Trini Post

Information Minister Neil Parsanlal says no new powers are being granted to the President under the Proceeds of Crime Bill 2009. Parsanlal said this yesterday in his contribution to the debate on the legislation in Parliament. He was responding to an earlier claim by Princes Town North MP Subhas Panday who said too much power was being granted to the President in the bill. Panday was referring to a provision which gave the Head of State the power to pardon someone guilty of money laundering and to return illicit assets confiscated by the State.

Parsanlal said the Presidential powers of pardon were not new. He said Panday’s claim represented “a personal attack and singular attack on the incumbent President.” He later slammed the Opposition, saying it had no moral authority to comment on the matter because of the “conduct” of its leader Basdeo Panday. Parsanlal’s criticism of Panday later sparked a heated exchange of words between the two, with Panday threatening to tell the nation about certain matters about Parsanlal on Mt St Benedict. “I can tell you what happened up on the mount, why you were not ordained as a priest, so you leave me alone,” Panday shouted across the floor. House Speaker Barendra Sinanan then asked MPs to refrain from provoking each other.

But the heated exchanges did not immediately subside. Parsanlal countered: “Mr Speaker, I have been raised in a house that says one must have pity on the afflicted, the conflicted and the convicted.” But even before he could complete that statement, Panday shouted: “I know what you could raise.” Panday later had to apologise on two occasions for his conduct in the House.
Parsanlal said one of the major objectives of the bill was to deal with the crime of money laundering in T&T. He later appealed to the Opposition to lend its support to the legislation.

Gopeesingh Speaks
Opposition support for the new crime bill did not appear to be forthcoming, as Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh said there was no evidence to show that passage of the bill would result in effectively dealing with the offence of money laundering. He said the Government had failed miserably in the fight against crime. He renewed his call for National Security Minister Martin Joseph to resign over the crime situation in the country.

By: Guardian

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From as early as next week, the newly implemented ttconnect mobile service will allow T&T citizens to use their cellular phones and the SMS text messaging service to receive traffic updates as well as other important news about the Fifth Summit of the Americas. Public Administration Minister, Kennedy Swaratsingh, made the announcement last Tuesday as he delivered the feature address during the official launch of the ttconnect suite of services at the Chaguanas Service Centre located at Gaston Street, Chaguanas.

Swaratsingh said users of the ttconnect mobile service would be charged a small fee. He said that in time the service will be expanded to grant members of the public access to a wider range of Government services. “By July 2009, the public will be able to access more ttconnect services using their mobile phones such as subscribing for state news and weather bulletins,” Swaratsingh said. He said that the entire ttconnect service comprises the ttconnect service centres, ttconnect Self serve, ttconnect Online, ttconnect Hotline and the ttconnect Mobile all of which will help to improve the image of the public service and improve customer service delivery.

There are six ttconnect service centres in operation at St James, Princes Town, Chaguanas, Arima, Tunapuna and Bon Accord, Tobago, and five self serve kiosks located at the Piarco International Airport, Hi-Lo Foods Stores, Point Fortin, Trincity Mall and the Gulf City Malls in La Romaine and Tobago. Through the services, citizens may apply for a wide range of services including their first electronic birth certificate, home improvement grants, admission into the OJT, MUST and other training programmes and in the near future the issuance of provisional permits and applications for passports, and student visas.

“Such a multi-modal programme of access will help in directly addressing citizens major concerns of choice, convenience, accessibility, timeliness efficiency and satisfaction with Government’s current levels of service delivery. “For the various ministries and agencies, the decongesting of their respective departments is expected to act as motivation and assist in efforts toward the better alignment of services to customer needs,” Swaratsingh said.

By: CORI BAYNES of Guardian

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Members of the US Secret Service and local law enforcement bodies are expected to be involved in all-day meetings today to synchronise security arrangements as the Fifth Summit of the Americas draws closer. A source close to the arrangements said the meeting, which began on Thursday afternoon was supposed to continue yesterday at 11 am. However, it was postponed until today.

The meeting, which will comprise selected local law enforcement organisations, will take place on the 13th Floor of the Financial Towers in Port-of-Spain. The source said security bodies dealing specifically with explosives, including their detection and dismantling, will be part of the meeting. These include the Special Branch, Bomb Squad, Special Anti-Crime Unit of T&T (Sautt) and selected members of the T&T Fire Service. With the summit just mere days away, the source said “pre-sweeping” operations have intensified.

These operations involve searches of hotels in Port-of-Spain and other places of interest, particularly for bombs. Following the meeting, the Gold Commander for the summit, assistant Police Commissioner Steve Waldron, is expected to be briefed. Waldron, the source said, was being advised by former UK police commissioner, Bob Bolton. Spouses of heads of state and delegates are expected to take part in a packed agenda, including an informal retreat at Petrotrin’s Pointe-a-Pierre Club at 10 am on Saturday.

By:  GEISHA KOWLESSAR of Guardian

Read full Guardian Article.

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CNC3’s newscast at 7 pm will now be simulcast on Gayelle the Channel. Gayelle announced on Tuesday that it was closing its newsroom, with effect from March 31, 2009, and paying severance to 16 displaced news staff. Based on a strategic alliance with CNC3 which was formalised yesterday, viewers of Gayelle will now see the CNC3 news at 7 pm in the time slot of Gayelle’s former newscast. Managing Director of the TPCL Grenfell Kissoon stated that CNC3 (a division of TPCL) was happy with the strategic alliance. The official signing ceremony took place yesterday, in the boardroom of TPCL, St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain.

Among those present at the signing ceremony were TPCL’s managing director Grenfell Kissoon, executive director of Gayelle The Channel Errol Fabien, TPCL’s deputy managing director Brandon Khan, CNC3’s General Manager Cyntra Achong, CNC3’s engineering and operations manager Anthony Seegobin and Rosemarie Sant, Head of CNC3 News. Kissoon said that CNC3’s signature programme was its news, and over the past three years the station had built a reputation of news leadership through its compelling content, high quality presenters, and overall professionalism.

He expressed the view that Gayelle’s choice of CNC3 as its news provider over all other available options in the industry was testament to the quality of the CNC3 news product. He said he recognised and respected Gayelle’s strength in the production of local culture- and community-based programming and was happy to complement their offering with news programming, in which CNC3 had distinguished expertise. In a telephone interview on Tuesday, Gayelle’s head of news Paolo Kernahan said, “Dismal survey figures coming out of Flow, coupled with falling advertising revenue since January, led to the closure of the news department.”

Yesterday, Fabien said, “CNC3 news best represents and reflects T&T. The substance of its (CNC3’s) newscast fits the format of good news.” He said the continued move was the only way forward for consolidation of resources. Fabien said all other programming would remain unchanged. He also said viewers could anticipate a similar situation with radio stations. Fabien added: “I feel some radio entities will merge resources so they can continue to exist, probably even seeing some stations changing hands or divesting interests.”

By: MICHELLE LOUBON of Guardian

Read full Guardian Article.

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Youthful ignorance and a lack of national pride were what drove the person(s) to deface the paintings on The People’s Canvas, outside the Queen’s Park Oval. That’s the view of Keith Nexar, director of Advantage Advertising Ltd. The beautiful paintings that adorn the Oval’s wall, which took about one year of planning and eight months to be completed, were defaced sometime over the two days of Carnival.

There were handprints, paint and even slashes on some of the paintings, which are seen by more than 300,000 pairs of eyes every week. While Nexar described the damage as “minimal,” he said the action clearly showed that some people simply did not appreciate the “beauty of work.” He placed the blame squarely at the feet of “some youths,” as he did not believe “mature” people were responsible for defacing the works of art.

Nexar said a security guard witnessed a young boy, armed with a knife, slashing paintings on the wall as he walked along the pavement. He said, “I don’t think that some young people appreciate totally the beautiful work that has gone up there. They don’t really think at that stage. They don’t think about national pride. “But, I hope they would get some in time. I really don’t think mature people did it.”

Nexar was in high praise, however, of the corporate clients who took the decision to let the paintings remain in place at the Oval for the Carnival season. He said, “A lot of people, including foreigners, were seen taking pictures of the paintings. We are very happy about that.” Nexar said citizens could look forward to Carnival 2K10, as plans were already in train to have the entire Oval walls wrapped with even more beautiful paintings.

By: CHERISSE MOE  of Guardian

There was a complete shutdown of the Port-of-Spain Port yesterday as rumours spread throughout the country that a container with missing children had been discovered. The airwaves of radio and television stations, along with newspaper newsrooms, were buzzing with activity, as concerned people called about the rumours.

Scores of police officers, together with Customs and Excise and Port Authority police, swooped down on the port in response to radio and television reports, closing all gates and temporarily stopping all business transactions. “It was real chaos,” one businessman told the T&T Guardian.

The reports traumatised people, with one woman actually reduced to tears when she said that “her son saw the children and they were in a sad state.” A man said he was working on the port and actually saw the dead bodies in the container. Another woman said the son of a calypsonian saw the children and rushed home in tears. In the end, just as the calls came fast and furious, they disappeared with the same speed. It all started when a radio announcer reported that a container with dead bodies had been found at the city port. Then, a television station announced that it was a container with missing children, and thirdly, a report surfaced that a Cuban vessel with stowaways had been stopped by local authorities.

For hours, the T&T Guardian newsroom was flooded with calls from people from all walks of life, some high in government, and others from newspapers in the region and T&T nationals abroad. Several foreign embassies in Port-of-Spain also called the Guardian about the rumours. The main concern for many was the so-called discovery of the container with the children, which brought to the fore the reports of human trafficking in T&T over the past two years. A number of children went missing and have not been found up to today.

The police heard the rumours and quickly assembled a team which swooped down on the port. There was a report that the container with the children was about to be shipped out of the country. Although the police responded to the report, no one really knew where it came from. Then, all of a sudden, the “discovery” shifted to the Chaguaramas and Point Lisas ports. All the rumours were quickly dispelled when acting Police Commissioner James Philbert got into the act. Philbert, in a media release, said, “After a thorough check of the Port of Port-of-Spain by police officers, Port police and officers of the Customs and Excise Division, the allegations are just rumours.” Philbert also described the rumours, which circulated throughout the country, as “causing much concern among the citizens.”

The chief executive officer at the Port Authority, Christopher Mendez, denied the allegations, saying officials found “absolutely no evidence to support the information.” Mendez said security officials at the port would continue to investigate and monitor the premises in response to the report which he deemed as “very serious.” Several police vehicles with officers from units such as the Homicide Bureau of Investigations, Criminal Intelligence Unit, Guard and Emergency Branch and the Audio Visual Unit arrived at the compound, trying to find out “what was going on,” one policeman said.

By: Guardian

Roman Catholic priest Father Allan Ventor has said that people must stop associating Ash Wednesday with Carnival. “Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season Lent when we reflect on our sinfulness,” he told the congregation at Our Lady Of Perpetual Help Church in San Fernando yesterday.

“Whether you have Carnival or not, you will still have Ash Wednesday,” Ventor said. After two days of revelry, hundreds of Roman Catholics flocked to churches for the symbolic placing of ashes, in the form of a cross on the forehead. The ash is used as a mark of repentance as Christians begin the preparation for Easter, which observes the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In his sermon, Ventor said, “We don’t only sin at Carnival…We sin before Carnival, during Carnival and when Carnival comes and goes, we still sin.” He called on the assembly to turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel. He also encouraged them to pray and fast, be charitable and abstain from sin.

By: Guardian

Not even dark skies and intermittent showers could damper the spirits and waistlines of thousands of masqueraders who came out yesterday to celebrate Carnival. Scores of anxious spectators, who opted to take in the sights at Adam Smith Square, Port-of-Spain, seemed to have heeded the warnings of the weatherman and came prepared with their umbrellas. Some were even armed with raincoats to shield themselves from the downpour, which would, on any other day, send many of them scampering for shelter.

For the men in attendance, the chance to gaze at thousands of beautiful women, leaving little or nothing to the imagination in skimpy “costumes,” as perhaps sufficient to explain their refusal to give in to the weather. Former Tourism Minister Howard Chin Lee and Culture Minister Marlene Mc Donald were also present at the square to take in the sights of Carnival.
The parade of the bands got under way from as early as 9 am, with a fusion of colour, rhythm and excitement. A crowd-pleaser was Brian Mc Farlane’s Carnival 2009 presentation, Africa–Her People, Her Glory, Her Tears. The 2008 Band of the Year designer came good again this Carnival, with a beautiful display of earthly colours and tones, which aptly depicted the theme.

Mas band, Harts Ltd, created a stir with its bevy of beautiful women, especially queen of the band, former Miss Universe, Wendy Fitzwilliam. The large band’s presentation this year was titled Persian Empire. Four Swedish nationals could not hide their excitement, when a woman from the band, wearing a thong, showed them some Trini hospitality, giving each of them a small “wine.” Two Trinidadian men who were standing close by, were out of luck though, as she ignored their pleas to give them a dose as well. Medium Carnival band, Spice, led by bandleader, Anya Elias, roused the crowd with their presentation, The Missing Ingredient. However, breaking the monotony of the feathers, beads and headpieces, were mini bands, Family Reunion and Mystery Raiders, with their presentations of The Wild West and Weapons of Mas Destruction, respectively.

Scores of other bands in the mini, small, medium and large band categories also made their way along the venue. Security was at an all-time high and even the blimp was seen hovering over the venue, to ensure that all went according to plan. Music trucks kept the tempo up throughout the day, playing all the popular offerings for Carnival 2k9. However, Road March contender Faye Ann Lyons-Alvarez’s Heavy T Bumper seemed to have got the nod of approval from masqueraders and spectators alike, who were sent into a frenzy every time the track was played. The public would not have to wait much longer as results are being released today.

By: CHERISSE MOE  of Guardian

Faye-Ann Lyons-Alvarez created history on Friday night when she became the first woman ever to capture the Power Soca title at the International Soca Monarch Finals at the Hasely Crawford Stadium. She also clinched the Groovy Soca Monarch title and the People’s Choice Award to walk away with a grand total of $1.2 million in prizes – $1 million for Power Soca, $150,000 for Groovy and $50,000 for the People’s Choice. Her husband Ian Alvarez, copped second place in the Power Soca segment, pocketing $250,000.

The results are:

Power Soca
1 – Fay-Ann Lyons
2 – Bunji Garlin
3 – Neil ‘Iwer’ George

Groovy Soca
1 – Fay-Ann Lyons
2 – Shurwayne Winchster
3 – Benjai

bMobile peoples choice
Fay-Ann Lyons

By: Guardian

Drugs and guns are coming into T&T at a faster rate than before, says National Security Minister Martin Joseph. Joseph’s revelation came at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media conference where he noted that the murder toll for the year so far stands at 90. The number of murders for the corresponding period in 2008 was 55 and 38 for the same period in 2007, Joseph said. “We know the root causes are drugs, guns and gangs…What government has to do is firstly try to reduce the inflow of guns and drugs into T&T,” he said.

Joseph said there had been a “gap” regarding the State’s naval assets to properly reduce the inflow. As a result, Joseph said the Government had decided to acquire the three offshore patrol boats, six fast patrol boats and six interceptors. He said the administration also looked at obtaining 12 pirogues on the local market. Joseph said six pirogues would be obtained by month’s end and the other six by March. “That will give increased coverage regarding the reduction of drugs and guns,” Joseph said.

“But something else is happening and one has to be extremely careful…There is something happening with the inflow of drugs and guns coming into the country and it is coming in at a faster rate than it had before.” Joseph said it was not prudent for him to discuss the matter at yesterday’s forum because of various other things in the issue. “So that is a contributory element,” Joseph said, also noting frustration on the part of police to deal with gangs. “When they go to the courts, there are impediments there and we have to correct those impediments. “So it’s not a straight case that we have done this and that and we expect performance…I’m not trying to make excuses as it’s part of the reality.

By: GAIL ALEXANDER  of Guardian

 Read full Guardian Article.

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Anderson Marcano is the new national stick-fighting champion. And Ortoire has emerged the leading gayelle in the country. Marcano 21, of Gran Chemin, Moruga, was crowned King of the Rock on Wednesday night at Gilbert Park, Couva, when he scored with a “buss head” over Cluster Guy of Ortoire in the final. He had earlier outclassed former champion Anthony Binealle of Couva in the preliminary round, while Guy had defeated George Quashie of Talparo with a “buss head.”

Popular stickfighter Moses Ralph, of Sangre Grande, was beaten by Kenneth John, of Cushe. John was scheduled to meet with Marcano in the semifinal, while Guy had a bye into the final. John chose to settle for the third prize of $5,000 and conceded the fight to his younger brother Marcano. Marcano, an unknown to the stick-fighting arena, displayed superb craft, striking with either hand and with a change of leading foot, he checked the advances of his charging opponents.

Binealle and Guy were thrown off-balance by the clever moves and ambidextrous strikes of Marcano…a well deserved champion. In the Gayelle semifinal battles, Ortoire won all three fights against Gran Chemin, while Longdenville defeated Sangre Grande by a similar margin. And in the Gayelle final, Ortoire, represented by Cluster Guy, Daniel Barclay and Peter Stephens, won by two fights to one over Longdenville, represented by Anthony Binealle, Nigel Jones and Sunil Kowlessar.

By: TREVOR BURNETT of Guardian

The world stood still for a brief moment yesterday, when King Juan Carlos 1, of Spain, laid a wreath at the foot of the cenotaph at Memorial Park in Port-of-Spain, in tribute to the soldiers killed during the two world wars. And, as if in tune with the solemnity of the occasion, the area surrounding the historic monument appeared to assume a sombre atmosphere.

But there were other telling signs: immaculately-attired soldiers—with heads bowed and guns in tow—had set the tone for the tribute, occupying positions at the four corners of the cenotaph.
The usually bustling traffic around the park ground to a virtual halt.

It was the shrill sound of trumpets, played by two soldiers, that penetrated the afternoon stillness. King Carlos, dressed in a grey suit and blue shirt, had performed his first gesture of goodwill to the people of T&T before a wildly appreciative gathering of schoolchildren and onlookers.

They had lined the route to Memorial Park to catch a glimpse of the king and his wife, Queen Sofia, during the couple’s first official state visit to T&T. The students, who had waved miniature flags from Spain and T&T, represented schools such as St Mary’s College, St Monica’s Preparatory, Holy Name Convent and Bishop Anstey’s, among others.

Port-of-Spain Mayor Murchison Brown greeted the couple at the Frederick Street entrance of the park. Their Majesties, smothered by security personnel, then briskly made their way along a red carpet to the cenotaph. King Carlos was upright as the soldiers played. Queen Sofia, resplendent in a brown and cream floral-patterned skirt suit and matching shoes, also stood reverently, a few steps behind. The couple waved later to the students.

By: COREY CONNELLY of Guardian

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Former president of the Supermarkets Association, Balliram Maharaj, yesterday promised drastic reductions in food prices from next week, beginning with the price of rice. Maharaj said the price of the Rainbow and Old Mac brands of rice distributed by his company, ADM Distributors, will drop by 20-30 per cent from next week. He said that the prices of about ten food items will be significantly reduced over the coming weeks, listing powdered milk, sugar, cheese, edible (cooking) oil, and some meat products among those to be cut to the benefit of consumers.

Maharaj said only yesterday he had been told of an immediate price reduction by the packers of the two brands of rice imported by his company. He said the cut represented a “drastic drop” in the price, “so we expect to see the price of rice dropping by 20-30 per cent by next week.” Maharaj said the reason for the reduction was a glut of rice on world markets. He said that a shortage of sugar in Guyana had allowed the Government, “for the first time in history,” to negotiate with Caribbean Community (Caricom) trade authorities a removal of the Common External Tariff (CET) on sugar imported from outside the region.

The CET is a tax imposed on extra-regional imports of products which are produced within Caricom. The tax is intended to protect regional producers by making imported products more expensive. Because of the removal of the CET on sugar, Maharaj said the duties had been dropped and the price of sugar should fall within a month’s time. He said Government had also removed the duties on cheese “and I am sure you will see a reduction on the price of cheese and some other dairy products. I expect the same thing to be happening to milk powder.”

Maharaj said these were very important items for local consumers, adding that duties on cooking oil had also been removed. He said because of the global recession and the decline in the price of oil, prices of commodities had fallen on world markets. “I am hoping that market forces will send down the price,” he said, urging consumers to do their part by shopping around and checking prices before making their purchases. He said if this was done, consumers would be able to benefit from the price reductions.

By: VERNE BURNETT of Guardian

President George Maxwell Richards has referred the report of the application for the removal of Senior Counsel Israel Khan from the Commission of Enquiry into Udecott and the construction sector to Prime Minister Patrick Manning. The report, dated February 5, had been submitted by commission chairman Professor John Uff to Richards containing an application made on behalf of Udecott, to remove Khan from the commission. The application had requested that Richards exercise his powers to revoke Khan’s appointment to the commission on September 8, 2008.

But, in a one-page statement from the Office of the President yesterday, Richards said there were no grounds to warrant Khan’s removal from the four-man commission. He cited Section 3 of the Commission of Enquiry Act Chapter 19:01 which, in part, stated that, “In case any commissioner is, or becomes unable or unwilling to act, or dies, the President may appoint another commissioner in his place.” Richards said: “On the facts reported it is not the case that Mr Khan is or has become unable or unwilling to act as a member. Accordingly, His Excellency is of the opinion that the circumstances do not exist for the exercise by him of the powers invoked under the Act.

“Further, His Excellency has taken into consideration that such powers as are conferred by the Act are subject to Section 80 of the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago as the supreme law.” Richards said he had “accordingly brought the report to the attention of the Honourable Prime Minister and head of the Cabinet.” It was Udecott’s lawyer Andrew Goddard, QC, who had applied to the commission for Khan to recuse himself forthwith because of his conduct while questioning Udecott’s chairman Calder Hart during a sitting of the enquiry on January 28 at Winsure Building in Port-of-Spain.

By: COREY CONNELLY of Guardian

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Pan Trinbago set a new record at Sunday’s staging of the national Panorama semi-finals at the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port-of-Spain, when judging in the competition wrapped up before the stroke of midnight. The presentation of 30 conventional steel orchestras in the categories: small, medium and large, started just after 1 pm and lasted almost 11 hours—ending at 11.58—beating patron expectations.

Judging from the mixed weather patterns and the sometimes slow pace at which a few of the bands took the stage, pan lovers firmly believed they would not have left the Savannah before 12.45 am. However, the pace quickened.

When San Juan-based Pamberi closed the music fare with its rendition of Shadow’s Ecstasy arranged by Cheo Cato, it was 11.58 pm and many patrons were left wondering “what to do next.” In the absence of published results from Pan Trinbago—as they await judging in similar categories in Tobago—the court of public opinion was called to order to preside over and give its verdict on refined performances in the high anticipated large conventional category.

Naturally, they zoomed in on the large conventional bands, which in their view represented the keenest competition on the day’s playbill. And, in their ruling defending champion Petrotrin Phase II Pan Groove and arch music rival Neal and Massy Trinidad All Stars were not atop the list, but are finalists.

Premium places went to Newtown-based Silver Stars Steel Orchestra and four-time national Panorama champion Sagicor Exodus for their renditions. Silver Stars excited music lovers with its colour rendition of First In Line composed and arranged by Edwin Pouchet, while Sagicor Exodus communicated the mood of T&T with its treatment of Festival Time. 

By: SEAN NERO of Guardian

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