Chaguanas mother of one Sharlene Somai told relatives she was leaving home to buy a phonecard at a nearby parlour on Tuesday and has not been seen since.

Somai, 23, of Petersfield Road, Chaguanas, left home around 7.30 pm and her brother Christopher, 22, says her family is now frantic to find her. She was last seen wearing flower-patterned shorts, a brown strap top and brown slippers.

Christopher said his sister would never leave her four-year-old son.

“She is accustomed going to the parlour for phonecards because it is about one minute walk from our house. When we noticed a little later in the evening that she had not come back, we started calling her cellphone non-stop but she never picked up,” he said.

“She would not leave her son and it is not like her to stay out overnight, as she was supposed to go and open her food business for 4 o’clock this morning in the Bamboo.”

Around 3 am on Wednesday, another of Somai’s brothers discovered her cellphone on the porch of the family home. Her car was still parked in the garage.

Somai lives with her mother, brothers, her son and her common-law husband, Suraj.

The family made a report to the Chaguanas Police Station yesterday morning.

Anyone with information on Somai’s whereabouts is asked to call 800-TIPS or contact the police at 555, 999, 911 or any police station.

The body of missing Chaguanas mother of one, Sharlene Somai has been found. Somai, 23 went missing on Tuesday evening around 7.30pm when she left home to purchase a phone card at a nearby parlor.

Her brother, Christopher, confirmed that her nude body was found in a cane field during a brief interview with the T&T Guardian a short while ago. Christopher said Sharlene’s body was found about 20 minutes away from their family’s Petersfield, Chaguanas home.

He said a male relative is assisting police with their enquiries at this time. Christopher said Sharlene’s four-year-old son Tyler has not yet been told of his mother’s death and was said to be in preschool when body was found.

More on this story as it develops.

A Guapo man, who accused police of dragging their feet on a report that his pet cow was stolen, has taken matters into his own hands and filed a private criminal charge seeking to get justice.

Percyval James, 59, turned to the T&T Guardian for help a week ago claiming two men came onto his property and were bundling his black and white cow named Girly into a car on December 7, 2016.

 When police arrived on the scene, James said the officers told him they would let the men leave with the animal until their investigation was completed.

He made a plea then for police to take his plight seriously as he said Girly is more than an animal to him, and considered her as a member of his family.

James produced a receipt showing he had purchased Girly in 2013 from a farmer in Penal for $3,000.

He also produced several photos showing Girly among his other pet cows at his Parrylands Village, Guapo home. 

After his story was highlighted, attorney Analee Girwar reached out to James and advised him to file a private indictable matter in the Point Fortin Magistrates Court against the man whom he accused of being in possession of the animal. 

The case has been set for hearing on May 31, and James says he hopes Girly will be returned to him when the magistrate hears his story. 

ASP Harry of the Point Fortin Police Station yesterday confirmed that he was aware of the situation but said it was being handled by officers of the Guapo Police Station. 

He said the investigation is ongoing as the officers have not been able to gather evidence to close the case. 

When the T&T Guardian contacted the Guapo Police Station, an officer said no senior officers were available to speak. 

Under Section 14A of the Summary Offences Act which states: “Any person who steals any livestock is liable—(a) on first conviction, to a fine of not less than $2,000 and not more than $25,000 and to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year and not more than five years; and (b) on a subsequent conviction, to a fine of not less than $5,000 and not more than $30,000 and to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years and not more than seven years.”

Incensed by the unabated spree of murders sweeping the country, two men have decided to take a stand.

And they are calling for people to join them.

Keron Sawan and Damion Ramjattan, who grew up together in Princes Town are holding a demonstration today at the Palmyra and Tarouba intersection at 4.30 pm.

Ramjattan, a businessman and father of two young boys, said the recent murder of Waterloo High School student Jesse Beephan jarred him into awareness.

"As a father of two young boys, I felt as though somebody needs to take a stand and make people aware of the level that crime has reached too," he said. "People know about the murders but it seems like no one is fazed any more- everyone is just going about their daily lives."

The men will be stationed in an empty lot at the intersection where vendors sell doubles, roast corn and fruits on a daily basis up until about 7pm armed with various signs. 

"We would like people to come out and join us- let us raise awareness together."

Parents of students attending the Santa Rita RC School resumed protest action yesterday claiming that the troubled child who has been disrupting classess and threatening students had returned to school.

They are now considering legal action against the Ministry of Education.

The parents say before the child, even got to the school building, told other school children in a taxi that he was coming to school to “kill somebody.”

The group, led by the school’s interim Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA) president Savitri Persad, burned tyres and blocked the two entrances to the school around 5.30 am yesterday, preventing teachers and students from accessing the building.

The smouldering debris remained on the roadway until 10 am, when a backhoe from the Mayaro/Rio Claro Regional Corporation removed it.

Education Minster Anthony Garcia told Parliament last Friday the student has been diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), a behaviour disorder.

Garcia said the ministry had assigned Student Support Services’ officers to the matter and they are talking with school authorities and parents to ensure “... this child, who is crying out for help, gets the attention.”

In an interview yesterday, parent Candice Sydney said although this is the third occasion they have protested, the parents are yet to get a direct answer from the Ministry of Education.

“Yesterday this child showed up without an aide, without any supervision and we are saying that we want a special place for this child to be put in — the ministry has stated that they are contacting parents, up until now, we have heard nothing from them,” she said.

Sydney said the boy disrupted classes by playing steel pan and drums while other students were sitting exams.

“Over a 100 children are at risk because of this child, our next step is to remove our children or take legal action against the ministry and we are in the process of consulting a lawyer,” she said.

Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein is calling on chairmen of the regional corporations to ensure that their employees do a fair day’s work for their salaries.

Speaking at the launch of his ministry’s clean-up campaign in Princes Town yesterday, Hosein said it was common knowledge that corporation workers only work for a few hours each day.

“It’s no secret to any citizen, and you will know who will judge us at the end of the day? The taxpayers who pay their salary and my salary,” Hosein said.

“When you come to work at 7 am and you leave at 8.30 to 9 am, it does not reflect well on the corporation and I am asking each corporation to meet with their respective union representatives to sit and discuss how this normal work pattern can be changed.”

Hosein said meetings with the various unions are necessary as some workers are classified as “task” workers who complete one task and leave for the day.

But he said this has a bad effect on productivity and needs to be changed.

“Right now we are not getting the productivity that we need and now is a time when the country needs productivity, you need to get value for money.”

Princes Town MP Barry Padarath also delivered remarks at the launch and called on Hosein to ensure the Princes Town Regional Corporation gets a new headquarters.

Padarath also questioned why the funds collected from property tax would be sent to the Consolidated Fund instead of being placed into the hands of the regional corporations. He said this contradicts what was promised by the PNM during their local government campaign.

Responding to Padarath, the minister said, “I listened to him and I will take it to the ministry and make the proposals but right now, we are in the process of putting up two corporation buildings, we are doing all the groundwork for it right now.”

He said those two corporations are the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation and the Diego Martin Regional Corporation.

With respect to the money to be collected from property tax, Hosein said, “I will do the best I can and ensure the funds that are collected go back to the corporation because we are on local government reform and the autonomy must be given to every corporation to do their own spending, cleaning and so on.”

There are not many people who do not know about the natural wonder that is the La Brea Pitch Lake. For decades, it has been a major tourist attraction known for having the largest commercial deposits in the world. But did you know there is another pitch lake in Trinidad?

Nestled in the Marac forest in Moruga, there is another deposit of asphalt, much smaller than the one at La Brea. Hunters in the area know about the pitch lake but they usually avoid it as it has ‘swallowed’ up many an unsuspecting hunting dog.

In this third part of the Sunday Guardian’s series on local tourism sites that you and your family can visit over the Easter holiday weekend or any time for that matter, the team visited the Marac Pitch Lake and the Moruga Buff, a site where there is a cluster of bubbling mud volcanoes spanning over an acre of land.

To get to the Moruga Buff, you have to drive along the main road in Moruga from Poui Junction and turn off at Edward Trace. After about 20 minutes of driving, you will come to a Petrotrin field road that will lead into the forested area.

Please note that these two sites are recommended for adventure lovers and people who can walk long distances. It will be too difficult for young children. Also, be sure to take along bottled water and insect repellent and wear a sturdy pair of boots or sneakers.

With the assistance of councillor Joseph Lorant of the Princes Town Regional Corporation, our team was able to make contact with three well seasoned hunters who acted as our guides into the forest to find the volcanic site.

Leo Morgan, one of his sons Maurice and his nephew Randy are seasoned ‘bush men’ from Maitland Trace, Moruga.

With Leo leading the team, we set off from a hunters’ camp at the end of the fields road. The walk leads swiftly downhill and you will need to walk with your bravery to cross the first river using a fallen tree trunk.

After about half an hour (more if you stop to admire the scenery as we did), you will come to the clearing that is the volcanic site.

I counted 52 bubbling cones...but there’s more. The sheer size of the volcanic field is breathtaking and the heat after leaving the shelter of the forest floor is dazzling. The volcanic mud has left no room for trees to grow around the largest cluster of volcanoes but there are dozens more hidden within the deep forest.

The tallest cone is some 15 feet high and most of the smaller cones are flat.

In fact, if you’re not careful you can suffer the fate of poor Maurice who fell into a cone and, according to his father, shot back out like a ‘gouti.’

The Marac Pitch Lake

Although tired and almost halfway covered in mud, we took off to find the Marac Pitch Lake next.

Sadly, we had to leave the company of Leo, Maurice and Randy behind as we were promised another guide in Marac.

To find Marac, you need to follow the main road until you get to a four-way junction just before the Moruga Fishing Facility.

Turn right and drive for about 30 minutes before you find another hunters’ camp at the end of the Marac Road.

Although the road is not in the best shape, cars can be used to access the hunters’ camp.

From there, it’s a 20-minute walk to the pitch lake.

Our guide, John Fredrick, lead the way. At the start of the trail, there is a rapid descent downhill and it’s only when you get to the bottom, you’ll see how steep the hills are. You then take a walk uphill—there were four tree trunks piled in the middle of the track which you have to climb like a ladder and then jump about four feet to the ground.

If you’re barely five feet tall like me, it may seem like quite a task, but don’t lose hope, the walk is well worth the sight at the end.

When you can see teak trees ahead, you are almost at the site. The sticky pitch has made a home for itself and like the volcanic mud, it prevents any trees from growing in it.

If you don’t have rubber boots, be prepared to scrape pitch off your sneakers, especially if it’s hot and sunny. You also have to be careful to not get stuck in the pitch as you may have to leave your sneakers behind.

There are many bubbling little pockets of pitch that belched occasionally while we were there, throwing quite a scare.

Visiting both sites in one day is very tiring, but luckily on your way out of Marac you’ll find the La Lune beach, where you can stop and rinse off some of the sweat and cool down before the drive home.

If there’s a nature site in your community that you want us to visit, send an email to sharlene.rampersad@guardian.co.tt or give me a call at 225-4465 ext 6104.

The Movement for Social Justice is calling on the Government to restart the Point Fortin Hospital project immediately.

In a press conference outside of the stalled hospital project in Techier Village, Point Fortin, MSJ leader David Abdulah accused the PNM of abandoning their strongest supporters.

“We are here because of the issue of the abandonment of this project—the Point Fortin Hospital project,” Abdulah said.

“This hospital was started some time just before the 2015 election and after two or three months, construction work has come to a grinding halt. And we are saying here in the MSJ that the PNM Government and the PNM borough—the PNM controls both the central government and the borough of Point Fortin—have literally abandoned the people of Point Fortin, they have turned their backs on the people of Point Fortin by having this project halted.”

Saying that a hospital for Point Fortin has been on every budget since the late Dr Eric Williams was prime minister, Abdulah said the project was a priority.

Stating that there can be no excuse for the stoppage of work, Abdulah said, “It can’t be a question of money because money was found to complete the Tarouba Stadium better known as the Brian Lara Stadium.

“The Brian Lara Stadium will save no lives, it will not help a mother who is in the throes of labour, it will not help a worker who has suffered an accident on the job, it not help someone who has gotten into a vehicular accident or a child who is ill.”

He said as an area with major industrial activity, Point Fortin was sadly neglected.

Abdulah said “There is additional work taking place in the Labidco Industrial Estate with the construction of a major petro-chemical plant jointly between the Massy Group and a Japanese company, Mitsubishi—that is a major project going on—which again could lead to accidents and the persons there would then have to be transported all the way to San Fernando.”

He also called for the Point Fortin Fire Station to be rebuilt as a priority and said residents of Techier and Point Fortin must benefit from employment during the construction phases.

“The community of Techier and the borough of Point Fortin has one of the highest unemployment and poverty rates in the country and therefore this is an opportunity, as short term as the opportunity might be for construction and employment and the people must get jobs.”

MORE INFO

According to Udecott’s website, construction on the 100-bed, three-storey building of the Point Fortin Hospital project is listed as ongoing.

The project, estimated to cost $1.2 billion, is being funded through a government-to-government arrangement with Austria and the main contractor is an Austrian firm Vamed Engineering GmbH & CO KG.

The website does not list a date for completion.

​

Due to dwindling sponsorship, the organisers of the Southern Games fear this year might the last for the event.

So said Games chairman, Kenneth Allum during the launch of the games at the Guaracara Park in Pointe-a-Pierre on Sunday. This year’s event is the 53rd edition of the annual games. Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Darryl Smith attended the event.

“As you all may be aware Southern Games, usually a two-day event was reduced to one day in 2016,” Allum said. “This was due to insufficient sponsorship.”

“This year 2017 we are experiencing a further dwindling in sponsorship and if this trend continues, it is quite possible this year could be the last Southern Games.”

Allum said participants in the Games include two-time Olympian Nisjane Phillip competing against cyclists from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The game’s track and field races featured athletes from Guyana and Barbados. There were 70 scheduled events for the games.

Allum said two of the game’s former athletes, Lloyd John in the field of cycling and Horace Tuitt, in the field of athletics were honored for their contributions to their respective sports.

Two sports officials, Dawn Washington (athletic official) and Ramdhanie Maharaj (former cycling official) were also honoured.

In his message Petrotrin president, Fitzroy Harewood, said despite the tough economic times, the oil-giant is proud to continue supporting the games.

“Despite the economic challenges we currently face in the energy industry, Petrotrin is proud to have maintained its support for sport and youth development in T&T,” Harewood said. “We continue to believe that sport positively impacts the lives of both current and future generations, strengthens national identity and builds stronger communities.”

Over 200 residents of the community of Marac, Moruga have lived their entire lives without a pipe-borne water supply.

Up until now, they have relied on rain and communal tanks which are placed about 100 feet apart along the roadway and are filled sometimes once a week by WASA.

The residents are crying out for assistance and they want their Member of Parliament, Dr Lovell Francis, to make a call to WASA to run pipelines in the community.

The T&T Guardian visited the community and spoke to Ronald Huggins.

Huggins, 45, said during the dry season, residents have to wait anxiously for the WASA trucks to bring water to them, as there is little rainfall.

“I remember when Mr (Basdeo) Panday was in office, he had said ‘Water for all’ but we never benefited from that, we have been suffering for water in Marac our entire lives,” Huggins said.

“We depend heavily on rain water to bathe, cook and drink and when there is little or no rain, we suffer inside here. We never blocked any roads or made any big protests about our plight but it is time enough that we get some assistance in Marac.”

Leaning on the empty WASA tank in front of his house, Huggins said it had been over a week since the WASA truck filled up the tank. He pointed out one of his neighbours trekking up a hill with a bucket in each hand.

“Look, he going to check to see if the tanks higher up have water, everybody supply running low now and we never know when to expect the trucks.”

Another neighbour, John Frederick chimed in, “If you used to bathe with a bucket of water in Marac, now you have to bathe with quarter bucket.”

“Water is essential for life, we shouldn’t have to be begging for water all the time. Marac needs street lights, proper roads and more attention overall, but right now, I’ll settle for water.”

Calls and WhatsApp messages sent to Francis for comment went unanswered yesterday.

Following the arrest of a San Fernando attorney on suspicion of land fraud yesterday, head of the T&T Police Service’s (TTPS) Fraud Squad is warning citizens to be vigilant when buying land.

Snr Supt Totaram Dookie said land fraud was an emerging trend in T&T.

Earlier in the day, at around 6 am, Dookie, ASP Ken Ghisyawan, Sgt Francis, Cpls Tony, Bassarath and WPC Lazarus went to the attorney’s office and spent several hours questioning him before he was taken to the San Fernando Police Administration building. The investigation which led to his arrest has been ongoing for the past year.

The attorney was expected to be taken to the Port-of-Spain Fraud Squad office yesterday evening. Dookie said Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard will have to give the go-ahead to lay charges after reviewing the file.

“One of the emerging trends in fraud in T&T is that of fraud associated with real estate and the purchase of lands—the purchase of property,” he said outside the San Fernando Police Administration building,.

“Victims would have reported to the fraud office that they would have taken out huge mortgages, they would have taken their life time savings and invested it in real estate and subsequently they lost everything.

“At the fraud office, we are very concerned with this trend that is growing in T&T. This investigation resulted in the arrest of an attorney at law.”

Dookie said he hopes the arrest will send a message to people who conduct land transactions to do so in accordance with the law.

“I hope it will also send a message that regardless of your status in society, if you do not conform to the rule of law, we at the TTPS fraud office will be enforcing the rule of law,” he said.

He said one of the irregularities Fraud Squad investigators see in land deals gone bad was identity theft.

“For example, they would steal the owner’s name and they will prepare fraudulent identification, fraudulent utility bills in the name of the true owner and they will represent themselves as the true owner, so when the transaction is done, you are paying not the true owner of the land who holds the title but the fraudster.”

Dookie said for citizens to recover those lost funds, they must take civil action or initiate criminal investigations that often result in punitive sentences.

“My advice to citizens who intend to purchase land is that they engage the service of a reputable attorney with experience in real estate, that they ensure the necessary checks are made at the Registrar General’s office to ensure the title is a good title,” Dookie said.

“If the purchase is linked to Caroni lands, we strongly advise the purchaser to visit Brechin Castle in Central to verify the authenticity of title for Caroni Lands.

“We also advise persons to visit the Inland Revenue department and check the history of who was paying the land and building taxes, so you could get an idea of who the true owner is.”

Two La Romaine brothers were granted $1 million bail each when they appeared in the San Fernando Magistrates Court charged with trafficking 9.9 kilogrammes of cocaine.

The drugs have a street value of $12.3 million. Two other men, one of them a Colombian national also appeared in court charged with trafficking 1.1 kg of cocaine with a street value of $1.1 million.

The four were arrested in two separate incidents in La Romaine on April 11, by officers of the San Fernando CID and the Southern Division Task Force. The four were charged by PCs Moses and Rampersad.

The brothers, Kiwebe and Chiwale Farrell, appeared first before Magistrate Margaret Alert who read the charge to them that on April 11, at Bobb Street, La Romaine, they had in their possession cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. The brothers were represented by attorney Subhas Panday.

The drugs, nine packages weighing 9.9 kg, with an estimated street value of $12.3 million, were tendered into evidence.

Panday told the court Kiwebe, 34, is a pipe fitter and a taxi driver with no pending matters but one previous conviction for marijuana from 2008. He said Kiwebe has a one-year-old child and is not a flight risk.

Panday said Chiwale, 38, is also a taxi driver and has no pending matters. Both men live at Bobb Street, La Romaine.

Panday told the court that he felt the street value of the drugs was overestimated as an ounce of cocaine in court matter is usually priced at $40. He said at that rate, the drugs would be valued $380,000.

Aler said the arresting officers would have the knowledge as to the cost of the drugs. She then adjourned the matter until May 11.

The two other men who were also charged with trafficking were Colombian national Barnes Douglas Ramos Mosquera, 27 and businessman Shaquille Bridgeman.

Alert read the charge that on April 11 at Rahaman Drive, La Romaine, the men were found with 1.1kg of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking in their possession. The drugs have a street value of $1.1 million.

Attorney Shaun Teekasingh represented Bridgeman and said his client is a car rental owner.

Panday represented Mosquera but did not make any submissions on his behalf as Alert adjourned the matter until April 19 when an interpreter will be present.

Alert granted Bridgeman bail in the sum of $500,000 with surety and clerk of the peace approval. His matter was also adjourned until April 19.

A Mayaro father accused of five sexual assault charges against his teenaged daughter was found guilty by a High Court jury yesterday even though the victim refused to testify.

The 50-year-old man will be sentenced following a probation officer’s report on June 2.

The man, who will not be identified to protect his daughter, was charged in April, 2008. He was accused of grievously sexually assaulting the child, then 15-years-old, while she was sitting on the couch and watching television at their Mayaro home.

The man’s other three daughters were at home and asleep at the time. The children’s mother did not live with them at that time and the victim was the eldest child.

The second charge is that in August 2008, he grievously sexually assaulted the child again and that he attempted to commit incest by trying to penetrate her knowing her to be his blood relative. At that time, she was at the house alone and the incidents took place on her bed.

He was also charged that in September 2009 and again in October 2009, he indecently assaulted the child. Those two incidents also took place on her bed while her siblings were asleep.

The trial against him began in the San Fernando High Court before Justice David Harris on April 4, 2017. The State was represented by attorneys Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal and Sarah De Silva while attorney Ramesh Deena appeared for the accused.

During the trial, the victim, now 24 years old was deemed a hostile witness as she refused to answer any questions posed to her by the prosecution.

Her testimony from the preliminary enquiry and her statement to the police were read to the jury.

WPC Toussaint and the girl’s mother were the only two other witnesses called to testify in the matter.

The jury took a little over two hours before returning with guilty verdicts on all five charges.

When we were invited to visit Canari Bay as part of our local tourism series, the Sunday Guardian team did not imagine we would find a modern day recluse living along the coastline.

But that’s exactly what we found when we met Canari’s “landlord”, Sydney Roberts, who has lived alone on the bay for the past 25 years.

He stays in touch with society via a wireless postpaid phone, although to get service he needs to walk about five minutes away from his wooden two-storey house, further up the hillside.

The secluded bay is located along the coastline between Moruga and Guayaguayare and can be reached either by hiking through the forest or by boat. The hike is said to take around two hours, but by boat the journey is just 20 minutes. The boat sets off at the Moruga Fishing Facility, a stone’s throw away from the Moruga Police Station. To get to the facility, you have to drive until the end of the Moruga Road.

Our team was taken by captain Brian Julien and Casiel Hankey and councillor for the area Joseph Lorant accompanied us.

On the way to Canari, Julien pointed out the “Green Grass”, a mountain covered in shockingly bright green grass, which he said fishermen use as a marker while out fishing.

Shouting to be heard over the roar of the boat’s diesel engine, Julien said the grass marks an area where fish are plentiful.

When Hankey anchored the boat at Canari Point around noon, the tide was low, allowing Julien to guide the boat almost onto the shore.

The shoreline is about two miles long, but as we were still a bit shaken from the trip we decided to visit the landlord first.

A short walk up an incline brought us to Roberts’ house, where we were allowed to take in the view of the beach front from his front porch and given tall glasses of cool rain water to drink.

Originally from La Lune, Moruga, Roberts decided to make a life for himself on the bay as he said there was no room for his agriculture to flourish in La Lune. He cultivates over 10 acres of land with coconut, pommecythere, banana, plantain, watermelon and tomato crops.

Fishermen and hunters frequent the house and Roberts keeps an extra mattress lying around in case he gets an overnight visitor. He makes his own coconut oil and collects rain water to drink. Anything else he needs can be brought to him by fishermen. He says whenever he reaps any crop he would call a fisherman to take him and his produce to the Moruga Fishing facility. From there, he would usually hire a car to take him to various market places to sell his produce.

He is a quiet, well spoken person and quite generous with the coconuts from his towering trees.

When we had cooled off, we ventured back down to the beach front. If you walk along the coastline for a little over a mile, you will come to a marble statue of the Virgin Mary erected on some rocks by the Moruga “Prince”, Eric Lewis.

Other than the occasional piece of driftwood, the shore is clean. There are few signs of human activity and the only sounds are the waves cr ashing against the shoreline.

Our captain, Julien, said during the holiday weekends residents of Moruga often camp overnight on the coastline, cooking, bathing and relaxing the weekend away.

It is also an ideal place for fishing and the warm, bubbling waters beckon you to take a dip. If you want a beach lime with a difference, then Canari Bay is the place for you.

You can contact Julien at 332- 1253 for safe transport and Roberts will be more than happy to welcome you to the bay.

And if there is a natural site in your community that you would like to see featured here, send an email to sharlene.rampersad@ guardian.co.tt or give me a call at 225-4465 ext 6104.

Coast Guard officer David Elton Clement will have to return to court on May 18 to be sentenced, after he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol on Good Friday.

Clement, who yesterday appeared before Magistrate Natalie Diop in the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court, was also charged with resisting police officer Surjeet Ramcharan in the course of his duties, behaving in a disorderly manner and driving while playing loud music.

He was arrested around 2.55 am on Friday at Lady Hailes, Cross Crossing, San Fernando. He pleaded guilty yesterday to driving under the influence but not guilty to the three other charges.

Clement was represented by attorney Adele Acosta, who told the court her client is very disciplined and was commended in 2016 for his outstanding dedication to his job. She said he was deeply remorseful and embarrassed and he was not one who regularly partakes in consuming alcohol. She said on the night he was arrested, Clement was drinking light beers and was under the mistaken belief that he was not over the prescribed limit based on the type of beverage he consumed.

Acosta said when he was arrested he had gone to the Cross Crossing in San Fernando with his wife to buy gyros to eat, as he thought the food would have lessened the possible effects the light beers had on his system.

She said this was Clement’s first offence before the courts and there was a Chief Petty Office present in court who was willing to speak on his character.

The lawyer said he stood to be penalised by the Coast Guard if he is convicted of this offence and it would affect his promotions within the service. A part of his job, Acosta said, is driving frequently as he liaises with officers of the army and the police service.

Asking that Clement be spared jail time, Acosta said he is willing to consent to community service or a chance to further mitigate. She said he was also willing to attend Arrive Alive sessions so he could be better informed on drinking and its effects.

Police prosecutor Sgt Kassiram Lutchman said tracing was unavailable and asked that the prosecution be granted time to have Clement traced.

Diop granted the request and allowed Clement to remain on the bail he was granted at the police station. She advised him to register with the probation officer’s office in San Fernando yesterday and deferred sentencing for the DUI until a probation officer’s report could be made available.

When Clement returns to court on May 18, a date will set for trial for the other three charges arising out of the same matter.

A Marabella man who said he drank alcohol as a way of coping with the two-year-anniversary of his son’s death was fined $15,000 and had his driver’s permit taken away yesterday, after he was convicted for a third consecutive time for drinking and driving.

Wazir Ramjohn, 52, pleaded guilty to the charge of driving under the influence of alcohol and his attorney, Sharmilla Rampaul, told Magistrate Natalie Diop he needed help instead of a custodial sentence.

Ramjohn has two previous convictions for driving under the influence, one in 2010 and one in 2014.

He was arrested when police responded to a road traffic accident along Union Road Marabella around 6 pm on Sunday. When he was interviewed by officers on the scene, Ramjohn admitted he was drinking alcohol. When a breathalyser test was done on him, it showed he had exceeded the 35 microgramme legal limit by 42 microgrammes. He was arrested and charged by WPC Sylvester.

In her mitigation to the court yesterday, Rampaul said her client’s son died on April 13, 2015 and the date he was arrested was close to the two-year anniversary of the death. She said he had been drinking again because of the anniversary.

Asking for a non-custodial sentence, Rampaul said Ramjohn needs rehabilitation and not jail time. She said he needed counselling as his drinking and depression were inter-related. At the age of 52, she said Rampaul had still not been able to deal with his son’s death and would drink alcohol to block off the pain he was feeling.

Rampaul said her client was willing to participate in any programmes, such as Arrive Alive, as he had not done so in the past because his family did not know about such programmes.

Diop said Ramjohn’s court record showed he had two pending matters from 2010 and 2014 and the police had a duty to update their records. After she stood down the matter for prosecutor Sgt Kassiram Lutchman to check the records, she said in the past Ramjohn’s driver’s permit had been taken away by the court and then reinstated sometime later. She told him that no matter how he felt about his personal circumstances, if drinking brings him relief and he opts to drink he must not be on the road.

She said there was minor damage reported from the accident and Ramjohn should know the law as he has been through the system time and time again. She said with his two past convictions, the court needs to send a clear message that his conduct would not be tolerated. She then fined him $15,000 and ordered him to pay $3,000 forthwith, with two months to pay the balance. In default, he will serve two years hard labour.

Diop also ordered that his driver’s permit be taken away permanently and that he be disqualified from holding a permit for life.

When Debra Vargas Guevara said goodbye to her husband, Air Guard Sgt Christian Guevara on Friday night, she never expected to wake up the next morning to the news that he was dead.

Yesterday, at their Bennett Village, Los Bajos, home, she wept as she looked at photos taken at their wedding four years ago.

Guevara, an officer in the Fixed Wing Unit of the Air Guard, died early yesterday morning when the Nissan B13 in which he was a passenger crashed into a culvert and he was flung out of the vehicle.

The accident took place around 5 am near La Brea Road in Quarry Village, Siparia. Guevara was returning home after playing cards on Friday night at Mangoes, a bar in Santa Flora.

His widow described him as a dedicated officer and family man who was her best friend. The couple had nine children between them from other relationships but Debra said Guevara’s life goal to build a house big enough for all of the children.

She said Guevara called her on Friday to ask if she was coming to meet him at the bar.

“He called me at 8.58 pm and said ‘Dee, you coming to meet me?’ and I told him, ‘No babe, I’m tired, I’m just going to stay home and rest’,” she said.

“Around 3.05 am this morning, he texted me ‘Oh’ because normally if I get up and he on work, I would text him ‘Oh’ and he will respond ‘Oh’- that was the last thing I heard from him.”

But when she awoke sometime close to dawn and realised Guevara was not at home, she began to worry.

“I find he wasn’t coming home so I told my son, something happen to Christian. He hasn’t reached home yet,” Debra said.

“But people was like calling my phone and asking me, “Debbie where you?” and I said, ‘I’m home’ and they asking where Christian, so I say he ent reach home yet and they keep hanging up after that.”

Some time later, a police officer called and gave her the devastating news.

Debra and other family members rushed to the scene and saw Guevara’s body still on the ground.

“It was alleged that the car hit a culvert and a pipeline, it flipped and when I saw him, he was out of the car, I cannot say what else had happened that is what I saw,” she said.

Asked if she knew the driver, Debra said she had no idea who the person was, or who the car belonged to.

The vehicle was taken to the Siparia Police Station. At the station, a young man told the Sunday Guardian the vehicle belonged to his brother and his father was driving at the time of the accident. He said since the accident, no one had heard from or seen his father.

At the time, his brother was being interviewed by CID officers.

Police said they did not know the whereabouts of the driver.

The T&T Air Guard sent out a press release yesterday, extendingcondolences to Guevara’s family. Public relations officer Flight Lieutenant Monique Pantin-Sprott said Guevara joined the Air Guard on March 23, 2001, and had served for 16 years.

As the world celebrated Earth Day yesterday, members of the National Council of Orisha Elders in T&T marked the occasion with a march through San Fernando praying for an end to violence.

The procession began with prayers and offerings of olive oil, milk, water and honey to the earth by various priests in the Orisha faith at Kings Wharf, San Fernando, at 10 am yesterday.

The group of approximately 100 devotees sang as they left the wharf and headed to the City Promenade’s amphitheatre for another prayer session.

Secretary of the council, Neal Ryan Rawlins explained: “We are paying homage to Mother Earth or Onile Mama Latte, as she is called within our religion, in conjunction with the United Nations Mother Earth Day.

“We started this in 2004 under Baba Ford and it is something we kept on the lands on the ancestral lands in Lopinot for about five or six years.”

Rawlins said after being given spiritual instructions to bring the celebrations to the wider community, the devotees began going into the city for their celebration.

“We are doing so this year in the city of San Fernando to bring a sense of healing, prosperity to the land,” he said.

Rawlins said the offerings of prayers, song and various liquids is for the upliftment of the country from crime and violence.

“It is done to elevate the female principle through our Mother of the Earth, through our Onile because of the crime situation in the country and the violence against women and children generally and to elevate the feeling of despair that permeates the land today.”

A Marabella woman is nursing gunshot wounds at hospital after someone broke into her home and shot her three times in the wee hours of yesterday morning.

According to reports, Natasha Applewhite, 41 was asleep at her Ramsamooj Street, Marabella home around 2.35 am on Sunday when she was awakened to the sound of glass breaking.

When she went to investigate, Applewhite saw a smashed window. She told police that all she saw of the intruder was a hand with a glove wearing a long-sleeved jersey and armed with a gun, reaching into the house.

Applewhite heard several loud explosions and felt a burning sensation in both of her legs.

She raised an alarm and the gunman fled the scene.

PC Clarence and Task Force officers responded and found seven spent .40 calibre shells at the scene.

Applewhite was shot once in the right lower leg and twice in the left upper leg. She also suffered a fractured right shin.

She is warded at the San Fernando General Hospital. 

The community of Rancho Quemado in Erin recoiled in shock yesterday when a young father of three was shot dead and left in a ditch by his killer, hours after a community sports day ended.

According to police, Carlon Seerattan, 30, was walking close to Los Charos Junction in the company of his friend, Rondell Jervais, 28, around 12.30am when the two were approached by a lone gunman. The two were leaving the area after liming at the sports day.

The man fired several shots, hitting Seerattan in the chest and killing him.

Jervais was also hit and is warded in the San Fernando General Hospital.

The T&T Guardian visited Seerattan’s father’s house yesterday, where relatives cried out for justice for the young father. His children, aged 10, six and four were not at home at the time.

“I need justice, I need the police to do their work because a lot of crime is unsolved. Down here just getting worse,” Carl Coutou, Seerattan’s father, said.

“The police not doing their work at all. They only running after the small man with the little weed and cocaine but they not going after the big man with the guns.”

Describing the eldest of his five children as a loving and hard-working person, Coutou said his son did not deserve to die in that manner.

Seerattan’s aunt, Bernadette Sandra Coutou, echoed his sentiments, sending this message to his killer: “Allyuh stop killing the people. Allyuh didn’t bound to kill my nephew like a dog. Even though he really had...I don’t know if he had anything with anybody, I don’t know.”

“Sometimes you out and somebody talk to you and you too bad. Allyuh coulda talk and solve the problem. Allyuh didn’t bound to kill him.”

MP for La Brea, Nicole Olivierre, visited the family and also expressed surprise that Seerattan was killed as she said those types of crimes do not happen in the area.

“This is the first time in my knowledge this has happened in this community and it is a wake up call for us. In other communities this type of thing happens on a regular basis, so it is a wake up call for us that we need to check ourselves and go back to the old community values to ensure these types of behaviour do not become a regularity,” Oliverre said.

She called on the elders in the community to take more of a role in the lives of youngsters.

“If we look back at decades gone by and we see how communities came together and there was a lot of community engagement, so whenever the young ones had differences they could always work those things out. Back in those days there would have been leaders in the community acting as mediators and when you have all the elders in the community taking responsibility for the lives of all the children, you do not allow disturbances or disagreements to escalate to a point where it ends up in violence.”

She also made a call for those in the community who know about criminal activity to report those matters to the police.

“I urge anyone, if you know about anyone who has guns or weapons, you need to get that information to the police so we can stem this growing tide of violence that is creeping into our community.”