Moontown

Venezuela’s state-owned airline, Conviasa, is to provide service to Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago later this month, a senior official of the Grenada Tourist Board (GTB) has announced.

GTB public relations officer, Edwin Frank, said that as of July 25, Conviasa will begin scheduled flights out of Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago.

“It means that those wanting to go to Trinidad, especially for shopping and short trips, can use Conviasa, and those from Trinidad who want to come up can use it also,” said Frank.

“Small starts like this can lead to greater things, and we believe it will be good for the industry.”

Conviasa operates services mainly to domestic destinations as well as South America. (Jamaica Gleaner)

- CMC

Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke . - file

ALMOST ONE month after he was extradited to the United States to answer drug and gun charges, alleged crime boss Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke has still not settled on legal representation.

Coke, who was represented by two of Jamaica’s top criminal lawyers when he appeared in court locally, is still being assisted by a state-appointed attorney in the US as he goes over scores of damning statements to be used against him during the trial.

These include the statements of nine unnamed co-conspirators, identified in the court documents as cooperating witnesses one to nine (’CW-1′ to ‘CW-9′).

Alleged co-conspirator, CW-1, claims in his affidavit that he is a Jamaican living in New York, who has already pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to engage in firearms trafficking.

One witness’ claims

CW-1 claims that from about 2004 he was involved in distributing marijuana in New York and worked with Dudus for much of that time.

According to CW-1, he would provide weed to a friend of Dudus, who would sell it and send the profit to the Tivoli Gardens strongman.

The informant also claims that he purchased four firearms and shipped them to Coke in 2007.

He said some of his calls to Dudus were recorded by federal agents, including an October 2007 discussion when Coke said he heard that an indictment would be issued for them.

Coke, who is being held in a maximum-security prison in New York, has also been presented with an affidavit from Cooperating Witness Two, another convicted felon.

CW-2 said while he has never talked directly with Coke, he worked with a supplier who told him that the cocaine they were distributing was from Coke and trafficked into the US by female smugglers.

CW-2 also claimed that the supplier told him that he sent money and guns back to Coke in Tivoli Gardens.

Other documents are to be presented to Coke over the next four weeks, but it is still not clear which lawyer will be at his side when he returns to court on September 7.

On Tuesday, checks with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York showed no filing from a lawyer to represent the former west Kingston enforcer.

This means that Coke, who the US accuses of handling billions of dollars through a drug-trafficking and gunrunning ring, might return to court with the state-appointed attorney Russell Neufeld.

Not paid with ‘dirty’ money

A trio of top-level criminal lawyers, Frank Doddato, Steven Rosen and Nicolas Matassini, had indicated that they would be representing Coke, but that cannot be finalised until it is proven that the money being used to pay them was not sourced illegally.

On Tuesday, Doddato’s office said there was no development in the case. Attempts to contact the other lawyers were unsuccessful.

Under American law, any money being paid for attorney fees by Coke must meet the strict requirements handed down by a federal judge in the case of the US v Nebbia.

A legal source in the US told The Gleaner on Tuesday that the penalty for an improper Nebbia certification is an indictment for money laundering. (Jamaica Gleaner)

Police Commissioner Owen Ellington is trailed by army chief Stewart Saunders and Colonel Rocky Meade as they enter Jamaica House yesterday morning. At the back of the pack are Deputy Commissioner Glenmore Hinds (left) and Brigadier Antony Anderson. - Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer

THE GOVERNMENT has avoided the option of imposing a new state of public emergency, opting instead for the roll-out of a comprehensive crime-management plan.

The commissioner of police and the chief of defence staff will today outline aspects of the plan as they adjust to operating without extraordinary powers.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, in an address to the nation last night, said the parliamentary Opposition’s reluctance to support the extension of the current emergency regime, which ends at midnight tonight, was a blow to the security forces. But he vowed that they would not be deterred in the bid to crush violent crime.

“The non-extension of the state of emergency is a setback, but the battle can be won, must be won and will be won,” Golding said.

The prime minister did not receive the support of the House of Representatives on Tuesday to secure an extension to the state of emergency, which has been in effect since May 23 when the security forces moved into Tivoli Gardens to capture reputed crime boss Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.

Not end of the road

Despite not securing the option, Golding has the opportunity of seeking the imposition of a new emergency regime. The prime minister said the failure of his administration to secure a 30-day extension, until August 21, would not be the end of the road.

“We must continue the battle. We cannot allow the gains that have been made over the past two months to be lost. Too much is at stake. There is a sense of relief and growing confidence that many people throughout Jamaica have felt in recent times. No matter what obstacles are placed in our way, we cannot return to a situation where people were constantly fearful and frightened,” Golding said.

Criminals on the run

The prime minister told the nation that the state of emergency has achieved a critical goal: “The criminal elements have been shaken and they are on the run.”

The emergency regulations empowered the security forces to sweep through communities in St Catherine and the Corporate Area and detain persons, without warrant or charge, for up to 30 days.

A total of 4,181 persons were detained, under the emergency act, from May 24-July 14. Three thousand, four hundred and eighty-five persons were processed and released. Golding said the police and army needed more time to lay their hands on criminals.

“Many of the vicious gunmen who will take your life without batting an eye are in hiding; they are not yet behind bars. Most of the guns have been hidden; they have not yet been taken away,” Golding said.

The Opposition on Tuesday said the Government should not be allowed to use emergency powers as a substitute for a crime plan. However, Golding shot back last night, arguing that he had no such intention.

“Emergency powers must never become a permanent or even medium-term tool for fighting crime.

“But, given the level of crime in Jamaica and the brazen and organised nature of that crime, it was considered necessary in the short term in order to break the back of this monster, rid the streets of the main perpetrators and create the conditions where normal policing can be effective,” Golding said.

He added: “In going forward, the police and the military will need to rely even more heavily on the support and cooperation of the public in providing information on where the criminals are hiding, where the guns are hidden.”

The prime minister said the Government has secured the “cooperation of the courts and the DPP (director of public prosecutions) in fast-tracking the trial of cases involving serious crimes and high-profile offenders”.
‘… The battle can be won, must be won and will be won.’ (Jamaica Gleaner)

Harris

Member of Parliament (MP) Dr Patrick Harris has been ordered by the Tax Court to pay $1.6 million immediately or be sent to prison for 30 days.

The order was made yesterday by Resident Magistrate Sheron Barnes in the Tax Court at Falmouth, Trelawny.

Harris, a medical doctor, was served to appear in the Tax Court yesterday, but he did not show up and had no legal representation.

A tax department representative told RM Barnes that Harris had sufficient time to make arrangements to pay the outstanding sum but failed to do so.

RM Barnes then made the order based on the disclosures made by Scotland.

Harris is MP for North Trelawny and a member of the People’s National Party.

The tax department has launched a massive drive against delinquent taxpayers.

Minister of Finance Audley Shaw announced in Parliament this year that the Government would be relentless in its effort to collect taxes.

A senior lawyer explained that a parliamentarian cannot be barred from sitting in the House because he owes taxes since that is not a criminal offence.

However, he said there could be serious implications if a parliamentarian cannot afford to pay taxes. The senior lawyer explained that a parliamentarian could be declared bankrupt if he owes taxes, and under the law could no longer be an MP. (Jamaica Gleaner)

Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua and Barbuda were the Caribbean countries most affected last year by the global financial crisis, a new economic survey has found.

The cost of the crisis to the Caribbean was estimated at ten per cent of GDP, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said yesterday the launch of its Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2009-2010 at its subregional headquarters in Port of Spain.

The survey found that GDP growth contracted in all Caribbean countries in 2009 with the exception of Belize, Guyana, Suriname and Montserrat.

Stimulus packages in the region did not have any significant effect because of deficits and high levels of public debt, the survey said.

Unemployment increased in 2009 for Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize and Jamaica. The Bahamas and Belize were the most affected with unemployment spiking by at least five percentage points.

Growth prospects for the Caribbean remain bleak in 2010 based on low commodity prices, weak tourism receipts and threats to a robust recovery internationally, the ECLAC survey said.  (Trinidad Express)

Dismembered bodies of woman, boy found in Forres Park dump

By Richard Charan Editor, South Bureau

The dismembered bodies of a woman and boy were found—bagged and dumped—at the Forres Park Landfill near Claxton Bay yesterday.

The discovery was made by scavengers who saw the leg of a child protruding from a garbage bag being pecked open by vultures.

Police found more body parts nearby.

The heads were not found.

The dissections appeared to have been done with a power tool, police said.

The genitalia on a portion of body severed at the hips and at the knees, identified it as a female in her 20s. The legs of the woman were found washed further down a ravine, where the bags were thrown alongside a road leading through the landfill. There were anklets on the legs. The woman’s torso was also not found.

Police said the boy’s body was intact from the neck to the thighs. He was clad in multicoloured underwear. One leg was not found.

The child was said to be about ten years old.

The killings took the nation’s murder toll to 300 for the year.

There have been over 80 killings since the May 24 general election victory of the People’s Partnership, which campaigned on a promise to take immediate steps to bring rampant criminality under control.

The identities of the two were unknown last night, but police believe they were killed earlier this week.

The best chance investigators have of solving the crime may come from the dump dwellers who told of the activities of strangers at the dump on Tuesday.

Police said that at around 5.30 p.m. that day, five men came to the dump in a white-coloured Kia panel van and threw several bags into the ravine.

The dump is supposed to be off limits to all except sanitation trucks, and security guards at the entrance are expected to record traffic. Dozens of scavengers live on the landfill.

Local Government Minister Chandresh Sharma, whose ministry has authority over the Solid Waste Management Company (SWMCOL) at its landfills, went to the dump during the police search.

After speaking with the police, he said, “This morning I got information a woman and child’s body were found scattered in the dump and I immediately came up here. It is most unfortunate that this has happened because the Ministry of National Security is attempting to crack down on crime. But it seems people have lost their human values and they no longer respect one another.”

He said “we as citizens must do everything we can to help the law enforcement agencies”.

Sharma said over the past 20 years there have been several reports of foetuses found at the dump, the last discovery made only two weeks ago. He said the dump site needed to be secure “because people are coming here who are unauthorised. Some are earning their living here”.

Senior Supt Robert Cummings, Sgt Wayne Lawrence, Sgt Ramdeen and Corporal Barrow led the search. Anyone with information can call the Southern Division Homicide at 652-0495. (Trinidad Express)