RMC News (2025)

10/06/2025

TRAPPED IN A NIGHTMARE--- PARENTS OF 6 CHILDREN DIE IN CAR CRASH

ANGELA Harroo says it feels like she’s trapped in a nightmare she cannot wake from. What began as a simple visit to family in Valencia ended in unimaginable tragedy on June 8, when her second son, David Harroo, his wife, Jennifer Ramourtarsingh, and their seven-year-old daughter, Sameerah, were involved in a devastating accident.

The couple’s Kia K2700 veered off the Eastern Main Road in Wallerfield and crashed into a ditch, killing both David and Jennifer. Sameerah remains in critical condition.

Police reports say the crash occurred around 10.20 am. Officers arrived to find the family’s van in a ditch on the southern side of the roadway.

The tragedy has left six children orphaned. Among them is 18-year-old Shanniah Harroo, who only recently marked a milestone birthday, April 23, a day she shared with her now-deceased father.

Speaking with Newsday on June 9 at her grandmother’s garage in Arouca, which shares a yard with the house her parents once lived in, Shanniah recalled her last birthday with her father.

10/06/2025

Adverse Weather Impact on surface water treatment facilities in North East Trinidad

10/06/2025

Despite signs of new tension from Venezuela yesterday, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said T&T’s relationship with our neighbour was “peaceful.”

The Prime Minister made the brief remark when asked to clarify the Government’s position amid escalating rhetoric in a diplomatic row sparked by Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro’s claim last week that Venezuelan authorities had intercepted a paramilitary group attempting to enter their country via T&T, allegedly with the aim of destabilising his regime.

Among the group, Maduro’s administration alleged, was a man identified as Guis Kendell Jerome, who Venezuelan Justice Minister Diosdado Cabello identified as a Trinidadian national.

10/06/2025

Nine men who were once charged with the high-profile kidnapping and murder of businesswoman Vindra Naipaul-Coolman have won their appeal reclaiming a $20 million payout from the state.

In a majority decision, the Court of Appeal on June 9 reinstated the compensation they had initially been awarded.

Justices Nolan Bereaux and Mark Mohammed formed the majority, setting aside a previous judge’s decision to block the payout and restoring both the default judgment and the original order by the master of the court.

Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh dissented.

The men had sued the state for wrongful imprisonment and malicious prosecution after they were acquitted at the end of the criminal trial.

In January 2021, High Court judge Joan Charles had ruled in the men’s favour after the state failed to defend the claim. A master later assessed the damages and awarded them each around $2.1 million in January 2023.

But in December 2023, Charles overturned that default judgment and the $20 million award.

Charles later said the lawsuit was not properly served on the Attorney General’s office, as required by law. She said the rules on serving legal documents to the state were strict and must be followed.

The men’s malicious prosecution lawsuit was filed in May 2020 and served in June 2020. After the state didn’t respond, the men applied for a default judgment in August. The state didn’t show up at the hearing, and the judge granted the judgment in default in January 2021.

The damages were assessed in late 2022 and finalised in January 2023. But by December, Charles had reversed her own earlier ruling.

10/06/2025

Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles challenged Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to state specific measures to both reduce school violence and help youngsters to develop, addressing a briefing at her office in Port of Spain on June 9.

While Beckles supported the discipline plus rehabilitation of errant pupils, she questioned the UNC's degree of empathy.

On June 5, the PM lamented cases of school violence, speaking after reports of three pupils beating up a girl at South East Port of Spain Secondary School.

Persad-Bissessar said, “Going forward we will treat every occurrence of assault or beating as an expellable offence in schools and an arrestable offence to be put before the courts.

“If they can’t train them to properly behave in school, then let them stay home and fight.” She urged schools to violence to the police, and said pupils egging it on must be suspended.

Beckles, however, said the PM seemed unaware that cases of school violence were already reported to the police. She said school violence has been a crisis for the past 40 years.

"It is clear that violent students must either be rehabilitated or removed from the school system."

She said under former education minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly from 2022-2025, improvements were seen in school violence.

"The multi-pronged approach was a work in progress and was focussed on schools with the highest levels of violence.

"Where rehabilitation efforts failed or where infractions committed were too serious, of course we know very well that students faced expulsion."

Beckles said via a partnership with the ministry, Servol had absorbed expelled pupils or those at risk of expulsion, so they had a chance at reform in a fresh environment.

She said the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service had helped, even as youth camps were being renovated. Milat and Mypart were expanded, she said, and would be open to girls.

10/06/2025

Transport Minister Eli Zakour visited the City Gate Transit Hub as part of ongoing talks with the Route Two Maxi Taxi Association, following complaints about poor infrastructure and operational inefficiencies.

Zakour met with association president Brenton Knights and secretary Vernell Carter, who raised concerns about conditions at City Gate and the Sangre Grande transit hub, along with broader administrative challenges facing maxi taxi operators.

The minister’s on-site visit was intended to get a first-hand look at the issues affecting both drivers and commuters.

10/06/2025

The San Juan Business Association (SJBA) is renewing its call to the Government to stop spending money on repairs and instead relocate the San Juan Fire Station to a safer, more accessible site.

President Abrahim Ali expressed frustration that after more than 20 years of appeals, the Fire Station remains stuck in its current location in the busiest part of the Croisée, creating serious challenges for emergency response.

“Don’t waste public funds on patchwork repairs,” Ali said. “The fire station must be relocated immediately to ensure quicker response times and better working conditions for fire officers.”

He outlined key concerns: the station’s position in heavy traffic causes dangerous delays when fire trucks respond to emergencies; its proximity to the Priority Bus Route exposes officers to toxic vehicle emissions a hazard confirmed by reports from the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) and CARRIRI; and the station itself is outdated and ill-equipped despite covering a vast area including St Joseph, Mt Lambert, Champ Fleurs, Aranguez, El Socorro, Barataria, and beyond.

09/06/2025

Police are investigating a robbery at the Pita Pit outlet in the Piarco International Airport that occurred around 10:00 pm on Friday 6 June 2025.

According to employees of the establishment, an undisclosed sum of cash was stolen during the incident.

Investigations are ongoing.

The Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago confirmed the report and said the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Eli Zakour, had been informed.

The Minister has since been in contact with the Authority to ensure the Airport remains safe and secure for all users.

09/06/2025

Minister of Public Utilities, Barry Padarath has accused the People’s National Movement (PNM) of prostituting CEPEP and using the programme as a slush fund to benefit senior party officials.

The Minister claimed that 360 CEPEP contracts were awarded without Cabinet approval ahead of the 2025 General Election.

“Many of these contracts were not up for renewal and therefore, the timing of it brings into question the motive, and it has to be that many of these contracts were given out based on a person’s party affiliation,” he told Guardian Media.

“They, the PNM, were prostituting CEPEP for political patronage,” he asserted. “When you saw CEPEP workers going to political rallies, when you saw CEPEP workers working for PNM on election day, it was as a result of the prostitution of CEPEP as an entity for political patronage by the PNM, and I make no apologies for saying that.”

09/06/2025

Newly appointed chairman of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), Roshan Babwah has stated that tackling the country’s water supply challenges—particularly in underserved areas—is the new board’s top priority.

Babwah, 55, a lawyer by profession, said WASA has been inundated with complaints from residents in South and Central Trinidad, as well as parts of the East–West Corridor.

He said it is unacceptable that these communities receive water only once or twice a month.

Babwah said WASA will re-route supplies to ensure rural communities receive a more consistent and equitable service—better than what they’ve endured over the past decade.

Babwah also said WASA will roll out a comprehensive operational plan within the next month to address long-standing distribution issues and improve overall service delivery.

09/06/2025

Yesterday morning, a road tragedy claimed the lives of an Arima couple.

David Matthew Harroo, 42, and his wife Jennifer Ramoutarsingh, 34, were the identified victims. Critical injuries were sustained by one of the couple's six children who was in the car at the time.

The couple lived on Arima Old Road. According to police, the deadly collision happened at around ten in the morning near Double Bridge on Eastern Main Road in Arima.

The couple’s youngest child, a seven-year-old girl, who was in the car with them was also critically injured and remained hospitalised yesterday.

She sustained a fractured skull, ribs and bruises about the body.

09/06/2025

Yesterday, police were looking for a Diego Martin, man who was caught on camera abusing a young woman and telling her to change into her clothes. As her "Seven days were done," the police said.

The young woman of African origin, wearing just a bra and a pair of pink and black tights, was heard sobbing and pleading with the suspect to leave her in the 44-second video that was shared on social media. She refused to go even as he hit and slapped her in the head and face.

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