Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) leader Ancel Roget is attributing two Petrotrin fires in the space of three days in Moruga to poor maintenance.

Yesterday, Petrotrin sent out a release confirming that its personnel responded to another fire at Saunders Trace on Friday, close to Tuesday’s fire in which a car caught ablaze.

No details were forthcoming by Petrotrin on the origin of Friday’s fire, but Tuesday’s fire was caused by a leaking six-inch condensate and crude oil pipeline, which spilled on the roadway causing the car to ignite.

The three occupants were able to jump out before the car burst into flames.

In yesterday’s release, Petrotrin stated its fire personnel responded to the report around 3 pm on Friday and extinguished the fire.

“Petrotrin’s Security, Fire, HSE and Operations personnel are currently on site and preliminary investigations indicate that the fire is not as a result of a leak on the company’s buried 6” line located in that area.”

Petrotrin said after Tuesday’s incident repair works were completed on a buried six-inch oil line which runs from Catshill to Barrackpore in the Saunders Trace area.

“Petrotrin reiterates that the safety of employees, residents in fenceline communities and members of the public is of paramount importance; as is the protection of the environment.”

The company said an investigation had been launched.

Speaking on i95.5 FM, however, Roget called for a joint investigation by the union and the company to determine the cause of the line’s rupture. “Our information is that it is a direct result of poor maintenance of those lines.” He accused the company of focusing more on giving away lucrative production to lease operators than on maintaining the facilities.

People’s National Movement (PNM) Point Fortin candidate, retired major general Edmund Dillon, says the idea of offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) to man the country’s boders came from the Defence Force. Making his maiden speech during the PNM’s meeting at Pt D’or, La Brea, on Saturday night, Dillon said he could not stay out of the politics of T&T because of the state of affairs.

“When I look at the state of affairs in my country that I gave 36 years to I cannot retire, when I consider the crime situation I cannot retire, when I consider the break down of institutions I cannot retire, when I consider the cancellation of the OPVs I cannot retire,” he told the gathering. “Under my watch we made a strategic plan that put forward the OPVs. It was not a political decision, it was based on a strategic plan from the Defence Force. 

“When we looked at the environment it was determined that we need offshore patrol vessels to patrol our waters. I will tell you why—for you see what we don’t realise is that at the time that we asked for offshore patrol vessels the US Shiprider vessel was pulled out for services entirely. “The UK guardship that operated in the West Indies was pulled out of the Caribbean —the military attache from Barbados was pulled out—so there was an absence from assistance from our international partners to deal with our territorial waters.”

If T&T and it shores are to be protected, he said the OPV is the only vessel capable of efficiently doing that. “Don’t be fooled. Anything to replace an offshore patrol vessel must be an OPV and the ones we had included platforms. Now we see they are buying a logistic vessel to support a vessel—the OPV had everything, included helicopter pad, offshore interceptor guarantee.”

“Over the last four years we were denied a presence out in our territorial waters what was the response? What was the effect? More guns, more drugs. We have a crime situation now that cannot even deal with it.” The PNM’s contract with a British shipbuilding firm to build three OPVs was scrapped when the People’s Partnership Government came into office in 2010. 

Also dismissing the perception that the National Operations Centre is a new concept, Dillon said during 2009 ICC Cricket World Cup and Summit of Americas, the NOC was designed at the Defence Force headquarters, where they ran the entire show. He said the concept of the NOC therefore started under the PNM.

Expressing horror over the murders of four members of a Chatham family, outgoing Point Fortin MP Paula Gopee-Scoon yesterday called for mediation and intervention to prevent any further violence.

Police believe the murders were linked to the murder of villager Stephon Sinnette, 33, at Chatham South Trace last week Wednesday. He was shot by his neighbour after an altercation.

Yesterday around 6.30 am, the bodies of Grace Toussaint, 55, her husband Peter Baptiste, 59, her son Jeremy Toussaint, 24 and mother Lena Peters, 75, were discovered by a relative in a room at a house, also at Chatham South Trace. 

The murders have left the sleepy community and environs in shock, Gopee-Scoon said as she expressed condolences to the bereaved family.

She said: “Chatham being a small village, everyone is affected by this gruesome murder. It’s very sad but my understanding is that it is connected to a murder last week as well. I am not sure, I will leave that for the police to deal with.

“However, the concern is that there is no other resulting discontent arising from this murder. I am trusting there will be some kind of mediation to calm any concerns and quell fears among the villagers in the village.

“Certainly this is a time you need intervention to ensure that some calm is restored to this beautiful and peaceful village.” 

Chatham, she said, was a peaceful area and that was quite an unusual and shocking event. Gopee-Scoon said she hoped the murders were solved as she recalled last year’s murders of Fullerton Village couple Krishna Ramdeen, 63, and Radha, 57, which remained unsolved.

Local representative for the area, councillor Arlene Ramroop, echoed Gopee-Scoon’s concerns, saying it was a sad day in the community. 

Describing Chatham as a family-oriented village, Ramroop said counselling should be provided to the family and residents. She also hoped for a speedy investigation and justice for the bereaved family.

Equally shocked and lost for words was Point Fortin mayor Clyde Paul, who said: “That is a disaster. Actually, a member of the (deceased) family is a checker here with the borough corporation.”

Any move to dismiss workers as a result of Trinidad Offshore Fabricators Unlimited’s (TOFCO) decision to relocate the fabrication of jacket and piles for BP’s US $2.1 billion Juniper platform from the La Brea yard to Texas will be met with strong opposition.

Although TOFCO, in a statement on Thursday, assured the relocation will not lead to the reduction in the current workforce, workers are bracing for job cuts. 

TOFCO has denied that the industrial action taken by workers since the project commenced contributed to its decision. In fact, bpTT said the proposal to relocate part of the fabrication work was made by TOFCO in order to preserve the project schedule.

However, a top energy official told T&T Guardian that the several work stoppages due to protests attributed to 40 per cent of the project’s delay, which is about three months behind schedule. Over the last year there have been several protests by workers for better wages, safer working conditions and employment for more locals at TOFCO.

In a telephone interview yesterday, a member of the TOFCO workers safety committee, who requested anonymity, said: “Once they move the jacket and piles it means a lot of workers will be out of jobs. Some welders have already been tested to work on the jacket, this means they will be laid off. About 100 workers might be affected. Workers will stand up against it (job cuts).”

Prior to this decision, he said workers were planning to shutdown the yard because of poor safety conditions. “There were two incidents over the past three weeks where welders were shocked and it seem like they want to hide it under the carpet and also the wages they paying craftsmen.

“Because the workers are getting organised and looking to get themselves in a union they looking to take part of the work to try and prevent that. They trying to keep this yard as a scab yard so they make all the money and work locals for next to nothing.”

Serious job losses 

La Brea MP Fitzgerald Jeffrey expressed concern about possible job losses and the impact the move would have on investment in La Brea.

“Obviously there is going to be serious job loss. The management of TOFCO is basically just trying to pacify their fears, but I am very concerned about this development right now. 

“I understand that the real reason for relocation has to do with the industrial climate down on the industrial estate. You know all the work stoppages and blockages and so on. 

“There is cause for concern for investors, that might have been one of the principle reason for the relocation.

“Recently there was a big stoppage when they had to repair the Gorilla rig and they had to employ some of those so-called henchmen, just to get the work done. I was very concerned about that development. I could see serious problems for the Labidco Industrial Estate.”

In some instances, he said, the protests were justified because the company had reneged on its promise to employ 40 per cent of its workforce from the La Brea community. 

Disappointed that the entire platform will not be built here, Jeffrey said: “If they (companies) employ proper employment practices I don’t think we will have a problem in La Brea. It is sad to see them leaving qualified people from La Brea unemployed and bringing in outsiders. One of the reasons for the development of the Union and Labidco Industrial Estates was to address the serious unemployment in La Brea.”

Move could impact 

on future investment

Point Fortin South West Chamber president Ricardo Joseph believes that the relocation could impact on future investment and the La Brea community.

He said it was unfortunate that something like that happened, especially in La Brea, which is considered a depressed community.

“It could go a long way of bringing more hardships in the area,” he said.

He believed, however, that the industrial action was not the principle reason for the move and was being used as a smokescreen. 

Asked if the perception of an unstable industrial environment could have an impact on future investment in La Brea, Joseph said: “What I see happening is that people could take a cue from that action, saying if they pull out why shouldn’t we, we don’t have to go through that. So, yes it could have an impact.”

The platform accounts for about seven per cent of the estimated US$2.1 billion expenditure on the Juniper project, which includes five wells and a pipeline connection with the Mahogany platform.

After three trials and 12 years in prison, Alert Chinapoo was yesterday freed of murdering Club Coconuts DJ Nigel Karmody. 

As he stepped out of the San Fernando High Court, Chinapoo, who was 16 years old when he was arrested, told reporters he intends to pursue a career in law to represent prisoners facing injustices.

Chinapoo, who was a Form Four pupil of Carapichaima Senior Comprehensive School, was charged after Karmody’s body was found near a water tank at Macaulay Road, Claxton Bay, on January 12, 2003, with stab wounds. 

The state’s only piece of evidence against Chinapoo was an unsigned statement based on an oral confession which the police alleged he gave to them.

In the previous two trials, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. 

But after deliberating for an hour and 35 minutes yesterday, the jury returned a not guilty verdict in the San Fernando High Court.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the manner in which the police dealt with the oral evidence in the case, Justice Gillian Lucky said: “It was clear that the police did not live up to the high standards expected of them in this case.”

She said the police ought to have known what is “good and proper practice of the law.”

The trial began about six weeks ago, with state attorneys Anju Bhola and Hema Soondarsingh leading evidence from several witnesses. Chinapoo opted not to testify.

Accompanied by his attorney Larry Williams, Chinapoo expressed relief that the matter was finally over and he was freed.

Saying the judiciary was in crisis, he lamented that he had to wait over 12 years for justice.

“There is no procedure, nothing in place for the men who are presently incarcerated who are just waiting to face a trial. It have men 15 years, 13 years, 12 years waiting on a trial and never receive a trial yet. 

“Something needs to be done to be put in place for these men and them.”

While incarcerated, Chinapoo said, he used the time to pursue his academic goals. He said while in prison he attended classes at St Augustine Secondary School where he obtained five O’levels, as well as pursued other courses.

However, he intends to become a lawyer. “When I settle back in society I am going to do a degree in law and from there I will be able to help with issues and help people who are suffering injustices.”

He said he was not afraid because he knew he was innocent and he alleged the police had fabricated the case against him.

People and Social Development Minister Christine Newallo-Hosein has sought to dispel fears, particularly among the elderly, that her ministry’s biometric card is not associated with the devil.

Speaking at the fourth ICT for Seniors programme at Skinner Park, San Fernando, yesterday, Newallo-Hosein spoke about problems they were having in enrolling the elderly in the biometric card programme because of their belief that it had something to do with the mark of the beast. 

“Soon we will be launching our biometric card and you would not believe how many problems people are encountering because they are associating it with this 666 and that has nothing to do with anything. 

“There is this fear, you have to understand you have to overcome your fear of technology because it is only going to improve your lives and through this programme we will reinforce the great value of our senior citizens and arm them with the technology to continue contributing T&T beyond age 60,” she added.

Interviewed afterwards, Newallo-Hosein said the enrolment started last year. She added: “We called people in to be registered. I mean there was this fear among some people that this was the mark of the beast 666. You know the biometric card you have to put your thumbprint, which of course is furthest from the truth. 

“It has no chip being implanted or anything like that. It is a completely safe form of carrying cash, every grant that you are accustomed to accessing will be available on the card.” She said several groceries, pharmacies and even Pennywise have come aboard so it allows people to shop freely and comfortably.

Asked if the fears have caused any delay in the enrolment, she said: “It is coming along but you find, particularly among the elderly, and that is why I raised it here. I want to dispel those fears and rumours that it is the mark of the beast, it is not.” Thus far, she said 40,000 people have already enrolled and registered for the card.

Also urging the elderly to grasp the opportunity to become tech savvy, Science and Technology Minister Dr Rupert Griffith said in the coming months eight Star.tt Centres will be launched in traditionally underserved communities. 

“There, you will have access to training, the internet and computers all for free and at your disposal so I encourage you, if you live in the vicinity of the present centres or those to be opened, to take advantage of them and put them to good use.” Assuring ICT for Seniors programme is here to stay, he said 1,800-plus seniors attended the previous programmes and another 500 to 600 were registered for yesterday’s event.

 Kegal Blackman who was charged with attempting to murder his co-worker during a fight 12 years ago was on Wednesday found not guilty by a San Fernando jury.

 After deliberating for about two hours, the jury returned verdicts in his favour on a charge of attempting to murder his co-worker Steven Mitchell and also on the lesser charge of wounding with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.

 The incident took place on March 18, 2005.

 State attorney Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal opened the State’s case before Justice David Harris in the Second Assizes on July 6, by saying the incident was a case of “three man rat can’t live in one hole.”

She said her expression described the described the living situation between Blackman, Mitchell and another man, Elvis Garcia, who lived together in a house close to their job site in Point Fortin, provided by their company.

The State’s case is that the three men had a disagreement and on that day Garcia struck Mitchell to the face with a crow bar (pig-foot). The two men then began fighting, eventually ending up in the backyard. 

Mitchell was stabbed twice in the back and once in his chest before collapsing to the ground. Dougdeen-Jaglal said Blackman was seen with an item, either an ice-pick or a screw driver.

The defence case, however, was that Blackman was attacked and he acted in self defence. Blackman, who was represented by attorney Cedric Neptune, opted not to give evidence, but called one witness.

While acid attack victim Rachel Chadee remains in the hospital under police guard, her mother and three children are living like prisoners in their own home. Since their mother’s attack on February 22, pensioner Leela Chadee said she has not sent her grandchildren to school and does not allow them to go outside.

“I don’t know his intention and he all over the place. People seeing him in south and they not telling the police,” Chadee said in a telephone interview yesterday. She appealed to the police to patrol the area regularly and check in with her.

“I am praying every single minute of the day. I pray that they will hold him,” she said. The children, 13, nine and five years old, keep asking when their mother will come home, but Chadee has not taken them to see her.

“I cannot let them see her in that condition,” she said, adding, “We have to be indoors all the time, we don’t know where he is. He is dangerous.” Thirty-year-old Rachel was attacked by her ex-lover, who broke into her La Romaine home armed with a knife, two bottles of acid, rope and rolls of duct tape. He slashed her on her face with the knife, doused her with acid and also forced her to swallow it.

Chadee said her daughter’s condition has improved, but she still has a lot of pain. 

“I was there in the San Fernando hospital yesterday, she coming along. She eating very little because her throat still swollen. She talking but you cannot understand anything.”

She said her daughter communicates with her by typing on her cell phone. San Fernando police are investigating and have identified Ronald Bissoon as a person of interest in their investigation.

Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar says the Dr Keith Rowley-led administration has been running the country on dead auto pilot for the past six months.

“You know there is something called the WWF champion, it is called the wedding, wakes and funeral champion. I think that is what Mr Rowley and his Government, especially Mr Rowley, is being seen as, witnessed as, the WWF champion,” she said on Saturday night.

She said while absolutely nothing is happening in the country and people are losing their jobs, Rowley and his Cabinet were attending the wedding of the daughter of a government minister.  

“I don’t know how much of that is at taxpayers’ expense,” she added.

Rowley has said that it was purely by coincidence that last weekend’s cabinet retreat and the wedding of Health Minister Terrance Deyalsingh’s daughter took place at the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort in Tobago on the same weekend.

Persad-Bissessar made the comments following a meeting with former cane farmers in Barrackpore on Saturday, as she gave reporters her views on the status of the $7.2 billion Solomon Hochoy Highway extension to Point Fortin, which has been at a standstill since last year. 

Over the last two months, contractors and workers have been protesting over money owed to them by Brazilian construction firm OAS Construtora. When the Opposition leader asked about the highway status in Parliament recently, she recalled they were told that it was under review.

“As you realise that is the typical answer, everything is on review. In the meantime everything is at a standstill, in a state of auto pilot. It is really troubling. 

“Monday will mark the six months of the present Government and in that six months we have seen absolutely no work being done,” Persad-Bissessar said.

“We have seen jobs being lost...to put it in another way, internally, we are seeing Rowley government imploding internally and we are seeing an explosion in the crime rate in the country with the economy on standstill.” She said she has been relatively quiet because she wanted to give the Government a chance to the do the work.

“But I think it has been a total disappointment. 

“In fact, in the lives of some persons it has been not just disappointing but chaotic and traumatic for those families where jobs are being lost and we see plants and infrastructure standing by idle with nothing happening, which is UWI campus being left there, the maintenance cost alone for that, the Couva Children’s Hospital,  projects that were complete, the sports facilities.

“All of these would have assisted with what is known as other ways of gaining revenue, the revenue stream is down from the oil and gas. These were the projects that would have brought in revenue outside the oil and gas.”

She said she was very concerned with the situation and intends to raise her voice now that the honeymoon period was over. “For six months the country is on dead auto pilot status, to restart now is going to take even further time.”

Asked if the Government could pay the  cane farmers given the low oil prices, she said the money was allocated and budgeted in the estimate of expenditure and part of the money was given by the European Union. Before their election defeat last year, she said government had in July paid $27 million to the former cane farmers. 

She said the cane farmers were supposed to be paid two other tranches in December 2015 and this year, but Rowley has refused to pay them. “The priorities of the Government are totally distorted when it comes to helping the more vulnerable people in society. 

“Their priority is talking about building a beach at the Magdalena Hotel, their priority is to talk about the Brian Lara Stadium, their priority is on the vanity projects of all these old buildings in Port-of-Spain,” she said, adding that while those projects are important, right now they should not be the Government’s focus since they will not generate income. 

...to march on PM’s office with cane farmers

Supported by Opposition members and their attorneys, cane farmers will on Wednesday march to the Prime Minister’s Office in Port-of-Spain to deliver a pre-action protocol letter on a promised $103 million payment to them.

Calling on ex-cane farmers to unite, mobilise and gather in St Clair at 2 pm, former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told them the Government was obligated in law to pay them the money during a meeting at the Cumuto Recreation Ground, Barrackpore, on Saturday night. The meeting was chaired by Association of Combined Cane Farmers Association chairman Balram Ramdial.  

It was under her administration that Cabinet had approved $130 million in compensation for cane farmers to be used for agricultural diversification. The farmers received $27 million last July, two months prior to the Persad-Bissessar’s administration’s general elections defeat. The rest of the money was promised in two other tranches—$75 million in December 2015 and $28 million this year.

Saying that Dr Keith Rowley has refused to pay the money based on legal advice, she said: “Something must be done. We cannot allow a person who came into an election campaign and promised to pay you publicly, we cannot allow him to confuse the issue and really confuffle the issue to say that he will not pay you. Because he is obligated in law and the Government is obligated in law because of the steps we took.”

A woman and two men who were liming at a Marabella bar on Saturday morning were injured as two suspects engaged in a gunfight nearby, police said. The incident took place around 4.28 am at the Belle Bagai bar along the Southern Main Road. 

Jacklyne Cedeno-Samuel, 21, of New Grant, Clement Phillip, 29, and Christopher Perrot, of Vistabella, said they heard loud explosions and felt a burning sensation on their bodies.

Cedeno-Samuel was shot in her abdomen, Phillip was shot on the buttocks while Perrot was shot on the left side of his face. All three were treated at the San Fernando General Hospital where Cedeno-Samuel and Perrot remains warded in a stable condition.

Police received information that two men had an altercation and were shooting at each other close to the bar. In an unrelated matter, almost a year after footballer and expectant father Anderson Cornwall was shot and robbed, a 25-year-old man has been charged with his murder.

Cornwall, 21, a construction worker, of Church Street, Penal, was standing outside the Boardroom nightclub along the SS Erin Road, Debe, when he was approached by two men. He tried to run but one of the men opened fire, hitting him in his head. The men then snatched Cornwall’s chain and escaped in a white Nissan Tiida.

After receiving instructions from Deputy Director of Prosecutors Joan Honore-Paul on Saturday, Homicide detective Akash Ramsoobag charged a Pleasantville welder. He is expected to appear in the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court today.

Police have detained a man for questioning in connection with the brutal cutlass attack on Jennifer Rampersad, who remains warded at the San Fernando General Hospital.

Her right hand was severed, as were two fingers on her left hand during the attack at her home at Sancho Road, New Grant, on Saturday morning.

The 35-year-old accounts clerk, who also suffered a fractured skull, has been moved from the Intensive Care Unit to a medical ward. However, she has not been able to help the police identify her attacker as yet due to her condition.

Rampersad, who lived with her mother and nephew, was attacked around 1.40 am.

Her mother, Irene Soodeen, was jolted out of her sleep by her daughter’s scream and found her covered in blood in the corridor of the home. Neighbours called the police after hearing the mother’s cries for help.

Police believe the attacker had a key to the house since there were no signs of forced entry. The family has since moved out of the house and changed the doors’ locks.

Up to late yesterday the man was still in police custody.

Ag Sgt Ramlogan is continuing investigations.

Eight years after he was charged with causing the death of five people by driving dangerously along Mosquito Creek, South Oropouche, truck driver Balton Barnwell has been committed to stand trial in the High Court.

Barnwell, 76, of Fyzabad, who was previously out on $500,000 bail was yesterday granted new bail by Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington in the sum of $100,000 with clerk of the peace approval.

Barnwell’s attorney Jagdeo Singh had filed a no-case submission after the State closed its case on January 18 in the San Fernando First Magistrates Court.

State attorney Ambay Ramkhelewan then responded to the defence submissions.The State had proceeded by paper commital and had filed evidence from 13 witnesses. 

Delivering his ruling yesterday, Wellington said he went through Singh’s submissions which were quite extensive and also the state’s submissions. 

“I think this matter has to be ventilated at a trial,” said Wellington. Singh said he disagreed.

Asked by Wellington if he wished to say anything in answer to the charge or call any witnesses, Barnwell said: “No, sir.” He said he was reserving his defence for the High Court. 

Barnwell was charged by Sgt Vijay Ramdhanie with causing death by dangerous driving to Sachin Maharaj, nine; Sachin Singh, 12; Rajkumar Deonarine, 15; Rishi Ramlogan, 22; and Rajesh Ramnarine, 37, all of South Oropouche.

They were among other people in a panel van heading to a cricket match when Barnwell's truck crashed into the van near Godineau River bridge on August 15, 2009.

Suspended Police Constable Valentine Eastman will have to stand trial before a judge and jury on 13 charges of human trafficking involving three Colombian women.

As the State closed its case yesterday, Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington committed Eastman to stand trial in the San Fernando High Court and granted him new bail of $250,000 or a cash alternative of $120,000.

Conceding that a prima facie case had been made out against his client, attorney Kevin Ratiram did not make a no-case submission.

Ratiram, however, asked for a reduction in bail and a cash alternative of $30,000, which he said was affordable to his client. 

Given the number of charges, however, Wellington said the cash bail requested was too small.

Eastman, 55, was the first person in T&T to be charged under the Trafficking in Persons Act of 2011.

The officer, of Princes Town, who was last assigned to the Mon Repos Police Station and has 25 years service, was initially released on $350,000 bail after being charged.

The charges included transporting the women to Vistabella for the purpose of exploiting them for prostitution and receiving the women into the country or transporting or harbouring them for the purpose of exploitation. 

The charges, laid by PC Ramlogan of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, allegedly took place between March 3 and March 24, 2013. 

Each time the matter was heard in the San Fernando First Court it was held in camera. 

State attorney Sarah de Silva led evidence from 16 witnesses during the proceedings which began in September 2014. 

Two of the victims who are in the Witness Protection Programme were brought to court yesterday. 

As Eastman was escorted from the courthouse in handcuffs, he used his shirt to cover his head.

A woman who claimed she was attacked by her former husband with a seven-inch knife refused to testify against him yesterday because she depended on him for financial help to support their son. Tricia Anthony, 25, received injuries across her throat and lost use of her fingers to her right hand during an incident in 2009. She also sustained lacerations to her chest.

As she took the witness stand to testify against Trevor Creft, who is charged with attempting to murder her, the woman said she no longer wished to pursue the matter. Justice Maria Wilson, sitting the San Fernando Third Criminal Court, told the witness that was not her decision to make and subsequently deemed Anthony a hostile witness.

Anthony insisted she could not recall the incident on June 19, 2009 in which she was injured. Even when State attorney Mauricia Joseph showed her and read her evidence from the testimony she had given at the Siparia Magistrates’ Court during the preliminary inquiry into the matter and her statement to the police, Anthony insisted she could not remember.

She admitted one of the reasons she did not want to continue with the matter was because she depended on Creft for support for their son financially and otherwise. Anthony receives a disability grant because of the injury to her right hand which left her unable to move her fingers. In her evidence, Anthony admitted she left Creft and moved in with her mother. 

However, she could not recall saying that Creft was abusive and would hit her. She also said she could not recall that on the day of the incident Creft came to her mother’s house to get $100. In the magistrates’ court, Anthony had testified when she went to give him the money Creft attacked her with a seven-inch knife. She claimed she grabbed the knife, he pulled it away and tried to cut her neck. 

Anthony had said he held her in a chokehold and tried to stab her in her chest. She said she also got a vertical cut on her throat. Anthony said all she could remember before blacking out was the knife going through  her neck. She spent two weeks at hospital. She was asked by Joseph to show the jury the scars to her neck which she did.

Anthony was cross examined by Creft’s attorney Herbert Charles. The matter will continue tomorrow.

A Morvant couple who used bogus game machine tickets at a Marabella bar to get money were fined a total of $6,000 yesterday.

Akido Simon, 35, a father of five, was also ordered to immediately pay the bar owner $1,590 in compensation.

Simon and his girlfriend, Natasha Spalding, 29, a mother of three, pleaded guilty before San Fernando magistrate Brambhanan Dubay to uttering a forge gaming ticket and using a forged ticket with intent to defraud. 

The magistrate, however, dismissed the charge of uttering a forged ticket against both of them because it was substantially the same as the other charge.

In Spalding’s case, court prosecutor Sgt Chanardath Jhilmit said she tried to change a gaming ticket valued at $920 at Carat Shed restaurant and bar.

Although written on the ticket was Carat Shed, Marabella, the employee realised it was a fake and the police were contacted. 

When confronted by PC Mohammed, Spalding said: “Officer, I really gave the bar lady that ticket to cash out. My boyfriend Akido give me it and tell me to cash it. I have three children to see about and we try a thing. First time I doing this.”

Asking for leniency, her attorney Cedric Neptune said she had a clean record and the ticket was given to her and her boyfriend by a third party. 

Neptune said Spalding was remorseful and also spent four days in custody.

Noting the need to deter others, the magistrate fined her $2,000, which she has 30 days to pay or serve 30 days in jail. Jhilmit said Simon went to the bar on March 11 where he cashed out the bogus gaming ticket and received $1,590. 

It was only later that day the bogus ticket was discovered. When the police confronted him the same day his wife was arrested, Simon said he told PC Mohammed he offered to pay back the owner, but “he don’t want that.”

Also asking for leniency for Simon, Neptune said he was sole breadwinner of his children who were between the ages 16 and two. 

Simon had six previous convictions, including a trafficking cocaine matter in which he was fined $30,000. Simon was fined $4,000 or 18 months in prison. He has 30 days to pay.

A jury has found Trevor Creft guilty of attempting to murder his ex-common-law wife, Tricia Anthony, in spite of her refusal to testify against him.

Mitigation and sentencing has been reserved for April 13.

The guilty verdict was handed down by the mixed jury, in the matter which was heard before Justice Maria Wilson in the San Fernando Third Criminal Court.

The jury deliberated for approximately one hour before before arriving at their decision on Wednesday.

Creft was charged for the June 19,  2009 incident, in which Anthony claimed he attacked her with a seven-inch knife, which resulted in her receiving injuries across her throat, plus the lost use of her fingers to her right hand. She also sustained lacerations to her chest.

However, when she was called to stand to give her testimony against him, Anthony said she could not recall the incident and no longer wished to pursue the matter. She said she depended on Creft for financial support for their son.

Justice Wilson informed her that was not her decision to make and subsequently deemed her a hostile witness.

Anthony receives a disability grant because of the injury to her right hand which left her unable to move her fingers. 

Despite a refusal by a woman to give evidence against her former husband charged with attempting to murder her, a jury found him guilty on Wednesday. Trevor Creft, who had been out on bail, was handcuffed and taken into custody to return on April 13 for mitigation and sentence. The victim, Tricia Anthony, 25, was not in the San Fernando Third Criminal Court when the nine-member jury gave its verdict after an hour of deliberations.

Anthony’s throat was slit and she was stabbed during the June 2009 incident which took place at her mother’s home. At the start of the trial before Justice Maria Wilson, Anthony said she did not wish to pursue the matter any further. She also claimed she could not recall the events on the day she was almost murdered.

Anthony said one of the reasons she did not want to give evidence was because she depended on Creft for financial support to care for their son. She said she also forgave him. She ,along with two other witnesses—her mother, Angela, and brother Ronald—were deemed to be hostile after they too claimed not to remember what transpired on that day. 

The mother and brother were at home during the incident 

In her evidence at the Siparia Magistrates’ Court, Anthony said Creft attacked her with a seven-inch knife, which resulted in her receiving injuries across her throat, lacerations to her chest and the right hand, leaving her fingers useless. As a result of the latter injury, she receives a disability grant.

State attorney Mauricia Joseph, however, read her evidence at the magistrates’ court and her statements to the police, along with the other two witnesses into evidence. Although she kept saying she could not remember what transpired, when Joseph asked her if she had forgiven Creft for slitting her throat and stabbing her, Anthony said she did.

Anthony testified in the magistrates’ court that she left Creft and moved in with her mother because he was abusive and would hit her. She said on the day of the incident Creft came to her mother’s house to get $100. When she went to give him the money, Anthony said Creft attacked her with the knife.

She claimed she grabbed the knife, but he pulled it away and tried to cut her neck. Anthony had said he held her in a chokehold and tried to stab her in her chest. She said she also got a vertical cut on her throat. Anthony said all she could remember before blacking out was the knife going through her neck. She spent two weeks at hospital. 

Anthony showed the jury the scars to her neck after she was asked to do so by the prosecutor. Joseph was assisted by attorney Brandon Sookoo while attorney Herbert Charles, instructed by Mosi Charles, represented Creft.

President of the Penal/Debe Chamber, Shiva Roopnarine, has expressed concern about the adverse effect the hike in fuel prices will have on low-income earners.

Roopnarine said overall the country has experienced a 33.3 per cent increase in fuel prices. “The timing is right in terms of the oil prices being down. But what will happen to the prices? The poor people will suffer the most. 

“There has already been an increase in the number of items attracting VAT which affects the lower income the most and now they have to dip into their pockets to spend more on fuel.”

He said this was happening at a time when people were having problems accessing food cards and government programmes and were losing their jobs.

“We have to wait and see what the repercussions will have,” he said.

Roopnarine said the chamber would continue to advocate for light manufacturing industries and factory shelves to encourage small manufacturers to grow their business and create employment in the Penal/ Debe area which appears to be the hub and gateway to Point Fortin and the southwestern side of the country.

Couva/Point Lisas Chamber president Liaquat Ali said what was said by Finance Minister Colm Imbert in yesterday’s mid-year budget review came as no surprise to anyone.

Ali said the chamber had no problem with the hike in fuel prices and was in agreement with the seven per cent tax on online shopping. He, however, felt the budget should have been pegged at US$30 or less per barrel. 

Chaguanas chamber president Richie Sookhai said he was pleased with Imbert’s announcement that the Government would be visiting banks to see how foreign exchange was distributed.

He said the chamber, for many years, had been saying that the issue with foreign exchange distribution might not be with the Central Bank but with commercial banks. 

He added that there had been reports of favouritism at commercial banks and this initiative would bring transparency. 

Sookhai also felt the increase in fuel prices would have a definite impact on commuters since it would affect transportation fares and cost of living.

The last thing 23-year-old Isiah Williams told his wife was that he was on his way home.

The father of two never made it as the car in which he was a back-seat passenger crashed into a lightpole along the Solomon Hochoy Highway near Tarouba, killing him on the spot yesterday morning. 

Three other occupants were rushed to the San Fernando General Hospital where they are in a stable condition. According to a police report, the driver lost control of the car which flipped several times before crashing into a lightpole.

However, Williams’ mother-in-law Arlene Simon said she heard that the accident, which took place shortly after 6 am, was caused by a bad drive. “It was fast and furious driving,” she said.

Williams was thrown from the vehicle, landing 300 metres away. She appealed to young drivers to stop speeding and be more careful on the roads. Sunday Guardian was told that Williams, a fabricator, went out with three of his friends on Friday night and was coming home after liming in Gasparillo.

Simon described Williams who has two sons, ages four and one, with her daughter Keneal Simon-Williams as a family man. The couple celebrated their first wedding anniversary in November.

With four Gulf View residents now confirmed as having contracted the Zika virus in three months, residents are very worried about the risks to pregnant women in the community.

But while residents renewed their call for authorities to clean clogged drains yesterday, San Fernando Mayor Kazim Hosein said they themselves could do more. He said they were not taking proper precautionary measures with their properties.

The Ministry of Health on Friday evening confirmed two more cases of Zika, in Tunapuna and Gulf View, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 13. The latest victims are a 26-year-old man from Gulf View and a 71-year-old woman from Tunapuna. 

In a telephone interview yesterday, Hosein said the ministry’s Insect Vector Control Unit and regional corporation officials visited the area.

“We are doing our part. The problem really is to keep the place clean so that the mosquitoes cannot breed. We did pamphlets and we sent them out to each household. We went around with a mike, letting people know we are spraying, cutting open lots, cleaning drains and they have to do their part.

“They have containers in their yards which are breeding grounds, plant pots and dog bowls, they have to make sure their guttering clean. We told them we will assist. People just not heeding our advice. We must not let the mosquitoes win this war.”

Making another appeal to residents to do their part, Hosein said, “It is for their benefit. I make a special appeal to residents who have pregnant mothers living in the area to have the area cleaned. Whatever assistance the corporation could give, we will give it.”

However, community activist Viliana Ramoutarsingh countered that the measures being taken by the authorities were reactive rather than proactive. “We have been begging for assistance with regards to the drains and as yet nothing has been done to treat with the big overgrown lots and clogged drains.”

She said the area is being sprayed up to three times a week, but the mosquitoes return in a couple of days because the authorities are not focusing on the breeding grounds.

“If you know an area is affected there must be proper awareness and education drive. Send out flyers. I would not like to say that residents are totally at fault, I can tell you a lot of them are not aware where the mosquitoes are coming from.”

Noting that her main concern was the overgrown bushes and clogged drains, Ramoutarsingh said the parliamentary representative, councillor and mayor were quite aware of the situation but she was yet to see any kind of action. “We are very concerned, especially since we have a lot of young pregnant women, that is our main concern at the moment,” she added.