Residents: He didn’t deserve it

HEADS of the Port of Spain Division and acting Deputy Police Commissioner, Harold Philip met yesterday to discuss how they plan to investigate the assault on acting Attorney General Fitzgerald Hinds.

In the two-hour long “power meeting” police discussed how best they can arrest and successfully prosecute those who attacked Hinds and councillor Akil Audain as they toured Beetham Gardens to visit flood victims. The heads said they needed to “guide the investigation” as the actions of the residents will not be condoned. Also discussed at the meeting was why Hinds went without any security even though there were officers that accompanied him to the area.

Because of the flood, a police car did not go into the area and parked on the Priority Bus Route. The two officers that were in the vehicle did not walk through the flood as they had no boots to wade through the water with Hinds and Audain. Police added that Hinds went as Member of Parliament for Laventille West and not as acting Attorney General and made no request for police presence. The heads were not told of his visit and only found out after he had arrived and was touring. Police confirmed that Hinds will have a police escort from now on whether he wants one or not.

Yesterday Hinds and Audain went to the Besson Street police station where a signed a statement after an informal police report was taken the day before from him via telephone. When approached by the Newsday outside the station yesterday Hinds did not confirm if he gave a report. Asked if he gave a report Hinds said “that is my affair” adding that he is a citizen of the republic. In the statement Hinds said he was traumatised by the attack.

On Tuesday while Hinds was speaking with the media along 16th Street, Beetham Gardens, flood water was kicked on him and later a bucket of water was thrown on him and Audain. After Hinds telephoned the police on Tuesday, officers went looking for political activist Anderson Wilson, who police claim was the “instigator” to question him. Wilson was not where police went looking for him.

Residents of Beetham yesterday said the attack on Hinds was uncalled for and some believe that it will hamper them from being helped. The residents who spoke with Newsday were all affected by the flooding Monday and Tuesday, said those who threw water on Hinds and Audain were not affected. The promise of a $10,000 grant is insufficient to compensate them for their damage they said adding that the two days of flooding was the worse they saw in over two decades.

Lester Romany, a single father of two girls said he lost all the books and uniform for his children. His neighbour, Sylvia Gittens also suffered the same fate losing her children’s school belongings. Gittens lost all her daughter’s school supplies after the July 1 flooding and then her son’s on Tuesday.

Sybil Sankar, who has been living in Beetham for over four decades said they were accustomed to flooding but only a few inches. She and her family, including her nephew Nigel Sankar, who lives next door, had to bail out over three feet of water from their homes.

Residents yesterday were seen erecting barriers two feet high at their front doors to prevent water from entering their homes. At other homes, however, barriers of the same height were demolished so the water could flow out. Residents all blame poor infrastructure and a lack of continuous dredging of a nearby drains for the flooding.