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Vol. 32, Issue 43 QUEENS/LONG ISLAND/BRONX/MANHATTAN October 22-28, 2021
By Bert Wilkinson
Trinidad has forever been
known to be a country with a
healthy, competitive political climate
with not a day passing without
either the governing party
or the main opposition dominating
media headlines and social
debates.
After all, it is the country which
invented the social concept of bacchanal,
to describe in part incidents
relating to drama, conflict,
scandal and political rivalry.
On Thursday, both houses
of the twin island’s parliament
with Tobago will be involved in
an unprecedented session to vote
to decide whether an opposition
motion to impeach ceremonial
President and former high flyer
judge Paula-Mae Weekes will go
forward.
The main opposition United
National Congress (UNC) of former
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-
Bissessar has moved to have Madame
Weeks vacate the colonial era
presidential palace blaming her
for colluding with the Keith Rowley
Administration to undermine
the independence of the police
service commission and to breach
other constitutional procedures.
Weekes was the first woman president
of Trinidad, appointed back
in 2018. The UNC had supported
her nomination. Now, opposition
heavy weapons are trained on her
as they accuse her of bias towards
the governing People’s National
Movement (PNM).
The republic has been embroiled
in tense political debates over the
appointment or reappointment
of controversial Police Chief Gary
Griffith. The imbroglio has led to
the collapse of the commission
and serious difficulties in finding
persons willing to sit on a
new commission. Griffith’s contract
ended recently and he is off
the job, even as Rowley has publicly
said he has lost confidence
in the abilities and judgment of
the chief.
All this is happening as the
image of the police force has been
hit by a series of scandals including
a few linked to alleged extrajudicial
killings of criminal suspects
and another related to kickbacks
to senior officers in exchange for
the issuance of dozens of firearm
carry licenses to citizens among
others.
Critics say the motion is likely
New York State Attorney General, Letitia James, speaks during a news conference, to
announce criminal justice reform in New York City, U.S., May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan
McDermid, File
NY Attorney General sues alleged
cheating cemetery companies
By Nelson A. King
New York Attorney General,
Letitia James last Friday
announced that she has filed
a lawsuit against two cemetery
monument companies
for failing to provide grieving
families with the tombstones
and other burial monuments
they purchased.
The lawsuit — filed
against Polanco Monuments
and Heavenly Monuments —
charges that the companies
and their owners engaged in
a “deceptive and fraudulent
scheme in which they induced
vulnerable New Yorkers, coping
with the death of loved
ones, to pay upfront fees for
monuments and tombstones
but never provided the monuments.”
James charged that the
companies refused to issue
refunds, failed to provide
contracts in accordance with
the law, falsely advertised
their services, and conducted
unsolicited offers to potential
customers through
mail and through home
visits. The Office of the Attorney
General’s (OAG) investigation
found that these
MOVES
TO OUST
T&T PREZ
Motion to remove President
Paula Mae Weekes on table
Continued on Page 12 Continued on Page 12
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