Today at the Court of Appeal, former Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, is expected to continue arguments appealing the ruling made by High Court Justice Nolan Bereaux in August 2002 to dismiss an application for judicial review filed by the organisation, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS). On May 2002, FFOS filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Management Agency (EMA). FFOS was seeking to review the decision by the EMA to grant a Certificate of Environmental Clearnance (CEC) to bpTT to attach a 48-inch gas line into an already commissioned 36-inch line. bpTT was granted the CEC on November 29, 2001, by the EMA for the offshore/onshore pipeline project. FFOS sought a declaration that the CEC was unlawfully issued and is null and void. FFOS further sought costs.
The line runs from Point Galeota to Point Fortin and runs cross-country from east to west and according to the application made by the FFOS, there are 110,000 people living along the route. The Central Statistical Office (CSO), according to the application, stated that 60 percent of the population there live below the poverty line. The FFOS contended that because of the additional pressure on the 36-inch line, there is the possibility of a rupture along the route which could cause severe injury or loss of lives to residents in South Trinidad as many residents in that area use direct and open fire to cook as well as burn rubbish in their backyards. The applicants stated that the EMA did not consider this risk, neither did it take into account all the factors relating to this project. When the matter came up for hearing in the Port-of-Spain First Civil Court on June 2002, attorneys for bpTT and the EMA argued that the application should be thrown out because it was filed out of time.
Maharaj, who was assisted by environmental expert Dr Rajan Ramlogan and Gregory Armorer, argued that the merits in an application for judicial review of the EMA’s decision to grant bpTT a CEC far outweighs the fact that the application may have been filed late. FFOS insisted that the matter should proceed if only because of a public interest element. Maharaj argued yesterday at the Court of Appeal that the applicant is entitled to be granted leave for judicial review because it is apparent from the record that where there is a prima facie failure by the EMA to follow mandatory proceedure laid down by Parliament, the jugde is bound to allow that issue to be resolved at a substantive hearing. Representing the EMA in this case is Martin Daly SC and Maxine Williams while bpTT is represented by Russell Martineau SC and Deborah Peake.
HIGH COURT Judge Mark Mohammed yesterday ordered that the Ministry of Education be included in the judicial review filed by nine suspended teachers of the Arima Senior Comprehensive School since the Ministry is directly affected by the proceedings. Mohammed also ordered that the Ministry, which was unrepresented at the trial, file affidavit evidence by October 18 and present its legal submissions at least two weeks prior to the trial date of November 24. The matter came before Justice Mohammed in the Port-of-Spain Fifth Civil Court yesterday. Attorneys Russell Martineau SC, Jenine Boodhan and Kerwyn Martin appeared on behalf of the Teaching Service Commission, while the teachers and TTUTA were represented by attorney Anil Ramlogan.
The matter stems from the suspension of nine teachers from the Arima Senior Comprehensive School last December by the TSC. The TSC claimed that they were brought into disrepute by actions taken by the teachers. Following the suspension, the TSC began disciplinary hearings against the nine teachers. In response, TTUTA filed for a judicial review against the actions taken by the TSC for their handling of the situation at the Arima Senior Comprehensive. TUTTA contends that the TSC was biased against the teachers and acted unfairly and in bad faith.
When the matter resumed yesterday, Martineau indicated that the TSC needed an adjournment to peruse the necessary documents and prepare their case. Ramlogan then informed the court that he had no objection to the request. Mohammed then informed the attorneys that the matter would be adjourned to November 24, and reminded all the parties involved in the matter that the conservatory order prohibiting the Teaching Service Commission from proceeding with disciplinary charges against the teachers was still in effect.
W CONNECTION and CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh will be going head-to-head for the First Citizens Bank (FCB) Cup in today’s final, scheduled for the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella from 6 pm. Jabloteh knocked off Joe Public 4-0 in their two-leg semi-final confrontation while Connection, who defeated 2002 champs Defence Force in the quarter-finals, needed a golden goal to eliminate a tough North East Stars outfit 4-3 in their other home-and-away semi. Both teams are yet to meet in the 2003 football season, but Jabloteh have the advantage of being the only unbeaten side so far this year. The San Juan squad, under new coach Ricky Hill from England, have a solid starting line-up comprising goalkeeper and captain Kelvin Jack, defenders Nigel Daniel, Ansil Elcock, Ian Gray and Cyd Gray, midfielders Otis Seaton, Trent Noel, Kerry Baptiste and Josh Johnson, and strikers Cornell Glen and Kerry Noray, all present/former national players.
On the other hand, Connection will field a blend of national players and foreign imports —Colombian goalkeeper Alejandro Figueroa, defenders Jose Luis Seabra, Rawle Fletcher, Elijah Joseph and captain Reynold Carrington, midfielders Ronaldo Viana, Gefferson Goulart, Silvio Spann and Lyndon “Chubby” Andrews, and strikers Earl Jean and Kendall Davis. Jabloteh held their final workout session yesterday, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, and Hill was eagerly anticipating a top match between the league’s two best clubs. “They (Connection) deserve and warrant a great deal of respect,” said the ex-English international, who replaced countryman Terry Fenwick as Jabloteh coach in March. Regarding any fitness worries Hill said: “We’ve got a clean bill of health. We have a number of good players vying for eleven starting positions so that’s given me my first real problem, trying to find the best team out of the quality that we have.”
Leroy Spann, coach of the Connection squad, was also reserved in his views on today’s match. He revealed that three key strikers — Jean, Davis and Titus Elva — underwent a fitness test during yesterday’s training session at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva. But he stated: “The spirit (in the team) is high. We haven’t played Jabloteh for the year and I’ll have to look at them for the first 10-15 minutes and then make adjustments (to suit).” Connection manager Raymond McLean was high in praise for the current league leaders, saying “we like challenges.” “We’ll be analysing them and trying our best to defeat them,” McLean continued. “Tactically, I know we can win and, overall, the team that makes the fewer mistakes will win. And we’re keen on taking the trophy back to Savonetta.”
Darryl Williams, Fifth dan and Chief Instructor for the Trinidad and Tobago Karate Alliance (T&TKA) recently attended a special training programme in Los Angeles and San Jose (California).
For two weeks the highly qualfied Williams attended the special training sessions with his teacher, Sensei Kunio Miyake, Eighth dan. The former Diego Martin native also attended the USA National Karate Federation (USA-NKF) 2003 National Championships. Accompanying him was Sensei Archie Leiba, Chief Instructor for Bushido School of Martial Arts and Shuko-Kai representative for Trinidad and Tobago. Sensei Leiba who was promoted in March would be received his third degree Black Belt certificate from Sensei Miyake during the programme. He also underwent special instructor’s training with the head of Shuko-Kai International. Both Williams and Leiba are expected back home next month to share their experiences and knowledge with their respective clubs and the Trinidad and Tobago Karate Union (TTKU), national body for the sport of karate. Both the T&TKA and Bushido School of Martial Arts come under the umbrella of Trinidad and Tobago Shuko-Kai, which has branches throughout the country. Sensei Williams is also responsible for the technical standards for branches of The Karate Center in New York. For information call 672-2309 (Michele Omar), 761-7480 (Keshni Sookram), 643-9023 (Curtis Carerra) or 754-6989 (Douglas Khan).
The UWI Sports and Physical Education Centre (SPEC) will host Module One of the Basketball Coaches and Officials Clinic. This will be conducted in collaboration with Basketball Worldwide of North Carolina, USA and the Trinidad and Tobago National Basketball Federation at SPEC on August 9 and 10. The clinic will be condusted by a team of coaches from the United States which includes ex-Dallas Mavericks player and President of Basketball Worldwide, Phil Henderson; Shonta Tabourn, Technical Director of Basketball Worldwide; George Freebersyer and Andre Webb, who are all qualified top level coaches. The coaches will also be involved in a summer camp during their stay here and those taking part in the clinic are required to complete two 16-hour days at the Millennium Basketball Academy’s five-day camp.
Those targetted in the SPEC course are officials and coaches active in the National Basketball Federation of Trinidad and Tobago; Trinidad and Tobago Secondary and Primary Schools Basketball competitions; community leaders and Physical Education teachers and instructors. The registration fee of $240 will cover the cost of a T-shirt, handbook, meals and certificate of completion. For further information call 684-9640, 686-5759 or 793-5929.
After three rounds of competition 11 teams have advanced to the National Finals of the The Republic Cup Youth Football Tournament at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on August 9. A further three teams will advance to the finals from the Tobago Zone joining outstanding players from the Central, South and the North Zones already in the finals.
To date W Connection and Point Fortin Civic Centre have qualified from the Central Zone; Gasparillo Youths and Petrotrin Pointe-a-Pierre from the South Zone; and Super Star Rangers and Defence Force from the North Zone. Gasparillo Youths and Super Star Rangers were unbeaten in the Under-13 and Under-17 divisions in their zones, and will present a challenge for all present at the national finals. On Sunday, the Girls Under-17 competition in Tobago was staged, and a champion was crowned along with zonal champs in the Boys Under-13, 15 and 17 age groups who will advance to the final.
LONDON: South Africa captain Graeme Smith has moved up 25 places in the PricewaterhouseCoopers Test ratings after his outstanding batting in the First Test against England which ended on Monday. Smith thumped scores of 277 and 85 at Edgbaston in the drawn Test to move up to 19th place. New England captain Michael Vaughan, who hit 156 in the first innings against South Africa, has moved up to second place, leapfrogging India’s Sachin Tendulkar. Australian leg-spinner Stuart MacGill, who bagged match figures of 10-133 in the Second Test victory against Bangladesh this week, moved back into the world’s top 10 bowlers. Heading the list of the world’s best Test batsmen is West Indian Brian Lara.
Top 10 batsmen |
|
|
|
Pts |
Avg |
1. Brian Lara (West Indies) |
887 |
51.55 |
2. Michael Vaughan (England) |
858 |
50.98 |
3. Sachin Tendulkar (India) |
843 |
57.58 |
4. Matthew Hayden (Australia) |
821 |
52 |
5. Ricky Ponting (Australia) |
816 |
51.11 |
6. Jacques Kallis (S/Africa) |
812 |
50.4 |
7. Adam Gilchrist (Australia) |
799 |
58.8 |
8. Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan) |
793 |
48.92 |
9. Herschelle Gibbs (S/Africa) |
792 |
45.13 |
10. Rahul Dravid (India) |
789 |
53.46 |
|
|
|
Top 10 bowlers |
|
|
|
Pts |
Avg |
1. Shaun Pollock (S/Africa) |
872 |
20.52 |
2. M Muralitharan (S/Lanka) |
861 |
23.55 |
3. Glenn McGrath (Australia) |
848 |
21.71 |
4. Harbhajan Singh (India) |
746 |
26.59 |
5. Jason Gillespie (Australia) |
740 |
24.92 |
6. Andrew Caddick (England) |
698 |
29.91 |
7. Stuart MacGill (Australia) |
691 |
26.22 |
7. Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan) |
691 |
27.18 |
9. Anil Kumble (India) |
688 |
28 |
10. Makhaya Ntini (S/Africa) |
682 |
28.75 |
LOS ANGELES: The ringside physician during Saturday’s junior middleweight boxing world title eliminator says Trinidad-born Fitz Vanderpool suffered a sprained ankle during the bout. Dr Paul Wallace, says Vanderpool “suffered a high ankle sprain” at some point during the fight before he was stopped by the impressive Fernando Vargas. Vanderpool twisted his left ankle when he slipped and fell to the canvas during one of several falls. No official knockdowns occurred although Vanderpool hit the canvas four times on what were ruled slips by referee Marty Denken. The final two tumbles came in the sixth round as Vargas battered Vanderpool before the fight was stopped at two minutes 36 seconds of the round.
Vanderpool was helped from the ring after the fight and his ankle was wrapped before he attended the postfight conference. “I think it was going to be interesting the way things were going. I slipped and hurt my ankle, though. Them’s the breaks. No pun intended,” Vanderpool told reporters. The 35-year-old Vanderpool, who grew up in Canada after migrating from Trinidad and Tobago as a child, slips to a ring record of 24 wins, with 13 knockouts against five losses and four draws. Vargas, 25, raised his record to 23-2 with 21 knockouts.
FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner hailed the recently completed CONCACAF Gold Cup football tournament as a “tremendous success.” Soon plans will be underway to make the 2005 event even bigger. Warner said there were various factors contributing to the outstanding organisation of the competition by CONCACAF, the regional football association he heads. A victory for the Mexicans over Brazil’s Under-23 team turned out to be a fitting end for the host confederation in front of a partisan crowd at the Azteca Stadium on Sunday in Mexico City. “This Gold Cup most definitely was a tremendous success elevated as such by the visit of the President of FIFA, legitimised by our welcome by Mexican President Vicente Fox and laid in posterity through our handprints in concrete,” Warner said yesterday.
Warner and Blatter, on request by the Mexican Federation, had their hands placed in a cement tray for some fifteen minutes until it hardened and proper prints were made. The prints are to be placed at the Mexican national and football museums in Mexico City. As to how President Blatter felt about CONCACAF’s premier event, Warner said the football boss was exceptionally pleased both in terms of the general organisation as well as the level of play. Several of the world’s top clubs such as Manchester United, Juventus, Celtic, Barcelona and others have embarked on preseason tours in regional countries and for Warner, this is just further proof that the Confederation is attractive to the “big guns” from across the border. “To me it says much more than that as well. It shows up the hypocrisy of the top clubs who are critical of having to participate in FIFA competitions on the ground that their players need a rest and yet, in the off-season, like this one, they go to the ends of the earth in pursuit of the almighty dollar with the very same so very tired players,” said Warner.
And while the CONCACAF boss is busy with his business on the other end he’s also maintaining some form of assistance to the TT Football Federation, getting matches arranged for the senior team which is preparing for 2006 World Cup qualifiers. So far, Warner has helped in finalising matches against Morocco there on September 7 and September 9 against English Second Division side Wrexham in London; as well a clash for the TT senior team against Brazil’s Under-23 team in October. The TT Under-23 team will also face Costa Rica in two friendlies, first in Costa Rica on August 20 and here in October.
The Trinidad and Tobago cricket officials are awaiting the availability of West Indies captain Brian Lara and his compatriots on the West Indies team before scheduling a three-match one day series between North and South to pick the Red Stripe Bowl squad. Omar Khan, who will manage the team during the regional tournament in Jamaica, from October said yesterday that no trial matches will be held as in the past. “In my manager’s report to the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB), I noted that the better way to go was to host a three-match series between North and South and then choose 16 players from that series to undergo preparation for the series,” Khan said. The PowerGen Communi-cations Manager said the three-match series will be very competitive and the TTCB are at this time negotiating with a sponsor.
“What the Board intend to do is to make the series a very competitive one and form it along the lines of the annual Gerry Gomez/Pizza Hut North/South Classic,” Khan said. “At the moment we are waiting to find out when the Test players like Brian Lara will be ready before we arrange the dates for the matches. We will really like to have the Test players Lara, Dillon and Ganga involved in the series of matches. This could be held annually and from this tournament a cadre of players can be chosen to prepare for the Red Stripe Bowl,” he said. The three-match North/South clash will be shared between the National Cricket Centre, Balmain and the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain. “At the moment I am involved in talks with Roger Henderson, manager at the Oval, to see if we can get the venue to host one or two matches,” Khan said. The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) at the moment are awaiting word from former West Indies cricketer Phil Simmons on whether he will be available to coach the team. Former national all-rounder Roland Sampath is on standby if he is unavailable. The national team will be grouped in Jamaica and will leave at the end of September for the series.
