CHARLOTTESVILLE—A car plowed into a crowd of people peacefully protesting a white nationalist rally in a Virginia college town yesterday, killing one person, sending at least 26 others to hospitals and ratcheting up tension in an increasingly violent confrontation.

The chaos boiled over at what is believed to be the largest group of white nationalists to come together in a decade: the governor declared a state of emergency, police dressed in riot gear ordered people out and helicopters circled overhead. The group had gathered to protest plans to remove a statue of the Confederate Gen Robert E Lee, and others who arrived to protest the racism.

Matt Korbon, a 22-year-old University of Virginia student, said several hundred counter-protesters were marching when “suddenly there was just this tyre screeching sound.” A silver Dodge Challenger smashed into another car, then backed up, barrelling through “a sea of people.”

The impact hurled people into the air. Those left standing scattered, screaming and running for safety. The driver was later arrested. The turbulence began Friday night, when the white nationalists carried torches though the university campus in what they billed as a “pro-white” demonstration. It quickly spiralled into violence yesterday morning. Hundreds of people threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays. At least eight were injured and one arrested in connection.

President Donald Trump condemned “in the strongest possible terms” what he called an “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides” after the clashes. He called for “a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives.”

Trump said he spoke with the governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, and “we agreed that the hate and the division must stop and must stop right now.”

But some of the white nationalists cited Trump’s victory as validation for their beliefs, and Trump’s critics pointed to the president’s racially tinged rhetoric as exploiting the nation’s festering racial tension. The Rev Jesse Jackson noted that Trump for years publicly questioned President Barack Obama’s citizenship.

“We are in a very dangerous place right now,” he said. Right-wing blogger Jason Kessler had called for what he termed a “pro-white” rally in Charlottesville. White nationalists and their opponents promoted the event for weeks.

Oren Segal, who directs the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, said multiple white power groups gathered in Charlottesville, including members of neo-Nazi organisations, racist skinhead groups and Ku Klux Klan factions.

The white nationalist organisations Vanguard America and Identity Evropa; the Southern nationalist League of the South; the National Socialist Movement; the Traditionalist Workers Party; and the Fraternal Order of Alt Knights also were on hand, he said, along with several groups with a smaller presence.

On the other side, anti-fascist demonstrators also gathered in Charlottesville, but they generally aren’t organised like white nationalist factions, said Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The statue’s removal is part of a broader city effort to change the way Charlottesville’s history of race is told. For now, the Lee statue remains. A judge has agreed to temporarily block the city from removing the statue for six months. (AP)

A 27-year-old La Romaine man remains warded in a serious condition at hospital after he was shot during a bar brawl yesterday morning.

According to police reports, around 12.10 am Jahdi Williams and his friend Rydel Ramoutar were liming at the Turning Peak Restaurant & Bar along La Plaisance Road, La Romaine, when the incident occurred.

Police said Ramoutar and three men he knew from the area got into an argument, when one of the men struck him on the face with a bottle.

When Williams attempted to intervene, one of the men whipped out a gun and shot him in his back. The suspect ran off and Williams was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital. No one was arrested up to yesterday.

In another incident, Moruga police are searching for three cutlass-wielding bandits who robbed three Princes Town crab catchers on Friday afternoon.

A report stated that Hendrick Rambharack, 60 and Raegan Lalchan, 45, both of Iere Village, Princes Town, along with Terrence Ali, 44, of Garth Road, Williamsville were hunting for crabs along L’Anse Mitan Beach, Moruga, when they were approached by three men armed with cutlasses.

The men robbed them of mobile phones, a watch, $400 and a pair of Adidas sneakers.

United National Congress (UNC) PRO Anita Haynes yesterday described the Government as incapable of leading the country and criticised Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s decision to go on vacation at time when the latest sea bridge fiasco was troubling citizens.

The PM is on vacation in Barbados this weekend and returns tomorrow.

“The Prime Minister has left at a time when there are serious questions about his Government’s handling of the procurement of the vessels to service the sea bridge, instead of attempting to answer those questions, Dr Rowley apologised while still not accepting responsibility for the debacle,” Haynes said in a press release.

“In one of his first speeches after being sworn-in as Prime Minister, Rowley stated emphatically that the ‘buck’ stops with him, so we must hold him ultimately responsible for this port scandal, particularly because of his refusal to take decisive action.

“An apology before heading off on your seventh vacation and the second one in two weeks is unacceptable. It is clear that Rowley has no interest in representing the people of Trinidad and Tobago.”

Haynes said T&T had been at the mercy of what was described as an “incompetent Keith Rowley administration” for 23 months, during which time she said crime had escalated, the economy “is in shambles” and there have been significant job losses as well as cuts to education and health care.

She said the country could not identify a single thing the Government had achieved after two years of being in charge.

“No one is better off now, we have tightened our belts, we have adjusted our living expenses and still Rowley and his Cabinet are asking us, as a population, to do more while the Government vacations,” she said.

“The population will soon feel the effects of the cuts to GATE, as families will not be able to afford to send their children to school, and the Government has yet to adequately explain how the means test would be implemented.”

She said in the face of all these cuts and the Government’s apparent mishandling of procurement procedures, they were yet to articulate a single item for revenue generation beyond taxes.

A 35-year-old male relative of three-year-old Messi Gorkin is to be charged for the toddler’s death. The relative is to be charged with manslaughter, a release from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) said yesterday.

On July 17, Gorkin’s body washed ashore after he had gone missing during a family outing to Williams Bay, Chaguaramas, the day before.

When Messi went missing around 5 pm on July 16, his family members initially feared he had been kidnapped. In fact, according to police reports, a call was not made to the T&T Coast Guard for help until about 9.30 pm. Shortly after 6 am the following day, Messi’s body was found floating in the waters off Pier 1.

An autopsy conducted at the Forensic Sciences Complex, St James, revealed the toddler died from drowning. His lungs were filled with water.

Following the autopsy Messi’s parents, Atiba Gorkin and Patrice Gibbs, were too distraught and inconsolable to talk about the death of their only child together.

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard yesterday gave instructions to charge the relative with manslaughter.

One month after being released from prison for an alleged attempt to assassinate former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Bryan “Soldier Barry” Barrington was bitten on his penis by a police dog during a search of his Oropouche home. He sued the State as a result of the injury caused by the bite.

However, High Court judge Margaret Mohammed has now dismissed Barrington’s case, stating he “caused his own injury” because of his behaviour. Barrington will have to pay costs to the State, Mohammed has also ruled.

On November 21, 2011, Barrington was detained in connection with an alleged plot to kill Persad-Bissessar, then attorney general Anand Ramlogan and two other members of the People’s Partnership cabinet. He was eventually released without charge on December 5, 2011.

On January 26, 2012, around 6.15 am police executed a search warrant of Barrington’s Partap Trace, Oropouche home. Ten officers from the San Fernando Police Station, including from the Canine Branch with two police dogs, entered his home in search of guns and ammunition.

In his lawsuit, Barrington claimed during the search the officers arrested him and handcuffed him behind his back. Barrington said he was only dressed in boxer shorts and one of the dogs named Tango was released and “allowed to roam freely throughout the house”.

“And while Tango was not restrained he bit (Barrington) on his penis. Therefore it took the police handler approximately three minutes to pry Tango’s jaw from (Barrington’s) penis and to restrain it,” Barrington’s lawsuit stated.

Barrington claimed the police dog handler was negligent. As a result of the bite Barrington said he suffered a laceration to his penis. He received treatment at the San Fernando General Hospital on the day of the incident and claimed that for approximately nine months afterwards he was unable to have sexual intercourse and had severe and continuous pain because the wounds reopened whenever his penis became erect. He claimed he was unable to manage his business, which he said made approximately $4,000 a day every weekend, then closed it down permanently six months after the bite.

The State denied Barrington’s claims of negligence and said his injuries were caused by his own negligence. Tango’s handler, PC Rasheed Mohammed, claimed he specifically warned Barrington and his wife Nadia Baboolal that Tango “had been trained to secure its handler” and that they should “not approach or make any aggressive or sudden actions toward him”, since Tango would view this as a sign of aggression and react.

As the search continued the officers allegedly found some marijuana inside the house and Barrington was handcuffed. The police then began a search of Barrington’s bedroom. Barrington continued acting in a “loud aggressive manner and hurled abuses” the State claimed. During the completion of the search by PC Mohammed and Tango, Barrington advanced toward the officer in an irate manner and Tango gripped him in the crotch. Mohammed immediately jerked on Tango’s correction collar and commanded him to let go, the State claimed. Tango released its grip of Barrington after approximately 30-40 seconds and he was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital for attention.

Justice Mohammed ruled that Barrington failed to take “reasonable care” and as such caused his own injury by failing to heed the warnings from PCs Mohammed and Faraz Kalloo.

This is not the first time Tango, a Belgian Malinois, has gotten himself in trouble. On March 11, 2011, Steve McDonald, 53, from Dow Village, California, lodged a complaint with the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) claiming he was severely bitten by Tango while handcuffed on the ground in police custody. McDonald said that incident occurred on March 9, 2011.

Earlier this year, the State was ordered to pay more than $172,000 to Barrington with respect to the alleged plot to kill Persad-Bissessar and members of her cabinet. He was awarded damages in the amount of $141,121.49 with interest from October 28, 2015, as a result of his lawful imprisonment for 13 days and $30,962 for costs in that matter.

Barrington was represented by attorneys Abdal Ashraph-Baksh and Zeik Ashraph, while Tamara Toolsie and Ronnelle Hinds instructed by Kadine Matthew represented the State.

The Special Reserve Police officer who was recently suspended from her job and was threatened with eviction from her apartment after suggestive photos of her in uniform surfaced on social media, has been offered a job with a matching salary by another employer.

The SRP was suspended last Tuesday pending an investigation into the photographs, which showed the officer lying on a couch in a suggestive position clad in her police uniform. The photographs went viral and an investigation was immediately launched by the Ministry of National Security.

The SRP, who was assigned to the Transit Unit, was suspended without pay and has sought legal advice from attorney Christopher Rodriquez over a media house’s decision to use the photo on its front page.

The Police Service Social and Welfare Association has called on acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams to reconsider his decision with respect to the suspension of the officer.

In making its appeal, the body said the SRP was in her first trimester of pregnancy and a single mother and was also threatened with eviction from her current home by her landlord following the controversy which flared after the photos went viral on social media.

The body says it is hoping they will be able to meet with Williams to address the suspension this week.

In an interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, secretary of the association, Insp Anand Ramesar, said they will be seeking to meet with Williams to get him to make a quick decision.

“He (Williams) indicated he has suspended her and engaged in an investigation to determine if the officer committed a misconduct in relation to those photos.

We are not resisting an investigation into the photographs. We don’t support the process where it was to suspend her,” he said.

Ramesar said there was also no policy for the usage of social media.

“We don’t have a social media policy so the dynamics in relation to the photo and circumstances, it is new grounds, so don’t make her a guinea pig,” he said.

He said the CoP should take the situation on board and try to understand what went on but manage it carefully, noting suspension was not the way. However, he said the SRP had received assistance and was offered employment by a member of the public.

“Somebody offered a job and a salary to match the salary,” he said.

Sports administrators are seeing T&T’s 4x400 metres relay team’s gold medal feat at yesterday’s World Athletics Championships in London as the impetus needed to rise above the country’s social and economic challenges.

With the usually dominant USA and British teams taking their marks at the London Stadium for the Games’ final day yesterday, commentators gave the T&T team of Jarrin Solomon, Jareem Richards, Machel Cedenio and Lalonde Gordon little chance at capturing gold. But by the end of the race the team had shocked the world, as they beat the Americans and the Brits into second and third respectively with the fastest time in the event this year of 2:58.12. Their feat also marked the first time in the country’s history a 4x400 team had earned a gold medal.

As the screams of victory erupted from almost every home and watering hole across T&T, Sports Minister Darryl Smith, who had a lime to cheer on the team, said the victory continues to show that T&T is experiencing its best year in sports.

The victory followed Richards’ bronze medal three days ago in the 200 metres final and para athlete Akeem Stewart’s two gold medals at the World Para Athletics Championships last month, among other accomplishments by local athletes this year.

“We are very proud and we’re just going to continue the success in track and field and all the other sports,” Smith said in an interview with the T&T Guardian.

“I know the people are very happy, the country really needed this. I hope we can use this as a catalyst to raise the spirit of the country, because when it comes to sports and supporting our athletes out there, crime and everything negative stops, especially when we are doing well.”

His view was supported by the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) president, Ephraim Serrette, who said he hoped corporate T&T will see the unity sports brings and lend its support to promoting events that can help curb crime.

“We need to focus and get more young people involved in sports and culture because it is definitely something we can use to fight crime in this country,” Serrette said.

He said what was more exciting for him was that the team was able to overcome the USA, who normally dominates the event.

Like former Olympian Hasely Crawford, he said the local athletes weren’t even mentioned in the same sentences as winners until they crossed the finish line. He said he hoped that now that they had won, the “stay at home coaches and advisers” will now leave the management of the athletes to the trained personnel.

The team was also congratulated on behalf of the country by acting Prime Minister Colm Imbert. In a statement, Imbert said “their performance gave us yet another opportunity to hear our national anthem playing while the red, white and black was raised in victory for the world to see. All the athletes who represented Trinidad and Tobago would have undoubtedly exercised discipline, trained hard and sacrificed much to get to this point and must be commended.”

T&T Olympic Committee president Brian Lewis, who only returned from Rwanda yesterday, just in time to view the race on YouTube, described the performance as inspirational and one that showed tremendous guts and determination.

“You saw it on their faces and the way they ran. They were determined to win the gold and it was captured on the face of Lalonde Gordon as he sprinted towards the finish line,” Lewis said.

He said the difficult economic period the country was experiencing had affected the athletes and sporting organisations. He said it was a fact that the athletes who participated in the Games were not able to access the kind of financial support needed, yet they gave their heart to T&T. He was also in high praise for Richards, who recovered from a shaky start in the 200 metres men’s final to recover and capture the bronze medal.

“I will like us to start looking past the surface level of this victory because it shows a people who are resilient and can overcome anything.”

The T&T delegation will return home today aboard a British Airways flight from London at 3.55 pm. Smith said he and other ministry officials will welcome the athletes at the Piarco International Airport. He said a welcome event will be held for the athletes, but it will not be as elaborate as those held in years gone by because of limited funding. Smith said he will also meet with the Cabinet to discuss what can be done for the athletes going forward.

Officers from the Port-of-Spain CID have recovered some $28,000 in cell phones and other items which were stolen from Buzz Tech in Port-of-Spain on Friday. A 27-year-old San Juan man was also arrested the day after the robbery.

The robber was captured smashing a glass case with a hammer and taking away the items while dressed in a white coverall and with a mask over his face in CCTV footage.

The items were recovered after officers launched an investigation and executed a search warrant and discovered the phones at an apartment on Don Miguel Road, San Juan.

In a separate incident, officers were also able to recover a Kia Rio that was stolen at Erica Street in Port-of-Spain this past weekend. The officers launched an exercise and intercepted the stolen vehicle at Fort Chacon, Picton Road, Laventille. The thieves managed to escape in some nearby bushes.

Investigations are continuing.

In an unrelated incident, sea bathers were prevented from heading towards the beach after a tree fell across the North Coast Road yesterday morning in Maracas. Beach goers quickly posted a video on social media showing the tree blocking the road.

When contacted yesterday, members of the San Juan/Laventille Corporation said there was slippage with the ongoing rains and that the tree was quickly removed from the road.

Although last evening’s welcome for some of the athletes returning from the World Athletics Championships in London was not as grand as previous public receptions, they were warmly embraced by relatives, friends and well-wishers at the Piarco International Airport.

In spite of the absence of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, who is on vacation abroad, and the non-appearance of acting Prime Minister Colm Imbert, Sports Minister Darryl Smith and National Security Minister Edmund Dillion were part of the entourage gathered at the VIP Lounge to specially welcome the group, which included double medallist Jereem Richards and teammates Ruebin Walters, Moriba Morain, Kamaria Durant, Dan-Neil Telesford and Joshua St Clair. (See pages A46 & A48)

However, as he took the podium to speak on behalf of the athletes, Richards, who copped a bronze in the 200 metres and gold with the 4x400 metres relay team, firstly thanked Senator Sophia Chote for an act of kindness. Richards apparently complained about the close quarters in economy he found himself in ahead of the long flight home, noting the possibility he could “cramp up” having run just hours earlier.

But Chote quickly gave up her seat to T&T latest track hero.

“I would like to thank Senator Sophia Chote. Coming back on the plane I got a really bad seat and she offered up her first class seat to me, which I’m very thankful for. After coming from World Championships to sit down in a plane, cramping up, you wouldn’t like to do that for seven hours, so I am very very thankful to Senator Chote,” Richards said of her act, noting it would have been physically impossible for him to manage the flight back if Chote had not acted so generously.

As he addressed the crowd on his and the relay team’s achievements, Richards struggled to hold back tears as he spoke of being “hungry” for success. He dedicated this year to his mother Yvette Wilson, who had struggled as a single parent to ensure he received the best training and was able to attend all his games. Richards said he is due to resume classes at the University of Alabama by August 23, but had to come home and “hug mummy first.” He also attributed his success to God, who he said had heard his prayers and answered the call for him to win.

Fighting back tears as she too praised her son’s hard work and dedication to his craft, Wilson said she never doubted her son would achieve success. Still overwhelmed by her baby’s achievements, Wilson smiled broadly with pride as she listened to people talk about his London wins.

Standing alongside Wilson, Richards’ sister Brittney Richards urged other young people to persevere with their dreams and never give up, as they too could achieve success. She agreed with his girlfriend Kayja Thomson that Richards had gone into the London games with a certain hunger and will to win. Although they remain in a long-distance relationship, Thomson said it took a lot of commitment, time and trust on each other’s part—but they were both spiritually strong and were ready to take on the future as a united entity.

Team TTO manager Dexter Voisin praised the team for their efforts and singled out locals residing there, whom he said provided a consistent level of care and ensured the entire team was taken care of. While he admitted there were issues the team encountered, Voisin said there would be time for that later on and urged the athletes to learn from the experience and push themselves to achieve more in future.

Pressed to say how Government planned to celebrate the team’s gold in the relay and Richards’ bronze, Smith later said it would be discussed at Thursday’s Cabinet session.

Later on Richards and his teammates were welcomed by the sweet sounds of the steelpan and the celebratory antics of the moko-jumbies as they emerged from Arrivals to be mobbed by the small crowd, who jostled with one another for selfies and pictures with their hero. Tourists arriving in Trinidad, unaware of why the celebration had been planned, were also only too happy to be part of the welcoming party which spilled onto the roadway.

The Government yesterday moved one step closer to winding up the operations of the Tourism Development Company (TDC), after the company issued its 111 workers with notices of retrenchment.

The workers received the letters following a staff meeting at TDC’s Maritime Centre, Barataria headquarters.

Addressing media after the distribution of the letters, Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) secretary general Clyde Elder said workers were given 45 days notice of their retrenchment, which ends on September 28.

Elder said: “It means effectively that while they are not asked to report for work after today, they remain employees until September 28. During the notice period they will continue to enjoy all of the terms and conditions of employment that normally apply.”

He noted that the process complied with the Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act and the decisions of the Industrial Court and Court of Appeal, which had both criticised the company over its move to retrench the workers without consulting the CWU earlier this year.

“During the period, the union and the company will engage in discussion with a view to either getting a better package or if we can’t get that at least we will get an assurance that people are going to be transferred into the new entity,” Elder said.

Asked whether the company had indicated the type of severance packages each worker would get, Elder said no.

“We don’t know. What we know is the act provides for two weeks pay for every year service for the first four years and three weeks pay for every year after four years,” Elder said.

While some of the workers bore melancholy expressions on their faces as they cleared their offices of personal belongings and said goodbye to their former co-workers, most were expressionless as they said they had prepared themselves for the eventuality based on Government’s position on the company’s future.

Asked about the workers’ previous concerns over non-payment of salaries for July, Elder said the issue was addressed yesterday following a meeting with Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young last Friday.

“We are confident that if the discussions continue under Young they would be fruitful,” Elder said, as he criticised Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe for her handling of the situation earlier this year.

“She (Cudjoe) met with us once, more or less as a token kind of something, but it was not with the intention of having anything settled. We had one meeting with Young and because of his approach we are able to have a way forward in this situation.”

In March, Cudjoe announced a Cabinet decision to close the TDC and replace it with two separate entities to deal with tourism in T&T. On May 4, however, the CWU applied for the injunction seeking to restrain the TDC from terminating the workers’ contracts until the determination of an industrial relations complaint filed in the Industrial Court over the failure to consult with the union over shutting down the company.

The union had claimed the workers were improperly approached by the company’s management with severance packages before it engaged in talks with the union. The injunction was eventually upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Stakeholders in Tobago are warning Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley that they want no promises from him when he meets with them next week, but want concrete solutions as to how the Government intends to put an end to the dysfunctional sea bridge service which has left them with millions of dollars in losses. They also want to be part of any new process to find a vessel for the inter-island route.

President of the Tobago Chamber of Commerce Demi John Cruickshank yesterday told the T&T Guardian that the Chamber felt the PM’s intervention was “long overdue.” But he said they will attend with “an open mind, and hope we get some serious action from the people who can fix it.”

He said: “We are thankful that the Prime Minister called the meeting, it is something that he should have done a long time ago. He should have taken over the situation from the Port Authority and the Minister of Works and not allowed it to reach this crisis situation.”

He said they also hope the meeting will provide some much needed solutions.

“We don’t want promises. We want to see some serious action from the Government. We want to know are they doing to source another vessel or are they going to fix the T&T Spirit?”

Shortly before heading to Barbados on a private visit last weekend, the Prime Minister apologised to the people of Tobago for the sea bridge fiasco, after the Ocean Flower 2 contract was cancelled. He subsequently set an August 21 date to meet the stakeholders to discuss the problem.

Cruickshank is hoping that in the intervening week, Rowley will get to the bottom of the fiasco and provide some much needed answers.

“We want to know how they arrived at the vessel which they chose and the process by which it was selected,” he said.

Currently, the T&T Express is the lone passenger vessel on the sea bridge and Cruickshank said “we are fearful that if something happens, then we will be seriously cut off with no passenger ferry between Trinidad and Tobago.”

In the past four months since the Super Fast Galicia left he said Tobago’s economy had taken “an enormous beating.”

While the numbers are still to be quantified, Hotel and Tourism Association president Chris James said hoteliers had suffered over $25 million in losses for rooms alone. In the next week the stakeholders will be quantifying and putting numbers together to show the PM and his team just how badly the Tobago economy had been affected.

Cruickshank said the stakeholders will also make it clear to the PM and his team they had no input in the selection of a vessel for the sea bridge although they are the users.

He said, “We will let the Prime Minister know when we met with the board of the Port Authority they requested time to get it right. We let them do their jobs and unfortunately this is what came out of it. We will request from the Prime Minister that we be part of any team being set up to look for a new vessel.”

On the solution going forward, Cruickshank said “our best case is that there is another option other than the Ocean Flower 2, or that we secure parts to repair the T&T Spirit and that this be done within a very short space of time.”

The Spirit has been on dry dock and Cruickshank said while they had been told it would have been back in service sometime in July they had heard nothing more about the vessel. He said it was difficult to understand why if there are two vessels for the sea bridge “we spending US $26,000 a month to lease another vessel.”

Inter-Island Truckers and Trailers Association president Horace Amede is also optimistic a solution will be found once and for all.

“We hope after that meeting they can come to a decision to give us two proper ferries to run between Trinidad and Tobago.”

He said the T&T Express “is limping and taking five hours to make the journey and there are issues with the Cabo Star, we finding roaches and the toilets are not working. We hope all those things will be sorted out properly.”

Like other stakeholders, truckers are quantifying their losses, “which we expect will also run into millions, because when you cut us from 175 vehicles to forty for three months, a lot of guys did not even work because some of the people who they work for did not want to put their goods on the barge to come to Tobago.”

Amede said he did not want to pre-judge the meeting and what the PM will say.

“When we hear what he comes with we will make a definite statement,” he said.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar is describing Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s latest apology for the challenges in getting a replacement ferry for the inter-island sea bridge as “a pathetic attempt at distracting from his incompetence in handling this situation.”

She said more than the “too little, too late” apology, the Prime Minister “must accept responsibility for this debacle,” deal with his Minister of Works and Transport, as well as the chairman and members of the Port Authority of T&T board and 23 months after assuming the mantle of leadership he should call a fresh election. In a release on the issue, Persad-Bissessar said Rowley’s apology “did nothing to comfort the people of Trinidad and Tobago.”

Contending that the problems with the sea bridge started under his tenure, Persad-Bissessar said in the months that followed, “the Prime Minister issued a number of apologies but failed to take any action to correct the problems and bring about a resolution in the interest of the people of this country.”

“Rowley keeps apologising to the nation for the ferry problems and instructing his Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan to fix it, not realising that his minister is the problem,” she said.

According to Persad-Bissessar, “not only did the Prime Minister fail to take action against the reports of possible corruption in the deal for the Ocean Flower 2; he continues to show contempt for citizens, with his latest “summons” to stakeholders to a meeting next week Monday, shortly before proceeding on yet another vacation. It is clear that Rowley does not care about the crisis created by his Government not only on the Tobago ferry, but in every aspect of governance.”

As a result of what she described as “his incompetence and lack of a plan to take the country forward,” Persad-Bissessar said “citizens are suffering. Criminal activity continues unabated, more persons are losing their jobs and only means of income, consumers are reeling from high food prices, and sick people cannot get the medication they need at the nation’s health institutions.”

The former prime minister said “Rowley is clearly not up for the job of Prime Minister, and he should heed the calls to seek a fresh mandate.” In so doing, she said he would give the people “the opportunity to choose a leader and a team with a vision and strategy to return the country to a path of growth and prosperity.”

Some members of the Port Authority of T&T (PATT) and its chairman Alison Lewis were locked in an emergency meeting at the Port of Port-of-Spain over the sea bridge fiasco up to late last night.

The meeting started at 11 am with a stern faced Lewis arriving at 12.10 pm at the administrative building, ducking the media as they asked questions.

It was unclear if all seven board directors attended the marathon meeting, and there was no information on whether Lewis or any of her directors had tendered their resignations or what was discussed behind closed doors.

Of the seven directors, Brandon Primus and Tommy Elias were seen leaving the port after midday yesterday. Elias was escorted out by port police and also evaded the media as his driver sped pass the security’s barrier. Up to 7.15 pm, Lewis’ car was still in the car park.

The meeting followed several calls from various quarters for the board and Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan to resign or be fired following last Tuesday’s cancellation of the contract for the Ocean Flower II. PATT reason for the termination stemmed from Canadian-based ferry service provider Bridgemans Service Group’s failure to get the vessel here by July 17 and technical issues raised by PATT chief engineer Brendon Powder.

Powder had ruled that the Ocean Flower II may not have been suitable to service the sea bridge between T&T because of several mechanical issues and explosion risks identified during the sea trial he conducted in Panama. He instead recommended that the 21-year-old vessel should remain in Colon, Panama, to urgently attend to all repairs prior to it sailing to Trinidad. Powder and a team of PATT officials visited Panama to inspect the Ocean Flower II over the period July 30 to August 6.

Bridgemans vice president Andrew Purdey has objected to the cancellation, saying his company is considering its options going forward.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced he would meet with stakeholders in Tobago on August 21 to discuss the sea bridge debacle and the cancellation of the contract. They include the Tobago Chamber of Commerce, Tobago Hoteliers and Tourism Association, Tobago Truckers Association and Tobago Unique Bread and Breakfast and Self Catering. The release did not indicate if the PATT board was invited.

Lewis did not respond last night to a text message asking what the meeting was about or if anyone on her board, including herself, had resigned. Calls to Sinanan’s cellphone also went unanswered.

A High Court judge will decide today whether the Defence Force can continue to detain two soldiers who are being investigated in a $2 million payroll scam.

Justice Joan Charles reserved her decision on the habeas corpus application yesterday, after hearing submissions from attorneys for the organisation and the two soldiers, a Lance Corporal and Private, who have been detained at its Teteron Barracks, Chaguaramas for almost three weeks.

While the two soldiers were brought to court, dressed in their uniforms, by officers of the Defence Force’s Military Police yesterday on Charles’ request, they can not be identified as they are yet to be charged with any criminal offence.

Presenting submissions of the soldiers’ behalf, attorneys Mario Merritt and Stephen Wilson questioned the length of the investigation which began on July 27 as they described their clients’ continued detention as excessive and unreasonable.

“Any investigation into fraud is by definition shorter than for a violent crime because everything is based on documents that would be in front of you in your office,” Merritt submitted.

Merritt also alleged that his clients were denied their right to consult with their attorneys during the detention.

“I would not like to say how we are involved in the matter because someone would get into trouble,” Merritt said as he alleged that he was contacted by concerned colleagues of the two soldiers.

Merritt suggested that the two men should have been allowed to leave the barracks and could have been rearrested after the end of the investigation.

In response, attorney Ravi Rajcoomar claimed that their continued detention was necessary as the soldiers are required to appear before a Board of Inquiry, which is investigating the alleged fraud, later this week.

Rajcoomar also submitted that because they were soldiers they were subject to military law which allowed them to be detained at their base for an undefined period of time.

“This is an internal defence procedure that can be addressed by complaints,” Rajcoomar said as he noted that neither officer had initiated the complaint procedure afforded to members, who wished to challenge decisions.

Rajcoomar denied Merritt claims that his clients were under closed arrest — ie being confined to a holding cell — instead suggesting that they were under open arrest, where by they are allowed to move freely through the base under supervision.

He also claimed that the delay in the investigation arose because investigators had to consult with several commercial banks to gather evidence.

The two soldiers were detained after the alleged fraud was discovered last month. The T&T Guardian understands that the soldiers are accused of working with a civilian member of staff to receive inflated payments in their salaries between February and June.

When they were first confronted the officers reportedly admitted to seeing inflated sums in their accounts and withdrew the money without knowing its source.

The T&T Police Service is conducting a parallel investigation into the incident.

A single-father who left his two-year-old son alone at home to get something for the child to eat was scolded by a magistrate when he appeared in court charged with child neglect.

Micheal Harewood claimed he left the child asleep at his Pemberton Street, La Romaine home without supervision but police found the child wandering along the street by himself.

Harewood, 36, a taxi driver, was charged with negligence by PC Quinton Cupid of the Southern Division Task Force.

The charge stated that on Sunday at Pemberton Street, La Romaine, being the parent of the child, he neglected the child in a manner likely to cause the child suffering or injury to his physical, mental or emotional health.

Relating what happened, prosecutor Cleyon Seedan said around 6.10 pm Cupid and other police officers were on mobile patrol duty along Pemberton Street when he saw the child walking along the road without anyone accompanying him.

When Cupid approached the child and asked him his name he did not answer. Further inquires led Cupid to the home of the child’s mother Vanessa Mohammed who told him the child was staying with his father for a period of time.

Cupid called the father on his cellphone and a short time after the father arrived at Pemberton Street. When told that his son was found wandering alone on the road, he said, “I leave him sleeping for less than an hour.”

Harewood’s attorney Ainsley Lucky said his client “left the infant for 20 minutes. He left the child asleep in the house and he elected to step out and pick up some food for the child.”

“So you left a two-year-old unattended?” magistrate Alicia Chankar asked.

“Do you know how many things could happen in 20 minutes?”

Harewood said there was another tenant in the yard, but not in his home. The father, who has two other children from another relationship, said his son stays with him and he sends him to a daycare. “I do everything for him,” said the father.

However, the magistrate said, “He owes a duty of care for the child, yet he leaves a two-year-old unattended and alone in the house. The child has time to get up, open the door, go outside and reach (on the road),” she said.

Harewood was placed on three-year bond in the sum of $5,000 to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.

Maxi taxi drivers assigned to transport primary and secondary students are threatening to withhold their services if some $12 million owed to them for the past four months are not paid before the end of this month.

The new school term opens in September and any disruption in transport services can result in chaos for thousands of students.

Members of the Association of Maxi Taxi School Transport Concessionaires of Trinidad who protested outside the Education Ministry at St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain yesterday said they are struggling to make ends meet, so much so that financial institutions have threatened to repossess their vehicles, which for many of them are their only means of making a livelihood.

Sixty-year-old Stanley Cummings, of Point Fortin, said he recently bought a new 22-seater maxi to transport school children and has not been paid for the past three months.

He said the insurance for a year is $42,000 and the monthly instalment is close to $10,000.

The father of three children ages 13, 16 and 21 who is also the sole breadwinner said his future looked “very bleak.”

“I am very concerned because my instalments keep piling up and at any moment my maxi could be repossessed. What is my position then?” Cummings asked.

Harold Codrington, another driver, said he his application for a credit card was turned down by a commercial bank owing to the inconsistent payments from the ministry.

“I have a daughter studying law in Barbados and I have to pay her fees and I don’t know where I’m getting the money to do that. The inconsistent payments are making it very difficult to do anything,” Codrington said.

Carrying placards which read, “No $, No Fuel” and “We earned our money, Can’t get it,” members of the association complained that they were being treated with “disdain.”

The association’s president Rodney Ramlogan said some 36,000 school children from remote areas like Icacos are transported from their homes to schools and back daily.

“There are more than 350 concessionaires who are attached to the maxi taxi school transport system and when they are not paid on time at least 350 families are placed in difficult financial situations.

“Concessionaires have been providing and efficient and effective service for school children in rural and suburban communities in Trinidad from areas stretching Cedros to Guayaguayare to Matelot and the whole of Central Trinidad,” Ramlogan said.

He said the money is supposed to be paid on a fortnightly basis but in many cases, payments for the first quarter take as long as two months to be issued.

“A big maxi the fee for a fortnight would be $7,000 and a small maxi $4,000. If we don’t get our money then we would not be able to go out to work come September,” Ramlogan said.

EDUCATION MINISTER TO VERIFY CLAIMS

Contacted on the matter, Education Minister Anthony Garcia said measures were being put in place to ensure payment could be made to the maxi taxi operators.
Garcia could not verify the $12m debt, saying, “We have to do a complete review of this whole system. While we recognise that the maxi taxi drivers perform yeoman service there are some grey areas we need to clear up. “For example, we do not have an accurate account on the exact number of students who they transport on a daily basis.
We want to liaise with the schools so that they would give us a figure with respect to the number of students who they had approved to travel with the maxi taxis because approvals must come from the schools,” Garcia said.
He said the school principals would determine which students were in need of the maxi taxi service. A statement issued by the Ministry of Education stated that the Public Transport
Service Corporation was currently processing payments. Part of the outstanding debt was paid on August 3, the ministry stated. Garcia said that efforts are being made to expedite the process.

Almost a month after his three-year-old son drowned during a family outing in Chaguaramas, a 35-year-old man from East Port-of-Spain appeared in court charged with manslaughter.

Atiba Gorkin, of George Street, Port-of-Spain, was granted $75,000 bail when he appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Maria Busby-Earle-Caddle in the Port-of-Spain Magistrate’s Court on the charge of unlawfully killing his son Josiah “Messi” Gorkin on July 16.

Dressed in a grey T-Shirt and a pair of jeans, which he had to hold at the waist as the button had burst on his way to court, Gorkin stood silently in the prisoner’s enclosure with his head bowed for the duration of the hearing. Police prosecutor Insp Winston Dillon objected to bail as he called on Busby-Earle-Caddle to consider the seriousness of the offence and the prisoner’s criminal record, which included two convictions for marijuana possession.

Dillon also alleged that Gorkin should be remanded as he may attempt to intimidate witnesses at his eventual trial. The allegation sparked an outburst from Gorkin’s relatives and friends who were seated at the back of the court. “If you don’t know how to behave in this court, then you can not attend,” Busby-Earle-Caddle said as she ordered the group of angry relatives to maintain their composure. However, their protests continued outside the courtroom after Gorkin’s case was adjourned.

“What they trying to say that he will threaten us not to testify. That is madness,” one female relative said as she was restrained by another relative.

Gorkin’s lawyer Samuel Thomas objected to the prosecutor’så allegations as he claimed that there was no evidence that he (Gorkin)å would tamper with witnesses.

“My client is still in a state of bereavement. He is still grieving and is in shock over his son’s death,” Thomas said. Thomas said Gorkin, an employee of the Port-of-Spain City Corporation, was the sole breadwinner in his family and had two more children, ages 12 and seven.

“He is seeking counselling for the tragic predicament he has found himself in. He is experiencing double jeopardy of having lost his son and now having to face this charge,” Thomas said.

Josiah went missing during a family lime at Williams Bay, in Chaguaramas on July 16.

His family initially believed that he had been kidnapped but the child’s body was found floating off the coast of Williams Bay, Chaguaramas, the following day.

Gorkin was questioned by police after the incident and was arrested last week as police completed their investigation. Gorkin made headlines during the State of Emergency in 2011 when he was among a group of two dozen residents of his community who were charged with being gang members under the controversial Anti-Gang Act. Gorkin and his neighbours were eventually freed after Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard discontinued the charges against them.

Gorkin will reappear in court on September 11.

An international company, with operations in T&T, has offered employment to the Special Reserve Police ( SRP) officer who has been suspended after suggestive photos of her in her uniform surfaced on social media.

The SRP was suspended last week Tuesday pending an investigation into the photographs which showed her lying on a couch in a compromising position. The Police Social and Welfare Association also said she faces possible eviction from her home as her landlord is said to be embarrassed over the leaked photos.

The officer, who had been assigned to the Transit Unit, was suspended without pay. She has since retained attorney Christopher Rodriquez to represent her.

She is said to be in the first trimester of pregnancy and is a single mother.

Sources said yesterday, over the weekend an international company stepped in and offered her a job with matching salary.

However, the source did not want to disclose which company made the offer or what was the offer of employment.

Meanwhile, her fellow colleagues at the Transit Unit claimed there was mixed reaction over her suspension.

“Where you work in any place people will like you and some won’t like you,” one of the officers said yesterday.

After the decision to suspend the officer from duty, the association called on acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams to reconsider his decision.

The association claimed there were no rules or regulations or policy for the usage of social media.

Members of the association said the commissioner is currently out of the country and that they were still waiting to meet with him this week to address the issue.

When contacted yesterday, Head of Corporate Communications of the Police Service, Ellen Lewis, said the matter was an ongoing investigation.

Communications manager of the Ministry of National Security Marcia Hope said the ministry was collaborating with the police who were conducting the investigation.

An international company, with operations in T&T, has offered employment to the Special Reserve Police ( SRP) officer who has been suspended after suggestive photos of her in her uniform surfaced on social media.

The SRP was suspended last week Tuesday pending an investigation into the photographs which showed her lying on a couch in a compromising position. The Police Social and Welfare Association also said she faces possible eviction from her home as her landlord is said to be embarrassed over the leaked photos.

The officer, who had been assigned to the Transit Unit, was suspended without pay. She has since retained attorney Christopher Rodriquez to represent her.

She is said to be in the first trimester of pregnancy and is a single mother.

Sources said yesterday, over the weekend an international company stepped in and offered her a job with matching salary.

However, the source did not want to disclose which company made the offer or what was the offer of employment.

Meanwhile, her fellow colleagues at the Transit Unit claimed there was mixed reaction over her suspension.

“Where you work in any place people will like you and some won’t like you,” one of the officers said yesterday.

After the decision to suspend the officer from duty, the association called on acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams to reconsider his decision.

The association claimed there were no rules or regulations or policy for the usage of social media.

Members of the association said the commissioner is currently out of the country and that they were still waiting to meet with him this week to address the issue.

When contacted yesterday, Head of Corporate Communications of the Police Service, Ellen Lewis, said the matter was an ongoing investigation.

Communications manager of the Ministry of National Security Marcia Hope said the ministry was collaborating with the police who were conducting the investigation.