THE EDITOR: The group Citizens for a Better Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT) agrees with the Education Ministry that the distribution of condoms is a matter of authorisation by parents and guardians. Unrestricted condom distribution gives young children the message that we support their sexuality as long as they do it safely. In the war on drugs, children are encouraged to say ‘No’, yet in the war on sexually transmitted diseases, students are taught to say ‘Yes’ as long as they use a condom. This sends a mixed message to the students as well as a false sense of security.
Many people, who support condom distribution, argue that children are going to have sex anyway, so they should be protected. This argument does not solve the problem of promiscuity; it only attempts to lessen the ill effects. Although providing condoms will help curb unsafe sex, condom distribution must be coupled with effective education both in our schools and homes. It is a fact that even though the condom is not 100 percent safe, it serves as the number one prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, with the exception of abstinence. Other methods of contraceptives, such as the pill, only prevent pregnancy.
Parents in collaboration with teachers and guidance officers may be forced to recommend condoms to promiscuous kids. However, the haphazard distribution of condoms to students may encourage greater promiscuity among these young people, and can lead to social and emotional problems, and subsequent maladjustment, since many of then are not fully mature. The best course of action is to emphasise to our kids from a very early age the importance of postponing sex until marriage. CBTT joins with the Education Ministry in strongly condemning the actions of groups which target schoolchildren by disruptive actions.
HARRACK
BALRAMSINGH
President, CBTT
La Romaine
THE EDITOR: We the people of Trinidad and Tobago are quiet people. We watch prices in the grocery rising and we say nothing. I bought baby wipes in a particular grocery in Tunapuna for $28.99 this year. Recently I went back in May and the price is now $33.95. Many grocery items keep rising and we grumble inside and say nothing. Do you know if we protest for at least two weeks and leave the bread, milk, rice, sugar and other stuff on the shelves then we could be heard? Little packs of milk which last you a week $20 (one usage a day only). How can the poor man live?
In America $1.00 for $1.00 once you work there, $100.00 would last me four weeks. Do you notice we have to keep returning to the grocery weekly after buying grocery? How does the man who makes $8 an hour survive and care for a family? Ecclesiastes Minister, could you do something?
ELLEN REID
Champs Fleurs
THE EDITOR: We wish to acknowledge the efficient, effective and caring treatment which was administered to my husband, Melville Nemah, during his stay at the San Fernando General Hospital. My husband Melville is 60 years of age. He was diagnosed by Dr Kanta Ramcharran as having Gillian Barry Syndrome. Dr Ramcharran referred Melville to the San Fernando General Hospital where he was immediately admitted for treatment.
During his stay there, he was initially warded in the ICU where he remained for about thirty days. Due to a change in his condition, he was subsequently relocated to Ward 9 where he remained for an additional 70 days. His health improved appreciably as a consequence of the treatment which he received. He was subsequently discharged and is now being cared for by his immediate family. During his entire period of hospitalisation we were satisfied with the professional and caring treatment administered by the staff at every level in the hospital. In addition to providing very caring treatment to Melville, we found the staff to be very sensitive to the needs and feelings of the many members of the family who visited Melville during his period of convalescence.
On behalf of Melville and our entire family it gives me considerable satisfaction to express our profound sense of appreciation and gratitude to the many members of the hospital staff who so selflessly provided excellent care and attention to Melville.
On behalf of all of us, thank you.
MAUREEN NEMAH
San Fernando
THE EDITOR: It was during the reign of the late Dr Eric Williams that the DEWD programme came into being. He introduced this programme to facilitate the prisoners who could not obtain employment after they had served their term in prison. In this case most of the foremen were as we would term them “Bad Johns”, so this programme started with a bad stigma. This was done too for making the bad element work for their livelihood, but it had those who took their names to different venues with certain arrangements, but in reality never went to work so the malaise started long ago under the People’s National Movement.
This bad attitude started in the days of the PNM and still continues. Changing the name of the programme made one difference; it was a matter of encouraging certain people to go along this way for political mileage. This did not make these people more responsible but created more idlers, and malingerers. The Prime Minister says that placing the URP in a contractual system to remove the criminal element which took place and blossomed under its predecessor “The United National Congress” is a shameful and untrue statement, because Mark Guerra was murdered serving under the present regime where murder and kidnapping are the order of the day, and he was a member of the same PNM and a big Jef? with the URP, but the PNM continues to blame the UNC for all their shortcomings.
The present government is only surviving on excuses, and promises while blaming the former regime for their dismal failures. They are in a quandary to know how to govern this country, and its priorities and as this continues Trinidad is going down the drain, and the abyss of destruction. All the utilities are in shambles, and I believe foreign investors are afraid to come here for fear of being kidnapped and fear for their lives with all that is happening around us on a daily basis.
Incidentally, the police had no right to brutalise the man of Beetham Estate. These law-abiding citizens are always well behaved and do not interfere with anybody, but only at times while doing their jobs some people may disturb them when they ask for what is theirs, a donation and if they refuse they use a little force with a sharp instrument or an object that pushes out some lead which at times may be generous enough to send their victims back to their maker without charge. If the police had spoken to the man softly or hug him up, the police would have been accused of something else. Trinidad is in a very bad way, and if it continues like this, the 20/20 vision would cancel out itself like in Maths, and we would have to creep all the way back to be a third world country once again.
HORACE DESORMEAUX
Maraval
THE EDITOR: On May 13, the curtain was lowered to mark the end of phase one in the one-sided Australian tour of the West Indies. The all-powerful team took little time to establish their cricket supremacy as Numero Uno in the world rating, making our boys a walkover. It was a bad time for us. Nevertheless, I have no doubt that in due course we will reap rich rewards in later clashes, as the team grows and matures. With application, our promising team will enjoy luxuriant growth and reap rich harvests.
Our friends have aroused the potential that will soon blossom to great heights. Ours is a young and inexperienced team with possibilities waiting for germination. Our recent overwhelming victory will awaken the dormant talents and generate zeal to maximum heights until our return to the golden era — a status which I predict will be soon regained by our promising and distinguished nucleus. We have abounding talent and an inspiring leader who is more eager to show the way it must be done rather than just talking about how to do it. It is said that failures are blessings in disguise.
The whipping from our guests must not leave us scared and irritable, but must kindle in each of us the resolve to learn and do better, especially in knowing that victory is our inevitable goal. Our win was no fluke but a well-deserved victory which we will begin to repeat more regularly. In early encounters, players seem to have been affected by stage fright. Towards the end, our players became more ardent, causing the flow of vigour and animation steeped in growing confidence. As an old cricketer myself, I am keen to tender some advice.
A batsman reaching half-century shows capability and with more concentration and judgement, can more easily reach the century mark. What successful batsmen need however is discipline and concentration mixed with good temperament. Our boys have the knowledge and the technique to make high scores. All they need to do is to copy Brian Lara, the world-rater, who I am sure will be ready to assist.
SALER AMEERALI
Eleanore St
Chaguanas
THE EDITOR: Has Trinidad and Tobago — or, more strictly speaking, Trinidad — become “Kidnap Central?” This new crime fad has reached utterly preposterous proportions. While commendations must go to the police for their apprehensions in the number of kidnappings that have taken place, the frequency and brazenness with which this crime continues to be perpetrated demands that very severe punishment be accorded to such persons who seem bent on believing this is a new lucrative industry in the making.
The current proposal to declare kidnapping as a non-bailable offence seems appropriate. This measure however should be applied with the availability of hard evidence so as not to unjustly withhold freedoms from any innocent persons so apprehended. Upon conviction however, I suggest that sentences handed down be a minimum of 15 years. Maximum sentences should be as many as 25 years, with life imprisonment given in the instance if a kidnapping were to result in the death of the kidnapped person or persons succumbing to some ailment as a result of their capture, or capital punishment, in the instance if the kidnapped person’s demise was by direct means, ie by murder.
I hold no brief for any political party whose leaders, for the most part, seem more interested in their own rather than their often professed concern for the country’s interests. Yet I must state that Mr Panday’s latest decision of not supporting the government to move for harsher measures against this kidnapping scourge, again shows the base levels on which our political leaders, at times, do operate: or should I say crawl or slither? Mr Panday’s reasoning of not giving any support to government motions unless there is constitutional reform rings deafeningly hollow. I too like many others an for constitutional reform. But the former Prime Minister, the silver fox with sour grapes, who had ample time to address this issue, now out of office, is now seeking to use constitutional reform as part of his everyready arsenal of political chicanery.
Unfortunately, the many who support Mr Panday regardless of whatever position he takes on national issues, will of course agree with him until unfortunately maybe they or someone in their own family or close friend is kidnapped. And lest we forget, such support applies not only to Mr Panday but to Mr Manning as well. Perhaps such prevailing hollowness should allow our political leaders to perform in the lead of their diehard supporters, in forming human toc-toc orchestras — given this instrument’s form and resonance — to compete with those of our steel pans. In closing, let me reiterate: on the punitive side of the kidnapping issue, the harshest consequences must be meted out to those involved. We must not allow ourselves and our country to be held to ransom by the sheer foolishness of our political leaders. Theirs and the foolishness of these dreadful kidnappings must be stopped.
GEDDES DAVIS
Trini in Bellingham WA,
USA
THE EDITOR: I have read with interest various articles in the press concerning the debate on the Report of the Elections and Boundaries Commission laid in Parliament. Not so long ago many commentators including leading government politicians kept telling us that the EBC is accountable to no one. Now we know that that is not true since it accounts to the House of Representatives and must by law report to it where its reports can be debated.
I hope the public is now better informed. It is not that the EBC is accountable to no one but the Government seems as though it wants the EBC to be accountable to it. That would be a tragedy for democracy.
MATTHEW CLARKE
St James
OPPOSITION Chief Whip Ganga Singh is prepared to meet Canadian Bob Lindquist concerning the investigations into the reported $29 million overpayment to Waterfarms (Trinidad) Limited by the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA). Speaking in the House of Representatives yesterday, Singh was firing on all cylinders capturing the attention of all the members. The former UNC Public Utilities Minister named Rollingson Agard, vice-chairman of WASA and former Diego Martin Central MP Dr Joe Laquis as the persons behind the overpayment. He also named attorney Mark Laquis as being the trustee to a $17-million account opened at a Port-of-Spain bank with monies from the Waterfarms payment.
Singh’s revelations were made as the House debated the Elections and Boundaries Commission (Local Government) Order 2003. Singh described Agard as a member of the PNM General Council who wields enormous influence and political clout. “By waving the balisier, certain members of the General Council are like sacred cows. They are elevated to the status of above the law,” he added. The former Minister continued, “you have a member of the General Council and a former Member of Parliament going about seeking contributions from the community affiliated with a certain statutory authority.” Singh accused Agard and Laquis of approaching personnel of Waterfarms Limited, which was engaged in legal action with WASA. “This former Member of Parliament went to this person and say, you sue WASA for $22 milion, we would like to settle it. We would like to settle this matter because you are one of us….you are one of us. How much are you prepared to accept? We will get a new legal opinion to settle this matter.
“When they went to this particular contractor and asked how much WASA has for him, he said $22 million. They say that $22 million is for us. Then you have where the matter was agreed upon for $51.1 million. So the contractor will get $22 million and the former Member of Parliament and the General Council member will get all the rest above $22 million to $51.1 million.” Singh said in order to deal with that, “they had to find a way to deal with the money. They then got a willing partner in an attorney at law. The attorney at law is now the property of the loot. I have information that $17 million has been paid into a particular Port-of-Spain bank. Of this $17 million, $10 million has been distributed.”
Attorney General Glenda Morean-Phillip, who was in the Chamber, rose and asked Singh if he would like to make an arrangement to meet with Lindquist, who happens to be in Trinidad. Without giving a commitment, Singh said when he raised this matter on April 17, Prime Minister Patrick Manning intervened and announced that Lindquist will be brought in to investigate. “I was concerned about the destruction of evidence because when we were dealing with this matter, there was an attempt to burn down the WASA Saw House in Carlsen Field. I know what these guys are capable of.” Singh told the House that he wrote to the Prime Minister about the sensitive information. “I am happy that the Attorney General is telling me that Mr Lindquist is here today. If I did not raise this matter, I would not have known that. The Prime Minister has not responded to my letter.”
PM Manning intervened and said he had passed the letter over to the Attorney General. “Because of my concerns, I wrote to the Prime Minister directly. I will make myself available, but he (Prime Minister) ought to pay me the courtesy of replying.” Singh noted that $7 million remains in the account. He then announced that the General Council member was also the vice-chairman of WASA, and chairman of the Tenders Committee at WASA. The former Minister wanted action on the information. “I am calling to the Anti-Corruption Bureau under Mr Maurice Piggott, who is very silent these days, to go and get a warrant under the Proceeds of Crime Act and secure the documentation.”
He continued, “Rollingson Agard, the vice-chairman of WASA, was part of your election day machinery at Balisier House. He was giving out releases on behalf of the PNM political party in Balisier House. From the time he was made a member of the Board of WASA, he has been utilising his leverage. Nothing cannot happen in WASA unless Mr Rollingson Agard is aware of it.” In allowing Singh an additional 30 minutes’ speaking time, House Speaker Barry Sinanan warned the MP not to tarnish the names of persons who are not in the Chamber to defend themselves. Singh responded, “I am very cognisant of that, Mr Speaker, that is why I want to give Mr Lindquist my collection, but unfortunately that hasn’t happen, so why not inform the people?
“Mr Agard’s partner is the former Member of Parliament for Diego Martin Central Mr Joe Laquis, and they are now telling Mr Wallace Watkins of Waterfarms Trinidad Limited, a director, do not cooperate with the police. Do not cooperate with the investigators. That is the advice for Mr Watkins.” Singh also revealed that Mark Laquis, an attorney with the firm De La Bastide, Jacelon, Pollonais and Blanc was the trustee of the bank account. “When you wave the party balisier this is what happens, you have a conspiracy that is so deep,” the Opposition Chief Whip added. He also waded into the Government for its CEPEP programme and the undue influence by members of the Jamaat Al Muslimeen who provided thuggery during the last general elections. “The police must enforce the law and not turn a blind eye to the thuggery,” he added.
AS HE CLUNG to the front bumper of a moving cement truck that rolled over him, wheelchair-bound John Caesar thought he was staring death in its face. “The first thing that run through my mind was to hold on to the bumper of the truck. I held on to it and the next thing I was waking up in the hospital,” Caesar related from his hospital bed yesterday. The 52-year-old man, who is paralysed from his waist down, was run over by a cement truck and dragged for about 54 feet on Tuesday evening before the truck-driver realised that there was something under his vehicle. The incident occurred around 5.45 pm, near the intersection of Cipero Road and the Rienzi-Kirton Highway, San Fernando.
Nursing two deep wounds to his head, which had to be stitched, a broken vertebra in his lower back, a laceration on his hip and cuts and bruises on his back, Caesar was in high spirits as he lay in his bed on Ward 7 of the San Fernando General Hospital. Caesar believes his fast thinking, strong arms and his wheelchair saved him from death. Recalling the incident yesterday, he said: “I just bought chicken and chips by Royal Castle at Cross Crossing and was returning home. I saw that the light turned green but the vehicles had stopped.” He said as he rolled his chair onto the road he saw a “big truck coming on top of him”. Caesar said he grabbed on to its bumper and in that split second he thought about how much he loved his wife of 14 years and God.
“Even though you might not think about God all the time, you think about him whenever you are in danger,” he said. Caesar said he slipped into unconsciousness shortly after, but he was told the wheelchair collapsed and he knocked his head on the ground. He said the wheelchair partly shielded his body but his back “grated” on the road. While he is happy to be alive, Caesar said he desperately needs a new wheelchair. “Without it, I cannot move about,” he said. The physically challenged man, who resides with his wife Josephine at the Cheshire Foundation Home, Pleasantville, usually sells tickets for fund-raising events at the Home at Cross Crossing. He sustained the spinal injuries which left him wheelchair bound in 1979 — he was sitting on bleachers at the Queen’s Park Savannah along with other persons when it collapsed and fell on top of him. A few years later, he met his wife who is also confined to a wheelchair.
BWIA passengers stranded in Miami on Tuesday were due to return home yesterday. However, the aircraft on which they were supposed to return is still in Miami, where it was seized on Tuesday. The 103 passengers were accommodated on two scheduled flights out of Miami, BWIA Communications Director Clint Williams said yesterday. They were stranded on Tuesday after BWIA’s Boeing 737 was seized by the aircraft’s owner International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) as it was preparing to fly to Trinidad.
The aircraft was seized because BWIA is behind on its payments to ILFC. Prime Minister Patrick Manning gave the airline a letter of comfort for $5 million on Tuesday but officials from BWIA and ILFC were up to yesterday still negotiating the release for the aircraft. ILFC owns six of BWIA’s seven aircraft and money owed on leases is part of the debt the airline has run up in the past few months. Government has promised a $116 million bailout for the cash strapped airline depending on certain conditions being met. Up until yesterday, no money had as yet been handed over.
BWIA’s board has been meeting with the inter-ministerial committee set up to manage the bailout. Among the conditions were new productivity measures and that the board would submit requirements for the return to Category I status. The Civil Aviation Bill, which contains the measures needed for Category I status, was due to be debated in the Senate on Tuesday but was not. Williams said the fact that Government was prepared to debate the Bill was “encouraging”.
