Queen’s Park Cricket Club and Felicity Invaders have qualified for the final of the Advance Commercial Equipment Limited 30-overs cricket competition with superb semi-final performances.
Invaders totaled 245 for four with Guyanese player Vishal Arjune scoring 74 and Navin Mungroo getting 68 against NJ’s Computer Agents. And Steve Roodal, with four wickets for 33, did the trick for the Felicity boys as Agents were skittled out 60 runs short of the target. Queen’s Park also dominated their opponents winning by 64 runs against Valiants. The Parkites made 175 for five in their allotted 30 overs and Deepak Kumar assured this total would be unreachable with figures of five for 23 restricting Valiants to 119 for 9 before they ran out of overs.
ADELAIDE: Australian batsman Damien Martyn’s on-again, off-again trip to the West Indies for the one-day cricket series is off again, this time apparently for good.
Named originally in the Australian side to tour the West Indies, he stayed behind in Australia hoping a finger injury would heal in time for the one-day series. Martyn fractured his right index finger during the World Cup. Yesterday, the Australian Cricket Board said a medical review found that while the fracture has healed, joint stiffness will prevent him from batting for another four weeks. He will be replaced in the one-day squad by batsman Michael Clarke, who is in the West Indies with the Test squad.
SONG OF FREEDOM has an abundance of early speed and can use it to advantage to win the Starter Allowance feature on the Arima Race Club Day 13 programme at Santa Rosa Park, Arima, today.
The son of Boston Harbour found the going tough among the maiden claiming ranks in the United States where he competed earlier in his career. But Song Of Freedom has found the local competition more to his liking since his arrival here last year. In his first outing on local soil the Grant Lourence-trained colt created a favourable impression, showing blinding speed to race for the lead after leaving the gates a shade slowly. In that 1100 metres contest he set the fractions and was only denied victory by a fast finishing Sugar Mike. There was a pile-up in that event which saw Miss Lover Lover take a fall. Song Of Freedom was later awarded the race by the stewards, who after viewing a replay of the incident found both Sugar Mike and My Son John responsible for the offence, and disqualified. Connections of Sugar Mike appealed, and the Trinidad and Tobago Racing Authority overturned the decision and reinstated their charge as the official winner.
Song Of Freedom took a drop in class next time out, racing among Starter Allowance company and made every yard a winning one. He takes a step back up in today’s feature, and should he repeat either of his past performances, is capable of landing the spoils again, since the field has four runners he accounted for in the incident marred race, and two others in his second run are among the opposition and worse off at the weights. From the rest of the lot, a case could be made out for Miss Lover Lover, since she was in contention in her debut run when brought down. And she showed she had improved on that initial run with a smart victory on her next appearance two weeks later. Sir Vidia gave a game performance to finish seventh in the UPTC Easter Guineas. And the Bertram Dookeran-trained colt showed that his forte is staying, and with lesser lights to contend with this time, he could turn in his certificate in the maiden event over 1750 metres which shares the spotlight on today’s nine race card.
TOTALLY ignoring instructions from the Ministry of Health to proceed on leave, a defiant Dr Austin Trinidade, Medical Chief of Staff yesterday continued duties at the San Fernando General Hospital.
He vowed to legally challenge the Ministry of Health’s decision to send him on 226 days leave. Trinidade made this known to Permanent Secretary Hamid 0’Brien yesterday and also informed O’Brien that he did not wish to proceed on leave as Medical Director of the South hospital. In fact, Trinidade stated in his letter to 0’Brien that he was willing to give up all 226 compensatory “days off”. On Wednesday, the ministry instructed Trinidade to proceed on leave with immediate effect. The ministry notified the hospital’s administrator Indra Maharaj and Chief Executive Officer of the South West Regional Health Authority, Vade Mohammed, of its decision.
Yesterday morning, 24 hours after receiving the ministry’s instructions, Trinidade was at his desk at the San Fernando General Hospital carrying on as usual. “Legally, no one can force me to go on leave…unless they give me a reason,” he stated adamantly. Trinidade said he would continue to roster doctors for duties. He said he was not seeking a confrontation, but had the full backing of most of the hospital’s doctors and medical support staff. “I’m coming out to work as normal, unless I am told otherwise,” Trinidade said. Trinidade added that in his letter, he expressed willingness to meet with ministry officials to discuss the move to send him on leave. Trinidade said that the public’s perception of him was that the ministry’s request was tantamount to disciplinary action against him. “I have consulted with my lawyers and they are advising me that my name has been tarnished. Compensatory leave cannot be forced on anyone….it has to be mutually agreed on, except in certain situations,” Trinidad said.
The Medical Practitioners Association of T&T (MPATT) which on Thursday had given the Ministry of Health until 10.30 am yesterday to withdraw its letter to Dr Trinidade yesterday issued a release criticising the Ministry but going no further with its threat of further action. “The doctors firmly believe,” the release stated, “that the lack of response is manifest of this administration’s treatment of doctors and the health sector and of the administration’s continued failure to provide care to the public of Trinidad and Tobago.” It expressed concern that while Dr Trinidade had been ordered to take leave, no one had been appointed to act in the post of chief medical officer at the south hospital. It also stated that the letter to Dr Trinidade was against established industrial relations practice. The San Fernando Hospital Doctors Association said that it would hold a candle light vigil in support of Dr Trinidade.
THE MEDICAL Professionals Association of TT (MPATT) has again accused the Health Ministry and Regional Health Authorities of publishing misinformation on doctors’ salaries.
“This a waste of taxpayers’ money,” MPATT said in a media release yesterday. Responding to the ad, it referred to the tuition costs of engineering students — $46,200 and law students—$57,082. It takes three years to earn an undergraduate degree in these faculties. Government subsidises half the cost through the Dollar for Dollar programme. MPATT said studying medicine for five years at the Faculty of Medical Sciences cost $228,000 with the government also subsidising half. Added to this are living costs totalling $182,000.
MPATT said medical students are not allowed vacation and access to jobs during the five years they are studying. “Their living costs are thus of a full year/12 month duration and not confined to two semesters.” MPATT said doctors are repaying student loans at the monthly sum of $5,000. It said prior to legal profession being transferred to the Salaries Review Commission, salaries in this field were parallel with the medical profession. In the 1970’s Puisne judges and Specialist Medical Officers were in the same range. Highlighting the gap between the salaries MPATT said the basic salary of an SMO in the Public Service at Range 64 is $8,320 (2001), and 10,400 (2001) in the Regional health Authority. The Assistant Solicitor General at Range 64 earned $12,300 (1998). A medical Intern Range 46B earned $4,930 (2001) and State Counsel 1 $6,625 (1998). House Officers Range 56 earned a basic salary of $8,000 while a State Counsel III range 55E earned $9,450 (1998).
MPATT said the basic salary of the medical profession is vastly inferior to that of the legal profession. It said if the Ministry is comparing remuneration packages they must be equivalent terms of reference such as a 40 hour week. The doctors said the remuneration package offered by the RHAs is $17,172 and includes 56 hours of on-call duty calculated at a rate of 1.5 the hourly rate and not double time. MPATT wants any additional duty beyond the 56 hours and sessional rate to be calculated at 2.5 the basic hourly rate. It is also seeking basic salaries of $8,600 (2003), $8,900 (2004) and $9,200 (2005), housing allowance, and compensatory days for working on the weekend and public holidays calculated at three times the hourly rate.
PRESIDENT OF the Bankers’ Association Richard Young said yesterday he is keeping a close watch on the recent lawsuit by a kidnap victim against a local bank.
A man is seeking an injunction restraining the bank from using confidential information on his business transactions. “The issue is obviously something that I look at with a lot of interest, and I have to get the details before I can really comment,” Young said after the launch of upgraded currency notes at the Central Bank, “but it is obviously something the banking industry must look at with a lot of attention.”
Barataria/San Juan MP Dr Fuad Khan has alleged that there is a link between account information and kidnapping. Young, in response, said banks are not the only possible sources of information leaks. “Leakage of information is a general thing. People automatically assume it comes from the bank, but I don’t know if people pay a lot of attention to how they divulge information,” he said. “It could be just a discussion in an elevator. People talk other people’s business. It’s a lot of those kind of things that happen so to just say it’s the bank I think is a little unfair.”
Young also said banks are trying to counter possible leaks by training staff. “Our employees have been told how important it is to maintain confidential-ity. We all work with a code. We all understand how important it is and obviously people are more sensitive to it and the atmosphere is, I wouldn’t say under tension, but more cautious,” he said. “We tightened up on our hiring procedures and all staff are constantly reminded how important it is to keep matters confidential.”
DOCTORS can accept or reject the offer of salary increases presented to them by the Joint Negotiating Team of Regional Health Authorities next week. Either way, it will be the final offer made for House Officers (junior doctors).
Chairman of the JNT, Imtiaz Ahamad, said yesterday the team is awaiting final figures from the Health Ministry.When the proposal is presented to the doctors “they can accept, or not accept; that is it”.
The JNT will be contacting the doctors’ representatives on Monday to schedule a meeting date within the week. Questioned about the disparity in the offer made on April 7 and April 17 when the offer made to doctors decreased, Ahamad said “that will be taken care of”.
A DIEGO Martin teenager has been missing for almost a month and her worried relatives are pleading with the public for assistance in locating her.
Zena Moore said her daughter Camille Moore, 13, who attends Tranquillity Government Secondary School, left home on April 5 and has not been seen or heard from since. “Please write in the report that I love Camille very much and the family is worried about her safety … its been almost a month now she has been gone and we want her back home,” Moore cried. She said at the time her daughter left their Factory Road, Diego Martin home, only Camille’s seven-year-old brother was home, since the rest of the family had gone to attend a funeral. A missing person report has been filed at the West End Police Station. The worried woman said her daughter was seen leaving home dressed in blue jeans, a black jersey and a pair of black and brown sandals. Moore is asking anyone who sees her daughter or knows of her whereabouts to contact the nearest police station or telephone the family at 779-0066.
TRUCK driver Wiltshire Modeste yesterday surrendered to the police to face five counts of driving a Home Construction Limited six-wheel dump truck in a dangerous manner to cause the deaths of five people, three of whom were Venezuelans.
Modeste, 57, of Ravine Sable Road, Longdenville, Chaguanas, surrendered himself to officers of the Maloney Police Post around 8.30 am. Sometime after, police said attorney Fitzgerald Hinds visited the station, but was not present in court when Modeste appeared before Justice of the Peace Khan at the Arima First Magistrates’ Court. During the time he spent at the Maloney Police Post, Modeste was fingerprinted and five warrants were later executed on him by Sgt Godson Andrews. The petite-looking and grey-haired Modeste was subsequently driven into the compound of the Arima Magistrates’ Court at exactly 11 pm. Modeste sat in the middle of the back seat of a marked police vehicle between two uniformed police officers. There were no relatives with him.
Handcuffed and looking a bit solemn, Modeste was then placed into an Amalgamated Security van for two hours before he was brought into the court. Wearing cream shirt, black pants and black shoes, Modeste was called before the female Justice of the Peace to answer the five charges. In a barely audible voice, the JP told Modeste that it is alleged on April 28 at the Mausica intersection, he drove his vehicle, TBH 8627, in a dangerous manner thereby causing the deaths of WASA employee Natasha Marcano, Amalgamated security officer John Solomon Jr and Venezuelans Sudheyl Sanchez, Carolina Perdomo and Andres Jiminez. The JP neither told Modeste whether or not the charges were laid indictably nor did she ask him to enter a plea. She, however, informed him that he was remanded into police custody to appear on Monday before an Arima Magistrate. The issue of bail is expected to arise then.
Four witnesses, two of whom are compound, are expected to testify on behalf of the State. Modeste was charged following instructions Wednesday by Assistant Commissioner of Police (Mobile) Deochan Gosine. Investigations were spearheaded by ACP (East) Nazamul Hosein and Sr Supt Rodvan Bastien. Meantime, Solomon and his fianc? Sudheyl Cristina Sanchez were buried yesterday following a funeral service at the Greater Malabar RC Church, while Perdomo and Jiminez were buried in their homeland Thursday. The relatives of Marcano are said to be waiting for people abroad before she is laid to rest.
A 22-year-old Sea Lots woman was yesterday committed to the High Court for sentencing after she told Port-of-Spain Magistrate Ejenny Espinet under caution she was guilty of attempting to murder her six-month-old baby boy, Akeem Springer, on May 28, 2001.
Erica Williams, of Pioneer Drive, was committed for sentencing under the Indictable Offences (Preliminary Inquiry) Act No. 20 of 1994. This Act gives a Magistrate the authority to commit persons re paper committal (statements presented to the court by the prosecution), and also to commit for sentencing. Williams’ committal for sentencing came after State attorney Alexander Prince and defence attorney Keith Scotland made a plea bargaining agreement on November 28, 2002. It is the first time in legal history plea bargaining has been used in this country, sources at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has said.
The plea agreement between the prosecution and the defence was made under three conditions, (1) recommendations for non-custodial sentence for accused, (2) an agreement not to oppose a request by the defence attorney for the accused for a non-custodial sentence, and (3) an agreement that a non-custodial sentence is appropriate for the disposition of the case. When the matter comes up at the Port-of-Spain High Court, Williams will appear for sentencing and not trial. It is there that the plea agreement will come into effect. Baby Akeem, now two years old, was rescued from the murky Sea Lots river on the morning of May 28, 2001 by soldier Timothy Grant. After yesterday’s hearing, Magistrate Espinet, sitting in the Port-of-Spain First Magistrates’ Court, granted the accused bail in the sum of $30,000.
