标签： Trinidad and Tobago

A woman who had been in police custody following the fatal shooting of local construction businessman Steve Ghany was released from detention early yesterday, after the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) ordered her release to allow for continuation of the ongoing investigation.

The fatal confrontation between Ghany and the woman unfolded at the 37-year-old’s Vistabella residence around 8:30 a.m. on the day of the incident. What began as a verbal argument escalated quickly into a physical altercation, during which Ghany — a married father of two who had worked in his family’s long-running construction business for years — allegedly fired shots at the woman from his licensed firearm. None of the rounds struck her, leaving her unharmed.

In the course of the struggle, the woman gained access to a second licensed weapon and fired multiple shots at Ghany, killing him at the scene. When law enforcement arrived, investigators recovered both firearms alongside 11 rounds of ammunition from the property. For four full days following the shooting, the woman remained in custody and cooperated fully with police interviews and investigative procedures.

After senior police officials consulted with the DPP on the case, the top prosecutorial body issued formal guidance that the woman should be released from custody while detectives continue building their case. Her attorney, Prakash Ramadhar, confirmed the release in comments to media this week.

Ramadhar expressed appreciation for the cooperation extended by both investigating officers and the DPP’s office throughout the initial phase of the process. He also noted that the defendant is eager to see the full investigation unfold, with the hope that key lessons can be drawn from the tragic incident as the case moves forward.

According to Ramadhar, his client felt profound relief after regaining her freedom, allowing her to return home to her children and immediate family. “She has thanked the wide community of people who have reached out to offer support to her and her loved ones over the past four days,” Ramadhar said. “She will be pursuing the necessary mental health and support services to help her work through the deep trauma of this entire ordeal moving forward.”

After enduring more than seven months of captivity, brutal abuse and false imprisonment at a private residence in Penal, a 42-year-old domestic worker named Sabita Basdeo has finally escaped her captors, leading to the arrest of a local woman and her teenage son, Trinidad and Tobago law enforcement confirmed.

Basdeo told investigators she was held against her will from September of last year through early this month at the Penal property, where she was forced to perform unpaid domestic labor without any permission to leave or contact her family. Her account of the abuse details unthinkable violence: repeated beatings, having her head slammed repeatedly against a solid wall, burns across her body, and even pepper rubbed into her skin as a form of torture. When she was finally rescued, medical personnel documented visible bruising across her face and torso, along with abnormal discoloration on her hands that matched her claims of prolonged mistreatment.

In an emotional interview with reporters at the family’s Penal Rock Road home on Sunday, Sabita’s husband Krishendeo Basdeo, 55, shared that his family had been separated from Sabita for far longer than the seven months she was formally held at the Penal property. He described the devastating scene when he saw her after her escape: her face swollen and disfigured by bruises, her complexion unnaturally pale, and she was dressed in filthy, tattered clothing. He added that the captors threatened to kill Sabita if she dared to speak out about her treatment, and forced her to perform humiliating acts against her will.

Krishendeo, a casual laborer who lives with a chronic kidney condition, told reporters he made multiple efforts to secure his wife’s release long before her escape. He attempted to visit her at the Penal residence twice, and was beaten both times when he tried to see her. He also filed multiple missing person reports with local police, but his complaints were never acted on prior to the recent public outcry.

Sabita was finally brought out of captivity on Saturday, when the 38-year-old suspect and her 17-year-old son took her to the Barrackpore Police Station. She immediately identified the pair as her captors, and law enforcement moved quickly to place both under arrest. Following her identification, she was transferred to a local hospital for a full medical evaluation and treatment for the injuries she sustained during her months of captivity. She was reunited with her two teenage sons shortly after her release, in an emotional meeting that saw the family hug for the first time in months.

In a public statement confirming the arrests, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service said that officers from the Barrackpore Police Station and the Southern Division Task Force launched a coordinated response after receiving an official report of false imprisonment in the Barrackpore jurisdiction. The agency confirmed that the two suspects – a 38-year-old woman and her 17-year-old son, both residents of Penal – were taken into custody at the scene, and are expected to face formal charges including false imprisonment and aggravated assault. The police’s Victim and Witness Support Unit has also been assigned to the case to support Basdeo through the legal process.

The case drew public attention after social media videos of the abuse circulated online, prompting social activist and Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross Society Vice President Edward Moodie to intervene. Moodie condemned the abuse in the strongest possible terms, saying that the mistreatment Basdeo endured went beyond modern slavery, and amounted to some of the worst abuse he had ever encountered.

“These acts are unconscionable, they must be condemned at the highest level, and as a society we cannot stand by – we must demand full justice for Sabita,” Moodie said in a statement Sunday. After seeing the online content, Moodie reached out directly to Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander, Commissioner of Police Allister Gvearro, and the area’s senior superintendent to push for urgent action. He thanked Commissioner Guevarro for his rapid response once the case was brought to his attention, and noted that while the family credits divine intervention for Sabita’s safe return, they still need significant long-term support from government social services to recover from the trauma they have endured.

For any driver traversing the curving stretches of Naparima Mayaro Road, heading east toward Trinidad’s sun-soaked Mayaro beaches or the inactive mud volcano that once engulfed the village of Piparo, the busy New Grant three-way intersection often slips by unnoticed. What many passing commuters fail to recognize, however, is that this quiet crossroads connecting rural communities including Princes Town, Rio Claro and Williamsville has grown over decades into one of the region’s most resilient grassroots economic hubs, home to a thriving cluster of small businesses and the birthplace of a nationally celebrated grocery chain.

This junction has outlasted seismic shifts in the local economy, including the dissolution of State-owned agricultural conglomerate Caroni 1975 Ltd, which once employed hundreds of multi-generational local workers on its sugar cane, citrus and cocoa estates. It even survived the widespread economic disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced temporary closures for businesses across the country. Today, nearly 20 businesses remain rooted at the crossroads, with some evolving, some closing, and new ventures launching in just the past five years, continuing to draw loyal customers who have built their lives along this major regional corridor. As one long-time local resident told reporters, “You can get most of the things you need at this junction—not everything, but a lot of things. I think it is worth it to go there; the prices are sometimes better than when you go outside of the area.”

### The Historical Roots of a Community Crossroads
New Grant itself draws its name and origins from the Merikins, liberated African enslaved people who were promised freedom and land grants in exchange for fighting alongside British forces during the American Revolutionary War. What is now known as New Grant Junction was originally called Torrib Trace Junction, and it has hosted small businesses catering to cross-district commuters for as long as locals can recall.

The earliest permanent commercial operations were run by Chinese traders who set up the area’s first general stores along the main road in the early 1900s. By the 1960s, a public post office and gas station were added to the junction, meeting growing local demand for closer access to essential services. For local residents, the new amenities eliminated the need to travel long distances to the crowded urban centers of Princes Town or Rio Claro, cementing the junction’s role as a convenient community gathering point.

The turning point for the junction came in 1988, when local entrepreneur Mohan Persad purchased the junction’s original long shop, located on the roadway leading to Rio Claro and Torrib Trace, from previous owner Parsam Nanan. Mohan and his wife Shirley Persad transformed the small store into Persad’s D Food King, the first location of what would grow into a nationwide supermarket chain with a sprawling wholesale and distribution network. Today, that original location still serves hundreds of local customers every week.

### A Thriving Cluster of Local Enterprise
Today, the intersection hosts a diverse mix of businesses that cater to every daily need of local residents and passing commuters. The former Seecharan’s liquor shop has been converted into a hardware store, sitting alongside a gym, poultry outlet, barber shop, cyber cafe, multiple restaurants, and bars. A small religious and variety store has remained a community staple for decades, while street vendors line the roadside, displaying crates of fresh fruit, vegetables, coconuts and other local goods to catch the attention of passing drivers.

The New Grant post office and long-standing gas station open their doors daily to customers from as far away as Tableland and Reform Village. As locals stop to collect mail or fill their vehicle tanks, they often browse the surrounding shops, picking up fresh produce from street vendors or grabbing a quick meal from one of the junction’s many food vendors. The crossroads has even gained regional fame for its local street food scene, with multiple popular doubles stands drawing customers from across the area.

“ It is interesting because it is right there; it’s closer than going to Princes Town to San Fernando, and in my opinion, you get more value for some things. In particular, Persad’s grocery always has an offer or a sale, and it is like they consider the people who may not be able to buy in bulk or who need some more economic options, so I like it for that reason,” one resident explained.

### Persad’s D Food King: The Heartbeat of the Junction
No business has shaped New Grant Junction’s growth and identity more than the original Persad’s D Food King location. Local residents say if the junction has a heartbeat, it has been sustained by the supermarket, alongside core community staples like the gas station and hardware store. Today, Persad’s Wholesale operates as an international direct importer, carrying everything from fresh produce, dried fruit, dairy, grains and cooking oils to frozen and processed meats, canned goods, cleaning supplies, personal care products, home goods, electrical fixtures, appliances and seasonal merchandise. Its logistics network reaches more than 30 countries worldwide, but company leaders say the entire business model traces back to this humble New Grant location.

Ishvani Persad, marketing development executive and granddaughter of founders Mohan and Shirley Persad, explained that the founders started small decades before opening the New Grant location. By the 1970s, Mohan and Shirley were already running a small shop where prices were handwritten on brown paper bags, and sugar and chickpeas were scooped by hand for customers. That community-focused spirit shaped the New Grant location, which quickly grew into more than just a place to shop.

“Generations have walked those aisles. Stories have been shared at the counters. Trust has been built, day by day, year by year. And that is why New Grant is not just one of our locations. It is the original blueprint of what we know to be Persad’s D Food King,” Ishvani Persad said.

The founders chose the New Grant location for its strategic position between the east and south of Trinidad, a daily passage point for families commuting to San Fernando for work and school. It was also a deeply personal choice: the Persad family has deep roots in nearby Hindustan, and they understood the needs of the hard-working local community.

“They knew what it meant to build from nothing, to stretch every dollar, and to rely on trust above all else. At the time, New Grant was a growing community filled with hard-working families who needed access—not just to goods, but to reliability, fairness, and care. There was a gap, and more importantly, there was an opportunity to serve,” she said.

Built on a foundation of faith and community devotion, the business opened with prayers to Hindu deities Ganesha and Bhandi Mata, and was blessed by the founders’ parents. Today, the company embraces diversity, with a multi-faith staff and ongoing support for cultural and religious events across Trinidad and Tobago.

As the community continues to grow, Persad’s Group is moving forward with an ambitious new development project called “Legacy Plaza—the Gateway to the south-east,” currently in the planning and permitting phase. Built on the successful model of the company’s Grand Market in Barrackpore, the new development will create a one-stop shopping destination for the entire southeast region. It will combine retail space with an incubation hub for small and medium-sized local entrepreneurs, bringing national brand-name products closer to local residents and eliminating the need for long out-of-region trips for quality goods. The multilevel facility will also address long-standing infrastructure concerns, while honoring the Persad family’s New Grant roots, its founders, employees and generations of loyal customers.

### Unresolved Challenges Hold Back Further Growth
While residents and business owners agree that New Grant Junction’s greatest strength is its convenient, low-key alternative to crowded urban shopping centers, the crossroads still faces significant challenges that limit its growth. The most commonly cited need is a functional on-site ATM: currently, the nearest cash machine is far from the community, and many local businesses only accept cash payments.

Sharlene, a local resident who requested her last name not be published, said an on-site ATM would cut costs for working people. “There would be no need to spend extra money on taxis/maxis just to access basic banking services. People won’t have to carry large amounts of cash from Princes Town back to New Grant,” she explained.

Residents have also raised consistent concerns about road safety, traffic congestion and public safety in the area. Many noted that the junction’s pedestrian crosswalk is so faded that drivers no longer notice it, and most pedestrians have stopped using it entirely. Unregulated street vending has created unpleasant odors in the area, and the presence of three nearby bars means there is often no safe pavement for pedestrians to use, due to crowds and unruly behavior from occasionally intoxicated visitors.

“You have to be constantly on high alert. Where are the traffic wardens and police when you need them?” one local resident lamented.

A growing exodus of nursing professionals from Trinidad and Tobago is being driven by uncompetitive pay, blocked career advancement, and unsafe working conditions, according to first-hand accounts from three nurses who have recently relocated for jobs in the United States and United Kingdom. All three secured their overseas roles through international recruitment agencies, a pathway they describe as more cost-effective and streamlined than other hiring channels.

Darius Mollineau, a former psychiatric nurse with Trinidad’s North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA), left for the United Kingdom in 2021, citing a complete lack of upward professional mobility as his core motivation. Before departing, Mollineau had completed specialized training to work as a District Health Visitor and served in an acting capacity in the role for three full years. Only after he made the decision to migrate was the permanent position offered to another candidate, a missed opportunity Mollineau calls disheartening.

What disturbed him most, he says, is the widespread culture of extended acting appointments across Trinidad’s public health system, where some staff wait as long as nine years to have their positions made permanent. “I was like, I’m not going to be stuck in that holding pattern for that long. Even now it’s not my turn, I don’t want to be that person five, six years from now still stuck in an acting role,” he explained.

Today, Mollineau works at a hospital near Birmingham, England, where he has risen to a management role in just three years – a progression he says would be unheard of in his home country. He credits the foundational training he received at NWRHA for his success, but notes that the UK healthcare system offers far clearer pathways to transition into specialized roles such as nursing assessor or prescriber, with opportunities that are far more accessible for frontline staff.

When asked if he would ever consider returning to Trinidad and Tobago, Mollineau says he is open to the idea – but only after major systemic changes are made. Most urgently, he points out that nurses in the country are still being paid according to a 2013 salary scale, a frozen pay structure that has not been addressed in the five years since he left. “If salaries are adjusted to what nurses actually deserve, that would be a real incentive to come back,” he said. Though he has experienced repeated racism during his time working in the UK, he says his significantly higher pay offsets the disrespect he has encountered. He added that nurses in Trinidad are also undervalued by patients and hospital visitors, on top of being drastically underpaid. Beyond salary, Mollineau says expanded investment in ongoing professional development is a non-negotiable requirement for him to return home, noting that UK nurses are required to complete regular updated clinical training every three years to maintain their practice, a standard that is not enforced locally.

For Marcia Baptiste, a 17-year veteran nurse who worked with Trinidad’s South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) before moving to a New York City hospital in 2023, the decision to migrate came down to a search for financial stability and faster professional growth. “Back home, you get your pay check and it’s gone before you know it. I was looking for more long-term financial security, and moving here has really turned that around for me,” she explained.

Beyond higher wages, Baptiste says overall working conditions are far better in New York, though she does note one downside: a 30-minute lunch break, compared to the one-hour break she received at SWRHA. She acknowledges that nurses in New York still face systemic challenges – pointing to the January 2024 strike of 15,000 nurses across three city hospitals, who walked out demanding safer staff-to-patient ratios, improved benefits, and protections from workplace violence. But even with those shared challenges, she says professional advancement is far less bureaucratic in the U.S. “Back in Trinidad, you have to cut through endless red tape to move up. Here, once you have the required certification, you can climb the ladder very quickly,” she said.

As a single parent of two, Baptiste admits the transition to the U.S. was difficult at first, and she has faced implicit bias from patients who have questioned her competence based on her skin tone. She draws a parallel between this anti-Black bias abroad and the widespread stigma and undervaluing of nurses that is common in Trinidad. Baptiste, who plans to earn a specialized certification in chemotherapy administration – a program that is partially funded by her New York hospital – says the scope of nursing practice is also far broader in the U.S. than in her home country. “Back home, nurses rely on doctors for almost every decision. Here, we have real autonomy. If you’re certified to do a procedure, you do it, and the hospital will invest in training you to get that certification,” she explained. In the U.S., advanced practice registered nurses like nurse practitioners can diagnose conditions, order diagnostic tests, and prescribe medication, with many practice areas operating as nurse-led care models where patients only see a doctor for complex emergency cases.

Like Mollineau, Baptiste says she would consider returning to Trinidad eventually, and wants to come back to work in a management role after gaining international experience. But she echoes the concern that inadequate pay that does not match advanced skills and specializations would keep her away. While she does not support the long-term brain drain of Trinidad’s nursing workforce, she encourages young local nurses to gain international experience before returning home to share their new skills and knowledge.

The third nurse, a former employee of the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) who requested anonymity to protect her family back home, left Trinidad one year after graduating from the University of the Southern Caribbean in 2019, and has since worked in the UK and is currently seeking a permanent role in the southwest U.S. She cites systemic nepotism and favoritism as the core drivers of her decision to leave, explaining that hiring for permanent roles at regional health authorities is not based on qualifications, but personal connections. “Whether you have a bachelor’s degree versus an associate degree doesn’t make a difference. The only thing that matters is who you know,” she said.

She also describes a contradictory cycle where hospital management constantly complains about understaffing, yet claims there are no open permanent positions. After months of waiting, she was only offered a 10-month fixed-term contract. As a new graduate nurse, she describes her early experience on the job as dangerously overwhelming, with no formal mentorship or support system for early-career staff. In her first few days working on a cardiac ward, she was assigned to work night shifts completely alone after just three days of on-the-job experience, a situation she found terrifying as a new nurse. “Back here in the U.S. and UK, each nurse is responsible for four to six patients maximum. Back there, I was expected to cover an entire ward alone with no support,” she explained. That experience led her to resign from the position and pursue work abroad.

Unlike the other two nurses, she has no plans to return to Trinidad, with rising crime being another major factor in her decision to stay overseas. She notes that advanced education opportunities for nurses are also far more accessible abroad: next year, she will begin a nurse practitioner graduate program, a path she says would not have been possible for her in Trinidad, where management is rarely supportive of staff pursuing master’s or doctoral level training. She encourages other Trinidadian nurses to take the opportunity to work abroad, calling it one of the most life-changing and career-enhancing steps they can take.

The coastal paradise of Trinidad and Tobago’s Pigeon Point Heritage Park has once again been the site of a devastating watercraft tragedy, claiming the life of 7-year-old Angelica Jogie last Wednesday. The young girl’s death after being struck by an out-of-control jet ski is far from an isolated incident—it marks the latest entry in a decades-long pattern of preventable water-related deaths and injuries that have plagued the island nation’s popular coastal recreation areas. This newest tragedy has drawn immediate connections to a near-identical incident at the exact same beach that occurred 17 years earlier, exposing persistent gaps in safety regulation that have gone unaddressed despite clear court orders.

In 2007, a runaway pirogue crashed into two teenage vacationers—17-year-old Yanik Quesnel from Trinidad and Tobago and his girlfriend Ana Carolina Barry-Laso, a Spanish national—who were swimming off Pigeon Point. The collision left Quesnel permanently paralyzed, prompting a years-long legal battle that held both the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), the local governing body, and Pigeon Point Heritage Park Ltd, the company that manages the park, responsible for visitor safety.

In the 2010 ruling, Justice Judith Jones blasted the two entities for their failure to address a known hazard to swimmers. The judgment explicitly found that THA and the park operator had breached their duty of care to visitors by failing to keep large watercraft far from swimming shorelines and failing to install clear warning signs for beachgoers. Jones further noted that the teen victims had exercised reasonable caution for their own safety and were legally entitled to expect proper safety protections from the managing authorities.

In a public news conference held the same night of Angelica Jogie’s death, THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine referenced the 2010 ruling, which found the assembly liable for the 2007 harm. He framed the newest tragedy as a consequence of rule-breaking by watercraft operators, but public records show that even after the landmark court ruling, safety reforms have been slow to stop recurring incidents.

Within a year of the 2010 judgment, THA implemented a ban on all recreational watercraft use at two popular Tobago beaches: Store Bay and Buccoo. Then-Environment Secretary Hilton Sandy stated at the time that the ban was explicitly intended to curb harm from reckless watercraft operation, allowing only jet skis operated by the Tourism Division for rescue purposes to operate in the restricted areas. Yet despite this initial policy change, dangerous watercraft incidents have continued to claim lives and cause severe injury across coastal areas of Trinidad and Tobago year after year.

A review of incident records reveals a disturbing pattern of unstopped harm: In 2010, Tobago resident Andell Roberts died in hospital after losing consciousness while attempting a stunt on his personal jet ski. Two years later, three American visitors—40-year-old Racquel Welch, her 13-year-old daughter Paige Welch, and their relative Lance Aqui—suffered devastating injuries when a pirogue linked to the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment crashed into their kayak at Scotland Bay in Chaguaramas, splitting the small watercraft in half. Paige Welch’s left arm was nearly severed in the collision, and all three victims required hospitalization. Later that same year, 17-year-old Angel Superville died in a jet ski accident at the same bay, in what was only his first time operating the watercraft. He collided with a tow rope connecting a larger boat to a dinghy, and the force of the impact threw the teen—who was wearing a life jacket and remained conscious immediately after the crash—into the water, where he succumbed to his injuries.

In 2014, 26-year-old Sheriza Ramdath was killed at Spring Bridge in Moruga when she lost control of her jet ski and crashed into a mangrove, dying at the scene of the accident. Her brother suffered severe head and facial injuries in the same crash. Four years later, another young life was lost at Pigeon Point: primary school student Shem Murray died two days after his jet ski hit an underwater coral formation, throwing him from the vehicle. He was transferred from a local Tobago hospital to a facility in Trinidad for advanced care, but could not be revived. That same year, 35-year-old fisherman Sheldon Guerra died off Los Iros when another vessel broadsided the fishing boat he was sharing with four crewmates, who had stopped to retrieve a fishing net. The collision happened in darkness, overturning both boats and throwing all passengers overboard, killing Guerra.

More recent incidents continue the trend: In October 2022, a lifeguard required emergency medical care after being struck in the head by a fishing boat while swimming off Maracas Bay. Just last year, 21-year-old Mathias Jerry went missing after a jet ski accident near Tobago’s No Man’s Land; his body was later recovered from submerged waters.

Angelica Jogie’s death has renewed calls for urgent action to enforce existing safety regulations and close gaps that have allowed decades of preventable harm to affect both local residents and visiting tourists at some of the nation’s most popular beach destinations.