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Tourism Minister Randall Mitchell (centre) poses with the recipients of the Tourism Accommodation Upgrade Project grant at the Brix Hotel, Cascade on Wednesday.
Left of Mitchell are Pamela Gopee, managing director at Par May La’s Inn, Jasen Rodriguez, chief financial officer of Crews Inn Group and Jason Laing, director at Tradewinds Hotel.
To his right are Sherry Sookoo, representative from Royal Hotel and Hassel Thorn, general manager at Cara Hotels. – Photo by Narissa Fraser

TOURISM Trinidad Ltd (TTL) has chosen six more hotels which will benefit from the Trinidad and Tobago Accommodation Upgrade Project.

He was speaking at a ceremony for the signing of contracts at the Brix Hotel, Cascade on Wednesday.

The hotels are Care Hotels, Holiday Inn Express and Suites, Par May La’s Inn, Royal Hotel, Sundeck Suites and Tradewinds Hotel.

The project categorises properties into those offering one to five guest rooms and those offering six to 150.

Those in the former category can access reimbursements up to a maximum of 40 per cent while the latter category can access reimbursements of up to 50 per cent.

This allows owners and operators an opportunity to upgrade their facilities.

Tourism Minister Randall Mitchell said the government has paid a lot of attention to the tourism sector in its diversification efforts.

“Because we understand the value of tourism but, in part, the value of the accommodation segment of tourism to the economy of TT.”

He said different sectors benefit from this industry including agriculture and manufacturing.

It is because of this, he said, government understands the importance of incentives.

He said government is trying to bring the loan-guarantee programme – which is currently only available in Tobago – to Trinidad.

Owners and operators in the tourism sector will be guaranteed loans of up to $10 million.

He said TTL’s accommodation programme is very important and further ensures guests can have a “very high-quality stay.

“We need to get this economy going again,” he said.

“And we need you the accommodation providers to reinvest in the improvement of you hotel rooms because we are also concerned with the creation of jobs and stimulation of our economy.”

TTL interim CEO Carla Cupid said the company is “truly optimistic” about the tourism sector’s growth “from this year and onward.

“We are recalibrating our goals to rebuild the sector so it can be more resilient, more sustainable and more competitive.”

She said grants like these are important since they are “part of our support system to stakeholders to ensure that there is first class accommodation.

“…And this is accompanied by our training programmes, which ensure service excellence.”

She urged the recipients to “go beyond” the upgrades and work on having “as much preventative maintenance as you can to keep these spaces appealing to many incoming travellers.

“Also, remember that tourism is driven by word of mouth and our stories.

With social media and booking engines, people are able to judge your hotel and guest houses before they even buy a ticket. I encourage you to do what you can to get the word out that you are open for business and put your best face forward. Let us continue to build and satisfy those expectations.”

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Residents in communities and neighbourhoods affected by the fire at Ionics Freshwater Limited, who have issues breathing, are advised to avoid the area over the course of tonight.

whether it is plastics or whatever, once they burn they will give toxic fumes

Chief Fire Officer Errol Maynard made an appeal for these persons to keep away and stay away for the time being.

“If they are being impacted or being affected, they should seek alternative accommodation until we can get the smoke dissipate and under control.”

He told Loop News that his concern is the toxicity of the fumes originating from the blaze. He did not speak to hazardous materials being on site, instead, he clarified:

“I am not privy to any information that there were hazardous chemicals, but what we know is that based on the material in there and in its quantity, whether it is plastics or whatever, once they burn they will give toxic fumes and…so the toxic fumes is what we are concerned about.”

Therefore, he urged, “What we always, not only in this, what we always ask is for people not to inhale these fumes or the smoke because it is plastics and those types of things, they usually cause health issues for people.”

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Five Jamaican men who allegedly fled with another man who is wanted in connection to a deadly shooting in Brooklyn, United States last month, were arrested by police and slapped with drug charges in Florida, USA.

Anelka Green was wanted for allegedly firing several shots inside a restaurant in October, resulting in the death of an innocent bystander.

According to a report from the WJHG newsroom on Tuesday, Green was tracked down to Panama City Beach in Florida, where he was arrested at his condominium with five Jamaican men who were described as his “associates”.

The Jamaicans – Jaheim Cox, 19; Shamar Wedderburn, 22; Renato Campbell, 22; Shamarie Livingston, 22; and Kevar Taylor, 19 – were all charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of MDMA, and possession of paraphernalia.

Reports on social media suggest that the Jamaican men are from an inner-city community in the Corporate Area.

Green is also charged with th offences that have been laid against the Jamaicans, but he was slapped with additional offences, including being a “fugitive from justice for the charges of robbery and homicide”, the media report stated.

Further, he is charged with giving false names to law enforcement officials (LEO).

It is alleged that Green was involved in an argument at a restaurant in Brooklyn in October. Shortly after leaving, he returned and fired several shots into the building.

When the shooting subsided, an innocent bystander was found with a bullet wound, and that unidentified person later succumbed to the injuries that were sustained.

The US Marshal Service contacted the Bay County Sheriff’s deputies in Florida on November 9, for assistance in locating Green, who the former suspected had fled to the Panama City Beach area.

Late last week, law enforcement officials confirmed that Green was staying at a condominium in Panama City Beach, and obtained a search warrant.

After the search of the building was concluded, Green and five others were detained when “several hundred grams of marijuana, MDMA pills and more than US$23,000” were seized, the report said.

It added: “Deputies say (the) men were from Jamaica and came to Panama City Beach with Green after he committed the shooting.”

Interestingly, Green was out on bond in New York relative to a firearm charge from September of this year, when he allegedly fired shots inside the restaurant in Brooklyn.

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Bridgid Annisette-George –

AUDITOR GENERAL Lorelly Pujadas said her office, in conjunction with the Treasury, has helped some 3,872 retirees access their pension, addressing a virtual meeting of Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) on Wednesday. She said up to September, the Auditor General’s Department received the files 3,959 retired public servants, of which they processed 3,872 files and returned those to the Treasury for payment to the pensioners.

She said her department and the Treasury had collaborated in a “big push” to help a “significant number” of pensioners.

“Give a push as much as possible within the financial year ending September 30, 2022 to try and clear out, so the pensioners would be in receipt of what they were duly required to receive.

“So that was a significant push in terms of the deliverables to try and ensure that those officers whose date of retirement was quite some time in the past were in fact in receipt of their pension.”

She said computational issues had delayed some public servants in receiving their due.

“While we still try to maintain a ‘first in-first out’ (policy), there is an analysis which is done where we try to see the files of officers that may be long outstanding or have some outstanding details, or have officers who have not received any pension at all, because we also do get a variety of pensions called revisions…

“Some are amendments, salary increases, incremental adjustments, these sort of things, so they would still have been in receipt of a pension, but they need to be revised because they need to get an amended pension.”

Pujadas said efforts were made to prioritise handling pensions for officers who were near retirement.

Member Lisa Morris-Julian asked the time frame for public servants to receive their pensions.

Ministry of Finance Comptroller of Accounts Catherine Laban said ministries should submit the personal details of public servants a year before their retirement date.

She said, “Unfortunately they are not all abiding.”

PAAC chairman Bridgid Annisette-George asked if some ministries were chronic defaulters in compliance.

Laban said yes. She recalled seeing trends, but said the Services Commission Department may use a disciplinary procedure to get permanent secretaries to act on time, or give them a verbal reminder.

Annisette-George asked about shortfalls which curtailed people getting state pensions.

Laban said the re-alignment of ministries was a big impediment to recording a compilation of public servants employment history.

However, Annisette-George said those had been the initial concerns of ministry re-alignment.

“So in my respectful view, we are not going back there. Those are a given. Given what challenges you have, how do we use our creativity, our will, our love for people, to improve the system?”

Saying some retirees seem privileged in accessing their pensions, Annisette-George asked how all retirees could be made privileged.

The protective services spelt out their pension processing issues.

Supt Clint Arthur of the finance branch of the police service (TTPS) said pension claims move from the Auditor General Department to the Comptroller of Accounts to be processed for the police finance branch to pay retirees. He said he wished to look into questions over whether the police have the capacity to process the claims.

Fire sub officer Seon Raphael queried a report by the auditor general department which lamented receiving 2,000 claims which had not first passed through the relevant internal audit department, with the Fire Service being named prominently in this.

He said, “I’ve been in the pensions department since 2005. Every pension and leave that is done by the Fire Service is audited by the Ministry of National Security audit department and then sent to the Auditor General’s Department.”

Prison officer II Glen De Verteuil lamented delays by the Service Commission Department in the process of pension approval.

Commander Anil Gosine of the Defence Force (TTDF) said the TTDF had produced a simple retirement guide so as to “arm our members with information.”

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Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds.

KESTON “Chucky” Allen has a little under a decade again to serve on his multiple prison sentences for the murder of a teenager, her rape, the sexual assault of her cousin, both of whom he shot, and the kidnapping and robbery of a Curepe taxi driver which took place in 2008.

He was sentenced by Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds on Wednesday.

Allen, who was initially on over a dozen indictments for murdering and raping a 19-year-old girl, sexually assaulting her cousin, kidnapping and robbing them and robbing and false imprisonment of a Curepe taxi driver, pleaded guilty to ten counts of felony murder, false imprisonment, robbery with aggravation, grievous sexual assault, larceny of a car and rape in July.

The judge broke down each sentence she imposed for each charge. They will run concurrently and some of them have already been considered served as he has spent a little over 13 years in prison while for others that time exceeded the sentences he received.

He was also ordered to go to the Barataria police station seven days after he leaves prison in nine years, four months and 13 days to register as a sex offender. Allen will have to report to the station for ten years, six times a year or once every two months. His information will also be published on the public sex offender website by the Commissioner of Police.

Allen, who got married five years ago while in prison, was told by the judge when he leaves prison, it will be with a number of convictions against him.

“Once you are released and discharged, steer clear of the criminal justice system,” she warned, as she also told him there will be consequences if he fails to report to the police as required.

“Leaving with convictions of this nature, if you are to find yourself in trouble, it will read very poorly.” She warned him not to subject anyone else to the grief he subjected to the two cousins and the taxi driver more than a decade ago.

“Don’t take away from anybody else.”

Before going through the mathematical calculations of each of his sentences, the judge outlined the factors she found to be aggravating.

She said what began as a robbery of the taxi driver developed into the robbery and kidnapping of the two women, their unlawful detention, their sexual degradation and assault and the forcing of the male victim to perform criminal sexual acts on them.

One of the cousins, 22, was shot six times in the ordeal and managed to survive while her cousin was also shot six times, but died at hospital five hours after they were found by police.

“The pain and suffering involved. They were left for dead.”

She also found aggravating that the women were both on their menstrual cycles when one was raped and the other sexually assaulted.

“The deceased was told she was a waste of time after she was raped. She pleaded for her life… dragged from the road by her hair.

There were not many mitigating factors, Ramsumair-Hinds admitted as Allen, she said, had a “director role” in the escalation of the crime.

“It was he who exited the vehicle and robbed the women. It was he who pulled her by her hair and asked them if they had children. It was he who said ‘I could do with something tonight’ and started the sexual assault. It was he who directed the male victim to perform the sexual acts on the female victims.”

She also admitted she was troubled by his suggestion he was genuinely remorseful.

“That troubled me. He is still saying, at this age, he was influenced by peers and friends yet it was he who directed the offences.” Allen was 20 at the time of the offences.

“That he embraced his wrongdoing, I took with a pinch of salt.”

However, she said his willingness to enter the plea bargain process and agree to heavy sentence recommendations was to his credit.

Allen entered plea discussions with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and on June 22, it was agreed he would plead guilty to 11 counts and will be discharged of the others.

Allen committed the offences on October 19, 2008.

He and two accomplices, a man and a woman, pretended to be passengers as they boarded the taxi driver’s car after a party in St Augustine.

After approximately 15 minutes, Allen forced the driver to stop next to two women who were walking on the road. The women were then robbed of their cellphones and were forced to enter the taxi.

The driver was then forced to drive to an abandoned house in Mt Lambert.

At the house, the teenager was raped, and her 22-year-old cousin, who had her period, was sexually assaulted.

One of the women was forced to perform oral sex on the taxi driver. As they were leaving the house, the taxi driver managed to run away.

Allen and his accomplices attempted to find him but were unsuccessful and left in his car.

However, they were forced to abandon the car in Champ Fleurs as he were unable to properly drive the vehicle as it had a manual transmission.

The cousins were shot and when police eventually found the car, the teenager had already succumbed to her injuries. Her older cousin was taken to hospital and survived.

Allen was arrested and charged after he was identified by her and the taxi driver.

The State was represented by assistant DPP Danielle Thompson. His attorney was public defender Michelle Gonzalez.

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