IT TOOK a long time, but at last, there is something for West Indies cricket fans to celebrate. The season has been long and painful, but the agony has been wiped from the faces of all West Indies with that emphatic seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka yesterday in the second and final Test at Sabina Park, Jamaica. The Jamaican fans were concentrating on the match, and not the 30th anniversary celebrations of Caricom taking place at Montego Bay and which is being hosted by Jamaican Prime Minister PJ Patterson (see page 15). Thousands of Trinidadians and Tobagonians were glued to their television sets yesterday to see the anti-climax — a comprehensive victory inside three days. While the weather disrupted what could have been a marvellous contest in St Lucia in the first Test, there was no such intervention in Jamaica. Brian Charles Lara, in his second coming as West Indies captain, once again proved to be the match winner with a blazing 80 not out, being the one to hit the winning run off Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lanka mystery spinner. Yesterday’s victory was a welcome one based on the results so far this season. Lara took over the captaincy from Carl Hooper at the beginning of the season and was entrusted with a very young team to face the world champs, Australia.
And despite individual performances with the bat, West Indies were trounced in the first three Test matches in Guyana, Trinidad, and Barbados. When the Windies bowlers finally got a fast pitch in Antigua, Australia crashed for 240. The Antiguan Test turned out to be a record for the Windies. Nine years ago, it was Lara scoring 375 against England to score the highest individual Test score. This time, West Indies successfully chased a record 418 in the fourth innings to beat Australia with their combination of world class bowlers — Lee, Gillespie, and Bichel. Then came the one-day series with Australia rattling off wins in the first four matches. However, the Windies bounced back to take the final three with a win in Port-of-Spain and two in Grenada. With the team on a high, Lara was looking forward to the Sri Lanka visit. The one-day series was played first, but West Indies failed and lost 1-2. The Caribbean side had only themselves to blame. The focus shifted to the Test series and after the washout in St Lucia, it was down to the Sabina Park finale. Despite the criticisms from fans about the sudden selection of unknown Bajan Fidel Edwards, Lara’s big gamble paid off when the small-framed fast bowler claimed five scalps in his first Test match. Sri Lanka made only 208, but the Windies faltered being all out for just 191. Yesterday, Sri Lanka resumed their second innings with a lead of 146 runs. The visitors were looking for runs as well as to occupy the crease for some time.
That was not to happen as Corey Collymore, who had not played Test cricket for four years, snared seven for 57 to crash Sri Lanka to 194. This left the Windies with just 212 to win and as Caribbean fans know, this could have been “too much” for Lara’s men. When Chris Gayle was out with the score on one, butterflies filled many Caribbean stomachs on a Sabbath Sunday. But Ramnaresh Sarwan and Lara ensured that this was not to happen as they belted the Sri Lanka bowling to pilot West Indies to a seven-wicket victory and a 1-0 series triumph. Lara was the happiest man around when he was interviewed by commentator Ian Bishop at the end of the match. He is now looking forward to a rest before the challenge of tours to Zimbabwe and South Africa later this year. Sri Lanka return home soon with another loss outside their country.
RESIDENTS of Lange Park and surrounding areas in Chaguanas who have been clamouring for a heightened police presence in their community, will get their wish today when a police/army post set up in the area will start servicing the community there. A police/army post was installed on Friday, and today, staff for that unit will start servicing the Lange Park and Orchard Gardens areas. ACP Crime Oswyn Allard said yesterday that based on what was said at town meetings held in Chaguanas, residents insisted that the time had come for a police post to be set up. Allard pointed out that the post in Lange Park will be closely monitored and if it provides the desired results then other communities could also see police/army posts set up in their communities. Newsday learned that police and army officers based in the new post will be able to respond to any serious crimes in Montrose, Enterprise and Longdenville. Some of the officers will provide mobile patrols while others will be on foot.
Based on police figures, Lange Park residents have been plagued by house-breakings and larceny. Some residents were also held up by a bandit on a bicycle. At a recent town meeting, residents claimed that they were fed up of returning to their homes after work to discover their homes broken into, fruits stolen, and even articles left in their yard removed by intruders. They claimed that they no longer felt safe in their community and called for the post to be set up. Yesterday, residents of Lange Park welcomed the post and expressed gratitude to the police officers who listened to their plea for help.
AGRICULTURE MINISTER John Rahael declared that because Government bit the Caroni bullet which its UNC predecessor dodged, Trinidad and Tobago will not pay $1billion annually to keep the beleaguered company afloat. Addressing a consultation for a quality-based payment system for sugar-cane at the Rudranath Capildeo Learning Resource Centre in Couva yesterday, Rahael recalled that Government gave Caroni (1975) Limited a $600 million subvention to keep it operational until September and from 1996 to 2001, Caroni’s operating losses skyrocketed from $97 million to $367 million. “No government, no country can continue to subsidise any industry whose losses are occurring at that kind of rate. If we were to continue like that, in the next two or three years, the subvention might have been $1 billion a year. I am sure you do not want that because you too are taxpayers and especially if there is an opportunity to turn that around,” he told the assembled cane farmers. Rahael said with the VSEP for Caroni’s monthly and daily-paid workers costing $900 million and the debt since 1996 standing at $2 billion, the entire restructuring process would cost Government $3.5 billion. “There is no way it could not be business as usual because it would have meant the closure and the death of the sugar industry,” he stated grimly.
Reiterating Government’s commitment to the sugar industry, the Minister said: “Caroni was involved in so many different industries, that the sugar industry was just a component of what Caroni was doing. What is required is to make the sugar industry independent of everything else, so that we will be able to give the sugar industry the opportunity to survive. So that all the losses that Caroni was incurring with respect to the other activities, will not reflect on the sugar industry.” Rahael said the creation of the Sugar Manufacturing Company of TT to exclusively handle sugar production while farmers controlled cane cultivation and production were key components of the restructuring efforts which were discussed with “all stakeholders”.
MINISTER of National Security Howard Chin Lee admitted yesterday that while murders and kidnappings have increased this year, in general, serious crimes for the year have decreased. Records from the police indicate that for the period Jan 1, 2002 to May 2002, 6,745 serious crimes were committed. During the same period this year the figure decreased to 6,516. According to Minister Chin Lee, Government is seriously concerned with the spate of gang-related murders in Laventille and the use of illegal weapons in those murders. He added that residents of Laventille will see additional joint police/army patrols. He pointed out that more vehicles will be allocated to officers based at VMVOTT who are involved in the patrols. The Minister also revealed that plans are afoot to also increase the strength of the police and army officers taking part in the special patrols at Laventille. He issued another call to members of the public to cooperate with the officers involved in those patrols and pass on any key information which could lead to crimes being solved. According to Minister Chin Lee, more training will be provided for officers of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad and the squad will be beefed up shortly.
Police figures indicate that from January to May 2002, 58 murders were committed compared to 94 up until May 2003. Kidnapping for ransom moved from 15 last year to 18 up until May. Rapes, incest and sexual offences dropped from 272 last year May to 235 this year. Records also revealed that burglaries and break-ins also dropped this year. Last year up until May, 2,086 burglaries and break-ins took place while this year the figure decreased to 1,856. Robberies decreased from 1,804 last year to 1,697 this year. Up until the end of May, larceny of motor vehicles decreased to 1,288 while last year 1,304 were reported. Larceny from dwelling houses deceased slightly this year. During the same period last year there were 161 reports of larceny from dwelling houses compared to 152 this year. Most of the crime took place in the Port-of-Spain Division and more than 50 percent of the murders were gang-related.
AFTER he was robbed of $8,000 in cash and jewelry while conducting sales in the Icacos area two weeks ago, 48-year-old Hazan Ali is calling on the revelant authorities to provide patrol vehicles to the Cedros Police Station. Since the police station has no vehicles the assailants were able to enjoy an uninterrupted escape, according to Ali. Ali, of Coromandel Village, said this was the village that Prime Minister Patrick Manning had identified as a main entry point for illegal drugs and guns yet the police station is not equipped with any essential police vehicle.
With the potential risks, Ali said: “There is no police vehicle to comb the area when a report is made.” Ali said very seldom, a police vehicle from the Point Fortin area patrols the area, but then only for a couple of hours. When Newsday contacted the Cedros Police Station an officer confirmed that there were no vehicles stationed there. He also revealed that the problem is a long existing one. Ali said that sometimes policemen use their private vehicles to patrol the area. He ended: “I hope something could be done to correct this matter immediately.”
KIDNAP victim Peter De Freitas, who was kidnapped early Saturday, remained in the hands of his kidnappers yesterday. Worried relatives told Newsday that they have not been able to eat or sleep since the incident. They said that they did not want details of the kidnapping printed in the media since the police investigation was at a sensitive stage. Police investigators told Newsday that kidnappers have made several telephone contacts with the De Freitas family demanding $3 million for his return. All the phone calls to the De Freitas home came from public phone booths in Port-of-Spain and investigators were unable to trace any of the calls thus far. De Freitas, a 21-year old businessman of 22, Valsayn, Avenue, Valsayn, was kidnapped while in company with a friend at Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook, around 3 am on Saturday. Emile Ali, 25, who was also kidnapped with De Freitas was released at the Caroni Cremation Site around 4 am on Saturday.
Ali told Caroni Police that he went to make a deposit at the Woodbrook branch of Republic Bank in company with De Freitas, when they were confronted by four masked men armed with guns. They were both robbed and bundled into a car. He claimed that they were blindfolded and he was dropped off at the Caroni Cremation Site. At the De Freitas home yesterday, relatives, friends and neighbours gathered to give support to the worried relatives of the kidnap victim. Senior police officers of the AKS said yesterday that they were working along certain lines and were hoping to rescue De Freitas shortly.
SPARKING electrical wires are being blamed for two fires which destroyed two homes, rendering 12 persons, including eight children, homeless in separate incidents on Saturday. One child, six-year-old Anna Baptiste, suffered severe burns to her arms and remains warded in a stable condition at Ward 5 of the San Fernando General Hospital. The fires occurred mere hours apart at Lucky Street, La Romaine and then at Cumuto Road, Barrackpore, resulting in over $100,000 in losses. Both families are calling on TTEC to compensate them for their damage. In one incident, Civil Dowlat, 31, a housewife, reported that around 11 am she saw flames emanating from the electrical panel near her home. However, her dog began barking and she went outside to untie him. When she returned she noticed that her roof was on fire and within minutes the entire wooden structure was engulfed in flames. Dowlat, who was renting the house, lived with her husband Russel Sankar, 37, a construction mason and his uncle, Jagdeo Partap, 47. Partap lost $10,000 in cash which was hidden under a mattress. Damage to the house and household articles is estimated to be over $60,000. PC Persad of the Barrackpore Police is continuing investigations.
In the earlier incident around 2.30 am, neighbours reported seeing electrical lines sparking near the home of Joanne Thomas, who lived in the two-bedroom wooden house with her eight children, ages ranging between six to 19. At the time 19-year-old Lydia Baptiste was alone at home with her two youngest sisters. Around 2.30 pm, 19-year-old Baptiste was asleep when she was alerted by neighbours that the house was on fire. When she awoke she saw the bedroom on fire, and she immediately picked up her eight-year-old sister, Makiba, who was asleep on the same bed and threw her out of a window. She ran into the bedroom and grabbed Anna, the other sleeping child, and then ran to the kitchen and jumped through one of the windows. Anna sustained burns to her arms and head. Thomas, who is unemployed, was married to Leroy Baptiste, a retired media photographer, who died last year. San Fernando CID officers are continuing investigations.
A prison officer was arrested on Saturday night and charged with malicious wounding. Reports revealed that around 6.10 pm on Saturday, the prison officer was at his Bon Air, Arouca, home, when he heard a crashing sound on his louvre pane. He made a check and discovered the pane broken and a football in his yard. The officer reportedly had an argument with a 25-year-old man who was later chopped in the left leg.The bleeding man was rushed to the Arima Hospital where he was treated and discharged. PC Rampersad of the Arouca Police Station carried out inquiries and arrested the prison officer. He was granted bail in the sum of $10,000 and will appear before an Arima magistrate today.
How many maxi-taxis operate on our roads? Auditor-General, Jocelyn Thomas, is unable to tell, she complained in her “Special Audit of the Transport Division”, dated June 10, laid in the House of Representatives on Friday. The Report condemned the system of inspection for taxis and maxi-taxis, amid other criticisms of the Licensing Office of the Ministry of Works and Transport. The Auditor-General said: “Maxi-taxis are required to be inspected annually. Based on the details posted in the Inspection Register, it was not possible to reconcile the number of maxi-taxis in service against those inspected at the Transport Division. Further, there is no database of taxis or maxi-taxis that allows for the determination of the total population of these public service vehicles at any given time”. She also complained about ‘touts’ at the Licensing Office, saying: “The presence of unauthorised persons known as ‘touts’ as previously mentioned under the registration process, was also found to exist at the inspection area. The actions of these persons compromised the independence and integrity of the operations of the Inspection Division”.
Otherwise, of the 55 vehicle testing stations for private vehicles (not taxis), the Auditor-General had inspected 18, finding most (16) not properly completing their monthly returns to the Licensing Authority, and most (12) not showing proof of adequate liability insurance. She criticised: “Authorised examiners at two testing stations appeared to be employees of the Transport Division. It was observed that the monthly returns were stored haphazardly upon their receipt at the Transport Division”. Also in the Report, the Transport Commissioner agreed with many concerns of the Auditor-General. He said: “The matter of trucks bearing registration numbers previously assigned to motor cycles is an external racket which is being addressed by the Police. The use of old registration numbers on used foreign vehicles is continuously being addressed by the Licensing Officers and the Police. The use of ‘P’ cars as taxis is a national problem that needs to be addressed but it must be noted that in instances when the matter goes before the court they are difficult to prove”.
THE NAR will hold political office for the first time in 12 years, guaranteed, after the July 14 Local Government Elections, NAR leader Lennox Sankersingh told supporters on Saturday at the presentation of candidates at party headquarters at Victoria Square. He answered critics of the NAR-UNC electoral accommodation by saying that for each council the UNC wins, it was guaranteeing NAR one representative, pressumably an alderman. Sankersingh said: “The NAR will get a foothold in the corridors of power, one NAR representative in each UNC-NAR council, in addition to our 19 candidates. We are guaranteed representation in the corporations”. He noted the UNC currently holds seven corporations. Saying it was pointless to have good ideas without access to political office, Sankersingh assured those present that the accommodation had been approved by both the NAR National Executive and National Council.
