“People tell me I should be in the Hall of Fame and that’s what I would truly like,” said the still mobile woman who will be 87 on August 8. “In my day women were supposed to be housewives, cooking food, see about the children, wash clothes and see about the house etc…..men was everything.” Gooding made contact for this interview, still able to use one of her St Ann’s taxis so that we could meet at the stand near to Trinity Cathedral, Port-of-Spain and continue to Newsday’s interview space on Chacon Street.

Since we had never met, I was about to give her my car number for identification, but the very feisty woman preferred to let me know the colour outfit she would be wearing instead, and would call me on the morning in question. “Too many television crime dramas….” I thought with a chuckle.

And, there she was in her “light-green blouse and jeans” –not with one or two trophies as was asked for picture purpose– but all her trophies fitted into one hold-all bag which she was able to easily carry. In nearly 20 years of representing school, club and country, those were the sum total of her awards. To quote one of her peers, Marjorie John, who was fortunate enough to make it into the Hall of Fame: “Those were the days when you won a cup, spoon, saucer, plate, bowl or maybe fork.” Born in Belmont in 1930, Gooding started to run as a five-year-old at St Margaret’s School at a time she says: “When the schools in Belmont used to challenge each other and before school went on vacation, Belmont Intermediate, St Margaret’s EC, Belmont Boys and Girls RC, the Methodist schools and all the government schools in Belmont would meet in a day of sports organised by the schoolmasters and mistresses. They would take us to the [Queen’s Park] Savannah and run the races….it was heavy competition.” Then Gooding went to Providence Girls Secondary, in the days when it was run by the nuns, where she continued running.

Her teacher was Phyllis Mitchell. “The nuns those days were very sacred and proper and could not walk the streets unless properly attired. Every district in Trinidad, north, south, etc, took part in Inter-zone Sports, then the winners used to go to the [Queen’s Park] Oval and run against each other to find out the overall champions… This is how I started meeting people from the whole of Trinidad. I would run within my age limit to see who is the winner of the various age groups in Trinidad and Tobago…

I lost one race in my life to Eileen King here in TT .” Gooding’s first trip overseas was to Guyana while at Providence when Mother Pius, her parents and club Mitteo Harriet where Victor Roberts was her trainer, stood the costs so that she could represent the country.

Gooding’s board and lodge were courtesy Mitchell who boarded a plane and came to Guyana so that the young athlete could stay with her teacher’s parents who were Guyanese. In Barbados, she reminisced, “I stayed with the Blackburns.” As I listened to the octogenarian tell of her inability to represent the country any further than Guyana, Barbados, Grenada and the Caribbean because her mother could not afford to send her to run in England, as that was when the onus fell on club and parents to stand the costs, my mind went back to the 70s and 80s. During that period, as executive members of the TT Women’s Hockey Association, we held cake/bake sales at the side of the St James Barracks field, organised hockey queen shows and fetes to send national teams to Caribbean and world tournaments and host tournaments here.

And, I was even more amazed to read in Newsday, June 2, the plea from President Anthony Carmona for support for athletes…

“with the authorities of this country to support national athletes on their journey to success and not wait until they become heroes” –made at the installation ceremony of the executive of the TT Olympic Committee at his office. I realised that the President is unaware of the hardships of as late as the 1980s to train, prepare, outfit and support 15 members, plus staff of a representative hockey team on a minuscule Government subvention, as there was just no money in the national coffers back then.

My plea here is that the powers- that-be making nominations for the Hall of Fame, do some research into this woman sprinter of the 1940s/50s who also taught sports in the primary school system at St Dominic’s Home and St Martin’s School, Belmont, and seek to fulfil her dearest wish – induction into the First Citizens Hall of Fame.

The society, the third of its kind in the Caribbean, seeks to further develop and empower female credit union leaders to realise their unlimited potential and increase their impact in local communities.

Several credit unions were represented at the June 2 event including Neal and Massy North, Rhand, TATECO, Western United and CLICO.

Guest speaker Sallyann Della Casa whose title is dreamerin- chief and lead tree shaker at the Growing Leaders Foundation, urged members to “live into the power” that resided within them and by focusing on three areas – their capacity, congruence and curiosity.

Anyone interested in joining the Sister Society can e-mail Gail Rajkumar at gailremyraj@ hotmail.com or Jamila Draper at jamilaanne27@gmail.

com

Marchin Pariots were sniffing victory with two runs to win off the last delivery and former national youth player and topscorer Param Rampersad at the crease. But Rampersad was dramatically dismissed, sending South Zone’s runner-up HYO into the semi-final.

HYO won the toss and batted first, amassing 115 for eight in their allotted 20 overs. And Central Zone’s champion outfit, Marchin Patriots just failed off the final delivery, ending all out for 114 in exactly 20 overs.

The bowling heroes for HYO were Richardo Beekie, who snapped up three wickets for 16 off three overs, Shazard Manshoor (2/19 from four overs), Brian Deosaran (2/20 from four overs), Javed Mohammed (2/25 from four overs) and Adrian Adams (1/10 from two overs).

Param Rampersad scored 28 while Trinidad and Tobago’s national under 19 player Teshawn Castro made 19.

HYO’s batting centred around the outstanding performance of national under 17 player Leonardo Julien, with an attractive 33 that included one six and three fours.

Former national under 19 player Javed Mohammed made 22 (two fours) while Richardo Beekie scored 14 which included one six.

West Indies Under 19 player Teshawn Castro was Marchin Patriots’ best bowler and finished with three wickets for 31 from four overs. Roshan Parag took two for seven runs in two overs.

On March 14, 30-year-old Paul Marchand was shot dead by police officers while he was having a mental breakdown at his home in Richplain, Diego Martin. He was a PH driver. Police claimed he was acting violently and when they attempted to detain him, he attacked with a broken bottle and injured two policemen. Three months later, on June 6, 23-yearold Daniel Paul was killed by police in Ste Madeline.

According to reports, police shot Paul after he threw stones at them. The reports indicate Paul was also acting in a violent manner.

And on Friday last, another mentally ill man died from gunshot wounds after he was shot in the buttocks by a soldier. Edison Thompson, 45, of Princes Town, was acting violently on a PTSC bus, near Henry Street on South Quay, Port of Spain. When police and soldiers who were on duty tried to subdue him, he attacked them with a hammer.

In the wake of all of this, Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon and Toco/Sangre Grande MP Glenda Jennings-Smith – who both have extensive backgrounds in law enforcement – differed publicly on the extent of the problem. But the deaths alone tell us the story: the police are not able to handle these cases effectively.

If the politicians have been in doubt, the police officers have not been.

Acting public information officer Insp Lester Kerr recently said at a weekly police press briefing that police were not properly trained to deal with these situations.

Seales did not mince words in concurring with this view.

“We have conducted our own investigations into the matter and it is clear that police are not able to treat with the mentally ill,” he told Newsday. “It is clear to see when every time a police officer has to intervene in one of these cases, the mentally ill patient ends up being wounded – sometimes fatally – that we are not trained to deal with mental patients. Non-lethal equipment like takers and pepper spray will reduce the risk of fatalities. These tools would allow police to intervene and subdue suspects with minimal force. This way police will be able to do their jobs and people would not have to lose their lives.” Takers are now standard equipment in police forces all over the world. They are a way to prevent fatalities and minimise allegations of abuse of power as they can disable a perpetrator without killing.

However, takers alone cannot be the panacea to the issue of better treatment of the mentally ill.

Takers, also known as stun guns, can cause sudden cardiac arrest and death, researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine reported in the journal Circulation.

Therefore, takers can still kill and should not be used lightly.

Still, they are an improvement over deadly firearms.

The deeper issue is the lack of robust training. In a country with large numbers of displaced people on the streets – many of whom are mentally ill – police officers should be taught about dealing with mentally ill people as a matter of course.

We cannot dismiss cases in which such people have been killed simply because of our attitudes towards the mentally ill.

When senior police officers are begging the State for better training, the State (and the police hierarchy) would do well to listen.

They must aim at once for better training. And deliver.

His persistence at retaining outdated, gender-biased and paedophilic legislation, which flies in the face of children’s rights must be of serious concern to the population at large, inclusive of those who accept his regressive persuasion and rhetoric .

The youth of today respect tradition in as far as there is a proper rationale for its continuance .

History shows that child marriage was once somewhat accepted globally as it tended to have several benefits for a minor whose family wished them a better life when opportunities for progress was scarce .

However, this must no longer be an option .

Respected societies periodically take the time to assess its traditions and practices that have the potential to either facilitate or stymie growth .

On behalf of the youth of TT and the movement for a more progressive society, I urge Maharaj to cease and desist as it relates to any move to reverse the position of the duly elected Parliament to prohibit the marriage of children .

Having debated and voted in the Senate on this issue, I stressed the dangers of retaining legislation which promotes slavery or child labour; a forgoing of opportunities; unhealthy physical, mental and emotional development, and forced marriage .

Today my position remains the same .

Maharaj has a following and therefore the potential to poison efforts to move the country forward .

While the Constitution provides for free speech, citizens must stand up against statements and actions that are divisive, hateful, destructive and counterproductive .

NIKOLI EDWARDS via email

I wonder if the Prime Minister would have noticed the deplorable conditions of the terminal buildings, where people have to wait to board the ferry and the kind of seating arrangements they endure doing so.

I understand the trip was delayed by 45 minutes, and I wonder if he had to sit there not knowing what was going on, since no one bothered to inform the travellers about the delay, or did so at some point later than the scheduled departure.

I wonder if he received a complimentary bottle of water, at least.

I wonder if he could relate to three and more hours of this situation as we have now become accustomed to.

I understand that it may have been raining in Port of Spain. Did the Prime Minister have the unpleasant task of walking to the ferry in the downpour since there is no sheltered walkway to the vessel, or negotiating the slippery gangway to get on board as so many of our older folk would have to do? I understand also that he mingled with the passengers, getting their views on the ferry service and no doubt catching up on some good Tobago ole talk.

But I wonder if he noticed the cramped conditions of the seating arrangements and the unhealthy conditions of the washrooms on the vessel, in spite of the tremendous work done by the crew to keep these in good condition.

Certainly he experienced the crawl of the fast ferry, which we are advised was operating on only three of its four engines, one of which blew out on the way.

That meant that the usual three-hour journey would have gone to five, giving the Prime Minister enough time to fully experience the gut-wrenching rocking of the boat making its slow way through the Bocas, and to observe the many people vomiting their guts out, trying desperately to reach the washrooms in safety.

I tip my hat to Rowley as I cannot recall in my limited knowledge of any Prime Minister being brave enough to travel on the ferry between Trinidad and Tobago.

We know of course of those who did the helicopter trip on a regular basis.

That he made the decision to make this journey at the height of all the controversy surrounding the sea bridge and to mingle with the irate travelling public suggest to me that Rowley wanted to have first-hand, experiential knowledge of the woes of the sea bridge, so that he can take appropriate action to eradicate these issues once and for all.

So, like the rest of TT , I sit in anticipation of a swift solution to the problems of the sea bridge. Clearly, based on his actions on landing in Tobago, the Prime Minister must have been terribly disappointed, angered even, at the state of affairs. I empathise with the truckers who felt snubbed by his response, but recuperation from the ordeal must have been uppermost in his mind.

Once again Rowley has broken ground and has demonstrated that indeed he is a man of the people.

But I sit and I wonder…

He is not superman.

He is a geologist and not a magician. So I know that he will once more have to depend on the Port Authority to perform the herculean task of fixing this ongoing, overbearing situation, which is costing and hurting Tobagonians in so many ways.

Yes, I wonder… Would his trip be in vain?

GARVIN COLE Tobago

Sunday Newsday exclusively reported on June 11, that Murray has been attending to patients at a private medical facility in central Trinidad. In a release, the ministry said that according to the Medical Board Act, Chapter 29:50, the Council of the Medical Board of Trinidad and Tobago is responsible for the registration/licensure of medical practitioners and the enforcement against persons who are who are not duly registered/ licensed but purport to practise medicine.

Notwithstanding, in order to ensure the safety of the public, the Ministry of Health is investigating the matter and is liaising with the Council in this respect. The release said further enquiries into this matter should be directed to the Council of the Medical Board of Trinidad and Tobago.

Grenada-born Murray, the cardiologist who in 2011 was convicted and jailed for the involuntary manslaughter death of pop legend Michael Jackson, was raised in Trinidad since the age of seven by his mother and stepfather.

Jackson was found dead in 2009 and an autopsy later revealed deadly amounts of the drug propofol which is a short acting intravenous anaesthetic used to put patients to sleep during hospital procedures. It is not intended for home use, because of the usual lack of equipment required for emergency resuscitation

However, if one stands at the Tarouba turnoff of the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway, one can see to the south-west the Mannie Ramjohn Staduim. It is well constructed, on a former racing track, with spacious parking, proper entrance and exit roads, non-obstructive view of the field, extremely breezy etc.

But it, as the rest of government institutions, has been neglected.

So why pump so much money in a neighbouring stadium when the money could have been used for other purposes, eg one-stop school for special children, or even a rehab centre for the drug and substance abuse citizens who cry out for help.

Or better yet, an oncology centre, where citizens could get accommodation, treatment, and be comforted.

Think about it.

JOHN R RAMDEEN via email

However, the Cape legacy has not been erased from the band as Roy Cape Jr is co-manager of the band along with Roberts.

The band, however, is no longer owned by the Cape family, Cape Jr confirmed in a brief phone interview with Newsday. In the release, the new band thanked senior Cape for his contribution to the band’s development and growth.

The release on the band’s name change from its PR arm, Chambers Media, said: “The name change is a natural progression for the organisation, which has been home to several soca artistes over the years, many of whom have gone on to make significant contributions to entertainment, in the Caribbean and diaspora.

“Uncompromising in delivering a quality music experience, D’ All Starz timeless sounds will continue to be led by a stellar frontline vocal line-up, which currently consists of a star-studded soca line-up: Blaxx, Ricardo Drue, Teddyson John and Tizzy.” In a Newsday, April 2 article by Gary Cardinez, Cape [the band’s founder and former lead] then said he was hanging up his sax after 57 years in the business and that that was not the way he had planned to end his career. The article quoted Cape as saying, “I was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, and it changed my life completely. I had to take care of myself and that has been my focus over the last few years.

From now on there will be no more Roy Cape All Stars. I have reached an agreement with the band. They are still functioning, and will call a press conference to announce the new name sometime later.” Yesterday’s release said Roberts has been a, “staple with the band for over 25 years.” The release quoted Roberts as saying, “D’ All Starz is a family vibe, and we are really happy to continue on this journey with everyone on board.

“In addition to the brass line, technical team and vocalists from all over the Caribbean, we have all of our long-standing band members on board like Stephen “Drummy” Jardine (drums), Anthony “Bassey” Boynes (bass) and Arnold “Sly” Punnette (guitar)….” Thanking Cape for his contributions to the band, it said, “The band would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Dr Roy Francis Cape, fondly known as ‘Pappy’, for his invaluable guidance to this family of musicians and selfless contributions to the development of music for almost six decades. He has been a pioneer and advocate for the development of the music industry and the creative arts in the region, and his contributions have been recognised as indispensable to many singers, songwriters, musicians and other industry professionals in the circuit.

“D’ All Starz is honoured to have worked with this iconic, award-winning musician, and is forever indebted to Dr Cape’s vision, passion and selfless life’s work. The band looks forward to supporting Pappy with his continued philanthropic efforts as chairman of the Roy Cape Foundation, whose goal is to bring hope and healing to communities across Trinidad and Tobago, by way of music education.” The release indicated the band’s next tour stop would be Bermuda Heroes’ Weekend on June 16, where it is billed as the headline act for the island’s 2017 Carnival celebrations.

Batting first, Hillview struggled to 93 for eight in 30 overs .

But Hillview’s spinners later combined to bowl out Presentation for 90 in 29.1 overs and celebrated a hard-fought victory and the nationwide title .

Lef-tarm spinner Anderson Mahase claimed two for 14 from six overs while off-spinners Alexander Cassiram (2/22), Shazard Mohammed (2/19) and Brandon Basraj (2/14) did the damage, while skipper Giovani Ramdenny scalped the final wicket .

Amrit Dass was the only steadying force and topscored with 19 that was scored off 62 deliveries and was the eighth batsman dismissed at 84 after 25.6 overs .

Presentation College’s overall total contained 29 extras including 26 wides while their bowlers did even worst and conceded 33 wides among the 39 extras for Hillview’s overall tally of 93 in the allotted 30 overs .

For Hillview’s total, Giovanni Ramdenny topscored with 20 that included two fours off 59 deliveries while Rikky Ramlogan added 11 off 22 balls. They were the only batsmen to reach double figures .

Presentation skipper Aaron Bankey copped the “Best Bowler” prize with his four wickets that cost 10 runs from six overs. Khovaan Boodoo took two for 24 from six overs .

Hillview’s captain Giovanni Ramdenny, who made 20 and claimed one wicket for 19, was voted “Player of Match” and also collected the “Best Batsman” prize .

Hillview’s coach Richard Kelly (Snr.) expressed his gratitude to the his school’s principal Leslie Mahase and all other teachers who supported the players .

Commenting on the victory, Kelly said: “It was real hard work by all the players and it was not an easy match. We had to fight all the way to the final over before we got the result .

Much credit must go to the school’s principal, Mr Leslie Mahase and other teachers at the school who supported the boys right through .

“The teachers were very accommodating while the players were away from school throughout the season .

And I am extremely grateful that they provided that level of support which allowed the boys to focus on their game and did well throughout.” Ronald Hosein, manager of Presentation College (Chaguanas), thought that his players gave a very good account of themselves but was let-down by their frontline batsmen who did the bulk of the scoring in all their previous encounters .

“Throughout the season, our frontline batsmen did the bulk of batting and won the matches for us. But in final, they came up short and that put a lot of pressure on the other players,” he said .