Home E-Paper Traffic Cameras Classifieds Rio Claro man pleads for help after house gutted by fireby Just three months af­ter los­ing his moth­er a Rio Claro man was hit with an­oth­er tragedy af­ter his house was de­stroyed by fire 42-year-old Ramesh Deen is try­ing to re­build his home but he’s seek­ing help from the pub­lic since he is un­em­ployed and comes from mod­est means Deen said he lived with his moth­er but since her pass­ing in Jan­u­ary He said he was not at home when fire en­gulfed his house at 31 Mile Mark Deen claimed the fire was de­lib­er­ate­ly set but he has not yet re­ceived the of­fi­cial cause of the fire from the Fire Ser­vice He said every­thing he owned — from fur­ni­ture and ap­pli­ances to doc­u­ments and cloth­ing — was lost in the blaze Still try­ing to re­cov­er from los­ing his home and while he is tem­porar­i­ly stay­ing with his sis­ter he des­per­ate­ly wants to re­build his home Any­one will­ing to as­sist can con­tact 295-4012 and 399-2701 Guardian Media is the premier provider of multimedia solutions and authoritative insight on news TBC Radio Network and The Big Board Company Send us an e-mail here or call us at +1-(868)-225-4465 / +1-(868)-235-5668 Juan Guillermo Garcés had a brush with death while burning jungle for cattle pasture – now he runs a nature reserve in Colombia where more than 100 new species have been discovered The temperature rose and Garcés struggled to see through the haze lizards and birds desperately trying to escape the flames surrounding them Garcés and his brother started the fire that nearly killed them to clear a large stretch of land But when the wind suddenly changed direction but the fire destroyed the little remaining patch of virgin forest on the family’s 2,500-hectare (6,200-acre) ranch Experiencing firsthand what the animals and plants endured was a turning point for Garcés “I felt death there in the flames,” he says you become painfully aware of the destruction you have caused.” In an attempt to undo the damage he caused in his youth the 74-year-old created the Rio Claro nature reserve a 3,000-hectare (7,400-acre) oasis teeming with wildlife Garcés’s reserve marks him as one of Colombia’s most successful environmental protectors Juan Guillermo Garcés: ‘I have never really been the owner of these forests they are the true owners’ Photograph: Anastasia Austin and Douwe den Held/The GuardianMany of the species that fled Garcés’s fire more than five decades ago find refuge in the reserve climbing in the canopy and drinking from the clear It owes its biodiversity partly to the marble bedrock upon which its jungle grows creates conditions for unusually high numbers of rare and endemic species The Rio Claro basin is home to almost 850 species of fauna and more than 3,000 of flora “More than 100 new species have been discovered in Rio Claro … and counting,” says Saúl E Hoyos-Gómez “It is a very special place – one of the few where you can find this level of biodiversity.” Garcés was born into a ranching family in an era when the Colombian government encouraged ranchers to push the boundaries of expansion and “settle” the seemingly infinite jungle would become the land’s owner,” says Garcés He would probably have become a rancher too if not for events that profoundly altered his worldview One such moment was almost being burned alive Much of the land near the Rio Claro reserve has been turned into cattle pastureAnother was first seeing the untouched natural paradise near the Garcés family ranch soon to be destroyed by a road-building project Recovery in the hot and humid climate is fast pasture reverts to jungle within decadesGarcés decided to settle the land – this time where he lived for two years before building a small house It took nearly 20 years for the government to officially recognise his ownership Garcés had renounced ranching altogether to dedicate his life to reforestation He buys plots of land from peasant farmers Recovery in the region’s hot and humid climate is fast About 80% of Garcés’ reserve consists of land reforested in this way Garcés has had to navigate complex relationships with peasant farmers the government and armed groups – each with their own interests Colombian politicians have promised to prioritise nature but conservation results still largely depend on the country’s armed groups These groups sometimes drive deforestation in areas they control but also often limit it because they rely on the forest canopy to hide from government forces The clear deep waters of the Rio Claro inspired Garcés to abandon ranching and become a reforesterThe forest nearest to the reserve is home to several armed groups. For Garcés, the security risk of expanding in that direction is too big. But the groups’ presence has kept others out too, limiting deforestation for now. Read moreThe reserve also owes much of its biodiversity to armed groups The demobilisation of many of the groups since the turn of the century has put this land back on the market Many of the farmers displaced decades ago were too old to return and few of their descendants showed an interest Many needed money and were eager to sell the family land Garcés bought up as much of the land as possible to grow his reserve and save it from investors wanting to restart ranching He finances his project by setting aside a small part of the land for eco-tourism Growing numbers of Colombian landowners are following Garcés’s lead, turning pastures into reserves. This trend may help the country achieve its international pledge to protect 30% of its land by 2030 Armed groups operating in the forest often rely on the forest canopy for coverStill private reserves remain far smaller than those controlled by government The main association of private reserves protects 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) in total Private reserves also face an uncertain future after their founders’ deaths Garcés is still searching for ways to legally protect his life’s work “I have never really been the owner of these forests They are the true owners of this ecosystem.” Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield in the Guardian app for more nature coverage The element requested is either not valid or does not exist Rio Claro West captured their second Secondary Schools Cricket League (SSCL) Girls Open T20 title since joining the league three years ago after they dethroned defending champions Barrackpore East by 47 runs in the final on April 25 the "Western Wolves" (Rio Claro West) were dismissed for 94 in 18.5 overs as they had Barrackpore East all out for 47 Number-three batter Chelsea Ramlakhan (16) brought temporary stability to the innings but found it hard to form lasting partnerships Barrackpore seemed to have the upper hand as their left-arm fast bowler Jillian Sadaphal (4/17) wrecked Rio West’s top order Only Siara Mohammed (12) joined Ramlakhan in scoring double-figures but the small contributions of Chelsey Sookhram (nine) Corrine Perez (eight) and Nirmal Latchmansingh (eight) did go a long way in the end Sadaphal and Sookhram (2/15) topped the bowling for the 2024 winners who were missing their captain Amrtia Ramtahal owing to national duty They lost opener Hope Rostant (one) in the first over and then Sookhram (duck) and Denique Hercules (duck) in the third over Rio West skipper Keira Superville was responsible for three of the four dismissals And when Barrackpore’s Adiel Rostant (17) tried to stage a comeback The very next ball saw Superville return new batter K Gilbert to the stands without scoring as she completed her four overs with figures of 5/12 The remaining batters could do little to get the chase on track Barrackpore benefited from several extras in the final stages of their innings but still fell well short of Rio Claro West's total Rio Claro West joined the girls’ league in 2023 and began their campaign with a maiden victory over Barrackpore East in the T20 final Both schools clashed in the trophy match once more in 2024 Victorious captain Superville described the feeling of reclaiming the crown as “unreal.” “This is my last year in the school and I’ve been playing with this team since (I was) in form one To end my campaign on a high is an immaculate feeling this team has formed an amazing bond and I think that’s what brought us over the line.” Superville was also the title-winning captain in 2023 she returned to the helm and led her troops home “Everyone chipped in to help with the score It was a team effort that we put in the hard work over the past year we put our heads down and were not complacent Superville was also adjudged Player of the Match and copped the Best Bowler award head coach of Rio Claro West for the past three years We were determined to show what Rio West is about Despite some slip-ups during their batting Rama was pleased the girls could have readjusted their strategy and get themselves back in the game We also focused on redirecting ourselves back into the game even though we made mistakes It’s an emotional one (for me) but most of all I’m proud of the students and very happy for them.” the boys T20 Intercol final was under way between league winners Presentation College Chaguanas and Naparima College Missing Rio Claro man found murdered in Maloneyby A 28-year-old Rio Claro man was found dead Po­lice said of­fi­cers of the Mal­oney Po­lice Sta­tion re­ceived a re­port of gun­shots on Sap­phire Av­enue On reach­ing the scene of­fi­cers found the body of Nicholas Ed­wards bleed­ing from gun­shot wounds to his right armpit and left arm A dis­trict med­ical of­fi­cer was called in and de­clared Ed­wards dead at the scene In­ves­ti­ga­tors said Ed­wards was re­port­ed miss­ing on Thurs­day in Ma­yaro In­ves­ti­ga­tors from the Re­gion II Homi­cide Bu­reau are con­tin­u­ing en­quiries THE quick thinking of a store worker led to the arrest of an 18-year-old suspect inside a jewellery store in Rio Claro Police said the suspect walked into a Brazilian jewelry store on Naparima Mayaro Road shortly after 9 am on December 3 and announced a robbery He also pushed a broken glass bottle near the sales assistant's neck The man then went to the counter and began grabbing jewellery As he was putting the items in his back pocket the woman ran out of the store and locked the door from the outside and found a quantity of chains and rings with an estimated value of $3,275 A BAR OWNER has been shot dead at the front of the family’s bar in Rio Claro on August 6 a month after gunmen shot at the car he was in died in front of Tri-Star Bar at Dades Trace junction he was playing all-fours with other people when a Nissan B13 car stopped on the road nearby and a man got out He walked up to the group and shot Sydney before returning to the car Cpl Burgess and other officers from the Rio Claro police station were alerted Officers on patrol were among the first responders found the getaway car abandoned at the roadside near Dades Killdeer public cemetery Police from the Homicide Bureau of Investigations Sgt Ramsahai of the Homicide Bureau is leading the investigations Eastern Division police said Sydney was in a car last month in a forested area between Rio Claro and Tabaquite The driver was injured but Sydney escaped unhurt The motive for that shooting was considered to be robbery the day after he was chopped in his garden died at around 8.30 pm at the San Fernando General Hospital A 33-year-old villager who is an outpatient of the St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital was detained shortly after the then-badly wounded Gajadhar was found The suspect remained in police custody up to the afternoon of August 16 Gajadhar went to pick ochroes at the back of his home A close female relative later found him on the ground with multiple chop wounds Gajadhar was taken to the Rio Claro Health Centre and then transferred to the hospital A relative took to social media to thank the police for responding quickly to the attack But a post on Facebook on August 16 said: “(Gajadhar) did not survive the attack and justice must be served to the highest level thanks to the officers of the Rio Claro police station A statement from Mayaro MP Rushton Paray on August 16 said the brutal killing was another tragic reminder that crime and violence have tightened their merciless grip on the nation The Opposition MP said the once peaceful communities in the constituency have been transformed into dangerous killing fields “This rampant criminality thrives on the perception that our police are ineffective The country has lost confidence in every institution that is supposed to protect us,” Paray said “The public’s faith in our leaders has been shattered and unless there is a swift and decisive overhaul of our approach to crime we are doomed to continue down this treacherous path of chaos and destruction.” Gajadhar’s murder marked the fourth in the Rio Claro district for the year All four murders took place within the past few weeks was shot dead outside the bar at Dades Trace Junction and Tabaquite Road while playing all fours with other people A Nissan B13 car stopped nearby and a man got out walked up to the group and shot Sydney before returning to the car The car had been reported stolen in the Laventille district was shot dead at Pinder Trace off Dades Road for drugs and ammunition and in connection with a report of larceny at a house in the Rio Claro district The anti-crime operation took place between 3.30 pm and 8 pm on January 2 and forms part of the Emergency Powers Regulations 2024 considering the ongoing state of emergency (SoE) declared on December 30 The police arrested a 45-year-old from Pascal Trace off Brothers Road for having 1.49 kilos of marijuana WPC Hicks was expected to charge him with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking The officers also arrested a 21-year-old from Location Trace for having two grammes of cocaine at a known drug block In Torrib Tabaquite Road off Brothers Road the officers arrested a 34-year-old for having two rounds of 12-gauge cartridges The police also held a 33-year-old from Charuma Village in Biche in connection with a report of the larceny in a dwelling house The police recovered a stolen Stark garden water pump The police referred to the four detained as priority offenders Snr Supt Paponette co-ordinated the exercise Rasawaion and Edwards and WPCs Ramsaran and Hicks A man who went into a forested area over the weekend in Rio Claro to collect money from someone was shot dead was gunned down around 10.30 pm on August 3 at Pinder Trace off Dades Road The police said Modeste and a female relative went to the area to collect money from the person who was hunting at the time Modeste got out of the car and walked towards a man who emerged out of the bushes with a shotgun Modeste was walking back to the car when a gunshot was heard The relative got out of the car and ran into a nearby bushy area she checked and found Modeste unresponsive with gunshot wounds She returned to the car and drove off to get help She walked through a cassava field and informed people in a house and Insp Mahabir and PCs Kallicharan and Rampersad were among the first responders The police found the body with a gunshot wound to the head A DMO viewed and ordered the removal of the body pending an autopsy at the Forensic Science Centre in St James in the week Log in for full access to stabroeknews.com Only one active session is allowed per subscriber (Trinidad Guardian) An Exploration and Production (Public Petroleum Rights) Licence for the Rio Claro Block situated in the Wards of Charuma Ortoire and Guayaguayare has been granted to NGC E&P Investments Limited and Primera Oil and Gas Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Touchstone Exploration Inc.) by the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries the Ministry confirmed that the official signing ceremony took place yesterday at its offices at the Inter-national Waterfront Complex the agreement to execute this licence represents the culmination of direct negotiations among the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries NGC E&P Investments Limited and Primera Oil and Gas Limited “As we engage in ongoing exploration of onshore it is imperative that we sustain our partnerships with our upstream operators to advance the development of our hydrocarbon resources and foster a competitive fiscal landscape that encourages investment The E&P Licence being signed today reflects our acknowledgment of the necessity to maintain competitiveness to draw in investment,” said Minister Young at the signing ceremony The Ministry notes that the Rio Claro Block is an onshore block neighbouring the Cascadura Gas Development in the Ortoire Block which is also operated by Primera Oil and Gas Limited and projected to yield significant gas production Primera Oil and Gas Limited and NGC E&P Investments Limited was granted the Exploration and Production Licences in respect of the Charuma and Cipero Blocks arising out of the 2022 Onshore and Nearshore Competitive Bid Round The Energy Ministry notes that the Rio Claro Block is bounded to the north by the Charuma Block and to the south by the Ortoire Block “The key provisions of the Rio Claro licence are the financial obligations to the State and the work programme to be undertaken by the licensee,” the Ministry’s release explains “The financial obligations include bonuses Provisions have also been made for training and research and development (R&D) contributions along with scholarships for nationals The licensee has committed to a minimum exploration work programme which includes the drilling of three (3) exploration wells and the reprocessing of seismic data.” A FREE roundup of top news from Guyana you might otherwise miss Man stabbed after falling asleep at Rio Claro barby A 35-year-old man is be­ing treat­ed for cuts and in­juries he re­ceived af­ter be­ing at­tacked at a Rio Claro bar ear­ly on Sun­day morn­ing Po­lice said the man was lim­ing at the bar on Jef­fers Cross­ing The man re­port­ed to po­lice two men woke him out of his sleep and then at­tacked him The bleed­ing man ran out of the bar and on­to the street when a pass­ing po­lice of­fi­cer saw him The po­lice of­fi­cer took the man to the Rio Claro Health Fa­cil­i­ty where he was treat­ed and trans­ferred to the San­gre Grande Hos­pi­tal Of­fi­cers of the Rio Claro CID are con­tin­u­ing en­quiries Restau­rant’s earn­ings stolen af­ter Mau­si­ca road­side rob­bery Po­lice are in­ves­ti­gat­ing the theft of a quan­ti­ty of cash from an Ari­ma restau­rant when ban­dits blocked the path of the ve­hi­cle trans­port­ing the cash on Sat­ur­day night Po­lice said the dri­ver was trans­port­ing the mon­ey in a can on the Ca­roni North Bank Road around 11.30 pm when ban­dits in a sil­ver car over­took the van and blocked its path Two ban­dits got out of the car and fired shots at the van be­fore open­ing the dri­ver’s door grab­bing a pouch con­tain­ing $6,003 which rep­re­sent­ed the day’s sales for the restau­rant The ban­dits stole the dri­ver’s cell phone and keys to the van be­fore get­ting back in their ve­hi­cle and dri­ving off Of­fi­cers of the Ari­ma CID vis­it­ed the scene and found a bul­let two men have been crushed to death by trees in the Ma­yaro/Rio Claro dis­trict the body of 64-year-old An­drew Ram­per­sad was found by his friend un­der a large tree trunk near his Navet Vil­lage Guardian Me­dia un­der­stands Ram­per­sad was ren­o­vat­ing his home at Jairam Trace which has been in his fam­i­ly since the 1950s His rel­a­tives and friends were as­sist­ing him they de­cid­ed to cut down a mas­sive cedar tree about 30 to 50 feet tall near his home the tree be­came lodged in a near­by man­go tree so they used a rope to try to se­cure it to the man­go tree told Guardian Me­dia that a rel­a­tive warned his un­cle not to ven­ture close to the tree “The last thing my cousin tell him is don’t stay be­low there Ram­per­sad’s friend was ty­ing his bi­son to graze on Mon­day when he passed by Ram­per­sad’s house and called out to him he said Ram­per­sad nev­er both­ered any­one He said his un­cle had no chil­dren and his wife passed away years ago 69-year-old Biche res­i­dent An­tho­ny Morales died af­ter be­ing crushed by a tree he was cut­ting in Cadette Trace Griev­ing rel­a­tives of 36-year-old Ter­ry Aaron are pray­ing that the per­pe­tra­tors who snuffed out his life and in­jured his cousin dur­ing a shoot­ing at a bar in their neigh­bour­hood will be brought to jus­tice Po­lice sus­pect that the gun­men were wait­ing in the bush­es for the op­por­tune time to am­bush Aaron and his 38-year-old cousin while they were lim­ing at Fifty Shades of Gold Bar in Rio Claro on Sat­ur­day night Aaron and his cousin were in front of the bar along Na­pari­ma Ma­yaro Road in Union Vil­lage when two gun­men emerged from the bush­es and be­gan shoot­ing at them The vic­tims ran in­to the bar where Aaron died while pa­trons took his cousin to the Ma­yaro Health Fa­cil­i­ty He was treat­ed and trans­ferred to the San­gre Grande Hos­pi­tal where he was in a sta­ble con­di­tion up to yes­ter­day sev­en pro­jec­tile frag­ments and two pro­jec­tiles at the scene Aaron’s niece said they were heart­bro­ken She re­called that she was jolt­ed from her sleep by five to sev­en loud ex­plo­sions but her grand­moth­er dis­missed them as fire­works she said they heard bawl­ing and scream­ing When I hold my un­cle hand last night I could not feel noth­ing She said about two weeks ago her un­cle was in­volved in an al­ter­ca­tion with a group of peo­ple and they struck him on his head with a bot­tle She said he felt his life was un­der threat so he made a re­port at the po­lice sta­tion and asked the po­lice to in­ter­vene “I don’t un­der­stand why peo­ple choose gun­fire vi­o­lence but at the end of the day we leav­ing it in God’s hands and I hope that God re­al­ly re­veals the per­son who did this cru­el act.” Lament­ing that his death had left friends and rel­a­tives in shock she said Aaron was not a bad per­son and was not in­volved in any il­le­gal ac­tiv­i­ties I want al­lyuh to know that al­lyuh left a moth­er with­out a son al­lyuh left nieces and nephews with­out an un­cle.” Homi­cide de­tec­tives are in­ves­ti­gat­ing HOUSING and Urban Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis says two Housing Development Corporation (HDC) settlements in Rio Claro are not at risk of flooding She was answering questions from Mayaro MP Rushton Paray in the House of Representatives on December 9 Robinson-Regis said the El Guayanapo and Mora Heights housing developments "were constructed on hillside terrain and are not prone to flooding." While the HDC has received complaints about flooding in the area and there have been unusual bouts of rain in recent times the drainage infrastructure in both developments removes water quickly to further negate the risk of flooding Robinson-Regis said the Mora Heights settlement is in a forested area signed agreements with the HDC which specify it is the homeowners' responsibility to keep the units in a good and habitable situation it is not the responsibility of the Mayaro Rio Claro Regional Corporation to provide pest-control services to homeowners to deal with infestation issues shakes hands with acting prime minister Stuart Young hand after the signing ceremony yesterday for the exploration and production licence for the Rio Claro block Also in attendence Primera Oil and Gas director Joseph Pancham Ministry of Energy Permanent Secretary Penelope Bradshaw-Niles and National Gas Company director Howard Dottin The Ex­plo­ration and Pro­duc­tion (Pub­lic Pe­tro­le­um Rights) Li­cence for the Rio Claro block has been grant­ed to Na­tion­al Gas Com­pa­ny of T&T (NGC) E&P In­vest­ments Lim­it­ed and Primera Oil and Gas a whol­ly owned sub­sidiary of Touch­stone Ex­plo­ration Inc The Rio Claro block is sit­u­at­ed in the wards of Charu­ma This was an­nounced by the Min­istry of En­er­gy yes­ter­day fol­low­ing the of­fi­cial sign­ing cer­e­mo­ny at the min­istry’s In­ter­na­tion­al Wa­ter­front Com­plex It said the Rio Claro Block is an on­shore block neigh­bour­ing the Cas­cadu­ra Gas De­vel­op­ment in the Or­toire Block which is al­so op­er­at­ed by Primera Oil and Gas Lim­it­ed and pro­ject­ed to yield sig­nif­i­cant gas pro­duc­tion Primera Oil and Gas and NGC E&P In­vest­ments Lim­it­ed were grant­ed the Ex­plo­ration and Pro­duc­tion li­cences in re­spect of the Charu­ma and Cipero Blocks aris­ing out of the 2022 On­shore and Nearshore Com­pet­i­tive Bid Round the min­istry stat­ed Rio Claro Block is bound­ed to the north by the Charu­ma Block and to the south by the Or­toire Block The key pro­vi­sions of the Rio Claro li­cence are the fi­nan­cial oblig­a­tions to the State and the work pro­gramme to be un­der­tak­en by the li­censee It not­ed the fi­nan­cial oblig­a­tions in­clude bonus­es min­i­mum pay­ments and an­nu­al sur­face rent At the sign­ing cer­e­mo­ny En­er­gy Min­is­ter Stu­art Young stat­ed “As we en­gage in on­go­ing ex­plo­ration of on­shore we must sus­tain our part­ner­ships with our up­stream op­er­a­tors to ad­vance the de­vel­op­ment of our hy­dro­car­bon re­sources and fos­ter a com­pet­i­tive fis­cal land­scape that en­cour­ages in­vest­ment The E&P Li­cence be­ing signed re­flects our ac­knowl­edg­ment of the ne­ces­si­ty to main­tain com­pet­i­tive­ness to draw in in­vest­ment.” has an­nounced ini­tial pro­duc­tion from the Cas­cadu­ra C well pad the com­pa­ny com­mis­sioned the flow­line con­nect­ing the Cas­cadu­ra C sur­face lo­ca­tion to the Cas­cadu­ra nat­ur­al gas pro­cess­ing plant which ties in­to the Cas­cadu­ra-2ST1 and Cas­cadu­ra-3ST1 wells It not­ed that a new nat­ur­al gas sep­a­ra­tor has been in­stalled and brought on­line ex­pand­ing the plant's gross nat­ur­al gas pro­cess­ing ca­pac­i­ty to ap­prox­i­mate­ly 140 mil­lion cu­bic feet per day the com­pa­ny's Pres­i­dent and Chief Ex­ec­u­tive Of­fi­cer said the com­mence­ment of pro­duc­tion from the Cas­cadu­ra C pad marked a sig­nif­i­cant mile­stone as test­ed vol­umes from these wells be­gan gen­er­at­ing rev­enue A RIO CLARO BUSINESSWOMAN died at hospital after being shot and wounded during an alleged robbery outside Toyota's south office in Tarouba on July 13 According to reports, Carissa Ramrattan had gone to the nearby South Park Mall to get something to eat and was on her way back when the incident happened gunmen got out of a silver vehicle and started shooting at her Police cordoned off the entrance to the Toyota Trinidad and Tobago Ltd showroom where Carissa Ramrattan was shot on July 13 They grabbed Ramrattan's handbag and fled in the vehicle She was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital for treatment but later died of her injuries Staff and customers who were there were allowed to leave and the business was closed for the day Police officers on site declined to give information about the incident Some of Ramrattan's relatives who were at the scene declined to be interviewed Ramrattan recently celebrated her first wedding anniversary Her family are reportedly the owners of a hardware store in Rio Claro This story has been updated to include additional details See the original story with the headline 'Woman shot outside Toyota south office' below A WOMAN was shot on the compound of Toyota's south office at Tarouba on July 13 the woman had gone to the nearby South Park Mall to get something to eat and was returning to the compound when the incident happened gunmen got out of a silver vehicle and opened fire at her They grabbed her handbag and fled in the vehicle The woman was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital for treatment Her condition was unknown at the time of this report Staff and customers who were there were allowed to leave Business at the compound was closed for the day Relatives of the victim who were at the scene declined to be interviewed POLICE are investigating the murder of Keston "Milky" Alexander who was gunned down outside his Rio Claro home on July 20 Investigators said the 23-year-old was bathing in an outside bathroom of his Poole Valley Road Rio Claro home around 6 pm when two gunmen approached and shot him several times A Rio Claro man has received the High Court’s permission to pursue judicial review against the Commissioner of Police (CoP) for failing to respond adequately to his request for details on his firearm user’s licence (FUL) application Michael Hernandez wants access to specific details on his application and has cited delays and incomplete responses from the police service Justice Frank Seepersad granted him leave on December 18 and the matter will come up for a hearing on January 20 Hernandez filed his freedom of information request on August 9 asking for full documentation on his FUL application whether his file had been sent to the Firearms Permit Unit for view and reasons for the delay in processing his permit Although the police partially responded by September 18 he said they failed to provide critical details He received no further communication despite repeated follow-ups for information Hernandez contended that the commissioner’s failure to comply with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) timelines was a breach of her statutory duty under Section 15 of the act depriving him of his legitimate expectation of timely disclosure He wants a declaration that the commissioner violated the FOIA by failing to respond within the statutory timeframe He also wants an order compelling the commissioner to decide on his FOIA request within seven days as well as access to the requested non-exempt information Man shot dead in Rio Claro collecting money by A rel­a­tive of a 31-year-old fab­ri­ca­tor who was shot dead when he went to col­lect mon­ey owed to him has ad­vised young peo­ple to stay away from guns and vi­o­lence Mar­lon Mod­este of Table­land and Princes Town was mur­dered on Sat­ur­day night in Rio Claro Po­lice re­ports stat­ed that around 10:30 pm Mod­este went to an iso­lat­ed area at Pin­der Trace Dades Road with a woman to col­lect mon­ey from a man who was hunt­ing in the area He came out of his car and met with the man who emerged from the bush­es with a shot­gun But while walk­ing back to his car some 15 min­utes lat­er The woman hid in the bush­es un­til she heard a ve­hi­cle dri­ve off She then checked on Mod­este who was un­re­spon­sive and sought help from some­one near­by ad­mit­ted that he was a “rude boy” and last year spent nine months in jail on a rob­bery charge he said Mod­este had turned a new page in his life He said since Mod­este could not get a cer­tifi­cate of char­ac­ter find­ing a per­ma­nent job was dif­fi­cult The rel­a­tive said Mod­este re­cent­ly land­ed a job and planned to start a food busi­ness The rel­a­tive said he spoke to Mod­este about his lifestyle you al­ways try­ing to con­trol their life.” He ad­vised them to take ad­vice from el­ders The gov­ern­ment giv­ing plen­ty of cours­es.” East­ern Di­vi­sion Snr Supt Claire Guy-Al­leyne urged cit­i­zens to ex­er­cise ex­treme cau­tion when con­duct­ing fi­nan­cial trans­ac­tions Ex­tend­ing con­do­lences to the be­reaved fam­i­ly “I again take this op­por­tu­ni­ty to re­mind cit­i­zens when con­duct­ing trans­ac­tions of the na­ture it is al­leged that the de­ceased was con­duct­ing Choose pub­lic places that are safe and where you are not at risk of harm,” the se­nior of­fi­cer said Of­fi­cers of the Homi­cide Bu­reau of In­ves­ti­ga­tions Re­gion 2 are in­ves­ti­gat­ing killed in drive-by shooting at Rio Claro barby and an­oth­er man has been left in­jured fol­low­ing a dri­ve-by shoot­ing at a bar in Rio Claro last night The de­ceased has been iden­ti­fied as Ter­ry Aaron of Na­pari­ma Ma­yaro Road Guardian Me­dia un­der­stands Aaron and a 38-year-old man were lim­ing in front of the Fifty Shades of Gold bar along Na­pari­ma Ma­yaro Road in Union Vil­lage when two gun­men came out of some bush­es op­po­site the bar and opened fire on them The vic­tims ran in­to the bar where Aaron died while pa­trons took the oth­er man to the Ma­yaro Health Fa­cil­i­ty He was treat­ed and trans­ferred to the San­gre Grande Gen­er­al Hos­pi­tal where he re­mains in a sta­ble con­di­tion THE 35-year-old man charged with the murder of retired principal James Gajadhar from Rio Claro has been sent to the St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital for an evaluation Dorian Lewis appeared before master Shabaana Shah in the South B High Court She denied bail and remanded him into custody A police statement said the matter was adjourned to September 9 Gajadhar was found in his garden near his home with chop wounds He was taken to the Rio Claro Health Facility and transferred to the San Fernando General Hospital Rio Claro woman gunned down at car dealershipby Po­lice are un­sure of a mo­tive for the mur­der of busi­ness­woman Caris­sa Ram­rat­tan who was robbed af­ter a gun­man shot her at Toy­ota Trinidad’s com­pound in San Fer­nan­do yes­ter­day died at the San Fer­nan­do Gen­er­al Hos­pi­tal Ram­rat­tan and rel­a­tives went to the com­pa­ny to drop off her Toy­ota Yaris Cross SUV for ser­vice then walked across to the South Park Mall to do some shop­ping When she re­turned to pick up her SUV around 11.15 am a sil­ver Nis­san Note pulled up at the gate and a gun­man emerged and shot her sev­er­al times As Ram­rat­tan fell to the floor bleed­ing the gun­man snatched her hand­bag be­fore re­turn­ing to the car which sped off along Michael Ra­hael Boule­vard Ram­rat­tan was tak­en to the hos­pi­tal where she died short­ly af­ter.—KEVON FELMINE Man shot dead while playing cards in Rio Claroby A 29-year-old man was shot dead while play­ing cards near a bar in Rio Claro Re­ports are Gar­net Syd­ney died at the scene Guardian Me­dia un­der­stands that at the time of his death he had been play­ing cards with a group of peo­ple in a shed on the com­pound of Tri Star Bar at the cor­ner of Dades Trace and Tabaquite Road ap­proached Syd­ney and shot him mul­ti­ple times The oth­er peo­ple scam­pered for safe­ty as Syd­ney fell on the ground The gun­man then stood over Syd­ney and shot him sev­er­al more times the po­lice found the as­sailant's ve­hi­cle at Dades Killdeer Pub­lic Ceme­tery a short dis­tance away In­quiries re­vealed that the num­ber plates were false and that the ve­hi­cle was the sub­ject of a re­port of rob­bery in the Laven­tille dis­trict Po­lice re­cov­ered nine spent shells at the scene This is the sec­ond mur­der in Rio Claro this week Car­los Mod­este was fa­tal­ly shot at Pin­der Road when he went to col­lect a sum of mon­ey owed to him po­lice do not be­lieve the mur­ders are linked Of­fi­cers of the Homi­cide Bu­reau Re­gion 2 are in­ves­ti­gat­ing QUICK action by Rio Claro police on August 6 led to the arrest of a resident for allegedly trying to rob a customer outside a bank The police said the victim was walking out of Scotiabank at the Naparima/Mayaro Road when a man tried to grab his bag PC Kalicharan and other police officers were alerted and arrested the suspect a labourer from Guayaguayare Road in Rio Claro Rio Claro man gunned down hours after death threatsby was shot dead in Rio Claro on Tuesday night a 29-year-old man was gunned down while play­ing cards at a Rio Claro bar on Tues­day night was play­ing cards with a group of peo­ple in a shed on the com­pound of Tri-Star Bar at the cor­ner of Dades and Tabaquite Road and a man came out of the car and shot Syd­ney mul­ti­ple times The oth­er peo­ple around ran to safe­ty as Syd­ney fell to the ground The gun­man then stood over Syd­ney and shot him sev­er­al more times be­fore leav­ing in the car the po­lice found the ve­hi­cle used by the gun­man at Dades Killdeer Pub­lic Ceme­tery a short dis­tance away Po­lice lat­er dis­cov­ered that the num­ber plates were false and the ve­hi­cle was used in a rob­bery in the Laven­tille dis­trict In­ves­ti­ga­tors said Syd­ney had re­ceived three calls from some­one threat­en­ing to kill him ear­li­er on Tues­day He was al­so shot at while in a car last month in­ves­ti­ga­tors were still try­ing to de­ter­mine a mo­tive for the killing This is the sec­ond mur­der in Rio Claro with­in a week Car­los Mod­este was fa­tal­ly shot at Pin­der Trace Dades Road when he went to col­lect mon­ey owed to him Of­fi­cers from the Homi­cide Bu­reau Re­gion II are in­ves­ti­gat­ing Man stabbed while falling asleep at Rio Claro barby Crime scene tape surrounds the scene where a small plane crashed in Philadelphia The man re­port­ed to po­lice that he was awok­en by two men who at­tacked him Po­lice took the man to the Rio Claro Health Fa­cil­itg where he was treat­ed and trans­ferred to the San­gre Grande Hos­pi­tal DEFENDING PowerGen Secondary Schools Cricket League Intercol T20 champions Presentation College San Fernando will face a tricky Rio Claro East Secondary outfit when round of 16 matches bowl off on March 25 Presentation and Rio Claro will play at Union Hall Grounds Presentation College San Fernando would have been hoping to demonstrate a stronger showing in the premier divsion 50-over competition after finishing fourth the team found form at the end of the 50-over campaign After winning just two of their first six matches "Pres" won their last three matches of the season Rio Claro captain Stevon Gomez has had a memorable season and Presentation will aim to keep him quiet Gomez can be an asset in the T20 format as he showed his ball-striking ability in the 50-over championship south competition In a match against Shiva Boys' Hindu College Gomez struck 12 fours and 11 sixes in a knock of 147 off 96 balls His innings was not enough as Rio Claro lost by 28 runs Boodoo showed signs of his potential during the 50-over campaign including an unbeaten 200 against Toco Secondary but his scores against more formidable opponents were not as high Five other matches will take place on March 25 with many championship division teams trying to upset premier division opponents Vishnu Boys' Hindu College will be favourites against north championship winners Queen's Royal College; premier divsion 50-over champions Presentation College Chaguanas will face SWAHA Hindu College; Naparima College play north championship school Manzanilla Secondary; and Hillview College will try to advance when they battle south championship winners Shiva Boys' Hindu College ASJA Boys' Hindu College San Fernando play Toco Secondary Both schools featured in the premier division 50-over competition this year ASJA finished seventh in the ten-team standings and Toco were last Two other Intercol T20 matches will be contested at the Queen's Park Oval Vishnu Boys Hindu College vs Queen's Royal College Presentation College Chaguanas vs SWAHA Hindu College Presentation College San Fernando vs Rio Claro East Secondary ASJA Boys College San Fernando vs Toco Secondary Hillview College vs Shiva Boys Hindu College A man is dead and two oth­ers wound­ed fol­low­ing a shoot­ing at Poole Val­ley Trace was tak­ing a bath in an open area be­hind his home when two masked men armed with firearms ac­cost­ed him and fired sev­er­al shots Alexan­der ran through his house and across the road­way but was pur­sued by the gun­men He fell near the gate­way of a house op­po­site his home where the as­sailants ap­proached and fired mul­ti­ple shots at him be­fore flee­ing in­to a forest­ed area be­hind his home they found Alexan­der ly­ing face down on the south­ern side of the road­way clad in red box­er shorts and bear­ing gun­shot wounds Po­lice found one spent S&B 9mm shell and four spent Luger 9mm shells and Shel­don Grif­fith were al­so in­jured dur­ing the melee Mo­hammed suf­fered an in­jury to his left shin and sought med­ical at­ten­tion at the Rio Claro Health Fa­cil­i­ty re­ceived a mi­nor in­jury to his left wrist but re­fused med­ical treat­ment Neigh­bours de­scribed Alexan­der as a hard­work­ing labour­er Po­lice are try­ing to es­tab­lish a mo­tive for the shoot­ing as they track down the gun­men Any­one with in­for­ma­tion about the shoot­ing can call Crime Stop­pers at 800-TIPS A grue­some dis­cov­ery was made yes­ter­day morn­ing at Quar­ry Road in San Juan The body was dis­cov­ered by res­i­dents around 8 am A mo­tive is yet to be de­ter­mined for the killing Po­lice are ac­tive­ly in­ves­ti­gat­ing the cir­cum­stances sur­round­ing this homi­cide Rio Claro pensioner seeks help after losing home in fireby The fire-ravaged remains of 75-year-old Andrew Cabrero’s home at Mayaro Road The one-bedroom house was destroyed by fire on Sunday 23 June 2024 took pride in his one-bed­room home at Ma­yaro Road the en­tire struc­ture and every­thing he owned—from ap­pli­ances to his clothes—per­ished in a fire Cabrero watched help­less­ly as his home was en­gulfed in flames There was lit­tle he could have done to sal­vage any­thing.. Cabrero told Guardian Me­dia that all he has now is the clothes on his back He is seek­ing the pub­lic's help to get back on his feet “Who wish to… I can't say that I’m hun­gry and starv­ing I wel­come [the help] ...” an emo­tion­al Cabrero said lo­cal gov­ern­ment Coun­cil­lor for Rio Claro South says the cor­po­ra­tion is try­ing to pro­vide food sup­port as well as as­sist Cabrero with ac­cess­ing so­cial ser­vices Any­one will­ing to as­sist Cabrero is asked to call 342-3163 nestled along Brasso Tamana Road in the Caroni North educational district has made an impressive mark in the 2024 Prime Minister's Best Village Trophy Competition the school tied for first place with Rio Claro West Secondary School in the Clean and Beautify category (best kitchen garden) Guayaguayare Secondary School took third place with 90.3 points while Rio Claro Presbyterian placed fourth with 89.3 points The garden project was designed to educate students about agriculture and its potential for a livelihood nurturing and harvesting various fruits and vegetables A representative from the Brasso RC Primary explained: "The project taught students the different steps and mechanisms in everyday gardening They learned about different vegetable and fruit crops." He added that the project's success was a collaborative effort and students were taught to record sales finances to determine a profit or loss from the project "They were taught a step-by-step approach to gardening and caring for the crops It took a collaborative effort from teachers cleaners and the URP workers to plant and maintain the garden," the representative told Newsday "Students were allowed to reap the crops and sell them to members of staff and public which incorporated the school's curriculum of cultural transformation which taught them entrepreneurship skills." students from different classes took turns working in the garden Every class was allowed to take a hands-on approach in the garden "Students helped to weed and mound the plants They named and labelled all gardening tools Students were also taught to obey rules in the garden," the representative said Brasso RC also focused on beautifying the school environment The representative emphasised that not only did the school look nicer but the project also instilled a sense of pride in the students' showcasing their creativity through their work A student of Brasso RC Primary in central Trinidad paints a flower pot as part of the competition The project taught students about the diverse floral plants available in the country and how they can be used to beautify the environment "The students also created artwork which further embellished the school's environment They painted pots for planting the flowers They also painted the benches under the almond tree seating area to portray a message of love and peace," the representative said "Concrete ornaments were placed to further garnish the area The plants were taken from the green shed and transplanted into the painted pots They were watered and pruned by the students." While Brasso RC Primary School had previously participated in the Folk Song and Folk and Food Fair sections of the competition this year marked their debut in the kitchen garden category The Prime Minister's Best Village Trophy Competition falls under the purview of the Sports and Community Development Ministry and celebrates TT's rich cultural heritage This annual event showcases local talent in areas such as traditional dance The launch event took place on April 30 at UNESP’s Institute of Biosciences (photo: CBioClima) Innovation and Dissemination Center (RIDC) hosted by São Paulo State University (UNESP) will promote innovation focusing on sustainable solutions and accelerated knowledge dissemination Agência FAPESP* – FAPESP and São Paulo State University’s Institute of Biosciences (IB-UNESP) in Rio Claro officially launched the Center for Research on Biodiversity Dynamics and Climate Change Research Center (CBioClima) on April 30 CBioClima is the first of FAPESP’s Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (RIDCs) hosted by UNESP Its mission is to create a biodiversity and climate change observatory that will promote innovation focusing on sustainable solutions and accelerated knowledge dissemination Considered a “great opportunity” and at the same time a “great responsibility” by the authorities present CBioClima has a team of researchers committed to tackling the global challenges posed by biodiversity loss due to climate change They will adopt a transdisciplinary approach that combines research from undergraduates with scholarships to master’s as well as researchers in their first year of activity CBioClima has already published more than 40 articles in scientific journals Its research is conducted by four working groups: Synthesis and Big Data; Natural History from Genes to Ecosystems; Dimensions of Biodiversity; and Microbiome for Sustainable Solutions Dissemination and innovation are also part of its scope Cardozo emphasized the center’s importance and congratulated the members of UNESP’s faculty and technical administrative staff who set it up “This RIDC will permit the continuous advancement of science,” he said the establishment of RIDCs is highly competitive and this one embodies the proposal that won approval over several others Leonardo Fraceto explained that the center will work to accelerate knowledge dissemination so that it reaches society faster He underscored the importance of the support and partnership of UNESP’s Innovation Agency “It’s possible to transform projects and ideas into technology and innovation it’s necessary to connect with opportunities and build ties with innovation environments such as technological parks and incubators of high-tech startups like the UNESP Aquarium of Ideas and the Sorocaba Technology Park we expect to give back to society possible solutions to the problems people are facing,” Fraceto said Furlan congratulated the scientists on the platform and the other participants in the RIDC which in her view adds luster to UNESP and embodies the realization of a dream “It’s a dream that awakes a crucial discussion Climate and biodiversity encompass life and transformation of the world,” she said which “promotes an effervescent discussion an opportunity for researchers in a range of disciplines to work together and to materialize transversality,” she added Buffalypsoes still terrorising Rio Claro farmersby Government-owned buffalypsoes run wild in Rio Claro Frus­trat­ed and wor­ried as their crops con­tin­ue to be de­stroyed and eat­en by gov­ern­ment-owned buf­fa­lyp­soes farm­ers of the Rio Claro Food Crop Project are again plead­ing for help and com­pen­sa­tion They have been joined by vil­lagers who have al­so lost crops and are be­ing ter­rorised by the an­i­mals which have been roam­ing their prop­er­ties and the com­mu­ni­ty of Guayagua­yare Road for months The an­i­mals be­long to the Min­istry of Agri­cul­ture the largest buf­fa­lyp­so herd in the coun­try Vil­lagers and farm­ers claim the farm has been un­der­manned and un­der-re­sourced for years and the an­i­mals are not be­ing fed De­spite a re­lease by the Min­istry of Agri­cul­ture on April 17 as­sur­ing that the sit­u­a­tion would be ad­dressed dis­grun­tled farm­ers and res­i­dents claimed they got no as­sis­tance They said thou­sands of dol­lars worth of crops plan­tain and cit­rus have been ei­ther de­stroyed or eat­en One res­i­dent was forced to re­lo­cate his wife and chil­dren for their safe­ty Rio Claro Food Crop Project farmer Toolsie Lal plead­ed Help us please to get rid of these an­i­mals from our gar­den be­cause they are liv­ing in it now.” he be­lieves that the sit­u­a­tion will wors­en These an­i­mals when you see them in your place you can’t run them These things charg­ing at you,” he com­plained We call­ing on the au­thor­i­ties to please com­pen­sate us Help us for the time be­ing while you all get this thing un­der con­trol.” An­oth­er farmer said their crops not on­ly put mon­ey in their pock­ets but fed the na­tion the labour force in­crease and now we have to deal with bi­son from the Gov­ern­ment farm com­ing to de­stroy our crops and we have no com­pen­sa­tion What are you leav­ing for farm­ers to do out here?” he said Vil­lager Ramb­harose Seer­at­tan said the Mo­ra Val­ley Farm has hun­dreds of buf­fa­lyp­soes with just a hand­ful of work­ers “This is a food project area that the Gov­ern­ment leased for the peo­ple and these peo­ple sup­port the coun­try with thou­sands of pounds of goods to feed the na­tion and to­day when get dam­age they say no com­pen­sa­tion,” he lament­ed Guardian Me­dia reached out to the min­istry but no re­sponse was forth­com­ing last evening Min­is­ter Kaz­im Ho­sein ex­pressed deep con­cern over the sit­u­a­tion as­sured a thor­ough in­ves­ti­ga­tion had been launched in­to the op­er­a­tions at the Mo­ra Val­ley Farm and in­di­cat­ed that de­ci­sive steps were tak­en to ad­dress the com­mu­ni­ty’s im­me­di­ate needs The Min­istry stat­ed that its key re­sponse in­clud­ed the de­ploy­ment of re­gion­al of­fi­cers to ful­ly as­sess the ex­tent of crop dam­age and eval­u­ate the over­all im­pact on lo­cal farm­ers and im­me­di­ate re­pairs to the fenc­ing around the farm to se­cure the area who admitted to stealing 61 knives from a store faced Princes Town Magistrate Margaret Alert who sentenced him to three months with hard labour after he pleaded guilty to the charge of larceny WPC Perry-Marash of the Princes Town Municipal Police Station arrested him on May 14 The court heard that the policewoman was alerted by the victim that a man had stolen a knife from her store Perry-Marash stopped the man and asked him if the information was true She searched him and found a total of 61 knives worth $623 Originally published in Owens Corning's 2022 Sustainability Report Gustavo Cavini has taken an active role in promoting safety wherever he works where he became very familiar with safety laws and regulations in his region Upon arriving at Owens Corning nearly five years ago Gustavo began applying his in-depth expertise to the global reinforcements plant in Rio Claro Gustavo continues to make safety central to the facility’s operations and his dedication to the people who work with him every day comes through as he discusses the importance of maintaining a safe work environment ”Safety is not just an EHS responsibility — it’s everybody’s responsibility I need to give everyone the resources needed to eliminate risks.“ On defining safety within the Owens Corning culture  Priorities can change every day or every month but we always keep safety first in everything we do at the plant We start each meeting talking about the safety results of the last day — the risks that we identified and the near misses that we had — and we discuss an action plan to treat them and avoid new occurrences So regardless of the subject of the meeting Owens Corning treats safety as a value too The importance of safety at Owens Corning starts from our leadership We have all the resources we need here because our leadership team understands safety as a value On integrating TPM into our safety protocols TPM offers a good methodology for how we need to perform our work TPM brings us a lot of standards and controls needed to keep our performance and maintain our safety TPM has an important tool called safety tags Everybody is responsible for identifying any kind of issue any kind of risk that they have in their areas I need I need to give everybody the resources to solve the tags and eliminate the risks TPM’s focused improvement approach is important to investigate an incident or to investigate an unsafe act and safety behavior We need to stratify the data in order to eliminate the root causes We cannot look at safety without looking at people That’s 420 families that are expecting their family member to come back home when they start off to work each day I love to work with people and give them what they need to do their work safely the quality of the product — is a consequence of a person feeling safe in their daily work Read more More from Owens Corning I was thinking of transferring from my old school in California and my uncle who lives in Wayne, New Jersey visited Caldwell’s campus and told me about it. While he was telling me about it on the phone, I felt that it was the place I was looking for. What has been most beneficial for you in being a student at Caldwell University? The academic and athletic level is high, and as I love challenges, this makes my experience a lot better. Also, there is a huge diversity of people and cultures, which is incredible. I am amazed at how much I have grown as a student, as a player and also as a person during the past two years at school. What do you tell others about Caldwell University?  I always tell people that Caldwell University is more than just a university; it is a community, a family. Main activities you have been involved in at Caldwell I am part of the soccer program. I also represent the soccer team in the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and I am a member of The National Society of Leadership and Success. What life lessons have you learned or are you learning through the pandemic? I am not learning, but understanding things that I already believed before, for example, how much family is important, to be patient, to take the most from the bad experiences and to never give up. I would love to get the Optional Practical Training (OPT) authorization to get experience in my field of study. It would give me more time to plan for continuing my studies. I want to try to become a professional soccer player in the U.S. Fact about your life in your home country –  I am from a really small town and I  left home when I was 13 to play soccer in another state and [I] kind of lived by myself for three years until my parents moved to where I was living. I also play saxhorn. Caldwell University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs. Colombia: Cementos Argos’ Rio Claro cement plant has completed construction of a new 0.45Mt/yr production line for calcined clays, an artificial pozzolan. This innovation makes the cement less environmentally damaging, as the production process’ CO2 emissions are 38% lower, with energy consumption 30% lower than ordinary Portland cement. “With this project we are leading the industry and sowing the seeds of the Argos of the future, which today starts a new production line at Rio Claro,” said Juan Esteban Calle, President of Cementos Argos. “It has gigantic growth potential in all geographies, not only from the point of view of the product, but because it is a concrete action for the sustainability of our industry. In our commitment to climate change, this project clearly makes us very proud.” © 2025 Pro Global Media Ltd. All rights reserved. Be aware that the prices all change in low and high season But make sure to check out photos of all the different cabins and rooms and pick the one that best suits you The beautiful rooms at El Refugio | © Chris Bell / The Culture Trip You’ll need to bring a torch The reserve is very eco-friendly and tries not to use excessive lights so at night you will need a torch to walk along the trails to the different cabins and rooms The trail along the river from the main hotel to the Refugio so make sure you have a spare battery or a well-charged torch for after dinner Hardcore adrenaline junkies may not find too much of interest at Rio Claro: the rafting is great fun but relatively tame when it comes to white-water while the zip lining and caving are equally enjoyable but hardly likely to make the cover of an Adventure Sport’s magazine It’s the perfect place to enjoy those activities in a lovely natural setting but without having to worry too much about how intense it will be Rafting at Rio Claro is fun but not too extreme | © Chris Bell / The Culture Trip There’s no hot water All the water used at Rio Claro is from natural springs (and isn’t drinkable) but there’s no hot water in the taps and showers Chances are that you won’t fancy a hot shower anyway but be aware of this before you book a stay the otherwise crystalline river rises dramatically and becomes much murkier and muddier and the caving experience seems much more extreme It’s also possible for activities to be cancelled after very intense rain Rio Claro isn’t this clear when it’s been raining | © Chris Bell / The Culture Trip Wi-Fi coverage is limited As with the hot water there’s limited access to Wi-Fi at Rio Claro the only spot in the reserve with any coverage is the main house (where meals are served) and even this is fairly limited There are a few spots along the riverside trail where a phone signal enters It’s a lovely experience and perfect for relaxing and enjoying nature but make sure to take care of all business and let your family know that you may not have signal before you visit Sign up to our newsletter to save up to $800 on our unique trips See privacy policy You have to book activities in advance Activities such as rafting and tubing are all possible at Rio Claro (at an additional but be aware that you have to reserve your place on these trips in advance This doesn’t mean you need to pick what you will be doing weeks before your visit but it’s better to sign up a day or two before once you arrive at the reserve The activities centre at Rio Claro | © Ashley Bayles / Flickr There are no ATMs nearby The closest cash machine is in the town of Doradal which is located at least half an hour away by bus so make sure to bring plenty of cash for extra activities and drinks You can pay by debit card if you have an account with Bancolombia Plan in advance and bring plenty before you visit When you are walking the rocky trails at night on your way between the dining area and the Refugio you will see some bugs and creatures in the light of your regular torch; however ultraviolet light reveals something far more amazing and cool – scorpions which glow under the beam of an ultraviolet torch Scorpion under an ultraviolet light at Rio Claro | © Chris Bell / The Culture Trip It’s home to some amazing endemic birds and monkeys Rio Claro is far from just a place with a nice ecolodge and some lovely views, it’s also home to many truly endangered and important endemic species You will often see groups of birders staying at the reserve especially in the hotel in the middle of the jungle trails close to the entrance They are in search of such species as Colombian Chachalaca you can see Howler Monkeys and cute little White-footed Tamarins See & Do The Best Spots To Dance Salsa In Cali Guides & Tips The Ultimate Guide to Exploring El Cocuy National Park Architecture A Tour of Colombia's Beautiful Architectural Landmarks See & Do The Best Amazon Locations for Seeing Wildlife Guides & Tips The Ultimate Guide for Visiting La Guajira: Colombia's Northern Desert Guides & Tips A Locals Guide to Colombia's Amazon Rainforest Guides & Tips 10 Beautiful Colombian Birds and Where to Find Them See & Do 11 Ancient Colombian Wonders That Aren't the Lost City See & Do A Beginner's Guide to the Six Regions of Colombia Guides & Tips The Ultimate Guide to Visiting Capurgana & Sapzurro Guides & Tips The Ultimate Guide to Tayrona National Park Guides & Tips The Ultimate Guide to Hiking the Cocora Valley US: +1 (678) 967 4965 | UK: +44 (0)1630 35000 tripssupport@theculturetrip.com © Copyright 2025 The Culture Trip Ltd