Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday heaped praises on St Augustine MP Prakash Ramadhar for his sterling contribution to T&T efforts rekindling its relationship with Jamaica during a five-day trip there. 

Questioned last night about his decision to invite Opposition members to Jamaica, Ramadhar’s contribution and if the Government would extend further invitations to the Opposition MP on State trips, Rowley said:

“Mr Ramadhar is a very experienced lawyer. He is a very experienced parliamentarian and he is a member of the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. 

“I can tell you, at critical moments in our discussions in Jamaica his input was very valuable as a member of the delegation of Trinidad and Tobago.”

Probed on if Government intended to invite more Opposition MPs on State visits after his delegation’s arrival from Kingston, Rowley said:

“Maybe, maybe not. I don't know. It all depends on the members of the Opposition. If they are invited and they turn up, then so be it. If they do not turn up, well we would go without them.”

Ramadhar, however, steered clear of fielding questions from the T&T Guardian concerning comments made by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who criticised him for accepting the invitation by Rowley.

Instead, he said he would hold a press conference soon to clear the air on certain issues.

“Tonight was all about the Prime Minister and the trip. I don’t want to comment,” a smiling Ramadhar said in the VIP room of the Piarco International Airport.

Last week, Persad-Bissessar knocked Ramadhar for accepting the invitation, saying an Opposition parliamentarian could not represent the Opposition bench without holding consultations with her.

She said neither Rowley nor Ramadhar had consulted her about the issue or sought any advice from her.

Couva North MP, Ramona Ramdial, who was also invited, declined the invitation after consulting her, Persad-Bissessar said. 

Also among Rowley’s delegation were Foreign Affairs Minister Dennis Moses and Minister of Legal Affairs Stuart Young.

Rowley described his five-day trip to Jamaica as hectic, exhausting and successful, he having met the business community, University of the West Indies students, academia and government and opposition officials.

Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness had invited Rowley to his country when they first met in Belize.

The invitation was prompted by the seemingly strained trade relationship between the two countries, after Jamaicans, who were deported from T&T, had called for a boycott of T&T goods there.

Rowley said if he had not made the trip to deal with the issue, which was a deteriorating situation, could have resulted in some very undesirable consequences for both countries. 

In particular, Rowley said T&T’s capacity could have been faced with challenges within the manufacturing sector here, leading to the possible loss of jobs.

Among the issues discussed during the trip, he said, were the Caricom Single Market and Economy, free movement, security, Caribbean Airlines and the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (Gate). 

Some of the businesses Rowley and his delegation met were the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, health services, Foreign Affairs and the Manufacturing Association 

He said his trip was to put T&T”s position to Jamaicans to whom some misunderstandings and misrepresentations were advanced from certains quarters.

Rowley said the position of free movement of citizens from across the region came up.

“We discussed at length a requirement for our citizens of our region, governed under the Chaguaramas Treaty, to be properly informed about the conditions under which free movement of citizens exists,” Rowley said.

While there is substantial free movement in the region, Rowley said there were some conditions where the movement could be restricted. He noted that T&T has had to restrict movement of some people to our shores.

Rowley said he was able to speak to some people in Jamaica who were particularly aggrieved, mouth pieces and influence-makers.

He said his Government left Jamaica with the understanding that matter was not behind us.

As leaders of Caricom, he said, both Jamaica and T&T have to set good examples.

He said at the level of the Caricom Single Market and Economy, steps had been taken for a review of work to be done and on work that had been done.

Another eyebrow-raising development, Rowley said, was when they were informed that Jamaica had put in place a committee to review its relationship with Caricom.

“That discussion was the subject of extensive discussions in some quarters,” he said.

Approximately 1,300 prisoners in remand are now being considered for bail by the State from August 15.

In light of this new development, due to the failure of the Opposition to support the Government’s recent move to extend the Bail Amendment Bill, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi yesterday admitted that the release of these prisoners, who are facing charges of kidnapping for ransom, could be a security risk to the country. However, he assured that security forces will be out in full force to deal with whatever comes as a result of this situation.

Al-Rawi broke the news at a press conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port-of-Spain, saying the Opposition’s decision to blank the Bail Bill extension means he will now have to make certain amendments to the Bail Act.

He said the judiciary will be put on high alert to deal with the applications which will now come before magistrates and judges for access to bail.

But as Government considers the amendment to the Bail Act, Al-Rawi said they would not approach Parliament since he believed the judiciary process was the key factor.

“So working with the Chief Justice and their team... to get the judiciary ready to hear the applications which will come when the law sets for the bail amendments and for the anti-gang was of immediate priority. I have spoken to the Chief Justice and I have alerted him, obviously he would be aware as to the situation. You also have to deal from a judicial perspective with how judges deal with the issue of bail,” Al-Rawi said.

“On August 15, 2016 we are going to see the sun set on the anti-gang legislation and also the 22 years of amendments which happened on the bail law of Trinidad and Tobago. That means that the statistical appreciation of who will be approaching the court of T&T for release, in some cases immediate release, if they are incarcerated for only anti-gang matters and for access to bail, if it is the situation in which they were denied bail for 120 days or with trials starting within one year of the 120 days.”

He said when August 15 comes, the country will not to be “caught entirely ill-prepared.”

The AG said there are 2,300 individuals incarcerated in remand, of which 1,000 are facing murder charges and not entitled to bail.

“1,300 of them are entitled to be considered for bail. Roughly 650...680 of them have been granted bail, but are still in remand because they cannot access bail because the stricture of bail is too tight.”

To get bail you must have a surety and land, he noted.

“What we are doing is factoring the access to bail for the 600-odd people who are in jail, granted bail, but cannot get out of the system. That is being worked alongside the electronic monitoring capability...the bracelets. Again, that law was passed in 2011 or 2012 and it was not operationalised.”

Al-Rawi said in default of the passage of the law, the Government must prepare a system to process the several hundred applications, which he said is going to be “a big event for the country.”

Al-Rawi said the 600-plus prisoners who were granted bail have been waiting years to be processed. Asked if allowing these prisoners to be released would cause a security concern, Al-Rawi said, “There is a capacity concern and obviously there is a security concern, yes. There would obviously be a concern which can be met by being ready.”

He said the security forces would also have to be ready with an operational surveillance mechanism and Government was prepared to deal with the consequences.

Asked if the judiciary hold off on going on vacation to deal with the granting of bail to the prisoners, Al-Rawi said the magistracy does not have that problem but the High Court will.

No electronic bracelets 

The electronic bracelets to monitor released prisoners, Al-Rawi said, are yet to be purchased and need to be operationalised with a telecommunications network and a security responding team to deal with those try to go beyond the distance stipulated.

Al-Rawi said it would take the Government several months before this system comes on stream.

“It is a mechanism we can use to help the criminal justice system by giving conditional releases for prisoners who are on pre-trial detention who are appropriate for release.”

The AG said while this exercise with the judiciary, Commissioner of Prisons, Commissioner of Police and Director of Public Prosecutions was ongoing and giving assistance, they need more time to appreciate what was going to happen.

“The submission to the country is not only that justice delayed is justice denied...justice delayed is extremely expensive from the taxpayers and family perspective as well, because of the rights of the victim and the rights of the accused. The impacts upon their families must be considered as well.”

Al-Rawi said, however, that T&T was not able to access the effectiveness of anti-gang law because nothing was done in the last five years. He said consultation on the bail legislation was still underway.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi yesterday clarified statements that the $12 billion in uncollected Value Added Tax (VAT) which he spoke about was taken out of context by the media.

Yesterday, Al-Rawi cleared his position on the matter at a press conference at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain, stating that it was important for the media to listen carefully on what ”we say in the context of what we said.”

It was during an address at a Chamber of Industry and Commerce event on Wednesday, Al-Rawi said he spoke about outstanding liabilities on VAT, which was taken out of context by the media.

“I specifically spoke about it over several years and in answer to questions that came, I cautioned that the $12 billion figure was a combination of events. It was actual amounts due, interest, penalties on those amounts over a span of a number of years, including the estimation of what should have been in the system, but what was not in the system.”

Al-Rawi said that conversation was put to Finance Minister Colm Imbert at Thursday’s post-Cabinet media briefing, resulting in someone asking if he was going to collect $12 billion this year.

Imbert, in response to the question, stated that the $12 billion was incorrect, stating that he did not know where Al-Rawi got the figure from.

Imbert explained that while the State was planning to recoup a significant amount of outstanding taxes via a tax amnesty, $500 million is the Government’s target.

“That is certainly not the conversation that was had at the Chamber of Commerce. Nor was the honourable minister (Imbert) present when the discussion was had and obviously could only answer the question put to him.”

Al-Rawi said the media should have understood the context in which he spoke. 

“The fact is, when we speak about civil asset forfeiture that money laundering and tax evasion is a big issue for our country and if we mop up the leakage in revenue then we can certainly use that money for the running of our country particularly when revenue is a significant item on the national agenda.”

The ayes have it.

That was the consensus of over 300 teenagers who yesterday unanimously agreed at a public consultation that children should not get married before the age of 18.

The consultation, titled Married Acts and Issues Related to Children, hosted by Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi’s office at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port-of-Spain, discussed issues such as child marriage, domestic abuse, teenage abortion, teenage pregnancy and sexual offences matters.

Addressing the children, Al-Rawi said the consultation was one of many his office held, which sought views so far from religious leaders, the judiciary and magistracy. He said he wanted the views from young people on whether abolishing under-age marriages was necessary and which the Government can act legislatively to increase and harmonise the age of marriage across the four statuses.

Under the existing law, Al-Rawi said, the Hindus, Muslims, Orisha and Civil and Christian allowed marriages under the age of 18. 

He said the Government could not amend the laws itself, hence the reason they had been seeking consultation on the matter from all quarters.

Many of the attendees represented religious bodies and were secondary school students.

Al-Rawi said the police needed to do more in bringing men to justice who impregnated girls between the ages of 12 and 16, which was considered statutory rape.

He produced statistics which showed that for the period 2006 to 2016 there were 84,330 marriages in T&T, with 548 cases being minors.

Of this figure, Hindus had 328 marriages of minors, followed by Civil with 117 and Muslims 103. Orisha had none.

The 548 children who tied the knot, Al-Rawi said, ranged in age between 11 and 16.

With regard to sexual offence matters pending in the magistracy as at July 2015, Al-Rawi revealed there were 1,089.

Of this figure, there were 559 who were charged with sexual intercourse with a female under the age of 14, while sexual intercourse with a person attaining 14 years and under 16 years were 268, followed by 128 matters of sexual intercourse with a person over 14 and under 16 years without consent.

Al-Rawi described the figures as harrowing.

Between 2011 and 2015, Al-Rawi disclosed, there were 743 teenage abortions, 67 of which fell in the age bracket of 13 to 16.

Al-Rawi said from 1999 to 2015 there were 15,231 teenage pregnancies, with 6,115 coming from the San Fernando General Hospital alone. Twenty three of these pregnancies were from girls under the age of 12.

The AG said “What we are seeing is that thousands of children are having babies.”

For two hours, Al-Rawi questioned each person who came up to give their views on the contentious matter and asked them whether they would support a child marrying under the age of 18.

He also threw out the questions if they thought a 12-year-old was ready for marriage.

The majority disagreed, saying that children between the ages of 12 and 18 were not mature and ready to take on the responsibility of marriage The participants called for sex education to be part of the syllabus in schools along with the establishment of parenting programmes.

Among those who were against child marriage was Tyshad Ashton, 17, who asked the AG why was it okay to steal a child’s innocence.

Ashton’s sister, Alexia, 13 a Form Two Caribbean Union College student, said that making a decision on marriage at such a tender age required a mature mind.

Naparima Girls’ High School students Amba-Vaani Persad and Chloe Jade Ramdeo, both 13-year-olds concurred that a child should be able to enjoy his or childhood and not be pressured into marriage.

Several called for child marriages to end, while others felt that the issue should be determined by consenting adults.

Pleased with the turn out and the responses, Al-Rawi said he was encouraged that the country was on the right path.

Prakash Ramadhar yesterday admitted that if it was the will of his constituents to resign as MP for St Augustine, he would do so.

Ramadhar made it clear that he had no craving for political office.

He said there were people in the UNC who never supported him and wanted him out of the Opposition in order to dominate the politics to an unhealthy level.

Ramadhar was commenting on several posts plastered on the UNC and St Augustine Constituency Facebook walls, calling for him to resign as MP, hours after he returned to Trinidad after a five-day trip to Jamaica, which he attended with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to rekindle a strained relationship between both countries.

Several posts described Ramadhar as a “traitor” and being disrespectful to Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar for going with the PNM delegation. 

They also reminded Ramadhar that if it was not for the UNC he would have never won the seat on a COP ticket.

In a telephone interview, Ramadhar said: “I am not moved by the views of one or two people. I have been here before in terms of the attacks from some members over the years while in government.

“For those who believe this was a betrayal in any form or fashion they do not understand who I am before and while in politics.”

Told that some people had called for on-line petition for him to resign as MP, Ramadhar said he welcomed the effort.

“And if it is the will of the majority of people of St Augustine, of course, I have no craving to hold political office. All I have done is to continue to work towards improving Trinidad and Tobago. 

“There are those within the Opposition forces who have never supported me... who would wish to see me depart so they would have dominance to direct the future of the politics to a very unhealthy level. 

He asked: “What does that prove? I don’t care to be drawn in by critics. I care to be drawn in by the future that is successful. Ask those persons what have they done to contribute to a legitimate and credible force to sustain us in government against all of the odds I stood almost singularly for the Partnership?” 

He said those who wanted him to step down as MP should face him directly.

“My future is not determined by the will of others. It is determine by conscience, actions and guidance from God,” he added.

Ramadhar said he had faced many challenges in the past and was unafraid of what was before him.

The MP said people reacted in different ways, out of misinformation, others were dominated by fear while many were manipulated by mischief.

“If there are those who wish to divide, carry on, and let the PNM succeed,” he added.

Ramadhar said he held the PP together when many said the COP should stand on its own.

Having won the UNC stronghold seat on a COP ticket in 2015, Ramadhar said for months, he had been taking a beating from many quarters but has always put country first.

“I am sure the UNC alone could win St Augustine but we do know that the UNC’s support alone, as much as we cherish it, will not win government.”

Ramadhar said if we were to allow some voices to take dominance “then they are doing the very thing that they claim they do not want. That is a continued PNM victory.”

While he would embrace healthy debate on the matter, Ramadhar said the current issue was unhealthy.

Instead the PNM and UNC bridge differences, Ramadhar said walls were being built around both parties which was not doing the country any good. 

Two weeks ago, Persad-Bissessar had knocked Ramadhar for accepting the Jamaica invitation, saying an Opposition parliamentarian could not represent the Opposition bench without holding consultation with her.

In an interview on CNC3 Morning Brew yesterday, Ramadhar, in response to the Opposition Leader’s claims, said he did in fact communicated with Persad-Bissessar, via text message, a phone call and voice message, informing her about the trip which she did not acknowledge.

Ramadhar admitted he was surprised by Persad-Bissessar’s lack of response.

“I was taken aback by it. This is the politics of the day. So whatever the reasons are, it is much ado about very little. People were making a mountain out of a molehill. Rest assured, I would have made every effort to have spoken with her at the relevant time,” he said.

Before leaving, Ramadhar said he consulted with COP’s leader Dr Anirudh Mahabir.

Ramadhar said he participated in several discussions in Jamaica, among them was the Caribbean Court of Justice.

He, however, agreed that Rowley should have first consulted with Persad-Bissessar before inviting him.

“We have seen many breaches while we were in government within the (People’s) Partnership but we never allowed that to create any fracture,” he said.

Since his return on Thursday, Ramadhar said he had not spoken to Persad-Bissessar who had made no attempt to reach him either.

He denied there was bad blood between the Opposition Leader and himself, stating they have been through quite a lot over the years.

“When many thought that things were going to crash and burn in 2011 we worked it through,” he added.

He said he was willing to give Opposition Whip Ganga Singh an update about the trip.

“Once they ask I will tell them and there are those who will fuel this thing as if there was some great divide. It ought not to be,” he said.

Ramadhar insisted he had great respect and admiration for Persad-Bissessar.

“But I could tell you that there are those within the UNC who do not want to see any future partnership. They prefer to hold on to something that would not take us back into government,” he said.

Told that Persad-Bissessar viewed the trip as a disrespect to her, Ramadhar said if that was the way she felt, he felt sorry.

“I would always consider her as a friend and ally,” he said.

He asked what was the difference between his trip and Persad-Bissessar, who had invited Rowley in 2013 to the funeral of former South African president Nelson Mandela.

Asked if the trip was a PNM sweetener for him, Ramadhar replied: “For those who know me, I cannot be bought or be sold by any sweetener or otherwise.”

What is his position in the Opposition?

Ramadhar said he would continue to work with the Opposition the same way he had always stood firm with them.

“I paid a heavy price within my party. My party has paid a very heavy price, as the UNC. We have lost government,” he added.

He said the relationship between the COP and UNC would end “only if those who wish to see a division allow it to succeed.”

Questioned when Parliament re-opens in September if he would sit as an Independent on the UNC bench, Ramadhar said:

“There will be need to have discussions between the parties as how we proceed because things were going very well. Nobody would assume for a moment that the independence of the COP would be given up now in Opposition. That could never have occurred.”

Since losing at the polls last September, Ramadhar said no new arrangement between COP and UNC was hammered out. 

“There has been no further effort since then to engage on how we proceed. Maybe the time is now,” he added.

Persad-Bissessar did not respond to a text message about Ramadhar’s claims.

From Monday, some 13,330 Food Card (Targeted Conditional Cash Transfer Programme) recipients will be removed from the system following an audit and update of the system. 

The deactivation of the cards will save the Government $100 million annually, Minister of the People and Family Services, Cherrie-Ann Crichlow-Cockburn, said yesterday in an exclusive interview with the T&T Guardian.

On March 15, Crichlow-Cockburn, through her ministry, had appealed to some 14,960 food card recipients to go into the ministry to ensure their information was updated. The cardholders were initially given three months to do so but due to a slow response the deadline was extended to July 15.

“And as of July 15, only 1,630 recipients came in to have their card activated. It means that we are going to deactivate 13,330 people from the system from August 1. You can draw your own conclusions,” Crichlow-Cockburn said during an interview at her Port-of-Spain office. 

Crichlow-Cockburn said Government would now save $100 million from the process which could now be utilised “purposely” in her ministry.

Earlier this year, the ministry had also removed approximately 4,000 from the programme, which saved the Government $25 million annually. Thereafter, on May 1, the Government put a temporary hold on 11,800 of 13,000 food card recipients.

Of the ministry’s 27,000 food card recipients, Crichlow-Cockburn said 24,000 were paid via a debit card system, while 3,158 cardholders were on a biometric system.

The minister said the 27,000 cardholders did not include the 13,000 recipients whose cards were put on a temporary hold two months ago.

Crichlow-Cockburn said ample warning was given to the cardholders via the print, electronic media, phone calls, home visits and on the ministry’s website to update their status. Those whose cards would be deactivated in the coming days, she said, could re-apply and would be re-assessed for qualification. 

Had her ministry not removed the 4,000 cardholders from the system, Crichlow-Cockburn said every year $25 million would have gone down the drain. The cards carry values of $410 to $700.

“Having carried this exercise further, we realised over 15,000-plus cardholders were not registered and were asked to come in.

“Failure to come in resulted in a temporary hold on your card. These 14,960 recipients are supposed to be dependent on this card for their monthly food supply... you would expect an influx or a mad rush. Instead, the majority did not comply,” she added.

Crichlow-Cockburn said that was the most glaring and disturbing issue for her as minister. She insisted  the decision to remove the cards from the system was not to suppress, deny or frustrate anyone, but would ensure that any holder of a card was deserving of it.

In addressing the issue, Crichlow-Cockburn said the food card was one area the ministry first looked at when she took office last September. Under the last administration, she said it was decided to issue 50 cards a month to each Member of Parliament for distribution to their constituents.

“The ministry was asked to do an assessment to ensure the recipients had qualified for the cards. I am not sure to what extent that was done,” Crichlow-Cockburn said.

She admitted there was a lot of leakage and wastages in the system and Government wanted to ensure it got to those who needed it. Asked if Government may go after the illegitimate cardholders to repay the State, she said she had not been privy to such discussions.

From September 2015 to March, the ministry has issued 3,049 food cards, she noted.

Public raised ‘rich’ users to ministry

Crichlow-Cockburn said the update of the database in the last six months showed some  cardholders could not be located, had died or emigrated.

“Some cardholders passed their cards to their family and friends. The funds that were placed on the cards every month was being utilised at the supermarkets.

“So it begs the question who was really using these cards? This certainly was not above board. Of course, this raised some red flags. This was disturbing because I believe there may have been other deserving people who could have benefitted from these cards,” she said.

Crichlow-Cockburn said she was first made aware that some of the cards were in the wrong hands by a relative.

“My niece came home to complain that a customer who had a trolley filled with groceries was ahead of her in the line at a supermarket. Not only that, draped over a shoulder was an expensive Gucci bag. She was also properly dressed... so you could tell it was people with money. 

“And when it was time to pay for the items, she pulled out multiple food cards. This caused a bit of an uproar in the line. People started questioning how she got the food cards. We had many situations like that,” she said.

The contents of an internal audit in March unearthed that there was a flaw in the food card system, in that the ministry was supposed to undertake a review of each cardholder twice yearly.

“That would have determined if your living conditions had improved or you are still in need of the card,” she said.

Crichlow-Cockburn said to her surprise the reviews were not carried out on “a substantial number of the cardholders” for several years.

In going forward, she said it was recommended in the audit that reviews be implemented and adhered to.

President of the Petroleum Dealers’ Association of T&T, Robindranath Naraynsingh, yesterday said the country’s 170 gas stations were on the verge of collapse due to poor profitability margins from the sale of fuel.

Saying the gas stations service more than half the population on a daily basis, Naraynsingh admitted their industry had been plunged into a crisis. He could not say what percentage of the gas stations were likely to close their doors but said a dark cloud was hanging over their heads and “an impending doom was surely coming if this situation persists.” 

Delivering the feature address to a small group of dealers at a special general meeting at Kam-po Restaurant, Chaguanas, Naraynsingh pleaded with Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre to meet with them before the situation worsened and jobs were lost.

The association also threatened to seek judicial review against Government’s proposal to award retail marketing licences in the landowner’s name rather than the operator.

“Our Government came in and promised a rising tide of prosperity. We have instead been plunged into a crisis that is now beginning to affect all present here today. Our industry is on the brink of destruction. We are not the only ones who are feeling the pinch of a reduced profit margin, many of us are near insolvency,” Naraynsingh said.

He said businesses were being lost while gas station dealers were being shattered which showed that their future and livelihoods were in deep trouble.

“Today, I say to you the challenges we face are real. They are serious and there are many. We deal with a lot of money but our margins are very small,” he added.

The meeting was called at a time when countries across the globe are experiencing dynamic changes in the petroleum industry which were now also affecting the retail sector in T&T. The retail sector comprises retailers, distributors, dealers, franchisees and operators.

Of the 170 dealers, Naraynsingh said 40 stations operate convenient stores which help supplement their incomes and help absorb the losses incurred at the pumps.

There are five stations in Tobago and collectively they employ approximately 2,000 workers nationwide. The dealers buy fuel daily from National Petroleum and Unipet who are wholesalers.

In the last two years, Naraynsingh said over 20 gas stations dealers had surrendered their keys to NP because they were operating at a loss.

Since November 2005, Naraynsingh said the price of liquid petroleum (fuel) had not increased for dealers while the cost of living soared across the board.

“We are experiencing a profitability decline with two recent increases in the price of super gasoline and diesel, totallying 30 per cent. Our gross profit on super has gone from 6.7 per cent to 5.6 per cent, while diesel from 8.7 per cent to 7.3 per cent.”

For every litre of fuel sold, Naraynsingh said dealers make 17 cents on super, 17 cents on premium and 12 cents on diesel.

“Every time the price of fuel goes up that margin remains the same. What happens is that our gross profit keeps going down. We need to have that margin increased from 17 cents to 25 cents for us to make a profit. 

“For every $1 that is spent at the pump, two cents go to the dealer. The rest goes to the Government and NP. We are in a fixed price business. If we don’t get an increase we are looking at a collapse of this industry,” Naraynsingh warned.

With little profit margins, Naraynsingh said dealers have to pay staff, taxes, electricity and water rates, telephone, security and maintain their businesses. He said what was crippling many businesses was the 2016 imposition of a 200 per cent Green Levy and Business Levy Tax.

“Many of us now have our backs against a wall,” he said

Naraynsingh said dealers should have been considered by the Finance Minister for a reduction in both taxes.

Blanked by minister

Another issue Naraynsingh raised was the 2010 suspended issuance of retail marketing licences by the Ministry of Energy, as it reviews the terms and conditions of these licences.

He said: “At present, the ministry has proposed to put the licence on the landowner’s name instead of the operator whom they are bound to by law. Our many efforts to engage the ministry on this matter has not been fruitful in the past six months. 

“Operators must appreciate that the retail licence being held in a name other than the operator removes their security of tenure and entitlement to the retail margin. This is completely against the Petroleum Act.”

He said letters sent to Olivierre about that issue were not acknowledged. 

Secretary and treasurer of the association, Fabia Saleema Sattar, said Olivierre was invited to deliver the feature address at yesterday’s meeting but failed to show. That was not the first time, Sattar said, the association had invited Olivierre, hoping to address their concerns and come to an amicable solution.

“When one considers where this industry was one year ago, I don’t think we would have envisioned this position today,” she added.

She explained that what they were facing was not the business of NP or Unipet.

“It is the business of the ministry and the Government. It is very clear that the ministry is not concerned with what our concerns are and maybe we would have to take it a little bit further. In the bigger scheme of things we are not consulted in changes that  directly impact our industry,” she said.

Olivierre did not respond to a text message sent to cellphone while a call went unanswered. 

Planning and Sustainable Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis yesterday described as “illegal” the construction and setting up of several private businesses on the Western peninsula, some of which were preventing citizens from accessing public spaces.

Robinson-Regis also revealed that Government was now reviewing between 21 or 22 land leases which were given out by the Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) in the days leading up to the 2015 general election.

She made the disclosure after touring several areas in Chaguaramas, two of which were the Five Islands Water and Fun Park and the Chaguaramas Safari Adventure, with CDA chairman Anthony Pierre and a technical team.

Pierre, in fielding questions from the media, said the CDA was currently re-examining a total of 44 leases given out under the People’s Partnership administration.

“A number of those (leases) were entered into the week leading up to the 2015 general election. A lot of those leases were dated September 4 and 5. Even the day before the election, which was September 6, which was a Sunday...those leases were dated. The leases were finalised on those days.”

Pierre averaged 21 to 22 leases were signed in the month of September alone.

Robinson-Regis spoke specifically about concerns she had about the water and fun park, which is a private development that was approved by the People’s Partnership. CDA had leased lands for the water and fun park.

One of the major concerns, she said, was no access to the beachfront at the park. 

For years, Robinson-Regis said the beach remained a public space, which is outlined in the Chaguaramas 1974 Statutory plan that was approved by Cabinet and Parliament.

“We were concerned that the access was being denied.”

Following the appointment of the CDA board last December, Robinson-Regis said she asked Pierre to talk to the park’s developer with regard to the public access. Subsequently, she said two access points were established and a board walk is being built. She admitted that the beach was still not as accessible as she would have liked, adding any development near the beachfront was supposed to remain a public space.

“Work has proceeded apace. So right now it is difficult to stop it. There is no way we can tell the amusement park people to break down their structure. That makes no sense. So really speaking, the park is located in an area where according to the law, it should not be.”

Robinson-Regis said the Chaguaramas Safari Amusement, another private sector project, also did not acquire planning permission and attempts were now being made to get authorisation through her ministry. 

Pierre said the petting zoo in the safari occupies four acres of agricultural land, but they have a lease for 40 acres. He said even the Chaguaramas Golf Course, which was supposed to be free and accessible to the public, was looked at as they examined some of the land leases to see if they were valid. 

“All those projects are illegal...technically because they did not fall under the CDA’s statutory plan.”

CDA manages over 14,000 acres of land in Chaguaramas. Had the PP been re-elected to office, the minister said citizens would have had to pay to access the public areas she highlighted. Robinson-Regis said the CDA would try monitor buildings that are in the process of being built to ensure they meet the stipulations.

Asked how Government intended to deal with further congestion on the western peninsula when the fun park opens its doors in December, Robinson-Regis said Cabinet has a fiscal infrastructure committee, chaired by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

CDA audit goes to Cabinet

The audit conducted into the operations of the CDA, which has unearthed a series of irregular transactions between 2010 to 2015, is still before Planning and Sustainable Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis.

Yesterday, Robinson-Regis said she and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young will take a note to Cabinet on the findings of the audit.

“Based on the result of the audit, the board took certain actions with regard to persons who were on staff here and so the CEO was dismissed based on the results of the audit.”

The CEO was Joycelyn Hargreaves, who has since been replaced by Michael Anatol as general manager. Hargreaves’ dismissal was May 23 with immediate effect.

CDA chairman Anthony Pierre said the audit revealed that some actions were taken by certain members of staff that was not in keeping with public figures, public life and authority. “A lot of decisions taken were not in the best interest of the CDA,” Pierre said.

He admitted that the PP had created a mess with the company’s organisational structure, positions and staffings, which they were now trying to fix.

Works and Transport Minister Fitzgerald Hinds yesterday gave a commitment to pay the employees of the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) their backpay.

He said the matter was now in the hands of the Chief Personnel Officer (COP) since management of PTSC had made an error with backpay calculations, which was now being addressed.

Last Friday, PTSC employees upstaged a slew of government ministers, including Hinds, who had gathered to launch the government’s WiFi on PTSC’s bus service at the City Gate hub, Port-of-Spain, demanding that they be paid monies owed to them.

Hinds said having met with representatives of the Public Service Association (PSA) and the Transport and Industrial Workers Union following the protest, all matters were raised and addressed by him. 

“As far I am aware we all left there satisfied with the discussions that we shared.”

On that basis, Hinds said he could not understand why the media were now posing questions to him with regards to when the employees would receive their backpay.

“In any event, the issue of backpay for PTSC workers has gone before the CPO. Because the management of PTSC would be able to truthfully say there were some issues around the calculation of the amount of the backpay, and as well, issues around who have already been paid their backpay.”

Hinds said those matters were now being sorted out. Yesterday, PSA’s branch chairman Darryl Lamy said 300 of PTSC’s workers were owed $34 million.

Lamy said if the employees were not paid soon, they would seek advice from PSA’s president Watson Duke who will decide their next course of action.

Imam Nazim Mohammed, of the Masjid Umar Ibn Khattab Jamaat, Rio Claro, has denied suggestions that he recruited Shane Crawford to fight for extremist militant group Isis. In fact, Mohammed says he does not know, nor has he ever spoken to or prayed with Crawford at his Masjid.

Mohammed’s denial comes days in the wake of reports that Turkish authorities had thwarted an attempt to smuggle nine T&T nationals into Syria to join Isis and an article in the July edition of Isis online propaganda magazine Dabiq in which Crawford, under his Muslim name Abu Sa’d at-Trinidadi, was featured and made an appeal to T&T Muslims to kill christians.

In the article, Crawford said he was involved in crime before leaving T&T and was accused of being among those plotting to kill former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Identifying himself as an Isis sniper, Crawford claimed he and two T&T colleagues, Abu Abdillah and Abu ’Isa, were the first three Muslims to join Isis. He admitted to being inspired to jihad by the teaching of Ashmead Choate, the Princes Town-based Muslim scholar who was the purported ring leader of the 2011 assassination plot.

After the report surfaced there were also reports allegedly linking Mohammed to the Isis recruitment process here in T&T and of involvement with Crawford. But Mohammed has insisted that he had no friendship, association or interaction with Crawford.

“Maybe I saw him (in the mosque) and thing, but I personally don’t know him. I never spoke to him. All I know him is by seeing his photos in the newspapers. Maybe he attended my mosque, I can’t remember every face. Maybe he passed through the mosque, I don’t know. People (non members) would come from all over to attend Juma’ah,” Mohammed said, defending his position and name.

Mohammed said after giving the Khutbah (a sermon preached by an Imam) for Juma’ah he would go home. Asked if he had helped Crawford get to Syria, Mohammed said he was being blamed innocently.

“If I have to be implicated it must be on truth. If they have to imprison me for the truth, then so be it. When people want to look for a scapegoat they would come after you. But they must not do that. People must be just and truthful. If people do things, why should we be paying for that?”

Mohammed said it seemed the Government wanted to prove to the world that they were dealing with Isis.

“If you are dealing with the situation to penalise innocent people, well, let them go ahead. That is not justice. They must not do things to please the super powers and the world.”

Mohammed said his members were not into robbery, gangs, drugs, crime and certainly not Isis.

“Allah is my protector. When they can’t catch you on truth they would try to set you up. I have to be careful. I cannot convince them (police) that I don’t know him. I could only tell the truth. So if this is their system to prosecute people on assumption, well I don’t know.”

In 2009, Mohammed came under the radar when he was interviewed by FBI agents prior to the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain. The agents wanted to know if Mohammed was a threat to US President Barack Obama during his visit to Trinidad.

Thereafter, his 28-year-old mosque became a target.

For the past two years, Mohammed said he has been branded an Isis recruiter, which has led police intelligence to monitor his telephone calls and movements.

“They have intelligence checking me out...monitoring my life day and night. Sometimes the intelligence would give them wrong information, sometimes they have intelligence (police) dressed as Muslims coming to the mosque for Juma, so I have to be careful. So I don’t know who coming and going. Sometimes the intelligence lying for them too.”

Mohammed could not say who was the local recruiter for Isis. “But it certainly is not me.”

Last year, five members of Mohammed’s family, his daughter, son-in-law and three teenage grandchildren, travelled to war torn Syria, where Isis operates. 

But Mohammed, 74, claimed he had no inkling that his daughter had planned to go there with her immediate family. Mohammed said he has had no communication with his daughter since they settled in Syria, noting she had no intention of returning to Trinidad.

An Imam for several years, Mohammed said the programme his mosque offers was reformation, living good with one another and serving Allah.

“Our programme is not to kill people. If people want to know how we operate they can come and check. The people in the community know how we operate.”

ISIS FACTS
The declaration of the formation of a "caliphate" (state governed by Islamic law) by Isis in June 2014 triggered a surge in the number of foreign fighters travelling to Syria and Iraq to join the group. A report published in December 2015 by the New York-based security consultancy Soufan Group estimated that 27,000 foreign jihadists made the trip from 86 countries, more than half of them from the Middle East and North Africa.

Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) chairman, Anthony Pierre, has given an assurance that if an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) shows that construction of a hotel at the old tracking station in Chaguaramas would disrupt the wildlife, flora and fauna of the area, the proposed project will be discontinued.

Pierre made the comment yesterday as he tried to allay fears of naturalists, environmentalists and users of the area, many of whom took to Facebook in the last three days to condemn the CDA’s plan to build a hotel at the tracking station site.

The criticisms came after the CDA on Monday placed a media ad for expression of interest (EOI) for investors/developers into the planning, design, construction and commissioning of a full service hotel at the old tracking station at Macqueripe, Chaguaramas. 

The EOI invited local and internationally qualified and experienced developers/investors to submit an expression for the project by October 6.

“If the EIA shows any significant negative impact on the environment we would not proceed. I could tell you that,” Pierre said when contacted yesterday.

“We would not proceed if the EMA does not give us a Certificate of Environmental Clearance. We would have a change of heart. 
“But at this point in time it is purely exploratory. There are other locations that we can look at. I know there are a lot of feelings around the tracking station. We are fully cognisant of how many people use it and the history behind it. We would not do anything to disrupt the wildlife and ecology of the area,” he added.  

He said the hotel the CDA was looking to construct was not a “Hyatt hotel-type arrangement, but an eco log hotel that would cater for tourists and visitors whose hobby was animal, birds and butterfly watching.”

The tracking station has also been a place for star gazing.

The road leading to the tracking station, which is a favourite for joggers, cyclists and walking enthusiasts, passes through the spectacular Bamboo Cathedral and runs to the top of the hill where, instead of the expected ridge line, one encounters a flat grassy field surrounded by old, decaying buildings.

On Monday, many took to Facebook to describe the CDA’s move as “disruptive to the environment, horrific and worst idea ever.”

Yesterday, Pierre said the tracking station was only recommended as a possible site.

“We will be very careful in making a final determination on the matter. People would be consulted,” he added. He said the EMA would play a major role in whether a hotel should or should not be constructed there.

“Most likely, the EMA would request an EIA. There are so many safeguards in place. It’s not our intention to flaunt the law on any public authority.

I think there are adequate security measures in place to ensure that we do not start a project that is not in the best interest of the population,” Pierre said, adding the last thing CDA would do was go against the wishes of the population.

He said another site the CDA had in mind was where the Macqueripe hotel was once located, which was a stone’s throw from the tracking station.

“If it is more feasible to go up the valley than come through the tracking station and do the hotel at that side, then we will do that. It’s not that we are thirsty to do this project at all costs.”

Asked if there was a third or fourth location the CDA was eyeing, Pierre said no.

“The CDA has 14,000 acres of land. We will see.”

Pierre also gave a commitment to preserve the tracking station, since it was a historical site.

“It is not the intention to demolish any of the facilities around the tracking station but to incorporate it into the hotel’s design.”

Voices against plan
Historian and author Angelo Bissessarsingh yesterday objected to the proposal. 

“The mere fact that they want to put a hotel on that site I think is apprehensible. It’s one of our great beauty spots on the north western peninsula.The public should not support this in any way imaginable. I am in total disagreement with it,” he said.

While Bissessarsingh said there was a great need to diversify the economy from hydro carbons, he said whatever the Government did must be sustainable and benefit all. Environmentalist and nature lover Stephen Broadbridge described the decision as dreadful.

“The only hotel that I would support there would be a low key eco hotel,” he said.

Stating that Tucker Valley was a sensitive area for endangered species which should be protected, Broadbridge added: “Do they have to encroach on the wildlife all the time? Can’t they just leave Tucker Valley alone for wildlife and eco-type experiences? 

“I am really getting fed up of Trinidadians for their lack of respect for wildlife. Go and stick the hotels in the industrial and party areas.”

For the past 15 years, Broadbridge said the CDA had been ignoring Tucker Valley’s wildlife.

“To have a hotel that creates noise and bright lights would disturb the animals. I am totally against it. They don’t have to put a hotel there,” he said.

Broadbridge said while the CDA had to generate revenue they should not destroy the flora and fauna of Chaguaramas which is a national park and should remain with its green spaces.

“So you want to build a hotel for all the visitors that aren’t coming. That’s interesting,” he said.

Former president of the Caribbean Institute of Astronomy, Graham Rostant, meanwhile, said the tracking station meant a lot to its members and public. He said on dark nights the institute would host stargazing events at the site for the public and its members, for which they pay the CD.

“It would be sad to lose the site because we have been using it for 13 years.

“I feel this development is a mistake for Chaguaramas. I do question the feasibility of a hotel up there. There is no water or electricity to the top of the hill. I can’t see how a hotel would be a viable business there,” Rostant said.

Minister in the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs, Stuart Young, yesterday raised “red flags” about the Caribbean Gas Chemical Ltd (CGCL) deal initiated under the then People’s Partnership government, saying if it had been allowed to go through it would have cost the country billions of dollars in losses.

Stuart also revealed that former attorney general, Garvin Nicholas, was pressured into signing off on the deal on election day, September 7, 2015.

Young made the disclosure in the presence of the acting Prime Minister, Colm Imbert, during the post-Cabinet media briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.

He said all the “red flags” in the deal would be revealed in a ministerial document which would be released when Parliament resumed next month.

In April 2015, Mitsubishi Group (Japan) had signed a deal with National Gas Company (NGC) and Massy Holdings to construct a methanol plant in La Brea, with an investment of TT $1 billion.

Upon assuming office, Young said they were approached by a group of investors asking for the provision of an opinion of the Attorney General in the CGCL deal.

“When we went to find out what happened I discovered cause for concern. When we got to the files at the AG’s office, much to our dismay, we found a number of red flag items by the attorneys who had been looking at this transaction,” Young said.

He said the People’s National Movement decided not to proceed with the deal in its current form.

“What had been agreed upon by the former administration was something that had the potential to expose T&T to billions of (US) dollars in claims.

“One of the things we found when we went back to the records is that on September 7, 2015, which is actually the day of the election, we found that an unusual amount of pressure being put on the technocrats at the Ministry of the Attorney General by the politicians to have a sign-off of the AG’s opinion on the day of election,” he added.

Young said following their discovery, the Government had a conversation with Massy Group, the government of Japan through its governmental bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), as well as the Mitsubishi Group. He said he also travelled to Japan for a two-day visit to speak to Mitsubishi and the Japanese government.

Following months of productive negotiations with the institutions, Young said the PNM was able to come up with an amendment to the agreement “that extracted T&T” from those billion dollar claims.

Last week, Young said, officials from the Mitsubishi Group came to T&T to sign the amended agreement.

Imbert, as acting PM, signed a letter of comfort, while Young signed a document that concluded the transaction.

Imbert said although there was pressure to sign the initial deal, no signature was affixed, while the “investors had used their own monies to start the project to do site preparation and other preliminary work. Now that the last two documents have been signed it will allow a release of funds.”

With the deal now signed, Young said that had increased the confidence of the Japanese government and Mitsubishi, who now see T&T as a bigger potential market for further investments.

Among the benefits T&T stood to gain from the new deal, Young said, was money from the sale of gas from the plant, while Government was a 20 per cent shareholder in the project.

While the main output of the project was methanol, Young said there would also be associated downstream projects with the generation of 1,000 jobs.

“This will bring employment to the La Brea community,” he said.

Nicholas: I didn’t sign off 

Last night, Nicholas said he did not sign off on the initial agreement “because I did not think it was proper to sign off on any deal on election day.”

He said he believed it would have been more appropriate for the incoming government, which ever party was elected into office.

President and CEO of the Massy Group, Gervase Warner, confirmed the amended deal yesterday, saying:

“When we negotiate with whoever the government is at any point in time we would always be trying to negotiate something that makes sense to the country so we would have had those types of conversations with the last government and we would have continued negotiating with them to get to a point where what we had in place was something that we felt was equitable and fair.”

​CGCL project

Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will own 26.25 per cent, 26.25 per cent and 17.5 per cent interests in the project, while NGC and Massy will have the remaining 20 per cent and 10 per cent stakes respectively.

The proposed project also includes construction of a dimethyl ether plant.

The complex is expected to produce one million tonnes of methanol and 20,000 tonnes of dimethyl ether a year.

Work on the complex is planned to be completed in June 2018.

Agreement signing

On August 8, 2016, Imbert, accompanied by Young, Minister of Energy Nicole Olivierre received a Japanese and local delegation for the ceremonial signing of the Amendment Agreement, the Letter of Comfort and the Attorney General’s Opinion, related to the project agreement for the establishment of a natural gas to petrochemical complex for the production of methanol and dimethyl ether (DME) at Union Industrial Estate, La Brea. 

The establishment of the plant is a collaboration among Japan’s Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company Inc, Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the NGC and the Massy Group of Companies.

General manager of Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) Ronald Forde has denied that the corporation has been using parts from derelict buses to service vehicles down for repairs.

He, however, admitted when two buses of the same model were down, PTSC would occasionally remove a part from one of the bus to repair the other.

Forde said for this year, PTSC has injected $20 million in spare parts for its fleet of 350 buses which comprises 27 models.

He was responding to claims made by Transport and Industrial Workers Union, Roland Sutherland, who on Tuesday in a T&T Guardian article raised concerns about the safety of State-owned PTSC buses, stating they were running its service by cannibalising old buses to repair buses that were down.

Also supporting Sutherland’s claims was Public Services Association branch president, Darryl Lamy, who stated that complaint had also reached the ears of the association.

On Wednesday, Forde, along with acting general manager of PTSC, Carl Ramdeo, gave the T&T Guardian a tour of corporation’s workshop and two storerooms to show where they purchase and use original parts for its fleet.

Among the parts in the storerooms were for brakes, airbags, radiators, windscreens and windows which were stacked on shelves, while in the workshop several mechanics said old parts were not used.

At one corner of PTSC’s compound were 15 buses awaiting repairs. Written on the inside of the windscreens of the parked buses were the parts of which PTSC were in short supply.

Among them were injectors and turbo chargers.

“In any industry globally you may have a bus down. There is a part needed that I have ordered but there is a bus that is parked up there awaiting major repairs and I need a small part to get the bus that is down out to move hundreds of commuters out. 

“That is the norm in the industry. I borrow the part of that bus so the other bus would come out (be repaired). But to make a categorical statement that PTSC uses old parts on its buses, that is not true. One thing PTSC does not do is chinks with buying parts,” Forde said.

The unavailability of foreign exchange Forde admitted has been causing some delay in purchasing parts from China and Brazil.

Once an order was placed for a major part from the buses’ manufacturers, Forde said it would take around six to eight weeks to get here.

Small parts were purchased from over 100 local service providers, Forde said, while showing wads of bills of parts that had been purchased.

He said some of the setbacks PTSC had been faced with was the ages of its buses, some of which were 24 years old. The average age of a PTSC fleet, Forde added was 11 years.

“International benchmark is six years,” he said.

Forde admitted that PTSC was looking to get out of its hands bus parts that were no longer in use.

“Many of the buses had become obsolete. The board is looking at a way to dispose of the parts. If we can secure somebody who still uses those buses in the region or internationally we would sell them the parts,” he said.

He revealed that Cabinet had approved a bus rationalisation programme for its fleet.

Instead of using 27 models of buses, PTSC wanted to have on its fleet only four types, he said.

“There is no other country in the world that you can find that (27 models). How it got there I don’t know. I came and met it so. It makes no sense,” he added.

Currently, Forde said, procuring parts was a nightmare while stocking and managing thousand of parts for the different types of buses were a recipe for disaster.

He said PTSC was in the process of refurbishing and rationalising its fleet to make the organisation self-sustainable.

Forde said people were going out of their way to pull down PTSC’s name.

“They relish and love that. What they should be talking about is the pilferage going on inside here. Only this morning they took out some of the windows from a small bus. A battery was also stolen. I now have to put mechanisms in place by fabricating wrought iron cages to lock down the batteries,” he said.

Questioned how long the stealing has been occurring, Forde said for a while, but said that it had to stop.

“PTSC is now in the processing of obtaining security cameras for all our facilities. That should curtail it in a big way,” he said. The cameras are expected to cost PTSC over $1 million.

The thieves, Forde said, have a preference for tyres, small batteries and turbo chargers.

A few months aback, Forde said, a driver and mechanic in South were caught carting away batteries while another employee was found tampering with a bill to embellish the price of items.

“As long as we catch you that is it. We make sure you have a fair trial and we get you out of the operation,” he said.

Despite a high visibility of security officers at entry and exits points, the stealing still occurs.

Questioned if PTSC was looking to reduce its staff and managers, Forde was unable to say.

“We are in the process of conducting a manpower audit to ensure what the taxpayers are paying for they get value for money.

“The audit, which has already been approved by the board, will go out for tender. The only shake-up I would like to see in PTSC is better exchange with labour for money,” he said.

Forde said the appraisal of all employees would be looked at.

In going forward, Forde said the acquisition of 70 CNG buses, which is expected to cost upward of $40 million, would help improve PTSC’s service.

He said PTSC had also awarded a contract to a Venezuela company to refurbish eight articulated buses which were down.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert yesterday described his roadshow to raise US$1 billion on the international capital markets as a resounding success.

Having accessed the money he set out to raise, Imbert said his travels to London, Los Angeles and New York and meetings with investors were ”well worth it because we achieved the outcome. It has now put Trinidad and Tobago on the road map in terms of being a strong, solid investment destination.”

In June, Imbert stated that having borrowed TT$3.1 billion from local banks and drawn down TT$2.5 billion from the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF), that he would travel overseas to borrow US$1 billion on the international financial market.

Giving details about his recent trip at yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair, Imbert said on the first day of the roadshow, T&T received offers of participation from over 250 international investment firms.

“Within two hours, we had received offers of US$3.5 billion dollars,” Imbert, who is acting as Prime Minister, disclosed.

Imbert said they had set a target to close off the offers at US$3 billion, even though they were only trying to raise US $1 billion.

He said the initial interest rate was set was at 4.625 per cent.

However, Imbert said because of the quality of offers they got, they were able to reduce the rate to 4.5 per cent, which was favourable.

Thereafter, Imbert said the Government’s team was able to allocate bonds to strong investors.

By the end of the day, Imbert said the Government had raised US$1 billion without any difficulty whatsoever.

He described the road show as physically and mentally demanding, but worth it.

Imbert said one meeting New York began at 6 am and concluded at 3 pm.

At that meeting, he said presentations and briefing were given, following which they answered questions about the economy, exchange rate, fiscal measures and if T&T was a good investment destination “32 times.”

Imbert said there were also a very few opportunities for local banks and institutions to participate in foreign US$ denominated bond issues.

“We will be creating one for them. There is also an appetite for TT-dollar denominated bonds.”

CEO of the Energy Chamber of T&T Thackwray “Dax” Driver sees the Caribbean Gas Chemical Ltd (CGCL) deal as a major capital investment in T&T.

Driver was giving his views about the new CGCL agreement signed on Monday between the Government and four investors- the Stateowned National Gas Company, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Mitsubishi Corporation, of Japan and local conglomerate Massy Holdings to construct a petrochemical complex comprising methanol and dimethyl ether (DME) plants in La Brea with an investment of about US$1 billion.

On Thursday, Minister in the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Stuart Young raised concerns about the initial agreement signed under the then People’s Partnership which he said had the potential to expose T&T to billion of dollars in claims.

Young also claimed that former attorney general Garvin Nicholas was pressured into signing off the project development agreement on election day, September 7, 2015.

In April 2013, then energy minister Kevin Ramnarine had signed the agreement with the investors. Yesterday, Driver said major capital investments such as these add further value to the economy and drive economic growth.

“The plant’s construction will create many short-term jobs in La Brea and surrounding communities and, once in operations, there will long-term secure jobs and opportunities for economic activity for other companies selling goods and service to the facility. It is very positive for Trinidad & Tobago to attract a major investment from a diversified Japanese conglomerate,” said Driver.

He said he hoped that this investment will be a positive experience for Mitsubishi and he hoped that the corporation would consider future investments, including outside of petrochemicals.

He said methanol was used as an input in many other chemicals and demand for it tends to correlate with overall global economic growth, especially if there was growth in sectors like home construction.

“There is also significant growth in the use of methanol as a cleanburning fuel. Current global initiatives to reduce pollution and increase efficiency of transport fuels means that demand for methanol in the fuel sector is likely to increase, especially in China.”

While there is a demand for methanol in all major industrial markets, Driver said, “China is an important and growing market.”

With Government, through NGC, being a 20 per cent shareholder in this deal, Driver said returns from a major investment such as this will come in the medium to long-term.

“Government revenue will come both from the dividend payments via the NGC and from corporation and other taxes on the plant. It will not provide direct revenue to the State in the short-term.”

Driver said the Energy Chamber has a deep and ongoing relationship with the shareholders in the project. “We have worked closely with the project developers to provide training and certification in basic HSE awareness to potential construction workers in the La Brea community,” he said.

Yesterday, Nicholas did not respond to several questions emailed to him, among them if he had picked up anything unusual in the agreement.

Nicholas also refused to say if he was caught in a ticklish situation in signing the agreement.

He said he had nothing to defend since he did not sign off on the document.

“I received the documents a few days before September 7, I cannot recall exactly when,” Nicholas said.

Asked if the People’s Partnership government had tried to use him as a scapegoat in this deal, Nicholas wrote “I couldn't comment on the scapegoating allegations as I have no information on this. I didn't hear what was said at post-Cabinet,” Nicholas wrote.

Responding to text messages yesterday Young said “I will be making a full and detailed statement in Parliament.” Ramnarine stated that he was “not yet ready to comment on Mitsubishi.”

Days before the last general election, then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar turned the sod for the complex.

Persad-Bissessar did not respond to a text message, while Gerry Brooks chairman of NGC Group of Companies was in a meeting

ABOUT THE COMPLEX

The project aims to produce 1 million tonnes of methanol and 100,000 tonnes of dimethyl ether (DME) per year with an investment of US$850 million or $5.4 billion.

The project will initially use 100 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas to produce the 1 million tonnes of methanol, of which 140,000 tonnes will be used to produce the 100,000 tons of DME.

President of the T&T Contractors’ Association, Mikey Joseph, yesterday welcomed the $300 million injection from the Government that will be used to off-set the more than $2b debt to contractors.

Joseph said the money is still better than nothing, but stated that not many contractors would have their bills settled, given the financial circumstances the country was facing.

“It is my hope that in doing that (paying contractors) they would look at the smaller contractors who would not have the resources and wear-it-all to withstand the issues of banking interest and penalties and all of that would affect their businesses severely right now. I hope they deal with this as a matter of priority,” Joseph said.

At Thursday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, at the Office of the Prime Minister, acting Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Colm Imbert, admitted that he had signed off on $300 million to pay contractors whose invoices have been validated.

The news came two months after Joseph called on Government to settle a staggering $2 billion outstanding payment it had for contractors.

As to whether Government can pay that entire $2 billion in the next month, Imbert said he doubts it and he has no idea where that figure came from.

He also stated that he asked big spenders such as the Educational Facilities Company Ltd, Ministry of Works and Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to provide the Ministry of Finance with validated outstanding bills.

Yesterday, Joseph said approximately $800 million was owed to the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL), while HDC had an outstanding bill of $640 million.

Other State-agencies that owe contractors Joseph said were WASA, Regional Health Authorities and Ministry of Works.

“Let us assume that of the $300 million that has been signed off, $100 million went to EFCL and $100 million went to HDC. I know for a fact that the Minister of Finance has over $180 million in approved certified bills coming from the Ministry of Works under the Programme for Upgrading Roads Efficiency (PURE) programme on his desk. It tells you that not much money would be paid.”

Joseph said PURE alone would absorb two-third’s of the $300 million if they were to be paid.

He said one problem faced by some contractors was that their debts had not been fully certified.

“The reason for it is because the State enterprise when they recognise their debts is ridiculously high they stop certifying. If they don’t certify your payments you have no chance of bringing it to court after four years.”

Joseph said they were willing to meet with Imbert to have a cordial discussion in an attempt to resolve the dispute.

“We are part of the country, nation and its development. The minister does not always have to look for cash to pay contractors. We can sit down and discuss other ways (to settle the debt). We can come to an amicable arrangement.”

The ribbon for a $500,000 historical archway on O’Meara Road, Arima is expected to be cut by Arima mayor George Hadeed soon to welcome visitors and beautify the burgeoning borough.

Hadeed assured that no taxpayers’ funds was used in the construction of the towering metal archway, which is one of four to be erected in Arima by supermarket chain Xtra-Foods in the coming months.

In an interview, Hadeed said work on the archway was still needed, as photographs of the late Holly Betaudier, calypsonian Lord Kitchener and the First Peoples will adorn the top, while a $32,000 clock will be fitted in the middle on August 20.

Thereafter an official launch wil take place with a cutting ribbon exercise. The blue and yellow archway, designed in the shape of a crown and built by Cornelius Construction was installed two weeks ago, a stone’s throw from Xtra-Foods Arima branch. 

St James and Tunapuna also have archways. Hadeed praised Xtra Foods for the kind gesture and called on other businesses in the borough to give back to Arima.

“I want to make it clear that no taxpayers dollars was used in the construction of the archway. With the exception of the clock, this was a project fully funded by Xtra-Foods. 

“We are in a highly-charged political environment and there are those who should know better and who are only looking for mischief.”

Hadeed said while the archway was funded by Xtra-Foods, he teamed up with his councillors and generated funds to purchase the clock as a gift to burgesses.

Marketing manager of Xtra-Foods, Daniel Austin, said the archway was part of the supermarket’s corporate responsibility in giving back to its large customer base and to beautify the borough.

“It cost Xtra-Foods over $500,000 to put up this archway.”

Installing the photographs would cost Xtra-Foods a separate fee, which Austin refused to divulge. Discussions on the archway, Austin said, had been in the pipeline for over five years by its management.

“This archway will be the first of four for Arima,”Austin said.

The second archway will be erected heading out of Arima closer to Maturita, another will be placed at the Arima Cemetery on the Eastern Main Road and the fourth will go up on the Blanchisseuse Road. Construction of the three archways is expected to cost Xtra-Foods approximately $2 million.

Austin said the remaining archways would have to go through a series of approvals, which he anticipate would take a while.

“We are eager to deliver on the other archways. But we don’t expect it to happen soon. It may take a few months.”

Austin said with oil and gas prices plummeting, Xtra-Food was putting its resources into tourism, which was one way T&T can diversify the economy.

“We will use the archways as a main tourism attraction. Arima is the only chartered borough in this hemisphere. 

“When someone comes into Arima they must feel a sense of pride and a warm welcome. It will create more commerce in Arima.”

Chinese businesses and residents are under attack by bandits in Santa Rosa Heights, Arima.

The latest Chinese victim is a 74-year-old man who was beaten on July 28 and left for dead at his Pinto Road business place, which is located two buildings from the Pinto Road Police Post.

Another Chinese businessman, who is situated a mere 500 feet away at Avocado Road, was also relieved of the day’s sales as he closed up his business two weeks ago

Yesterday, residents called on the police to do their job, stating they are seldom seen patrolling the crime-ridden community.

The residents said due to the constant attacks they are now living in fear, noting it was only a matter of time before an innocent person is gunned down by the criminals.

Some residents, who refused to give their names, spoke emotionally about the beating of the elderly businessman who many described as the friendliest guy in the neighbourhood.

One villager said the bandits entered the Chinese man’s preserve business pretending to be customers around 3.30 pm, when the area was relatively quiet. The bandits pulled out their guns, jumped over the counter and started to beat the businessman for his day’s earning. 

The man was then dragged inside his adjoining home, where he was hogtied and severely beaten by the thieves in the presence of an elderly female relative as they began searching and ransacking the house for other valuables.

“The bandits cuffed the old man repeatedly under his chin, face and in his midsection until he got a massive heart attack and collapsed. The bandits just did not care. All they wanted was money and jewelry,” one resident explained.

Residents said it was only after the man became unconscious that the bandits panicked and fled in a waiting car.

Residents were alerted to the robbery when a customer went into the store and heard the businessman’s female relative crying for help as she tried to revive the bleeding man.

“That’s when we rushed over to assist. The businessman’s entire mid section was bruised and black and blue, while his face was covered in blood,” the residents recalled.

The businessman, residents said, was hospitalised for four days after the attack.

When the T&T Guardian visited the business yesterday, an elderly Chinese woman who was behind the counter refused to give her name or talk.

“No. Not speak,” she said, as tears welled in her eyes.

But the residents said the woman had been severely shaken up and traumatised by the incident, hence her reaction.

A resident said after the robbery, the police admitted they felt embarrassed that a crime had been committed 50 feet from the station and they were unaware.

Two weeks ago, villagers said the other businessman, who operates a warehouse at Avocado Road, was also targeted.

“Apparently they were monitoring this businessman for quite some time. They waited for the businessman to come out with his day’s sale in the evening and robbed him at gunpoint.”

Since the robbery, the business, which stored a variety of items, has not re-opened.

Opposite to the warehouse, a worker at Kang’s Wok Chinese Restaurant preferred not to speak when asked if Chinese were being targeted by the criminal elements.

“Not talk,” he politely said.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Surajdeen Persad last night admitted that Chinese nationals have been under attack by the criminal elements at Santa Rosa, but said it was not unique to the area.

“It’s not only at Pinto Road...they have been targeting Chinese nationals throughout Trinidad. This has been going on for quite a while.”

Following the robberies at Pinto Road, Persad said they had increased mobile patrols in the area.

“The CID department and crime patrols have been paying particular attention to that. We are hoping to make a breakthrough very soon with these robberies,” Persad said, refusing to dwell further on how far police had reach with their investigation.

Told that the T&T Guardian had spent several hours on Pinto Road and surrounding areas yesterday and did not see one police vehicle on patrol, Persad said, “We have patrols and I will definitely look into it. I know we have deployed patrols in that area specifically to look at the Pinto Road situation.”

Efforts to reach the Chinese Association of T&T for a comment yesterday evening was unsuccessful. 

Self-imposed curfews

In the last two months, residents said they had seen an upsurge of robberies in their community, which have them living on the edge and uneasy.

Santa Rosa has approximately 1,800 houses.

Streets such as King Orange, Tangerine, Cheery Tree and Plum Rose have been hit several times recently.

One resident said one group of bicycle bandits in Santa Rosa work in collusion with another gang from Pinto Road.

The bandits, who ride around on bicycles, would scope and monitor the movements of residents and business owners during the day, they explained.

“Then they communicate with another gang from Pinto Road and give them a feedback. Once they know the coast is clear the Pinto Road gang would strike. These Pinto Road gunmen would come in stolen vehicles and put down their work. Many of their getaway cars were stolen vehicles,” a resident said.

Tangerine Drive resident, Anne Springer, said the community was under siege.

“Everyone is taking precautionary measures. Some people are putting up towering walls in the front and back of their homes, while others are investing in vicious dogs to guard their properties. 

“People are not going out as before. They are becoming prisoners in their own homes,” she added.

Springer’s neighbour, newspaper columnist Keith Subero, said other residents were installing burglar proofing and security camera systems to deter the criminals.

Subero admitted the officers attached to the post seldom do foot or vehicle patrols.

Another resident said many houses were cleaned out in the last few months.

“They would break into your home and steal your computers, television, small appliances and DVD players,” one resident disclosed.

“Quiet a few houses have faced this,” another resident said.

“To me, the station is like a resort or hotel for those police officers. We need some visibility. We need the police to protect and serve the community because this is getting out of control. Are they going to wait until a life is taken before they take action. We need help... and we need it fast,” Subero added.

Manager of Joy Mini Mart, Dave James, also disclosed he had observed a new trend developing, in that children as young as nine and ten years old were stealing snacks from his shop.

“Their parents don’t even know what they are doing. The area is becoming a hot spot for crime. I am going to invest in some additional cameras outside,” said James, who has seven cameras inside his business.

Chinese Association of T&T committee member, David Lee Kim, yesterday called on the police to go after the gangs at Santa Rosa Heights, Arima, who have been terrorising the community and targeting Chinese businesses.

He made the call in the wake of a report in yesterday’s T&T Guardian, headlined “Santa Rosa Terror,” which highlighted attacks against Chinese business owners and residents by armed criminals in their community.

The crimes, the residents claimed, have been taking place right under the noses of police at the Pinto Road Post, forcing them to live like prisoners in their homes and under siege.

Within hours of the residents’ complaint being highlighted, officers yesterday initiated regular patrols for which they were commended by Santa Rosa mini mart operator Rose Ferdinand. 

She said in an hour she had seen two vehicles on patrol while armed officers were seen walking around.

“We are feeling a sense of relief now that the police are on patrol in the area,” said Ferdinand, who thanked the T&T Guardian for its intervention.

The patrols came after Assistant Commissioner of Police, Superdense Persas, promised to look into the police’s failure to guard the community.

Contacted yesterday, Lee Kim said it was no secret that Chinese businesses were being targeted. He referred to two Chinese business owners—Chong Cato and Hi Hong Huang—who were killed months apart by gunmen.

“Chinese people have become an easy target by the criminal elements. They are not known to retaliate or fight back when under the barrel of a gun or being beaten mercilessly,” Lee Kim said.

By nature, Lee Kim said Chinese were not confrontational and were quiet people.

“How can you retaliate when criminals are coming at you with guns and cutlasses? They would easily give in because they don’t want to be killed. 

“I feel sorry for them (Chinese) but what can we do? There is so much crime in the country and to me the police have their hands filled,” he said.

Unable to say how many Chinese businesses operate in Trinidad, Lee Kim said in the last two years there had been a proliferation of restaurants, supermarkets and casinos set up by Chinese in the country, which criminals view as a “gold mine” and “easy pickings.”

Lee Kim said citizens have often seen bandits beating, humiliating and manhandling Chinese nationals during robberies.

“We have seen it many times on Crime Watch and Beyond The Tape. It’s a frightening situation not only for the Chinese. The crime situation is really bad. We hope the police catch these perpetrators and go after the gangs that are creating havoc in the community,” he said.

Mayor worried

Arima Mayor George Hadeed also called on the police to step up patrols in the area to allay the business community and residents’ fears.

He said while the police generally worked in Arima, it was embarrassing to read that a crime had been committed 50 feet from the Pinto Road Police Post and the police were unaware of it.

“This is worrying. It just goes to show that the criminals have no respect for the law or no one,” he added.

Hadeed felt the Chinese were becoming prime targets because of the lucrative businesses they operated. 

He said many of them have opened casinos and supermarkets which gave the criminals the perception they walked around with huge sums of cash.

Although Santa Rosa did not fall within the jurisdiction of his borough but the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation, Hadeed said as mayor the robberies were of great concern to him. 

“It appears that the Chinese are being targeted recently in term of robberies. A further investigation should take place to understand why this has been happening.

“Yes, crime is a problem in Trinidad. We have been experiencing this problem for a number of years. I am sure the police are trying their best since no one can predict when a crime will take place but at the same time they need to step up their patrols,” Hadeed added.

He said while it would be impossible to put law officers at every street corner, they needed to be more visible.

Hadeed admitted he had not received any reports of Chinese being robbed outside of Santa Rosa.

“They (Chinese) create employment and I would suppose they contribute towards paying taxes and helping with the economy,” he added.

Asked if the criminals were winning the war on crime, Hadeed said: “I would not say they are winning the war but as it is now, I would say they are ahead.”

He said it was time for our criminal justice system to be revamped.

Several calls to Arima Business Association president Winston Boodoo’s cellphone yesterday went unanswered.

Flashback

In January, Chinese businessman Chong Cao was gunned down outside his business place Zhong Guo Cheng Chinese Restaurant and Bar at Tumpuna Road, La Horquetta. Cao, 30, was shot three times in the face by a lone gunman.

Last April, Hi Hong Huang, 35, was fatally shot as he struggled with two bandits during a robbery outside his business, Happiness Supermarket, Curepe. 

In 2012, China-born businessman, Yang Jiang Hua, 60, and his wife, Wu Xiu Hua, also died at the hands of gunmen who entered their Tiger’s Chinese Restaurant and Bar in Cunupia.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday said he was in the best of health after undergoing a battery of tests for prostate cancer and being cleared by his doctors.

With the results coming back negative, Rowley appealed to African men in T&T to get themselves tested for prostate cancer, a disease which has been claiming many lives. 

Rowley made the announcement at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.

He broke his silence about his health, following his ten-day trip to California, USA, where he undertook several tests and vacationed briefly. The US check-up was prompted after his local doctors did a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test done locally which showed his score was on the higher limit. 

Yesterday, the PM said part of his yearly routine was to undertake physical checks-ups by both local and foreign doctors, adding that should anything be discovered “I would give my doctors and myself the best chance to respond. 

“For me, it was a fairly normal arrangement, in that, for the last 25 years or so I have been trying to take good care of myself. 

“I still expect as I serve as Prime Minister there is some element of privacy and dignity in this whole matter of personal health,” he said.

Based on Monday’s examinations, Rowley said his doctors have requested that he visit them in nine to 12 months. 

He noted, however, although statistics showed African males were prone to such risks, many men would not subject themselves to the medical exam required. 

He urged his African brothers “to not be so macho that you do not want to subject yourself to that particular bit of scientific data which requires you to get yourself examined on a regular basis once you pass age 40.”

But giving a personal example, he said he once reasoned with a political friend who had colon cancer and was dying that he should have undertaken tests to detect the disease earlier. 

“And even at that stage he said to me, ‘nah, no man ain’t digging up my bottom like that.’ I couldn’t believe it,” he recalled.

He said early detection would allow one to get the best medical care either at home or abroad which would allow them to survive that crippling disease.

Having battled three elections in the last year, Rowley said he kept a disciplined approach by allowing himself to be checked by doctors.

Following a range of tests, Rowley said: “Today, I am pleased to announce that whatever concerns that I might have had, in the way that I may have had them, as part of the ongoing arrangement in me monitoring my health, I am pleased to announce that my doctors have pronounced me in good health ... and I have no ailment... I have no symptoms which can prevent me from this point in time, from conducting the duties to which I have been assigned in Trinidad and Tobago.” 

One way of keeping the disease at bay, Rowley said, was proper diet and regular exercise, which he had been maintaining, and regular medical examinations.

“I like to believe that I am a disciplined person. Over the years I have always tried to control my intake in terms of quality and quantity,” he said.

Asked if prime ministerial candidates should tell the population if they were medically fit, Rowley said: “I think the population needs to know that because if you are choosing someone to run the country you would want to know.”

What is the psa test?

Prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, is a protein produced by cells of the prostate gland. The PSA test measures the level of PSA in a man’s blood. For this test, a blood sample is sent to a laboratory for analysis. The results are usually reported as nanograms of PSA per milliliter (ng/mL) of blood.

The blood level of PSA is often elevated in men with prostate cancer. The PSA test was originally approved by the FDA in 1986 to monitor the progression of prostate cancer in men who had already been diagnosed with the disease.

According to the American Cancer Society:

Prostate cancer begins when cells in the prostate gland start to grow uncontrollably. The prostate is a gland found only in males. It makes some of the fluid that is part of semen.

The prostate is below the bladder and in front of the rectum. The size of the prostate changes with age. In younger men, it is about the size of a walnut, but it can be much larger in older men.

Just behind the prostate are glands called seminal vesicles that make most of the fluid for semen. The urethra, which is the tube that carries urine and semen out of the body through the penis, goes through the center of the prostate. 

In the early stages, there may be no symptoms. But in the later stages, some symptoms of prostate cancer might include:

• Feeling the frequent or sudden need to urinate

• Finding it difficult to urinate 

• Discomfort when urinating

• Finding blood in urine or semen

• Pain in the lower back, upper thighs or hips.

These symptoms may not mean you have prostate cancer but if you experience any of them, go and see your doctor.