作者： admin

False bomb threats targeting schools immediately after long weekends have emerged as a persistent, troubling issue in Trinidad and Tobago, according to the president of the island nation’s largest teachers’ union.

The latest wave of disruptions unfolded this week, when four secondary schools—Arima North Secondary, El Dorado East Secondary, El Dorado West Secondary, and Tunapuna Secondary—received anonymous bomb threats in a single day, forcing the immediate evacuation of all students and staff on campus.

In a statement shared with local media outlet *Trinidad Express* via WhatsApp, Crystal Ashe, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA), emphasized that stronger action is urgently needed to track down and hold accountable the individuals behind these malicious pranks. Ashe noted that bomb threats against schools consistently spike in the days following extended public holidays, a pattern that suggests the threats are often carried out by bad actors seeking an unplanned extra day off from classes.

“TTUTA, as a key stakeholder in the national education system, always takes any threat against school communities extremely seriously,” Ashe said. He added that while the Ministry of Education already has a formal bomb threat response policy in place for institutions to follow, the recurring nature of these incidents demands more proactive intervention to root out those responsible. “When teachers follow the established protocols, we are confident in the framework, but stopping the threats at their source is the only way to end these disruptions for good.”

Following the receipt of the threats on the day in question, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) was immediately dispatched to the four affected campuses. The service’s Explosive Detection and Disposal Unit and Special Branch teams carried out full security sweeps of every building, classroom, and common area on school grounds, searching for any trace of explosive devices or suspicious items. After completing their thorough inspections, law enforcement officials confirmed that no dangerous materials were located, and the schools were officially cleared to resume normal operations.

In an official media release issued the same day, the Ministry of Education confirmed that it had been notified of the threats immediately and had coordinated closely with law enforcement to respond. The statement noted that all established school safety and emergency protocols were followed throughout the incident, including structured coordination between school administrators and protective services, timely implementation of precautionary measures, and orderly accounting for all students and staff during the evacuation. “The safety and security of every student, teacher, and member of the school community remains our highest priority,” the ministry emphasized.

The National Parent Teachers Association (NPTA) also issued a statement reacting to the incident, with NPTA president Walter Stewart sharing his perspective with *Trinidad Express* via telephone. Stewart voiced relief that the threats ultimately turned out to be false, but echoed the deep concern shared by TTUTA over the recurring pattern of these incidents. He reaffirmed that schools must remain safe, secure spaces for teaching and learning, and that all educators and students deserve to enter campus every day confident in their personal safety.

Stewart pointed out that even when bomb threats are proven to be hoaxes, they inflict lasting harm on school communities. Beyond the immediate disruption to instructional time and delays to curriculum delivery, these false threats divert critical law enforcement and emergency response resources away from genuine public safety needs, he noted. They also spread unnecessary fear and anxiety among students, staff, parents, and the wider community, long after the all-clear is given. “These pranks are not harmless—they carry real costs for everyone involved, and it is past time that we crack down on those responsible,” Stewart added.

A powerful overnight storm that struck late Thursday has left more than 100 residential roofs damaged across the Toco/Sangre Grande constituency, prompting rapid response from local disaster management authorities and government housing officials to begin damage assessments and speed up relief for affected families.

On Saturday, a joint media tour of the hard-hit Azalea Circular neighborhood in Sangre Grande was led by Phillip Alexander, Minister in Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Housing, alongside members of the Toco/Sangre Grande Regional Corporation’s Disaster Management Unit. Also participating in the tour was Kenwyn Phillip, chairman of the regional corporation and local area councillor, who walked the impacted streets with officials to survey destruction and speak directly to residents displaced or harmed by the storm.

The collaborative assessment team, made up of Disaster Management Unit staff and a contingent from the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) under Alexander’s leadership, launched its work to streamline the grant application process for homeowners seeking funding for roof repairs and home restoration.

Alexander explained that the inter-agency coordination is designed to ensure no affected resident falls through the gaps. “As we collect information from each homeowner about their specific needs, all teams will align their efforts based on their respective responsibilities, working in lockstep to deliver tangible relief to every household impacted by this disaster,” he stated.

When questioned about support for homeowners with mortgaged properties, Alexander confirmed that HDC would deploy technical teams to guide residents through the assistance process, and noted that the Ministry of Housing maintains dedicated relief grants separate from resources offered by the regional corporation and local member of parliament.

Phillip added that multiple agencies offer targeted grant programs to address different needs: the Self-Help program typically provides support for building materials, while the Social Services agency assists with replacing damaged personal appliances and household goods. He clarified that the regional corporation itself does not directly issue relief grants.

Alexander also outlined the regional corporation’s role in delivering immediate temporary relief to displaced families, noting that local MP Wayne Sturge has already opened his office as temporary shelter for households forced to evacuate their damaged homes, providing immediate comfort to those who have nowhere else to stay.

Two affected residents shared their harrowing firsthand accounts of the storm’s sudden violence. Joel Spence, whose home suffered partial roof loss, described how the damage unfolded in minutes. “We had planned to go to Paramin on Thursday, but I came back home as rain started pouring and wind began lashing our bedroom,” he recalled. “We watched coconut trees bending in the wind, and by the time we rushed inside to save our bedding from the incoming rain, daylight was suddenly pouring through – the roof was just gone.”

Spence explained that his entire home was flooded, leaving all three of his household’s mattresses soaked. “Last night I slept on the floor, my wife on a blow-up mattress, my stepson on the couch, and only my son’s room escaped damage so he was able to sleep in his own bed,” he said.

Mary Parris, another impacted resident, described watching her entire roof tear loose from her home. “When the rain started, we could see the edge of our roof lifting up and down in the wind – it did that three times before it just ripped clean off and landed in a neighbor’s yard down the street,” she said.

Parris said her grandchildren, who had been upstairs during the storm, ran screaming downstairs in terror. One of her young grandsons was knocked over by the gust of wind as bricks from an upper beam began falling around them. “I grabbed him just as the beam came down – if that beam had hit us, we wouldn’t be here today,” she said. Her grandson was struck by a falling brick on his back, suffering minor scratches to his hand and foot, but was treated and released from the hospital and is now recovering.

“It was a terrifying experience that left me completely traumatized,” Parris added.

A violent home invasion in the quiet Freeport community ended with an armed intruder dead at the hands of a serving prison officer Thursday evening, leaving local law enforcement searching for three fleeing accomplices as of Friday. The targeted family, which has nine members living in a two-apartment home on McLeod Trace, escaped the brazen attack without any injuries, an outcome the household’s elderly matriarch attributes to divine protection.

Details of the attack paint a terrifying sequence of events that unfolded just before 7 p.m. A 71-year-old family member, who requested anonymity to protect her household, told reporters she was relaxing in the front apartment watching television when she first heard loud banging on the front door. Believing the noise was her daughter’s husband returning from his regular jog and joking around, she got up to investigate — only for the intruders to force their way inside before she could reach the entryway.

One of the four masked attackers immediately drew a firearm, ordered the grandmother to lie on the floor, and stood guard over her while the other three spread through the home to search the residential property. When the 71-year-old woman’s 16-year-old granddaughter walked in from washing dishes at the back of the house, one of the intruders grabbed her by her jersey, pressed a gun to her head, and forced her to comply with their demands. The gun-wielding suspect then moved deeper into the property toward the back apartment, where the prison officer, a member of the homeowner’s family, was resting in his bedroom.

Alerted to the break-in by noise from the commotion, the prison officer quickly armed himself with his issued service weapon, a black Smith & Wesson M&P chambered in 9mm. When he stepped out of his bedroom to assess the threat, he encountered the intruder pointing a firearm directly at him. Acting in self-defense, the officer fired three rounds at the suspect, striking him and causing him to fall to the ground immediately.

Upon hearing the gunshots, the three remaining accomplices fled the property on foot, and had not been apprehended by law enforcement as of Friday evening. The downed intruder was pronounced dead at the scene by responding emergency personnel, and had not been publicly identified as of Friday night.

When local media outlet the Express visited the Freeport home Friday, family members shared new details that have deepened questions about the motive for the attack. The grandmother told reporters that while the intruder who guarded her demanded her cell phone, the group never demanded cash or other valuables, and fled the scene without stealing any property from the home. She added that investigating officers later told her the weapon the dead intruder carried appeared to be fake. The grandmother also noted that this was the first time the family had been targeted by criminals, and expressed confidence the attack would not be repeated, given the intruders’ failed attempt.

Local law enforcement has not yet released updated information on the manhunt for the three remaining suspects, or any new details on a possible motive for the invasion. Investigators have asked anyone with information about the incident or the identity of the dead suspect to contact local police authorities to aid in the ongoing investigation. Despite the traumatic experience, the family said they are grateful no one in the household was hurt, and the 71-year-old grandmother emphasized she continues to feel protected amid the aftermath of the attack.