Black Immigrant Daily News

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has given his commitment to examining the management of road works in St Thomas under the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP).

Holness is contending that the work could progress with more speed, leading to a lessening of the inconvenience caused by the works on the motoring public traversing sections of the parish.

“I’m of the view that the South Coast Road Improvement Project could move faster than it is now, and therefore, I’m going to be looking on the logistics and the management arrangements to ensure that it moves more quickly than it is presently doing,” said Holness while addressing the handing over of the Yallahs Fire Station in the parish last week.

In September, taxi and bus operators, as well as residents, mounted roadblocks to protest the poor state of some roads in the parish that are affecting students and other commuters traveling to and from areas like Bath, Lyssons, Port Morant, Dalvey, Leith Hall, among other communities in the parish.

The transport operators and residents of the parish have, and still blame, delays on the ongoing works under the SCHIP. They said with the project, many roads were dug up and have yet to be paved.

The state of the roadways in the parish led People’s National Party (PNP) Councillor for the White Horses Division in the St Thomas Municipal Corporation, Hubert Williams, to blast his fellow councillors from both sides of the political aisle for remaining silent about what he described as the dreaded road conditions in the parish.

“We can’t sit down as the local authority and watch this (the bad state of the roads) keep on going on.

“… And if we just sit and be spectators, the people dem nuh need fi vote back fi none a we fi return here!” thundered an impassioned Williams at the monthly general municipal meeting earlier this month.

A section of the highway through St Thomas that is presently under construction.

While the protests have largely stopped for now, the poor state of the parish’s roads remains, hampering commerce in the parish and leaving residents fuming about the slow pace of travelling throughout the parish or travelling to Kingston, according to an irate Williams at the time.

Holness said he has taken note of the cries of the residents relative to the state of the roadways throughout the parish.

“First, I want to say to you (the residents) that I follow all the protests and demonstrations, all the quarrels, and all the complaints that are placed on social media and in traditional media,” he said on Thursday.

“… And I have been driving around in St Thomas now for more than three hours (on Thursday) to understand, and, in fact, I do understand why people would be upset, and fatigue would set in,” the prime minister continued.

“I know that the people in St Thomas are very understanding of the challenges that the Government would face in trying to undertake some of the massive infrastructure work that we are doing,” he added.

While promising to speed up the roadworks under the SCHIP, Holness said once completed, St Thomas will stand to benefit economically.

“One thing you can be certain of is that when it is complete, nobody can say that St Thomas is the forgotten parish,” he assured.

In elaborating, he said: “You will probably have the best network of main roads going through your parish.

“You will have the most modern and advanced town centre, in addition to other investments that are to come not just from the Government, but the private sector.”

According to Holness, there are “significant interests” in St Thomas for the growth of tourism, business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, and quarrying and mining industries.

“People are now taking a serious look on how they can deploy capital in St Thomas.

“So your parish is set for a boom to come, and in the next five years, you’re going to see that unfold,” declared Holness.

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Charmaine Archer, left, owner, Canaan Nursery School receives an award from the new Scotiabank Lowlands branch manager Marlon White, for being one of the bank’s long-standing business banking customers in Tobago, at a function last Thursday in Lowlands. –

Scotiabank has honoured some of its Tobago customers for their loyalty and use of digital services, at a function last Thursday to formally introduce new Lowlands branch manager Marlon White.

Scotiabank honoured customer Livingstone Drakes “for his loyalty and trust.”

Charmaine Archer, owner of Canaan Nursery School, was also recognised “as one of our longest standing business banking customers.” Customer Janetta Taylor Mohan was honoured for making the most digital bill payments between August to September 2022.

Scotiabank said Mohan gave rave reviews about the digital banking platform “as it’s very convenient and easy to use – anywhere, any time.”

Scotiabank district general manager Michelle Eligon gave remarks on behalf of Scotiabank vice president, retail banking Richard Edoo, who was unable to attend due to illness. Eligon said the bank is “dedicated to innovating in the digital sphere by continuously adding new features to simplify your lives and make your day-to-day banking more accessible.”

She thanked the Tobago customers “for your continued confidence, loyalty, and trust in us and choosing us as your financial partner. We’re proud that so far for 2022, we’ve been recognised by Global Finance as Trinidad and Tobago’s best bank and best digital bank.”

She added, “Tobago plays a critical role in our operations, which is a big part of the reason we are here this week. As you know, we opened our first branch here in 1970 and from then to now, we continue to invest in technology, processes, and people.”She said the bank has increased the number of off-site ATMs, with new locations in Canaan and Scarborough Esplanade, and more to come in 2023.

Eligon said the the team in Tobago will continue to flourish under White’s leadership.

White said: “I am very happy to join the team and so far, in the six weeks that I’ve been here, Trudy Hamilton (Assistant Manager, Service and Support) and the rest of the team and our customers have warmly welcomed me.

“Although I’ve met some of you already, I look forward to getting to know each of you better in the coming months and I am committed to deepening our relationships here in Tobago.”

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File photo: Foster Cummings

YOUTH Development and National Service Minister Foster Cummings has withdrawn his appeal of a judge’s refusal to grant him an injunction to stop Opposition Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial from speaking about his private and confidential information.

Cummings is also the MP for La Horquetta/Talparo and general secretary of the ruling People’s National Movement.

He will now have to pay two-thirds of Lutchmedial’s costs for the appeal and the failed application before Justice Nadia Kangaloo in May. His defamation claim against the Opposition senator will come up for hearing on March 10, 2023.

On June 10, Kangaloo ruled that Cummings failed to provide evidence to support his contention that Lutchmedial’s statements and publishing personal information, including banking details, at a UNC meeting and on her Facebook page, were reckless and affected his family life.

In her ruling, Kangaloo said the senator presented a “plethora of evidence” in support of a defence of justification and fair comment, which led the court to the conclusion there was no serious issue to be tried.

She said Cumming’s evidence of “alleged danger and harm” to him and his family had not materialised, adding also that when comparing the evidence of Cummings and his witnesses to that of Lutchmedial, “Mr Cummings’ case is comparatively weak.”

Cummings appealed Kangaloo’s decision on June 21. Justices of Appeal Mira Dean-Armorer and Malcolm Holdip’s order gave him permission to withdraw the appeal.

Cummings’s attorneys had filed the emergency application to stop Lutchmedial from publicly speaking about his private and confidential information and to get her to take down all information about him and his banking details posted on her Facebook page. He also sought to have her take down recordings of her statements of May 16.

Although reference was made to her earlier statements on May 5, on the same platform, in which she released the contents of a Special Branch report on the minister, the injunction application took issue with her use of his financial records.

At the UNC’s Monday Night Forum, Lutchmedial raised questions over a public entity’s payment into the credit union account of a high-ranking public official.

The senator said a cheque from the public body was also uncovered which had been made out directly to the credit union. Cummings has since publicly clarified the business transactions. In his injunction application, he also gave an explanation for the transactions. He said the company Rivulet Investment Group Ltd, which is owned by his wife, Juliet Modeste, received loans over the years from the credit union. Cummings was the CEO of Rivulet and a director of Pical Services Ltd – the two companies the senator identified – before he became a minister.

In her defence, Lutchmedial said as an opposition senator, it was her duty to hold the Government to account “in the interest of transparency, accountability and good governance.”

She said the information she received from a whistleblower was cause for public concern and required some explanation and an investigation.

Lutchmedial contended she had a right to freedom of political thought and expression and as a senator, she was entitled to exercise that right in the public’s interest.

She denied defaming the minister, saying after her inquiries when she received the documents, her statements were honest and made in good faith without malice.

“Taxpaying citizens have a right to know about the conduct of their elected officials,” she said in her defence. Cummings was represented by attorneys Farai Hove Masaisai, Christopher George and Jennifer Farah-Tull. Appearing forLutchmedial are Anand Ramlogan Kent Samlal, Jared Jagroo, Vishal Siewsarran and Natasha Bisram.

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File photo.

A 47-year-old pizza delivery man was robbed by men posing as customers in Arima on Sunday afternoon.

Police said the man received an order at around 3 pm and went to Main Road, Maturita, Arima, to make the delivery.

On reaching the address, he was confronted by two men wearing ski masks and hoodies who pointed a gun at him and announced a robbery.

The men stole $3,300 in cash, two pizzas, breadsticks, and condiments before running through nearby bushes.

The delivery man then drove to the Arima police station and made a report.

Arima CID are continuing enquiries.

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Photo courtesy Princes Town District Health Facility

The 13-year-old girl wounded in a shooting over the weekend in New Grant may spend the next few weeks recuperating in hospital.

“Doctors said she might be in the hospital for the next two-three weeks. She was shot in her right foot and cannot walk right now. Otherwise, she is doing good,” a close relative told Newsday on Monday.

The minor is a form one student.

She was among five people wounded in the same shooting on Saturday. The other victims were men, aged 29, 36, 40 and 57.

So far, two victims have been treated and discharged from hospital.

The shooting happened around 8.10 pm on Saturday. A wagon pulled up along Sixth Company Road. Four masked men with guns got out and started shooting at men near a parlour.

At the time, the girl and a female relative, 17, were standing at the roadside waiting for another relative to head home together.

The girls ran into some bushes behind a house and hid. They waited for the gunshots to stop before helping each other out.

One male victim was walking out of the parlour when the gunmen began shooting.

He was hit and fell to the ground. The gunmen ran past him toward the other male victims, running and shooting in different directions.

The gunmen returned to the car, which drove off.

Residents took the victims in different cars to the Princes Town District Health Facility. They were transferred to the hospital.

No one has been arrested and Princes Town police are investigating.

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