Weeks before he was expected to testify in a court case against another employee, Public Service Transportation Corporation (PTSC) of painter Carlos Samuel was gunned down outside the corporation’s San Fernando garage on Sunday.

Linking his death to the case, his daughter Shernelle yesterday said after Samuel and his colleagues reported the man and he was suspended, the man vowed to “hire a shot and kill him.”

Contacted yesterday, however, PTSC general manager Ronald Forde said he was not aware of such a case and would have to check.

According to reports, Samuel, 50, of Barrackpore, had just finished his shift at 4 pm when he walked out the garage along Lady Hailes Avenue and headed to his car at the side of the compound. An electrician who followed five minutes later found Samuel clutching a wire fence and saw a gunman running away. As the gunman saw the electrician, he fired another shot, which missed its target.

On checking, the electrician found Samuel bleeding from a gunshot wound to the stomach. Colleagues took Samuel to the San Fernando General Hospital where he died around 4.50 pm.

Following his autopsy yesterday, pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov said Samuel bled to death after the bullet entered his left side and pierced a major blood vessel before exiting.

At their home yesterday, Shernelle said many of Samuel’s colleagues had visited their home Sunday night still in shock at his death. She was told by his colleagues that Samuel had opened his car door when he saw the gunman approaching and tried to alert the others by blowing his horn. They ran out the compound after hearing two shots.

She said the incident involving the senior employee happened two years ago. Based on what her father told them previously, they caught the man stealing parts and reported him. The man was suspended and he threatened to kill Samuel. Although nothing happened between then and Sunday, she said it was strange that her father’s killer knew when his shift would end and where his car was parked.

Speaking by telephone, Forde said he worked in the San Fernando office on Sunday and it was only when he reached his home he got the news. He said head of security Kenrick Edwards visited the garage yesterday as the corporation will also be conducting inquiries. Extending condolences, he said management will make arrangements to meet with Samuel’s family.

“Right now we are living in a strange place and things happen and you just can’t understand why. It was very unfortunate that we lost one of our good employees like this,” Forde said.

Samuel worked at PTSC for the past 16 years.

General Secretary of the Transport and Industrial Workers Union Deon Stanisclaus said workers at the garage and company were also battling grief. Stanisclaus said Samuel, nicknamed Sky, was the second loss they had suffered in recent weeks, as bus driver Keron John died in a motorcycle accident in Arima last week.

An 18-year-old student at the Maple Leaf International School was killed instantly after he crashed a Mercedes Benz at Gandhi Village, Debe on Sunday.

An autopsy stated that Ryan Crawford, 18, of Lennox Phillips Drive, Maracas Gardens, St Joseph was not wearing his seat belt when he crashed.

According to a police report, at about 9.45 pm, Crawford, was driving the car along the south-bound lane of the Solomon Hochoy Highway. Police said upon reaching the end of the highway, at Gandhi Village, Crawford attempted to switch lanes when he apparently lost control of the car. The car landed on the median and crashed into an electricity pole.

Initial reports stated that Crawford was in the company of a teenager from Westmoorings but forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov said that he was told that Crawford was the sole occupant of the vehicle that he was driving.

The former head of the Civil Engineering Department of the University of the West Indies has offered to assist residents of Aripero and Rousillac whose homes were damaged during heavy winds and rains last Thursday.

Chairman of the Siparia Regional Corporation Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh said former head of the Department Richard Clarke wrote to him offering assistance.

In an email, Clarke told Ramadharsingh that for the past 32 years the St Augustine Campus of UWI had been conducting “research in affordable hurricane and earthquake resistant housing.”

This, he said, had resulted in a roof design and independent wall design that won the Niherst Prime Minister’s award for Scientific Innovation and Invention in 2013.

Clarke said, “sufficient research work has now been completed that the products can be implemented in the field.”

A special characteristic of the new roofing and wall system is that they are comprised of simple elements which, Clarke said, “can be fabricated on a do it yourself basis, and also on a community basis, thereby drastically reducing labour cost.”

Clarke told Ramadharsingh the offer was “primarily motivated by the needs of those whose roofs were destroyed and those whose roofs are exposed to a similar fate.”

Ramadharsingh is expected to meet with Clarke today.

He told the T&T Guardian he was happy that the “university that we spend so much money on could come back and give to communities like this in low-income areas.”

Ramadharsingh said a team will go out into the community “and look at fastening the homes more securely.”

While the assistance to the Aripero residents will be a pilot project, he said: “It will assist low income families who are unable to build a secure home, many times they build a basic structure without reinforcements and reinforcing the galvanize.”

In all 26 families, with a total of 110 people, were affected by last Thursday’s natural disaster. Ramadharsingh said they are now finding their way back into stable conditions.

On Monday employees of Trinidad Generation Unlimited (TGU) visited the community and presented hampers which included medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, groceries and water to the affected residents.

Ramadharsingh said while the Corporation had assisted by distributing mattresses and tarpaulins there was a lot more to be done. “The residents have filled out the forms and are now awaiting word from the National Self Help Commission on how soon they will get funds,” he said.

A 20-year-old security officer who was being investigated for possession of firearms and ammunition was killed during a gunfight with Couva police on Sunday.

Fyzool Walters, of Mount Pleasant Road, Claxton Bay, was the second man to be killed by police on Sunday. Kevin Stanford was also killed by police in Moruga after he shot Kevon Charles in the ankle earlier in the day.

Police said around 4.50 pm, they were acting on intelligence when they went to Walters’ home to search for firearms and ammunition. On reaching the house, they saw Walters come outside and run to the back with a firearm in his hand. The officers chased Walters and he reportedly began shooting at them. The officers returned fire and Walters ran into some bushes. They later found him lying bleeding from a gunshot wound, with his firearm nearby. Walters was taken to the Couva District Health Facility where he died. None of the officers were injured.

An autopsy at the Forensic Science Centre yesterday showed Walters died from a gunshot wound to the chest, which perforated his heart, lung and liver.

A 46-year-old police inspector detained last Thursday into alleged money laundering probe has filed a lawsuit challenging his continued detention.

Attorneys representing the officer, who cannot be named as he has not been charged with any criminal offence, yesterday filed a writ of habeas corpus calling on detectives of the Fraud Squad to justify his lengthy detention.

The case comes up for hearing in the Port-of-Spain High Court at 2 pm today.

According to his affidavits filed in support of his claim, the officer, who has almost 25 years’ service, contends that his arrest was illegal as it stemmed from a search warrant in his wife’s name.

His wife has also been arrested as part of the probe, which allegedly initiated by reports from her former employer.

The officer, who was last assigned to the Organised Crime, Narcotics and Firearms Bureau (OCNFB) also claimed that detectives of the Fraud Squad and Criminal Gang and Intelligence Unit (CGIU) did not properly execute the warrant at his home in Princes Town, last Thursday.

The inspector also sought to give an explanation for the large quantity of jewelry found in his home and for how he came to own the two vehicles that were also seized.

“I informed the officers of the various means through which I acquired ownership of these items of jewelry which included by savings over the years, gifts received, in particular, I would have explained the cultural practice of how gold is passed down from generation to generation in East Indian families, such as mine, and it would be melted to make beeras that were also passed down from generation to generation,” he said.

The officer is contending that his lengthy detention is damaging his character and unblemished service record.

The officer is being represented by Jagdeo Singh, Criston Williams and Kiel Tacklalsingh.

A police constable was shot after being ambushed by gunmen in Morvant yesterday.

According to reports around 3.15 pm the officer, only identified as PC Smith, was driving a marked police SUV along the Lady Young Road in Morvant when he was stopped by a resident.

The resident allegedly told Smith that he saw two gunmen hiding in some bushes in a road off McKai Lands.

Smith, who is assigned to the Police Administration Building in Port-of-Spain and has almost five years’ service, got out of his vehicle to investigate and was almost immediately greeted with gunshots.

Smith returned fire with his service pistol but did not hit his attackers, who managed to run away.

Officers of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) responded to the scene and took Smith to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for treatment.

Smith, who was shot once in his left forearm, was treated and warded yesterday but his injury was described as non-life threatening.

When a news team from the T&T Guardian visited the scene of the shooting, less than an hour after it occurred, almost two-dozen police officers were getting reading to search the area for the suspects.

The search team were in Cascade last night as they tracked the shooters. No arrests had been made up to late yesterday.

In an interview, acting Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Radcliff Boxhill said crime scene investigators were gathering spent shells and other evidence.

Meanwhile, a Maraval man is currently in police custody after he chopped an off-duty police officer.

According to reports around, 10.45 pm on Sunday, Cpl Carl Hosten was the home of a female friend in Paramin, Maraval, when he reportedly got into an argument with the woman.

The woman’s brother intervened and chopped Hosten on the head with a cutlass, police said.

Police later arrested the suspect and seized the weapon. The officers took Hosten to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for treatment. He was discharged later that night.

Two men yesterday pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with a clean-up order.

Neradh Ragoonanan and Shakhti Ragoonanan both appeared in the San Fernando Magistrates Court before Magistrate Alicia Chankar.

It is alleged that they failed to remove three dilapidated vehicles the SS Erin Road, Phillipine on July 25.

They were charged by litter warden Kimberly Jones of the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation.

When asked by the magistrate whether the cars were still there, Jones said the vehicles were pushed off the road. The matter was adjourned to October 23 for trial.

Police have charged two people, including a teenager, with a recent double murder. One of the victims was kidnapped and used to lure the other victim out of his home.

Miguel Mc Clean, also known as One Eye or Bad Eye, 26, of East Dry River, Port-of-Spain, and the 17-year-old from Laventille, who can not be named as he is minor, appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Maria Busby-Earle-Caddle in the Port-of-Spain Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

The duo was charged with murdering Trevvon Wilson and Tiba Thomas on August 8, kidnapping, burglary and three offences of common assault.

Both men were remanded in custody and ordered to reappear in court on September 18.

According to police reports, around 4 am, 21-year-old Wilson was at his Olton Road, Gonzales home when masked gunmen grabbed him and forced him up to Thomas’ house and made him call out to his neighbour.

When Thomas, 36, responded he saw the gunmen and attempted to close the door and run, but the men pushed it open and killed him. They then killed Wilson.

Both men were shot in their heads.

Mc Clean and the teenager were charged by Sgt Roger Reyes of the Region One Homicide Bureau.

A 33-year-old contractor and reputed gang leader was murdered near his Diego Martin home yesterday.

According to reports, shortly after 9 am Curtis “Birdman” Smith was walking along La Puerta Avenue, Diego Martin, when a Nissan AD wagon pulled alongside him. Two of the occupants got out and shot Smith several times before returning to their vehicle and driving away. Smith died on the scene.

The incident occured hours after Smith reportedly assaulted a man in the community. A short clip of the incident was recorded by someone using a cellphone and shared on social media service Whatsapp following his murder.

The video depicted Smith standing over and kicking a man who was lying on the ground in the car park of a Diego Martin business. Smith was dressed in the same white T-shirt and pair of black jeans he was eventually killed in.

However, homicide detectives said they were yet to link the incident in the video with Smith’s murder. But they described him as a major suspect in gang-related activity in the community.

As police and crime scene investigators were processing the crime scene yesterday, Smith’s wife Kareema Gonzales attempted to walk under the caution tape cordoning off the area to get a closer look at her husband’s body.

“Somebody go pay,” an emotional Gonzales screamed as she came within metres of her husband body covered in blood-soaked clothing.

Gonzales was restrained by police who were fearful she might unwittingly contaminate the crime scene. The move prompted the intervention of her relatives, who engaged in a minor confrontation with police before being expelled from the crime scene.

Speaking briefly with media personnel afterwards, Smith’s relatives, who asked to remain anonymous, denied his alleged gang affiliation and claimed he was targeted because he had received Government infrastructure projects in the community.

“He was a businessman. People in the area was just jealous of him because of contracts he was getting,” one woman said.

An autopsy will be performed on Smith’s body at the Forensic Science Centre in St James today.

Homicide detectives are continuing investigations.

In an unrelated incident, a watchman was found dead at his work place at Rio Grande Trace, Matura, yesterday.

Ricardo Sorzano, 31, of Melajo Road, Vega de Oropouche, an employee with the Rio Grande Quarry in Matura, was found dead on the upper floor of a building at job site by three of his co-workers.

Police reported that around 7.30 am, three co-workers reported to work at the quarry and called out to Sorzano when they did not see him around. They went looking for him and later found his body with a gunshot wound to his head.

The workers contacted police and a party of officers, including Supt Nabby, ASP Revanales Insps Etienne, Ken Lutchman, Cpl De La Rosa, PCs Joseph Pamponette and Emmanuel, of Sangre Grande Police Station, and Homicide Bureau, Arouca Region II visited the scene.

District Medical Officer Dr Prince viewed the body and ordered its removal to the Sangre Grande mortuary. An autopsy is to be conducted today at the Forensic Science Centre, St James.

Investigating officers from Homicide Bureau Region I are investigating.

Police said they had no motive for the killing, which took the murder toll or the year to 303.

(With reporting by RALPH BANWARIE)

A maintenance worker appeared in court on Monday charged with five offences including possession of a loaded gun and armed robbery.

Shawn Phillip, 35, was also denied bail when he appeared before Magistrate Alicia Chankar in the San Fernando Magistrates Court.

It is alleged that on August 17, at Building C, Orchid Gardens, Phillp robbed Robert Carter of two cell phones, gold jewelry and cash, totalling $35,000, and also broke into Carter’s home stealing a $6,000 flat-screen television.

Phillip was also charged with being in possession of five rounds of ammunition and a revolver and that he robbed Michelle Paul of a gold chain and $700. The phones and the television were recovered.

Romero, who also represented Phillip, said he had two children and had no pending matters but said he had previous convictions. Seedan objected to bail based on his criminal record.

His matter was also adjourned to September 18.

In the same court, a Pleasantville man protested his innocence after being denied bail on charges of cocaine trafficking and firearm-related charges.

Police had to intervene to bring order as Ancil Floyd shouted: “They have no case against me, start my case.”

The magistrate had to pause court proceedings for a few minutes until the officers got Floyd under control.

Earlier, Floyd appeared before Chankar charged with three offences. It is alleged that at Building C, Orchid Gardens, he had in his possession 315 grammes of cocaine, five rounds of 9 mm ammunition and a Glock pistol. He was charged by PC Matloo.

Prosecutor Cleyon Seedan objected on bail stating that while on bail for other offences he allegedly committed these offences. Asking for bail, his attorney Alexia Romero said her client admitted to having two pending matters for ammunition possession and previous convictions.

The magistrate remanded him into custody until September 18.

Former flight attendant Vinosh Maraj is expected to be sentenced today on three charges arising out of an incident in which he illegally imported US $39,054 into the country.

He pleaded guilty to three charges arising out the incident when he re-appeared before an Arima Magistrate on Monday.

Maraj, 32, of Morang Village, St Augustine, who lost his job following his arrest pleaded guilty to the charges before Senior Magistrate Gloria Jasmath in Arima Magistrates Court.

Maraj, who had been employed with Caribbean Airlines (CAL) for five years, and who had been in custody for a week as he was unable to secure $200,000, was granted cash bail of $20,000.

The charges against him include making a false declaration, importing of restricted goods and packaging to deceive customs.

According to the facts of the case, read by Customs and Excise senior state attorney Harricharan Kassie, around 9.30 am on August 13, Maraj arrived on a CAL flight from New York.

Maraj had a 65-inch television set among his items. When asked by customs officer Nicholas Joseph what else he had to declare, Maraj said he had a bottle of alcohol in his tote bag and a CAL standard operating procedure manual.

Upon searching the manual, the officer found US$36,000. An additional US $3,054 was also found in his possession. Maraj said he was not aware that he needed a permit from the Central Bank to import the currency. Maraj further told the officers that a friend of a friend in New York gave him the money to bring to T&T.

He was represented by attorney Reynold Waldropt and Jeron Joseph.

In their mitigation plea, the attorneys presented two testimonials attesting to Maraj’s previous good character. In asking for a non-custodial sentence, the attorneys said Maraj was not a hardened criminal but a young man who made a foolish mistake.

The United National Congress (UNC) lawsuit against the Children’s Life Fund Authority over its refusal to provide funding for treatment of two children suffering from the same genetic blood disorder is set to go on trial on September 21.

High Court judge Nadia Kangaloo set the date during a case management conference at the Port-of-Spain High Court on Monday.

During the hearing, Opposition Senator Gerald Ramdeen, who is representing fellow Senator Wayne Sturge under whose name the lawsuit was filed, complained over the delay of the authority in filing affidavits in reply to the lawsuit.

“The pre-action protocol letter was sent in April and the State is yet to file its affidavits,” Ramdeen said as he described the situation as unacceptable.

In response, Senior Counsel Reginald Armour, representing the authority, said that the delays came about because he and his team had to investigate and receive comprehensive responses to issues raised in the lawsuit.

Armour said he planned to meet with the authority’s chairman Dr Aritza Fernandes this week to finalise the affidavits, which would be filed on Friday.

In the claim, the Opposition party is contending that the authority acted unreasonably and illegally when it refused applications for funding made by the families of four-year-old Shannen Luke and five-year-old Terrance Chandoo.

Luke and Chandoo were diagnosed with Beta Thalassemia Major when they were less than one-year-old.

Even with their lawsuit pending Luke and Chandoo underwent the hemopoietic cell transfusion (bone marrow transplant) at Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital in Rome, Italy, this month and are still there recovering with their families.

The applications were dismissed on the ground that the children’s families had already paid €158,000 each for the treatment when they made their applications and the authority does not provide reimbursements.

However, the UNC is claiming that the authority’s board is mistaken as Section 9 of the legislation which established the fund and the authority in 2010, allowed for reimbursement payments.

The party is also challenging the authority’s claim that the children are not entitled to funding as their condition is non-life threatening.

The hearing came one week after the authority blanked another application from the family of four-year-old Haleema Mohammed, who is suffering from a similar condition. The family has since been able to raise the $400,000 required for an operation in India scheduled for early September after corporate sponsors intervened following reports of Mohammed’s plight.

The UNC is also being represented by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, under whose tenure as prime minister the authority was formed.

A Moruga father’s plan to sell marijuana to buy school supplies for his children backfired and he now has to find money to pay a $10,000 fine in a week.

Beris Joseph, 38, a father of four, pleaded guilty to possession of 500 grammes of marijuana when he appeared before San Fernando First Court magistrate Alicia Chankar on Monday.

Although he was not charged with trafficking the illegal drugs, Joseph admitted he was going to sell the marijuana to source money buy back-to-school supplies for his children.

Prosecutor Cleyon Seedan said around 11 am on August 18, PC Aaron Loutan and other officers of the Southern Division Task Force were patrolling along St Andrews Avenue, Cocoyea Village, San Fernando, when they saw Joseph.

Loutan became suspicious when Joseph looked at the police vehicle and quickly turned away. Police approached and searched him. Loutan searched a bag Joseph was holding and found the block of marijuana. Joseph told the court he worked as a fisherman and a construction worker, but he did not have the money to buy his children’s school supplies.

“A friend give me that. I say I buy a lil books and thing. Give me a fine self, I don’t really deal in them thing,” he told the magistrate.

He admitted had two previous convictions for marijuana possession and intended to sell the marijuana to a friend for about $2,000.

He was ordered to pay the $10,000 fine in a week or serve six months in jail.

The Ministry of Planning and Development is revising the country’s National Environmental Policy (NEP) to help strengthen its economic and social development framework.

This was revealed on Monday by the ministry’s deputy permanent secretary Marie Hinds at the launch of the National Consultation on the Caricom Environmental and Natural Resources Policy and Draft Environment Action Plan, 2017-2022, at the Hilton Hotel, Port-of-Spain.

The two-day consultation aimed at gathering comments and consensus to advance the process towards presenting a policy framework to Caricom ministers of environment and to build regional ownership of the Caricom environmental policy.

Hinds, who spoke on behalf of Minister of Planning and Development Camille Robinson-Regis, said as the main Government body responsible for implementing the National Agenda for Sustainable Development, the ministry has to ensure that clean water, food, fresh air and shelter are critical to the country’s future development.

She said while the country’s natural resource base has allowed for rapid industrialisation and growing demand for goods and services over the years, the nation has also suffered from environmental problems associated with the production of commodities.

As such, Hinds said Government was committed to making every effort to ensure that T&T finds the right balance between economic development and environmental protection.

“This is embodied in our National Environmental Policy (NEP) which is a framework for environmental management in T&T,” Hinds said.

Hinds said the NEP has recognised the environment as an essential pillar for our economic and social development.

In an effort to ensure the 2006 NEP is current and relevant, Hinds said the Environmental Management Authority was in the process of revising it.

She said the revised draft of the NEP has identified six priority areas, among them, are greening the economy, safe, inclusive, resilient and sustainable human settlements and infrastructure, safeguarding human and ecological resilience and sustainable management of resources.

Hinds said Caricom’s environmental policy and its corresponding action plan will work in tandem with our NEP along with our National Development Strategy to improve the management of our country’s and region’s unique and rich biological heritage.

The death of a newborn baby girl whose body was found at the Beetham landfill, in Port-of-Spain yesterday has triggered a criminal investigation as police began searching for the child’s parents.

Scavengers found the baby’s body in a garbage bag around 5.30 am and immediately notified their supervisors.

Officers from the Homicide Bureau and Crime Scene Unit were also called in.

A district medical officer ordered the removal of the child’s body to the Forensic Science Centre in Federation Park for an autopsy.

In an interview yesterday, pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov said the baby was full term after a nine-month pregnancy.

“She was mature, a girl and didn’t have any abnormalities and was fully developed and the umbilical cord was cut and a stump left,” he said.

Alexandrov said the case should be considered a homicide but because it was a baby it was called infanticide.

“The homicide of a newborn is called infanticide. It had no disease that could have contributed to the death of the baby. The baby was dumped and it was abandoned and the case should be investigated by homicide,” he said.

He said on the death certificate he indicated the baby died as a result of the abandonment of a mature naturally born viable infant.

“It had normal weight, shape and condition. If a newborn baby is placed in a hostile environment it could die and it could cry to death in an hour,” he said.

Investigations are continuing.

The Environmental Management Authority (EMA) is moving to increase the fine for poaching the national bird, the Scarlet Ibis, to $100,000.

The move come in the wake of reports of increased poaching of the birds at the Caroni Bird Sanctuary and a public outcry from nature lovers to stamp out the illegal practice.

Chairman of the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) Nadra Nathai-Gyan said the EMA has embarked upon a programme to protect the Scarlet Ibis and illegal hunters can even face up to two years in jail if caught.

In a release issued yesterday, the EMA stated that Minister of Agriculture Clarence Rambharat, supported by Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis, have asked the authority to expedite the process to designate the Scarlet Ibis an Environmentally Sensitive Species (ESS) in light of the increased poaching incidents at the Caroni Swamp, which has been threatening the protected species for years.

In a Facebook post yesterday, Rambharat stated: “I am happy to say that the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) has agreed to give priority to my request for the Scarlet Ibis to be declared an Environmentally Sensitive Species (ESS) under the Environmentally Sensitive Species Rules and for the Caroni Bird Sanctuary to be declared an Environmentally Sensitive Area in accordance with Environmentally Sensitive Area Rules.

“The mandatory 30-day period for public consultation will be announced shortly. In line with what I said needs to be done, once declared an ESS, the fine for poaching the Scarlet Ibis would be $100,000—that is one hundred times the existing fine—with the possibility of up to 2 years imprisonment.”

Last week, three poachers were charged under the Conservation of Wildlife Act for hunting the birds. Some poachers have been selling the birds three for $100.

Yesterday Nathai-Gyan said this undertaking by the EMA would see poachers facing a punitive fine of $100,000 and possibly a two-year imprisoned term. The current fine is $1,000.

“This is one hundred times the existing penalty which is the punitive measure needed as part of enforcement measures to prevent the decimation of the Scarlet Ibis in the Caroni Swamp. The poaching is, in fact, impacting on the bird population. And it needs a criteria to designate an ESS. This new fine will see poachers facing the full brunt of the law. Poachers are so dismissive of the current fine. They take it as a big joke. However, the fine alone will not suffice. We will have to ramp up our enforcement strategies to protect and save these birds,” Natahi-Gyan said.

As an additional measure, she said the EMA was also examining the increased protection of the Caroni Swamp, habitat for the Scarlet Ibis by designating it as an Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) under the Rules established in 2001.

Also, an opportunity for public comment will be announced following the completion of the notice as prescribed in the ESS Rules, Nathai-Gyan said.

Once the comments have been gathered over a one-month period, Nathai-Gyan said Rambharat will take to Cabinet the ESS and new fines for approval.

“That would automatically mean that the new fines would apply. This would also obligate the EMA to provide resources and assist the Forestry Division who will remain the managing authority for these birds.”

Although the Caroni Swamp is already protected through its designation as a Ramsar Site of International Importance (in 1993) and as a prohibited area under the Forests Act, Nathai-Gyan said the ESA designation would provide additional protection and benefits.

Asked if this ESS was a bit too late, seeing that the bird population had dwindled significantly over the years.

“No, it’s not too late because it’s not all gone. We can protect those that are there,” Nathai-Gyan said.

Having visited the sanctuary three weeks ago, Nathai-Gyan said she observed the birds were not roosting on the trees.

“They were in another location probably due to disturbance of their habitat. This we have to change.”

The Tobago Chamber of Commerce says it is “very concerning” that the Prime Minister is now saying he felt there was something crooked in the procurement of the Ocean Flower 2 and the Cabo Star, given that it was “his Government and his Minister of Works and Transport who oversaw it.”

President of the Tobago Chamber Demi John Cruickshank told the T&T Guardian yesterday that in light of what the Prime Minister said, “we now await the outcome of the investigation to see who was responsible, but the whole unveiling of everything is concerning.”

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley met with stakeholders in Tobago on Monday and following that meeting he spoke with the media. Asked if he was convinced that something had gone drastically wrong and crooked in the transaction, the PM responded “Yes.”

Pressed for qualification on the matter he said, “I just answered that question. I said yes, my yes means a lot to me.”

Cruickshank said arising out of the meeting the PM had asked Tobago West Member of Parliament Ayanna Webster-Roy to “set up a stakeholders’ committee involving business, non-governmental organisations, the Tobago House of Assembly and Central Government to meet as often as possible.”

He said a similar committee was set up by now deceased prime minister Patrick Manning, where interest groups were able to bring issues and concerns to the table for them to be addressed.

Asked how soon the committee will be set up, he said that was up to Webster-Roy.

Cruickshank said while they were satisfied some of their concerns were being addressed they left the meeting “still concerned that there is no fast ferry.”

Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan also told the T&T Guardian he had concerns about what transpired.

He said, “I too had called for a full report from the Port Authority even before the Prime Minister called for his.”

Sinanan said “there is a lot of misinformation in the public domain and people must be concerned. Some party members were also raising concerns in the public domain.” It was for this reason he said he called for a full report from the Port, “because I felt some questions needed to be answered.”

Sinanan’s request to the Port was made two weeks ago. He said he wanted answers on the “procurement and cancellation of the ferry.” He did not want to divulge details of the time line given by the Port to submit its report, but said he expected “it would be in before the Mouttet report.”

On August 1, Sinanan also appointed a three-man team with a mandate to look at several issues at the Port, including “security, the ferry service, how did we get here and the whole operations of the port because I recognise that something needs to be done.”

That team has three months to complete its investigation and submit a report.

Asked how the public could have confidence in the very same board, utilising the same procurement process in the search for a new vessel, he said, “I am speaking to the chairman of the Port on the issue of procurement.”

While he did not want to divulge details, he said he expected that a “much more stringent process will be put in place” in the search for a passenger ferry.

Sinanan also would not say whether he expected Port chairman Allison Lewis to take a more hands-on approach in the process.

But he was optimistic that at the end of the investigations being done by Mouttet, the Joint Select Committee in Parliament and the report he himself had asked for Port for, that “we will know whether the Port board breached anything. I cannot assume the Port did anything, that is why I called for a report even before the Prime Minister appointed an investigator.”

The annual inspection of trucks and pickup vans will now take place at the headquarters of the Transport Division’s headquarters in Caroni.

This as the inspection bays were officially opened yesterday and in effect halted inspection of heavy vehicles at other licensing offices in Trinidad.

The new facility at Caroni was opened to the public in February but the work on the inspection bays was not complete.

Trucks and vans cannot be inspected at private garages authorised by the Licensing Division.

Works and Transport Minister, Rohan Sinanan, who delivered the feature address at the event, said the move will help ease the traffic into Port-of-Spain.

“This move will free-up the roads. The reality is that Wrightson Road (facility) is almost impassable during certain hours so the removal of some of these wide and heavy vehicles will certainly provide some relief,” Sinanan said.

Heavy-T drivers will be offered better and more state-of-the-art equipment that is able to meet the demand. Caroni has the capacity to service vehicles that are 40 feet and 30 tonnes in weight.

Sinanan said that while the industry relied on the utility of heavy-T vehicles, the drivers of these vehicles contribute to the damaging roads when they violate the laws that prohibit them from driving along certain routes.

As a result, the Minister called on police officers, to carry out, “to the full extent, their authority to enforce the applicable laws and encourage truck owners to do the right thing and refrain from passing on roads that were not designed to carry the burden of their heavy trucks’ weight.”

He said drivers of heavy vehicles are given a licence by the Director of Highways to use specific routes such as the highways and main roads but noted many were not conforming to such regulations.

“What we find happening is that in order to cut time and get out of traffic, these trucks take any back roads that would allow them faster trips. By doing this they have been damaging these roads. Many of our back roads in Trinidad lack a solid foundation suitable for the capacity of heavy vehicles. These roads run the risk of caving in due to the truck’s excessive weight,” Sinanan said.

He reiterated that to mitigate the risk, the Ministry is in the process of acquiring four scales and “very soon, we will be monitoring such violation on our secondary roads to protect them from heavy truck passage.”

The Ministry of Agriculture has taken a decision to destroy 200,000 citrus plants following traces of the citrus greening disease in our country.

The plants, which range from a few months to two-years-old, are valued $5 million.

Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambhrat said yesterday instructions to destroy the lemon, lime, portugal, grapefruit, orange and tangerine plants were handed down by his Permanent Secretary (PS) Angela Siew recently.

In the eradication exercise, which started last week, the plants were sprayed with an insecticide and then burned to avoid the disease, also known as Huanglongbing from spreading.

Rambharat said the destruction of the plants would cause “delays in accessing plants” until the ministry’s Research Division and the Permanent Secretary “decide that production of seedlings would resume.”

Rambharat said T&T could not take any chances since the disease decimated the Florida citrus sector and its presence in Trinidad was a major setback for the sector.

“From a sales point of view, this is a $5 million loss of revenue. The impact of citrus farmers and potential citrus farmers would be a loss of time and potential sales down the road,” Rambharat said.

A source said workmen at the St Augustine Nurseries, Curepe and La Reunion Estate, Centeno facilities were close to completing the task of spraying and burning 140,0000 plants. The remaining 60,000 are at Marper Farm at Plum Road, Manzanilla.

Over the last two days, workmen at Marper farm sprayed and set ablaze approximately 30,000 plants.

“The disease was confirmed in St Augustine a few weeks ago,” a source told the T&T Guardian. Each plant is sold at $25.

Lawrence John, president of Todd’s Road Citrus Farmers’ Association said the news of the plants being destroyed was disturbing and worrying since he had put in an order for between 20,000 to 40,000 plants since 2008 which the Ministry has not been able to fulfil.

“I am very upset because our association has been waiting for close to 10 years for plants. With this shortfall, what is going to happen to the citrus industry? Will we now face the breadline?”

The source said he expects private nurseries will now increase the price of their plants, while consumers would have to dig deeper into their pockets for the commodity.

“The public also has to be wary of buying contaminated plants which can spread the disease in the blink of an eye,” the source warned.

About citrus greening

Citrus greening is one of the most serious citrus plant diseases in the world. It is also known as Huanglongbing (HLB) or yellow dragon disease.
Once a tree is infected, there is no cure. While the disease poses no threat to humans or animals, it has devastated millions of acres of citrus crops throughout the United States and abroad.
Citrus greening is spread by a disease-infected insect, the Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri Kuwayama or ACP), and has put the future of America’s citrus at risk.
Infected trees produce fruits that are green, misshapen and bitter, unsuitable for sale as fresh fruit or for juice.

A wife of a police officer appeared in court yesterday on 440 charg

Tinisha Gosine-Ramdass was also jointly charged with her husband, Insp Darryl Ramdass, on nine charges in contravention of the Wildlife Act for being in possession of protected birds.

Of the 440 charges laid, the largest number of charges to be laid against someone by the Fraud Squad, 126 were on money laundering offences, 127 on falsifying accounts and 127 on larceny servant in the sum of $2.8 million.

Gosine-Ramdass, of Princes Town, appeared yesterday before Justice of the Peace, Ackbar Khan. She was remanded in custody to reappear before a Princes Town magistrate today.

The charges were laid by Sgt Samuel of the Fraud Squad following an investigation led by Snr Supt Totaram Dookhie.

Ramdass, 46, a detective attached to the Organised Crime, Firearms and Narcotics Bureau was arrested at the Piarco International Airport last Thursday after his office, based at the airport, was searched.

Gosine-Ramdass was subsequently arrested at her south home. They were charged after six days in custody.

Ramdass appeared before Magistrate Nanette Forde-John in the Port-of-Spain Magistrate’s Court charged with being in possession of five macaws, two toucans and two parrots without having relevant permits.

He was allowed to continue on the bail which was granted to him at the police station and ordered to reappear before the Princes Town Magistrate’s Court today. Ramdass has over 22 years service.

Ramdass was charged by detectives from the Fraud Squad shortly after they were served with a writ of habeas corpus requesting them to justify his prolonged detention.

The writ was due to come up for hearing in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday but was abandoned after investigators charged Ramdass and released him on bail.

Ramdass was represented by attorney Criston J Williams.