BISHOPS of the Anglican church in the Province of the West Indies have condemned the assault on Iraq by the United States-led coalition forces.
“We stand aghast at the devastation wrought on the historic cities of Iraq by cruise missiles and smart bombs”, they said. The bishops made their position clear at a meeting held in St John’s Barbados last week, with Bishop Calvin Bess of Trinidad and Tobago, among the delegates. Claiming that war was abhorrent to the Christians’ drive for peace, the Bishops said about the war in Iraq: “This war, like all wars has raised a number of moral questions”.
The Bishops noted that for some time, there has been present among some Christians, the theory of the “just war”. “It is a theory that searches for a moral justification of war. Some persons have attempted to use it to justify the war on Iraq. “If the criteria of proportionality and immunity are important in a “just war”, then it is difficult, if not impossible, to find any Christian or moral justification for the destruction of non-combatants”, said the Bishops. They continued: “No small group of countries can assume for themselves, the right to change the government or regime in another country. “The war in Iraq demonstrates a frightening use of power that cannot be morally justified. “It can place the entire world in crisis. It leads to the haunting question – `Who’s next?'”.
The bishops said they stood firmly with other Christian communities throughout the world who have expressed their opposition to the war in Iraq and have affirmed their desire for justice and peace through love. “We believe that there was a viable alternative to war, the way of peaceful disarmament through the inspection process. We regret that the process of weapons inspection was frustrated, due to the commencement of the war in Iraq.”
Urging the recognition of all the terms of the Geneva Conventions applicable in times of war, the Bishops urged the immediate cessation of hostilities and a swift response to relieve the pain and suffering that have been inflicted upon the people of Iraq. “We call on all persons to re-examine their attitudess to war and violence and to re-commit themselves to the pursuit of justice and peace”, said the Bishops. They also said that as Christians, they could not condone the assumed right of any country to develop weapons of mass destruction, or to engage in acts of oppression against its citizens or those of other nations, or to support terrorism.
Amidst speculation that Christina Knights contracted the deadly HIV/AIDS virus and had given it to her lover, Norman Paris Doorgadeen, Knights left a powerful message to all. “I have no power to judge anyone, neither does anyone have to power to judge me, only God,” was one of the philosophies which Knights lived by.
The message was shared yesterday with mourners at the St Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church, Tabaquite, in a eulogy delivered by Knights’ elder sister Simonetta Williams. Williams shared many of Knights’ personal philosophies with the saddened congregation. Knights was described as “vibrant, independent and patient.” Williams also indicated that Knights “visited prisoners on death row, hospitals and nursing homes; the lonely places in people’s hearts.”
Parish priest Father Lumsden, advised the congregation to “trust in God and take it to the Lord in prayer.” He proclaimed that “Christina’s life is going to bear fruit because she has planted a seed in many hearts.” He also used his sermon to caution parents about their children’s well being, telling them to “guard against creating violence in our society”. Knights, the owner of a hair salon and a mother of one, was shot and killed a week ago inside an agricultural shop in Rio Claro by Paris who claimed he had contracted the HIV/AIDS virus from her. While the funeral service for Knights was taking place at Tabaquite, a service for her killer, Norman Doorgadeen was being held at Our Lady of Perpetual Help church, Harris Promenade, San Fernando.
Despite rumblings by politicians and unionists urging employees to reject Government’s VSEP programme for Caroni (1975) Limited, more than 1,000 monthly-paid staff employees have applied for the separation package. Yesterday was the deadline for employees to accept the VSEP offer.
Caroni’s monthly-paid staff numbers some 1,103 employees and according to Ag CEO, Chandra Bobart, several employees had waited until the “last minute” to sign-up for the package. Bobart, however, admitted to not knowing the fate of the Company’s daily-paid workers. They were debarred from accepting Government’s offer, after their representative union, the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers Trade Union, obtained an Industrial Court injunction which prevented Caroni from proceeding with the VSEP offer in respect of daily-paid workers of the company. “I really don’t know,” he said in response to Newsday’s queries about the fate of daily-paid workers, adding the matter was due to be heard by the Industrial Court on May 7, 2003.
Bobart said some 3,425 daily-paid employees had applied for the VSEP package before the injunction was granted last week Friday. Asked about payment of salaries and wages for the month of March, Bobart said a note had been submitted to Cabinet requesting financial assistance for the rest of the fiscal year. “We are extremely hopeful that wages and salaries would be paid by today or by next week for the latest,” he said. Bobart said the Company was grateful to all — both daily-paid and staff, cane farmers, suppliers and contractors — for their patience during “this time of suffering and hardship”. However, the newly appointed CEO added that although the VSEP deadline had passed, operations would continue as “normal” at both the Brechin Castle and Usine Ste Madeleine factories until the end of the sugar harvest.
HUNDREDS of family and friends, including former Attorney General Russell Martineau, Foreign Affairs Minister Knowlson Gift and Public Utilities and Environment Minister Rennie Dumas yesterday flocked to the Trinity Cathedral, Port-of-Spain to pay their last respects to their friend and colleague Lennox Fitzroy Ballah. The service was officiated by Reverend Knolly Clarke.
Ballah, 74, a retired Permanent Secretary with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs died at around 7.30 pm on Saturday at the Community Hospital in Cocorite. He is survived by his wife Martina, four daughters, Lennon, Lindi, Leslie and Kimberly and son Lyndon. Other dignitaries including former Resident Coordinator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Hans Geiser, Independent Senator Christopher Thomas and former Minister of National Security John Donaldson.
During the service, Independent Senator Christopher Thomas gave a brief history of Ballah’s life and times. Ballah, a retired Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was born on August 26, 1929, in Fyzabad Trinidad. He was the third of seven children and attended the Dudley Commercial School, before moving on to Fyzabad Secondary. After attending Fyzabad Secondary, Ballah continued his education at Naparima College, the Government Training College, University College of the West Indies, London University, Middle Temple and Colombia University.
He also held several teaching positions in Trinidad and Tobago and West Africa before joining the Foreign Service in 1965. Thomas pointed out that Ballah would be best remembered for his negotiations with the United Nations on the sea bed in the early 1970’s. He later became a director of the local Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA), and had only recently been elected to serve as a judge on the International Law of the Sea Tribunal, which is headquartered in Germany.
Apart from being a hard worker with a wealth of knowledge, Ballah had strong family roots and believed in putting his children first. Thomas said he remembered speaking to Ballah about an appointment that would have taken him away from his family and he stated that “the education and welfare of my daughters are my first priority”. He was also quite excited when his son sat the SEA exam just over a year ago and was very excited to hear the results. His only son Lyndon successfully passed the exam to be placed in St Anthony’s College.
Also paying his respect was former Minister of National Security John Donaldson, who described Ballah as a knowledgeable and dedicated public servant, who gave selflessly of himself and his time. He said he remembered in March 1981, Ballah willingly gave his home to hold a meeting of State officials, who had to meet to put things in place for the smooth transition of power after the death of the late Prime Minister Eric Williams. He said that Ballah also found time to lime and spend time with his friends and believed in the traditional Trini expression that you could never stand on one drink. The late Lennox Fitzroy Ballah was cremated at the Crematorium in St. James following the church service.
A POLICE officer who laid charges against attempted murder accused Eugesh Sookhoo, testified yesterday that the accused confessed to him that he committed the offence. But later in his evidence the officer admitted to lying.
Recalling the interview when Sookhoo allegedly made the admission, Constable Steve Haynes told the court: “His exact words were ‘I went by Holly home and choke he daughter’”. Sookhoo, 36, of Cedar Hill Road, Tortuga, is on trial before the San Fernando First Criminal Assizes for attempting to murder and committing grievous bodily harm to teenager Tishura Chinnia, also of Tortuga. Sookhoo, a former worker of the victim’s father, allegedly choked and bit the girl, then 16 years old, about her body on February 11, 2001, while she was alone at home. Haynes, who spent most of the day’s hearing in the witness box yesterday, was called to give evidence by State Prosecutor Narissa Ramsundar.
He told the court that on the date the offences were committed he was on duty at the Gran Couva Police Station when he was called out to the Couva District Hospital where he saw Chinnia lying on a bed with bruises to her neck, face, hands, back and feet. The policeman said he visited the home of the victim and observed the living room ramsacked, with chairs, cushions and the Christmas tree down on the floor. Haynes testified that he sent other officers to search for the accused. This part of his testimony was raised under cross examination by the defence attorney, who claimed Haynes had testified in a preliminary inquiry at the Couva Magistrates Court in 2001, that he went to look for Sookhoo. Haynes admitted yesterday however, that he did not go to look for the accused, but other policemen conducted the search.
The policeman went on to tell the court that three days after the incident, around 8.05 pm, he was on duty at the station when he saw a man speaking to Cpl Best, and was introduced to him as Eugesh Sookhoo. Haynes said that during an interview, the accused confessed that he assaulted and choked his employer’s daughter. When cautioned, Sookhoo replied: “Boss I don’t know why I did it”. Under cross examination, the policeman said he did not record a statement from the victim, nor did a fingerprint expert accompany him to the scene of the crime. He said the incident was committed on a Sunday and none of the fingerprint experts were available that day.
THE COUNTRY expects that Senator Wade Mark will be true to his word and produce the evidence to support his charge that the Government is engaging in electronic spying. The accusation he made in the Senate on Tuesday is alarming since, if true, it provides the Government with the technological capacity not only to spy on the Opposition but, in fact, to invade the privacy of individual adult citizens, private groups and organisations.
Specifically, this is the charge the Senator levelled: “The PNM used $61 million of yours and mine, taxpayers’ dollars, to buy an automated monitoring system – and you know that Madame President – capable of analysing voice data, fax calls, e-mails. Madame President, they have done that.” Pursuing his allegation, he noted: “If you have a cell phone, it is the most dangerous device to walk with under the PNM.”
In our view, this accusation is so serious that we would have expected Senator Mark to arm himself with supporting evidence when he came to the Senate on Tuesday to speak on the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill. But he didn’t and, in fact, came under attack from Senator Danny Montano for saying “all kinds of things” and censure from the President who ordered him to “stop making reference to what you have no proof about”. But the Opposition Senator stood his ground, declaring: “I have proof of what I am speaking about. I will produce the evidence.” In the interest of the entire country, we sincerely hope that he would fulfill that promise.
It seems vital to point out here that private citizens and private organisations have an inalienable right to privacy. In fact, “the right of the individual to resepct for his private and family life” is one of the fundamental human rights enshrined in our Constitution. As a watchdog of those rights, this newspaper maintains a keen vigilance and alertness, and is compelled to deal with any attempt by anyone to violate or abridge them. In the context of modern state-of-the-art technology, Senator Mark’s accusation is quite disturbing since he claims that the Government’s has now acquired the capacity to snoop into all the channels of established electronic communication.
What also makes the clash in the Senate worrisome is the fact that the Government side did not see the need to issue a categorical denial of Senator Mark’s categorical charge. As a result, we expect that Prime Minister Manning would now proceed to set the record straight on this troublesome issue. Has the Government in fact acquired such an “automated monitoring system” and, if so, to what use is it being put? The public’s concern over this matter must be fuelled by the spectacular advance in electronic communications, Internet capacity, data transfer and monitoring systems, all of which have begun to erase the traditional boundaries which protected the privacy of citizens. In a survey of the Internet Society entitled “Digital Dilemmas”, the Economist of January 25-31 states: “Governments around the world are moving to record their own transactions and the provision of services to their citizens electronically. Monitoring of telephone calls, voicemail, e-mail and computer use by employers is easier and more widespread than ever before.”
The magazine concludes: “Privacy is likely to become one of the most contentious and troublesome issues in western politics. There will be constant arguments about what trade-offs to make between privacy on the one hand and security, economic efficiency and convenience on the other.” Senator Mark’s charge now brings this issue home to us. How private is our privacy? We expect that both him and the Government will see the necessity to tell us.
CARNIVAL IS OVER. The time is now ripe to deal with serious life-threatening and debilitating topics. A healthy nation is a wealthy nation. This adage is transposed or filtered down on an individual basis signifying that health is wealth. I am confident there will be no objectors to the health-is-wealth motif.
This brings a most pertinent query demanding an instant answer. Should the state protect your health or destroy your health? Simple answer. Protect and/or enhance the health of its citizenry and visitors. Even feisty Health Minister Colm Imbert can answer in the affirmative with or without travelling to Cuba to fast forward medics to bolster the health facilities of Trinidad and Tobago. However the role of our government in the health sector poses a frightening paradox. The state is actually practising genocide while at the same time providing a modicum of health care to combat its own destructive policy and undertakings.
Government is directly engaged in manufacturing flour, sugar and liquor. Three prime antagonistic elements in the quest for a healthy life-style. Killers on their own, the trio forms a potent concoction known as black fruit cake consumed by the tons especially at Christmas time. So citizens are being hustled or transported to hospital beds and graves courtesy your caring government. State-run National Flour Mills (NFM) is producing processed wheat flour which contributes to human obesity and concomitant diabetes all progenitors of heart or cardiac ailment rated as top killers in Triniland and world wide. Diet sheets by nutrutionists warn of the danger of white flour. It has been pointed out by scientists that a diet rich in flour can erode the system for regulating blood sugar levels. It is further stated that “cells become increasingly resistant to insulin. Eventually the system breaks, triggering diabetes and fostering heart disease.”
It was instructive that during the rise in the price of flour and bread Prime Minister Patrick Manning and his Consumer Affairs Minister Camille Robinson-Regis added conflicting salt to the pot. Manning proclaimed that the price rise created a window of opportunity for tighter or better individual budgeting and a little more discipline by consumers. He concluded: “It makes for a better citizen.” The lady Minister advocated a cut on the price increase. Neither were vocal on the health degeneration aspects related to flour.
Not so by Sat Maharaj, Secretary General of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha. He touched on the negative health issues entwined in flour and called on government to educate the nation on diet problems. Maharaj noted that steep price rises may have a benefit in reduced intake of refined and processed flour. I had expected he would have expressed similar concern with the non-healthy aspects associated with refined cane sugar churned out by Caroni (1975) Limited.
Massive retrenchment is earmarked for State-owned Caroni Limited to be restructured with 9,000-plus workers handed VSEP hopefully for acceptance. Government insists that sugar will not be abandoned just cutback in annual productions.White sugar is not a favourite with nutritionists. Even nationalist calypso Trini to the Bone punned Sweet sweet T&T “All this sugar can’t be good for me.” Neither is refined sugar good for diabetics and healthy blood circulation. Financially-anaemic Caroni Limited is not limited to delivering sugar as a health destroyer. Caroni is also about alcoholic beverage namely rum. Rum-drinking can be termed as a recreational binge, but the intoxicating brew definitely cannot be labelled as a health drink.
One-for-the-road drinking anthem of motorists has been a top contributor to multiple deaths and carnage on the road sparked by drunken drivers and tipsy drifting pedestrians. Alcoholism has sparked family breakups, violent behaviour and self destruction. White rum does not fly the flag singly for Caroni though its puncheon rum is feared as much as it is loved. I am bothered about the State investing and producing goods of mass destruction for the populace while pledging to protect and promote the welfare of the nation. Should we call in the United Nations inspectors of the World Health Organisation to disarm the Government of Trinidad and Tobago?
I have examined the list of fundamental human rights and freedoms enshrined in the national Constitution. Sadly missing is the right to healthy living. Freedom of the Press is listed which allows me to write this article and petition for health to be specifically incorporated to correct an imbalance. A protocol of protection should reflect a healthy sign post or benchmark for guiding the nation. Paramount should be a clause deeming it unlawful for the State to engage in acts to endanger or erode freedom of citizens from enjoying and enduring reasonably good health.
Nutritionists usually recommend brown bread (whole wheat or grain) for patients-yet cheaper white bread is standard fare at hospitals. We live and die officially via amazing deeds and misdeeds. Brown bread should be extricated from the negative list at medical institution unless the patient is allergic to whole wheat and other whole grain bread. Should sugar and flour packages carry health warnings? How can alcohol be sold at fancy shops at State-operated National Petroleum gas stations? It is an open invitation to drink and drive or go in reverse driving and drinking. Put up the red flag on white flour and white sugar. Government missed a twin golden opportunity to eliminate promotion of distress to body and soul in mishandling the dispersal and disposal of money-absorbing Caroni Limited and the retooling of National Flour Mills.
Cutting down on sugar and keeping rum in Caroni will still see the State maintaining its killing field health-wise. Caroni should have been taken out of sugar-producing canes and a new entity established to bolster production of nutritional food and fruit crops. Money-losing Caroni is viewed as a welfare state enterprise in which citizens and the Treasury are not faring well. Money-spinning NFM is constantly grinding out millions of dollars in profit whether wheat price rises or not. Good health lost out to monetary wealth. in that white flour is still in power.
Government decision-makers has obviously opted for dollars instead of health sense. They took the dead-beat simplistic stance of Flour Mills raking in macho profits to be spent on hospital equipment and medicine for folks weakened by consuming and spending on flour. Government is ensuring that the populace stay loyal Trinis to the calcium-deficientbone and oxygen-starved heart. Get off the unhealthy scene, save lives!
THE EDITOR: I just read Pastor Winston Cuffie’s commentary, Anti-War Hypocrisy. I spent time in Trinidad a few years ago aboard my sailboat and since then have always kept in contact by reading Newsday online every day. I also read other newspapers from around the world via computer. Pastor Cuffie’s assessment of the US involvement in Iraq is the fairest and most rational one I have seen. Most commentaries support bombing the country back into the stone age or in demanding total withdrawal in order to allow Saddam to continue his killing and terrorism on his own people. I am neither a war monger nor a pacifist but, like Pastor Cuffie, there comes a time when certain actions must be taken in order to protect the long-term well being of a people. Thank you sir, for your speaking out on this important subject.
MIKE ROSE
Bainbridge Island
Washington
USA
PS Love your paper!
THE EDITOR: I am a Trinidad national residing in the USA. I read with great interest what Conrad Aleong said about the effect that the war in Iraq has on the airline industry. While I know that many people will not get on any American or British airline because of their involvement in the war effort, I don’t see why Aleong made such a statement.
I know that I speak for myself and many of my friends who will only fly with BWIA. Why does Aleong think that everything that affects us here in the USA has anything to do with Trinidad? Does Trinidad have troops in Iraq? Is Trinidad angry at the Muslim community at large? Is Trinidad giving aid to Israel and in doing so, upsetting the Muslim world?
FRAN KHAN LANGER
USA
THE EDITOR: Saving the jobs and welfare of the people of Caroni and WASA and their families is to be seriously considered. I feel that no one would reject if for a given period, we are asked to pay five hundred percent for more than we are doing now for sugar and water.
A side effect is that people who suffer from diabetes would be inclined to use less sugar than they now do and people with metered water would surely be more conservative. The importing of sugar should be either stopped or heavily taxed, this is to ensure that our sugar is all sold and absorbed locally.
THOMAS METCAFFE
Pt Cumana
