PHILLIP SEEPERSAUD had the incredible figures of 8.4-1-11-10 but his team Commonwealth saw their match against Rochard Road United in the Penal Sports Association Cricket Super League end in a draw recently. Batting first, Rochard Road were dismissed for 202 with Laurence Sookram grabbing 5/50 G Seecharan topscored with 47 and M Seecharan contributed 40. In reply, Commonwealth declared their first innings on 285/6 with K Supersad slamming 125 and Sookram 58. Trying to force an outright victory in the two-day affair, the Rochard batsmen could not withstand the bowling of Seepersaud, who grabbed all ten wickets as Rochard were routed for 41 before the umpires and captains agreed to call off the match as a draw. Other summarised Scores: Super League – MENDEZ 125 and 84 – Gravy Matthews 24, R Chulan 24, Visham Deonarine 4/53 & 4/27, Dennis Ramlal 4/21 vs SUNRISE 239/8 dec – Rajendra Ramkissoon 108, D Ramlal 61. Sunrise won by an innings and 30 runs.
APOLLO 32 and 89 – Rodney Motilal 35; Navin Ragoo 5/10 & 3/19, Rajiv Ragoo 6/26 vs MERRY BOYS 87/9 dec and 28/0 – A Ram 4/26. Merryboys won by 10 wickets.
SAN FRANCIQUE UNITED 171 and 149 – Devin Khemraj 61, Henry Jebodh 70; Kent Victor 4/36 & 3/32, Teemul Ramdial 4/65 vs SUNRESS ROAD UNITED 142 and 64 – Krish Ramlogan 51, Ramesh Gobin 6/30 & 2/63, Khemchan Deosaran 3/8. SFU won by 114 runs.
RENEGADES 225 and 113/6 – Palo Baboolal 51, Visham Mangaroo 45, A Leotaud 5/50 vs UP TEN SPORTS 183 – Andre Balgar 37, V Mangaroo 3/70, Roopnarine Maraj 3/39. Match drawn.
Intermediate Division (Limited Overs) –
VIKINGS 234/6 – Anand Rampersad 87, Tony Ramdass 38; E Ramdeo 2/41 vs MERCENARIES 139 – D Ramdeo 38, E Ramdeo 31; A Rampersad 3/40. Vikings won by 95 runs.
DIGITY SPORTS 175 – J Ramjass 38, P Ramjass 25; V Toophanie 4/43 vs GREEN ROCKS 167 – P Hercules 61, V Toophanie 34; H Doodnath 5/26. Digity Sports won by eight runs.
ALL STARS 241 – Jagdeo Subhag 81 not out, Ramdhan Boodram 43 vs BOUCAUD TRACE 63 – Kimaj Boodram 6/12. All Stars won by 178 runs.
METRONOMES 286/7 – R Bhagaloo 123, D Balram 42 vs BLUE BIRDS 141 – B Sahadeo 36, S Rambaran 31; D Balram 3/30. Metronomes won by 145 runs.
SECRET STORM 236 – Raymond Ramnarine 96 not out, Ashton Bridgemohan 72 not out; S Ramnarine 3/61 vs CLEVER GUYS 166 – B Harrinarine 44. Secret Storm won by 70 runs.
Saturday Limited Overs –
METRONOMES 159 – D Gunness 40, P Sinanan 23; Randy Balkaran 3/9 vs MENDEZ 160/5 – Robin Balkaran 51, G Matthews 42; B Maraj 2/27. Mendez won by five wickets.
MENDEZ 162 – Franklyn Hansraj 82 not out vs SUNRISE 166/3 – L Doodnath 39, M Ramcharan 35, I Hosanie 31. Sunrise won by seven wickets.
Under-19 Division –
DESTROYERS 117 – S Heeralal 33; M Peters 3/16 vs DIGITY SPORTS 118/9 – A Sonny 36, B Soohkwah 27; A Deonarine 4/12. Digity Sports won by one wicket.
Under-16 Division –
KNOCKERS 122 – Vickram Rampersad 21 vs ALL STARS 97 – Kimey Boodram 32; Shiva Rambaran 3/9. Knockers won by 25 runs.
VETERAN Police centre-court player Monica Maule has been left out from the Trinidad and Tobago “Calypso Girls” netballers 12-member team for the 11th World Netball Championships in Jamaica. The championships will be contested in Kingston between July 10 and 20. Selectors deviated from the norm and chose just three shoots — Janelle Barker, Anastascia Wilson and Simone Morgan — and instead named five centre-court players, including Stacy Sparks who can also play goal-attack. The team shows six changes from the 1999 squad for the 10th, with Maule relegated to standby. Those six new faces are Sparks, Anika La Roche, Glenis Hall, Sojopurner “Suzie” Hyles and Lystra Solomon. Solomon was named captain of the team, taking over from goal-shoot Janelle Barker.
The Trinidadian women will have Veronica McDonald as coach and Althea McCollin as her assistant, while Donna Cox will be team manageress. Trinidad and Tobago Netball Association president Martha Archer and secretary Beverly-Ann Cruickshank are the delegates. Here is the 12-member team: Jenelle Barker, Anastascia Wilson, Simone Morgan (shoots); Lystra Solomon (capt), Carlette Nurse (vice-capt), Tricia Liverpool, Stacy Sparks, Denesha Moses (centre-court); Anika La Roche, Glenis Hall, Sojourner Hyles, Rhonda John (defenders).
Standbys: Monica Maule, Afeisha Noel and Sherry Ann Patrick.
TRAGEDY struck at gallops at Santa Rosa Park, Arima, yesterday, when Gold Master dropped dead after a 1000 metres spin. The American-bred three-year-old was returning after posting a time of 1:04.83 seconds for the gallop, when he just stumbled and fell over. Strangely, it was the best time for the distance yesterday, just bettering that of another American-bred Ring Dang Do whose time was 1:04.84. Naturally Classy +had a good run over 1000 metres clocking 1:05.63 for the run, while City Of Lights returned 1:04.08 for the trip. Guardian Angel had Ruby Scores for company over 800 metres and the pair was timed in 51.34 seconds for the gallop, with The Angel being the better. Also having a good run over the same trip was Stormy Season, cho clocked 52.78 seconds on the turf course.
And Twist N Turn clocked 53.34 seconds in a handy spin over the 800 metres trip. Red Hill stepped 600 metres in 36.36 seconds, the best over this trip for the morning yesterday. And New Star sped over the same trip in 37.31 seconds, while Hyarima stopped the clock in 37.96. Phantom Bidder was seen pacing through a 600 metres spin in a comfortable 44.94 seconds. Toronto Star showed a clean pair of heels during a 400 metres gallop which was timed in 25.05. And Brandy had a giddying run over 400 metres, stopping the clock in 26.65 seconds for the spin.
TOP SEEDS Olivia Bennett and Michael Clarke claimed the girls and boys Under-16 singles titles as the Sagicor Annual Junior Tennis Tournament ended at the St Augustine Tennis Courts yesterday. Bennett had to draw on all of her strength and determination to defeat a combative Yolande Leacock 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 while Clarke whipped Richard Chung 6-3, 6-4. Bennett and Clarke were each awarded the Sagicor Trophy for Excellence and Sportsmanship (girls and boys) during the evening’s prize-giving ceremony. Number-one ranked Lendl Smith swept past Adam Talma 6-2, 6-0 while Nicolette Leacock lived up to her top billing in the girls U-12 with a tough 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Lee-Ann Lingo. Seve Day was the only top-seeded player to lose a final yesterday, going down 6-4, 6-3 to Abdoulaye Camara. Ravi Ramsingh and Cristina Bennett were later adjudged the Most Improved Players of the three-day contest.
Pardon me for beating a dead — or alive — horse, but what’s the deal with Saddam Hussein? Is he dead? Is he alive? If he’s alive, any hints about where he might be? Are we getting warmer? Colder? And by the way, what about Osama bin Laden?
Asking the big, fat obvious questions appears to be a violation of civil etiquette in George Bush’s Emerald City, a place where Republican dreams really do come true — lately. Or maybe it’s just journalistically uncool to ask — like if you have to ask you’re just so out of it. Well, count me out of it. I want to know, dammit. And so does everyone I know who’s not in the know. Even some in the know admit to not knowing and wanting to know. Having Saddam and Osama become the Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid of global terrorism strikes most people as a fairly bad idea. But beyond pure curiosity, the questions about public enemies number one and two get at issues about the use and abuse of US intelligence that have been looming since September 11, 2001. The whereabouts of Saddam and Osama are just the biggies at the top of a long list.
Where are Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction? This week Secretary Rumsfeld suggested for the first time that Iraq may have destroyed it biological and chemical arms before the war started. If so, was the war in fact necessary? Do we know that WMD were destroyed, or are we just guessing? Did we ever know they existed, or were we just guessing? Was the intelligence about WMD cooked to help justify an invasion? Where is al Qaeda? We’ve now imposed “regime change” (still one of the better euphemisms of this young century) in the two countries we were told were leading state-sponsors of terror — Afghanistan and Iraq. That didn’t seem to stop al Qaeda from blowing bits of Riyadh and Casablanca to smithereens. Was Iraq a serious source of support for al Qaeda? Is there a next step in the battle against al Qaeda?
These questions all point to one more: Where is the CIA? Shrouded by secrecy and protected by post-9/11 paranoia, the CIA was spared the kind of grilling that many expected after the unforeseen tragedy. Iran-Contra and the space shuttle explosions received more intensive, high profile post-mortems than did the role of US intelligence and national security agencies in 9/11. It’s extraordinary. Yet with all these unanswered questions, it is the secrets that emanate from behind the curtain that screens the intelligence wizards that the White House wizards use to justify their foreign policies. We must effect regime change in Iraq because of “intelligence” that they have WMD and harbor al Qaeda. We go from Code Yellow to Code Orange because of “intelligence.” Will we send troops left from Iraq into Syria or right into Iran because of “intelligence”? In a May 29 CBS News poll, 69 percent think it is very or somewhat likely the US will take military action against Iran. That same poll shows that the public has more trust in politicians who use intelligence than the spooks who create it (at least on the question of Iraq’s WMD). My trust goes in the exact opposite direction. Whether the allegations are that the spooks cooked intelligence to please their masters or that the politicians misused intelligence to make their cases, the credibility of the secret world is in as much trouble as it has seen since Iran-Contra. The spies and their bosses avoided high profile, competent scrutiny after 9/11. They must not be allowed to pull the same trick again after the war with Iraq. And I’m sorry to be uncool, but I’d like some answers to the big questions of what happened before buying off on a new set of answers about what we’re to do next. Dick Meyer, the Editorial Director of CBSNews.com, is based in Washington. For many years, he was a political and investigative producer for The CBS News Evening News With Dan Rather.
Our national airline, BWIA, never seems able to fly out of the crisis mode. In recent days it has seen its aircraft seized in an overseas port for failure to meet its financial obligations. Once again the Government has had to intervene and negotiate with the US lessors to give BWIA time to meet its obligations. In the end, of course, it means that the taxpayer will pay the price.
Now we have a comment from the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association [DOMA] that no price tag could be placed on the importance of BWIA West Indies Airways to Trinidad and Tobago. Was this a hint that its members would seek to go to the rescue of the airline by investing in it? DOMA’s stand that BWIA should be preserved, because it is an icon of our national pride, is not without merit. While we are of the view that a serious attempt should be made to the saving of BWIA, yet any move to rescue the beleagured airline will have to accommodate the uncomfortable truth that BWIA is troubled by a debt of US$100 million. How was it possible for the regional airline to have amassed such a relatively huge debt, when in the three years immediately prior to the September 11, 2001 tragedy, which rocked the international airline industry, it had announced reassuringly healthy net profits, including a net profit in 1998 of US$9.1 million?
Admittedly, charter proliferation and an increased fuel bill in 1999 and the following years, the result of a sharp rise in international crude oil prices, had somewhat dented the airline’s management’s confident talk of sustained profitability. Today’s debt of US$100 million is far removed from the announced net profits of 1998-2000. And if management trumpeted the turnaround then, today it must be prepared to accept some responsibility for the decline, September 11 notwithstanding. A not insubstantial portion of this debt is owed to the International Lease Finance Corporation [ILFC], which recently impounded two of the aircraft it had leased to BWIA, because several millions of dollars in payments had not been met. Last week Government called in the lessor company for talks which it clearly hoped would stave off the seizure of BWIA’s remaining aircraft through a threatened enforcing of a court order obtained by ILFC in the United States.
The seizure of the two planes had taken by surprise many persons, who had believed that BWIA, which had spoken of fleet renewal in 1998, had owned the Boeing 737-800 Next Generation aircraft or had been in the process of paying off for them. But whether the discussions sought by Government were an indication that the Administration was preparing to shift from its earlier stand that it did not intend to seek either a controlling interest or outright ownership in BWIA is unclear. DOMA’s point that BWIA was an indigenous part of Trinidad and Tobago’s future makes nice reading, yet any acquisition of majority shareholding in BWIA must, inevitably, embrace the US$100 million debt referred to earlier. Undoubtedly, a large portion of the debt will be allowed to run its course of pre-agreed upon payments once creditors are convinced that their monies are not under threat. A critical factor in any resurgence of BWIA must be a commitment by the Governments of Eastern Caribbean countries to name the airline as the regional carrier. The English speaking Caribbean, or rather the bulk of it, can no longer insist on BWIA serving their interests through the provision of services, which facilitate them at this country’s public and private sector expense. Another is on the question of management. A third is the investing of more funds into the airline by the private sector, including DOMA. If DOMA regards BWIA as essential it must encourage private investors to put their money where their mouth is.
THE EDITOR: Please allow me space in your paper to voice a grievance. Should one have to visit the United States Embassy on Marli Street, Port-of-Spain you are told to stand on the opposite pavement until your name is called for the given appointment.
Regardless of how hot the sun is, or if it is raining, or how young or old or sick you are, you cannot cross to the other pavement to shelter. Should one venture to cross, you are immediately talked down to as though you are a little child and forced by the guards to go back across the street. Not too many people resist out of fear since most are there begging for a visa. People accompanying the applicants have to endure this punishment for as many as five to six hours. The last time I looked, this street and pavement still belong to the people of this country. I can understand our government allowing them to block off the street due to vehicle congestion, but preventing people from sheltering is downright ridiculous.
A person very close to me recently spent $600 dollars for an appointment. After having to endure the waiting in the hot sun and standing inside the hot waiting room, was told that she could not get a visa because she did not have a bank statement. Being a first timer, she was not aware and was not told by them of this requirement prior to this day. Instead of sending her back to get this document, her application was turned down forthwith. Still interested in going to the States to visit family she had not seen for a very long time, four weeks later she again spent another $600 dollars and went for another appointment, but this time armed with all the needed documents. Only to be told, because she was not married her application is again being turned down. Twelve hundred dollars for six minutes of their time. Where is the justification? What a rip off. This Third World treatment should be blamed on the head of the sand ostriches we elect for our government.
NIZAM MOHAMMED
San Juan
THE EDITOR: I am a student at the St Augustine UWI campus and recently had to seek the assistance of the UWI Estate Police. I was pleasantly surprised at the friendly and courteous professionalism displayed by the officers who assisted me. In recent months there has been a lot of criticism about the security at St Augustine campus, and it was reassuring that this quality of service still exists. I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to Corporal Ramsepaul, Officer Harvey and Officer Campbell. God’s Blessings and keep up the good work.
S RAHAMAN
St Augustine
THE EDITOR: We hope you are in support of the deaf people of Trinidad and Tobago. We welcome you as the President of Trinidad and Tobago. We would like you to be a part of the Support for the Non Government Organisation — “Deaf Alert.”
The University of the West Indies has never before made provisions for the hearing impaired, as a result persons who are hearing impaired are forced to go to foreign universities. Why? We hope you would show your support for deaf people of Trinidad and Tobago by helping the deaf people of Trinidad and Tobago to get employment. Why are there no deaf lawyers and deaf ministers in our country? It’s certainly not because we are not capable. It is simply because no one wants to hire a deaf person, no matter how qualified he or she is. When I look at the House of Parliament, the members of Government and the Opposition members, they all can hear, I therefore recommend that persons who are hearing impaired be added to the House of Parliament and other offices.
TIMOTHY FAIRBAIRN BARSATTEE
Encourage Deaf Leaderships
Team Trinidad and Tobago
THE EDITOR: Are we to ever take national issues seriously, or, conversely, are we to be forever hoodwinked and sidelined by a lot or political jargon and ole talk while the priorities are left unattended?
In Sunday Newsday May 18 in an Agricultural Supplement headed variously “A critical platform,” “Food security for all by 2020.” The Ministry of Agriculture’s Development Programme” labour to list several “fundamental elements” which is included seed stock, cocoa, rabbit rearing, poultry, rice and honey. Nowhere in the eight main segments listed was any mention made anywhere of our almost total dependence on foreign beef, mutton, goat and dairy products requirements. This, under the aegis of a Minister who has been at pains to stress the critical importance of self sufficiency in our basic domestic food requirements, is a lacuna so remarkable as to be conspicuous, if not glaring! How can there be a national agricultural plan that does not make mention of our critical deficiency in such vital areas as meat and dairy products? Someone has got to be joking and/or taking us for a ride? Is the “programme” going to be acclaimed a triumphant success if it enables us to be self sufficient in our needs for honey and rabbit meat while the whole forest is missed looking at a tree or two? I just wish someone would get serious for a change for surely this is a joke?
GEOFF HUDSON
Port-of-Spain
