This year’s Divali Nagar celebration is expected to cost $5 million, according to the National Council of Indian Culture’s (NCIC) public relations officer Surujdeo Mangaroo.

Mangaroo was at the time fielding questions from Guardian Media on Saturday night as he participated in the 15 anniversary celebrations of the Rotary Club of Penal at the Doc’s Ranch at Phillipine, San Fernando.

Mangaroo said most of the capital would be raised by booth holders and sponsors, who pay a rent for the nine-day event that is expected to start today at the Divali Nagar site in Chaguanas.

However, Mangaroo said he is hoping the Government will allocate at least $1 million to offset the costs. He said in 2016 the NCIC got $800,000 from the state coffers, but anything less than $1 million this year could see them landing in “some financial distress.”

He said the entertainment at the Nagar does not come for free and they often have to spend around $500,000 to pay artistes who appear on the stages.

He said despite the economic downturn there has been a demand for booths, mostly from retailers who see the venue as an opportunity to reach a wider market.

Mangaroo said the theme for 2017 is Hindu Symbolism and a bigger and better festival is planned for this year. He also promised better wash-room facilities, additional parking and improved traffic management.

SHASTRI BOODAN

Six inmates at the Remand Yard Prison in Arouca were last week charged with assaulting another inmate.

The charges came after a video posted on social media showed the inmate being attacked with a mop by a group of inmates as he was using the toilet.

In an interview yesterday, Prisons Commissioner William Alexander confirmed the inmates had been charged.

“All those persons are now under report and were charged for assaulting the inmate. He doesn’t want any action against them because he knows them from outside. They were charged because it was breach of prison rules,” Alexander said.

He said the inmate was assaulted after “airing” time.

“As the inmates came inside the prison, he went in the toilet and they pounced on him and started beat him. He was sent to the infirmary but he was okay,” he said.

Alexander also said they acquired scanners but were working on technology to combat the inmates’ use of cell phones inside the prison.

Well known gospel musician Denton Peschier, aka Gitta Dan, passed away on Saturday from an undisclosed illness.

John Thomas, a friend from church who has known him for over 20 years, told the T&T Guardian yesterday that his passing will leave a “void.”

“I just got the information and it is a bit mind boggling for me. The last I spoke to him around July/August, he told me he was ill. I knew he was not well but not to the extent that he was,” Thomas said.

“He was full of heart for the youths. He did a lot of prison ministries. I am not putting down any other artistes but he leaves a big void.”

Yesterday, Peschier’s wife, Amma Pilgrim, posted on her Facebook page: “Hi guys, I’ll be doing a live later with the funeral and wake/celebration of life locations and times. Thank you for all your love in this difficult time!”

According to his official bio, Peschier has always been singing his way into the hearts of people. As a child, he sang in church and Sunday School and later, on the block with his friends.

After his first stage performance at Holy Cross College, Peschier started to make a name for himself on the gospel music circuit, eventually gaining the attention of gospel artiste Sherwin Gardiner.

With Gardiner’s support, he officially launched his music career in 1995 as part of the gospel reggae dancehall duo “Tiko and Gitta.” Together, they released “Royal Priesthood” (2002), a critically acclaimed album, and went on tour, performing in St Lucia, Barbados, Anguilla, Guyana and Antigua.

Launching out on his own, Peschier continued to build his music and support base, performing at schools, clubs, homes, fund-raisers and the beach with his box guitar.

He was also a prolific songwriter and had developed a unique style of performing by mixing reggae with dancehall while maintaining an organic and acoustic flavour.

Senior history lecturer at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Dr Jerome Teelucksingh, says the divisiveness among Caribbean countries has not only weakened Caricom, but also continues to plague the West Indies cricket team.

Speaking at a day of remembrance for the citizens of Dominica, Barbuda and other countries of the Caribbean affected by hurricanes Irma and Mari yesterday, Teelucksingh urged that differences be put aside to help our Caribbean neighbours.

“The objections from some persons to help our unfortunate neighbours reflect the insularity, rivalry and petty jealousies that contributed to collapse of the Federation and Carifta. The bickering among our Caribbean neighbours has plagued our cricket team and has weakened Caricom,” he said.

Teelucksingh said it was ironic that in North America and England, citizens joined Caribbean and West Indian associations and embrace other Caribbean migrants.

He was applauded by members of the congregation when we said Jesus Christ never discriminated against anyone, nor did he question the nationality or ethnicity of anyone who needed to be healed.

“Even when he was dying on the cross, the son of God told the thief, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’ Many of us refuse to allow entry of our Caribbean neighbours. When we die, suppose the gatekeeper deny us entry to the Kingdom of Heaven?

“... I ask today — where are the Good Samaritans in our society? Many of us claim to be religious but by our actions and statements we often do not reflect the teachings and beliefs of our religion.”

Teelucksingh, whose father is former independent senator and Presbyterian Minister Rev Daniel Teelucksingh, said during the past ten years as a lecturer he has tutored students from across the Caribbean and Central America, adding they are always eager to promote regional unity and grateful for the opportunity of tertiary education.

“Let us not believe that T&T has economic problems and unable to help. Whatever small we can give, we must offer to these victims of natural disasters – earthquakes and hurricanes,” Teelucksingh said.

He also commended Interim Rector of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-of-Spain, Fr Carl Williams, for condemning the xenophobia sparked by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s call for citizens who could to open their doors to Dominicans affected by Hurricane Maria.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has again appealed to T&T citizens to give whatever little they can to assist those countries ravaged by recent hurricanes in the Caribbean.

He made the appeal while delivering the keynote address at a remembrance service held for the citizens of Dominica, Barbuda and other countries affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Port-of-Spain, yesterday.

Rowley, who also did the first reading from the Book of Exodus, said while people were living in different islands in the Caribbean “we were all brothers and sisters” and urged that everyone become their “brother’s keeper” especially when faced with natural disasters, as the Caribbean was particularly susceptible to this.

He said T&T must be grateful it was spared from devastation and said citizens must have compassion for those whose lives were negatively affected by the hurricanes.

“There will be days when we are called upon to help others and in T&T we are always prepared to be called upon. We are our brother’s keepers and all those who look to us, we may not be able to solve all their problems but what little we have it can be shared,” Rowley said.

The PM also mentioned 64-year-old Melan Salvary-Doyle and her three-year-old grandson Olivier Doyle-Gedio, who both died in St Maarten. Salvary-Doyle had gone on vacation to see her daughter and grandson when Hurricane Irma struck St Maarten and was swept away by a wave as she tried to save her grandson.

He said against the background of other countries having to bury many dead we must see there is the need to help those affected.

The PM also shared his own hurricane experience as a little boy growing up in Tobago, adding that to date he remembered the kindness of others.

“The people of St Vincent at that time didn’t have much to share but they had a lot of breadfruit. They roasted them and sent them to Tobago at a time when we couldn’t feed ourselves. I will never forget that,” Rowley said.

In singling out the youths from Dominica who found shelter temporarily in this country, Rowley wished them a “special welcome” and encouraged them not only to have found memories while here but also to do well in their endeavours, especially in education.

Rowley gave the example of former Chief Justice Cecil Arthur Kelsick, who was born in Dominica but became a shining example of this country’s achievements in the field of law.

The PM, along with several members of the diplomatic core, later lit candles in memory of those who lost their lives during the tragedy.

High Commissioner for Jamaica David Prendergast, who agreed with Rowley that the Caribbean was one close-knit family, called for greater solidarity among countries, especially in times of adversity.

Costa Rica’s ambassador to T&T Lilly Edgerton said she could not express in words her heartfelt thanks to this country for assisting and to the Anglican Church for keeping countries like Costa Rica in prayer. Edgerton said while her homeland was a “resilient” country it would take time to rebuild.

At least 22 people were killed when Tropical Storm Nate pummelled Central America with clusters of heavy rain and gusty winds.

Mexican Ambassador Jesus Lopez, who also spoke, said his country was still reeling from the effects of natural disasters, but like the Caribbean, which has shown solidarity, was thankful that both the Caribbean and Latin America had lent helping hands.

Dean of Consular Corps of T&T and Honorary Consul for the Bahamas, Dr E Monica Davis, said the Bahamas was still feeling the effects of hurricanes which swept the islands in 2015 and 2016, adding that aid from other countries greatly helped in rebuilding efforts.

Plans for birthday celebrations turned to funeral arrangements yesterday, after prison officer Richard Sandy was killed by an ex-convict he knew while liming at a bar in Gasparillo.

The father of five died around 4.20 am at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the San Fernando General Hospital after he underwent emergency surgery, where his right leg was amputated. Sandy, who would have celebrated his 47th birthday today, suffered massive blood loss after the bullet severed a major artery in his thigh.

A prison officer for 22 years, Sandy was attached to the Rations Room in the Port-of-Spain prison.

He was liming at the Colonnade Restaurant and Bar at Caratal Road, Gasparillo, with his colleague when the ex-convict, whom they knew, accosted them around 9.05 pm on Saturday. The T&T Guardian was told the ex-convict, who lives in the area, first engaged in small talk with the officers, asking them if they remembered him, before shooting Sandy.

The ex-convict, age 33, was released from prison four months ago and has charges for arms and ammunition and shooting with intent before the court. He was still on the run up to late yesterday.

As word spread about Sandy’s passing, several colleagues, friends and family gathered at his Ibis Drive, Pleasantville home, where he lived with his wife of 14 years Jennifer Sandy and children.

Jennifer said her husband left with their neighbour, who is a prison officer, to have a pre-birthday drinks. She was told the suspect pointed a gun at her husband’s colleague and the officer hit away the man’s hand.

“Being the mediator, which he (Sandy) loves to be, he always try to mediate and calm a situation. He tried to talk to the guy with the gun, the ex-prisoner, and with that he shot him in his right leg,” she said.

Sandy did not express any fear to her about his safety, but she said a year or two ago her husband got a threatening letter from a prisoner. However, she said the authorities accused him to setting up the prisoner to write the letter.

“How could somebody set up somebody to write a threatening letter saying they coming to rape and kill your wife and children and murder you? And they just discard it and they never did anything about it, the prison,” she complained.

She said the authorities need to treat all threats against prison officers seriously.

Also appealing to men to put down the guns, she said, “Fellas of Trinidad and Tobago, put down the gun, because you all are destroying good families. My husband was a very family-oriented person, loved his kids, wife and family. You all just come and snatch him away, just like that, in an instant.

“I do not know what the Ministry of National Security, what they do, what they sit down in their offices and do because we are at the will of these murderers out here.”

Jennifer said her husband loved to cook and they had already bought the chicken to barbecue for his birthday. Sandy has two children with Jennifer, aged two and 14 and three older children from a previous relationship.

Officers of the Gasparillo Police Station and Homicide Bureau are continuing investigations.

While the United States celebrated Columbus Day in recognition of Christopher Columbus' arrival to the Americas, the place where Columbus landed in Trinidad was yesterday taken over by the descendants of the people he met here.

On Friday, Trinidad and Tobago will celebrate the one-off First Peoples National Holiday.

The First Peoples yesterday congregated on the Grand Chemin Beach in Moruga to perform a water ceremony.

The water ceremony was the first official activity in the build-up to the holiday.

Among those in attendance, yesterday was Chief of Moruga 98-year-old Paul Navarro who said it was a dream come true to see the first peoples being recognised.

On August 1, 1498, Columbus stood at Punta De La Plata and claimed Trinidad for Spain.

A stone's throw away from that site the First Peoples performed their water ceremony which included prayers for their ancestors.

The beach is one of the points that the Amerindians entered Trinidad from the South American mainland.

"We have come to honour the memory of the ancestors who entered this land from this place," Chief of the Santa Rosa First Peoples community Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez said.

Bharath-Hernandez said while the water ceremony had been done at the rivers of Arima in previous years it was decided that it should be done by the sea because it "connects us all".

"There is a connection to all of us who came from different lands," he said.

Descendants of the Caribs, Arawaks and Mayans, Orisha from Trinidad and Tobago and that region were among those present.

They prayed in their different ways, using water, fire, flowers, leaves, herb, corn and cassava.

They also sang and danced as different instruments were played.

Carib Queen Jennifer Cassar said while she is elated to have the first peoples honoured this year she hoped it would become an annual holiday.

"Somebody will have to give up their holiday to accommodate us but it is a battle we will continue to fight," she said.

The week-long celebrations continue today a symposium at the University of Trinidad and Tobago's O'Meara campus.

It was business as usual across the country yesterday as reports of a planned shutdown fell flat.

Workers across the country turned out for work despite social media reports that the country’s main road arteries would have been blocked in protest against the increase in taxes announced in last Monday's budget.

Although there was a heavy police presence on the Beetham Highway, the T&T Guardian was told that this had nothing to do with any planned protest.

One Beetham activist said contrary to what had been put out on social media “nobody planned any protest here on the Beetham that is totally untrue and unfounded.”

There were reports of roads being blocked in parts of south Trinidad between Rio Claro and Mayaro, but the early morning roadblocks were cleared and business was not affected.

Only at one school, the Ecclesville Primary School, TTUTA President Lindsay Doodhai said the teachers reported that they were unable to get to class because of roadblocks.

Doodhai made it clear that TTUTA “did not ask any teachers to stay away from work because we are not in support of the call to shut down the country.”

NATUC President Watson Duke, who also leads the Public Services Association, said he did not know anything about any shutdown. He said as far as he knew the majority of public officers were out to work.

President of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association Gregory Aboud confirmed there was no impact of any call for a shutdown and “everything was proceeding as it normally would on a Monday in Port-of-Spain.”

Businesses in Port-of-Spain reported that workers had shown up for work and operations were not affected.

No one could say who initiated the call for the shutdown, which was circulated on social media on the weekend.

Rio Claro residents barricaded major access roads yesterday in protest of dilapidated roads and austere measures in the 2018 national budget, disrupting commercial and industrial activities in South East Trinidad.

Villagers used tree trunks and used tyres to block the Naparima/Mayaro Road in Agostini, Navet and along the Cunapo Southern Main Road.

Protestors set their barricades ablaze, filling the community with thick black smoke.

The protestors, some of whom held up placards that described the ruling People's National Movement as failures, called for a change of government and the return of former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to power.

Chairman of the Mayaro/Rio Claro Regional Corporation Glenn Ram said that from what he learned, the protest was over the budget and the state of the roads.

A major landslip along the Naparima/ Mayaro Road, Agostini was one of the major highlights of the protest.

Ram said he visited the area along with Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan earlier this year and was given a promise that it would be repaired soon. With the constant and heavy rainfall, he fears that the road might wash away soon.

"If the rain continues like how it has been falling recently, the road will be impassable and public transport, including the buses, will not be able to pass. Officials from Ministry visited Agostini but they have done nothing. Nothing is happening with this highway they want to build a highway to Sangre Grande.

"The Naparima/Mayaro Road is in a deplorable condition and it is the main link from Rio Claro to Sangre Grande. Also, a lot of people in the communities protested against measures in the budget, especially the increase in gas and diesel fuel. People in these areas depend on a lot on public transportation. There will be a ripple effect and they will not be able to afford to go to work or send their children to school," Ram said.

However, councillor for Mayaro/Guayaguayare Kyron James said one of his constituents was in tears this morning when she attempted to attend a clinic for dialysis.

She was able to pass through Sangre Grande after the road was cleared.

James believes that the protest was politically motivated.

He said that while citizens have the right to let their voices be heard, they should protest legally.

The 33-year-old woman who was abandoned in a motel room by a man after she collapsed suffered a seizure and was not strangled, an autopsy stated yesterday.

Lyndsay Sabrina Layne, a mother of one, was found in the motel around 4.30 pm on Saturday.

Her mother, Josephine John, spoke with the media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James shortly after receiving the autopsy report. She said her daughter had no history of illness and news of her daughter suffering a seizure was shocking.

John pleaded yesterday for the man who left her daughter to come forward and say what happened.

"I got a call from the cops telling me my daughter died. The thing is it’s not strangulation, it’s a seizure. The police not suspecting foul play, but they said they would still investigate to find out what really happen because they need to find out the person who was with her. If he is innocent then it makes no sense he hides. Because the autopsy shows that it’s a seizure. It’s not a strangulation. So better he clear his name," John said.

John called on the man to come forward rather than he is arrested as investigators are still trying to determine what might have caused the seizure.

She said that her only child, who lived Orange Grove Road, St Augustine, was separated from her husband "for a while now" and had one child, an eight-year-old girl.

John said that the man she was last seen with may have gotten scared and fled but should step forward and provide as much information as possible.

"It will look bad to him if they go and arrest him. Maybe he got scared and run off, but it’s better he come forward and say something because hiding is only going to make him look guilty. I hope he just comes forward and clear his name," she said.

After realising that Layne had died, the man fled the motel in Layne's car and later abandoned it. Police said workers at the motel realised something was wrong when the man left alone and went to investigate.

They called the police after finding Layne's lifeless body on the motel floor.

John, who was supported by female relatives, said her daughter, a customer service representative at the PSCU Credit Union, was a great joy to her. She said even after leaving her to the care of her grandmother in the US for 17 years, she never once got a bad report about her child.

"I’m not saying this because she’s dead but she never gave me any problems, I never had problems with her. She was a very quiet person who hardly went anywhere," John said.

Residents of Marcano Quarry Lands HDC apartments, in East Port-of-Spain, are paying to live in squalor.

Since a fire destroyed parts of the building ten years ago, conditions have gone from bad to worse.

Residents say homes are infested with rats and snakes, they go without water for months and electricity only comes through certain outlets.

Recently residents began to discover water flowing through their electrical fixtures.

Violet Bowman, 81, has lived in the apartments for 40 years.

She is one of the several senior citizens living at Marcano Quarry, also known as Canada. Bowen takes care of her disabled son.

“I feel neglected. As a senior citizen nothing has been done for us, they never even look into us here,” she told Guardian Media as she showed us her small, dark apartment.

Inside, wires hang from the panel box and across the room, evidence of Bowman’s attempts to remedy her own electrical issues.

Four floors above lives 71-year-old Yvette Sandy. Sandy’s son has fashioned a water collection system that allows her to use rainwater for everyday tasks.

“In the night when yuh in the toilet, if yuh see how the rat does be coming down from the roof, if yuh eh duck, they jumping on yuh, yuh know,” she said.

When Guardian Media visited yesterday, the stench of raw sewage was unbearable. Residents say it runs through the compound whenever there is rain. There are 26 people living at the apartments, among that number are at least 10 children.

There are cracks in the walls, piles of garbage in puddles of murky water and even bullet holes in the windows.

There have been three murders at the Canada apartments site since the start of the year.

In one incident a resident was killed as he slept, by gunmen who stormed into his home.

“Anything could happen, anyone of us could dead, every morning we have to call one another to see who alive,” says resident Jeffrey Hamilton Scott.

Scott and another resident said since gang violence erupted in the area last year, Canada is the only HDC development in the area not benefiting from the police presence. They say the police were told that the buildings are condemned.

In response to the resident's complaints, the Housing Minister Randall Mitchell confirmed the squalid conditions at Marcano Quarry.

In a message to Guardian Media, he said, “the issue as I understand it, is that alternative accommodation is yet to be identified for the remaining 26 persons. The conditions are confirmed deplorable.”

He is also vowing to give the matter greater attention.

Golda Lee-Bruce

A High Court Judge has ordered the conditional release of a man from Cameroon, who has been detained at the Immigration Detention Centre in Aripo since May, last year.

Delivering a 14-page judgment in the Port-of-Spain High Court, Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell ruled that Laurent Pret Souop's continued detention was unlawful as he had been illegally arrested by immigration officials while trying to leave Trinidad, last year.

Donaldson-Honeywell ruled Souop has demonstrated that he was unfairly arrested in a genuine attempt at departing from the country. and therefore his continued detention is unjust.

Souop arrived in T&T as a tourist in April 2013 and was granted a one month stay. Souop overstayed his time and eventually married a Trinidadian woman two months later. Souop was going through the process for residency through his wife until January 2014, when she informed the Immigration Division that the marriage had broken down and she no longer wished to support his bid.

Souop was represented by Fareed Scoon and Ricky Pandohie, while Sanjeev Lalla, Tamara Toolsie and Brent James represented the State.

The Government will need to bring legislative changes to the Maxi Taxi Act if it wants to remove restrictions on the ownership of banded maxi taxis allowing owners to buy and band their maxi taxis and drive wherever they please without restriction.

A move which the Finance Minister told the country in the budget was meant to open up the public transportation system.

Senior Counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj who represented the maxi taxi drivers in a similar matter in 2011 told the T&T Guardian that the change announced by the Finance Minister in the 2017-2018 budget presentation “will require legislative change,” but he said the amendment “will not require a special majority since it will be removing a restriction.”

The announcement by the Minister has caused some concern not just among the maxi taxi drivers but the Opposition UNC as well. Political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said it seemed that the Minister only thought about the initiative when he was presenting the budget since it is not contained in the budget statement which was given out on Budget Day.

She described the decision as “a betrayal by the PNM Government.”

Persad-Bissessar recalled that in 2011, an attempt was made to remove the restrictions on the registration of maxi taxis but this was shut down by the High Court.

Opposition Senator Wade Mark said, “it is unheard of that a Minister of Finance could make such a statement on the fly, on the huff without the statement contained in the budget statement.”

He described it as a “faux pas” which reflects not just on the Minister, but “the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. How can they release a document without a fundamental policy statement, that is unheard of,” he said.

Mark was also of the view that there is need for “legislative changes if this policy is to be effected.” He felt that because the decision is changing a court ruling “it may require special majority legislation.”

Maxi-taxi drivers say they are hoping that the Government will meet with them to discuss the increase in fuel prices, the tax on tyres and the decision to remove restrictions.

President of the Association of Maxi Taxis Eon Hewitt said these measures “will impact the travelling public and we asking the Government for a meeting. This will help if we can meet with them.”

Hewitt said as far as the association knows “there is a court order” on the issue of removing restrictions to maxi taxis dating back to 2011 when the maxi taxi drivers through their attorney Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj went to court to challenge a decision by the then Minister Jack Warner to open up the industry. In her ruling, Justice Joan Charles cited the lack of consultation with the advisory committee.

In addition, he said, there was “no consultation” with an advisory committee as is provided for in the Maxi Taxi Act.

The emergency numbers for both the Police and Fire Services were knocked out yesterday.

Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) yesterday said a technical difficulty led to the disruption of both the 999 and 990 emergency numbers.

To reach police, the public is advised to use 511, while the fire service is advising that the public call the nearest fire station.

Police are working on the theory that the burglars who broke into the Trincity branch of Bhagwansingh's Hardware may have been stolen items to commit other planned burglaries.

According to police reports, employees of the hardware who reported to work yesterday found several power tools, cell-phones and ransacked departments before leaving. Police could not state if cash was also stolen.

For the year there have been several break-ins where burglars have been targeting financial institutions in Central Trinidad. In those instances, burglars used power tools to cut through the roofs of buildings and in some cases the walls of adjoining buildings to gain entry and stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars and in some cases entire vaults.

The most recent of their robberies took place at the Chaguanas branch of the Board of Inland Revenue. There have been other similar break-ins in the Central Division and police have called on businesses and security companies to be more vigilant when securing their property.

The Government should renegotiate the US$5,000 daily rate for the Tobago ferry because of T&T's serious financial straits — and especially if $28 million has to be spent to dredge the Port to accommodate it, UNC MP Dr Suruj Rambachan has said.

Rambachan spoke about the issue during yesterday's Parliament debate on the 2018 Budget.

He noted a Budget item concerning a $49m allocation for Port dredging for the Superfast Galicia vessel in 2017 — but nothing was spent. He also noted a $28m allocation for dredging for 2018.

"Is it that the Ocean Flower 2 ferry also requires dredging? The Prime Minister has spoken of having to pay US$5,000-6,000 daily for the ferry, why not renegotiate this because paying US$5,000 daily over 360 days is a lot."

Rambachan said fuel price hikes, various taxes and expected water and electricity increases would hit the entire public, not just some He said this is especially so since 2015 Central Statistical Office figures showed 77 per cent of the population earns less than $6,000 monthly with 23 per cent earning over $6,000 monthly, including two per cent earning over $15,000.

"Budget costs will make the middle class disappear. The Finance Minister's claim the burden will be shared is an illusion. The real colonial master now is poverty and it's covered in the figure of the Minister,"

Rambachan said T&T's 77 per cent wouldn't be able to withstand a devaluation.

"Instead Government should encourage citizen-driven restraint strategies, encourage savings in US dollars from the diaspora, urge people to vacation in the Caribbean rather than the US, examine the parallel market for US dollars, restructure loans, probe capital flight and over-invoicing of goods."

Demonstrating how Government lost taxes in VAT and excise duties collection, he noted a projected $400m collection figure for cigarettes in 2017 was only $200m.

"It's not because less people are smoking — Witco's profit was up in 2017 — it's because of smuggling."

He said National Security scrutiny needs to be improved at Cedros, Orange Valley, Carli Bay and Moruga to cut this and human trafficking. Staff rotation is needed at Cedros especially, he said.

Saying he had done housing development since 1983, Rambachan advocated for the construction of four-apartment complexes for sale to the public with low mortgage rates equivalent to low rents. He, however, said regulatory agency processing was slow. Rambachan said it was time to "call a spade a spade" and people had to work better. The "siesta" work attitude also has to be improved in Tobago, he said.

Rambachan warned Government not to be glib about public reaction since a time would come when the establishment would be the subject of attack.

"You shouldn't take seeming indifference for granted. People are fed up. They don't want to debate the past, they want to know what you will do to create a future," he said.

D’Abadie/O'meara MP Ancil Antoine yesterday appealed to principals and teachers to take responsibility for their students, as too many students are dropping out of the secondary school system.

Antoine said the increasing numbers of dropouts in the school system was attributing to scores of young men and women being left unskilled, untrained and unemployable and with a bleak future.

Antoine was delivering his contribution to the budget debate in Parliament.

He said while education has been allocated $7.29 billion in the 2018 fiscal package, there was a shortage of primary school placement at the denominational schools in his constituency.

Antoine said it was also evident that “quite a number of (school) dropouts has been engaging the attention of Education Minister Anthony Garcia.

“There is a high drop-out rate. We are producing young men and who are unskilled, untrainable and unemployable, except for the criminal class in our midst,” he said.

Antoine did not throw blame on the shoulders of the Government or Opposition, as he urged principals and teachers to take ownership of their product.

He said the T&T Unified Teachers Association and the Ministry of Education can also help to some degree.

“You have a responsibility especially when we are spending $7.2 billion on the education system for this year alone. You’ll have a responsibility to give us some better citizens coming out of the secondary schools.”

He said the time had come time for the country to get its get act together and produce better citizens.

A new food (debit) card will be in effect from the first quarter of 2018 with the assessment of all such recipients to ensure that only those "truly eligible" for food assistance will receive the new card, Social Development Minister Cherrie-Ann Crichlow-Cockburn has said.

Crichlow-Cockburn revealed this in yesterday's Parliament debate of the 2018 Budget.

She stressed all Ministry grants will continue following the Budget.

As of January also, pensioners will no longer have to report to regional Ministry offices to verify that they are alive. Verification will be done via the issuance of a life certificates and information from the Registrar General's office on deaths.

But on the food card, Crichlow-Cockburn said banks said the Ministry's current debit card is obsolete and a new, more secure card will be in effect from next year.

A standardised means test will also be in force to access this and other Ministry assistance from 2018. Food card applications and for other services will be available at all regional Ministry offices.

She said the card was a measure to assist the poor temporarily, "not meant to be used by MPs to give supporters for election purposes."

The means test and re-certification exercises had revealed 18, 900 recipients who had died, migrated, failed to give required information or whose income had improved.

"(So) we didn't 'take back the card just so'. The exercise saved $159.6m and 6,810 beneficiaries obtained cards. Up to September 27, 435 were obtaining food assistance," she said.

A "Step Up" programme will also help steer people to reduce dependency by enrollment in programmes, micro-business funding and seed grants.

An integrated IT system will prevent duplication and "double dipping" of all services, she said. A National Social Mitigation programme will also come on stream to assist sectors affected by the economic downturn — unemployed, recently retrenched, youth and poor.

Crichlow-Cockburn said Cabinet has accepted recommendations concerning street dwellers, done by a team including business. She said 30 per cent of street dwellers have mental issues and St Ann's Hospital is inadequate to cater for all the patients.

It has been proposed regional corporations establish centres for street dwellers who will be handled by municipal police — rather than T&T Police Service.

Aspects starting in 2018 include a temporary/assessment centre at the corner of Piccadilly and South Quay, Port-of-Spain, legislation on dealing with street dwellers and examination/retrofitting of an Independence Square building.

Port Authority of T&T acting chief executive officer/general manager Charmaine Lewis returned to work yesterday and the computer seized when she was abroad on vacation was returned to the office she Lewis occupies.

The T&T Guardian understands that the lock on Lewis’ office door, which was changed last week, was restored to the original lock prior to her return. Staffers also said the computer, which was seized last Tuesday, was returned to Lewis’ office just before three yesterday afternoon.

Lewis remained unavailable for comment for most of the day and when the T&T Guardian finally contacted her she offered a brief “no comment” when asked whether she was called to a meeting with PATT chairman Allison Lewis on her return to office.

Asked whether she was being relieved of her post, Lewis again declined comment, saying: “I have to seek advice.”

But well-placed PATT sources said Lewis and the board’s legal representative, Brandon Primus, were at the Port “early” and met with the Acting CEO/GM to discuss managerial and other issues. The Port’s Legal Officer was also at the meeting.

Only recently, Lewis and the Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan locked horns over her testimony to the Joint Select Committee of Parliament looking into the sea bridge issues, with Sinanan accusing her of “telling blatant lies” to the commission following her statements about his involvement in the procurement of the Trinity Transporter barge.

Sinanan also told the T&T Guardian he had nothing to do with the seizure of Lewis’ computer, adding “the Port has a board that is running and there is an investigation going on. I am not involved. “

Asked last Thursday whether she felt there was a plot to get rid of her, Lewis said: “I don’t know. But it is extremely curious that all of this taking place on the heels of the joint select committee and other utterances made public by the Minister and reported in the press.”

Lewis said she found it curious that six weeks after the JSC began public hearings, “you find cause to seize my computer.”

What made it more curious, she said then, is that “they had already taken copies of the entire data base on the port with e mails, they had it in possession six weeks ago so they would have seen what e mails would have passed.”

Efforts to contact Port chairman Allison Lewis were unsuccessful yesterday as she did not answer calls to her cellphone.

A number of people holding Certificates of Comfort for squatter sites developed by the Land Settlements Agency (LSA) will now be invited to buy the land at a premium of 25 per cent of its market value.

Housing Minister Randall Mitchell disclosed this yesterday in Parliament while giving an update on squatter regularisation during the 2018 Budget debate

“We expect to be able to offer 1,034 persons statutory leases over the next fiscal year. Beneficiaries of the leases will have approximately 30 years to pay off for the land,”Mitchell said.

“The statutory lease moves the beneficiary from a non-possessory right under the COC to a possessory right under the statutory lease.”

The LSA’s website states there are over 250 squatting sites on state lands in T&T with approximately 23,000 squatting households. It also states that while a Certificate of Comfort gives a squatter a personal right to protection from ejection from state land, it does not convey/give a squatter any right, legal interest or title to such land.

Yesterday, Mitchell said all COC applications will be processed, investigated and determined by January 2018.

Speaking afterwards on the new purchase thrust, he told T&T Guardian, “Now that the LSA has conducted the infrastructural upgrades to these squatter sites at full development standards, the LSA is now in a position to make this (offer) to these COC holders, once they have fulfilled their obligations under the 1998 Act.”

According to that act, the COC holder is to be charged a “premium” for the land.

He added, “The premium is to be made up of a cost for the raw land, as well as the cost for the infrastructure. Cabinet recently approved the premium at 25 per cent of the market value of the land as determined by the Commissioner of Valuations. Government will absorb the infrastructure cost.”

Mitchell said the act is the State Land (Regularisation of Tenure) Act 1998.

“Purpose of the act was to protect certain squatters from being ejected from state land, to facilitate the acquisition of leasehold titles by both squatters and tenants in designated areas. It allowed for those unlawful occupiers of state land prior to 1998, a period of time up until October 2000 to apply for a Certificate of Comfort. Subsequently, through two IDB loans, squatter sites all across Trinidad were upgraded and surveyed. COC applications were processed.”

He said approximately 23,000 applications were received.

“We’ve ramped up processing of these applications and will complete all processing by January 2018.”

Low income earners targeted

Mitchell also said the ministry has terminated the Land For The Landless (LFTL) programme (of the last administration) due to flaws. This included beneficiaries signing agreements for land without deposits and some who had no income or their income was too low to qualify. No due diligence was done on the programme, he added, noting the People’s Partnership’s focus had been contractors involved in the plan rather than the public.

Replacing the LFTL, Mitchell said, will be the Aided Self-Help Housing Programme, which is geared to assisting low/middle income earners with construction of their own homes, providing financial and technical support from the state. It assists persons seeking affordable residential serviced land lots to erect houses, and also assists those with land who require help to construct a housing unit. A four-stage process goes from application to ministry assistance.

The plan provides fully developed housing lots; sold at 30 per cent its market value, access to subsidised mortgage facilities from the T&T Mortgage Finance Company, pre-approved house plans and oversight assistance for construction. Those without land can access pre-approved house plans, a number of short-listed contractors and technical oversight. One hundred lots will be available within 2018 and 500 later.

Mitchell said the programme is one of many to further stimulate the economy and create employment for skilled/semi-skilled labourers.

“It will see the increase in the national housing stock and a decrease in demand on the HDC for housing units,” he said.