Joshua Seemungal
Senior Multimedia Journalist
joshua.seemungal@guardian.co.tt
As global scientists continue to monitor the pandemic potential of bird flu, public health inspectors warn that T&T’s population could be at increased risk of viral exposure due to recent changes to the port health system.
Several public health supervisors, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, the port borders at Port-of-Spain and Chaguaramas are ‘open’ and vessels are being allowed into the country without inspections or with sub-standard inspections. They said this is due to a decision by Health Ministry personnel to form a Port Health Unit. The inspectors described the unit as illegal.
Although the Health Ministry Ministry claims a new port health unit was not formed, Guardian Media viewed documentation referring to a Port Health Unit.
In a letter dated April 24, Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Harry Smith wrote: “The Ministry of Health, Port Health Unit, is responsible for the grant of health clearance for incoming vessels to enter Trinidad and Tobago’s ports and the Public Health Inspectors/Port Health Officers provide several Public Health Port Health services under the Quarantine Act, Chapter 28:05 and the Public Health Ordinance Chap 12 No.4.”
The inspectors said changes to the Quarantine Act must be recommended by the Minister of Health and passed in Parliament but that has not happened.
In response to the inspectors’ claims, the Ministry of Health said: “The Ministry of Health advises that no new Port Health Unit has been established. However, the Ministry is working towards strengthening the current structure to meet the growing demands of trade and the shipping industry, thereby reducing delays, and preventing system overburden.
“Port health services, governed by the Quarantine Act, are provided by officers including the Chief Medical Officer, Principal Medical Officer, County Medical Officers of Health, Chief Public Health Inspector, and Public Health Inspectors. Their responsibilities include granting pratique (health clearance) for incoming vessels, issuing various sanitation and health certificates, and conducting health inspections. Each county is staffed with qualified medical officers and public health inspectors.”
Porous systems
Approximately seven public health inspectors from St George West County were previously responsible for inspections at the Port of Port-of-Spain and ports in Chaguaramas. However, that responsibility has been removed from them.
Instead, sources said four inspectors without jurisdictional authority and the necessary expertise are being assigned to conduct port health inspections. Port health clearance documents are being stamped with the St George Central County stamp instead of the mandated St George West Country stamps.
Health inspection sources said that has led to concerns by the Immigration Division about the validity and legality of the documents.
Inspectors said they recently met with Immigration personnel in an attempt to clarify the issue. The Ministry, however, denied receiving any concerns from the Immigration Division about the legality of port health clearance documents.
“They assigned a clerk to take clearance requests. We can have people coming into the country with bird flu and other communicable diseases. If you have persons who are sick and vessel clearances are being issued without proper inspections, we are going to have people with all kinds of diseases coming in.
“If WHO, PAHO and IHR are aware that anyone is issuing clearances for the country and anything could come in, we could get blacklisted and that could affect commercial vessels and Port could be banned,” an experienced public health inspector warned.
To grant a vessel port health clearance, an on-board inspection is required, unless a radio pratique is granted. Radio pratique allows a vessel to board without inspection. It is typically granted to recently inspected vessels returning to the port shortly after their last inspection.
For onboard inspections, public health inspectors go through the ship’s documentation, which logs any reported infections or potential infections of those on board. Once they are satisfied, and don’t detect a need for further investigation, clearance is granted. However, according to public health inspectors, the newly assigned inspectors don’t know what documentation to request, as typically only experienced inspectors are assigned to port health duties.
“They don’t know what to request. One of the most important pieces of documentation is a maritime declaration of health. It states that if anyone was sick or there was a death or communicable disease, eg COVID-19, you have to trace the virus. Public health inspectors typically come to the field with that training.
“Let’s say a ship is coming from Mexico, and there’s bird flu right now, we don’t know if anyone is ill and these people from port health are granting entrance. Immigration will rubber stamp, as they are not the first defence . . . and these persons will interact with people here. There are certain things you just don’t touch. there will always be allegations of corruption and mismanagement, but some things you just don’t touch,” another public health inspector said.
Additionally, Guardian Media confirmed that the country’s public health lab remains down. It has been inoperational since 2020, meaning water and food sample testing by public health inspectors cannot occur locally. Following a week in which a bakery made the news for pies with maggots, health inspectors said they cannot take food or water samples from food establishments, or test food supplies from ship galleys. Some samples are being sent to St Lucia for testing, but often do not ‘get there.’
Financial challenges
According to public health inspectors, the decision to change the previous port health system and establish a port health unit was taken after public health inspectors attached to St George West County expressed concern about overtime payments and other aspects of the port health system.
They maintained that legal notice 128 under the Patrick Manning-led PNM government (which was subsequently amended) defines them as overtime officers. However, a system was never put in place for payment, despite inspectors being asked to work overtime.
The Public Health Inspectors (Civil Service) (Overtime Allowance) Regulations of 1992 states, in part, that any fees paid to the Country Medical Officer of Health of the relevant county for processing results in the public health inspector being paid the sums mandated by the Regulations, including inspection of vessels, ships or aircraft by a public health inspector during his normal working hours or in excess of normal working hours.
“Public health inspectors started performing the duties. However because the Ministry has no way to be paid, public health inspectors were forced to accept the payment directly.
“We had several meetings with the ministry saying we wanted to get things regularized. What the ministry wanted to do was initially find money somewhere in the Ministry of Health - forgetting the state of the economy. So they wanted to pull money from some account, bearing in mind, that the shipping agents are the ones who are going to pay the inspectors (for inspections), right? We proposed that the agents pay the ministry. The ministry takes out the taxes and whatnot, and public health inspectors get paid. We get paid and the country gets money. However, it was decided that public health inspectors should no longer get the money,” a public health inspector said.
According to the inspectors, instead of the Health Ministry deciding to set up the proposed documentation and accounts to process inspection payments from shipping agents to the ministry, the Ministry opted to create a Port Health Unit to deal with the Port of Port-of-Spain and the Chaguaramas peninsula.
“They went ahead and did that, and in addition to that, they pulled officers from different counties who don’t work in our counties and do not have the jurisdiction. Now they stamping port health documents with County St George Central stamps from counties that don’t even have a port and they have officers working there. Added to this, we are supposed to board vessels to do inspections. However, we have a clerk from the Ministry of Health doing port health documents.
“We wrote them and we filed a judicial review on the 17th of April. When we did that, they decided to victimize a senior officer who asked for changes. They had him transferred,” a public inspector said.
The Quarantine Act (put in box)
Section four of the Quarantine Act states, in part, that the Health Minister may, subject to affirmative resolution of Parliament, make Regulations, as respects the whole or any part of Trinidad and Tobago, including the ports and coastal waters thereof, (c) the questions to be answered and information (whether oral or documentary) to be supplied by masters, commanders and other persons who are or have been on board any ship or aircraft or are desirous of boarding any ship or aircraft; (f) the duties to be performed by masters, commanders and other persons who are or have been on board ships or aircraft or who are desirous of boarding any ship or aircraft; (h) the enforcement of the regulations; (i) the conferring on appropriate officers of powers to board ships and aircraft and to enter premises.
Quarantine Act, Subsection - Ships Arriving From Foreign Ports, “Every ship arriving in Trinidad and Tobago from a foreign port, if radio pratique has not been granted, shall be pratique to be visited on arrival in Trinidad and Tobago by the Visiting Officer and the master shall thereupon surrender to the Visiting Officer the declaration of health and present to him for inspection any other ship’s papers which the Visiting Officer may desire to inspect. The Visiting Officer is hereby authorized to put to the master and to the ship’s surgeon (if any) and to any person on board the ship all such questions as he may think advisable for the execution of these Regulations.
“(1) No person, other than a pilot or a person acting in the execution of these Regulations, shall, without the general or special permission of the Health Officer, board or leave a ship coming from a foreign port before the same has been granted pratique, and the master shall cause all reasonable steps to be taken to enforce this provision. (2) Before any person, other than a pilot or a person acting in the execution of these Regulations, leaves a ship arriving in Trinidad and Tobago from a foreign port, he shall furnish all such information as may reasonably be required by the Visiting Officer or by an authorized officer, including information as to his name, state of health and origin, and information as to places recently visited and his destination and his address there and shall, if so required by the Health Officer or an authorized officer, complete and sign a certificate of origin and destination in a form from time to time approved by the Quarantine Authority.”