Prison officers who have already applied for their Firearm Users License will be given priority by the Police Service, while the Prisons Officers Association (POA) and the Government negotiate other legislative issues aimed at protecting prison officers both on and off duty.

This was one of the assurances given to the association during a marathon meeting with National Security Minister Edmund Dillon, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and acting Prisons Commissioner William Alexander yesterday.

Speaking afterwards, Al-Rawi said some of the issues discussed in the three-hour meeting at the National Security Ministry in Port-of-Spain will require legislative changes that may require constitutional reform. He said the parties agreed to meet again in two weeks to discuss some of the legislative proposals.

The AG said one of the proposals was the summary dismissal of prison officers found guilty of misconduct. But he said this is complicated as the Public Service Commission has power over the service and their mode of operation would need to be constitutionally altered. Any action to amend the Constitution, Al-Rawi added, would need at least a two thirds majority in the Parliament.

The T&T Guardian was told some of five legislative requests made by the POA were already in the drafting states by the AG’s office. The main one was the arming of prison officers, which will be now addressed as a top priority.

Regarding the investigation into the murders prison officers Glenford Gardner and Roger Sandy, which sparked the calls for legislative action to protect officers from the POA, Al-Rawi said the National Security Council was aware of some of the people responsible for the attacks. He said the Police Service was also not slouching and already had “persons on their radar” and trying to apprehend the killers through nationwide manhunts.

Al-Rawi added: “There will be no feeding of any narrative to instil fear in the country. This is a risky job, these are front line officers doing work that many will not. The message we want to send is we know who the individuals are in two of these matters and we have a very good idea and a near certainty on the third. I want to send a message out to those people, yuh days are numbered.”

Also speaking after the meeting, POA president Ceron Richards said they had a “renewed spirit” coming out of the discussions. Asked if the officers would continue to seek asylum in Canada, he said it was too soon to say but would depend on the commitment by the Government to support the officers in their fight against the criminal elements.

Al-Rawi interjected, adding that the officers will not be going anywhere given the assurances that were given to them in the meeting and what may come out of future meetings.

Acting Prisons Commissioner William Alexander meanwhile said the decision to deny visitation today to facilitate officers attending Gardner’s funeral was not a sign of protest. He said relatives of prisoners can purchase items at the prison canteen and they will be delivered to the inmates, but relatives will not be able to see them.

Alexander added that one of the things discussed in the meeting was establishing a fund for the relatives of murdered prison officers, adding officers should be celebrated not killed for the work they do in reforming some of the criminals in the country. As he said so, POA members in the room clapped loudly in agreement.

Yesterday’s meeting came one day after a joint media briefing with Williams and Alexander. At that press conference Alexander said whatever was needed to safeguard his officers was welcomed.

But Al-Rawi has maintained that issuing guns to all off-duty prisons officers is not the answer, a position he reiterated hours before the meeting at a press conference he hosted at his office. And although there was a promise to fast track the license applications for prison officers already in the system yesterday, it is still unlikely Government will agree to issuing weapons to all off duty officers.

As Brandon and Darion Roopnarine bid farewell to their parents Kimchan Roopnarine and Patricia Ali today, police continue their search for a 35-year-old labourer who was said to be the driver of the car that ended the couple’s lives.

The suspect’s girlfriend, who is the owner of the Nissan Tiida that ploughed into the couple on Sunday night, remained in the custody of Penal police up to last night. Her car was also impounded at the station. Investigators were trying to corroborate her story that she was not the driver of the car when Roopnarine and Ali were killed while walking along the Penal Rock Road, Penal.

Investigators were told that the 44-year-old teacher had lent the car to her boyfriend on Sunday and following the incident he returned the car to her. After being told about the incident, investigators said the woman attempted to take the car to a straightener for repairs. When Penal CID officers got word of the woman’s action, Sgt Ramsaran, WPC Deonath and PC Lewis sought her out and arrested her. So far, the boyfriend has not attempted to contact her.

On Sunday, Kimchan, Patricia and the boys had just left relatives’ home around 9.30 pm when the accident happened. The boys ran to their cousin Suedath Roopnarine’s home, but when he reached the mangled bodies, Kimchan was already dead and Patricia was attempting to take her last breaths. Roopnarine said counsellors and community police officers visited the boys at his home yesterday.

He said Brandon’s birth mother is alive and he fears the brothers will be split up at a time when he feels they need each other more.

He said relatives are hopeful that with the car owner’s arrest they will get justice for his cousin’s deaths. The funeral will be held today at the family’s house from 2 pm.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says more fiscal adjustment measures are needed to restore stability to the T&T economy.

The multi-national agency gave the assessment following the conclusion of its latest Article IV Consultation on October 23.

While the IMF commended steps towards fiscal adjustment in the 2016/17 and 2017/18 Budgets, including introduction of property, excise and gaming taxes, royalties on natural gas production and elimination of fuel subsidies, it said additional fiscal consolidation, measures to restore balance in the foreign exchange market and structural reforms are still needed.

It said risks to the country’s outlook are still “tilted to the downside” and recommended that T&T “use its buffers to smooth out the pace of adjustment.”

The IMF said measures in the 2017/18 budget to improve revenue collection, streamline expenditure and achieve full cost recovery pricing to significantly reduce transfers to public utilities, could be a “significant step in the right direction.” However, it is calling for additional measures, including further broadening the VAT base, raising the overall VAT rate to the regional average; reforms of the fiscal regime for oil and gas; and significant reductions in the cost of transfers and subsidies.

“The external position in 2016 was weaker than suggested by fundamentals, although the international reserves cover is still relatively strong,” the IMF said.

“Going forward, policy measures are needed to deal with foreign exchange shortages, which undermine investor confidence and country risk perceptions.”

The agency is also recommending that Government “swiftly reduce and eventually eliminate these imbalances and distortions, including through an exchange rate adjustment as part of a broader package of fiscal adjustment and structural reforms.”

Other measures needed, it said, include “removing distortions to the labour market and pervasive rigidities in the public sector, improving the business climate for the non-energy sector, raising the efficiency of state-owned enterprises, and improving procurement practices.”

In addition, the IMF welcomed progress toward creation of the National Statistical Institute to address remaining data shortcomings to strengthen policy making and surveillance.

In its assessment of the country’s current economic position, the agency said T&T has faced several years of weak or negative growth on the back of low global energy prices and energy supply shocks, which led to sharp deteriorations in internal and external balances.

The report on the forensic investigation by Kroll Consulting Canada into the “fake oil” scandal at State-owned Petrotrin will now be delivered to the company’s board of directors in mid-November.

Petrotrin chairman Wilfred Espinet had said the report was due to be delivered last week, four weeks after the start of Kroll’s assignment. However, officials now say the Canadian company still has work to complete. They explained that over the past four weeks officials from Kroll Consulting have been doing on site work and are now in the final stages of electronic data analysis.

In late September, Petrotrin retained the firm after an internal audit report indicated collusion involving an employee and a contractor who supplied crude oil to the company, resulting in an overpayment of close to $80 million.

The August 17 audit report also found that crude oil supplies from the Catshill Field contracted to A&V Oil and Gas spiked by over 150 per cent in a ten-month period and Petrotrin paid for oil which was never received. The internal audit committee report identified an employee who was involved in the process. That employee was sent on leave.

Kroll started its work in early October and has been reporting directly to the board’s audit committee. Apart from the forensic audit, Kroll was retained to verify the facts contained in the internal audit report, identify any relevant parties/entities from the standpoints of accountability and culpability and any systemic inadequacies or short comings which may have contributed to the findings.

At least ten families were left homeless last night after a fire destroyed 10 homes in Sea Lots, Port-of-Spain.

Sea Lots residents quickly stepped in to start a bucket brigade when they realised fellow residents were in distress after the fire started just after 5.20 pm. However, they and the fire-fighters who arrived on the scene thereafter could do little to save the structures

Neighbours said they were unsure of how many people were displaced by the fire afterwards.

Fire prevention officers were up until late last night attempting to determine the cause of the fire.

When a T&T Guardian team visited the area, scores of residents had crowded the area to catch a glimpse of the fire-fighters in action.

The EHS was called in as one man suffered minor burns to his left leg, another person fell unconscious and an older man complained of heart problems.

Traffic slowed to a crawl on the Beetham Highway as motorists slowed down or stopped to see what was happening.

Francis Frederick, 73, a pensioner whose home was destroyed, said all he had left was the short pants he was dressed in.

“I was at home watching TV when I heard a cracking noise. When I look I see the house next door to me on fire,” he said.

Fredericks said he ran out of the house as the fire quickly spread.

“If I could get a house and furniture because all I have gone through,” he said, noting he had nowhere to go.

Resident Crystal Buddy said she too was hoping for assistance as the fire partially destroyed her house. She said she took her five children to her mother’s house for the night.

“It didn’t burn down flat but the walls and some of the things. I have two houses and I want to finish my home and I won’t mind getting assistance,” she said.

She said it could have been worse had it not been for the bucket brigade the residents started.

“It (the sea) nearby and a lot of people came and used buckets. The Fire Service didn’t come yet. Real people come and it was spreading and they use the sea water,” she said.

Two Tobago schools had to be dismissed early on Tuesday, after several students complained of feeling unwell after consuming lunches supplied by the School Feeding Programme.

T&T Guardian understands that students from the Belle Garden Anglican Primary and Roxborough Secondary Schools had to be rushed to the Scarborough General Hospital, while others were taken to walk-in clinics in their districts for treatment, where food poisoning was confirmed. The students fell ill after consuming a meal of curried chicken and rice with channa. Some of the students had complained of getting a bad odour from the lunches before consuming them.

In a release yesterday, the Tobago House of Assembly’s Division of Education, Innovation and Energy said officers were sent to the affected schools and reported that at least five students appeared to have been affected by the meal supplied. It said the incident was taken very seriously because “the safety of our food and well-being of our students are always high priority”

The T&T Guardian understands the caterer, who supplies over 5000 meals across Tobago, met with THA officials yesterday but still continued distribution of meals yesterday.

In a release after this meeting, the division said they were taking steps to review all processes and procedures leading up to the unfortunate incident.

“While no cause has as yet been identified, the division continues to work swiftly and thoroughly in conjunction with health department officials, in an effort to conclude this investigation,” it said.

Commenting on the incident, Tobago Regional PTA present Denise Nelson-Frank called for stringent monitoring systems to be put in place for service providers.

“We know that there are different caterers involved in school feeding and we think that it is important for there to be proper monitoring of what happened with the different service providers. So we want to ensure that we look at the way the raw materials they use to prepare to food is secured, so the storage of the food, the areas they prepare the food in, how the cooked food is stored and delivered to the students. We also want to ensure that there is random testing of the food, so that problems can be identified before the children actually consume the meal,” she said.

She also called for the caterer in question to be isolated until the investigation was competed

“We would hope that the persons in charge of monitoring what happens in the system would have isolated the person who would have provided the meals for the schools affected and dealt with that specific caterer or caterers, because it was not an islandwide problem,” she said.

One sitting Member of Parliament on the bench of the Opposition United National Congress, Christine Newallo-Hosein, will challenge party leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar for the top post. The Cumuto Manzanilla MP yesterday filed verification papers for the leadership post ahead of nomination day next Wednesday.

The decision now means there will be a three-way fight for the UNC leadership with Vasant Bharath also in the November 26 election race.

Newallo-Hosein will be going it alone however and will not be fielding a slate, unlike Bharath who has a full slate who will be filing nomination papers next week.

Asked what prompted her decision, Newallo-Hosein said, “I took a principled stand against the decision of the national executive to have the leadership election together with that of the national executive and I felt as though had I just stayed with the status quo, I would be part of the problem as opposed to part of the solution.”

She added: “I love Kamla Persad-Bissessar very much but my decision has nothing to do with whether I respect or admire her. I am not doing this out of spite. This is a principled stance. The membership is hurting, they are traumatised, it is important to understand how will the healing begin.”

She said her decision follows concerns about the decision by the national executive to defy the party’s constitution and have the leadership election with that of the national executive although it was not due.

“The reason why the framers of the constitution had the leadership election separate to the Natex is because they wanted to preserve the membership. If the leader is contesting with a slate it means he or she has taken a side.”

She assured her decision will not impact her relationship with Persad-Bissessar in Parliament because “we are a team.”

But she said, “I believe people are asking for change and we can only bring change if we are part of that change.”

Caterers who provide meals under the National Schools Dietary Services’ (NSDSL) School Feeding Programme are warning they may be unable to continue providing breakfasts and lunches due to a huge debt outstanding to them.

Education Minister Anthony Garcia is assuring caterers will be paid, but also believes the programme needs reviewing.

Several caterers who spoke with the T&T Guardian on condition of anonymity said collectively they were owed substantial amounts.

They admitted they had received 25 per cent of their payments as recently as September for meals provided dating back to May, but said this had not made a dent on the debt and they are now unable to pay suppliers and staff.

Caterers lamented that suppliers were now threatening to stop supplying them with the items they needed to prepare meals for thousands of children across the country.

“We have been dipping into our savings since September to ensure that the meals are provided but our personal savings have been depleted and we just cannot continue,” one caterer said.

Another said she would have no choice but to stop supplying breakfast and lunch from next Monday.

“I just don’t have the money and my suppliers are saying they can no longer give me the necessary items because they have not been paid, so they can’t give any more credit. It is really a mess.”

Her outstanding bill to suppliers was in excess of $350,000, she said.

Caterers, many of whom have been in the programme for more than 20 years, say they had never experienced payment problems. They said many of the children who benefited from the meals needed them because “it’s the only meals they get for the day, some of the children are really poor. It will impact them.”

In addition to payments to staff, they said October was a critical month because it was when they made VAT payments to the Board of Inland Revenue.

They urged Garcia to make an intervention to ask the BIR to defer that payment until they were paid.

There are some 87 caterers who provide meals to 820 schools across the country.

Yesterday, Garcia said the programme was currently providing 55,000 breakfast meals and 88,000 lunches on a daily basis. He acknowledged many children genuinely needed the meals provided, but said a review was needed because “there is a lot of waste.

“Some of the children who are enlisted on the programme are not collecting the meals.”

“We need to review the programme to ensure the meals are supplied to those who most need it. That is the objective of the programme.”

He acknowledged money was owed to the caterers.

“We made a small payment last week and will continue to make payments.

“The bottom line is that they will be paid,” Garcia said, adding the figure was significant, with some being owed close from $.5 million and upwards.

Garcia had already announced last month that the programme will be allocated $43 million as a result of a reduction in funding.

Former government Minister Devant Maharaj said yesterday the NSDSL may have breached the contract with caterers due to non-payment for services.

Efforts to contact CEO of the NSDSL Stacy Baron were unsuccessful.

Although Finance Minister Colm Imbert is set to meet Public Service Association (PSA) president Watson Duke on Monday, Duke is still calling on his members at the Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) and Customs and Excise Division to stay away from work today and tomorrow.

Duke renewed his call at a press conference at PSA headquarters in Port-of-Spain yesterday, shortly after Imbert issued a press release saying he (Imbert) intends to clarify the effect of Government’s proposed plans to replace both organisations with the T&T Revenue Authority.

“The staff in customs and BIR are stressed out. Have you seen them lately wandering around the streets of Port-of-Spain? They are frustrated,” Duke said.

If successful, the PSA’s call to its members is likely to affect the operations of both organisations across T&T, including at all airports, ports and courier and shipping companies, where Customs staff are stationed. The proposed move has been criticised by Government and business leaders, who have asked the workers to reconsider their intended action.

However, Duke predicted their operations would not be critically affected today, as the PSA had a strategy for the “quasi-protest” action.

“Mind you, it may not be all the workers as yet, because we are quite careful. But if the minister continues to go down that road of not consulting and wanting to clarify he would have to face with the law,” Duke said.

Duke also said he was ambushed by the release, as Imbert never informed him of the meeting agenda before announcing it publicly.

“I was a bit taken aback, surprised and confused to recognise that while we were discussing that, the media and the population were fully aware that we have meeting on Monday via a press release from his office and he also set an agenda, which I want to discredit and expose for what it is.”

He was careful to note that the Civil Service Act required the minister meet with the PSA before taking any steps which may affect the terms and conditions of employment of members.

“It is not a favour he doing for me, he has to and is bound to meet. Let us meet in good faith,” Duke said.

While he was critical of the manner used by Imbert to communicate the meeting, Duke said he would still attend.

“If the minister wants to have proper consultation, we are prepared for consultation. But do not disrespect us with any clarification. It is an insult,” Duke said.

Ministry: Jobs won’t be affected

The Ministry of Finance is assuring Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) and Customs and Excise Division staff that their jobs won’t be affected by plans for a T&T Revenue Authority (TTRA).

In a release yesterday, the ministry said all staff jobs will be secure.

“All workers, including established, temporary, contract and daily paid, will have the option to move to the TTRA or remain in the public service on no less favourable terms and conditions. Workers who choose not to go to the TTRA will be redeployed into the Public Service,” the release said.

It said TTRA workers will also enjoy employment rights and entitlements under T&T labour legislation, including vacation, maternity and sick leave, while they will be allowed to join a trade union and their pension benefits will be secure.

“Pension entitlement will be computed up to the date of transition into the TTRA. Upon retiring from the TTRA, pension benefits will be based on the cumulative service in the public service and the TTRA,” it said.

The release said workers will be assigned in the new entity based on skills, knowledge and experience, with staff already being invited to fill out forms to ensure they are matched based on their skills set.

The release also sought to advocate the need for updating the country’s tax management system.

“It is necessary at this time to have a Revenue Authority that will promote an equitable, fair and just tax system and provide value for money.”

Some 36 people are now homeless after a fire destroyed over a dozen homes in Sea Lots, Port-of-Spain, on Tuesday night.

When the T&T Guardian visited the area yesterday, the residents called for assistance as they will be staying with neighbours or friends until they can rebuild.

Several residents were searching through some of the ruins seeking to salvage whatever they could. Teenagers and other youngsters meanwhile picked through burnt appliances looking for pieces of copper they could sell.

Members of various agencies were on the scene and many of the residents walked around with the documents so they could access the Self-Help Programme.

However, Esther Dyer, 61, refused to go anywhere, saying she would stay in the back of her damaged house.

“I living here 40 years. I was home and I didn’t know anything, I was inside watching TV. I have no choice. I going and stay there,” she said.

Resident Glenda Clement, 68, seemed more preoccupied by the loss of her DIRECTV service.

“I was working in Belmont and when I reach a girl told me. I staying by a friend in the front. You know about DIRECTV and if it would still be running?” she asked.

Shawn Dyer and his common-law wife Anne Marie, a Canadian national, tried to placate Clement and told her to contact them.

“We were out in the front and saw the fire. I tried to see if I could get something. They start the bucket brigade but things done in a mess,” Dyer said.

Dyer said he and his wife would be staying with a friend.

“Everything burn down. I could do with a little assistance. My passport and everything was in there. I looked in to get something and the fire already spread,” he said, pointing to the left over ruins.

Tricia Simmons, a Ministry of Planning employee and part time employee at the Fire Service Auxiliary, said she was at the station when she received a call on her cell phone.

“All I heard was the house burning down. I leave the things at the station and leave on the appliance (fire truck),” she said.

Simmons said she was shocked at seeing the fire after having lived in Sea Lots for many years.

“It was just a few months ago I got the keys (for new home). I am from Sea Lots, I don’t damn the bridge I come from. These are my family,” she said.

Simmons said four of her relatives stayed in the house and her cousin jumped out a window to save his life.

Councillor for the area Allan Samuel said the residents will be given items to assist them. He confirmed 36 adults and 12 children were displaced by the fire. The residents were given several mattresses on Tuesday night by Port-of-Spain City Corporation members.

“We had Self-Help Housing Programme help us and we did some assessment and some of the people will be getting more help than others,” Samuel said.

Samuel said MP Marlene McDonald also visited the residents on Tuesday night and offered assistance.

“She wanted to give them houses but some did not want to move,” he said, adding residents would be given items and assistance to make a structure.

“They will get things to keep them a float for now. Some are totally out of it,” he said.

Contacted yesterday, acting deputy fire officer Mervyn Layne said the cause of the fire was yet to be determined.

Caterers who provide meals under the National Schools Dietary Services’ (NSDSL) School Feeding Programme are warning they may be unable to continue providing breakfasts and lunches due to a huge debt outstanding to them.

Education Minister Anthony Garcia is assuring caterers will be paid, but also believes the programme needs reviewing.

Several caterers who spoke with the T&T Guardian on condition of anonymity said collectively they were owed substantial amounts.

They admitted they had received 25 per cent of their payments as recently as September for meals provided dating back to May, but said this had not made a dent on the debt and they are now unable to pay suppliers and staff.

Caterers lamented that suppliers were now threatening to stop supplying them with the items they needed to prepare meals for thousands of children across the country.

“We have been dipping into our savings since September to ensure that the meals are provided but our personal savings have been depleted and we just cannot continue,” one caterer said.

Another said she would have no choice but to stop supplying breakfast and lunch from next Monday.

“I just don’t have the money and my suppliers are saying they can no longer give me the necessary items because they have not been paid, so they can’t give any more credit. It is really a mess.”

Her outstanding bill to suppliers was in excess of $350,000, she said.

Caterers, many of whom have been in the programme for more than 20 years, say they had never experienced payment problems. They said many of the children who benefited from the meals needed them because “it’s the only meals they get for the day, some of the children are really poor. It will impact them.”

In addition to payments to staff, they said October was a critical month because it was when they made VAT payments to the Board of Inland Revenue.

They urged Garcia to make an intervention to ask the BIR to defer that payment until they were paid.

There are some 87 caterers who provide meals to 820 schools across the country.

Yesterday, Garcia said the programme was currently providing 55,000 breakfast meals and 88,000 lunches on a daily basis. He acknowledged many children genuinely needed the meals provided, but said a review was needed because “there is a lot of waste.

“Some of the children who are enlisted on the programme are not collecting the meals.”

“We need to review the programme to ensure the meals are supplied to those who most need it. That is the objective of the programme.”

He acknowledged money was owed to the caterers.

“We made a small payment last week and will continue to make payments.

“The bottom line is that they will be paid,” Garcia said, adding the figure was significant, with some being owed close from $.5 million and upwards.

Garcia had already announced last month that the programme will be allocated $43 million as a result of a reduction in funding.

Former government Minister Devant Maharaj said yesterday the NSDSL may have breached the contract with caterers due to non-payment for services.

Efforts to contact CEO of the NSDSL Stacy Baron were unsuccessful.

Two Tobago schools had to be dismissed early on Tuesday, after several students complained of feeling unwell after consuming lunches supplied by the School Feeding Programme.

T&T Guardian understands that students from the Belle Garden Anglican Primary and Roxborough Secondary Schools had to be rushed to the Scarborough General Hospital, while others were taken to walk-in clinics in their districts for treatment, where food poisoning was confirmed. The students fell ill after consuming a meal of curried chicken and rice with channa. Some of the students had complained of getting a bad odour from the lunches before consuming them.

In a release yesterday, the Tobago House of Assembly’s Division of Education, Innovation and Energy said officers were sent to the affected schools and reported that at least five students appeared to have been affected by the meal supplied. It said the incident was taken very seriously because “the safety of our food and well-being of our students are always high priority”

The T&T Guardian understands the caterer, who supplies over 5000 meals across Tobago, met with THA officials yesterday but still continued distribution of meals yesterday.

In a release after this meeting, the division said they were taking steps to review all processes and procedures leading up to the unfortunate incident.

“While no cause has as yet been identified, the division continues to work swiftly and thoroughly in conjunction with health department officials, in an effort to conclude this investigation,” it said.

Commenting on the incident, Tobago Regional PTA present Denise Nelson-Frank called for stringent monitoring systems to be put in place for service providers.

“We know that there are different caterers involved in school feeding and we think that it is important for there to be proper monitoring of what happened with the different service providers. So we want to ensure that we look at the way the raw materials they use to prepare to food is secured, so the storage of the food, the areas they prepare the food in, how the cooked food is stored and delivered to the students. We also want to ensure that there is random testing of the food, so that problems can be identified before the children actually consume the meal,” she said.

She also called for the caterer in question to be isolated until the investigation was competed

“We would hope that the persons in charge of monitoring what happens in the system would have isolated the person who would have provided the meals for the schools affected and dealt with that specific caterer or caterers, because it was not an islandwide problem,” she said.

A St Joseph man appeared in court yesterday charged with the murder of Dominican national Chriss Brewster and Brewster’s landlord Ferdinand Felix.

Kurt Scott, 32, a handyman from Freeman Road, St Joseph appeared before Magistrate Gail Gonzales in the Tunapuna Magistrates Court charged with the double murder which took place on October 30.

Felix, 84, and 29-year-old seamstress Brewster, of Wellington Street, St Joseph of the same address, were found dead in the two-storey house following a fire at the home.

Scott was arrested one day after the fire and handed over to officers of the Homicide Bureau.

An autopsy done on the duo revealed Brewster’s throat was slit and Felix died of smoke inhalation. Scott was charged by Cpl Fareed Mohammed and will return to court on November 22.

A Cocorite man was ambushed at his home yesterday following a Facebook post by relatives who refused to be chased out of their hometown.

According to police, Kareem “Fari” Ifill, 36, of Harding Place, Cocorite was killed after relatives stated they were not allowing members of the Muslims gang to chase him out of the area.

Soon after the post, gunmen opened fire on his home, killing him. Police said there is an ongoing war between criminal gangs for control of turf in the community.

Police reports stated that Ifill was at his apartment around 1.45 am when three men opened fire from the roadway and shot him through the window.

Ifill was taken to the nearby St James Medical Health Facility where he died about two hours later.

Investigators told the T&T Guardian the killing was directly linked to the Facebook post.

Relatives said they were not prepared to speak with the media yesterday.

A Maraval man appeared in court yesterday charged with murder and kidnapping.

His co-accused remains in hospital suffering from injuries after he allegedly lept from the Homicide Bureau’s 11th-floor office at Riverside Plaza last Saturday.

Cornelius La Borde, 26, of Morne Roche Road, appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle, in the Port-of-Spain Eighth Court. He was remanded in custody to reappear on December 6.

La Borde and the second suspect, Roger Holder, 39, of Hilltop Drive, Maraval, are jointly charged murdering Donald Marcano and kidnapping a teen relative of Marcano on October 24.

Holder suffered a broken right hip, hand and leg and will appear in court when he is discharged from the hospital.The men are alleged to have shot Marcano, 35, of Hilltop Drive, Maraval while he was at his home.

La Borde is also facing additional charges of possession of a gun and ammunition.

Although Finance Minister Colm Imbert is set to meet Public Service Association (PSA) president Watson Duke on Monday, Duke is still calling on his members at the Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) and Customs and Excise Division to stay away from work today and tomorrow.

Duke renewed his call at a press conference at PSA headquarters in Port-of-Spain yesterday, shortly after Imbert issued a press release saying he (Imbert) intends to clarify the effect of Government’s proposed plans to replace both organisations with the T&T Revenue Authority.

“The staff in customs and BIR are stressed out. Have you seen them lately wandering around the streets of Port-of-Spain? They are frustrated,” Duke said.

If successful, the PSA’s call to its members is likely to affect the operations of both organisations across T&T, including at all airports, ports and courier and shipping companies, where Customs staff are stationed.

The proposed move has been criticised by Government and business leaders, who have asked the workers to reconsider their intended action.

However, Duke predicted their operations would not be critically affected today, as the PSA had a strategy for the “quasi-protest” action.

“Mind you, it may not be all the workers as yet, because we are quite careful. But if the minister continues to go down that road of not consulting and wanting to clarify he would have to face with the law,” Duke said.

Duke also said he was ambushed by the release, as Imbert never informed him of the meeting agenda before announcing it publicly.

“I was a bit taken aback, surprised and confused to recognise that while we were discussing that, the media and the population were fully aware that we have meeting on Monday via a press release from his office and he also set an agenda, which I want to discredit and expose for what it is.”

He was careful to note that the Civil Service Act required the minister meet with the PSA before taking any steps which may affect the terms and conditions of employment of members.

“It is not a favour he doing for me, he has to and is bound to meet. Let us meet in good faith,” Duke said.

While he was critical of the manner used by Imbert to communicate the meeting, Duke said he would still attend.

“If the minister wants to have proper consultation, we are prepared for consultation. But do not disrespect us with any clarification. It is an insult,” Duke said.

MINISTRY: JOBS WON’T BE AFFECTED

The Ministry of Finance is assuring Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) and Customs and Excise Division staff that their jobs won’t be affected by plans for a T&T Revenue Authority (TTRA).

In a release yesterday, the ministry said all staff jobs will be secure.

“All workers, including established, temporary, contract and daily paid, will have the option to move to the TTRA or remain in the public service on no less favourable terms and conditions. Workers who choose not to go to the TTRA will be redeployed into the Public Service,” the release said.

It said TTRA workers will also enjoy employment rights and entitlements under T&T labour legislation, including vacation, maternity and sick leave, while they will be allowed to join a trade union and their pension benefits will be secure.

“Pension entitlement will be computed up to the date of transition into the TTRA. Upon retiring from the TTRA, pension benefits will be based on the cumulative service in the public service and the TTRA,” it said.

The release said workers will be assigned in the new entity based on skills, knowledge and experience, with staff already being invited to fill out forms to ensure they are matched based on their skills set.

The release also sought to advocate the need for updating the country’s tax management system.

“It is necessary at this time to have a Revenue Authority that will promote an equitable, fair and just tax system and provide value for money.”

Finance Minister Colm Imbert is dismissing as “entirely untrue,” allegations that he is refusing to give a Government guarantee to Emile Elias’ NH International on the State’s first public/private partnership housing development in Mt Hope.

NH International won the bid for the contract and the sod for the $145 million dollar apartment complex on the Eastern Main Road Mt Hope was turned in November last year.

But Elias, the Executive Chairman of NH International, has alleged that a senior government official is blocking a Government guarantee for the project.

This issue was picked up by former housing Minister and MP for Oropouche East, Dr Roodal Moonilal who pointed fingers at Finance Minister Colm Imbert, accusing him of “declining to give a government guarantee,” to NH International (Caribbean) Limited, because of the “on-going private legal row involving the Minister and the company’s Chairman Emile Elias.”

Moonilal also expressed concern that the “lack of support for NH International is a direct result of a lack of proper project planning and execution.”

In his response, issued via a release from the Ministry of Finance, Imbert described the allegation as “entirely untrue.”

Imbert said, “the Minister of Finance is not involved in this HDC project and is not required to give any guarantee of any kind for any purpose whatever.”

He said the project is under the purview of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, and not the Ministry of Finance, insisting that“the Minister of Finance would never act in the way suggested by Dr

Moonilal and any such inference is rejected.”

Imbert said any allegation that the Minister of Finance had declined to give a guarantee for the housing project “for personal reasons, or for any reason, is therefore entirely untrue.”

Local contractors want issue resolved

But local contractors are voicing their own concerns about the situation.

While they admit there is little information on the first public-private partnership in the housing sector under this Government they admitted that they would view future projects with “scepticism.”

President of the Contractors Association Ramlogan Roopnarinesingh told the T&T Guardian “this is one of the first major projects and if the government is planning to go ahead with this PPP model, people will be a lot more sceptical now.”He said Elias “is recognised all up the Caribbean, NH is a reputable firm and I find it strange that something like this has happened.”

Former President of the Contractors Association Mikey Joseph said “projects like this have the ability to kick-start activity in the sector, with people being employed, material being sold, etc. The parties involved should do everything to resolve this and get the project going.”

He said for public/private partnerships to work properly, there is need to amend the Financial Institutions Act which restricts banks from investing in property.

“If the act is amended the bank could be a partner and carry the project on the books and make financing a lot easier,” he said.

Other contractors, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Government needed to take “responsibility” for what has happened.

“They cannot expect a contractor to do a project investing his own money and not having some kind of guarantee that the contractor’s debt will be covered. They need to look at this and think about what they want to achieve.”

There was no response to several questions sent to housing Minister Randall Mitchell yesterday.

Good news and bad news for Chaguaramas “tenants”.

Several Chaguaramas land leases which are illegal are being reviewed by the Chaguaramas Development Authority — but some Chaguaramas farmers will be getting almost half the Tucker Valley land which has been surrendered by Joe Pires’ company.

This was confirmed by Planning Minister Camille Robinson-Regis at a Ministry briefing yesterday.

She spoke following Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s comments last weekend about “land grabbing” at Chaguaramas. Former People’s Partnership (PP) Ministers Dr Bhoe Tewarie and Devant Maharaj denied this.

Yesterday Robinson-Regis cited issues with land leased during the past PP’s tenure (see box).She said leases must be in alignment with the permitted land use plan. But the only approved Development Plan for

Chaguaramas was the 1974 plan. A Master Plan which the PP did was never approved by Parliament. The PP’s plan is now being reviewed by CDA.

She said, “Investigations revealed several leases granted by CDA over 2010 to 2015 weren’t in CDA’s or the public’s best interest.”

Fifteen leases were granted in the three months prior to the 2015 general polls — although such timeframe is usually seen as a caretaker period for an incumbent government and agreements aren’t usually done.

Robinson-Regis said CDA’s external counsel has now advised that a Planning Minister couldn’t direct CDA to act outside of the 1974 Plan and that leases inconsistent with that plan are “illegal and unenforceable.”

As such, the lessors wouldn’t have been entitled to get planning permission for work they did. Robinson-Regis said at least four lessors who had erected infrastructure for tourism projects are involved.

“We’ll deal with this on a case by case basis. CDA will give us recommendations. But we recognise some lessors may be willing to act in the national interest,” she added.

On land leased by Pires’ Caribbean Chemicals Ltd, she said the 2007 Cabinet (PNM) agreed to a 200-acre farm in Tucker Valley and establish a state company to manage this.

The 2010 Cabinet (PP) reassigned this responsibility from CDA to the Food Production Ministry. In 2011 that Cabinet (PP) agreed that CDA grant a lease of approximately 100 acres of the Tucker Valley Farm to

Food Production and re-allocate that land “for private investment for operation/management of a commercial large farm”.

She said Food Production selected Pires’ company as the tenant for the second 100 acres via a lease dated March 13, 2014.The company got the acreage (40.5260 hectares) for 30 years at annual rent of $180,000 — monthly instalments of $15,000.

However, it was found the 100 acres were not being used for the purpose the lease was granted for. Negotiations occurred with the company which agreed to surrender 18.8 hectares with a reduction in rent from $15,000 to $9,000 and other terms.

“The remaining acreage of 50 acres will be used for farmers — the Guave Road and Haig Community United Group. The land will be distributed in half-acre plots and is being prepared for distribution,” she said.

OTHER NEGOTIATIONS WITH LEASE-HOLDERS

CDA also engaged Ernst & Young Services Limited to review selected leases entered into/terminated during 2010 to 2015, tendering processes and awards of key contracts/projects over 2012 to 2015.

Several leases were unfavourable, Robinson- Regis said.

“A May 22, 2015, lease was with Chaguaramas Parking Limited to lease 1.62 hectares of land for 30 years at a lease rental rate of $1.00 annually. CPL would construct a 1,000 carpark facility and, subsequently, lease the carpark back to the CDA at a monthly rate of $898,000.”

Another April 25, 2014, lease with Fouraime Enterprises Limited would have resulted in the loss of waterfront around Pier Two, access to the waterfront and parking by the public. Fouraime also had significant

non-compliance with CDA’s leasing policy.“Government has been in negotiations with Fouraime which agreed to provide beach and Pier Two access and expanded parking. CPL also agreed to surrender its lease without any cost provided CDA provide 1,000 car park spots for Fouraime’s customers on/before March 31, 2018,” the minister said.

The funeral service for murdered prisons officer Glenford Gardner was yesterday used as a rallying cry for members of the Prison Service to unite against the criminal elements and for society to do likewise.
Acting Prisons Commissioner William Alexander called on his officers not to flee but to stay and fight back.

“To my officers, let us not run away, let us continue to run toward the challenge and embrace the responsibility we swore to uphold and show solidarity that will make us a force to be reckoned with,” Alexander said.

He said the country had evolved into an extremely violent society but officers must not allow fear to extinguish their hopes.

Alexander called on parents to take up their responsibilities and steer their children away from wrongdoing.

In his turn at the podium, General Secretary of the Prison Officers Association Gerard Gordon said it was only love that had prison officers doing their jobs daily.

Gordon said prison officers were a resilient bunch of “daredevils” who went into hostile environments with the hope of making a change in the lives of criminals.

He added that the death of Gardner, with whom he had graduated alongside, would embolden officers and they should come together since both their families and the nation were in need of prison officers “now more than ever”.

In delivering the homily at the Church of the Resurrection Anglican, Vineyard Road, Carenage, Fr Ashton Gomez said the country had degenerated into a violent society and it was the love of money that was fueling crime and criminality.

Gomez said prison officers should rekindle their passion for the job adding that they were hired to deal with the scourge of society. He asked them to remember that they had a dangerous job adding that no officer’s death should be in vain.

He described the country as being filled with spoilt children.

The problem, he said, was two-fold. Many had turned away from God and the love of money was fueling the criminal underworld, he said.

He told the mourners, including National Security Minister Edmund Dillon, that the majority of the population had become afraid of the minority that was the criminals.

He said the reason this was a lack of unity and called on those in the fight against criminals to become unified.

Gardner’s only child, Chelsea, who returned from studies in the US to bury her father, joked how he was her “walking encyclopedia” who always had an answer for the questions she posed.

She said no matter her age, she was always his little girl and that manifested itself in him appear ing to be over-protective.

Despite his large physical stature, she said, her father was a gentleman who was always smiling and entrepreneurial.

Gardner, 44, was killed on October 26, at one of his homes in Bagatelle, Diego Martin, 19 days after fellow prison officer Richard Sandy was shot dead by an ex-convict at a bar in South Trinidad.

Gardner was killed hours after the Remand Yard prison was searched and cellphones and other contraband were seized. Shortly after, a threat was made against officers supposedly by an inmate, that prison officers living in West Trinidad were to be killed as a result of the raid.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi said the police were searching for the suspects in both killings and were fairly certain as to who was responsible for another recent non-fatal attack on a prison officer. It was also agreed that the application for firearm users’ licences by prison officers would be fast-tracked.

As Brandon and Darion Roopnarine bid farewell to their parents Kimchan Roopnarine and Patricia Ali today, police continue their search for a 35-year-old labourer who was said to be the driver of the car that ended the couple’s lives.

The suspect’s girlfriend, who is the owner of the Nissan Tiida that ploughed into the couple on Sunday night, remained in the custody of Penal police up to last night. Her car was also impounded at the station. Investigators were trying to corroborate her story that she was not the driver of the car when Roopnarine and Ali were killed while walking along the Penal Rock Road, Penal.

Investigators were told that the 44-year-old teacher had lent the car to her boyfriend on Sunday and following the incident he returned the car to her. After being told about the incident, investigators said the woman attempted to take the car to a straightener for repairs. When Penal CID officers got word of the woman’s action, Sgt Ramsaran, WPC Deonath and PC Lewis sought her out and arrested her. So far, the boyfriend has not attempted to contact her.

On Sunday, Kimchan, Patricia and the boys had just left relatives’ home around 9.30 pm when the accident happened. The boys ran to their cousin Suedath Roopnarine’s home, but when he reached the mangled bodies, Kimchan was already dead and Patricia was attempting to take her last breaths. Roopnarine said counsellors and community police officers visited the boys at his home yesterday.

He said Brandon’s birth mother is alive and he fears the brothers will be split up at a time when he feels they need each other more.

He said relatives are hopeful that with the car owner’s arrest they will get justice for his cousin’s deaths. The funeral will be held today at the family’s house from 2 pm.