N Touch

Confusion over Caroni

THE CONFUSED flapping and floundering of the UNC Opposition over the Caroni restructuring issue reveals an intellectual bankruptcy within the party and its leadership that must be cause for concern. The party seems at a loss for coherency and conviction as it is caught between the plans it once had devised for Caroni — including the shutting down of the company — and the opposition it now feels compelled to make on behalf of its supporters in the sugar belt against the government’s current proposals.

One was inclined to credit the Opposition with a serious and committed approach to the Caroni issue when its members demanded a national debate in the House, declaring that they would not support Government bills needing special majorities until such a debate was held. Apart from the emotion which the lot of sugar workers has always generated in their representative party, one felt that the UNC had important things to say about the Government’s plans for dealing with the grossly inefficient sugar manufacturing operation. And we felt sure the country would be interested in hearing their side of the story.

Not unexpectedly, however, the UNC seems to be backing out of that fervent demand. On Saturday, at a public meeting in Couva, Prime Minister Patrick Manning invited the Opposition to file a Private Members’ motion calling for a debate on Caroni and gave them the assurance that it would be given priority at Friday’s sitting of the House. Yesterday’s deadline for filing such a motion passed without it. Now we hear the UNC singing a different song. Instead of a national debate, they say the Caroni issue will be settled “on the streets”, issuing another empty and meaningless threat.

According to Couva South MP Kenvin Ramnath, the party has apparently lost its enthusiasm for seeking or arranging a national debate and, instead, is now blaming the Government for a “dereliction of duty” in not coming to Parliament with their plan for Caroni. As a representative of the sugar belt, Mr Ramnath no longer sees the need to force a debate on behalf of his constituents; rather, he is now content to fall back on the old and inane ploy of blaming the Government for its “failure”. The scenario has thus become clear: Mr Manning has called the bluff of the Opposition for a national debate and, as a result, he has exposed the flip-flop emptiness of their manoeuvres.

Indeed, in this episode, one may see not only the confusion of the Opposition but also how needlessly obstructive, how unnecessarily retarding to the country’s progress, is the instinctive, irresistible and all-consuming compulsion to oppose for the sake of opposing. Will the Kidnapping Bill, urgently needed to deal with the rise in this atrocious crime, fall victim to this kind of foolishness? Our country needs a better quality of opposition than this. Parliamentarians of the UNC owe it to the entire society to seriously examine the operations of their party with a view to lifting its commitment and its vision above its traditional insular interests to one of concern for the progress and well-being of the national community. The time has come, it seems, for a new generation to take over the tired and worn-out leadership of the party.

Science and Technology Minister Danny Montano pointed out that Caroni is operating today in the same way as the company did 50 years ago, in spite of the rapid advance of technology. The Opposition should not want to follow that same syndrome, in spite of our considerable political development. Statistics of the stupendous losses being incurred by Caroni have repeatedly been given, but Senator Montano’s observation that the sugar company has been losing $627,000 a day for the last ten years adds another bizarre angle to this horror story. Its end, which the UNC must accept, is long overdue.

The historic Ram


The FP News Service this weekend reported that archaeologists have found a footprint on black stone in a trench at the excavation site in Ayodhya, India. (Free Press Journal, March 23, 2003) Archaeologists have found in Ayodhya one footmark on a four inch by three inch black stone, one small human head wearing a turban on stone and one and half inch long copper piece during excavation in the acquired land.

Lawyers representing Hindu parties think the footmark could be a replica of “Charan Paduka” (footwear) of Lord Rama in stone. Digging work was carried out on Saturday  in four trenches – No. 3, 6, 7 and 8. The footprint on black stone was found in trench number six while the one-inch long human head on stone, a broken ball, an iron rod, grass pieces and a bracelet were found in the other trenches. A “moonga”, precious stone was found in trench number K-3. Sources said that a floor of a courtyard was also discovered in K-7. The archaeological value of these artifacts and articles would be determined after they are subjected to carbon dating tests.

Some experts believe that the “Mrid Bhand” recovered during digging could be more than 2000 years old. The terracotta red sigrine figure was found from a depth of four feet. A wall has also surfaced. The wall has also appeared in trench number four and therefore archaeologists guess that the wall is 15 feet long and one foot wide. The Tojo Vikas International’s Ground Penetrating Radar survey had also indicated that remains of an ancient building could be found at this spot.

The survey was done in December-January without digging the ground. Meanwhile, the VHP has expressed anger at the inclusion of nine Muslim labourers in the gang of 48 labourers. In January, the Archaeological Survey of India commissioned a Delhi geo-science company, Tojo Vikas International, to map the disputed site for pre-masjid structures using ground-penetrating radars. The radars showed up what are called “anomalies” that are thousands of years old appearing in stratified layers. This lead to the conclusion of the presence of a Ram temple pre-dating the Babri Masjid, and prompted Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to announce the discovery of new temple evidence in the Himachal election campaign – leading to an uproar in the Indian Parliament.

The Indian Supreme Court as a result of this finding reserved its judgment on the undisputed 67.7 acres surrounding the disputed site. A new Muslim organisation, the Islamic Council of India, says the undisputed acres must be immediately de-acquired for temple construction. But the hearing lost some of its earlier import in view of the order of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court to excavate a limited area around the site of the makeshift temple to determine the presence of pre-Babri Masjid structures. The VHP and the sadhus and sants are only partly happy with this order. At this point in time, the construction of Ram Temple in the city of Ayodhya (in the state of Uttar Pradesh), is the biggest hot-potato in India. This temple has completely altered the course of politics in India. This is because Lord Ram’s Temple-Site, is a bone of contention between Hindus and Muslims in India.

The city of Ayodhya, in which the temple is located, is very closely connected with the life-story of Lord Ram. Lord Ram’s story is described in the timeless Indian epic “Ramayana.” Amongst the seven Muktistalams identified by the Hindus, the city of Ayodhya is at the top of the list. Acknowledged as one of the holiest cities of India, the city of Ayodhya has been venerated since times immemorial. Because of its recognition as Ram Janam-Bhoomi (birthplace of Ram), the city of Ayodhya is also known as “The Holy Land.” Lord Ram is believed by Hindus to be the seventh incarnation of Vishnu. At the present time, the Hindus are planning to construct a temple in honour of Bhagwan (Lord) Ram. Though Ayodhya has at least 55 other Hindu temples, none of them has the esteem of Ram Temple; we seldom hear a word about them. The attention of Indian and western media is focussed on Ayodhya and Ram Temple alone, the milestones on Ayodhya and on Ram Temple unfold themselves, almost on a daily basis. Many experts have shared their opinions and investigations on this subject. However, inspite of plenteous information on the subject, there is no shortage of controversial issues on the topic of Lord Ram’s Temple.

Controversy/conflict relative to the site of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya arises because the site is claimed both by Hindus and Muslims. Hindus say the disputed site is the birthplace of their Bhagwan (Lord) Ram. Muslims say that it belongs to them, since a mosque built by the Mughal Emperor Babar in the 16th century stood at this site. Hindus believe that Lord Ram was born in Ayodhya, as described in the holy book of Ramayan, and had a Ram Temple built in Ayodhya. But Hindus never forgot the site of Lord Ram’s temple, they continued their efforts to regain this site. After trying unsuccessfully for centuries, the Hindus finally destroyed Babar’s mosque in 1992, and now want to re-build Lord Ram’s Temple at this site. This is not acceptable to the Muslims who want to re-build the mosque of Babar, whom they regard as their hero, because he defeated and destroyed the Kafir (Infidel) Hindus and their exemplars.

Hindus never gave up their demand to regain the holy land (the birthplace of Lord Ram). Historians record that since 1528 (the date of destruction of Lord Ram’s Temple by Babar), there have been at least 76 armed conflicts, and well over 300,000 Hindus have sacrificed their lives to restore the Ram Janama Bhoomi Temple. These demands continued even during the British regime in India. After independence, a request was made to Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, to officially and legally turn over the site of Lord Ram’s birthplace to the Hindus. Instead of making a decision, Nehru dumped this hot-potato on the Indian Supreme Court. In the meantime, the Hindus continued to worship at the site.

Real martyrs are visible

THE EDITOR: Events on the international scene have, I hope, taught our local wannabe terrorists what pawns and suckers they are in the hands of their masters. These small time suckers are so dedicated to the cause, they are lining up to be trained as suicide-hero bombers with the promise of ten virgins when they arrive in their Muslim heaven.

Meanwhile, their masters are sleeping peacefully in their beds at 10 am and allowing themselves to be taken prisoner. What terrorist leader worth his salt, having sent thousands to their death in the World Trade Centre would allow himself to be taken prisoner while his minions embrace the sexual pleasures in the afterlife? That Sheik who is now spilling his guts like a drunken sailor should have with the first bang on the door swallowed a cyanide pill or shot himself in the head.  But he knows how precious life is, even without the freedom of life in a secret Pakistan hideout. He knows that he has at least some three to five years of life ahead of him even when he is parded as a spectacle on US television. He knows he will be fed the best Muslim meals, allowed to pray five times per day and have the best medical attention.

Here we have one of them enjoying the best life with four wives while a set of little boys live off handouts while doing his bidding. We have another one encouraging his supporters to allow their cars to stall in Port-of-Spain to create the bigger traffic jam while he enjoys the best “digs” in one of the most exclusive neighbourhoods with the blue-bloods in London, surrounded by his children who no longer seemed threatened as he once claimed. Mr Editor, has any of your reporters checked with the paysheet clerk at Parliament to find out if he or any of the little boys and girls who sat on the platform smiling and clapping at his every word, have given instructions to stop tax deductions from their incomes? They all know, sir, that no pay sheet clerk will risk his/her job to obey any such instructions, written or otherwise.

What about the sugar-cane farmers who are supporters. Do they still pay their quarterly tax deductions? Also, the druggists who have concessions to sell stamps and union leaders who are in charge of other offices as employers — have they instructed their employees not to deduct taxes from their incomes or send quarterly deductions to Inland Revenue? Yet these so-called protest leaders calling for civil disobedience are invoking the names of international icons and heroes as Gandhi, King and Mandela. Little Rosa Parks had more masculine physicality, proverbially speaking than these local frauds.

As an example Gandhi did not become this great leader until he had like so many Indian men fulfilled most, if not all his familial duties.  Here on bloody Tuesday the leader who is now boasting that he knows his cell, absented himself from “the coffee” when police in riot gear confronted the demonstration. He was later picked up and driven in a police car, not the “black maria” like the brothers, to the station. Compare that with Nelson Mandela. As head of the ANC it is not that he wanted to be a martyr for the cause. But the Congress voted that he should allow himself to be arrested, tried and jailed as a symbol, a catalyst for the cause. That he did. He sacrificed wife and children to the dictates of his fellow organisers and the cause. He did not hide behind simple operatives while suggesting to others what they should do. His stand and sacrifice have gained him the undying respect and admiration of his people and the international community.

Here, while sending coded messages about what should and should not be done, like no bail etc, these so-called protest leaders meekly obey court summonses, entering within a plalanx of lawyers and sycophants, all of them well-dressed, like a heavy weighted boxer, entering the ring to defend or capture a title. I am waiting to see if Bin Laden will have the gall or any other kind to allow himself to be taken alive to become a spectacle paraded on American television.


MERVYN BILLINGY
Arima

Clean the drains and rivers

THE EDITOR: The relevant authorities ought to take advantage of the existing dry season to embark on an exercise to clean and clear all drains and rivers throughout the nation. Be reminded gentlemen, all it takes is one unexpected heavy downfall, a high tide and “that is that”.

Also be reminded that some people simply could not care less throwing garbage and other discarded items “anywhere” they feel like. Only recently, this writer saw an empty food box go sailing out of a passing vehicle “just so”. And this type of attitude is indicative of the mood of the lawless today amongst us. Let’s get those drains and rivers cleaned now! in order to avoid serious flooding. Spare a thought for north-west Valsayn, Cipriani Labour College and the Nestle’s factory. Residents and workers I’m sure will not like to live through another “nightmare” like last year.


G WILDMAN
Glencoe

Justice or injustice?

THE EDITOR: With reference to an article on the above-mentioned subject appearing in the issue of the Newsday dated March 21 2003, I am requested by the Honourable Chief Justice to inform you as follows.

The Appellants, Kelvin Persad and Patrick Wellington were convicted on April 5, 2000 and sentenced on May 3 2000. They appealed on May 3, 2000. On April 15, 2002 the Summing Up in the matter under reference reached the Appeal Court. On June 11, 2002 the appeals were listed for hearing. This was the earliest possible hearing date that could have been assigned to the said matter as the lists for April 2002 and May 2002 were already closed. On July 26, 2002 the court gave its decision having reserved on June 11, 2002.

Additionally, the fact that the Summing Up of the learned trial Judge took almost two years to be made available to the Court of Appeal was attributable to (a) a tremendously high volume of work which falls to be done by the Court Reporting Section and (b) a critical shortage of personnel required to service the needs of that section. Finally, the appellants could not have been placed on bail because no application for bail pending appeal was made by either of them to the Court of Appeal.


V. Gonzalves
CLERK OF APPEALS
Court of Appeal

PR needed for free medicine

THE EDITOR: I am directing this letter to the PR of the free medicine programme established by government (2003).

There are a number of people who are over 65 years of age, who are pensioners (not old age) who have had strokes etc and are in need of the medicines offered by the government but because they have not met the requirements are left out. How can these people make an approach for special consideration? Doctors advised people who need these drugs, given through the health offices, to try their best to buy the drugs at pharmacies because the drugs prescribed came from India and were not working with patients. One must remember that if you had a stroke you need medicine for high blood pressure, kidney, heart, diabetes etc because they are all connected. It would be nice if the PR could tell us who to approach at the Ministry of Health for consideration or if the Minister of Health reads this letter he could endeavour to assist those affected. The costs for monthly drugs exceeds $400 at the pharmacy.


THOMAS METCAFFE
Pt Cumana

The sun wouldn’t rise in war

THE EDITOR: Here I am in an effort to put my hand in fire for the pastor of the Church of the Firstborn Assembly — a Sangre Grande based organism.

When he said on a morning call-in radio programme that he loves war, he was saying that it brings about decisiveness in political rulers. That does not mean that his comparison of former prime minister Basdeo Panday with the Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein is factual. Be that as it may everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. The real problem is the enforcing of one’s opinion upon others in the guise of fact. This is a consolation for those who support the rising sun. Saddam believes that he is a descendant of the Chaldean general Nebuchadrezzar who carried the Jews into Babylonian captivity. The Butcher of Baghdad went far enough to restore the Babylonian architecture only to see them bombed during the 1991 American-led air raids.

The region of Bazrah is mentioned under the spelling of Bozrah in the Old Testament and it is prophesied to be a waste land where no Arab would pitch his tent. Jer 49:13; Isa 13: 20, 18-19. Basra (Bazrah) is the intended bombing site again and the confrontation of Baghdad towards the no-fly zone is rather debilitating as American guided warheads are being prepared for lift-off. There are people who are not seeing red yet they are taking to the streets in the form of demonstrations and to the political front in the form of the United Nations Security Council.


JEFFREY M JOSEPH
Fyzabad


PS Mr Panday will be the first man to hop into a plane should a red hot war break out here! That’s the difference.

CEPEP in comparison to Caroni

THE EDITOR: Please correct me if I’m wrong about Caroni and CEPEP. Recently, Mr Manning announced his government’s intention to triple the CEPEP.

This would cost $400 million annually, to clean up the environment, and basically give people some work. That’s the essence of the programme. It doesn’t earn foreign exchange, or sustain a way of life for those involved in the programme. It is a temporary relief measure akin to URP. However, there is a perception that this programme is being used as a payback for PNM supporters, whose fly-by-night companies received significant contracts.

Caroni on the other hand is more complicated. It is a way of life for those involved in the sugar industry and it does earn foreign exchange. But nobody disagrees it is a strain on the treasury and must be restructured. Quoting the agriculture minister verbatim, “We cannot continue to support an industry that is a burden to the people to the tune of $400 million a year.” So what makes CEPEP so special to warrant $400 million of taxpayers money, and Caroni a burden? Does the answer surround political patronage and ethnicity? Or is CEPEP the vehicle that would enable the government to realise its vision 2020?

WAYNE JAGGERNAUTH
Loughborough University
Leciestershire
UK

More security in schools

THE EDITOR: Trinidad and Tobago has repeatedly demonstrated that it is a society which plans on hindsight.

Recently, and particularly in Tobago, some unnerving incidents have taken place in our schools. Our immediate reaction was a call for more security in schools. All of this is understandable. However, is it the answer? We are living in changing times — new values, new loyalties, and new ailments. We therefore have to develop new perspectives on living and survival. We can no longer continue as we have been doing over the centuries. Our approach to security and safety in schools must radically be changed.

While we have been relying on good luck, custom and piecemeal strategies to ensure safe and secure schools, other societies have been developing approaches to risk management — developing policies, procedures, and regulations that help to maximise the safety of all students, teachers, auxiliary personnel, and visitors in schools and at the same time minimising the risk of litigation from those who feel aggrieved by such actions. Therefore, the time has come for us — not only in our schools, but in the entire society — to focus on safety and security in a systematic and scientific manner. We need to contain our fears and irrational responses.

We must also understand that we live in a millennium, which demands that risk management be seen as a high priority in daily operations. Just as business management is a discipline to be studied, so too can the principles and theories of risk management be studied and applied. Failure to recognise and accept this fact of life would mean continued stress, misfortune, and sorrow for us as individuals and collectively as a society. Our leaders must act now! In the interim, principals, are well advised to develop strategies of risk management to insulate their students and staff from criminal, psychological, physical and chemical risks.

RAYMOND S HACKETT
Curepe

WICB decide captaincy Sunday

ST.JOHN’S: The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will decide on captaincy and other positions ahead of the 2003 Cable and Wireless home series at a directors’ meeting in Barbados on Sunday.

The WICB announced yesterday that the positions of captaincy, vice-captain, coach, and manager will be addressed at the meeting. “Appointments for the posts of coach, captain, vice-captain and manager for the senior West Indies team will form part of the agenda when the West Indies Cricket Board holds a directors’ meeting at the Accra Beach Hotel and Resort in Barbados on Sunday,” a WICB release stated yesterday. The WICB directors need to install a management team for the senior West Indies squad ahead of the Cable and Wireless 2003 Cricket Series against Australia and Sri Lanka that will be contested between April and July in the Caribbean. Based on contractual arrangements, all the posts became vacant following the Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2003 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

The long-term contracts of incumbent coach Roger Harper and incumbent manager Ricky Skerritt came to an end following the CWC 2003 and the WICB started the process of recruiting a coach and a manager last December. Officers of the WICB have conducted interviews with potential candidates for these two team management positions since the deadline closed on January 15 and the directors will discuss their recommendations on Sunday. The WICB, in their  release, predictably revealed nothing about the heated regional debate over Carl Hooper’s retention as captain after a miserable World Cup.

Selection chairman Sir Vivian Richards, who recently urged Hooper to stay on as captain when the 36-year-old Guyanese publicised thoughts about quitting, met with his selection panel last Friday to nominate a captain. “It is normal for captains and vice-captains to be appointed on a tour-by-tour basis and, the fact that a captain and a vice-captain is being considered now for the forthcoming Cable and Wireless 2003 Cricket Series, is nothing new for the WICB,” the release said. “The names will be forwarded to the directors for consideration also on Sunday,” the release said.

Other items of significance on the meeting agenda for the directors’ consideration are: a retainer contract system for players, and a report from Windies World Cup 2007 Inc.