标签： Trinidad and Tobago

A simmering public grievance boiled over into direct action in the quiet coastal village of Castara, Tobago, on Wednesday, when angry residents ignited debris, blocked key local roads, and demanded urgent intervention to resolve a debilitating month-long disruption to their piped water supply. For weeks, the community has endured inconsistent or completely absent water access, forcing households to ration stored reserves and rely on unregulated alternative sources to carry out even the most basic daily tasks, from cooking to cleaning.

Renrick Jackson, a long-time Castara resident and one of the organizers of the demonstration, told reporters that the community’s patience had run out after repeated unaddressed complaints to local water officials. “We are exhausted and fed up with this ongoing neglect,” Jackson said during the protest. “We took to the streets today to make our voices heard, and if this issue is not resolved as quickly as possible, this will not be the last you see of us. The disruption has upended every part of our lives – families are being forced to reallocate water set aside for farm and livestock just to drink and cook, simply because there is no other option.”

Residents specifically point to unaddressed leaks along the local transmission line and inconsistent, unfair distribution as the core of the crisis. Omari Solomon, another hillside resident, explained that geographic inequity has exacerbated the problem for households located at higher elevations. “Water does make it to some parts of the village, but it all goes to low-lying, flat areas,” Solomon said. “The problem is simple: WASA technicians are supposed to adjust the valve and pressure line to get water up the hill, but they never show up when they say they will. Most of us up here have gone weeks without consistent running water.” Jackson added that WASA crews have been observed driving past the known leaks daily for weeks without stopping to make repairs, leaving residents feeling completely ignored.

Shortly after the protest began, local and national officials acknowledged the crisis and outlined steps to resolve the issue. Minister of Public Utilities Barry Padarath confirmed that the community’s demands had been escalated to his office, noting that cross-island logistical delays had held up critical repair work for weeks. “We have been struggling to transport heavy required equipment from Trinidad to Tobago to fix the faults that are straining the local distribution line,” Padarath explained. “But we have now secured assistance from the Tobago House of Assembly to source local heavy equipment while we wait for our mobilization from Trinidad to be completed.”

To provide immediate relief to affected residents, especially those on elevated terrain where low pressure has cut off access entirely, Padarath added that additional emergency water trucking routes have been arranged, with service expected to be fully operational by the end of the protest day. Public Utilities Secretary Ricky Joefield also traveled to Castara on Wednesday to meet with residents and oversee the ongoing relief and repair efforts.

In an official public statement released Wednesday, the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) confirmed it had launched an urgent response to the community’s concerns, noting that multiple leaks along the transmission line connecting the Bloody Bay Water Treatment Plant to Castara and surrounding areas had left high-elevation customers without consistent service for more than a month. The authority announced it had already deployed two water trucks to serve affected communities across Northside Tobago, including Castara and neighboring Parlatuvier, while repair teams worked to seal active leaks across the network.

WASA officials explained that while a major pressure-reducing leak was successfully repaired on Saturday, unforeseen electrical and mechanical failures at Bloody Bay Well #1 on Monday extended the service disruption. Full restoration of the water system was projected to be completed by 2 a.m. Thursday. The authority also implemented a temporary scheduled water distribution program for high-elevation areas to ensure fair access while final repairs are completed: high points in the Castara Housing Scheme will receive water from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Wednesday and on Saturdays, while high points in Parlatuvier will receive daily scheduled distribution limited by overall system capacity.

WASA has also deployed dedicated customer response and communications teams to the area to provide residents with real-time updates and address individual concerns. “We fully understand the deep inconvenience and frustration this extended outage has caused our customers, especially those in elevated areas, and we share the community’s sense of urgency,” the statement read. “We can assure all residents that every available resource is being deployed to stabilize the distribution network and restore a reliable, consistent water supply as quickly as possible.” Residents seeking additional information or emergency trucked water deliveries are encouraged to contact WASA’s 24/7 call center, operating three dedicated lines for the affected region.

In a landmark judge-alone trial held this week, a 31-year-old Barrackpore resident has been handed the ultimate capital punishment for the brutal 2024 murders of his separated common-law wife and their 14-month-old child. Rishi Motilal, who also goes by the street alias “Cook Meat”, was found guilty on two separate counts of premeditated murder by Justice Nalini Singh on Monday, who formally sentenced him to death by hanging.

The guilty verdict follows the prosecution’s thorough presentation of evidence connecting Motilal to the fatal October 8, 2024 attack that claimed the lives of 31-year-old Tara “Geeta” Ramsaroop and the couple’s young daughter, Shermaya Motilal. Court proceedings laid out a grim timeline of the violence, which erupted inside Motilal’s Rig Road residence after a routine argument between the estranged couple escalated to lethal force. Per the case presented by the State, Motilal first assaulted Ramsaroop with an iron pipe before retrieving a cutlass, which he used to repeatedly slash his victim before cutting her throat. After killing Ramsaroop, he turned the weapon on their defenceless toddler to end her life as well.

Following the attack, Motilal fled the scene in a blue station wagon owned by a relative of Ramsaroop’s new romantic partner. Investigators later located the vehicle torched and abandoned in a dense, bushy terrain off Rochard Road in Penal, a finding that Motilal did not contest. He also entered a guilty plea for the charge of malicious property damage related to the arson, for which he was sentenced to time already served behind bars leading up to the trial.

A core pillar of the prosecution’s case rested on first-hand testimony of Motilal’s own confessions delivered immediately after the killings. Both his mother, Farisha Mohammed, and sister-in-law, Gayatri Motilal, told the court they received phone calls from a distraught Motilal, who openly admitted to carrying out the double homicide. An independent civilian witness corroborated this account, confirming that Motilal had made a similar admission to them as well.

In an effort to reduce the charges against his client, Motilal’s defence team mounted a provocation defence, arguing that the killings were not premeditated. Motilal testified that Ramsaroop’s comment that he would never be allowed to see their children again pushed him over the edge, saying he fell into a “dark hole” and could not clearly remember the sequence of events that followed. His legal team urged Justice Singh to reduce the charges from murder to manslaughter on these grounds.

Justice Singh ultimately rejected the defence’s argument, pointing to multiple pieces of evidence that proved Motilal acted with clear, deliberate intent to kill. She noted that the sequence of events—from Motilal choosing to arm himself with two separate weapons to the brutal nature of the injuries inflicted—demonstrated premeditation rather than a sudden, uncontrollable outburst of rage. She further highlighted Motilal’s own statement to police, in which he explained he killed the infant to prevent her from “suffering” without her mother, as additional confirmation that he made a calculated choice rather than acting out of uncontrolled passion. The judge emphasized that the deliberate manner of the child’s killing left no room for any finding other than intentional murder.

The prosecution team was led by barristers Dylan Martin, Josiah Soo Hon and Khi Cambridge, while Motilal was represented throughout the trial by defence attorneys Stephen Wilson and Ayanna Norville-Modeste.

In a brazen early-morning assault that has sent shockwaves through local law enforcement circles, a 50-year-old Crime Scene Investigator assigned to Trinidad and Tobago’s Northern Division was violently attacked and robbed of his brand-new SUV in Tunapuna on Tuesday.

The incident unfolded just after 3:30 a.m., as the veteran officer cruised along Auzonville Road in his privately owned Kia Sonet, a vehicle valued at roughly TT $220,000. When he reduced his speed near the Roslyn Hall community area, an unidentified assailant who had been hiding in plain sight behind a parked maxi-taxi launched his surprise attack.

Wearing a plain grey hoodie to obscure his facial features, the suspect lunged toward the driver’s side window the moment the officer slowed. He immediately locked the investigator in a chokehold, raining repeated blows to the man’s head before forcibly dragging him out of the idling vehicle onto the asphalt. A physical struggle unfolded along the quiet roadway, but the outnumbered officer—off-duty at the time of the attack—was eventually overwhelmed by the attacker.

Leaving the injured investigator lying on the ground, the suspect jumped into the SUV, reversed quickly down Auzonville Road, and fled the area before backup could arrive. First responding officers, called to the scene shortly after the attack, provided immediate first aid to the victim, who was left with non-life-threatening head injuries from the assault. After receiving initial on-site medical attention, the officer was transported back to his home to recover.

Police confirmed that along with the vehicle, the suspect made off with the officer’s wallet, which was left inside the Kia. The wallet held critical personal items including the investigator’s national identification card, driver’s license, and a bank card, putting the officer at risk of identity theft following the attack.

Local law enforcement has launched a full manhunt for the suspect, reviewing nearby CCTV footage and canvassing the surrounding neighborhood for any witnesses who may have seen the attacker or the stolen vehicle in the hours after the incident. Investigators are also working to trace the Kia Sonet’s movement as they pursue leads to make an arrest and recover the stolen vehicle.

A high-profile incident of vehicle theft has sparked renewed calls for stronger public safety measures across Trinidad and Tobago, after United National Congress Senator David Nakhid fell victim to a targeted car break-in that stole thousands of dollars earmarked for local charitable work. The brazen two-minute theft unfolded on Monday afternoon, following what Nakhid says was a deliberate跟踪 from a commercial bank branch in Maraval.

According to official police timelines, the senator parked and locked his black Mercedes-Benz in the lot of Simple Choice Mart, a Cascade supermarket, at approximately 4:15 p.m. after leaving the Maraval bank. He entered the store to pick up a small number of items, and just two minutes later, when he exited the building at 4:17 p.m., he discovered the glass on his vehicle’s rear right door had been smashed by the perpetrator.

A quick inventory of the car revealed significant losses: $10,000 in cash was missing, along with two designer perfumes – a Christian Dior fragrance valued at $2,600 and a second bottle worth $800. Additional personal items including bank cards and official identification documents were also taken by the thief. Nakhid quickly filed an official report with officers at the Belmont Police Station, who have remained in regular contact with him throughout the investigation.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday outside the country’s Parliament building in Port of Spain, Nakhid said he has no doubt he was followed from the bank by criminals targeting customers who have just completed withdrawals. He argued that this incident is not an isolated one, but part of a growing, troubling pattern of criminal gangs staking out bank customers to rob them after they leave the bank’s secure premises.

The senator pushed back against any attempts to frame the incident through a political lens, emphasizing that regardless of his public position, this was first and foremost a criminal act that highlighted a broader public safety crisis. He revealed that the entire sum of stolen cash was set aside for his monthly charitable outreach across communities along the East-West Corridor, where he regularly distributes food hampers and covers utility bills for low-income residents.

“I’ve always said I’m willing to give the shirt off my back in charity…but I don’t accept to be violated by anybody,” Nakhid told reporters, describing the theft as a personal violation while expressing confidence that law enforcement would identify and apprehend the culprits. He noted that existing closed-circuit television footage from the area, paired with a witness statement, should give investigators solid leads to work with.

Nakhid’s core demand is for commercial banks across the country to expand their security protocols beyond their immediate branch walls, to cover adjacent parking areas where customers are often most vulnerable immediately after completing transactions. He proposed concrete changes, including having armed security personnel conduct regular patrols of surrounding parking lots and actively monitor for any suspicious behavior that signals pre-robbery surveillance.

Despite the frightening experience, Nakhid said he does not feel unsafe going about his public and personal work, but stressed that his case serves as an important cautionary tale for all local residents. He commended Belmont Police officers for their professional, prompt response to his report, but made clear that his top priority remains the swift arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the theft.

“This is something circumstantial. It happened,” he said. “But I want to see these people caught.”

For decades, Bernard Mahabir, 71, and Kenneth Gill, 67, shared a close bond as friends who regularly gathered socially. What began as an ordinary day of casual meeting would end in a senseless tragedy that has left their small community reeling in shock.

Investigative details from local law enforcement outline the sequence of events that led to their deaths. On Sunday morning around 11 a.m., Gill left his residence in Cazabon Gardens, Trincity, and picked up his lifelong friend Mahabir from his home in Pasea, Tunapuna. The pair first drove to a Lopinot community center, where Gill parked his white Nissan Tiida, before Gill’s son transported them to a social gathering in La Pastora, Lopinot. By 5 p.m., the two men were dropped back at the community center, and from there they walked to a nearby neighborhood bar for an additional hour of casual time together.

Investigators now believe that this stop at the bar would ultimately seal their fates. After observing Gill making payments with his bank card during their time at the bar, attackers targeted the pair, seeing two older retirees as vulnerable, easy targets for a violent robbery. The two men were last seen alive by relatives at approximately 6 p.m., when they drove out of the Lopinot area in Gill’s car.

By 9:40 a.m. the following Monday, concerned wives of both men had filed official missing person reports at the Arouca Police Station. Law enforcement immediately launched an investigation and called in the volunteer Hunters Search and Rescue Team, led by Shamshudeen Ayube, to assist in the search. Before their remains were located, Gill’s stolen bank card was used by the attackers to make multiple unauthorized withdrawals: $3,000 was pulled from ATMs in Sangre Grande in two separate transactions, and an additional $1,500 was withdrawn from an ATM in Arima.

Roughly five and a half hours after the missing reports were filed, at 3:15 p.m. Monday, police received a tip that led them to Tapana Road, a side route off Valencia Old Road in Valencia. There, they discovered the charred remains of Gill’s Nissan Tiida, with the burnt bodies of the two friends locked inside the vehicle’s trunk. The following morning, the remains were transported to the Forensic Science Centre in Federation Park, where family members formally identified the victims.

The tight-knit community where the men lived has remembered the pair as beloved, upstanding members. One neighbor of Gill told local reporters that Gill was an exceptionally kind neighbor who had lived in the Trincity neighborhood with his family for 30 years. Relatives of Mahabir shared that the two men had grown up together on the same street in Pasea, Tunapuna, and their decades-long friendship was so close that each man’s children considered the other a surrogate uncle. Mahabir, a retired married father of two, had left his position with the Tunapuna Piarco Regional Corporation roughly a decade prior; outside of his public service, he was known as a skilled tailor and an enthusiastic beekeeper.

As of Monday night, this double murder brings the national homicide toll for the current year to 117. For comparison, the homicide count on the same date last year was 126, marking a modest year-over-year decrease in total killings despite this high-profile violent crime.