SUPREME Ventures Limited have given the Jamaica Netball Association a J$500,000 sponsorship boost, but it is for a Junior Netball League. The firm signed the deal with JNA president Molly Rhone recently. According to Supreme’s public relations and marketing manager, the inking of the deal is part of their corporate focus. He said Supreme Ventures believe that “without appropriate funding, Jamaica’s netball programme will be severely diluted both locally and internationally, and this is one of the many reasons why we have invested in the junior programme which will help to build young talent.”
Rhone, who is also a vice-president of the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA), said the sponsorship came at a time when it was most needed. According to Rhone, 17 teams will compete in this year’s Supreme Ventures Limited Junior Netball League, with teams and individuals who perform well getting rewards. Meanwhile, Cable & Wireless (Cayman Islands) Limited have come to the assistance of the Cayman Islands netballers for the World Championships. C&W corporate communications manager Marilyn Whittaker handed over US$1,000 to Cayman Islands Netball Association (CINA) president Lucille Seymour to help the team prepare and attend the championships in neighbouring Jamaica. Seymour said a team from Cayman Islands has competed in three World Netball Championships since 1991. She said, “The team competes for a number of reasons: to improve their ranking in the world, to compete against the best in the world and to improve their game.” The Cayman Islanders also got a boost in the sum of US$3,000 from Texaco Caribbean Inc. This money was also handed over to Seymour by Texaco marketing representative Victor Thompson, and is being used to bolster the CINA’s youth programme, particularly the under-16 squad.
NETBALLERS at next month’s 11th World Netball Championships in Jamaica must fear South African-born New Zealand goal-shoot Irene Van Dyk. The powerfully built six-footer has been in devastating form in recent games, scoring 64 goals from 64 attempts for Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic against Capital Shakers in the National Bank Cup in New Zealand. Van Dyk, who represented South Africa at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before marrying a New Zealander and migrating, followed up her April 13 performance with a second 100 percent shooting outing two weeks later. This time, the Vodafone Silver Fern goal-shoot slotted in 54 of 54 against the Auckland Diamonds. The Vodafone Silver Ferns will warm-up for the World Championships with a three-test series against England starting today. The other matches are scheduled for Wednesday and Friday.
The statement last week by the Economic and Commercial Officer at the United States Embassy, Duncan Walker, that Trinidad and Tobago officials suspected of being involved in corrupt activities in this country could have their US visas revoked, is an unfortunate example not only of American interference in the internal affairs of another State, but of US arrogance.
We wish to make it clear that we have consistently opposed corruption both in the public and private sectors, and will continue to do so. However, we have equally insisted that action taken against corrupt officials should be consistent with the Rule of Law. This includes the gathering of evidence and the individual being charged and taken to Court on the basis of this evidence. And if the person is found guilty then, and only then, he or she should be punished. Apparently, the United States, on the basis of “where there is smoke” there is fire, is prepared to conduct its own investigations, reach its own conclusions and take any action it deems fit. What is troubling is that the US diplomat, who had been addressing a breakfast seminar hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago, made no reference to due process.
Mr Walker has given an example of the revoking of a United States visa. In December of last year, the American Ambassador to Nicaragua simply went to the home of the former President of Nicaragua, asked for his passport and revoked his US visa. If what the locally assigned US diplomat has said is a faithful record of what transpired, and we have no reason to believe otherwise, then it represented cavalier treatment not only of a former Nicaraguan Head of State, but of the country itself. Would it not have been better for the United States to have advised him that his visa privileges had been withdrawn? Mr Walker, apparently unable to conceal his delight at the action taken against the former President of the Central American country, spoke of the “big headlines” it had made in Miami, “where a lot of Nicaraguans” live.
What would have been the reaction of the United States Government had another country sent its Head of Mission to the home of Richard Nixon, the disgraced late US President, demanded to see his passport, revoked the relevant visa and publicised the action? Another question arises. What if the visa of a senior Trinidad and Tobago Government official should be revoked, the action publicised in the United States and following on this he or she is cleared of all charges in a Court of Law? Which would take precedence as far as the United States is concerned, its conclusions based on unproven allegations or the findings of a properly constituted Court of Law? Would the United States be prepared to apologise to the official for its actions, or would it dismiss the Court findings as irrelevant and therefore inconsequential? What we find repugnant about Mr Walker’s statement is that the US, paragon of freedom and human rights, has no problem in dealing with outsiders in a manner that violates all its own celebrated principles. What if TT and other countries decide to treat US citizens in the same hearsay fashion?
Last week’s post-Cabinet press briefing exposed once again some nonsensical positions of the Government. First the BWIA issue. We heard that the Government wants the Unions at Bwee to give concessions that would result in a significant reduction in labour costs and that these must be agreed upon within one week as a condition of the government as shareholder injecting funds into the airline.
Now several things are wrong with the Cabinet’s position. In the first place there has already been a significant reduction in the airline’s labour costs. With the retrenchment of some 600 workers earlier this year Bwee was supposed to have cut its labour costs by 20-25 percent. Now this was on top of some concessions that the unions had already agreed to. We must therefore ask — why is it necessary to have further cuts in the company’s airline costs? Is the Government’s position simply the typical knee-jerk reaction that many employers take when faced with a difficult situation? We are all too familiar with the attitude of some employers who seek to take advantage of the weak position of the workers-/unions, which position was due to either some factor in the external environment or to the company’s own poor management. These employers believe that such a moment is one where they can get labour costs down or further weaken the union and therefore set up the scenario for continued low labour costs when the environment changes and the company’s fortunes improve.
Oft times too some employers look for a scapegoat for their own mistakes and seek to either put the blame for the crisis on the workers/unions or take the easy way out with respect to improving the bottom-line, the easy way out being to cut labour costs. The more difficult, but ultimately the only real solution, these lazy/poor managers avoid. Thus issues such as effective and efficient management, forward and strategic planning, proper marketing to increase revenues are ignored, with the result that workers lose their jobs and/or suffer reductions in their compensation only for the company to crash anyways. It was wrong for the Government to have taken a position on BWIA’s labour costs for several reasons. In terms of proper industrial relations, the shareholder should not issue an ultimatum to the unions. On the one hand Mr Manning and his Cabinet colleagues keep referring to the fact that the Government is not interfering in the day-to-day operations of the company, and that such matters are for the Board. Yet in this instance they do interfere! It is a total breach of proper industrial relations. Then, the Government should not arrive at a decision that labour costs must be reduced within the next week without having the benefit of (a) discussions with the unions about the ways that costs could be reduced at the airline (after all, labour costs are not the only things that can be addressed); (b) the outcome of the consultant’s report on the status of the company and the best strategy forward; and (c) the due diligence report that has been commissioned.
This information may well identify that the problems are not to be found in Bwee’s labour cost structure at all. The only argument put forward by the Government was that “its Directors stated that the aircraft were overstaffed”. That’s not good enough. But as is usual Mr Manning and his Cabinet are putting the cart before the horse. The same is true with respect to the crime situation. At the press briefing we were told by the Prime Minister that our escalated crime situation has occurred because the political crisis in Venezuela caused that nation’s security forces to take their eye off the ball of the criminal drug trade. The result of this was that the drug traffickers out of Colombia and those involved in the trade here in Trinidad and Tobago and those in Venezuela decided to make hay while the sun was shining, and that there has therefore been an upsurge in activity in this country. Now this may well be true but the Prime Minister making such a statement is quite ludicrous. For one thing, it will create a diplomatic issue with our nearest neighbour — Venezuela. Secon-dly, the population of this country is really not concerned at all about the reason why crime has gotten worse. What they want is for the Government to do something about it. If therefore Mr Manning can identify the external factor of instability in another country as the cause for more gun-running into Trinidad and Tobago, we have to ask — what have you done about that intelligence information?
Information and intelligence with respect to crime are not gathered so that someone like the Prime Minister can make a comment that will make everyone think that he is wise and all-knowing. It is gathered so that the criminals can be prosecuted and that the evidence leads to convictions. In this regard this country is abysmally poor. I heard a presentation recently by a former senior person in the security services of this country and he stated that the problem is that we don’t have a culture and/or modus operandi of intelligence in the fight against crime. He further opined that given the nature of major crimes — drugs, money laundering etc — it was absolutely necessary to utilise intelligence in the fight. Such an approach means that the security forces can know in advance about criminal activity and take action before to prevent crime from happening, rather than waiting for it to take place and then try to “catch the bad-guy”. The latter is perhaps more glamorous since it looks great in the press to see the headline — “murderer captured”. This was the style of the late Commissioner Randolph Burroughs, but it is more PR than crime fighting. What we need is to be able to lop the heads off of the major gangs and prevent them from functioning. It is of no use to the population to hear the police state that a particular individual was “well known to the police and was suspected in a number of crimes”. The issue is — why wasn’t that knowledge converted to prosecutions and convictions? Until it happens we will have an ever escalating situation of violence. And as for Mr Manning’s comment about the killings being internecine gang battles for control and that the average citizen is not affected except in some rare occurrences of “collateral damage”, well it would be wise for the Prime Minister to either retract it or learn that if he has nothing sensible to say, he should not speak.
THE EDITOR: The recent revelation by Senator Glenda Morean as to her having knowledge of the discussions held between Forensic Investigator Bob Lindquist, Fraud Squad Detective Maurice Piggott and Opposition Chief Whip Ganga Singh over the WASA corruption scandals has severely undermined the integrity of the investigations being conducted by Lind-quist and Piggott. This is a most serious matter.
If the Attorney General is telling the truth, and we have no reason to doubt her, this is most alarming. It may suggest that Senator Morean is receiving daily notes from the investigator or investigators and is in possession of knowledge of the intricate details of what transpires between those persons being interviewed and the Police. This is a political contamination of the entire investigation process. It is now incumbent upon Bob Lindquist and Maurice Piggott to state categorically and publicly that they are not in contact with Mrs Morean during these investigations, since the Attorney General has now apparently undermined the integrity of the investigations and indeed the credibility of those investigating.
A report on completion of the investigation can be lodged with the Attorney General, but her declaration suggests that the Senator is receiving a ball by ball account and in a position to tip off her party colleagues who are also under scrutiny. Can one imagine that Senator Morean might have a daily briefing with investigators on what transpires in the interviewing room, then as a politician and faithful PNM Minister, the Senator can tip off other party officials who are yet to be interviewed on the information in possession of the investigators. This is tantamount to the subversion of the investigation.
DR ROODAL MOONILAL
Port-of-Spain
THE EDITOR: Congratulations to the THA’s Orville London for his firm and conscientious stance on the Pigeon Point issue. National leaders must be prepared to always act against self-seeking business conglomerates in order to preserve and maintain the common good. Private property concerns like those of the ANSA McAL group need to be regarded as secondary to the legitimate concerns of the wider national community.
As Mr Spock of Star Trek fame says “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”. Such a statement may not apply in all circumstances but in my humble opinion it applies in this instance. Mr London’s position must serve to inspire similar actions on the part of the state on such matters as the price of bread and food items, cable prices and bank fees. Live long and prosper.
PETER HOSPEDALES
St Lucien Road
Diego Martin
THE EDITOR: Helen Keller was quoted as saying, “The highest result of education is tolerance.”
From the recent boorish ranting and raving emanating from members of both houses of Parliament it would appear that the members have yet to reach that pinnacle. With their constant flaunting of authority, is it any wonder that the country is inundated with juvenile delinquency and the adult equivalent? Are we surprised that parents bite teachers and coaches because they don’t like a decision? Are members of our International teams right to query and taunt authorities for perceived wrong decisions? Our “leaders,” it would appear, believe that rudeness is better than any argument. However remember it totally eclipses intellect! I seem to remember something about discipline and tolerance somewhere — some other country maybe?
DALLAS KIDMAN
Petit Valley
THE EDITOR: Mr Sat Maharaj when will you realise that Trinidad and Tobago is the land of steelband and calypso? We have Indian steelbandsmen and women and Indian calypsonians. Carnival activities organised by the two groups with the addition of mas bands fill the Treasury every year to the tune of 500 million dollars.
When you stop seeking everything Indian and not Trinidadian, then there is hope for you. It is people like yourself who are promoting racial disharmony in this land. You want to compare culture. What revenue can the harmonium, dholak, sitar and dhantal generate by way of visitors coming to Trinidad and Tobago in place of carnival, calypso and pan, which were invented by Trinidadians? Mind you, the culture that you want is not for Trinidad and Tobago, it is for India. So my advice to you is go to India with that and leave NLCB to support Trinidad and Tobago culture, which is carnival, calypso and pan.
MILTON “WIRE” AUSTIN
Public Relations Officer
Pan Trinbago
THE EDITOR: Next to the Freeport flyover there is a well -known drug den and it is being frequented by students of two prestige schools in the area. At one particular school the students purchase their stuff, run directly across the highway and jump straight into the school compound any time during the course of the day.
We are calling on the police of the area, who always appear to be sleeping, to wake up and close down this block. Check the fatman on the junction about selling school children in uniform cigarettes without regard to the law. Our children are being spoiled by these menaces in society. Villagers, parents, teachers, police wake up. Tomorrow is coming. The children are our future, let’s save our future.
JONNY BROWN
Freeport
THE EDITOR: Can someone please explain how a Chairman of a Board of Directors does not know what is happening within the company of which he is Chairman?
Does he not attend board meetings? Does he not have minutes of meetings even if he is too busy to attend? Mr Lawrence Duprey — I am sorry, but you have placed yourself very poorly in the eyes of the public of TT for deserting the ship and jumping on the lifeboat instead of being the captain who goes down with the ship. Tears came to my eyes when I read the headlines of BWEE bankruptcy as memories came back to me as a child going with my family on a Sunday afternoon to see the BWIA planes take off and land at the old Piarco airport. It was a very exciting experience for me. I wish the airline all the best.
B SANDY
Maraval
