Category Archives: Crime in T&T

Activist takes to the streets

By Jada Loutoo
Thursday, April 16 2009
newsday.co.tt

Verna St Rose GravesCHILD rights activist Verna St Rose Greaves yesterday chose to take her lobby outside the Hyatt Regency, instead of attending the Civil Society forum, which was taking place metres from where she held her one-person demonstration, outside the Carnival Victory cruise ship.

She wore a white dress, splashed with red dye to represent blood and carried a poster which read “Shame on a Nation. You neglect children, women, poor, homeless, communities in need, persons with disabilities.” On the poster were photos of Akiel Chambers and Amy Emily Annamunthodo, both victims of murder. Ringing a brass bell and shouting at the top of her voice, a barefooted St Rose Greaves said she chose the public place to speak out against what she called the injustice being done to the children in the country.
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Schoolgirl, 14, hacked to death

PH’ driver drinks poison

By Radhica Sookraj
Wednesday, March 18 2009

Domestic ViolenceFor 27 years, Churaman Ramsaroop showed no signs of being a violent person. But on Monday afternoon, Ramsaroop chopped 14-year-old Zoreen Ansara Mohammed to death, after tying her up with shoe laces, slicing her with a knife and bludgeoning her with a blunt object on the head.
He then committed suicide.

The murder/suicide took place off Bancroft Trace, Freeport, on a deserted track about four miles from Ramsaroop’s home in Arena Village. Late yesterday, both Ramsaroop’s and Mohammed’s relatives were trying to find out what had caused the murder/suicide.
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Karen’s dilemma

By Raffique Shah
Sunday, March 15th 2009
Trinidad and Tobago News Blog
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog

Karen Nunez-TesheiraWhen she entered the political arena and accepted the Cabinet position of Minister of Finance, Karen Nunez-Tesheira must have been familiar with the adage, “In politics, perception is reality.” She would also have been aware that politics exposes office holders to intense scrutiny, and more than that, all politicians are presumed to be corrupt and liars unless or until they prove otherwise. In other words, politics is downright dirty business.
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Child labour in T&T…A well-kept secret?

By Cherisse Moe
March 2nd, 2009
guardian.co.tt

Child labour in T&T…A well-kept secret?The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) defines child labour as work that exceeds a minimum number of hours, depending on the age of a child and on the type of work. Such work is considered harmful to the child and should therefore be eliminated. There remains no official statistics on the magnitude of child labour in T&T. However, rapid assessment studies conducted by the International Labour Organisation, (ILO), in 2002, uncovered some alarming facts.
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Rally, rally ’round T&T

By Raffique Shah
January 18, 2009

Trini PeopleTHERE was a time when the moment things turned sour in this country, those who could afford it would simply flee to the USA, Canada or Europe. That happened mainly among professionals who were educated here at taxpayers’ expense, entrepreneurs who rose from running one-door shops to the multi-million-dollar enterprises. The one aberration to this pattern occurred in the late 1980s, when thousands of ordinary people, mainly Indians, fled to Canada as refugees, claiming they were oppressed by an African-dominated state machinery.
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Descent into animalism

By Raffique Shah
December 21, 2008

Trini PeopleIt has been that kind of year. It was unpredictable at the beginning, became tumultuous as it regressed (well, I can’t quite say “progressed”), and as it comes to an end it leaves one wondering: would I live to see anything like this again? If you are a humanist, a caring person, you also wonder if your children or grandchildren would experience anything worse than you have in 2008.
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Daly Questions ‘Illegal’ Rally

PM wrong to take part

By Ria Taitt Political Editor
trinidadexpress.com

PNMPresident of the Law Association, Senior Counsel Martin Daly, yesterday criticised Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s participation in a ‘march’ last Friday at Woodford Square, Port of Spain.

Daly raised the question of whether the Prime Minister had committed a criminal offence.
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Rumors of War

By Michael De Gale
August 20, 2008

Young PeopleImmigration in the new global economy is a fact of life as wars, restlessness, employment and investment opportunities make it necessary for people to move. Attracted mainly by its new found wealth, T&T has become a particularly attractive destination for immigrants from across the globe. Evidence suggests that most of these immigrants are doing exceptionally well, establishing businesses and accessing supports from government and financial institutions that traditionally deny similar services to locals. As an immigrant myself, it is nice to feel welcome in your adopted home and be able to take advantage of the opportunities provided. What troubles me however, is that native born Trinbagonians on the lowest rung of the socio/economic ladder, continue to scrape the bottom of the barrel for opportunities while living in festering ghettos, not far removed from the days of slavery and indentureship.
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I don’t like to be hit. What about you?

By Verna St. Rose Greaves
August 11, 2008

Trinidad and Tobago News Blog
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog

ViolenceToo many of us as adults believe that the only way we can deal with indiscipline in our children, is to literally beat it out of them. Religious references support our nostalgic recollections of being beaten to demonstrate it’s effectiveness, because after all look how good we turned out.

Stories are told of kneeling on graters holding up two big stones in the hot sun. Or of being ordered to cut the tamarind whip with which you were to be flogged. In the extreme the offending tool of choice a stout leather strap or the urine soaked and stretched penis of a bull; its’ impact so far removed from its’ original intent.
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