Responding to a question in the Senate from Opposition Senator Wade Mark, Sinanan said the Maracas Beach upgrade was begun in July 2015 at a cost of over $100 million. While the project was supposed to be finished in 26 weeks, Sinanan said by January 2016, “over $25 million was disbursed and the project was just about ten percent completed.” He said the new People’s National Movement (PNM) administration stopped the project and the National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) “is in the process right now of evaluating new bids to award a new contractor on site based on the evaluation of the tenders.” Sinanan said when the PNM assumed office in September 2015, Kall Co was the contractor on site in Maracas.

He reiterated that the contractor and the former contract for the upgrade have been terminated.

Sinanan disclosed that his ministry and the Tourism Ministry have “re-scoped the work to have this project completed within the next five months.” He added that while this project “cannot be completed for Carnival,” steps have been taken to ensure the facilities at Maracas Beach “are kept up to a certain standard so we do not run into any problems with the visitors that will be visiting the facility over the Carnival season.” He said these steps included cleaning drains, fixing pumps and leaving a team on site to ensure that visitors to the beach over the Carnival period experience no form of discomfort as happened two weeks ago when there was a downpour of rain. When Mark asked if the Government was considering any legal action against Kall Co, Sinanan replied, “Coming into government after 2015, the new government found itself dealing with a lot of contracts that have to be referred to the legal team.” He told Mark, who was Speaker of the House of Representatives under the PP, “I am sure that contract is one of them that is engaging the attention of the Attorney General and his department at this time.”

The mother, Lena Francis and her husband, Fred, are holding the NCRHA accountable for their child’s predicament because doctors did not act promptly to delivere the baby via caesarian section.

Francis (Lena), in a lawsuit, stated that she became pregnant in 2009 and on October 25 of that year, she went to the Mount Hope Maternity Hospital to deliver what was medically listed as a normal baby.

In the lawsuit filed in the San Fernando High Court, Francis stated that shortly after admission, a nurse upon placing a monitor on her belly, said that she was checking the baby’s heart rate.

Sometime later that day, according to the mother, the nurse advised a doctor on the ward that the baby’s heart rate was too fast.

A doctor examined the mother and realised that the foetus was in distress. Francis was administed certain medication.

The lawsuit was filed by attorney Asaf Hosein who, together with attorney Dr Camanie Narayansingh-Chang, are arguing the case for the parents. The mother and father are contending that the attending doctor, upon observing that baby (Elijah) was in distress, ought to have carried out a Caesarean section immediately, especially in light of the fact that the mother’s water bag had burst almost six hours before.

Instead, according to the lawsuit, the doctor applied forceps and Francis delivered baby Elijah. However, the mother was discharged, but Elijah was kept in the hospital due to a medical condition that was described by a doctor to the parents, as a “slight focus on the right side of the brain”.

Francis stated in an affidavit that she had observed that her child’s forehead and between his eyes, were damaged and on the right side of the neck, there were torn tissues and ligaments.

There was also a lump on the top left side of Elijah’s skull and his left shoulder “went out of place”. The mother also stated in her lawsuit that there are blood clots in her child’s eyes when he is crying.

Elijah, she stated, is seven years old and has severe neurological disabilities. He suffers from cerebral palsy with accompanying overall developmental retardation, seizures and visual impairment. Francis describes her child as having no useful voluntary movement of either his arms or legs. Elijah cannot walk, talk, sit unattended or eat for himself.

Both mother and father are contending that the injuries their child sustained occurred at birth and the NCRHA’s doctors were negligent in the management of the mother’s pregnancy.

The family is seeking general and aggravated damages

Justice Carol Gobin ruled in favour of Suresh and Tarikha Sohan, who occupied property at Forres Park, Claxton Bay, with the permission of Tarikha’s grandmother, who was a tenant of Caroni (1975) Ltd. The couple lived in the property for decades before their uncle began to claim an interest in it.

In August 2014, the couple’s uncle, Ramkissoon Bhall, retained private bailiff Ramkarran Ramparas, who demolished the Sohans’ home.

The house was completely destroyed, they said in their lawsuit.

Police were also present at the time.

The couple filed proceedings against their uncle, the bailiff and the Attorney General, claiming damages for trespass and declarations that the bailiff acted illegally. The claim against the AG related to the alleged illegal acts of the police officers, who, the couple claims, assisted in the illegal demolition of their home.

At the trial, the Sohans’ uncle and the bailiff conceded that they were liable for trespass.

The State maintained that the police were only present during the demolition to ensure there was no breach of the peace and played no part in the demolition.

In her ruling, Gobin found the testimony of the police officers to be inconsistent and ruled that they acted together with the bailiff and intimidated the couple with their large weapons, abusing their power.

Damages for the couple are to be assessed.

Right-armer Gabriel ripped the heart out of the Volcanoes run chase with a spell of five for 33, to send them crashing for a disappointing 182 in the 47th over, in pursuit of a modest 215 for victory at Coolidge Cricket Ground.

Sunil Ambris was excellent in a career-best unbeaten 75 off 82 balls but the rest of the batting faltered yet again as only Kavem Hodge with 27 and captain Liam Sebastien, 25, managed to make it past 20.

Red Force had earlier turned in an ordinary batting effort of their own to be dismissed for 214 with 13 balls remaining in the innings.

Opener Evin Lewis struck a typically flamboyant 75 off 69 balls while Nicholas Alexis chipped in with 46 but they were just two of four players in double figures, as Red Force collapsed from 180 for three – losing their last seven wickets for just 34 runs.

Off-spinner Shane Shillingford (3-24), left-arm spinner Hodge (3-34) and seamer Kesrick Williams (3-47) finished with three wickets each.

The victory carried Red Force to 17 points, seven adrift of Group A leaders Leeward Islands Hurricanes, while Volcanoes remained fourth on eight points with little hope of advancing to the next round.

Sent in, Red Force got their best start of the tournament when Lewis dominated a 104-run stand with Kyle Hope who made a patient 26 off 92 balls.

Left-hander Lewis dazzled with 11 boundaries but once he drove a flighted delivery back to Hodge in the 25th over, Red Force quickly lost two more wickets to slide to 121 for three.

Captain Denesh Ramdin, who made a busy 22 from 31 balls, joined Alexis in a 59-run stand which allowed Red Force to stage a recovery.

Alexis faced 66 deliveries and counted four fours but with the run rate lagging, Ramdin chanced his arm against Williams and picked out Hodge on the mid-wicket boundary at the end of the 43rd over.

His departure triggered a massive collapse as Williams and Shillingford combined to scythe through the lower order.

Any hopes Volcanoes had of a strong start were then scuppered when Gabriel produced a lethal two-wicket burst, to help send the innings slumping to 43 for four in the 15th over.

Not for the first time in the tournament, the right-handed Ambris came to his side’s rescue, anchoring two successive half-century stands to revive the run chase.

He struck eight fours in an 82-ball knock to notch his third straight half-century and his fifth in six outings in the tournament.

More significantly, he put on 58 for the fifth wicket with Hodge before adding a further 50 for the sixth wicket with Sebastien.

Hodge, who faced 63 balls and hit four boundaries, drove leg-spinner Imran Khan into Jason Mohammed’s safe hands at cover in the 33rd over and Sebastien was unlucky to be adjudged lbw in the 41st over when Gabriel returned for a new spell.

Sebastien’s dismissal ended the Volcanoes resistance as Gabriel and Rampaul combined to send the last five wickets tumbling for 31 runs in the space of 36 deliveries.

Action was in a Third Round Premiership match of the Trinidad and Tobago Women Cricket Association (TTWCA) Women’s League.

King struck 68 as Technocrats posted a total of 205 runs for nine wickets in their allotted 50 overs.

The West Indies left-hander got useful support from Janelle Samuel, who made 28, and Orie Trotman, who got 21.

Allison Collins and Alice Collins each returned figures of two wickets for 25 runs, while Caneisha Isaac had 2/54.

In response, Hibiscus were dismissed for 165 with Jamaica pacer Jodian Morgan claiming 5/19 while Stefanie Ragoonath took 2/31. Allison Collins topscored for Hibiscus with 56 while Rachael Vincent had 30, Shenice Pascall (28) and Rosalie Dolabaille (15).

Trinidad and Tobago captain Merissa Aguilleira also played an instrumental role with the bat as Preysal Phoenix crushed Cricket Lovers by 105 runs at the D’Abadie Recreation Ground.

The ex-West Indies skipper lashed 45 while Shenelle Lord contributed 42 and Renelle Dookie 28 as Preysal Phoenix tallied 210 for eight in 40 overs. Pauline Dufeal snapped up 3/37 and Selene O’Neil 3/43 for Cricket Lovers.

At their turn at the crease, Cricket Lovers were restricted to 105/8 with Dookie getting 2/25 and Lord 2/26.

Mary Mungal led the way for Cricket Lovers with 28 while O’Neil made 27 and Sarah Charles 19.

The other Premiership fixture on Sunday resulted in an eight-wicket triumph for Moosai Sports over Players Sports at the Naparima Ground in San Fernando.

Batting first, Players Sports were skittled out for 73 with Kamara Ragoobar collecting 6/11 and Karishma Ramharack 2/13. Shania Abdool and Monica Rajoo were the leading scorers for Players Sports, with 25 and 13 respectively.

Moosai Sports replied with 74/2 with Amanda Samaroo blazing her way to 41 while Stacy Bolah was unbeaten on 16.

The male national teams of Canada, Brazil, Argentina and Trinidad and Tobago began five days of competition last evening in an attempt to qualify for the World Aquatic Championships in Budapest, Hungary in July.

Smith wished the teams well and spoke of the Ministry’s thrust in making sport tourism a viable industry in this country. He remarked that his Ministry was a part of the TT MA’s Trade and Industry Convention last year and said this indicated a step in the right direction in the monetizing of sport.

“Our thinking with the Sport Company as it relates to the new facilities is that we are now open for business of producing world class athletes in these factories, and with the current economic climate as it relates to oil and gas the timing for having these facilities opened was fantastic to assist with the diversification of the economy,” he said.

Also addressing the audience were Felix Calderon, president of CCCAN and Dale Neuberger, vice president of FINA and president UANA.

Calderon inspected the facilities for hosting CCCAN and was in Tobago gauging the possibility of an open water competition there. He was extremely pleased with the competition venues and was “at a lost of words” when he viewed the magnitude of the facility.

Neuberger described the facility as the “most beautiful in the Americas” and commended the leadership in aquatics on the good work in the sport.

The absolute section saw 12 participants vying to be champion of the chess board. After seven rounds of intense play, there was a three-way tie for first place on six points. Ramoutar of Naparima Boys College however reigned supreme on tie-breaks,

In second place was FIDE (World Chess Federation) Master Isaiah McIntosh of Presentation College, San Fernando and third was FIDE Master Joshua Johnson of Fatima College. Other participants included Mikel Martin, Simon Ramdath, Gerard Sealy, Reece Roopnarine, Kriston Mason, Candidate Master (CM) Rayden Rampersad, Jon Raphael Sealy, Juninho La Fleur and Kalel Scoon,

The girls section comprised five participants and four rounds,

Woman FIDE Master Gabriella Johnson of St Joseph’s Convent, Port of Spain triumphed over the competition with four points. Women’s Candidate Master Shemila James of St Francois Girls College was second on three points, and Zara La Fleur of Atwell’s Educational Institute came third with one point. Other participants were Marliyah Phillips and Woman FIDE Master Sadiqah Razark,

The event will begin at 7 pm and run until 8.30 pm.

The theme of the meeting is “Changing the Business of West Indies Cricket”, and the controversial WICB boss will have the opportunity to engage in discussions with the local media as well as well as cricket fans about the state of the game regionally.

The townhall meeting is the second such to be held by the WICB in Trinidad under Cameron.

The first was held in September 2015 with Cameron coming under fire from the public over his handling of the India tour pullout and the dropping of Trinidadians Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard from the team.

“It’s something that is easy to draw up on paper but to actually accomplish it is a phenomenal achievement,” said Sancho.

But despite lifting the trophy for three straight years, there will be no bonus payments for their players and technical staff for the foreseeable future since the club is unsure when they will get their $1 million jackpot.

To date, Central FC, who completed the league treble after their 1-0 win over San Juan Jabloteh at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva last Sunday, are yet to receive their million-dollar prize for winning the 2015-2016 season, and have not collected their full earnings from topping the 2014-2015 edition either.

“It is almost disastrous at this level,” said Sancho. “This is our third year winning and we’re still awaiting (most of) our prize monies from the first year. We have gotten none from the second year and now we’ve gone into our third year and these players deserve to be given bonuses for the work that they’ve put in.” The ex-Sports Minister and Trinidad and Tobago footballer continued, “It’s a struggle. These players deserve bonuses and deserve to get what they’ve put in work for. We haven’t been able to do that because we’re still awaiting it, on top of the fact that we don’t know if there will be a subvention coming into the Pro League (next) season, which is another challenge.

“As much as winning three times in a row is great, it’s some serious challenges ahead. With no real corporate TT inside and questions being unanswered as it relates to subventions, I don’t know how long clubs will continue along this line.” Concerning who funds the prize monies for the league, Sancho noted, “the provider is the Government and, I would imagine, coupled with (major sponsor) Digicel.” But he bemoaned, “there is nothing from the Sports Company (of Trinidad and Tobago), nothing from the Minister of Sport (Darryl Smith) regarding whether or not we’ll be guaranteed subvention going into next season.” Sancho is hopeful that Pro League Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dexter Skeene and the Sports Minister will be able to resolve both matters (prize monies and subventions) as soon as possible.

“We’ve tried to be patient,” said Sancho. “We want to see the League develop but it’s only so patient we could be.” Sancho added that there seems to be little consideration for local football with the Sports Ministry not acknowledging their historic three-peat. Efforts to reach Skeene proved futile up to press time last evening.

Fatima, who were in second place before yesterday’s round three matches, defeated Presentation by 15 runs. Fatima are now the only team with a perfect record and now lead the standings with 54 points.

Hillview, the leaders before yesterday, lost their first match of the season when they fell by three wickets to Carapichaima East. Hillview are now in third position, while Presentation are second.

Batting first, Fatima were dismissed for 194 in 48.4 overs with Brandon Maharaj top scoring with 71.

Wendell George, who has been one of Fatima’s top players this season, cracked 35. Bowling for Presentation, Joel Sutherland grabbed 3/23 and Emilo Gopaul snatched 3/27. Alfayyal Ali was also among the wickets, taking 2/30.

In reply, Presentation could only muster 179/9 in 50 overs. Presentation earned a “losing draw” as they successfully batted 50 overs without being dismissed.

Aneil Pitiram struck 39 for Presentation, while Isaiah Ali contributed 35. Joshua Wilson was the best bowler for Fatima taking 4/26, while George grabbed 2/15.

SUMMARISED SCORES: At Presentation: Fatima 194 (48.4 overs) (Brandon Maharaj 71, Wendell George 35, Joel Sutherland 3/23, Emilo Gopaul 3/27, Alfayyal Ali 2/30) vs Presentation College, Chaguanas 179/9 (50 overs) (Aneil Pitiram 39, Isaiah Ali 35, Joshua Wilson 4/26, W George 2/15). Fatima won by 15 runs, losing draw for Presentation.

At Honeymoon Park: Hillview 159 (37.5 overs) (Leonardo Julien 40, Keagan Simmons 33, Nathaniel McDavid 26; Brandon Ali 4/23, James Duncan 3/39) vs Carapichaima East 160/7 (37 overs) (Travis Heerah 48, B Ali 25 not out, Nathaniel Ramcharitar 23; N Mc- David 2/29). Carapichaima East won by three wickets.

At Barrackpore West: Barrackpore West 300 (49th over) (Vikash Ramsawak 72, Shaquelle Cyrus 57, K Andrews 3/41) vs Trinity College East 107 (41 overs) (T Jadoo 50, Shazan Mohammed 3/14, Vishal Roopnarine 3/21). Barrackpore West won by 193 runs.

At Naparima: Naparima 256/8 (Cephas Cooper 125 not out, Justin Gangoo 18, Nicholas Ali 3/38, Xavier Ganga 3/60) vs Shiva Boys 197 (40 overs) (Tariq Abdool 48, Isaiah Gomez 42, Damien Singh 40, Clevon Kalawan 3/24, Avinash Mahabirsingh 2/26). Naparima won by 59 runs.