The Editor: IF people insist on laying blame for the position the country is in now, they must start with themselves.
In the PNM, supporters must blame themselves for buying into racism and an attempt to dominate and in the UNC, many must blame themselves for walking away because they believed the propaganda the PNM so successfully dished out. For the record, I too am to blame. Further, even at the risk of taps running dry, jobs being lost, becoming the victims of crimes in all of its forms, discriminatory practice, racist policies and real corruption, many chose to work towards their Trinidad and Tobago being restored to a Afro-Christian dominated society which is a view long held by PNM supporters who could not bear the thought of an East Indian, Hindu Prime Minister.
When people say that it was Basdeo Panday who brought about the sharpest racial divisions in politics, they can only be right insofar as they are willing to admit that they themselves are racist and are of the view that Trinidad and Tobago can only be ruled by Afro-Christian leaders. To them, Panday or any other East Indian had no right to become Prime Minister. Dr Eric Williams ensured that such a belief was not only driven down the throats of his own generation of party faithful, but that it was a belief that would be passed on and rigidly upheld. Today, supporters of the PNM are coming out of the honeymoon. They are seeing the division they allowed themselves to be swept up in and are realizing that a lack of water, a lack of jobs and a lack of security and a lack of equity knows no race. And the leadership of the PNM has come up with a response ? the UNC is to blame. This after almost 18 months in office.
The Prime Minister has gone so far as to say that the CEPEP programme was instituted to correct an historical imbalance. Translation ? Indians made money in business for too long and now, we are making sure that you have an unfair advantage over them. Is that a statement for a Prime Minister to make? The Prime Minister went further to say that the Opposition and by extension their supporters are irrelevant to the politics of Trinidad and Tobago. But he blames the UNC’s refusal to support them at the level of the legislature for his Government’s failure. He also said the PNM would pursue constitution reform with or without the Opposition, but blames the belligerence of the UNC for his Government’s inability to act.
Morvant, Laventille and Belmont have become the joint crime capitals of the country and the PNM solution is to embrace the criminal element. Mark Guerra had the attention of the Prime Minister, yet desperate workers, facing joblessness and poverty, were ignored by a smug Patrick Manning who quickly entered PBM 100 to escape their protest. Are journalists asleep? Is there no one in our media brave enough to question the PM’s foolish contradictions and point out to him that if he is in control then he is the one to be blamed for failure? More than that, is the media still so unbending in its mission to support the PNM that it cannot tell the Prime Minister that he is speaking out of two sides of his mouth? And that he is sugar coating racist statements in what he thinks is a clever and intelligent manner?
Is there no one who would point out to the National Security Minister that he is the man who should sleep the least comfortably at night because of the responsibility he has? Has the country just gone mad? Is there no one who would question the reason for the PNM pursuing housing programmes in two constituencies where they managed to win by very narrow margins? This when the homes of others in safe Opposition constituencies are being bulldozed. The PNM has even taken to stage-managing a response to the WASA chief executive remuneration scandal. The Prime Minister has gotten involved and the Public Utilities Minister is now saying that he was following the precedent set by the former UNC administration, so if that Government was so corrupt, how the hell can you allow yourself to operate within structures that they operated?
It is clear that the PNM had no real intention to address corruption as they need the freedom to corrupt every process and institution in order to operate the way it wants too. The claims of corruption against the UNC will soon die out, even with the best efforts of PNM faithful in the media. And yet again, the PNM, through its leader, would have foolishly thrown away its opportunity to cement its position in the Government. It is clear that the PNM cares little for what happens in the future. If everything collapses, they would have no problem as long as they are still in charge. I would advise the PM and his Ministers that the next time they go abroad, they should take note of those around them, are others smiling with them, or laughing at them?
BF Rambally
Arima
THE 29th edition of the Hampton International Games has been snubbed by the government of Prime Minister Patrick Manning.
According to Games chairman Rawle Raphael, he was told in a telephone conversation that, “the 29th Hampton International Games was not listed as a priority with the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs.” Raphael said he was also told that under the circumstances, a request for supplementary funding could not be placed before Cabinet as advised by Junior Minister of Finance Conrad Enill. As a result, Raphael has made a special appeal to Sports Minister Roger Boynes to assist with the funding of both the international men and women 100 metres events. “This is to avoid the erosion of our Grand Prix ambition,” Raphael pleaded.
Raphael and his committee were asking government for a grant or soft loan of $10 million over five years, with a view to having the International Association of Athletic Federation (IAAF) upgrade the Games to Grand Prix status by 2007. Now the Hampton boss is asking Minister Boynes for $312,000 to offset the expenses of six foreign athletes and two coaches, including hotel, and airfare. A number of top athletes have expressed their intention to compete at the Games to be held on May 3 and 4 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo. They include current world 100 metres record holder Tim Montgomery of the United States. Also declaring their willingness to be at the Games are top Americans Tim Harden, Coby Miller, Justin Gatlin, Zhanna Pintusevich, conqueror of Marion Jones in 2001 World Championship 100 metres, Tanya Lawrence (Jamaica), who chased Jones in most races last year, and Debbie Ferguson (Bahamas).
Meanwhile, 155 athletes from Guyana, Barbados, Antigua and Grenada have registered to compete at the Games along with athletes from 35 local clubs. Hampton will stage a series of 4 x1 lap relays around the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain for boys and girls Under-20 and Under-17 and men and women on May 4 from 7 am. There will also be one-lap race walking events for men and women before the start of the final day’s programme at the stadium.
A try in the 61st minute by Abiel Gilkes gave the Trinidad and Tobago National Under-19 rugby team a 15-5 win at the end of a physical encounter against Martinique at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar on Saturday.
TT, currently in preparation for the 2003 West Indies Rugby Union (WIRU) Under-19 Championship, took an early 5-0 lead courtesy an 11th minute Felician Guerra try and a 27th minute interception and subsequent try from half to touch line by Stephan Charles to lead 10-0 at the half. But the Martiniquans replied seven minutes after the resumption to reduce the margin to 10-5 but stout defence from both teams allowed no change in the score to the final whistle. After the match, TT manager Curtis Nero said the target is to qualify for the 2004 Under-19 World Rugby Championship which will be held in South Africa. To do this TT must first win the West Indies Championship. “The match allowed us to assess our strengths and weakness,” said Nero. The WIRU Championship will be held here in August.
Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force Lance Corporal Roger Daniel has recently returned from a Caribbean shooting competition in Martinique where he again made his mark.
On the French island principality, Daniel won gold and silver medals in the Air Pistol and Free Pistol events competing against the Caribbean’s best shooters. He will leave this week along with Claxton Bay taxi-driver and CAC double gold medallist in the rifle division, Taran Deosaran, to compete in the World Cup in Atlanta, USA. Already ranked among the military’s best shooters, Daniel has been working the circuit in preparation for the Olympic Games to be held in Athens, Greece next year.
There he will come up against the defending Olympic, European and North American champions. Apart from being the only Trinidadian to qualify for the Olympics so far, the young Lance Corporal has also received the President’s Medal for his outstanding performance in the recent Military Shoot where he smashed several records. Daniel’s coach, Brent Thomas, is confident of the soldier’s readiness for the upcoming Olympic Games and stated that after hard training and being 95 percent fit, the World Cup will be a good opportunity to determine his present world ranking ahead of the event.
Years ago, Usine was a prestigious club in the southern cricket landscape. Now they are a sorry shadow of their once mighty self.
Days of Subash Gupte, Khairool Hosein, Aaron John and Clarence Mapp making the residents proud are now replaced by a handful of “players” who can be described as “ordinary”. The management of the team are struggling to field a strong unit to tackle the opposition and this is reflected in Usine’s last place on the current South Zonal Council Division One cricket standings. The Ste Madeleine said is well-entrenched in the cellar with 34 points with half the season already completed.
The struggling team cricketers are 18 points shy of the seventh place Vijay Sports and are now doomed to relegation, unless they can revive their ageing cadre. There are some promising youngsters around but they are lost in a crowd of men in their late 30s and 40s who refuse to “go home”. While these veterans fulfil their selfish desires, the villagers wait and wait for something to cheer about. Leading the standings are Petrotrin with a whopping 78 points. They are closely followed by Hermitage Youth Organisation on 75 and Progressive on 69. Evergreen Cricket Club are in charge of Division Two with 84 points from four matches. Keen on their heels are Piparo United with 81 points followed by Paragon of Debe. In the cellar position are OJ’s with 38 points.
STANDINGS
AFTER 4 ROUNDS
DIVISION I
Team P W L D Pts
Petrotrin 4 2 1 1 78
HYO 4 2 1 1 75
Progressive 4 1 1 2 69
Ben Lomond 4 1 0 2 66
Young Lions 4 1 1 2 57
Diamond 4 1 2 0 54
Vijay 4 1 1 2 52
Usine 4 0 2 2 34
DIVISION II
Team P W L D Pts
Evergreen 4 2 0 2 84
Piparo 4 2 0 2 81
Paragon 4 1 1 2 62
Union Hall 4 0 1 3 60
MYO 4 1 0 3 52
Woodland 4 1 2 1 51
X-Men 4 0 1 3 40
OJ 4 0 2 2 38
A RACE named after West Indies skipper and Trinidad and Tobago star batsman Brian Lara will hold the spotlight on the Arima Race Club “Afternoon Lime” programme at Santa Rosa Park, Arima, on May 23.
The Brian Lara Starter Allowance will be run off on the card which is being added to the 36-day racing fixture planned this season. The Lime will be similar to that which was held three seasons ago but will carry a more party-like atmosphere. It will coincide with the arrival of the Australian and West Indian cricketers, who will meet in two one-day Internationals at the Queen’s Park Oval on May 24 and 25. A programme of seven races was submitted to the Trinidad and Tobago Racing Authority for approval. Each of the events will wear the names of both Aussies and Windies players. ARC chief executive officer Persad Rooplal said invitation letters have been sent to management of both teams.
Rooplal said other plans have gone in to giving the day a real Trini flavour and to make it special. “It will be a party atmosphere at the races.” he promised. “We have booked two DJ’s to provide music between and after races. “We intend to solicit the help of companies and are hoping, with their assistance we can provide cut prices on drinks. “Besides those specials we intend to introduce, corn soup, pudding, bread and shark, doubles, and other local delicacies.” he said. Rooplal intends to keep the “Lime” going long after all the racing events are run off. “We will add two late tracks to keep punters interest.’ he said.
Rooplal will be looking at the response by punters to the May 23 date and dependent on its success, hopes to make the “Friday Lime” a regular feature on the racing calendar. But while Rooplal is focusing on making the day a success, trainers are also happy for the added card. With more races to choose from they seem more cautious with preparations of their horses. While most went light in their exercises, Movietowne Magic and Upset All showed their well being with sharp sprints.
Following are yesterday’s recorded gallops – 400 METRES: Upset All – 24.88 good; Rejoice – 29.90 pacing; Wild Life – 29.92 pacing; Richie Rich – 29.77 pacing; Loughranne and Speed Fuh So – 29.94 pacing; Ula – 28.99 pacing; Honor Bound – 28.91pacing; Classic Star – 27.13 handily; Champagne Wager – 29.05 pacing; Joan Of Arc – 28.99 pacing; Lazar Wolf – 29.03 pacing; Never Ever Worrie – 29.17 pacing; Indian Decision – 29.87 pacing; Morgan Heritage – 27.84 handily.
600 METRES: Movietowne Magic – 37.00 good; Cat Woman – 44.99 pacing; Hyarima – 44.90 pacing; Lovely Pearl – 43.99 pacing; Travel Agent – 44.17 pacing.
800 METRES: Lantern Lady – 59.62 pacing; Entertainer – 59.58 pacing.
BRIDGETOWN: West Indies coach Gus Logie is optimistic that his side can win, or at least draw, the third Cable and Wireless cricket Test against Australia, starting tomorow at Kensington Oval.
With the Aussies bent on being the first side to complete a series whitewash in the Caribbean after they won the first two Tests of the best-of-four series, Logie’s charges find themselves with their backs up against the wall. “This (confident) assessment is based not only on my optimism, but it is also the optimism we are getting from the players,” the former Trinidad and Tobago captain and West Indies batsman told reporters in a pre-match news interview during the team’s training session at the Barbados Defence Force ground. “We have been seeing many positives from match to match. The captain has been talking about the first match, that we lost on the fourth day, and the second Test, that we carried into a session shy of five days. We have had five centuries. These are all positives. “Also, we never had our best possible 11 out there at any time during the series and, in this match, we should have something looking like it. Certainly we are very optimistic about this Test and we believe anything is possible.”
Logie hopes that West Indies’ rich history at Kensington Oval will work in his side’s favour. “Even though I know we have had negative results in a few of the recent Tests in Barbados, we hope we can rise to the challenge,” he said. “We are buoyed by the fact that we have Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ridley Jacobs and Jermaine Lawson back, as well as Chris Gayle. We are glad to have them back because they left a big hole in the team. We hope they are fit and raring to go.” Logie, however, would not speculate on the possible composition of the final 11. Many knowledgeable observers have indicated that West Indies should play all four of the fast bowlers they have selected along with seven batsmen. The pitch at Kensington Oval was until yesterday under preparation and Logie has not had a chance to have a chat with either Richard Edwards, chairman of the Barbados Cricket Association grounds committee, or Hendy Davis, the head curator at the ground. “We have been getting a lot of reports indirectly about the quality of the pitch though,” he said. “It is expected to be fast for the first day-and-a-half and keep low the rest, but I do not know how accurate that is going to be.” Australia won the opening Test in Georgetown by nine wickets and the Second Test in Port-of-Spain by 118 runs.
CARACAS: Venezuela will use “everything it has” against Trinidad and Tobago in today’s friendly football international, coach Richard Paez said yesterday. “I always try to present the best we have to continue making progress and gaining experience (while) looking forward to World Cup qualifying,” Paez told the Associated Press.
Paez said six Venezuelans who play abroad would see action today. The friendly, he hopes, will prepare Venezuela for the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, which begins in September. Venezuela has never qualified for the World Cup finals. In the last qualifying tournament, Venezuela finished ninth.
Last Friday, Honduras beat Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 and ended their hopes of competing in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the championship of the North and Central American and Caribbean region. The loss followed a 3-2 defeat by Martinique. Venezuela, who are ranked 65th by FIFA, beat Jamaica 2-0 earlier this month in its first match of the year. In March, Venezuela lost to the United States 2-0 in another friendly. Trinidad and Tobago are ranked 51st. Today’s match will be played in Nuevo Pueblo stadium in San Cristobal, 750 kilometres (465 miles) west of Caracas.
LONDON: Trinidadians Shaka Hislop and Carlos Edwards, and Jamaican Paul Hall have forged their way into 2003 English league All-Star selections after outstanding seasons with their clubs.
Hislop, of Portsmouth, gets the goalkeeping position in the First Division, while Wrexham’s Edwards, and Hall, of Rushden and Diamonds, make the eleven for the Third Division All-Stars. Portsmouth are the First Division champions with an unassailable 95 points and Hislop, who joined the club from West Ham, had an excellent season in helping the club — and himself — back to Premier League football. Nottingham Forest’s David Johnson, who turned down an approach to play international football for Jamaica, and Paul Dickov of Leicester are the strikers named for the team. No Caribbean players made the Division Two All-Stars, but Edwards and Hall were irresistible for Division Three picks.
Over-lapping right side defender Edwards has scored seven goals so far this season in helping Wrexham into the play-off zone, while Hall’s prolific scoring form has helped fuel Rushden and Diamond’s table-topping status. Heading into the final match of the season, Rushden and Diamonds lead the standings with 86 points, two ahead of Hartlepool (84) with Wrexham third on 78 points. Hall has 15 league goals and his Jamaica international team-mate Onandi Lowe has 16, to be the Diamonds’ most prolific scorers this season. Edwards’ Wrexham team-mate Andy Morrell, who has more than 30 goals this season, and Hall’s R&D colleague Paul Underwood, also made the Division Three All-Star list.
ST. JOHN’S: Legendary West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding believes young pacers Jermaine Lawson and Tino Best should be included in the West Indies cricket team for the third Cable and Wireless Test match against Australia starting tomorrow at Kensington Oval.
The West Indies will enter the match trailing 2-0 after taking only seven Australian wickets in the Second Test match, which they lost by 118 runs at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad last week. “I am hoping they will play (both) Best and Lawson in the starting 11 in Barbados. They are the two quickest men in the 14 that they have selected,” Holding told the Antigua SUN newspaper. Holding, covering the series as a television commentator, believes — with Australia already holding an unbeatable series lead — there is little to gain from denying the young bowlers the chance for exposure.
“I think we have done very well in the batting department where we have brought in a lot of youngsters and they have shown promise and they have now started to produce. “I think we now need to do the same thing with our bowling department,” said Holding, who captured 249 test wickets during a 12-year Test career from 1975 to 1987. “If we are losing with people who have been there for a long time and not showing any improvement, we might as well lose with the youngsters,” he added. The 21-year-old Lawson, suffering from chicken pox, missed the Second Test in Port-of-Spain after he had taken three wickets for 142 runs in the First Test in Georgetown.
The uncapped Best, also 21, was drafted into the Second Test squad as cover for Lawson after a tournament-leading 39 wickets in the 2002 Carib Beer Series. “At least by playing the youngsters we will be giving them a chance to gain from their experience and the opportunity to get better in time,” Holding said. “I don’t believe in just rotating the same people over and over and they are not showing any improvement so I am hoping they will start playing the youngsters.” Holding, who flew from Trinidad to Antigua last week to attend a wedding, is conducting a fast bowling clinic with the assistance of former Test fast bowler and friend Andy Roberts and Manager of the StickyWicket restaurant John Maginley.
