Three differently-abled children are due to receive Advanced EyeGaze Technology (ART) devices through an anonymous donor.

The Children’s Ark facilitated the donation of the technology which empowers people withdisabilities to interact and communicate by generating speech though typing or selecting varied programmes with their eyes.

Each device costs between US$12,000 and $15,000.

The NGO’s founder Simone de la Bastide explained that after being contacted by the donor, the organisation conducted a search for 12 possible candidates, between the ages of 4 - 19, for the devices.

“This allows them to use the intemet, study, participate in conferences, write books, earn their degrees etc. It opens up a whole different world for AET users,” de la Bastide said.

The candidates were all children with various conditions including muscular dystrophy, brain /spinal injuries, multiple sclerosis, quadraplegics and cerebral palsy.

Representatives from the LC Technology, which invented the device in the United States (US), visited Trinidad earlier this month to host a training session with the candidates.

At the end of the session, three candidates were selected for the devices, with a fourth being donated to the National Centre for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD), where it would be used to train other children and adults.

“The renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at age 21 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), was one of the first users of the AET Device.

Over the years he has written over 105 books by using the system,” de la Bastide said.

The distribution of the ART device was the second major project completed by the organisation for the year, the other being the construction of a library and reading room at the Port-of-Spain State Prison.

Fourteen colonial death row cells were demolished to build the facility, which will be used to facilitate a project where inmates read to their children.

The newly-formed Independent Fishermen Union of Trinidad and Tobago (IFUTT) has described the ban imposed on its president Robert Sagramsingh from Parliament following the disruption at Thursday’s sitting as a blow to democracy and is threatening legal action.

The ban was imposed on Sagramsingh and Maxine Gonzales, spokesperson of the Members Club and Lottery Worker Union, by the House Speaker after they disrupted the contribution of Minister in the Ministry of Finance Allyson West.

Sagramsingh and Gonzales, along with other fishermen and casino workers, were subsequently ejected from Parliament.

The statement last Friday night stated that the ban prevented Sagramsingh and Gonzales from accessing the Parliament Chamber, public gallery, media gallery and all other rooms in the parliamentary buildings used for committee meetings. The statement further stated that all police officers employed at Parliament are empowered

directly/indirectly and/or through the Office of the Marshall, to remove the, from Parliament precincts should they try to enter.

The order was issued in accordance with Section 6 (1) of the House of Representatives (powers and Privileges)

Act and Standing Order 123 of the House.

Responding to the ban in a statement IFUTT stated, “IFUTT finds offensive the position taken by the unelected President of the Senate in banning the president of the IFUTT, Robert Sagramsingh, from the Parliament. “ Stating that the increase in the fuel taxes has had a severely debilitating effect on the fishing community, he said no no consultations done with the stakeholders of the industry.

It further stated that several unsuccessful attempts were made by IFUTT to speak with “the incompetent minister of Agriculture Clarence Rambharat.

“In an off- the- cuff comment to the IFUTT the minister quipped that he didn’t know about the fuel increase and could do nothing about it. While the maxi taxis and taxis are simply prepared to increase fares and pass it along to an already over-taxed population, we the fishermen of Trinidad and Tobago are not prepared to do similar. IFUTT is not prepared to quietly accept and roll over to the Government destroying our lives without responding. “

The IFUTT further stated, has had no choice but to resort to lawful protests and demonstrations to hopefully get the attention of and audience with the Government.

The IFUTT said: “The unelected President of the Senate has dealt a blow to the democracy of the nation with this obscene ban on the fishing community.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is calling on acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams “to take careful note of what happened in the Parliament” when casino workers disrupted the Senate’s sitting on Thursday.

Speaking at the People’s National Movement’s (PNM) public meeting at the San Fernando City Hall on Friday night Rowley called the casino workers “rabble-rousers” that created “mob rule” in the Parliament.

During Thursday’s sitting of the Senate casino workers who were seated in the public gallery created havoc while Minister in the Ministry of Finance Allyson West was speaking.

They were eventually escorted out of the Parliament building by police.

The Parliament also banned Maxine Gonzales, the spokesperson for the Members Clubs and Lottery Workers Union, and Robert Sagramsingh as a result of the situation.

Rowley said this country needs to begin regulating the gambling industry as it threatens to derail our banking system.

He accused a “member of the opposition who is a high price and high paid consultant to the gaming industry” for mobilising the casino workers to create “as much mayhem in the country as possible”.

Rowley said even elected officials have to abide by the rules of the Parliament.

The Members Clubs and Lottery Workers Union signalled that is has referred the Parliament ban to its attorney for an opinion and once advised would not hesitate to take legal action against the Senate President.

“The Union of Members Club and Lottery Workers stands fully behind our comrade Maxine Gonzales and defend her right to freedom of expression,” it stated in a release yesterday.

Gonzales was not given “an opportunity to be heard which natural justice demands” before the ban was imposed, it stated.

“The Speaker has begun along a very slippery slope by banning the people from the people’s chambers. This government is now insulating itself from the very people who they claim to represent. This act of banning is one often found in undemocratic nations and as such weakens our democracy,” the union stated.

It also questioned why Verna St Rose was not banned when she disrupted the Senate during the last administration.

Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal has told police that his implication in Government's $200 cartel claim against a group of contractors is a fabrication by members of Cabinet.

In a letter sent to acting Supt Yussef Alexander of the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau on Thursday, Moonilal's lawyer Israel Khan, SC, sought to respond to the allegations, which were made in a civil lawsuit with the contractors and reported to police.

Khan questioned a text message exchange between his client and former Estate Management and Business Development Company Ltd (EMBD) CEO Gary Parmassar, which were cited by Minister in the Office of the Attorney General Stuart Young when he revealed the claim earlier this month.

Young had alleged that the messages showed that Moonilal attempted to exchange a Housing Development Corporation (HDC) house for Parmassar's participation in the conspiracy with the contractors.

"The said messages appear to be a cut and paste job which attempts to link unconnected bits of exchanges to mischievously present a conspiracy," Khan said as he claimed that the messages were not certified by a telecommunications provider.

He also noted that the allocation of HDC units was outside the remit of the Minister of Housing.

Khan accused Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi of making a fraudulent report to police of the alleged conspiracy.

Khan said: "If the above is true, it reasonably suggested that the Honorable Attorney General deliberately and willfully supplied incorrect and erroneous information to the police upon which to maliciously procure a search warrant with my client's name."

"The Attorney General ought to know or take reasonable steps to know the correct process used by the HDC to select successful applicants for housing," he added.

Khan also questioned how Planning Minister Camille Robinson-Regis procured a copy of a search warrant, which was obtained against Moonilal. While Robinson-Regis read the warrant in Parliament earlier this month, it is yet to be executed.

"Please be informed that my client has filed a strenuous complaint with the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) on this matter since if the warrant is indeed authentic, it appears Robinson-Regis could only have received the document from a police office, who would have leaked such a sensitive document to her," Khan said.

Khan told Alexander that he had written to acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams twice about the issue.

The conspiracy allegations were raised in a counterclaim filed in relation to a series of lawsuits brought by the contracts, who are seeking payment for construction works done under the previous administration.

The Government is only challenging a portion of their claims which relates to work done for the EMBD before the 2015 General Elections.

The contractors named by Young were TN Ramnauth and Company Ltd (TN Ramnauth), Mootilal Ramhit and Sons Contracting Ltd (Ramhit), Namalco Construction Services Ltd (Namalco), Fides Ltd (Fides) and Kall Company Ltd (Kallco).

The Government is alleging that Moonilal, Parmassar and the contractors were part of a conspiracy to defraud the State through inflating costs and delivering incomplete work. The contractors have denied any wrongdoing.

Speaking at a People's National Movement (PNM) political meeting held at the San Fernando City Hall on Friday night, Young said that Moonilal will be served with the lawsuit and the warrant soon.

With work stalled on the National Oncology Centre (NOC) for the past year, chairman of the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (Udecott) Noel Garcia says Government may have three options— terminate the contract, borrow a loan or scale down the size of the million- dollar project.

This was Garcia’s view as he weighed in on the project which has come to a grinding halt.

In 2003, former prime minister Patrick Manning promised to build the NOC at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex at Mt Hope which was supposed to transform the way cancer patients are treated.

Back then, it was estimated to cost $144 million, but its costs has skyrocketed significantly.

Fourteen years later, and after five administrations, Garcia said only 32 per cent of the project has been completed,.

Garcia admitted that nothing has happened on the centre “all of this year. And it seems it would go into the next fiscal year without nothing happening.”

The project has been put on hold after Cabinet queried if they were getting value for money.

In the coming months, Udecott would get some definite word as to what would happen with the project, Garcia said.

Garcia said he cannot act unilaterally, but have to wait on Cabinet’s decision.

In addition to this, Garcia said things that go to Cabinet are referred to “FNGP and they are the ones who would question a number of things and raise a number of issues.”

He said while the project has been put on hold, he would have liked “things to go much quicker. but I am not FNGP (Finance and General Purpose Committee) I am not the Cabinet. I am subject to policy directions. I just have to accept the things I cannot change.”

Asked if Government had allocated money in this fiscal package for the project, Garcia said “I think so. I think not the kind of money that is required. I think it is a holding action really because I suspect if they are going forward with the Oncology Centre we probably may have to look for some kind of loan financing to go forward because it is a lot of money. I think the problem is the cost.”

From the offset, Garcia said the project has been riddled with challenges.

After the first contractor abandoned the job, Garcia said the architect experienced bankruptcy.

“Then it was discovered that the building was not conforming to the new seismic codes and had to be redesigned. So it is really a project that has had all kinds of challenges and probably needs a bush bath.”

The project is currently being undertaken by French contractor Bouygues Batiment T&T Construction Company.

In 2016, Garcia estimated the project’s cost at $700 million.

“The contractor is not working. They are virtually marking time for almost a year. You just can’t have the contractor in abeyance. So is either the Government terminate the contract or they decide to go forward with the contract or decide to go with a scaled down version of the contract. You just cannot be saying anything,” Garcia said.

Garcia did not agree with the centre being scaled down, stating that cancer is the leading cause of deaths in T&T.

“In Trinidad it is of epidemic proportions…from stomach cancer to liver cancer and colon. This would bring a relief to a number of people who would otherwise would not be able to get that level of sophisticated treatment. It would not cure cancer, but it would certainly afford people the opportunity to be treated.”

He said the most Bouygues can do was sue the State for standby charges.

“The contractor has that option, but I don’t know if they would want to excise it. In fairness to them they have reduced their workforce to a minimum. I don’t know if it would be worth their while to sue.”

The NOC, Garcia explained was designed with cutting edge technology, which would have taken up 55 per cent of the project’s overall cost.

“That was one of the reasons they were spending all of this money to build this state-of-the-art centre. But it has been bugged down.”

If the project gets restarted now, Garcia said the centre can be completed by early 2019.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the project is before Cabinet.

“I can’t say anything to jeopardize Cabinet’s consideration,” Deyalsingh said.

President of the Public Services Association (PSA) Watson Duke yesterday threatened to take legal action against the Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) following the sudden dismissal of six permanent workers from the State-owned company.

Five of the six workers have been identified as Marcus Hudson, Rakesh Ramnath, Cherisse Solomon, Stacy Valdez and Christopher Mc Lean.

The dismissal came six weeks after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and several union bodies agreed to a moratorium on State sector retrenchments until December 2017.

The CDA has cited financial challenges for the retrenchment, stating that its board, chaired by Gupte Lutchmedial, felt it was no longer feasible to retain the top positions of assistant manager of IT, project manager, public relations specialist, document specialist and quality specialist.

The workers, who had between three to five years of service with the CDA, were told that their jobs had become redundant. Collectively the workers’ salaries were over $100,000 monthly.

While the proposed date of retrenchment by CDA was listed as November 30, the employees’ last day of work was October 20. The workers were not informed before hand of their terminations, which left them in shock and tears.

In June, CDA retrenched four workers, bringing the total figure so far to ten in the last four months.

“As a chairman and board they lacked the respect for agreements made between the unions and the Government. They have defied that. That agreement still stands and we expect the Government will stand up and tell the CDA to reinstate these workers, Duke said yesterday.

The PSA, Duke said, held a meeting with CDA about two weeks ago and agreed to withdraw all efforts to retrench its workers which was minuted.

“While we met and agreed on good faith tthe CDA would have acted in bad faith once our backs were turned. We are not going to talk, but act. You can expect legal action will follow. We are concerned with the manner in which CDA has been sending workers home,” Duke said.

Duke said he was most upset by CDA’s callous move.

Recently, CDA in a 2017 draft report had estimated its debts at $118 million.

Calls to Lutchmedial’s cellphone went unanswered yesterday and he did not respond to a text message.

The quality of education being imparted to students in T&T have made them ideal recruits for leading universities in the USA and Canada.

This is according to the US Charge d’Affaires John McIntyre and Canadian High Commissioner Carla Hogan-Rufelds who both echoed the same sentiments as they spoke with students and recruiters during the 2017 College Fair at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain yesterday.

As he addressed students and their parents yesterday, McIntyre reflected on his own university experience as he urged them to explore all the opportunities available to them.

He acknowledged that while financing was a “big deal” for many, “It should never impede your thinking of going to school in the US.”

Indicating there were many scholarship offerings based on athleticism and merit, McIntyre said while there were only 41 US recruiters participating in this year’s fair, the choices were far greater than persons believed.

He said: “You have so much choice in the US. If you can’t find a school that works for you and works for your parents and your family, you are just not trying.”

A Texan native, McIntyre obtained a BA in Political Science and Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and completed his Masters in Public Administration at the University of Kansas.

Seeking to allay the fears of the parents and reassure them of their children’s safety if they opted to study in the US, McIntyre advised: “Schools take the safety and well-being of your child very importantly.”

Joking that he never qualified for any merit-based scholarships but was now head of US Embassy in T&T, McIntyre described the pressure placed on local students to perform at the exam level in Form Five and Six as “insane.”

However, he said this preparation had served to prepare students, “to do a really good job of the pressure you would feel potentially in college, as you guys have already accomplished that with your Ordinary and Advanced Level exams, you guys are already set.”

McIntyre said some foreign schools were particularly interested in T&T students as, “You all have such a massively improved base foundation for us and for our universities that people want you all to come.”

Impressed by what she claimed was a “huge upswing” in the number of students who had attended the two-day fair this year, Hogan-Rufelds said representatives from 19 universities across eastern and western Canada had participated in the event.

Pressed to say why they too were appealing to persons to study in Canada, she said, “There is a very strong people-to-people connection between Canada and T&T.”

She said many Trinbagonians had relations living in Canada and coupled with the educational opportunities available, it was ideal situation for persons to take advantage off.

Information from the Immigration Division, Canadian Embassy indicated that following the yearly event—hundreds of student visas are usually issued to persons as a result of the interaction. Approximately 700 student visas were issued in 2016 to students wanting to study in Canada.

Buoyed by the sharp increase in the number of attendants compared to last year, both McIntyre and Hogan-Rufelds agreed persons coming to the US and Canada would get value for money.

Dismissing claims that more Trinidadians were being turned down after applying for a visa, McIntyre said: “We have an incredibly low refusal rate across the board for tourists and students. The vast majority of Trinidadians qualify for a US visa, this hasn’t changed. There is a public perception out there about other changes in our visa policy and that has nothing to do with T&T and nothing to do with students.”

Hogan-Rufelds said: “We do issue an average of 250 student visas a year.”

Disappointed that a rift between the San Fernando City Council and the Municipal Police has gone public, Rural Development and Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein plans to meet with both parties this week.

Hosein was responding to a call by San Fernando mayor Junia Regrello to Hosein and Assistant Commissioner of the Municipal Police Brian Headly to investigate the inefficiency of the officers in San Fernando. During last Wednesday’s statutory meeting, Regrello said the officers’ inaction was responsible for the indiscriminate blocking of sidewalks by street vendors and some store owners. He added that there was little help from the city police in rolling out the recent traffic plan, which has helped to curb congestion in the busy school and shopping districts.

“There must be consultation, you must sit and talk. The mayor, the police and the administrative arm of the corporation must have an open policy meeting and they should come to a conclusion because every problem has a solution and this should not be brought into the public domain,

“ I intend to meet with him this week coming up here, probably Tuesday and I will keep a meeting with the police, the administrative arm and the council, which is headed by the mayor,” Hosein said.

With the new refurbishment of the old San Fernando Fire Station almost complete for the relocation of the city police, Hosein said he will also be seeking to address that issue. The municipal police are currently housed at the San Fernando City Corporation’s administrative building along Penitence Street.

With work on the San Fernando Waterfront Redevelopment Project set to begin next month, Hosein said the area would be a hub for various activities and a police station there would be needed.

Cancer survivor Pyardevi Parasam, 63, has no choice but to make two daily trips to her brother’s home to take her insulin.

The medication has to be kept refrigerated, but her fridge was among several items destroyed in recent floods at her Woodland home.

She and her family fled to a relative’s house when flood waters began gushing inside their home at Mungal Trace#2 following torrential rainfall two weeks ago. Her other son Ramdeo who lives with his wife, ten-year-old son and three-year-old daughter in an adjoining house, also lost everything. Her other son, Ryan Parasram, a third year medical student and former scholarship winner, also lost his school books. Parasram also lived with her husband, Parasram Maharaj, 71, and her daughter Vissondaye, 40, who became blind in one eye and never fully recovered from a brain surgery to remove a tumour when she was 12. Her other sons Amrit and Ganesh also live there.

Yesterday, they received mattresses and bed frames during a flood relief drive organised by Indra Roopnarine from Touching A Life Foundation For Kids and Vijay Jaimungal from Spice Boys Foundation who were able to able to mobilise and collect items from over 20 businesses to help flood victims in south Trinidad.

Most of the Parasrams’ household articles and belongings were stacked up in the yard waiting to be sorted out. The damaged stuff will be dumped. As she tried to hold back the tears, Parasram said she doesn’t know where to start picking back up the pieces. She said the chemotherapy and radiation therapy three years ago was too much for her body.

“I have side effects like internal bleeding,” said Parasram who also suffers from high blood pressure.

She recalled the floods came up the day after Divali. “It was to my waist inside the house. We had to leave. Everything gone, beside the television and the stove.”

She said since the good Samaritans have been providing them with breakfast, lunch and dinner. “I borrow a mattress and sleeping on my bed. It break but someone come and weld it. I need help to get back things for my house,” she sobbed.

Ramdeo said, “We can’t keep anything, everything was under water for five days. The only thing we have gotten assistance with so far is food and we are grateful. But, financially I don’t know how I am going to get back everything,” he said.

Also receiving a bed and mattress was flood victim, Kavina Singh, 12, who lives close to the Parasrams and is physically challenged.

Singh, who suffers with a brain disorder, cannot speak. Expressing her gratitude to everyone who assisted them after their plight was aired on CNC 3, grandmother Devika Singh said they now want to donate some of the things they received.

Singh also said more needs to be done to help children like her granddaughter. “It is very difficult to deal with a child like this.You have to be with them 24/7.”

BUSINESSES WANT TO HELP

Roopnarine said she contacted Jaimungal after seeing the vast destruction first hand.

They received tremendous support from over 20 business people from San Fernando, Marabella and Chaguanas who were eager to help.

“We were here last week Sunday and what I saw I nearly cried. It have people with their whole house flooded out clean,” said Mungalsingh.

However, he said the corporate support was tremendous. He said the convoy, comprising of over 50 vehicles, and several volunteers gave out mattresses, hampers, 500 meals, cleaning supplies, water, coca cola and other items, to families in Woodland, San Francique, Debe and Bararckpore.

Roopnarine said there were still many people who have not gotten any assistance because the flood was “so extraordinary.” They intend to take the flood relief convoy to other areas next week. However, he said they were also considering another drive to assist people with furniture. He asked flood victims to contact him on 310-1083.

National Security Minister Edmund Dillon has condemned Prisons Officers Association president Ceron Richards for allegedly calling for his members to engage in illegal industrial action.

In a press release issued late yesterday, Dillon’s ministry said that he had received reports of a voice recording attributed to Richards being circulated on social media yesterday.

In the recording, Richard’s is alleged to have called upon his colleagues to stay away from work to protest the Government’s failure to address the safety concerns of prisons officers, following the recent murders of two.

The release said Dillon obtained and listened to the recording and was concerned and dissatisfied as it is illegal as members of the protective services and teachers are not allowed to engage in protest action.

“Minister Dillon condemns and criticises in the strongest possible manner the content of the recording and the author of the recording for encouraging that the law be broken and for illegal activity to be carried out,” Dillon said.

He also called upon prison officers to reject Richard’s alleged call.

“The Ministry of National Security trusts that all Prison Officers will ignore, reject and denounce any attempt by anyone, including the president of the Prisons Officers Association, to prevent them from lawfully carrying out their duties and responsibilities to secure the prisons in T&T,” the release said.

It also noted that the issue was referred to the Office of the Attorney General to determine if legal action could be brought against Richards for the recording.

However, when contacted yesterday, Richards denied any wrongdoing from him and members of his organisation.

“No one from the Prisons Officers Association inclusive of myself told or directed any prison officer to protest or to take any action. No one!”

Richards said as he stated that he got a call from Dillon before the ministry issued its release.

Referring to protest action taken by officers following a series of murders of their colleagues in 2013, Richards said he merely predicted that a similar situation may occur following two more murders this month.

“It was easy to predict the hurt from the barrage of calls that I have been getting,” Richards said.

He said that after the action was taken without the support of the association, former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar appointed a special committee to investigate issues in prisons.

However, he noted that very few of the recommendations related to prison officers’ security were implemented.

He accused the Government of using him as a scapegoat to “pass the buck” over issues within the Prison Service.

“They murdering us with impunity but no government putting laws in place. Nobody is creating a deterrent,” Richards said as he called for prison legislation reform to be placed high on the legislative agenda of Parliament.

The most recent murder of a prisons officer was last Thursday, when Glenford Gardener, 44, of Bagatelle, Diego Martin, was shot and killed outside his home.

Gardener was the 17th prison officer to be killed in the past 15 years.

His murder came weeks after Richard Sandy, a father of five, was shot dead by an ex-convict while liming at a bar in Gasparillo on October 8.

Homeless persons who use Tamarind Square in Port-of-Spain as a makeshift shelter will now have to find alternative accommodation, after one of them lost his lawsuit against the Port-of-Spain City Corporation.

Delivering a 19-page judgment in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday, Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell dismissed Hugh Bernard’s lawsuit, in which he was claiming his constitutional rights were infringed when the corporation constructed a perimeter fence and gates at the public square almost two years ago.

In addition to facing the prospect of relocating, Bernard has been ordered to foot the corporation’s legal bill.

The corporation’s lawyer John Jeremie, SC, said his client was seeking costs from Bernard as it had expended a lot of money on legal fees in the case. Jeremie’s submissions were opposed by the Bernard’s lawyer Christopher Hamel-Smith, who said legal costs should be waived as the lawsuit was a legitimate public interest claim filed on behalf of Bernard’s fellow street dwellers. He said his client could not afford to pay and their legal team had taken the case pro bono.

“They are the voiceless and most downtrodden in society. The courts ought to be open to all, not just the ones with deep pockets,” Hamel-Smith said.

Donaldson-Honeywell agreed with Jeremie, saying there was no evidence of Bernard’s inability to pay.

“They can’t work?” Donaldson-Honeywell asked.

Hamel-Smith also requested that an interim injunction be granted against the corporation while his client considers an appeal. However, the request was challenged by Jeremie and eventually rejected by Donaldson-Honeywell.

In her judgment, Donaldson-Honeywell said Bernard’s claim failed because he could not produce evidence the corporation fenced the property and locked four out of five gates in a bid to specifically bar him and other homeless persons access.

“There has been no exclusion of the applicant from the square and consequently no deprivation or interference with his use of the square. The evidence of the health inspector is that after the square was fenced, he noticed that the homeless had moved into the square,” Donaldson-Honeywell said.

She said she believed the evidence of the corporation’s CEO Annette Stapleton-Seaforth and engineer Jason Lalla, who both testified the corporation fenced the property to secure it and not to bar the homeless entry.

“Although the corporation strongly maintained that it intends no draconian measure to keep Bernard and other homeless persons out of the square, there is no admission by the corporation that Bernard has a right to sleep there,” Donaldson-Honeywell said.

She also ruled she could not consider Bernard’s claims of unsanitary and inhumane conditions at the Centre for the Socially Displaced at Riverside car-park (located opposite Tamarind Square), as the corporation is not responsible for homeless shelters.

“As a result, the claim for tents and portable toilets to placed by the corporation in the square also fails. This is so because neither the right for Bernard to sleep in the square, nor the duty of the corporation to provide accommodation has been proven,” Donaldson-Honeywell said.

Contacted afterwards, Port-of-Spain Mayor Joel Martinez said he had not had an opportunity to analyse the judgement and would have to discuss it with his executive council and administrative staff before deciding on the next move.

However, he said: “From what I understand the corporation won the case. Therefore there is the likelihood that we would move forward with removing persons from the square. Our intention would be to unlock the square and bring it back to the pristine order that it was prior to the homeless occupying it.”

Although Rousillac residents yesterday said their protests over poor roads had nothing to do with politics, an unapologetic Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan yesterday deemed the action to be politically motivated.

However, he said the road was already scheduled for repairs later this week and next week. He said because of the unstable soil there is constant movement along Grant Road and its tributaries. What makes it worse, he said, was the burning of debris, as it damages the road surfaces and results in the ministry having to spend more on repairs.

“That road was repaired several times but there is a problem with earth movement, so constant maintenance has to take place. According to our programme, the road was scheduled for repairs later this week and next week. It will not last 10 years because of the constant movement, the type of soil and the pull from the pitch lake,” Sinanan said.

“A lot of these protests are politically motivated, but we are doing what we are supposed to do. It’s an ongoing process and the ministry will do what we need to do when funds are made available.”

In the long term, Sinanan said the completion of the highway will reroute the heavy traffic from the community, resulting in the road lasting longer. He said that section of the highway should resume by the end of the year.

La Brea MP Nicole Olivierre also echoed Sinanan’s sentiments of a politically motivated protest, as she said the residents never engaged her on the road conditions. She said while she is aware of the situation of bad roads in the constituency, she does not respond to protest.

She said the road was paved twice under the UNC government following the construction of the highway that ended at Rousillac, but within a short period the road gave away. She said if the UNC’s plan was to increase traffic on the road they should have upgraded the pavement.

“I don’t respond to protests and these residents never engaged me on the matter. They could have called or come to my office. I sent a message to them, informing that they can meet me at my office from 10 am. The action is not proportionate to the complaint they have and they did not come and engage me. It also seems that a tyre shop has supported them because they have an unlimited supply to burn and that should be looked at.”

Prison Commissioner William Alexander says there was an increase in absenteeism at the nation’s prisons yesterday, in wake of a voice note circulating on social media that was alleged to have called for prison officers to take industrial action.

The social media threat came in the wake of the murder last Thursday of prison officer Glenford Gardner in Bagatelle in Diego Martin. Gardner was assigned to the Carrera Island Prison and was killed two weeks after another officer, Richard Sandy, was killed by an ex-convict at a Gasparillo bar.

But on Sunday evening, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon, in a press release which highlighted the voice note was purported to have come from Prison Officers’ Association president Ceron Richards, appealed to prison officers to ignore any attempt by anyone to prevent them from lawfully carrying out their duties. Dillon added in the release that advice from the Office of the Attorney General on whether any legal action could be taken against those officers who engage in the industrial action alluded to in the voice note.

Yesterday, Alexander confirmed the nation’s prisons had been hit by the action as early as Sunday.

“There was some and it started from yesterday (Sunday), some absenteeism and we are grateful to the dedicated officers who are performing their duties notwithstanding the death of officer Gardener. He was a quiet man,” Alexander said.

Alexander said officers were being killed and it was distracting from the issues the service faced. He said he was not interested in taking disciplinary action against Richards, but admitted Richards should stand up and admit he sent the voice note.

“Let him be a man. We’re all grieving, we are making the situation worse by not showing up for duty. You putting hardship on the other officers and the inmates. My attention is to keep the prison steady and stable and my major focus and I will not be sidetracked in talk. There is always room for discussion,” he said.

He said citizens were living in a violent society and we should be emphasising on bringing the murderers before the courts and not turning the current situation into a political football.

Contacted on the matter yesterday, however, Richards said the National Security Minister seemed more concerned about a voice note than the problems plaguing the Prison Service.

“The minister is doing a lot of talking rather than meeting and treating with the Prison Service. That is the only time I heard from him and his only concern is to ask me about a voice note. Thank God for a voice note, if it wasn’t then I wouldn’t hear anything,” Richards said.

He said on many occasions the association, along with the Fire Service Association, had attempted to meet Dillon on issues affecting their members.

“Over a year we haven’t met with the minister and now he all of a sudden has gotten active. We thought that energy would be deployed then. Their (prison officers) families are afraid for them, all are running scared.”

He said the officers were being attacked and facing a lack of support from the state, noting there has been no word on whether their calls for legislation to protect prisons officers from attacks would be looked at.

On whether he organised the sick-out, given that last week he had suggested such action could occur, Richards said: “I was predicting on the basis of how they feel that is all. I just stating my concern and that the powers that be, I just want to re-iterate that we (association) are not in support of any industrial action and we are responsible. We demonstrated that. That is how they feel at this time.”

He said government had previously passed legislation years ago when kidnappings were rampant across the country.

“They did everything in the past to arrest it so it down to zero. Where is the same approach for prison officers?” he asked.

“Prison officers are looking at that and feeling worthless. That is the bigger issue and putting focus on it. We are not in support of industrial action and I don’t know what accusations the minister is making. The lack of action, government intervention and parliamentary response is not the issue. Ceron Richards is ...”

Thick dark smoke blocked out the sky in Rousillac during the early hours of yesterday, as residents signalled to Government: “Fix our roads or we’ll shut down the entire South-Western peninsula.”

Miles of traffic piled up along the Southern Main Road from Otaheite to La Brea, trapping students, commuters, vehicles and equipment heading to and from the industrial areas of Point Fortin and La Brea. Many businesses remained closed, with only the neighbourhood bars and mini-marts benefiting from the inconvenience caused by some 10 blockades set up.

Burning tyres, mattresses, bed frames and almost any discarded items protesters found were dumped along the Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension to Point Fortin, Mon Desir Road, Southern Main Road, Grant Road and Neranthar Trace. The protesters sent an invitation to Government ministers to drive their luxury vehicles along the pothole-riddled roads. They were supported by their councillors Chanardaye Ramadharsingh and Deryck Bowrin.

“I carry children to school. Since the term started I’ve spent over $6000 and I’m not finished. I’ve changed three link pins so far and I still have to replace some bushings. I want to know who will re-compensate me for the money I have spent to fix my vehicle,” school bus driver Sharon Nichols-Deoraj said.

“Everybody has subsidies for their vehicle, but I don’t have any and I have to work very hard for what I earn, so I will like them to bring their Porsche, Beemer, Lamborghini and their hybrid vehicles and traverse this road as we’ve been doing for the past two years.”

Supporting Nichol-Deoraj, cricketer Hubert Sahibram said since the partial construction of the highway between Oropouche to Rousillac, Grant Road had become a thoroughfare for heavier vehicles and the damage to the road had significantly increased the cost of vehicle maintenance.

He said unless their roads are rehabilitated, they are prepared to the shut down the South-Western peninsula. He said following talks with their MP Nicole Olivierre, it was understood that no works were planned for their communities.

Ramadharsingh, who lives along Grant Road, said the road was paved two years ago under the United National Congress, who oversaw the construction of that leg of the highway. She said it was not a matter of poor workmanship, but the increase of heavy vehicles passing along the road.

Commuters were stranded at taxi hubs in Point Fortin and La Brea under rainy conditions as taxi drivers sat leisurely in their vehicles during the protest action. Most of the PTSC buses remained at the station, while a few were trapped in the traffic. The few taxi drivers who took trips through the Petrotrin field roads increased their fares from $14 to $20 from Point Fortin.

The Ministry of Finance says it made the necessary funds to pay salaries for the month of October 2017 available since last week. The ministry payments were made in accordance with Civil Service Regulation 39, which states that salaries should be paid on the day previous to the last full business day of the month, which was yesterday.

The ministry’s claim came even as Trinidad and Tobago Registered Nurses Association president Hayden Stewart said this was the third month nurses employed by the regional health authorities (RHAs) had been paid late without any explanation or apology, adding the association’s attorneys are now looking at sending legal letters to the RHA CEOs and Ministry of Finance.

Stewart said as of midday yesterday, “only one group of workers employed in the NCRHA had been paid through Royal Bank.”

He said the association had sought answers from Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh and he referred them to the Minister of Finance Colm Imbert, but all attempts to get answers from Imbert were unsuccessful.

Stewart said, “We have started speaking with our lawyers, because it is not a favour that they are doing, this is scripted in law. We want to ensure this does not continue and that nurses are paid as they are supposed to, two days before the end of the month.”

Stewart said he could understand a one-off situation but it seemed it had become “a habit and we will take the necessary legal recourse. We want to make sure the ministry obeys the relevant guidelines.”

PSA president Watson Duke said Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex workers were furious they had not been paid.

He said late payment of salaries was in contravention of section 39 of the Public Service Act, adding salaries should have been in the bank either last week or by yesterday morning.

Duke said these “scare tactics” will not force workers into believing that “things are really hard and our jobs are under threat. There is money and there is work. Pay us to do our work.”

TTUTA president Lyndsay Doodhai said his members also complained salaries were late. But he said he was assured by Ministry of Finance officials that teachers should be able to access them this week.

Fire Services Association president Leo Ramkissoon said they were told that “the Minister of Finance only released funding for payment on Friday and the information is between today and up until Wednesday fire officers will get their payments.”

Ganga Singh says Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s “political leadership is unassailable,” but he is maintaining his position that “there is need for constitutional propriety in the actions of the National Executive (Natex) to call the election of the Political Leader without her vacating the office.”

The national congress of the United National Congress meets today at 5 pm at Shiva Boys’ College in Penal when the decision of the Natex to call the election for the post of Political Leader a year before it is due will be discussed in light of a challenge from Singh that the decision is “ultra vires of Article 18 of the UNC Constitution.”

Singh wrote to the party’s general secretary Dave Tancoo last week challenging the decision, but the Natex sent a legal letter indicating that his interpretation was wrong. Persad-Bissessar herself has told Singh that in her view the decision was “intra vires the party’s Constitution,” and was legal.

In the midst of the debate over whether the party’s constitution is being violated, former St Augustine MP Vasant Bharath announced his decision to challenge Persad-Bissessar for leadership of the party.

Bharath told the T&T Guardian last week that he had been getting support from “sitting UNC MPs and activists,” but UNC chairman David Lee challenged Bharath to “name the MPs who are supporting him.”

Lee said as chairman of the UNC “I do not believe there are any sitting MPs supporting Bharath.”

When the T&T Guardian asked Singh if he was perhaps one of those referred to by Bharath, he said his issue had nothing to do with the leadership of the UNC. He said Persad-Bissessar’s “political leadership is unassailable. I don’t know what is Vasant’s intention in fighting because her position is unassailable I cannot fathom his intention.”

His position, he said, is that “there is need for constitutional propriety in the actions of the executive to call the election of the political leader without her vacating the office.”

Caroni East MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie said the constitutional issue raised by Singh “cannot just be brushed aside, it must be treated properly. There are options in the constitution.”

The manner in which the issue had evolved he said has “put the party under scrutiny and has placed it in a situation where it is going to be tested as a political party.”

He is hoping that at the end of today’s meeting “the UNC will emerge stronger than it is right now.”

But he warned that if things are “handled ineptly today then the party could end up being divided and fractured and incapable of inspiring.”

Tewarie said those who are managing the agenda must “appreciate the fact that they must begin with the end in mind. That means we have to prepare and ready the party to win an election whenever it is called. That means that we have to transform the party. It means you have to have a variety of attractive faces in the party with support from different sectors of Trinidad and Tobago.”

He said at the end of today’s meeting, the membership must feel “inspired,” and those who do not support the UNC must be able to say that the “UNC has managed its business well, it has conducted itself with dignity, and that its leaders have functioned with a level of maturity that is desirable.”

He said if those things are not achieved “we would have fallen short and it would be very difficult to justify ourselves as the alternative. The country deserves more and the people are entitled to more.”

Christine Newallo, who had previously said she was also concerned as to whether the processes of the party were being followed, said, “Both Persasd-Bissessar and Bharath are great people. I respect both.” Newallo is yet to decide which of the two she will support. While she felt that both had strong points “and if a general election is called we need both,” she felt that neither of them had what it takes to “grow the UNC outside of the traditional base.”

Newallo-Hosein said she had not received an agenda for today’s meeting, but she said “based on what happens at the congress I will decide what’s next.”

Problems continue to plague the sea bridge as Caribbean Airlines had to schedule additional flights following the cancellation of sailings of the T&T Express on Sunday at 3 pm and 6.30 pm respectively.

But president of the Inter-Island Truckers and Traders Association Horace Amede is calling for better measures to be implemented saying members were forced to fork out additional money for additional expenses.

In a statement, manager of Marketing and Public Relations of the T&T Inter-Island Transportation Company Vilma Lewis-Cockburn had initially said there were cancellation of sailings of the T&T Express on Sunday at 3 pm and at 6.30 am yesterday but efforts were being made to resume the sailings later yesterday at 3.30 pm.

But in a subsequent statement she said due to ongoing repairs on the vessel the 3.30 pm sailing had to be cancelled as well as the 6.30 am sailing scheduled from Tobago today.

Lewis-Cockburn said passengers were advised the MV Cabo Star was expected to sail from Port-of-Spain at 2 pm and from Tobago at 11 pm yesterday.

She also advised that passengers wishing to send their vehicles on these sailings could make the arrangements with the passenger area at the terminals.

Amede, however, in an interview said yesterday the disruptions were having an adverse effect on his members.

He said some left their car keys in their vehicles to be sent to Tobago and had gone to Piarco Airport but were unable to access a flight.

“This situation is really affecting the members very adversely. Some also cannot even get a flight to return from Tobago,” Amede said.

He said members also had to bear additional cost of plane tickets and ground transportation.

President of the Inter-island Transport Committee’s Tobago Division Dianne Hadad, when contacted yesterday, said she was in a meeting.

Efforts to contact Dionne Ligoure, Manager of Corporate Communications of Caribbean Airlines were unsuccessful and messages left were not returned.

A group of CL Financial (CLF) shareholders has been denied permission to challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision to appoint provisional liquidators for the company in July.

In an oral ruling at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain yesterday, Appellate Judges Nolan Bereaux, Gregory Smith and Andre Des Vignes refused the shareholders leave to go to the Privy Council in London.

Bereaux said the appeal did not raise any arguable issues as the appointment of the provisional liquidators became academic after High Court Judge Kevin Ramcharan approved Government’s bid to wind up the company in September.

The shareholders can now approach the Privy Council directly in seeking to challenge the appointment of a provisional liquidator.

Bereaux also rejected the policyholders’ claim that the appeal was a matter of public importance and pointed out that it was in the public’s interest for the company to be liquidated in order to repay Government for its bail-out of CLF’s subsidiaries in 2009.

In denying the shareholders leave, the Appeal Court ordered them to pay the State’s legal costs for defending the application.

In making the application, attorney Navindra Ramnanan, who is representing former CLF chairman Lawrence Duprey, said his client needed to challenge the initial appointment as the shareholders were not allowed to make submissions before Ramcharan made his decision.

Ramnanan said his client was unable to raise unique issues with the winding up, including the fact that the application was made by Government, which had effective control of the company since 2009 through a memorandum of understanding and a series of shareholder agreements.

He also admitted that the shareholders had filed an appeal against Ramcharan’s decision in the Court of Appeal. That case is yet to come up for hearing.

Deborah Peake, SC, and Ravi Heffes-Doon represented the State.

About the winding up

The Government made the application and a corresponding winding up petition for the company in July after the shareholders signalled their intention to change the composition of the board which had been government-controlled since Clico’s bailout.

As a condition of the bailout, CLF had agreed to honour its subsidiaries’ debt and allow Government to select four members, including the chairman, to its seven-member board. The agreement, which was renewed 17 times after being first signed, expired in August last year and the shareholders refused to agree to a new deal.

The shareholders’ refusal was reportedly based on the failure of the Ministry of Finance to consider a proposal from independent auditing firm PwC, which suggested that they are given control of the company and allowed to renegotiate its repayment arrangement for the $15 billion still owed to Government.

They are claiming the company’s debt to the Government is inflated and the company is not insolvent, as is required for winding up proceedings.

Ramcharan initially refused Government permission to appoint provisional liquidators from international accounting firm Grant Thornton. However, his decision over overturned by the Appeal Court.

In an initial report, provisional liquidator Marcus Wide said the company only had $90 million in its management accounts. In September, Ramcharan approved the winding up petition giving the liquidators permission to sell the company’s assets to clear its debt.

In his 2017/2018 budget presentation, Finance Minister Colm Imbert announced that CLF’s assets will be sold on the stock exchange and used to create a national mutual fund.

Imbert said the $1.4 billion allocated for the fund represented 29.9 per cent of CLF’s shares in Angostura and 16 per cent of its shares in Home Construction Ltd (HCL).

Public Services Association (PSA) president Watson Duke will be challenged by three candidates in the union’s November 27 election.

However, the outspoken trade unionist who is leading his own slate in the polls, the Game Changers, is not concerned.

“None of these guys have a proven track record in representing workers. They have not even done anything to improve themselves and the workers after eight years or added one certificate to their name. They have done nothing to improve their personal capacity,” he told the T&T Guardian.

Duke said the union needs to be led by someone who is passionate and able to represent the workers.

“I want to appeal to the wider membership that when the government is cutting jobs, raising the cost of living and keeping salaries low, it is not the time to experiment with immature and incompetent persons. Rather it is time for those are tested and proven themselves to be result oriented. It is time for the Game Changers led by Watson Duke,” he said.

One of the challengers, Oral Saunders, of the United Public Officers, said his team wants a united front to unseat Duke.

He said: “The vast majority voted against Duke in 2013 and he was a minority president. There were seven teams who went against him,” he said as he appealed for the membership of the PSA to unite.

Saunders said he has approached other leaders fielding slates in the election and started discussions.

“Our group comprises of former executive officers and activists. We have the most experience in industrial relations and the ability to build and restore the PSA and we are the only group that has that intellectual capacity,” he said.

Team Sentinel is led by Nixon Callender a former Duke ally, who said his team would focus on restructuring, social committees, training, wage negotiations, membership housing and public sector reform.

“Our team has a strategic plan for the PSA which we developed after interviewing the membership over the past four years. This plan was based on their response,” he said.

Although he is not a presidential candidate, Demetrius Harrison is vying for the post of industrial relations officer for Team Fixers, another group that is hoping to unseat Duke in the upcoming polls.

“I was successful against Duke in the High Court. I won that matter and was financially remunerated and was a former trustee,” he said.

“We are about a different type of negotiations than accustomed to where we negotiate for percentage increases and for the merchants move their prices. We want to become more innovative to provide different commodities in terms of stocks and bonds on the open market that public officers can now become investors,” Harrison said.

The body of an unidentified man was found in a river near Roodal Cemetery in San Fernando at around 8 am yesterday.

Game warden Rennie Lokpath, 60, said he was taking his 36-year-old son to the San Fernando General Hospital when he saw the body floating in the river.

“When we reach on the bridge my son said, ‘Daddy look I see a body inside the drain there,’” he said.

Lokpath said he was going to pull aside to assist but his son told him the person’s head was submerged in the river.

Lokpath said he dropped off his son at the nearby hospital and then returned to the scene. He said the body was clad only in chequered short pants and there were a few one dollar bills not far from the body.

He called the police. Investigations are continuing.