It will be several months before Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on Land and Physical Infrastructure completes its hearings and submits a final report of its findings on procurement and maintenance of the ferries on the seabridge.

Parliament has been prorogued and the committee can have no formal sittings until it resumes next month. The T&T Guardian was told sittings of the committee may not resume until after the debate on the Budget is completed.

Committee chair Stephen Creese said he felt their work had been going well and they had no problem getting information. He said over the next few weeks the secretariat will be ollating the information and will prepare the working papers.

The committee created history and set a precedent when Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley appeared to give evidence this week, the first time a sitting prime minister had appeared before such a parliamentary committee and opened himself to questioning from Opposition, Independent and government members.

Rowley had expressed concern at the hearing that Oscar Ruano, of the Mexican Company Baja Ferries, which at that time owned the Cabo Star, had sent an e mail to leong@patnt.com indicating they wanted to have a direct relationship with the Port Authority of T&T(PATT). The email and a letter which was also sent, he said, were never passed on to the PATT board. Had that been done, the price of the vessel would have been between US$5000 to US$6000 less per day, resulting in significant savings to the country.

The Cabo Star was subsequently purchased by Bridgemans Services Group and has been leased by Government at US$22,500 a day.

Two sitting ministers also appeared to give evidence, as well as scores of witnesses from the PATT, Ministry of Works and Transport, stakeholders in Tobago and other interest groups, as the committee zoomed in procurement of the Cabo Star , Ocean Flower 2 and the Super Fast Galicia which left the seabridge in April.

When he appeared before the committee, Rowley submitted the report of businessman Christian Mouttet, the sole investigator appointed to look into procurement of the Ocean Flower 2 and Cabo Star.

Creese said the compendium of documents submitted by Mouttet came with a note that some were not read by Mouttet himself because he had only received them on the eve of handing in the report to the Dr Rowley. He said those documents alone will take some time to go through.

Creese said the committee will have to decidewhether they want to “recall anybody, or call anybody we may have missed.” He could not say how much more time they needed before compiling and submitting the final report. However, other members said the work might run to February or March 2018.

Former attorney general and congressman for the State of California, Dan Lungren, it telling T&T citizens they have the power to apply pressure on the Opposition and Government to fight crime and corruption. He says courage and unity were all that is needed to achieve this goal.

Lungren, who is credited with reducing California’s crime by half during his tenure, was one of the speakers at the Caribbean Security Forum at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port-of-Spain, last Thursday.

The forum focused on developing strategies to curb global and national threats.

As a successful crime fighter, Lungren told the T&T Guardian that having spoken to a wide cross section of our society, he agreed that crime, murders and corruption were the most pressing issues facing us.

“Crime has the effect of freezing us into immobility. And when it does that to a society it impacts in ways that are difficult to articulate,” he said.

He said there was an acceptance of crime in T&T and unless people come together the mayhem will continue, but noted reducing crime should not be a political issue.

“Your major parties have to be committed in doing this. How do you make that happen? It is the public. They need to rise up to put pressure on the Government and Opposition in making the changes. That is how we did it California,” Lungren said, adding that by forcing pressure on political parties the issue would have to be addressed.

“The country has to come together to say we have a huge issue. They all have to put aside their differences or your country would suffer.

There is comfort and confidence in numbers. People with courage have to step up.”

If society fails to rise up, Lungren said the country would face hopelessness and helplessness.

It was the grass roots people in California, he said, whose families were affected by crime who formed a united front and forced pressure on its political system.

“It became a people’s issue.”

The former AG said the people of California, which has a population of 33 million, came together and demanded from legislators that its laws be changed following the killing of a photographer’s daughter.

Those demands led Lungren to reform the criminal justice system in California.

He also said T&T was rated by the US Justice Department as “critical” in terms of its crime level.

“That is the highest level of crime that they can give involving any country.”

While other countries are worse off when it comes to crime, Lungren said visitors and investors would still refuse to come to T&T.

“It will affect your economy because people would go elsewhere where it is safer to spend their money,” Lungren said.

He said corruption was another issue people felt was not being tackled.

“I heard it over and over again... corruption was an issue. And if that be true…I don’t live here, you have to attack that root and branch. You must have a committed effort to hit corruption where ever it is.”

President Anthony Carmona is urging citizens to join together to provide relief to Caricom countries still reeling from the effects of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

In his Republic Day address to the nation yesterday, Carmona noted that many citizens were descended from people from the territories devastated by the recent hurricanes.

“As such, we must marshal our resources, as limited as they might be, to provide humanitarian assistance to our Caricom neighbours, in true solidarity and in the Caricom spirit, because Calypsonian Merchant also reminds us that there is a Caribbean Connection, ‘For we are one people, one destination,’” Carmona said.

His comments come as debate continues over relief efforts proposed by Government, including a call from Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley for citizens to open their homes to nationals of Dominica, many of whom lost their homes during Maria’s passage.

Rowley’s appeal was met with racist, political and xenophobic remarks on social media which have been since been denounced in several quarters.

Carmona yesterday also called on citizens to work together to eliminate discrimination in T&T.

“It is my sincere hope, it is my prayer that you accept that everybody is indeed somebody and eradicate all forms of prejudice. To build a model nation, to construct a strong and better nation, we must bring all into the fold,” Carmona said.

He added: “Now is not the time to engage in recitation of pious platitudes, or negativity or pass the buck, or step aside. Instead, I urge you to adopt the approach of the Good Samaritan, who did not turn away, or passed by on the other side, when he saw a stranger in distress.”

He also urged citizens to put aside their political differences to work together to raise the country from ongoing economic woes.

Carmona also sought to address his decision to shift the annual National Awards ceremony from Independence Day to Republic Day for the first time in the country’s history.

“To reiterate, such an awards ceremony on Republic Day, would raise the national consciousness of our people, deepen our sense of patriotism, give added credence to the Republican Constitution and also bring greater awareness of the true meaning of Republic Day,” he said.

A taxi driver was murdered and his friend injured in a drive-by shooting in San Juan on Saturday night.

Jemel Nicholson, 28, was killed along Boundary Road, Aranguez, around 11 pm. According to reports, residents reported hearing several gunshots before finding Nicholson and an unidentified friend lying on the road with gunshot wounds. The men were taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, where Nicholson was pronounced dead. His friend remained warded in a critical condition last night.

The shooting took place hours after Aranguez residents of the community joined with Building T&T for its candle-light anti-crime walk.

Meanwhile, five east Port-of-Spain residents who were wounded in a drive-by shooting on Friday evening remain warded in hospital.

Police said around 6 pm, Andy Huggins, 21, Anthony Raymond, 55, Pamela Lee, 34, Sheldon Jemont, 27, Joel Williams, 20 and 28-year-old Isaiah Sanchez were liming with fellow residents at the St Paul Street Housing Development in East Dry River, when a vehicle with three occupants stopped alongside them and two occupants got out and began shooting indiscriminately at the group. The shooters then returned to the vehicle and escaped.

Police from the nearby Besson Street Police Station responded and took the victims to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for treatment.

Sanchez, a father of one, succumbed to his injuries. Investigators said yesterday that Sanchez was known to police and they believe he was the target.

The car the gunmen used was later found abandoned at Block 8, Laventille, with the magazine of a high-powered rifle inside.

No one was arrested for either shooting up to late yesterday.

Interim Rector of the Cathedral Church of Holy Trinity, Reverend Carl Williams, is calling on T&T citizens to reject xenophobia and to open their homes to nationals of Dominica who have been badly affected by Hurricane Maria.

He made the comment in the wake of the negative response from some sectors of society to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s call to citizens to house Dominicans affected by the hurricane for six months as that country seeks to rebuild.

“We should not practise xenophobia but we should practise the caring of strangers,” Williams told the T&T Guardian yesterday, following a Holy Eucharist and Republic Day Service at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Port-of-Spain.

“I am not taking the position of the church, as it is the Bishop that has to do that. This is my personal position. I have also told the congregation that I do not see a reason why they cannot open their homes to Dominicans or people from Barbuda who have been affected.”

Williams said T&T has always been a land of immigrants.

“We all came from some place, whether it is India, Asia, Africa, Europe, we are all immigrants.”

He said he has not spoken to any other religious leaders on the topic but hopes they also share his position.

“The major religions such as the Christian, Jews, Muslims are all followers of the Abrahamic traditions. So it is important that we treat strangers in the same way God expects us to treat those who are suffering.” (See Page A8)

He added: “I implore you to welcome those who come here. Do not worry about resources. God will take care of that.”

Planning Minister Camille Robinson-Regis also expressed “disappointment” with T&T’s citizens against the idea as she gave the feature address during the service.

“I join with the Prime Minister in expressing our deep disappointment at the many negative comments that have surfaced since his invitation to citizens of T&T to have friends, family or acquaintances in hurricane-ravaged Dominica, to open their hearts and homes to welcome them for an initial period of six months.”

She urged citizens to rise above the “pettiness” of race and religion and open their arms to their regional brothers and sisters.

“We are offering Dominicans an opportunity to enter into the vineyard of T&T to find work, to return to school, to be productive again.”

Despite the economic challenges the country faces, she said some of the economic fundamentals are still strong. She quoted from the Central Statistical Office (CSO) figures which indicates that unemployment stands at four per cent.

Robinson-Regis also noted that next week the Government will turn the sod to begin construction of the Cumuto to Manzanilla Highway, adding many will be waiting to get jobs on that project.

“There are many men and women who diligently go and wait outside construction sites and even in the oil and gas sector, waiting to be hired as casual labour for the next day.”

RAPHAEL JOHN-LALL

The National Infrastructure Development Company’s (Nidco) legal department is now reviewing a $400 million settlement claim from six owners who have surrendered properties for construction of the billion dollar Solomon Hochoy Highway extension to Point Fortin.

While Nidco chairman Herbert George agrees the owners have to be paid for the properties, he says his board has issues with the settlement figures “sky-rocketing.” In one claim, George said an owner requested $60 million for disturbance while his land is valued at $23 million.

“In recent times, we have been confronted with some very large settlements for properties along that highway. We have since queried it and referred it to our legal department,” George told the T&T Guardian in a telephone interview

George did not give the precise location of the six properties engaging their attention along the highway route, which starts from Golconda and ends at Dunlop Roundabout in Point Fortin.

He explained that once the state acquires an owner’s land a valuation is done, which the state would have in their possession.

However, he said “the acquisition of a property by the Government is such that once you serve the notice you could enter the property and start your work although the settlement is not finalised.” Once negotiations are finalised and agreed upon, George said the state would pay the owner for disturbance, cost of the property plus interest accrued. But this practice has created the existing problem.

“There is one property in particular. It was about five acres of land that we had to purchase. The cost of the property was about $23 million. The settlement that was sent to us to pay was of course the cost of the property $23 million. And those other things came up to a total of $83 million. That to us was a huge challenge,” George told the T&T Guardian.

“We are saying we are acquiring and we have to pay, but does it have to be so much? When you add the cost of the land to what was offered for disturbance...in that case disturbance was in the vicinity of $60 million, it was more than the cost of the land.”

George said the figure disturbed Nidco to the point where they referred it to their attorneys.

“We realised we had a problem and had to be guided because you see that has legal implications.”

Describing the settlement as “huge,” George said when they examined the figures of the six properties “it was eighty something million dollars…ninety something million dollars…sixty million. When you look at those six properties it was in the order of $400 million. It was just excessive. Those are some of the things we have been looking at in the interest of the taxpayer.”

George said Nidco’s board is now reviewing the matter.

“The board is confronted with request for payment. This board is not constrained to do something because the last board attempted to do it or say we should do it. We have to look at it and determine in our own mind and judgement that that is the reasonable thing to do.”

Work on the highway, which comprises 47 kilometres of four-lane dual carriageway, began in 2013 and was projected to cost $7.5 billion under the former People’s Partnership government.

A beachgoer was killed and another was injured after a tree uprooted during a mini freak storm at the popular Granville Beach, Cedros, yesterday.

Police were still trying to identify the dead man last night, as he was said to have gone to the beach on an excursion lime.

According to reports, just around 1 pm several beach-goers were in the carpark when strong winds began swaying the trees.

The man was reportedly chatting with a woman who was in the driver’s seat of a silver Nissan AD Wagon when the tree fell. The man was struck on his head and fell unconscious while the woman was pinned inside the wagon.

Cedros councillor Shankar Teelucksingh said they contacted the Cedros Health Centre, but the nurse in charge said she could not release the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) ambulance as it does not respond to emergencies. Teelucksingh said Cedros police eventually took the man, who suffered a severe gash to the head, to the Point Fortin Area Hospital. An ambulance eventually came and took the woman to the hospital as well. The man subsequently died at hospital.

“Just before the incident there was heavy rain and a mini freak storm. Since we opened the public convenience at the beach a lot of people have been coming here on weekends, so it is really sad what happened here today. These people that got injured are visitors.

“The tree that fell was at the edge of the car park and people usually park there for the shade. The tree itself looked good but now that it fell, it looks like the roots were a bit rotten and could not hold it up to strong winds,” Teelucksingh said.

Despite the forecasted rains yesterday, there were more than 150 people at the beach for the holiday weekend.

Police had not identified the dead man up to late last evening. Four families were also busy trying to secure their homes as three roofs were damaged and one completely torn off in Bamboo Village.

A St James family also escaped serious injury after a tree fell on their home during heavy rainfall and associated strong winds yesterday afternoon.

According to reports, around 2 pm the tree, located in a property at Bombay Street, was uprooted and fell on the side of the home.

The video of the aftermath, posted on social media yesterday, showed the tree caused partial damage to one side of the house. The family was said to be receiving assistance from neighbours yesterday.

There was also an incident at Mt St George Road in Tobago, where a large boulder fell onto the middle of the road during a minor landslide. No one was injured in that incident.

Soca artiste Ian “Bunji Garlin” Alvarez last night apologised on behalf of his wife Fay-Ann Lyons-Alvarez for posting his Hummingbird Silver award on social media before the official list was released to the public by the Office of the President.

The post was posted last Tuesday by Lyons-Alvarez, four days before the Office of the President named the 40 national award recipients on the occasion of the 41st anniversary of T&T becoming a Republic yesterday.

In dedicating his award to the people of T&T and to his family after collecting it at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port-of-Spain, last night, Alvarez admitted that the announcement of the award was posted on social media before the President’s list became public.

In clarifying how it happened, Alvarez said in the midst of all the excitement and knowing that social media is the craze, Fay-Ann wanted to get good news out.

“It was kind of a special moment not only for us but for the fan base we developed over the years, so they had a chance to see that these things are happening to the artistes they support.”

He said he was not sure if the issue caused a rift. However, Alvarez said to begin with, he was not briefed by the Office of the President not to announce the news publicly.

But after being told by the media that it was reported that he broke protocol, and if he did would he apologise for doing so, Alvarez said: “I didn’t post anything. If my family did, I apologise on behalf of them.”

Asked if it was Fay-Ann who posted the news on social media, Alvarez said “it probably was. I really can’t remember. I think it was she though.”

Alvarez said he was not reprimanded by President Anthony Carmona for the incident, but was congratulated.

He said he felt special to be honoured with such a prestigious award and now aims to go for gold - the Order of the Republic of T&T.

“I really did not expect it. It’s a good feeling. What I did to achieve this was on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago and my family,” Alvarez said.

With tears in her eyes, Yucklan Sancaro accepted the Humming Bird Medal (Bronze) on behalf of her 17-year-old son David Sancaro at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port-of-Spain, last night.

It was a bittersweet moment for Sancaro, who received a standing ovation from guests, including Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and President Anthony Carmona and awardees, at the presentation ceremony of the National Awards.

The younger Sancaro lost his life in July after he was chased and struck down by an angry motorist driving a pick-up van after he intervened in a domestic violence dispute. He was honoured posthumously for his gallantry.

Carmona hugged Sancaro, telling her he felt her pains, while Rowley gave her a warm embrace.

Carmona said he knew David, who lived in Fyzabad.

“The President said it really hurt the entire country to know what happened that night,” Sancaro said afterwards.

Sancaro said while she was happy that the Government gave her son an award for his bravery, his death was difficult to accept.

“The person who did this I want justice for my child. The woman who was there that night when my son was killed, I hope she comes forward as a witness and speak the truth,” Sancaro said.

Since the murder, Sancaro said her life has turned upside down. She was unable to say if she would ever overcome her son’s death.

“Up to now I can’t get through this. When I have to go to court I am shaking like a leaf, especially when I saw this guy.”

Sancaro appealed to drivers who have a tendency to fly off the handle for the simplest things to calm down.

“This driver was so ignorant. All he could have done was get in his van and drive away. You so ignorant that night you had to kill somebody?”

Capturing the Order of the Republic of T&T (ORTT) awards last night were civil engineer Dr Lenny Saith, medical researcher Prof Courtenay Bartholomew and calypsonian Mc Cartha Linda Sandy-Lewis.

Sandy-Lewis, who received the award for culture and music and Bartholomew, whose development in medicine and public service earned him the accolade, were not present to collect their awards from Carmona and Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

Saith, who won the ORTT for national development and public service, in a brief interview, said he was very grateful for the award.

“You do what you have to do, and at the end of the day it is recognised, it adds to it,” Saith said.

Saying he was taken by surprise at being given the award, Saith, who acted as prime minister in Patrick Manning’s absence, admitted the country was going through difficult times.

“And in difficult times there is more stress on society.”

Saith complimented the PM for managing the economy, which he said was stagnated.

“It’s not easy, it’s not easy in the environment…the political environment we have. I am very pleased that they are keeping things on an even keel. It’s not an easy time,” he said.

He said to be in Government and not have money was a different situation.

“This time not only requires prudent spending but ensuring that you get value for money.”

At times like these, Saith said the country has to rally together to fight the tough times.

“What I’m hoping is that notwithstanding we have opposing views and parties, there must be an understanding that things must be done in a way to keep the country together. Otherwise, we would all suffer.”

Saith also gave the Government a seven out of ten rating.

As he joined scores of citizens in lighting up Harris Promenade to spread the gospel of peace last week, Justice Vasheist Kokaram lamented that T&T’s legal system sanctions civilised warfare.

Kokaram, chairman of the Mediation Board of T&T, made the comment as he took part in the Rotary Club of Princes Town’s A Call for Peace commemoration of the United Nation’s International Day of Peace.

The highlight of the event, themed Together for Peace: Respect, Safety and Dignity for All, was a candlelight walk around San Fernando’s historic promenade.

Kokaram told the gathering crime threatens T&T’s social order to the point where it is creating a humanitarian crisis and there is a belief that to achieve peace there must be war.

“To achieve an increase in wages, there must be strikes. To achieve respect, there must be inflammatory language. To achieve better conditions of life, there must be protest. Our lives today have been conditioned on an ordered adversarial system where the dialogue for our social needs are conditioned on positioning, leveraging, rhetoric, emotionalism and individualism,” he said.

The legal system is often seen as the answer to conflict, but Kokaram said it is the force the State uses to compel people. He said the legal system legitimises violent acts such as the destruction of homes, removal of crops, laying of oil pipes in the forests and the taking of lives.

“A legal system which has been foisted on a people to resolve disputes but serves instead in most cases to exacerbate broken relationships, an adversarial system which sanctions civilised warfare between disputants, a system which has recorded physical violence for a far more insidious type of language, which is socially acceptable and socially destructive,” he said.

Rotary club president Bashir Mohammed said through their peace and conflict framework, it is possible to end violence, bullying and peer pressure. He said in the 24 years of the club’s existence, they have been working to provide food, clothing, shelter and medicine to people in need.

BRISTOL, England A blistering 94 from Chris Gayle and a career-best spell from Miguel Cummins failed to top Moeen Ali’s third One-day International hundred and Liam Plunkett’s best ODI bowling that swept England to a 124-run victory over West Indies in the third ODI yesterday.

The talismanic Gayle struck nine fours and six sixes from 78 balls to lead the Windies’ batting, but the Caribbean side were dismissed for 245 in 39.1 overs, chasing 370 for victory, at the Gloucestershire County Ground. Gayle dominated two half-century stands with Shai Hope and Jason Mohammed for the second and fourth wickets respectively before he was run out going for a single in the 27th over with West Indies needing 194 from the remaining 139 balls.

None of the other batsmen could match the explosive batting of Gayle nor showed enough prolonged resistance to get the Windies anywhere close to their target. The Caribbean side lost their last six wickets for 53 in the space of 55 deliveries with Plunkett starring for England with the ball, taking 5-52 from 8.1 overs, and Adil Rashid showing support with 3-34 from six overs.

The result meant that West Indies now trail 0-2 in the five-match series, following an eight-wicket defeat in the first ODI at Old Trafford and a no-result in the second ODI at Trent Bridge. Cummins had taken 3-82 from nine overs and skipper Jason Holder snared 2-81 from 10 overs before Ali marauded the Windies attack for 102 off just 57 balls to catapult England to 369 for nine from their allocation of 50 overs. Joe Root hit 84 from 79 balls, Ben Stokes made 73 from 63 balls, Alex Hales added 36 and Chris Woakes got 34 to beef up the England batting.

West Indies then suffered an early setback, when left-handed opener Evin Lewis was caught at mid-on off left-arm fast-medium bowler David Willey for 13 off the last delivery of the second over of the chase, after smashing the same bowler for two leg-side sixes off the second and fifth balls of the over. Hope arrived, but was a mere passenger, as Gayle unleashed a volley of strokes to put the England bowlers on their heels and race West Indies to 73 for one at the end of the first Power Play — well ahead of the required run rate. Hope too, reeled off a few rasping strokes to share 64 with Gayle before he was caught behind for 20 in Plunkett’s second over, the 12th of the chase, and Marlon Samuels suffered a similar fate four overs later to leave the Windies 109 for three.

Jason Mohammed came to the crease and a period of consolidation was broken, when Gayle hit Ali’s uncomplicated off-spin for three successive sixes in the 23rd over. Mohammed brought up the 50 stand with a cut through backward point for four off Ben Stokes, as the Caribbean side continued to stay ahead of the run rate. But the course of the match was ultimately changed, when Gayle narrowly failed to beat Adil Rashid’s direct hit at the bowler’s end from mid-wicket — and the rest of the batting collapsed under the weight of scoreboard pressure. Earlier, twice West Indies had England on the ropes, but each time through inconsistent bowling and shoddy fielding the home team were able to wriggle free to post their fifth highest ODI total, as Ali reached his milestone from 53 balls — the second fastest by an Englishman — when he cleared long-off with Cummins for his eighth six. West Indies conceded 123 in the last 10 overs of the innings during which time they coughed up five fours and nine sixes, and dropped Ali no less than three times, as he added 117 from just 77 balls for the seventh wicket with Woakes.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND (50 overs maximum)

J Bairstow c and b Holder.......................13

A Hales lbw b Cummins......................... 36

J Root lbw b Cummins........................... 84

E Morgan c wkpr Hope b Holder........... 0

B Stokes c Lewis b Powell...................... 73

J Buttler lbw b Cummins......................... 2

Moeen Ali c Holder b Nurse............... 102

C Woakes c Powell b Taylor ................... 34

L Plunkett run out (Taylor)...................... 9

D Willey not out......................................... 1

A Rashid not out........................................ 9

Extras (lb1, w3, nb2)................................ 6

TOTAL (9 wkts, 50 overs)..................... 369

Fall of wickets: 1-27 (Bairstown, 5.3 overs); 2-73 (Hales, 10.6); 3-74 (Morgan, 11.2); 4-206 (Stokes, 31.2); 5-210 (Buttler, 32.3); 6-217 (Root, 34.1); 7-334 (Woakes, 46.5); 8-354 (Ali, 48.5); 9-358 (Plunkett, 49.1)

Bowling: Taylor 10-1-75-1 (nb1, w3); Holder 10-0-81-2 (nb1); Cummins 9-0-82-3; Bishoo 5-0-33-0; Nurse 8-0-59-1; Powell 8-0-38-1

WEST INDIES (target: 370 off 50 overs)

C Gayle run out (Rashid)........................ 94

E Lewis c Ali b Willey............................... 13

S Hope c wkpr Buttler

b Plunkett................................................. 20

M Samuels c wkpr Buttler b Plunkett..11

J Mohammed c Bairstow b Plunkett....38

R Powell c Woakes b Rashid..................... 8

J Holder c Ali b Plunkett......................... 34

A Nurse lbw b Rashid................................1

D Bishoo c Morgan b Plunkett..............12

J Taylor b Rashid........................................ 0

M Cummins not out................................. 4

Extras (lb3, w7)....................................... 10

TOTAL (all out, 39.1 overs)................. 245

Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Lewis, 1.5 overs); 2-79 (Hope, 11.4); 3-109 (Samuels, 15.3); 4-176 (Gayle, 26.5); 5-192 (Powell, 29.6); 6-210 (Mohammed, 33.2); 7-212 (Nurse, 34.1); 8-241 (Bishoo, 37.6); 9-241 (Taylor, 38.1)

Bowling: Woakes 7-1-32-0 (w1); Willey 4-0-34-1 (w1); Plunkett 8.1-0-52-5 (w1); Ali 10-0-65-0 (w2); Stokes 4-0-25-0 (w2); Rashid 6-0-34-3

Result: England won by 124 runs

Series: England lead five-match series 2-0

Toss: West Indies

Player-of-the-Match: Moeen Ali (England)

Umpires: M Gough, S Fry (Australia)

TV umpire: R Tucker (Australia)

Match referee: J Srinath (India)

Reserve umpire: T Robinson
 

The Environmental Management Authority (EMA) is investigating another incident of dead fish floating along the La Brea shorelines. In a release yesterday, the EMA said after being informed by the La Brea Fisherfolk Association of various species of dead fish near the coastline on Sunday it sent a crew to investigate.

“The site visit by EMA confirmed the report of dead fish, with approximately 45 to 50 fish of varying species observed,” the EMA said. The EMA said it took samples of the fish for testing but said the incident appeared to have been confined to the La Brea coastal area. It added that no abnormal conditions, substance or indicators at the time of the site visit suggest suggested the likely cause of the fish deaths.

The EMA also asked the public to report any additional observations of a similar nature at 680-9588 or email the authority at complaints@ema.co.tt. 

The body of a 48-year-old man was found lying on a river bank in Williamsville yesterday morning.

Police suspect that Nowray Rooplal, of Dharamdass Trace, St Julien Road, Princes Town, may have fallen into the river and drowned. However, investigators are awaiting the results of an autopsy at the Forensic Sciences Centre today to determine the cause of death.

A police report said his body was found on the river bank at Dyer’s Village around 7.30 am by a farmer.

Meanwhile, a vehicular accident yesterday morning in Santa Cruz claimed the life of Kayode Saunders and left two others in critical condition at hospital.

Police said Saunders was in a vehicle with two men when it crashed along La Sagasse Road, Santa Cruz. Saunders was killed on impact.

The other men were rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where they were treated and warded in critical conditions.

Investigations are continuing.

In an unrelated incident, Mervyn Aberdeen, 43, of Pleasantville, was shot on Sunday.

According to a report, around 3.40 am he was driving along the SS Erin Road when on reaching near Mohess Road a vehicle pulled alongside him and an occupant fired several shots. He sustained gunshot wounds to his thigh and face and is warded in a stable condition at the San Fernando General Hospital. Investigations are continuing into all three incidents.

Movement for Social Justice leader David Abdulah has labelled as racist and xenophobic recent public comments over Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s call to house nationals from Hurricane Maria-devastated Dominica here in T&T.

Abdulah weighed in on this issue, which has generated mixed public reactions, at a press conference at MSJ headquarters in San Fernando yesterday.

Relating the biblical story of the Good Samaritan, Abdulah urged the public to be good citizens.

“We might not have the wealth that we had five years ago, but that is not the point. The point is whatever we have, we have to extend a hand in friendship and solidarity to those who are being beaten up, and in this case our sisters and brothers in the Caribbean have been beaten up not by bandits or thieves like the story in the Bible, but they have been beaten up and beaten down and devastated by category five hurricanes and the message is the same.”

Urging citizens not to take the easy way out by “emptying our closets of clothes that we no longer want, Abdulah said, “The harder thing is in fact to have people come into our homes and to provide shelter to them because they have no shelter of their own in Dominica. And we are extremely disgusted, nauseated even, by statements that are xenophobic and racist.

“We have to call it out. They are xenophobic and racist statements - that we don’t want people from Dominica come here because we don’t know who they are, they might be criminals and they might do all kind of things and so on. Those are statements that are xenophobic. They are no different from President Trump and the white supremacists in the US talking about immigrants coming from Mexico or from Latin American countries, or the right-wing in Germany that just got 30 per cent of the votes in Germany, who say that they are anti-muslims and anti-immigrants.”

Touching on the upcoming budget, Abdulah said he expects to see more measures along the lines of austerity which will put the burden of adjustment and more on working and ordinary people. He also said he will be presenting the MSJ’s alternative budget at the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union post-budget forum on October 3.

He added, “The one that will be delivered by Mrs Persad-Bissessar in response to Mr Imbert, that is going to be merely party politicking at the level of parliament as to who could share more blows. Neither of them are going to offer a vision and neither of them can offer that because they have both been responsible for this country and both have failed to deliver upon the transformation of the economy and of the country generally.” 

Veteran masman Neville Aming passed away on Friday at a nursing home where he spent his latter days. With his chaplet in hand, his family said he peacefully left to the songs of praises, prayers and recitals of the Holy Rosary. Aming was 96 having celebrated a birthday in August. His son Bobby Aming yesterday told the T&T Guardian his father was not ailing but rather grieving.

“He was just tired. He got to a point where he could not take care of himself,” he said, adding his father took his last breath at 9.20 pm.

He said while the family awaits the arrival of other friends and family from abroad, the funeral is tentatively set for next Monday (October 2) or Friday (October 6) at the Church of Assumption, Maraval.

Aming was born in 1922 in San Juan and began his career in 1958 with his first presentation Reign of the Mings. From there on he continued to present up until 1984 with his last presentation, Ceremonial Dancers. Yesterday, long time friend Arden Knox said it was hard to say which of Aming’s presentation was better than the other as he always tried to do great work.

Knox vividly recalled the 1963 presentation by Aming titled Court Jester and the Baby Dolls and another presentation called The Golden Age of China. Aming, together with other band leaders like deceased George Bailey, Stephen Lee Heung, Harold Saldenah and Cito Velasquez, was instrumental in forming the Carnival Band Leaders Association (CBA) in the late 1950s. The association made representation to government on behalf of band leaders for better venue conditions, pay etcetera. Their recommendations at the time were made to the Carnival Development Commission (CDC) which was run by then T&T’s first Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams.

Knox said Aming was also among one of the earliest masmen to export T&T Carnival abroad, again along with Bailey, Velasquez and his brother, music band leader Choy Aming, to countries like Bermuda and the US. Aming was a recipient of the Humming Bird Silver for his contribution to the vibrancy of T&T mas in 1996. Knox said after Aming bowed out of mas making he remained active in the Carnival as an advisor to current masmen.

He expressed condolences to the family and told the T&T Guardian he will surely miss his old friend, who will be great loss to the mas fraternity.

“We were very close. Last of his era now is Edmund Hart, Frank Smith and Jason Griffith. He will be missed,” Knox said.

Strong winds and heavy rainfall associated with bad weather over the past 48 hours led to power outages and flash flooding in West Trinidad yesterday. Several homes in the East and Central Trinidad also lost roofs.

Homes in Westmoorings, Talparo, Couva and Chaguanas lost roofs, the T&T Guardian was told.

At about 2.45 pm, the Diego Martin River also broke its banks at Sierra Leone Road, causing severe flooding throughout the area, including the Diamond Vale and Garnet Road areas. It is believed that culverts placed near Garnet Road subsequent to the severe flooding a few months ago were pushed away by the raging flood waters, causing the extreme flooding.

Resident Eric Harewood said luckily no homes were affected.

“The force of the water pushed the culvert, breaking the barrier, so all the debris and sediment came down from the Richplain and Factory Road. Even the compound of the Tru Valu Supermarket was under water,” Harewood said.

Up to late yesterday officials from the Diego Martin Regional Corporation were clearing the roadways and pathways throughout the area.

The heavy winds from the weather pattern were also said to have felled a tree which killed a Diego Martin resident at the Granville Beach in Cedros on Sunday. (See Page A7)

The T&T Electricity Commission (T&TEC) also deployed approximately 25 crews across the country to restore electricity supply to several areas affected by incidents as a result of the inclement weather, which the Met Office said was due to the passage of a tropical depression.

T&TEC corporate communications manager Annabelle Brasnell said following heavy rains and high winds, the electricity grid was impacted by fallen overhead lines, downed trees, feeder trips and, in some instances, of roofs being blown onto lines. Customers in North and East Trinidad were particularly affected.

“Crews have been working continuously to restore supply but have been slowed by the persistent bad weather. At 4 pm (yesterday) there were just over 40 outstanding reports in the East, 12 in the North, three in Central and one in South. The system is operating normally in Tobago,” Brasnell said.

T&TEC general manager Kelvin Ramsook assured customers that emergency crews would have worked through the night to complete the repairs.

“We apologise for the inconvenience being experienced and we are working to resolve the issues in the quickest possible time”, Ramsook said, adding emergency reports can be made to 800-TTEC (8832) or 800 BULB (2852).

Diego Martin mother Carol Noel was overwhelmed with grief yesterday, after learning the man who was killed when a falling tree crashed into a car at Granville beach on Sunday was her son, Joshua Grannum.

According to reports she received, Grannum, 23, was seated in a silver Nissan AD Wagon talking to a woman when strong winds began swaying the trees violently and one of them fell on the car. The incident was described as a freak storm.

“I saw when he take up a towel and a pants and put it in a bag and when I asked him where he was going he never tell me nothing. He just left,” a tearful Noel told the T&T Guardian at her Bagatelle Road home yesterday.

She said Grannum left home shortly after 6 am and although he did not tell her where he was going, she learnt on Sunday night he had been killed when a tree fell on the car he was in.

“I got to find out that he went with some friends from right in the area here…one of them lived not too far from by me,” Noel said.

Noel said she never had any serious problems with Grannum but would often speak to him about the kind of friends he had around him.

“He wasn’t no bad person and he never really go anywhere. I always told him be careful who he had around him because friends will carry you and don’t bring you back, but he never listened to me,” Noel said.

“This news just break me,” she added.

Grannum’s six-year-old brother’s caretaker, Diane Roscoe, said Grannum was always there for his mother, who is a single parent of four children.

“He was very gentle and hard working whenever he worked,” Roscoe said.

Funeral arrangements are yet to be made.

Bridgemans Services Group vice-president Andrew Purdey is hoping his company will be treated fairly at tender evaluation process for the selection of a new passenger vessel for the sea bridge.

The company’s tender of the controversial Ocean Flower 2 was among eleven others received by the Port Authority of T&T (PATT) last Monday.

Purdey told the T&T Guardian that despite all the negatives surrounding their previous tender, the company is hoping for fair treatment “but we have no control over how the Port looks at us.”

The Ocean Flower 2 was initially given the contract to supply the passenger service on the sea bridge in late June. But the contract, valued at US$26,500 a day, was scrapped after the vessel failed to meet three separate deadlines for arrival here. The vessel has since arrived here for dry docking in Chaguaramas.

Asked what next for Bridgemans if the PATT evaluation committee does not select the vessel, he said “no plans” in an emailed reply.

Purdey said Bridgemans had spent “in the millions” to repair the Ocean Flower 2 when it docked in Panama, following the journey from Korea, after developing significant problems. This led to the delay in its arrival to Trinidad and the subsequent cancellation of the contract.

Currently, he said the company is still “considering our options” with regard to initiating legal action against the PATT. He refused comment on whether there were clauses in the contract which may have complicated the actual cancellation of the contract, saying it is a “legal matter and I will not comment.”

The Ocean Flower 2 berthed in Chaguaramas last Wednesday, the same day the tenders closed for a passenger ferry. In the public opening of the tenders, Bridgemans was one of five companies which submitted vessels.

Purdey maintained that the tender and the arrival of the vessel were not linked, insisting that although the PATT had cancelled the initial contract, they agreed to bring the Ocean Flower 2 for a pre-planned dry dock for maintenance and installation of T-Foils to improve the ship’s performance. Asked how soon the dry-docking will begin, he said “in the next few days.”

Maritime officials told the T&T Guardian there is nothing in law to prevent any vessel from docking in T&T waters as long as they meet the requirements and get proper clearance.

On September 8, Ken Shipping and Marine Services Limited’s Lester Kenny, the local a Ocean Flower 2 agent, wrote to the Immigration Boarding Section indicating the imminent arrival of the vessel for the purpose of dry docking. The letter said the company’s boarding representative Sheldon Poonsammy “will be boarding and entering the vessel into Chaguaramas” and requested that the Immigration Boarding Station board and clear the vessel into Trinidad and Tobago for repairs.

On the same day the vessel berthed in Chaguaramas, director of the Maritime Services at the Ministry of Works and Transport Ronald Alfred told the Joint Select Committee on Land and Physical Infrastructure that any vessel which wanted to come into local waters was free to make an application “96-48 hours before they will put their statutory documents in to the Maritime Services” and they would examine them to make sure they are “in date.” Alfred said as far as he understood, the vessel was here for” legitimate business.”

Four businesses under one company—JMH Enterprise Limited—at the Trincity Industrial Estate went up in flames on Sunday night.

Owner Christopher James said yesterday his losses are estimated to run “well into the hundreds of millions of dollars.” He said eight trucks, three vans, four cars and equipment were all destroyed in the blaze, while 45 employees were affected.

However, James complained that were there not severe water woes the fire-fighters who responded could have saved at least three of his businesses. A fire hydrant just outside his compound had no water supply when the fire appliances responded to the fire, he said.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian as he kept a close eye on fire officers still trying to extinguish parts of the warehouses where small fires reignited yesterday, James said it is believed the fire started in the garage of the rice warehouse.

“I have not been able to get any reports yet because they are still trying to out the fire, but I know that yesterday (Sunday) had very strong winds so I don’t know if that may have been the cause,” James said.

He assured that the compound, which stores sugar, oil, rice and appliances, was properly secured at about 6 pm on Friday.

“We left everything like normal. Nothing had changed, no procedure had changed and it’s almost 40 years we have been doing business from right there,” James said.

He said he got a phone call about the fire around 8.30 pm and by the time he got there half hour later, the fire-fighters on two tenders which responded had difficulty gaining access because of the design of the main gate and also had no access to water from the hydrant.

“When I arrived only one building was on fire and because the fire officers could not get water from the fire hydrant they had to go for water. They spent about 15 minutes before they came back with water and that trend continued throughout the night,” James said.

“I was told by a fire officer that if they had 20 minutes of water supply constantly they would have been able to contain the fire to just the one building, but because of the lack of water the fire quickly spread.”

James said supermarkets from across the country would be now be directly affected as he supplied 50 per cent of the local market’s rice, oil and sugar. He expects that as a domino effect prices may increase on those items.

However, he assured that he would try his best to rebuild as fast as he can and in the interim plans to rent a warehouse and needed equipment, as he is expected to clear a shipment of rice from the port next week.

Investigations are continuing.