THE EDITOR: Trinidad and Tobago must celebrate the achievement of George Bovell. We are lucky to have had this son born right here. The swimming fraternity must be thinking that their hard work has now started paying dividends. It is important, however, that a close examination be done of the administration of this sport in order to determine our exact position relative to the world. We will eventually have to ask ourselves difficult questions, such as how does a country produce an excellent athlete without world-class facilities?  I must admit that national swim coach Anil Roberts has, on more than one occasion, been leading the charge for acquisition of better facilities such as 50- metre pools and where these should be located. I note as well that he contends that these additional 50M pools should be in North Trinidad (West and possibly East).

We must, however carefully assess our needs before diving head first in that direction. The construction of new swim facilities is a long-term endeavour and cannot reasonably bear fruit within the next ten years at least. One only has to look at the football stadia that were constructed for the Junior World Cup some time ago. For one thing, sport personalities such as Larry Gomes, Ato Boldon will have their names known forever. Any observer will contend, however, that TT is yet to benefit significantly from these modern facilities. Maybe in time this will be. Are there any new systems that we can implement at this stage that will result in improved performances of our swimmers right now?  The Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad and Tobago is now embarking on projects that can result in improved performances. These include the hosting of Coaches Training Sessions conducted by a FINA (The world body for swimming) recognised Instructor. This is albeit too little and too slow. One or two sessions annually is just not good enough. How is it that our swimmers will develop if the governing body in TT does not have the technical back-up such as electronic touch pads, underwater video cameras and other similar paraphernalia that our swimmers can benefit from. To add to this confusion, there is the situation where parents frequently “time” their own children in swim meets where national teams are to be selected. How unsavoury a situation, especially when compounded by the timer openly urging his or her child or children even as the event is in progress. Even worse is the fact that a parent can time his or her child or children for more that one event on the same day at the same meet for the same national selection to the detriment of other deserving and even superior swimmers.

A close look at cricket and football reveals that significant attention is paid to these sports at the school level. This is the real breeding ground for the future stars in both these sporting disciplines. What is happening with swimming?  Not because the last attempt at a schools league failed miserably should the idea be scrapped. It may be contended that schools swimming cannot co-exist with club swimming. This is not true as there has been more support for schools swimming than any other swim meet, barring meets to select national teams over the last two years. It is apparent that the inefficiencies that exist at these meets have resulted in the demise of the meets involving schools. This is a grand opportunity for ASATT to improve. There is a perception too that not all swim clubs in Trinidad and Tobago really operate in as transparent a manner as other sports clubs. The structure of some swim clubs does not allow for election of officers, selection of swimmers to represent the club, open discussion on issues involving swimmers and swim teams. In fact, the management and decision-making in some cases resemble some clandestine back room or boardroom situation. The open infighting that takes place between senior coaches at swim meets (La Joya in 2002 and Flying Fish in 2003) does not help the situation any. This does not augur well for a sport that Trinidad and Tobago featured in prominently this week. The strength of swimming does not lie in George Bovell III. He is the shining star of Swimming in TT. The strength of swimming lies with the other swimmers such as Nicholas, Sharntelle, Aeisha, and others. How well they perform is a reflection of where our swimming really is. How well our swimmers performed in Mexico and Jamaica this year in addition to Barcelona is a reflection of how successful our swimming is.

GANESH NARINE

THE EDITOR: With the prevailing crime situation in the country, a derivative development of which I was sore afraid, has begun to be reported in the press: emigration. I am a national and, although currently living abroad, it remains my intention to return home. This is where my heart truly lies and it is in and for my country, that I would like to make a difference in any way I can, more so than anywhere else in the world. However, on occasions when I mention to locals abroad or to friends at home that I wish to return, sometimes the responses I get are of amazement, incredulity or that I must be mad.

What is to be the fate of the country if the only apparent solution for many is to “jump ship” as it were? Are we condemned to follow the road of Jamaica, Haiti or Liberia? For my part, I am shameless in saying that, aside from my family and friends, that for which I hold the most love in this world is for my country. The current situation however is understandably making many people doubt if they do wish to remain here. David Rudder’s “Trini to de Bone” (and subsequently, when he more aptly added I think it was Bago to de Bone) was a sentiment that profoundly connected with a lot of nationals both at home and abroad. But feeling a connection is, nonetheless, not enough. We must act to make these our islands in the sun what we would like them to be. Within recent times I have seen several writers in the local press cite Edmund Burke, reminding us that the evil which has visited us will continue to thrive if we continue to do nothing. However, notwithstanding the dreaded crime situation, one reason why systems and services remain lacking and/or are allowed to deteriorate in our country is that we have become too politicised in our thinking.

As such, many of us have become, for the most part, like-minded with our selfish politicians who only seek to hang on to power. Thus, many of us similarly seek only to satisfy selfish needs and desires without due consideration for others or of wider impacts on the society. Our politicians too, although at times overtly denying it, tacitly like to encourage citizens to depend upon them so that this or that party can always claim credit for delivering “the goods” and so merit the votes for the all-important retaining of office and all its attendant benefits. It is this milieu of politicised thinking too which fertilises the growth and spread of corruption that permeates our society, and upon which crime and other evils thrive and alas which many of us think is necessary to get things done.

In our small country and with its many interlocking relationships, there remains an undercurrent code of silence given some people’s and organisations’ mutual knowledge of each other’s skeletons in their closets. This situation leaves us mainly treading around the fringes without getting at the core of many of our troubling issues. We suffer inertia, and wallow and remain in a constant flux of ‘dem say.’ Yet, given our small size too, I theorise that just as the multiplier effect of doing bad appears significant, similarly I believe so shall it be for doing good. We must become unequivocally serious, via action, about our commitment to our country. Religious groups, parents, NGOs, and community organisations etc must become more organised and active. The government surely must do its part but we can point and complain only so much. People must act in the good of the country whilst they also rightfully demand and await good governance. People of TT I beseech thee. Let us save our ship!

GEDDES DAVIS
Port-of-Spain

THE EDITOR: It sickens me to hear the country hounding the Prime Minister and the Minister of National Security to do something to alleviate the crime situation. Neither Mr Manning nor Mr Chin Lee handed out guns to the criminals and say go kill, rob and kidnap any one!

Every man, woman and child knows that crime is a major problem, yet when we have information that will assist the Police in apprehending the criminals, we keep our mouths shut. How then can we reasonably expect the criminals to be off the streets? Do any of you realise that silence is not always golden, but your silence is giving a murderer another chance to kill again? People, instead of looking to Mr Manning and Mr Chin Lee, look first at yourselves for it is your sons and daughters who are committing the crimes against society, it’s your sons and daughters who have the country paralysed with fear and it is you who now have to rise to the occasion and do the right thing. Fighting crime begins with each and every one of you!

It is appalling that you, the parents of these criminals, would prefer to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your children’s crimes and then fly in the face of the Government when your child falls victim to the life he or she has lived! People when you live by the sword, you will die by the sword, think about it, the next funeral you attend might be your own or that of your child. When that happens, please don’t ask yourself what you could have done differently, neither should you look to the skies for an answer; you chose to stay silent, you chose to enjoy the spoils of crimes that were committed and in so doing, you are the reason your loved one was murdered, you are the reason your neighbour was kidnapped and you are the reason your neighbour’s business was robbed!

ANGELA NELSON
USA

THE EDITOR: The Prime Minister’s clarion call to the country to achieve developed nation status by the year 2020 resonates within the hearts of all true-blooded Trinidadians and Tobagonians. But wait! If developed nation status is reflected in the actions of the United States and the United Kingdom in respect of Iraq, and the United States in particular on the International Criminal Court, then we have to re-examine that priority. Politicians are by nature manipulative and no political system is immune from their Machiavellian machinations, but the cynicism displayed by Bush and Blair exceeds anything seen in the Third World.

One thing Bush has proven by his invasion of Iraq is that he believes violence can be a solution and he doesn’t care what the rest of the world thinks. How in all good conscience can any one of us tell our sons that they should not use violence to solve problems when the most powerful man in the world demonstrates in no uncertain terms that he is committed to the use of the most brutal violence against an almost defenceless nation in the face of opposition from the rest of the world? Where are the distinguishing features of developed society in such actions? Is this what a developed society is all about or is it just plain and simple “badjohnism?”

One of the features of a developed society that our nation has already exhibited, and the Prime Minister must be given recognition for this, is the refusal to be bullied by the United States into capitulating on the principles of the International Criminal Court. Unlike some of our Caricom colleagues, who do not have the guts to withstand pressure, the government has shown true grit. Now that is the action of a developed nation. And we did not have to wait until 2020 for it to happen.

KARAN MAHABIRSINGH
Carapichaima

THE EDITOR: Every week, drag racing takes place at the Cross-Crossing traffic lights. They begin gathering from 10 pm and remain there until 2 am. The police are fully aware of this activity, but there is no attempt to stop it. On many occasions, I have called the San Fernando Police Station with little or no effect. Sending one police vehicle to deal with thousands is a joke. On one occasion, I observed the jeep parked in the middle of the intersection and the spectators all stood and watched, waiting for the police to leave. I must admit, the nights that I called were the nights that I was on-call. It was frightening to drive through the area. Choice words would have been used if an accident did happen and I was called out at 1 am to administer treatment. At present, we are experiencing a “crime wave.” Some folks are demanding a ‘state of emergency’ and some are demanding a ‘curfew.’ And others, including children, are on the streets at 1 am to watch illegal street drag racing.

So, an accident finally happened. It would have happened one day. And including among the injured are teenagers with ages 13, 14, and 16. And as young as nine and ten year old. The lame excuse was that they were at the gas station, buying gas at 1 am. What were these young children doing outside at this hour of the morning? Will the parents be called upon to give an account? Will MP Chandresh Sharma, as a responsible parent, provide a reasonable explanation? Will the other parents do the same? Will the police stop this illegal and dangerous activity? Why not block all of the access roads and search all vehicles? Demand registration papers for all vehicles within the area? Isn’t loitering a crime? How about releasing the air out of all four tyres of every vehicle within the area, whilst at the same time, the nearby gas stations must disable their compressor? Who are the organisers of these events? Are these cars legally registered and legally constructed? But seriously, “Zero Tolerance” means “Zero Tolerance.”

PHILIP AYOUNG-CHEE FRCS
Port-of-Spain

THE EDITOR: In the Newsday of July 22, 2003, former UNC government Minister Mervyn Assam stated that Mr Basdeo Panday is killing the UNC slowly. I would have thought that Mr Assam being the self-professed intellectual that he is, would have known that the UNC did quite well in Tunapuna during the recent Local Government Elections. In fact the UNC gained ground as was evidenced by the handsome victory of Glen Ramkissoon in Caura/Paradise/Tacarigua.

It is strange that Assam’s recently acquired viewpoint never surfaced when Mr Panday was Prime Minister, the UNC was in government and he was enjoying the position of Minister in the Panday Cabinet. If anyone contributed to the UNC being removed from office, it was Assam and his former political master ANR Robinson. In 2001 as a UNC candidate for general elections, Assam lost the Tunapuna seat by a narrow margin. Assam’s defeat by Eddie Hart was due mainly to his high-handed attitude, which turned off many UNC grass-roots supporters. The result was that many UNC supporters chose to stay home rather than vote for Assam and some chose to vote for Team Unity’s Reynald Chinchamee. Now that Assam is no longer a Minister and he resides in the political graveyard, it has become fashionable for him to criticise Mr Panday. My advice to Mr Assam is to continue to support Team Unity and leave Mr Panday and the UNC alone.

OSCAR RAMOUTAR
St James

THE EDITOR: I write to articulate how disappointed I am to note that our education sector is still characterised by administrators, principals, teachers, and even parents who still believe that discipline and order in schools are directly the result of policies, strategies, and formulae handed down by the Ministry of Education. More specifically, I write to express my concern over the appointment of a six-member team to devise a plan of action on a report which has called for the reinstatement of corporal punishment in our schools. It seems that we have not yet extricated ourselves from the corporal punishment debate. Really, I thought by now we had moved into the democratic humanistic domain. Modern educational thought now recognises that improvement and reform initiatives (including the management of discipline) in schools are best implemented by way of change agents who are assisted by in-house think-tanks described as a focus group. Wise men from outside no longer are considered to have a monopoly on the answers to our school problems.

Also, current thinking on the management of discipline in schools subscribes to the following:
• Lack of control in schools is often the result of the existence of large, impersonal groups of students. Schools must, therefore, make every attempt to create within smaller meaningful groups with which students and teachers can identify. The house system properly used can go a long way in helping schools with this kind of reconstruction.
• If we are to move towards more humane environments in schools, we must be prepared to recognise our human relationship responsibilities. Indeed, we must emphasise human relations, interpersonal competence, motivational techniques, support programmes, and the encouragement of growth opportunities for our students.
• Studies continue to remind us that students of punitive teachers express less value in learning, tend to be more aggressive and more confused than students who benefitted from instruction on how to behave in keeping with rules and regulations.
• Research also tells us that schools in which students learn and behave more meaningfully tend to promote lower rates of punishment, but provide greater opportunities for allowing positive reinforcement of student behaviour.
• Other studies have demonstrated that misbehaviour actually increased when greater punitive measures were introduced.
• Modern educators are now convinced that indiscipline is often the result of students who find learning activities boring; poor facilities; deprived classroom conditions; and cramped seating arrangements.
• Research findings confirm that schools which encourage such ineffective classroom management strategies as threats, corporal punishment, and the loss of privileges unwittingly contribute to the cancer of indiscipline in our schools.

Finally, it must be argued that the issue today in schools is not whether corporal punishment should be retained or reintroduced. The reality is whether punishment should be concerned with generating punitive reaction or socialising students along educative lines and getting them to reflect on their behaviour. Whatever is said and done, it cannot be denied that schools have to create and sustain positive humane environments which are characterised by caring, respect, and self control. Perhaps the six-member team can look into how we can move school cultures from mechanistic compliance-generating outposts to democratic, humanistic, purposeful, productive, and caring social systems.

RAYMOND S HACKETT
Curepe

THE EDITOR: Everyday in our newspapers we read the sorry state our nation has become. If it’s not another robbery, murder or kidnapping, its the rape of a young woman. Trinidad and Tobago has indeed become an unsafe place, yet our Prime Minister reassures us that foreign investment has not been affected. That can be easily understood if you realise that there are millions (if not billions) of dollars to be gained by these investors, primarily in the energy sector. From offices in New York and Chicago, they nor their investments are affected by what happens to the common man.

It is the local investor who is thinking twice. If before they were thinking of what security measures to take and how much to spend, now they are thinking of how soon to sell out and which shores to flee to.  It is the local businessman who creates sustainable employment, not the Government, nor foreign investor. And these are the very people who are being targetted by criminals. Who in their right mind would now think of starting a small business in Trinidad and Tobago? There are too many examples of what can happen to businessmen and their families.  Recently, a young businessman was shot and killed.  Others have been kidnapped or robbed (again).

In this half-made/half-baked society, it is not the increase in murders, kidnapping and rape that infuriates, but the lack of implementation of existing crime legislation. To introduce new counter measures and assist in the detection of crime, the DNA Identification Act was passed in 2000. This would allow DNA samples to be taken from persons charged with an offence, matched with DNA found at a crime scene, and produced as evidence in a court of law as a means of proving innocence or guilt. To date, this critical piece of legislation has not been implemented. No equipment bought, no personnel trained. Imagine how many crimes could be solved if it were mandatory for all adults to submit a sample of DNA, to be held in a national database. One particular crime that would be solved immediately would be rape. Murders, and even kidnappings can be solved with the aid of this legislation. It is therefore surprising, if not shocking that the Government has not made any move to implement the DNA Identification Act. Please tell us why.

Wayne Jaggernauth
Research Associate,
Wolfson School,
Loughborough University
Leciestershire, UK

THE EDITOR: It is with great interest that I read Peter Popplewell’s Letter To The Editor in last Saturday’s Newsday, headlined “Why should borrowers pay for Deed of Release?’’  He referred to the lending bank’s charge to the customer for a Deed of Release on completion of all of the requiredpayments in a mortgage agreement, and suggested that all borrowers refuse to pay any cost for preparing or providing Deeds of Release, which equates to a receipt.

I am in total agreement with the writer, and would just add that there are other Deeds of Release, for instance, when payment of a loan for which your home might have been security, is completed.  Also there is a Deed of Release when a customer privately settles an outstanding debt for which a Judgement has been obtained by the bank.  The legal fees for any of the above are for the customer’s account. The problem here is that where one’s property is concerned, if payment for the Release is withheld, in a “search” situation the bank’s lien would still appear on the records and so your property would not be “free and clear.”  No homeowner would be comfortable with this. But this is not the only instance where the banks have unlimited power when they hold your “property” as security.  Five years ago, I signed a guarantee for a specific loan for a relative.  The loan was paid in full last July. 

The bank, one which brags of being people oriented, arbitrarily transferred my Unit Trust shares as security for another outstanding debt, without advising me, and for the past year has flatly refused to release my shares or give a breakdown on the thousands of dollars which have been added to what was a very small debt. Now, with their over-abundance of power, they are threatening to encash my shares (bought with my pension funds) in payment of a debt for which I never ever signed as guarantor. Isn’t this an abuse of power?  Does a bank have the right to do whatever they desire with an individual’s private funds?  Let us suppose the fine print in the agreement does give the bank the right to transfer securities, shouldn’t a formal letter of advice be forwarded to the guarantor?

ANGELA PIDDUCK
Port-of-Spain