N Touch

Govt moving to curb fireworks

Prime Minister Patrick Manning said yesterday that Government is moving to curb the use of fireworks in Trinidad and Tobago.

Referring to the incident at the Machel Montano Alternative Concept fete in which a firework display sparked a fire and injured patrons, Manning noted: “That was bound to come. In fact within recent times, there has been an escalation in the use of fireworks which is incidentally against the law. The incident of this weekend has brought that starkly into focus and I can assure you that we are going to look into it. It has to be curbed.”
Pressed as to how soon action would be taken, Manning said he didn’t want to be precipitate. In response to a question, he said he could not say if people would be charged as a result of last weekend’s incident, since “I don’t charge anybody.”

Manning was speaking to reporters following the opening of the 2003 Tribology Conference at the Trinidad Hilton. In reference to the incident of violence at the Ministry of Education’s school Soca Storm, Manning was asked whether Government condoned school children going to these concerts, the Prime Minister was vague. Soca was part of our culture, he said. Asked whether school children should be allowed to attend unsupervised, Manning was cautious. “Perhaps you may say (that there was) inadequate supervision,” he said.

Manning said one of the things the Ministry of Education had done from yesterday morning was to put a School Supervisor in all the schools.
“Those schools which they have identified (as high-risk), they (the Supervisors) have gone into those schools to ensure that things are done in the school in the way they should be,” he said. He declined to be more specific, saying that he did not want to be accused of casting aspertions on anyone. He said Government was responding to the situation and that supervision is  one of the important elements in the matter. Asked whether it was time to consider putting scanners in schools, Manning said the experts say that this is a last resort and that he has not yet reached that stage (where it is advisable). “Was he happy with the performance of Education Minister? “The answer is yes,” the Prime Minister said.

Kenya upset mighty Lankans

JOHANNESBURG: Kenya remained the upset kings of World Cup cricket by outplaying unbeaten group leader Sri Lanka by 53 runs yesterday while Australia sailed relentlessly on to the second round.

Seven years after shocking West Indies by 73 runs in India, Steve Tikolo’s men bowled 1996 champion Sri Lanka out for 157 in front of their own fans at the Gymkhana Club in Nairobi after scoring 210 for nine. Legspin bowler Collins Obuya took five for 24 after his brother, Kennedy Otieno, had top scored with 60. “Initially I thought we were 30-40 runs short,” Tikolo said. “But again the bowlers came and did the job for us with some excellent fielding. I think (Obuya) bowled the spell of his life today to win the match for us.” With 12 points and a match against Bangladesh to come, cricket minnows Kenya now have a chance of reaching the Super Six second round, expected to be the domain of the powerhouse teams. The result meant that Sri Lanka lost their unbeaten record at the top of Group “B” while Australia made it four wins in a row in Group “A” by outplaying Zimbabwe by seven wickets amid tight security in Bulawayo.

The Aussies, who only flew into the country on Sunday, were accompanied by a strong military guard because of threats to disrupt the match from those opposed to the government of President Robert Mugabe. The England players decided not travel and forfeited their match for security reasons. Apart from a peaceful protest by a group of Christian church leaders, who held up a banner, the match passed off without incident. Zimbabwe threatened an upset with its highest World Cup score of 246 against the Aussies but Ricky Ponting’s team reached 248 for three with Adam Gilchrist (61 runs), Darren Lehmann (56 not out) and Damien Martyn (50 not out) all scoring half centuries. The fact that their victory came in Nairobi made it even more special for the Kenyans. Because New Zealand decided not to travel to the country fearing a repeat of November’s terrorist attack on a Mombasa hotel which killed 15, yesterday’s match was the only World Cup match that Tikolo’s men hosted. Opener Otieno hit 60 as the Kenyans defied the Sri Lankan bowlers and reached their highest score of the championship despite four for 28 by star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and three for 41 by leftarm seamer Chaminda Vaas.

It should have been an easy target for the Sri Lankans who had won their first three matches against New Zealand, Bangladesh and Canada with ease. But their powerful batting lineup tumbled to the legspin of 21-year-old Obuya, who took five for 24, a national record in a one-day fixture. Only Aravinda de Silva made anything like a score with 41 before he became a victim of the brothers —- caught wicketkeeper Otieno, bowled spinner Obuya. “It was one of the worst matches I ever played in, I think,” said Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya. The World Cup returns to South Africa today with just one match, Pakistan desperate to score an easy victory over the Netherlands, to maintain any chance of making it to the second round.


 

Indians romp to victory

Led by a blistering unbeaten 89 from Connor Williams, India “A” scored an emphatic six-wicket victory over Trinidad and Tobago in the fourth round of the Carib Beer Series regional cricket  tournament at Wilson Road, Penal, yesterday.

Scores: TT 262 & 181 vs India “A” 215 & 231/4. Resuming on the strong overnight position of 117 for the loss one wicket, needing 228 to win, India received an early setback with the loss of Goutam Gambhir for 67 with the score at 124. He was caught behind off the bowling of Marlon Black. Seven runs later the handful of spectators was cheering as Black sent back skipper VVS Laxman for four. The Indian Test player was bowled with his team still 97 runs short of their target. Ambati Rayudu joined Williams and they pushed TT out of the match with a 44-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Pacer Ravi Rampaul removed Rayudu with the score at 175 for 29 but there was no stopping the Indians on the day. Abijeet Kale, with an unbeaten 34, and Williams who struck 89, took their team to 231 for four wickets just after the lunch break to seal the 12 points awarded for an outright victory. Williams batted for 292 minutes, faced 180 balls and struck nine fours. Black was the pick of the local bowlers with three wickets for 66 runs. The home team will hope to get their campaign back on trail with a victory against Barbados in their fifth round clash at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown this weekend. Indian skipper Laxman said yesterday he was very happy to get the first win in the tournament. “We were down a bit in the first part of the match but came back very nicely to win this one.  “As the tour has progressed we have played better and better cricket. We now look forward to the remainder of matches with greater confidence,” Laxman said.

Harper to quit as coach after World Cup

Roger Harper’s career as coach of the West Indies cricket team will come to an end when the World Cup comes to a close on March 23.

The 39-year-old Guyanese, who got a three year contract to take over from Viv Richards in March 2000, declined to apply for an extension and will pursue a job that does not require nonstop travel, sources told CaribbeanCricket. com. The West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) executive committee had asked Harper to consider staying on through the two home series this year — against Australia and Sri Lanka — but the former all-rounder also turned that down. “His contract ends after the World Cup and that’s it. He wants to be close to his family (in Guyana),” the source said.

Harper, who took 46 wickets (avg 28.06) in 25 Tests for the West Indies, landed the job in controversial circumstances in 2000 when the incumbent Viv Richards was passed over. His hiring prompted angry protests at the WICB headquarters in Antigua and many around the Caribbean, including top level administrators within the WICB, groused about his methods. He was also embroiled in a very public feud with manager Ricky Skerritt who questioned his tactics in e-mails that were subsequently leaked to a section of the media.

Rain halts frenetic Bajan run chase

GEORGETOWN: The fourth round Carib Beer Series regional cricket match between Guyana and Barbados ended in tense draw at the Albion Community Centre Ground yesterday after rain had sliced just over three hours out of the final day’s play.

When play ended in darkness at 5.49 pm, tournament leaders Barbados, chasing a victory target of 138, were 121 for eight, with just two of the 15 mandatory overs completed and Dwayne Smith (12 not out) and Suleiman Benn (2 not out), accepting the light offered by the umpires after a their team’s frenetic run-chase became risky.

Leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo who almost gave Guyana an unlikely come-from-behind victory, finished with five for 40 from 13 overs while fast medium bowler Rayon Griffith, who made the initial breakthrough, took two for 56, also in 13. Guyana were earlier dismissed for 247 after resuming on 242 for nine. Barbados will oppose second placed Trinidad and Tobago in a top-of-the-table clash at the Kensington Oval, Barbados while Guyana clash with Jamaica at Bourda.

Leewards beat Windwards easily

ROSEAU: The Leeward Islands defeated the Windward Islands by six wickets for an outright victory on the final day of their fourth-round Carib Beer Series regional cricket match yesterday.

Scores: Leewards 385 and 93 for 4 vs Windwards 180 and 297. Resuming on their overnight score of 226 for six wickets, the Windwards quickly lost Romel Currency, who failed to add to his overnight score of 79. Needing only 93 for victory, the Leeward Islands accomplished the feat losing four wickets in the process. Leewards captain Stuart Williams was named “Man of the Match” for his first innings score of 158. Adam Sanford added a noteworthy performance for the Windwards, taking a haul of 10 wickets in the match for 105. The Leeward Islands secured the full 12 points as they move on to play West Indies “B” in Montserrat on Friday in the next round of the eight-team tournament. The Windward Islands host India “A” in St Lucia.

Fire in the party

THE SAFETY of patrons who attend mega-fetes must become a matter of top priority by the organisers and owners of the venues in which these crowded parties are held. What makes this issue so vital is not only the violence and robberies that have marred a number of these events but also the follow-fashion use of fireworks to provide a special-effects background to these proceedings.

We do not need a more scary lesson to bring this home to us than what happened on Sunday morning at Machel Montano’s Alternative Concept fete at MOBS2, Chaguaramas, when fireworks, instead of shooting into the sky, arched into the crowd injuring a number of patrons. One of them, 24-year-old Marissa Lewis, who was standing about ten feet from the stage, was struck in her face. Several other persons are reported to have sustained burns about the body. When placed in the context of last Friday’s tragedy at the West Warwick, Rhode Island night club in which some 95 persons perished and more than 180 injured when a fire, caused by a pyrotechnic display, razed the wooden building, the fireworks at MOBS2 must be taken as a serious warning.

It is a futile exercise, of course, to bewail the overpowering influence of American pop culture on us; it is a tidal wave that swamps us quite willingly. But still, if local fete promoters and performers feel they too must imitate the Americans and have fireworks and pyrotechnics at their shows and performances, then they must do everything possible to ensure the safety of their paying customers. In the wake of the Rhode Island tragedy, the issue of patron protection and permission to use pyrotechnics at such events have become the subject of a major dispute in the US and it seems to us that the Police authorities in TT should now be looking very closely at this matter in light of the Chaguaramas incident. In the first place, who are the people conducting these fireworks displays? Are they experienced and licensed pyrotechnicians? What kind of fireworks are they using? How dangerous can these lighted explosions be to a nearby crowd of people either in the open or in the confines of a night club? In any case, we believe they should not only obtain the permission of the Police authorities to conduct such special-effects displays at fetes and parties but also the approval of owners of the premises in which these events are taking place.

Our country can hardly be proud or even satisfied about its public safety standards, so it is time to place this issue high on our agenda. It seems fortunate, for example, that a more serious incident did not take place at Friday’s Schools’ Soca Storm held at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya. The “storm” blew  a massive crowd of schoolchildren into the Centre to a Ministry event that was poorly organised. If frightens us to think what could have happened if the problems which developed at the entrance had led to a stampede of children. In any case, the point made by TTUTA president Trevor Oliver about this show should be well taken. The format, he says, is inappropriate for children, since it facilitates “cavalier, wild and outlandish behaviour among students.” The “soca storm”, he notes, creates a disruption and fosters indiscipline at a time when there is urgent need to maintain discipline in our schools. The mixture of indiscipline, soca music and a huge crowd of schoolchildren does not strike us as making for safety.

The Caroni issue






Salman Rushdie described the connectivity between the land and the Indian best when he wrote “Land, home, belonging: to Indians these words have always felt more than ordinarily potent.

India is a continent of deeply rooted peoples. Indians don’t just own the ground beneath their feet; it owns them, too.” (“The Age In Idi Amin’s footsteps: Fiji’s racist dilemma”, June 10 2000). It is therefore no wonder that the recent Caroni crisis will have land at its heart along with the employment of the employees. The heart of Caroni (1975) Ltd has not stopped beating yet the economic vultures have already begun to circle the carcass of the company, its assets and its employees. The H Credit Union in true scavenger style, made the first bid on the ailing body of the Caroni (1975) Ltd. At a recent meeting (20/2/03 widely reported by the media) on the state of Caroni with various trade unions the President of the Credit Union, Harry Harrinarine, openly declared an intention to acquire the land resources of Caroni.

Feigning concern about the company, Harrinarine spoke on the company’s prized asset — its lands — insisting that the Government “must not be allowed” to turn it over to “private conglomerates”. Harrinarine in arrogant ‘boldfacedness’ went further to assert that “we ourselves will resist attempts by the Government to place Caroni (assets) in the hands of private conglomerates” and went on to state that thousands of Caroni workers were credit union members and therefore he felt the credit union was “entitled” to the first call on any plan the Government had for the company. Harrinarine declared, “We must make a bold demand to be considered for the sale of any Caroni assets.”

These are serious statements made by the president of the credit union that require an appropriate response. It is very obvious that the president of the credit union continues to feel that indentureship still exists in Trinidad and Tobago and as a result his actions are akin to that of the arrogance of a sugar cane farmer. The Maha Sabha questions Mr Keith Maharaj, the Supervisor of Credit Unions in the Ministry of Finance and Minister in the Ministry of Finance Senator Conrad Enill on this issue.

Can the President of any credit union make such an assertion without getting the approval from shareholders at an annual general meeting or does this credit union operate with its own rules? It also has to be asked is there anything that separates the conglomerate status of the credit union from that of the established and other conglomerates in the nation?  Will the interest of Caroni or indeed that of its employees be served by the credit union rather than other business venture? Is the fact that there is some degree of overlap between the members of the credit union and the employees of Caroni enough of a reason for the president to make a “bold demand” for the assets of Caroni? 

In the last general election the PNM got over 20,000 votes in the Sugar Belt, while over 100,000 votes and indeed members of the Opposition UNC come from the sugar heartland. The Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha has a relationship spanning over 157 years with the sugar industry and many of the workers of Caroni are Hindus, attend mandirs owned by the SDMS, and their children perhaps also attend schools operated by the SDMS.

The involvement of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) in the direction on the evolution of the sugar industry and in particular Caroni (1975) Ltd is directly linked to the creation of the SDMS and its 157 year old Hindu bond to the industry. In fact so strong is this bond that when the sugar industry was in crisis in February 1989 at the SDMS headquarters the organisation held an all day consultation entitled “The Future of Caroni”.

Coming out of the conference was a publication that examined the national land distribution programmes and outlined the SDMS position for the use of Caroni lands. Therefore the present crisis at Caroni has engaged the fullest attention of the SDMS. The territory under the direct influence of Caroni has several dozen temples, many schools, and the residence of many thousands of Hindus. Caroni (1975) Ltd also directly and indirectly employs thousands of Hindus, so the SDMS as the legitimate Hindu voice, is deeply concerned with the plans to re-structure the company by the government.

Similarly the Presbyterian, Catholic, and Muslim, communities also respectively have a significant historical and current presence in the area. Yet neither the Maha Sabha, the UNC, the PNM, nor any of these other bodies have made a similar ‘bold demand’ for the lands of Caroni. Instead all responsible bodies have focused on the plight of the worker rather than enriching themselves at the expense of the Caroni worker.
While the leaders of the sugar union movement have correctly indicated concern about the Government’s plan to use some of the lands of Caroni for ‘housing’ and ‘light industries’ but there however appears to be no concern whatsoever when a credit union has declared that its demands are the prized assets of the company merely because some employees are also credit union members.  Have the sugar bosses accepted the credit union’s bid or do they accept the credit union position?

Recently the propaganda arm of the credit union hosted the Minister of Agriculture on its morning radio talk-show programme to discuss the burning Caroni issue. What was instructive to many listeners was that the programme for perhaps the first time did not allow listeners to call-in and directly question the Minister as is the norm. Why was the Minister essentially protected? Speculation is rife that there is some sort of alliance and that Caroni lands is the price paid. The credit union that is attempting to feed on the carcass of Caroni (1975) Ltd must not be allowed to sink its claws into its assets.

Call for ban on Canadian visa restrictions

The Editor:  For his edification, you should revisit your files to remind Mr Khem Harrinarine of the facts surrounding the imposition of Canadian visa restrictions on Trinidad and Tobago citizens.  In his piece Newsday 5th February entitled “End visa ban on travel to Canada” he described my revelations as “ridiculous”.

If Mr Harrinarine was around at the time, surely he must remember how this visa restrictions matter began. Hulsie Bhaggan had called an impromptu press conference held on a street in her constituency, where she declared that Afro men were attacking Indian Muslim women in St Helena, Cunupia, Piarco and other parts of her constituency. Ms Bhaggan gave no evidence to support her claims that these crimes were being committed by African men.

Soon enough, Indian districts had barricaded themselves and formed vigilante groups.
Some went as far as to put up racist signs.  Things heated up almost to boiling point until one of the vigilantes was shot to death with his own shotgun at an improvised roadblock. They were preventing an Afro Trinidadian from going to his home and an argument ensued, resulting in this death.  The police intervened thereafter and sanity returned to the land. In the wake of this, some Indian Trinidad-ians domiciled in Canada, declared a policy to solve the “problem”; create an Indian  homeland south of the Caroni river called “Indesh”. Following this development, all blacks and non-Indians were to be deported to areas north of the Caroni river.  They also proposed that meanwhile the Canadian government should offer Indo-Trinidadians refugee status.  This was the lynchpin for the wave of refugee applicants. The Cana-dians did not impose a blanket visa restriction on the global community they imposed them on Trinidad and Tobago in 1988; the direct result of our stupidity.

These are the facts Mr Harrinarine. Perhaps you were not in Trinidad at the time or maybe were too young to remember. As for Mr Sahadeo Basdeo the then foreign affairs minister, he was accused of requesting visa restrictions from the Canadians. He never admitted or denied these claims; however up to the time the NAR went out of office he  was lobbying the Canadians to remove the restrictions. He was not successful.  These are the facts Mr Harrinarine. I agree with you that as a prosperous country as Trinidad and Tobago the visa restriction should be lifted.

McDonald James Couva

What is an American?

THE EDITOR: You probably missed it in the rush of news following 9/11/01, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper there an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American. So I just thought I would write to let them know what an American is, so they would know when they found one.

An American is English…or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Austra-lian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan. An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them choose. An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognises the God-given right of each man and woman to the pursuit of happiness. An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan. An American does not have to obey the mad ravings of ignorant, ungodly, cruel, old men. American men will not be fooled into giving up their lives to kill innocent people, so that these foolish old men may hold on to power. American women are free to show their beautiful faces to the world, as each of them choose. An American is free to criticise his government’s officials when they are wrong, in his or her own opinion. Then he is free to replace them, by majority vote. Americans welcome people from all lands, all cultures, all religions, because they are not afraid. They are not afraid that their history, their religion, their beliefs, will be overrun, or forgotten. That is because they know they are free to hold to their religion, their beliefs, their history as each of them choose.

And just as Americans welcome all, they enjoy the best that everyone has to bring, from all over the world. The best science, the best technology, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes. Americans welcome the best, but they also welcome the least. The nation symbol of America welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America. Many of them were working in the twin towers on the morning of September 11, earning a better life for their families. So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo and Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world. But in doing so you would just be killing yourself.

Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place.
They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere is an American. So look around you. You may find more Americans in your land than you thought were there. One day they will rise up and overthrow the old, ignorant, tired tyrants that trouble too many lands. Then those lands too will join the community of free and prosperous nations. And Americans will welcome them.

PETER FERRARA
Associate Professor of Law
George Mason University School of Law
USA