A police motorcyclist remains warded in hospital in a critical condition after an accident in St Augustine yesterday.

According to reports around 7.25 am, the officer only identified as PC Jackson was riding on the east-bound lane of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway when he collided with another vehicle after the University of the West Indies (UWI) intersection.

Jackson, who is assigned to the Highway Patrol and Traffic Branch, catapulted from his motorbike and landed a short distance away.

Although Jackson was wearing protective gear, he still sustained serious injuries and was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope for treatment. He remained warded in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU), up to late yesterday.

The driver of the vehicle that collided with Jackson was interviewed and released.

Investigations are continuing.

Emotions ran high at state-owned Caribbean News Media Group (CNMG) on Thursday, after it was announced that the company was winding down its operations to be replaced by the revived T&T Television (TTT).

Employees who turned up for work at CNMG’s Maraval Road, Port-of-Spain, office yesterday felt a sense of hopeless and helplessness over what lies ahead for them.

Many staff members could not perform efficiently and effectively due to the devastating news, several workers told the T&T Guardian.

CNMG has 112 permanent employees and 37 freelancers who are now out of jobs with CNMG’s impending closure.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian on condition of anonymity, one employee said with jobs hard to come by due to the downturn in the economy, the majority of staff will apply for whatever positions TTT advertises.

“A lot of us will have to find some way to rebuild our life and move forward. There is no guarantee that TTT will employ us. One has to remember that the media industry is contracting and a lot of people lost their jobs in recent times who will no doubt apply as well. So this will make it harder for us to remain employable. We can be edged out of the selection process,” the worker explained.

“Yesterday was a sad day for many of us, especially those who worked tirelessly to bring out the news every night. There was a lot of disappointment and anger. We thought they were going to restructure CNMG, not shut it down entirely. To me, this is a guise for retrenching workers, that is how we see it.”

The employee said Minister of Public Administration and Communications Maxie Cuffie asked the employees to cooperate as it was in their best interest. However, a senior newsroom staff member was more optimistic.

“I am not in the least bit worried. I believe when one door closes another opens,” she said.

A member of the production department said they felt betrayed for being kept in the dark for so long.

“At least the Government could have said something a long time ago. Just so, just so, we were told about CNMG shutting down. How is this fair to us? People have families to support, children to send to school and mortgages to pay. Everyone has been thrown into a tailspin,” the said.

The employee said they were waiting to hear what they will be offered in terms of benefits.

Maritime attorney Nyree Alfonso has been invited to appear before the Joint Select Committee of Parliament on September 4, when hearings begin into the procurement of the Cabo Star and Ocean Flower 2.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian yesterday about her pending appearance, Alfonso said she has also been asked to give the JSC written submissions.

“I am going with no holds barred,” Alfonso said in a telephone interview.

Alfonso had been retained by the Port Authority of T&T and requested to assist them in finding a solution to what was deemed an “emergency” in 2013 when the Warrior Spirit started experiencing mechanical problems on the sea bridge.

The Port invited nine people to tender and the Super Fast Galicia won based on suitability, age, price and other factors.

Alfonso said the Central Tenders Board was involved in the procurement process and had insisted the process was done in a fair and transparent manner.

The Super Fast Galicia left the sea bridge in April after the authorities failed to sign the 18-month contract which the then line minister Fitzgerald Hinds had agreed to and subsequently refused to enter into a three year contract with the vessel.

On Monday after a meeting with Tobago stakeholders, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said based on the advice of senior counsel, legal action will be pursued against the Galicia’s owners, as they still had a contract with the Port.

Yesterday, Alfonso said while she could defend the procurement process for the Galicia, she could not say the same for the current two vessels embroiled in the controversy.

“There is no fair and transparent process in the acquisition of the two vessels that could be seen. I see nothing,” she said.

“What process? Letting somebody sit in the office with board members and management and offer boats they didn’t have? This was a hand selection of letting a particular provider come into the Port Authority and make a proposal, at no time were they the owners of the vessels. They got two charter party agreements before they opened the vessels, so what procurement process we talking about?”

Alfonso said the investigations now under way into the process used “must be clinical and sort out the full facts of the thing. We must sort out the facts and have full and frank disclosures in the acquisition of these two vessels. This must be done without any political spin, so that people can judge what transpired. I hope one of the five investigations will allow the full truth to come out.”

Speaking to Guardian Media on Thursday Bridgemans Services Limited PLC vice president Andrew Purdey said the company, which has its financial hub and operating headquarters in Vancouver, Canada, purchased the Cabo Star on June 9 and the Ocean Flower on June 20, 2017.

He said the vessels were purchased only after the Port Authority agreed the two vessels were suitable.

Yesterday, Alfonso said she had been told by international brokers that the hire charter for a vessel as old as the Ocean Flower 2 should be US$15,000 a day, but the price agreed to by the PATT was US$26,500.

She said the rate for the Cabo Star should be between US12000 to US$14,000, but it is being leased daily at US$22,500.

The PATT has since cancelled the Ocean Flower 2 contract after it failed to meet the contractual delivery time.

But Purdey said the vessel, which is now in Curacao, has been repaired and all the issues raised in the report from the PATT Chief Engineer Brendon Powder had been addressed. He said Bridgemans is in this for the long term and wanted to resume negotiations with PATT on the Ocean Flower.

Efforts to contact Port chairman Allison Lewis and CEO Charmaine Lewis to ascertain whether discussions had been reopened with Bridgemans on the Ocean Flower 2 were unsuccessful yesterday as they did not answer calls.

Also contacted on the issue, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan declined comment, referring the T&T Guardian to the Port Authority. See Page A6

Minister of Public Administration and Communications Maxie Cuffie yesterday said the closure of Caribbean News Media Group (CNMG) will create far more jobs with the revival of T&T Television (TTT).

“A lot of people are looking at this (closure of CNMG) as losing their jobs. I think there are other ways to look at it. I am looking at it from the perspective of new employment opportunities being created at TTT and for content producers, cameramen and videographers. I think there will be much more employment created from the transition to TTT than what currently obtains with CNMG,” Cuffie said during a press conference at his Port-of-Spain office, as he sought to explain the rationale for winding up of CNMG, which was launched in 2005.

He said with TTT’s increased local programming, jobs will be created for local producers, actors and directors. Enthused by the new move, Cuffie said the transition could bring great opportunity to the media industry and employment opportunities.

The announcement came one day after Cabinet took a decision to close CNMG’s doors and revive TTT with a mandate to focus on local programming, news and public information.

The first move of the transition, Cuffie said, would involve the Finance Ministry appointing a new board by next week to wind up CNMG’s operations. Another board will be selected to get TTT off the ground.

Cuffie said the investment in local programming would cost far less than the use of foreign programmes.

There are 112 permanent employees and 37 freelancers at CNMG who can all now apply for jobs at TTT, he said.

Yesterday, Cuffie met with worried staff and said he answered all their questions about the company’s closure.

Asked when staff start receiving their letters of notice, Cuffie said Government would have to compute what is owed to each employee and pay them their benefits, which should not take long.

He said in 2015 Cabinet had appointed a committee which was charged with examining CNMG and GISL’s operations, and they found that the television station was not fulfilling its objectives and had only a “five to six per cent market share,” while it never achieved commercial success nor a brand identity.

In addition to CNMG winding up, Cuffie said radio stations Talkcity 91.1 FM and 99.1 FM, which had less than one per cent audience ,will also be shut down, while Radio Sweet 100 will remain in operation.

In giving a breakdown of CNMG’s operations cost, Cuffie said commercial revenue had fluctuated between $30 million in 2011 to $33 million in 2015.

“Operational cost had steadily increased, while a major element had been staff cost, which jumped from $18.1 million in 2011 to $26.3 million in 2015.”

For this same period, Cuffie said expenses moved from $44 to $56 million, while subventions sky rocketed from $10 million in 2012 to $23 million in 2015. But Government reduced its subventions last year to $16 million.

“I think it came down to $14 million this year. We are operating in stringent financial times. We are struggling to pay salaries,” he said.

Asked what accounted for the increase in expenses, Cuffie said between the periods 2010/2015 CNMG became “very political and some of the expenses you saw were through the recruitment of people who were political appointees and the salaries matched that. There was activity engaged in by CNMG which had nothing to do with its core operations but had to do with the ongoing (2015) election campaign.”

In going forward, Cuffie said TTT would be partly funded by the State, contributors and its commercial operation and its objectives will not be to make profits. He also dismissed rumours that CNMG’s Maraval Road property was up for sale.

Since the announcement of the return TTT, Cuffie said he has been getting positive feedback.

A dealer searching a derelict pick-up for parts near the Chaguanas home of murder victims Michael “Gaza” Applewhite, his common-law wife Michelle Harrylal and another man believed to be a neighbour known as “Reddo”, discovered a blue shirt with the word “Police” printed twice.

The man told the T&T Guardian yesterday that he found the worn-out, blue shirt in a black plastic bag that was tucked in the wheel well of the pickup. The word “Police” was printed on the back and chest area of the shirt and had a stain on it that he believed was blood.

Homicide detectives and crime scene investigators returned to the Carlsen Field crime scene and took the shirt into evidence yesterday. However, the officers said they will also have to check whether the shirt was planted there yesterday to throw off their investigation.

Residents said yesterday that the discovery had given credence to the story given by a four-year-old boy who escaped the gruesome murders. They were told by the child that a policeman had dragged Harrylal, 27, out of her house and beat her. However, they said the murders may not have been necessarily committed by police officers, as other individuals have access to uniforms of the security forces through different means.

A resident told the T&T Guardian that a hit was called from behind prison walls against Applewhite, 35, a vegetable vendor who had several previous charges for drug possession. He said the man was a former lover of Harrylal and became enraged last December when he was released from prison and learned she had moved on and was living with Applewhite. Neighbours recalled that the man and Applewhite had an altercation. Within two weeks of being released, however, the man was arrested on warrants and has been in prison since then.

A few residents yesterday contradicted initial reports that the incident happened at night, saying it was around noon on Wednesday that they saw the fire. However, they said it was normal for people to burn garbage outside their homes.

“Michelle came here to live with this next man and the fella in jail did not like that. The same man who did this was tight with the man in jail. It easy to understand, the person who did this knew exactly where to come because look how far they live in the bush. The person who did this even know that the people living near the entrance here went to church and that nobody else was around,” the resident said.

The charred bodies of Applewhite, Harrylal and another man were found on Thursday morning after a resident walking along the road found the four-year-old boy wandering the road. When they reached further along the road, the child met another neighbour and allegedly told her: “My mammy dead, my mammy dead. A policeman kill she and throw she in the fire.”

Pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov yesterday could not determine the cause of death after testing the charred remains. This means police will not list the deaths as murder. Alexandrov said based on the pelvic bones two of the remains were male and one female. He added that the remains were essentially ashes, adding that the bones were so brittle from the heat they could disintegrate to ash when touched. He added that there were no bullets found in the remains and there was no way of knowing if the trio were stabbed or chopped.

Alexandrov said he collected bone marrow samples from the remains and collected comparable DNA samples from relatives of Harrylal to confirm identity. He added that while there is no cause of death, it was most likely that the trio were murdered and the shack torched to destroy evidence. The remains are being kept at the FSC and should be released when the identification of the deceased are confirmed.

Leslie-Ann Gonzales was raped, strangled and stabbed at least 10 times in the face with an ice pick after she was attacked on her way to her Oropouche Road, Valencia home on Wednesday, her autopsy found yesterday.

The 38-year-old baker with Linda’s Bakery warehouse, El Socorro, San Juan, was found on Thursday after failing to return home the night before. Her co-workers told relatives she left work around 7.30 pm Wednesday. Gonzales’ body was found about 100 metres from where she lived in a bushy poorly lit dried up river.

One relative who did not want to be identified yesterday told the T&T Guardian that the community where they live consists of approximately six homes and no one there, in his mind, was “capable of killing a mosquito, much less a human.”

Gonzales, he said, had lived in the area for 17 years after moving there from Penal and was a conservative woman who had no children and was single.

Relative told police that around 7.30 am on Wednesday, Gonzales left for work but never returned home. Gonzales, who lived with her sisters, was reported missing by them when she failed to return home. She was found around 4.30 am the following day by neighbours who noticed there was a bushy area that had been beaten down near her home.

Speaking with the media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, relatives said the killer did not take any of Gonzales’ jewelry or cash and other valuables she had on her. The man, who fought back tears, said Gonzales was a respectful woman who never complained of being harassed or threatened. He added that on his way to work he noticed the beaten grass but assumed it was a makeshift path to a nearby quarry or a caiman had passed and cleared the bushes.

According to pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov, Gonzales was sexually assaulted and the killer/s was strong enough to fracture a few of the bones in her neck. The stab wounds to the face were non fatal and superficial.

Co-workers of the deceased described her as a “good worker” and a “very nice person,” adding they were shocked by the incident.

Gonzales’ killing has taken the murder toll to 313 for the year, compared to 298 for the same period last year.

Abdul “Krysis” Wakeel, who is alleged by police to be one of the members of the Unruly Isis gang, was last evening granted $30,000 station bail by a Justice of the Peace.

He is expected to reappear before a Chaguanas magistrate on Monday to answer two charges of obscene language and resisting arrest.

Wakeel, 33, of Enterprise, Chaguanas, was represented by attorney Fareed Ali.

He was arrested by police officers on Wednesday while at Circular Road, Crown Trace, Enterprise.

It is alleged that Wakeel was beaten by police officers then handcuffed and dragged on the streets. He was subsequently detained at the Cunupia Police Station.

According to his attorney, Wakeel sustained lacerations about the body and a broken nose and was treated at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mount Hope.

Shortly before 6 pm yesterday, Wakeel, who was being held at the Cunupia Police Station, was granted station bail by a JP.

After walking out of the station, Wakeel was met by the head of the Islamic Front Umar Abdullah, who briefed him and accompanied him to his Enterprise home.

The Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago has broken its silence on negotiations with Bridgemans Services Group PLC, admitting the Canadian firm was not part of the tender process and the first submission from the company for a vessel on April 12 was made “via the Ministry of Works and Transport.”

Responding to a Guardian Media exclusive with Bridgemans vice president Andrew Purdey yesterday, PATT for the first time disclosed that “outside of the tender process for a passenger and cargo vessel, among the offerings received were four submissions from Bridgemans Services Group and two from Ken Shipping and Marine,” the company owned by Lester Kenny, who is Bridgemans’ local agent.

The figure, however, is at odds with that given by Purdey, who told GML they had made 13 submissions of vessels to PATT.

In a response to the article, the PATT said it was attempting to ensure “that there is no misinterpretation and or ambiguity in the information disseminated.” Responding to Purdey’s claim that “we began first contact from the brokerage group on April 10, the Authority said “it is unaware of any discussions/communications with Horizon, the brokerage company of Bridgemans Services Group.”

On Purdey’s claim that from April 12, through the broker, submissions were made to the Port, the PATT said “Bridgemans’ initial submission to the Authority was made via the Ministry of Works and Transport and a direct submission addressed to the Port Secretary on April 28, 2017.” It said all submissions “thereafter were sent directly to the Authority.”

PATT confirmed that meetings were held with Bridgemans and a team comprising members of the board and some managers.

Purdey had singled out vice chairman Adrian Beharry and the Port’s acting GM/CEO Charmaine Lewis in those negotiations. PATT said Lewis was not the first point of contact with Bridgemans, saying her “first conversation/ contact with any representative of Bridgemans Services Group was via telephone on May 28, 2017, to arrange the surveys for one of the ships.”

Subsequently, the Authority said “the first face to face meeting held with the managers of the Port Authority was on May 31, 2017.”

The Authority said it “had no intention to continue these matters in the public domain given the ongoing investigations, but felt compelled to provide these clarifications to ensure that an accurate account of the events are disseminated.”

In the next few weeks, the Sunday Guardian intends to explore the promises made by the Government and look into the extent to which those promises have been kept. Taking a close look at policies mapped out in the past two budgets, we intend to look at the progress made and speak to ministers about the progress on delivery, stagnancy or delays in those plans. This week we look at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

With financial year 2017 coming to a close, the likelihood of Government meeting its target of distributing 2500 houses this year, as announced by Finance Minister Colm Imbert in the 2016/2017 budget presentation, is unachievable.

Between October 2016 and July 2017, the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) allocated just about half that amount, 1200-plus housing units. The corporation has, however, said it will deliver 200 more units by the end of September and 700 before the end of the calendar year.

The list of applicants continues to grow and so does the vociferous demand by the public for what some of them view as a right, demonstrated by online petitions, citizens asking for homes through the media and the number of applications sent to the HDC.

Meanwhile, the Ministry, and particularly the HDC, is still facing a $700 million dollar debt to contractors, a figure which surpassed its $644 million allocation for this financial year. In fact, the allocation to housing decreased in financial year 2016 and financial year 2017 by about 70 per cent and 65 per cent respectively.

The Ministry of Housing received a budget cut of 60.04 per cent in comparison to the first People’s National Movement (PNM) budget and approximately 70 per cent of the last People’s Partnership (PP) budget in fiscal 2015, moving from $2.877 billion in fiscal 2015, to $1.663 billion in 2016 and finally $664 million during this financial year.

The question of where the Government will get the money to finance these housing promises despite owing large sums to contractors, was answered by Mitchell in an interview last week.

Mitchell said the current sale of 87 units at Victoria Keys, a development with high-end luxury units built by the PP government and put on sale at market rates by the PNM, and the conversion of the HDC’s License to Occupy and Rent to Own agreements to mortgages, would bring in additional funding that would be invested in projects.

Between 2012 and 2017, the HDC has brought about 2,226 conversions to mortgages, with over 50 per cent occurring in 2016 and 2017, earning the corporation $541,709,114.00.

In the past two years, Mitchell has also announced potential policy decisions for the HDC, which were later reversed. In 2016 for example, Mitchell told media he was considering allocation of unfinished units to applicants who were willing to accept them, but that plan was shelved after legal issues were highlighted regarding mortgage applications for such units.

In June, a petition was started by Country FirsTT, an organisation founded by a former United National Congress (UNC) councillor, calling on the HDC to allocate houses which remained vandalised or abandoned.

After criticising the “extravagance” of the past administration in spending on key distribution ceremonies, Mitchell said he did not see the need to spend money on ceremonies when successful housing applicants could receive packages at the ministry. Up until yesterday, however, key distribution ceremonies were still taking place.

Subsidised housing is, however, only one of the ministry’s core areas of responsibility.

The ministry is also responsible for land settlement, urban development, regularisation of tenure for squatters, home improvement grants and subsidies and monitoring and evaluation of housing trends and markets in the country.

In terms of squatter regularisation, Mitchell said 3000 families would receive deeds by September 30 and improvement works on nine of the 29 squatter regularisation sites were ongoing.

As budget 2017/2018 nears, the majority of promises made for Housing in budget 2016/2017 are ongoing.

Contractors await new projects

T&T Contractor’s Association president Ramlogan Roopnarinesingh said the construction industry has slowed down and payment to contractors needed to be made a priority. He said, however, that the association supported the new strategy of having multiple contractors on one housing site.

Expressing hope that several Government projects set to come on-stream shortly will act as a catalyst to stimulate the local construction sector and once again increase employment and generate revenue, Roopnarinesingh applauded Government’s move to ensure as many local contractors as possible benefited from the revised arrangements.

He said this was being facilitated through the offering of “smaller” contracts, which meant more contractors were able to secure work, thus generating spin-off employment for countless people, including architects, engineers, masons, carpenters, electricians, plumbers and other vendors.

“We at the association are of the view that giving multiple contracts at the same site is a good strategy. It means at one site you get more people employed. Instead of giving one contractor hundreds of houses, you can give 10 contractors and you have more jobs. We are seeing that it is working out well,” he said.

Roopnarinesingh strongly believes the revitalisation of the construction sector could cement it as one of the main contributors to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Regarding the debt owed to contractors, he said they were told Government had no money to pay them.

“We are hoping that an arrangement would be put in place. We saw that the minister had started up outstanding projects they had going. We think it is a very good idea as something needs to be done to stimulate the sector,” Roopnarinesingh said.

“We are hoping that the HDC and other agencies would put the relevant instruments in place to pay outstanding debts.”

He said if the contractors had money in their hands then they could start private developments.

Moonilal: PNM will build nothing

Former housing minister Dr Roodal Moonilal says the PNM had demonstrated enormous incompetence and all their construction projects were engulfed in corruption.

“At the end of the day they will build nothing and mess up everything. It will be left to the incoming UNC government to rectify the construction and financial mess that they will leave,” Moonilal said.

“They cannot even complete the mega projects we started because they have alienated the contractors.”

Describing the PNM as anti-business, he said it was clear they could not understand basic principles of public investment and targeted growth in relation to income redistribution and employment creation.

“The fundamental problem is corruption and incompetence.”

As shadow housing minister, Moonilal compared the achievements of the ministry during his tenure to that of Mitchell.

He said in 2010 at the start of the PP’s term of office, there were thousands of empty housing units all across Trinidad’s landscape and this had sparked national outrage.

“The People’s Partnership dedicated time and financial resources to completing these stalled housing sites, having to execute intense remedial works to incomplete units as well as installing basic and required infrastructure (drainage, electrical and plumbing infrastructure, waste-water treatment plants, street-lights) which were not installed, and which rendered the housing sites incomplete and the housing units uninhabitable.”

He said the PNM strategy was to build in phases and to allocate small percentages (especially close to elections) of completed housing units within an incomplete phase.

“For instance, in Corinth Hills, San Fernando, of a total of 736 units, approximately 50 housing units were completed and allocated. The tragedy here was that the site was incomplete and without waste-water facilities. Human waste had to be pumped out of the development daily; the same had to be done in Retrench, San Fernando, Las Alturas, Morvant and Mendez Drive, Champs Fleurs.”

He said contrary to the numbers provided by the HDC to the Sunday Guardian, for the period 2010 to 2015, records confirmed that 8, 521 housing units were delivered across 35 project sites.

“This figure includes the completion of stalled projects inherited from the PNM administration.”

He also criticised the PNM’s announcement of the preferred procurement method of Public Private Partnership relative to the construction of houses.

“They had a grand media event announcing the start of a PPP project between the HDC and NH Construction. To date this project has not commenced because the information in the public domain is that there were considerable shortcomings within the HDC Request for Proposals, and the price quoted by the contractor is currently being re-negotiated. The PNM government has not completed one single house after two years in Government.”

UDECOTT Projects completed.

While the Red House, President’s House, Mille Fleurs and Whitehall are still under way, UDeCOTT provided a list of completed projects delivered in 2017.
In financial year 2017, UDeCOTT completed and handed over the following:
Maximum Security Prison Fence Project
St. Joseph Police Station
Besson Street, Police Station
Maracas, St Joseph Police Station
Inland Revenue Division, Government Plaza, Richmond Street, Port of Spain
Refurbishment of Hyatt Regency
Refurbishment of Dormitories at St. Michael’s Home for Boys
Mt Hope/Mt Lambert Community Centre
Ackbar Trace Community Centre
Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba
Stollmeyer’s Castle

BUDGET PROMISES

Promise: To expand the home ownership base in the country by converting rent to own to mortgage.
Justification: To increase the number of home owners in T&T and simultaneously gain funds from mortgage conversions to finance projects.
Status: Ongoing. Annual targets exceeded.
Progress: Mortgage Caravan established by T&T Mortgage Finance (TTMF) to encourage License to Occupy (LTO) and Rent to Own (RTO) agreement holders to convert. Caravan visits HDC sites on a continuous basis.
Explanation: The HDC has an annual target of 350 for conversions of LTO and RTO agreements. In 2016 and so far in 2017, 970 and 460 conversions have been successfully completed. Mitchell said conversion of these mortgages provides the HDC with the relevant capital to complete other housing developments.
Promise: Reviewing and strengthening the administration of the Home Improvement Grant and the Home Improvement Subsidy programmes to assist families experiencing financial difficulties.
Justification: In the previous years, the majority of the grants were disbursed in central and south Trinidad because the inspectors (who are a key part of the assessment process) refused to undertake any investigations along the East-West corridor and the time for processing the grant application spanned a longer than the expected period.
Status: Review Ongoing (Continuous).
Progress: The Home Improvement Subsidy (HIS) and Home Construction Subsidy (HCS) is managed by the ministry’s Neighbourhood Upgrade Programme. For the Home Improvement Grant, Mitchell said investigators who live along the East-West corridor were hired to conduct investigations at the homes of applicants who reside in those areas. He also said strategies aimed at reducing the time-frame for expediting grants and increasing responsiveness were effectively implemented. He said the effectiveness of the HIS had increased by 160 per cent since 2015.
Explanation: In the past two financial years, the allocation for the Home Improvement Grant programme has been cut by more than 50 per cent. The Home Improvement Subsidy programme, Mitchell said, had been the subject of an International Development Bank (IDB) Project Management Review (PMR), which revealed that as at December 2015, the Neighbourhood Upgrade Programme was in the problem/borderline critical state and was under threat of cancellation, due to under-performance over the years.
He said in January 2016, the Programme Monitoring and Coordinating Unit (PMCU) adopted a new management structure and embarked on an aggressive marketing campaign, which generated an increase in applications for home subsidies. Mitchell said as of June 2016, the NUP moved to the satisfactory/stable/content state as a result of the new approaches which were implemented. Between December 2015 to September 2016, 423 families benefited from the Home Improvement Subsidies; a 160 per cent increase over the 2015 fiscal period, while 451 families were recipients of the Home Construction Subsidies; a 253 per cent increase over 2015.
Promise: To deliver 2,500 houses to deserving applicants in financial year 2017.
Justification: To meet the demands for low-income housing by citizens.
Status: Unachieved.
Progress: The HDC has allocated 1200 houses for financial year 2017 so far. With one month remaining until the end of fiscal 2017, the HDC anticipates that it will allocate 200 houses by September 30, missing the target by as much as 44 per cent.
Explanation: Construction on several housing sites are ongoing and while the HDC may be able to meet the target by the end of the calendar year, this was not the time-line stipulated in the budget by the Minister of Finance. Mitchell said by September 30, 2017 (end of this financial year), the HDC would have distributed an additional 200 homes at Pier Road, La Brea; Vieux Fort, St. James; Bon Air and Cypress Gardens.
Promise: To restore towns and cities and create new ones through targeted housing construction, in particular in the urban areas.
Justification: To support the growth of the population in established towns and cities.
Status: Ongoing
Progress: Work on three major housing developments has advanced in the East West corridor. These include River Runs Through Housing Development, Arima; Trestrail Housing Development, D’abadie and Bon Air South Housing Development, Arouca.
Explanation: Mitchell said the towns and villages located in East Trinidad have experienced positive growth over the years through the establishment of many educational institutions, housing communities, places of worship, commercial centres and governmental organisations. He added that in May, the sod was turned for a housing development at Gomez Trace in Moruga. The development of this housing community, paired with the construction of the recently-announced Agro-Processing and Light Industrial Park and Fishing Port in Moruga, were all intended to further develop this area and build enduring prosperity and sustainable livelihoods for all.
Promise: Plan to pursue public/private partnerships in the housing sector.
Justification: To harness financial and other resources within the private sector to complete some of its housing projects.
Status: Ongoing.
Progress: One such partnership has been established, more under discussion.
Explanation: The Mt. Hope Housing Development (Mahogany Court) will be the first project to be constructed by the PNM using this model and they expect many more projects to follow, Mitchell said. The sod for this project was turned in the last quarter of 2016 and is expected to be completed by 2019. Construction is yet to begin. Mitchell said the HDC had initiated discussions for the development of other PPP projects which will be located at Corinth and Malabar.

When Phyllis Bugnar was born, Trinidad and Tobago was more than 40 years away from becoming an independent nation. Next week the country celebrates its 55th birthday.

Bugnar had already celebrated her 55th birthday by the time T&T became a republic in 1976.

It is safe to say that Bugnar lived through much of this country’s history, including the Black Power movement and the 1990 attempted coup. She lived a long life.

However in March when Bugnar died at the age of 98, she died alone. Not much is known of Bugnar nor the life that she lived.

Her 98 years were reduced to simply a single line placed in a newspaper advertisement from the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) two weeks ago.

Bugnar was listed as one of four unclaimed bodies the NCRHA currently has stored in the mortuary of the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) at Mt Hope.

The advertisement warned that if no one comes forward to claim the bodies of Bugnar and the others, the NCRHA will have no other choice but to dispose of them itself.

All we know of Bugnar is what was contained in that one line from the NCRHA—that she was a 98-year-old female who died at the EWMSC’s Hibiscus Suite on March 26. Her cause of death is unknown.

Her body has been stored at the mortuary now for over five months.

The Sunday Guardian went to the mortuary to try and piece the puzzle together to find Bugnar’s relatives or her next of kin. While some staff at the EWMSC proved genuinely willing to help in this regard, red tape has stymied our progress.

This media house is still awaiting a response from an email sent to the NCRHA about the situation.

Internet searches have proved unsuccessful and the name Bugnar is not listed in this year’s telephone directory.

We do not know where she lives, where she worked or if she fellowshipped at any place of worship.

The Sunday Guardian is now turning to you, our readers, for help.

Time is of the essence, as the NCRHA will either bury, cremate or give the body over to science eventually.

Bugnar’s family are not the only ones who are being sought though.

The NCRHA is looking for the families of Judith Phillip, 64, Monica Munroe, 77 and Sonny Thomas, 58.

Phillip died at the Caura Hospital on February 21 while Munroe and Thomas died at the EWMSC on March 9 and March 2 respectively.

All four bodies are being stored at the mortuary and Phillip’s body has been there for over six months already.

One of the most wanted men in South Trinidad lost his left foot after being shot by police in Piparo on Friday, after he and two other men were caught on the way to execute a crime.

The 27-year-old San Fernando man is currently before the courts on firearm-related charges and was being sought by Homicide detectives for a murder a few months ago.

In January 2016, the suspect was shot in the head during a gunfight with another notorious criminal over the murder of his brother. The man accused of killing the suspect’s brother was later fatally shot by police in Princes Town last November.

Around 7.05 am on Friday, someone called Princes Town police and reported seeing three occupants in a gold Nissan Tiida hatchback with stickers on the bonnet and door along Dindial Road, Piparo. The informant told police the men were acting suspicious. When Sgt Ramlogan and Cpl Richardson responded they found the car parked along the roadside. As the officers approached, the suspect got out of the back seat and pulled out a gun. The officers fired two shots and the suspect ran into the bushes on the roadside.

The officers then approached the car and found a 55-year-old Gasparillo man and a 63-year-old La Romaine man seated in the driver and front passenger seats. The men both work at a chemical company in South Trinidad. On the back seat was a Glock 17 pistol loaded with 17 rounds of ammunition, a Taurus pistol loaded with 10 rounds and a sawed-off shotgun with six rounds.

Officers from the Princes Town CID and Southern Division Task Force were deployed to search for the runaway suspect. The other suspects were taken to the Princes Town Police Station where they remained up to last night. A trace of the car showed it was a rental. Police believe the stickers were placed on the car to commit a crime.

Sometime later, residents contacted police telling them that a strange man was seen hobbling along the road. When Ramlogan and Richardson returned with PCs Balgobin, Jackman and Isaac, they found the first suspect limping along Pancho Lane, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the leg. As he saw the police, he tried to run back into the bushes, but collapsed .

He was taken to the Williamsville Health Centre where he was stabilised, but police had to take him to the Princes Town District Health Facility because there was no ambulance. The suspect was then transferred to the San Fernando General Hospital. Investigators were told doctors had to amputate his foot during surgery.

There were suspicions that the men were there to execute someone based on the amount of weapons they had and that the injured suspect was hired to lead the mission. Police praised the residents for their observation of the suspects and their willingness in contacting with the police.

Whilst investigating officers still have no leads in finding the mother of the newborn baby girl whose body was found at the Beetham Landfill last week, forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov says samples will now be taken for DNA testing/matching.

In a telephone conversation with the T&T Guardian, Alexandrov said in such a case like this the saved samples would be kept indefinitely.

“So ten years from now if a woman shows up and says ‘I killed my child’ we would have the samples to look back on and match the DNA.

“In this case, I would be saving samples of blood, pieces of the liver and other internal organs, also bone marrow tissue, which is perfect to match for DNA,” Alexandrov said.

With regards to the baby’s body, which is still at the Forensic Science Centre, Alexandrov said if nobody comes to claim the body the State will have to foot the bill for burial.

On Tuesday around 5.30 am, scavengers at the dump found the baby’s body in a garbage bag.

The baby was said to be full term after a nine-month pregnancy.

During his autopsy, Alexandrov found there were no abnormalities, the baby was fully developed and the umbilical cord was cut.

The death certificate recorded that the baby died as a result of the abandonment of a mature naturally born viable infant in a hostile environment.

Investigations are continuing.

“T&T Television (TTT) cannot be recreated.”

This was the view of one of TTT’s pioneers, Jai Parasram, in response to government’s intended plan to revamp the country’s first ever television station. Parasram started his television career at TTT in 1972 and held various positions at the station, his last being news director when he left in August 1986 to do his masters degree in Canada. He described TTT as an institution built by a team of dedicated professionals.

“It takes more than a name to make a great national television service. We were pioneers who believed in TTT as the eyes and ears of the nation. And we really worked hard to tell great stories about our people,” Parasram told the Sunday Guardian as he spoke on the impending return of the station.

Over the decades during its existence, Parasram said TTT “brought us closer together, taught us about ourselves, created an understanding of our diversity, unearthed some of our greatest talent, presented some of our best stories and kept us in touch with our world.”

He said on January 14, 2005, when TTT ceased to exist, it “was a poor shadow of the vibrant (and profitable) TTT I knew. But it was, after all, the only national broadcaster, the people’s station, a reflection of our society, our people, the conscience of a nation.”

Parasram told the Sunday Guardian TTT gave him wings and dreams. He noted that under the guidance and direction of programme director Farouk Muhammad, TTT produced its own shows, including Issues and Ideas, Time to Talk, Its in the News, Teen Dance Party, Youth Talks Out, Heritage, Scouting for Talent, Mastana Bahar, Indian Variety, Twelve and Under, Mainly For Women, Play of the Month, Community Dateline and Know Your Country to name a few.

Producers like Hazel Ward, Horace James, Oswald Maingot, Errol Harrylal, Shaffique Mohammed, Victor Daniel, Tony Lutchman and others worked with the talented pool of engineers and technicians to produce high quality national shows that reflected the country, the people and the culture, he said.

“And they did it with minimal television facilities and equipment, but with commitment and a passion for excellence,” Parasram said. He said what TTT lacked in finesse, it produced in relevant, national broadcasting, “and that’s what T&T has lost. The TTT that became a part of the National Broadcasting Network seemed to lack the will and the enthusiasm to do the same in spite of modern, more efficient tools and additional staff.”

“The marketplace in T&T, with a proliferation of media, makes it imperative for any government to chart a new course for public broadcasting. In a nation such as ours, there will always be the need for a national broadcasting network, no matter what you call it,” he added.

Asked if he would work along with the current administration to bring back TTT if asked, Parasram replied: “I would work with anyone to help develop a truly national TV service that is focused on bringing people together through media. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, where I worked for 25 years, was and continues to be a great model of what a national TV service should be.

“I am happy to hear the minister said the focus would be on local content. That is vital in national building. TV is the ideal medium for building bridges and celebrating our diversity,” he added.

Another TTT pioneer, former head of news and current affairs Neil Giuseppi, said from an emotional point of view he would love to see the TTT logo again. However, he wondered whether an attempt to return to those glory days would make any difference to the media scenario in T&T.

“Deep down inside me, I feel it is too late for that. Will this move end up by forever sullying that great name that means so much to so many of us? I suppose that time alone will tell,” Giuseppi said.

The intention to go fully local with the station’s content, according to Giuseppi, seems to be a noble ideal, but he admitted he was a bit sceptical.

“I am afraid that the only way to make that concept a success is for the Government to fully subsidise the programme content and I am not sure how possible that is in these times of economic hardship. On top of that, a fully subsidised station will clearly be subject to political control and there is nothing that could be worse than that, particularly in the area of news.”

With the expectation that it will operate as a commercial entity, he added that “it is doomed to failure before it even gets off the ground. Over the years it has been shown that advertisers are not prepared to fund local content.

“That is not because the advertisers are against local content. Well-produced programmes, whether local or foreign, will always be attractive,” he said. “However it is a matter of cost. It is much cheaper to buy a foreign programme produced by one of the major networks in the United States or the United Kingdom whose international markets make it easy for them to amortise their costs over wider areas, thus making it possible for them to sell their programmes at much cheaper rates than local producers ever could.”

“My heart has always bled for the local producers who have done so much great work over the years only to find their programmes condemned to the dustbins while trashy foreign stuff is peddled on our local screens merely because they are cheaper to purchase. That, therefore, is the dilemma that faces the Government today. To subsidise or not to subsidise? I wait with bated breath to see what happens from here.”

Former TTT news producer Sunil Ramjitsingh advised the board to hire people with the right competencies to run the new entity.

He also advised the Government not do as previous administrations would have done and impose itself on the organisation in ways that would damage the prospects of the organisation.

“They are entitled to a portion of air time for public information and that is fine, but some administrations crossed the line. What those previous administrations failed to comprehend is that when they damaged the station’s reputation and content, they chased away viewers and therefore it was all in vain because no one really saw the propaganda they were trying so desperately to push, and at the end of the day the company ended up with a huge debt.

“It profits everyone, including the Government, when the station’s integrity and competitiveness remains intact. The present and future government administrations should try to avoid making the mistakes of their predecessors,” Ramjitsingh said.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says the planned revamped Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) would be best served if it were run by the state.

He said this would stem the flow of millions of dollars down the drain as is the case now with State-owned Caribbean New Media Group (CNMG). He was speaking at the launch of Professor Hollis “Chalkdust” Liverpool’s book Thoughts Along the Kaiso Road at the UTT Campus at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) in Port-of-Spain on Friday night.

Rowley said: “Only yesterday (Thursday) the Cabinet took a decision as we withdraw from competing in the media trying to compete with radio and television stations and competing with news.

“We have 25 or more private sector radio stations, a number of television stations we are competing against and wasting millions of dollars.

“We took a decision to make some adjustments to the state media but to recreate the television station TTT; T&T Television and to maintain and sustain it to provide an opportunity for the national culture, art, information and civilisation.”

He added: “We believe that TTT, open to the people of T&T telling the story of the people, is an entity that ought to be maintained by the state. So very soon we will relaunch TTT to allow us to grow in our own space. These are the kinds of things we are doing.”

He said with TTT, T&T’s civilisation in whatever form or fashion will always have a place to go and an entity to push what may not be the flavour of the day or may not be the bottom line with some of the commercial stations.

Rowley said after people like Liverpool put out learning steps in his book, they must now ensure that they become part of the reading material that the nation’s children are exposed to.

He said one of the issues the Government faced was that it was spending more and more money on education and getting less and less educated people in the country.

He said if an initiative was not launched to counter this, the situation can only get worse for each successive generation.

He said people needed to understand what was the standard of the yardstick by which education was judged.

Rowley said against the background of the absence of the people’s own story being written accurately, the Government had taken steps to bring a group of people together to do a research text of the history of the people of T&T, which was now completed.

He said this was done to prevent T&T’s history from being revised and “reviewed against agendas that might not be telling their own story” and that textbook was now available in all the nation’s schools.

Liverpool said with all Rowley’s problems with the sea bridge in Tobago and all the problems he was having, he (Liverpool) wanted to give the Prime Minister a copy of his book to read when he was crossing the sea bridge to calm him down and give him the power and resilience to face those challenges.

He lamented that some major corporations, media houses and universities were asking for just one or two copies of his book and some large conglomerates were using the excuse of the drop in oil prices as a reason for why they can’t buy a copy.

Liverpool said when most of his students wrote their papers he told them to not just quote from the works of Tennyson and Shakespeare but also calypsonians, as they had given us so many beautiful quotes.

Although Ameena Manoo knew it is a bad omen to dream about her dead relative, it never crossed her mind that her two sons would be involved in a serious accident and one would die.

Ashmeed Manoo, 29, died on arrival at the San Fernando General Hospital after he, his brother Ameer, 26 and friend Roshan Mooklal, 19, were injured in an early morning accident in Penal yesterday.

Ameer was treated and discharged, but Mooklal is warded in the Intensive Care Unit and and is expected to undergo surgery.

According to a police report, around 2 am the three friends, who live at Katwaroo Trace, Penal, were heading home after liming at J’s Restaurant and Bar at Batchyia Village when the incident happened. Ameer, who was driving, reportedly lost control of the car near Ramjattan Trace along the SS Erin Road and it began to spin before colliding into a culvert. Ashmeed was the front seat passenger.

Speaking at her home yesterday, Manoo, a mother of four, said Ashmeed, who does tiling, did not go to work and spent the day with her. She said he was in a playful and talkative mood. Later around 5 pm, she said they went by their cousin, which is a customary thing, to play cards and hang out.

Manoo said she was shocked to learn that they were coming home from the bar.

“They are not drinkers. There was no alcohol or drugs in their system,” she added.

Manoo said she recently dreamt her children’s deceased grandmother.

“I telling my sister-in-law something wrong, something not right. Every time I dream her something does happen.”

Describing Ashmeed as a peaceful person, she said their relatives would say he was her favourite son because they shared a close relationship.

She said Ashmeed, who is estranged from his wife of five years, was planning to build his own house. The mother, who was waiting for Ameer to return home from the hospital yesterday, said they had not yet told him his brother had died.

Penal police are investigating.

The semi-nude body of a man was discovered in a kneeling position in a drain not far from a church and tertiary institution in San Fernando yesterday afternoon.

Police were last night trying to identify the body, which was lifted by undertakers out of the almost ten-foot deep drain along Blanche Fraser Street.

Police said at about 2 pm someone called the station to report loud explosions in the area. A police team visited the scene but did not find anything.

However, they were called to the scene later on and found the body in a kneeling position with the head partially submerged in water. There were injuries to the head. A bloody boulder was found next to the body, which was clad only in an underwear. A pair of trousers was found further up the drain.

The deceased appeared to be of mixed descent, fair complexion and in his 30s. None of the residents who gathered at the scene could have assisted police with the man’s identity.

A district medical officer subsequently examined the body and ordered its removal.

Anyone with information about the man’s identity or who could assist with the investigations is asked to

come forward. Visiting the scene was a party of police officers from the San Fernando CID and Homicide

Bureau, led by Insp Don Gajadhar.

The body was taken to the San Fernando mortuary before being transferred to the Forensic Science Centre, St James, for an autopsy. (SW)

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley will be leaving the country on Friday to do his annual health check in the United States.

Rowley revealed that he would be leaving the country for a few days while he performed the role of deejay on the Barber Shop programme on radio station i955 FM yesterday.

Rowley’s deejay name was “DJ K.”

Asked by host John Benoit about his health, Rowley said his all is well.

“I must say thank God my health is good, but I try to be conscious I am not as young as I used to be, matter of fact next Friday I go off to do my annual medical,” Rowley said.

“A year ago I went to California and I had a bit of a scare and they examined me and told me they will want to see me again in a year and well, this is August so I am going off next week Friday for a few days to make sure.”

Last August, Rowley took a ten-day trip to California, USA, where he undertook several tests and also took a brief vacation.

The US check-up was prompted after his local doctors did a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test locally which showed his score was on the higher limit.

Speaking at a post-Cabinet press conference last year, Rowley said he was in the best of health after undergoing a battery of tests for prostate cancer and being cleared by his doctors.

Rowley also appealed to African men in T&T to get themselves tested for prostate cancer, a disease which has been claiming many lives.

Rowley yesterday said he was not hiding any major ailment and any claims to contrary are “mischief.”

“I am managing my blood pressure, I am paying attention to my prostate health and that is about it,” he said.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s Conversations with the Prime Minister will resume on September 13 in Tunapuna, after Rowley returns to the country from medical leave.

People’s National Movement chairman Franklin Khan announced this yesterday during the press conference following the party’s monthly general council meeting at Balisier House, Port-of-Spain.

Khan said it was also expected that a one-day open forum discussion between Government, the trade unions and the business community will also take place in September.

Rowley is expected to go on medical leave on September 1 and return on September 11.

Khan said the general council was updated by Rowley on his meeting with trade union movement last week, where a one-day, open forum discussion was discussed. He said the forum would be televised live for the national public.

The forum, Khan said, would look at the tripartite view and the positions of the Government, trade union and business community could be articulated and proposed solutions looked at.

“The Government will outline the state of affairs, the nation’s finances and other challenges the Government faces, what their plans are going forward, and what we see the solutions are and what we want the population to share with us,” Khan said.

“The trade union movement and the business community will be given that opportunity to do the same, so there are no closed door sessions. We think it is a good thing for the democracy.”

Asked whether the public will be allowed to participate in the session, Legal Affairs Minister Stuart Young said the they were still refining the public participation component.

Coordinators appointed

Khan also announced that the party’s 45th annual convention will take place on November 12 and said the general council yesterday approved the appointment of 15 constituency coordinators to mirror the role of MPs in the constituencies which the PNM did not win in the 2015 elections.

The party is currently holding party group and constituency group elections in all 41 constituencies, he said.

“The party has a system of coordinators. We have 23 sitting MPs and where we don’t have MPs, we appoint coordinators to mirror the work of MPs in the context of the party structure. There are 18 UNC constituencies and we have approved 15 people today by general council to be constituency coordinators.”

The general council also approved the appointment of assistant general secretary Daniel Dookie to take up the role of general secretary, replacing Ashton Ford who resigned earlier this year, until election for that position is held next year.

PNM’s constituency coordinators

Barataria/San Juan - Alderman Anthony Roberts
Caroni East - Camille Robinson-Regis
Caroni Central - Senator Avinash Singh
Chaguanas West - Roland Gokool
Chaguanas East - Senator Paula Gopee-Scoon
Couva South - Darian Marcelle
Cumuto/Manzanilla - Clifford Campbell
Mayaro - Senator Clarence Rambharat
Naparima - Don Waithe
Oropouche West - Senator Kazim Hoseinguardian
Pointe-a-Pierre - Romney Thomas
Princes Town - Senator Daniel Dookie
Siparia - Joan Yuille-Williams
St Augustine - Indar Parasram

Former tertiary education minister and Member of Parliament for Chaguanas East, Fazal Karim, says through education and knowledge citizens can improve the quality of their lives and break out of poverty to a life of prosperity.

Karim was speaking with members of the media during the Central Division Community Police’s Community Awareness Development Drive at the African Recreation Grounds, Enterprise, Chaguanas, last Thursday.

The programme is facilitated by the T&T Police Service in collaboration with the National Training Agency and is driven by community police officers Cpl Jacey Small and Sgt Hazel Lucien.

He said through the programme members of the community were “accessing valuable data and intending to pursue education and training to improve the quality of their lives.”

Karim said the programme will be held at other locations in the Enterprise area.

“I want to invite everybody to come to the venues today for information presented by the police and the community policing department and the National Training Agency,” he said.

He said the jobs and career coaches were at the venue to provide the residents and the youths with support for any questions for a possible career, job applications, writing resumes, counselling and job opportunities.

“As people become aware and take advantage of the opportunity to improve their quality of lives through learning and education through empowerment, it is my view as a minister that education and training will move people from poverty into prosperity,” he said.

President of the Single Fathers Association in T&T (SFATT), Rhondall Feeles, who also attended the event, said he too lives in Central Trinidad and such exercises help make the youths become more self-sufficient and change their lives. He said he took the opportunity to speak with the men present and had hearty discussions.

“It is about them becoming self-sufficient and we have to make the change and empower others to make the change,” he said.

Dass Trace Youth Empowerment Committee president Justin Lewis said the organisation began three months ago with the aim of working with the youths in the community.

“We work to bring children up to stand and merge the gap through sports and education and change their direction,” he said.

Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister (Gender and Child Affairs) Ayanna Webster-Roy says men will be targeted for participation in the next cycle of the Caregivers Training Programme offered by the ministry.

She made the comment as 31 participants in the latest programme received their certificates during a closing ceremony at the International Waterfront Centre, Port-of-Spain, on Friday.

“Don’t our males want to be part of caring for our children? The Office of the Prime Minister, within the next phase of training, has made a concerted effort to target males across T&T?” she said.

“We understand that our children, especially our boys, need male role models. Studies have shown that children coming from homes where there are no male parents were more likely to abuse drugs, have their first sexual experience earlier and engage in criminal acts. Our men are just as crucial as our women in caring for our children.”

Webster-Roy said over 79 people had applied for the next training programme and were interviewed in the first phase of the recruitment exercise. She did say what date the next cycle would begin, but noted that civil and faith-based organisations and even the Defence Force would be engaged to encourage their male members to apply for training to become male care-givers.

Referring to a series of events involving children recently, Webster-Roy said: “Instead of stories of babies being abandoned in landfills, let our children hear stories of children being loved and cared for even in the absence of their biological parents. Instead of stories of children being kidnapped for ransom, let our children hear stories of children who feel safe enough to play in the streets without worry.”

Webster-Roy said she had made several unannounced visits to the St Michael’s Interim Rehabilitation Centre in Diego Martin and did not like the conditions which greeted her.

“What I saw I was appalled at and it wasn’t the first time. I visited it (the home) more than once and twice unannounced on a weekend with my family,” Webster-Roy said.

“The gate was opened and I just drove in and we are paying people to do a service and it should not be about dollars and cents but about making a meaningful impact. Circumstances may not be the best and we provide training programmes at the schools and it is up to the caregivers to make them (boys) turn up. We hope this cadre of people will be more committed.”

She said there was room for improvement and everyone had their part to play in doing better as a people and not just depend on Government alone.

She said T&T had ratified the treaty pledging to protect children from economic hardship, sexual exploitation, violence and other forms of abuse in order to advance children’s right to education, health care and a decent standard of living.

She said some of the trainee caregivers left their jobs, personal commitments and travelled from diverse places as far as Penal, Sangre Grande and San Fernando to work with the facilitators.

Webster-Roy said with this programme and the Parent/Skill Training Programme for children with disabilities, 42 community residences would benefit from the training programmes offered.

Also present at the ceremony was head programme facilitator Gwendolyn Snaggs, of the T&T Registered Nurses Association, who said there were challenges during the past three months of the course and commended the facilitators on their delivery.