THE EDITOR: I wish to congratulate your Editorial staff for continuing their deep interest in sports locally and regionally by publishing what the wider public is interested in — with special reference to discipline in the sporting arena. One cannot fail to recognise the extremely high standards portrayed in your columns by members of the sporting public.

With regard to the specific question of falling standards of WI cricket, congratulations are also due for the interesting series on all aspects of the game by one of your part-time columnists. The public’s widespread acceptance of the series must have inspired the writer Fyzul Hassanali to use his vast experience as player and captain to produce recently Captaincy in Cricket — reported to be a very timely publication by this well known former player and captain.

The book is obviously directed to the development of young cricketers and the training of efficient captains. This handbook as some choose to call it, emphasises the need for discipline, physical fitness, respect, team spirit and above all, thinking the game, as fundamental requisites towards achievement of success, and more specifically how to win matches.

West Indies cricket was never more in need of such a publication as it has been in recent years. One can only hope that the management of West Indies cricket will use this handbook towards improvement of the game in the region. Finally Mr Editor, with specific reference to discipline, is it smart on the part of the management of West Indies cricket:

a) To allow active players or members of the team selection process to comment publicly from the Commentator’s box during matches?

b) To permit active members of the test team to report publicly in the media after games? One wonders whether such privileges are open to question regarding good discipline, team spirit, and ethics?

There is no need to mention the possibility of jealousy among less privileged members and the continuation of the “bug” of insularity — a recipe for indiscipline and failure.

SALER AMEERALI
Chaguanas

Businessman and ace car racing driver Frankie Boodram was yesterday sentenced to five years hard labour by Justice Paula Mae Weekes, for receiving stolen vehicle parts.

In passing sentence the judge warned that the car stealing industry in Trinidad must be curbed. She said receivers provide a market for stolen auto parts. The court heard an emotional plea from two of Boodram’s three daughters as to why their father should not be jailed. Daughter and entertainer Charlene Boodram, told the court she was hoping for a miracle, as she pleaded with Justice Weekes not to jail her father.

She said: “I believe that if you trust in God, miracles can happen.”  A second daughter, Dr Allison Boodram, also made a similar plea from the witness stand, asking the court: “have mercy on him, he is a good man.” They were among five persons, including former Government Minister of Sports, Marilyn Gordon and former director of Physical Education and Sports, Cecil Walker, who testified as to Boodram’s good character. There were also several testimonials on behalf of Boodram, and 120 signatures petitioning the Port-of-Spain First Criminal Court where Boodram was tried, for leniency.

The announcement of his sentence brought loud cries from his wife Jasmine, and continuous sobs from his daughters and son Franklin.  His distraught wife later told members of the media that justice had not been served. She said her husband was set up, and described the jury as “sleeping”. Boodram, a 55-year-old San Juan car and parts dealer, was charged with receiving stolen parts and larceny of a pick-up van belonging to Clint Batchasingh. The van was stolen from Alexandra Street, St Clair, on April 22, 2000. The parts Boodram received belonged to the stolen van. He was found not guilty on the larceny charge but guilty on the receiving count by an eight to one majority verdict on February 26, 2003.

In a plea for mitigation, Boodram’s attorneys Israel Khan SC leading Dawn Mohan, asked for a bond instead of a custodial sentence and suggested if the bond was broken, then Boodram should be given the maximum sentence of ten years. He argued that sending Boodram to jail would not really be a deterrent to others because people will continue to steal and receive car parts. Khan said that while he has accepted the verdict of the jury, it was an aberration on the part of Boodram when one takes his client’s  good character into account.

He said the court does not have to reflect public opinion but on the other hand it must not disregard it. Perhaps, he said, the main duty of the court is to lead public opinion. Referring to the case of James Henry Sergeant on punishment, Khan, suggesting a light sentence, asked Justice Weekes “to swim up stream on this one and not to take the line of least resistance by sending him to prison. That he had a good character, and the very fact that men of good character will hear the clanging of the prison gates close behind them is the main punishment and it should not remain closed for a long time.”

In response to some other points raised by Khan, Justice Weekes said that it was not the court’s concern whether Boodram’s automotive “empire” would collapse or of any other consequence as a result of its judgment. She said while Boodram was a first-time offender, the court had a responsibility to be fair and could not afford to be lenient with business people merely on the argument that if sent to jail their business may come “crumbling down,” and be harsh on others who are not as affluent. She said the court was not responsible for Boodram’s self-inflicted punishment.

PRIME Minister Patrick Manning has been accused of wanting to build a monument before he leaves office. This was the view of two irate business owners in response to Cabinet’s decision to relocate Parliament from the historic Red House site to a new and larger building north of Knox Street.

Minister of Public Administration Dr Lenny Saith made the announcement Thursday and immediately came in for a barrage of objections from several critics of the idea. Saith had told the media after Cabinet on Thursday that the block identified for the Parliament would encompass Knox Street, St Vincent Street, Abercromby Street and Duke Street. Saith added that UDECOTT has been mandated to be the executing agency and the company would begin immediatelty to acquire the four or five properties needed to take full control of the block. As a consequence of the latest development, several business places stand to be affected.

On Abercromby Street are the Temple Court, the Ministry of National Security, Justia Omnibus Chambers and the Evans Mundy building. Business and office places on Duke Street are the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB), a Dental Lab, the office of attorney Kenneth Munroe-Brown, and Chase Bargain Store and Tailoring. The Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court takes up the entire St Vincent Street from the corner of Duke Street to Knox Street, while on Knox Street itself is the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment Headquarters. Yesterday Kelvin Chase, owner of Chase Bargain Store and Tailoring, described the move as political, a waste of money, high-handed and unfair to all the people who would be affected. Wondering what the motive was behind the move, Chase said he has been at the location since 1946 and has five tenants. He enquired if the Government had taken into consideration what they were doing to people’s livelihood. “They (Government) have money and can do anything, and we will have to take whatever they dish out to us,” Chase said. He subsequently advised Manning and his Government to go to Richmond and Queen Streets where he said there is a lot of land not being used. He also suggested that the Red House (records department) be added on to the new Library building.

“Manning has his own agenda, and is probably trying to make a monument and name for himself before he leaves,” Chase told Newsday. He admitted that the move had been mentioned some time ago, but that it was turned down in the days of the country’s first Prime Minister, Eric Williams. Supporting Chase is Senior Counsel Israel Khan, head of Justia Omnibus Chambers and director of the Legal Aid and Advisory Authority. “The Prime Minister wants to build a monument in recognition of legacy, but he could build it elsewhere,” Khan said. The senior attorney added that he has now settled at his location and that the Cabinet decision will disrupt him and six other lawyers who share the chambers. Khan said the spot is a “prized possession” for lawyers since it is opposite the Hall of Justice. “From Colonial times to now, the Red House has been known as the house of Parliament,” he said, adding that supporters of the ruling party will be upset at the decision to relocate it. Khan said that the Government was giving the impression that it wants to “mash up” everything, but that they (Government) will really have to entice all the owners before they are relocated. “They have to offer us Government land near the Hall of Justice and some money too,” Khan said.

The Port-of-Spain Magistrates Court is the largest building that will be affected, and Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls said yesterday that he “totally supported” all that Chief Justice Satnarine Sharma has said on the matter. Hours after the Cabinet decision was made, Sharma said he was surprised at the announcement and that common courtesy demanded consultation between the Judiciary and the Executive.  NLCB’s marketing and public relations officer, Devant Maharaj said the decision was not a new one, and that the block had been earmarked for Government purposes for over ten years. “We are not shocked, because we were aware of it,” Maharaj said. A senior Army official said that the decision is nothing new to them.“We move all the time anyway,” the official added, pointing out that the Knox Street location was a temporary one in any event, and that they were in the process of moving.

De Fosto’s “Pandora” will try to suck the marrow out of Len “Boogsie” Sharpe’s “Music in we Blood,” when three of TT’s top bands try to dethrone 2002 Panorama champs, Neal and Massy All Stars, at tonight’s National Panorama Finals at the Queen’s Park Savannah.

Both Witco Desperadoes and Petrotrin Phase II Pan Groove will be playing, “Music in we Blood,” while Exodus and Neal and Massy each try to convince the judges which has a better version of “Pandora”. A total of 13 bands are competing for the crown. Of them, four are playing “Pandora” and five, “Music in we Blood”. Despers, which placed third in the national semis, is depending on veteran Clive Bradley to bring them the first place, a spot that has eluded them for the past two years since their victory with Oba’s “Mirror on my Wall” in 2000. Despers plays in third position tonight. Phase II Pan Groove however, has had its “Music in we Blood” arranged by Sharpe himself. The Woodbrook band, which took first place in the semis and celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, will try to bring back the glory days of the eighties tonight. Phase II last won Panorama in 1988 with “Woman is Boss.” It plays at position number eight.

Exodus will challenge Neal and Massy head on by playing “Pandora.” The St Augustine band’s rendition is arranged by Pelham Goddard, and they play in the coveted 13th place.  Exodus last won in 2001. It placed second in the semis. Leon “Smooth” Edwards will seek to take All Stars to victory again with his arrangement of De Fosto’s tune. The Duke Street orchestra plays fifth. Meanwhile, pan enthusiasts say look out for TCL Skiffle Bunch and Excellent Stores Silver Stars, which were crowd favourites at the semis playing Ian Wiltshire’s, “Trini to the Bone” and Chritophe Grant’s “Identity.” Their arrangers are Lloyd Martin and Edwin Pouchet, respectively. The show starts at 7pm.

THE MIRACLE which the Boodram family was praying for did not materialise as a High Court judge yesterday sentenced 55-year-old car sales businessman Frankie Boodram to five years in jail with hard labour for receiving stolen vehicle parts. 

Minutes after the judgment was delivered by Justice Paula Mae Weekes in the Port-of-Spain First Criminal Court, Boodram’s wife Jasmine declared that the charges against her husband were “a set up”. On Wednesday, the court found the former champion race car driver guilty of receiving stolen auto parts, but not guilty on the count of larceny of a van belonging to Clint Batchasingh. Hand-in-hand with his wife Jasmine and accompanied by a throng of family members and friends, Boodram arrived at the court around 9 am yesterday for sentencing. He conversed with his wife, went over some of the testimonials on his behalf and spoke to some of the policemen guarding him in the tension-filled courtroom. As the sentence was passed, the silence was shattered as Jasmine cried: “Oh no!” Boodram’s daughters Charlene and Allyson, who minutes before pleaded emotionally for their father to be spared a jail sentence, wept openly as Boodram was escorted away by the police. Describing the religious beliefs their father had taught them, Charlene said: “I believe that if you trust in God, miracles can happen.” They had only arrived in the country on Thursday night to lend emotional support to their father.

Others testifying on Boodram’s behalf were former Sports Minister Marilyn Gordon and retired director of physical education and sport at the ministry, Cecil Walker. Testimonials on Boodram’s behalf from the San Juan Business Association, Trinidad and Tobago Stock Car Drivers Association and other groups were also tendered into evidence. Speaking to reporters outside the Hall of Justice, Jasmine declared: “Justice has not been served. This whole thing was a set up.” According to Jasmine, a “sleeping jury” passed judgment on her husband, but she was firm in the belief that God would see her through this ordeal. She said Boodram was the “same man” she married 35 years ago and was innocent of the charges levelled against him. Jasime hinted that when her husband is released from jail, they would consider closing down their Speedway Auto Supplies business network. Boodram’s attorney, Israel Khan SC said he accepted the court’s ruling and intended to appeal the decision.

The National Carnival Bands Association (NCBA) will provide information requested by the National Carnival Commission (NCC) to run the remainder of the mas shows for Carnival 2003, but not the “know how” in a number of areas.

President of the NCBA Richard Afong told reporters yesterday that the NCC has acted very unfairly and biased towards the NCBA and for no logical reason. “The NCC said they were willing and capable of running the events so all we said is if you lift the injunction go ahead and run the events but don’t ask us for information about the skills to be judged, for lists of our judges, for sound and music arrangements and so forth!” Afong said.

Public Relations Officer David Cameron agreed with Afong and stated that the discharge of the injunction “brought us right back to square one, two different organisations claiming the right to host the same Carnival events.” He described it as a recipe for confusion and confrontation and added:  “So after careful consideration, for the sake of stability and in the broader interests of Carnival, the NCBA has decided to stand back. We do not intend to jostle with the NCC over management and control of the shows. They can have a free run. We will not do anything to hinder or obstruct them.” However the NCC’s request of a meeting with the NCBA last Thursday to discuss how both parties could cooperate in the planning and financing of last night’s Queen show at the Queen’s Park Savannah was blanked by the NCBA.

The NCC expected NCBA to supply it with a list of contestants together with registration numbers, categories, skills to be judged, list of NCBA judges, proposed order of appearance, names of guest artistes, information regarding stage and track management, arrangements for sound and music, system of scoring, security and band track officials. But Afong said: “We were not happy with the judgment to lift the injunction because it came about in the first instance when we were applying to the court for funds to be released so that we would have been able to manage our events. Now we don’t have the money to run anything, therefore let the NCC do it themselves.” As regards the NCBA’s request to Pan Trinbago not to remove the fence at the western end of the stage, Afong said that it was now NCC’s call and they could do what they want to do.

Government has been severely chastised for its decision to “oust” the Parliament from the Red House and put it in a building to be constructed on the block north of Knox street.

UNC MP Kelvin Ramnath and Independent Senator Prof Kenneth Ramchand said yesterday they did not support the idea. Ramchand said the decision showed “a complete lack of respect for tradition, history and for the people of Trinidad and Tobago whose epic struggle for freedom and self-government was symbolised in the Red House”. Ramchand said that every citizen knew about the water riots of 1903 when the Red House was burnt down because an oppressive regime sought to further victimise ordinary citizens over the cost and supply of water. He also recalled that the Red House was the place where the British flag was lowered in 1962 and the national flag of Trinidad and Tobago hoisted in its place. It was also the place, he said, where a major assault on this country’s democracy was made in 1990 and a heroic Prime Minister was willing to lay down his life to protect that democracy.

Ramchand said if it was true that the legislature was to be ousted and the Red House to become the Office of the Prime Minister then one of the main arguments for Constitution Reform — the arrogance and overwhelming powers of the executive — had been demonstrated to the whole nation. Saying that he was sure that every creed and race in this society would oppose  this move, Ramchand asked, “how can you remove the legislature from the Red House and make the building the office of one man. Prime Ministers come and go? Parliament and the legislature go on forever. I hope the country notices that this decision was taken by the Cabinet/executive without consulting the people or bringing the matter to Paliament. We have a Parliament. There is no excuse for ruling by Cabinet fiat.”