Two days after he escaped bullets from gunmen, Fabien “Super” Williams was killed on Sunday while at the Boardwalk in Chaguaramas.

However, the gunmen were so determined to get their target this time around that they sprayed bullets in the direction where Williams, of Sea View Hill, Carenage, was standing, killing two others - Kedel “Timeless” Osbourne, 21, also from Sea View Hill and Andrew Francis, 39, of Mamoral No. 2.

Three others, including eight-year-old Jakeem Moses, of Pelican Extension, Morvant, were wounded. The other injured people were identified as Ian Brown, 20, of Upper Sea View, Carenage and Keron Jones, 26, of Cleaver Heights, Arima.

According to a police report, shortly after 7 pm gunmen opened fire on beachgoers at the popular venue, sending everyone scampering for safety. Police said Williams, Osbourne and Francis were killed instantly. Investigating officers believe the gunmen were after Williams. Police said they knew him well as he faced several firearm offences in the past.

The T&T Guardian was also told that on Friday there was an attempt on Williams’ life when gunmen opened fire on him while he was liming at a bar. Police believe Sunday’s incident was gang-related.
Williams’ relatives refused to talk to the T&T Guardian yesterday.

However, a relative of Osbourne, who wished not to be identified, expressed outrage over the incident. He also blamed the police for the spiralling crime rate.

“Innocent people have to go just so in this country? The police, especially the Carenage Police, don’t care a damn about us out here. This crime gone out of control and nobody cares who get kill and if they innocently get kill…that’s the reality,” Osbourne’s relative said.

He described Osbourne as “cool.”

“I really don’t have nothing much to say about anything again…I don’t even want to see anything about this in the media…We just fed up of this.”

Osbourne’s relative, who was visibly upset, said relatives only positively identified Osbourne’s body at the Forensic Science Centre yesterday and questioned how his name could have been leaked to the media before.

Francis’ sister, Margaret Logan, said her brother went with friends for a day of relaxation at the beach. She added that she never thought she would have ever received such “terrible news.”

“This is horrible…my brother was friendly, talkative and was just a comedian to all. I don’t even know what else to say because it is like a nightmare to know that you can go anywhere now and have to keep looking over your shoulder,” Logan said.

She added that her brother, who was a farmer, had three children, the last of them, Asia, being born just three weeks ago.

Yesterday, baby Asia was seen swaddled in a white blanket in her mother’s arms at the Forensic Science Centre in St James.

In an unrelated incident later on Sunday, Andy Naggassar, 35, was fatally shot while at Jitman Drive, Five Rivers, Arouca. Nagassar lived at Seventh Street, Range Road, Five Rivers. Police said a motive was yet to be determined for his killing.

Also on Sunday at about 1.30 am, Andrew Noel, 28, of Upper Dundonald Hill, St James, was killed when gunmen stopped the vehicle he was in and opened fire. Police said Noel was not the intended target of the gunmen. Officers said another occupant of the vehicle who was the intended target escaped unhurt.

Meanwhile, police are still probing the shooting of a man and woman in Maloney on Saturday. Police said at about 10 pm both victims were standing along the roadway when a vehicle drove past them and its occupants opened fire on them. The victims, whose identities weren’t disclosed, were taken to hospital where they are warded in serious conditions.

In Maraval at around the same time, Ezekiel Blaisell, 21, was shot and wounded while walking along the Saddle Road near Beard Street. Police said Blaisell, who was shot several times in the leg, was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he was treated and warded in a stable condition.

The weekend’s five killings brought the murder toll to 294.

Investigations are continuing into all incidents.

In the aftermath of Sunday’s bloodbath along the Boardwalk in Chaguaramas, officers of the Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) yesterday started stop and search exercises on almost every vehicle entering and exiting the western peninsula.

One of the CDA officers, who asked not to be identified, said roadblocks along the Western Main Road were not usual but admitted the activity had been heightened since the attack.

The exercises, which involve the random stopping and searching of vehicles and their occupants, are now expected to take place during every rotation shift.

“This is just a way of beefing up security and making beachgoers and commuters feel safer at the end of the day. Police mobile patrols have been heightened as well,” the CDA officer said.

The T&T Guardian was also assured that the CDA officers will continue to work in collaboration with the T&T Police Service and Defence Force to return law and order to the area.

Meanwhile, the area along the Boardwalk where the fatal shootings took place remained cordoned off yesterday, although the bloodstains from the three victims were still evident.

A visiting family seen picnicking near the police tape admitted they had not heard of the murders that occurred on Sunday but expressed disgust that the area was not properly washed down and sanitised.

Another CDA officer said he did not know the reason why the tape was still up and the blood stains were still there.

“I don’t know but it is smelling very fresh and upsetting,” the officer said.

Another visitor to the Williams Bay beach, who wished not to be identified, said there was a sense of safety yesterday.

“Honestly, I believe the shooting was a definite target and I would think that it is an isolated incident. I don’t think anything like that would happen again but at the same time, you don’t know what to expect with this crime and gang rivalry that going on.

“I feel comfortable to see the police out today. It hardly have people on the beach but I guess as time goes on and the days go by more and more people will come out. Everywhere you at risk, even in your own homes, so is best you pray and come out and enjoy yourself and hope to reach back home alive,” the visitor said.

The T&T Guardian was told that all surveillance cameras along the area are in working condition and it is believed footage has already been taken by investigating officers.

Two days after he escaped bullets from gunmen, Fabien “Super” Williams of Sea View Hill, of Carenage, was killed while liming with friends during an attack by a group of gunmen around 7 pm on Sunday. Two others - Kedel “Timeless” Osbourne, 21, from Sea View Hill, Carenage and Andrew Francis, 39, of Mamoral No. 2, were also killed as the gunmen sprayed bullets at their intended target, police said. Three others, Ian Brown, 20, of Upper Sea View, Carenage; Keron Jones, 26, of Cleaver Heights, Arima and Jakeem Moses, eight, of Pelican Extension, Morvant, were also hurt and remain hospitalised.

New information reaching the T&T Guardian yesterday suggests that contrary to earlier reports, the gunmen approached the Boardwalk via a pirogue. According to police sources, the gunmen, believed to be from the Carenage area, got out the pirogue, ran ashore to the Boardwalk and opened fire on their intended target - Williams. The T&T Guardian was told that on Friday there was an attempt on Williams’ life when gunmen opened fire on him while he was liming at a bar. Police believe that this incident was gang-related.

However, yesterday during a walkabout in the community Williams’ relatives told Movement for Social Justice activist Kizzy Monsegue that Williams was no member of any gang and was never involved with guns.

A mini mart owner was ambushed and robbed while at his business place in Wallerfield yesterday.

According to a police report, at about 6 am Michael Wilson, 38, was at his business, Happy Shoppers Mini Mart at Jacob Hill, conducting sales with a bread salesman when two men approached.

The men, police said, were armed with a gun and a cutlass. Police said the men robbed Wilson of two cell phones, an undisclosed amount of phone cards, cigarettes and an undisclosed amount of cash.

Before leaving with their loot, police said, a confrontation ensued in which Wilson was shot once in the upper body.

The thieves also took the business place’s DVR for the CCTV surveillance cameras on their way out. Wilson was taken to the Arima District Hospital where he was treated and transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Science Complex in Mount Hope where he is warded in critical condition.

Investigations are continuing.

The recent passing of the Anti-Gang Legislation may have stumped the intelligence gathering and investigative work of the T&T Police Service, forcing them to return to the drawing board on cases being made against key members of the criminal element. This is because officers cannot use information previously gathered on individuals before the bill was passed and assented to retroactively charge and prosecute them in the court today.

This was the startling disclosure made by acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams during a joint media conference with the National Security Edmund Dillon and T&T Defence Force (TTDF) Chief of Defence Staff Hayden Pritchard yesterday at the Ministry of National Security in Port-of-Spain.

Williams pointed out the flaw when he was asked how successful the police had been in making significant inroads into the apprehension any gang members or persons involved in gang-related activities since the bill’s passage. The bill was proclaimed on May 28.

“We have learnt lessons of the past…while we do in fact have clear indicators as to persons who are involved in criminal activities and gang-related activities in T&T, we cannot go in a retrospective way and take evidence from the past and make a case out in the present,” Williams said.

He added: “That is part of the failure of the past…2011, when we did that most of the cases went down the drain.”

Williams, however, assured that they were currently building up cases against many people to ensure that when they do act in future, everything will be in place to take the entire process to the end.

“In the very near future you would see several persons being effectively prosecuted under the Anti-Gang Act,” Williams said.

Just after the bill was proclaimed, however, Williams, in an interview with the T&T Guardian, had disclosed that the Organised Crime and Intelligence Unit (OCIU) was keeping tabs on close to 2,500 suspected gang members across the country. He then described the legislation as a “major contributor” for the police in the fight against crime, adding he expected there would be “progress and improvement and consequently a drop in the violent crimes.” He did, however, also point out then that “there is no magic formula” to the crime problem.

In 2011, the then People’s Partnership government passed anti-gang legislation and more than 100 alleged gang members were arrested under a state of emergency in the face of a rising murder rate. However, all of these individuals were subsequently released and the state has been paying out millions of dollars in payments for the wrongful arrest of these individuals.

Williams and Dillon also condemned Sunday’s brazen attack at the Chaguaramas Boardwalk that left three people dead and three injured, including an eight-year-old boy. Williams assured the case would be solved and all the resources needed will be provided to homicide investigators.

In seeking to allay fears of the citizenry, especially youngsters, about visiting public recreational spaces during July/August vacation period in the wake of the attack, Dillon said there will be a collaborative heightened security measure between the police and soldiers, where they will be posted in malls, shopping centres, beaches and popular liming strips at Ariapita Avenue and St James. He also said that there will be round-the-clock aerial patrols by the Strategic Services Agency helicopters.

Williams also assured there will be an increase in stop and search exercises and roadblocks in a bid to relieve criminals of guns. He said police officers had seized 552 illegal guns so far this year, which was more than the same period last year. He said last year police seized a total 1,064 firearms.

A prison officer who walked into a robbery at a Chinese supermarket in Arouca attempted to run away but was chased down by one of the armed thieves. A passing colleague saw what was happening and in aid of the fleeing officer, took out his firearm and shot the assailant.

The bandit’s three accomplices, one of whom is 16 years old, subsequently surrendered to the prison officers. The wounded man was taken to hospital but died while undergoing treatment. Police said up to last evening the dead bandit remained unidentified.

According to a police report, at about 8 pm a prison officer, who had just completed his shift, went to Jun Lin’s Chinese Supermarket, located at the corner of the Old Golden Grove Road and Sawmill Street, which is within earshot of the Golden Grove Prison, to make a purchase. When he walked in the officer realised there was a robbery in progress and attempted to sneak back out of the establishment. It was at this point that he was spotted and chased after by one of the four bandits.

As the bandit pursued the prison officer he fired at him. The officer’s colleague, who was passing by at the same time, stopped to help and drew his weapon. On seeing this the bandit fired at him and he returned fire, hitting the bandit several times about his body. The three accomplices, who surrendered right after their cohort was shot, were then bound with tie-straps which one of the officers had in their possession and handed over to the police.

A team of officers from the Arouca Police Station, led by Inspector Greene, visited the scene and conducted inquiries. Several spent shells were recovered from the scene.

The two prison officers were not hurt in the incident.

Yesterday they came in for high commendation from Prisons Commissioner Gerard Wilson.

“I would like to commend these officers for their bravery and assistance in capturing these bandits under very trying and dangerous circumstances. I applaud their efforts and the will be rewarded appropriately,” Wilson said.

The officers were also praised by Prisons Officers Association president Ceron Richards.

“These two officers risked their lives and limbs and were able to apprehend the perpetrators. They must be commended for their alertness and the way in which they handled the situation,” Richards said.

Police Complaints Authority (PCA) head David West is warning police officers to obey the rule of law.

His advice comes on the heels of Wednesday’s announcement by National Security Minister Edmund Dillon that police officers will be more visible to members of the public in all public recreational spaces throughout T&T during the July-August vacation period.

However, noting that there were increasing reports of errant behaviour from police before the PCA yesterday, West said whilst they had no jurisdiction over the T&T Defence Force (TTDF), whose members are to be deployed jointly with the police, he “expects the T&T Police Service and the TTDF to obey the rule of law, especially the rights of citizens of T&T.”

West said from January 1 to present the PCA had received 200 complaints against police officers as compared to 144 for the same period last year. He also said the PCA is actively engaged in carrying out independent investigations into 18 police killings from the beginning of 2018 up to July 4.

“The PCA is of the view that this can be attributed to several factors, namely the increase in the PCA’s drive in public education of the citizens of T&T through our community outreach programmes and the “Did you know” series updated weekly on our Facebook page,” West said.

“Additionally, the PCA’s App has proven itself to be an effective medium for citizens to easily make complaints to the PCA.”

One of the recent cases being investigated is an incident in Never Dirty, Morvant, where masked police were recorded getting out of two police vehicles and firing shots in the community. In the video, a masked officer points a gun at a young man who was part of a group of men passing by the police vehicle and began hurling obscenities at him. Other officers were also heard using obscene language. At least three gunshots were fired as the officers then shoved the men forward and urged them to “go up the road.”

A Trinidadian woman has been jailed in the United Kingdom (UK) for defrauding a charity she worked for of in excess of £.75 million.

In an article dated July 13, 2018, on the Metropolitan Police’s website, Nadia Deone Chase-Ali, 35, of Bonchurch Road, W11, was reported to have appeared at Isleworth Crown Court, where she was convicted of fraud by abuse of position, theft and removing money from England and Wales.

She was sentenced to six years in prison.

Chase-Ali was employed as a financial officer with Carnival Village Trust (CVT). She then went on to work freelance for the organisation, holding a position of trust in which she was expected to safeguard the financial interests of the charity.

Over the course of two years, Chase-Ali allegedly made 530 separate payments totalling £784,262.56 from CVT and TW11’s bank accounts into four of her own bank accounts. She disguised these transactions as payments to legitimate suppliers, service providers and government organisations.

To conceal the theft, the article stated, she stole from the charity and company a significant number of financial documents, including outstanding invoices, payment demand letters and financial statements, which were found at her home address the day she was arrested on March 16, 2017.

The trial began on June 11 and on day two of the trial Chase-Ali changed her plea for two counts - fraud by abuse of position and removal of criminal property out of England and Wales. She continued to plead not guilty to theft of the financial documents.

A mother of one, an attorney by profession, is seeking to take action against a private medical clinic in South Trinidad for performing a CT head scan in a manner that has caused ongoing severe internal injury in her head, brain and face.

The Sunday Guardian has been told that as a result of severe continuous symptoms since the scan, the patient, who has asked not to be identified at this point, is questioning whether she was improperly exposed to radiation or whether the CT machine at the medical clinic was faulty.

In a letter dated July 7, 2018, to Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh, the patient requested “an unbiased, properly conducted investigation and the taking of steps in the interest of health and safety pursuant to the Private Hospitals Act Chapter 29:03.” The Sunday Guardian was told that on June 11, 2018, the patient said she felt “completely well” and had no complaint up until the time immediately following the CT scan. The woman, who suffered from occasional headaches on the left side of the head over a two-month period prior to the CT scan, went for the scan on the advice made of her primary care physician, who was seeking to get answers to her initial complaint.

Contacted by the Sunday Guardian, the woman shared her experience.

“The back of my head, inside the head/brain, felt extremely painful, together with a burning sensation from the top to the base. The sides of my head and forehead all had the same kind of feeling. My throat felt swollen, raw and painful. My nose felt strange…dead and numb…breathing for me became difficult.”

In her letter to Deyalsingh, the woman said two hours after doing the scan she felt ill and began experiencing numbness in the face and upper lip, her two eyes became very dry with a rough feeling when she blinked and her eyes became blood-shot red.

The woman, in her letter, also told Deyalsingh how she noticed “violent involuntarily jerks” occurring in certain parts of her body, including her limbs. “That same night I fell asleep and woke up in the middle of the night and when I opened my eyes and they felt parched. When I looked in the mirror I saw they both were bloodshot. I tried not to panic and drank several glasses of water but still, I felt dry inside and no saliva in my mouth,” the woman said.

“I tried to go back to sleep at about 2 am but each time I closed my eyes I kept seeing a brightness… then the jerking started and intensified, frightening me out of my wits,” she added.

The attorney said later that morning she got up and attempted to get ready for work but found that she was extremely weak and in pain.

“I was forced to lay face flat on the couch of the living room motionless… my body jerking.”

The woman told the Sunday Guardian she contacted her doctor, who contacted a female official at the private hospital.

“It was a question as to whether I was improperly exposed to radiation or whether the CT machine was faulty and this my spouse and I discussed with my doctor, who would have relayed the gravity of what I was experiencing with the private hospital official,” she said.

With her symptoms continuing with intensity, the woman proceeded to speak to the technician and the manager of the CT unit at the private hospital but was only told that “the dosage administered was ‘automatic’ and that the technician does not have any input….there was no elaboration.”

In a bid to seek further medical help, the woman travelled to the United States where she saw a neurologist there who also suggested that an inquiry must be made into the “condition, lifespan and servicing of the machine and skill of technician that did the CT scan.”

“I was told by the neurologist that the brain tissues, meninges, could be damaged,” the patient said.

“I need as much help, maybe expert help and required treatment.

It’s almost as if I have reached that point of desperation and I am pleading with the Minister of Health for help and an intervention. I am also asking for the minister to launch an investigation and act accordingly. I have not been able to carry out my duties mand responsibility as an attorney and as a mother to my son, who needs me.”

An email sent to the founder of the clinic and another official querying the incident and requesting an update and/or pending actions went unanswered.

When contacted for a comment on the case, Deyalsingh said: “No comment, as it is an active investigation.”

INFO

In November 2011, the then Cabinet approved a national radiation protection policy. This policy came three months after it was revealed that 223 cancer patients at the Brian Lara Cancer Treatment Centre were overexposed to radiation for a prolonged period.

The policy calls for the establishment of a Radiation Regulatory Authority clearly sets out codes of practice, and also stipulates management requirements for safe practices in the public and private sectors.

On June 29, 2018, the Brian Lara Cancer Treatment Centre (BLCTC) and its owner Medcorp Limited were found negligent in the death of businessman Ricardo “Smokey” McKenzie.

Delivering a 35-page judgment in the Port-of-Spain High Court, Justice Mira Dean-Armorer ruled that McKenzie’s death was caused by a radiation overdose during his treatment at the centre in 2009. She noted that while McKenzie’s doctors suggested that he had five years to live when he was first diagnosed, he only survived for 18 months because of the centre’s negligent treatment.

In her judgment, Dean-Armorer noted that BLCTC admitted that its linear accelerator was miscalibrated during the period of McKenzie’s treatment. She also pointed out that while testifying at the trial, its former clinical director Dr Peter Bovell admitted the centre did not have a senior physicist to operate the machine and it relied on a junior employee who was not certified to do so.

Approximately 200 patients were affected by the miscalibration, with the centre settling claims with most except McKenzie’s and a handful of others, who were awaiting Dean- Armorer’s decision to continue their lawsuits. (See page A6)

One man was killed and another wounded after being ambushed by gunmen while sitting in a car in Mount Hope. The dead man, identified as 24-year-old Jaleel “LimeLite” Stevenson, was shot 14 times.

According to a police report, at about 6 pm Stevenson and his friend, Jelani Husbands were seated in a car near a car wash at Riverside Avenue, off Maingot Street, Mt Hope, when they were approached by masked gunmen.

Police said Stevenson was first shot six times while Husbands was shot twice. Both men got out of the vehicle and attempted to run away but were chased after by the gunmen.

Stevenson fell and one of the gunmen stood over him and shot him eight more times. He died on the scene. Stevenson lived in Arouca and was a mason at a water systems company.

Husbands, 21, escaped, and is said to be warded in a serious condition at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex. Police are yet to determine a motive for the fatal shooting.

Investigations are continuing.

The Galleons Passage is finally here but it will be another two to three weeks before it is servicing the seabridge, Minister of Finance Colm Imbert said during a debut tour of the vessel yesterday.

The vessel docked at the Port of Port-of-Spain around 11 pm on Monday – a nine-hour delay from the initial estimated time of 2 pm. The National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) said “strong currents” forced the crew to reduce the vessel’s speed.

Imbert, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan and NIDCO chairman Herbert George led a contingent of ministry and Port Authority of T&T officials and media personnel on a detailed tour of the vessel from its engine room to its bridge.

Imbert said the “most difficult challenge” now was assembling a crew.

“We have already engaged a ship manager who brought it from China and he is the one who is now assisting in assembling a crew. The biggest challenge is mobilising a crew, but it’s already in progress,” Imbert said.

He said there could be a further delay for the vessel to be put on the seabridge but “barring unforeseen circumstances” they were hoping to deal with final refurbishing issues in two to three weeks and get in on the seabridge thereafter.

“Again, we never know what would happen with the Ferry Terminal (referring to ongoing dredging works) and the Port Authority because they are the ones dealing with this…but it should be complete in two weeks and in the interim the boat will be berth here (Cruise Ship Complex, Port of PoS),” Imbert said.

Once servicing the seabridge, Sinanan said the vessel, which accommodates 600 passengers in its main cabin, 100 more on its sundeck, along with 100 vehicles, will take an estimated four-and-a-half hours on the journey to Tobago.

However, Imbert explained that the Galleons Passage was initially purchased for servicing the Toco Port to Scarborough Port route when Government completes the Toco port project. Sinanan added that its voyage estimate time from there would be about 90 minutes.

Asked how soon construction will start on the Toco Port and how much it will cost, Imbert replied: “Barring unforeseen circumstances and lawsuits, because you know Trinidadians like to sue, construction should begin next year, 2019…$700 million.”

Sinanan said the Toco Port is already in its designing stages.

“We are in negotiations with the EMA to have all approvals…once that is done tenders will go out. The road is in the stage of full designing and we expect to see something happening there shortly,” Sinanan said.

Imbert added that by the time the Toco Port is completed the Galleons Passage will be re-located there along with an additional vessel similar to it.

The Galleons Passage is worth the US$17.4 million paid for it and with minimal retrofitting works already completed, so far looks like “value for money.”

This sentiment was shared by Finance Minister Colm Imbert and Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan at the end of yesterday’s tour of the vessel, which is currently docked at the Cruise Ship Complex, Port-of-Spain.

Both ministers expressed pride in spending less than the TT$2.35 million estimated for retrofitting.

Some of the minor upgrades and improvements initially identified for the vessel were a canopy over the vehicle deck, a full canopy over the sun deck, an additional female wash-room on the sun deck and remodelling some rails in the passenger area.

However, one of the major planned modifications, covering of the sun deck which accommodates seating for 100 passengers, was not done. But Sinanan said this was intentional as they thought some passengers, especially tourists, would enjoy the “open-air experience.”

“We will send the boat out to service the seabridge as is and we will await the feedback from the passengers and if they don’t want it well then we will carry out retro-fitting works after the July/August period,” Sinanan said.

With tickets going at the same cost, passengers are expected to experience “a cruise ship-like experience” with an improved standard of service, Sinanan promised.

In the main air-conditioned cabin, which accommodates 600 passengers, some of the seats were still in plastic and there was luxury seating in the vessel’s business lounge. The wash-rooms, which include specially outfitted ones for the handicap, were squeaky clean.

Sinanan offered passengers some advice, “Respect the vessel, it would service longer.”

Just outside the main cabin on the first deck is an elevator for the handicapped.

During a tour to the vessel’s engine room, Imbert declared to the media: “Doesn’t this look new to you? It’s brand new…I do not know where all this talk came from? This could not have been so overnight? Or with magic.”

Regarding a document fixed on a part of the vessel “Date of Bill 2015,” Imbert said it represents the date when the steel was cut for its hull.

“There are stages in building the vessel. First thing you do is cut the steel for the hull and then start to fabricate the hull, then you fabricate the deck, then install the engines.”

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Galleons Passage Master Valerij Rogac said there were “no problems…no issues…the vessel is in good working order and condition.”

Rogac also denied the vessel stalled off Venezuela, hence the reason for its late docking on Monday.

Pointing to the charts, he explained: “As seen on the charts it was the Equatorial Currents which are very strong and we cannot ignore because its environmental so because it was very strong we had to decrease speed.”

The real test to Scarborough, through the Bocas, in two to three weeks time will tell.

More details on Galleons Passage

Purchase Date: February 8, 2018
Key Dates (New Build)
Steel Cutting: March 4, 2015
Keel Laying: April 21, 2015
Launching: September 16, 2016
1st Sea Trial: November 30, 2016
Final Sea Trial: October 20, 2017
Delivery: February 2018
Delivery Voyage
Departed from Guangzhou, Guandong, China Date: March 1, 2018
Distance: 12,479 Nautical Miles
Delivery Company: International Maritime Services, Perth, Australia
Contract Value: US$811,800 – Service & Bunkering

Senior police officers in the Port-of-Spain Division have launched an investigation into a shooting incident involving police officers at Hell Yard, Beetham Gardens yesterday which left a teenager dead.

A 19-year-old man who was shot was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

He was identified as Akiel Thomas, of Phase Five, Beetham. Police claimed he was shot during an exchange of gunfire around 6.30 am.

This incident triggered scores of residents to protest in anger and some attempted to block the roads—the Eastern Main Road, the Priority Bus Route and the Churchill Roosevelt Highway, Beetham.

Their actions were short-lived after vanloads of heavily-armed police officers arrived on the scene.

According to a police report, officers of the Port-of-Spain Division were conducting exercises in the community when they were confronted by a group of people at Hell Yard.

One of the men, police said, pulled out a firearm and opened fire on the police.

The police returned fire shooting Thomas in the chest. The other men, police said, ran off. Police said they recovered a firearm on the scene.

Police said Thomas was known to them and was believed to be involved in a gang.

Guardian Media was told that he acted as a “lookout” out to monitor who was attempting to enter the area.

A relative denied the police claims saying that Thomas was no gang member.

“He was a girl’s man and lime out late almost every day. He probably limed late last night (Tuesday) and slept away on the chair outside.

“He was sleeping on the chair and the police come up and shoot him just so. There was no shootout. He had no gun,” the relative, who refused to give his name, said.

The T&T Police Service’s public relations officer, ASP Michael Jackman said police officers have in place several plans to deal with the Beetham residents should they “act up.”

“The police would respond accordingly should anything take place. The head of the Port-of-Spain Division is well on top of the matter and the situation there is clearly being monitored,” he said. The flow of traffic, up to press time, was normal along the PBR, main road and highway.

There was heightened police presence during peak afternoon traffic and the patrols are expected to continue over the next few days, police said.

The latest police killing incident has been recorded as the 19th for the year so far.

Investigations are continuing.

A plea was made in the Venezuelan Parliament earlier this week to have the 76 nationals currently held at the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) in Aripo repatriated to Venezuela.

Deputy to the National Assembly for the state of Delta Amacuro, Larissa González called for the Venezuelan government to send a plane for them this week and ensure that their repatriation is expedited.

This plea came almost one month after several Venezuelan and Nigerian detainees staged two separate protests at the IDC in “hostage like” situations where guards were confronted.

On June 28, in the second protest, riot police and soldiers were called out. About 10 Nigerian detainees were subsequently arrested. The first protest occurred on June 26, where seven Venezuelan detainees protested.

On Tuesday, González demanded on behalf of the 76 Venezuelan citizens detained in T&T and their families that the T&T and Venezuela governments “accelerate the necessary procedures for the repatriation of those who today are in the Immigration Detention Centre.”

She disclosed that there are currently 29 women and 47 Venezuelan men at the IDC.

According to an article in Venezuela’s El Nacional, González noted that both the detainees and their relatives, with whom they are in constant communication, “are desperate because of the lack of response from both governments.”

González disclosed that along with deputy Carlos Valero, correspondences and reports were sent to T&T officials. She also said that several meetings with diplomatic authorities of T&T in Caracas were held in a bid to find an outlet for the situation that the Venezuelans are going through.

She also expressed interest in coming to T&T “if necessary” as she denounced the alleged mistreatment and described it as “negligence from the inaction of the officials of the Embassy of Venezuela in Trinidad.”

Subsequent to the last protest at the IDC, on June 30, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon, in a release, gave the assurance that “the Ministry of National Security is working assiduously in making arrangements to repatriate detainees to their homeland, as well as further improve living conditions at the facility.”

He reiterated that the Immigration Division has encountered and continues to face numerous repatriation challenges by detainees housed at the IDC.

On April 21, a Venezuelan military aircraft landed at Piarco International Airport to take back 82 nationals to their homeland. That arrangement was made between both governments, T&T and Venezuela, days before.

Just under 40 of those 82 Venezuelan nationals were said to have applied for asylum and refugee status in T&T but according to sources, the certificates they had in their possession were allegedly disregarded by Immigration officers here in T&T.

However, the Ministry of National Security remained adamant that the Venezuelan nationals were voluntarily repatriated with the assistance of the Ambassador of Venezuela to T&T, Coromoto Godoy.

Dillon, in response to the queries, responded via WhatsApp saying, “I do not have any official information concerning this matter.”

Commissioner of Prisons Gerard Wilson yesterday called for closure “once and for all” in the deadly jailbreak at the Port-of-Spain (PoS) Prison.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, which marked the three-year anniversary of the event, Wilson said closure was of utmost importance because “it will inform the Prison Service what type of security lapses would have taken place”.

But Prisons Officers Association president Ceron Richards said he believes there is a major cover-up of the true facts in the jailbreak.

On July 24, 2015, at about 12.30 pm inmates Hassan Atwell, Christopher “Monster” Selby and Allan “Scanny” Martin pointed guns at prison officers on duty inside the prison. Martin got the keys to the front gate, which he opened for them to run out onto Frederick Street. PC Sherman Maynard was shot as the escapees targeted the vehicle he was sitting in. He subsequently died at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.

Martin was shot dead by police on the hospital’s compound. Atwell and Selby escaped but Atwell was gunned down on July 25 at East Dry River, PoS. On July 26, Selby surrendered at the Barataria Police Station. On August 3, 2015, two suspension letters were handed out - one to an acting Supt of Prisons and a prisons officer. A third prisons officer was subsequently suspended the next day.

Yesterday, Wilson said it is critical the matter is concluded.

“The fact that there are prisons officers on suspension as a result of the incident, including an Assistant Superintendent, makes it imperative that we can come to some conclusion,” he told the T&T Guardian.

Richards meanwhile said the fact that no one was held culpable makes it “even more of a serious security concern”. He added that no investigation seems to be pointing in the direction of who would have taken the guns and grenades into the prison.

He also called on the Public Service Commission (PSC) to drop all charges against the three prisons officers and reinstate them.

Richards based this call on the fact that no report on the jailbreak was given to the PSC by the Prisons Service.

“We would have learnt also that no investigation was done and nobody in the prison service or anywhere we can find made allegations against those three officers. So we will still want to know, after three years, where did the PSC get the information from and what did they use to arrive at charges filed against those three officers?” Richards said.

A man was gunned down yesterday in Diego Martin.

He was identified as Shaquille “Max” Samuel originally from Richplain.

According to a police report, at about 1.30 pm Samuel was walking along a track from his home which runs parallel to Mercer Road when he was approached by a lone gunman who shot him several times.

Samuel attempted to run away but fell and died.

Police said he was well known to them, as he was a suspect in several gang-related activities.

Samuel’s murder has been recorded as 316 for the year so far.

Investigations are continuing.

Trinidadian author Kevin Jared Hosein has won the Commonwealth Short Story title—one of the world’s most global literary prizes.

The announcement was made by novelist and poet Sarah Hall, chair of the judges, during the prize-giving ceremony at the Centre of Visual Arts and Research in Nicosia, Cyprus, last night.

Having been named the Caribbean regional winner for the prize in 2015 and again this year, Hosein convinced the jury with “a truly crafted piece of fiction” that was “immediately and uniformly admired” in Passage, she said.

In the piece, Hosein sends a mid-life crisis-ridden protagonist into the wilderness in search of a mystery woman—with unforeseen consequences for others and for himself.

“Our winning story, Passage, was immediately and uniformly admired by the judges. It is an uncanny bar story about a man who hears a strange tale, only to become part of the tale’s re-lived strangeness. It balances between formal language and demotic, ideas of civility and ferality, is tightly woven and suspenseful, beautifully and eerily atmospheric and finally surprising,” Hall said.

“It is, in essence, all a reader could want from the short story form; a truly crafted piece of fiction that transports the reader into another world, upends expectations, and questions the nature of narratives and narrative consequence.”

Commenting on his victory, Hosein said: “I wasn’t expecting it. First to be among this eclectic quintet of winning stories, all with central resonating themes—happiness, connection, isolation, freedom, repression, acceptance. Then to be chosen from that, I feel incredibly honoured that this Trinidadian tale has travelled so far.”

He added: “I hope others in my region are inspired by this accomplishment.”

Hosein is the author of three books, The Beast of Kukuyo (Burt Award for Caribbean Literature), The Repenters (OCM Bocas Prize for Fiction shortlist) and Littletown Secrets.

He has been twice short-listed for the Small Axe Prize for Prose and his work has been featured in numerous publications, such as Lightspeed, Adda and most recently, We Mark Your Memory: Writing from the Descendants of Indenture.

In an Intelligence-led exercise assisted by drone technology, officers from the Stolen Vehicles Squad (SVS) were able to recover an SUV belonging to the Ministry of Works and Transport.

According to a police report, shortly after midday on Friday a driver hired by the ministry parked and secured the vehicle at the ministry’s headquarters at Clarence House, corner Duke and St Vincent Streets in Port-of-Spain.

When the driver returned to duty on Monday he discovered the white Toyota Fortuner missing. A report was made at the Central Police Station’s Criminal Investigations Department.

The matter was handed over to Sgt Christopher Swamber of the SVS, who acted on intelligence received.

In a joint search exercise with the Air Support Unit, led by Sgt. Ronny Rampallard, between 8 am and 10.30 am yesterday the vehicle was spotted parked between two buildings at Phase 5, Beetham, also known as Hell Yard, close to the Churchill Roosevelt Highway, Beetham.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Swamber said the ministry’s logo, which was affixed on both front doors, of the vehicle were removed.

He added that the vehicle was towed to the CID for processing. No arrests were made.

The recovery exercise was headed by Swamber under the supervision of acting Senior Supt Ajith Persad and a party of officers including Sgt Bernard Dolloway, Cpl Ramcharan, PC Forgenie and PC Hinds.

PC Hinds is continuing investigations.

The son of a retired police inspector was gunned down yesterday in his vehicle in what investigators believe was a gang-related incident.

Two others were wounded, however, up to late yesterday their names were not disclosed and they were said to be at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mount Hope receiving medical treatment.

Dane Hazarie, 33, lived at corner King and De Gannes Street in Arima. He was the son of retired Insp Mungal Hazarie.

According to a police report, at about 9.50 am, Hazarie was driving a white Hyundai Elantra along Boys Lane in D’abadie when a gold coloured Nissan Almera drove up to him and stopped.

The occupants emerged from the vehicle and opened fire on Hazarie and two other men who were in the car.

The gunmen then got back into their vehicle, which sped off, in a southerly direction towards the Priority Bus Route.

Hazarie died behind the steering wheel. His body was viewed by the District Medical Officer and removed to the Forensic Science Centre in St James where an autopsy is expected to be done today.

A team of police officers including Northern Division’s Supt Ramkhelawan and Sgt Highly and Homicide’s Insp Shaun Craig and Sgt Stanisclaus visited the scene. No relatives of Hazarie were at the scene.

Investigations are continuing.

An alleged $22.5 million salary racket at the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation has resulted in the arrest of 11 people.

The arrests, which were made on Thursday, are said to be a major breakthrough by the T&T Police Service’s Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau (ACIB) in their investigations into the matter, which began earlier this year.

The detained people were up to press time said to be assisting police in further investigations into the alleged fraudulent payment of $22.5 million in salaries at the corporation between 2011 to 2017.

According to a release from the TTPS yesterday, the arrests were made during anti-crime exercises in the Petit Valley, Valsayn and St Augustine districts between 3.30 am and noon on Thursday.

The exercises were spearheaded by Snr Supt (Ag) William Nurse, of the ACIB and included officers of the Professional Standards Bureau, Complaints Division, Inter-agency Task Force and the Northern Division Task Force.

The 11 people are said to be between the ages 25 to 40 years. Police said charges are imminent.

In another release yesterday, Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government said the issue was detected earlier this year by the SJLRC’s former CEO Kofi Chapman.

It said Chapman recognised discrepancies in the Accounting Unit and it was immediately reported to the Anti-Corruption Bureau. It added that the corporation cooperated fully with the investigation and police interviewed relevant personnel in the corporation before they made their arrests.

The T&T Guardian understands that SJLRC chairman Anthony Roberts and the current CEO have not yet been contacted by the police, but Roberts has stated he is happy the investigation was handled in a confidential and unbiased manner.

Contacted yesterday on the issue, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Kazim Hosein, the line-minister for the regional corporations, said he had requested a full report from Roberts and would reserve his comment until he had received it.

An official at the corporation yesterday refused to comment further on the matter, only saying: “I am not at liberty to divulge anything as it is a police matter.”

Acting Snr Supt Nurse is leading investigations.

Over 150 illegal ports of entry have been identified in T&T by the T&T Coast Guard (TTCG) and with rising concerns over the increasing illegal entry of arms and ammunition and people, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has vowed to help tighten the borders.

Rowley made the promise as he was given a tour of the TTCG’s Staubles Bay, Chaguaramas headquarters. During the tour, Rowley was told 140 illegal ports of entry have been identified along Trinidad’s coastline and 19 in Tobago.

He was also told that out of the 24 of the TTCG’s Interceptors only five were operational. In addressing that issue, Rowley said Cabinet had already made a decision to spend the money to repair the vessels.

“We had the manufacturer look at most of them and they have reported back to us…We were told that not with an exorbitant price we can get them back into service and we are going to do that rather than go and buy a new stock and let them go the same way,” Rowley said.

“We are going to spend the money to bring them back into the service and in terms of maintenance and/or spare parts, we will be handling those things differently. We are treating with the Coast Guard’s issues to improve their ability to eliminate the penetration of borders by local and foreigners who come here and bring arms ammunition and people with the intention of which to act in an unlawful manner inside T&T.”

Rowley also reiterated that Government will be seeking to purchase two 58.5 metres Cape Class vessels from the Australian shipyard Austal “specially designed for the assignment that we have here.”

“Yesterday, Cabinet, having received a presentation earlier, took a decision yesterday as part of the strengthening of our border patrol exercise, that the Government of T&T will use the financing available through the Australian facility that we would issue an order to the ship-maker Austal,” Rowley said.

“Once we agree on the negotiations of price and terms of delivery and those discussions are on the way, once we are satisfied with the assistance of Australian government, we will set about to obtain the two vessels which will give the Coast Guard the capability which it does not now have.”