THE EDITOR: I am a Trini living in Canada for the past 28 years, and to this day I feel very proud of the students that are doing so well across the country (Trinidad). All the power to them, and keep up the good work. I look forward to reading the papers everyday on the net.
ESTHER SUPERSAD
Canada
The security arrangements put in place by the US Embassy, at its 9/11 Memorial service on Thursday at All Saints Anglican Church, including the scanning of all of those invited and a detailed search of their personal effects, as reported in Friday’s issue of Newsday, were a clear case of overkill. It was in poor taste to invite persons to the service, including relatives of Trinidadians and Tobagonians, who died in the September 11, 2001 airplane attack and destruction of New York’s World Trade Centre, and then subject them to this treatment.
We accept, however, that should gate crashers have been discovered, then subjecting them to being scanned and their personal effects searched, followed by turning the individuals over to the Police would have been understandable. Meanwhile, all invited guests could have been required to walk with their invitations to the Church service, along with some form of identification, to be demanded if they were not readily known to their hosts. Did the United States Embassy expect that one or more of its specially selected guests was a potential terrorist? Or was the scan and search exercise, with an eye to the publicity and discussion it would have generated, designed to create the impression that a terrorist attack at the Memorial at All Saints was possible, so as to justify maintaining the placing of barriers at the head of Marli Street?
What tactical advantage, political or military, could have been possibly gained by terrorists seeking to disrupt the Memorial at All Saints Church. Was it because there were foreign diplomats, among others, attending? Is the US Embassy, by its security measures instituted on Thursday at All Saints implying that parishioners attending regular Church services there are constantly at potential risk, given its close proximity to the Embassy? It should have been enough that a guest be allowed to identify himself/herself without having to undergoing the embarrassment of being treated with inferred suspicion. Clearly, Thursday’s manoeuvre was an exercise in game playing, and a tasteless one at that. Are we to assume that all churches and/or temples or mosques around the world, in which US diplomatic missions or Consulates General held memorial services on Thursday conducted similar humiliating exercises? For it must have been humiliating to the guests, who were subjected to the scanning, as well as to the searching of their personal effects. Or was it simply a case of might is right, or was it one of tactless indifference to the feeling of guests?
In a letter to the editor, some years ago, appearing over the name of one David Mason of La Romaine, the writer complained that, “the political analysts, journalists and misguided politicians seem hell-bent on perpetuating the categories of ‘Indo’ and ‘Afro-Trinidadians.” Mr Mason asked “Why are they continuing to slavishly ape our North American brothers who are far more deprived than us?” He continued, “I have never heard of an Indo-Guyanese or a Chino-Jamaican actually Sino-Jamaican or an Afro-Barbadian. Something must be done to outlaw these odious terms ‘Afro’ and ‘Indo’ in our society. How will we categorise our growing numbers of beautiful douglas? One political leader referred to “the blacks and the browns.” I’m not sure how this “Classification” was arrived at. But the minds of politicians (and political analysts) move in mysterious ways.
Well, fasten your belt Mr Mason and “doh dig nutten” because some “experts” simply have to assign you to one of the “tribes” and/or “ethnicities.” Calpysonian, Mighty Dougla, whose calypso sobriquet depicted his ethnic mix must have been having fun at the Dougla’s expense in his calypso when he indicated that he would be “in a monkey pants,” if, all of a sudden, “they” decided to send Indians back to India and Africans back to Africa. He’s neither one, nor the other — half of one and half of the other. It’s been a long time since the dougla nomenclature carried a pejorative meaning. The douglas, if he/ she chooses, can refer to him/herself as “an Afro-Indo-Trini or an Indo-Afro Trini.” Tribal “classification” would probably have to keep in step with ethnic miscegenation. Now matters could get very rough if we have to classify OJ Simpson, “Someone who used to be Prince” and Michael Jackson. I suppose that I could assist in the “classification.” But only one little problem. Can’t find my “court clothes” and have lost contact with my lawyer.
Dr Eric Williams (that bloomin’ fellow again) has been portrayed as something of an “African tribal chieftain.” One of the best kept secrets is that Williams was of French Creole and dougla stock. The Black Power crowd and some self-anointed “analysts” sought to pin the “Afro-Saxon” label on him and the likes of Sir Arthur Lewis. Williams, typically, ignored them. And Lewis surmised that if the “label” meant anything it’s that he could compete with “the best at the international level.” I suppose that we remember Dr Williams for some of his public statements. How many of us remember Dr Williams telling us that we have only one “mother” — mother Trinidad and Tobago, no matter how many grandmothers we might have. Remember when Williams declared that he had banned the N-word and the C-word?
Some might go further and question whether we stand a ghost of a chance building a coherent society with its own distinct national identity, commanding general loyalty, when you have each group branching off on its own, searching for its roots. Some might even wonder whether people are retreating into cultural cul-de-sacs. One apparently irate caller to a radio call-in programme seemed irked by both the Indian Arrival Day and the African Emancipation Day enthusiasts and blurted out, “All of a sudden, we have so many Africans this and Indians that. Why the hell don’t we have citizens of TT and call that “George.” My own guess is that if we could keep off the grimy paws of the politicians, and self-serving self-publicists, we’d be spared much of the bacchanal and toxicity of so-called “discourse.” “Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me.” As we know, politicians, especially rabble-rousers, can, conceivably, have deleterious effects, especially if one seeks to exploit the baser instincts of the human animal.
It appears that, like the political leaders, I tend to occupy my own parallel universe at the deep end of the pond. How else do you explain that I do not feel the tension and observe the general antipathy associated with “polarisation,” the much-heralded “polarisation.” What I’ve noticed is that people are generally fed up to the back teeth, with politicians who haven’t the faintest idea of how to manage the “ship of state” without steering clear of “the criminalisation of politics on the one hand and the politicisation of criminality on the other.” We’ve probably not reached the Jamaican stage as yet where Mafia-type Godfathers (Dons) are publicly eulogised by the political leaders. To return to the fissiparous tendencies, the answer could be unity in diversity, and uniqueness in identity could manifest the confluence of the metaphorical rivers.
One Mr Guichard, a leader of one of the groups promoting activities connected with Emancipation anniversary celebrations, admitted that the different “African groups” were, by no means, diverse or antagonistic towards each other, but had the common objective of developing the black community within the context of the cosmopolitan society of TT. Admittedly, there are detractors who see the search for black identity as racism in disguise. It is even felt, in certain quarters, that the leaders of both the Afros and the Indos are simply being manipulative to further their own ends. It would, in my view, be a terrible mistake if all the”tribes” and political so-called “ethnicities” do not treat with their concerns, grievances (real or imagined) and talk to and not at or past each other. The mutual shouting and spitting matches are only likely to be counter-productive. Now what, in my view, is required is not that our Prime Minister be Indian, African or whatever, but that he/she enjoys public trust and cross-ethnic appeal across the board.
SEA LOTS bandits are said to be responsible for the country’s latest road fatality, that of 44-year-old Chinese national, Quin Li Xue. Li Xue died on the spot around 8.30 pm Saturday on the Beetham Highway in the vicinity of Bhagwansingh’s Hardware. Police said the non-national worked as a mechanical engineer at National Fisheries Limited in Sea Lots. He began work in January and was due to complete his assignment later this year. It is reported that Li Xue and several of his Chinese colleagues were walking on the northern side of the Beetham Highway in the vicinity of the Central Market. Traffic Branch police said some people tried to rob Li Xue and his colleagues, who then ran in a southerly direction in the vicinity of Bhagwansingh’s.
Li Xue’s colleagues made it across the east bound carriageway, but police said Li Xue ran into the path of an oncoming vehicle which was proceeding in a westerly direction along the Beetham Highway. The Honda Civic vehicle was driven by Devindra Kandahar of Central Trinidad. Police said Kandahar contacted the police and a party of officers from the Traffic Branch under PC Ramkissoon visited the scene and conducted investigations. District Medical Officer (DMO) Dr Cynthia Low Chee Tung viewed the body and ordered it removed to the Port-of-Spain mortuary where a post mortem is expected to be performed today. Senior officers told Newsday yesterday that the bandits live in the Sea Lots area and this was becoming a matter of real concern for them. They said earlier this year two men were killed in similar fashion, but in the Beetham/Laventille area, in two separate accidents on the same night. No arrests have been made up to late evening in connection with any of the three road fatalities. PC Ramkissoon of the Traffic Branch is investigating the latest one.
A 27-YEAR-old fabricator was fatally stabbed on Saturday night when he protested against a gang of youths beating up his friend. Lalmohan Mansingh, of Robinson Trace, San Francique, died on the front seat of the car belonging to his friend, Ricky Sukhu whom he was trying to defend. Staring in disbelief, Sukhu said yesterday: “I feel that stab was for me, but he get it instead.” Police have since held four suspects, aged 15, 18, 19 and 21, all of whom live in the Penal district, for questioning. Mansingh’s sister, Tharoutie, said it was the second of her siblings to be murdered. In 1995, sister, Indroutee, and her four children were chopped to death by Indroutee’s husband Hardeo Ramroop. Ramroop was later found in a mangrove where he committed suicide.
Mansingh’s father, wheel-chair ridden due to chronic diabetes, commented sadly: “I don’t know what happen to my family.” The elderly man said his son, Lalmohan, also known as “Ramtoole,” left home around 7 pm when Sukhu picked him up to go liming. Sukhu told Newsday that together with another friend whom he knew as “Jamoon,” they went bar-hopping along the Penal/ Quinam Road. The first stop was at Baywatch Bar, and after liming for 20 minutes, the friends were leaving for another bar. Sukhu said while driving out of the premises, he shouted out to four youths blocking the roadway, which led to a heated exchange in the middle of the road. The altercation escalated when the youths attacked the vehicle, beating and kicking the car. Sukhu said: “I dragged off, thinking everything done there, and drove to another bar lower down the road.”
But unknown to Sukhu, the youths pursued the car and pounced on him before he could alight from the driver’s seat. He said the gang began beating him on his head and shoulders, when Sukhu said he heard Mansingh shouting in protest. “I heard Raj say ‘Why they hitting the boy so,’ then I saw a man run over to him and was beating him up. I did not even know he got stabbed,” Sukhu said. Patrons from the bar came out to assist and the youths ran down the road. Sukhu looked at Mansingh to see his friend gasping for breath holding his stomach. Sukhu recalled: “He breathe hard about three out four times, then that was it.” Still reeling in shock, he added: “That was just too easy.” Minutes later mobile police patrolling the area responded to the scene and the four men were subsequently detained. Penal Police are continuing investigations.
HOURS before her youngest son was killed and another injured in a car accident on Saturday night, Savitri Partap said she felt a chill run through her body. Partap, a mother of eight, said: “I just started to feel different. I didn’t know what it was. I went in my room and like I hear a bang in my head.” By 10.30 pm Partap was kneeling at the roadside holding her 20-year-old son, Rajnath Sookram, who died at the scene of the crash. “The body was still warm. The police kept everybody away but allowed me to touch him because he is my son. Although he had blood running from his nose, he looked like he was sleeping”, she recalled. Sookram died almost a quarter of a mile away from his home at Poonah Road, Whiteland, after he was pitched out of the vehicle which his older brother, Indar, was driving. Indar, 25, and another passenger, Jim Jerry, managed to walk out of the mangled wreck, but are still warded at hospital.
Police reports indicated that around 9.30 pm, Indar lost control of a Datsun 120Y and hit a concrete driveway to a house, which caused the vehicle to capsize and land on its hood in a drain. Police suspect that Indar veered off the road when rounding a bend and skidded alongside the wall of the home of the Dipchans on Poonah Road. The impressions left by the car on the grass and the front wall showed that Indar tried to get back on the road when the back wheel of the car hooked on to the concrete drain, causing it to flip on its hood. Partap admitted that Indar, Rajanth and Jerry left home around 3 pm after having a few drinks. She said: “They had something in a chubby bottle drinking, and I heard one of them say ‘this thing will freak you out boy’.” Gasparillo Police are continuing investigations.
THERE is growing general disillusionment with the two major political parties — UNC and PNM — on the issue of corruption. This is one of the conclusions contained in a report done by UNC MP Winston Dookeran. The 12-page report which pointed the way forward for the UNC, was titled “An Agenda for Transformation” and was presented at a party retreat, at which the results of the local government election were analysed. Dookeran stated that while the perception was that the UNC faced allegations of corruption while in office, the PNM was “gradually becoming the focus of similar allegations.” “The result is a growing disillusionment…The situation provides fertile ground for the emergence of a new political thrust with a clear mandate and a firm and tangible conviction to the ideals of morality and integrity in public life,” he said.
Dookeran stated that trust in the political party must be restored as the UNC contemplated the new structure and institutions of the transformed party. “We must be mindful that trust must be based on reality and perception and a firm unwavering commitment to integrity in public affairs,” he stated. He added that “getting the politics right” also involved building a system of political representation that would go beyond the “divides,” be it ethnic, religious, regional or class and to uphold a truly national ethos based on performance and delivery. Noting that nation states exist to deliver political goods-security, education, health services, economic opportunity, social mobility, a healthy environment and a legal framework of order and a judicial system, Dookeran charged that in the time since December 24, 2001 (with the accession of the PNM to office), the Government had compromised itself in every one of these sectors. “There has been no equal opportunity at any level,” he asserted. He added: “Our policy framework must therefore be redeveloped in a manner that commits us to delivering political goods efficiently, equitable and transparently.”
On the issue of “national unification,” Dookeran said the UNC would need structures and systems for a process of re-socialisation to dispel suspicions that exist in the politics of the country. “The two major races act out of fear of domination by one over the other,” he noted. Dookeran stated that the party had to involve the young people in the society in the “creation of a new foundation stone,” since they were generally characterised out of the box thinkers, idealists and morally and ethically upstanding. Saying that the leadership structure must represent the equal opportunity belief, the St Augustine MP said that the young, at any level in the society must believe that they can one day assume leadership. “The young have a desire for leadership, but they see the current process of leadership selection as based on being part of the right clique. We cannot maintain youth support if leadership is seen as prosperity,” he said.
He suggested as a strategy to involve the young people in participating in the political process, the establishment of a Youth Conference that will develop and assist in implementing a national agenda. “We should also seek to increase our access to the University system to encourage the young thinkers to participate and become a part of our movement,” he stressed. Dookeran emphasised that the party must also consider strategies to engage the public in its processes of policy formulation and governance. “The UNC must be seen as a party that encourages free thinking and open discussion and new ideas, internally and externally,” the St Augustine MP stated.
WINSTON DOOKERAN yesterday described his status report on the UNC, titled “An Agenda for Transformation,” as merely an analysis of the current state of the party, which he said received positive feedback from party members. Newsday reported on Sunday in a front page story headlined “Dookeran blasts UNC,” the contents of Dookeran’s report which was presented to party members at its September 7 retreat. The report was critical of several issues, including the absence of a structure to adequately deal with finding a successor to current leader Basdeo Panday; that the party was perceived as belonging to Panday, its founder; the prevailing state of paralysis of the party which was fueling “growing negative perceptions”; the impression that the party was functioning as “a protest movement” and that the party was in no position to “properly articulate cogent alternatives to the present policies of the Government.”
Speaking to Newsday yesterday, Dookeran, the St Augustine MP, said his main aim in compiling the 12-page document was to “analyse the party as I saw it and see how we move forward.” He said although he had not seen the Newsday article, he had received calls from several persons about the report. He said they expressed the view that the headline was inappropriate but the report accurate. He said if that was the case, then it was unfair, because things would be taken out of context. He said he didn’t expect any “fall out” with party members based on his observations in the report and lamented that when it was presented at the retreat, “they were very supportive of the analysis.” He said following the presentation of the report, which was discussed at the retreat and is in the hands of all UNC Opposition MPs, Dookeran said he was made Chairman of a Committee to “convert the ideas into a plan of action.”
He couldn’t recall who were the other members of the Committee, but said the members were chairpersons of other committees. He said the Committee would meet soon. Panday who was out of the country at the time of the retreat is said to have received a copy of Dookeran’s report. Dookeran said he had spoken to Panday but not about the report. Wade Mark insisted that the document was “an internal working document and a discussion paper” with “nothing else behind it.” He explained, “it is part of our rebuilding, reorganising exercise and working groups were established to deal with it and to come up with ideas that can be put into action plans with time lines, which will go before the National Congress on October 12.”
He said the September 7 retreat was a continuation of a similar exercise held on January 11 this year. Mark said the Dookeran document together with another one, which arose out of the “collective wisdom” of persons at the January retreat, were both discussed. Mark said the Committee which Dookeran now chairs to discuss both reports, comprises 15 persons. He insisted that the UNC “has a function to perform and rebuild and not only to be a credible alternative.” Efforts to contact Panday proved futile.
THE NEW law term opens tomorrow with the usual pomp and pageantry. But interesting times are ahead in the coming year. Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the Caribbean will be opening a new chapter where the judiciary is concerned. The long-awaited Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will be inaugurated on November 15 in Port-of-Spain. Trinidad is the headquarters for the CCJ. While most Caribbean countries are ready for the giant step, Trinidad and Tobago may be caught in the slips. Attorney General Glenda Morean-Phillip is yet to bring the legislation to Parliament which will allow TT to have the CCJ as its final appellate court, leaving the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council behind.
With this session of Parliament coming to an end, the legislation governing the CCJ will not be laid before the end of September. And with the 2003-2004 Budget presentation coming in the new session, time will be running out for the Government. The Patrick Manning administration will need the support of the Opposition UNC if Trinidad and Tobago is to have the CCJ as the final appellate court. The UNC is already on record as saying that it will not support the legislation unless there is constitutional reform. It was the UNC Government in 2001 which signed the treaty for the establishment of the CCJ…and in Port-of-Spain too. The Barbados Chief Justice Sir David Simmons has already indicated that the rest of the Caribbean is moving ahead with the CCJ and if TT doesn’t get its house in order, we will be left behind. The next three months will be crucial for the future of this country’s judicial system.
Chief Justice Sat Sharma will address the gathering at the Hall of Justice tomorrow to mark the formal opening of the law term. It will be the second time that Sharma will address the opening of the law term since his appointment in July 2002. It is expected that the Chief Justice will use this forum to highlight the problems in the judiciary over the last year. While he will focus on the positive aspects of the judiciary, he will certainly use the opportunity to address some of the ills. One of the major issues for him has been the Magistracy. The burning problem has been the condition of court buildings. Since his appointment, Sharma has been vocal on the conditions under which magistrates and staff have had to work. Despite his ranting, the situation remains the same with the dilapidated conditions.
The San Fernando Magistrates’ Court has been in a terrible condition for a long time. The AG paid a visit to this building months ago, promising action. But the staff and magistrates are still waiting for relief. One never knows when a pigeon will release its droppings on a magistrate. For years, both staff and the public have been enduring stress when they use the Chaguanas and Arima Courts. These buildings are so outdated that a disaster is waiting to happen. Not too long ago, prisoners rebelled at the Arima Court. While Couva has some what improved, this court house needs new life. It serves a wide cross section of the community in Central Trinidad. During the last law term, Prime Minister Manning spoke of the plan to move Parliament to the block which now serves the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court, the Defence Force, the Ministry of National Security and the headquarters of the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB).
This brought immediate reaction from the Chief Justice who complained that there was no consultation with the judiciary on such a critical decision.
Very little has been heard since, but the Attorney General handed over the keys to the new wing of the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court in July. This new wing has been under construction for a considerable length of time and although it was handed over to the judiciary, it still cannot be occupied at this time. Another problem in the judiciary is the archaic system of taking notes in long hand. While the CAT system was introduced in the High Court and Court of Appeal, the Magistrates’ Courts continue to be handicapped with note-takers taking notes in long hand. Although the CAT system is functioning well in the High Court and Court of Appeal, the remuneration is considered low and not competitive with other Caribbean countries. The head of this unit, Jennifer Leach, resigned from her job to take up a more lucrative contract in Barbados. During the last year, a committee chaired by Justice Mark Mohammed made recommendations aimed at creating great efficiency in the judiciary. One such recommendation is the shortening of criminal trials, which according to reports, is working well.
Like in everything, there was controversy in the Magistracy with a bitter battle between Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls and his deputy Deborah Thomas-Felix. This started after Mc Nicolls took away the case against former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday from Thomas-Felix. Added to that, she was transferred to San Fernando. Thomas-Felix challenged this move in the High Court citing her continuing back problem as one of the issues. She lost the matter in the High Court on a technicality of filing it too late. She appealed and this will be one of the high profile cases to be heard in the new term. With the new law term about to begin, attention will be focused on the establishment of a Family Court, which will be housed at NIPDEC House. The facility will have to be upgraded for this new court. But one wonders why this court is moving there, when there is room on the second floor of the Hall of Justice. The small courts there can be used whereby families will have more privacy there to iron out their problems than the glare of attraction at NIPDEC House.
AN IRATE San Fernando man went berserk on Friday afternoon and stabbed a CEPEP worker for blasting music in the neighbourhood, police reported. In full view of other members of his CEPEP gang, Ryan Sinaswee, 31, of Jumbie Lane, Marabella, was stabbed multiple times in his neck and chest. Witnesses told investigators that as Sinaswee bleeding on the ground, his attacker calmly walked away from the scene back to his apartment. The bloody incident occurred around 2 pm at a playground near Lawrence Street, in the Roy Joseph housing scheme where Sinaswee and his co-workers were having a cook-out.
Police reports said that during the lime, the victim switched on a stereo and turned up the music loudly. The 44-year-old man, who resides in an apartment in the neighbourhood, expressed his annoyance over the noise, and confronted Sinaswee. A heated exchange ensued, and escalated into violence as the attacker pulled out a knife and began chasing the CEPEP worker down the street, witnesses explained to police. The suspect eventually caught up to Sinaswee and dealt him several stabs to the upper body. San Fernando CID were contacted and Cpls Phillip and Gaffar, and PC Dublin responded to the report, and arrested the 44-year-old man, and seized a bloody kitchen knife. Sinaswee were rushed to the San Fernando General Hospital, where he is warded in a critical condition. He was due to undergo surgery yesterday morning. Meanwhile, the suspect was taken to the San Fernando CID where he was charged with wounding with intent. He is expected to appear in the San Fernando Magistrate Court today.
