosaran said in 2003 he and a student also did a report and made some suggestions concerning the conditions of the Remand Yard, adding he was “at a loss to tell you what I have seen.”

Deosaran said the PM was expecting the team to present some very concrete actionable programmes for the prison system, after she expressed strong feelings that something has to be done in the prisons. He added that he was banking on the PM’s pledge that something would be done and was hopeful that the situation would not be politicised.

Deosaran said after what he had witnessed, he was certain the people on remand are a special breed, “since they are faced with this uncertainty and there are some who have been here for 12 to 13 years, which paints a horrible picture for democracy of Trinidad and Tobago.” He also called on the media to be vigilant in reporting on the issues, since journalists report on wars. He labelled the condition in the prisons a “war against humanity in Trinidad and Tobago.”

The committee, he said, was to pull an all-nighter last evening, in order to deliver the report to the PM by 3 pm today. The shooting death of off-duty prison officer Andy Rogers on November 7 started a chain of events which led to the formation of the committee. Rogers’ colleagues staged a protest which led to prisoners rioting at Arouca facility, leading Persad-Bissessar to name the committee to resolve the problem. 

Conditions at the prison

1. More than 1,400 prisoners
2. Most of the men are under 30
3. Eight to 13 people in a cell
4. Eight feet by 12 feet cells
5. Makeshift hammocks made of towels to sleep
6. Pails used as toilets
7. No running water
8. Bottled water given to each cell for hygienic and other purposes
9. Unsanitary conditions

Special Prisons Committee Members:
Prof Ramesh Deosaran—chairman; Commissioner of Prisons Martin Martinez; Inspector of Prisons Daniel Khan; Minister of National Security Gary Griffith; Minister of Justice Emmanuel George; Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams; attorney Wayne Sturge; Prison Officers’ Association general secretary Gerard Gordon.

Conditions at the prison

1. More than 1,400 prisoners
2. Most of the men are under 30
3. Eight to 13 people in a cell
4. Eight feet by 12 feet cells
5. Makeshift hammocks made of towels to sleep
6. Pails used as toilets
7. No running water
8. Bottled water given to each cell for hygienic and other purposes
9. Unsanitary conditions

Prof Ramesh Deosaran—chairman; Commissioner of Prisons Martin Martinez; Inspector of Prisons Daniel Khan; Minister of National Security Gary Griffith; Minister of Justice Emmanuel George; Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams; attorney Wayne Sturge; Prison Officers’ Association general secretary Gerard Gordon.

One-year-old baby Jacob Munroe died of massive head injuries and his body was dumped in a cesspit behind his home after he was killed. This was the result of an autopsy on his body at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday morning. The post mortem was performed by forensic pathologist Dr Hughvon des Vignes, who also found the toddler had been smothered. Des Vignes’ report also revealed there were bruises to his buttocks, indicating he was beaten before being killed. 

He, however, did not find any evidence that the child was sexually assaulted. Munroe’s autopsy was delayed after his father and mother’s relatives, who came to the centre to identify his body and witness the procedure, had a small disagreement. Munroe’s grandparents on his father’s side arrived at the centre early yesterday and identified the child’s body. When the child’s mother and her relatives arrived hours later, staff at the centre informed them they could no longer view his body. 

“You should have reached here at 9 am. The next time you will see the baby is at the funeral,” an unidentified staff member said to Jacob’s mother, Cherisse Munroe, who quickly burst into tears. “How you could do that. I can’t even see my baby,” the child’s mother said to her in-laws as she stormed out of the building in tears. Both sets of relatives then engaged in a heated discourse which only ended after funeral home staff intervened.  

When a team from the T&T Guardian visited the centre to speak to relatives they all refused to comment. “We were not there. Read the newspapers. Whatever the police said there is the truth,” the father’s relatives said when asked for comment. According to police reports, on Tuesday afternoon Munroe’s relative contacted St Joseph Police saying the child was kidnapped from the family’s home at Santarita Trace, Lluengo Village, Maracas, St Joseph. 

The relative claimed three men entered the house, assaulted him and demanded he hand over a gun he was hiding for someone. The men then grabbed the child and fled the house, Around 1.30 pm on Wednesday, police investigating the child’s disappearance, searched the family’s property where they found the child’s body, which was wrapped in purple cloth, in a cesspit. The relative was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, where he remains warded in a stable condition and under police guard.  

Homicide detectives said they did not believe the relative’s version of the events and were expected to interrogate him once he was discharged from hospital. Insp Mark Maharaj, Sgts Rene Katwaroo and Vetus Hernandez of the Northern Division are investigating.

The man whose body was found floating in the Caura River on Wednesday morning has been identified as truck driver Rudnath Boodram. It was identified by his wife and daughter at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday morning. In an interview yesterday, Boodram’s relatives said he went missing Tuesday morning and they came to the centre to see if the body found at the river was his because the description given in media reports matched him. 

They said Boodram, a father of five, left his Cunupia home early Tuesday morning but did not report to work.  “He was not the type of man to stay out all day and night without telling us something,” the relatives said. They said Boodram was close to his children and was also close to his three-and-a-half year-old grandchild. 

His body was found floating face down at Pool One, Caura, around 10.30 am on Wednesday morning. His feet were bound with duct tape and he had marks of violence on his body. A autopsy showed he was beaten to death. Police believe Boodram may have been killed by bandits who robbed him of his vehicle. 

The Water and Sewerage Authority has contingency plans in place in case the current desalination plan shutdown, which has affected water supply to half of T&T, extends beyond the planned Monday cut-off date, Water Resources Minister Ganga Singh said yesterday. At yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing, Singh spoke about the shutdown, which is currently affecting water supply to 40 southern/central areas and 11 northern areas.

The desal plant at Pt Lisas (Desalcott) has been shut down to allow expansion work in the plant’s daily output by January. The work is expected to increase its daily output from 32 million gallons (MG) a day to 40 MG. It began on Wednesday and is due to end Monday but when asked if the shutdown would definitely end on that date, Singh said in engineering there was a level of uncertainty. He said Desalcott had indicated six days were needed for the work. 

“And I hope they stick to that but I am wary of giving assurances that it will take place then,” he added. Saying WASA had contingency plans, Singh added the Government had been assured of a six-day job by Desalcott but could not give that assurance to the public. So far, he said, the company said work was proceeding to plan and there had been positive feedback for the first day’s operation.

Singh said a ten-point plan was in place to provide water to areas affected by the shortage, which had cut the overall local supply of 232MG a day by 32 MG. Affected areas which have been put on special schedules for the six days range from Ben Lomond to Hindustan among nine southeast areas; from Cocoyea to Fyzabad among 19 areas in the southwest; from St Helena to San Fernando among 12 south central areas and from Belmont to Santa Cruz among 11 areas in the East-West Corridor.

Singh said “hot spot” areas particularly affected included Plaisance Park, Reform, Diamond, Siparia, Erin, Vessigny, Tableland as well as in the north El Socorro, Laventille, Malick, Mt D’Or and Santa Cruz. He said all production facilities were fully operational, all reservoirs would be filled and water-trucking facilities would provide 75MG to various areas.

The south west, which has the most affected areas, will receive 47 million gallons and the north 28 million. Some 91 trucks are being used and truckborne supplies are being monitored twice daily. WASA has identified schools, medical institutions, Fire Services, cities/borough and key commercial districts as being among 172 critical customers. Bottled water and similar facilities have been arranged for schools, Singh said.

WASA is also linking with MPs of the various areas as well as other groups and stakeholders to ensure supplies keep flowing. Special effort is being made to ensure a 24/7 supply for Pt Lisas Industrial Estate. Singh said it took 300 MG of water to make a ton of methanol and without water Pt Lisas would not be able to operate. He said 19 MG from the Caroni plant would go to Pt Lisas.

Some 87 crews have also been contracted to do pipeline repairs. He said a pinhole breach on a Beetham line caused a 40-foot geyser to spout up into the air earlier this week. On the cost of the shutdown, Singh said the significant cost aspect would be water-trucking but costs would be worked out when the exercise was completed 

The minister said a significant major investment was needed to replace and repair pipelines along WASA’s 7,000 km of pipelines, since leaks prevented supply reaching all consumers though more water was being produced. He noted there had been an increase in the percentage of the public receiving daily round-the-clock supply, from 18 per cent to 49 per cent.

Modern speed guns which police will use on the roads from February will be able to pinpoint speeding cars more than a mile away, Transport Minister Stephen Cadiz said yesterday. “After many years this is finally coming to pass,” Cadiz added at yesterday’s weekly post-Cabinet media briefing.

He said invitations to tender to supply the devices will be issued soon and the Vehicle Management Corporation of T&T (VMCOTT) is the procurement agency for the Police Service. He said the devices will be the most modern hand-held types and he expected the projected 400 speed guns will be in use by February 2014, depending on delivery.

The Attorney General’s division will draft necessary changes for the law and also to the Metrology Act, which pertains to measurements. Cadiz said the speed guns will be used by the Highway Patrol and in various other ways along the highways. Police will have to be trained in their use. Saying the speed guns will be a huge assistance in curbing traffic accidents, Cadiz lamented the carnage on the roads, which he attributed squarely to speeding.

“It’s saying something is being done very wrong if your car ends up stuck vertically between the bars of the bridge on a riverside. Six people died last weekend also,” he added. In view of the vastness of local highways now, the issue of the speed limit had to be examined at some point, he said, including the 30-50 mph level, and questions had to be answered on whether the speed limit could be enforced via the speed guns.

Cadiz also said a complete “180-degree” reform will be involved in the new Licensing Authority, for which he says he’s given himself a personal deadline of September 2014. He said the authority will have categories for juvenile drivers, mature drivers, vehicle DNA, ways of doing business more easily, paying parking tickets by phone and other facilities.

Legislation to amend the Motor Vehicle Insurance (Third-Party Risks) Act, the Libel and Defamation Act and the Bail Act are listed for debate in the House of Representatives this afternoon. The sitting begins at 1.30 and there are six questions listed on the Order Paper for oral answer. Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley has asked three of the six questions and Point Fortin MP Paula Gopee-Scoon the other three. 

 Rowley wants the Minister of Finance and the Economy Larry Howai to say what was the total budgeted cost for the Solomon Hochoy highway extension project from San Fernando to Point Fortin. The Government has said previously that the project was to cost $7 billion. In another question Rowley wants Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to say how many Cabinet meetings she has not chaired and the dates and venues Cabinet meetings were held other than at the Cabinet office.

Rowley’s third question is to Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan. He wants to know if the minister was aware of a natural disaster threat which may be associated with the chosen location for the construction of the Children’s Hospital in Couva. 

The T&T Guardian reported in September that an academic at the University of the West Indies, Lloyd Lynch, had expressed fears that the design of the $1.5 billion hospital may be inadequate to withstand a major earthquake along the Central Range Fault (CRF), which is mere kilometres  from the Preysal site. Lynch, a senior research fellow in instrumentation at the UWI Seismic Research Centre (SRC), says seismic hazard maps used in the geotechnical report on the site did not include new information about the active fault line.

This claim was dismissed by the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (Udecott).

Roman Catholic priest Fr Clyde Harvey says the late Dr Trevor Farrell was a great man. He said so in his homily during Farrell’s funeral yesterday at the Church of the Assumption, Long Circular Road, Maraval. Farrell, a former UWI lecturer, died at the St Augustine Private Hospital on November 14. 

“He was a great man and there was family. Whatever we face together we should seek that sense of family. That is all we have to hold onto. An individual stands alone, he falls,” said Harvey, adding that family is important and no individual should stand alone. He said Farrell looked at T&T and the Caribbean and tried to shape it but when he “saw we were in a mess, he grieved.” He described him as a “valiant warrior” who fought to the end, would not give up and had so much to offer.

“We can’t control everything. Life is not a problem to be solved but a  mystery to live,” said Harvey. Farrell’s son, Chike, said his father fancied himself as a teacher and was a talented individual in crafting relationships. “He had discipline, determination to get the job done and believed in being great. He was fiercely committed to principles and routine,” Chike said. 

Chairman of the People's National Movement Franklin Khan, Opposition leader Dr Keith Rowley, Speaker Wade Mark, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran and others attended. Farrell was laid to rest at the Lapeyrouse Cemetery, Port-of-Spain.

Former prime minister Basdeo Panday will receive an award at tonight’s Law Association Annual Dinner and Dance, for his more than 50 years of service as an attorney-at-law. Panday has also been invited to deliver the feature address at the event which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain at 8 pm. Also receiving an award for more than 50 years’ service is Nath Sharma, the brother of former Chief Justice Sat Sharma.  

Contacted yesterday, Panday said he was honoured to receive the award. Panday, who served as prime minister between 1995 and 2001, was called to the local bar in 1962. Serval years before, he was called to the bar at Lincoln’s Inn in England, after completing studies in law, economics and drama. When he returned to Trinidad, Panday practised law and became involved in trade unions, becoming president general of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers' Trade Union  in 1973. 

He entered Parliament in September 1972 as an Opposition senator and served as MP for Couva North over 20 years. “Things have changed quite a bit since then. Back then there was not a law school in Trinidad. One would have to have studied Latin and gone to England to be admitted in one of the Inns of Court,” Panday said. 

The Caribbean Community (Caricom) is not in a position to sanction the Dominican Republic (DR) for the ruling of its constitutional court on naturalisation, as the DR is not a member of Caricom, the DR’s deputy foreign affairs minister, César Dargam, was quoted as saying in the DR daily newspaper Diario Libre. In a story yesterday headlined, “Foreign Affairs Ministry affirms that Caricom can’t impose sanctions on the Dominican Republic,” Dargam pointed out that all the DR has with Caricom is a free-trade agreement.

The DR, he was quoted as saying, is a member of Cariforum, which is an organisation linked to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states. The story did not mention that the DR had expressed interest in joining Caricom, and following the court ruling, at least two Caricom heads of state have said they could forget about it.

“A lot of these things we are seeing in the international arena are noises and smokescreens. We have seen how the DR has been threatened to be hauled before a meeting of Caricom where it will be sanctioned. The meeting has not happened, and neither is Caricom in a position to sanction the DR,” Dargam said.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar convened a special meeting of the Caricom Bureau on Tuesday to consider “effective initiatives” against the controversial new law in the Dominican Republic that jeopardises the citizenship status of thousands of immigrants of Haitian descent. The prime minister later said the meeting had to be rescheduled as several key members, including the representative from Haiti, were unavailable.

Dargam said the DR has been prudent and conscious of its international obligations, and vowed to continue to defend the country’s position, according to the newspaper. “The DR is a member of Cariforum, and in Cariforum, it is not up to the member states to decide on the integration or non-integration of the countries. Instead, it’s a forum within the ACP, in which the DR has been participating very actively since the signing of the Lome Convention in 1989,” he said.

The Dominican Republic is one of only two Caribbean countries that benefit from natural gas exports from T&T. The other is Puerto Rico. 

Members of the Save Our Orange Grove Committee, who fear residents will lose Orange Grove Savannah to a major government sports upgrade project, are warning the Aranguez Savannah, San Juan, seems destined to suffer the same fate. However, they intend to keep up their fight to maintain the savannah as a “green space” until they get answers and a halt to the Tacarigua project.

Dr Carol James, who retired as a board member of the Environmental Management Committee (EMA) in 2008, and is now a member of the Orange Grove Committee, said yesterday a project for the Aranguez Savannah, which is used by San Juan residents and members of the public for cultural and sporting programmes and recreation, is also listed on the EMA’s database of areas approved for Certificates of Environmental Clearance (CEC), which suggests some major development work may be planned for the land.

She said while the database showed an absence of an approved CEC for the proposed Sports Company of T&T’s (Sportt) Aquatic Centre at the Orange Grove Savannah, which they are protesting over, it clearly listed one for a project at the Aranguez Savannah. The site lists the Sportt project thus: “To conduct land development activities, for the establishment of an indoor sports facility at Aranguez Savannah, San Juan.”

Looking at their own issue, James said members of the committee feared they would be denied access to the Orange Grove Savannah, despite assurances from Sport Minister Anil Roberts in a September 3 meeting that they would have access. She said their request for a CEC, which would have stopped the project, was generally ignored by the EMA.

“We sent a letter on October 18 requesting the CEC. Then on November 11 we filed an inquiry about the EMA’s lack of acknowledgement of the letter. We got an acknowledgement of this letter and nothing more,” she added. She said the Sportt project, a multi-sport complex, would occupy the entire 39 acres of the Tacarigua Savannah and already a fence has gone up around a part of it.

Asked if residents would not be allowed to enter, via a gate, to use the new facility after the project was completed, James was uncertain. Giving an example, she said the grounds at the University of the West Indies Sports and Physical Education Centre, St Augustine, were previously used by residents of Monte Grande before it was taken for the new facility. Asked if residents could no longer access it, she said: “We have to get permission.”

James said residents of Aranguez Savannah and members of the public who used it would experience the same pain. The week before the October 21 local government elections, St Augustine MP Prakash Ramadhar said the project would not go on at the Orange Grove Savannah until consultation was held on its future. Yesterday, however, James said work was going on full speed ahead. 

The T&T Guardian contacted Ramadhar, via his cellphone, yesterday but a female voice answered, saying he was unavailable and offered to help. Told about the issue, the woman said Communications Minister Gerald Hadeed had been appointed to answer questions on the matter. 

Hadeed said the Orange Grove matter was discussed in Cabinet and an agreement was reached that the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs through Roberts and his team at the Sportt Company would embark on an educational drive concerning the project. He said in that programme, residents would be called to come and view the entire proposal. Hadeed said it appeared some people were misinformed about a small area designated for the aquatic centre project.

He added: “They are misinterpreting this to be part and parcel of the savannah. They are misunderstanding where it is. “We are arranging to allow people to have an entire review of the project, so they will be able to make a differentiation between what it actually is and what some people are saying,” Hadeed said, stressing on the “some.” “They will be able to see for themselves whether there are contraventions as some are saying.”

Hadeed said, worldwide, major projects have been stopped because a “handful” of people said they did not want it. “We live in an 18th century society,” he said.

The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) has expressed alarm at what it says appears to have been a disproportionate official response to the publication of a story in the Barbados Nation on October 26 reporting on sexual acts involving two young students. “Our review of the publication suggests that there might be justifiable journalistic concerns about the treatment of the story. 

“However, while the court will deliver its judgment on this matter, in our view, the publication of this photograph does not amount to criminal behaviour,” the organisation stated in a media statement yesterday. “The ad hominem response by the island’s Minister of Industry and International Business, Donville Inniss, to a Jamaica Gleaner position on the matter betrays a political sensitivity on the issue which also concerns us greatly,” it added.

Innis criticised the newspaper’s stance, saying it should take its nose out of Bajan affairs and concentrate on the “rot going on in Jamaica.” The minister described the editorial as shameful and “one of the nastiest pieces of editorial work I have seen in any media house in the Caribbean.” In relation to the arrest and charge of the journalists, the editorial stated: “We hope there are no political undertones to this matter and that it does not imply an attempt to rein in the Nation’s feisty independence.”

The editorial added: “That would be sad and a reversal of that country’s historic tolerance of, and government respect for, free and independent media.” Last Thursday, the Nation’s publisher Vivian-Anne Gittens, editor-in-chief Roy Morris and news editor Sanka Price were released on BDS$5,000 bail after appearing on charges of showing an indecent picture of two minors in the Saturday Sun. The trio also were ordered by Magistrate Wayne Clarke to surrender their passports and appear in the Criminal Court No 2 on March 11, 2014.

The charges stemmed from the October 26 publication of an article and accompanying photograph based on the Facebook posting of a video captured on a cellphone of two students having sex in a classroom. ACM stated: The charges against three senior officials of the Barbados Nation are very serious and carry with them the possibility of prison sentences. The potentially chilling effect of this action on the practice of independent journalism in Barbados looms threateningly.

“We urge our colleagues to remain committed to serving the public interest through fearless reporting on developments in their countries.”

The State’s half-a-billion-dollar case against Calder Hart has run cold for the last eight months, while a judge-imposed gag order keeps all details of the protracted case hush-hush even though it has been in limbo since March. Hart, the former executive chairman at Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (Udecott) is the subject of both criminal and civil suits, but to date he has not been called to face either one. The Sunday Guardian understands that the last submissions for the case were made before Justice Andre des Vignes back in March. Since then, two subsequent case management hearings—July 17 and July 26—have both been cancelled, with no date set for the next submissions. This means that Hart, who was supposed to be in the country on the date of the first cancelled case management hearing—July 17—now has no reason to return to the country, as there is no date set for his case. Though Attorney General Anand Ramlogan has been spearheading the call for Hart to return to the country to face the charges, he has since admitted that the matter is out of his hands. “I have been literally begging for this matter to be given some priority by the judiciary,” Ramlogan said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Senior members of Udecott’s legal team also expressed frustration over the months-long drag on this matter. One attorney involved in the case said the matter has been “vacated” twice, meaning that it was cancelled without lawyers from either side having to face the judge. “We got calls and notes, we weren’t even given a chance to speak with the judge on the matter so that we could ask any questions,” the source said. The legal minds said they found it “very strange” that the judiciary could “simply lose eight months” on such an urgent matter. The Sunday Guardian understands that if the case management hearings were held when they were set, Hart may have had to face the courts by January 2014. But with the no-warning cancellations, the matter could continue to “limp along” indefinitely. Hart is also facing criminal charges including perjury for his submissions during the Uff inquiry. That file, it was reported, had been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) by the Integrity Commission back in August. One of Hart’s attorney’s, Stewart Young, in a brief interview yesterday, said all attorneys involved in the case were under a court-imposed gag order and as such he was unable to discuss the case. The gag order, Young said, was imposed “very early,” at the beginning of the matter.

Recent court ruling
Despite the stalled case against Hart, recent court rulings against similar cases breathed a breath of fresh air into civil matters of this sort. Last month Justice Devindra Rampersad cleared the way for a legal case against eTecK and eight directors, including former chairman Ken Julien, University of the West Indies Brian Copeland, former Miss Universe Wendy Fitzwilliam. Ramlogan had then described that ruling as a “landmark” one because it opened the door to several civil lawsuits against malfunctioning state boards, including his civil case against Hart. That suit also includes cases against former deputy chairman, businessman Krishna Bahadoorsingh; former financial manager, Ricardo O’Brien; and former corporate secretary, Neelanda Rampaul. The Sunday Guardian received a chronology of the matter dating back to its inception in 2011 when the first pre-action protocol letter was sent to Hart, Bahadoorsingh, O’Brien and Rampaul. By 2013 applications were made to sell off Hart’s local property to recover cost. This failed to stir Hart, who to date has not appeared in the country.