I am alive and well… so are my two children.

These were the words sent to Jaily Lah Lum Wai, 63, of Newtown, Port-of-Spain yesterday by Aliyah Gill, who was said to be missing since Hurricane Irma’s landfall on St Maarten last week. Gill, who is Trinidadian, migrated to St Maarten a few months ago with her two children ages two and five.

Up to Thursday, Lum Wai and Gill’s sister, Kimberly, expressed worry and concern over their constant failure to get in contact with her.

However, being able to grapple at a temporary supply of communication service, Gill reached out to Lum Wai telling her that she and her two children survived the category 5 hurricane and not too worry.

She, however, revealed that her (Gill’s) home sustained minimal infrastructural damage, also her restaurant.

“She is ok. I am so happy to hear. She lost her doors to her home and restaurant but the structures are standing firm, which is also great news,” Lum Wai said.

Gill, however, did not confirm to her aunt, whether or not she will return to Trinidad temporarily or not.

“I am thanking God that she is safe and sound because not hearing from her after the destructive hurricane was very worrying for us,” Lum Wai said.

RD

Caribbean Airlines (CAL), in its continued support exercise in the relief effort by evacuating people from the hurricane ravaged islands, is expected to operate another relief flight today.

Since Hurricane Irma, CAL has contributed to and continues to support the hurricane relief effort by operating flights to Tortola and separately to Antigua to evacuate people.

Today, from Port-of Spain to St Maarten a CAL flight will depart at 7 am.

The flight will leave St Maarten for Kingston at 9.35 am with nationals of Jamaica and other Caricom countries who have been affected by the hurricane.

The aircraft will turn around in Kingston and depart at 11.15 am (Jamaica time) to St Maarten with supplies from Jamaica.

According to a release issued by CAL’s head of corporate Communications, Dionne Ligoure, the flight will then collect T&T nationals and other Caricom nationals from St Maarten and depart at 3.30 pm for Piarco International Airport.

That flight is expected to land at 5.05 pm.

“Kindly note that in accordance with the conditions established by the authorities in St Maarten, the airline will not carry any commercial passengers on these flights,” the release stated.

With significant support from corporate T&T, CAL is moving relief supplies and essential goods like water, canned food, tarpaulins and other products.

“As a responsible corporate body, Caribbean Airlines will continue to assist government agencies and other stakeholders to co-ordinate emergency relief and get help to people as quickly as possible,” Ligoure said.

“The employees of Caribbean Airlines continue to work to support the people of St

Maarten and the British Virgin Islands, at this challenging time,” she added.

My name is Joel Anthony Julien, I am 37 years old and on Tuesday I received my first prostate examination.

Am I ashamed to say that? No.

Am I afraid of what others may say having learnt that? Still, no.

Truth be told, having a prostate examination done was no where in my plans for 2017.

In fact, it was nowhere in my plans up to last week.

That all changed, however, after having a meeting with the Sunday Guardian’s editor Debra Wanser.

September is celebrated throughout the world as National Prostate Health Month and Debra said the plan for today’s new Guardian on Sunday is to start a series about prostate cancer.

This is in keeping with our mandate to make a difference in the community through campaigns that matter.

As Head of News Shelly Dass stated in the relaunch on the newspaper on Monday “too many people in this country are losing the battle with cancer and we intend to do everything we can to raise awareness through education campaigns on this and other health issues”.

With that in mind, I volunteered to have my prostate examined with the hope of raising awareness and helping to break an unnecessary taboo.

I spent Monday night Googling how to prepare for a prostate examination. It was of little help.

Then Tuesday came.

I met photographer Dion Roach at Guardian’s Building in Port-of-Spain, where I was supposed to be tested inside the T&T Cancer Society’s mobile bus.

When Dion and I walked into the bus there were four women inside.

One of them introduced herself as Dr Asante VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc.

As we shook hands I noticed how small hers were. “Thank God,” I thought.

I had to fill out a medical form stating my age, emergency contact and whether I had any family who had been diagnosed with cancer.

It was then that I realised that recent health scares in my family had helped me make up my mind to be tested.

The moment most men fear

The first test was the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test. As a regular blood donor I wasn’t fazed.

I then interviewed VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc as part of the series, who had a very calming presence.

Then the moment that most men fear about the prostate examination came.

It was time to do the Digital Rectal Examination (DRE).

“You can’t spell dread without DRE,” I thought to myself.

Off came my jeans; knees to my chest. Then VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc’s calming voice repeated what would take place.

“Relax,” she said.

She then placed lubrication on her gloved hand and inserted her finger into my rectum.

In probably 20 seconds the examination was all over.

“That’s it?” I asked her when she said she was finished.

Some fear that getting tested, being placed in a fetal position and having your prostate tested are a sign of weakness. In fact, when it was all over I actually felt stronger.

Knowledge is power and I know now that my prostate health is fine so far.

Prostate cancer is a battle that can easily be won with early detection, please don’t wait until it is too late because of some foolish mindset.

YOUR STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO PROSTATE TREATMENT

• If you are over 40 you need to get tested.

• If you are experiencing difficulty urinating, slow or weak urine streams and painful ejaculation you need to get tested.

• Prostate examinations can be done at the T&T Cancer Society (TTCS).

• There are two examinations that are done; the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test and the Digital Rectal Exam (DRE). Both are subsidised by the TTCS - The PSA cost $180; the DRE cost $150

• Make an appointment by calling the TTCS at 800-TTCS or email them at projects@cancer.tt

At around 5 pm on Thursday, MTS estate constable Brian John was on his 23rd hour of guard duty in the casualty department of the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.

Exhausted but prepared to work for an additional 12 hours, John was alerted to a commotion outside of the department.

When he went outside, he saw an ambulance vehicle parked in the rain, doors opened, with a strong scent coming from inside and people backing away.

The 50-year-old Maloney resident went to investigate and saw a homeless man covered in faeces sitting in the ambulance waiting to be brought out.

John, who has worked in private security for the past 22 years, most of which had seen him stationed at the hospital, said the state of the man in the ambulance surpassed that of similar situations in the past.

"We've had to deal with people being dirty or smelling bad before but this was really bad. Nobody wanted to touch him."

"I told them talk to the doctor and find out what to do with him. The doctor told them to clean him up so the nurses could attend to him. The state that gentleman was in everybody was running."

Watching the reluctance of everyone else to get the man into the hospital, John said something happened and on autopilot, he went inside to locate cleaning materials and came back outside to clean the man up.

"I had to take off the old clothes he had on for myself. His hair, the faeces was in his hair and his beard and I had to cut it off with a scissors. After that I bathe him properly and wash him down and hosed him down and a nurse brought a sheet and gave me to dry his skin."

While John was doing this, the man, who the ambulance said was homeless, sat motionless in the wheelchair, occasionally talking to himself.

"I don't know if he could have walked. The nurses got some clean clothes and I changed his clothes. He was transformed. Nobody could have believed it was the same gentleman."

What caused John to take charge when no one else wanted to?

"That came from my heart. It's just in me. It wasn't the first time I've had to do something like that. This was just the worse I had to deal with. I recognised him as a vagrant on Charlotte Street. I used to see him passing stool and eating it. I couldn't just leave him like that."

Brian's act didn't go unnoticed, an ambulance technician who witnessed it took photos and shared on Facebook, hoping to highlight his good deed.

"I keep getting people who said Brian, you will get your blessing. This morning when I came out, my phone start ringing down. As I reach home this morning from work, everybody in the building was telling me what a good thing I did.

"When you do good, good comes to you."

Prostate cancer kills more people in Trinidad and Tobago than any other cancer. Despite these shocking figures, men over 40 continue to avoid the doctor’s surgery to be tested for the disease.

The latest statistics available, dating back to 2012, put the number of deaths caused by prostate cancer ahead of breast cancer by over 50%. It’s also the most common type of cancer in the country, according to the World Health Organisation’s data.

These numbers could be considerably reduced if more men were tested, for just $330 at the Trinidad and Tobago Cancer Society.

Yet, despite these damning figures, one of the biggest problems facing the Trinidad and Tobago Cancer Society (TTCS) is getting men to get tested for the disease, its second vice chairman Dr Asante VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc has said.

The month of September is celebrated throughout the world as Prostate Health Month.

The prostate gland is only found in men and lies just beneath the bladder.

Prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer related death in T&T.

According to the WHO’s Cancer Country Profile for 2014, prostate cancer accounted for 34.8 per cent of the 1,100 cancer related death in males in T&T.

The estimated number of incident cases for prostate cancer for 2012 was 704.

There were almost 500 more incident cases for prostate cancer when compared to its nearest rival in men.

Colorectum cancer was the second highest in this country with an estimated number of 207 incident cases in males.

Phobia of what the rectal examination involves

And while prostate cancer can be defeated with early detection men are still not getting tested.

“The biggest difficulty is the phobia of what the rectal examination involves. Just that thought alone is a big phobia among a lot of West Indian men,” VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc told the Sunday Guardian an in interview on Tuesday.

“You know they question is it going to hurt? What’s going to happen and of course the fear on the other side of that is what if you find something?” she said.

VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc, however, warned that like many other health issues, prostate problems are not likely to resolve themselves without intervention.

They may even become worse with serious consequences, she warned.

“But still the biggest hurdle is getting the men here, just to get to this point is the biggest hurdle because you have to get over the myths of what the prostate exam entails,” she said.

One of the major myths is that some men believe that the brief penetration of the rectum can change their sexuality.

“But once we keep and continuously educating the public on the importance of screening and that is what the Trinidad and Tobago Cancer Society focuses on, screening being our best weapon against prostate cancer, and any other cancer as a matter of fact, because it gives us early detection,” VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc said.

“Once we continuously reiterate and repeat that and have that going then we can get over the hurdle,” she said.

Afro-Caribbean men are a high-risk group for prostate cancer.

“Because we are in the West Indies it is considered that that is the high-risk population, so from age 40 we recommend your first examination,” she said.

The prostate often gets enlarged gradually after the age of about 50.

After age 50 it is recommended that tests are done annually.

Only $330 to get tested

The prostate examination involves “two tests that go hand in hand”, VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc said.

Those two tests are the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test and the Digital Rectal Examination (DRE).

The PSA is a blood test that examines levels of a specific protein produced by the prostate.

The TTCS charges $180 for the test and results are usually received in a two week period.

The second test is the Digital Rectal Exam (DRE).

“That is the one that everybody is afraid of,” VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc said.

One of the things men fear is the “vulnerable” position they are placed in, she said.

“The position I usually recommend for my patients is to put them in a fetal position so they are lying on their side, with their knees to their chest and obviously their posterior end is toward the examiner,” VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc said.

The second fear is the way the test is actually done.

“We use our index finger and we generally insert our gloved finger, which is lubricated, into the rectum and we are feeling the prostate,” she said.

“We are feeing the posterior aspect of the prostate and we are feeling for the size of the prostate because from experience we know what the size of the prostate should be, it feels most times like a walnut. We are feeling for an increased emphasis on the lobes and we feel the surface to see if there are any nodules. We feel the consistency to see if it is soft or hard,” she said.

All this takes less that a minute, she said.

“It is very, very quick but it gives us a lot of information so that along with the PSA allows us to decide what our next move is,” VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc said.

The TTCS charges $150 for the DRE.

The costs of the tests are subsidised.

VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc urges men to get tested.

One of the tell tale signs of prostate problems is difficulty in urinating.

“This is a cancer we can beat. You can survive this, you do not need to succumb to this due to ignorance, you can beat it and knowledge is power,” VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc said.

“It is not like a death sentence it is something that can be fought and the earlier that you detect it the better off you are. It does not mean no more of a sex life because that is what some men think it means. Men think if I take out the prostate I would not have anything else, but treatment has improved immensely, it has changed over the years and has become so much less invasive with earlier detection that it is amazing now how many prostate survivors we do have,” she said.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday said he was left "very disturbed" after reading the report into the "ferry fiasco" done by sole investigator Christian Mouttet.

On Friday, Rowley told the Parliament that Mouttet's report was in his possession and her would read it over the weekend.

Last month, Mouttett was appointed as the sole investigator into the sea bridge fiasco involving the Cabo Star and Ocean Flower 2, which the Port Authority of T&T (PATT) leased from Canadian firm Bridgemans Services Group LP.

"Yes, I have read it and I am very disturbed by what I read and I will make it available to the investigation into the Parliament and the Attorney General's office," Rowley told the TV6 News.

Rowley said Mouttet's report has some "matters of concern" in it and when he appears before the Joint Select Committee (JSC) tomorrow he will make his comments there.

The T&T Police Service (TTPS) have ordered an investigation into reports that a Guardian photographer was attacked by one of its members. Yesterday, the T&T Police Service, via its twitter account said Commissioner of Police (Ag) Harold Phillip ordered an investigation into an allegation that a police officer assaulted a media worker.

The officer, along with another man attacked the photographer, punching him repeatedly while he was standing in the roadway around 2.30 pm on Friday.

De Silva saw the police officer a second time when he and a reporter went to the Penal Police Station.

Around 2.30 pm, De Silva reported that he was standing on the road taking photos of the expansive compound when a black Toyota Hilux drove towards him. De Silva stepped back to avoid the oncoming vehicle, only to see the vehicle coming toward him again.

The driver then stopped, jumped out and accosted De Silva in an aggressive manner.

De Silva’s glasses fell to the ground and he identified himself as a Guardian Media photographer in an attempt to prevent the attacker from assaulting him further. However, the man, who was also shouting obscenities, began cuffing De Silva about his face, telling him he was on private property.

In a series of tweets, the TTPS said:

"The Guardian newspaper, in a front page article, claims one of its photographers was assaulted by an officer during an incident at Penal yesterday. The police service views seriously any allegation against a member of its rank."

The tweet said ASP Ruthven Hunte had been assigned to investigate the allegation with oversight by head of the Professional Standards Bureau ACP Anthony Bucchan. The Police Service also informed the Guardian that the officer identified by the photographer was not a "senior officer" as published in the paper, as senior officer includes officers from the rank of the First Division, ie ASP and above.

De Silva was still shaken yesterday and was prescribed anxiety medication by doctors.

The Guardian was also informed yesterday that on Wednesday a reporter from another media house went to the same compound and was parked in the road and was taking footage of the company sign when a glass bottle landed near his foot.

More bottles were thrown at him from a house on the road, and after hiding behind his car, he left to make a report at the Penal Police Station. See Page A8

Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan says the level of development activity taking place in the Barataria/San Juan constituency without any improvement in the infrastructure of the area is contributing to flooding in the area and also proving a challenge to the ministry.

He was speaking at the first leg of his triple tour of Barataria/San Juan, Central and South constituencies beginning at the WASA water pumps at El Socorro Road South Extension in San Juan, yesterday.

Sinanan said “What we're trying to do now is to try to continue the maintenance of the area, improve the infrastructure.

“We do have some challenges with the pumps we see behind me here and some of the gates.

“The ministry is now doing an inventory of all the pumps and gates to ensure that a proper programme for the maintenance of equipment is put in place.”

He said for years equipment was left lying idle and most had detiorated to the point where they had to be replaced.

When asked by reporters on an update about the ferry service to Tobago, Sinanan said there was a tender out for a new passenger vessel which will take the slack off the three vessels that can be rotated to drydock for repairs.

The last time Vidya Deokiesingh’s profile was in the public domain as much as it is now, was in 2015 when he was presented as the PNM’s general election candidate for Siparia—a time when PNM was tipped to win government.

Last week, at the PNM’s two-year milemark in government, Deokiesingh was again spotlighted, however at the centre of allegations in the Petrotrin oil issue.

This, regarding an internal audit report on investigations over January to June 2017 into alleged volume discrepancies.

After Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar last weekend broke allegations in the August 17, 2017, report which pertained to investigations up to then, the Energy Ministry stated Petrotrin had indicated investigations were being done and more information had been expected on the probe.

Energy Minister Franklin Khan said following leak of the report, the public became “anxious” on the outcome and Petrotrin’s board met on the issue last week. The board delivered a final report on the completed investigation to Khan on Thursday. Government sources said yesterday the report will be laid in Cabinet this week.

Lost badly to Kamla in 2010

Deokiesingh, however, has been mum, not answering calls yesterday.

PNM’s list of 2015 general election candidates gave his occupation as “hospitality officer”. A Linked-in site stated he was a hospitality officer at Petrotrin.

Former PNM deputy leader Joan Yuille-Williams who had traditionally co-ordinated PNM constituencies, especially southern, was unavailable yesterday. She was among those photographed congratulating Deokiesingh in 2009 after his re-election as Siparia Regional Corporation alderman.

The corporation is where his political career with the PNM began: chairing that corporation from 2006 to 2010 under the Patrick Manning PNM administration.

At the end his term in 2009, Deokiesingh was quoted as saying he was sure he would have returned as alderman and “wouldn’t have suffered” the same fate as UNC’s Suruj Rambachan who was voted out of office.

In 2009, Deokiesingh was among a long list of people in an Integrity Commission notice concerning people who failed to file IC returns (2009). He was among six Siparia Regional Corporation officials listed.

In 2010 Deokiesingh was chosen by PNM’s Screening Committee—headed by Manning—as its general election candidate to challenge Siparia MP Persad-Bissessar, then Opposition Leader. In that fateful year when Persad-Bissessar’s People’s Partnership won a landslide victory against Manning’s PNM, Deokiesingh lost badly to Persad-Bissessar in Siparia—4,037 votes to her 15,808.

However, when the political tide turned against the PP, Deokiesingh was again chosen in March 2015—this time by the PNM’s screening team headed by Keith Rowley—to fight Persad-Bissessar in Siparia in that year’s general election.

When he was asked what changed between 2010 and 2015 that convinced him to try again with the hope of different results, Deokiesingh is quoted saying:

“You know, I’m very positive and we also look at divine intervention. Things can happen. You know in a horse race, sometimes (with) the favourite just before the line—things happen. So I am there neck and neck working with the constituency.”

Deokiesingh did not win though PNM did. He was among PNMites appointed to state boards three months after PNM won. He was appointed to the Lake Asphalt of T&T Board—along with seven others—in December 2015.

Last Friday in Parliament, Prime Minister Keith Rowley said following the alleged Petrotrin issue, Deokiesingh said he would resign from the board and the resignation was expected shortly.

CLAIMS ON AUDIT MAY HAVE PREJUDICED PROBE

Sources said yesterday that Persad- Bissessar’s claims on the audit may have prejudiced probe of the matter which was ongoing and possibly breached the rights to fair hearing where allegations were made. They noted the same thing occurred with the report into the collapse of the Las Alturas structure where former Udecott heads Calder Hart and Noel Garcia sued after statements were made based on that report.

 A&V Drilling and Workover Limited, owned by Senator Allyson Baksh and her father, Haniff Nazim Baksh was awarded a ten-year licence to operate fields in Catskill Moruga east blocks in 2009. Yet, according to the preliminary audit report from Petrotrin, it was A&V Oil and Gas, a company owned by the senior Baksh and his other daughter Vivian, that was providing the service to Petrotrin and implicated in a “fake oil” scandal with the leaking of the document last week.

Two different companies.

A&V Drilling and Workover Limited was incorporated in 1997, while A& V Oil and Gas was incorporated in 2009.

In October 2009 then energy minister Conrad Enill signed ten-year licence agreements for A&V Drilling and Workover Limited and five contractors to operate Petrotrin’s Onshore Fields.

A&V Oil and Gas Limited submitted two of 11 bids in Government’s 2013 onshore bid round but failed to secure the award.

How A&V Oil and Gas began producing gas for Petrotrin is still under question, as GML could not reach either Petrotrin or Baksh for a response.

A&V Oil and Gas is now suing Petrotrin and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar for defamation and demanding outstanding sums owed from Petrotrin.

The company has also demanded that Persad-Bissessar remove speaking notes and videos discussing the Petrotrin audit from her Facebook page.

As of publication, the speaking notes and video were still there.

The contract for A&V Drilling and Workover to operate fields at the Catskill Moruga East blocks is due to end in 2019, and it still remains unclear how A&V Oil and Gas was added to the list of contractors to have billed Petrotrin.

According to the Environmental Management Authority’s (EMA) National Registry, between 2011 and February 2017, A&V Oil and Gas applied for Certificates of Environmental Clearance (CEC) to drill over 100 wells.

The company also applied for CECs for the installation of an additional crude oil storage tank with a capacity of 485 barrel of oil and the establishment of a facility to collect, meter and transfer crude oil from nearby pumping wells to the Petroleum Company Of Trinidad and Tobago Limited’s catshill Gathering Facility.

No such CEC applications could be found for A&V Drilling and Workover Limited between 2001 and July 2017.

Since 1997 Senator Baksh was a director and owned half of the shares in the A&V Drilling and Workforce. She was also the secretary.

When the Peoples’ National Movement (PNM) won the election, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley appointed his “good friend’s” daughter as a senator.

Days later, on October 1, Senator Baksh relinquished her directorship at A&V Drilling and Workover.

Documents obtained by CNC3 and shared with the Guardian did not indicate whether she also gave up her post as secretary and her 600,000 shares in the company.

Sources at Petrotrin could not confirm whether this company still provides services for the State.

Several calls to Baksh went unanswered.

Attempts to question Baksh in person last week, led to members of the media being attacked by men, including a police officer.

The Media Association of T&T (Matt) says it is disturbed by reports that Trinidad Guardian photographer Kristian De Silva was attacked during the lawful execution of his duty on Friday.

Matt’s comments come after De Silva sustained injuries and saw his camera destroyed while standing in the road outside of the A&V Drilling Compound in Penal.

The photographer, along with a reporter, were seeking seeking an interview with the owner of A&V Oil and Gas, Nazim Baksh.

Around 2.30 pm, De Silva was standing on the road taking photos of the expansive compound when a black Toyota Hilux drove towards him in an attempt to run him over. De Silva stepped back to avoid the oncoming vehicle, only to see the vehicle coming toward him again. The driver then stopped, jumped out and accosted De Silva in an aggressive manner.

De Silva’s glasses fell to the ground and he identified himself as a Guardian Media photographer in an attempt to prevent the attacker from assaulting him further. However, the man, who was also shouting obscenities, began cuffing De Silva about his face, telling him he was on private property.

A second man who came in a second vehicle then hit De Silva on the side of his neck. This second individual was later identified by senior officers at the Penal Police Station as being a police officer.

De Silva reported to the Penal Police Station that while covering the “fake oil” fiasco he was attacked by the two men.

In its release, Matt said what made the incident “even more disgusting” is that a senior police officer is alleged to have been a part of this assault.

“Matt takes this opportunity to remind citizens that Freedom of the Press is a right guaranteed in the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is therefore unacceptable for a member of the media to be attacked while doing their job.”

The release said Matt looked forward to the matter being thoroughly investigated by the police including allegations that a senior police officer was involved.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday said he does not “knowingly associate with crooks except in the Parliament”.

Rowley made the statement yesterday while talking to TV6 news and defending his relationship with business Nazim Baksh the owner of A&V Oil and Gas.

“I am not aware that Mr Baksh got his business by his friendship with me. When I got to know Mr Baksh he was already in this business and doing well...so it is not a question of he got his business from his friendship with me,” Rowley said.

“If there is wrongdoing identify the wrongdoing and hold people accountable, I don’t know that we should be overdoing it and I am not afraid of identifying the people I associate with because I do not knowingly associate with crooks except in the Parliament,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the Government will need to exercise restraint as it prepares for the upcoming 2017/2018 Budget.

“There has to be discipline. As much as we would like to do a lot of things, we have to do the things that must be done,” he said.

On Friday, Finance Minister Colm Imbert announced that the national budget will be held on October 2.

Speaking to reporters during a health fair at Diego Martin Boys’ RC School, in his constituency, Rowley said the country’s dire economic circumstances demanded that the Government be prudent and disciplined in its approach.

Even as parts of the Caribbean continues to reel under the devastation wrought by Hurricane Irma one week ago, additional hurricane warnings were issued for several islands as Hurricane Maria moved closer to the Leeward Islands yesterday.

The National Hurricane Centre's advisory at 5 pm yesterday placed Hurricane Maria approximately 225 km east-northeast of Barbados.

Although T&T was not placed under any threat, watch or warning officials at the Met Office advised the system could trigger moderate to heavy rainfall beginning early this morning, even as tropical storm watches were issued for Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Meanwhile, hurricane warnings have been issued for St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe and Dominica.

In its 6 pm bulletin yesterday, the Met Office said Hurricane Maria continued to strengthen as it moved west-northwesterly at approximately 24 km/per hour.

Although a slower motion was expected, additional strengthening was forecast with Maria set to become a near major hurricane as it moves across the Leeward Islands tonight.

Tropical storm warnings have been issued for Antigua, Barbuda, Martinique, Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Lucia.

However, these are expected to be upgraded throughout today.

Hurricane watches were also issued for the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands, while residents in Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy and Anguilla were placed under tropical storm watch up to yesterday.

Estimating that Maria's maximum sustained winds had increased to 120 km/ per hour with higher gusts at 5 pm yesterday, officials warned that hurricane force winds extended outward up to 30 km from the centre, with tropical storm-force winds extending outward up to 165 km.

Reminding citizens that T&T was in the rainy season and adequate preparations must be made to preserve life and property against adverse weather, the Met Office urged persons to remain alert and monitor changes in the forecast.

Seven people— among them Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley— are scheduled to appear before Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on the ferry system, this afternoon.

Parliament confirmed the list yesterday.

The JSC involving Government, Opposition and Independent members began examining the ferry service— particularly procurement and management—two weeks ago in Trinidad and Tobago.

Some people invited for the first session and who haven’t spoken yet are being recalled for today’s session.

But it will be Rowley’s first appearance. He’d recently said something was “wrong “ in the current issue concerning two ferries.

Rowley has said he’d present the JSC with the report from Christian Mouttet, sole investigator of the current ferry matter whom Rowley appointed in August.

The report was delivered to him last week. Mouttet interviewed a number of people from Port management to other sectors.

Apart from Rowley, others appearing today are Natasha Clarke and Michael Annisette (expected to speak on issues regarding ferry service workers), Alfred Mc Millan, Inter-Continental Shipping’s John Powell, former Minister Christine Sahadeo and reporter Mark Bassant.

The JSC also meets again in Tobago on Wednesday.

Has a cover-up started on the alleged "fake oil" issue at state-owned Petrotrin?

UNC MP Dr Suruj Rambachan yesterday posed this question, noting certain remarks by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on the issue.

Rambachan and other UNC MP spoke on national issues at a Port-of Spain media briefing yesterday.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar recently revealed an August 2017 Petrotrin internal audit report on the alleged "fake oil" issue involving "volume discrepancies."

The report alleged involvement of a Petrotrin employee and private operator in under-supply and over-payment. Petrotrin has submitted a final report to the Energy Ministry.

Yesterday, Rambachan questioned reported statements by Rowley on getting independent auditors for the Petrotrin documents, " Doesn't he trust (Petrotrin)? Has a cover-up started?"

"This (internal audit) report had authors who are standing by what they 've written. It's not anonymous people,"

Rambachan said Government has become a "comesse Government because they're created so much commess for themselves , they're too busy dealing with that, than govern T&T,"

UNC whip David Lee insisted Petrotrin's report be sent the DPP and the Anti Corruption unit.

Lee said National Security Minister Edmund Dillon should probe recent attacks on journalists who, following the Petrotrin issue, suffered injuries from a man allegedly connected to A&V Oil and Gas .

"The minister should probe, especially if a policeman was involved," Lee added.

He said nobody from Government— including Dillon or the Prime Minister—had condemned the attacks on freedom of the press.

Lee said ,"Law enforcement should probe this (attack). If any wrongdoing occurred, culprits should be subject to the law."

Lee declined comment on claims the UNC once approached A&VOG's Nazim Baksh for donations and he declined giving.

Lee said Petrotrin's productions levels should be examined to see if its recent production increases, had anything to do the alleged "fake oil" situation.

The reported physical and abusive attack on media personnel is “wholly unacceptable and should not be initiated or encouraged by any person, under any circumstances”, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has said.

Rowley’s position was communicated via email at 2.08 pm yesterday .

Earlier yesterday morning, the Opposition UNC castigated the Prime Minister and National Security Minister for not condemning the attack on journalists and on freedom of the press.

The responses followed last Friday’s incident where T&T Guardian photographer Kristian De Silva— following the alleged Petrotrin”fake oil” issue— was attacked while attempting to take photos of A&V Oil and Gas compound in Penal.

De Silva was standing on the road, attempting to take photographs when a man approached him in a vehicle. De Silva said the driver drove straight at him in what appeared to be an attempt to hit him.

He said a man came out of the vehicle and hit him in his face, injuring his mouth. Another man also hit him across the side of his face. One of the men stamped on De Silva’s eye-glasses which fell. His camera was also damaged.

Yesterday’s statement from Rowley added,”Where any laws have been broken it is unreservedly expected that adequate law enforcement is available so that the law will take its course.”

“In so far as these reports relate to problems and allegations at State-owned Petrotrin operations, it would be in the interest of all parties and the nation as a whole, if necessary, investigations of all aspects of these operations, are permitted to be conducted and concluded in such a manner as to facilitate clear and definitive conclusions which would allow the necessary accountability that the circumstances demand.” 

The Energy Chamber has denied accusations that they are colluding with the Government to effect a programme of mass retrenchment.

Although retrenchment in the private sector has occurred within recent times, they said, “Individual companies have unfortunately had to retrench workers given the extremely challenging economic environment, but at the same time other companies have actually increased their labour force over the past two years.”

Acknowledging competition in the private sector had led to staff changes based on a company’s particular circumstance, the Energy Chamber, through the joint chambers group, has made it clear they support the reform of the Retrenchment and Severance Benefit Act, and had submitted detailed proposals in this regard.

Reaffirming its commitment to the National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC), the Energy Chamber maintained, “The trade union movement left NTAC because they believed there had been insufficient consultation over the closure of TDC. There were no specific discussions at NTAC on private-sector retrenchment.”

A release from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) last week described claims by Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) leader Ancel Roget that trade unions were able to stop Government’s plans of mass layoffs by requesting a moratorium, was misleading.

In fact, the OPM said Government had no such plans for mass retrenchment and meant to keep as many people working, even though the country’s finances meant this would be challenging.

They said union leaders insisted on asking for a moratorium until December, but it was not something that had been planned.

JTUM later responded by claiming the OPM’s statement constituted a malicious and frontal attack on the integrity of JTUM’s leadership and the entire trade union movement.

JTUM said the Government’s remarks was carefully calculated to reduce the significance of the moratorium on retrenchment .

They have now accused Government of creating an issue where there was none before, just days after JTUM agreed to rejoin the National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC).

JTUM claimed it left the NTAC as they believed, “Without any discussion, both the government and employers had joined together in the retrenchment of workers even while the Labour Movement was a part of the tripartite body.”

Suspicious of the circumstances surrounding how her brother's body ended up floating in the sea off Cedros, Vilma Pooran is calling for a thorough police investigation into his death.

Pooran's younger brother, Ramlal Pooran, 37, a tyre shop worker and handyman, was last seen by his relatives on Thursday. Two days later, around 2.20 pm on Saturday his body was discovered floating six nautical miles off Icacos Bay near Platform 3.

Coast Guard officers subsequently fished out the body.

According to a police report, around 5.30 pm on Thursday Pooran and a male friend decided to go sailing at Guapo Beach on a large piece of styrofoam when a wave knocked them off.

Pooran's friend disappeared, but his friend survived. However, Vilma claimed her brother's friend did not try to help her brother or inform the police.

"I find it strange that my brother's friend did not bother to get help. He did not report it to the police and he did not even bother to tell us," she said.

When relative's discovered he did not return home she said her brother-in-law went looking for Pooran's friend. The friend, she said, is a PH driver and he was last seen with her brother.

"My brother-in-law flagged down his (Pooran's friend) car in Rousillac on Friday and asked him where my brother is. He (friend) say they got into difficulty in the water and he saw my brother fumbling like he was drowning, but when he came out of the water and looked back he did not see my brother. But, he did not even bother to call for help or anything, why. These are the questions we want answered," said Vilma.

After receiving this information they reported the incident to the police. Vilma pleaded with the police not to rule her brother's death as a mere drowning before a proper investigation is done.

She said Pooran's 13-year-old son fainted when he learnt of his father had died. She described Pooran as a free spirited person who liked to "lime and party.

Relatives yesterday described as senseless the murder of Shackar Prince who was gunned down near his home in San Fernando yesterday morning.

Prince, 37, a fabricator, who was planning to wed the mother of his son in December, was pronounced dead on arrival to the San Fernando General Hospital.

Around 1 am officers of the Mon Repos Police Station received reports of loud explosions near bar on Bertrand Street. When the officers arrived they saw Prince lying on the ground with gunshot wounds to his chest just a few houses away from his home.

He died before he arrived at the hospital. Grief stricken relatives said Prince was at home where he lived with his common-law-wife, son and other relatives when he decided to check his friend who lived along the same street.

“All we hear is patax!,” said his aunt Jackie who recalled that shortly after the loud noise someone came with news that Prince had been shot.

Trying to hold back the tears, Kelly-ann Prince-Flaveney believes her brother was victim of a random shooting. “You will hear about things like this and you pray to God to cover your family because you do not want it to reach home. For this to happen to someone like him,a humble person, it is terrible, especially as it was for nothing. With one shot and that was the end of his life. I have to see my brother lying in a canal,” she lamented.

When they told their 86-year-old grandmother that he was killed, “she bawl like a baby.” She said Prince’s common-law-wife with whom he has a seven-year-old son was also distraught.

One of his friends said Prince was shot by the occupant of a car who was “wild playing.” He bemoaned, “Imagine they just shoot a man for fun.”

Confident that God will give them their justice, Prince-Flaveney had faith that her brother’s killer will be caught. Police are yet to ascertain a motive.

Investigators of Homicide Region 3 are investigating.

With efforts underway to establish the the National Statistical Institute of T&T (NSITT) by 2019, staff of the Central Statistical Office (CSO) have been briefed about their role in ensuring it becomes a reality.

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Planning and Development Joanne Deoraj met with over 200 employees last Friday to explain about the NSITT.

During that time, she and other officials addressed over 100 questions relating to job security and financial benefits.

Revealing initial action in the transition process authorised by Cabinet, included the regularisation of 110 employees currently attached to the Public Service Establishment, Deoraj said they could not move ahead without the input of staff.

Assurances were also extended to staff, guaranteeing their continued employment at the CSO.

Providing guarantees that the CSO was not being shut down; Deoraj said while staff will not be sent home; the options of VSEP, reapplying to the NISTT and the wider public service would all be viable options.

A gap analysis is expected to be done to determine the needs of the staff in order to develop training opportunities and enhance skills.

Officials of the Public Services Association’s (PSA) also expressed concern relating to job security, contract employment, union representation for staff, funding and the intended organisational structure of the NSITT.

Indicating their concern in these areas, Deoraj said they were working to ensure everyone had a fair opportunity to be employed at the NSITT.

With funding already approved by Cabinet, Deoraj said the NSITT’s main aim was to deliver modernized systems for data collection and timely delivery; the collection and dissemination of more credible data, more authority in the management of the data, stronger and more vigorous data collection strategies, and more autonomy as an institution.

Its’ mandate includes the collection, compilation, abstraction and analysis and dissemination of official statistics; carrying out censuses and surveys as may be required; formulating and ensuring compliance with standards for statistical purposes; collaborating with individuals, firms, partnerships, associations, unincorporated bodies, companies; corporations, ministries, agencies of government and international organisations in the collection, compilation and dissemination of statistics ; promotion and development of a National Statistical Systems (NSS); liaising with regional and international organizations in relation to statistical matters; and analysing data and provide reports in accordance with a predictable time schedule for public information.

The NSITT will direct the operations of the NSS which comprises the producers of statistics, users of statistics, data suppliers/respondents and institutions that focus on research and training that hinge upon the consumption and production of official statistics associated input that yield quantitative data.