State-owned Petrotrin is expected to increase its crude production by a further 21,000 barrels of oil per day (bo/d) over the next three years at an estimated cost of $5 billion, according to Energy Minister Franklyn Khan.

Speaking on Monday at the sixth conference of the Geological Society of T&T, Khan said that Petrotrin offers the best hope to increase crude production in the short term.

With this in mind, he announced a planned jump in the company’s production by 21,000 bo/d or a 30 per cent increase from its current production.

In an interview with the Business Guardian at the same conference, Petrotrin’s president Fitzroy Harewood said the company has been gradually increasing production to the point where it is up to 46,000 bo/d from 41,000 bo/d in December, a jump of 12 per cent.

Asked where the 21,000 bo/d output increase was going to come from, Harewood said, “So the combination of drilling on land, which we want to push up to two rigs if we can next year, and then the resumption of drilling in Trinmar next year as well as the EOR (enhanced oil recovery) activities will give us some fillip.”

Harewood said the company would also be returning to exploration drilling, or searching for new crude. He pointed out that under a production sharing contract with the government, the company is expected to drill three wells in the North Marine Block in 2017, but while it will start two of the three in 2017, all will be completed in 2018.

“We are working towards starting that work in the fourth quarter this year and the next well in 2018. The licences acreage is North Marine and we have an obligation to do exploratory wells. Actually it was suppose to be the end of 2017 but when we took some time to review our prospect generation and do some more work on the data set, the ministry allowed us to go to 2018,” Harewood told the Business Guardian.

Mobile production facility to be commissioned

Harewood said the wells in North Marine are being drilled based on the recently acquired 3D seismic which gave Petrotrin improved sub-surface vision and he was quietly confident that it will generate good prospects.

“They are exploration wells based on the 3d seismic data we have done, and we have looked at the prospects and leads and the expectation is that we should have some good prospects. We are doing some de-risking of the prospects right now and doing peer reviews and it should give us some good co-ordinates to go after and it will see what it brings us,” he said.

Khan revealed that the state-owned company will spend over $5 billion in the next three years on exploration and production as it tries to get additional equity crude for the refinery.

One such project is the South West (SW) Soldado project in which crude has stayed in the ground for years because of a lack of infrastructure to produce it.

Harewood said Petrotrin was making progress in its attempts to get production out of the block.

“SW Soldado is a huge project and we have the first phase which has been delayed with the mobile production facility. Our expectation is to have that commissioned and operational next year and therefore the oil that is behind pipe should come onstream,” said Harewood.

Asked how much oil can be expected from SW Soldado, Harewood explained, “There have been various estimates. When we actually produce it we will know of the flow. We have had estimates of between 3,000 bo/d to as high as 6,000 bo/d. I think it’s something between those two numbers. We plan to bring the mobile production unit into place, complete the piping, then bring on stream the production that we can get from the wells already drilled. After that we plan to drill additional wells.”

I have heard lively discussions, debates and even passionate arguments over the implementation of the Property Tax Act 2009, sometimes intertwined with observations as to its far-reaching terms or as to the timing of its implementation.

What appears to be common ground between the disputants and, indeed, among landowners is that there is nothing improper, untoward or unreasonable in requiring and of landowners being obliged by law to pay an annual tax in respect of their ownership of lands.

Public disquiet has been caused by those opposed to the implementation of the act by claims that as a consequence of the landowner’s non-payment of the property tax his land may be sold or his goods and chattels seized and sold (distrained upon) or his land forfeited to the State.

There has even been a fearful reference to a landowner suffering the fate of his property being bulldozed under some colour of authority under the act.

It is against that background it is necessary to look at the specific provisions of the act to be informed and not misled as to the full import of its true terms.

At the outset but for the extravagant claim of a landowner’s property being bulldozed as a consequence of his non-payment of the annual tax eligible on his land, I acknowledge that the act makes provision for all of the other claimed consequences of the non-payment.

Yet, while the State admittedly is empowered to employ such processes for the recovery of the unpaid property tax and interest accrued thereon, such power is not unfettered but conditional upon the observance of certain procedural safeguards to the property owner.

In that regard the Board of Inland Revenue is obliged to send to an owner a notice of non-payment giving specifically prescribed information and also before enforcement of recovery a notice of demand. It is only after 12 months thereof that the power to distrain is triggered.

Further, the power to forfeit is only exercisable when the tax, accrued interest or part thereof remain in arrears for a period of five years and, even so, certain strict conditions as to the giving of notice to the landowner must be satisfied before the president in whom the power resides exercises such power.

Additionally and relevantly the statutory prescribed measures for recovery of the unpaid property tax and accrued interest merely reflect long pre-existing powers of enforcement as to the recovery of unpaid charges and taxes in comparable legislation and add nothing new.

By Section 32 of the act any unpaid annual tax together with interest payable in respect of any land becomes a charge on it, activates the power of sale under the Rates and Charges Recovery Act (Recovery Act) and also becomes recoverable from the owner by a court action or by distress on any goods and chattels which may be found in or upon the land.

None of this is new or peculiar to the act.

The consequence of a charge being created over lands for non-payment of rates or taxes or the power to distrain upon goods and chattels and to sell the goods so distrained upon towards recovery of outstanding rates and taxes are all of long standing.

So, too, is the right given in the act to the person levying distress, to break open any building in the daytime for the purpose of levying such distress.

As early as 1914 and by the Recovery Act, Public Authorities including the WASA and the Agricultural Development Bank were empowered not only to levy distress upon goods and chattels found on premises in respect of which rates and charges were in arrears (Section 7 Recovery Act) but also to sell such premises where the rates and charges remained overdue for more than three months after becoming due.

It further provided for the surplus of any proceeds from such a sale to be paid into the High Court and for the court at its discretion to make order for the payment of the whole or any part thereof to the person(s) entitled.

So, too, the Land and Building Taxes Act (Tax Act) which was part of our laws since the April 30, 1920 until repealed by the act, also provided for the levying of distress after three months after the tax payable on the land becomes due.

It also made liable to distress not only the goods and chattels of the landowner but also of any tenant or occupier. Further, unremarkably, it granted power to the person levying distress to “if necessary break open any building in the daytime for the purpose of levying such distress” (Section 22(3)).

Materially, the Tax Act also provided for the forfeiture of any land where the tax payable in respect thereof was in arrears for one year and that such forfeiture was exercisable by the President and upon the registration of the President’s warrant of forfeiture “such land shall be forfeited, and shall vest in the State, in absolute dominion, free and discharged from all rights, estates, interest, equities and claims of any other person.”

Indeed the provisions of the Tax Act in relation to distress and forfeiture are almost completely replicated in the Act so as to amount to nothing new.

Even further Part V of the Municipal Corporations Act 1990 until repealed by the act also provided for a corporation to sell rateable hereditaments that are in arrears towards recovery of such rates or to proceed by action in Court towards recovery of such outstanding rates or to use the process of distraining upon the goods and chattels which may be found in or upon the rateable hereditaments (Section 100).

All this make plain that the act introduces no new machinery towards the recovery of unpaid property taxes and accrued interest in arrears and maintain the same powers of recovery in existence for some 100 years.

This leads to the obvious enquiry as to why detractors of the act are not disclosing the essential facts as to the act’s safeguards to the property owner as well as the long pre-existing powers of recovery for unpaid property tax and behaving as though the powers contained in the act are recent draconian visitations upon landowners.

It is this lack of disclosure that is the cause in great measure of the alarm and apprehension generated by the politicising of the issue.

It may be that those who remain silent on these salient facts are really unaware of the pre-existence of the recovery powers in earlier acts, because if they know and yet deliberately remain silent that constitutes deceit and they open themselves up to losing the people’s trust.

ERNEST H KOYLASS SC

“The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.”

—Phillip Fisher

Value, price and worth are terms that have been topical issues recently. People have been trying to apply these concepts to properties, to companies and to share prices in order to make sense of information that is in the public domain.

The problem for many is that there is a layman interpretation of these concepts and a professional interpretation. With the advent of social media anyone can become an expert in everything leading to much misinformation and confusion.

In everyday language, price is how much you paid for something. It is used interchangeably with cost where the cost of the product is the amount for the item viewed from the perspective of the buyer. In determining whether you should pay the price or incur the cost you typically rationalise in your mind how much something is worth and whether there is value in the item being purchased.

These three concepts—price, value and worth—are not the same but because we use them interchangeably as though they mean the same thing we often confuse ourselves.

An item can be on sale in which case its price is $100. The quality of workmanship may be such that the item is worth $150 but how you actually intend to use the item could save you money in other places so much so that the value of the item to you is $300.

Most people looking on at a transaction from the outside will primarily focus on price but the only way to properly understand a transaction is to get a sense of worth and value, especially from the perspective of the buyer.

It was Warren Buffet who famously said “price is what you pay, value is what you get.” Clearly there is a fundamental difference between the two concepts.

Spot the difference

The technical understanding of price is that it is a function of the market dynamic. It is essentially what you can sell an item for or how much someone with similar information to you is willing to purchase the item. This is why proper disclosure of information is essential in establishing price.

The process through which information is disseminated and assimilated in the market is a process known as price discovery. So, in the case of property, a registry of the price at which properties of a similar type and location changed hands allows for price discovery as others have access to these past transaction in order to inform their current situation.

The same occurs with stocks where the quoted price provides a reference point for new bids and offers. Unless there is significant new information coming to hand, the stock will usually change hands very close to the quoted price.

Before you get to price you have to grapple with the concept of worth and value.

How many of you would want to own a Venezuela or Iraq Government bond? I don’t expect anyone to answer yes to this question. However, in a bond portfolio where 99 per cent is invested in US Government bonds (US Treasuries) bonds from those two troubled nations may actually be worth something to the portfolio.

The value of the bonds in question may be highly speculative but there may be worth to a portfolio in the sense that for a 99 per cent holding of US treasuries the risk of loss if held to maturity is likely zero but the return will also be low. It may well be worth it to some investor to just put one per cent of the portfolio into a very high risk bond with the hope that it can boost the portfolio return if the investment works out.

Understanding the concept of worth is fundamental to understanding a transaction and investing on the whole.

Art of the deal

Take, for example, Apple or Amazon.

Both companies have seen their stock prices rise significantly over the past few months. A price increase based on trading means that a transaction has taken place involving a buyer and a seller. So, ask yourself who would want to sell Apple at US$120 when the price is now US$145 just a few weeks later? Same for the person selling Amazon at US$800 a few weeks ago when today the stock price is US$970.

Transactions of this nature happen every day and while it may be hard to rationalise we don’t conclude that the transaction is corrupt because it is nonsensical to think that way. A sale happens because the seller having a reason to sell finds a buyer with a reason to buy. Specific to the concept of worth the seller of Apple stock may have owned the stock at US$80 and with a 50 per cent gain in hand their investment policy may have mandated that they sell.

The buyer focusing on the growth potential of Apple would have been willing to add this stock to their portfolio even though the stock is up 50 per cent over a relatively short period of time.

It all comes down to the role that the Apple stock played and will play in the respective portfolios. How it fits in with other stocks that may exist alongside. A company may seek to divest of a subsidiary for a similar reason in that the company in question no longer has a role to play in their portfolio of offerings and that same company may be acquired due to the fact that the service on offer may be of value to the acquirer.

The concept of worth in finance suggests that someone will only sell an asset when its worth in the market exceeds its value to the owner. It therefore means that while price is the end result and worth may provide the motivation. it is value that is the underlying incentive for the transaction.

If you own Apple shares at a price of US$120 but you think that it is worth no more than US$100 then you will be motivated to sell. The buyer on the other hand requires a different incentive. The buyer has to be convinced that the Apple stock has a value significantly more than US$120. The buyer may be anticipating that roll out of the new iPhone 8, the introduction of new products and an increase in profitability. That may result in the buyer placing a valuation of US$200 on the stock.

It is not unusual for a seller to think that a stock is worth US$100 but the buyer ascribing a value of US$200 and be willing to commit to a price of US$120. The same information available to both sides but different results based on unique perspectives. This is, in fact, what makes a market.

This process is not something to be criticized or condemned but rather one that you should take the time to understand. All of us engage in this process many times in our life. You have a car to sell, you think it is worth $100,000 but you call a price of $130,000 and eventually you get it sold for $120,000. You walk away feeling satisfied.

The buyer, on the other hand, is looking to purchase your private car, the only car that you own and is seeking to add it to a fleet of other vehicles that the buyer already owns from which the buyer expects to generate a return of $250,000 over the next two years. The buyer may think a deal would be worth it at $150,000 and, in those circumstances, also walked away feeling satisfied at a having paid a price of $120,000.

How many times have you had an experience such as this either as a buyer or a seller during your lifetime?

It may be a car, a house, selling a company, a stock. The fact is that it happens everyday. Your participation either as buyer or seller may not make sense to a bystander because they don’t see the worth or the value that you see and therefore can’t agree on a price.

This is such a fundamental part of everyday transactions most people engage in the process without thinking. However, when faced with a similar situation while looking on from the outside they are often quick to find fault. It is usually down to not taking the time to understand the deal.

Ian Narine is an investment adviser registered with the SEC and can be contacted at ian.narine@gmail.com

Plans to reinforce human resource and hard infrastructure capacity, along with the development of a medium-term strategy and the strengthening of a competitive incentive regime, could help position T&T’s vibrant film sector at the centre of the region’s audio-visual industry.

Over the past decade, T&T has hosted more than 320 separate international productions—including feature films, one-off programmes and episodes of television series—with interest in the country as a location on the rise.

In January and February alone, more than 14 overseas film crews came to shoot in the dual-island Caribbean nation, with teams travelling from the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Barbados and the US.

T&T’s culture is also gaining traction as a film-worthy subject, with nine international crews filming during this year’s Carnival in late February, according to data issued in March by the T&T Film Company (FilmTT), the state agency responsible for developing the local film and audio-visual sector, and for promoting the country as a location through the film commission.

Capacity building

Proposals to strengthen production infrastructure and further raise the industry’s international profile are currently in the pipeline.

In consultation with FilmTT, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and state investment promotion agency InvestTT are studying the feasibility of developing a production facility with between three and eight sound stages ranging in size from 2000 to 20,000 sq feet.

Along with workshops, backlot areas, equipment repositories, storage units and offices, the proposal comprises post-production and animation facilities capable of supporting the development of up to four feature films at the same time.

The centre would be also able to provide production support for medium-scale projects, classified as having budgets of between $3 million and $15 million, representing a significant boost to T&T’s filmmaking infrastructure and capacity.

FilmTT estimates that T&T currently has the facilities and professional skills pool to support the production of movies with budgets of up to $5m, as well as the ability to sustain three major features and five smaller documentary productions a year.

Soft infrastructure and incentives

At present, the domestic film and audio-visual industry boasts only a limited number of skilled professionals able to complete the pre-, post- and production phases necessary to develop a film or television programme; a shortfall that officials are keen to address.

On-the-job experience has been the main route to acquiring industry knowledge, according to Nneka Luke, the general manager of FilmTT and the country’s film commissioner.

Facilitating this route has been behind the offer of a 20 per cent rebate on certain labour costs incentivising international productions to hire locals.

“In the longer term, the vision is to develop standard certification for people working in the film industry,” Luke told OBG.

“This would help those who have excellent practical experience and ability but lack formal training, while giving assurances to incoming producers that our crews are up to international standards. It is part of the strengthening of the sector that we also move to strategically increase the professional development of our people.”

As well as refunding 20 per cent of qualifying local labour costs, T&T offers international producers a cash rebate of up to 35 per cent on qualifying local expenditures, making it the most competitive incentive scheme in the region after Colombia.

Productions with a total spend of between $100,000 and $8 million are eligible for refunds. Filmmakers are also permitted duty-free concessions on machinery and equipment required for production.

Forward planning

While these incentives have helped attract foreign film and audio-visual producers, earlier this year FilmTT invited proposals for the provision of consultancy services to develop a strategic plan for the development of the industry over the next five to 10 years.

With a submission deadline of April 4, 2017, bidders were asked to provide a plan to shape the local industry into a viable, profitable and sustainable sector by 2022.

The official document accompanying the request for proposals also set out specific targets, including developing a skilled and certified labour force to meet the requirements of the industry; building capacity to maintain consistent annual production for both domestic and international markets; and making the sector a significant contributor to GDP.

Regarding the latter aim, FilmTT expects a stronger film and audio-visual industry to have the knock-on effect of encouraging growth in ancillary services, such as hospitality, catering, transport and logistics, and financial services.

This T&T economic update was produced by Oxford Business Group. 

Sport Minister Darryl Smith has complied with a request to submit a detailed report on the $91,000 Tobago trip to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley in less than 24 hours.

Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young confirmed Smith's report had been handed in and it was now up to the Prime Minister to peruse the report and make a determination.

There have been calls for Smith to be axed as a Cabinet minister over allegations of improper use of State funds during his visit to Tobago with 11 other staff members including the Permanent Secretary Natasha Barrow.

The PM intervened following public outrage over reports that Smith was part of a 12-member delegation which spent almost $92,000 for a three-night stay at the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort on the weekend.

A statement from the Office of the Prime Minister on Wednesday said: “The Prime Minister, Dr the Honourable Keith Rowley, has requested a full report from the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, the Honourable Darryl Smith, on the recently concluded trip to Tobago by the Minister and officials from the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs and the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago.”

The contingent travelled to Tobago to attend the Tobago House of Assembly’s (THA) Sports Awards, which was held last Saturday at the Magdalena Grand.

Nine of the officials, including Smith, were originally invited by the THA while three others, including Smith’s personal assistant Cindy Cupid, communications officer Kate Balthazar and Melissa Assam, the executive assistant to permanent secretary Natasha Barrow, were later added at Smith’s request.

Smith also responded to questions about his relationship with the three additional officials who were added to the trip, saying: “They talk about these three ladies being guests of honour, insinuating something. One of them is my personal assistant who, wherever I go on any given weekend, either my assistant or my advisor would attend with me.

“It’s not different for Tobago, so I would have requested for my assistant to go. The other two people that they are asking about, one is the permanent secretary’s assistant, which is a norm as well, and the PS and staff at the ministry would decide on communications and other people, which I don’t have any say on.”

Sources close to the matter told the T&T Guardian that Balthazar was yesterday transferred from the Sport Ministry to the office of the Prime Minister.

However, in responding to questions from the media, he said he had asked questions about the rumored transfer and found it had no merit.

Lawyers representing some of the accused people affected by former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar’s short-lived appointment as a High Court judge are questioning why their clients were not consulted before the decision was made to restart their cases.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian after the judiciary issued a release announcing its decision yesterday, defence attorneys Wayne Sturge and Criston J Williams said they expected the decision would not sit well with their clients, many of whom have been on remand for several years.

“Don’t be surprised if there is mayhem. You can’t expect a man to lose seven years of his life in custody and simply accept that the administration of justice made a mistake. We are all enjoying our liberty while they are suffering,” Sturge said.

Williams described the decision as the “least palatable” for his clients, who had already openly expressed their concerns during hearings of their cases after Ayers-Caesar was promoted from the magistracy. All the cases left unfinished by Ayers-Caesar come up for hearing next Thursday.

Both Sturge and Williams questioned whether the judiciary considered the fact the accused men will now have to pay for lawyers for the restarted hearings.

“Do defence attorneys have to start over these cases for free? What about the ability of the accused to pay for justice to be done when they already expended so much?” Williams asked.

Sturge also suggested his clients were considering filing a judicial review seeking compensation for all legal fees incurred due to the decision.

While the judiciary claimed the accused men’s cases will be fast-tracked using the new Criminal Procedure Rule, Sturge said this may be more difficult in practice.

“Sadly, in T&T paper committals don’t work the way they are meant to work and with the criminal bar being so small, delay is inevitable,” Sturge said.

High Profile matters left by Ayers-Caesar:

1. Jamaat-al-Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr’s case for allegedly refusing to appear before the Commission of Enquiry into the 1990 attempted coup. Ayers-Caesar was scheduled to give her ruling on Bakr’s innocence or guilt before she was appointed a High Court judge.

2. Former Public Service Association (PSA) general secretary Nixon Callender’s case for assaulting former PSA executive member Rosana Robinson at the organisation’s headquarters in Port-of-Spain in August 2011.

3. Caribbean Communications Network (CCN) case for allegedly breaching the Sexual Offences Act by broadcasting a video depicting the rape of a 13-year-old girl which was broadcast in 2011. The video was aired on Ian Alleyne’s Crime Watch programme on TV6 at the time. Alleyne has already pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined. The company maintained its not guilty plea and also faces six charges under the Telecommunications Act for alleged breaches of its licence and concession issued by the Telecommunications Authority (TATT).

4. The preliminary inquiry of six men accused of ruder, who allegedly caused a near riot at the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court after Ayers-Caesar’s promotion. Anton Cambridge, Anthony Charles, Kireem Gomez, Israel Lara, Levi Joseph and Chicki Portello have been in remand since December 2010, when they were charged with murdering 27-year-old Russell Antoine. Antoine, of Covigne Road, Diego Martin, was shot dead near his home on May 13, 2009.

The group is also facing charges for shooting with intent to cause grievous bodily harm as Antoine’s friends Marcus and Joseph Spring, who were wounded in the incident but survived.

Chef Justice Ivor Archie and the members of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission “must do the honourable thing and step down.”

That’s the view of Senior Counsel Martin Daly after the Judiciary issued a statement yesterday saying the 53 part-heard matters left by former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar now have to be restarted as ‘de novo’.

The decision to restart the matters de novo was taken at a meeting on Wednesday convened by CJ Archie and which comprised the Director of Public Prosecutions, vice president of the Law Association, members of the Criminal Bar, Acting Chief Magistrate, senior magistrates and the Registrar of the Supreme Court.

But Daly said the “restarting of the 53 part-heard matters is the inevitable but shameful result of a serious blunder of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission, for which they are yet to shoulder responsibility.” He said it was “shocking that the release does not contain an apology or any kind of pardon.”

The outspoken Daly said he stood firmly by his initial position that “the Chief Justice and the JLSC should do the honourable thing. That has not changed and the lack of an apology in the release has done nothing to soften my position.”

Daly added: “I certainly hope that public spirited lawyers will examine whether the accused persons who are not on bail have been deprived of the protection of the law under the Constitution and in effect have been put in double jeopardy unless they get bail now.”

Head of the Criminal Bar Association Pamela Elder SC meanwhile accused Archie of “bumbling and fumbling” his way through the judicial mess he created when he elevated Ayers-Caesar to the bench with the part-heard matters unresolved.

Today makes it just about one month since the judicial mess unravelled and even with the announcement that the matters will be heard de novo, and a commitment from the Judiciary that they will be “prioritised,” there is no clarity on just how the matters could proceed with urgency, she said.

Elder was not invited to Wednesday’s meeting, but said if she were there she would have a number of questions.

“Why all those legal minds just realised the matters had to be restarted de novo? Why wasn’t the courtesy extended to the attorneys involved in those part heard matters to attend the meeting and articulate their views? Would the transcripts of evidence of the former proceedings be made available free of charge to attorneys?”

Elder also noted the CJ offered “no apology” for the length of time it took to come to a decision which many attorneys had determined since the situation unfolded more than a month ago. She said if the CJ wanted the cooperation of attorneys involved in the affected cases, courtesy demanded that he spoke to them.

“If you are looking to restart, what concessions will be made to attorneys who already have matters scheduled? I stress if you want the cooperation of attorneys you should speak to the attorneys involved,” Elder said.

“What is their expectation? You have caused the chaos, you have not spoken to the attorneys involved and you expect them to waltz into court and say I am ready to start over a matter! That is a wholly unreasonable expectation with all due respect to the CJ.”

Elder would not say whether attorneys representing the accused may want to make applications for the matters to be stayed. But other legal sources told the T&T Guardian that attorneys can file constitutional motions seeking stays on their clients’ matters.

One attorney said lawyers representing the accused can argue that it is not fair to try their clients afresh because of their inability to locate critical defence witnesses or find money to pay for their defence.

Reinstate her - Khan

Senior Counsel Israel Khan said yesterday’s decision “demonstrates that the entire JLSC is not au courant with the criminal justice system as it relates to preliminary inquiries.” He said “through the faux pas of the JLSC and lack of due diligence, hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars have to be spent on the matters which they need to fast track.”

Khan was also upset because given the decision, “the JLSC should not have forced Ayers-Caesar to resign, they should have left her as a judge and let other magistrates take up the matters. But their first instinct was to sacrifice her when all of them wrong.”

He added that “everything must be done to reinstate her as a judge. It is not too late.” He also wanted to know “why did it take so long to decide that the matters needed to be restarted de novo.”

Yesterday’s statement said acting Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle will preside over the indictable matters, while all the summary matters will be assigned to a magistrate at the St George West Magistrates’ Court. Eight other court matters which have not been started will be managed by the Acting Deputy Chief Magistrate.

The report, well placed sources said, was submitted to Rowley yesterday morning prior to the meeting of Cabinet.

And even as the PM contemplates Smith’s future, there is now word that an e-mail witch-hunt in the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs to find the person or persons who leaked the information on the trip has turned up empty handed.

iBlog’s Sharmain Baboolal, who exposed the weekend trip to the Magdalena Grand in the first place, yesterday produced emails between acting permanent secretary in the ministry Natasha Brown and information communication manager Andre Hanief.

According to the email thread, on Tuesday Barrow asked Hanief to get IT unit to “look into the unauthorised circulation of an email message possibly originating from the ministry’s domain which was featured in an online blog post.” On Wednesday, Hanief sent an email to Barrow noting that because of the “integrity of this exercise, I’m requesting you assign an independent person (external or internal to the MYSA) to witness our investigation into this matter.” It was then he said the investigation would be done by himself and a network specialist who was on vacation. Barrow responded to Hanief by advising him that deputy permanent secretary Denise Arneaud would be the independent witness.

Hours later, Hanief reporting to Barrow that “upon investigation of the email accounts of all persons who were copied on the leaked emails (subject line THA Awards), no evidence was found of these persons forwarding the emails to anyone internally or externally.”

He said the email investigation started with the “retrieval of the original emails composed and sent from the computer used by Marina Elena Phillips, who is Smith’s personal secretary. The number of people copied in the email amounted to five.” He said there were “three individual email addresses and one group email comprising of four persons, the Permanent Secretary, Melissa Assam, Cindy Cupid and the minister’s secretary.”

With nothing found in those email accounts, Arneaud recommended that the accounts of two other people - Ian Ramdahin and Michael Seebarran - be examined. But that search was also unsuccessful and Hanief concluded that “no evidence was found of emails surrounding the THA Sports Awards being forwarded from any account listed.”

The email witch hunt on Wednesday was initiated hours before Rowley requested the report from Smith on the Tobago by the minister and officials from the ministry and the Sports Company of T&T to attend the THA Sports Awards last Saturday at the Magdalena Grand.

Although the matter did not come up in Cabinet yesterday, sources told the T&T Guardian Rowley was concerned that Smith had “cavalierly dismissed questions, saying it was at the Magdalena which is owned by the Government.”

According to reports, apart from the award ceremony a visit to the Dwight Yorke Stadium was the only other item on their itinerary. However, the stadium visit was done by two Sports Company officials.

The Council of the Siparia Regional Corporation descended into chaos and disorder yesterday, as chairman Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh not only presided over a no-confidence vote against him, but voted in the process and used his casting vote to break the deadlock after some four hours of contentious debate.

Prior to the start of the motion when objections were raised about him presiding over the motion and casting a vote, Ramadharsingh informed the council that the precedent had been set by Chairman of the Sangre Grande Corporation Terry Rondon who used his casting vote to break a tie when that Corporation was swearing in its council last year. And that is exactly what he did.

“Motion defeated,” Ramadharsingh shouted over the cacophony of the raised voice of UNC Councillor Doodnath Mayroo who bellowed at mover of the motion, PNM Alderman Christopher Encinas, “motion failed, motion failed, motion failed,” to loud desk thumping.

As the People’s National Movement (PNM) members opposed the turn the process took, a former Alderman Patsy Ransome who was seated in the front row of the public gallery jumped to her feet, raised her clenched right hand in the air and started chanting, “motion stays, motion stays,” as she led a walkout of PNM supporters out of the council chamber.

For several minutes the chamber became almost uncontrollable as opposing councillors taunted each other and even people sitting the public gallery got into the act with the United National Congress (UNC) supporters celebrating and the PNM, including La Brea MP Nicole Olivierre and former minister Joan Yuille-Williams expressing surprise at the behaviour.

Outside the situation was as heated, as the police kept watch over placard carrying, flag waving supporters, the PNM in their red tops opposite the Corporation building and the UNC in white T-shirts emblazoned with the word “Glenn” who provoked each other. 

The Headquarters of the T&T Football Association as well as the T&T Pro League, T&T Super League and the Women’s Football League (WoLF) will share a home at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Balmain Couva, thanks mainly to the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs and the Sport Company of T&T.

The football association which is being led by David John-Williams will begin its official operations there from June 1, almost two months after FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced that the sport was getting a home at the Couva facility. T&TFA Media officer Shaun Fuentes in a release yesterday said the relocation is the first part of the process that will lead to the establishment of a National Training Centre.

The football association has been based at the Hasely Crawford Stadium for the past four years, while the T&T Pro League TTFA rented an office at St Augustine. But Women’s football, up to presently functioned out of car trunks and people’s homes. Now all three organisations will conduct their operations side-by-side.

The T&TFA believes the new location will help streamline its operations, while facilitating engagement with key stakeholders; including other FIFA member associations, regional and local member associations, government, partners, players, officials and fans.

“We are thankful to the Ministry of Sport and Sportt Company for fulfilling their promise to support football by providing us with the facility. I think it is a tremendous accomplishment to have the key stakeholders in local football under one roof. It augers well for the development of the game here in Trinidad and Tobago and it is an indication of the administration’s drive and ambitions to take the game to greater heights and with the inclusion of the stakeholders,” John-Williams said.

Pro League Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dexter Skeene said the new move would be a boost to the overall development of football in T&T. “I would like to thank the T&TFA and its president for opening their arms to the league and for his vision in bringing the major stakeholders in local football together under one roof. I think this will go a long way in improving the local game,” Skeene said.

In a reaction to the provision to the Super League, its interim president Keith Look Loy stated, “The TT Super League is pleased to have finally received recognition from the TTFA. TTSL now has a permanent home from which to operate and to develop the League, and we thank the TTFA for having facilitated this.”

WoLF president Sharon O’Brien expressed similar feelings, saying “The fact that WoLF can now have an office from which we can conduct our business is a definite boost for the league and for local women’s football. This will help us tremendously in carrying out our day to day operations and will be a positive step towards growing and developing the league, particularly from an administrative standpoint.”

WALTER ALIBEY

A new champion will be crowned in the Olympic distance event at this year’s 13th edition of Rainbow Cup carded for June 10 at Turtle Beach, Heritage Park in Tobago.

Yesterday, event organiser Jason Gooding said last year’s winner Jackson Laundry, of Canada, will not be here as he is scheduled to compete at his country’s national Triathlon competition being used as a qualifier for the World Champions later this year.

His absence though has opened the doors for rising T&T talents Jason Castelloe, who claimed the national Duathlon title recently, and Christian Guillen, who was last year’s first T&T finisher at seventh position overall.

However, they will have their work cut out with last year’s runner-up Garrick Loewen of Canada and third place winner Clement Bricre bidding for the top spot and the US$1,500 winner’s cheque. The Olympic event which has attracted many participants from all over the world will this year feature Jason Wilson, an Olympic triathlete from Barbados who is ranked 63rd in the world, as well as Jamaica’s Jassette Bromfield and Ben Rudson, another Canadian who is considered a top competitor in his country.

The Olympic distance event will comprise a gruelling 1.5 kilometre swim, a 40 kilometre ride and ten kilometre run through-out the streets of Tobago. But Gooding, an ex national and regional champion said the Sprints, which is part of the overall event and comprises half the distance of the Olympic event, has attracted more competitors.

“Many participants come to contest the sprints as a team or individually because it is much more manageable. Some also do it for bragging rights and others do it to prepare for larger events like the Olympic distance event” Gooding said.

The Cup also features a Team event and a 5k Road Race which was won by Laundry last year, returning from his triumph in the Olympic event to add the 5k title to his cabinet despite the presence of a number of recognised runners.

Among the women, T&T have dominated the Olympic distance event with Jenna Ross capturing the title ahead of Canadian Nina Sieh in a quick time of two hours; 33 minutes and 03 seconds, while Alex Bovell, the sister of T&T’s Olympic swimmer George Bovell III, was third. There will also be action for youths within the age brackets 7-9; 10-12 and 13-15. Gooding said the Rainbow Cup has improved by leaps and bounds, moving from 45 participants at the start back in 2005, to hundreds presently.

“We have a cut off of 140 competitors for the Olympic distance event, having sadly to turn back a number of people who make contact to take part” Gooding said. Participants are allowed to register up to the day before the event.

Unicomer Limited the parent company of Courts has come to the assistance of national cricket yet again with the announcement yesterday that it invest $200,000 into the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (T&TBC) Interzone T20 cricket competition.

This was announced by Commercial Director of Unicomer Limited Roger Rambharose at the press conference at the National Cricket Centre (NCC) in Couva.

Rambharose said: “This year we are celebrating our 15th year as title sponsor. When we first supported this event our investment was a mere $20,000.

“To mark the historic occasion we have decided to increase the sponsorship to $200,000, with this year’s first place team taking away $25,000.

“We have made this investment decision as our commitment to support our company’s community development aspirations.”

Rambharose who has taken a personal interest in the investment making sure it brings dividends for the company and the cricket added: “One of the biggest success stories we have had coming out of the Courts Interzone T20 competition was that of Orange Field Sports Club.

“In 2013 they won the overall competition and has been excelling every year at every decision they have played in. Consequently, Courts adopted the team and one year later they have captured their first major title, beating Aranguez Sports in the Premiership Division Two 50 overs tournament.

“In addition to this investment we have made a significant contribution to other initiatives namely the Courts NMO T10 competition and the Courts Women’s T20 Grand Slam title.”

He further pointed out that: “In addition we have successfully launched in collaboration with the T&T Cricket Board, the Courts CriqHQ electronic scoring system.

“Courts is not finished yet, as they very soon they will be sponsoring a T20 league in Siparia as they do their part to develop community cricketers.”

The Courts Interzone series opens on June 2 and will end with the grand finals on June 16. The tournament will involve all first and second place finishers in all the Zones.

This year clubs will be able to bring in a Championship player and also a T&T U-19 player to bolster their line-up.

June 2

Group A

Sweet Revenge vs HYO

Marchin Patriots vs NMO

Woodland vs Metro

C&B Sports vs Killdeer Sports

Group B

Dinsley vs Club Crusoe

Progressive vs Chickland

Squadron vs All Stars

Nazarite vs Swansea

BRIDGETOWN

Team-bonding activities, personal development sessions and physical assessments will be on the schedule during a five-day camp when the 15-member squad assembles on Friday here.

Following the team’s departure next Wednesday, they will have a 17-day training camp in the southern English city of Southampton before moving to the city of Leicester for the formal start of the Women’s World Cup programme.

“We are eager to get the group together,” said Drakes in a WICB media release. “It’s an exciting line-up of players with a balance of established players, a couple of returnees and a group of four new faces.

“This camp will enable the team management unit to spend valuable time with the players and start to build the desire for success in the team, as they get ready to face the challenges of the World Cup.”

Drakes added: “It will be a good opportunity for us to re-create the strong team culture that was a hallmark of our side over the last two years as we worked very hard to qualify for the Women’s World Cup.

“We want to help the new players integrate, while rekindling the camaraderie and relationships with the familiar faces, so that there is a healthy team environment in which everyone can focus on performance and ultimately being successful at the World Cup.”

The preparation period in England will include practice matches against an England Women’s XI on June 6 at Loughborough and the Southern Vipers on June 9 at the Ageas Bowl before they play official World Cup warm-up matches against Pakistan on June 20 at Leicester and South Africa on June 22 at Oakham.

“We will have almost a month in the UK prior to our opening game in the World Cup to get the team into game mode,” said Drakes.

“We will spend that time trying to get acclimatised to the conditions and being purposeful in our build-up to the tournament, so that we can significantly improve on our past performances and prepare to take on the World.”

The Windies Women were runners-up at the previous Women’s World Cup in India, when Australia Women claimed their sixth title with a 114-run victory at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

Stafanie Taylor’s side earned automatic qualification to the Women’s World Cup following their fourth place finish in the ICC Women’s Championship – a tournament contested between the top eight sides in the World over the last two years. (CMC)

WINDIES WOMEN’S SQUAD

Stafanie Taylor (Captain), Merissa Aguilleira, Reniece Boyce, Shamilia Connell, Shanel Daley, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Quiana Joseph, Kyshona Knight, Hayley Matthews, Anisa Mohammed, Chedean Nation, Akeira Peters, Shakera Selman, Felicia Walters

Team Management Unit

Vasbert Drakes (Head Coach), Ann Browne-John (Team Operations Manager), Ezra Moseley (Assistant Coach), Stuart Williams (Assistant Coach), Oba Gulston (Physiotherapist), Hector Martinez-Charles (Fitness Coordinator), Donald La Guerre (Performance Specialist), Trent Sargeant (Video Data Analyst), Adriel “Woody” Richard (Media Relations Coordinator)

ICC WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

Schedule of Matches – West Indies Women

June

26: Australia vs West Indies – Taunton

29: West Indies vs India – Taunton

July

2: South Africa vs West Indies – Leicester

6: New Zealand vs West Indies – Taunton

9: West Indies vs Sri Lanka – Derby

11: West Indies vs Pakistan – Leicester

15: England vs West Indies – Bristol

Semifinals

18: Semifinal 1 – Bristol

20: Semifinal 2 – Derby

Final

23: Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2 – Lord’s, London

The Rugby Americas North (RAN), Caribbean Championship will begin for T&T’s senior men’s team tomorrow with a clash against Barbados at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella, from 4 pm.

The match is the host’s first in this year’s depleted South Zone of the Caribbean Championship as Martinique and Curacao pulled out of tournament leaving three teams in the competition, with Guyana being the other nation.

Barbados is coming to T&T having lost their opening match against Guyana 34-26 and will be eager to upset the hosts who will attempt to prove a point by making it back to the championship final after a loss to Guyana last year.

Head coach of the team is New Zealander Kyle Wynyard, who said that Saturday’s match is the beginning of a long term goal for him and his technical staff.

“Our goal is to ensure that Trinidad and Tobago is the number one team in the Caribbean, that’s what our goal is and we are doing all that we can to ensure that the standard of rugby we play is of the best level that we can with the players that we have at our disposal,” he said.

This is the first national team assignment for Wynyard who has coached at the club level abroad and locally with Northerns in 2000.

And he has praised his players for their response to his programme despite a late start to preparations.

“Has our preparation been ideal? No, because it has been so condense. But the guys have been enthusiastic, they’ve trained to the best of their ability and we are quietly confident that we will do well this weekend,” he said.

Following the T&T versus Barbados clash, Wynyard and his team will turn their focus to their next RAN fixture which is October’s trip to Guyana.

Saturday’s international fixture will be preceded by the debut of the T&T Women’s Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) seven-a-side team, which is an Under-18 unit preparing for the Commonwealth Youth Games to be held in the Bahamas from July 19 to 23. On Saturday they will take on a Caribs/Rainbow Select Women’s Team from 1.30 pm also at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium.

Head coach of the team is Ronald Silverthorn, who has had the team in training for almost three months and vouched for the team’s readiness for this weekend’s challenge, saying, “This will be our first run out and its just a test to see where they are. In training they are showing that is improvement. Many of the girls are new to the sport but their response is not bad.”

The T&T Rugby Football Union (TTRFU) is encouraging patrons to come out to the matches and is asking citizens to wear red in support of the national teams.

Most of the performances were really outstanding, but the standout act on the night was Leston Paul when he played Pan in A Minor on keyboards, a calypso classic he arranged for the late Lord Kitchener. Last Friday’s tribute opened with former Sound Revolution guitarist Ryan Romany hosting the evening’s first stanza, which featured Samuel Jack on keyboards, bassist Macdonald Inniss, guitarist Dean Williams and Carl Jacobs on congas.

Gradually the musicians began filing in and taking turns on stage, cheered on by colleagues and music stakeholders in the audience like Charles Assam, Swami Galt, Brent Thomas, Vernon Headley and Vonrick Maynard. And so the procession continued. Thrilling the capacity-filled showplace were Roger Salloum of Mad House Band, trumpeter Hyden Robin, Michael “Ming” Low Chu Tung, Arthur Marcial, David Boothman, Tony Woodroffe, Mikhail and Joshua Salcedo, and Lance Nichols. As midnight approached, past Road March champion SuperBlue and guitarist Michael Boothman showed up and they too entertained.

There were also singers aplenty at Kaiso Blues and some of them who offered their voices were Trini Jacobs, Juliet Robin, Adrian Philbert and Kerwin Trotman.

A similar musical tribute was held by Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation (Tuco) at Kaiso Blues last night for calypso icon Brigo who was buried on Monday.

Burrokeets returns in 2018

Decades ago, Burrokeets was the largest mas band to parade the streets of Port-of-Spain for Carnival. Following a hiatus, the band is returning to its old ways come Carnival 2018. Expected to be back to full strength, the Burrokeets Cultural Foundation (BCF) is teaming up with Burrokeets UK Carnival Band for next year’s return.

Those who are old enough to remember would recall that Burrokeets was a huge Carnival Monday mas community band in Trinidad for a long time, but, has been off the road for over 25 years. Just before that, two Trinidadian friends, Joan Sam and Barbara Greaves, got the blessings of the committee to form their own band in London.

In August 1990, Burrokeets UK hit the streets of Notting Hill and have been making their cultural contribution ever since.

Now, because of their success in the UK, Sam and band leader Brian Royer decided to revive the band here in Trinidad and approached Burrokeets Cultural Foundation for their support. An agreement was reached, and one of the UK’s top mas designers Shari Royer of Shari’s House of Designs, as well as two Trinidad mas designers, are on board for the new venture.

The Burrokeets Team is excited about this venture as the bandleaders feel that it is time to bring the band back home to Trinidad where it first started. This week Burrokeets member Shelley Hart told Pulse: “We will be hitting the streets of Port-of-Spain in a manner that may not have been anticipated.”

She added: “We intend to be at all judging points, kicking off with our presentation at the Queens Park Savannah on Carnival Monday and Tuesday.

“For that little extra oomph, we do have a couple events that would be taking place in the near future, starting with Kishing Kishing, to be held at the Blu Roc Bar, Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook, on Sunday, June 18.”

For this fund-raising lime, tickets are reasonably priced at US$8 ($50) and can be purchased from committee members.

• For more information, contact Shelley Hart (380-6144) or email events@burrokeetsuk.com

High Mass— A Spiritual Awakening Through Dance

Les Enfants Dance Company will make a glorious return to the stage with its production at Christ Church, Cascade, and on Sunday, at St Barnabas Anglican Church, Pleasantville, San Fernando.

Conceptualised as a full mass in motion, High Mass was conceived by the legendary dance pioneer and Les Enfants’ founder Joyce Kirton to celebrate the dance company’s 55th anniversary.

The production brings together the stalwart dance prodigies that form Kirton’s legacy, employing the renowned skills of companies such as Metamorphosis Dance Company, Alpha Theatrical Dance Company and Elements Dance Company. It will feature choreography by Kirton herself, in addition to those of prominent, integral figures in the Trinidad dance scene such as Abeo Jackson and Breige Wilson who have trained under Kirton and Les Enfants, and Terry David who has been performing with the company since its early years.

With an eclectic selection of original and familiar musical compositions from Trinidad, Jamaica, Argentina, Africa and American jazz, High Mass will present an exciting array of set pieces that will showcase the individual talent and interpretation of each choreographer, dancer and composer.

In pursuit of the perfection of technique and the Americanisation of the craft, dance in Trinidad seems to have lost its soul, according to Kirton. As such, her vision is to reaffirm the spiritual nature of dance and reconnect it to the African foundation through music and movement.     

Kirton seeks to provide a spiritually transformative experience through dance and hopes that patrons will not just think of High Mass as going to see a show in a church, but rather going to church; it is a Mass in all senses of the word.

In a recent interview Kirton said that High Mass is the show that she has always wanted to do. Now that it has finally come to fruition, she promises a “creative spiritual” experience unlike any other.

Both shows begin at 5 pm and tickets, priced at just $100, will be available at the respective venues.

For additional information, contact Roslyn Jackson (333-1297).

Pan is in the air

Exciting things are happening in the steelband world despite Pan Trinbago not producing any major events since Carnival. Last weekend’s Diatonic Steel in Motion parade and competition was a huge success, with Arima All Stars and the T&T Fire Services Steel Orchestra emerging champions in the four categories staged.

Single Pan steelbands were required to play a gospel selection, played in calypso tempo, as well as a tune of choice from the repertoire of Black Stalin, as the event was held as a tribute to the southern calypso stalwart. A flag-waving competition was also held.

Arima All Stars topped the field in the Religious category, placing ahead of San Juan All Stars and Trinidad East Side, respectively. The band also won the Best Repertoire on the Road category.

Fire Services was voted to have the best flag-waver and also copped the Black Stalin tune of choice contest, beating out UniStars and Arima All Stars, respectively.

The eagerly awaited comPANions Sports & Family Day is scheduled for next Tuesday’s holiday at Constantine Park, Macoya, from 9.30 am. With the days’ dance past titled Road Marches from 1965—1985, many of the nation’s steelbands will be competing against each other in a variety of non-pan sporting events.

However, before Tuesday, the comPANions Steelband Big 8 Knockout in All Fours, 5-a-side Football & Dominoes competitions will be held tomorrow evening, from 6 pm. at Massy Trinidad All Stars Pan Yard, Duke Street, Port-of-Spain. On Sunday, the comPANions Steelband Big 8 Knockout in six-a-side cricket finals will be held at Republic Bank Exodus Pan Complex, EMR, St Augustine, at 5 pm.

Pulse is also hearing whispers about Pan Trinbago planning this year’s first Pan in the Countryside. This column shall keep you posted.

A foreign-used car dealer was abducted on Wednesday and murdered in a wooden shack in the hills of San Juan.

The businessman was identified as Julian Moonsammy, 56, of LP#32 Church Street, Cunupia.

According to a police report, at about 12.30 pm Moonsammy was at a construction site in St Helena when a white vehicle approached him. Police said two men exited and grabbed him and bundled him into his (Moonsammy’s) black Nissan Navara van and drove off. Eyewitnesses told police that the white car drove off behind Moonsammy’s vehicle.

Police said a tracking device on Moonsammy’s van led officers of Car Search to an area known as Sou Sou Lands, off Laventille Road, Febeau Village, San Juan. The officers who were accompanied later by officers of the Northern Division Task Force found the van at about 7 pm abandoned near a track leading up into the forested hills.

The officers trekked up the track about 250 feet where they found Moonsammy’s body lying in a wooden shack. He was shot in the chest.

Investigating officers said that they have no motive for his killing yet.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Moonsammy’s son-in-law, only identified as Marlon, said that his father-in-law was building a house for his sister, who lives abroad and was not a contractor but just in charge of that project.

“He was helping his sister out by building this house for her, that is what he was doing in Madras (Road),” Marlon said.

He said his father-in-law also sold new and foreign-used automobile spare parts.

Marlon described Moonsammy as someone who did not have any enemies. He said Moonsammy was a pleasant and hardworking person.

“His life was work, him, work, home. In his spare time he spent with his grandchildren by taking them out and just being there for them. Things are just crazy right now and to find the words are very hard because we do not know why someone would want to kill him,” Marlon said.

The murder toll has now reached 210 for the year so far as compared to 194 same period last year. (RD)

Social media users applauded Macaulay residents yesterday, after videos surfaced of them apprehending and dealing a dose of vigilante justice to a man they believed to be a truck thief.

However, when officers of the St Margaret’s Police Station were notified, it came to light that the man was actually innocent.

The videos, showing a man seated on the side of the road with his hands and feet bound by tie-straps and being slapped and hit by a group of men surrounding him, were uploaded to Facebook and WhatsApp yesterday. The videos quickly went viral, with many users praising the group for their actions.

But investigations later revealed there was another ‘owner’ of the vehicle who had sent the captured man and another man to collect the truck, which he believed was stolen.

According to reports, the saga began over a year ago when the original owner of the vehicle, a dump truck, sold it to two different men. The first buyer is from Barrackpore and had no idea that his truck was sold to another man in Claxton Bay. The Barrackpore man even reported the truck stolen to police in 2016.

The Claxton Bay owner, who also paid for the truck, decided to put it up for sale recently and two men came forward yesterday, asking that one of them be allowed to test drive the vehicle. The pair arrived in a silver Lancer sedan and the passenger went to test drive the vehicle while the other man drove off.

When the Claxton Bay owner and the first man went to test drive the vehicle, the owner came out of the truck and the man drove off with it.

Angry residents, unaware that the Barrackpore owner had actually sent these men to retrieve his truck, captured the second man and beat him.

The beaten man was taken for medical attention yesterday.

Cpl Brian Singh is continuing investigations. —Sharlene Rampersad

Former chief executive officer of T&T National Petroleum Marketing Company Limited (NP) has won his lawsuit against his former employer for wrongful dismissal.

Delivering a 22-page judgement at the Hall of Justice yesterday, Appellate Judges Allan Mendonca, Prakash Moosai and Andre Des Vignes upheld Richard Callender’s appeal against the decision of a High Court Judge Carol Gobin, who dismissed his lawsuit in favour of the company in 2013.

Callender was appointed to the post in February 2006 and was dismissed in April 2011 over his role in allegedly granting a company operating two service stations in San Fernando an unauthorised credit facility despite it having a $1.6 million debt with NP.

The board had alleged that the facility was given despite the company’s strict cash on delivery policy.

Callender denied any wrongdoing as he claimed that the board had instructed him to facilitate the gas station owners as it (NP) did not want them to switch suppliers to its competito—the United Independent Petroleum Marketing Company Limited (Unipet). The station had previously complained of cash flow problems caused by an irregular supply from NP. In their judgment, the court found that Gobin had wrongfully disregarded Callender’s evidence in which he claimed that the board was fully aware of his decisions regarding the company Trebro Holdings.

Callender was claiming $1.7m in compensation which included compensation for breaching his contract as well as nine months of salary and benefits entitled to him upon dismissal. However, the court agreed with NP’s lawyers that Callender was only entitled to three months salary.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley will lead a team of four government ministers on an official visit to Chile, in South America on Sunday.

The two-day visit is on the invitation of Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet.

A statement from the Office of the Prime Minister said while the travel policy allows for the Prime Minister and Cabinet members to fly first class while on official duty in an effort to curb costs they will travel in business class on Copa Airlines.

“The cost for the delegation to fly with American Airlines would have been TT$1,067,256 while the cost to fly Copa Airlines is TT$375,368. This is just one of many instances where the Prime Minister has demonstrated his commitment to be judicious with the public purse,” the release stated.

This means that there would be a saving of close to $700,000 in travel costs. The statement comes on the heels of allegations of misuse of public funds by the Sport Ministry during last weekend’s event in Tobago where Sport Minister accompanied 11 employees to the Tobago House of Assembly Sport Awards at a cost of $92,000. The PM has asked Smith for a report on the trip which has since been delivered.

This country’s ambassador to Chile Dr Amery Browne, security officers, protocol and communications personnel will accompany the government ministers — Dennis Moses (Foreign Affairs), Franklin Khan (Energy), Paula Gopee-Scoon (Trade) and Stuart Young (Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister).

Speaking at yesterday’s post-Cabinet press conference, Young said Rowley is expected to return on May 31. He said the delegation will have bilateral talks in Chile on energy matters.

He said Chile was the largest importer of T&T’s LNG. He said the T&T delegation will also be looking at some of Chile’s renewable energy projects while there.

Young said Rowley is expected to sign agreements respective to the recognition of Intellectual Property and trade related matters.

He said Chile was one of this country’s South American partners “and we need to broaden the scope of the relationship between T&T and Chile.”