The Marabella hairdresser jointly charged with two men for possession of a gun and ammunition yesterday admitted she was not speaking the truth when she claimed to be the secretary of a police youth club.

Anisha Ifill, 20, of Marabella, made the admission when court prosecutor Sgt Ian Sylvon drew the matter to the attention of San Fernando magistrate Kerianne Byer.

Sylvon said Ifill had not been a member of the police youth club for the past five years.

He said that false information, which was published in the newspapers, has had a negative effect on the club affecting its membership and sponsors and the general role of the club has been called into question.

Apologising on behalf of his client, attorney Frank Gittens said those were the instructions given to him by Ifill at the previous hearing. 

 The Community Policing Secretariat (CPS) of the Police Service also sent out a news release yesterday stating that the secretary of the Bayshore Police Youth Club was WPC Vanessa Noel, of the Mon Repos Police Station and not Ifill.

It further stated that Noel had been the leader of the club, formerly the Bayshore/Marabella Police Youth Club since its inception in 2011.

Ifill, of Marabella, her boyfriend Jason Williams, 25, of Claxton Bay and Lynte Prime, 25, were arrested on August 2 after the police stopped and searched a car they were in at Lady Hailes Avenue, San Fernando and allegedly found a Beretta pistol and 16 rounds of 9 mm ammunition.

They were charged by PC Mohammed.

Yesterday, Prime pleaded guilty after the court gave a maximum sentence indication. He was subsequently sentenced to 12 months on the gun charge and nine months on the ammunition charge.

The sentences were ordered to run concurrently. Gittens request that Ifill’s bail be varied was denied.

She is $150,000 approval bail and a cash bail alternative of $45,000, but her family has been unable to take her bail.

Williams, who together with Ifill had pleaded not guilty, is out on $100,000 bail. They were ordered to return to court on September 6.

Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Clarence Rambarat yesterday confirmed he has been visiting the Police Training Academy shooting range for his own personal safety, as his ministry is responsible for the second largest law enforcement units in the country.

He made the comment at a sod turning ceremony for the construction of a car park at the southern wholesale market in Debe.

Rambarat made the comment in the wake of a report earlier this week in which officers attached to the academy raised issue of a government official using the range for training.

The Police Social and Welfare body had called for a probe into the visits after a junior officer reported the visit of a former minister and his wife to the shooting range, noting civilians are not allowed on the range and it has also been condemned. The couple was also reportedly taken to the range by a senior officer who should be on pre-retirement leave. It was later realised, however, that it was in fact Rambarat and his wife.

In his defence yesterday, Rambarat said: “Every minister and public officials are required and put through security training and check in with a police station and be given advice.”

He said the Police Training Academy was near his place of residence, which was his chosen location for training.

“The police academy is close to where I live and my wife accompanies me from time to time and I am not treated different from any public office holder.”

Rambarat said he also visited the Academy for advice relating to the security units under his ministry’s purview.

“I go on ministry matters. As you know, apart from the Ministry of National Security I have secondary law enforcement units. I have the Praedial Larceny Squad, honorary game wardens, patrol men, forest officers, patrol men and estate constable. I go there for advice relating to firearms and equipping them with firearms and bullet proof training. I am simply doing my job,” he said.

Rambarat added in an interview with the T&T Guardian that he visited the academy several times and he was a Government minister and not classed as a civilian.

“I am not a civilian. I don’t know if that was a story. I was there not for the first time as a Government minster but related to security,” he said.

He said he was also not aware of any attempted disciplinary action being taken against the junior officer who reported his visit.

“I am not aware of that. I am not a civilian I am a Government minister and on matters of my personal security. I was there as a Government minister and as a minister you have personal security you need to deal with and there were facilities where I could get advice on matters of personal security. I have no interaction with anybody there on disciplinary action. I was there on matters relating to personal security,” he said.

He added: “My wife is my wife and it covers myself, my wife and my children. We get advice and you could only get advice from the Police Service.”

However, he denied the visit had anything to do with threats made against him.

“I have been there many times as a minster and as a minister it is something you do,” he said.

But one senior officer assigned to the academy yesterday said there were protocols to be observed, especially if a government official was visiting the premises.

“There are protocols you must follow. You need permission for any official visit at the academy compound. If you are a Government official it is considered an official visit and the senior superintendent and the commissioner must be informed that they’re coming on the ground and to shoot.”

The officer said it could not be a private arrangement, since the range was condemned and deemed non-safe by the commissioner.

“The residents complained over the noise and the commissioner said it was not to be used and the range was downgraded. You have basic protocol. People can’t just go on a shooting range without permission,” he said.

He said civilians who need to train and who are holders of firearm licences could use the shooting range at the Trinidad Rifle Association in Chaguaramas.

Meanwhile, Police Social and Welfare Association president Michael Seales said yesterday the disciplinary action against the officer who reported the visit had been discontinued. However, Seales said the association will take legal action against Williams if the senior officer who escorted the couple was still on active duty when he should be on pre-retirement.

As the Ministry of Education rolls out means testing for incoming tertiary education students this month, a special unit has been set up to oversee and process the thousands of applications that are expected to be submitted.

The Means Test Unit is a nine-member team specially appointed to assess incoming applications from students seeking funding through the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) Programme.

The unit, which has been set up by the Funding and Grants Division of the Ministry of Education, is comprised of one senior investigating officer and eight investigating officers.

Confirming this yesterday, the Division’s Director, Teresa Davidson, assured they were equipped to deal with any eventuality which may arise.

Reiterating that only persons registering from August 2017 would be subjected to the income means test, Davidson said applications continued to be submitted daily online.

However, she was unable to provide an exact number yesterday as to how many applications had been received so far.

Elaborating about the online registration process, Davidson described the system as “user friendly.”

She said it had also improved the processing time for applications, leading to a more efficient and effective service for applicants.

Davidson said the previous system of manual data entry had sometimes led to problems and delays due to wrong spelling, mis-spelling and illegible handwriting.

This way, she said it was the student who would be inputting the data electronically, thereby reducing the margin of error and reducing processing times. Davidson said the GATE office had also set up a system to assist first-time applicants.

Claiming that online registration was now the way of the world, Davidson said this system was akin to that of applying for a US Visa but with a lot less stress and hassle.

She said the only new information that students had to upload when applying now would be the names of the home-owners, their current place of employment and proof of salary.

A check of the GATE website revealed that applicants were required to upload copies of their birth certificate; passport/national ID Card (front and back); deed poll (for name change); marriage/divorce certificate (for married/divorced women); latest result slip; acceptance letter from institution for student pursuing new programme.

For those agreeing to the means test, they are also required to upload additional documents relating to their parents/guardians including salary; employment; government pension; disability grants; NIS; child support; alimony; rental income; allowance; public assistance; and scholarships/bursaries. According to the website, the application process should not last longer than 15 minutes.

Pressed to say whether or not students had expressed any anxieties regarding the new system, Davidson said she was not aware of anything.

Port Authority of T&T (PATT) chairman Alison Lewis says if the process by which the now terminated contract for Ocean Flower 2 was procured was not done above board, she will be the first person to tender her resignation.

In fact, she has no qualms in ordering an independent investigation into the matter to allay public concerns over it either.

Hours after Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan made the announcement of the decision to cancel the deal yesterday, Lewis said if any independent investigation proves her board did not follow proper procurement procedures in awarding Canadian-based ferry service provider Bridgemans Services Group the contract, she will be the first to tender her resignation.

“I have no problems in calling for an investigation. If an independent investigation shows that the board of the Port Authority acted in contravention of any law or we knowingly breached any law, we will walk. I will be the first in line to walk,” Lewis told the T&T Guardian when asked if her board would be willing to call for an investigation to show there was transparency and accountability in the granting of the contract.

In July, the vessel was leased for one year at a daily charter rate of US$26,500 (TT$185,500), but the port terminated the deal with the vessel three weeks late on its July 15 arrival deadline date.

Lewis insisted: “We have done nothing illegal or untoward in the circumstances. We had approvals for everything that we did.”

Her comment came even as fresh information surfaced yesterday about the suitability of the Bridgemans Services Group to undertake the contract.

The revelation led to Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar describing the cancellation as “a scandal of the highest order, which reeks of mismanagement and corruption and warrants a police investigation.”

Persad-Bissessar said it was not enough to simply cancel the contract, as Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley must account to its citizens.

With the T&T Spirit currently in dry dock, the Ocean Flower 2 now out of the picture and T&T Express in dire need of maintenance service, Lewis said PATT was “running a serious risk with respect to the sea bridge.”

Asked when the country would have a replacement vessel, Lewis had no answer.

“I can’t say in one day, three days or a week.”

To fill the void, Lewis said the water taxi and cargo vessel Cabo Star would have to pick up the slack.

“We are going to have to optimise what we have right now.”

Lewis said she expects to face heavy criticism from stakeholders and the public for not providing an efficient service, but said she was used to receiving blows. Stating that from day one the contract had been riddled in bacchanal, Lewis assured that not “one red cent” had been paid to Bridgemans Services for the vessel.

“I don’t know why it is shrouded in controversy. All I can say is that the information we have, including the company’s leases and the attorney’s assertions, were submitted to the Port Authority.”

She said Bridgemans Services is a company that had “the authority to trade and to offer the vessel for the service.” The vessel was offered to PATT and evaluated by the tenders committee and “on the basis of that there was an engagement,” Lewis added.

Asked if PATT did a background check on the company to find out if they provided ferry services, Lewis said, “It was not specifically done with respect to whether it was a ferry service.”

Lewis said a lot of the proposals sent to PATT were not from ferry services, but companies who had ferries, as well as brokers. She also said there was a lot of misinformation and “lies” that have been circulating in the public domain.

Panama inspection

In an interview yesterday on CNC3, Seamen and Waterfront Workers’ Trade Union president general Michael Annisette labelled the decision to end the contract as “fishy.”

Annisette called on Sinanan to justify why port officials engaged in a sea trial of the vessel in Panama over the weekend, if its contract was going to be terminated based on its failure to arrive T&T on time.

“The fact that you are doing a sea trial of a vessel in maritime law rules and regulations is to determine the fitness of the vessel. But you are supposed to do a sea trial before you enter into a contract with the vessel,” Annisette said.

He said the vessel was “stood up and out of service for an extended period of time because work for that kind of vessel is hard and far outside there. The demand for that vessel is not a demand that people are going for, given the age of the vessel, type of engine and design and the inability to source parts.”

In giving an explanation, however, Lewis said two port officials went to Panama as there was a clause in the contract that before a delivery was made an inspection must be done. She said PATT had to look at all the factors before cancelling the contract.

“We had to make an assessment with respect to how soon the vessel could have come here. The contract called for one extension which was August 1. At that point you cancelled the contract or give them a new contract.”

While the latter was an option, Lewis said they stood the chance of facing another late arrival.

“The delay started from the time the vessel left to come to Trinidad. They experienced a lot of difficulty in every port they were sent to. Maybe they were not as organised as they thought they were. On top of all of that they experienced some weather problems.”

Asked if Bridgemans Services will still face a penalty because it failed to meet its obligation, Lewis said: “Well, the legal people are looking at that because Government reserves all its legal rights under the terms of that contract.”

Sinanan yesterday maintained he had full confidence in the port’s board.

“I am still maintaining my fullest confidence in the board in everything that they have done in keeping with proper procedures. I am not seeing anything that could convince me that the board did anything wrong.”

With fresh calls by head of Fixin T&T Kirk Waithe for Sinanan to be fired and for PATT to come clean on the sea bridge fiasco, Sinanan said the “only person who can ask me to resign is the Prime Minister.”

President of the Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce Demi John Cruickshank and president of the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association Chris James promised to hold a press conferences today to raise their concerns about the cancellation of the contract.

DOMA uneasy

The Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (Doma) has expressed “uneasiness” over the cancellation the rental agreement for the Ocean Flower 2.

In a release yesterday, Doma said its members felt that it was incumbent to state with emphasis that this particular episode involving the expenditure of substantial national resources has created unnecessary speculation and even fear that our country’s scarce resources are at risk of mismanagement or worse.

“In our respectful opinion the attention of the highest office holders in the land is required to shine a bright light on this strange and arcane transaction. We can ill-afford on one hand to be asking the national community to accept adjustments in their standard of living if, on the other hand we are not fully prepared to exercise the highest standard of care and attention in the negotiation of contracts and the disbursement of the public’s money,” the release stated.

Peacemaker Darrel Mansingh was tied up and his head almost severed before he was wrapped in a sheet and his body dumped at the side of the road.

The blow to the neck was so severe that it almost decapitated the 19-year-old. The autopsy was done by Forensic Pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov yesterday.

Alexandrov said the teen had his hands tied behind his back and it appeared as though his head was pulled back before the single fatal blow was dealt. It was most likely done with a cutlass. There were no other marks of violence on the body.

Mansingh was reported missing on Saturday when he failed to return to his home in Chase Village, Chaguanas. He had told his mother, Farisha Ali, via phone around 2 am on Saturday that he was leaving Club Kokonuts in Felicity to come home but was never seen again. On Tuesday, his decomposing body was found wrapped in a on Connector Road, Felicity.

Mansingh, of Bhola Trace, Chase Village, was last seen alive liming with friends at the bar when he attempted to quell an argument before leaving in a car with some of the people involved in the disagreement his relative told the T&T Guardian on Tuesday. His body was found after one of the men involved in the fight led police to the scene. 

In a telephone interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Mansingh’s grandmother, Dularie Mansingh, said seeing her grandson’s decomposing body was “the worst thing I ever seen in my life” she added that much of what she had to witness at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, is being withheld from the teen’s mother, who raised him from the age of three.

Mansingh added that her grandson’s head was held to his neck by some skin only. She said the family will make funeral arrangements today.

The Port Authority of T&T and the vice president and partner of Bridgemans Services Group LP, Andrew Purdey, held a secret two-hour long meeting to discuss the cancellation of the controversial Ocean Flower 2 contract.

Purdey travelled from his Vancouver company and arrived here hours after Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan announced the termination of the contract due to its late arrival yesterday.

The vessel was leased in July by PATT for one year at a daily charter rate of US$26,500 (TT$185,500), but the port terminated the deal on Tuesday because was yet to arrive here despite agreeing to getting here by July 15.

Purdey met with deputy PATT chairman Adrian Beharry and port officials, as well as a legal team from the Ministry of Works at 11 am at the Port of Port-of- Spain administrative building for the talks.

GML understands Purdey attempted to salvage the deal by offering the PATT a month-long free trial of the Ocean Flower II to prove the vessel’s worth on the sea bridge.

Contacted yesterday by CNC3 via text message, PATT Alison Lewis, who did not attend the meeting as she is currently on vacation, admitted there was a meeting between both parties “out of courtesy to advise them of the cancellation and that we intend to go back out to tender for a ferry.”

Lewis reminded that PATT still had a contract with Bridgemans for the Cabo Star “and we are managing the relationship and evaluation its performance.”

However, when Lewis was asked in a text message by T&T Guardian if she could confirm or deny Purdey’s visit was hinged on him offering the PATT a one-month free trial of the Ocean Flower on the sea bridge, she wrote “I cannot.”

Purdey had very little to say to a GML team following the meeting. Asked if Bridgemans Services intended to take legal action against the port for terminating the contract, Purdey’s curt response was, “You can speak to the port, they have all the information. Thank you.”

Purdey steered clear of questions on the company’s history, but asked if they has a proven track record, he said: “Absolutely.”

Purdey also said the accusations levelled against his company in the local media “was not accurate.”

However, less than three hours after the meeting, a report by marine website Equasis suggested issues were raised during an inspection of the vessel on July 14. Equasis claimed the US Coast Guard conducted the inspection on the 21-year-old vessel at the Dutch Harbor, Alaska, USA. While the type of inspection was listed as “standard” there was no detention of the vessel.

Asked about possible issues with the vessel arising out of that inspection, Purdey said the information was not factual.

“I think the media down here is crazy. They have so little bearing on the truth. It is interesting how it all evolves,” Purdey said in defence of the vessel.

Also contacted yesterday, Sinanan said he knew the port had a meeting with a representative of the Canadian company but did not get an update.

“I understand that a representative from Bridgemans came down, but I cannot tell you what was the outcome.”

Sinanan also said he had no knowledge Bridgemans had offered to provide service for a month without cost.

“I don’t know anything about that.”

Sinanan said there was talk around that he called the meeting with Purdey, but he vehemently denied this.

“The port called me this morning and told me they have a meeting with Bridgemans Services. These people asked for a meeting with the port, not me. I had nothing to do with that. As a matter of fact, I told them to make sure and carry in their lawyers (from the Ministry of Works) and everybody so they don’t prejudice the Government’s position and our interest is protected.”

He said at no time did he try to or micro manage the PATT, noting it is managed by a board.

Lewis did not response to a text message about the deficiencies outlined, while several calls to Sinanan phone went unanswered. —SH

Former Petrotrin executive chairman Dr Malcolm Jones was an icon who possessed values yearned to  see emulated by young people in this country, said his close friend Winston Rudder yesterday during his funeral service. 

   Rudder delivered the eulogy at the Pro Cathedral of the Lady of Perpetual Help in San Fernando which was packed with people from all walks of life, including Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, members of his cabinet, San Fernando mayor Junia Regrello, prominent businessmen and former politicians. 

Describing Jones as his brother, Rudder said Jones was more than an  outstanding professional chemical engineer or energy bureaucrat. “He was an educator, an inspirer, a mentor,” Rudder said.

 He added, “By the way he lived his life with dignity, humility and integrity, his selfless and outstanding contribution to national development not seduced by the trappings of office, Malcolm symbolised those values we yearn to see emulated by young men and women of T&T, especially today. In my view that makes him as icon.”

He continued, “My dear friend and brother I commend  you for the considerable forbearance and exemplary forgiveness you displayed in the face of shocking adversity and indignity meted out to you in your last days. We do not ask history to be kind to you, rather we ask that the truth be told.” 

However, he said, “I have no doubt that when the history of the energy sector of T&T comes to be written, the significance of the role played by Malcolm Anthony Jones  will be duly recognised.” Also paying tribute to the father of five and grandfather of three, was his sister- in- law, Alison Wong, who described him as humble man, a caring and protective father and a playful and  inquisitive grandfather.

 Wong however, said, “This humble intellect encountered detractors along his life’s journey. Detractors who were always reaching for his jugular trying to shake his sense of purpose.

He felt hurt and betrayed but he didn’t stop loving, he didn’t stop giving as if to say Christ was also betrayed. He was peaceful man, living a peaceful life, making a peaceful exit.” Following the service for Jones who died at Petrotrin’s  Augustus Long Hospital last Friday, the family held a private cremation. 

Relatives of Lorenzo Mc Leod, who police shot and killed moments after he stole a car Wednesday morning, say they had been expecting his death for almost five years,

Speaking with the T&T Guardian at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, Mc Leod’s siblings, Rohan and Gita said their brother’s lawlessness began nine years ago after he stole his first car. Since then he has been in and out of prison for the same offence— larceny of cars.

According to reports, a man parked his car in the garage of his home on St Michael’s Road, Tacarigua at 8.15 pm on Tuesday and went to bed. When he got up around 1.40 am the following day he saw two men pushing his Nissan B15 out of the garage before driving off with it. Moments later the police intercepted the car along St Michael’s Road and a shoot-out ensued. McLeod, 31, was shot and taken to the Arima District Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 3.20 am. A revolver was recovered and his accomplice escaped.

Gita said after her brother’s first offence with the law in 2009 where he stole a car in order to earn cash to purchase his US Visa, the whole family came together to bail him out and offered support. She said when he was arrested a second time she said washed her hands of his lawless behaviour.

The siblings said Mc Leod was an excellent mechanic with the ability to do a diagnostic testing on any vehicle just by listening to it. They said of their parents six children, Mc Leod was the third child and the only involved in a life of crime.

Asked what others may learn from their family’s grief, Gita said: “My advice to parents is to keep talking to their children because it is six of us we are all doing well except for him. To the children I want to say there are always consequences for your actions. If you choose a life of crime then you should expect to die very young, sadly.”

Gita began crying as she said the actions of her brother were very selfish. She said the stress caused by jail visits and court appearance due to the actions of siblings could have a devastating effect on families.

She added that her brother spent so much time locked up that she referred to the Port- of- Spain Prison as “the hotel on Frederick Street” as he would spend almost half the year, every year since 2009 locked up for one offence or the other or sometimes on a warrant for missing a court date while he was locked up.

Gita added that the older siblings had to drop out of school to help support the family and Lorenzo wanted to study mechanics, so he did with his father, a straightener and painter and it was there his love for cars began and evolved. His Facebook page has photographs of several cars as well as himself posing by a Nissan Almera repeatedly. She added that the only thing that she could think of that may have deterred him from a life of crime was to give him her salary each month.

Four more illegal guns have been taken off the streets by police and three men are in custody for the latest seizures.

Police said two men were arrested after officers of the Western Division Task Force seized a revolver in Belmont yesterday. According to a release from the Police Service, officers stopped a Nissan Primera car along the Lady Young Road, during an anti-crime exercise which took place between 11.40 pm on Wednesday and 2.30 am yesterday.

Two occupants, a 32-year-old man and a 42-year-old man, both of Upper Big Yard, Carenage, were arrested after officers discovered a revolver in the vehicle.

Officers of Carenage CID and E999 Rapid Response Unit were also involved in the exercise.

In a separate raid, one man was arrested and a Kel-Tec semi-automatic rifle, a Rossi revolver, a Glock pistol and a quantity of assorted ammunition, were seized in Diego Martin on Wednesday.

Police said they executed a search warrant at the home of the suspect at Tomato Drive, Diego Martin, and detained the 29-year-old suspect.

Investigators said they found the firearms and ammunition behind a refrigerator in the house.

Three years after the death of her mother, Cherisse Lambkin is still trying to get the San Fernando General Hospital to release her mother’s medical records.

Frustrated at a lack of action at the hospital, Lambkin, 29, visited the T&T Guardian’s South Bureau yesterday.

She said on December 4, 2014, she received a call from a nurse at the San Fernando Teaching Hospital, informing her of her mother’s death.

“They said she suffered from cardiac arrest…when my mother was alive she always said she didn’t want anyone cutting her open to do an autopsy, so I carried through with that and did not have one done,” Lambkin said. 

The death certificate given to Lambkin also cited cardiac arrest as the cause of death. But after applying for Nestfield’s medical records to take to the family’s insurance provider in 2014, Lambkin said she began to get a run-around.

“I was told to apply to the hospital for the records. When I went there, they said I needed to pay $37 to a bank account and bring back the receipt. I did all of those things and then they said I would have to wait between four to eight weeks for the records to be processed.”

But it’s been three years, countless trips to the hospital and a lot of heartache for Lambkin.

“I have been trying to move on. Since I left high school, I spent all of my time looking after my mother and I just want an end to this. I need some closure. I never doubted what the doctors said about how my mother died but now I have to wonder.”

Lambkin said she is unemployed as she takes care of her three-year-old son who was born with cerebral palsy. 

“I never worked anywhere, I have my five children and with a son with cerebral palsy, I can’t afford a caretaker so I take care of him myself. I would have used up my money looking after my mother’s funeral arrangements and also looking after my sister’s funeral rites last year. Right now I need that money.”

She claimed there are many other people going through the same ordeal in seeking to access medical records. 

Lambkin made a complaint to the hospital’s Quality Control Department yesterday and was told she would be contacted. 

“I don’t know how much longer this complaint will take to process but I am fed up right now. They need to have some kind of proper system in place to deal with medical records so people can get their documents on time, that department is in a very poor state right now.”

Efforts to contact South West Regional Health Authority Acting chief executive officer, Gail Miller-Meade for comment were unsuccessful.

The Special Reserve Police (SRP) officer whose photographs went viral on social media is now faces possible eviction from her apartment, according to the Police Service Social and Welfare Association.

The association is now calling on acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams to reconsider his decision with respect to the suspension of the officer.

The association said the officer’s landlord is now threatening to evict her.

The photos of the SRP lying on a couch in her police uniform, in what appears to be a seductive position, managed to make its way onto social media last weekend.

The SRP, who was assigned to the Transit Unit, was suspended without pay on Tuesday and has sought legal advice from attorney Christophe Rodriquez.

Yesterday, members of the association confirmed that they have been in discussion with the officer.

After the pictures were published, the association said they would challenge any decision to dismiss her.

President of the association, Insp Michael Seales, said the association would be asking the commissioner to reconsider his decision based on the welfare of the officer.

“She (SRP) is pregnant and is the single mother of a seven-year-old. She has already been threatened with eviction from the landlord and how she would pay the rent and those factors we must consider as an association in our representation of her,” he said.

Seales said the letter, given to the SRP from the acting Commissioner of Police, could only be a constructive dismissal.

“As an organisation the Police Service can do much better than that with the practice of hiring SRPs,” Seales said.

He said the association strongly advocated for the absorption of the SRPs into the permanent staff.

“So when situations like this arise they would be suspended with half pay. She will have no money now and she is a young mother without money and a daughter and in her first trimester.”

Seales said the association is not saying that she should not be punished but not suspended.

He said the person who published the photos should also be punished.

Several attempts made to contact acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams proved futile.

A San Fernando man, who was discharged from the Coast Guard three years ago, was arrested by police after he was caught in possession of a firearm and an estimated $10,000 worth of marijuana yesterday.

Police said the 32-year-old suspect was under surveillance for some weeks. Around 5 am, officers from the Marabella and Mon Repos’ Criminal Investigation Departments, led by Cpl Burke and Cpl Mohammed, swooped down at a house along Robinson Street, Mon Repos, where the suspect was staying.

They found a Glock 19 pistol with 23 rounds of 9 mm ammunition and 297 grammes of high-grade marijuana.

He was arrested and taken to the Mon Repos Police Station where he was being questioned. Checks on his criminal record showed that he had previous convictions for marijuana possession in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The seizure of the gun brought the tally of firearms recovered by Southern Division police to 103 along with over 1,000 rounds of ammunition. In 2016, the Southern Division recovered 170 firearms.

During the same exercise, the officers held a 26-year-old Marabella man, who was wanted on outstanding warrants for firearm-related offences.

The suspect, who was held at his home around 5 am, was being questioned in relation to recent shootings in the Marabella area. The seizure came a day after police recovered nine firearms, including a Russian made assault rifle, a Remington rifle, an Uzi sub-machine gun, six pistols and over 800 rounds of assorted ammunition in Milton Village, Couva.

The cache was found in a bushy area and one suspect was detained.

SAN JUAN—Puerto Rico's education secretary says enrollment at the US territory's public schools this year has dropped by 11 per cent so far compared with the previous year.

Julia Keleher said yesterday that some 317,000 students have enrolled for the new school year, roughly 40,000 less than those registered in May.

Classes are scheduled to start on Monday, and officials expect to have formal enrollment numbers by August 21.

Puerto Rico closed 167 schools over the summer as families continue to migrate to the U.S. mainland to flee a deepening economic crisis. Overall school enrollment has dropped 42 per cent in the past three decades.

Keleher also said she plans to serve as principal of three schools to implement new programmes that she might extend to other schools. (AP)

Puerto Rico's governor says he has signed the first of several deals to renovate some of the 167 schools that closed across the island this year amid an economic crisis.

Gov Ricardo Rossello said Wednesday that several municipalities and nonprofit groups as well as a university are among those that will rent 10 former schools for other purposes. He says some will become Head Start centers while others will serve people with autism and victims of domestic violence.

The organisations will pay $1 in rent.

Nearly 400 schools in Puerto Rico have closed in the past decade as families move to the US mainland to flee the crisis. The vast majority of the buildings remain abandoned.

School enrollment in Puerto Rico has dropped 42 per cent in the past three decades.

A woman and an eight-year-old girl perished in a house fire at Moruga early this morning.

 
Nisha Gopaul, 40 and Aaliyah Primus were among 12 people living in a wooden house at Fifth Company, St Mary's Village. The fire broke out shortly after 2 am.

Photo: Nisha Gopaul

 
Police and fire officials are continuing investigations.

Photo: Aaliyah Primus
 
More as this story develops.
 

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has taken a private weekend trip to Barbados.

This follows a private trip he took to San Souci last weekend with wife Sharon Rowley.

A release from the Office of the Prime Minister today, said Rowley will leave T&T today and will return on Monday.

The release also noted that the travel and accommodation for this trip were paid by Rowley and not the State.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert will act as prime minister until Monday.
 

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Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has appealed to all those responsible for inter-island transport to fix the sea bridge transport woes.

Rowley said this yesterday in a release from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The release follows the termination of the contract for the Ocean Flower 2, a passenger ferry, which was expected to service the inter-island route between Scarborough and Port-of-Spain.

The contract was terminated amid allegations of wrongdoing and repeated delays in the vessel arriving in the country.

Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan and the Port Authority are responsible for inter-island transport.

Rowley asked that efforts be redoubled, without “compromising principles and within all contractual safeguards.”

In an apology to citizens affected by the failure to properly service the route, Rowley described the unsuccessful attempt to find a replacement passenger ferry as a matter of “great disappointment” to him the majority of Tobagonians who rely on the service for their comfort and livelihood.

Rowley said the Government was not unmindful of the plight of citizens and was currently engaged in making all reasonable efforts to remedy the situation in the short term.

“I understand the efforts made by those charged with the responsibility and the particular difficulties which they faced in the process at the time when the port sought a vessel which we all anticipated would have been on the route by this time.”

The Ocean Flower 2 and the Cabo Star, a cargo vessel, were leased from Bridgemans Services Group after the non-renewal of the MV Superfast Galicia in April.

Tobago hoteliers said the inability to provide a reliable sea bridge transport had left a projected $25m in losses. 

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