Jack sues reporter for allegations about missing Haiti $$$

Jack Warner in Haiti - 2010

Jack Warner issued a statement on Thursday noting that he has initiated legal proceedings to sue Trinidadian journalist Lasana Liburd, who alleged through twitter that Warner did not deliver funds to Haiti that were donated by FIFA.

Warner was a FIFA Vice President at the time of the Haiti disaster. 

He made it clear that not only did he deliver all funds he also personally made additional funds available to more than 30 victims and their families.

The Works minister said he has retained the services of English QC, William McCormick to handle the matter. 

Warner said the message first sent on the Internet by Liburd "was re-tweeted by numbers of equally deranged and malicious persons who never checked Liburd's claim for its veracity, nor did they research independently whether there was any truth whatsoever in the nasty allegation first made by one James Corbett, a former employee of the Al Ahram newspaper, Mubarak's propaganda instrument for decades (sic!)."

He added, "I shall take advice on which other persons shall be joined to the suit and categorically state that not only did I never misappropriate aid money destined for Haiti, but have personally made additional funds available to the 30+ victims and their families who were buried under the collapsed Haitian Football Association building.

"I am thoroughly disgusted by the level of malice and nastiness some persons resort to and have decided that I can no longer tolerate the continued lies and wrongful allegations permanently levied against me by people who consider themselves to be above the law. 

"I am appalled that persons whom I have known to be quality journalists in the past, are now jumping on the 'destroy Warner' bandwagon and thoughtlessly, if not senselessly, take any lie for granted that they come across these days and which further maligns and defames me."

He said on Friday he will make public several emails between himself and the Haitian President, as well as "between several other persons and me" on the subject of the Haitian aid.

AG frustrated with Hart, Pena inesvtigations

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan is frustrated with the pace of investigations into Calder Hart and Juliana Pena.

Hart was the former executive chairman of the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT). He is under investigations for allegations of corruption during his tenure under the former Manning People's National Movement administration.

Pena was the spiritual adviser to former prime minister Patrick Manning and is under investigation with respect to a church at Guanapo that was allegedly being built with state funds.

Ramlogan expresed his frustration during his contribution to the Finance Bill at the Senate.

He said he has been "at pains" to impress upon Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs that the Anti Corruption Investigations Bureau (ACIB) has been ineffective in handling these matters.

"I am fed up with the need to impress upon them the need to get along with these investigations," the AG said.

"Up to now the country does not know whether they interview Rev Juliana Pena to find out where she get the money from to build that church, who it belong to, not even a stick of iron, we don't know where the money come from," he said.

"We don't know whether they interview Calder Hart, the street lighting programme in T&TEC, corruption in the HDC, corruption in the URP and the list goes on and on," said Ramlogan.

"I raise these matters consistently with the Commissioner of Police and I asked even that he take a look at the officers to do a hard performance appraisal to see what needs to be done if needs be but the reality is there was no serious meaningful progress as far as I was concerned," he added.

"I want to make it clear because people keep asking allyuh ain't lock up nobody, we can't lock up nobody, the police have to do their work, it is the police, in law, who must investigate, they are responsible for the detection of crime, investigation of crime after it goes to the DPP and if there is sufficient evidence he decides if to charge or not. 

"The Government can't lock up nobody, but what the Government has done is all that it could do in accordance with the law to initiate civil fraud claims," he said.

"If the Government wanted to adopt a Machiavellian cloak and dagger approach to governance I could interfere in the ACIB, keep it under me, put who you want, manipulate the system and apply political pressure," said Ramlogan.

He said if he could, he himself would interview Hart and Pena.

"Now the Police Service Commission will have to do its job in conducting its own performance appraisal for those who are responsible for the management of the Police Service," he said.

Another milestone - 40 years in journalism

Forty years is a long time.

Just think of how our world has changed since 1972 – or more specifically February 16, 1972, the day I began my career in broadcasting at Trinidad & Tobago Television (ttt).

We wrote news copy on typewriters in those days – old manual ones. My children and many others from their generation have never seen such a machine.

We didn’t have cell phones and blackberries and computers. The PC was not even invented. Our news was shot on negative film; portable video cameras and videotape came along much later. Even the portable machines weighed 50 pounds!

Sure we had videotapes. A one-hour tape was on a huge metal spool, 12 inches in diameter and the recording machine took up half a room. And if you messed up a live to tape recording you just had to start all over again because editing videotape was not an option. Well, there was a way to edit but just a few of us knew how.

We didn’t have cheap satellite feeds and Skype and 24-hour news so the “world” was not as small and as close as it is today. We relied on the BBC and the Voice of America to tell us how the world was doing. In those days we didn’t even have our own source of wire copy. However, we managed to tell stories and tell them well.

And people remember me for that, even though I left home a long time ago.

In the 40 years since I first entered Television House at 11a Maraval Road, Port of Spain as an employee I have seen and done a lot.

The original Television House building has been rebuild and now houses the latest incarnation of state TV - CNMG

I’ve travelled to places I never expected to see and met people from all walks of life from simple ordinary folks trying to find a way to live, to presidents, prime ministers, kings and dictators. I’ve also met movie stars and international performers.

1994 visit with their excellencies President Noor Hassanali and Mrs Hassanali

Among them all, I felt closest to little people, telling their stories and calling on officials to account. My advocacy journalism offended officials and those who had power, but it gave a voice to the voiceless.

My sources were sacred and remain known only to me to this day despite death threats and at least one attempt on my life.

In Canada I had the honour of being a part of the team that inaugurated what was then the world’s second 24-hour all news cable news service. However, unlike CNN, we were a distinctly Canadian service.

I edited the historic newscast that launched the service at 7 am on July 31, 1989 - and thousands more for CBC Newsworld. We produced a dozen a day for nearly 10 years; I lost count after the first few years.
My job offered an opportunity to work with some of the finest journalists and other media professionals I’ve ever known and to be a part of one of the most trusted and respected news organisations on our planet - CBC, The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

I covered all manner of stories during my 40 years and produced and presented many award-winning documentaries.

Donald Woods

I interviewed influential people like Donald Woods as well as regional and world leaders; I sat in the White House next to the Oval Office, walked with Michael Manley in the bloodiest election Jamaica ever experienced and reported on the uprising in Grenada that saw the murder of my friend, Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, and the subsequent American invasion.

At the Non-Aligned Summit in India in 1983 I was among journalists covering more than 100 world leaders, including international pariahs at the time like Yasser Arafat. Two countries at the NAM summit - Iran and Iraq - were at war, yet were at the same conference.

At Newsworld we were witness to the end of communism and the fall of the Berlin Wall; we were first to report on the invasion of Kuwait and the war that followed. And yes, we also had superb coverage of the 1990 failed Muslimeen coup in Trinidad & Tobago, thanks to my sources and excellent relationship with leaders and my colleagues in journalism in the country.

We worked hard at providing Canadians with an honest picture of the country in a way only live television could. Canadians would no doubt remember Newsworld's pioneering coverage of the OKA crisis and the horrendous stories of the abuse at the Mount Cashel orhpanage in Newfoundland, told with raw emotion by the victims themselves - uncensored.

I entered the world of journalism during the 'golden days' when we had no agenda other than a commitment to truth and fairness, integrity and honesty. That's the world of journalism I knew; I still try to do it that way. But enough of that for now.

Now after four decades I feel it is time to retire, to spend time with my family, especially my precious grand daughter, Aurora.

Aurora Parasram at home in Nova Scotia, Christmas 2011

However, I cannot imagine life in retirement. There is so much work to do, so many stories to tell. But today I am taking a day off.

Today I also want to say thanks to all the people who have contributed in one way or another to making me who I am.

There are so many of you, from my colleagues and friends to strangers whom I've never met.

Thank you for having been a part of my life in journalism. Thank you for believing in me and supporting me over the years. There are so many of you so today I won't name names; I'll leave that for another time.

Today, I celebrate 40 of the best years of my life. And I rededicate myself to doing journalism the only way it should be done - the right way! (please also read: Epitaph for ttt)

Jai Parasram | 16 February 2012

Rowley files no-confidence motion in PM

Keith Rowley has filed a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

The opposition leader had admitted that his bound is bound to fail given that his People's National Movement has only 12 members in the House of Representatives as opposed to 29 for the People's Partnership.

However he said what is important is not how the vote goes but what is said during the debate the Parliament. He said his party has a lot to say about the government of Trinidad & Tobago and the prime minister.

The debate would also afford members on the governing side of the House to present their views on the government's performance.

Rowley might be hoping that the People's Partnership would follow the lead of the previous administration and call an election to prevent the motion going forward. Former Prime Minister Patrick Manning did that in April 2010 and dissolved Parliament, which led to the defeat of his government.

Persad-Bissessar has stated on several occasions that no election is constitutionally due until 2015.

Speaking at a news conference in Port of spain Wednesday, Rowley said: “We have had enough. So this morning I have filed in the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.”

He explained how the process would work. “Under the regulations this motion requires 12 day notification period and it takes priority over all other bills. So when the Carnival is over, on behalf of the people of Trinidad and Tobago, the opposition will come to the Parliament to conduct the nation’s business by moving a vote of no confidence against the prime minister,” he stated.

Rowley said opposition legislators believe that the country has enough of the “mal administration" of the government adding: "we need to call the government to order...we will talk to the country about our government, our business."

The opposition leader also focused on the Attorney General, saying Anand Ramlogan would have to inform the public why the government is now seeking to distance itself from the Anti Corruption Investigating Bureau (ACIB) housed, which led the latest raid on the newsroom of the Newsday newspaper.

“I want to ask the Attorney General when did the ACIB, which was the muscle of his political activities, when did they became an embarrassment,” he said.

Ramlogan has said he would ask the Police Commissioner to take "full control" of the bureau.

Moonilal welcomes no confidence debate; all 29 government MPs will outline achievements

Keith Rowley might be getting more than he expected when he decided to file a no-confidence motion in the Prime Minister.

The opposition leader made the move Wednesday, stating that he expects the debate will be after Carnival.

Leader of Government Business Dr. Roodal Moonilal responded to the matter by saying said Government will be prepared for the debate.

“All 29 members will speak for 75 minutes on the achievements of the Government," Moonilal told local media.

He added, "From the UWI South Campus to the Children Life Fund, to the distribution of homes, to the food card and everything else – we will use the opportunity to speak on the achievements of the Government, inspired by the Honorable Prime Minister."

The Housing minister declared, "I look forward to the debate, I can’t wait, I wish it was tomorrow.”

He called the kove another Rowley mistake. “Well I think it is a mistiming of Parliamentary initiative," he said. 

"Regrettably, this will backfire on him as well and it appears that the Opposition leader is not familiar with the achievements of the Government, so we intend to remind him."

Letter: PP government would welcome Rowley's no confidence motion

The proposed motion of no confidence against the PM scheduled by Dr. Rowley is ill advised and would be welcomed by the PPG as an opportunity to report to the nation on its positive performance to date, with confidence in the PM being genuinely declared by every member of the Government. 

It will also provide the PPG with a long break from new hostilities and diversionary allegations while the debate lasts.

While Dr. Rowley’s perspective may appear reasonable in his party’s eyes, this view that he holds is really based upon his disapproval of the PM’s style which is democratic and tolerant as compared to the Manning style of autocratic leadership which brooked no form of dissidence as Dr. Rowley could easily recall from Manning’s celebrated condemnation of himself.

The operation of a Party of Parties in a governing partnership is a new political institution which is forging new mores and greater tolerance between partners.

The PPG is being given a golden opportunity to blow its own trumpet and highlight its accomplishments while explaining its inherited difficulties bequeathed by Dr. Rowley’s former leader.

The PNM will be shown as a political dinosaur unable to catch up with evolving political systems. All its complaints against the PM and her governing style will be shown as childishly ill-informed and all the social programs the PPG newly established against PNM criticism will be shown as successfully populist.

The PM does not need to bus in supporters to deflect the heat Dr. Rowley hopes to generate. Indeed, Dr. Rowley will badly need support from anywhere for him to scratch the surface of the PM’s popularity.

Dr. Rowley has already conceded that with the PPG majority the motion has no chance of success. But he is hoping that the debate will prove beneficial to his party. He is heading for a major disappointment. What will be said to the credit of the PPG will make his motion suicidal for his party.

The population may be confused by some of the static coming from the officials of the PPG, but the PM remains its most favorite ever and in no danger of being diminished.

Dr. Rowley might have been better advised to have brought no confidence motions against ministers in the Ministries of foreign affairs, sports, works, and tourism and even the AG for his recent contradictory positions on the ACIB that may require explanations. Picking the PM was his worst possible choice.

And finally Dr. Rowley has openly articulated what appears to have been his Party’s greatest discomfort. 

He has now openly called for the disbanding of the Integrity Commission against which he has had a personal score to settle. That the IC poses a threat to all miscreant political officials of whom the PNM has contributed the greatest number is no secret. 

Previously the IC could not be openly challenged, but one must now review the collapse of serial Integrity Commissions and wonder whether its opponents have not been actively engineering its sabotage in the light of Dr. Rowley’s open call.

MFRahman.

OWTU determined to shut down Petrotrin

OWTU members building a camp in preparation for a 90-day strike

Conciliation talks have failed to resolve the impasse between the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) and the state energy company, Petrotrin.

The union is determined to begin a strike on Saturday and the company is appealing to its workers to stay on the job.

Petrotrin issued a media release on Wednesday stating that in the event of a strike the contract terms and conditions for employees will be suspended. It also warned that workers who remain off the job during a strike would lose time off their pensionable service.

The company is also warning employees against attempting to intimidate others who are not part of their action. It also said no one should prevent free access of vehicles to and from its compounds.

OWTU President General of the union, Ancel Roget has threatened to shut down the company for 90 days.

“We too will suffer as a result of this strike action because we too have to traverse and travel from one part of the country to another, so we will be impacted, but that is a small sacrifice to pay in order for us to get a decent and fair settlement,” Roget told local media.

Photo story: Panic buying of fuel continues in T&T

A gas station in South Trinidad Wednesday

Despite assurances by the government that there are no fuel shortages in the country, motorists are panicking and buying out supplies are gas stations in various parts of the country.

It's because of the impending strike at Petrotrin, which threatens to shut down the energy companies operations, starting Saturday.

The government has made arrangements to continue moving supplies, with soldiers manning the bond and driving fuel tankers. And the energy minister has also made it clear that if there is a threat that supplies will run out the ministry would import supplies from Venezuela and the United States.

That has not solved the problem. Consumers reported long lines for fuel and many gas stations although there is no current shortage.

Commenatry: Choose a side Abdullah; you can't have it both ways

David Abdullah is a Government Senator and Leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ), one of the five members of the governing coalition. He has stated often enough that the MSJ supports the partnership.

Yet Abdullah is at the same time wearing a different hat as an executive member of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) and is at the forefront of the union's impending strike against the state-owned Petrotrin.

A strike at the company is a no-win situation for both sides and could cause irrecoverable damage to the company and the national economy. And Abdullah knows it.

Abdullah would argue that workers have a right to use the one weapon that they have - the ability to withhold their labour when they feel they have not got a fair deal. And indeed workers have that right. But shutting down Petrotrin at this time is nothing short of driving a stake into the company's heart.

The question that arises in this matter is whether Abdullah and the OWTU leadership are looking at the big picture and being honest with the membership. Or are they using misinformation and fiery rhetoric to create mass hysteria among the workers and cause them to act as a mob?

Based on media reports it seems that the company is offering more than a fair deal to the workers although OWTU President General Ancel Roget is harping only on the fact that Petrotrin is holding fast to its five per cent wage offer. Both Roget and Abdullah know very well that the deal is more than that.

In fact Roget and his union went into these negotiations asking for a 75 per cent increase, which everyone knows is ridiculous given the state of the global economy. He is insisting that he has changed that position but is not saying what he is prepared to accept.

In the meantime the union is setting up camp, ready to deprive workers of a livelihood and create chaos in the country. Already motorists are in panic mode and the strike has not even started.

I cannot help but conclude that the motivation for their action is highly political. Comments by Roget leave no doubt about this since he has stated that his intention is to inflict harm and that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar would pay the ultimate political price for not bending to give the union what it wants.

And the fact that Abdullah - who should know better as a government insider - should be helping to solve this problem rather than adding fuel to the flame.

This is the same kind of misinformation by the labour movement that caused Watson Duke to become a pariah and a target of scorn by other union leaders and some of his own members in the Public Services Association (PSA). Duke signed on to a deal that was best for his members and the same happened at the port. But ask those like Roget about it and they will tell you, without presenting verifiable evidence, that it was a betrayal.

Take a look at what Petrotrin is offering and you would realise that the OWTU is misleading the Petrotrin workers. 

An ad by the company points to the fact that when the package is taken together Petrotrin workers are getting REAL increases of between 24 and 39 per cent. Where else can a labourer earn $11,895.47 a month in Trinidad & Tobago? The charts below tell a very interesting story. (Click on the chart to see the details in a new, larger window.)

If I were a Petrotrin worker I would demand full disclosure from my union about the negotiations and ask why I am being asked to strike.

This is a political move and Abdullah must make a clear choice about the side on which he sits; he can't have his cake and eat it too.

If the MSJ wants to belong to the governing coalition, it must act responsibly. The truth is the Prime Minister has been most generous on this matter. She could easily show Abdullah the door and let the MSJ depart without it doing any harm to her government.

Roget wants to destroy the government and he is using workers at Petrotrin to help him. 

The workers are the pawns in this game and while I expect certain people to behave this way out of political expediency, I cannot accept that Abdullah should be allowed to be a part of this destructive movement while enjoying the perks of being in the inner circle of the governing political establishment.

Jai Parasram | 16 February 2012

Section of POS General Hospital might have to be torn down: Health Minister

Main entrance: Port of Spain General Hospital 

Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan toured the Port of Spain General Hospital Wednesday and later told reporters that a part of the structure might have to be demolished.

Khan said he was told that the central block of the hospital was in a serious state of disrepair and that it could collapse at anytime.

However, he said after touring the facility he has determined that it is not that bad.

“There is still the need for a structural assessment of the building. The building is not going to collapse tomorrow morning, as I was given the impression,” he said.

The minister said he intends to seek proposals for a professional assessment on the hospital, noting that the process would allow several firms to tender to make the process transparent.

He anticipates that whatever is the final decision on the structure he would have to make alternative arrangements to house patients.

“I am in the process of trying to organize a mobile hospital for two things – one for, in case we have to move the patients out and two, in case there is a disaster in this country,” he said.

The minister said he plans to make a tour of the San Fernando General Hospital after Carnival.