Today we conclude a recap of the top stories for 2013. The first segment was published on December 28, documenting the period of January to June 2013.
Three elections in the second half of 2013 dominated the news. Election campaign stories were on the front burner for the keenly-contested Chaguanas West by-election on July 29, the October 21 local government elections and then the November 4 St Joseph by-election.
Between the politics, the horrific murders of two small children by relatives, one killed and thrown into a cesspit and the other stuffed in a barrel, shocked and traumatised the nation, prompting child-rights activist Verna St Rose-Greaves to storm into Parliament and disrupt the proceedings, calling for the Government to protect children.
Meanwhile, gang-related murders shot up as rivals fought over million-dollar state contracts. Joint police and army exercises seemed to do little to quell it and efforts by new National Security Minister Capt Gary Griffith gained little results.South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela died and the world paused, for a moment appearing to transcend the pettiness of mundane human living into a level where forgiveness and reconciliation reigned.
A major oil spill in the Gulf of Paria threw fisherfolk on the breadline and damaged the environment. Authorities are still determining the source of the spill and cleaning it up. This was followed soon after by a Christmas Day trail of death and destruction that swept the Eastern Caribbean islands of St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia and Dominica, ending the year on sobering note.
May 31�June 2: Chinese President visits–President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping visited T&T with his wife, Peng Liyuan. It was the first time a president of China had visited the English-speaking Caribbean. The fact that relations between the two countries dated back to the 19th century and there was a strong Chinese presence here were given as reasons for the visit.
US vice president visits–Shortly before Xi Jinping, on May 27, US Vice President Joe Biden visited T&T. The trip was considered an important chance to discuss collective efforts to promote economic growth and development, access to energy and collaboration on citizen security.
July 5: Jack Warner forms a new party–Jack Warner surprised many when he announced his new party, the Independent Liberal Party (ILP), to contest the Chaguanas West by-election.Warner's new party was born after he resigned as national security minister, Chaguanas West MP and UNC chairman and he sought to recontest the seat as a UNC candidate and was rejected.
He was later joined by former senate vice-president Lyndira Oudit and former senator Robin Montano. There was ILP-mania for several weeks, with claims that the whole country had gone green.The UNC, feeling threatened, stepped up its campaign, and there was intense rivalry in the build-up to the by-election. On July 29, Warner won the UNC stronghold resoundingly, with political analysts claiming there was no safe seat in T&T any more.
July 23: PM, AG to sue Rowley–Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and Works Minister Dr Suruj Rambachan sent pre-action protocol letters to Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley over allegations made against them in e-mails he had read out in Parliament. Rowley said it was a strategy to silence him. To date, investigations into the authenticity of the e-mails by the Integrity Commission and the police have reached nowhere.
July 28: Duncan Street shoot-outs–The Duncan Street shoot-outs between rival gangs escalated over a government contract to refurbish the basketball court.
July 29: Volney resigns–Former justice minister and St Joseph MP Herbert Volney resigned from the UNC after a shaky relationship with the party because of his alleged involvement in the Section 34 fiasco. He began publicly indicating his support for the ILP. In September, he resigned from Parliament after Speaker Wade Mark declared his seat vacant.
August 14: Teenagers killed in Duncan Street gang warfare–Teenager Niam Antoine and his 16-year-old cousin Rasheeda Gomez were killed in a gang shoot-out on Duncan Street, Port-of-Spain. Shortly after, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar visited the area and announced that a police/army post would be set up there.
A contract was given out to refurbish an apartment building in the area to house the police post.
August 17: Couva Children's Hospital stays–The $1.5 billion Couva Children's Hospital may not be able to withstand a major earthquake along theCentral Range Fault (CRF) mere kilometres from the Preysal project.
Lloyd Lynch, a senior research fellow in instrumentation at the UWI Seismic Research Centre (SRC), says seismic hazard maps used in the geotechnical report on the site did not include new information about the active fault line. But Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal and Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan announced it was decided the hospital will remain where it was. UWI seismologist Dr Joan Latchman, known for her frequent warnings of an impending major earthquake, was present when they made the announcement.
September 5: Gary Griffith appointed–The former national security adviser to Persad-Bissessar was appointed National Security Minister, becoming the fourth person to hold the post over the last three years. Griffith has announced a number of new crime-fighting measures, which have seen little result, especially in crime hot spots. He has promised it will get better in the new year.
September 20: SNC-Lavalin scandal–The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) gave SNC-Lavalin the all-clear to build a $1 billion Penal hospital and rehabilitation centre at Clarke Road. The Opposition called for the immediate cancellation of the deal in the wake of reports published in the T&T Guardian that SNC-Lavalin executives were facing international corruption charges arising from activities in Bangladesh.
Diego Martin North/East MP Colm Imbert filed a motion in Parliament calling on the Government to terminate all contracts with the company.
September 30: Haitians rejected–A ruling by the Dominican Republic's Constitutional Court, which would have withdrawn citizenship from thousands of Haitians who live in the country, regardless of whether they immigrated or were born there, caused an uproar across the Caribbean. There were widespread calls for Caricom to reject the Dominican Republic.
On November 26, Persad-Bissessar, as chair of Caricom, wrote to President Danilo Medina to express her Government's concern with the court's ruling and the violation of the rights of 200,000 Haitians living in the Dominican Republic.
October 4: "Spanish" contract–Beetham Gardens community leader Kenneth "Spanish" Rodriguez, who welcomed members of the Government and took them on a tour of the police post, told the media he was the foreman on the job. After public and media concerns, the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) stoutly denied this, saying Rodriguez was not on their payroll and that he might have been hired by the contractor.
October 14: Anna's Range Rover–ILP deputy leader Anna Deonarine who, with her colleagues, had been levelling corruption charges against the Government on the campaign trail, suffered a crushing counterblow when files on a luxury Range Rover she owned were leaked to the media. Reports claimed it had been stolen in England. Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said a police investigation on the matter reached the Central Authority and his office.
He said the car would be going straight back to London and that Deonarine had bought the Range Rover, which normally costs between $1.2 and$1.6 million, for $240,000.
October 21: Local government elections–The electorate proved political scientists and commentators wrong when they retreated back to what former prime minister Basdeo Panday called tribal voting. The PNM won seven corporations on traditional PNM areas and the UNC retained five in their strongholds. There was deadlock in Chaguanas, which had a 4-4-4 result among the PNM, the UNC and the ILP. The ILP did not win a single corporation.
Former ILP councillor Faaiq Ali, a 25-year-old University of the West Indies student studying international relations, broke the deadlock when he heeded the call of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to return home, and voted for the UNC, giving the party the edge over the others in the control of the corporation.There were claims Ali was paid $2.5 million to cross the floor. He was expelled from the ILP and said he feared for his life.
November 4: PNM wins St Joseph by-election–T&T's election fever continued from the local government elections of October into November. The UNC announced its surprise candidate–Ian Alleyne, popular CNC3 Crime Watch television host. Alleyne was the target of stinging criticisms from his political rivals who felt he ought to have remained independent.PNM candidate Terrence Deyalsingh won the St Joseph by-election, beating Alleyne by some 600 votes.
November 20: Baby found in cesspit–The body of two-year-old Jacob Munroe was found inside a cesspit at the back of his father's Maracas, St Joseph home.His father Allan Thomas told the police his son, who was spending time with him, had been kidnapped. He said the kidnappers ordered him to slit his wrists and beat him. Thomas was later charged with the murder of his baby and with attempting to take his own life.
November 21: Jamaicans deported–Immigration officers at Piarco detained and deported 12 Jamaicans because they were unable to contact local hosts of the Jamaicans and they got conflicting information from the deported Jamaicans and their hosts. The matter nearly caused a fallout between an outraged Jamaica and T&T. Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran had to fly to Jamaica to settle the matter and make peace.
Jamaica wanted certain conditions, namely the amendment of laws to allow immigration officers to use discretion. National Security Minister Gary Griffith maintained that the law is the law and must be adhered to. Two of the deported Jamaicans have since lodged complaints with the their country's foreign affairs ministry.
November 23: Speaker Mark's EMBA–Media reports claimed that Speaker Wade Mark did not complete the coursework but was still awarded an executive master of business administration degree from the University of the West Indies. UWI later issued a release saying he had satisfied all the requirements for the award of the degree. Mark sent a pre-action protocol letter to the media house demanding an apology or face a lawsuit.
November 27: Robin Montano resigns–ILP chairman Robin Montano resigned. He said he joined the ILP for change but it had been derailed and diverted. Montano, a former senator and attorney, had emerged out of the woodwork after a long political hiatus to join the ILP. He has now slipped back into political oblivion.
November 28: Keyana found in barrel–The body of six-year-old Keyana Cumberbatch was found stuffed in a barrel in a bedroom of her mother and stepfather at her Maloney home.The autopsy said she was beaten to death and sexually assaulted while unconscious, or when already dead. The cause of her death was given as blunt-force trauma to the head.
November 28: Verna disrupts Parliament–Child-rights activist Verna St Rose-Greaves, after protesting outside Parliament by ringing her bell and shouting at passing parliamentarians, went inside the building and loudly disrupted the sitting, screaming for the PM to carry out her promise to protect the nation's children. The sitting was suspended temporarily and St Rose-Greaves escorted outside by police.
November 28: $17 million bank heist–In a daring highway robbery, bandits stole $17 million in local currency and US$150,000 from a courier service on the way to Piarco Airport. The money was to be deposited in banks in Tobago and the robbery was described as one of the largest in the nation's history.
A black Ford Ranger loaded with bags of cement rammed into the courier's vehicle and the robbers emerged and shot at the occupants, killing veteran security officer Bert Clarke. To date, no one has been held. A million-dollar reward has been posted for information leading to the arrest of suspects.
December 5: Mandela dies–South Africa's first black president and iconic freedom fighter Nelson Mandela died at age 95 at his Johannesburg home. The world, including T&T, stood still to celebrate his life and mourn his passing. After bitter election rivalry, Persad-Bissessar and Rowley, along with a local and Caribbean entourage, journeyed to South Africa on a chartered Caribbean Airlines jet for a memorial service and to view his body.
December 10: Archie under fire–Attorney Criston Williams sent a pre-action protocol letter to the Solicitor General's office threatening to file a constitutional motion against Chief Justice Ivor Archie and the judiciary over delays in the handing down of appeal judgments. Two convicted men, Lester Pitman and Gerald Wilson, were awaiting appeal judgments in their cases for three and four years, respectively. The delays allegedly breached his clients' constitutional rights, Williams said.
In a second letter, to the Supreme Court Registrar, Williams said he intended to send a complaint to Persad-Bissessar, asking her to exercise her discretion under Section 137 of the Constitution, which deals with impeachment proceedings against a chief justice.There was a claim that the Government wanted to remove Archie from office. Archie has promised to speed up the delivery of judgments. The judgments were eventually delivered on December 18.
December 17: Major oil spill–A major oil spill in the Gulf of Paria put hundreds of fisherfolk on the south-western peninsula on the breadline and may be an eco-disaster. To date, Petrotrin, which has suspected sabotage, has not been able to determine the exact source of the leak. Petrotrin said clean-up will be complete in about two weeks' time.
December 18: Keyianna abduction–Keyianna Noel, six, was abducted from her Duncan Street home. She was returned, but the police are looking for a close male relative. He apologised for taking her and said he was the one who called the police to pick her up. He is still on the loose.
December 22: Stepfather charged–Dwayne Lewis, 28, stepfather of Keyana Cumberbatch, appeared in court charged with her murder. The Prime Minister, amidst mounting calls from the public to fulfil her promises to take measures to protect children, soon after appointed a 17-member Child Protection Task Force with a mandate to review all existing policies, legislation and protocols in place to protect children.
December 24�25: Flooding disaster in Eastern Caribbean–Raging floodwaters claimed 14 lives and wreaked havoc on the infrastructure of the Eastern Caribbean islands of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), St Lucia and Dominica. T&T has been assisting with relief efforts and emergency supplies. SVG Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said it would take millions to rebuild his country.