A cheese paste sandwich and a cup of hot chocolate was the first meal hunger-striker Ravi Maharaj was given after he decided to end his five-day protest action against environmentalist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh yesterday. His decision to end the strike came two days after he collapsed outside the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), St Clair, where he began his protest last Wednesday.
Maharaj, who is warded at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, is expected to be discharged today.

The 29-year-old Maharaj, who is in favour of the disputed Debe to Mon Desir section of the Solomon Hochoy Highway, had condemned Kublalsingh’s decision to embark on a second hunger strike.
Lying on his hospital bed, Maharaj said he was feeling much better than he was over the weekend. He said he was given intravenous (IV) drips and had also been resting. "My decision to quit was really because of my condition. But now people will look up to me and be inspired," Maharaj said. Maharaj vowed to continue his fight by other means, this time taking it to south Trinidad. “I’m bringing the hunger strike to an end but I intend to take a different action now,” he explained. “I intend to go down to the areas of Debe to Mon Desir and try to highlight and try to bring to the fore the feelings of the people who live in that area and whether or not they do in fact support or oppose the highway and see who is in the majority and the minority.” 

Saying his hunger strike had not been in vain, Maharaj said he brought to the public’s attention the benefits of the highway, adding that the people of Debe and Mon Desir had been neglected for far too long. He said he has also shown the true effects that fasting could have on the body. Last Thursday Maharaj, who had complained of exhaustion and dehydration, wrote to Kublalsingh’s former doctor, Asante VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc, seeking treatment.

However, she declined to treat him. In an earlier interview with radio station i95. Maharaj said he believed Kublalsingh was able to complete day 34 of his strike because of the treatment he received from VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc. “I suspect a lot of that had to do with the medical care he was receiving.I though she would be able to assist me in maintaining my body a bit longer than I did. I believe she had some sort of method in maintaining Dr Kublalsingh's body for as long as he had,” Maharaj said. He said he believed VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc only recused herself from attending to Kublalsingh because she believed death was imminent.

Kublalsingh falls ill
But as Maharaj was recuperating, Kublalsingh fell ill. The leader of the Highway Re-Route Movement (HRM) had just pulled up at his camp site outside the OPM when he complained of feeling unwell around 10.30 am yesterday.  He was immediately taken back to his home at D’Abadie and up to late yesterday was being kept under close watch by relatives. His wife, Dr Sylvia Moodie-Kublalsingh, who answered his cellphone yesterday, said she was worried about her husband’s condition. “He’s just getting weaker and weaker, and critically, he couldn’t even come out the car this morning (yesterday) and he asked to be taken back home. That in itself is significant, and I think that is cause for concern. “I am just hoping for the best,” Moodie-Kublalsingh said.
Asked if Kublalsingh would be taken to hospital, she said that was still undecided. 
 

The State is ready to begin paper committal proceedings against three men charged with the murder of Sgt Hayden Manwaring. When the matter was called before Senior Magistrate Lucina Cardenas-Ragoonanan in the San Fernando court yesterday State prosecutor Stacy Lalloo-Chung said 43 statements had been filed, sworn and served on the defence . 

But the accused — Kerron Nicholas Garcia, 20, Anthony Clement, 38, and Kelvin Wallace, 24 — complained about the representation they were receiving from their lawyers. Wallace said the attorneys were not allowing them to see the statements to give them instructions. Agreeing they ought to see the statements, the magistrate told them they would have to decide whether or not they wanted to change their attorneys. The magistrate also asked Lalloo-Chung to contact the attorneys to find out their state of readiness and which witnesses they would be requesting for cross-examination and said she expected the attorneys to contact the accused before the next adjournment date.

The three are charged with murdering Manwaring, 42, on February 19, 2013. He was shot and killed while trying to arrest robbery suspects at Butler Street, San Fernando. PC Nicholas Phillip was also shot during the incident. A fourth accused, Kofi Cropper, 40, died earlier this year. The matter was adjourned to October 30 for a status report.

Police up to late yesterday were probing the death of a 48-year-old technician from New Grant who died after being stabbed in the chest on Sunday. Investigators could not say whether Satnarine Ramphal was murdered. 

They have detained a 25-year-old woman, who claimed he committed suicide. She remained in custody up to late yesterday as investigators awaited the results of an autopsy from the Forensic Science Centre, St james. Police said Ramphal and the woman were at his Watts Road home around 10 pm when they got into an argument.  The woman told police Ramphal went into the kitchen, picked up a knife and threatened her. He then grabbed her by the hand and stabbed her in the wrist but she got away.

She said as she ran out of the house screaming for help, she heard him coughing. She turned around and saw him on the floor with blood on his jersey. Neighbours called the Emergency Health Service and Ramphal was taken to the Princes Town District Health Facility. The woman was also treated for cuts on her hands and released into police custody. Police, including Insp Ramnarine, Sgt Roget, Cpl Rosan and Sgt John, checked the house and found a kitchen knife. 

A neighbour said Ramphal, who repaired and serviced air-condition systems, had constant arguments with the woman.  PC Lewis is continuing investigations.

The Point Fortin Borough flag will fly at half-mast today in honour of former mayor Victor Chin Kit. Chin Kit, 84, died yesterday. He had been ailing for several years. Present mayor Clyde Paul confirmed Chin Kit died at his home at Clifton Hill, Point Fortin, which he shared with his wife, Naomi, who survives him, along with their two children, Ian and Dianne. Chin Kit, an electrical engineer, served as an alderman on the first Borough Council in 1980 and as the second mayor during the period 1984-1987. Paul, who served as town clerk during Chin Kit’s tenure, described him as his mentor, saying he encouraged him to stay at the borough and serve the people. “The vision for Point Fortin, which we are seeing unfolding, came from Chin Kit. The lessons I learned about public service and local government came from him. Even though he no longer was involved in active politics, he was always around giving support. Whenever I had a problem, I would go to him,” Paul recalled. Both Paul and former councillor Grantley Wells described Chin Kit as the best mayor Point Fortin ever had.

Paul said Chin Kit was a longstanding member of the PNM and the party had been in contact with his family to assist with a fitting sendoff. In the meantime, he said, he had ordered the borough’s flag to be flown at half-mast. Local MP Paula Gopee-Scoon said she was saddened by the news of his death. She said: “He has been known to have been ill for some time and perhaps it was time to go. Knowing how deeply religious he was I am assured that he is in a better place with God. 

“I want to say that I have known him in another capacity, as a family man and friend of my parents. So he has known me from childhood. “I remember him for his intelligence, his very dignified manner in conducting all affairs, deeply religious, very committed in everything he did. “He truly was a servant of the people of Point Fortin and a man of great integrity. You don't find many Victor Chin Kits any more,” Gopee-Scoon added.

Oscar Pistorius, the South African track star, was sentenced to five years in prison for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa said a long sentence would lack “mercy,” while a more lenient sentence would “send the wrong message to the community.”

The athlete’s defense team said the law under which he was punished calls for him to serve only one-sixth of the prison term—10 months—before he can be placed on house arrest. He was also given a suspended three-year term on separate firearms charges.

After serving half the sentence, Pistorius can also apply for parole.

Ms. Steenkamp’s family said it was “satisfied” with the ruling, although the National Prosecuting Authority said it had not yet decided whether to appeal.

“I’m just glad it’s over,” June Steenkamp, the victim’s mother, told reporters outside the courtroom.

Mr. Pistorius’s family said it was not planning to appeal.

“We accept the judgment,” Arnold Pistorius, the athlete’s uncle, said in a statement, appealing to the news media to “let us move forward” and “give us some degree of dignity and privacy as we do so.”

“Oscar will embrace this opportunity to pay back to society,” the uncle said.

After a trial that opened in March, Pistorius seemed impassive as Judge Masipa ordered him to rise to hear his sentence.

Virtually since the moment of the shooting, Pistorius has been free on bail, living in his uncle’s luxurious mansion. But for now, Pistorius is a sentenced prisoner and will spend the night in a cell at Pretoria’s main prison. Live television images showed Pistorius being driven away from the courtroom in an armored police van. 

In September, Judge Masipa found Mr. Pistorius, 27, guilty of culpable homicide but she acquitted him on more serious murder charges.

The disabled athlete has admitted killing Ms. Steenkamp, 29, on Feb. 14, 2013, but he said he did so by mistake, firing four rounds from a handgun through a locked toilet cubicle door in the belief that an intruder had entered his home.

Months before the shooting, Mr. Pistorius, nicknamed the Blade Runner for the scythe-like curved prostheses he used while competing, became the first disabled athlete to compete against able-bodied contenders at the London Olympic Games in 2012. He also competed in the Paralympic Games.

The International Paralympic Committee said Pistorius would not be permitted to compete in its tournaments for the full five years of the term.

There were some indications that the sentence was seen by some South Africans at least as too lenient. People cramming the street outside the courtroom told reporters that Mr. Pistorius should have been jailed for 10, or even 20, years.

“They are only scaring him with this sentence,” Reuters quoted Johannes Mbatha, a 38-year-old minibus taxi driver in Johannesburg, as saying. “It shows our society hasn’t transformed.”

“If it was a black man, he would have never received such a light sentence,” Mr. Mbatha said. “But that’s how things are in South Africa.”

Sources: News 24, NY Times

Following is the complete list of proposed 2014 scholarship recipients in the Caribbean Advance Proficiency Education (CAPE).
 

Proposed list of 2014 Scholarship Recipients 1 of 14

Proposed list of 2014 Scholarship Recipients 2 of 14

Proposed list of 2014 Scholarship Recipients 3 of 14

Proposed list of 2014 Scholarship Recipients 4 of 14

Proposed list of 2014 Scholarship Recipients 5 of 14

Proposed list of 2014 Scholarship Recipients 6 of 14

Proposed list of 2014 Scholarship Recipients 7 of 14

Proposed list of 2014 Scholarship Recipients 8 of 14

Proposed list of 2014 Scholarship Recipients 9 of 14

Proposed list of 2014 Scholarship Recipients 10 of 14

Proposed list of 2014 Scholarship Recipients 11 of 14

Proposed list of 2014 Scholarship Recipients 12 of 14

Proposed list of 2014 Scholarship Recipients 13 of 14

Proposed list of 2014 Scholarship Recipients 14 of 14

Although seemingly bedridden and too weak to move, leader of the Highway Re-Route Movement (HRM) Dr Wayne Kublalsingh remains resolute that he will not back out of a second hunger strike which began over a month ago. 

The environmentalist, who has been reduced to mere skin and bones, is also adamant he is not afraid to die.

Lying on a bed facing east, Kublalsingh yesterday completed Day 36 without food or water in protest against the Debe to Mon Desir segment of the Point Fortin Highway.

“Even if you face immortality and stare it in the face you have to do it,” Kublalsingh said in a strained voice.

“In our history, many times men have faced immortality, death in fact, and have relented and I don’t intend to be afraid of immortality. I’m very calm and I’m very firm that I am prepared at any time to face the immortal.” 

Barely able to lift himself from the bed, Kublalsingh said he was now unable to do the simple tasks, like taking salt water baths and going into his wife’s garden to meditate, which had brought him great peace and was the basis of his sustenance since he began the strike.

When the T&T Guardian visited his D’Abadie home around 5 pm yesterday, Kublalsingh said he had not had a bath for the day as he felt very dizzy when he stood up.

“I don’t want to stand up too much because if I do I get dizzy spells. I haven’t been to the garden today (yesterday) because my legs have become pretty weak.

“I don’t want to go out into the streets because I’m afraid that I faint and make a spectacle of myself. So I just prefer to lie down here,” Kublalsingh added.

Speaking slowly and slurred at times, he said if he did not “go the distance” he would be unhappy.

Life, he added, must have a sense of fulfilment.

“The hunger strike continues. There is too much at risk,” he said.

“Government seems intent on acquiring and destroying huge social and economic assets without doing proper accounting and following process.

“The resources that would be destroyed belong to persons that are very poor, middle class and very wealthy persons, so all classes are at risk here and if we do not fight and stop them now it’s a battle we would have to fight in the future.” 

During the interview he was closely monitored by his wife, Dr Sylvia Moodie-Kublalsingh, who declined to speak to the media.

Kublalsingh also demanded that Government accounted for huge financial assets, including that of the Treasury.

Regarding comments posted on social media he was dying, Kublalsingh said that could be halted if Government changed its mind and decided to adhere to the recommendations in the Armstrong report.

“I think if the Government comes to its senses and meets with the civil society organisations and independent professional organisations... many of them who are lining up to talk to them on this matter... and accept the process of bringing all the parties together and finding the best way forward, that could be prevented... let's see who wins,” Kublalsingh said.

His personal physician, Dr Asante Van West‐Charles‐Le Blanc, stopped treating him two weeks ago and advised him to go immediately to the hospital.

But Kublalsingh said yesterday having a doctor was the furthest thing from his mind.

“I have told my wife I will not be seeking any medical help... no doctors, nurses or ambulances, nothing of the sort,” he said.

Worry in HRM camp

Dr Wayne Kublalsingh’s apparently worsening condition has raised concern in the HRM camp outside the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in St Clair.

Yesterday he said it was difficult to say if and when he would return to the camp as he no longer had the physical strength to do so.

But a handful of his supporters who were present yesterday at the campsite yesterday remained resolute in the cause.

Bianca Bedoe, 29, who was the 11th of Project 40 group to go on a 24-hour hunger strike in support of the cause, said she made the decision because she “wanted to walk and talk the talk when it came to standing up for transparency and ethical conduct.”

Saying she felt a kind of helplessness and hopeless among people her age, Bedoe said complaining was not going to change anything. Having just returned from London she said she decided to “take the plunge” for what was right.

Speaking at the opening of the Golconda interchange yesterday, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar urged Kublalsingh to seek medical treatment. She again said Government would not yield to his demands.

The HRM will today hold a second candlelight vigil for Kublalsingh at Nelson Mandela Park, St Clair, from 5 pm.

Lawyers representing president Anthony Carmona have sent a pre-action protocol letter to comedienne Rachel Price over comments she has been making about the President’s wife, Reema.

CNC3 reported last night the letter was sent on Monday to Price, who is also a talk show host.

The letter seeks to debar Price from negatively speaking about the First Lady’s attire on social media and elsewhere. 

It added that if Price did not comply further legal action would be taken.

The issue of her attire became a hot topic on social Web sites last month when she wore an outfit which some quarters of the public felt was a bit too revealing at an event hosted by the United Nations in New York.

The public health sector has run short of the tetanus vaccine.

A source said yesterday that a batch of the vaccine was found to be defective last month and was sent back to the supplier for replacement. 

The Pan American Health Organisation, which sources tetanus immunisations for public health departments in the Caribbean, was contacted and arrangements were made to have the batch replaced.

However, they still are awaiting the replacement.

An official said: “We were informed that it would be replaced very quickly but it has been more than a month and there has not been a replacement.” 

In the meantime, the various regional health authorities have been unable to provide immunisation shots to citizens, including Standard Five students across the country. 

It is customary for students to get the tetanus vaccinations in school or health centres before they sit the SEA examination.

Contacted yesterday, medical director of the San Fernando General Hospital Dr Anand Chatoorgoon said he was unaware of the shortage but officials at the North West and Eastern Regional Health Authorities confirmed there was no tetanus vaccine in stock.

“We are waiting for the ministry to resolve this problem,” the official said.

Contacted yesterday, Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan said he would have to investigate if there was a shortage of the vaccine.

“I have not been apprised of this. As far as I know there is no shortage of tetanus (vaccine). It is something that doesn’t get short,” Khan said. 

He added that immunisation was organised by the Minister of Health’s Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).

“The EPI standing programme for immunisation is very efficient when it comes to vaccines,” Khan said. 

But if there was a shortage he would address it, he added.

What is tetanus?

Tetanus, sometimes called lockjaw, is a rare disease caused by a bacterium known as clostridium tetani. 

The bacterium often enters the body through a puncture wound which can be caused by nails, splinters, insect bites, burns, any skin break and injection drug sites.

The World Health Organisation said a toxin produced by the bacteria affected the function of the nerves and led to severe muscle spasms in the abdomen, neck, stomach and extremities. 

Tetanus can either be localised to one part of the body or generalised, with muscle spasms throughout the body. 

It has been called lockjaw because the muscle spasms in the face and neck can lead to the inability to open the mouth.This is one of the most common symptoms. 

Tetanus is a serious illness and is fatal in up to 30 per cent of cases. The WHO recommends that all children and adults should be immunised against tetanus. 

A booster is needed every ten years after primary immunisation or after a puncture or other skin wound which could give the tetanus bacteria an opportunity to enter the body. 

Source: www.medicinenet.com /tetanus/article.htm

Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) president general Ancel Roget says that Petrotrin could have possibly exposed the country to the Ebola virus as no medical officer screened the crew aboard the Overseas Yellowstone crude oil tanker on Monday.

Despite Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan saying medical personnel gave the vessel a “clean bill of health,” at a press conference yesterday Roget claimed it was a port officer at Petrotrin’s Pointe-a-Pierre port who boarded the vessel for 20 minutes and relied on information given by the crew.

The Overseas Yellowstone, which bears the Republic of Marshall Islands’ flag, remained moored off Pointe-a-Pierre yesterday. 

Port workers have refused to berth the vessel, which is delivering approximately 750,000 barrels of crude oil to Petrotrin, because it came from Gabon, near the west African countries which are plagued by the Ebola virus. 

Although Gabon is not on T&T’s watch list for the virus, Roget said ships often bunkered at sea and that was where crews could contract the virus.

He said although Petrotrin claimed the vessel was safe, its assesment was based on an old procedure that did not take the virus into consideration.

He added: “The level of clearance that they would have given to the crew to berth that ship, for our employees to put themselves in harm’s way, is a health clearance certificate that has been in existence long before the issue of Ebola hit the attention of the international community.

“Therefore, it is on the sign-off of a port health officer, who is not a medical officer, who is not a medical doctor, and who would have boarded the vessel on 5.20 and departed on 6.40 minutes, and gave clearance without even checking out or examining the crew to determine that none of them exhibit any symptoms of Ebola.”

He added: “What if, for whatever reason, there is someone in one of those cabins that is quarantined, or with high fever, or exhibiting some symptoms? They will not tell us that, and our authority, having boarded the ship for some 20 minutes, did not check that. 

“Therefore they have given the clearance, on the basis of some procedure, (that the ship is) free of this Ebola virus. 

Roget said all the union was asking of Petrotrin was to put a heightened alert and protocols to ensure the workers’ and the country’s safety. 

On Monday, Petrotrin president Khalid Hassanali said berthing the vessel was essential for Petrotrin’s operations. 

Petrotrin responds

State-owned Petrotrin said yesterday workers’ continued refusal to offload the oil cargo aboard the MV Overseas Yellowstone had affected the company’s production.

In a release last night, the company said the delay in the process had forced the company to “reduce the throughput to the refinery from 110,000 barrels a day to 80,000 bpd with the attendant financial losses.

“Without this supply of crude, the company could be forced to shut down operations at the refinery, which can take as much as two weeks to restart, thereby jeopardising the supply of refined products to the local market and international customers and threatening the continue viability of the organisation.”

The company said the workers’ action was continuing although the union had met with Petrotrin’s chief medical officer on their Ebola concerns and subsequently agreed there was no issue preventing employees from berthing the vessel.

It said workers still refused to berth the vessel after the meeting and it took alternative measures to berth it on Monday. 

However, it said despite agreeing to provide additional safety equipment, the employees then refused to carry out the port operations connected to offloading the vessel.

The company said while it appreciated the concerns of employees who must engage with vessels arriving from regional and international shores, the import of crude was critical to the continued operations of the refinery.

Clifton Youk See was an 83-year-old father of 36 children and grandfather of close to 40. He lived a full energetic life up to his death on Monday night, his children recalled. He was knocked down on the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway, near Macoya.

Speaking yesterday at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, the first child of the retired accountant, Steve Youk See, said his father refused medical advice to stop planting and rest. 

The 62-year-old said his father loved gardening, adding jokingly “woman too.”

He added: “Up to recently the doctor stop him from doing all that kind of strenuous thing. A couple years ago he was in the United States and was close to kidney failure and had to return to Trinidad. 

“He would receive treatment every month and was doing well. 

“Two months ago he felt like his kidneys were failing and the doctor told him no more strenuous activities but he say he eh go die on no death bed.” 

According to police, Youk See, of Tocaragua Road, Caura, died at the side of the road on the highway after he was knocked down. 

Police said around 9.15 pm Youk See was crossing the east-bound lane of the highway when he was hit by a Toyota Rav 4. 

An autopsy said he died of multiple internal and body injuries consistent with a vehicular accident.

Youk See said his father did not suffer from any mental illness and overcame kidney failure, osteoporosis and other ailments. 

He added his father planted crops like cabbage, patchoi and tomatoes for the fun of it and gave them away. 

“He just like to produce things. He used to give away a lot. He was a very loving person” he added.

Clifton’s last son , Michael Youk See, said all the brothers and sisters were taught to love each other and the mothers of the various children welcomed the others openly. 

He said despite meeting one of his brothers for the first time recently, there has never been any animosity among the siblings as his father never encouraged that kind of thing. 

Police have released the 25-year-old woman arrested for the death of New Grant father Satnarine Ramphal as the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions ruled there was not enough evidence to charge her with murder.

Homicide detectives said while the woman was set free, investigations were continuing as they planned to meet with residents of Ramphal’s Watt’s Road community. 

They said although an autopsy at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, showed Ramphal died from a stab wound to the chest, it had not been determined whether the wound was self-inflicted as the woman had said.

They said she was the only witness to Ramphal’s death and claimed he committed suicide.

A fingerprint test will be done on the kitchen knife with which he was stabbed but police said it would not be enough to lay charges against the woman.

On Sunday, she and Ramphal were at his home around 10 pm when they got into a fight.

The woman told police he began rampaging through the house and threatened to kill her with a kitchen knife. 

He then grabbed her by the hand and stabbed her in the wrist but she got away and as she ran out of the house screaming for help, she heard him moaning. She turned around and saw him on the floor with blood on his jersey.

Both Ramphal and the woman were taken to the Princes Town District Health Facility. 

Ramphal was pronounced dead on arrival and the woman was taken into custody.

​

Homicide detectives said although an autopsy at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, showed Ramphal died from a stab wound to the chest, it had not been determined whether the wound was self-inflicted as the woman had said.

They said she was the only witness to Ramphal’s death and claimed he committed suicide.

Keon Gloster, the State’s main witness in the Vindra Naipaul-Coolman murder trial, was allegedly beaten by police before he agreed to assist in their investigation. 

The alleged beating was one of several discrepancies in Gloster’s interaction with police that led to the 12 accused men being charged with the crime.

This issue was raised by defence attorneys as they questioned homicide detective Supt Ancil Corbette yesterday. 

Corbette, one of the most senior police officers involved in the investigation, has testified to interviewing four of the accused men when they first came under the police radar weeks after the former Xtra Foods CEO’s disappearance and shortly before they were rearrested and charged with the crime in May 2007. 

Corbette also claimed to be present when Gloster pointed out his neighbours, who he said were involved in Naipaul-Coolman’s murder and disposing of her body. 

Gloster is yet to testify before Justice Malcolm Holdip and the 12-member jury in the Port-of-Spain Second Criminal Court. 

While cross-examining Corbette yesterday, Mario Merritt, who is representing three of the accused men, asked if he knew Gloster had filed a lawsuit against the police shortly after he agreed to give them several statements in exchange for being released. 

“I know of the court matter but not the specific details,” Corbette said. 

Corbette also admitted to being aware that Gloster suffered from epilepsy and was hospitalised during his four-day stay in police custody. 

Saying Gloster’s medication caused hallucinations and would have left him “easily suggestible,” Merritt asked Corbette if it was proper police procedure to interview medicated suspects or witnesses. 

“I may not want to, but if the responses would save lives or help solve the case, I would do it,” Corbette said.

He refused to comment on whether the information provided by Gloster was verified and proved to be accurate, instead suggesting the question should be directed to the lead investigator, retired assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Nadir Khan. 

When asked if he had been told Gloster had been staying at the St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital, Corbette said no.

Merritt also accused Corbette of using a false statement from another one of the accused to try to deceive his client, Shervon Peters, into confessing to his alleged involvement in the crime. 

“I would not and did not do that,” a clearly agitated Corbette said in a loud tone. 

Corbette’s cross-examination continues today.

What the trial is about

Naipaul-Coolman was abducted in front of her home at Radix Road, Lange Park, Chaguanas, on December 19, 2006. Her family paid a $122,000 ransom but she was not released and her body has never been recovered. 

Since the trial began in late March, prosecutors have claimed that the businesswoman was held captive a house in a hillside area at Upper La Puerta Avenue, Diego Martin, near where almost all of the accused men lived.

The Ministry of Education yesterday released the full list of scholarship winners in the 2014 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (Cape).

The release came after the delay in publishing the list was criticised by Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley and Sunday Guardian columnist Maxie Cuffie.

Cuffie wrote that there was something strange about this year’s results of the scholarships, which are announced annually on the basis of results of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (Cape). 

The results were announced on October 9, which Cuffie said was much later than usual, with no reason being given for the delay. 

Rowley also called on the ministry to make public immediately the full list of all scholarships provided and beneficiaries selected.

open scholarship winners

​Full list of Open scholarship winners as released by the Ministry of Education yesterday:

Asja Girls’ College, San Fernando: 
Athalia Lydia Leo, environmental studies.
Farhanah Mohammed, mathematics.
Leana Aanusha Ramdhan, mathematics.

Bishop Anstey and Trinity College East Sixth Form: 
Benai Paponette, natural science.
Kaaria Gerard Eugene Quash, visual and performing arts

Bishop Anstey High School: 
Khalea Fayola Zahraa Robertson, language.
Chantal Danielle Cassia Hamilton, natural science.
Nalanee Takiyah Jones, visual and performing arts.
Rizanne Adrienne Roach Lucas, visual and performing arts.
Celine Roseanne Ramdai Singh, visual and performing arts.

Bishop High School, Tobago:
Rachel Tanya Boodram, natural science.
Verneth Noresha Joseph, natural science.

Couva East Secondary School:
Dillon Ramdhanie, technical studies.

Fatima College: 
Marvin S Mc Kenzie, general studies.

Hillview College: 
Azud Nafal Muhammad, environmental studies.
Sage Naomi Precilla, environmental studies.
Shivanna Celine Ramkissoon, environmental studies.
Renwick Joachim, mathematics.
Kristy C Lall, mathematics.
Syra Rebecca Ramcharitar, mathematics.
Navin Davindra Dookeram, natural science.
Anthony Javed Machikan, natural science.
Vinay Maniam, natural science.
Matthew Christian Nikhil Ramesar, natural science.
Naveen Rajin Ramoutar, natural science.
Nathan Marc Ashby Robinson, natural science.
Shivran Naren Singh, natural science.
Jeremy Andre Smith, natural science.
Rajiv Joshua Gautama Maharaj, technology studies.
Arun Levi Persad, technology studies.
Vivek Ravindra Ramcharitar, technology studies.
Nicholas Atiba David Raphael, technology studies.

Holy Faith Convent, Couva:
Suemanta Clemicia Rock, business.
Kristal Khadijah Boodram, general studies.
Vaishali Anandani Maharaj, natural science.

Holy Name Convent, Port-of-Spain:
Samantha Hoford, mathematics.
Aimee Ghent, visual and performing arts.

Iere High School: 
Kareshma Seebalack, natural science.

Lakshmi Girls' 
Hindu College:
Sharda Goolcharan, business.
Karishma Mohammed, mathematics.
Karishma S Bhagaloo, natural science.
Dineka Maharaj, natural science.
Eshanaa A Maharaj, natural science.

Naparima College:
Abdul-Saleem Ali, business.
Dmitri Kyle Brereton, mathematics.
Justin Rick Mohan Dwarika, mathematics.
Shane Bobby Joshua Indar, mathematics.
Anthony Lyndon Jagdeo, mathematics.
Vishal Aarshad Bachan, natural science.
Stefan Shiva Baldeo, natural science.
Matthew David Joshua Mahabir, natural science.
Himchand Shiva Persad, natural science.
Isa Ansari Pooran, natural science.
Avery Mathew Sirju, natural science.
Jeremy Nathaniel Neptune, technology studies.
Mandela Makesi Patrick, technology studies.

Naparima Girls' 
High School:
Kervelle R Baird, language.
Ahiliah A Gajadhar, mathematics.
Kimberlee L Laloo, mathematics.
Laken A Boochoon, natural science.
Sushma M Karim, natural science.
Candace Lessey, natural science.
Cherisa S Ramlal, natural science.
Paige A R Scoon, natural science.
Narika Singh, natural science.
Celeste P Jaggai, visual and performing arts.

Presentation College, Chaguanas:
Arshad Imran Hosein, mathematics.
Zachary Sachin Raghubar Ramsamaroo, mathematics.
Nicholas Ravil Gangoo, natural science.
Sandeep Keshav Maharajh, natural science.
Matthew Ben Maturasingh, natural science.
Vishnu Singh, natural science.

 Presentation College, 
San Fernando:
Nayan Basdeo, mathematics.
John Michael Keane, modern studies.
Mickhel Kiran Dookhantie, natural science.

 Queen's Royal College
Valsson Alexander Renold Tobias, mathematics.
Kyle Justin Antoine, natural science.

 St Augustine Girls' High School:
Renee Annaleigh Voisin, business.
Shakeera Adolphe, general studies.
Soleil Sachi Baldeosingh, language.
Rachel Antonia Albert, natural science.
Samirah Baksh, Natural science.
Kamilah R David, natural Science.
Sarah Duverney, natural science.
Maneesha Maharaj, natural science.
Stephanie Narine, natural science.
Kristyn Parmesar, natural science.
Kielash C Persad, language.
Renisa Elizabeth Ramnath, natural science.
Farihah Wahid-Pedro, natural science.
Shianna Williams, natural science.

 St Benedict's College:
Darren David Clement, natural science.
Darrin Daniel Clement, natural science.
Romauld Kellon Emanuel Johnson, natural science.

 St George's College:
Janaazie Coppin, language.

 St Joseph's Convent, Port-of-Spain: 
Josanne Crooks, environmental studies.
Gionieva Fraser, mathematics.
Nicol Olliverre, mathematics.
Tonya Johnson, modern studies.
Zara Smith, modern studies.
Anyse Calder, natural science.
Astrid Casimire, natural science.
Meagan de la Bastide, Natural science.
Gabrielle Gibbons, natural Science.
Natalia Koylass, natural science.
Alyssa Nathaniel, natural science.
Maegan Rogers, natural science.
Shane Marie Winner, natural science.

 St Joseph's Convent, 
San Fernando:
Alexa Gopaul, mathematics.
Alyssa Mike, mathematics.
Deisha Denysa Carr, natural science.
Tiffany Khan, natural science.
Charis Mungal, natural science.
Kirsten Samm, natural science.
Arifa Satnarine, language.

n St Joseph's Convent, 
St Joseph: 
Khadija Alexandra Permel, business.
Chelsie Adelle Renessa Romain, mathematics.
Jessica Meiling Allum, natural science.
Rayshell Mona Dhandoolal, natural science.
Roghinio Richard Noray, natural science.
Nicala Gabriella Rampersad, natural science.

n St Mary's College: 
Renaldo Toney, natural science.

About 20 decommissioned traffic lights from one of the country’s busiest intersections, near Grand Bazaar, have been recycled to create a Christmas-tree “sculpture” near the Churchill-Roosevelt and Uriah Butler highways.

The monument, which has received some criticism on social media and from callers to radio stations, was erected over the weekend and is expected to remain in place indefinitely, having received the approval of Works and Infrastructure Minister Suruj Rambachan.

In an interview yesterday, Director of Highways Roger Ganesh said for drivers to slow down to look at the Christmas-tree traffic light, put up by the Highway Division, was a positive outcome in terms of driving safely.

But at this time of year, between Christmas and Carnival, when road accidents increase significantly, drivers have complained about this recently erected monument, calling it a distraction.

Jason Marcano, who drives past Grand Bazaar every morning, said it confused him.

“It’s distracting. Firstly, I wasn’t sure if it was an actual traffic light or not, but it is also confusing because I don’t know why it is there.

“There isn’t a sign or anything stating its purpose or whether it is decoration or has some sort of meaning.”

Besides being a form of decoration, Ganesh said his traffic-light Christmas tree, which was inspired by a similar creation in London, contained a piece of this country’s history.

“These lights were all reused from that previous intersection. Some of the 20 pieces are over 60 years old, and I thought that instead of just dumping them, we could do something creative.

“It isn’t at an intersection. It is supposed to be interesting. People recognise it as a Christmas tree and we plan to keep it lit all the time. It shouldn’t be distracting at all.”

Some drivers preferred to take a wait-and-see approach.

“It's already difficult for Trinidadians to comprehend an amber arrow light alongside the normal three-colour traffic lights. I have to see how this works before I could have an input,” said Chaguanas resident Shenice Williams.

Ashley Donald, of Sangre Grande, said she thought the Christmas-tree idea was creative and beautiful. 

—Kalifa Clyne

IN BRIEF

• One shooter dead.
• Second gunman still believed at large in downtown Ottawa.
• Additional shots fired near Parliament Hill.
• Police going door to door in downtown core. Schools locked down.
• Canadian PM reported safe

A masked gunman dressed all in black shot and killed a Canadian soldier standing guard at a war memorial in the country’s capital Wednesday, then entered Parliament, where dozens of shots rang out, authorities and witnesses said. At least three people were taken to the hospital. A suspected gunman was also killed, police said, although Ottawa police Constable Marc Soucy said officials “believe there is more than one’’ gunman.

The attack came two days after a recent convert to Islam killed one Canadian soldier and injured another in a hit-and-run before being shot to death by police. The killer had been on the radar of federal investigators, who feared he had jihadist ambitions and seized his passport when he tried to travel to Turkey.

Canada had raised its domestic terror threat level from low to medium Tuesday because of "an increase in general chatter from radical Islamist organizations," said Jean-Christophe de Le Rue, a spokesman for the public safety minister.

Tony Zobl, 35, said he witnessed the soldier being gunned down from his fourth-floor window directly above the National War Memorial, a 70-foot, arched granite cenotaph, or tomb, with bronze sculptures commemorating World War I.

"I looked out the window and saw a shooter, a man dressed all in black with a kerchief over his nose and mouth and something over his head as well, holding a rifle and shooting an honor guard in front of the cenotaph point-blank, twice," Zobl told the Canadian Press news agency.

"The honor guard dropped to the ground, and the shooter kind of raised his arms in triumph holding the rifle."

Zobl said the gunman then ran up the street toward Parliament Hill. Shots were also fired at a shopping mall near Parliament, police said. All three sites — the war memorial, Parliament and the mall — are within less than a mile from each other.

Cabinet minister Tony Clement tweeted that at least 30 shots were heard inside Parliament, where Conservative and Liberal MPs were holding their weekly caucus meetings.

"I'm safe locked in a office awaiting security," Kyle Seeback, another member of Parliament, tweeted.

The top spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Harper was safe and had left Parliament Hill.

Ottawa Hospital said it received three patients, two of them listed in stable condition. It would not comment on the condition of the third patient, the soldier shot at the memorial.

National Security Minister Gary Griffith has condemned yesterday’s brazen attack on the Canadian Parliament and reminded T&T citizens that the cost of real freedom is eternal vigilance and those who fail to prepare are dooming themselves to failure. He made the comment yesterday after the attack by a lone gunman left a soldier and the gunman dead. Asked if any T&T nationals living in Canada had been injured in the incident, Griffith said up to late yesterday he had received no such information, but his ministry would continue to monitor the situation.

In a press release earlier, Griffith said: “This latest incident that reverberates throughout the Commonwealth, of which both T&T and Canada are integral parts, sends a strong message that no country is safe from the violent and the depraved. “As such, security experts and law enforcement personnel remain vigilant and must to be armed and ready to deal with any attack against our country’s freedom and democracy.”

Describing yesterday’s incident as reprehensible, Griffith said it highlighted that his ministry had been proven accurate in its predictive planning and preparation for threats to national security. 
He said initiatives and policies implemented in the last few months were being done in the best interest of T&T and there was a need for intense training, increased manpower strengthening and the acquisition of assets to defend T&T against all manner of security threats. “Highly trained officers and the provision of resources are all part of the ministry’s strategy to ensure that all members of the protective services are equipped and outfitted to securely stand in the first line of defence for this country and its citizenry,” Griffith said.

He said he intended to make every effort to ensure the units and key agencies of the ministry were well prepared for a similar situation. “The risk and the clear and present danger were real and evident in today’s (yesterday’s) occurrence and the response of the Canadian authorities was appropriate and in accordance with their threat assessment,” Griffith said. The first assets and response team on site during the shooting, Griffith said, were the armoured personnel carriers and the special operations group, He said his ministry was  exploring similar initiatives. “These are the same armoured personnel carriers that some had taken to calling expensive toys. Today these APCs have proven their worth, pressed into service in a hostile civilian environment, and the message could not be clearer for us here at home, especially as we have had experience with attacks on our very own seat of democracy,” Griffith said.

He said as recently as two months ago a comprehensive risk threat and vulnerability assessment was done at T&T’s Parliament building by the National Operations Centre, Defence Force, Police Service, Parliament security and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM). On the basis of the findings the ministry has implemented proactive security planning, he said.

This country will be sourcing crude oil supplies from Colombia and Russia after Petrotrin workers refused to berth a tanker that arrived in T&T waters on October 18 from Gabon due to concerns over the Ebola virus. The action of the workers, represented by the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), forced Petrotrin to use scab labour to offload the MV Overseas Yellowstone, which had arrived at Petrotrin’s Pointe-a-Pierre base since last week with $.5 billion worth of oil. 

News of the decision yesterday came via international news reports, including the reputable Bloomberg, which quoted Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine as saying he had halted oil purchases from Gabon which had been T&T’s only African supplier of crude oil in the past 20 months. The vessel eventually docked late Tuesday using outsourced tugs and labour, he also said. “The situation is dynamic and we will review if need be,” Ramnarine said in an e-mail response to questions on the issue posed by Bloomberg.com. “It should, however, be noted that there is no Ebola outbreak in Gabon.”

The stand-off has resulted in losses for state-owned Petrotrin, which was forced to reduce throughput to the refinery from 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 80,000 bpd because it could not immediately get the 750,000 barrels on board the tanker. The company had said without the supply of crude it could have been forced to shut down operations at the refinery which can take as much as two weeks to restart.

Gabon is not among the five west African countries from where passengers have been banned from entering T&T due to an outbreak of Ebola but OWTU president general Ancel Roget said at a news conference that did not matter, since ships normally used crews from other countries. “Therefore any threat or any exposure to the Ebola virus would put at risk not only the employee but the home, family, community and therefore it is in the national interest that we call on the company to put in place the necessary protocols in the interest of the workers at Pointe–a-Pierre,” the union leader said.

Roget said given that the ship had visited other ports, it was possible that someone on board could be carrying the Ebola virus for which there is no known cure. Gabon, which has had Ebola outbreaks in 2001-2002, 1996-1997 and 1994, is not among countries currently experiencing cases of Ebola and is not among the four countries on the banned list announced by the Government last week. The virus has killed more than 4,500 people in the current outbreak, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Roget Responds
In an immediate response yesterday, Roget described the company’s response to the workers’ complaints as “foolish.”  Speaking while taking part in the candlelight vigil for Highway re-route Movement leader Dr Wayne Kublalsingh outside the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair, last night, Roget said the workers’ problem was not where the vessels were coming from but the company’s failure to institute rigorous screening for all ships entering the port and lack of proper protocols.

He said: “They do not understand and appreciate that they are placing the nation at risk because these workers live in communities and if they are exposed they will expose their families and friends. “They are not claiming that there is someone ill with Ebola on the vessel but they are saying that they run the risk because ships come from all over the world at that port and they cannot trust the word of the captain and crew of those vessels.

“Those ships they bunker out in the open seas and even though they may not come from west Africa you don’t know who they would have come in contact with on the seas.” He also claimed the current procedure being used by the company and the Health Ministry was outdated and inefficient. “It is an age old procedure where they send someone, who is not a medical doctor, on board the ship. “He checks the ship’s records and then gives them clearance. There is no type of interaction with the crew to determine whether they exhibit any symptoms,” Roget said.  

Chairman of the Emancipation Support Committee Khafra Kambon says racism is still being practised against African people in T&T. Kambon was speaking  on Tuesday at a panel discussion on the topic, T&T’s International Obligations regarding Race Relations, Gun Violence and Human Rights—Assessing the Trayvon Martin Case, at the Noor Hassanali Auditorium, St Augustine Campus, University of the West Indies. Other panellists were Jasmine Rand, attorney for the family of Trayvon Martin, and dean of the Faculty of Law Prof Rose-Marie Belle Antoine. Martin was a 17-year-old African American of Miami Gardens, Florida, who was fatally shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, in Sanford, Florida, in 2012.

Dealing with the ban on citizens from some countries with Ebola cases, Kambon said that move was “irrational, hysterical and there is no scientific justification for that action.” He said people with Ebola were more likely to enter T&T by sea than by air and banning citizens from entering the country would not protect the country from Ebola.  “It is rational behaviour based on science that is going to protect you,” he  pointed out. 

He criticised the Government for imposing a travel ban on Nigeria even after the WHO had said it was free of the virus. Kambon said: “Nigerians have been virtually banned from this country for a long time.” He was made aware of this ban last year after COPA Airlines said every time it brought Nigerians to T&T, they were being turned back and said he had to do a lot to get approval for some Nigerians to enter T&T.

There were only about 1,000 Nigerians in the country of an estimated 100,000 undocumented visitors, he said.  “When it comes to Africans from the continent, they are the most abused immigrants,” he added. Kambon said 80 per cent of the immigrants at the detention centre were from Africa and spoke of acts of brutality against people being held there, including one who was brutally beaten on May 21 and might have suffered permanent damage. He said the man was released under former National Security Minister Jack Warner but re-arrested under the current minister, Gary Griffith.
Kambon also said citizens should be very concerned about the level of police killings in the country for the year to date, as it was “absolutely unacceptable, no matter what fears we have about crime.”

If it were anyone else being killed other than young African males from particular communities, public reaction would have been different, he argued. He said in many instances “there has been no justification for the execution of young African males in this society.” National Security Minister Gary Griffith said previously the move to deal with illegal immigrants was not a witch-hunt but intended to ensure the matter was properly addressed and the Government would seek to regularise the status of illegal immigrants where possible.

President Anthony Carmona says “unwarranted attacks” which seek to bring members of his family and his office into disrepute will not be tolerated. A statement from his office yesterday confirmed a CNC3 report on Tuesday that attorneys representing his wife, Reema, had sent a pre-action protocol letter to comedienne and radio talk show host Rachel Price last Friday over alleged defamatory and offensive statements related to the First Lady’s attire at the UN last month.

The constitutional right of freedom of expression was not a licence to defame, the statement said. “The Office of the President respects and values the constitutional right of every individual to freedom of expression and the principles of fair comments. Freedom of the press remains sacrosanct,” the statement said.

It said the pre-action protocol letter was issued on the advice of Senior Counsel and was in respect of defamatory statements only. “The Office of the President will be vigilant to protect the dignity of Office of the President and ensure that the citizens of the Republic of T&T continue to maintain respect for the office,” the statement said. During her radio programme yesterday, Price said she was yet to get the letter. But saying it was an attack on freedom of speech and her right to speak on a public figure and on an incident which drew public attention and comment, Price vowed to fight it in court.