Kingstown —

In fact, the Jamaica Observer has learnt that the Bill, titled “A Bill to Absolve National Heroes and Freedom Fighters of Criminality” will not only absolve Marcus Garvey, Paul Bogle and George William Gordon as national heroes, but others, including a fourth national hero, Sam Sharpe, and dozens of freedom fighters, including Tacky.

“It is part of our thrust to right the wrongs and clear the names of our freedom fighters,” Grange said last night as she announced plans for today’s celebration of the 130th anniversary of the birth of Garvey, Jamaica’s first national hero.

Garvey was sentenced to prison locally in 1929 after he made a political speech in which he referred to corrupt Jamaican judges. This followed the confiscation of property owned by the Universal Negro Improvement Association, which he founded, on the orders of the chief justice.

This followed Garvey’s deportation to Jamaica from the United States in November 1927 after being imprisoned in Georgia, USA, on mail fraud charges. It was also after he was elected councillor for the Allman Town Division of the Kingston and St Andrew Council (KSAC) in 1929.

Garvey became founder of Jamaica’s first modern political party, the People’s Political Party (PPP), in September 1929.

Despite the tribulation which led to Garvey losing his council seat that year, by 1930 he was re-elected, unopposed, to the KSAC along with two other members of the PPP.

In 1931 he launched Edelweiss (Park) Amusement Company in Kingston as the platform for Jamaica’s fetal entertainment industry, with names like Kid Harold, Bim & Bam, Ernest Cupidon, and Ranny Williams.

He left Jamaica for London in 1935, where he lived until his death in relative obscurity in 1940.

In 1987, then Prime Minister Edward Seaga, who was instrumental in having Garvey remains returned to Jamaica and buried at National Heroes’ Park and made him Jamaica’s first national hero in 1969, also piloted a decision to pardon him from the criminal sentence in 1929.

There has been concern over the need to include Garvey among the heroes who will be absolved under the new Bill, since he had been pardoned.

However, there has been concern that while the pardon may have relieved him from the embarrassment of his imprisonment, “it did not relieve the pain of his conviction”.

The new Bill will include provisions to remove the names of all “freedom fighters” associated with early anti-slavery leaders, including Bogle, Sharpe, Tacky, and Nanny, from the records as criminals.

This year’s celebration of the anniversary of Garvey’s birth will start this morning with the formal wreath-laying ceremony at National Heroes’ Park starting at 8:00 followed by a civic ceremony hosted by the St Ann Municipal Corporation at Lawrence Park, starting at 4:00 pm and the annual Marcus Garvey Lecture at Liberty Hall in downtown Kingston.

Activist Wendell Eversley is calling for the resignation of Works & Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan. He is doing so by walking from the Arima Dial to the ministry at Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain.

He is also inviting members of the public to walk with him on August 30.

Eversley posted his invitation on social media yesterday saying it was time “we stand up for T&T.”

The post read: “This is a serious question. I want no jokers, I am going to do a walk from Arima to the Ministry of Works calling for Minister Rohan Sinanan to go. All who joining in this walk. No jokers. We must send a message, it’s time we stand up for T&T.”

In an interview yesterday, Eversley said: “Rohan Sinanan has to go, the Minister of Works has to go. I am calling on him to step down. I am walking from the Arima Dial on August 30 to the Ministry of Works at Richmond Street in Port-of-Spain.”

Eversley said he did not care who joined him but things needed to change.

“I don’t care who walking. It is time we stand up for Trinidad and Tobago we can’t allow tax payers money going from past regime to present regimen. This present attorney spent money on pre-action protocol letters and to date no one has been brought before the court,” he said.

He lamented that the state of the judicial system needed to change.

“The judiciary in a mess. Opposition senators calling on Chief Justice (Ivor Archie) to go when they have a question behind they head. We only hearing about who is the better thief between Opposition and the present Government,” he said.

“The PNM has lent millions to Clico, people losing their jobs, mothers crying they can’t buy school books. The air bridge and sea bridge in a mess. The fiasco with the fast ferry and rumours concerning the ownership of the vessels. I have no confidence in a one-man investigation with a man with no power.”

“So no one has to go before him (investigator) and he can’t compel nobody to go before him. Hundreds spent on commission of enquiries and no one is before the court,” he said.

Eversley said it was time the country brought public officials and politicians to answer for tax payers money and people suffering.

“If he (Sinanan) don’t tender his resignation, I will do a 30-day fast in the ministry from 6 am to 6 pm,” he said.

When contacted, Sinanan said he did not wish to comment about Eversley.

Roxborough police and fire officials are probing the cause of a fire which destroyed the Goodwood home of a pensioner last Saturday.

According to police reports, Esme Felix-Pearsall, 79, secured her home and left for Trinidad around 5 am. Around 7.20 on the same day, the occupant of the lower floor of the house also secured his apartment and left the premises. However, around 10 am a neighbour saw the two-storey house on fire and contacted the Fire Service.

Fire officials say when they arrived on the scene the entire upper floor was engulfed in flames. The entire upstairs portion was destroyed while the downstairs portion suffered water damage. Losses were estimated at $1,125,525 but the house was not insured.

Up to yesterday, the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained as the investigation was said to be inconclusive

When Tobago Today visited Felix-Pearsall on Monday, she alleged arson was the reason she lost her home. She said she believed it was connected to a matter she had in the court.

“I was in Trinidad when the incident happened. I was on my way to Diego Martin for a thanksgiving when the Mother of my church called and told me. She received a call that my house was in flames. I really thought it was a prank…,” she said.

But Felix-Pearsall said she is a resilient person and is planning to rebuild her home. She is also asking for assistance from those in authority

“I am not going nowhere. This has to fix up. The house isn’t insured, but whatever I have I would put towards it to make myself happy as ever. All I need help to do is clean, so the water would stop dripping, but I’m open to any help if they want to give it to me,” she said.

The cause of the fire has not yet been ascertained. Investigations are continuing.

Amid accusations that he has improperly tried to direct a constitutional commission, president David Granger said he had asked for a delay in police promotions to address complaints that have been made against law enforcers.

The constitution insulates the Police Service Commission (PSC) and similar bodies from being directed by anyone but critics said that was exactly what the president did when he had Minister of State Joseph Harmon write to the PSC and asked that the police promotions be put on hold.

On Wednesday, a statement from the Ministry of the Presidency reported the president as saying that there have been many legitimate complaints by members of the PSC and aggrieved police officers of abuse and malpractice in the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and it is for this reason that he has asked for the promotion of police officers to be delayed.

(Stabroek News)

A 12-year-old primary school pupil appeared in court yesterday charged with the unlawful killing of 15-year-old Emmanuel Okeiro.

He was granted $75,000 bail and released in his mother’s care.

The Standard Five pupil of Freeport Presbyterian School appeared in the Couva Magistrates Court along with 18-year-old Nathanael Titis who was charged with murdering Okeiro.

Okeiro was reported missing to the police by his mother on August 10 after he failed to return home. He had gone outside the Bethel House of God Church, in Freeport, to sell produce.

The following morning the police found his body floating in a river to the back of the church.

An autopsy revealed Okeiro was stabbed 15 times on the neck, face and scalp.

However, it concluded that Okeiro drowned.

The young accused, who had been in police custody for six days, appeared separately before Senior Magistrate Suimongal Ramsaran.

The 12-year-old boy of Freeport was represented by attorney Kiev Chesney who made an application for bail.

The magistrate approved the child’s mother as surety.

This means that the boy would have left the courthouse with his mother yesterday once she signed the relevant court documents and she would be responsible to ensure he attends court.

Meanwhile, Titis who was represented by attorney Alvin Pariagsingh will have to stay behind bars until the completion of the matter as murder is not a bailable offence.

Titis who just completed school was remanded into custody.

The matter was adjourned to September 14.

A Rio Claro construction company has been ordered to pay a former employee $350,000 in compensation for injuries the woman sustained to her knee when she stepped in a hole while carrying 25 pounds of cable through swampy lands.

Jurine Joseph, of St Mary’s Village, Moruga, was awarded the sum by Master Marissa Robertson after she was successful in her claim against the company, Balou Engineering, Construction & Maintenance Ltd. She was represented by attorney Robin Ramoutar.

Joseph, 37, who has suffered 34 per cent disability as a result of the injury was working with the company as a labourer on September 17, 2010, when the incident took place.

Joseph, along with other employees, were directed to manually transport cables through swampy lands covered in about two feet of water at Ackbar Trace, Avocat Road, Fyzabad where testing was being done for oil and gas. The cables were partially around her neck and torso and supported on her shoulder. The cables were an inch-thick and weighed about 25 pounds.

In her witness statement, she said, “As I continued walking along with the cables about me, my feet suddenly went down into a hole and I fell with the cables about me. I immediately felt something crack in my left leg and felt a severe shooting pain in my left leg. I cried out in pain and co-workers nearby came to my aid. They lifted me out of the hole and carried me to where the vehicles were located. I was then transported in the vehicle to base camp which was located at Forest Reserve. I was in excruciating pain all the way.”

She said a nurse put a bandage on her knee and she was then taken to the Gulf View Medical Centre where she was examined by a doctor and discharged. However, she eventually had to seek care at the San Fernando General Hospital after the pain persisted and was told she suffered injuries to the ligaments in her knee. Joseph said subsequently underwent physiotherapy and surgery. She said she was told by a specialist that she will develop osteoarthritis by the time she is 45 years old.

Joseph said she will also require knee replacement surgery which will cost approximately $155, 624.18 when she turns that age. She said since the incident she has been unable to work.

Joseph said she has also been on medication over the past six years to help her cope with the pain.

A High Court judge has ordered the release of a Nigerian man, who was scheduled for deportation whilst having cases pending for drug trafficking.

Delivering an oral judgement in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday morning, Justice Joan Charles ruled that the Immigration Division acted illegally in February, when it sought to deport Christopher Odikagbue for entering the country illegally almost a decade ago.

Charles ruled that the division should have waited for his appeal and pending trial for two charges of cocaine trafficking before it had taken the steps to deport him.

“A dangerous precedent would be set which would undermine the rule of law and the administration of justice. He is entitled to challenge his conviction and for his trial to be heard,” Charles ruled.

As part of her judgement, Charles said Odikagbue can be released after he pays a $50,000 security bond and purchases a return ticket to Nigeria. She also ordered the division to place him under a supervision order pending the determination of his cases.

Charles said that if Odikagbue was deported without the cases being determined, it would be almost impossible for him to apply to return to this country to be with his Trinidadian wife and two children in the future.

In deciding on the case, Charles agreed with his attorneys that he would not be a flight risk if allowed to stay in T&T.

“He has been attending his matters. It is in his best interest to exhaust his legal options and his chance of absconding is relatively low,” Charles said.

She had also ruled that the division had failed to adduce evidence over which she could concluded that Odikagbue had high likelihood of re-offending if he was left in T&T.

According to the evidence in the case, Odikagbue entered T&T through an unknown port of entry in October 2007. He was arrested and charged with the offences while going through the process of obtaining residency through his wife and children.

He was detained by Immigration officials in February over his illegal entry and his criminal charges and was placed before a Special Immigration Tribunal, which ordered his deportation.

Odikagbue, who has been detained at the Immigration Detention Centre in Aripo since his arrest, was not brought to court for the hearing.

A judiciary employee who allegedly made a false report to the police of being raped by a taxi driver has been granted $10,000 bail on a charge of wasting the police time.

Wendy Isahark, 45, a telephone operator at the San Fernando Magistrates Court pleaded not guilty when she appeared before Princes Town Magistrate Nalini Singh.

According to the charge, Isahark went to the Barrackpore Police Station on Tuesday where she reported that she boarded a taxi in Princes Town and the driver took her to an area and raped her.

The driver was arrested, but when the police conducted further enquires they ended up arresting her and releasing the driver after they allegedly found no evidence to substantiate her allegation.

She was charged by Cpl Nanan with causing wasteful employment of police time by making a false report that she was raped.

Isahark, a mother of one, of Lengua Village, Princes Town was granted bail by a Justice of the Peace at the police station on Wednesday night.

Attorney Subhas Panday, who represented Isahark, together with attorneys Petronilla Basdeo and Kiran Panday, said his client was not a flight risk.

Prosecutor Sgt Shazeed Mohammed confirmed the accused had no previous convictions or pending matters.

He did not object to bail. She was granted new bail and allowed to leave the court after she signed her bail documents.

Isahark has to return to court on August 24 when the prosecution is expected to provide disclosure.

Errol Lawrence, of Lawrence Trace, Bagatelle Road, San Juan, was at home watching television around 10.10 pm when he heard a strange noise coming from the upstairs, which is sometimes used by his grandson.

Recounting the incident when a Guardian Media news team visited the property yesterday, Lawrence said: “I opened my door thinking it’s my grandson but when I come outside I saw it was a man dressed in black. I call out to him but he didn’t even look back. He just jump the wall and start to run down the track.”

He said when he turned around to return inside the house he noticed that the house was on fire.

“I never bawl so in my life,” Lawrence said as he broke down in tears while staring at the charred ruins of his family home built by his father in 1962.

He said that neighbours were alerted by his screams, contacted the Fire Service, and came to his assistance.

With their help, the part-time vehicle auto-body repairman managed to salvage a customer’s vehicle which was parked in his garage before the fire spread.

Fire officers from the San Juan Fire Station arrived on the scene within minutes and managed to extinguish the blaze before it spread to neighbours’ home. They were unable to save Lawrence’s home and his belongings, which were almost completely destroyed or rendered useless after smoke and water damage.

Fire investigators visited the property yesterday and confirmed that the fire was as result of arson.

Lawrence suggested that the arsonist may have targeted his grandson as the fire started in his room.

“This man didn’t come from Toco or Matelot. It had to be somebody in the area,” Lawrence said.

“If he had a problem with my grandson he could have look for him. Why they had to do a poor old man this?

“People say at least you could rebuild but at my age it hard because I have nothing,” he said as he pointed to a meagre pile of clothing— the only items he managed to save from the fire.

Members of the public who wish to provide assistance to Lawrence can contact him at 378-1615. Investigations are continuing.

A ruptured four-inch WASA pipeline literally washed away remedial works done on a landslide in Coromandel Village, Cedros, creating a gaping hole across the main road.

Commuters, however, were not affected as traffic was diverted through alternative routes which were being used while the Ministry of Works was repairing the landslide.

Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said the landslide was caused by a leaking WASA line which undermined the area. “WASA did temporary repairs today and is expected to complete repairs tomorrow. Once that is done we (Ministry) will start our repairs. We are on it.”

Cedros councillor Shankar Teelucksingh said the landslide along the Southern Main Road was developed months ago and the ministry was doing remedial works.

“They (Ministry of Works) were in the final stage of the road preparation, apparently the road was opened, and on Wednesday night, a WASA four-inch pipeline was ruptured, creating a bigger landslide. About three-quarter of the roadway was lost.”

He said the Siparia Regional Corporation, WASA and the Ministry teams worked throughout the day yesterday trying to create a single lane to make it passable to vehicular traffic.

“It is about 90 per cent completed so I expected by 6.30 pm the road should be reopened to single lane traffic,” said Teelucksingh.

However, Teelucksingh said apart from that landslide there are about four other major landslides along that road between Cap-de-Ville junction and Icacos.

“We are seeing a long struggle after we got a major one at Chatham being repaired. Repairs started a month ago,” said Teelucksingh, but he added, “Nothing is being done at this point in time about the other landslides.”

Teelucksingh appealed to the authorities to also repair those landslides as fast as possible.

Acting Attorney General Stuart Young yesterday questioned why Opposition Senator Gerald Ramdeen was delaying the possible passage of two packages of legislation that would help in the fight against crime and criminal elements.

Young raised the issue at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s, saying that since August 4, 2017, he had sent Ramdeen two separate packages containing draft/proposed legislations to tackle the anti-gang legislation and zones of special operations and community development that exists in Jamaica. But to date, Young said he had not received a response from Ramdeen and wondered his reason for the delay.

Young said the packages were sent to Ramdeen following the July 18 meeting between Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Persad-Bissessar, where they held productive discussions.

Among the items that arose in those discussions between both leaders, Young said, was the promise that the Attorney General would share certain proposals and draft legislation with the Opposition “in the area of anti-gang legislation.” Rowley also promised to provide the Opposition with statistical data.

On August 4, Young said he wrote to Ramdeen informing him of the two packages, one which dealt with zones of special operations and community development similar to what exists in Jamaica.

“The Government in Jamaica only has a one-seat majority that allows the Prime Minister, on the advice of certain elements of the Jamaica defence force and police force, to declare certain zones …. zones where it would be akin to giving them unique powers to go in and cordon off those zones and do certain things.

“We have proposed this to the Opposition as a discussion piece and as a part of a hope that we could have a conversation with the Opposition, as another way or method for conversation as to how to deal with crime and criminal elements,” Young said.

He said they invited the Opposition to tell them what difficulty they were having with the anti-gang legislation, so they can work together to come to Parliament, hopefully with pieces of legislation that would be consensual.

“That took place at the beginning of August. We have asked Senator Ramdeen to provide us with a response, as to how they would want to meet or in writing the proposals by the beginning of this week.”

To date, Young said they have heard nothing from the Opposition.

“We have not even received a letter of acknowledgement.”

In light of the Opposition’s failure to respond, Young said Rowley wrote Persad-Bissessar yesterday, setting out a seven-page spread sheet of some of the anti-crime and non-legislative operational initiatives undertaken by the various ministries and Government agencies in the fight against crime in T&T that would pave the way for productive discussions for the benefit of citizens.

“I trust that the Attorney General and the Minster of Legal Affairs will hear from the Opposition shortly as to what proposal it has with respect to the pieces of legislation provided,” Rowley wrote in his letter.

However, in an immediate response Ramdeen shot back at Young, saying the packages he received contained several bills. He said while some of the legislation was “draconian, it does not mean we would not support it. What we want to ensure is that there is proper balance between security of the State and the rights of citizens before advancing suggestions to the Government as to whether the Opposition is prepared to support the pieces of legislation.”

Asked if the Opposition would meet the Government now, Ramdeen said that decision lies in the hands of Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

“We are actively considering all the draft pieces of legislation. And we are actively considering how these pieces of legislation will affect the criminal justice system. These things must take time. He (Young) forget the Parliament is on recess. The last time I check it is the Government that must propose legislation and pass it in Parliament and the Opposition will support it or not.”

Ramdeen said the passage of legislation would not solve the problem unless the fundamentals in the criminal justice system are addressed.

“Fundamental to that is weeding out the corrupt police officers, fixing the Forensic Science Centre and ensuring that matters can go through the courts in an efficient manner.”

Ramdeen also maintained the Government has never invited the Opposition to a meeting to discuss the issues at hand.

kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt

With the crashing sound of her roof being ripped off and glass splinters piercing her skin, Alana Mayers rushed to cover her three-month-old daughter Anneisha as what she described as a “twister” swept through the community of Aripero yesterday.

When the danger had passed, the baby was fast asleep but residents held their hands on their heads as they witnessed the damage to their homes.

Mayers’ home was just one of many that suffered nature’s wrath in Aripero and Rousillac yesterday. By evening, chairman of the Siparia Regional Corporation (SRC), Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh had estimated that 14 homes were affected. However, they had not reached all areas.

Mayers, who was staying with her cousin Kevin Peters, suffered not only the loss of their roof, but damaged appliances, soiled clothes and furniture as heavy showers beat down. Recalling the frightening experience, Mayers said she was mixing baby formula when she suddenly heard a whistling sound.

“I just started to see the pole fall and the whole roof rip off. It was just a strong breeze and rain came. The window mash up and everything started to pelt. The glass pane shattered and cut my hand. I just grabbed the baby and hugged her until it was done,” Mayers said.

They were expected to huddle together at her aunt’s home last night.

After the ordeal, Mayer’s friend Kimlan Anderson became disoriented. Anderson returned home to find that several galvanize sheets from her roof had also blown off.

So strong were the winds that Elvis Harrichan’s roof was lifted off his apartment and thrown onto T&TEC high tension wires, causing damage to the transformers. Electricity was cut off, but T&TEC linesmen were working to repair the damage up to late afternoon.

Harrichan said the sudden change in the weather began around midday when he saw debris, leaves and coconut branches circulating in the air. As it gained strength, he saw his roof just ripped off. In Poptee Trace, Rousillac, Lenora Charles, 69, panicked when galvanize sheets blew up and her entire house was flooded.

Ramadharsingh said the Disaster Management Unit of the corporation was assessing the damage and that food supplies and mattresses would be given to the residents.

He said the National Commission for Self Help and other social services will be sought on behalf of the residents.

Education Minister Anthony Garcia says students performed better in this year’s Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (Cape), the results of which are expected to be released today.

A total of 8,140 students sat the exams, of which 4,750 were female 3,390 male and Garcia said 95.06 per cent of the students achieved acceptable Grades 1 to 5 in Cape’s Unit 1, as compared to 94.6 per cent last year.

“In addition, of the 33 subjects, we found that in 25 of those subjects students scored 90 and above. In Unit 2 94.01 per cent achieved acceptable pass grades. In 2016, 94.44 per cent of the students passed. Of the 32 subjects in Unit 2, 24 of the subjects students scored 90 and over,” Garcia said.

“However, of great significance, performance of students at high levels Grades 1’s and 2’s in Unit 1, this year was 53.05 per cent as compared to 48.19 per cent in 2016.”

He added that in Unit 2, a 52.29 per cent of students received Grades 1s and 2s, as compared to 47.2 per cent last year.

Garcia admitted he had already received the CSEC results, but said the results were yet to be assessed by the ministry. (RD)

Guardian Media Ltd yesterday announced the retrenchment of 31 staff members, following a consultation process with BIGWU which started on May 3.

In an official statement, Guardian Media’s management explained the staff reduction was necessary to make sure the company’s costs reflect the country’s new economic reality. The changes are also said to be part of a wider transformation plan Guardian Media is implementing to remain successful in the digital age.

According to Guardian Media’s Managing Director Lucio Mesquita: “The day has been difficult as we adjust to the changes and say farewell to colleagues we respect and enjoyed sharing the work environment with. This was not an easy decision for us but we felt it was necessary as we want to make sure that, as the Guardian newspaper marks its centenary year, we are ready for the next century ahead of us.”

Cabinet has approved $53.6 million for upgrade works at the Golden Grove Remand Yard Prison in Arouca, including toilet facilities in the cells.

This was revealed by National Security Minister Edmund Dillon at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s.

The upgrade works will also include electrical and mechanical systems upgrade and plumbing.

The facility was constructed since the 1940s and consists of two-storey buildings - the North Wing and the South Wing. It featured 180 cells originally designed to house three inmates each, but because of the current overcrowding situation cells now house between eight to ten inmates. There are approximately 1,000 inmates at the remand yard.

With respect to the pail system still in use at the facility, Dillon said while there are communal showers and wash rooms between both wings and at the outer ends of both wings, “the continued use of the pail system in the cells was of serious safety, health and unsanitary concerns, affecting the inmates as well as prison officers.”

“We will also be looking at upgrading the sewer and waste water treatment, plumbing and fire protection system, also look at the electrical system, ventilation and air-condition system (not for inmates) and the CCTV system,” Dillon said.

The project is said to be a long term one, spanning over the next five years.

Recommendations have also been made to further upgrade works at the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) - a cost that has been requested for allocation in the upcoming 2017-2018 Budget. Currently, the roof of the facility is being repaired and the air-conditioning upgraded.

Dillon admitted to challenges for the detainees at the IDC, saying that many of them do not have travel documents because they may have entered T&T illegally and also may have destroyed their respective travel documents.

“It is difficult for some of them to be identified as to what nationality they are,” he said.

Dillon added that there are also repatriation issues where embassies, high commissions and family members also fail to present tickets for those to be sent back to their home countries.

“What happens is that the State now has the responsibility to send them back and some of them are from Nigeria and Ghana. In fact, at an average we repatriate about 100 per month.”

A National Social Mitigation Plan has been developed to assist retrenched workers among others during the current economic downturn.

How much this measure will cost taxpayers has not yet been determined.

Details of the new plan were disclosed by the Minister of Social Development and Family Services, Cherrie-Ann Crichlow-Cockburn during Thursday’s post-Cabinet media briefing held at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s.

Crichlow-Cockburn said that the plan will be geared towards not only retrenched workers but also to the unemployed, low-income families, youth, disabled people and poor and disadvantaged families.

The recommendations such as assessment for the disabled sector, exploring the introduction of unemployment endurance, productivity, innovation and enterprise development, property protection and financial security awareness, “will form part of the National Budget.”

Given the fact that 4.5 per cent of the population is unemployed and ten per cent categorised as the “low income” numbers approximately 200,000 people. That figure added to retrenched workers, disabled people, youth and poor families may be doubled or tripled.

“So, taking into consideration the number, the value or costing of the National Social Mitigation Plan would be large but not one I would want to venture because it is not yet finalised yet,” Crichlow-Cockburn said.

“For three similar social programmes, our monthly bill is $377 million and there has been no reduction in these programs despite the economic downturn. We, however, anticipate that we would be able to implement this plan. It is agreed in principle but not approved because we are looking at the cost factor,” she said.

The directive came against the backdrop of precipitous fall in energy prices with the consequent impact on revenue streams, job losses in the public and private sectors and generally, the sluggish economic activity.

It is anticipated that an increasing number of individuals and families who now find themselves with little to no resources to support themselves in a sustainable manner.

As part of the development of the plan, the Ministry engaged a consultant to garner information from a large cross-section of the population and generate crucial feedback as a mechanism to assess and understand the social impact of the economic downturn/recession on the various target populations.

The Health Economics Unit at the University of the West Indies has been tasked with writing and finalising the plan.

Upon completion, it would be forwarded to Cabinet for approval.

Two former government ministers are among four accused who intend to provide evidence for their own defence as the “Piarco II” preliminary inquiry wraps up.

Former government ministers Brian Kuei Tung and Sadiq Baksh, former Airports Authority chairman Ameer Edoo and former public servant Peter Cateau gave that indication as the case resumed before Magistrate Ejenny Espinet in the Port-of-Spain Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

While they agreed to file their witness statements and those of their defence witnesses before the next hearing on September 7, their co-accused businessmen Ish Galbaransingh, Steve Ferguson and Amrith Maharaj, and former Airports Authority chairman Tyrone Gopee reserved their right to do so before an eventual trial.

The accused are charged with a series of corruption charges arising out of the construction of the $1.6 billion Piarco International Airport.

The inquiry before Ejenny, which began in 2004, is nearing its end as the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has already closed the State’s case.

In February, Espinet dismissed legal arguments that the State had insufficient evidence to prove the fraud charges.

She will now have to wait and consider all the evidence before she decides whether to order the accused to face a trial before judge and jury in High Court.

The group along with several other people were accused of corruption and bid-rigging in the airport project.

The charges were split between two preliminary inquiries with the first, dubbed “Piarco I” being already completed but yet to go on trial. The “Piarco II” inquiry had been derailed on several occasions due to various legal challenges filed by the accused men over the past decade.

In 2011, High Court Judge Ronnie Boodoosingh quashed proposed extradition of Galbaransingh and Ferguson to the United States to face similar charges. Boodoosingh ruled that the inquiry before Espinet was the best forum for the prosecution as the substantive crimes were alleged to have occurred in this country.

The following year, the businessmen along with all other charged for corruption in the project applied under the controversial Section 34 of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Offences) Act. The legislation gave people charged with specific offences who had waited more than 10 years to be tried to apply for their matters to be dismissed.

The group challenged the decision to repeal the legislation but their claim was rejected by the High Court, Court of Appeal and eventually the Privy Council.

The group currently has another lawsuit before High Court Judge Frank Seepersad in which it is challenging Espinet’s ruling on the no case submission.

They are claiming that while she is only empowered to determine whether there was a prima facie case made out against them in the inquiry, in her ruling on the submission, she made numerous statements on their alleged guilt.

They claimed that her decision pre-decided the case and showed the “apparent bias” of the inquiry. The group had requested that Espinet recuse herself after the decision but she refused and proceeded to call on them to decide whether they wished to testify or call defence witnesses.

The accused men have not applied for a stay of the preliminary enquiry pending the determination of the case.

The case is expected to come up for hearing again on September 21.

The Chinese national who offered a $2,000 bribe to a police officer to to turn a blind eye to her relative’s illegal status in the country has been jailed for five months.

Lu Wuying, 34, who was arrested in a supermarket where she was working pleaded guilty when she reappeared yesterday before Princes Town Magistrate Indira Misir-Gosine.

Wuying was charged last week Friday on the same day a habeas corpus application filed by attorneys came up in the San Fernando High Court.

Her attorney had argued that the police had kept her in custody for ten days and should either charge her or release her.

She subsequently appeared before a San Fernando magistrate and was remanded in custody to reappear in the Princes Town Court last Monday. On that day Wuying requested a maximum sentence indication which was done by the magistrate who indicated a ten-month jail term as the maximum sentence.

Relating the facts yesterday, prosecutor Sgt Austin Toussaint said around 11.45 am on August 2, the police complainant Sgt Roger Richardson and PC Ali, along with other officers, went to Jin Xin Supermarket in Princes Town where they saw a Chinese man and asked if he was in the country legally. The man walked to the cash register and spoke to Wuying who was dealing with customers.

He told the police that Wuying would give them his passport. When the police asked Wuying for the passport, she took the officers to an area where she pushed her hand into her pocket and placed $100 bills in Richardson’s hand.

She said: “He papers no good, take the money, let he go, no one will go.”

Wuying was arrested and taken to the Princes Town Police Station where after several attempts Richardson eventually contacted Chinese interpreter Aaron Leung. Two days later with the assistance of Leung, Wuying said she did not want to say anything because she did not know anything and she did not hear well because her hearing aid malfunctioned.

Beseeching the magistrate for a non-custodial sentence, Wuying’s attorney Dane Halls said it was not a premeditated act, but a spur of the moment action.

“She acted on impulse and extreme anxiety.” In answer to the magistrate, he said Wuying did overstay her time here but that was another issue which did not concern this matter. Alluding to a case where a Trinidadian was fined by another magistrate for a similar offence, he said, “This is an opportune time for the court to demonstrate that the law is capable of being applied equally to everyone regardless of their colour, creed and race.

“Justice must not only be done but should manifestly and understandably seem to be done.” He also asked the court to consider imposing a fine given the country’s economic situation. He said jailing Wuying, the mother of a 13-year-old boy would be a further burden on taxpayers.”

Government is maintaining that the Government Assisted Tuition Expenses (Gate) funding will be made available to those most in need. This as Education Minister Anthony Garcia shot back at former minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh, over his claims the cutback in GATE funding was reflective of a lack of commitment by the current Government towards education.

Gopeesingh had described the cutback as “another graphic example of an obvious absence of obligation to human capital development, which was a critical cornerstone of the People’s Partnership administration.”

But at a press conference at the Education Ministry in Port-of-Spain yesterday, Garcia denied Gopeesingh’s statements saying, “There continues to be a constant spread of misinformation by the former government surrounding the review and adjustment of the Gate programme.

“The Gate programme, one of many achievements of the PNM government, commenced in 2004 and was met with major concern surrounding its initial implementation by the then UNC opposition. One member of the Opposition at the time went as far as to call the programme ‘a barrier to excellence in education.’”

He said the Gate Task Force report commissioned by his ministry had indicated that a significant number of students accessing 100 per cent Gate funding came from families that fell in the middle to high income groups of society and thus were not in need of 100 per cent funding. One of the recommendations coming out of that report was the implementation of a means test for students seeking to access funding, which went into effect this month

Garcia said students from middle to high income families would still benefit from 50 per cent funding toward their tuition expenses.

“As the only English-speaking Caribbean country which provides 100 per cent funding for tertiary level studies, the Government intends to continue offering support to its students, adjusted to suit the new economic circumstances the country faces. Previously, the Government spent approximately $700 million on Gate annually.

“This is no longer feasible or prudent for T&T as there has been a significant reduction in revenue and foreign exchange as a result of falling prices of oil and gas moving from a high in 2011 of US$128 to a low of US$30 in 2015. Currently, the price is still at a low US$48,” Garcia said.

He said now that the programme has been in existence in excess of 10 years it has been subject to a comprehensive review, adding such reviews and adjustments were based on the recommendations of the Task Force which were not significantly different to suggestions made by former minister of tertiary education Fazal Karim in 2011.

Karim had then announced the intention to “crack down” on the Gate programme and the possibility the programme would soon cease to be an avenue for private institutions who were creating “cash cows” from the business of exploiting students eager to pursue tertiary education.

Garcia said during the programme review it was found students were consistently abusing the opportunities provided through Gate.

“To eliminate these occurrences, the adjusted Gate programme will facilitate students’ progression through tertiary level studies by permitting access to one programme at each level of tertiary study from certificate through to undergraduate and subsequently post-graduate studies.

“Misinformation also continues to be spread surrounding the reintroduction of the means testing component of the Gate programme. The means test will ensure that the recipients of 100 per cent Gate funding are those who are truly in need based on socio-economic standing,” Garcia said.

He also accused the Opposition of spreading “fear and panic” by claiming institutions would close because of the changes to the Gate programme.

One day after an area along Southern Main Road, at Coromandel Village caved in cutting off vehicular traffic, about 500 residents are now without a supply of water.

Cedros councillor Shankar Teelucksingh said the leaking water pipeline which had undermined the soil causing the road to collapse, ruptured again and had to be once again locked off by WASA. Following the incident on Thursday, he said the water supply had been restored to most areas in the village.

However, he said, “Up to lunch time everything was going fine until the WASA pipeline burst again. So although the road is reopened with a single lane, WASA came and isolated the line. So the whole of Coromandel Village is out of a WASA supply.”

He said when he contacted a WASA official he was told that an emergency crew cannot be sent to repair the line and restore a water supply to the village because that entails overtime and that has to be authorised by the chief executive officer. “They are saying that the residents will have to wait until quite Monday to get back a supply of water.”

An email was sent to WASA’s corporate communication’s assistant manager Gregory Roxborough, requesting a comment on the situation, but up to press time, there was no response.