N Touch

Preysal (262/5) strong against PowerGen

Clico Preysal cracked an impressive 262/5 off 30 overs against PowerGen in the quarter-final of the Carib Cup limited overs cricket series at Inshan Ali Park, Preysal, yesterday.

In a dress rehearsal for the Carib Sunday League final on March 12, Preysal, led by former West Indies batsman Keith Arthurton and former Under-15 wicket keeper Dinesh Ramdin, raced to 262 off just 30 overs. Arthurton smashed 83, including eight fours and three sixes, while Ramdin struck 85 with 13 fours and a six. Towards the end of the innings a hurricane knock of 37 not out from 12 balls by Hollister Pajotte took them to their big score. Pajotte struck five sixes and a four in the last two overs of the innings. PowerGen will be chasing the winning target at 8.73 runs per over. At Diego Martin, national batsman Lincoln Roberts made a mockery of the Endeavour bowling striking an unbeaten 133 off just 93 balls with 17 fours and three sixes.

With former TT player Denis Rampersad scoring an unbeaten 47, the pair took Ceramic Trinidad Merryboys to 231 for two off their 30 overs. At Pierre Road, Charlieville the father/son combination of Brent and Jonathan Augustus took Queen’s Park to 186/7 off 30 overs. Jonathan struck an aggressive 55, while his dad made 27 in support. Mukesh Persad was the star of the show at Presentation College, Chaguanas where he grabbed four wickets for 17 runs to restrict Tile It Central Sports to 125/8 off 30 overs. Michael Crowe with 31 an Kirk Newallo, 27 not out, propped up the innings.
All matches end today.

SUMMARISED SCORES
At Inshan Ali Park: Clico Preysal 262/5 (30)(Keith Arthurton 83, Dinesh Ramdin 85, Hollister Pajotte 37 n.o., Samuel Badree 2/56, Atiba Allette 2/33) vs PowerGen.

At Diego Martin: Ceramic Trinidad Merryboys  231/2 (30)(Lincoln Roberts 133 n.o., Denis Rampersad 47 n.o., Richard Kelly 29) vs Endeavour.

At Presentation College: Tile It Central Sports 125/8 (30)(Michael Crowe 31, Krik Newallo 27 n.o., Mukesh Persad 4/17, Mahadeo Bodoe 3/10) vs FCB Clarke Road.

At Pierre Road: QPCC 186/7 (30)(Jonathan Augustus 55, Brent Augustus 27) vs Alescon Comet.

KFC boost for junior cycling

LEGENDARY Trinidad and Tobago cyclists “Bones” Hackett, Leslie King and Roger Gibbon have been enlisted in an ambitious plan to nurture a new generation of junior riders.

Announcing the new thrust yesterday was Michael Phillips who said the effort will target the nation’s schools and has already received encouraging support from several major businesses. The occasion was the official launch of KFC’s $50,000 sponsorship of the Kids BMX events at the upcoming Beacon 2003 West Indies versus The World series. In attendance was Wendy Alleyne, Brands Manager of Prestige Holdings and Andrew Furlonge reprsenting Bike Inn, who have donated 16 scooters and 10 mountain bikes for the KFC competition.

The function took place at the offices of Prestige Holdings, Sackville Street, Port-of-Spain and was organised by Neil Guiseppi of Communications Specialists Limited. Phillips, a multi-talented individual who is a former national track champion lamented the dearth of junior cycling talent following the elevation into the senior ranks of the recent crop of promising stars. He however expressed confidence that the development programme utilising the former cycling great and the new infusion of valuable sponsorship/investment would arrest the grim situation and breed scores of wheelsmen and women who can take their place on the regional and international stage. “We will be starting off small and slow just to show the great possibilities that exist. The challenge is now for us after the infrastructure has been set up to encourage the young people to get involved in healthy sports activities,” said Phillips.

It is a vacuum that has been readily filled in the last three years, since the inception of the Beacon West Indies versus The World series by Prestige Holdings, parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut and TGI Friday’s. “KFC’s major marketing focus has always been on the country’s youth and it is because of this our company has been able to continue to operate successfully,” said Alleyne yesterday. She pointed to the sponsorship deals for the KFC/Alescon Comet Youth Development Programme; the national Under-13 cricket team; the KFC/Pepsi Primary Schools Football League and a game fishing tournament for children, staged for the past three years. Alleyne said Prestige Holdings’ involvement reaches beyond sports and highlighted their involvement with the Servol Beetham Life Centre; FEEL, the Foundation for the Life Enhancement and Enrichment of Life; and with KIND, Kids in Need of Direction.

“We at KFC feel we owe it to the nation’s children to provide them with opportunities like this to turn them away from the many distractions, many of them negative, with which they are faced today,” said Alleyne. Furlonge, on behalf of Bike Inn, complimented Phillips for the efficient running of the cycling series and pledged his continued support for the venture. “Never in my dreams did I expect the series to be so successfully organised three years running,” said Furlonge yesterday. He has shops in St James, Tunapuna, Chaguanas and San Fernando. The Beacon Insurance West Indies versus The World series pedals off on April 9 with a night event around the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port-of-Spain. The riders shift to Skinner Park, San Fernando on April 11, 12 and 13 where the Kids BMX races will be staged for the first time.

The competition then moves to Tobago on April 23 and returns for the final weekend of April 25 to 27 at the concrete-banked Arima Velodrome. From now until the end of the series, any child buying a KFC Kids Pack will be eligible to win a bike or scooter just by filling out the entry form on the pack and depositing it at specially marked boxes at the cycling venues.

Crab Connection crawl over Police

CRAB CONNECTION have continued their winning ways with a 3-0 shut-out of Police in the UWI Employees Super Football League.

Ace striker Warren Butler hit a double, while Joseph Peters got the other goal for the Crabs at the weekend. But defending champions Aston Villa had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Honved. Jerry Gill and Richard De Couteau got Villa’s goals and Kern Branch and Kevin Morris replied. Economy Strikers won 1-0 and had to settle for a 1-1 draw in their other match. First Damien Robinson’s goal prevailed against Combine FC, and Robinson scored again against Student Activity Centre who got the equaliser from Marvin Bagoo. Flippers FC whipped 2nd Battalion 4-1 on a hat-trick by Sekou Long while Andy Small got the other. Ian Pascal scored for the Battalion. In the other match Flippers were held 0-0 by Paradise FC.


Other scores: BM SPURS (2) Earl Williams, Clinton Corbin vs CRESCENT (0); KS ENVIRONMENT IRS (3) Hamad Abdul Malik 2, Colin Joseph vs 2ND BATTALION (1) Ricardo Dick; MA PAU LA PASTORA (1) Keston Thompson vs AUGUSTOWN (1) Michael Waldron; LEGAL BOYS (2) Raymond Watson 2 vs AMEN (1) Abraham Simmonds; FUTGOF (1) Keston Greene vs COMBINE FC (0); EAST SAN JUAN won by default over CLUB COCONUT STINGERS; ROYAL ROAD FC (3) Ashton Bartholomew, Tyronne Jack, Kester Mejias vs FALCON CREST (1) Terry Thomas; MALONEY TWO TOUCH (2) Jerry Gaye, Shurland David vs HOUSE OF DREAD (0); KS ENVIRONMENTAL IRS (3) David James, Jan Macauley, Keston Morris vs PARADISE FC (3) Dane Hospedales, Kevin Jeffrey, own goal.

Trini gets BBC call

THE voice of a Trinidadian will be heard on BBC, doing commentary on horse racing.

BBC recently lured 29-year-old Rishi Persad from rivals C4, and he will be understudy to their female lead commentator Clare Balding. For some time the BBC were on the lookout for somebody to fill in for Balding who is the leading racing broadcaster in England, since she is being increasingly used on non-racing projects. Balding is also tabbed to play a prominent role in BBC’s Athena Olympic coverage next summer. Persad who only made his debut at C4 in May last year, will see his first action as a BBC commentator on April 19, and will continue as part of the presenting team for Attheraces, racing’s dedicated satellite channel. It is understood, C4 desperately tried to persuade their prot?g? Persad to rebuff the BBC’s approaches. But Persad said: “It was a complete shock when the BBC approached me and I’m still in a daze. “I am really looking forward to working with Clare Balding.”

TT golfers to taste ‘Plantations’

GOLFERS bidding to represent Trinidad and Tobago at the Carib-bean Amateur Champ-ionships will get their first opportunity to play on the new Plantations Course in Tobago next month.

They will compete for close to $15,000 in incentives in the first Guardian General Limited/Tobago Plan-tations Invitational Tournament on April 26 and 27 at Lowlands. Details of the competition were given yesterday at a media launch attended by former national golfer Robert Charlett representing Tobago Plantations; John Gonzales, senior vice-president of Guardian General Limited and Tournament Director Neil Giuseppi. Also present was Nigel Aqui of the Golf Association. Venue was the new offices of GGL at Princes Court, Keate Street, Port-of-Spain. Charlett said this year is an important one for golf in TT and he expects the top players to seize the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the testing 7,009-yard  par-72 To-bago Plantations course. Among the locals who are in line for selection on the men’s national team are promising junior players Shane Costolloe currently having an outstanding season so far; Simon Merry, young Ben Martin and Phillip Llanos.

Charlett said since TT swept the Caribbean Amateur Championships nine years ago at home on the St Andrew’s Golf Club course at Moka, Maraval, the fortunes of the team have fluctuated. “If it is our intention to regain our former glory, our golfers must be given every opportunity to hone their skills on the course on which the tournament is to be played,” Charlett said yesterday. He said he intentionally planned the competition to be an Invitational, thereby excluding overseas participation which would have given the opposition a close look at the course. Over the years the Caribbean Champion-ships have served as a springboard for the careers of Stephen Ames, Damian Hale, Chris Richards and others who have blazed a trail on the regional circuit. Senior vice-president of GGL, Gonzales said his company, a member of the Guardian Holdings Group have been supporting sport including golf, athletics and tennis for the past 30 years.

Their association with golf however began in 1993 with the sponsorship of the national team for the Caribbean Amateur Champion-ships and to date more than $150,000 have been expended in the promotion of the game said Gonzales. “We at Guardian practise and endorse teamwork and we are pleased to see that golf has evolved to such a high level by encouraging everyone, corporate and private citizens alike to be a member of the golf team,” said Gonzales yesterday. The GGL/Tobago Plantations Tobago invitational will be contested in four categories: Open, Seniors, Women and Juniors at which gross and nett prizes will be at stake. The overall champions however will be the gross and nett winners of the Open Category. “I can assure you that the course is going to be in excellent condition and will be set up in such a way as to ensure that it provides a true test of golf for all who try to conquer it,” said Charlett.

Sets house on fire, then hangs himself

MINUTES after confessing to a priest about his marital problems, a 41-year-old father of two chopped his wife to death, set his house on fire, then hanged himself.

Police investigators believe that the man, Glen Martin Rajpaul, a mechanic at Petrotrin, of Ramjattan Trace, Penal, murdered his wife, Gillian, 32, when he suspected she was involved with another man. Police said that as a result of their domestic problems, Gillian had left her matrimonial home, at Ramjattan Trace, Penal, and had returned only two days ago in a bid to resolve their problems. According police reports, Rajpaul left home early yesterday morning to drop off his two children — Nyron, 15, and Nakita, 17 — to their respective schools at Penal Convent and Barrackpore Secondary Comprehensive.

Rajpaul then went to the Penal Roman Catholic Church where he met the priest. There he held, according to reports, a 15-minute discussion with the priest in which he complained about domestic problems both he and Gillian had been experiencing. Rajpaul and Gillian were married at the same church 18 years ago, where he and his family often attended services. Reports stated that around 9 am, Rajpaul returned home but unconfirmed reports stated that he again confronted his wife Gillian about her infidelity. Police said that the husband dealt his wife several chops about her body. The woman was chopped on the neck and back. Rajpaul then proceeded to set the house on fire. The husband, the report stated, then tied an electrical cord around his neck and hanged himself in the corridor of his house.

Neighbours who saw the flames, tried to break down the front door and called out to the couple, but there was no answer. The house quickly became engulfed in flames thus preventing neighbours from entering. However, they managed to ‘push’ the couple’s Sentra motorcar out of the yard. Firemen from the Siparia Fire sub-station arrived shortly after and put out the blaze, but they were only able to save the downstairs of the two-storey three bedroom house. Police and firemen, searching the burnt house, first discovered Rajpaul’s body lying in the corridor with an electrical cord around the neck. On further checking the rubble, they discovered Gillian’s body in a bedroom. She was lying on her side and according to the reports, the bodies of both husband and wife were badly burnt.

The bodies were viewed by District Medical Officer, Ian Furlonge, who ordered they be removed to the Forensic Sciences Centre, Port-of-Spain, where autopsies are carded for today. Visiting the scene was a party of officers including Supt Ganga, Insp Valdez and ASP Trea, who cordorned off the area leading to the house. When Newsday visited the scene, family members were busy removing household articiles and furniture from the house. Residents gathered in front the house and looked in awe at the burnt structure. Some of the residents described the Rajpauls as peaceful people who did not appear to be a couple with marital problems. On the brink of tears, Rajpaul’s brother-in-law, Innis Scope, admitted that Rajpaul and his wife were having marital problems. However, he refused to elaborate.

Scope said that it was as recent as Monday he visited the family. He told Newsday that he also spoke to Rajpaul on the phone the same night in which he counselled him about “the same problems”. Scope added: “After the conversation we had, I did not think he would do this.” He said that he last saw Gillian on Friday when she appeared “upset and sad”. However, Rajpaul’s father, when interviewed, said he did not have any clue what could have caused his son to act that way. “He was a jolly good fellow,” he added. Wiping away tears, the father who did not want to give his name, said he saw his son on Monday.

Sailor charged with wife’s murder

A COAST GUARD officer charged with the murder of his wife appeared yesterday before Couva Magistrate Mark Wellington.

Winston Derick Backhorie, 34, was charged with fatally stabbing Rhonda Zamora Backhorie at their home at Sanford Street West, California, on Saturday night. He was also charged with  maliciously wounding his brother-in-law Krishen Ragoonanan. Both charges were laid indictably and he was not called upon to plead. Backhorie was arrested and charged by Sgt Peter Burke after he surrendered to the Couva CID.

Dressed in a cream shirt and brown pants, Backhorie remained silent as the charges were read. He was unrepresented in court. Family members of the accused and deceased were present. Backhorie’s mother, Joan, told Newsday the family could not afford an attorney and intend to apply for legal aid. Members of the Coast Guard sat in the courtroom lending support to their colleague and offering words of comfort to Backhorie’s family. Backhorie was remanded in custody to reappear in court next Friday. Police said Backhorie holds the rank of able-bodied seaman and is based at the Coast Guard station in Scarborough, Tobago. He returned to Trinidad last week after completing his tour of duty. Backhorie and his wife have four children who are currently staying with an aunt in Mc Bean, Couva.

Al Qaeda suspect living in Morocco

SUSPECTED Al Qaeda terrorist Adnan Gulshair Muhammed El Shukrijumah, who is believed to be holding a Trinidad and Tobago passport, is now living in Morocco, according to his family based in South Florida. But the TT Police are still looking out for him coming to this country, according to Head of Special Branch, Assistant Commissioner Frank Diaz yesterday.

Diaz confirmed that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) have requested assistance from the TT Police to be on the lookout for El Shukrijumah, a Saudi Arabian who may be plotting terrorist activities against the United States. “They (the FBI) never said he was in Trinidad. They asked us to be on the lookout for him,” Diaz added. According to records, El Shukrijumah came to Trinidad in 2001, just before the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington DC. FBI agents called a press conference in Florida on Monday to underscore the priority federal investigators have put on tracking down El Shukrijumah, who left his parents’ Florida home months before the September 11 attacks and has never returned.

El Shukrijumah is thought to be living out of the country, and federal investigators are working with police in Morocco and Trinidad searching for clues. Those countries are among several apparent stopping points for the Saudi Arabian native who, federal agents said, uses several aliases and passports. El Shukrijumah’s father Shaykh said his son left in May 2001, several months before the attacks. According to his family, the wanted man travelled frequently, selling Ismalic items and clothing. “He called us from Trinidad after it happened,” his mother Zuhrah said. “He was as surprised as any of us. I told him not to come back, that everything had changed here.” So far, no charges have been lodged against El Shukrijumah, 27, whom several captured al-Qaida leaders have identified as a key player in the network’s terror activities.

Security clamp down after Muslimeen’s death

URP official and Muslimeen leader Mark Guerra, alias Abdul Jaleel, who was shot dead at Wallerfield on Sunday night will be buried at the Lapeyrouse Cemetery this afternoon after a funeral service at the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen’s headquarters at Mucurapo from 1.30 pm. A post-mortem revealed that Guerra died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Following Guerra’s murder, the police have set up Operation Clampdown in preparation for any gang war that the murder might spark. The operation took effect late Monday and immediately reaped rewards with the arrest of one man and the seizure of a stolen vehicle, a firearm and 12 rounds of .38 ammunition in the Belmont area. Police said the vehicle was recently stolen at gunpoint from a woman in St James. Operation Clampdown is being co-ordinated by Assistant Commissioners of Police (North) Celestine Richards and Oswyn Allard (Crime) and Sr Supt Gilbert Reyes. It will also consist of members of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF), under Major Ricky Garcia.  Newsday was informed that the operation will be ongoing and involves plainclothes officers from the Port-of-Spain CID, uniformed officers and other personnel.

The operation includes joint police/army activities including roadblocks, exercises and searches round the clock in the Port-of-Spain and North Eastern Divisions, with special emphasis on the St Barb’s and Vegas areas, situated in Laventille and Morvant respectively. Police said those two areas have been targetted because of the fear of gang wars over Guerra’s death. Police believe Guerra was shot and killed in reprisal for the March 16 shooting death of Neil “Big Neil” Lewis. Lewis was shot dead in his vehicle at the corner of Prince and Duncan Streets. The police are also exploring other theories. “We are looking at everything, and anything can happen,” a senior officer said. Guerra reportedly had four wives and 13 children. Officers of the Northern Division who are investigating the killing say they have made no arrests. Homicide officer Sgt Hendron Moses is continuing enquiries.

Jarrette narine silent on URP

LOCAL Government Minister Jarrette Narine yesterday ducked media questions about the future of the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) in light of the assassination of special project supervisor Mark Guerra on Sunday at Wallerfield.

Met at his Ministry at Kent House, Maraval, Narine declined to say whether the killing would cause the Government to reconsider the operation of the programme. Pointing to a copy of yesterday’s lead story in Newsday, Narine simply said: “That’s my final comment.”  In the article, Narine had said he knew Guerra had been employed last year as a co-ordinator but did not know him personally and had only heard of his death via radio. Pressed that his comments referred to just one person but not the whole programme, Narine remained mum, repeating: “That’s my final comment.”