N Touch

SHABBY TREATMENT OF QUEEN’S ROYAL


Queen’s Royal College, once the premier secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago, and in its prime, one of the top in the English speaking Caribbean, is today the almost forgotten orphan of the Ministry of Education, in a state of almost unbelievable physical deterioration. It is a deterioration that must have impacted negatively of late on the academic performance of a school that in its heyday won all of the scholarships to Universities offered by Government. Its main building, poised to celebrate the centenary of its opening, in March of 2004, is desperately in need of repair. The building’s once proud Hall, to which generations of students were summoned for daily morning prayers, and in which the Old Boys’ Association held its annual dinner, has been virtually unused for years, and a class, formerly housed there has had to be shifted. The reason lies in the fear that large sections of the Hall’s magnificent ceiling can come crashing down at any time. The problem is not an overnight one, but rather has been threatening for years, and the need for renovation work on Queen’s Royal College has been the subject of many a newspaper article.

Yet Queen’s Royal, a school that produced the nation’s first Prime Minister, Dr Eric Williams, as well as its first Leader of the Opposition, Dr Rudranath Capildeo; its President, Professor George Maxwell Richards, and one of first (and current) Judges of the International Criminal Court, has been allowed by successive Administrations to slip into disrepair. It has received and still receives a recklessly shabby treatment that it does not deserve. Even its King Edward Memorial clock, a gift of an old boy and then prominent businessman, William Gordon-Gordon, and installed in 1913, and whose Big Ben chimes had been the pride of present and former students alike, stands still, not unlike the church clock of Rupert Brooke’s Granchester. The clock, in much the same way as the college’s main building and its great Hall, requires repairs. But its hands, by which scores of persons had set their watches, and the welcome sounds of its chimes will not be heard again until the money is found to effect the needed work. The reader’s guess is as good as mine. Today, the main building of Queen’s Royal College, one of the country’s famous Magnificent Seven landmarks, is a sad simulacrum of what generations of Royalians knew, loved and honoured.

But apart from the massive repair work that clearly needs to be done, the Queen’s Royal College Parent-Teacher Association has lamented that there is a shortfall of $625,000 of the $1,300,000 it has estimated is required annually for the School Improvement Programme (SIP). Of this figure, the Ministry of Education allocates $375,000; $50,000 is contributed by the QRC Old Boys’ Association; the QRC Foundation — $200,000, while $50,000 is raised by the college’s PTA. What clearly is missing, or perhaps the phrase is lacking, in the equation, is a greater understanding by former students of Queen’s Royal College. The Ministry of Education has failed to discharge its responsibility to Queen’s Royal, and the blame for the rundown state of the College, the shabby treatment, is correctly placed at its doorstep. Had it acted much earlier, the volume and cost of repairs to Queen’s Royal College today would have been understandably far less.

Admittedly, however, it has had to accommodate requests for the repairs and/or construction of several other secondary as well as primary schools. Nonetheless, to use an old saying: A stitch in time saves nine. On the other hand there are scores of former students of Queen’s Royal, who can be tapped for contributions, corporate and personal, to the needed renovation programme. There is an Old Boys’ network, with its fund of goodwill, which if properly targeted, can certainly result in millions of dollars being raised. The right marketing strategy will be needed, but Old Boys of Queen’s Royal have come to the assistance of the College in the past, and undoubtedly can be expected to come to its rescue again. Should they do this, they should insist, however, that the Ministry of Education never allows again Queen’s Royal College, one of the English speaking Caribbean’s oldest secondary schools to physically deteriorate to the sorry stage it has reached today.

Congrats to Ayanna, Dwain and Haleema

THE EDITOR: I refer to the Editorial in the September 1 issue of your newspaper, where you state, inter alia, “A simple review of the A level results presents the glaring fact that all (emphasis mine) the successful students come from what we have grown accustomed to calling ‘the prestige schools’.” This statement is at variance with the results published in a table on page 39 of your issue of Sunday August 31, under the caption “Top Achievers” where three students from the St Augustine Senior Comprehensive School are listed among these achievers. Unless of course, one assumes that you consider the St Augustine Senior Comprehensive School to be prestige! It is unfortunate that the achievers, Dwain Davis (5th in Geometrical and Mechanical Drawing), Haleema Ali and Ayanna Richardson (7th in Business Studies and History respectively) were not commended for their efforts. You state that “the ‘prestige schools’ attract the brightest students, who having done well in the former Common Entrance now SEA examinations, choose them as their first choice.” By extension the weaker students go to the “The Rest.”

It is therefore highly commendable that weak students can be so motivated and so well taught, that they are able to place at such high levels, not only among Trinidad and Tobago candidates, but among candidates taking the examination in question, “in the world.” While it is true that “The Rest” do not produce scholarship winners and good results “on a consistent basis” it is commendable that they do at all, considering what is deemed to be the weaker material with which they deal. Congratulating the three youngsters mentioned above will raise not only their self esteem, but be an encouragement to other children who attend schools among “The Rest” and help them to realise that they too can aim at excellence! Congratulations to Ayanna, Dwain and Haleema.

JULIAN DUNCAN
St Augustine

Welcome to Radio 91.5

THE EDITOR: I wish to welcome the nation’s 17th radio station, Radio 91.5, to the audio waves. Since the station began broadcasting, I have noted its entertaining format of delightful music. The station’s diet of back-in-times, pop hits, nostalgia and current favourites are a treat for those who yearn for the way radio used to be. The station does not accommodate any of those nasty Gladiator type-talk shows, nor does it have any room for hate-filled call-in shows. As a matter of fact, the station does not depend on fresh water yankees for its broadcasters. Clearly, discerning listeners now have a choice. In this regard, I wish to urge the banks, the insurance companies, the malls and all other business places to make the switch. Indeed, it might be delightful to sit down to dinner at PizzHut to the music of radio 91.5 instead of some other dub/hip hop based station.

LYSTRA MARAJH
Glencoe

Wake up and smell the crime

THE EDITOR: I am really at a loss to know why owners of gas stations and other business places continue to keep large amounts of money on their premises. I have read of $100,000, $50,000, $20,000 being taken by thieves in the last week. Why is not the cash deposited at the bank for safekeeping? There is a saying that “common sense” is not so “common” so I should like to suggest to business people that a minimum of cash be kept in drawers, vaults or safety boxes; that maybe the idea of having trained ferocious dogs installed on your premises day and night might deter the criminal element out there and that investments be made into the installation of burglar alarm systems which hook up to the area police station. Come on, people, time for us all to wake up and smell the crime.

B SANDY
Maraval

Integrity Commission and President’s judgment

THE EDITOR: On July 19, 2003, the term of office of the Integrity Commissioners under its Chairman des Illes ended. During the three and a half weeks following, there was no IC until August 13 when President Max Richards swore in new Commissioners. The silence of the President during this hiatus was as loud as the misconceived pronouncements of Attorney General Glenda Morean who seemed unaware that Cabinet could not manipulate the Constitution to suit the whims and fancies of the PNM. It needed the Opposition’s support. While the constitution requires the President to consult both Mr Manning and Mr Panday, nothing disallows him from consulting others, whether they are former presidents with wide experience to offer, or members of his Carnival fete committee. The final selection is however his — deliberate, balanced, non-partisan, all in the national interest. The work of the des Illes Integrity Commission would presumably have been considered, in deciding who to retain, and who not to re-appoint.

Unless des Illes had indicated his unwillingness to continue, which I understand he did not, I personally am disappointed that he was not chosen. It was under des Illes that the first significant action has come out of the IC, long deemed toothless, but strengthened by Mr Panday’s administration. That Panday himself has been charged under the country’s integrity legislation is to presume neither guilt nor innocence, but to tell the world that in TT, no one is above the law. While the decision is for the President to make, the public could be excused for interpreting his final choice as a “dismissal” of des Illes since he retained Mr Gordon Deane to chair the Integrity Commission. I have great respect for Gordon’s integrity, and independence. He would not however have been my choice, and I think his appointment is inappropriate. No one in the private sector, which must at some stage interface with government, should be considered for chairing the Integrity Commission. This has nothing to do with an individual’s personal integrity and Gordon will understand that I am addressing here a possible conflict of interest, to which members of the Integrity Commission should not be saddled.

Consider the presence in Trinidad of two American multinationals, the Exxon Corporation and the American International Group (AIG). Just recently, Exxon was handed a $240 million gift by PM Manning, over the objections of the entire Petrotrin Board, and to the consternation of many citizens. Exxon had a $240 million liability to the people of TT, resulting from a contract awarded for oil and gas exploration. Manning decided that Exxon’s presence in TT was worth that, so he waived it, notwithstanding that $240 million is but peanuts to Exxon and will simply add to Exxon’s shareholders’ profits. But if other tenderers at the time, had known of our Prime Minister’s benevolent disposition, they may well have adjusted their tender above Exxon’s, recognising that the penalty stated in the exploration contract was not for real. I quote this incident to illustrate that “wheeling and dealing” is part of the every day scenario for the private sector, and asking government favours is routine to business people. AIG is probably the largest insurance institution in the world and has a wide array of related financial interests. AIG owns ALGICO insurance in Trinidad; AIG employs Gordon Deane as ALGICO’s CEO; AIG is a shareholder in BWIA; AIG carries the insurance for BWIA; AIG financed the purchase of planes for BWIA; AIG seized the B-Wee planes in Miami recently; AIG released the planes after government relented and gave B-wee some money.

The new chairman of the Integrity Commission cannot effectively scrutinise the integrity of government ministers, when those same ministers are dependent on AIG for airplane financing, and B-Wee flies only by the grace of AIG. The President appointed not one but two judges to the IC and I am surprised that he did not recognise the judicial competence and independence of those appointees. Richards also may not be aware, but Manning certainly knows that ALGICO has a PNM complexion in the public’s eyes. These views may or may not be shared by Richards, but I tender them nonetheless.

MICHAEL J WILLIAMS
Maracas Valley

Queen Victoria would have said: I am not amused

The Editor: I am a returned immigrant as we are called, having lived in England for some years and an extended period in the Province of Saskatchewan in Canada for a grand total of 40 years. Now I am back in Tobago and after almost eight years I was told for the first time that I was inappropriately dressed. Let me proceed to explain and you may be the judge. When I left these shores for England I was advised to walk with an overcoat, something I had never seen close-up or touched, and other items to help me to keep warm, eg Longjohns. This sounded fair to me and I complied, resulting in warmth and comfort. I want you to note the word “comfort.” When I arrived in England in the middle of summer I was expecting to find it fairly warm being summer, yet it was to me very cold for I have never encountered that degree of temperature before. Needless to say, my winter Longjohns were immediately called into service. I noticed people were always walking at a fast and steady pace. On investigation, I learnt that this was to help the body temperature to rise. Long-sleeve shirts, with ties and a jacket were used to conserve the heat produced in this fashion. Again this made sense to me resulting in my developing a much quicker pace when walking.

After seven years in England, I felt that I was acclimatised. My next stop was Saskatchewan on the Prairies. There the temperature would dip down to as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius at nights with an arctic wind gusting at times up to 60-70 kilometres an hour making it almost unbearable to walk outdoors for any long period of time. Immediately I had to make changes to the way I attired myself. I noticed the people wore Parkas, and a woolen scarf to further add warmth about the neck region. Winter boots were the order of the day; some came up to the knees to keep the deep snow out and again to provide warmth. Gloves were worn for warmth to the hands and fingers. To see a person walking down the street on a winter’s day without his coat, parka, winter boots or gloves, one would tend to remark that this person was inappropriately dressed for the weather conditions and I am sure you would agree. After living in these conditions for over 30 years, on returning to Tobago I had to immediately change my accustomed attire to suit the climate which averages 30-33 degrees Celsius daily. Out went the Longjohns, parkas, long lined winter coat, boots, gloves and scarf. The whole idea behind this action was to help get rid of the heat and not to conserve as was done in a winter climate.

Last week I had a letter to deliver to the office of the Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly. I dressed myself in a pair of short pants with “the crutch where it should be”  to quote a well known educator and humorist and a light summer shirt. When I approached the Security desk and asked directions to the office of the Chief Secretary as I had a personal letter to deliver, I was promptly told I was “inappropriately dressed” to visit his office. When I asked for an explanation, it was simply stated that I was not wearing long pants which disqualified me from delivering my letter. I inquired as to who had the right to make a decision that a man was inappropriately dressed in a short pants in a tropical climate on an extremely hot day. I immediately detected an element of discrimination, for if long pants are the order of the day for males, should not all the women working and visiting Government offices be required to wear long dresses as well? You and I know that the fashion trend of the day is to wear as little as you can and not be considered nude. We see it in the offices, banks, on the street and even in the church, a place once considered  sacred. If a man is comfortable wearing a three-piece woolen suit with a tie and collar in a tropical country then this is his choice, but to have someone decide that to wear a short pants is being inappropriately dressed?

We can really get ridiculous here and create a Ministry of dress where people are paid to stand at the entrances of our Government buildings and offices  with a tape-measure in hand checking to see if the skirts and pants are of the appropriate length as decided by the Ministry and are armed with the authority to turn aside offenders.  We talk about freedoms in our democracy. No one would stand this sort of humiliation, and I did feel a tinge of humiliation when I was refused my right to communicate with my elected official.  Whoever came up with this idea must have come off the Ark with brother Noah. We in the third world countries love to copycat what is done abroad, but it seems to be only the silly and frivolous and at times matters bordering on the ridiculous. There are so many character building, nation enhancing actions which can be of great use and value to us, but these are not considered as worth emulating, eg good manners, honesty, kindness, truthfulness, consideration, a good attitude and fairness towards each other. If queen Victoria were to have been turned back in the fashion that I was, I am sure her remark would have been “I am not amused.” I believe that we should all be guided by our great standards of morality and decency, good taste, climactic conditions and finally affordability. What is your verdict?

LOU WILLIAMS
Lowlands Tobago

Hundreds of workers marooned in massive road blocks in South

At the start of the new school term, hundreds of workers and school children were forced to return to their homes yesterday following the massive road blocks in the Southern districts of Mandingo Road, Princes Town; Papourie Road, Barrackpore and St Croix Road. Members of the Barrackpore Taxi Drivers’ Association (BTDA) came out during the night to block the road as they protested for better road conditions in these areas. As early as 5 am, commuters were forced to return to their homes. President of the BTDA, David Balkaran, shouted to the media saying that they are fed up with the neglect from the PNM administration and they need action now. “We have been enduring pain and pressure for too long and we need the Government to look into this matter urgently. “Taxi drivers have to live too. The money they make from working taxi is going back into fixing vehicles and we cannot put up with this suffering anymore,” he shouted. Many joined in as they protested the deplorable road conditions.

Drivers and villagers carried placards with the slogan: “Total disgust with Franklyn Khan”. They used water tanks, huge tree trunks as well as tyres which were set afire. This blockage made it impossible for drivers to get into the Princes Town area. Many of the drivers choose to journey 10 miles down the Moruga stretch through the Cumuto Road and onto the Indian Walk Road to get to work.Balkaran told Newsday that the roads in these southern areas were not repaired since 1974. “Although there is an increase in the amount of vehicles plying this route, including the heavy trucks transporting heavy materials, the Government refuses to fix these roads, and the people continue to suffer year after year,” he said. Balliram Mahatoo said that while Government chooses to spend the taxpayers’ money to build houses in the marginal constituencies, the people from the Southern areas are made to suffer. “This is total discrimination on the part of this government and we want Franklyn Khan to know that people put him in office and the same people could vote him out,” he said in an angry tone.

DPP tells cops charge all 12 arrested

THE Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Geoffrey Henderson, last night instructed the newly-formed Homicide Intelligence Unit to charge all 12 people arrested over the Independence weekend with kidnapping and murder charges. Three of them are to face charges of kidnapping/murder in connection with Curepe businessman, Dennis Jodhan. The 30-year-old Jodhan, whose body was found on December 28, 2002, was kidnapped from his Lyndon Street, Curepe, home for a $800,000 ransom on December 23, 2002. The remaining nine others held will face kidnapping charges. A farmer found Jodhan’s body on a road leading to an agricultural estate off the Churchill Roosevelt Highway in Aranguez.  His hands were reportedly tied behind his back.  Investigations were carried out by acting Insp Dave Hillaire. Two of the men arrested were out on bail in connection with another kidnapping.  One of them is being held at the St Clair Criminal Investigations Department (CID), while the other is being detained at the Morvant CID.

Senior officers from both stations said the two men are being held on instructions from Homicide, and were deliberately being kept apart. The two men were re-arrested on Sunday evening when they went to report to a police station in North Trinidad. They were mandated to visit the police station between 1 and 5pm on Mondays and Fridays. They were among the 12 people arrested over the weekend. Senior police officials told Newsday that the other detainees were being held in connection with at least five kidnappings and other murders as well.
Police met last evening with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who gave instructions as to what  charges should be laid against the persons arrested. Sources said the Homicide Intelligence Unit was formed by acting Commissioner of Police Everald Snaggs, Acting Commissioner of Police (Criminal Intelligence and Investigations) James Philbert and Homicide head, Sr Supt Nimrod, to gather information on underworld connections. Snaggs, together with Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special Branch, Frank Diaz are in Barbados on an International Global Terrorism and Crime Management Conference.  Deputy Commissioner of Police Trevor Paul is acting for Snaggs.

Conflicting reports on primary school textbooks

Both primary and secondary schools throughout the country yesterday reported a smooth opening of the new school year without any major problems. However, primary school officials stated that they were still waiting “with bated breath” for the textbooks promised to them by the Ministry of Education. The books, which will be used in the areas of Reading, Mathematics, Language Arts and Science, are yet to be delivered to schools, principals reported. An official at the ministry told Newsday that the ship bringing in the science books for Standard One and infants was “a little late” but that it should be here shortly so that the books would hopefully be delivered by the end of the week. Adding that well over 900,000 books were to be delivered to primary schools, he said the distribution process would be monitored by school supervisors, who would be assessing the situation.

Checks with primary schools in Port-of-Spain and along the East/West Corridor confirmed that the schools had not yet received the books, but as principal of Curepe Presbyterian, Samuel Bejai, puts it, “We are not making that a problem.” Communications Specialist at the Education Ministry, Mervyn Crichlow, explained to Newsday that the ministry was not the one responsible for delivering the books to primary schools — it was the duty of booksellers and publishers. When Newsday contacted Lexicon Trinidad Limited, publishers of the Language Arts textbook for primary schools, we were told that they had already delivered the books to booksellers who would distribute them to primary schools. Sources at Lexicon could not say what was responsible for the delay in delivery. Teddy Mohammed of Mohammed’s Bookstore and publishers of the Science textbook admitted that the books were not yet here due to the “late ordering” but gave the assurance that the books would be in the country by today.

Newsday was told by RIK’s CEO Joycelyn Bodden that they had already delivered books to over 35 primary schools, and assured that the distribution process would be completed by the end of the week. RIK is responsible for the Mathematics textbook and atlas. Frank Porter of Caribbean Children’s Press Limited (CCL) revealed that they had passed 50 percent of the Reading textbooks to schools since last week and that the rest would be distributed this week. Commenting on yesterday’s opening of schools, President of the TT Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA), Trevor Oliver said the organisation had not received any adverse reports, and that they were eagerly awaiting the introduction of the improved school curriculum.
Stating that TTUTA wanted to ensure that the curriculum was “motivating” students, Oliver said he was quite happy with some of the measures outlined by the Ministry to increase security in schools. Secondary schools reported that the new academic year began very well for them as textbooks to be distributed to Forms I and II were delivered since last Tuesday. Sources at the Education Ministry revealed that over 230,358 books had been delivered, and that 125 Government schools and 33 private schools would have received books under the Textbook Rental/Loan Programme. Efforts to obtain a comment from the Education Minister regarding the opening of schools proved futile, and we were told to expect an official statement by late yesterday afternoon. However, no statement had been received up to press-time.

Lucky gets UN post

APPEAL Court Judge Anthony Lucky has retired from the TT Bench to take up the position of Judge of the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea to which he was officially elected at the United Nations headquarters in New York yesterday. Justice Lucky was elected by 92 of the 96 representatives of the contracting nations who attended the session, voting by secret ballot. The 63-year-old Appeal Court judge was elected to replace TT’s Lennox Ballah who died last April and is expected to serve out Ballah’s term on the UN tribunal which ends in September 2011. The International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea comprises 21 judges who meet twice annually in New York, but the Court sits in Hamburg, Germany, at different times of the year to deal with disputes among states relating to maritime matters. The Tribunal was set up under the umbrella of the United Nations by Treaty signed by 142 high contracting parties from whom the judges are selected.

Contacted last night at his New York hotel, Justice Lucky told Newsday that it was “an honour and a privilege that the United Nations body has accepted the candidate nominated by Trinidad and Tobago and by extension the Caribbean.” He hopes to give to the court his knowledge and experience in the law in general and in the field of its particular jurisdiction. Justice Lucky, who was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn in 1958,  joined the Bench in July 1987 and was appointed to the Appeal Court in October 2001. Before becoming a judge, he served as a magistrate for ten years and as Legal Adviser to Associated Companies of Royal Bank now RBTT Bank. Between 1972 and 1975, he obtained a Diploma in International Relations at UWI on a TT government post-graduate scholarship and his Master’s degree on the basis of his thesis “Legal Problems of the Law of the Sea in the Relationship between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.” He is a guest lecturer on the Law of the Sea at the Institute of International Relations. Justice Lucky is married to the former Cintra Gopaulsingh and is the father of four daughters. A Catholic, he is active in his home parish of St Benedict, La Romaine. He is a keen cricket fan and a member of the Disciplinary Committee of the West Indies Cricket Board.