I didn’t ask which grass they were talking about.

I’ve heard that he wasn’t built for sprinting but he defied his genes and did it anyway. I heard that he comes from a parish where the dasheen is different and that’s responsible for his athletic prowess.

Someone who lives in the same parish swears by that. I heard that he can’t run long distance. He’s not trained for that but he’s still the fastest human alive.

I heard that he had no discipline.

Eventually success turned him into something resembling disciplined.

I heard he ate junk food. I heard that he hid in the trunk of a car to avoid training.

He’s a practical joker they said. I heard that his sense of fun added to his popularity. I heard people say he is a show off. He said he was simply having fun. I heard he never left Jamaica to train elsewhere.

I’ve heard about his records. I’ve heard him declare his greatness.

I’ve heard the many things the media reports. I’ve heard the things the man on the road says.

I’ve heard from here, there and everywhere that the man was great. I’ve watched him walk onto the tracks to receive his gold. I’ve watched him compete. I have seen his ease, I’ve seen his confidence.

I’ve seen and I’ve heard. But, there are silences.

I’ve never heard much about Bolt’s training regimen. I’ve never heard anyone talk about his sacrifices.

I’ve never heard anyone talk about his parents’ support. They seem invisible. I’ve never heard anything about his daily living. I’ve never heard about his joys and sorrows.

I’ve never heard about days that he wished he didn’t have to train. I heard that he has a physical disability, but I didn’t hear how he overcame it. We see, we hear, we silence the parts that we don’t want to be a part of our reality. We live in worlds of make believe. We live in worlds of hush hush too.

We hear things that are convenient for us. In parts. Rarely in wholes. And I wonder whether wholes can ever be achieved.

We celebrate the greatness in men. It’s all well and good. They inspire us to push harder. But what about moments of failure? How do we push past those? I wish those stories could be told. I wish the kids could know what to do when adversity hits them; how to cope, how to deal with it.

Not many of us have coaches to monitor us, not a great many have people who absolutely believe in us.

How do we navigate the turf? How do we know when to run barefooted? How do we know which training ground is best suited for us? How do we know what constitutes balance? How do we know which opportunity is best missed, which one is best taken? I saw him struggle through those last races of his career last week, saw him fall to the floor when that hamstring gave up, heard the accusations against the IAAF, read about how London didn’t deserve him. I heard that everyone else was to blame.

But this was Bolt. He had nothing else to prove. He is retired now to a string of medals and honours. His greatness will live after him.

But what happens when another athlete falls? What happens when another person doesn’t achieve her personal best? What happens when an injury sets you back and you aren’t the fastest human alive? I heard that the Government is now thinking against diversification.

I heard about Trinidad and Tobago’s gold, saw the race run and felt proud of the island.

The music died down fast in the oppressive humidity of the island.

I never heard much about the grass in TT . I now hear that we should support local. Ground provisions were on the Prime Minister’s list. I hear the air is polluted with Saharan dust. But the season passes and the wind will blow it further out for the time of pilferers and plunderers caulking cracks with our natural resources has passed.

The time has come now when we celebrate our own grass and dasheen.

About time that we guard our own gold.

(Note: I admit to loving Eliot Weinberger’s What I Heard About Iraq, Vol 27 No.3 · 3 February 2005).

“The problems associated with the late release of results, those problems do not reside with the Minister of Education. It is not the fault of the Ministry of Education.

The fault rests directly on the shoulders of CXC.” The results were released online yesterday though some students were still having difficulty accessing their results. Garcia said he was informed yesterday by Chief Education Officer Harrilal Seecharan that the CXC internet portal had been opened–no specific time was given–and the students could access their results.

“However while I am in my constituency office in Arima I am still getting calls and concerns from students and parents that they not seeing results online,” he added.

He said he would have to deal with those specific issues from his office tomorrow.

Sunday Newsday saw posts by students and parents who had accessed their results but there were also calls to the media by parents complaining about the results still not being available.

Garcia said the results were scheduled to have been made available on August 9 and he was unhappy over the delay which had caused students “unnecessary stress.” After the initial delay the results were supposed to have been made available online on Friday from 10 pm but this deadline was also missed.

“Today (yesterday) is 19th August and some students still having difficulty.” Garcia said he was dissatisfied with the late release which was unfair to students and many were anxious with respect to acceptance to colleges and universities.

The minister pointed out that the deadline date for some foreign universities was Friday and students not being able to access results “put them in a quandary.” He said he and his ministry were being blamed for the delay on social media but reiterated that it was the fault of CXC. He said there was still no information from CXC on the cause of the delay.

He also said a number of principals contacted him expressing their dissatisfaction with the way CXC has been operating, both in this case and on previous occasions.

Garcia said he scheduled a meeting with secondary school principals this week to discuss some of the concerns the schools had been having with CXC.

“In many instances it is unsatisfactory,” he added.

He said following that meeting he would decide the next step.

He also said he wanted to ensure the integrity of the examination was kept and the confidence the population had in CXC was maintained. “I respect CXC as a regional institution administering a regional examination.” CXC Assistant Registrar Cleveland Sam asked that queries be sent via email and told Sunday Newsday yesterday in a telephone interview they would be forwarded to the CXC director of operations.

Principals at secondary schools in San Fernando said they had to depend on students to inform them about the outcome of the results.

Naparima Girls High School principal Carolyn Bally Gosine told Sunday Newsday she had been trying to access the CXC results since Wednesday. “I am sitting behind the computer still awaiting the results to download and it simply wouldn’t,” she said.

Bally Gosine said several students contacted her to report their outstanding performance but she could not do an assessment until she received all the results.

It was a similar situation at Naparima Boys College where principal Dr Michael Dowlath also said he was unable to access the results online and received reports from students about their results.

(reporting by Denisha Simeon Nylo Intern)

Three of them and an old truck, the versatile and unbranded nature of which betrays the fact that they are not actually specialists in the refurbishment of greenish outdoor areas but multi-talented manual workers capable of almost anything.

They are as adept at stripping foliage as they are at taking away the old mattress and rotten, curling, inexplicable shelving-unitswith- cupboards that have been loitering around the back since you moved in.

These guys have all the gear: machete, hands, arms, the lot.

They also have a hierarchy. The leader is garishly attired in a bright orange T-shirt that shows off his impressive beer belly, while the matching baseball cap, worn at a jaunty angle, signifies not only that he’s a bit of a lad but that he is going bald.

Never trust a man in a hat.

Even if it makes him look good in a 1950s way, it’s there for a reason, and that reason is not to stay warm. Not around these parts.

Among the younger contingent it’s just something they do but on an older man, it means he is showing signs of decay and has chosen to disguise it, like putting woodchip wallpaper over a crumbling plaster job.

So, the hierarchy: Orange Fat Guy is in charge. His henchmen are a pale blue version of himself: OFG Junior, bulging shirt and cap included, and an older, retirement-age man who is also hiding his lack of hair but whose shirt cannot disguise hunched shoulders, one of Father Time’s hallmarks among those whose calcium supply has not kept pace with demand.

The hunched look may also be indicative of a general failing of physical strength but you can tell that if he were as robust in body as he clearly is in mind, he would be the leader of this crew.

He’s got the family brain, making helpful suggestions and pointing things out but OFG has assumed a rank above his station because he is the chief machete-wielder, the tough guy in a world where tough guys rule.

Orange Fat Guy has a plan of action, based not on any knowledge of gardening but on simple logistics. While in a multiple choice test he might correctly answer that the garden is b) outside the house; put him out there and if he could reach something with his machete, he would sever it.

The old man and OFG Junior follow him around, dutifully picking up the branches and bushes he has liberated from their parent plants and dragging them to the truck.

Interestingly, the crew’s modus operandi is highly unusual, perhaps revolutionary. Whereas amateurs such as you and I might have left the raking of leaves till the end, this lot were here at five in the morning to do that before they unleashed the debris from the trees. Well, they all laughed at Christopher Columbus when he said the world was round, so who is to say we are not witnessing pioneers at work, doing things that we only think stupid because we’re lagging behind intellectually? The trees these men have to deal with include a mango, which dropped its last several weeks ago and has no right to be looking so green and happy.

Then there’s a coconut palm, naked up to about 30 feet and with flaking red paint around the base. It doesn’t look very productive but still occasionally drops sick-looking fruit over the fence to sit and fester on our lawn.

I’ve been hoping OFG would scale the tree like one of those lithe young men you see in documentaries who are up there like squirrels before you can say “telecoms engineer.” But OFG’s coconut- harvesting days are behind him and he knows it.

Also in the vicinity is something I think is called a cocoplum tree, which produces purplish fruit not unlike plums to look at but whose white flesh contains all the succulence and flavour of Polyfilla.

OFG doesn’t like this one, because its branches are thin and tangled and it takes more than a hefty swipe to disengage an offending part from the rest. He makes a couple of wild incisions and leaves it to Junior to drag the thing apart like Velcro.

What this intrepid crew really lacks is a brush cutter, known in some areas as a strimmer, which cuts grass not with blades but endlessly rotating lengths of nylon string. This is the tool that confers gardener status on anyone capable of lifting and, if petrol- operated, starting it.

Next door, though, there isn’t much grass and the owner seems to be leaving it to the sun and a general lack of care to keep it down.

Ignore it and hope it will go away: the popular answer to many of life’s challenges.

Mehedi Hasan was recalled by the Bangladesh Cricket Board ahead of the home Test series against Australia so was not available for this year’s Hero CPL.

Barbados-born Nurse is an off-spin bowler who has played 18 ODIs and four T20 internationals for the West Indies and has played for the Barbados Tridents in previous editions of the Hero CPL.

He will join the squad in St Kitts for the match against St Kitts and Nevis Patroits at Warner Park on Wednesday.

Speaking of Nurse’s selection for the rest of the tournament Simon Katich, Head Coach of the Knight Riders, said: “Ashley gives us another spin option. He has been playing some league cricket in England so he comes fresh to us from there.

“Dwayne Bravo was very keen to get him into the squad given that we have still got some big games coming up against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, Jamaica Tallawahs and Barbados Tridents. He will have a big role to play giving us another spin option.”

Facing Rampant Recruits, Wreckin Crew posted 78 for seven batting first with Ezekiel Sampson scoring 31. Brian Gangoo (3/21) and Keshore Boodhoo (2/7) were the top bowlers for Rampant Recruits.

In response, Rampant Recruits were reduced to 48/8 with Zephon Richards scoring 12, while Clint Dookree (2/15) and Wasim Jumon (2/15) both snatched two wickets as Wreckin Crew won by 30 runs.

Wreckin Crew also got past BBM by five wickets. Sean Hallett cracked 15 and Steve Alfonso contributed 13 but BBM could only score 57/7. Wreckin Crew got to 58/5 with Nicholas Dothadeen making 16 and Ravi Saith pitching in with 13. Andy Gosyne tried his best to contain the Wreckin Crew batsmen taking 3/12.

SUMMARISE D SCORES : Wreckin Crew 78/7 (Ezekiel Sampson 31; Brian Gangoo 3/21, Keshore Boodhoo 2/7) vs Rampant Recruits 48/8 (Zephon Richards 12, Clint Dookree 2/15, Wasim Jumon 2/15). Wreckin Crew won by 30 runs.

Furniture Boys 85/4 (Billy Seerattan 39, Navin Babwah 19; Anthony Reece 2/20) vs Anthrax 74/6 (Sheldon Thomas 16, Reynold Ramsaran 15, Alex Frederick 14; Vernie Ramkissoon 2/8, Sean Nepaul 2/20). Furniture Boys won by 11 runs.

BBM 57/7 (Sean Hallett 15, Steve Alfonso 13) vs Wreckin Crew 58/5 (Nicholas Dothadeen 16, Ravi Saith 13; Andy Gosyne 3/12). Wreckin Crew won by five wickets.

Reload 109/7 (Hanuman Moonsammy 35, Dave Baboolal 23; Riaz Mohammed 2/14, Shane Davis 2/16) vs Gameover 89/6 (Christopher Jagmohan 29, Vishal Jagessar 24; Donny Supersad 4/16). Reload won by 20 runs.

S&S Web Source 117/2 (Rajin Kumar 53, Avian Mejias 39; Kareem Baptiste 2/8) vs Surrey One Stop 77/6 (Kyle Ramoutar 33, Devon Baptiste 11). S&S Web Source won by 40 runs.

For Ameuzment Only 132/6 (Anthony Lara 54, Frankyln Rouse 46; Kenny Aaron 3/21) vs IDK 64/8 (Naldo Sammy 2/6, N Boodoo 2/7). Ameuzment won by 68 runs.

Tacarigua Royals 61/4 (Abidh Emamalie 26) vs Drifters 62/8 (Hospedales Singh 20, Darren Modeste 10; Ravi Sookwah 2/14). Drifters won by two wickets.

Suicidal Crew 70/5 (Devon Adonis 34) vs Strike Force 64/6 (Stephen Reyes 26; Yohan Sirju 2/5, Kevin Ramsuarran 2/13, Timmy Singh 2/13). Suicidal Crew won by six runs.

Prejudice has two elements. The first is ignorance.

We are willing to entertain and believe certain things about others based not on fact, but on uninformed opinion. One might have thought that in this ‘Information Age’ it would be easy to overcome ignorance because information is so readily accessible. Instead, the age of the Internet and Google has also brought ‘fake news’ and the need for ‘fact-checking ‘. Human beings can be very gullible and this has less to do with intelligence than with the psychological convenience of stereotyping and the lack of critical thinking.

The second element of prejudice is the inclination or desire to harm the objects of our prejudice. We see this every day, everywhere. Muslims are profiled and abused. Blacks in the United States are discriminated against, brutalised, disproportionately incarcerated, and stopped and even killed by police officers.

Whites in the United States are now claiming that affirmative action polices by colleges and universities to promote more diverse student populations discriminate against them.

Oppressive behaviour toward some ethnic or religious groups is no less harmful for being exercised through the political or judicial process. Historically, the colonial elite here in Trinidad used legislation and force to oppress the non-white, African and Indian populations denying some access to land, and fostering ideas of ethnic superiority through the education system. Discrimination against women and homosexuals was institutionalised in law. The feelings of oppression and alienation are still pervasive today and help to explain the reaction to the comments of a businessman of Syrian-Lebanese descent on a television programme broadcast internationally which provoked a firestorm in both the social and mainstream media and has prompted threats of reprisal through boycott.

In order to overcome prejudice, we have to act on several fronts. We have to dispel ignorance about the culture and lifestyles of other peoples through education and interaction. But we have to go beyond that to cultivate genuine respect for their various ways of life and bring ourselves to the celebration of the value of diversity. The integrity and wholeness of nature itself, God’s creation, is reflected in and indeed held together by its diversity. We also have to disapprove and take action against discrimination and injustice wherever we see it, whether in the laws on our books or in the conduct of those around us: our politicians, business leaders, and managers in the workplace.

Where we are the victims of prejudice, we need to forgive those who trespass against us.

All too often, failure to overcome systemic prejudice results in a descent into civil war and internecine conflict as we have seen in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Fiji and other places around the world and throughout the course of human history.

For decades, we have failed to realise and understand that nothing can be done to progress our country if we refuse to work together and across party lines. This ideology of partisanship that our first prime minister, Dr Eric Williams established and entrenched needs to be abolished, along with the falsehood that he was a patriotic statesman.

And when I say work together, I don’t mean the recent publicity stunt qua meeting between a Prime Minister with no ideas, and an Opposition Leader with no shame. What I mean is that there must be meaningful dialogue and genuineness from all sides; all stakeholders; every single citizen; otherwise our country would remain completely and totally paralysed by politics.

Bi-partisanship is only impossible without sincerity. What the country needs is a sincere leader whose loyalty is to the holders of our passports, and not holders of party-cards. Every time I reveal my destiny of becoming the first prime minister to lead a bipartisan cabinet, the immediate response is always derision and scepticism because no one believes in that kind of “utopian” rhetoric. Trinbagonians believe that there is nothing more corrupt than politics and no one more dishonest than politicians; therefore anyone who follows a path of politics will eventually become corrupted.

I, however, strongly disagree and firmly believe that politics does not change anybody; it merely reveals who those people have been all along. Frankly, integrity constructed on solid foundation cannot easily be shaken because of power and/or wealth.

Too many of my compatriots believe that nothing can be done about the incompetence we have parading as governance for the past several decades. And too many people believe that the democratic dictatorship of the UNC -PNM system is incorrigible and that it is impossible to destroy because no one votes on issues– only party. I, however, have faith in the electorate. I have faith that a viable non-partisan option presented with the right leadership will transcend all biases that have, for far too long, corrupted our politics and our people.

The recent success of president Emmanuel Macron in France, and even that of American independent senator, Bernie Sanders, during the 2016 democratic primary elections has solidified my belief that this corrupt system can be collectively torn down by an enlightened electorate.

There is so much to get done and we are running out of time.

As mentioned before, the solutions are out there but the folks in our parliament aren’t interested in implementing anything that isn’t politically beneficial.

For dealing with crime and reforming the entire criminal justice system, we have endless research and personal knowledge from criminologists like Renee Cummings and Prof Ramesh Deosaran. For the economy and helping us diversify, there is no dearth of intelligent economists but we could start with Dr Roger Hosein for his views on what to do next. And for the other issues like corruption, infrastructure and public transportation, there is an endless supply of knowledge and opinions to use as a starting reference.

So even though the ideas are all there, it boils down to political will and the need for votes; who dares interrupt the corruption that runs rampant in the Police Service, Coast Guard, Army, Licensing, PTSC, Customs, Immigration and every government ministry? With a registered electorate of just over one million people, the potential votes from corrupt people and their families is a huge chunk of prospective voters, and there is nothing more important to any of our politicians than that figure.

Moving the Beetham landfill from being a welcome sign to our capital city and building new prisons are also necessary issues requiring urgency but both continue to receive resistance from residents in earmarked areas; however, making unpopular decisions is part of being in government.

Additionally, no government wants to implement contemporary legislation on employment and labour to replace the existing unconstitutional mess we call a labour justice system because who wants to lose the votes of the labour movement, which is estimated to be somewhere between 5,000 people and “the balance.” How long are we going to allow corruption, trade unions and criminals to run our country because of political paralysis? I think 2020 is a good time to turn over a new leaf. Remember, the paralysis of Trinidad and Tobago due to politics is still temporary but if we do not attempt to rehabilitate the system now, permanent paralysis is inevitable.

In a statement issued by the Communications Unit of the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs, last evening, the ministry said Crawford was listed as an individual in the United Nations 1267 (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List on Friday. Crawford’s listing came after a proposal was submitted by the TT Government to the committee established by the United Nations Security Council to review Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities.

Should Crawford wish to be removed from the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List, the statement said, he or a representative may submit such representations to the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs.

Alternatively, the statement said Crawford or his representative may apply directly to the United Nations Office of the Ombudsman to petition his removal from the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List.

The child is warded at the Intensive Care Unit of the Wendy Fitzwilliam Paediatric Hospital, Mt Hope. On Friday, she underwent emergency surgery however due to complications she did not respond well. Yesterday, relatives kept vigil at her bedside hoping for a miracle.

Police probing the incident said they are yet to interview a woman about how the girl suffered the extensive injuries. The woman, a nurse, had asked police to give her time to seek legal counsel before making herself available for the interview.

Several people have already been questioned including the girl’s parents. The girl lives with her father.

Two Saturdays ago, the girl’s father left her in the care of the woman.

When he returned he noticed bruising on his daughter’s head and the woman told him the child fell down.

However, by early Sunday morning, the girl became gravely ill and she was taken to the hospital. On examination, doctors believed the girl sustained injuries from a beating and this prompted a police investigation.

The Children’s Authority in a statement yesterday reported they are working with the police in the investigation.

The authority said the matter was brought to their attention when the child was admitted to hospital.

“The authority is horrified and strongly condemns the actions of those responsible for the brutal abuse of the child. The organisation is once again reminding the public that preventing child abuse is everyone’s responsibility.

“In fact, if you see, hear or are suspicious about the treatment of a child in your family or neighbourhood you should immediately make a report to the police or the Children’s Authority,” is said in the release.

The authority is calling on anyone with information about this incident to make a report to the Police at 999 or to the Children’s Authority Hotline at 996 or 800-2014.

Civilians were also question by the team under the supervision of Fraud Squad Head Snr Supt Totaram Dookhie.

ASP Ghisyawan and Sgts Thomas and Samuel are also assisting as the interviews are expected to continue today.

Sources said Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard is due to be consulted today for directions in the case.

The inspector, who has more than 25 years service, and his wife were detained on Thursday afternoon. They remained in custody and were expected to retain legal counsel. Sunday Newsday understands the inspector has been co-operating with investigators.

The 46-year-old officer has been under investigation for about 18 months, and was placed under surveillance in recent weeks.

Dookhie and his team executed a search warrant at the inspector’s office at Piarco. They went to his home in Princes Town where a millions of dollars worth of jewellery and nine macaws were seized and arrested his wife. The macaws were handed over to game wardens from the Forestry Division. Police also seized two vehicles worth $600,000.

ACP Irwin Hackshaw confirmed the arrests and commended the Fraud Squad for excellent work.