In the coming weeks, consumers would have to pay more for locally grown food as chemical importers are now forced to pay duties on herbicides. The move has come like a thief in the night, leaving importers in a quandary and furious. 

At least two of the country’s largest chemical importers—Caribbean Chemicals and Massy Distribution Agri and Industrial Chemicals—have confirmed they have had to pay Customs and Excise Division 20 per cent duty on their overall bill.

This is in total contradiction to what was outlined in last October’s budget presentation, delivered by Finance Minister Colm Imbert, who stated the Government would exempt from all duties and taxes imports into the agricultural sector, including approved chemicals, pest control, approved vehicles, approved fishing vessels and equipment, which took effect on January 1.

Managing director of Caribbean Chemicals Joe Pires said in an interview that he was so upset by the duties charged that he wrote Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Clarence Rambharat on June 7, calling for his immediate intervention into the matter.

Pires said he pleaded with Rambharat to release the duties on a freight container filled with herbicides, which is due to arrive in the country soon. The cost of the herbicide was estimated at $275,000 of which Pires had to pay $55,000 or 20 per cent duty last week. Some of the herbicides that are imported are Gramoxone/Paraquat, Round-Up, Velpar, Tordon and Arsenal.

“We had to pay the hefty duty to clear the shipment. Every week we have shipments coming in. This will no doubt affect our business,” Pires said.

In the 50 years Caribbean Chemicals has been importing, Pires said they have never paid duties.

“If we are to begin paying duties on these basic items that the farmers require, it will then force us to pass this cost onto them (farmers) in an already challenging environment. Obviously, the farmers will have no choice but to pass on this cost to the consumer. It will create a chain reaction and increase the cost of locally grown food. Consumers will have to pay more for produce. That is the bottom line,” said Pires.

Pires said for the Government to now charge duties will be counter productive.

“If we are on a mission to reduce the country’s $5 billion food import bill we are spinning top in mud with these duties. It would also dissuade farmers from cultivating crops,” Pires said.

Dave Seebaransingh, manager of Massy Distribution, said importers are asked to fill out a duty-free application by the Ministry of Agriculture at the beginning of the year, which outlines the products they would import and the quantities involved.

“They (ministry) grant you duty free concessions. We had our duty free concession letter...we had everything, but yet still we had to pay the 20 per cent duty on a shipment we brought in recently.”

Seebaransingh said the shipment that came in late last month was “unsellable for the price we had to pay the duty on. I am in a quandary. The duties charged came as a shock to me. This was the last thing we were expecting.” He said agricultural shops which are his main customers would not buy the product because of the cost that is now attached.

“It would be difficult to sell this to the farmers. In fact, I am stuck with the product on my hands. Soon, I would have to cut my losses and sell it at the cost price because there is an expiry date on the herbicide,” Seebaransingh said.

Only recently, it was brought to the importers’ attention that Customs and Excise Division now carry a new tariff which states that importers would have to pay a 20 per cent duty if their packages are under six kilogrammes.

“Customs and Excise is telling us that our imported packages must be over six kilogrammes upon presentation of sale if we are to be exempted from duties. This just does not make sense. We are accustomed buying in small packages or containers abroad to meet the demands of our farmers,” Pires explained.

Seebaransingh said T&T’s farming community by nature, purchase in small amounts because of the parcels of land they cultivate. 

“Most of the farmers cultivate on one or two acre plots. Our products are sold in 250 ml, 500 ml or one litre sizes. A litre does not weigh anything close to six kilogrammes. It is far less,” Seebaransingh said.

If this problem is not resolved, Seebaransingh the consumer will have to pay a higher price for produce in the coming weeks. Seebaransingh said while they have had to pay the duty, there are unscrupulous importers who bring in poor quality herbicides/weedicides, but get away from paying duties. Minister Rambharat did not respond to a text message.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi has promised to promptly deal with the findings of two financial audits into the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL) which are now on his desk. Al-Rawi confirmed yesterday that packages of the files arrived recently at his Port-of-Spain office in “several stages.”

While he admitted that some parts of the audits “still require further clarification and further investigations” he promised to deal with the financial documents “in the four corners of the law and with alacrity. It is receiving co-ordinate advice from the respective authorities,” Al-Rawi said.

The two audits—one by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and an internal human resources audit—were both completed recently.

Last Monday, the board of EFCL, led by its chairman Arnold Piggott, terminated the employment of suspended managers Veda Ramnath, Ria Narinesingh, Frank Mahabir, Surendra Balgobin and Deva Sharma.

The sackings came seven months after a secret “contract millhouse” was discovered at the EFCL’s head office in Maraval, which resulted in armed guards being called in to secure a mountain of potentially damning evidence which pointed to the illegal manufacturing of backdated tender documents worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The recent firings brought the total number of EFCL managers who were axed to seven in the last four months. In February, EFCL’s suspended CEO Sharma Maharaj and the chief operating officer Kiran Shah were also terminated.

Last Wednesday, Education Minister Anthony Garcia confirmed that Shah and Maharaj have since taken legal action against the EFCL over their dismissals. As the guardian of the public interest, Al-Rawi said he would ensure the respective authorities that work hand-in-hand with his office do their jobs.

“There are parameters and boundaries that must be observed and the Office of the Attorney General intends to discharge that very carefully. It is for that reason we have not condescend into particulars and trial by the newspapers.” He said he did not want to prejudice in any way the matters that were before him.

“What the population is looking for is a responsible approach and for accountability where it is to be had.” The AG said T&T has all the laws which are necessary to give citizens good value for money and insistence.

“It is really in applying the laws and, in some circumstances, broadening a few of those laws.” Al-Rawi said his office has spent a lot of time dealing with matters such as money laundering, impropriety and organised crime.

“You will be seeing statistics and information come out in due course.” In last nine months nine, Al-Rawi said his office has done a lot of work in the criminal justice system, starting with the prisons.

“You will see that I have taken the same approach with the child marriage issue. Very shortly, we will be taking a detailed approach on money laundering and serious crimes. But all of this require some work product.”

About the EFCL
The EFCL is a special state enterprise formed to build, deliver and maintain modern building facilities, utilising best practices in project management.

A 750-room Sandals Resorts is earmarked for Tobago, as Government seeks to make the island a tourism destination in a bid to generate revenue, jobs and foreign exchange, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says. He made the announcement while delivering the feature address at a political meeting in St Joseph on Tuesday.

Rowley told supporters Government had come up with a tourism plan to diversify the economy and take the country out of the economic gloom it was  facing. With Sandals opening up doors in Antigua, Bahamas, Grenada, Barbados, Jamaica, St Lucia and Turks and Caicos, he said it was time Tobago become an undisputed vacation experience to the world. 

During his recent trip to Washington, Rowley said he held discussions with Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) president, Luis Alberto Moreno, “who is eager to provide funding for that.”

The IDB was so excited to start the multi-million dollar hotel project, Rowley said, it had told Government they intended to pay for the preliminary work.

“We are talking to the local IDB office to ensure that the IDB pay those monies. So we took steps to present Tobago as a potential site and we have already had, based on the work we have done so far... we have already had a presentation Wednesday (last) by Sandals to the Cabinet. 

“We move on now with respect to negotiation for 750 rooms in Tobago to make it a tourism resort.”

The news comes days after it was disclosed Rowley will now head a special committee charged with Tobago’s tourism sector. The committee was set up in May and will see the PM having oversight of ministers and stakeholders in relation to tourism.

Members of the committee include Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe, Finance Minister Colm Imbert, Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister Ayanna Webster-Roy, as well as Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Orville London and THA Chief Administrator Raye Sandy. Sandals was founded by Jamaican business tycoon Gordon”Butch” Stewart.

As soon as negotiations have concluded, Rowley said they would form a partnership between Sandals and the State. Working closely with the Government on this deal was the THA, Rowley said. He said Tobago would be known as a “world class... worldwide tourist destination in the Caribbean. We will ensure that when we embark on this project, that there is funding in place and this thing called corruption we want to recede.”

Once the deal had been sealed, Rowley said construction would generate jobs and open opportunities that could change the face of the island, which had a lot of potential.

“We will think big and move fast. We are offering Tobago an opportunity to take part in the Caribbean tourism plan in a meaningful way,” he added.

Rowley has already instructed WASA to upgrade its supply in Tobago with the establishment and operation of desalination plant, while T&TEC would have to upgrade its electricity supply. The PM said since last year he had also promised to open up the northeastern region by building a road from Valencia to Toco.

“At the end of that road we will have a ferry port that will go to Tobago,” he said. Instead of travelling via plane to Tobago, Rowley said a 20-minute hassle free drive would get you from Trinidad to Tobago and vice-versa. Funding for the port and ferry, Rowley stated, would be provided by the IDB.

Also on the drawing board was construction of two highways: Sangre Grande to Manzanilla and Manzanilla to Wallerfield. By the end of June, Rowley said consultants would come up with designs for both highways.

Two State agencies — the Tourism Development Company (TDC) and the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB) — have been accused by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley of spending $734,000 of taxpayers’ money on a radio station to smear his name, leading up to the 2015 general election.

Rowley made the disclosure while addressing PNM stalwarts at the public meeting in St Joseph on Tuesday. The PM recalled that one evening, while seated in his vehicle on his way to the Queen’s Park Oval, he heard comments being made about him on Talk City 91.1 FM’s Ground Report programme, which he described as “most vulgar, outrageous and filthy.”

Talk City is owned and operated by State-owned Caribbean New Media Group. Rowley said he questioned how a programme like that could have been permitted on the airwaves, “election or no election. It was all about me and meh father and meh mother and this and this and I had raped this and done that.”

The PM said the programme was conducted by known felons who were on the then government’s payroll. Rowley said it was later discovered that both NLCB and TDC had made payments to run the programme on the airwaves.

“These payments were made by the TDC and the NLCB. Taxpayers’ cash was being used to conduct that vulgarity of the last campaign... to abuse the Opposition Leader.”

In  May, June and July of 2013, Rowley said the radio station received payments of $86,000, $100,000 and $86,000 respectively. For the periods September, October and December in 2014, the station collected $45,000, $40,000 and $30,000. By April of 2015, Rowley said a total of “$734,000 was paid” to the Ground Report.

Rowley also spoke about the Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) coming to the Cabinet for an increase in its overdraft to pay salaries.

“And while they can’t pay salaries for workers in there, that same agency entered into a $12 million contract with Ernie Ross to provide PR.”

The PM said the CDA spent $9 million on PR and was “being sued for another $3 million. So it was a $12 million deal. That is how the plan was working.”

In May 2015, Ross Advertising was paid $8,057,000 by the CDA to develop and co-ordinate the authority's rebranding, communications and marketing initiatives. This was revealed by former minister of planning and development Bhoe Tewarie in answering a question in the House of Representatives.

In addition to the $8 million, $3.6 million was paid in legal fees to a number of attorneys. Rowley also condemned NLCB for deciding in July 2015 to cut ties with CNMG and instead pay more than $35 million over the next five years to a private entity, Media 21, to broadcast the lottery results.

“Those who came into office found it necessary to bring that activity outside of the Government premises and of course, they are telling us that we can’t stop the contract,” Rowley said.

The PM has instructed Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi to look into this matter.

.

In two weeks’ time, Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis will take to Cabinet two audits conducted into operations of the Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) which has unearthed a series of irregular transactions between 2010 to 2015. 

Thereafter, Robinson-Regis, under whose purview CDA falls, will forward the file to Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi for review.   

Robinson-Regis’ assurance came two days after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley spoke about a $9 million public relations contract awarded to Ross Advertising by the CDA.

Commenting on the contract yesterday, Robinson-Regis said CDA entered into a contract with Ross Advertising in November 2014 for public relations services, including rebranding of the State company for $6 million.

In April 10, 2015, Robinson-Regis said an addendum was made to the contract “for an additional $1.1 million.”

To date, she said $9.2 million was paid “and Ross has subsequently sued the CDA for a further $3.2 million.”

Ross Advertising is owned by Ernie Ross. Ross did not respond to a message which was left with his personal assistant, Nadine Khanai, yesterday.

Robinson-Regis explained that between 2014 and September 2015, CDA paid Ross Advertising $9 million.

“That was $3 million outside of the contract amount. He (Ross) is now asking for $3 million more.”

Following that, Robinson-Regis said the CDA had filed an application to enter its defence, while Ross had filed “for an order for judgment and to have the CDA application for extension to defend this.”

She said the matter was now being pursued in court by the CDA’s legal team, headed by Senior Counsel Elton Prescott.

Robinson-Regis said Ross Advertising was paid $25,000 a month to update CDA’s Facebook page.

“One of the things that I understand that was charged for, apart from this $25,000, there was also a new logo done for the CDA, which was paid for out of this $9 million,”  she added.

Following the swearing-in of the CDA board last December, Robinson-Regis requested an internal and financial audit.

The audits were undertaken between January and May, she said.

“I have just got that audit report. Now I am going to present that report to the Cabinet in two weeks time because there are a series of irregular transactions that took place over the last five years concerning the CDA. I would have to take directions from the Cabinet on how to move forward,” she said.

Thereafter it would go into Al-Rawi’s hands, she added.

The audits, conducted by accounting firm Ernst Young, focused on the award of contracts, leases granted and projects initiated under the then People’s Partnership government.

Robinson-Regis refused to divulge their contents. 

Questioned if the CDA had received value for money, Robinson-Regis said she had asked the same question.

When petite and shy Dianna Sophia Lopez walked into the Chaguanas North Secondary School (CNSS) in 2014 to pursue her A-levels, she was faced with a culture shock.

Having studied in a non-disruptive and nurturing environment at the San Juan South Secondary School for five years, Lopez, 18, never expected she would have encountered indiscipline and unruly and disrespectful behaviour by students during her two-year stay at CNSS. 

In February, while Lopez was studying for Unit Two of her Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination, the school grabbed headline news when police were alerted to a planned gun attack by students.

This led to 24 students, who had behavioural issues, being removed and sent to the old Couva West Secondary School, where a programme was conducted by the Student Support Services Division to rehabilitate them. A number of the students were also identified as having criminal records, with many of them having pending matters before the courts. 

Lopez, of Enterprise, said the incident’s negativity pained her to no end. However on Wednesday, the bad image the school had attained in the last four months was overshadowed by two success stories—Lopez captured second place in the Lucille S Antoine Leadership Scholarship, while the school was credited for placing second in the RBC’s Judges Award for outstanding service to the community.

These two achievements were celebrated at the school by students and teachers with much fanfare. Following the awards, the school’s acting vice-principal, Rajandaye Thanoo, said teachers and administrative staff have seen an improvement in the behaviour of students since the incident.

“These awards are testimonies that good and positive things can come of our school,” Thanoo said.  The financial scholarship was established by Dr Gerard Antoine, who is the founder and medical director of the Caribbean Medical Providers Practicing Abroad.

Addressing students, Antoine, a Trinidadian, who travelled from Hawaii to present Lopez with her award, told the students that with hard work come great rewards.

He urged the students to follow in Lopez’s footsteps because of her academic accomplishments and mentoring and leadership skills. After collecting her US$500 prize, Lopez said she never expected to win.

“I took a gamble by writing an essay about myself and my leadership qualities. I was surprised when I found out that I was the recipient of a financial scholarship,” she said. 

She admitted that the environment, attitudes and behaviour of students at the school were totally different to where she studied before. “I really enjoyed going to school at San Juan South Secondary. The students were ambitious and had self-respect. Here was quite different.” One of the eye-openers for Lopez was students having low morale.

“There was also disrespect to the highest degree. It was disrespect to the principal and teachers. I was not accustomed to this so it was really a culture shock for me. We are trying to change this in the school.”

Since joining the school, Lopez has served as student representative on the local school board, chairman and vice president of the school’s student council, and as a prefect in Lower Six and Upper Six.

She was also a member of the school’s Environmental Club and the Sixth Form Association Services, who mentored Form One students.

Lopez said she planned to spend the US$500 on her mother Sita Lopez, who has to undergo a series of blood tests, since her health was not the best.

ABOUT THE SCHOLARSHIP

The Lucille S Antoine Leadership Scholarship encourages secondary school students to develop and their leadership abilities through practical experience, personal reflection and community involvement with mentors and peers. The scholarship, which is in its sixth year, serves as a vehicle to advance higher education to secondary school students between ages 11 to 18 in T&T.

Historian and author Angelo Bissessarsingh feels it is only fitting that former prime minister Patrick Manning be buried with his departed parents and sister at Paradise Cemetery, San Fernando.

Bissessarsingh is also calling on the People’s National Movement (PNM) Government to rename the Chancery Lane Teaching Hospital after Manning, who died at 69 of Acute Myeloid Leukemia on Saturday.

“I think it’s only fitting that Mr Manning be buried next to his mother Elaine N Johnson-Manning, father Arnold Manning and eldest sister Patricia,” Bissessarsingh told the T&T Guardian yesterday.

Spending his entire life in San Fernando is another reason Manning’s body should be laid to rest there, Bissessarsingh said.

“He was really a San Fernandian at heart. Mr Manning was deeply connected to the city, its people, history, social life and culture.”

While the country was told Manning will receive a State funeral on Saturday, no details were given on where he will be buried.

Yesterday, Bissessarsingh produced two photographs of the tomb where Manning’s parents and sister were buried in San Fernando. He took the photos in 2013 while completing research for his first book entitled “Walking with the Ancestors — The Historic Cemeteries of Trinidad.”

The photos clearly show that Manning’s mother, a devoted teacher, wife and mother of five died on November 16, 1977, at age 66. His sister, Patricia Alecia Grace Manning, died when she was only 17. She was the Mannings’ first born. Manning (Patrick) was their first son and second child.

Manning’s father Arnold passed away in 1998 at the age of 83. Engraved on the older Manning’s tomb were the words “I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith.”

Though Bissessarsingh did not include the photographs in his book out of privacy for the Manning family, he admitted to having regrets.

“It is regrettable now. The focus of my book was mainly on 19th century and prior internments,” he said, noting the country had been plunged into mourning by Manning’s passing.

“The passing of Mr Manning is a great blow to the nation, but more so to San Fernandians, since aside from being the MP for San Fernando East for an unprecedented 44 years he was loved dearly,” Bissessarsingh said.

“People would remember him as a national leader, but to the people of San Fernando and environs he was one of their own, a man without a hint of the arrogance which taints so many in high office, and someone who retained a formidable dignity and warmth for all those who knew him. His untimely death has thrown many of us into a justifiably deep paroxysm of grief, for his memory will be cherished for many generations to come.” 

While Opposition MP Dr Fuad Khan has suggested the International Waterfront Complex be renamed in Manning honour, Bissessarsingh felt the Chancery Lane Teaching Hospital was a better choice. 

“That building was Mr Manning’s vision for an administrative complex in the city. It was not used for the reason intended, but it speaks to his vision of having something like that in San Fernando. It’s a building of modern architecture, I believe it should be renamed in his honour because it was really his project.”

Hypocrites!

That’s how controversial calypsonian Sugar Aloes (Michael Osuna) has described PNM stalwarts who he claimed hounded Patrick Manning out of Balisier House when the party lost the 2010 general election.

Aloes said he was moved to tears when he saw how Manning was treated on the night of May 24, 2010 by diehard supporters, who rallied behind him for years but in the blink of an eye turned against him like a snake.

Six years later, Aloes said he was surprised to see the same people who had nothing good to say about Manning after the PNM’s crushing defeat, were now calling him a statesman and visionary.

“They are such hypocrites. From the politicians to the ordinary citizen. Such hypocrites,” he added.

Manning, 69, died on Saturday after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, an aggressive form of bone marrow cancer. 

As he tried to come to terms with the death of Manning, Aloes got news on Sunday his mother, 75-year-old Jean Osuna Samuel, a Manning supporter, suffered a massive heart attack and died.

“It was a double whammy for me in the last few hours. Words cannot explain how I felt on Saturday when I heard about Mr Manning’s death. The news brought tears to my eyes. I started to recall all the things he had done. 

“I remember how they chased him out of Balisier House in 2010 and my heart hurt and I felt angry because these same people are calling him a true Caribbean leader, a visionary and statesman.”

Aloes said he had two wishes: To produce a song about Manning’s crowning achievements and to sing at his funeral on Saturday.

“If I were to do anything for Manning I would do it after the 2017 Carnival. I will look at his work and put it into a social commentary calypso. I would try to immortalise his work. I would also like to sing at his funeral...give him a fitting send off. I owe him that much.”

Aloes said few people appreciated Manning’s work and how he changed the landscape of Port-of-Spain by building the Waterfront project and the National Academy for the Performing Arts.

“He was criticised for constructing the Waterfront. When the country had the global meltdown Manning handled the economy with ease. We did not face a recession nor did the T&T dollar depreciated. We lived comfortable as citizens.”

The fiery singer said no other prime minister would and could walk in Manning’s shoes.

“None would be able to replace him... none!” he added.

Despite all what Manning had achieved as PM, Aloes said many accused him of squandering taxpayers’ money.

“They used to say he (Manning) and Calder Hart were mismanaging the State’s purse which led to the demise of the PNM in the 2010 general election. It was all a myth. No one was ever arrested for that.”

Aloes said after Manning served the country for decades he was crucified like Jesus.

“They crucified him to the cross. They scarified the lamb of God. Manning never recovered after being hounded out. He got a stroke and his health just went downhill after that.” 

The last time Aloes said he spoke to Manning was at Pal Joey Lewis’ funeral in February.

“When he saw me he was elated. He told Hazel, Look, we boy Sugar. We chatted briefly and parted ways.”

Aloes said his friendship with Manning started in 1987 after he began singing political commentary.

“We had a good relationship from then,” he added.

Aloes said what brought the friendship closer was the fact that every year Manning would visit the Calypso Revue tent to listen to the cast sing.

“He was a regular visitor. He loved his calypsoes...he loved music on the whole,” he said.

Having declared openly he was a “PNM until I dead,” Aloes shocked the country when he made a surprise guest performance at the second anniversary rally of the then People’s Partnership government at Mid Centre Mall, Chaguanas, where he serenaded then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Tobago businessman and lecturer Dedan Daniel has signalled his intention to file an application under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act seeking information about Sandals Resort setting up a 750-room hotel at No Man’s Land in Tobago.  

He said details about the five-star hotel were being suppressed by the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) and felt the public needed to know the truth.

The FOI Act is designed to support good governance, transparency, accountability, equality of access, empowerment and participation.

Offering to assist Daniels with the filing of the FOI is Rishi Maharaj, CEO of Disclosure Today, which is a non-profit organisation powered by lawyers committed to serve the public and to bring greater transparency and accountability in public procurement decision-making. 

News of the application comes three days after founder and chairman of Sandals Resorts, Gordon “Butch” Stewart, admitted in a T&T Guardian article that he had his eyes on No Man’s Land to build his first Sandals brand in Tobago.

Sandals has opened its doors in Antigua, Bahamas, Grenada, Barbados, Jamaica, St Lucia and Turks and Caicos and has 20 hotels in operation.

The hotel tycoon, however, stated  talks between Sandals and the THA were still in the “infancy stages.”

No Man’s Land forms part of the Bon Accord Lagoon at Golden Grove, Buccoo, which is a mangrove wetlands and an important habitat for many species of birds. 

Last Month, Daniel started an online petition condemning the use of No Man’s Land as the proposed site for the hotel.

Daniel also called on the THA to start public consultation and have full disclosure and accountability on the proposed development in Tobago.

The petition, which garnered 2,800 signatures, started days after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced the proposal.

THA Chief Secretary Orville London had said that the site would remain a public space.  

Yesterday, Daniel said he knew all along that Stewart was eyeing the 600-acre site.

“I knew all along that No Man’s Land was the preferred choice by Sandals. You see Tobago is a small place. Nothing is kept a secret. Everyone knows that ‘Butch’ has been back and forth in Tobago since 2014, negotiating with the THA and Government.”

Daniel said he had no objection with Sandals coming to Tobago but not on No Man’s Land.

“These are protected lands and we should do everything to protect it. I am totally against No Man’s Land being used for a hotel.

“This is not Butch’s Land. If the Government tries to shove this down our throats without consultation, we are going to protest.  This has to be a win-win for all and not for a selected few,” he added.

He said soon he would file the application under the FOI seeking answers.

Maharaj said Disclosure Today had been advising Daniel to utilise the FOI.

“The Government has no legal obligation to respond to a petition. If Daniel utilises the Freedom of Information Act he can request information from a ministry, public body or even the THA to respond to a query. 

“If the Government fails to respond within a stipulated time, or gives you an unsatisfactory answer, you can now go to court and force the Government to give out the information.”

Maharaj said the public ought to know what pieces of land Stewart would use.

Several calls to THA’s Secretary of Tourism and Transportation Tracy Davidson-Celestine’s cellphone went unanswered yesterday.

Founder and chairman of Sandals Resorts Gordon Butch Stewart has denied allegations made by Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne that Sandals has been retaining the lion's share of hotel room tax income, by what the Antiguan government has called “an unlawful agreement.”

The allegation was made last month by Browne who took a decision to end a 2009 tax agreement brokered through a previous administration, which allowed Sandals Resorts International (SRI) to collect 100 per cent of Antigua and Barbuda Sales Tax from its customers and keeps 65 per cent of the yields.

The remaining 35 per cent is handed to the Antiguan government. 

However, the Antigua and Barbuda government has been trying to change this arrangement.

SRI has since threatened to pursue legal action against Browne, who in turn said his administration will not be “intimidated and bullied” in its ongoing public battle with SRI over the payment of taxes to his government.

Stewart, in response to an e-mail sent to the T&T Guardian this week said of Browne’s claims: “Absolutely nothing could be further from the truth. These accusations have been made without one shred of evidence. Prime Minister Browne has committed a huge libel.”

Since 1992, Stewart said, SRI had been operating in Antigua and Barbuda, and his hotel had consistently been audited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Grant Thornton International, as well as the government’s tax department.

“Never has there been cause for any such accusations,” the hotel tycoon insisted.

In 2015, Stewart said, SRI paid to the Antigua and Barbuda government taxes in excess of US$5.2 million and in the financial year 2016, they paid over US$5.8 million in taxes. 

“We estimate that our direct contribution to the economy of Antigua and Barbuda exceeds US$27.5 million per annum and we earn more foreign currency than any other resort chain on the Island,” Stewart said.

Stewart said the 2009 agreement dated back to 2000, which was signed by the then government, led by Sir Lester Bird. 

“The basis for the concession agreement had to do with our commitment to build at least another 100 rooms. In fact, we went much further by constructing 180 suites at a cost of over US$100 million.”

Financing for this project, Stewart said, was provided by T&T’s First Citizens Bank.

“We continue to enjoy a tremendous relationship with them (FCB) as they also financed our hotel in Grenada,” Stewart disclosed.

Stewart said SRI had been proud to operate its flagship resort in Antigua and Barbuda. 

“We also take pride in the fact that our 750 employees are the highest paid in Antigua and Barbuda which makes us the largest private employer on the Island.”

Five managers of the Human Resources Department at State-owned Petrotrin were suspended yesterday, following the conclusion of a four-year audit into a recruitment exercise.

Those suspended were Ryerson Bagoo, Fareeda Mohammed, Gillian Cherotiere, Franka Mohammed and Bianca Attong.

Among the positions the managers held were head of staffing, head of HR technology and head of planning policies and control.

The suspensions came days after Petrotrin undertook a major organisational shake-up in the face of falling oil prices and the hiring of former communication minister Neil Parsanlal as CEO of Petrotrin’s Employee Assistance Programmes Services Ltd.

Contacted about the suspensions yesterday, Petrotrin chairman, Andrew Jupiter, said he had just left a meeting and advised that the questions be emailed to company’s corporate communications manager, Gillian Friday, for a response.

“I am sure if you send those questions right away you would get a response this afternoon. If you can kindly do that... because I am sure it is a management decision, if that is the case,” Jupiter said.

In response to the emailed query, Joy Antoine, head of the external communications and branding, who responded on Friday’s behalf, wrote: “In keeping with its continued thrust to improve accountability and transparency, Petrotrin conducted an internal audit of its recruitment processes for the period 2012 to 2016.”

Antoine said the recruitment audit was one of several scheduled audits to review the company’s control processes in keeping with approved policies and procedures.

“As a result of the audit findings and recommendations and in keeping with standard industrial relations practice, further investigations involving key employees are being conducted. These investigations are currently underway and as a result, no further comments can be made at this time,” Antoine explained.

However, a source told the T&T Guardian the five managers were suspended for allegedly recruiting for positions not on the establishment, recruiting while a medical was pending and recruiting individuals who did not meet job specifications.

Orgnisational changes

In a circular, dated June 15, signed by Petrotin’s president, Fitzroy Harewood, and entitled “Organisational Changes — Refining and Marketing Division”, which was forwarded to employees, it was stated that the oil company was undertaking organisational changes and recognised the need to maintain a very strong focus on the completion of the Ultra-Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD) plant for the long-term viability of its refinery and organisation.

Admitting that Petrotrin had been faced with previous challenges, Harewood said a concerted effort was needed to ensure its successful commission of the ULSD plant by the first quarter of 2018 or before. The plant, initiated in 2009, was incomplete.

As such, effective July 1, Petrotrin saw the need to shift Johnathan Barden from the position of current vice-president, refining, to project management consultant.

This moves comes even though Barden, in Petrotrin’s performance update in April, boasted that “the company’s refinery utilisation had increased from approximately 38 per cent in 2014 to 70 per cent for the past two months.”

Barden had also revealed that the company’s crude oil processing had soared from the 2014 average of 112 kbbl/day to approximately 140 kbbl/day in 2015.

In a report to investors, Barden also pointed out that energy efficiency in the refinery had improved by over 20 per cent, compared to the 2014 average, while flaring losses had been reduced.

Barden’s new duties entail supporting the ULSD projects, particularly with respect to the main project activities, including the resolution of current engineering and technical issues, completion of construction activities, commissioning of the plant and handover to the refining and marketing division.

Astor Harris, who has rejoined Petrotrin, is the company’s new vice-president, refining and marketing.

Harris, who worked previously as a process engineer at Petrotrin’s Pointe-a-Pierre refinery, is currently a long-serving vice-president of Phoenix Park Gas Processor Ltd and an experienced chemical engineer. 

Harewood stated that in the context of Petrotrin’s ongoing review of the organisation, effective July 1 “the marketing and training sub-division will be reintegrated into the Refining Division and the combined division will again be known as the Refining and Marketing Division.”

This division is being led by Harris. Both Harris and Barden report to Harewood.

My CV speaks for itself—ex-minister

Former minister Neil Parsanlal yesterday said he went through a rigorous process before he was hired at Petrotrin.

Parsanlal, who served as MP for Lopinot-Bon Air West from 2007 to 2010 for the People’s National Movement, said he was appointed to the post on June 13.

However, Parsanlal, who was recently named as chairman of the National Library and Information Systems Authority, said the position and his appointment were advertised.

He said he went through an extensive interview process and had the necessary psychometric evaluations done before he was chosen.

Parsanlal denied he “passed through the back door” to get the job.

“There is absolutely no truth to that. My CV will speak for itself,” he added.

Last June, Petrotrin’s losses multiplied 11.2 times to reach US$168 million for the nine months ended June 30, compared to a US$15 million loss for the same period in 2014.

Several calls to president general of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union Ancel Roget’s cellphone went unanswered yesterday.

General secretary of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS), Sat Maharaj, yesterday launched an extraordinary verbal attack on former prime minister Patrick Manning, describing him as a “racist.”

In a harsh assessment totally out of step with laudatory ones heaped on Manning in the week between his death and his burial, Maharaj said he and several members of the public came to that conclusion on a talk show programme on Radio Jaagriti on Tuesday, based on a series of discriminatory practices Manning perpetuated against Indians in T&T while he served as PM.

In retrospect, Maharaj said he felt “hurt” that many of Manning’s actions were “racist”, unfair and biased against a number of Indians in the country.

“I only spoke about the facts. What I spoke about was his performance as prime minister. I started off by discussing the many discriminatory things he did. As prime minister he acted in a discriminatory manner,” Maharaj said in a telephone interview.

Manning, 69, died on July 2 at the San Fernando General Hospital. He had been hospitalised for a lung infection but was subsequently diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, a rare, aggressive cancer of the blood.

The closure of Caroni 1975 Ltd, whose employees were mostly Indians, Maharaj said was one decision Manning made that crippled the lives of thousands of struggling Indians.

“We are now importing sugar while Barbados and Guyana have sugar industries,” he said.

Maharaj said Manning’s attempt to have Sat Sharma removed as Chief Justice for misbehaviour in public office and for having a limited state of emergency around the home of then House Speaker Occah Seapaul were unforgettable instances. 

In 2007, Sharma found himself in trouble when he was accused by then Director of Public Prosecutions, Geoffrey Henderson, of attempting to persuade him to drop a murder charge against vascular surgeon Dr Vijay Naraynsingh in 2004.

“He is the first prime minister in the Commonwealth to try to arrest a chief justice. 

“He is also the first PM to call a state of emergency so that Seepaul could not preside as a presiding officer and have a cast in vote. He is the only man in the Commonwealth who appointed his wife as a minister in the Cabinet,” Maharaj said.

He drew reference to public servant, Feroza Ramjohn, who instituted legal action in seeking justice for lack of promotional opportunities. 

“I could still remember Manning describing Petrotrin as petrosingh because there were too many Indians working there,” Maharaj said.

He said while PNM stalwart and businessman, Louis Lee Sing, had acquired his radio licence with ease “we had to go the Privy Council to get our radio and television licences. We had to threaten them with contempt of court. That was another case of discrimination.”

Church in Guanapo
 
Maharaj said the fact that Manning started building a multi-million dollar church in Guanapo, Arima, for himself and one-time spiritual adviser Juliana Pena was also discriminatory.

“Not only he built a church for the Christians but he also established the Divine Echoes Orchestra, which was a Christian-oriented music group.” 

In 1992, Maharaj said Manning ordered a study by Dr Selwyn Ryan and Dr John La Guerre, which showed that few Indo-Trinidadians were promoted to senior posts in the public service.

“I read what they said about recruitment in the Police Service... that the Indians top when it comes to the written examination but they failed when they did the interview stage. They pointed to the fact that everybody on the interview panel were Afro Trinidadians.

Few grants for Indian events

When asked why he did not raise these matters publicly when Manning was alive, Maharaj said:
“No! I have been raising these issues all the time. We wrote articles about him. We raised it in the courts too. 

“But you see now that he is dead they are trying to make him into some idol. Everybody is painting him as a paragon of virtue... they are ignoring the other side of him. 

“They are trying to paint him as some kind of father of the nation when in actual fact he was not. We want to point out the bad side of him.”

Maharaj said many callers concurred with him that what Manning did was discriminatory and wrong. Didn’t the SDMS benefit under Manning’s administration?

“In what way? If you talking about benefits then we are talking about equality. Yes, we benefit... we can use the roads if it is paved,” he answered.

Questioned if the SDMS was the recipient of grants under Manning’s regime for Divali, Phagwa and other religious events, Maharaj said they received “very little grants.”

Told he could face stinging condemnation and backlash for his criticisms against Manning, Maharaj said: “I said it. I don’t care about the backlash.” He said he shared a cordial relationship with Manning and had in fact pointed out to him where he had gone wrong as PM.

Forde response
General secretary of the People’s National Movement Ashton Forde last night expressed astonishment at Maharaj’s comments. 

“Any one body who is saying that about Mr Manning is not living in Trinidad and Tobago. They are trying to re-write history”, Forde told the T&T Guardian.

Forde said Manning followed in the footsteps of two great prime ministers- the late Dr Eric Williams and George Chambers’ in ensuring there was equity in the governance of the country.

“Many of the country’s high commissioners, Cabinet ministers and directors on State boards who served under Mr Manning were Indian. Mr Manning embraced all races. He did not discriminate at all. I knew him personally. He was a fair man.”

Forde said people who were appointed under the People’s Partnership government also credited Manning for his work and fairplay.

Former housing minister Dr Roodal Moonilal yesterday accused the PNM-led Government of giving houses to party members and friends of Cabinet ministers.

Moonilal also threw jabs at Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, stating he had “no moral authority to speak on housing based on his legacy of the Las Alturas, Golconda, Edinburgh Towers and Wellington Estates housing projects where we (former People Partnership government) had to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to correct bad work, poor design, engineering flaws, lack of sewer plants and poor infrastructure.”

The Oropouche East MP was responding to comments by Rowley, who at Tuesday’s sod-turning for the “River-Runs-Through” housing estate, Arima, stated the demand for houses in T&T was like “hops.”

Rowley said it had reached a stage where people have been saying they want a house, in the same tone and approach as “I want a hops bread” not realising that a house is an expensive item.

In his five years in office, Moonilal said, he has never responded with contempt to those in need of shelter.

“In fact, I wept when members of the public came to me in tears for a home. This lack of compassion is unsuitable for high office holders. 

“The Prime Minister with his houses like hops comment seems to be condoning the response of the plight of homeless Mary Paria. 

“The Prime Minister has dashed the hopes of thousands of long-waiting applicants who are unable to get a housing unit under the PNM administration,” he added.

Moonilal said regrettably it took the Government almost one year to understand the need for housing.

“Today, housing distribution is back to the dark old secret discriminatory days of giving out houses to party members and friends and relatives of ministers,” he added. He said an apartment at Edinburgh Towers, which was built under the then Patrick Manning administration, was now priced at over $1 million.

“These apartments have to be redesigned and are incomplete. In this day and age the PNM have reverted to cesspits for their much heralded River-Runs- Through project. 

‘We are back to the National Housing Authority ghetto-style buildings that nurture crime. One would want to know of the EMA’s approvals for housing systems using cesspits in low-lying areas,” he said.

In the coming weeks, Moonilal said, he would expose the true projected cost of that housing project under the PP, in comparison the price the former PNM administration had outlined.

Moonilal described the project as a farce, saying it was not ready for construction.

President general of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), Ancel Roget, is not only fully supporting the suspension of five managers from the Human Resources Department at State-owned Petrotrin, he wants the company to go one step further and fire them.

He yesterday called for the termination of suspended employees Ryerson Bagoo, Fareeda Mohammed, Gillian Cherotiere, Franka Mohammed and Bianca Attong, saying the union had long been highlighting the unfair hiring practices at the company.

The employees, who were suspended on Tuesday following the conclusion of a four-year audit into a recruitment exercise, have already sought legal advice on the company’s actions, the T&T Guardian was told yesterday.

Roget could not say how long the workers were suspended for and if they were collecting their salaries but claimed many employees who secured cushy jobs there in the last four years had ranked last or second to last in their interviews. He said many of the high-level positions were filled at Petrotrin “by UNC supporters only on the basis of party loyalty.

“Instructions were given to put them in top-level positions. Some of them had absolutely no interview at all. Some of those jobs were not even advertised,” Roget said.

In going forward, Roget said the OWTU would ensure top managers and executives in the HFC, corporate communications, HR, security, medical, finance and procurement departments, who are unworthy of the positions they currently hold, are terminated.

He added: “I have absolutely no fear of anybody saying anything good about the OWTU. We call for those persons to go for quite some time but nobody listened.

“The OWTU supports 100 per cent those suspensions. As a matter of fact, we feel the company has to go further, in that not just to suspend them but to remove them from the system. We are calling for them to go and for good reasons. 

“There are a lot of high-paying jobs occupied by persons who are not supposed to be in those jobs in the first place.”

No discrimination

Roget, however, said that the suspensions were not a discriminatory act by Petrotrin.

“It is not ethnic cleansing. We know they will label it as that. We are not taken aback, not for one moment, with the claim of ethnic cleansing. We are calling for the correct person, regardless of religion, race, geographic location, political affiliation and so on, to be put in the correct positions.”

He said the lack of competence of many workers in high positions had led to Petrotrin’s mismanagement over the years.

“We want to reconcile the latest report, which we have identified, to determine how far Petrotrin has gone in dealing with this chronic situation. 

“Petrotrin is chronic not because of the workers, it is because of poor management... and it adds to poor management of that enterprise when you put persons who are incompetent, unqualified and who did not follow correct procedures into top level and top-paying positions.”

Roget said if those workers did not exit Petrotrin they could cripple the company’s operations.

“It (Petrotrin) would not only go bankrupt but people’s lives will be at risk,” he added.

Questioned about the hiring of former communication minister Neil Parsanlal as CEO of Petrotrin’s Employee Assistance Programmes Services Ltd (EAP), Roget said it was “the union that brought that proposal many years ago, that saw us having inscribed into our collective agreement the EAP as a term and condition of employment. 

“What they did, they dismantled it. So we are calling for restructuring to be put back in place of a functioning EAP Department.”

Asked if he saw Parsanlal’s appointment as being political, Roget said no. He said he had no issue with positions being filled at Petrotrin once due process was followed.

The five managers suspended included the heads of staffing, HR technology and planning policies and control.

The suspensions came days after Petrotrin undertook a major organisational shake-up in the face of falling oil prices and the hiring of former communication minister Neil Parsanlal as CEO of Petrotrin’s Employee Assistance Programmes Services Ltd.

Joy Antoine, head of the external communications and branding, had defended the company’s actions.

“As a result of the audit findings and recommendations and in keeping with standard industrial relations practice, further investigations involving key employees are being conducted. These investigations are currently underway and as a result, no further comments can be made at this time,” Antoine explained.

“Right thinking people know the truth. The rest can’t be convinced.”

That’s how Brian Manning, son of the late prime minister Patrick Manning, responded in a Facebook message to the T&T Guardian yesterday about Sat Maharaj’s claims his father was a “racist.” 

But steering clear of the controversial issue, Manning (Brian) stated he preferred not to say anything further on the matter.

“I have no comment to make,” he wrote.

Last Saturday at his father’s funeral service, Brian had described his father as his hero and friend.

However, there were several citizens who yesterday came out vociferously in defence of the former PM.

Senior Counsel Israel Khan, in weighing in on the issue, said Maharaj’s comments were totally out of place.

“Manning could be described as pig-headed, obstinate and arrogant but he was not a racist. Having known him over the years, if Manning was a racist, what is Sat Maharaj?” he asked.

In defending Manning, Khan said everything he did was to preserve his position as prime minister.

“And if whatever he did coincided with some benefit to certain sections of society or the country he would have done it. Anything that was not in his political interest he would not have done,” he added.

Khan said Manning was against granting a licence to Maharaj “because he did not want the Opposition to have an avenue of propagating their views and ideologies and so on and just undermining him because they were East Indians.” 

Khan cautioned Maharaj against making such unwarranted claims.

“Sat should stop making a fool of himself. Whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad.”

Khan said T&T celebrated religious events year-round and Maharaj should not try to divide the country.

Former Port-of-Spain mayor Louis Lee Sing accused Maharaj of trying to divide the country along racial lines. He said Maharaj was not part of the solution “but is the problem in this country.”

In his claim against Manning, Maharaj had argued that while Lee Sing acquired with ease his radio licence under Manning’s administration, the Maha Sabha had to go to the Privy Council to get theirs.

“Let me say to you that my licence might have been in there before Sat’s licence. I am happy that he chose to raise it at this time because I have no reason to remain silent any longer,” Lee Sing said, adding he submitted his application for a licence in 2000.

Divisive tactics wicked

Lee Sing said rather than use his influence among the Hindus and East Indian community to bring our fragile nation together, Maharaj instead chose to make utterances “as if there is no tomorrow.”

“He is doing his utmost to keep the tribes apart. Well, if that is what Maharaj speaks, I have nothing but to refer to him with what is going on in Iraq, Afghanistan, India and Saudi Arabia. Maybe, it is in his genes to be divisive, vicious and wicked towards anything that does not look like him.”

Lee Sing said at this time divisiveness was not what T&T needed.

In defending Manning’s good name, Lee Sing said it took a dirty, vicious and a violent mind to put a scathing assault on Manning, who could not even defend himself.

Krishna Ramkumar, a friend of Manning for 20 years, also insisted he was no racist.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian by phone yesterday, Ramkumar said he felt hurt and betrayed by Maharaj’s comments.

Ramkumar said he met Manning for the first time in 1996 while serving as the chairman of the National Commission for Self Help, a position he was appointed to by the then prime minister Basdeo Panday.

“Manning was Opposition Leader at the time when I was appointed but yet still we became very close friends over the years, which continued up until his death,” Ramkumar said.

Ramkumar said during his friendship with Manning they met almost every Friday over dinner, where they would discuss politics and family life.

“Not one day did Manning show scorn towards the East Indian and Hindu community. Even at his wedding, Hazel’s best man was an East Indian man. Manning was absolutely no racist,” he said. (With reporting by Rhondor Dowlat)

JOEL JULIEN

Questions are being raised about the selection of Fitzroy Harewood as president of State-owned Petrotrin, following claims that he was not among the 40 people who applied for the top job.

Documents obtained by the T&T Guardian show that Harewood was not among the six top names on the shortlist of candidates or the seven others identified as “additional candidates of potential interest” after the screening process for the position was completed.

President general of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) Ancel Roget said last night that the union will “do its own investigation to determine the veracity of those claims.”

“I would not comment further because I do not have that information,” he told the T&T Guardian after being called for a comment.

Roget said he had no problem with vacant positions at Petrotrin being filled once the person was qualified and due process followed. But if due process was not followed, Roget said “that would be wrong.” 

However, Gillian Friday, the manager of corporate communications at Petrotrin, yesterday denied accusations that Harewood was not on the shortlist of final candidates. However, Friday did not respond specifically to each of the questions forwarded to her on the issue.

The concerns surrounding Harewood’s selection comes on the heels of the suspension of five managers from Petrotrin’s Human Resources department on Tuesday, after an audit raised concerns about the hiring practices at the company. 

The post of president was advertised between June 18 and July 1, 2015, in two daily newspapers by Port-of-Spain based HRC Associates Management Consultants on behalf of Petrotrin.

A letter dated July 7, sent to then chairman of Petrotrin, Lindsay Gillette, by HRC Associates’ managing director Hollick Rajkumar, and also obtained by the T&T Guardian, showed that in response to the advertised position in the newspapers and on social media and personal networks, HRC received and pre-screened 40 resumes.

With former Petrotrin president Khalid Hassanali’s contract coming to an end on October 31, 2015, a search was then conducted by HRC Associates for a replacement last June. Candidates were asked to submit applications to Rajkumar. The closing date for applications was July 3 last year.

17 Trini applicants

Of the 40 applicants, 17 were Trinidadians, while the remaining 23 came from Saudi Arabia, USA, India, Singapore, Pakistan, Chile, Romania, Spain, Venezuela, Paraguay and Brazil.

One criterion for the post was that candidates must have a demonstrable track record in a senior leadership position at a complex integrated oil and gas company.

Outlined in the list were the 40 applicants’ contact numbers, education background, current positions, email addresses and date they applied. 

HRC Associates stated that they reviewed each resume in detail and identified six individuals for shortlisting. The shortlisted applicants for the top job were Hassanali, Rolph Balgobin, Rollin Bertrand, Julio Cesar Moreira, James Lee Young and Edgar Paredes Villegas.

HRC Associates indicated to Petrotrin eight criteria as a possible guide to assist the board in determining which of the six individuals identified in the preliminary list of candidates should be shortlisted for assessment and interview, one of which was the preference for a local versus expat president. 

Rajkumar also named applicants Antilio Malave, Dr Chit Lutchman, Timothy Comeau, Richard Keck, Debasis Syam, Carl Ramlakhan and Flavious Smith, as alternatives, noting they too have had experience, skills and value to Petrotrin.

Harewood was on neither list.

“Upon your approval of the candidates highlighted, HRC Associates Ltd will commence conducting pre-screen assessment interviews with the potential candidates for shortlist consideration. This will be followed by the submission of our final shortlist comprising detailed reports of the candidates recommended and interviews to be held at Petrotrin. We would be pleased to meet with the HR Committee of the board to discuss the search to date,” Rajkumar wrote.

The T&T Guardian was told that on October 14, Hassanali was interviewed by a panel comprising Petrotrin’s new chairman Andrew Jupiter, along with its directors Dr Zameer Mohammed, Beverly John, Linda Rajpaul, Lennard Prescod and Randhir Rampersad.

Harewood, who was not among those shortlisted, was eventually selected for the position. He replaced Hassanali, who served Petrotrin for 39 years. Hassanali’s monthly salary as president was $180,000 excluding housing, cellphone and vehicle allowances.

The T&T Guardian yesterday called Harewood for comment on the claims, but he advised that all questions be forwarded to Friday.

He was on shortlist—Friday

In response to several questions, Friday said Harewood was named on a shortlist provided by an independent recruitment agency hired to find suitable candidates to fill the post of Petrotrin president.

“In June 2015, Petrotrin’s board of directors hired an independent recruitment agency to find suitable candidates for the position of president, as the company’s outgoing president Mr Khalid Hassanali’s contract was coming to an end on October 31, 2015.

“The recruitment agency provided a shortlist of candidates, which included Mr Fitzroy Harewood. All shortlisted candidates were interviewed by the board of directors. Mr Harewood was appointed as president of Petrotrin with effect from 2015 November 1,” Friday stated in an email response.

Rajkumar refused to comment, while a voice message left on Jupiter’s cellphone and with his secretary Janet Seedan were not returned.

Yesterday, John admitted she sat on the panel that interviewed candidates for the post of Petrotrin president. Asked how many people were shortlisted for the post, John said. “I really can’t recall at this time.”

Questioned if one of those was Harewood, John said, “Yes, one of those persons was Mr Harewood. There were several persons, I really cannot remember. I can’t tell you if it is four or five. It was more than four.”

Asked if the panel saw the entire shortlist, John said, “I believe so. Actually, the process was handled externally as far as I recall.”

Pressed on if Harewood applied for the position, John said, “I can’t say those things. These things happened between September and December last year. You are asking me questions off the cuff. I cannot give you any precise answer.”

Told that Harewood was not one of the 40 applicants, John said she was not aware of that.

Probed on if Harewood had submitted an application to HRC Associates, John could not tell.

Also contacted yesterday, Gillette, who resigned from Petrotrin one week after the September 7 general election, said up to that time Petrotrin had not re-advertised the post. 

“The reality about it is, I had the shortlist before me and I did not proceed to do it because it was so close to elections that whoever won office would have to select a new president,” Gillette said.

Hassanali refrained from speaking, while Lee Young, managing director and energy consultant of ESG Ltd, said he felt confident about the interview.

“I always think I have a good chance of getting the position when I apply, otherwise I would have not,” Lee Young said.

Lee Young said he would feel “aggrieved” if the post was given to someone who did not apply.

Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre did not answer her cellphone last night.

About Harewood

Harewood brings to Petrotrin over 29 years of technical and leadership experience. 

In 1986, he joined predecessor company Trintoc as a project engineer. 

After ten years he moved to Hydro Agri Trinidad Ltd (which later became Yara Trinidad Ltd) where he was assistant manager, engineering. 

In that organisation, he served in various positions of increasing responsibility before moving on to PowerGen to take up the position of general manager.

Harewood is a graduate of the University of the West Indies with a BSc. Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies along with an MBA from Andrews University.

Questions emailed to Friday:

When did Mr Fitzroy Harewood apply for the position? 

To whom did he send his application?

Did he meet the advertised requirements?

When and where was the interview conducted?

Who interviewed him?

When was Mr Harewood informed that he was selected for the job?

What would be the company’s response to claims that Mr Harewood entered the post of president "through the back door"?

Was the position re-advertised after the initial deadline date?

General manager of State-owned Magdalena Grand, Christopher Forbes, has vowed to remove several balisier flowers — the emblem of the People’s National Movement (PNM) — from a tent outside the Lowlands hotel after it became a political issue on Facebook over the weekend.

Yesterday, Forbes said he was “taken aback that this (balisier) has become an issue with anyone.”

The flowers were placed on a “window tent” Forbes said that shields employees and guests from the sunlight that enters the lobby of the four-star hotel. 

“It (flowers) have always been there since the hotel opened in June 2012. It’s a very popular plant or flower that grows in the entire Caribbean,” Forbes said, in defence of displaying it in the hotel.

“What happened they (employees) took it as a colourful flower like an anthurium because of its hue. If anybody is using this as a political agenda item then that is their problem. It was set up to block out the sun and give sufficient light to the area for our guests.”

The balisier which has been the emblem of the PNM since its inception was chosen by the party’s founder the late Dr Eric Williams for its ability to survive under any condition, rainy or dry season, and its long life.

Photographs of the red flowers in the hotel’s lobby, which were posted on Facebook on Sunday have generated mixed views from the public, with calls being made for it to be taken down, since its symbol represents the ruling PNM Government at a State enterprise.

Forbes was unaware of the Facebook post and admitted the hotel would not intentionally “do something like that. We at the Magdalena Grand represent all the people of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.”

Magdalena is nestled in Lowlands Tobago.

He said the flower which adds colour and beauty to the resort would have to be replaced with another exotic or ornamental plant.

“We are going to take it down when we have a replacement for it. We are going to look for another flower that is non-political and once we have that we will remove it,” he added.

Forbes could not say what flower they would chose as its replacement and within what time frame they would do so. “It would be done in a timely fashion,” he assured.

He said the flowers have been on display since the hotel was opened four years ago by then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

“The flowers have been there four years now. It was there for quite some time. It was never a problem before,” he added.

Yesterday, environmentalist and director of the Papa Bois Conservation, Stephen Broadbridge, said it was sad how politics dominates citizens in T&T.

“That very same politics refuses to release it stranglehold on the public and allow anything to function. There is always political interference on anything that you try to do with any party,” he added. Broadbridge said the day the result of an election was announced politics was supposed to end. He described the balisier as a specie of the heliconia and not a flower.

“They are called modified leaves. I even heard the PNM calling it a flower,” he said.

Political analyst Maukesh Basdeo described Forbes’ moves as politically sensitive.

“People probably see it as politically offensive in that context. I would take that the manager was just being politically sensitive, if he took the decision to remove it,” Basdeo said.

Basdeo said the balisier could be found throughout T&T and in some countries in the region.

“Because of the nature of the flower and its association to a political party the manager decided to remove it to avoid further controversy,” he said.

If the balisier was part of a floral arrangement, Basdeo said people might have overlooked the issue.

“But the fact that it stands on its own in a State enterprise hotel... funded by taxpayers money would cause people to talk and raise issues about it,” he said.

The five Human Resources heads at State-owned Petrotrin who were suspended last week will know their fate next month.

This was outlined in Ryerson Bagoo, Fareeda Mohammed, Gillian Cherotiere, Franka Mohammed and Bianca Attong’s suspension letters, signed by Petrotrin’s acting senior manager of Human Resources, Alvin Stephenson.

Under the headline “Notice of Suspension Pending Investigation of Complaint”, Stephenson wrote in one letter: 

“You are hereby suspended from work with effect from July 12, pending investigation of a complaint which has been received regarding your work and/or conduct in respect of the following matters. 

The suspension will be without loss of pay and is not to be regarded as disciplinary action.”

During the company’s investigation, the workers were advised that they would also be interviewed on the matter of complaint.

“You are urged to give your fullest co-operation in this regard. You may, if you so desire, furnish a written statement to the officer instead of or in addition to the interview,” Stephenson penned in another letter.

The five would know their fate by Petrotrin, following an investigation, which will be concluded before mid-August.

Last Wednesday, the T&T Guardian published exclusively the suspension of the five workers who have since sought legal advice on the matter.

In defence of the move, Petrotrin stated it conducted an internal audit of its recruitment processes for four years to review the company’s control processes and as a result of its findings and recommendations, further investigations involving key employees were being conducted.

Hours after the workers’ suspension, president general of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), Ancel Roget, called on Petrotrin to fire the HR heads.

Some of the transgressions outlined in the suspension letters Petrotrin claimed the workers allegedly committed were:

• Failed to adhere to the company’s human resources policies/procedures and practices. 

• Recruiting individuals without first advertising the jobs.

• Giving offer letters to employees before having received the results of pre-employment medical tests.

• Recruitment of people who failed to meet the minimum qualifications and experience requirements.

• Conduct interviews without first determining the availability of suitably qualified internal company employees. 

But a source told the T&T Guardian that none of the five suspended employees had final decision-making authority to hire anyone so if any unqualified person was hired they would not be to blame.

The source explained that hiring personnel outside of the existing organisation structure outlined in Petrotrin’s documents, entitled HR Authorities, dated February 2011, item 11, gives full authority to the vice-presidents and president to re-organise and restructure the company. 

“Therefore any hiring that was outside of a pre-existing organisation structure would have been appropriately approved by the relevant vice-president or president,” the source said.

With regards to giving offer letters to employees before having received the results of pre-employment medical tests, the source explained that (Petrotrin’s) medical testing policy did not require that a pre-employment medical be done before every hire.

“Additionally, every offer letter contains a clause that indicates the offer is contingent on the results of a medical test if one was done. 

Therefore it is not necessary to wait for the results before an offer is made. 

“There are numerous examples of this being done over the years and is actually something that the OWTU has pushed for to minimise delays in the recruiting of employees,” the source added.

Touching on the recruiting personnel without first advertising the jobs, the source said Petrotrin’s policy indicated that advertising would “normally” be done.

“It does not require advertising. In practice, all executive positions are advertised. The company is also allowed to promote from within, without advertising for a job opening. 

“This is standard business practice. What these employees have in common is that they were all promoted by the former vice-president of Human Resources and Corporate Services,” the source added.

A total of 43 local and foreign companies have expressed an interest to build and operate Tobago’s first million-dollar desalination plant at the Cove Industrial Estate.

So said Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) chairman, Romney Thomas, yesterday.

Of the 43, Thomas added, many were local firms while several came from North America and Europe. 

Earlier this year, WASA invited expressions of interest to build and operate the plant at the mushrooming Cove Industrial Estate at Canoe Bay.

WASA chose the cove since it has a power plant, was near to the sea and close to its water mains so that the essential element could be easily pumped into its mains for distribution. 

Refusing to identify the companies that expressed an interest, Thomas said WASA would now move full speed ahead to get the plant up and running.

In March, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley agreed that WASA, as a matter of urgency, would build a desalination facility to provide a sustained water supply for Tobago.

For a decade Tobagonians have been hearing about plans in the pipeline for a desalination plant but nothing came to fruition.

Trinidad has two desalination plants at Pt Lisas and Pt Fortin which are operated by Desalcott on the basis of build, own and operate.

The Point Lisas plant produces just about 50 million gallons of water a day. It transforms sea water into potable water.

“We will definitely follow through with that policy set out by the Government and the Prime Minister,” Thomas assured in a telephone interview.

With a growing demand for water in Tobago, Thomas said WASA between February and March sent out an invitation for the expressions of interest for the plant to be constructed and operated.

Thomas said the next stage was for WASA to send out tenders so companies could submit bids for the project.

He said the company that was awarded the contract must have a proven track record and experience in building and operating a desalination plant.

“We are hoping that the award will be finalised before the end of the year and construction of the plant, from start to finish, would take 18 months.”

Thomas said the successful company would only be paid for the water it produced.

“The higher the volume of water it produces WASA would pay less water rates and vice versa,” he added.

He could not say what would be the cost to build the plant. “When the tenders go out we would know the price range,” he explained.

WASA currently produces 9.5 million gallons of water daily in Tobago.

Construction of the plant will ramp up production to an additional five million gallons to WASA’s system.

Though WASA has faced some challenges with its water distribution, Thomas said it has improved its service this year, compared to its acute shortages last year. 

“This year, while there were some challenges, we have brought three new wells on line for our drilling programme. The shortages have not been so acute. We have also stepped up delivery of water trucking,” he added.

In addition to that, Thomas said WASA would undertake a desilting exercise at the Hillsborough Dam which would increase water capacity.

With a population of 60,000, WASA serves 22,177 customers in Tobago.

Imam Shaykh Munuf Muhammed yesterday called on Muslims not to take the law into their own hands when a wrong has been committed against them. They were instead advised to report their injustices to the police.

However, Muhammed said if the aggrieved person fails to get satisfaction from the law, they should leave everything in Allah’s hands.

Muhammed made the call yesterday at the Janazah of Thomas “Hamza” Sharpe at the Caroni Mosque in the presence of a small group of mourners, many of whom were young men dressed in shemaghs and sunglasses which hid their identities. 

Sharpe, 31, a known member of the Unruly ISIS gang, was killed by Selwyn “Robocop” Alexis on Sunday at the latter’s business at Freedom Street, Enterprise. Alexis was also killed as he returned fire at Sharpe and other members of the gang who came out of a car shooting at him. Kevin Escayg, 43, was also killed in the shooting and his son was injured.

Addressing those who came to bid Sharpe farewell, Mohammed said as an Imam his duty was to promote peace in society.

“If a person chooses to live his life otherwise then the Imam has no control over the actions of people. If you have a problem with someone, there are certain rules and regulations that must be followed.”

If anyone should take the life of an innocent person, Muhammed said, in the sight of Allah it was as if you had taken the life of all of mankind, he said. 

He also urged mourners that when they knew of a wrong and were silent about it, “do not take things in your own hands. No! That is not what Islam is. If you are living in a Muslim state it is un-Islamic if you take the law into your hands. It is not correct.”

Muhammed said if a Muslim had a misunderstanding with someone, they should go to the police and report it.

“If you are not satisfied and you feel you have not gotten justice... we must also understand that there is a day when we will all stand up in front of our Creator, where there will be justice, whether we are Muslims or not. Your Lord is not unjust to anyone. This is the teaching of Islam.”

The Imam said a person should never feel malice, hatred or animosity against another, because that did not reflect Islam, which propagated peace.

“It is not a part of Islam. It is satan and devil that is coming and we have to rid ourselves from these mean qualities. 

“One thing, Muhammed urged Muslims to hold strong to was the Holy Q’uran. You would never go astray,” he added.

Describing Islam as a tranquil religion, Mohammed said when people came into the fold of the religion and they did “crazy things... it also happens in other religions too... people do things in the name of their religion and what happens in the long run, is that everyone belonging to that faith now has to suffer. They suffer because people have the wrong impression and understanding of what this faith is about.”