THE EDITOR: I want to support the call for the return of Bertille St Clair as our national coach. He is the most successful of all our coaches and he deserves the job. When he was the coach we beat teams like Colombia and South Africa and our performance in the Gold Cup was the best ever. Now we are struggling with Cuba and St Lucia and every small team has a chance against us.
Stern John made a serious comment on our national team and the attitude of some of the players. St Clair doesn’t fool around and with him in charge the players would have to pull up their socks. Since he was removed as the national coach our football has been going down steadily and now it has hit the bottom. We keep hearing about all kinds of plans but we keep seeing the same old faces. None of them did anything when they were coaching so how do they know what it takes. Our football will not progress until we choose the right people. St Clair is the best we ever had and he should be the next national coach.
K PHILBERT
Claxton Bay
THE EDITOR: This letter is addressed to Mr A Anderson Morris, Office of Strategic Services of the United National Congress, Barataria/San Juan.
Dear Sir, I was one of the concerned residents of Westmoorings-by-Sea who saw the need to get together in the early 1980’s because of the rising crime situation in our area. We met at a private home to voice our views, opinions and solutions to the problem and then we met with the top police officers for our district at a special meeting. We structured a system whereby we would have a telephone network system within the community of Westmoorings-by-the Sea, put up signs in that neighbourhood which would alert people of a Neighbourhood Watch and also work hand in hand with the police. We did not form a group of young people to protect us from the criminal elements in our society. So, even though you still insist what you have is a “neighbourhood watch” I say that it is not so, what you have is a “Vigilante watch”….And all law-abiding citizens of this country need to be vigilant about that….
B SANDY
Maraval
THE EDITOR: I refer to the above editorial- good work, take a bow. Let us look at the “Death penalty” (Judicial execution). Many countries have abolished this penalty and many of those same countries have their own Secret Services which, with the approval of their Governments, carry out extra-judicial executions (assassinations) of persons deemed dangerous to the State.
The UN Charter on human rights state that “no one may be deprived of life or liberty without due process of law.” So we have a situation where we cannot execute after due process because the death penalty was abolished. But a person deemed dangerous to the State can be executed without due process. The raw truth is that “governments operate best in the dark,” and the true role of Government is “to mislead the people.” Now go forth and oppose the war in Iraq or any other place in the world knowing full well that the reasons you give in support of your opposition has absolutely no bearing on the cause of the war. As Winston Churchill said “Little things start a war but they are not the cause of the war.”
JACK LEARMOND CRIQUI
Diego Martin
THE EDITOR: In response to the letters replying to my letter which stated that condoms are not the way to fight Aids, I reiterate that condoms have a high failure rate in preventing pregnancies.
I will use my conservative statistics of 15 — 17 percent (the Allan Guttmaker Institute failure rate is 33 percent), that is out of 100 times the condom is used to prevent pregnancies it fails 33 times or with my figures 17 times. The user may be at fault or the pores in the condom may allow passage of the sperm, whatever the reason it fails.
Since the Aids Virus is 500 times smaller than the sperm eg sperm….aids virus — it stands to reason that the failure rate will be much greater. Therefore I stand by my statement that condoms do not prevent the spread of Aids, they may lengthen the time in which you may contract it but if used for that purpose, they will encourage the spread of Aids.
Uganda, Africa is the only country I know about (there may be others) that has been successful in reducing Aids by its government programmes of chastity. No other nation that has pushed condoms has reduced Aids, why therefore are we being fooled and continue to be fools by allowing the condom industry to slowly kill us?
JUDE GONSALVES
Woodbrook
THE EDITOR: I am one of the not so many people worldwide who is aware that a “man made” virus has been released into the atmosphere that would surely reach TT soon.
I can also tell you that it would take a while before the men of medicine find a cure. There will be suffering and very many deaths. I am not referring to “SARS”. The very serious problem is that I cannot tell TT what to do, but to pray without ceasing until our spiritual people receive the healing formula and release it to us. Mr Editor, even if you find this letter a bit farfetched, do not destroy it, but hold on file to prove whether I am an alarmist or not.
THOMAS METCAFFE
Pt Cumana
THE EDITOR: So adequately has the Newsday editorial given expression to my own views on this atrocious war and subsequent editorials, that for me to have written on this subject as I had intended would have been superfluous.
I liken this conflict not as Geoge W Bush would like us to see it as a humanitarian crusade but as an elephant trampling upon a mouse. I hasten to apologise for any offense “mouse” may cause but let it be understood not as a reference to any people or place but solely as a means of expression. The positive stand taken by Newsday over this issue is worthy of high praise. The Newsday be further commended for featuring foreign articles from such recognised journals as the English Observer and the Australian press, which is valuable in countering the biasness dished out to us over CNN and other American news media. The impartiality, which your newspaper has always shown in its efforts to give its readers a balanced view, should lead you to have as your motto:
RESPECT ALL
FEAR NONE
D HERMEY
Cornelio St
Woodbrook
EASTERN Division police say they aren’t ruling out murder in the death of 25-year-old Garthon Joseph who died after he fell about 40 feet to his death early yesterday.
Lawmen said although Joseph was running when he fell to his death, they are trying to establish whether or not he was being chased. As a consequence, officers of the Matura Police Station have called in the Homicide Department to assist them with their investigations. Yesterday, Homicide officers under Sgt Hendron Moses and several others revisited the scene and conducted investigations into the death. Several people were interviewed and statements were recorded.
Police sources said if it is proven that Joseph was chased to cause injuries, murder or manlaughter charges could be laid. However, if this is not proven, the death will be treated as accidental. Reports on the Joseph death are that around 3 am yesterday, he and five others including his 27-year-old brother, Garth, both of Rio Grande Trace, Matura, were walking south along the Toco Main Road, Matura. Police sources told Newsday when the five reached in the vicinity of a beach house, they noticed another group of five coming from the opposite direction.
Police said a member of the other group began to make “bad jokes” and later chased Garthon Joseph, who ran a short distance then fell over a 40-foot cliff and fell to the rocks below. Lawmen said members of both groups carried Joseph first to the Sangre Grande Police Station then to the Sangre Grande Hospital. He was said to be bleeding from the nose and frothing from the mouth. And around 6 am yesterday, police said hospital authorities informed them of Joseph’s death. A report was made and a party of officers under Cpl Phillip Llewelyn of the Matura Police Post visited the scene and conducted investigations which police say are continung at a fast pace.
Two men, one an Adventist, the other a 20-year-old, remained unaccounted for up to late evening after their bodies disappeared under water in separate incidents at Mayaro on Sunday, police sources have said.
The two missing people have been identified as adventist and self-employed Joel Constance, 30, of Ojoe Road, Sangre Grande, and unemployed Stephanas Gomez, 19, of La Romain, San Fernando. Coast Guard officials were up to late evening assisting police officers of the Eastern Division in their search for the two bodies. Reports are that around 2.30 pm Sunday, Gomez, in company with others, was bathing in a sea off Caravan Court, church Street, Mayaro, when his body disappeared.
Police sources said a man identified as Sookram Boodoo informed them that lifeguard Suraj Mansook told them that around 3.15 pm he (Mansook) made attempts to save the teenager but that his body had not surfaced. In the other reported drowning, police said around 5 pm Sunday, Constance and ten others went out in a fishing boat at Caneemi, Mafeking Village, Mayaro. Police said on reaching Green Acres, Constance and the others dived from the boat into the Ortoire River, but Constance’s body did not re-surface. A report was made and a party of officers under acting Insp Mohammed of the Mayaro Police Station visited the scene and conducted investigations. Officers of the Mayaro Police Station are continuing investigations.
Meanwhile, Kishore Anook of Longdenville was the third person to die by drowning for the weekend. On Sunday evening the 43-year-old man went to a pond at Edinburgh 500 for a bath where he got into difficulties before disappearing under the water. Chaguanas police are continuing investigations.
POLICE yesterday said that their disruption of Easter Sunday service at the St James Presbyterian Church, Tableland Village, could not be avoided.
Acting Assistant Superintendent of Police, Stephen Dilpaul, told Newsday yesterday that the disruption of the early-morning service was due to the fact that members of the congregation had parked their cars on both sides of the roadway. It left a narrow path for vehicles, he added. A policeman from the nearby police station walked into the church and asked a member of the congregation to request presiding lay preacher, Rawle Ramlogan, to announce that members remove their vehicles from the road. The service, scheduled to start at 7:30 am, was delayed for half an hour.
ASP Dilpaul confirmed yesterday that Commissioner of Police Hilton Guy had requested a report on the matter having regard to complaints by church members that the police action was insensitive. Dilpaul yesterday interviewed former Labour Minister and MP for Nariva Harry Partap about the “matter”. Partap, a lay preacher, attended the service. Dilpaul said he was expected to speak to preacher Ramlogan sometime yesterday. But Dilpaul denied that the request to have the vehicles removed was to facilitate the police conducting a roadblock in front the church.
Vehicles were parked on both sides of the road, he explained, which posed a traffic hazard, “given the amount of maxis and cars; yesterday being Easter Sunday where a lot of people were travelling to and from the Mayaro beach,” Dilpaul said. The policeman, he added, did not go into the church but remained outside. “But I agree, there was some disruption in the church service. And the roadblock did take place, but not in front the church. It took place some distance away,” Dilpaul said.
Two sons of a former government minister and an American student will appear in court today following the seizure of three guns and a quantity of ammunition at a Chaguanas house Saturday.
Reports reveal that around 4.45 am yesterday, officers led by Insp Raphael and including PC Alexander and others went to a house at Cumberbatch Street, Chaguanas, where they executed a search warrant for arms and ammunition. During the search, officers allegedly seized a Taurus .38 Special revolver, one Stephen Ruger revolver, a Renegao single barrel 12 gauge shotgun and 63 rounds of special ammunition. One spent round was also seized. Eight persons who were in the house, including the two sons of the former minister, ages 27 and 25, and a 20-year-old American student attending classes at the University of the West Indies, were arrested.
