Nigerians are once again free to visit T&T and the Government has agreed to contribute US$100,000 to the United Nations Ebola Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund to fight the virus in the affected west African countries. Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan announced at yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference the travel restrictions against Nigeria, which has since been declared Ebola-free, have been lifted with immediate effect. 

However, the October 9 ban prohibiting visitors from Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in an effort to prevent the virus from entering the country, remains intact. Cabinet’s decision to lift the ban follows the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaration on Monday that Nigeria was now free of the Ebola virus and the denial of entry to a Nigerian woman who came to spend time with her daughter, who lives in Trinidad.

At the briefing, at the San Fernando Teaching Hospital, Khan said: “Nigeria has been cleared by the WHO. At Cabinet today, discussions took place based on the new information from the WHO. 
“The honourable Prime Minister, as well as the Cabinet, have agreed that based on the information from the WHO and based on the stringent screening methods that have occurred in international countries, standard to embarkation and exit of passengers, the Cabinet has decided to lift the ban on the Federal Republic of Nigeria with immediate effect.”

WHO’s clearance came 42 days since Nigeria’s last reports of any new cases. Khan explained that period was twice the maximum incubation period for the virus to develop.  Before yesterday’s announcement, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had suggested a leaning to the lifting of the ban when she noted the close relationship T&T shared with Nigeria.

Speaking at the opening of the Golconda Interchange on Tuesday, Persad-Bissessar said: “We have a lot of Nigerian doctors who work here, a lot of Trinis go to work in Nigeria and in addition, you remember the President, Goodluck Jonathan, had visited us here and he is a friend of ours.”

Petrotrin Workers Wrong
Khan also challenged OWTU-represented Petrotrin workers, who refused to berth the Overseas Yellowstone oil tanker, to prove that vessel and crew, which came from Gabon, were dangerous and posed a danger to them. While acknowledging that workers had the right to refuse work under the Occupational Health and Safety Act if there were safety concerns, he said: “He who alleges must prove.”

He said the ministry checked the vessel and it was up to the OWTU to prove the vessel was dangerous and if it could not, workers had violated the rules of their employment. He said a Ministry of Health official boarded the vessel and made an assessment and if a boat came from a country where the virus was not present, they could issue a medical clearance certificate.

Hazmat suits were only for people coming into contact with Ebola-riddled bodies, he said. “They are getting the erroneous assumption that everyone must put on a hazmat suit, based on what the international media has shown happening internationally. “You don’t get somebody with a hazmat suit sitting in an area waiting for a boat to come in or boarding a boat,” he said. Khan said the Government was still awaiting isolation units, hazmat suits and protective gear and was still training medical workers to deal with the virus. He said thermal cameras soon would be installed at Piarco Airport.
 

Police are investigating the death of a 15-month-old boy who drowned in a shallow pond behind his Carenage home. Police said around 4 pm yesterday Kadeem Antoine wandered out of the family’s Constabulary Street home and went into the pond, which is about a foot to 18 inches deep. The child was found facedown in the pond and was taken to the St James Medical Centre where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Speaking with the media outside the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, the child’s mother, Jermmaine Noel, said she had planned to take Kadeem, her only child, to the Chaguaramas Boardwalk last night to see the “light-up” for Divali.  Noel said her son loved looking through books and pointing at pictures pretending he was reading. She said he was smart and had a favourite red teddy bear he would take around. 

The soft-spoken 23-year-old said her child never had wandered near the pond before. She said she began looking for him around 4.30 pm when she noticed he was missing. The search began around the house and then the road and eventually the backyard. At the time of the tragedy her mother-in-law, sister-in-law and her nephew were at home. The child’s father, Antonio Antoine, said he last saw Kadeem alive before 6 am before leaving for work in central Trinidad where he works as a mechanic. He said he would usually spend his early morning caring for Kadeem and did so the day he died. That was the highlight of his day, he said.

T&T will be well represented at the Caribbean Examination Council’s (CXC) regional top awards presentation in Jamaica in December after winning seven of the nine awards in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). This includes the award for the most outstanding student overall, which went to Naparima Girls’ High School student Sushma Karim. Boasting of T&T’s prowess in education at the weekly post-Cabinet briefing, Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh said it was one of the best academic years in T&T’s history.  Eight students also got top awards from CXC last year but Gopeesingh said the 2014 results represented a ten per cent improvement in students getting grades one to three passes over the last four years. 

Providing statistics, he said in 93.4 per cent of unit one students achieved passes, while in unit two there was a pass rate of 93.1 per cent. He added that there was an overall improvement in 11 subjects compared to 2013 figures. In the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, T&T students got three of the eight awards up for grabs.  These were in visual arts, two dimension, visual arts, three dimension and short story. He said the percentage of students in 2014 who were successful in five or more subjects at CSEC improved by 10.3 per cent over 2013 figures and there was an overall improvement in 19 CSEC subjects in 2014.

In recognition of their achievement, CXC will present these students with awards at a ceremony in Jamaica on December 4. Gopeesingh denied Sunday Guardian columnist Maxie Cuffie’s allegation that national scholarships were being given out in secrecy. Responding to the article, he said the ministry had to wait for the CXC marks which were received on October 15. He said those results were used by the scholarship committee to determine who got the President’s Medals and other scholarships. He said: “This unfortunate, misleading issue has been taken up by the Leader of the Opposition as well, and we are wondering to what intent. “Does it mean that they are deliberately telling the most brilliant students who won the scholarships, 447 of them, or telling their parents, their families, their teachers or their principals, that they did not really work hard for it? So you have achieved your scholarship by secret?”  he asked. “We deny that categorically on behalf of all our students who have won, by merit, their scholarships.”

He dubbed the article deliberate, mischievous and false, saying it was a calculated effort to provide false information to the public by creating hype. There had been no change in the criteria used by the ministry in determining scholarship winners from past years, he said.

MOST OUTSTANDING CANDIDATES
CAPE
• Sushma Karim, Naparima Girls’ High School, most outstanding candidate overall in the region.
• Sharla Goolcharan, Lakshmi Girls’ Hindu College, business studies.
• Mandela Patrick, Naparima College, information and communication technology and in mathematics.
• Ranita Mathura, St Joseph’s Convent, San Fernando, environmental science.
• Arifa Satnarine, St Joseph’s Convent, San Fernando, modern languages.
• Celeste Jaggai, Naparima Girls’ High School, technical studies.

CSEC
• Kriston Mohammed, Tunapuna Secondary School, best short story.
• Shivanna Sookdeo, Naparima Girls’ High School, visual arts 2, dimension.
• Nneka Jones, Bishop’s High School, visual arts 3, dimension.
 

Chairman of the Mediation Board, Justice Vasheist Kokaram, is urging all parties involved in the contentious Debe to Mon Desir portion of the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway to Point Fortin to go to mediation immediately, saying it is a fundamental step in dispute resolution. He added the country was anxious over the matter and hoped good sense would prevail. Leader of the Highway Re-route Movement (HRM) Dr Wayne Kublalsingh and religious bodies, like the Roman Catholic Church, have urged the Government to take part in mediation but Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has refused to do so.

In an interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Kokaram said while mediation might not be the magic bullet, it was an avenue for all parties to come together to listen to concerns. He said: “I would strongly urge all parties to consider seriously mediation as a viable option to solve emotional conflict and produce everlasting solution. This must not be ignored. “Both parties must see this from their different perspectives. That type of polarised view is seen in many ways and we see it all the time in family matters.” Saying people do not live in isolation, he said engaging in mediation brought fresh perspectives which would assist in greater understanding. “In the highway dispute, the need to mediate would result in an understating of each other’s perspectives... what are the common concerns. “The process of mediation takes those discussions in a forward-thinking manner... what are the common interests we all share and how we can come up with some ideas,”  he added.

Kokaram said mediation had proven to be one of the more successful means of resolving conflict outside the legal framework. Using mediation, he added, would also result in a “buy-in”, leaving room for no uncertainty, especially by members of the public. “With mediation there is also a sense of healing and it is also less costly. It has a success rate of 75 per cent. “And even if, at the end of the day, there is litigation, parties can also mediate at the end of the litigation, as there may be many unresolved issues left,” Kokaram said. Asked if he believed Persad-Bissessar should agree to mediation, he said while that was welcome no one was obligated to do so. “You cannot force someone to mediate and mediation is not a question of conceding your position.  “On the other hand, there must be an understanding of the community being a subset of the wider community,” Kokaram added. 

Project 40 keeps camp going
A few weeks ago, the HRM camp outside the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair, was too small to accommodate the large number of supporters who turned up on a daily basis. Yesterday only a handful of supporters were present. A few members of the Project 40 movement, a 40-day youth “relay fast” in support of the HRM and Kublalsingh, sat under a tent supporting each other. The 12th member to undertake a 24-hour fast was Nkosi Myers, who is studying economics at the University of the West Indies Saying young people were the future, Myers said: “No one is trying to see where they can meet each other halfway. It is not a problem they are going to face. It’s going to affect my generation and younger.” Contacted yesterday, Kublalsingh said he was getting weaker and feeling more lightheaded each day. He was visited by RC priest Fr George who prayed with him. “I am putting my body on the line and that is what it is all about. It is about going on unrelentingly. “That is what people do when they go to war... they fight... they could die or they could live... that is how it is,” Kublalsingh said.

A gunman stormed a pan theatre in central Trinidad yesterday shooting four people. Two died while the other two victims remained hospitalised up to late yesterday. Deshawn Sobers, 21, and Trevaughn Sobers, 30, died after they were shot several times while at the  New Age Trend Setters panyard at the front of their home on Enterprise Street, Enterprise, Chaguanas.

Wounded were leader of the pan side, Glenford Sobers, 73, who is physically challenged and Jamal Sobers. They are warded at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in serious condition.
Police said the gunman entered the premises and started shooting shortly after 1 pm. Police said four victims were shot. They said Trevaughn ran out and collapsed on the roadway. Both Deshawn and Trevaughn, who are Glenford’s grandchildren, died at the Chaguanas Health Centre while undergoing emergency treatment.

Veronica Sobers, wife of Glenford Sobers, said Deshawn had been involved in a relationship with a man who showed up at the house yesterday in a bad mood. Sobers said Deshawn ended the relationship with the man last week Friday. Veronica recalled Deshawn telling her that she was living a life of abuse. “She said, ‘Ma I can’t take this kind of life again.’ She fraid him, I say if you want to leave him, leave him,” Sobers said.

After the shooting, the man escaped in a waiting vehicle. The police, led by Inspector Teasdale and Sgt Nicolai, went to the  house and conducted investigations.  They were looking for the suspect last night. Chaguanas mayor Gopaul Boodhan, who knew Glenford Sobers personally, said he had been trying to get an artificial limb for Sobers. The mayor said he was deeply saddened to hear the news: “Trevaughn was very talented and this loss is tragic. Mr Glenford Sobers has been a stalwart in culture and was one of the pioneers of culture in Chaguanas.” The mayor said he would visit sobers at the hospital today.

The National Council on Indian Culture (NCIC) is calling on the Education Ministry and the Government to investigate an incident in which a primary school pupil was reportedly discriminated against because she had mehindi (Hindi body artwork using henna) on her hands. The call was made by NCIC president Deokienanan Sharma as the curtains came down on the nine-day Divali Nagar in Chaguanas on Wednesday night.

Addressing the audience, which included Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and several Cabinet ministers, Sharma told them he had received some disturbing news. He said the pupil who attended a San Fernando school visited Divali Nagar the previous night and had Mehindi done on her hands. He said after she went to school the following day, her parents got a telephone call from the officials to come and take her home because of the mehindi on her hands. “The mother of the child was told mehindi was not part of her uniform. “The child was discriminated against because she put Mehindi on her hands.” 

Sharma was also disturbed by a report carried by a television station stating that Cepep workers were used to clean toilets and do other work at the Divali Nagar and were given no food. Sharma said the job was tendered out and Cepep was the lowest bidder. He said the workers were officially contracted by the NCIC. Sharma also made a second appeal to the Government for assistance to complete the main building at the Divali Nagar site. The NCIC was later that night given a $2 million cheque by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Sharma told her it would come in handy to pay their bills.

Sharma said this year’s Divali Nagar was better than the previous events and noted there were several innovations. They included expanding the queen competition to the Caribbean and Florida. There are plans to take it to Indian Diaspora countries around the world, including Mauritius, he said. Seeking to show the inclusivity of the Indian festival, Sharma said at a previous Divali Nagar, the cultures of Africa, the Middle East and China were celebrated. Sharma said he hoped the Government’s support of culture would continue, not only for the NCIC but all other groups in the country.

The messages of peace, truth and good over evil and the importance of strengthening the family are desperately needed in T&T says David Abdulah, leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) in his Divali message yesterday. “Our nation is in crisis and only those who have their heads in the sand are unaware of this reality. Everywhere the institutions of state are collapsing and there is an absence of trust and confidence in both our nation’s institutions and leaders.  “Things are indeed falling apart and the centre is no longer holding. On top of this crisis of institutions and leadership, is the complete absence of vision. We are stumbling along from one crisis or issue to another with the false hope that God is a Trini and that we will have the benefit of high oil and gas prices to buy our way out of difficulty,” Abdulah said.

He said Divali teaches people to be truthful and urged that as a society there is the need to see the entire picture—the good, the bad and the ugly. “We can recognise, appreciate and strengthen all that is good. Our innate talents, creativity and the many centres of excellence which have been built by dint of hard work, sacrifice and community effort.  “We must admit of that which is bad—the “eat ah food culture”, corruption from the top to the bottom of the society, the disrespect for others. And we must condemn that which is ugly—the wanton disregard for human life, the violence, the use of our ethnic differences for partisan political gain, the valuing of money and wealth above solidarity and being our brothers and sisters’ keeper,” Abdulah added.

Saying Divali paved the way to illuminate and educate, Abdulah called for a change in attitudes and way of thinking so as to unite for the common cause of building a nation. “The light of the deya can help us to do that by bringing light and clarity to who we are as a people, from where we have come and where we need to go.  “The light of the deya can enable us to see clearly that we need a virtual ‘revolution of the mind’ which is a pre-requisite for us to challenge the status quo and usher in a T&T where there is the lasting peace that is built upon the foundation of social justice and equity for all citizens,”Abdulah said.

Even as hunger striker Dr Wayne Kublalsingh is now bedridden and talking about death, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar remains resolute in her decision that the Debe to Mon Desir leg of the Point Fortin Highway will be constructed. The PM revealed her unbending stance in her address at the closing night of Divali Nagar in Chaguanas on Wednesday night. Speaking on the Nagar’s theme of “Shiva” a Hindu god who represents the reabsorbing principle, she said for some things to take place some must be destroyed. She said while she promoted the use of consensus in policy decisions, it was also important that citizens who disagreed with certain actions of the Government abide by the law.

Persad-Bissessar said it was disturbing that the Highway Re-route Movement (HRM) was unwilling to abide with the rulings of the court. On three occasions, the court ruled in favour of the continuation of the highway project. Kublalsingh was unable to continue his fast outside the Prime Minister’s Office in St Clair on Tuesday. A T&T Guardian report on Wednesday showed an emaciated Kublalsingh lying on a bed at his D’Abadie home. He said he was too weak to continue the strike at the St Clair camp and spoke about death and mortality.

Persad-Bissessar remarked on how many civil society groups had latched on to the HRM’s cause because of their own differences of opinion. She said no leader and no government in T&T have gone the democratic distance she and the People’s Partnership have gone. “I have tried to govern with conviction, strength and, at times, compassion, but at all times for the benefit of the country.
“This is the light I have lit. Let it burn forever and let no one in the future extinguish that light,” she said. Shifting to the Divali Nagar, the PM commended the National Council on Indian Culture (NCIC) for elevating the status of Divali as a festival. She said it was a special time in the life of the organisation which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Persad-Bissessar said it was also heart-warming to see the number of young artistes performing on the Nagar stage. She congratulated the NCIC for expanding Divali Nagar to the Caribbean and North America. Jamaican Rachel Beisray who won the 2014 Divali Nagar queen competition was the “first Caricom queen of Divali Nagar”, she said. The NCIC, even with its limited resources, has contributed to the resurgence of Indian culture in Guadeloupe and other international countries, the PM added.

She gave a cheque of $2 million to the NCIC to continue its work. NCIC president Deokienanan Sharma, receiving it onstage, said it cost the organisation upwards of $5 million to stage the annual nine-day event. He said the NCIC does not charge an entrance fee and the $2 million will help them pay their electricity and other bills. Persad-Bissessar, reminding Sharma that he spoke about the promotion of the festivals of other groups in T&T, said she will continue to support all, including Eid, Emancipation and the observances of the Baptists.

Commentators and writers in T&T are bulldogs in a ring, bruising each other in that clash of professional egos. This was a statement made by President Anthony Carmona during his feature address at Wednesday’s annual graduation ceremony of the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus. He said that there is a crisis in intellectual discussion in T&T. “We are a society in adult distress. The disingenuous and the uncouth have a field day because of their unfettered access to print and a microphone. “We desperately need a breath of new writers and commentators who will not engage the nation with the same old, same old dialogue and that obsession with self. We await a gush of fresh breeze.”

Just earlier that day (Wednesday) Carmona issued a pre-action protocol letter against radio host and comedian, Rachel Price, for alleged defamation of his wife, Reema. It is reported that Price criticised Reema’s attire at a recent function on international attention and importance. Carmona said there is a continuous stream of opinions of government issues expressed daily, not only in Parliament and in print media but also on radio and social media. “Regrettably in all these forums, light-minded minds tend to recycle and state their greed opinions. “As graduates, you have a responsibility to bring more enlightened dispassionate approach to the discourse on issues of national and regional importance. “We have to replace our focus on personalities with a focus on ideas so that they opinioned and self-serving pronouncements and forms of cyber bullying are replaced by thoughtful dialogue and minded conversation.”

He said social media Web sites no longer perform an envisaged function or creating a positive communication link among friends, family and professionals. “It is a battleground where insults fly from the human quiver, damaging lives, destroying self esteem and a personal sense of self-worth.” Carmona also made reference to the draconian piece of legislation that does not allow any political party or President to appoint anyone younger than 25-years-old to the Senate. “Many countries in the world are lowering the voter age from 18 to 17 to 16. “We need to, seriously, to consider that option.  We need to bring that intellectual luminance that is sometimes lacking.”

Sharing his personal mantra to the hundreds of graduates, Carmona urged: “Try to be a better person today, not a greater person than you were yesterday. “Culture is a proper moral compass. Ensure that you invoke standards of accountability and integrity.”

Leader of the Highway Re-Route Movement (HRM) Dr Wayne Kublalsingh has issued his own challenge to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, calling on her to make the names of the contractors involved in the controversial Debe to Mon Desir segment of the Solomon Hochoy Highway public. Kublalsingh’s response came in wake of recent statements made by Persad-Bissessar, who reiterated the call of Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan, that the environmentalist make his medical records public.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
In an interview yesterday, Kublalsingh maintained he would easily reveal his records but had no official request from either Persad-Bissessar or Khan. “I have not received anything officially in writing from the Prime Minister regarding my records. I give her the full authority to go and get the records and if it is they are giving her problems I think the more responsible thing would be is to write me a letter requesting the records and then I would write St Clair Medical Centre saying the Prime Minister requests these records and she could go collect it herself. “I would request that all my records be released to her dating from 2012 when I began first hunger strike.

Kublalsingh said in return he thinks it was only fair and in the best interest of the country for Persad-Bissessar to say who are the contractors, the value of their contracts and the terms of their contracts. Regarding his condition he said he was still feeling very dizzy and weak as he completed day 37 of his second hunger strike against the highway. Kublalsingh said he had many visitors yesterday some of who were public officials trying to find a solution.

But he declined to identify who they were, saying they preferred to remain anonymous. “They came seeking information on the issue and finding a best way forward,” Kublalsingh added. On statements made by Persad-Bissessar questioning who has been funding advertisements for the HRM, Kublalsingh said he was surprised the PM had stooped so low. He said a combination of events including barbecues and curry-ques have helped finance the ads.

More than 150 families were forced to cancel their Divali celebrations after heavy rainfall caused flooding and landslides in communities and homes across south Trinidad yesterday morning. The hardest hit areas included Quarry Village, Siparia, the constituency of Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar, Fyzabad San Francique where some residents could not cook. They suffered property loss and were trapped in their homes. When a news team from the T&T Guardian visited the area residents said it was the worst flooding in decades, but yet they received no help from their government representatives, the regional corporation or emergency response agencies.

In the community of Standard Road, Fyzabad residents were stranded as they were cut off from the main road. Sixty-year-old Ramchan Ramnarine had to wade through a quarter mile of knee-high water to collect his Divali lunch from his daughter Diana Maharaj. Maharaj, who lives in Penal, said: “Every Divali I would drop lunch for my parents, but this year when I got here there was too much flood for me to drive through. It is the first time in the longest while that it flood so bad.”  

Another resident, Patsy Jaglal, said: “Since I here 48 years I never see anything like this. It (flood) happen so sudden we could not do anything. We cannot even cook because the water reach about four feet inside and leave about five or six inches of slush. The flour, sugar wash away.” She added: “We have bread and zaboca, ah guess we will have to eat that.” Another resident, Asha Ramrattan, said her baby’s toys, pampers, stove and other valuables floated away into the river. “All the mattresses, our clothes everything soak. We need help here.”

Quarry Village residents blamed the severe flooding on a blocked river course caused by land development works by two people in the area. Mala Sitahal said, “It is not easy to deal with, especially on an occasion like this. She said relatives came from abroad to spend this special day with them and they cannot even cook or light their deyas. “This is the Prime Minister constituency I hope she is listening and see what is happening.” She was hopeful that the Prime Minister would help them. He called on the Prime Minister since it is her constituency to do something about it. Another resident Claudette Dookie broke down in tears as she recalled how residents had to come to her rescue. “Everything in the house gone.”

Corporation chairman: Its the Worst
 Siparia Regional Corporation’s chairman Leo Doodnath said in his four years at the corporation its the worst flooding he has ever seen. Doodnath said he was out from around 9 am touring affected areas and the corporation’s disaster preparedness unit was lending assistance to affected residents. “It bad. It terrible. Most the areas in San Francique were badly hit, the Fyzabad and Siparia communities also had  severe flooding. It could be about more than 150 households affected in terms of water going into their homes. In Mulchan Trace would have been the  worst I have ever seen where two families were marooned. We could not get to them.” He said mattresses and food stuff were given to families and  shelters are on standby to assist the families who cannot stay in their homes. “But, we do hope that the flood will subside so by tomorrow we can begin mopping up the area. We have already alerted Cepep and URP.
 

A little over three dozen members of various civil society groups braved heavy rains on Wednesday night as they held a vigil in solidarity for environmentalist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh. Armed with wax-filled dawes, the group laid the lit clay lamp in and around the make shift camp outside the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair, which Kublalsingh occupied for majority of his over month-long hunger strike in protest of the construction of the Debe to Mon Desir segment of the Point Fortin Highway project. Heavily armed security guards looked on behind the high metal fence surrounding the office complex at St Clair Avenue, but did not intervene to stop the group, which cautiously contained their activities to the edge of the pavement. 

Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) leader David Abdulah, who led the group, said it chose engage in the activity the eve of the Divali public holiday because of the special significance of the Hindu festival. “We hope symbolically the light of the deyas around this building will illuminate the thinking of those who make decisions from within,” Abdulah said. He also delivered a brief message from Kublalsingh, who recently transfered his protest to his D’Abadie home after his family claimed his health had seriously deteriorated after spending over 37 days without food or water. The group, which included a handful of members of Kublalsingh’s Highway Re-Route Movement (HRM) cheered and applauded as Abdulah criticised several recent anti-Kublalsingh newspapers advertisements from a group refering to themselves as “Citizens for the Highway.” “The outcry against that was huge. What that says is when they engage someone in a debate and they are losing, they then turn to insult,” Abdulah said as he claimed the advertisement were paid for by Government supporters using a fictitious name.

The former government senator also expressed optimism over recent meetings between civil society groups, the Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry (JCC) and the National Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (Nidco), the State-run organisation managing the construction of the controversial billon dollar project. Abdulah said the JCC was expected to receive a response from Nidco on whether its compliance with recommendations in a report prepared in 2012 by a committee of its members led by former Independent Senator Dr James Armstrong, on Friday. The report is central to Kublalsingh and the HRM’s claims that the segment of the highway should be stopped to allow for a hydrology study and comprehensive socio-economic analysis. “We will see what they say to the JCC. I’m sure they (the JCC) will say if it is unsatisfactory,” Abdulah said. 

T&T’s children will inherit lower public debt if a plan by Minister of Finance and the Economy Larry Howai comes to fruition. He confirmed this in e-mailed responses to questions from the T&T Guardian. Howai said Government would hold in a “debt sinking fund,” the US$1.175 billion it made from the sale of Clico and CL Financial’s stake in Methanol Holdings Trinidad Ltd (MHTL) to German consortium Consolidated Energy Ltd (CEL). The plan was first revealed in an Oppenheimer (investment bank) October 15 report “for investors only.” Oppenheimer analysts wrote the report after meetings with government officials from T&T, Aruba, Panama, Costa Rica, Paraguay, El Salvador and Dominican Republic, who were attending the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings in Washington from October 10-12.

Howai, who led the T&T delegation to the IMF-World Bank meetings, said: “We are in the process of putting the arrangements for debt reduction in place. The challenge that we face is that if we pay off debt now it will result in an exogenous increase in the money supply which will increase the level of liquidity and will raise the spectre of inflation risk.  “We are therefore considering establishing a sinking fund which will offset the debt but not increase the level of liquidity in the system.”  A sinking fund is formed by periodically setting aside money for gradual repayment of a debt or replacement of a wasting asset. Howai said: “We are developing the structure to facilitate that (a sinking fund) when the Central Bank begins the process of repayment, as the funds are now with Clico, which is under the control of the Central Bank. For the time being the funds (from the MHTL sale) have been placed in Treasury Securities by Clico.” 

That explains why Oppenheimer said the government would receive the money in part cash and in part securities. Oppenheimer told investors: “The government expects to receive US$1-2 billion payback from its support to Clico (insurance company that collapsed in 2009 and represented a systemic risk for the country) in the coming 12 months; part will be in cash and part in securities. “As a consequence, international reserves will increase from the current US$10.4 billion,” or 35.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and over 12 months import cover—one of the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean. Asked about the new highest-ever, record-setting foreign exchange reserve level that the country will reach with the inflow of the money from the MHTL sale, Howai said: “The level of foreign exchange reserves has increased as the funds came in to the Central Bank last week and represents part of our strategy to build our financial buffers given the increased risk in energy markets.”

Oppenheimer also looked at the bonds T&T taxpayers will have to repay upon maturity and said: “While the government does not have big maturities coming due, authorities are considering using part of these funds to reduce net general government debt by four percentage points to 40 per cent of GDP by establishing a debt-sinking fund.” T&T’s next bond maturity date is November 30 when $700 million of public funds will be paid to bondholders who financed the government in 2006 at a coupon rate of eight per cent for eight years. Thereafter, around $84 million will become due on February 18, 2015, to bondholders who took the offer of the T&T government in 2000 to buy into an 11.4 per cent coupon rate 15-year bond that started off as $153 million. 

Government has been bringing down the outstanding balance. The country’s next US dollar bond matures on July 1, 2020, and was debt sold by the government of the time—June 2000—at a rate of 9.75 per cent for 20 years. On July 1, 2020, bondholders will be advised by the Luxembourg exchange to collect US$500 million from T&T. Consistent with indigenous investment plans already announced by Energy and Energy Affairs Minister Kevin Ramnarine, Oppenheimer said, with regard to T&T’s state enterprises government, “authorities are considering how to boost Petrotrin capital expenditure but no decision is expected until after next year’s legislative elections.” On another topic, Oppenheimer said Republic Bank Ltd (RBL) “was transformed” into a state enterprise upon the Clico rescue, “but the government intends to disinvest from the bank in a responsible manner.”

The "Guardian" story being circulated online about a doctor with Ebola in T&T is fake. Please ignore it.

We're probing the source of this hoax.

Now that Ebola has struck closer to home, with the latest case being reported in New York City (NYC), T&T citizens living there now fear for their lives.

The case has caused alarm among Trinidadians living in Manhattan, some a few blocks away from the Harlem apartment of the patient, Dr Craig Spencer.

Ebola is spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. 

Despite the large numbers of travellers between New York and T&T, however, T&T will not implement any ban or quarantine system for people arriving in the country from JFK.

This was the response of Brig Anthony Phillips-Spencer, head of the National Ebola Prevention, Information and Response team (NEPIR).

He explained that the latest Ebola case in NYC was an “incident case” and not an outbreak.

“There is a procedure by which a country will implement a travel restriction and that is if there is an outbreak of the deadly virus. The US is not yet at that point. What we see here is an incident. 

“If there is a number of infections in a given area, then it would be considered an outbreak and only then can travel restrictions, bans and/or quarantines take effect,” Phillips-Spencer explained.

He said the authorities were closely monitoring the situation, and added: “We are going to continue to intensify further. We continue to improve and refine and will put out public advisories. Our focus is also public education and awareness.”

Phillips-Spencer also said NEPIR had successfully spotted an incoming sea vessel Lauren Foss, which was on its way to T&T from Congo which has not had any cases of Ebola. 

There have been 68 cases this year in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a much bigger country, which is one of the four countries in west Africa from which travel to T&T is banned. T&T nationals coming from the DRC, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia will have to undergo 21 days of quarantine. 

Phillips-Spencer explained: “What we are doing is screening at all ports, airport and seaports but before the actual screening is done, we are doing scouting, keeping in touch with airlines and ships before they even enter the jurisdiction. 

“We are finding out who is onboard, where they are coming from, how many crew members and purpose.”

The Lauren Foss was due to enter T&T waters on Wednesday to change an eight-member crew which flew in from the US. The ship was inspected and no risk was detected so the crew was allowed to change and the vessel was allowed to continue its voyage.

“We will continue to refine drills and operating procedures,” Phillips-Spencer said.

He also revealed that T&T would seek assistance from abroad in obtaining a level four laboratory testing facility for the Ebola virus.

“We have had offers and we have reached out because it is no secret but here in the region we do not have a level four lab for testing. The level four is needed to diagnose Ebola. We have a level below.”

NYC-T&T travel: the numbers

An average of 616 passengers arrive daily on board Caribbean Airline (CAL) flights from John F Kennedy International Airport, New York, according to a CAL representative.

There are four daily CAL flights with each bringing about 154 passengers.

American Airlines has two flights daily to T&T from Miami International Airport. The AA representative, however, did not want to disclose how many passengers were on each flight, saying this was for security reasons.

On Jet Blue Airlines, there is a daily flight carrying an average of 150 passengers. Over 5,362 people arrive at Piarco Airport weekly from New York City and Miami.

Level four labs

The US Centers for Disease Control’s Website explains that viruses and other pathogens that need bio-safety level (BSL) four facilities and practices are extremely dangerous and pose a high risk of life-threatening disease. The Ebola virus is one of them. 

BSL four facilities provide the maximum protection and containment. BSL four practices include requirements for complete clothing change before entry, a shower on exit and decontamination of all materials before leaving the lab.

People working in such a lab must wear an air-supplied full-body suit. 

Usually, BSL four laboratories are in separate buildings or a totally isolated zone with dedicated supply and exhaust ventilation. Exhaust streams are filtered through high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters.

(Source: www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/safe-specimen-management.html)

A scared NYC Trini speaks:
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Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday from her apartment on 125th and Broadway, Manhattan, Sajida Baksh was worried by the news. 

She has lived in Manhattan for the past 44 years and is a retiree from the Riverbank State Park, Manhattan, which is just two blocks away from Spencer's apartment.

“This news has hit home with me and all I can think about is the thousands of people, including children, that frequent the park. I worked there for years and it is very frightening for me, as you could say it has reached my backyard.”

She said she now has to exercise extreme caution while using public transport in and around NYC.

She added: “The train is crowded and you really can't tell what is happening while in that crowd. I have my car, yes, but there are times when I have to use the train or bus. It is frightening to know that this deadly virus has reached outside our doors.

“Everyone around me is afraid... Americans and T&T locals living up here. 

“We pray to God that it does not reach T&T's shores because I do not know if T&T is equipped 100 per cent to handle this Ebola.”

Baksh, a Carnival lover, was also anxious about Carnival 2015, given the Ebola crisis, and believes the Government should think carefully about whether or not it should go on.

She added: “Listen, I love my Carnival and I plan to come to T&T for Carnival next year but now that it have this Ebola crisis I don't think I would dare come, despite all the precautions and measures that may be put in place. 

“I personally think that there can be mishaps. Piarco airport will be in a mess and I don't think they would have enough resources to personally check everyone arriving in T&T.

“Carnival is all about revelry, sex, parties, etc, and it will be one of the greatest risks for the spread of Ebola because you have to take into consideration if people will be truthful in filling out the health forms, which would ask origin, and if they have come in contact with persons who may have contracted the Ebola virus. 

“We cannot take this for granted. People ought to be truthful on this and there is a big possibility that they won't.”

Chairman of the Siparia Regional Corporation Leo Doodnath says residents who were affected by the Divali day floods in Fyzabad and Siparia must share some of the responsibility for the floods.

He was speaking during a tour of the affected areas yesterday with Local Government Minister Marlene Coudray. Residents of Quarry Village, Siparia, and parts of Fyzabad awoke with water inside their homes on Divali morning.

“There are too many people who indiscriminately throw all kind of things in the rivers. We took out tyres and all kinds of rubbish from the river today. This dumping has a major part to play in the flooding,” Doodnath added.

He said the corporation would crack down on those who violated litter laws. 

“We will be hiring compliance officers to go out in the field and ensure people are not doing those things,” he said.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian during her visit, Coudray said while assistance was being offered to the affected households, the main focus was ensuring the Divali day floods did not happen again. 

“We gave out some mattresses and food cards to those affected but our main objective is to make sure this does not happen again,” she added.

Coudray said the regional corporation was partnering with the Ministry of Works’ Drainage Division to clear all blocked watercourses. 

“This flooding is a result of recent development in the area that diverted the main watercourse. There was also a lot of garbage in the river and a tree that had fallen in,” she said.

Residents of Fyzabad and Siparia spent all day yesterday cleaning up after the floods left some homes under as much as four feet of water. Ricky Sampath, who lives in Quarry Village, said his family lost most of their belongings to the floodwaters. He praised the CEPEP workers for their help in the clean-up efforts but lamented the lack of assistance so far to recoup their losses. 

He said: “So far, we get some help to clean u, but we only getting some temporary mattresses. We didn’t hear about anything else yet.”

One Mulchan Trace family said Divali was not finished. 

“Tonight (Friday night) is the last night for Divali. If we finish cleaning up in time we could light some deyas,” said Varsha Moolchan. 

Moolchan said the family had been marooned in their home all day and all their preparations for Divali were in vain. 

“The boys built arches to light up the street to the main road and every year we make sweet bags for all the children in the village but this year was a big disappointment.”

The family was critical of the visit by Coudray and Doodnath, saying they were not told anything about compensation.

“They came here but we were not told about compensation, apparently they came to sightsee,” said Moolchan.

If comedienne Rachel Price didn’t get the pre-action protocol letter sent by the President’s attorneys, a second letter will be sent, sources said yesterday.

Price didn’t answer cell calls yesterday about whether she had received the letter which was sent by attorneys on October 17. 

On Wednesday the Office of the President issued a statement saying it had sought and obtained the advice of Senior Counsel on certain “offensive statements recently made by a radio talk show host.” 

A pre-action protocol letter was sent by attorneys on behalf of Mrs Carmona and the Office of the President on the alleged statements.

These are thought to have been comments Price made in connection with an outfit which Reema Carmona, the President’s wife, wore at a recent UN function where she spoke at a session on Fashion for Development. She was also interviewed by Allure Magazine during the assignments.

Price’s Twitter account hasn’t said whether she has received the letter yet. 

An October 21 tweet, however, alluded to “Carmona,” saying: “Looking for fire I walking with gas. Senility hitting Carmona? I heading to the dry cleaners, time to bring out mih (deleted) court clothes.” 

Sources explained the legal letter was taken to Price’s east Trinidad home and received by a female family member. The latter, however, was told not to accept it and it was subsequently left with the housing compound’s security guards, sources said.

Contacted yesterday, a legal source said a second letter would be sent, adding that there are many ways of ensuring a party received such a letter.

Queries on who the President’s lawyer is, whether the State is paying his or her fees and whether the President had a legal adviser didn’t get an immediate response yesterday from President’s House communications officer Theron Boodan.

On whether the President's office can sue over comments about his wife, Reggie Armour, SC, said he was not prepared to comment and Douglas Mendes, SC, said he preferred not to. Israel Khan’s office did not reply nor did former public service head Reggie Dumas.

The President’s Office has said while it respected and valued the constitutional right of every individual to freedom of expression and the principles of fair comments and freedom of the press remained sacrosanct, freedom of expression was not a licence to defame. 

The statement said unwarranted attacks which crossed the line into defamation and sought to bring members of the family of the President, and by extension the Office of the President, into disrepute would not be tolerated.

At a UWI graduation function on Wednesday, the President complained about what he described as the lack of depth of broadcast comment, cyberbullying and social media abuse in T&T.

MORE INFO

President’s House subsequently issued a statement that the President and Mrs Carmona “have engaged in a private and confidential relationship with Senior Counsel concerning matters that have arisen recently in the public domain.

“Their Excellencies have been advised by Senior Counsel not to disclose the nature and content of those discussions emanating thereof. The action of their Excellencies will be guided by Senior Counsel’s advice on said matters,” it added.

Health Minister Fuad Khan yesterday said the leader of the Highway Re-route Movement Dr Wayne Kublalsingh was between a “rock and a hard place” and was trying to get sympathy from an “already critical” public.

He said so when asked whether or not he would make an official request for Kublalsingh’s medical record, as the activist had told reporters on Wednesday he would be willing to share his records once such a request was made. Khan had previously said Kublalsingh’s vital signs were fine despite his hunger strike which included abstaining from drinking as well as eating. 

Yesterday marked the 38th day Kublalsingh said he had not eaten or drunk anything. He began his second hunger strike on September 17 to compel the Government to review the proposed route for the Debe to Mon Desir segment of the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension to Point Fortin.

Khan responded: “I don’t have time to be making any requests. The public understands what Kublalsingh is about. If he shows his blood results everyone will know whether there was organ failure or not but he can show the public his blood results without any request. The population is looking at the situation and Kublalsingh is trying to engage in sympathetic foolishness.”

The activist, in a telephone interview, said he spent yesterday the same way as he had spent the three previous days, lying in bed resting and still felt weak.

“We are still calling on the Government to get together to dialogue on the Optimum Connectivity Route. I am asking for an end to the propaganda,” he added. 

Kublalsingh said talks needed to take place in a serious manner. He said for the past few days he had been chatting with priests, civil society leaders and many others on the way forward.

“We intend to continue with the hunger strike to the very end and not to relent at all. There have been a number of persons calling for mediation but it seems the Government is afraid of that word. I still feel that we can come to an agreement where everybody benefits,” the activist said.

CEO at the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce Catherine Kumar says too many people walk through the doors of businesses, degree in hand, expecting success and was unwilling to work a long day. 

She was addressing yesterday’s graduation ceremony for students of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Sports and Physical Education Centre, St Augustine, where she was conferred with the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by the university.

In delivering the feature address, Kumar said commitment was so lacking that more time was spent on social media than in toiling to deliver quality work on time.

She told the graduates their academic achievement would not instantly open to the jobs or businesses they wanted nor opportunities they believed they deserved. Commitment, she said, was part of the formula for success.

She told the graduates they should always have a conscience and give back to society.

“Have a conscience,” she said, adding that in today’s world giving back “seems to be something we leave to others.

“Conscience is not martyrdom. Conscience is volunteering. 

“It is giving back to your church, your community, helping those less fortunate than yourself, opening doors for others,” she added.

She called on graduates “to revive the conscience of your homeland with urgency.”

“This must be a priority,” she said, “if we have any hope of being better. Success is conscience. 

“Build and create your legacy with a conscience so that it is filled with inspiration, as it will be with financial means.”

She said success was based on the choices people made. 

“Don’t let circumstances rule you. You have to be in charge,” she added.

An article reporting that there is a Nigerian Ebola patient in T&T, which is currently circulating on social media sites is a fake.

The article, which uses a T&T Guardian reporter’s name under an old-fashioned T&T Guardian masthead, claims a Nigerian doctor had entered the country without a passport and was being treated for Ebola at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.

Managing director of Guardian Media Ltd Lisa Agard said yesterday the management of the newspaper was disgusted by not only the contents of the article but the fact that the creators had tried to attribute it to the newspaper.

She said: “It was designed to spread fear and panic to the population of T&T.

“We are particularly aggrieved by the fact that someone would use the Guardian’s (old) masthead and fonts and also falsely represent that a journalist attached to the Guardian newspaper was the author of the false article,” Agard said.

“We view this development so seriously that we are going to report the matter to the police for them to ascertain whether any crime has been committed under the Computer Misuse Act, and it is our fervent hope that the authorities would be able to identify who perpetrated this malicious move to scare the population and damage the reputation of the Guardian newspaper.”

Aside from grammatical errors and inconsistencies in the date, the article gives incorrect information about the virus itself.

Nevertheless, the T&T Guardian newspaper received several calls from concerned readers about the story.

One woman noted the errors but said she still had to check and was a little afraid after reading it.

The T&T Guardian posted messages on its Web site and Facebook page yesterday morning to assure readers the story was a hoax and to ask them to ignore it. 

Minister denies claim

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Health Minister Fuad Khan was quick to deny that the virus had entered the country.

“There is nothing like Ebola in T&T and if people on social media are saying something different maybe they mean a person named Ebola, because the virus is named after a river and people probably named their children after the river too,” Khan said in a telephone interview.

“There is no disease called Ebola in T&T at this time,” he added.