While many are still trying to piece together their lives in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Bret which resulted in devastating floods across the country, some families in east Trinidad are calling on the relevant authorities to ensure drains and other waterways are thoroughly cleaned before more heavy rains come.

Losses in St Helena have estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands as flood water had invaded homes as much as several feet high in some places.

Many residents, who had described the situation as a “nightmare,” said flooding was a perennial problem in the community, which frequently brought with it snakes, caimans and other unwanted visitors.

Jairam Laltoo, who said his family lived in St Helena for the past 40 years, said he was trying to cope with the situation as best as he could, but given the financial loses, this was difficult.

He said the floods brought a lot of slush and mud into many homes adding that the majority of cleaning was already completed.

Another woman, who said she lost her fridge and stove, said she was still paying for the items which she took last Christmas on hire purchase from Courts.

Regarding foodstuff, councillor Derek La Guerre of the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation said there has been a constant distribution of food and mattresses to affected families.

Chairman of the Sangre Grande Regional Cooperation, Terry Rondon, also described the floods as the worst he had seen in the area.

He said most water courses were cleared but attributed some of the blame on new housing projects in the area which might have been responsible for blocking water courses.

Saying that some 25 roofs were blown off, Rondon said drinking water, food including hot meals and clothing, were distributed to families.

Contacted yesterday, Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) acting Deputy CEO Captain, Neville Wint, said damage assessment and needs analysis were still being conducted by the Defence Force, cadets, volunteers and most of the clean-up operations were still being carried out by CEPEP.

He said, however, all areas throughout the country hit by the flood were still affected in some way or the other.

“There are still areas where homes are affected but the rivers are back to their normal level. In some areas the soil is also still saturated,” Wint said.

He said field officers were now conducting personal assessments by going into each home.

“We are going from home- to- home, taking names, location and other pertinent information in all seven areas. There are areas which are beginning to return to normalcy but are still classified as being impacted,” Wint said.

He also appealed to flood victims not to throw out damaged items as these played a vital part in assessment for financial compensation.

When this was completed, Wint said, crews from SWMCOL would be mobilised to dispose of the items at the various landfills.

Vijay Gangapersad, chief Technical officer in the Social Development Ministry, said over the weekend officers were still out on the field doing assessments.

With no wheelchair access to the San Fernando Magistrates Court, double leg amputee Randolph Scott had to be lifted on wheelchair by police officers up a flight a steps to the court to answer a charge of cocaine possession.

When his name was called, his daughter Kamalitah Nurse, told Senior Magistrate Cherril-Anne Antoine that her father was unable to come up the stairs because he had no legs.

“I don’t know how he is going to reach upstairs,” his daughter lamented.

With no way to get Scott, 60, to the court, three police officers had to lift the wheelchair with him on it, up the steps. Scott then wheeled himself into the First Court. This spectacle spurred on complaints from onlookers who questioned why there were no facilities for disabled people.

As Scott entered the court he wasted no time as he anxiously indicated that he wanted to plead guilty, even before the charge was read to him.

Scott was arrested on Friday night after PC Wayne Antoine, of the Southern Division Task Force, searched his home and found 4.5 grammes of cocaine in a plastic bag in Scott’s pants pocket.

Scott admitted many years ago he had convictions for marijuana trafficking, possession of ammunition and cocaine possession.

He said he lost his legs in 2004 due to diabetes. His left leg has been amputated from below the knee and his right leg from the hip. Scott said he used to work at Nutrimix, but now receives public assistance.

Scott said he used cocaine as a way of easing the pain since conventional medication does not work. “A relief from stress. My foot is give me pain,” said Scott.

Given the highly addictive and dangerous nature of the drug, the magistrate imposed a fine $1,000 fine, but told him she will give him a lengthy time to pay the money.

However, Scott said he had the money to pay forthwith.

When Scott was leaving the court, he was heard complaining, “They bring people to court and just imagine they have to tote me upstairs. It have no place for disabled people.”

Accountant Darryl Cox was granted $600,000 bail after appearing in the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court on multiple money laundering and fraud charges yesterday.

Cox, 31, of Marabella, was granted bail on 18 of the 21 charges and remanded into custody to appear in the Chaguanas Magistrates’ Court today on the other three charges.

However, all the charges, including 12 money laundering, three obtaining money by false pretences, three uttering a forge valuable security and three forgery charges, were read to him by Senior Magistrate Cherril-Ann Antoine yesterday.

The charges arose from allegations that between the period August 2015 and December 2015, he obtained three First Citizen Bank cheques, falsely prepared them in his name, each in the sum of $30,000 and withdrew the money, in the total sum of $90,000, from the account of Central Finance Facility Cooperative Society.

The money laundering charges alleged that he disposed of various sums of money, totally $30, 600 knowing or having reasonable grounds to suspect that the money was criminal property which constitutes the benefit from a criminal conduct, namely obtaining money by false pretences.

Cox, however, was not called upon to plea to the charges which were laid by PC Hosein of the Fraud Squad. In asking for bail, his attorney Louis Andrews said Cox works with in his father’s construction firm as an accountant, he has a son and had no previous convictions or pending matters.

Prosecutor Cleyon Seedan did not object to bail, but asked for reporting conditions.

Cox was ordered to report to the Fraud Squad once a week and has to return to the San Fernando Court on July 25.

Two bandits died at the Chaguanas Health Centre yesterday, moments after they were involved in a shootout with police after robbing at bar in St Helena.

However, only one of the dead men, Desmond Samuel, of Central Trinidad, had been identified up to last night.

Police said Samuel and his accomplices robbed Harry’s NYC Bar, located opposite Temple Street, Chin Chin Road, Cunupia, around 1 pm, yesterday.

According to reports, owner Harry Rambarran, 60, who had been renting the facility for the past 13 years, was approached by a man of African decent who asked for a Guinness. A relative of Rambarran, who wished not to be identified, said these trype of drinks are kept in a chiller outside of the bar, which is accessible through a metal side gate. Rambarran, however, did not open the gate but instead told the man to take the drink from the chiller. But the man then pulled a gun and announced hold up.

Rambaran reportedly ran out the back of the bar as the man proceeded to rob patrons and a Chinese national who was running a gaming operation inside the bar. The bandit then crawled through a hole in the burgular proof in front of the bar and stole around $2000 before fleeing in a white Nissan B13 motorcar.

Police were alerted and after high speed chase, they intercepted the bandits near the cemetery at Madras Road, where a shootout took place. Two of the bandits were shot during the gunfire but the other escaped. The bar was reopened for business when the T&T Guardian visited the facility around 4.30 pm. Patrons at the bar said the Chinese national fled the scene during the robbery and had not been seen since. One patron said he “know nothing about everything” and asked for a round of beers.

More stormy Parliament sessions may be ahead. While the Opposition intends filing a motion of no-confidence against House Speaker Bridgid Annisette- George by today, the Speaker yesterday sternly warned MPs against misbehaviour in Parliament.

Annisette-George delivered her warnings via a statement at the start of yesterday’s Parliament sitting. This followed the stormy end to last Friday’s sitting where Government and Opposition MPs traded abrasive remarks.

That stormy ending occurred after Opposition MP Barry Padarath accused Prime Minister Keith Rowley of not walking with a “tin of Crix or sardine “when Rowley visited Southern storm-hit areas last week. PNM MP Camille Robinson-Regis has denied she’d said Padarath’s remark was “racist”. During the session, however, Padarath had loudly demanded a ruling from the Speaker on the situation. The Opposition had walked out of Parliament after debate on tropical storm Brett’s damage ended .

Yesterday, Opposition leader Kamla Persad- Bissessar told the T&T Guardian, the Opposition was finalising moves to bring a motion of no-confidence against the Speaker and hoped to file it by today.

Persad- Bissessar added,

“It’s not intended to abuse the presiding officer, but to place this in the context and on the role and function of the presiding officer in our democracy. We’d been contemplating and researching this a long while since there’s some misunderstanding of the role and function and one can end up misdirecting oneself - but last Friday was the last straw.”

“Parliament is the last bastion of democracy. It’s where we protect the rights of the minority and the right to freedom of expression. It’s the one place we have a say. We have to preserve that democracy.”

Annisette-George, in her warnings yesterday, called for MPs not to repeat last Friday’s episode.

Annisette-George said, “ In instances when I’m not allowed to be heard in silence - consequential disorder - such as occurred during the last sitting is inevitable. I wish to stress such disorder will not be tolerated by this Speaker.”

She cautioned that flaring tensions must not degenerate into shouting, disruptive behaviour or disrespect to her.

“Remarks and outbursts by any MP while I’m on my legs will not be and are not considered part of the official proceedings of this House and as such will not be recorded in the Hansard (record).”

“Any Member who’s of the opinion that shouting at the Chair while the Speaker is standing will result in his/her offensive and disrespectful words being included in the Hansard is seriously misguided... this principle also extends to MPs who shout across the floor at each other,”

“If any Member refuses to follow a direction from this Chair, is repeatedly called to order, disregards warnings or otherwise acts in defiance of a ruling or direction, I will not hesitate to exercise the prerogative of the Chair in relation to such offending Member until the offending Member accepts the authority of this Chair.”

She also stressed:

• MPs are expected to observe certain standards of conduct according to Standing Orders.

• It’s her role/duty to maintain standards by ensuring order and decorum and she requires no assistance.”

• Every MP should resume their seat as soon as the Speaker rises to speak/calls the House to order and must listen in silence

• When she intervenes directly to call a Member to order, to respond to a point of order raised by a Member or to address this House in general, “NO Member is to speak. “

• She’s allowed to deliver directions/rulings and bring the House to order in silence; without comment, intervention or protest.

• If loud/disruptive behaviour occur and persist, a Speaker is denied the opportunity to rule on any point of order which a Member seeks to raise.

•Members who are called to order but persist in disorderly behaviour, including interjecting in a disorderly manner/disregarding the authority of the Speaker will be called upon to apologise.

Help the Children’s Authority, don’t criticise it, says child rights activist, Diana Mahabir-Wyatt. Asking how many children outside of the Children’s Authority have committed suicide, Mahabir-Wyatt rose in defence of the organisation she helped get off the ground.

Head of the T&T Coalition Against Domestic Violence (TTCADV), a support NGO of the Children’s Authority, Mahabir-Wyatt was responding to questions from the T&T Guardian on the death of 17-year old Joshua Boneo who was found hanging in the bathroom of the Children’s Authority’s Child Support Centre on June 17.

The Children’s Authority has been under increasing criticism by members of the public for not being proactive enough and only responding to a case of child abuse when it’s highlighted by the media.

Earlier this year, the Authority came under scrutiny by the Government after it was discovered that a 15-year old boy sent by the court to the St Michael’s Home for Boys has been living at the home of Children’s Authority director, Safiya Noel.

The Ministry of Gender and Child Affairs requested a report from the Authority on the matter, promising to investigate it.

The Children’s Authority was set up in May 2015 under the former People’s Partnership administration and Sharifa Ali-Abdullah appointed director.

The Authority was formed after recommendations in a report from the Child Protection Task Force, chaired by Mahabir-Wyatt, which was established under the former regime.

Ali-Abdullah was replaced by Noel in October 2016 and Mahabir-Wyatt said the new board hardly contacts her but she remained defensive about the Children Authority.

“Instead of criticising it, help it,” she said.

Mahabir-Wyatt said staff shortages and far from adequate resources continue to hamper the work of the Authority.

“The biggest problem at the Children’s Authority is the shortage of staff and resources. And more and more cases of child neglect and abuse are coming in daily.”She said government allocations for NGOs that supported the Children’s Authority have been drastically cut as well.

“When the authority gets a case of child abuse, because of staff shortages and resources, they refer it to groups like TTCADV, Childline and the Rape Crisis Centre, which provides safe places for the children and trained counsellors.

“With the cut in funding, staff at these NGOs are going home and many are already closing down.” Pleas to the Government have fallen on deaf ears, she said.

“I don’t think it’s that they’re indifferent to the growing child abuse problem. I think they just don’t really know what’s really going on.”

Mahabir-Wyatt linked the increases in child neglect and abuse cases to the worsening state of the economy.

A victim who was brutally raped by a police officer inside a station when she was just 17 years, yesterday criticised the sentence imposed on the now retired officer.

The victim said no amount no amount of justice could take away the trauma of being brutally by the man, whom she said took her virginity in the police station, adding the 17-year sentence was too lenient.

“He should have gotten more,” said the young woman, as she broke down in tears in the corridor of the San Fernando Supreme Court shortly after 65-year-old Harry Ramlochan was sentenced.

Ramlochan, who was a court prosecutor in the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court at the time of the incident, did not show any reaction after he was sentenced, but nodded to his relatives as he was led out the courtroom by police officers. 

A grandfather of five, Ramlochan was out on bail in this matter until he was found guilty by a jury on June 12 and remanded into custody to await sentencing. Ramlochan, who was represented by attorneys Kevin Ratiram and Chris Ramlal, denied raping the victim.

In passing sentence yesterday in the Second Assizes, Justice Althea Alexis-Windsor said Ramlochan was a police officer and a court prosecutor who represented the state every day in the magistrates’ court. The girl and her mother had gone to the station on May 5, 2001, to report that her father had beaten her mother.

Recalling the evidence, the judge said Ramlochan, then 50 years old, forced himself on the teenager in the court prosecutor’s office while cursing her about her virginity. 

“The prisoner appeared to be entirely unrepentant and was laughing,” Alexis-Windsor said, adding that he then took the girl and her mother home. Instead of dealing with the domestic violence report, the judge said Ramlochan then accompanied the father to a bar for a drink.

Noting that the offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, the judge said, “The prisoner

was a police officer, an acting sergeant, a court prosecutor, his job was to protect and serve members of society and he, by this finding of guilt, has acted in such such a way that has contributed to a loss of

confidence by society in the police service.”

She said people must feel they could go to a police station and leave intact.

 The evidence, led by State attorneys Sarah de Silva and Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal, revealed that at the station the girl’s mother spoke with Ramlochan, who asked to speak with her daughter alone. He took her to the dormitory where he tried to kiss and hug her.  

 She testified that Ramlochan took her to a nearby bar to get change for a $100, but he did not get

any. She said he then stopped a taxi and they went by a street vendor who changed the money.

On their return to the station, she said he told her mother he wanted to speak to her further and took

her to the police canteen. She said he bought her a soft drink, then took a drink of scotch from some officers and offered her a drink, but she refused. The victim said he then took her to the court prosecutor’s office where he offered her money, but she refused and got up to leave. However, she said he got upset, closed the door, pushed her against a cabinet and forcibly kissed her and bit her lips. The woman said she tried to get away, but he pushed her against a wall, pulled down her pants and underwear and then pushed her on a piece of sponge on the ground where he raped her.

In determining sentence, the judge said the sentence also has to serve as a deterrent to others wishing to engage in this conduct. She started the sentence at 15 years, but after considering the aggravating and

mitigating factors in relation to Ramlochan, she increased it by two years.

Victim — ‘Pain will never go away’

Overcome with emotion, the young woman said the trial just caused her to relive the rape and the trauma she went through all those years ago. She felt she had to wait too long for justice. 

Crying through the brief interview, the woman said, “Although I get justice, the pain, the hurt will never go away until I die. No matter how much justice I get that will not heal my wounds.”

Disappointed with the sentence, she said, “I was young and innocent. I did not know anything about life and that really mess me up bad.

“I wanted to wait until I get married. I was baptised and grew up in a Christian home. It is the worst thing to happen to anybody, male or female. I get flashbacks and nightmares.”

 She said she was ridiculed and laughed at by her schoolmates after the incident.

“I would hide in the toilet. I would not mingle. I failed all my exams. I still do not trust anyone.”

She said went to a police station once after the incident, but she felt very afraid. She, however, is hoping that she could now move on with her life.  

Also expressing disappointment with the sentence, her father said, “He should ah get life. Her mother died 12 years ago. She grieve to death. On her death bed she tell me to make sure our daughter get justice.”

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) has admitted that it needs to make improvements to its response to natural disasters following the aftermath of Tropical Storm Bret.

Responding to complaints made by persons affected by the storm the organisation’s relief officer Captain Neville Wint said the ODPM was currently in the process of reviewing its handling on the situation.

He said, “As we continue to assess obviously more can be done but at this point in time I am advising citizens to still follow the 72-hour protocol.” However, Wint repeatedly noted that his organisation’s ability to manage a disaster is directed affected by the preparedness of citizens for the event.

“We have become complacent as a society and Tropical Storm Bret has awaken the appetite and understanding that we are at risk and therefore we have to take some level of responsibility for our preparedness,” Wint said.

He said the country’s preparedness was vital in the future as an increase in storms is predicted for this year’s hurricane season.

“They predict a 70 per cent likelihood of 11 to 17 of the named storms of which five to nine may become a hurricane, with two of these predicted to be major hurricanes of Category three to five,” Wint said.

He noted that in a typical season there were 12 named storms, of which six become major and three become hurricanes. Bret was the third storm during the season. Despite the issue of improvements, when asked if he and his organisation felt that T&T was ready for a major storm or hurricane, Wint said yes.

“I am of the view that we are ready but again we are only as ready as members of society are. So the plan going forward is to assess our operation to advocate for the acceptance of comprehensive disaster risk management and reduction across all sectors,” Wint said.

During yesterday’s press conference Wint sought to give statistics on persons affected by Bret, estimating that 115,000 homes and 400,000 persons were affected. While he admitted that the ODPM was still compiling statistics from the 14 regional corporations in Trinidad and the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), he noted that Tobago and south Trinidad were the most impacted.

The Penal/Debe Regional Corporation received 1,090 reports representing 80 per cent of the region, while 70 per cent of the area covered Siparia Regional Corporation was affected with 425 reports received. Wint claimed that the corporations were still receiving reports and were currently working with the Ministry of Social Development to assess the complaints and provide relief grants to those most affected.

“The Ministry of Social Development has received 1,893 reports of which 1,094 have been assessed and completed for process of allocation of grants to commence,” Wint said.

Questioned over complaints from citizens who had repeatedly been unable to contact the ODPM through the national call centre in the midst of the storm last week, Wint claimed that the centre was inundated with calls at the time.

“It was no fault of the system but the quantity of calls received. Each call had to be processed bearing in mind that persons were dealt with on an individual basis . In some cases we had to spend some additional time with some callers,” Wint claimed as he said that the ODPM would consider increasing the capacity of the centre in the future.

Wint admitted that the ODPM had received reports from citizens over issues with major rivers and waterways before the Met Office issued its tropical storm warning last weekend, but could only confirm that the reports were referred to the “relevant authorities”.

Following the passage of the storm last week, the T&T Guardian conducted an investigation which revealed that flooding caused by the Caroni River bursting its banks may have been caused by persons illegally removing large quantities of dirt plied along the banks of the river to reduce flooding.

There was a total of 9,466 teenage pregnancies reported at the nation’s hospitals between 2011 and 2015.

According to a report from the Ministry of Health Annual Statistical Report on Teenage Pregnancies, between 2011 and 2015, there were over 4,000 reported teenage pregnancies at the San Fernando General Hospital.

At the same hospital in 2015, there were 1,002 pregnancies among teenagers between the ages of 17 and 19.

The report obtained by the T&T Guardian did not disclose whether the reports were live births or just reported teenage pregnancies.

The ministry also did not give a figure on the number reported in Tobago.

Altogether, there were over 9,000 teenage pregnancies between 2011 and 2015 at the Sangre Grande District Hospital, Port-of-Spain General Hospital, Mt Hope Women’s Hospital and the San Fernando General Hospital.

The report stated that over the years there were even children under the age of 12.

There were 23 reported teenage pregnancies at the San Fernando General Hospital under the age of 12, and 13 been in 2013.

In 2012, there were 497 teenage pregnancies among teenagers between the ages of 17 and 19. Thi was reported at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.

The report said that in 2011 there were 616 pregnant teenagers at the same hospital.

When questioned, Education Minister Anthony Garcia said teenage pregnancy was a concern to the ministry despite sexual education being taught at the nation’s schools.

In an interview yesterday, Garcia said sexual education was part of the curriculum in both primary and secondary schools.

“Students must have respect for themselves and their bodies and what they should do and not do. The topic is infused in the curriculum, in the primary school and a stand alone in secondary school as family life education,” he said.

The minister said there were a lot of these incidents occurring with the focus now on social media.

“Because very often the children suffer losses in their education, although the ministry has protocols where our student support services offer support to those students. We intend to carry out their education and they are encouraged to continue her (student) education.”

He said there were instances where students became pregnant and were encouraged to continue with their education and made good strides in their own personal development.

Secretary of the Psychiatrists Association,Varma Deyalsingh, said there was always concern regarding teenage pregnancy.

“The issue with teens is that you have them experimenting with sex and there were always issues with caregivers,” he said.

Deyalsingh said several years ago there was a high figure for teen pregnancies and sexual education was necessary.

“There is a lot of other ramifications like taking care of the child where it is a vicious cycle with parenting. Now this will continue where it won’t have bonding and give trouble,” he said.

He said there were younger children experimenting with sex because of social media and advertisements where there is sex and sexuality.

“There are teenage girls who are prey to maxi drivers and are prey to older men. How do we look at that? We have to teach those girls and put things in order,” he said.

Deyalsingh said the law was changed where it was unlawful to have sex with someone under the age of 18.

“By changing the law it puts us in a bind but we still have the reality of younger children having sex. If we don’t report it, we could be charged. That is something we need to work out. Once a minor is having sex, we should report it,” he said.

He said there were several factors that come into play.

“We have to counter the hormonal changes, sexual abuse, society at large which is sexual and adults who prey on younger girls and trying to come out of a life style.

“In the schools settings we have to depend on the guards, teachers to be vigilant and other students, those who are hyper-sexual and having problems at homes,” he said.

Appointments for four outpatient clinics at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital will be rescheduled after the clinics’ roof collapsed recently — but emergency attention can be obtained at other health facilities, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh has assured.

Deyalsingh gave details while replying to Opposition questions on the closure of the four clinics at the hospitals on Tuesday.

He said they were closed because rains from the recent passage of tropical storm Bret caused the roof in the clinic areas to leak and the roof collapsed.

Deyalsingh made it clear that outpatient clinics are not for emergency treatment but are for persons who have to have routine follow-up checks after surgery and similar treatment.

“No patient is being disadvantaged and there’s no crisis. If someone has an emergency, they can go to the hospitals Accident and Emergency Unit, St James or any health centre,” he added.

Deyalsingh said inspection of the roof will be done and he would know later on what the status of the situation was and what needed to be done . He couldn’t say when repairs would be completed until all information is obtained.

On other Opposition queries, Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat said praedial larceny squads would be paying particular attention to produce being sold at markets and roadside stalls to ensure crops stolen from farms affected by recent floods, aren’t being sold to the public. Rambharat said the squad has increased its usual interaction, with vendors, seeking documents to prove that goods they’re selling are bona fide.

Tired of being robbed, proprietor Yana Zeng is believed to have struggled with two men who held up her mini-mart on Tuesday night. For her resistance she was fatally shot by one of the bandits.

According to police reports, around 9 pm two men entered the N&N Mini-mart located at Cantaro Village, Upper Santa Cruz and and demanded cash from Zeng, 33 and her husband. When she resisted she was shot in the side. The men then ran out mini mart and escaped through a track.

Zeng was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, by Constables Collins and Nurse but was pronounced dead on arrival around 9.30 pm.

Gathered near the scene of the robbery and shooting on Tuesday night, residents said the business had moved to its current location after being robbed several times before. They added that Zeng, commonly called “Anna,” was a neighbourhood favourite. The neighbours lamented the deterioration of the community, recalling several shootings in the area prior to Tuesday’s incident.

The killing brought back memories of the double murder of Chinese nationals Shirui Zhao and Yangli Gu as they returned home after closing up business at the E World Club and Liquor Bank on June 15 in Marabella.

Video footage showed Zhao and Gu pulling into the parking area in front of the Kosume Bar at the corner of New Haven Avenue and John Street in Zhao’s black Toyota Corolla Altis. They lived in an apartment upstairs the bar with other Chinese nationals. As Gu opened the right passenger door to exit the car, two gunmen came from the right and began firing at the car. Gu had turned 29 years old on that day.

That case remains unsolved. 

The community of Malabar was struggling last evening to come to terms with the brutal murder of a 56-year-old woman and a teenager.

Police believe the killing of Rose Mohammed, 56, and her 13-year-old neighbour Videsh Subar may have been linked to an old robbery in which the men were jailed and recently from released prison.

After slitting the throats of Mohammed and Subar at Mohammed’s Ajim Baskh Street, Malabar home, the killers stole the woman’s Toyota Voxy she used to transport school children and a television. The car, minus the TV, was found in Wallerfield about two hours after their bodies were found.

According to police, the killers siphoned gas out of the vehicle, doused the driver’s seat and set it ablaze. However, the fire did not last long and only the driver’s seat and parts of the steering wheel and driver’s door were burnt.

Police, however, do not believe robbery was the motive behind the killings, since the attack was too gruesome and the fact that apart from the vehicle nothing of substantial worth was taken from the house.

Police said Mohammed was robbed eight years ago and the men responsible were held, jailed and reportedly released recently.

Speaking with the media outside a neighbour’s home yesterday, Mohammed’s husband Shariff confirmed the couple’s home was broken into some years ago, but added that “nothing came out of it”. He said he came home for lunch yesterday, as he was accustomed doing and found the front door open. The car was not in the driveway so he assumed his wife stepped out. However, as he stepped inside he saw Subar, then went to his bedroom found his wife’s body.

Residents told the T&T Guardian that after Mohammed came home he called out to them and they raced in to find the bodies and called police. The two victims were bound with their hands tied behind their backs, their fee tied and their mouths were covered with tape.

One man said: “The man like he didn’t know what to do, he come home and then run outside bawling. When we went we see the lil boy on the ground with his head in blood. I never see blood get thick so before. When we reach in the bedroom we see the woman. She dress was pull up and we cover she up. The knife was on the bed still, it look like a kitchen knife.”

The teen’s grandfather, Sudesh Kalloo, wailed and called on the killers or anyone to end his life, saying he had nothing to live for any more.

The dead end street was nearly impassable, with neighbours coming out of their homes, all crying and angry. Many questioned why the killers had to end the duo’s lives.

Another resident, whose wife works with Subar’s mother Veena, said the Sagicor employee was planning on staying home with her son but opted instead to leave him in the care of Mohammed, who had been looking after him since he was a baby, as well as other children in the community.

Screams silence street
On her arrival home, nearly two hours after the discovery, Subar’s screams silenced the street. The pain in her high-pitched voice as she called out to her dead son brought tears fro others. She told relatives there that Subar, who recently sat the Secondary Entrance Examination and wanted to attend Trinity College, was only sleeping and begged them to go wake him up.

“Why they do meh Videsh that? Why? Vidie, mummy home. I was going to stay home with him, I would have given them my whole house and everything in it for my son, why they do that? Why?” Subar screamed as she was being consoled.

Visiting the scene was divisional commander Snr Supt Mc Donald Jacob, who said the killing was one of the worst kinds, as the killers defiled the sanctity of a person’s home to carry out “such a heinous act.” He added that the killing not only affected the family but the community and country. Jacob assured that his officers will be doing all they could to apprehend the culprits in the double murder.

The double murder and those of two others between Tuesday night and yesterday took the toll to 249 for the year compared to 227 for the previous year.
 

The Opposition yesterday turned its back on a bill which seeks to allow accused people the option to have a trial by judge alone.

The legislation was presented by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Faris Al-Rawi.

The measure seeks to speed up the delivery of justice by having the matter heard before a judge alone. It also seeks to reduce to cost of justice.

But in contribution to yesterday’s House of Representatives debate , the Leader of the Opposition,Kamla Persad-Bissessar said her 18 members would not lend support to the legislation. The Opposition voted in favour of it in the Senate. Persad-Bissessar began by telling legislators she was prepared to give support to the measure but on further consideration she realised it contained “fundamentally flawed positions.”

Persad-Bissessar said the suite of legislation brought by the Government to deal with the criminal justice system had become very sour.

She said the measure was brought at a most inappropriate time as the population had little confidence in the Judiciary.

The Siparia MP said the Government was trying to amend a section of the law that was struck down by the court. That claim was later dismissed by a Government source, who said the High Court ruling was overturned by the Court of Appeal.

Also contributing to yesterday’s debate was St Augustine MP and former Congress of the People (COP) leader, Prakash Ramadhar , who said he “cannot support the death of fair trials in this country,” adding the bill was “nothing short of the sharp edge of a spear that is long and is painful.”

Ramadhar said it was clear that the bill was part of the Government’s intention to remove trial by jury in all matters.

Ramadhar said the legislation was not fit or proper, adding that there seems to be “an arrogance besetting us all that suggests the common man is a lesser human being in the society. That the only interaction that the common man in T&T will have in the judicial process is either as a victim , a witness or an accused. He will have no involvement in the judicial process other than that.”

According to Ramadhar , the judicial system in T&T was “a messy one.”

He added that there was no pristine belief that every case is rightly decided or that every case is wrongly decided. He insisted the existing jury system was the best system that we now have.

Ramadhar said it was being interfered with for no good reason.

Dealing with judges, Ramadhar told legislators: “Let us not for a moment believe that because they are called Lordships they are perfect or that they are unbiased.”

He said: “Every human being has preconditioned approach to matters- every single one of us- and whatever comes to us it is through that filter of your life’s experiences that you interpret it.”

Tired of being robbed, proprietor Yana Zeng is believed to have struggled with two men who held up her mini-mart on Tuesday night. For her resistance she was fatally shot by one of the bandits.

According to police reports, around 9 pm two men entered the N&N Mini-mart located at Cantaro Village, Upper Santa Cruz and and demanded cash from Zeng, 33 and her husband. When she resisted she was shot in the side. The men then ran out mini mart and escaped through a track.

Zeng was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, by Constables Collins and Nurse but was pronounced dead on arrival around 9.30 pm.

Gathered near the scene of the robbery and shooting on Tuesday night, residents said the business had moved to its current location after being robbed several times before. They added that Zeng, commonly called “Anna,” was a neighbourhood favourite. The neighbours lamented the deterioration of the community, recalling several shootings in the area prior to Tuesday’s incident.

The killing brought back memories of the double murder of Chinese nationals Shirui Zhao and Yangli Gu as they returned home after closing up business at the E World Club and Liquor Bank on June 15 in Marabella.

Video footage showed Zhao and Gu pulling into the parking area in front of the Kosume Bar at the corner of New Haven Avenue and John Street in Zhao’s black Toyota Corolla Altis. They lived in an apartment upstairs the bar with other Chinese nationals. As Gu opened the right passenger door to exit the car, two gunmen came from the right and began firing at the car. Gu had turned 29 years old on that day.

That case remains unsolved. 

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday defended his re-appointment of Marlene McDonald to his Cabinet. In fact, he said her return as Public Utilities Minister came at an opportune time.

However, Rowley assured that reassigning Fitzgerald Hinds as Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs was not a demotion.

At the post-Cabinet media briefing at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s, Rowley spoke about the impromptu Cabinet reshuffle—his second since assuming office in September 2015.

Asked if McDonald’s return was a way of expressing confidence in her, given the fact there were a series of allegations made against her which were investigated by the Integrity Commission, Rowley said it was a matter that needed to be looked at.

Having been elected as Port-of-Spain South MP in 2015, Rowley said McDonald was appointed to the Cabinet after serving as Opposition Chief Whip. In early 2015, he said “certain persons were making some very disturbing allegations against Miss McDonald.”

Last March, Mc Donald was fired from the Cabinet following media revelations that she had employed her common-law husband Michael Carew in her Port-of-Spain South constituency office. A report from Fixin T&T head Kirk Waithe stated he received information from Parliament which showed Carew and a director of the Calabar Foundation were employed at McDonald’s constituency office for five years, while Carew’s brother Lennox Carew still worked at the MP’s office.

McDonald’s common-law husband, who worked at the office from June 1, 2010 to September 7, 2015, had earned a salary of $13,400 for the full parliamentary term while Lennox began working in the office on March 1, 2011 and had been in receipt of $14,000.

But Rowley said it was the allegation of how McDonald conducted herself in the Ministry of Housing which forced him to ask her to remove herself as a minister so the Integrity Commission investigate. When the allegation surfaced, he said there was information “which persons were prosecuting to the point of persecuting about how she conducted herself in the Ministry of Housing. It was alleged that she was buying houses in the Ministry of Housing in other people’s names and they identified the names and individuals… and she had a relationship with and so on. That, was an area I found required the removal of Miss McDonald so to allow the investigation to take place.”

To the best of his knowledge, Rowley said investigations had taken place and the commission had indicated to Mc Donald that “they had found no basis to conclude that she had breached the Integrity in Public Life Act on this package of investigations and probably others. On that basis, I as Prime Minister have no difficulty in reappointing Miss McDonald in the Cabinet. Of course, that would displease some people who believe what pleases them should happen.”

Rowley said in the future if something else surfaces against McDonald he would deal with it.

Asked if Hinds’ shifting was a demotion, Rowley said he was “very versatile and is a tremendous asset to the Cabinet and Government.” This was Hinds’ second realignment by Rowley. He was first removed from the Ministry of Works and Transport and put to manage the Ministry of Public Utilities, which McDonald is now in charge of.

But the PM said Hinds has expertise in Constitutional and criminal law and as a former policeman, he was ideally suited to work in the AG’s office. He said, however, that Stuart Young will continue to hold the position as Minister in the Ministry of the AG and Legal Affairs as well.

Rowley said Government intended to have a very robust legislative programme in which Hinds will play an integral role.

The Integrity Commission has not yet completed its investigations into Port-of-Spain South Member of Parliament Marlene McDonald, who will be sworn in as the new Minister of Public Utilities today.

While McDonald has been cleared on part of the matters brought before the commission, the T&T Guardian was told by a source close to the body that “while a number of allegations have been dealt with, there are other things still being investigated.”

The information comes even as Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley welcomed McDonald back to his Cabinet yesterday, saying the Integrity Commission had found she was not in breach of the Integrity in Public Life Act in relation to some of the issues under probe.

In March 2006, McDonald was relieved of the post of Minister of Housing after it was reported that the Integrity Commission was investigating two reports brought against her, involving a close friend by the name of Michael Carew.

Those investigations related to the approval of grants to the Calabar Foundation by the Ministry of Community Development and to the issuance of a Housing Development Corporation home.

While the commission is reported to have written to McDonald indicating that there was no evidence that she had breached the Integrity in Public Life Act, the commission, in its correspondence, also indicated that investigations into other allegations contained in the complaint are “still receiving its attention.”

Integrity Commission chairman Zainool Hosein yesterday refused to answer questions on what matters involving McDonald were still under investigation. He said, “If anybody who is in receipt of communication from the commission wants to divulge it, we have no way to prevent that, but I cannot give details of any matter before the commission.”

The commission is bound to silence under sections 20 and 35 of the Integrity in Public Life Act. Both sections speak to the issues of secrecy and confidentiality of information and carries, in the case of section 20, a fine of $250,000 and 10 years imprisonment, while persons in breach of section 35 are liable on summary conviction to a fine of $250,000 and imprisonment for five years.

Speaking on the broad issues of the work of the commission, however, Hosein said they had “inherited a number of issues, we have dealt with a range of matters and we have functioned without much trauma, we are working quietly and efficiently in dealing with quite a number of matters and people can rely on absolute fairness.”

He said when there are delays in “concluding matters, it is because the investigation is not complete and that could be the result of a want of information being sought.”

In conducting its investigations, the T&T Guardian was told, the commission liaises with banks and financial institutions and very often the information required is not available immediately. The process could be further delayed when someone being investigated seeks legal advice, which delays the process.

In a statement to the media earlier yesterday, the commission said “all matters relative to Investigations and Compliance are thoroughly investigated, but statutory strictures on the disclosure of specific matters preclude the commission or anyone there-at from divulging information from its records.”

It said “in assessing and investigating allegations of breaches of the Integrity In Public Life Act (the IPLA) and the Prevention of Corruption Act, the commission remains focussed and committed to carrying out its functions thoroughly, efficiently, fairly and within a reasonable time-frame.”

While the records of the commission and any information revealed by the production of documents cannot be disclosed, the commission urged media practitioners to avoid making “unsupported statements and to consult the commission’s annual report which provides a summary of complaints which have engaged the attention of the commission.”

The commission said it “remains concerned that irresponsible and adverse criticisms by media practitioners are injurious, especially when not supported by factual details.”

The commission said it continues to facilitate dialogue and offer an accessible, courteous, efficient and meaningful guidance to persons in public life as well as to those exercising public functions.

It reminded persons subject to the Integrity In Public Life Act to comply with the provisions, cooperate fully by filing declarations in a timely manner and to provide information promptly when called upon to do so.

The commission’s 29th annual report, laid in Parliament in 2016, lists 41 investigations. At least four of them date back to the pre-2010 period relating to complaints against a former prime minister Patrick Manning, now deceased, alleging breaches of the act in the award of land and the construction of the Church of the Lighthouse. Those investigations, according to the document, are still continuing.

The men killed by police following a robbery at a Cunupia bar on Wednesday have been identified as friends Keiron Mitchell, 23, from Trincity and Desmond Samuel Francique, 26, of Las Lomas.

The two died at the Chaguanas Health Centre after they were involved in a shootout with police near the cemetery at Madras Road after robbing Harry’s NYC Bar.

The men robbed the bar around 1 pm, stealing around $2000 before fleeing in a white Nissan B13 motorcar. Police were alerted and after intercepting the car there was a shootout.

Relatives of Francique did not want to speak with the media when approached yesterday, but Mitchell’s relatives described him as being “harden”. Mitchell’s brother, L’Lron Alexander, was killed at his business, LA Mini Mart, at Back Street, Arouca, last month.

His relatives said he kept bad company and would follow Francique everywhere.

One relative claimed Mitchell was supposed to have gone with a friend on the robbery and the friend had a change of heart and decided not to go.

The relatives said they hope the death of the two men is a lesson to other criminals to change their source of income

An uncle of murdered schoolboy Videsh Subar believes the men responsible for slitting his nephew’s throat and that of his neighbour Hafeeza Rose Mohammed should die a slow and painful death.

Speaking to the media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, Chandrakha Koon Koon said even if the men are held by police they should not bring them in alive.

“The boy’s mother is mad at the world right now. I believe no child should die like that and I wish they find the perpetrators and my wish is they don’t bring them in alive. I hope it comes through, this is really hard. This is a nightmare!” Koon Koon  said.

He added: “I wish them a slow, slow death. Things like this does create criminals! If you know the kind of things going through my mind right now. I wish no parents would go through this.”

Koon Koon said Subar, an aspiring musician, was looking forward to his first trip abroad to Canada with the family. He said the tickets had already been bought for the August 4 departure. The only child to his parents Lennon and Veena, Subar played three instruments, the flute, maracas (chac chac) and the tassa drum and was a lover of parang music.

Koon Koon said the night before the incident he asked Subar to spend the night at a relative and was reflecting on whether he could have been more convincing. He added that his nephew would have been a great leader in the country.

According to the autopsy done by pathologist Dr. Valery Alexandrov, both Subar and Mohammed received “mirror wounds” to the neck spanning from ear to ear. The gash on Subar’s neck was so deep it cut one of his vertebrae. Both were bound and gagged using items in the home. Mohammed’s hands were bound with the cord of a telephone charger and her bra while her feet were bound with a bed sheet. Subar’s hands were bound with a shoe lace and his feet with a rubber chord. His mouth was taped with clear scotch tape.

Police said they received critical information on the case and are confident of an arrest. On Wednesday police said they suspected the killings were linked to a nearly decade-old robbery. But yesterday, they said checks to their records of eight years ago revealed no reports of a break-in at Mohammed’s Ajim Baskh Street, Malabar home.

The gruesome murders of 13-year-old Videsh Subar and his 56-year-old sitter Rose Mohammed have impacted on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, so much so that it has left him very disturbed and shaken.

Speaking at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing, Rowley said he hoped the T&T Police Service can bring the perpetrators of the killings before the courts expeditiously.

The throats of Subar and Mohammed were slit by their killers at Mohammed’s Ajim Baksh Street, Malabar home on Wednesday during a home invasion.

Yesterday, Rowley said there were some new developments taking place in the country, some of which were not uplifting and disturbing.

“I am very, very shaken and disturbed with what happened in the East with that child and its guardian who were so brutally murdered, and it makes us wonder what kind of people we have become,” said Rowley, his voice dropping as he spoke.

Saying it is now standard practice that when violent and heinous crimes are committed there is a public demand that the Government do something about crime, Rowley said “that demand is understandable because people want to feel safe, people want to feel secure and people want to know that their families and their communities are protected from these things.”

The PM said the interventions by individuals who make a decision to carry out such activities “shock us all the time.” He said whatever the Government has in place, be it prison, police or court “we are always surprised by these kinds” of murders.

In extending condolences to the family of the victims, Rowley said just looking at the grief on television as a citizen, he was quite “shaken by this kind of thing and I trust that the law enforcement authorities would find the perpetrators of such heinous and disturbing action.”

Asked about the TTPS’ ineffectiveness in its battle against the criminal elements and he could do to fill the gap, Rowley replied, “That is one area where you do not have an alternative. There is no alternative but to keep working and improving the ability of law enforcement in the country. And law enforcement in our country under the Constitution is largely the Police Service.”

In the area of national security, Rowley disclosed that Cabinet took a decision not to pay $200 million to maintain for one year four of the country’s helicopters.

“This is a cost that has been negotiated downward I was told. US$34 million I was told. We just can’t afford that! If we can’t afford it then the helicopters would stay on the ground… much as we would like to have them in the air. If we have $200 million dollars, the question that arises is that the best way to spend $200 million in the fight against crime?”

He said selling the helicopters was one option the Government may look at.