Trinidad & Tobago
Persad-Bissessar counters ‘disrespect’
Port-of-Spain – Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar last week claimed Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has been disrespectful to the entire Islamic community in his claim of vindication over the discovery of weapons in a mosque in early June. The weapons were discovered hidden in a ceiling by workers. Mosque officials contacted police following the discovery.
“We must commend our Muslim brothers and sisters for reporting that to the police,” Persad-Bissessar said.
That the government was disrespectful to the community was compounded by the Anti-Terrorism Bill, which is currently being debated, Persad-Bissessar declared. However, she gave the assurance she will continue to fight the government over what was described as “draconian” and anti-Muslim elements contained in the current bill.
“I am proposing more changes and if they do not accept the changes we will not pass the bill,” she said. Persad-Bissessar declared the government will not have her support on a bill that targets a single group of people.
“They realised that I was not giving ground. I am not giving way to some draconian bill and I will not vote for it,” she said. The worst part of the bill conferred immense power to the Office of the Attorney General, Persad-Bissessar said.
“What this Attorney General is trying to do and what this government is trying to do is to have the AG be judge, jury, and executioner. No one, I don't care from which party, no one should have those powers,” she said.
Additionally, “The AG wants to take those powers unto himself, we fought them and I will continue to fight them all the way.”
According to the current provisions, the Attorney General could request private information on any person from the Financial Intelligence Unit.
“All your banking business inside there, all your transactions inside there, and they want me to agree that the Attorney General could request from the FIU [Financial Intelligence Unit] to get information on any person,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar said the government, if granted that power, could abuse it and target their so-called opponents and enemies. If passed, the Attorney General could apply to the courts for an order to freeze a person’s assets while they are being investigated as a terrorist.
“Out of spite, malice, and to bring down their so-called enemies, this thing could be so abused. So no politician, under my watch will be given powers like that. If they continue to insist to give the AG those powers, then we will vote no,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar noted the government needed the opposition support on this bill; however, if the bill is not amended, she will not agree to it.
“They don't want it to fail because they have some international obligations with various organisations,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar said she was still concerned that the provisions of the Bill will breach the rights of 12 percent of the people of the country. She was not comforted by Rowley’s response that he was responsible for 100 percent of the country, and not just that 12 percent of the population, which is of the Islamic faith.
Meanwhile, last week Rowley called for a rejection of conversations about anti-Muslim policies.
Said Rowley: “Trinidad and Tobago comparatively is a land of peace and brotherly love, so if any person is seeking to tell you, or to advance any difficulties we may have or any misunderstanding or any challenge that this country has, I ask you today to reject all conversations, all misinformation about anti-Muslim policies in Trinidad and Tobago. If you do nothing else in defence of Trinidad and Tobago, reject that because that is not a fact.”
He added: “Your country is your best offering from Allah; accept it with both hands and be a spokesperson in its defence, and if you are a leader then lead; and as the Quran says lead in truth, lead justly, and lead in faith… Wherever you go, whatever you do, whatever is happening around you, acknowledge that this Trinidad and Tobago, of which you are an integral part, is a land of brotherly love and you are part of making that love and sharing that love and we live together in unity.”
Rowley said he took an oath that he will treat all people equally fairly and do so without fear, favour, malice, or ill-will: “In this country we have a lot of different people, different things, different religions, different ethnic groups, in fact we have so many differences that we all become one because the one (thing) we have in common is that we are living with differences. But differences in this country is not to mean difficulty – it is to mean strength of character.”
Rowley noted it is not uncommon to see mosque and a mandir on the same street in Trinidad and Tobago. He also asked that freedom not be taken for granted: “Other people have taken their circumstances for granted and countries that have lost their way and ended up in great difficulty have done so one step at a time, sometimes one person at a time, and it starts sometimes with two conversations – one that is right, and one that could have been better.”
Mark said while joint police/army patrols have been under way for several years, current legislation does not empower soldiers by themselves to arrest suspects.
He urged action in the interest of providing social stability and public safety in a time of high crime, even if such arrest powers are to be granted for a temporary period by means of a legislative sunset clause.
Rambharat said no to Mark’s request. Rambharat said people already with the power of arrest, that is the police, are not using it sufficiently.
“We don’t believe members of the Defence Force should be given powers of arrest,” he said, adding a similar measure had already been rejected by the Senate in the Defence (Amendment) Act 2013.
Rambharat said none of the 82 recommendations of the recent Police Service Manpower Audit had called for soldiers to be given arrest powers.
He chided the Opposition for having failed to support a government bill in 2016 to tighten up on the granting of bail to suspects despite the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service supporting the measure.
He said that Mark in his motion was only able to cite endorsement by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, but not the police nor by any data.
Rambharat lamented a high deficiency rate in the Police Service, such as 612 officers being labelled as “not available.”
“Remember there are a lot of Muslims in that area and there is a feeling among many Muslims that the government has not spoken well of Muslims in recent times, so you might have there a sort of protest vote against the Government so I wouldn't want to forecast the Barataria election,” he said.
Dumas said even if the government did not mean to offend the Muslims, which he is sure they did not, the fact is a number of Muslims were offended and this can affect the votes.
Candidates from three political parties-the ruling PNM, the UNC and the Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP) filed nomination papers last week to contest the by-elections in the municipal districts of Barataria and Belmont East. The Congress of the People is not contesting.
Dumas said he expects a low voter turnout as people are generally disenchanted and “fed up” with the way things are in the country, in particular with respect to crime, but he suspects the PNM will win the Belmont East seat which has been their traditional stronghold. He said there could be a fight in the Barataria district.
“I think a lot of people are simply disenchanted with what is happening in the country especially with crime,” he said.
He said the Barataria/San Juan constituency seat is mixed politically, racially, economically and the votes there can give an indication of how people feel about the government.
Dumas said he does not know anything about the PEP to comment on it but if people vote for that party, it would only aid the PNM votes.
He said he suspects that a lot of people who turned out in the last Local Government election when there was a “momentum” following the 2015 general election will not turn out this time. The elections will take place on July 16.
found negligent
Wife, Lisa McKenzie, is seeking close to (TT) $20 million in compensation from the institution, claiming it breached its duty of care towards her husband. The sum includes loss of earnings, as well as the (US) $567,000 she said she spent on his medical care in the US following his treatment at the Brian Lara Cancer Treatment Centre.
High Court Justice Mira Dean-Armorer found that based on the evidence presented, the institution was, in fact, liable for the death. The judge did not immediately make a ruling on how much compensation is to be paid.
Attorneys Terrence Bharath and Neil Bisnath, who appeared on behalf of Lisa Mc-Kenzie and the Centre, respectively, are to file further submissions before the court makes this determination by the end of this month.
In delivering her ruling at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain, Justice Dean-Armorer said the institution was negligent its linear accelerator (Linac), during McKenzie's treatment for brain cancer mis-calibrated.
Evidence was led by medical experts that the Linac should only be used if the treatment margin was between minus three and plus three percent. In the case of McKenzie, during the time of his treatment, it was at 13.5 percent, the court had heard.
Justice Dean-Armorer said based on the expert evidence, it was clear McKenzie was suffering from radiation necrosis that was caused by the treatment he received.
“In my view, the exposure of radiation was a contributing factor in him contracting radiation necrosis,” said the judge.
She pointed out that based on the evidence, the Linac should be under the care of a senior physicist, but during the time McKenzie was receiving treatment, a junior physicist was maintaining the machine.
She further stated the brain tumour was not the cause of his death since, based on the evidence, at the time of his demise, there was nothing to suggest the tumour had even started to regrow.
In 2009, McKenzie received external beam radiation therapy at the centre for a period of three weeks due to the brain tumour. It was not until June 2010 that he had to undergo an operation for swelling of the brain when it was discovered he was suffering from radiation necrosis, which is caused by an overdose of radiation. He was flown to the US and received treatment at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, but died later that year.
“It was ups and downs. A lot of work which was put into it going up to Jackson (Memorial) coming back down. It was a lot of work, and I just want to thank Terrence Bharath and Andre LeBlanc, fabulous lawyers who stuck with me. When I went to Terrence, he said okay, we will do this for you. And he stuck with me. They worked day and night, and it was because of them and God that we are here in this position today and we won everything that was put forward, so we got our justice and it is a bittersweet moment...,” Lisa McKenzie said.
She added: “Smokey is our hero and because of him going to Jackson (Memorial) we were able to present the evidence which brought us to this day. Dr Heros was able to present the evidence that brought us to this day. They gave evidence that was so thorough, and this is where we are today. I remember being inside the courtroom and listening to the judge, I cried for the entire thing and my children started crying, and we are still in a daze because this is the moment we were waiting for and it's finally come to pass and thank God everything worked out in our favour.”
She added: “So this is a lesson for all these medical institutions. People entrust their lives to you all, so do the best and make sure they are always on top of their game and it would not have to reach to this. This was a long, long journey which began six years ago, and eight years Smokey passed away, so it was a lot of work, a lot of work.”
“Many continue to refuse to provide accurate identification information such as their name, country of birth and their travel documents. Some, as well, have raised legal challenges against their repatriation,” he said.
He added: “In addition, some countries are not always willing to land deportees in transition, which creates difficulties in sourcing cost-effective landing routes that would allow for their eventual return home. This contributes to delays in repatriating many detainees, particularly those from far off destinations.”
However, he assured the situation at the IDC “is under control, following protest action taken by a small group of detainees”, and assured the ministry was working assiduously to make arrangements to repatriate detainees to their homeland, as well as improve living conditions at the facility.
Over the past few months, the ministry spent more than (TT) $1 million on the refurbishment, upgrade, and outfitting of the facility, he said. He was also working “closely with foreign missions and embassies in order to secure the true identity of the detainees so that the government of Trinidad and Tobago can repatriate them to their country of birth in the shortest possible time”.
Roach said 80 per cent of the waste is recyclable but currently less than five per cent is being recycled. Noting that recycling is not an option any more, “the reality is we are simply running out of space from which we can dispose of materials, of your waste,” Roach added.
In collaboration with the Public Utilities Ministry, Roach said SWMCOL has been working with the various municipal corporations on a project which started in the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation in 2016. He said they recently launched the project at the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Corporation and plans are on the way to launch the project in San Fernando.
He explained the project will start off in the Gulf View and Embacadere communities and the residents will be asked to separate their beverage containers, including plastic containers, glass bottles, aluminium cans and tetra packs.
Once a week the recyclable waste will be picked up by designated trucks which will be processed at SWMCOL’s facilities.
Roach noted the public is interested in recycling but do not have the time. He said the Curbside Recycling Project is expected to make it easier for people. SWMCOL operates three landfills, the largest being Beetham Landfill, which receives half of the country’s waste. Roach noted the Beetham Landfill is in a swamp and is running out of space.
“Therefore, how do you relocate a site like Beetham? Where do you put that waste that is coming in now? Nobody wants to have a landfill close to where they live so it becomes very difficult, if not impossible, to find new space to have a landfill site. The solution has to be that of recycling,” he said.
Noting that 2010 statistics put Trinidad and Tobago annual waste production at 700,000 tonnes, he said, “We do generate far too much waste than we should for an island state,” said Roach.
Per capita Trinidad and Tobago waste production is quite high in the Caribbean and Latin America, and is in the range of industrial countries like the US and Europe.
begin end of year
Tourism Minister Randall Mitchell said that Board of Directors led by Commissiong, which was installed last October, is currently developing the company’s strategic direction so that Trinidad and Tobago’s attractiveness on the international tourism marketing could be enhanced.
Last year, the government took a decision to dissolve the Tourism Development Company and establish two entities, the Trinidad Tourism Ltd and the Tobago Tourism Ltd, both with distinct organisational structures.
“With respect to the one in Tobago, that is up and running, which is more advanced. They are still in a position of operationalising the company and developing its strategic direction. It is a start-up company. The one in Trinidad, a board of directors was appointed in October and that too is in a state of operationalisation, building up the company, setting its strategic direction so that it could begin with the marketing of destination Trinidad,” Mitchell said.
