N Touch

Stepping carefully

AS WE have said before, the Inquiry into the Piarco Development Project would be a huge and costly exercise in futility if its findings did not result in the criminal prosecution of those responsible for this colossal scandal. In our view, the public inquiry, the longest of its kind ever held in TT, will be regarded as worthwhile or successful only to the extent that it provides prima facie evidence for the laying of charges against a clutch of persons involved in this notorious project.

Indeed, decent, law-abiding citizens, who demand honesty in government, will be outraged if, after following the daily revelations of the Inquiry, nothing is done to bring justice to this wholesale and shameless plundering of the public purse. That is why they must feel assured by the Government’s careful approach to bringing this sordid affair to its necessary conclusion. It would be a tremendous frustration if anything is done that would present a legal recourse for those who may be charged under the country’s corruption laws. We must agree then with Prime Minister Manning and Attorney General Morean about the need to “sanitise” the report before if can be laid in Parliament and thus made public.

The AG has pointed out that because the report has implications for criminal action the Government had to be careful that it does not provide justification for judicial review applications because of prior publication. We quite expected, of course, what the AG has said, that there are really no surprises in the report. The Commissioners would have given their comments and their recommendations on the basis of evidence adduced by witnesses testifying before them, evidence which has been reported extensively in the daily press. Logically, we can only assume that among their recommendations would be the appropriate action to be taken against a number of persons whom the testimony has implicated. Also, we expect, the Commissioners would have suggested means, measures and possible mechanisms  to be adopted to prevent the recurrence of such a fiasco.

As far as we are concerned, our society cannot afford to be complacent or compromising about corruption in public office, particularly among those elected to conduct the nation’s business. This is where, in fact, we expect the highest standard of integrity to prevail and be exemplified, and any derogation from it not only leads to a selfish and venal siphoning of taxpayers’ money but also sets the tone and mores for the rest of the society. Those who have attended the public sittings of the Piarco Airport Inquiry or followed its progress through daily reports in the Press would have been horrified by the revelations coming from the stream of witnesses who testified before it.

From its planning to its execution to its completion, this undertaking to build a new airport  was subjected to an unbelievable level of mismanagement, lack of financial control and accountability, a disregard for established procedure and sheer greed that history will regard it as the most notorious public construction project ever undertaken in Trinidad and Tobago. Those who are responsible for this national disgrace must be brought to justice if our society is to preserve its self respect and demonstrate its zero tolerance for dishonesty and corruption in public office.

THE PIARCO REPORT— ANOTHER CEPEP PROJECT


When a Prime Minister and his Attorney General are seeking to bamboozle the public, they should really try to tell the same version of a story and that version should be always be concocted using some small amount of logic. But, this was not the case in TT. A pattern was emerging: Patrick Manning said one thing, Glenda Morean another, and the rest of us were left with the uncomfortable feeling that we were being told only half of the story or many different tales, altogether. The most recent example, Manning’s and Morean’s comments on the Piarco Inquiry Report. One would think that the public deserved the utmost transparency on this matter, particularly given that $5 million of its tax dollars had been spent on the 170-day probe into the airport project.

On Wednesday, however, we learnt that would not be the case. The Attorney General announced glibly that the report would not be laid in Parliament that Friday, but “soon”. She, Mrs Glenda Morean, was examining it to determine whether it contained libel or whether its release could prejudice any future court action taken. (One only hoped it did not take her, as long to read the report as it had to review the declaration forms for the Integrity in Public Life Act.) Though she probably believed that her explanation for delaying the release of the report sounded legally sound, the AG forgot that some of us were not so easily hoodwinked. For one, nothing could have been more slanderous and could have affected future prosecutions than the 170-day live television coverage and the press reports of the Inquiry itself.

Indeed, on several occasions the Law Association wrote to Chairman Bernard claiming he was biased and unfair based on his comments at the sittings. The letters were copied to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Geoffrey Henderson, who himself wrote the Commission advising it to be careful about pre-trial publicity prejudicing the case against those facing charges arising from the Piarco project. Furthermore, the AG knew very well that her argument for not laying the report lacked substance because once tabled in the legislature, the report’s contents were covered by privilege and thus, though potentially libellous statements could not be the subject of a lawsuit. The AG’s feeble justifications were echoed the next day at a post Cabinet press conference by her Prime Minister Patrick Manning who also cited pre-trial publicity, the libelling of the innocent for not yet releasing the report. His Government before its release, he announced might have to sanitise the Commission’s conclusions.

However, to Morean’s excuses, the Prime Minister thought he would add some topping, just in case some of the less feeble-minded public remained unconvinced by his and his sidekick’s arguments. He was not going to repeat the action’s of the NAR administration, he said, which after laying the Scott drug report in the eighties, took police officers off duty and later had too reinstate them. Thus, according to Mr Manning, tabling a document and acting on its findings were the same thing. By the next day, his AG was back on stage, this time to contradict her earlier statement. There was nothing in the report that the public had not heard, she confessed Friday. But it still had to be sanitised, she argued, even though we were left to wonder how the report could be more damaging to reputations than the Inquiry or cause more prejudice if nothing in it was really different? Why not lay it then? Was it that the report contained language which supported Newsday’s story on August 29 that there had been a rift among the Inquiry’s four Commissioners, that these were unable to agree on certain matters?

The divide apparently almost ended in half the panel not wanting to sign off on some of the harsher findings and unanimity was reportedly reached only at the last minute. Was Government, thus, seeking to juice up the Piarco report as Blair and Bush had done with intelligence on Iraq? By “sanitise”, did it mean to let the public see only its most damning parts? Was that why certain incriminating excerpts of the document had been leaked to the media, reportedly by people in the very AG’s office? Alternatively, was it that the PNM, having gained political mileage from the Inquiry no longer needed the Report? We were only left to guess the motives of the PM and his AG. Whatever their reasons, it was unfair and insulting to keep from the public the results of such a controversial Inquiry or to give voters and the Parliament a sanitised version of the report, as if this were another CEPEP project. Not when it cost that public more than $5 million of its tax dollars. Yet again, as it had done with the Integrity Act and the plans to relocate the Red House, the Government was denying the legislature, the Opposition, and the people, their right to know about and opine on critical public issues. For the PNM, good government was ignoring the legislature, defying its legislation and sanitising reports.


Suzanne Mills is the editor
of the daily Newsday.

$M coke find may have come from downed plane

A PART of the fuselage of a light Cessna propeller aircraft discovered washed ashore on the Moruga beach early yesterday morning, is said to be the latest link to the $17 million cocaine find in the area recently. Police believe the discovery of the mangled wreck of part of the aircraft opens up a frightening new episode in the saga of the mysterious washing ashore on the Gran Chemin beach on August 25, of 15 kilos of cocaine wrapped in plastic bags and the washing ashore of three bodies. Up to late yesterday, a combined team of members of the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard and Police were combing the Moruga seas for the remaining parts of what is possibly a white aircraft.

It was around 6 am when a party of policemen who have been keeping vigil on the beaches, spotted what seemed like a piece of white metal floating between the beach area and where the tide broke, at La Retreat beach. The police party was headed by Cpl Alpheus and included PCs Sookhai, Taylor, Jairaj, Williams and Friday. Upon checking, the policemen observed that the wreckage, part of which was stuck in the sand, resembled part of an aircraft. Within minutes, ASP Desmond Lambert headed a party of senior policemen to the scene which included ASP Dyo Mohammed. Scores of fishermen and villagers of La Retreat had already gathered on the beach but police kept them at bay, refusing to let anyone near the object.
  
Lambert ordered that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) be called in. Around mid-morning, three officers of the CAA arrived on the beach and upon conducting an inspection, confirmed to police that the wreck was part of the fuselage of a single-engine Cessna aircraft. The CAA officers refused to even divulge their names or give details about the mangled fuselage except to confirm that it was part of the body of an aircraft that had broken off upon impact on the sea from a very high altitude. The wreck, which was white in colour, measured about 16 feet in length and had the words “DEFENCE ORBITAL.”  Below the writing, was an insignia: “ARIANE SPACE.” The words were written in red with blue stars. According to police, the origin of the aircraft could not be determined up to late yesterday.

Lambert told Sunday Newsday that speculation was rife that the latest find was linked to the cocaine discovery last month at the Gran Chemin beach. Three bodies were subsequently washed ashore, two in Gran Chemin and the other at Chaguaramas. Police are working on the theory that the dead persons were more than likely passengers in the aircraft. The La Retreat beach where up to late yesterday the fuselage remained under police guard, is about five miles east of the Gran Chemin beach where the cocaine washed ashore.

President schol winner plays, works hard

Expressing delight at having been chosen as a recipient for the prestigious President’s Medal, one of this year’s awardees and a student of St Joseph’s Convent, Port-of-Spain, Summer Alston-Smith yesterday stated that she was thoroughly “happy, excited and grateful” about the achievement. Speaking to Sunday Newsday from the comfort of her Mary Avenue, Diego Martin home, Summer said she was still digesting the news, which she had received on Friday night while out with her parents. With an air of calm pervading the household, Smith said she first heard the news from Principal Elizabeth Crouch. Questioned as to whether she had done anything special to prepare for exams, a straight-faced Summer said, “I went to all my classes.”

Proving that an individual can indeed balance school, home and liming, Alston-Smith said she would not exchange things like “the four A’s and the top ten” for the experiences and life-long friends she has made during her school life. Summer also copped an Open Scholarship in Modern Studies. “I am a work-hard, play-hard kind of person,” she declared. Revealing that she had received seven I’s and an “A” in Art at CXC, Summer is hoping to one day establish herself as a psychologist so that she can “get some money and rope in a good husband.” Whilst this statement was met with a loud laugh from mom Carol, Summer said there had never been any pressure from her family with regard to home-work or assignments. “I come home and do what I want, when I want and how I want,” she added.

Recounting her childhood experiences, Alston-Smith said “since I was young, I’ve done it myself. I never had to have anybody standing up over my back and I would rather do it myself on my own time than having you tell me when to do it and how to do it.” Stating that she worked really hard on her liming for the last three months, Summer said she would be focused on visiting family and friends before leaving for the University of Redding, England, where she will once again be “back in the rat race.” Mother Carol said “we are really pleased, proud and blessed” with Summer’s performance at both CXC and A’levels, and her subsequent achievements. The statement: “My husband and myself, I don’t know what we ever did in our  lives to deserve this” was able to draw a smile from Summer, as her mother added “this is a blessing from above.”

Carol said despite working on financing Summer’s tertiary education, this will be an ease off their shoulders, and more so her husband, Scott. Asked what her father had to say on his only child’s accomplishment, Carol said Scott usually misses many of the celebrations in the household, but that he was very happy. However, while celebrating Summer’s exceptional A’ level results, he received the call from Crouch, thus adding another element to the celebratory dinner. Amidst a lot of laughter, Carol revealed that he was being ribbed by friends who were teasing him and saying that they would have to get a DNA test to ensure that Summer really was his child. “She got the beauty and brains from her mother,” Carol claimed.
She recalled that Summer, being a perfectionist and all, had said to her following the exams, “I am hoping to get at least one A.” Following the results and Summer’s four A’s, Carol said both she and Scott were “absolutely ecstatic.”

Carol confided to Newsday that Summer said to her (Carol) that there were many other persons who deserved the honour, as they also worked hard. Summer was the captain of her house at SJCPoS, a member of the debating club, played the piano, and participated in ceramics and mosaic classes. However, she admitted that she was terrible at sporting activities, and that she would rather watch sports (tennis and basketball). Her hobbies include liming. A small tidbit of information, if you have to bribe Summer, bring her anything with chocolate.

TT win Olympic opener 3-0

NASSAU: Trinidad and Tobago’s Under-23s struck all their goals in the second half as they whipped Bahamas 3-0 in the opening fixture of their two-match Olympic qualifying first round tie on Friday night. Substitutes Michael Lee Celestine and Kendal Davis gave the visitors a 2-0 advantage and Andre Toussaint added a third four minutes from the end as Trinidad and Tobago triumphed in front of about 900 fans at the Bahamas FA National Stadium. The return match is set for the same venue this afternoon.

Trinidad and Tobago were dominant from the start but had difficulty piercing an ultra defensive strategy employed by the Bahamians. Celestine, a half-time substitute headed in a cross from the right side to give TT a 62nd minute lead before Davis scored in the 78th minute, eight minutes after he entered the match. Toussaint, last year’s TT Professional Football League (PFL) “Player of the Year,” completed the scoring in the 86th minute as the visitors claimed a handsome advantage going into today’s match. The CONCACAF qualifying series has several other first-leg ties this weekend, including yesterday evening’s fixtures between Panama and Nicaragua in Managua and Grenada at home to the Cayman Islands. Today, Canada are away to the US Virgin Islands, Cuba play Jamaica in Havana, the Dominican Republic tackle Haiti in Santo Domingo, Dominica entertain St Kitts and Nevis, Suriname are at home to Guatemala, and Barbados play home team Guyana at Blairmont.
 
The first round features 20 teams competing in a home-and-away series while El Salvador, Honduras, St Lucia and the USA receive byes into the second round. The second round series is set for mid-November with the seven winners from there joining the hosts Mexico in the final round of CONCACAF qualification from February 2-12 next year. Thirteen squads are in the women’s preliminary round, which begins in October and must be completed by December 14, 2003.                           

XS rush to 62-run win in Angostura one-dayer

XS XI won the first match of the inaugural Angostura One-Dayers yesterday by 62 runs against the Rush XI at the National Cricket Centre, Balmain Village, Couva. Scores: XS XI 200 all out vs RUSH XI 138 all out. Chasing 201 for victory that was posted by XS XI in 48.4 overs, Rush XI were never in the game after slipping to 30 for five wickets and duly lost by 62 runs. Dave Mohammed, who was the star of the day, delayed the inevitable with a solid 61 that took Rush XI to 138 all out.

He batted with maturity to stage some resistance to no avail. Chasing the victory target at 4.02 runs per over, Rush XI got off to a terrible start losing Andy Jackson to West Indies pacer Mervyn Dillon for six. Imran Khan (7), Zaheer Ali (8), skipper Daren Ganga (0) and Samuel Badree (0), all followed in quick succession as Rush XI crashed to 30/5. Richard Kelly grabbed two of the early wickets, while the other went to a vastly improved Theodore Modeste who  looked very sharp and bowled with genuine pace. Shazam Babwah and Mohammed took the score to 61 before Babwah was dismissed by the impressive Amit Jaggernauth for 13. Jaggernauth added two more wickets during the innings and could have easily gotten more but for poor fielding.

Mohammed was put down twice during his spell, as the off-spinner ended with three for 32 from ten probing overs. Skipper Dinanath Ramnarine, although failing to take a wicket, was miserly and finished with the figures of no wicket for 18 from ten overs. Towards the end of the innings Ricardo Paty with 18 assisted Mohammed and took the score to a respectable 138. Earlier, Ramnarine called wrongly at the toss but his team still managed to reach to 200-run mark. Lincoln Roberts top-scored with 29 and was supported by Dillon (28 n.o.), Ramnarine (26) and Gibran Mohammed 24. Dave Mohammed, who was named “Man of the Match” grabbed three for 30, while Ganga took two for 21. The teams will meet again at the same venue today to contest the second of the three- match series. Before yesterday’s start Angostura’s public relations manager Giselle LaRonde-West met the players and wished them the best. She also gave the assurance that her company will continue to assist cricket saying she thought that the one-dayers were an excellent one.

Tinto nets double in Malick victory

HAYDEN TINTO capped off an impressive display with two goals, in the 71st and 75th minutes, as Malick defeated Diego Martin 2-0 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo yesterday. And, in another North Zone clash in the 2003 British Gas Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), debutants Morvant/Laventille stunned St Mary’s 4-2 at the CIC Grounds, Serpentine Road, St Clair. In the South Zone, Pleasantville cruised past Mayaro 3-1 at the Pleasantville Grounds while, at Fyzabad, the hosts whipped Presentation 2-0. The diminutive Tinto was a thorn in the stagnant Diego defence, with his right-side centre in the 14th minute meeting fellow striker Mervyn Moore whose left-footer went inches off the mark.

Moore repaid the favour four minutes later, sending a cross to Tinto, whose volley was punched overbar by Diego’s goalkeeper Kevin Mussio.
Tinto also drilled a left-footer wide in the 27th and had a right-footer saved in the 39th while a powerful volley from Kieron Foster was tipped overbar in the 34th. Tinto and Moore had efforts blocked by Mussio in the 57th and 62nd minutes respectively but Tinto was eventually rewarded for his hard work in the 71st. Antonio Jordan sent Moore clear on goal and, with the Diego Martin defence in disarray, found Tinto who planted his right-footer beyond the reach of Mussio. For good measure, Tinto added his second, in fortuitous circumstances, four minutes later. Moore, after receiving a through pass from Andre Joseph, saw his shot saved by an outstretched Mussio with Joseph hitting the loose ball against the crossbar. With Mussio left for dead, Tinto tapped home in the open net, to the delight of the crowd numbering in excess of 700. Action continues tomorrow with a full slate of matches in the North, East and South Zones.

Hooper’s Lancashire complete big win

BIRMINGHAM: Carl Hooper’s Lancashire completed an authoritative victory over Warwickshire on the final day of their Division One English County Champion-ship match at Edgbaston yesterday. Trailing by a bulky 332 runs on first innings after Lancashire piled up a team record 781 runs on Friday, Warwickshire collapsed to 187 all out in their second innings yesterday to lose by an innings and 145 runs. Ian Bell (46), Dougie Brown (44) and Johnathon Trott (43) were the only significant scorers for Warwickshire. Pacer Glen Chapple removed openers Mike Powell (4) and Nick Knight (3) cheaply as Warwickshire dipped to nine for two and never recovered.

Chapple also bowled West Indies pacer Corey Collymore (0) and ended with five for 86 off 20 overs, supported by left-arm spinner Gary Keedy (2-33). Hooper only bowled two overs and conceded four runs. On Friday, Hooper led a record batting performance as Lan-cashire reached a colossal 781 all out in reply to Warwickshire’s 449. Mark Chilton, Mal Loye, Stuart Law and Hooper all stroked hundreds — only the third time in Lancashire’s history they have had four century makers in the same innings. Law and Hooper added a mammoth 360 runs to create a new record for Lancashire’s fifth wicket partnership, easily surpassing the record of 249 set by Barry Wood and Andy Kennedy, also at Edgbaston in 1975. Hooper finally departed for 177, after hitting eight sixes and 16 fours, while Law made 168 with 23 fours. Playing in his 14th championship match of the season, Law lifted his scoring tally to a team-best 1,603 runs, while Hooper, Lancashire’s second most prolific scorer in the competition, is now up to 1,074 runs from 11 matches.                         

Ways to improve horse racing

Now that local horse racing steadies itself for a revival, all of those who love the sport must be hoping that it will progress to higher heights. To assist in this process, I am outlining below some of the thoughts of a number of the average turfites who I have been speaking to over the last few months. First a disclaimer. Let me state that although the views expressed are those of the many, I will not be revealing any names since the views were expressed in casual conversation and were not meant to be intep-reted as political affiliation of any sort.

The suggestions put forward can be classified into four main categories:
 (I)  Securing deeper market penetration
(II)  Improving the competitive nature of each day’s racing
(III)  Increasing the public confidence in the local racing industry
(IV)  Encouraging new entrants into racehorse ownership
Securing deeper market penetration
Many people believe that the secret to longevity of horse racing in Trinidad and Tobago is not the development of strategies to encourage people to attend races. Rather it is an in-your-face strategy which takes horse racing to the people. Is it any surprise that in the US and the UK, the most popular sports are those which are broadcast live to the general public?  This strategy takes the sport to the people and kindles the fire which will burn in the hearts and minds of the fan.

Some of the suggestions in this regard include the following:
 * Live and exciting  television and radio broadcast of local horse racing
* Live radio and television broadcast of overseas horse racing events (major races).
At the moment, one radio station and a television station use a presenter whose words are so monological in tone, some people would believe it is a funeral rather than a horse race. Those with the relevant statistic, will no doubt testify to the decline in participation in local horse racing when the television broadcast of the races were halted. Contrary to the expected increase in attendance at local racing, there was a significant decline. The reason — fewer people are aware of the races and so the interest in subsequent days is not there.  A similar, possibly more potent, argument can be made for radio broadcasts.  While sponsorship might be a problem, in the spirit of co-operation, the betting shops and other interested corporate sponsors should be encouraged to subsidise the costs.

The stations can also subsidise some of the cost, since this is a means of securing a greater viewing/listening audience.  Why overseas racing, some might ask?  The objective is to build interest in horse racing and the broadcast of good quality overseas races will be an invaluable tool in building this interest. Once the fire has been kindled, sustaining it will be one of the big challenges for the local horse racing management committee. Improving the competitive nature of local horse racing to improve competitiveness, the answer is not to revert to the old classification system, nor is it to remain with the current claiming/allowance race system.  The best system in the view of the group of turfites is along the lines of the UK system of handicap ratings combined with claiming and selling races.

A group of experienced handicappers should be formed and this group made responsible for handicapping every horse in training in Trinidad and Tobago.  Retention of claiming races will allow owners/trainers to handicap their own horses while selling races will provide those with lower quality animals an opportunity to pick a pepper, so to speak.  A second aspect of improving competitiveness is the quality of our raceday jocks. The majority of them are average at best, and since the closure of the jockey school, race riding skills have gone steadily downhill. Prior to the introduction of the jockey school, apprentices had to be attached to the bigger stables and met certain mimimum criteria in terms of experience. if these criteria are still in place, it is not evident from what is actually transpiring. Re-introduction and enforcement of these criteria are essential.  We also need to re-introduce the mandatory random drug testing of jockeys.  Each jockey should be drug tested at least once a year. A third aspect of improving the competitive nature is the introduction of speed figures for horse performances in their previous starts. 

We have had five years of racing on the all-weather surface, sufficient time for the development of standard times for each distance. These should be used along with the traditional factors of weight/going allowance and distance from winner to derive a speed figure for each horse in a race.  Making this information available to the punter will significantly improve the punter’s information base on local horse racing and put it closer to its overseas rivals.
Please visit www.cornelis-associates.com for the best in web site management and change management.  
(Continues tomorrow).

Army must beat J/Public to move on

DEFENCE FORCE can jump to third spot in the senior division of the T&T Pro League if they can defeat the “Eastern Lions” Joe Public at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, today. Due to the absence of a number of players on national senior and Under-23 duties, only two matches are scheduled today, with cellar-placed Tobago United hosting the consistent North East Stars at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet. Defence Force will field their regular starting lineup with the exception of hard-working defender Anton Pierre, on senior team duty in Morocco while Joe Public will miss five starters — goalkeeper Michael McComie in Morocco and, with the Under-23 team in the Bahamas, striker Andre Toussaint, midfielders Densil Theobald and Devon Caseman as well as defender Hollis Brown.

The Army-Coast Guard are currently fifth on the 10-team standings on 22 points, with South Starworld Strikers and N/E Stars joint third on 23, while Joe Public is seventh on 14 points. In their second season at the Pro League level, North East Stars have improved with every match and, with veteran striker Jerren Nixon joining their squad, will prove too much for the Tobagonians who are yet to win a match thus far. Under-20 matches will precede the senior encounters two hours earlier.