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FOUR elderly women and one young man are this country’s latest covid19 fatalities.

These recent deaths have taken the total to 4,189 since TT recorded its first death in 2020.

The Ministry of Health’s daily update on Saturday said four had pre-existing conditions ranging from cerebrovascular, lung and kidney disease and neurological disorder.

The ministry also announced 101 more people tested positive for the virus.

The country has had 182,144 covid19 cases in over two years. Of this, 173,467 patients recovered.

As of Saturday afternoon, 184 patients are being treated for covid19 in hospital.

Active cases now stands at 4,448 with 13 people in step-down facilities waiting to be discharged, six in ICU, ten in the high dependency unit in the parallel health care system.

The ministry said 4,304 others are in home isolation.

Over a year into the national vaccination programme, 716,837 people have completed the vaccination regime and 168,567 people had got a booster shot.

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In this February 2021 file photo, PDP leader Watson Duke enters the THA Assembly Legislature Building with meals from supporters when the assembly was in a 6-6 deadlock with the PNM after the January election. The PDP later won a second election on increased elecotral districts 14-1 in December. – FILE PHOTO/JEFF K MAYERS

DAYS after Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) political leader Watson Duke’s sudden resignation as deputy chief secretary, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) meets in a special sitting on Monday, at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex.

The THA was originally scheduled to meet in a plenary sitting on Thursday at the Assembly Legislature. It is unclear as to whether this sitting will take place.

A notice from the Clerk of the Assembly on Friday said Monday’s sitting is expected to begin at 10.30 am but no motion or item for debate was listed on the order paper.

But speculation is rife that the sitting will address issues relating to Duke’s resignation as deputy chief secretary on Thursday and its implications for the operations of the THA.

Duke, who is currently in St Lucia, is the assemblyman for Roxborough/Argyle.

His resignation came more than one week after he accused the Farley Augustine-led THA of turning its backs on some 27 members of the Roxborough Folk Performers who had gone to perform at several cultural events in Tobago, in August.

The PDP leader, in a video posted on his Facebook page, chastised the THA for not providing the group with funding, outside of airfare, to cover their additional expenses.

As a result, he claimed they were stranded, stressed and hungry.

Augustine said contrary to Duke’s claims, the THA provided part-sponsorship to the group to the tune of $400,417.50.

Saying the THA could not provide additional funding owing its constraints, Augustine claimed Duke was aware of the situation.

Augustine subsequently said he was reviewing Duke’s performance as deputy chief secretary as he had not been fulfilling his responsibilities.

Duke responded by firing Augustine, Dr Faith BYisrael (Secretary of Health, Wellness and Social Protection) and Alicia Roberts-Patterson as deputy political leaders.

Augustine later dared Duke to bring a motion of no confidence against him in the THA. This move culminated in Duke’s resignation on Thursday.

Commenting on the development, Tobago Business Chamber chairman and attorney Martin George questioned the legality of the executive council following Duke’s resignation from the THA post.

In a WhatsApp video on Saturday, George said the issue has national implications.

Chief Secretary Farley Augustine during his budget presentation at the Assembly Legislature, Scarborough in June 2022. FILE PHOTO/THA –

“If there is no deputy chief secretary then, according to the THA Act, there can be no executive council because when one looks at the legislation and you look at what constitutes the executive council, it must include, the deputy chief secretary,” he said.

George said section 33 of the THA Act lists the deputy chief secretary as being one of the positions comprising the executive council.

“If there is no deputy chief secretary at present there is no executive council capable of running and managing the affairs of the THA legally.

“So it is a conundrum which must be addressed and which must be analysed and assessed in terms of the actions taken by the assembly in the interregnum since Mr Duke tendered his resignation.”

George also questioned the effectiveness of Duke’s resignation.

“Because when one looks at the purported resignation letter which Mr Duke tendered and proffered, it seems to be that that letter is addressed to Mr Farley Augustine in his capacity as Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly.”

He added, “If one considers the fact that Mr Augustine is not the one who appointed Mr Duke as deputy chief secretary, and Mr Augustine is not the one who administered to Mr Duke the oath of office as deputy chief secretary, then it begs the question as to whether a letter to Mr Augustine, purporting to resign your post as deputy chief secretary, is effective at all.

“That may be as effective as Mr Duke writing the letter to a family member or a neighbour and saying, ‘I tender my resignation as deputy chief secretary’ because if that’s not the person who appointed you, or who administered your oath of office, then sending a letter to them to say you resign may have no legal effect or efficacy whatsoever.”

According to the act, George said, the President is the one who administers the oath of office to the deputy chief secretary.

“In the past, we have seen persons who wish to demit that office, have sent their letters of resignation to the President.

“Thus far in the public space there has been no evidence I have seen from Mr Duke that he tendered any such a letter of resignation to the President.”

As such, George urged the THA executives to “tread cautiously and not end up with this purported resignation being a poisoned pawn in this chess game that is being played out in the THA.”

He further advised them to look carefully at the THA Act and standing orders.

“I, as an attorney-at-law, have perused the standing orders. I have checked other legislation. I have not seen any set procedure for handling the resignation of someone from the post of deputy chief secretary.”

He said there are procedures set out in section 19 of the act, which speak to resignations of people from the assembly.

“In other words, if you wish to give up your assembly seat and, therefore, trigger the process for a by-election there is a process set out there for you to tender that resignation.”

George added if the presiding officer wanted to tender a resignation, then there is a process also set out there in section 19 to tender it to the President.

“If the presiding officer, which has been administered the oath of office by the President is required by law to tender a resignation to the President in order to make it valid and effective, then the question arises, why would it also not apply, even though the legislation does not specifically set it out, why would it not apply also to the post of deputy chief secretary given the fact that Duke was administered that oath of office to deputy chief secretary by the President?

“It was not administered by the Chief Secretary and the Chief Secretary did not elect or appoint him to the post of deputy chief secretary.”

George said that election would have taken place among the assembly, comprising 15 assemblymen, four councillors and the presiding officer.

“So if those are the ones who have elected him then simply sending a letter to the Chief Secretary to say you resign may not necessarily satisfy the legal requirements of demitting the office of deputy chief secretary.”

George wondered if there is actually, at this time, a vacancy in the office of deputy chief secretary, saying it could potentially have legal ramifications.

“Because if Mr Augustine, as Chief Secretary and the other members of the assembly proceed to appoint someone when the post has not actually been effectively demitted they will end up in all sorts of legal entanglement by such appointment.

“These are not issues to take lightly because it also affects the issue of whether there is actually an executive council in place because if there was no valid and effective resignation the executive council remains in tact.

”If, however, there is no deputy chief secretary then Section 33 of the THA Act is pellucid in setting out the fact that a deputy chief secretary needs to be part of your executive council.

At his news conference on Thursday, Duke said he intends to sit on the opposite side of the assembly but not with the PNM.

“It will be Watson Duke of the PDP representing the people and Farley and friends on the other side. When Watson moves away, he carries the PDP with him. Wherever I am there is the PDP. It is owned by me.”

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UNC Pointe-a-Pierre MP David Lee who has been slapped with two fraud-related charges relating to the purchase of a Mercedes Benz. –

POINTE-a Pierre MP David Lee is anxiously awaiting his day in court to prove his innocence as he is still the owner of the vehicle at the centre of the investigation which led to the two fraud charges laid against him.

The Financial Investigation Branch (FIB) has slapped Lee with charges arising out of an investigation into the purchase of a Mercedes Benz valued at $2.3 million which attracted a $1.4 million tax exemption.

It is being alleged that Lee was not using the vehicle and a party financier may have benefited from this transaction.

“I have full faith in our independent institutions, and I await my day in court to prove my innocence,” Lee said in a statement on Saturday.

He claimed the charges were nothing short of a “political witch hunt and distraction by this Government.”

He said he will prove that the charges are not only futile as well as false, “but are a direct attempt by an administration that has lost its way to change the national conversation away from the hardship which they have caused on our population.”

Vowing to be circumspect as the matter is now before the courts, he used the opportunity to inform the public, “That at no time did I contravene, conspire, or seek to defraud the State or its institutions through the access of exemptions for the purchase of a vehicle which all MPs are allowed.

Lee felt it important to let the public know that the transactions undertaken with respect to the vehicle was within the confines of the law, as the evidence would show.

“To this very day, the vehicle is owned by me, the vehicle remains in my name, the vehicle’s insurance is in my name, the loan agreement is in my name.”

He said all documentation supports the fact that, “I am the owner of the vehicle in question.”

“I have always been transparent with the ownership of this vehicle, to the point that I have recorded it each year since its acquisition, on my annual declaration to the Integrity Commission.

“Put simply, I have been charged for a vehicle that I am the legal owner of, but this is an issue I am confident, given the proof, will be vindicated in our nation’s courts.”

Lee said he remains committed to do his job as MP, and will not be distracted, deterred, or even intimidated from taking a stand against a government that continues to place the population under significant socio-economic burdens.

Lee’s status as chief whip in the Parliament remains the same for now, UNC chairman Davendranath Tancoo said on Saturday

Tancoo said the party which has thrown its full support behind its MP is yet to discuss whether Lee will continue to represent the position.

Tancoo clarified, however, that remit lies with the Opposition Leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, and not the chairman.

“What I can say is, I am not aware that any such discussions have been held. A man is innocent until proven guilty for the charges laid against him.

“I have full confidence my colleague will be absolved when this matter is finished. Unfortunately, taxpayers will have to bear the brunt of the burden for the State’s action in this regard.”

He said this was nothing more than a distraction to all the ills taking place in the country under the People’s National Movement (PNM) administration.

In August, after Lee was called in by the FIB, Persad-Bissessar speaking on the UNC’s virtual platform, defended him against the tax-exemption claims after he was called in by investigators.

At that time, she challenged the police to charge Lee, one of her deputy political leaders, if they had evidence. She boasted that the UNC has many good lawyers to successfully defend him as he had done nothing illegal.

She submitted that this was an old matter with no substance and it was an attempt to “nasty people’s names” and change the narrative from the “PNM pandemic of hopelessness” the country was facing.

Claiming political victimisation she said similar concerns about the transfer of a vehicle by former AG and now Local Government Minister Faris Al-Rawi to Roger Kawalsingh and the absence of relevant documents at the licencing office, or the alleged purchase of a Maybach by another minister for a contractor, have not drawn similar conclusions by the police.

Acting Commissioner of Police McDonald Jacob did not respond to Sunday Newsday’s text messages or calls, but on Friday he told members of the media that the TTPS was an independent organisation which conducts its investigation as evidence unfolds.

He said the TTPS also works hand-in-hand with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), which in this present matter gave them the go ahead to pursue the charges. Lee is due to appear before a magistrate on October 12.

The UNC National Women’s Arm has also thrown its support behind Lee and his family.

In a statement of solidarity, the Women’s Arm charged interference by the PNM-led Government in the police service, judiciary with selective prosecutions and discrimination.

It expressed confidence that Lee will be vindicated by the courts and demanded that the matter be tried expeditiously.

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The Barbados Meteorological Services has issued a flash flood warning for the island.

This alert message is valid from 11:50 pm, Saturday, September 17, 2022, and will be updated or terminated at 6 am Sunday, September 18, 2022, or sooner if conditions warrant.

A flash-flood warning is issued when rapid flooding due to heavy or excessive rainfall in a short period of time (generally less than 6 hours) is occurring or is imminent in the warning area.

Forecast

Unstable conditions trailing Tropical Storm Fiona are affecting the island.

Mostly cloudy occasional continuous heavy to violent showers and a chance of isolated thunderstorms.

Rainfall accumulations up to 50.0 mm have already been reported across some sections of the island during the last 12 hours and further accumulations reaching up to 75.0 mm are anticipated throughout the remainder of the night in heavy to violent showers.

Advice

Residents and visitors should note that the following impacts are imminent during this forecast period :

Significant runoff from higher elevations

Significant soil erosion is likely on exposed or scarred land surfaces

Large water settlements on roads and fields

Significant adjustments to water levels of existing water bodies (ponds etc.)

Significant delays on traffic routes with some roads possibly impassable

Large objects or debris from higher elevations may also become embedded within fast moving water flows

Significant flooding at the foot of hillsides and coastal roads is possible

For more information specific to your area, please visit:

https://www.barbadosweather.org/weatherBarResp.php

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