Tag Archives: EMA

Terms and Conditions of the Hunger Strike Ending

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20121206-065444.jpgJOINT CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL
FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

The Professional Centre Bldg.
1st Floor Unit B202
11-13 Fitzblackman Drive, Wrightson Rd. South, Port of Spain

Tel: (868) 623-9396
jcctt1@gmail.com

Fax: (868) 625-5749
http://www.jcc.org.tt

MEDIA RELEASE

For more information Contact:

Afra Raymond: President, JCC
JCC Office:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: 5th December, 2012
START OF MEDIA RELEASE

– PORT OF SPAIN – After consultation with the government and
the Highway Re-Route Movement, the JCC and its Civil Society Kindred Associations
– Federation of Independent Trades Unions and NGOs (FITUN), Trinidad & Tobago
Transparency Institute (TTTI) and Women Working for Social Progress (Working Women) -
are pleased to confirm that we have appointed an independent working group to examine
the several matters of concern on the disputed Debe to Mon Desir segment of the Solomon
Hochoy Highway to Point Fortin.

PORT OF SPAIN

Tel: 625-6230 or 623-4945
Tel: 623-9396 or 720-0850

The JCC and its Civil Society Kindred Associations have appointed Independent Senator, Dr.
James Armstrong, as Chairman of the Independent Working Group.

The JCC and its Civil Society Kindred Associations has agreed the attached Terms of
Reference for the examination of the facts in this matter and identified the required
disciplines for the review.

The JCC and its Kindred Associations are now committed to this process for independent,
civil society oversight of large-scale development in our country.

We regard this as a solid framework for the transparent ventilation of the matters in
dispute.

This is a real advance in the development of our country, so we would like all parties to
work in good faith within this process. The Independent Working Group will be inviting oral
and written submissions within this exercise.

The Civil Society Groups are confident that these efforts would lead to a resolution of
this protracted impasse and would signal the heralding of a new era of civil society’s
participation in the national development agenda.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Review all the documentation provided by NIDCO, HRM and other interested parties

Invite written and oral submissions from interested parties

Ascertain transparency and compliance with prevailing statutory requirements

• Examine the process of public consultation and public information Examine the

TOR issued by the EMA for an Environmental Impact Assessment, along with any

other relevant documentation, in order to ascertain implications for social, economic

and environmental impacts of the highway development, including consideration

of land tenure, land acquisition and costs, land use and displacement of families

and attendant settlement development. This component of the review will consider

cost-benefit analysis; social impact assessment; terrestrial and marine ecology,

hydrology, drainage and public utilities.

Examine the route selection process including the consideration of alternatives and

the choice criteria

Make recommendations for Best Practice

Undertake any related tasks which will enhance the content of the Report

REQUIRED DISCIPLINES

Environmental

Transportation

Hydrology / Drainage

Social Economic

Archaeology

Planning / Settlements

Economic Analysis

Highway Engineering

Property Valuation

END OF MEDIA RELEASE

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Turtle Gate! Or Here’s Turtle Egg In Your Face

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The law that no one wants to refer to because it was broken

I want to start this piece with that picture above of the poster that reiterates the laws about turtles and their eggs in this country. If you observe the poster well enough you’ll see that the act was amended several times and is many decades old. In short, our laws as regards protection of leatherback turtles and their eggs are nothing new. Further you’d expect people like the Environmental Agency and the Ministry of the Environment to know these laws amd do their best to enforce them, yes? So as of now Joth and Ganga Singh, please move to the back of the class. And for the other members of the press release writing public please get ready to join them.

The Caribbean Institute of Environmental Sustainability also weighed in on the matter insisting that foreign press was sensationalising the issue and that the excavation works was a good thing because it saved turtle eggs from fresh water inundation. Now let me pause to let you digest this. The area of the beach that was under threat from the river is the Western end…..the area dug up to protect beach front property was the eastern end. Now hear me out, it’s a well known fact that there are more nests on the western beach front than the eastern beach front. And as i said earlier the area dug up on the eastern end is larger than the area that was under threat by the river. So it seems to me that the on-the-spot decision taken by the EMA, ministry of Environment and Local Govt was to sacrifice the eastern end of the beach to save the western end. The argument of fresh water inundation baffles me though. On a beach that’s more than 2km in length the river and erosion was affecting about 400m of beach. Which means that nests and eggs in that area were already destroyed or under threat. So you come and destroy another 4-500m metres of beach in the opposite direction to save what was possibly already dead? What was clear to me as i walked the beach in Grande Riviere is that the excavation work done was done to benefit properties and humans, not the turtles. Greenleaf’s protestations may have scientific and environmental relevance, but why wait for the height of the rainy season to re-direct a river to protect eggs from fresh water inundation and erosion that has been happening more than 6 weeks now? Why not re-direct during the dry season and before nesting starts to prevent it? It sounds to me like Greenleaf and his NGO singing for their supper and a handout….Can I have some more?

Work continues at the site, and on the far eastern end of the beach, covered by forest sits the machinery that is being used for the work. The entire eastern half of the beach is still covered in their tire tracks.

In talking to a few villagers that i have regular contact with in Grande Riviere they pointed out that tourism from leatherback turtles is how many villagers make a living seasonally. As the third largest nesting site in the world, and as a village that takes conservation seriously, they had manage to build up a good reputation internationally. The state’s action in this matter wasnt a good thing. They fear that fewer turtles will nest here next year as a result of the disturbed nests and destroyed eggs. They fear too that there will also be fewer visitors for the rest of the season and an obvious drop in the incomes earned. A visit to the beach shows you immediatelt that it’s not a few hundred eggs that have been destroyed. It’s closer to tens of thousands. The mounds of sand on either side of the new river mouth are littered with eggshells. There are white specs everywhere and many corbeaux and dogs feasting away. One wonders why after 50 years we still cant plan for a rainy season. Is not like it catches us unawares.

In the midst of all their fears and the reality of what was done to the beach a few things stand out for me:
* This government has no environmental policy.
* This government does not know the meaning of the words planning or consultation.
* This government does not uphold the laws of the land.
* This government believes that PR and spin are actual policies for running a country and will deploy every well-placed stooge in every organisation and agency they have to support their missteps and mishaps.
* This government is under developing Trinidad and Tobago while pretending otherwise.
* This government is sinister and evil.

1. If the point of the excavation was to protect turtle eggs from fresh water inundation the state apparati were 6 weeks too late.
2. If the point of the excavation was to protect properties from coastal erosion the state apparati were 6 weeks too late.
What happened this weekend was not and cannot be considered conservation.
They were saving their asses…not eggs.

De Vice Cyah Done!

Counting Turtle Eggs Before They Hatch

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I need you to read the EMA’s take on the leatherback massacre that took place a few days ago. EMA Responds to Grande Riviere River Diversion 9-09-2012 The EMA led a team into Grande Riviere this afternoon to investigate reports of major drainage works conducted over the weekend on the Grande Riviere river. The river had drastically diverted over the course of the last few weeks and caused significant erosion resulting in the loss of Leatherback turtle eggs and hatchlings. The EMA consulted with Mr. Len Peters of Grande Riviere Nature Tour Guiding Association to get a clearer picture of the situation which has been sensationalized in the media over the weekend. On Saturday morning workers of the Drainage Division conducted an exercise which diverted the river to the sea creating a shorter route and preventing further erosion of the nesting areas. If left on its current course, the existing route of the river would have caused more erosion and loss to precious nesting sites towards the western end of the beach. Mr. Peters indicated that contrary to reports only a few hundred hatchlings were unfortunately lost in the action. He stated that this diversion through zone four allows access to the beach for turtle monitoring as well as eco-tours which provides for sustainable livelihoods of community members. This action also preserves zones one to three on the western end of the beach for turtle nesting sites during the remaining two months of the season. The EMA believes that this emergency action will have some positive impact on the overall population of Leatherback turtles nesting in Grande Riviere. At the beginning of June I visited Grande Riviere and noticed the erosion taking place on the beach. Coastal erosion is nothing new in the area. In previous years under past regimes repair work, such as was undertaken over the weekend, has been done, but not during the hatching and nesting phases of the leatherback turtle season. It’s no news that this current government has no environmental policy. But I am beginning to think that Joth Singh is in its back pocket because even he beginning to sing their tune and loudly at that. Mt Plaisir Estate in Grande Riviere is a conservation site. To do any sort of work there would require a particular process, the least of which would be a Certificate of Environmental Clearance and of course requisite personnel would have to be onsite. That the EMA would part of a decision by state to excavate a beach and destroy turtle eggs and hatchlings is not even ironic, it is sinister. Further, to use government resources and the website to white wash the situation amd insist “only” a few hundred eggs were lost, as if you actually did a head count and as if it was numbers lost and not the principle behind your actions is the major issue is both asinine and sinister. The EMA, the body that should be protecting the environment is kow playing the numbers game and obscuring the real issue. That Joth Singh can still be the head of the EMA after such a debacle speaks volumes about this government’s environmental policies and the integrity of the EMA.

TWICKS (This Week In Clusterf@$KS April 1st-7th): Get Mad Now!

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Members of the Partnership last week....not a word from them on Mayorgate this week...in fact they now discussing "Peace" talks.

 

Anybody even remember what was big in the news at the start of last week? News happens so fast and furious in this place now it dizzying to keep up.

Last week around this time, wasn’t Mental Health issues we was vex about, it was The COP and Mayorgate…..everybody was on tenterhooks, COP was in an emergency meeting on April Fool’s Day to prepare for their Partnership meeting come the Monday…and by the time that Monday Meeting ended, we all knew that Prakash Ramadhar (who left the country for a 3-week vacation the next day) and the COP had changed their minds about “principled politics” whatever that means and had decided Eat Ah Food was still their road march of choice. Imagine in the midst of what the party called a crisis the political leader hop ah plane to go on vacay…..Prakash you pull ah Kamla there boy….very fitting.

Oh, and Jack Warner is still on the National Security Council

George Nicholas III threw a hissy fit and resigned from CAL again and less than a day later Devant Maharaj, who claimed he was caught by surprise over the resignation had installed Min of Finance Winston Dookeran’s cousin, Rabindra Moonan. Maharaj was open and upfront with us. he admits that Moonan knows nothing about aviation, but what he forgot to reveal as well is that Moonan’s business acumen (the purported strength on which he got the job) aint so hot up either. Check the company records. Ask them how the US feel about them…ask questions.

Folks at Mt D’or held a fiery protest and blocked the bus route. Since 2000 police here have been responsible for the deaths of more than 300 people. Atiba Duncan is just another statistic to that list. I’m still wondering if he was being taken in for questioning on outstanding warrants how bullets in his back was making it possible for him to be questioned….but that’s just me.

Then there was the protest from the Cunupia Residents Association over a cement batching plant….heavy industry in the middle of a residential area.  Since the resumption of smelter talks last year, I’ve been asking questions about this government’s environmental policy…in 2010 on the election campaign trail they talked a good talk about Environmental sustainability being one of their 7 pillars of development. To date, just as with economic diversity, constitutional reform, agricultural reform, technological innovation, gender issues and a number of other areas, Environmental management policies have fallen off the radar. Disgruntled Chin Chin Road residents have been trying to get action on this illegal plant from their MP, Tim Goopeesing since 2011, to date they are being stalled, more so by the Chaguanas Borough Council. On Thursday, April 5th, at a public meeting the residents revealed that the batching plant or Motilal Ramhit and Sons has no EMA or Town and Country Approval, nor does it have any Certificate of Environmental clearance. In fact Motilal Ramhit, a known UNC financier, friend of Roodal Moonilal and holder of many lucrative government contracts (this was all announced at the meeting) seems oblivious to the concerns of the residents and it was only in March of this year that he sought to get approval for his illegal plant. according to T&C regulations, batching plants count as heavy industry and cannot be situated in a residential area, yet this plant has been up and running since last year and the noise and dust emissions are making residents ill. It is alleged that Ramhit first purchased the land for a housing development and then decided to put up a batching plant instead. Ramhit has also built a roadway close to or over a ravine, filling it up and thus obstructing the course of the Cunupia river. All serious implications for the environment….but neither he, nor his friends in Government care. It is ironic that Roodal Moonilal, the Minister with the Environment portfolio, is good friends with this man and has turned a blind eye to the issue. But then again so has the EMA, Town and Country, the Chaguanas Borough Council, The President of Trinidad and Tobago and the Leader of the Opposition, all of whom have been given a file on this current issue. One wonders, with all of the environmental and planning laws being broken here by a man who is clearly a UNC financier why more is not being made of the issue? Is it not juicy enough?

Thanks to the Newsday I’m now advised that Sunway Construction (that company linked to Calder Hart….shhhhhh, the govt does get scared when they hear it) has been granted permission to resume their quarrying activities. In the midst of Mayorgate and Millergate, who really have time to take on the environment….much less a 2010 campaign promise…..

Of course, the story that kept us riveted this week was Cheryl Miller’s weird admittance to St Ann’s Mental Hospital. The Government, with the exception of Health Minister Fuad Khan, has been very quiet on the issue. And the COP’s return to deaf/dumb/mute status tells me that they are firmly back to being the UNC lapdog.

I’ve said so much about this issue all week that I’m not sure that there is much more left to say. While most of the country has been embroiled in diagnosing Cheryl Miller from the safety of their web browsers, my interest has never been whether she is mentally unstable or not. In my mind that’s an issue for Cheryl and her medical practitioner. My issue has always been, was proper procedure followed….the trial will clearly shift away from whether Miller is insane or not, to one of either breach of Human Rights or breach of Industrial Regulations.

But because the Govt knows that it in a tight monkey pants right now you have Health Minister Fuad Khan talking out of every orifice this week, blaming the PNM for politicking the issue, revealing details from Cheryl Miller’s report that the public should not be privy too, and threatening to make people accountable. Dr Khan, are you going to take the fall? Because it is alleged, by you self on i95.5 last Thursday evening that the call to St Ann’s came from your Ministry. You have been insidiously attempting to get Cheryl Miller to be judged by the public with the information about her mental health that keeps slipping out of your mouth.

Even the Psychiatric Association got in on the politicking this week, without looking at the details of the case, they issued a statement saying that proper procedure had been followed…then we find out on Friday that Cheryl Miller, who had been sitting at her desk writing a letter was detained under the section of the act that refers to people found wandering on roads and highways. I can only assume from this that Tower D does lean onto Wrightson Road.

Attorney Dana Seetahal wrote a column on the legal implications of this case that was so juicily succinct, I may commission a statue in her honour! And it doesn’t help either that Reggie Dumas, albeit carefully,has indicated that the Govt’s about as steady as a pile of Sunway Construction aggregate!

For the people who need to convince themselves that Cheryl Miller is mad, you missing the point. This was never about the woman’s mental state and always about people in positions of power within the state’s structure abusing their power. Anyone of us could be Cheryl Miller and have a bad day at work and find that because of an abuse of authority we are detained, incarcerated, denied our rights, with no idea of when we might be free again….Oh wait, that happened for 107 days here last year….no wonder Verna and her Perm Secs felt they could get away with it in a smaller capacity this year…oh, silly me!

I can’t wait to see what this week will offer folks.

De Vice Cyah Done!

TWICKS (This Week in Clusterf@$KS) March 12 -18th: Quarries, Cards and Cunning!

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Too Little Money and too many problems with this Government!

A lot happened this week to paint both the ruling Government and the Opposition in a bad light, if you ask me. And in all instances the public’s reactions and responses revealed that as a country many of us are frustrated and despondent….and  even more of us are enabling and encouraging a particular old style of politics. This old style of politics….maybe I should say current, because it aint gone no where….is one that sees the supporters of a party defending their nonsense and wrong doing; finding spurious, trumped up, even ridiculous reasons to support the poor decision -making of their government; turning a blind eye to the sins of their government or constantly comparing and contrasting both of the major parties here and deciding who “more worse” than whom. And of course you have the people who just simply spout total propaganda regardless of the sense it makes because they refuse to be disloyal to their party. And these are symptoms in all of the camps: COP, PNM and UNC.

One of the largest stories coming out of the news this week was Scott’s Quarry in Verdant Vale, Blanchisseuse. For most Trinidadians, the mining at Scott’s Quarry was an environmental issue…something for tree-huggers and desktop activists to get hot and bothered about. For me, however, what  bubbled up at Scott’s Quarry this week is yet another symptom of the corrupt political system that us citizens encourage.
Asa Wright Nature Reserve is one of a handful of green spaces in Trinidad (Tobago is a different kettle of fish) that’s managed with any effectiveness….and there is a lot of room for improvement, don’t get me wrong, but at least the folks there have a clear cut vision and mission….this aint no Debe Water Park that poorly planned, executed and counting on its friends inside WASA for tax payer subsidised water. But our environmental policies reflect both a government and a citizenry barely think about the environment or care about it. It seems that no clear link exists in most citizens’ minds about the role of the environment to their well-being….I guess because we don’t factor it in $$$$$ and sense!

So in 2004/5 thereabouts you had a Patrick Manning-led PNM reversing environmental laws for the sake of the construction industry. And we all know who the leaders of the construction industry are….these fellas needed aggregate for construction….and in order to quarry the EMA needed to give permission….so Manning decided to do away with the permission for any quarry under 150 acres. And since then, small to medium quarries have been set up all over the Northern Range, from Santa Cruz to Toco, blasting away, screwing up the environment, silting up our waterways, depleting our wildlife and water supplies and increasing our flooding issues annually.

Yet, talk to the average PNM supporter and these days Manning is the greatest thing since sliced bread because under him the construction industry was booming, people were working and things were getting done. As far as they are concerned is ungrateful Trinis who put Manning out of power.  Few PNM supporters want to remember or point out that there was a lot of questionable stuff going on with Manning, Calder Hart, UDECOTT and the company that has the mining contract for Scott’s Quarry, Sunway Construction. Perhaps this article from Andre Bagoo, or this story from the Trinidad Guardian or this flashback story from the Newsday in 2010 when the DPP requested an investigation will refresh people’s memories.

Now study yuh head good and start to ask some probing questions.
This is not the same Calder Hart and Sunway that Prakash Ramadhar, Vernon De Lima, Jack Warner and Kamla Persad-Bissessar carry on about and build their 2010 elections campaign on? Then how come this contract still valid and not under investigation and this government still doing business with them? How come this People’s Partnership government, that announced it had an environmental policy, has yet to fulfil any of that policy?

Where the re-planting of denuded hillsides from the 120-day plan?

Why are smelter plants still on the agenda?

Why are  our hillsides being mined and quarried for sub-par aggregate to fill the roads?

And on what grounds was the mining really shut down? Sunway has a legal contract and did nothing wrong….did you shut down the mining to distract people from the fact that you are in fact in bed with a company that you lambast Manning and the PNM for?????? Something smelling funny, Kamla, and is not your $5000 shoes.

The next major issue of the week is the spending habits of this government as evidenced in Vernella and Fuad’s credit card syndrome. Yesterday I printed a copy of Government Minister Salary and Allowances so that people could get an idea of the kind of money a minister makes either annually or monthly. I wanted them to see too that everything Shoppin-Toppin claims she was using her credit card for was actually covered by the State (read, tax payers and treasury money).  Shoppin Toppin and her husband have access to free travel to and from Trinidad, free meals, free accommodation and an expense account for entertainment…..so what on earth was the credit card being used for?

And couple that with the fact that she never read the rules of the credit card and keeps insisting that she did nothing wrong. You broke laws, Toppin….LAWS! And yet the leaders of this government turn a blind eye to this?

Then Fuad Khan jump up and take front and apologise before we find out about his crime….as if apologising for criminal activity in advance absolves you….oh, wait, under this government it does….so Fuad broke laws, and all he has to do is issue an apology and everything is ok? So if Amy Annmunthodo abuser and killer say he sorry…he could get out of jail free? Ask all yuh selves these questions, people. What are we  allowing and agreeing to when we defend and pardon these people?

Police brutality and violence came under scrutiny again this week and I going to boil this down real simple….in 2012 for 107 days the government of Trinidad and Tobago gave the TTPS absolute carte blanche to arrest and detain whoever they wanted, however they wanted without evidence or proof…mere suspicion was enough….it was called the State of Emergency…remember that? Citizen’s rights were suspended during that period and we were living in a police state…..nobody expected there to be any backlash from the Police Service in the aftermath of the SoE? 107 days they aint have to account to anyone for their behaviour and actions…..and brutal police raids shocking all yuh now?

The most major story this week though, had to be Kamla the Nepotist! In a series of missteps that have either played out in Parliament or are being covered by the local media, a larger picture is being painted of Kamla Rani doing precisely what she accused Patrick Manning of during his tenure as leader. It appears that the PM’s sister may be living at the official prime ministerial residence. This is the same sister that the State of Trinidad and Tobago has spent roughly TT$1m on to cover her travel expenses with the PM for 4 documented, cabinet-approved trips abroad.

Now ask yourselves a few questions:
1. If the PM is allowed a personal assistant or Protocol Officer, why doesn’t she simply hire a female protocol officer that she can trust?
2. If it is state practice to pay for a travel adviser/assistant why all of the lies and where is the evidence to support your claim?
3. Who are these cabinet members that are approving this use of our state funds?
4. Where is the Minister of Finance in all of this? He has final say on State spending that includes the credit cards that Fuad and Vernella abused, as well as okaying spending on the PMs sister…..why is Dookeran not being made to answer questions on this issue?
5. Is Prakash Ramadhar and the COP in agreement with all this abuse of state funding and nepotism?

One of the disturbing things coming out of this issue with the PM’s sister is that supporters of her government are now volubly supporting this kind of disturbing behaviour. Hazel Manning’s appointment as a Senator and Government minister is now being cited heavily….Camille Robinson-Regis’s abuse of the government travel card is also being used as an excuse for the crimes of the People’s Partnership….As if in Trinidad TWO WRONGS MAKE IT RIGHT!

Since 2010 I have been saying that the foolishness Manning did in his tenure as Prime Minister set certain disgusting precedents in this country and now makes it very possible for Kamla and her Deck of Fools to do things that are illegal, underhanded and immoral and they will be excused simply because “de PNM do it too!” When I tell PNMites that is Manning have we in this monkey pants, they get vex with me. And their lame fall back response is that the UNC/COP coalition doing worse. At this stage we still making comparison’s? Bbut seriously, if Manning’s government had set higher standards, would the country now be accepting crime and criminal activity that passes for governance under the People’s Partnership?

So the question remains how is the current version of the PNM under Rowley  improving itself so that we don’t have a repeat of the negative parts of the Manning years to look forward to? You know, the nepotism, squandermania and arrogant leadership…..

And how are members of this coalition government helping this government to keep its nose clean? Apart from the MSJ…who nobody taking seriously because of its small numbers and lone senator…. why is no other member of the Partnership speaking out on the obvious corruption, nepotism and abuse of public funds? Is it that Prakash Ramadhar is in agreement with Kamla’s behaviour or has he sold out the trust of his supporters to protect his position in parliament and along the corridors of power…..Et tu, Prakash?

Kamla, in 2010, came into government on a campaign that promised to get rid of:

  • Dictatorial Leadership
  • Squandermania and abuse of State Funds
  • Nepotism
  • Crime
  • A single export economy
  • Bad environmental practices
  • nation wide flooding.

Study all yuh head good and tell me how much, if any of those goals has she remained committed to; and what progress she has made with any of them…..in the mean time, Prakash…any comments from you brotherman?

De Vice Cyah Done!