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Two cops on rape charges
Story Created: Apr 23, 2013 at 10:16 PM ECT
Story Updated: Apr 24, 2013 at 7:03 AM ECT
TWO Highway Patrol police officers were in police custody last night after they were arrested in connection with the rape of a woman two weeks ago.
Up to yesterday evening, the constables were being questioned at two separate police stations.
Reports state that on the day of the incident, the officers were on mobile patrol close to the Caroni Bird Sanctuary when they noticed a parked car.
Upon looking into the vehicle, police said the officers noticed a man and a woman having sexual intercourse.
Investigators said the officers, one from Tabaquite and the other from Chaguanas, ordered the couple to dress before taking the woman to a location unknown to her where they both raped her.
They later dropped her off at another location before she reported the incident.
On Monday evening, a team of officers led by ASP Dookie arrested the officers.
Also seized from the officers were their police uniforms and other belongings which would be taken for testing. The officers would also be placed on identification parades, police said.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Two ... 95611.html
Dhansook on 13 charges
Story Created: Apr 23, 2013 at 10:02 PM ECT
Story Updated: Apr 24, 2013 at 7:07 AM ECT
FORMER People’s National Movement local government councillor and businessman Dansam Dhansook appeared in court on Monday, charged with 13 offences of perverting the course of public justice.
The charges against Dhansook are that on dates between April 30, 2005, and May 20, 2010, he gave false evidence at the San Fernando and Port of Spain Magistrates’ Courts against PNM chairman Franklin Khan and former PNM minister Eric Williams.
Dhansook was charged on Sunday by acting Sergeant Daniel of the Professional Standards Bureau.
Dhansook is charged with committing a series of acts which had a tendency to pervert the course of justice when he gave false statements and false evidence in which he alleged he paid Khan, then-minister of works and transport, and Williams, then-minister of energy, as a reward for securing contracts for him (Dhansook) for labour, security and transportation with Terra Sais International of Canada.
In January 2008, Senior Magistrate Lucina Cardenas-Ragoonanan dismissed the charges against Williams after she ruled Dhansook’s evidence was “unbelievable, tenuous, and vague”. And in September 2010, Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard withdrew charges against Khan.
Dhansook appeared in the Rio Claro Magistrates’ Court before Magistrate Maria Busby-Earle-Caddle.
The offences which allegedly occurred at the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court were postponed to July 1 to be heard in that court, and those which allegedly occurred in the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court were postponed to July 7 to be heard in that court.
—Susan Mohammed
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Dha ... 94071.html
Rooki3 wrote:gibbs did that bruh
UML wrote:Residents of Couva and environs who work in POS!!
A PTSC service will officially launched from Couva to POS tomorrow. I believe it is non-stop. Make use of this convenient service. Further details to be provided.
VAT on Food Flops
• Consumers still feel the pinch • $400m in revenue down the drain
Published: Sunday, June 2, 2013
Shaliza Hassanali
Seven months after Government slashed Value Added Tax (VAT) on 7,000 food items, president of the Supermarkets Association of T&T (Satt) Vernon Persad has admitted that the benefits consumers enjoyed from this initiative have since been eroded. Co-ordinator of the Network of NGOs Hazel Brown feels the move was just a “fallacy decision made without thinking it through, except for the political impact on it.”
Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment Vasant Bharath, whose ministry was responsible for the removal of VAT on the items, said if it were true that prices had increased, a lot of hard work and money would have gone down the drain. Bharath admitted that the matter was now a worrying concern. VAT was removed by the People’s Partnership Government on November 15, 2012 in an effort to lower food prices and curb food-price inflation.
This move resulted in Government foregoing $400 million in revenue. On Tuesday, Persad said Satt had observed increases on a number of non VAT items over the past few months. Among them are snacks, curry, baby items, sugar, peas and beans, dairy products and juices—many of which we import, Persad said. There are 1,200 supermarkets in T&T. He blamed the increases on suppliers. “A lot of the benefits of the VAT removal have been eroded.”
Persad said many factors influenced food price volatility, including world population growth, supply and demand, natural disasters and high oil, gas and wheat prices. Persad said consumers were “almost back to square one” and were now digging deeper in their pockets, while some have been buying less. “If you walk down the lanes of every supermarket the prices have changed. In a lot of categories we’ve seen movements already. We have seen food prices move up since January.”
Satt has written to the Government seeking its intervention on the matter. How are consumers coping with the growing increases? Persad said: “I can tell you, it is tough.” Satt has advised supermarket owners that memos from suppliers outlining new price increases be displayed on shelves to guard against abuse and complaints by customers.
Bharath: Increase in food prices worrying
On Wednesday, Bharath said once VAT was removed from food items, the Prices Council was supposed to monitor prices and inform consumers of price differentials. “What it appears, in the interim, it seems that wholesalers and importers have increased the prices that they were charging previously. I don’t know whether, in fact, their prices have gone up or whether they are utilising a sort of vacuum to put up their prices.”
Bharath said this information could have been provided by the council who “need to do more work. I think they need to be given more teeth to do their work.” He admitted that the council had no legal teeth to take supermarkets to court, but could only use persuasion to inform consumers that supermarket A sells far more than supermarket B. Insisting that T&T operates in a free market state, Bharath said there was little that could be done.
“We operate in a small environment controlled by a few players, therein lies the problem. I think there needs to be some legislative measure in place to ensure that if supermarkets are caught making higher margins than they ought to, then there should be some mechanism to ensure that consumers go to other places.” Asked if the council should have been provided with more teeth before the initiative was implemented, Bharath said “yes.”
For weeks, Bharath said his ministry worked tirelessly with Satt to remove the VAT. “Having gone through all of that, I think it is a lot of hard work down the drain, if in fact the claims that prices have gone straight back up to what it was before. It is worrying.”
Initiative not in vain
Questioned if Government’s initiative had now gone in vain, Bharath said they were well-intentioned in reducing food prices in the manifesto. “I don’t think it was in vain. I think the Government did everything it could do and had to do to reduce prices. One has to ask if these are genuine increases, then it would have meant that prices would have been 15 per cent higher had we not removed the VAT. That really is the issue.” Asked if the initiative was a political ploy, Bharath begged to differ.
If it is proven that importers are jacking up prices at their whim and fancy, how will they be dealt with? On Tuesday, Bharath said the Customs Amendment Bill will be debated in the Senate. Once it is passed in both Houses, Bharath said Customs and Excise would be obligated to share information on how much importers pay for food items abroad.
“That will assist us in determining the absolute truth behind this (prices.) If it is that the imported prices are not what they have been declared to be by the importers, then I think the sharing of information will force the prices down.”
Lee Yuen: No clout to make recommendations work
Wendy Lee Yuen, whose term ended as the council’s chairman last December, said despite taking blows from consumers, it was frustrating to work with professionals who came up with recommendations that did not help rising food prices. “You see no action taken. We had no clout to make any recommendation work. When you are looking to sweeten the electorate sometimes you take action that you hope will find favour with the electorate, without necessarily putting checks and balances in place.”
Since her departure, Lee Yuen said a new council was yet to be appointed, which gives the impression that no one was looking out for consumers. She said she could imagine that consumers were feeling hoodwinked and duped to a point. Lee Yuen said she wrote Consumer Affairs Division advising that it needed to operationalise the Fair Trading Commission, which was passed and assented in Parliament several years ago.
Appointing a commission, she said, will ensure that importers do not work in collusion, stop monopolies, advise the Trade Ministry of the rate of taxes on food items and streamline imported product. If asked to serve again, Lee Yuen said she would accept but only under certain conditions. “If it is going to be the same old same old, there will be no positive outcome for consumers.”
T&T affected by what happens globally—Harford-Rooks
Elizabeth Harford-Rooks, president of the Food Distributors Association, admitted that prices of some commodities had increased—mainly bacon, imported chicken and some canned vegetables. “There are issues right now with beef coming out of the US because of short supply. We are affected by what happens globally.” Harford-Rooks said the association always tried its best to keep prices down. “We will not increase a price just for increasing a price. It will not be beneficial for us.”
Brown: Concept flawed
Insisting from the onset that the concept of the VAT removal was flawed, Brown said the move cost the Government $400 million in revenue. Brown believes that the move only created opportunities for importers and not consumers. She urged consumers to exercise collective buying power and start growing vegetables at home. On Thursday, the Network of NGOs sold seedlings to the public and also gave advice to consumers on how to utilise spaces in their homes to grow crops.
A message left for T&T Manufacturers’ Association president Nicholas Lok Jack, who is out of the country, was not returned.
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-06- ... food-flops
kevcam wrote:UML wrote:Residents of Couva and environs who work in POS!!
A PTSC service will officially launched from Couva to POS tomorrow. I believe it is non-stop. Make use of this convenient service. Further details to be provided.
Nice...will await details.
AG: Bandits, beware! Story Updated: Jan 28,2014
“Bandits, beware!”
Following the passage of the Bail Amendment Bill (2013) yesterday in the Senate, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan warned all bandits and criminal elements in the country that they should think again before committing crimes against innocents as jail is certain without bail.
Government received majority support from the Independent benches for the passage of the bill, with seven out of nine Independent senators voting in favour.
Independent Senators Helen Drayton and Elton Prescott SC voted against the bill, along with the six People’s National Movement (PNM) senators.
The final result was 22 members voting for the bill and eight members voting against.
The bail bill was passed in the House of Representatives on January 11 with the Government’s majority in the House. The Opposition also voted against it then.
Speaking to the Express by phone yesterday, Ramlogan thanked the Independent senators for their support as the Senate deliberated on the bill for close to four hours, making several amendments.
“This puts an important legislative tool in the toolkit of the police officers. It equips them with a weapon in the fight against crime which, if properly used, can be a major game-changer,” said Ramlogan.
He explained persons convicted of dangerous and violent criminal offences will be sent to jail if they reoffend and they will be denied bail for 120 days in the first instance, and if the case starts, there will be no bail at least until an entire year passes.
The AG said there is no bail whatsoever in the case where the person has two convictions or two strikes and reoffends on a third count.
“Bandits, beware, the arm of the law has been lengthened and strengthened, and the scales of justice have been tilted against you and are now firmly in favour of the innocent, law-abiding citizens whom they wish to terrorise,” said Ramlogan.
Following the passage of the bail bill, Independent Senator Subhas Ramkhelawan moved a motion on the adjournment of the Upper House where he raised concern over the inordinate delay in the appointment of a Commissioner of Police (CoP).
He said while he was pleased the Bail Amendment Bill was passed, he had “deep concern” over the continued acting appointments of a CoP.
Ramkhelawan said the country cannot be held to ransom and have a police service of 7,000 officers leaderless.
He noted since the resignation of former CoP Dwayne Gibbs, there were four acting extensions for Stephen Williams.
He questioned how could Williams feel comfortable in leading a force and implementing policy and programmes when he is unsure of his tenure.
Ramkhelawan outlined the long process in the appointment of a CoP.
“It is a more complicated process than the selection of a pope; it is a more complicated process then the selection of a president,” he said.
He said there is need for action and while there is “enough legislation”, there was need for permanent and stable leadership of the police force.
In his response, National Security Minister Gary Griffith admitted the process to select a CoP was cumbersome and lng.
However, he stressed the acting CoP has full authority and power to lead the police force as a permanent appointee would.
Griffith said parliamentarians need to stop playing the blame game and work together to change the process.
Speaking after Griffith, PNM Opposition Senator Camille Robinson-Regis said the PNM was committed to working with the Government to change the cumbersome process in the appointment of a CoP.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/AG- ... lmob=y&c=n
UML wrote:Time to start taking back our country!!! Criminals should NEVER have more rights than law-abiding citizens!!!
UML wrote:^^^
you honestly feel the PP govt going to lose the next election?
UML wrote:^^^
you honestly feel the PP govt going to lose the next election?
Rory Phoulorie wrote:UML wrote:Time to start taking back our country!!! Criminals should NEVER have more rights than law-abiding citizens!!!
So true. Time to get rid of this corrupt government. Send them all to jail!
zoom rader wrote:Good bill, time to take our country back from pnm bandits
UML wrote:I was hoping u did
...Mahabir-Wyatt praises Kamla’s ‘seriousness’
By Michelle Loubon
Story Created: Feb 9, 2014 at 11:31 PM ECT
(Story Updated: Feb 10, 2014 at 9:33 PM ECT )
“It is the first time serious attention is being paid to the safety of children and the problem of child sexual abuse,” said Diana Mahabir-Wyatt, chairman of the Child Protection Task Force.
Mahabir-Wyatt made the comment in response to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s announcement on Friday that a special unit of the Police Service will focus on offences against children, including teen pregnancies.
The Prime Minister said the growing number of teenage pregnancies was “a grave danger facing the nation’s children.”
About 2,500 teen pregnancies are reported annually, according to Minister of Education Dr Tim Gopeesingh, who made the announcement in the Senate last Tuesday.
The National Security Council also mandated the Child Protection Task Force to expand its scope of works to provide solutions to the social problem.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Mahabir-Wyatt said: “It is the first time I am seeing positive action. It has been referred to the Child Protection Task Force. It is interesting...it is amazing. She (Persad-Bissessar) is very serious. There is the new push to deal with teen pregnancies, particularly those which result from statutory rape or sexual intercourse with any child under 14. There is serious legislation to deal with children who are pregnant at aged 16 and under.”
Mahabir-Wyatt said there was a high mortality rate for both mother and child “in the old days”.
“The pelvic region is not developed to deal with childbirth. In the old days, we had a high percentage of mothers dying in childbirth and babies being born dead. The extremely young mothers’ bodies were not capable of dealing with the trauma of childbirth.”
Mahabir-Wyatt said about eight interventions have been made by the Task Force within the last two months with regard to the protection of children, ranging from the establishment of assessment centres to transitional homes.
“The purpose was to ensure things get done. Cabinet has agreed to the funding of a family court in San Fernando and the establishment of two other assessment centres for abused children, plus transitional homes for children and young people. The draft Youth Justice Policy has come out of the Ministry of Justice. The public has been waiting for it over the last to three to four years. There is a campaign about numbers to call if you know children are abused.
“They started the mentoring and masculinity programmes. They are being pushed and the Child Protection Police Unit is being set up. You have eight realistic steps being taken to deal with the problems of crime against children and abandonment. All of this is happening within the last two months. It is amazing.”
Asked about attorney Nafeesa Mohammed’s view that the Children’s Authority Act needs to be fully implemented, Mahabir-Wyatt said: “She is right about the Children’s Authority Act. It needs to be fully proclaimed, and those parts which have been already proclaimed in order to allow it to be fully operational. It just means the President Anthony Carmona has to proclaim it.
“There are about six or seven parts of the Act which have not been proclaimed. It would include things like taking a child at risk out of a situation where it has been harmed or has the potential to be harmed. At the moment, those powers belong to the police. The Children’s Authority is working with the police. Proclamation will allow it to extend its activities throughout the country using its own staff.”
In her statement on crimes against children, Persad-Bissessar also said anyone found guilty of having sex with a girl under the age of 14 is liable to life imprisonment, with 12 years in jail for first offenders who have sex with girls between 14 to 16.
For second-time offenders, it will be 15 years on conviction.
The Prime Minister said a lack of awareness by the public of the offence will be addressed by the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development in a public education programme, as ignorance of the law was not a defence.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Mah ... 56281.html
Clico makes $3.8B profits
Published: Saturday, February 8, 2014Anthony Wilson
Text Size: 12px 14px 16px 18px 20px 22px Anthony Wilson
Published: Saturday, February 8, 2014.
Stunning 2012 for insurance giant
Clico, the insurance company that the Government saved from collapse four years ago, recorded a 2012 after-tax profit of close to $3.8 billion, which was more than five times greater than the $702 million it declared in 2011. Clico declared profits of $6.2 billion from its investing activities for the financial year, which eclipsed the $2.2 billion loss from insurance activities.
The most significant contributor to Clico’s investment profits was the $3.8 billion gain the company booked on the disposal of some 40 million Republic Bank shares in November 2012. Those bank shares, which were then worth about $4.3 billion, constituted 84 per cent of the underlying investment in the Clico Investment Fund—which converted the 11 to 20-year zero-coupon bonds into units in the CIF.
But while the insurance company, which was once T&T’s largest and most powerful, is generating profits, the KPMG-conducted audit indicates that Clico had a negative net worth of $6.5 billion. This means that the company’s liabilities, which were recorded at $29 billion, dwarfed its assets, which were valued at $22.4 billion at the end of 2012.
The financial statement reveals that “the company’s board, together with the Central Bank and the Government are working to eliminate the current capital efficiency where the company has excess liabilities to assets.”
Clico’s liabilities of $29 billion include about $16 billion in taxpayers’ money, comprising $4.9 billion in preference shares and close to $11 billion in Executive Flexible Premium Annuities (EFPA’s) that Clico policyholders have ceded to the State in exchange for cash, zero-coupon bonds and units in the Clico Investment Fund.
Following the insurance company’s dramatic collapse, which was announced at a news conference at the Central Bank on January 30, 2009, the Government pumped $5 billion into Clico by acquiring $4.99 billion in preference shares and $7.24 million in ordinary shares. That transaction resulted in Government owning 49 per cent of the share capital of the company, leaving Clico’s parent, the Lawrence Duprey-founded CL Financial, with 51 per cent.
In 2009, Government was advised not to acquire more than 49 per cent of Clico, because to have done so would have triggered the pre-emption rights clauses in the Methanol Holdings (Trinidad) Ltd (MHTL) shareholders’ agreement. In an interesting turn of events, Clico’s 2012 financial statement reveals officially, for the first time, the outcome of the arbitration matter brought by the minority MHTL shareholders, Consolidated Energy Ltd, who are the claimants.
According to the financials: “The tribunal issued a partial award on March 28, 2013, dismissing all the claimants’ claims with the exception of certain of its oppression claims.
“On November 18, 2013, the tribunal concluded that the relief and remedy for this oppression is the sale of the 56.53 per cent shareholding held by the company in MHTL to the claimants within a reasonable time.
“As such, the claimants and respondents (Clico, CL Financial and MHTL) were instructed to negotiate and agree terms of sale by January 31, 2014.
“If no agreement is reached and no extension is requested, the tribunal reserved the right (at that time) to set the price for the sale (following submissions by the various parties) based on updated market valuations as at January 31, 2014.”
The Guardian was told yesterday that the two parties to the arbitration have not reached agreement on the price of MHTL and the tribunal is now in the process of hiring an independent firm of petrochemical valuators.
Clico’s 56.53 per cent stake in MHTL and its Oman-based sister company are together valued at $5.57 billion in the 2012 accounts, about ten per cent less than the $6.1 billion the insurer’s stake in the companies was valued at in 2011.
Clico’s audited financial results for 2012 were published on its Web site yesterday, after the company’s board, which is chaired by former Minister of Finance Gerald Yetming, approved the financials for issue on January 29.
http://guardian.co.tt/news/2014-02-08/c ... 8b-profits
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