‘Carla was loving, jolly’

Patrons who attended last night’s Toco Old Boys and Girls Association Back in Times fete were expected to observe a minute’s silence to commemorate the life of Carla Quamina, who was shot and killed at her Sangre Grande home on Friday night.

Sangre Grande Regional Corporation chairman Martin Terry Rondon said Carla, twin sister of Port of Spain Magistrate Carl Quamina, was one of the fete’s die-hard supporters and would be sorely missed at the popular north-east coast event.

“She would always have her complimentary (ticket). She used to have a good time in Toco Old Boys and would fete until morning,” Rondon yesterday told Sunday Newsday.

He described Carla, who worked as a female labourer in the corporation for several years, as “a very nice, loving and jolly person.”

According to reports, Carla, 55, was found dead by police in the living room of her home at the corner of Greenidge and Sellier Streets, Sangre Grande, around 11 pm on Friday, after neighbours reported hearing gunshots.

Police said the woman’s body bore multiple gunshot wounds. She was reportedly alone in her home.

Up to news time, police were working on the theory the mother of five may not have been the intended target.

Carla’s family and friends, meanwhile, took to Facebook to register their grief.

Describing Carla as “God-filled,” daughter Lekeesha said one could not help but love her mother.

Another poster wrote: “Carla this one hurting me inno, I don’t want to believe it. I can’t stop crying.”

While he praised the work of the Eastern Division and municipal police officers, Rondon yesterday lamented the country’s worsening crime.

“I know both the TTPS and the municipal police are trying their best round-the-clock doing yeoman service but I am still not happy with this anger that is taking place in Sangre Grande and environs.”

Rondon said he intends to convene a meeting with senior police in the division, ahead of a town meeting at Matura Government Primary School, tomorrow, at 7 pm.

“We have to sit down and discuss what we can do.”

Rondon said communities were being infiltrated by “outsiders,” some of whom were carrying out crimes.

“They come to our quiet and peaceful place and they do their thing, leave a bad stain in the area and then go their merry way. So we will be looking at that very closely. We can’t sit down and just talk.”

Sangre Grande Business Association president Ricardo Mohammed said Carla’s death hit home.

“It is a very sad thing,” Mohammed said, lamenting the country’s low criminal detection rate.

“That is one of our biggest problems. I strongly believe that if these perpetrators were caught in a timely fashion, it may tend to deter some of the serious crimes that are happening.”

He added: “Although the Police Service in the Eastern Division has one of the best detection records and they have a higher problem-solving rate overall, I think the service itself needs to upgrade on how they detect and find these criminals.

Mohammed, who was appointed president of the association in December 2017, said some members have already invested in private security firms.

“We are engaging the services of private security firms just to escort us into work and when we are closing up, which, if bandits have to rob us, they would come around that time.”

Mohammed said the association was also trying to get a CCTV camera system operational at entry and exit points into Sangre Grande.

“We are trying to work a system whereby we can have that monitored. So, for example, when something happens by one business colleague down the road, we know that we would have cameras at different points and we could probably try to get this footage to the police and they send their technical person to extract this footage which help them to better solve the crime.”

Mohammed said members were looking at companies that could provide reliable CCTV systems.