The TT women defended their 164 total admirably, bowling out the Bajans for 143. It was a team effort. Well done, women.

Mr Minister of Sport, some sort of acknowledgement is vital, especially during these present times.

Maybe the women can give their male counterparts some pointers. Boy, do they need them.

They have proven that form is temporary but class is permanent.

AV RAMPERSAD Princes Town

We are told that the decision was made by the Sports Company (SPORTT ) in consultation with Lara, whatever that means.

However, the stadium is owned neither by SPORTT nor Lara.

It is owned by the taxpayers of TT and, hence, there should have been wider consultation in deciding a name for the stand.

Things like TV polls would have been useful in gauging public sentiment. I mean, not even the TT Cricket Board was consulted? In the words of that foxy son of the soil, that’s insulting.

One newspaper reported that the chairman of SPORTT said it was also one of the reasons (naming a stand after Tendulkar) that they were able to convince Tendulkar to attend the opening and play in the match carded for the opening. Sounds like a bribe to me, for a short-term gain that has no lasting benefit, at least not to the people of TT .

In any case, if Tendulkar needed a stand to come for the opening, it shows he has no real interest in this country, so why are we naming a stand after him? (But we may be doing him a disservice — he would have come anyway, and we are being told stories.) But, seriously, was that really the level of thinking that was brought to bear on this matter? Well, folks, it would be nice to have Tendulkar at the opening. How can we get him to come? We’ll name a stand after him. Brilliant! And foolish. But perhaps it was simpler. Lara just said he wanted a stand named after Tendulkar and SPORTT meekly complied? The bigger question is why would anyone, with any national pride, want to name a stand in a national facility after a foreigner? Let us agree that Tendulkar was a great batsman and a very likeable fellow; his presence would certainly add excitement to the opening. So it really is a pity that, due to some people’s short-sightedness, his name has become embroiled in a local controversy.

But national facilities, built with taxpayers’ money, must be named after national heroes, such as Lara.

Of course, if Lara had built the stadium with his own money, he could name any stand whatever he wanted, even the Kim Kardashian Stand, for all I care.

To get an idea of how the public felt, I asked at least a dozen people what they thought about naming a stand after Tendulkar.

Not a single person thought it was a good idea. Some were quite strong in their comments: We have no pride. We have no shame. Whoever decided that should be fired. Pure madness. We do not value our heroes. It’s an insult to our long line of distinguished cricketers. What happen to Ramadhin (Sonny) and Rangie Nanan? And other comments of that ilk.

It is clear that hardly anyone supports the idea of naming a stand after Tendulkar, not when there are so many deserving local heroes, and SPORTT / Lara must rescind that decision.

On a related note, when did the name change from Brian Lara Cricket Stadium to Brian Lara Cricket Academy? I thought this was a public stadium, merely named after one of the world’s best ever batsmen.

But one already gets the distinct impression that Lara is calling the shots, being led to believe that this facility is his to do with what he pleases, rather than one to be used for the public’s benefit. I sincerely hope this is a wrong impression but word on the ground makes me sceptical. Time will tell.

NOEL KALICHARAN via email

The evening was electrified as over 400 participants representing 10 Financial Institutions charged up Lady Chancellor Hill to establish who would be the ‘Champions of the Hill’ and to position themselves as well as their institutions for the final showdown at the Sevilla Golf Course on May 28 .

At the Sevilla Golf Course, the overall male and female champions, in both the running and walking series, will be decided, and which institution will take the prestigious Champions trophy for the overall winning team in the 26th edition of CariFin Games .

All four winners from the Green Mile (which was held at the Queen’s Park Savannah on April 19) retained their number one positions .

Jean-Paul Drakes earned the “King of the Hill” status by finishing first on the hill in a time of 13 minutes, 57 seconds to make it three in a row. Salina Scott of CBTT (Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago) enjoyed the hill and she secured a third victory in 17 minutes, 36 seconds to earn the “Queen of the Hill” title. She declared, “I love running hills, so even though it was hard I still enjoy the hill more.”

The NGC has already received conditional leave to approach the final appellate court, and the stay on the dismissal order will continue for the next six weeks when Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Justices of Appeal Prakash Moosai and Andre des Vignes will give their decision on NGC’s final leave application as well as the duration of the stay on the dismissal order.

Arguing for the status quo to be maintained, lead counsel for the NGC, Deborah Peake, SC, pleaded for the previously granted freeze orders to remain, said NGC stood to suffer irreparable substantial losses if SIS and its subsidiary company Rain Forests Resorts Limited (RFRL) were allowed to dispose of its assets which are also the subject of a $400 million- dollar arbitration claim over the Beetham Water Recycling Project.

She accused SIS and Rain Forests Resorts Limited (RFRL) of conducting sham transactions in relation to real estate assets (four mortgages and a debenture) to defraud creditors.

She said if the stay was removed, there was a real risk of SIS disposing of its assets and rendering the NGC’s appeal nugatory and academic.

“Property and heavy equipment can be dissipated quickly. There is a real risk SIS would dissipate its assets,” she argued.

Peake also dismissed claims by SIS and RFRL that it was suffering hardship because of the freezing order.

The NGC is seeking to have the Privy Council reinstate its high court claim for damages against SIS over breach of contract relating to the Beetham Water Recycling Project.

Both parties were seeking a resolution of the matter when the issue of the lapse of deadlines in accordance with the CPR rules came up.

Attorneys for RFRL and SIS, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj,SC, and Neal Bisnath, respectively, insisted there was no risk of either company getting rid of their assets.

Bisnath said for over a year after its high court claim was dismissed after the NGC failed to prosecute its claim against their clients an order has been in place freezing the companies’ assets. “As of today, an injunction continues a year after the matter was dismissed. What can be more unjust than that? It is affecting the company adversely,” Bisnath contended, adding that it was also ‘oppressive’ against his clients.

Maharaj further cautioned the judges against usurping the jurisdiction of the Privy Council by granting a stay until the determination of the matter in the London court.

In June, of last year, Justice Joan Charles ordered that the freezing order on the assets of Super Industrial Services Ltd (SIS) be continued, the National Gas Company (NGC).

On December 23 a court order was granted by the High Court in favour of the NGC against SIS which saw assets in the sum of US$180 million being frozen “until the determination of intended arbitration proceedings between NGC and SIS concerning the Beetham Water treatment Project.” Apart from the freeze remaining, the injunction restraining RFRL from disposing of properties mortgaged to it by SIS was also continued.

The NGC appealed and in a majority ruling, Justices of Appeal Rajendra Narine and Judith Jones in January had agreed with SIS’ contention that the judge was not actively managing the case when NGC failed to adhere to the rules in its prosecution of its claim against SIS and RFRL. As a result of their ruling, the NGC’s claim against the two companies was struck out.

Making this disclosure was TT CB CEO Suruj Ragoonath, during a welcome reception yesterday for the Red Force Divas who won the Women’s Regional Super50 competition.

The reception took place at the VIP Lounge, Piarco International Airport, and was staged less than 24 hours after TT defeated Barbados by 21 runs, at the Arnos Vale Recreation Ground in Kingstown, St Vincent, to retain their Super50 crown.

“We have a T20 Franchise (event) that is coming up,” said Ragoonath. “That, I think, is something that is going to be very exciting. It’s going to be historic in the region.” Ragoonath continued, “A women’s T20 Franchise Tournament, four teams in Trinidad and one East team which is already purchased by a very renowned West Indies cricketer.

I would not tell you who he is.

“We have three other teams – Central, South and North. So this tournament is going to be over a week (long). We are hoping Minister (of Sport Darryl Smith), that we can formalise that the final will be on May 19 at the Brian Lara (Academy) and that the (Sports) Ministry will get involved in a financial capacity, to make this thing very possible.” Ragoonath, the former TT and West Indies opening batsman, noted, “We have ladies coming from the West Indies women’s team who are outside of Trinidad and Tobago.

So we expect that in each of these four franchise teams that there would be, at least, two non-Trinidadians, who have already been spoken to.

“We’re going to have a pool.

We’re going to be drafting (from) the pool for each of the teams. So we intend to give it a regional flavour. To help in that aspect, we would need all hands on deck.” Smith, in his turn at the podium, pointed out, “I love the idea and it’s something that we’ll support. Hopefully that could mushroom into a regional tournament. It’s fantastic that Trinidad is being innovative enough to start that. Kudos to the Trinidad and Tobago Women’s Cricket (Association).” He admitted that financial support towards the TT WCA may not be all that they expect due to economical constraints but assured “we’re trying our best with the situation that we’re in.” Veteran TT captain Merissa Aguilleira spoke on the factors which drove the team to success in this year’s competition.

“I believed that we got a second chance to show the Barbados team that we came here to do something, and that was to be victorious,” she said, in relation to Barbados’ six-wicket victory over the Red Force Divas in their opening round match on April 19. “I believed in each one of the players. It was earned, it was well-deserved.

We trained hard, we quarrelled as a team, we did everything as a team, we prayed as a team.

And I always believed united we stand (and) divided we fall.

And we were united throughout.” Aguilleira heaped praises on the technical staff – coach Gerald Garcia, manager Marjorie Thomas and trainer Wayne Samuel, who were key factors in the team’s triumph.

Also speaking at the function was Jocelyn Francois-Opadeyi, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Women’s Cricket Association (TT WCA).

The event is geared towards singles who share a passion and common interest in leading an active, healthy lifestyle. It caters to two distinct age groups, 18-35 and 33-50.

There is a 8 am morning event for 33-50 year-olds and a 2 pm – 6 pm event for people 18-35 year-old.

Speed dating is a formalised matchmaking/dating process. Love Sweat and Reps participants will move through a circuit of 32 activities including 24 physical and eight mental challenges, meeting a different potential match at every new station in the circuit. The challenges will encourage teamwork while creating an easy-going setting to chat and interact.

Love Sweat and Reps will start with an aerobics warm-up and end with a mixer. Come alone, leave with connections, friends and, possibly, love interests. Vist Passion Fruit Events on Facebook or Instagram for more information.

She says they are not adequately provided for in public places and at private functions. She is also calling for greater emphasis to be placed on the needs of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder and for the formulation of national policies on education and in other areas of national development.

This, she said, will ensure that all citizens are able to contribute to this country’s sustainable development regardless of their abilities.

Carmona was speaking at the opening of a regional workshop on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the Hyatt Regency, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain.

The workshop was organised by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the local office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Carmona suggested that the participants encourage leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to declare a caribbean decade for disabled people to run from 2018 to 2028 which, she said, would inspire action to bring the differently abled fully into Caribbean society.

She urged presenters and participants to deal with the issue of reporting, remarking that for too long there had been a lag in the submission of national reports to the various human rights committees and that the reports are used as one of the ways of measuring the national implementation of the obligations under the various human rights treaties. She said what she called “reporting fatigue” might be due to the absence of comprehensive data which is often an important part of the reporting mechanism.

“There must be proper data and properly directed data collecting in the Caribbean. Data informs policy, effective planning, transformational initiatives, holistic philosophies and the necessary human activism.” Minister of Social Development and Family Services Cherrie-Ann Critchlow-Cockburn said since June 2015, when this country ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the ministry made efforts to meet the obligations under the convention.

She said a critical part of this obligation was the revision of the draft National Policy on Persons with Disabilities which, she said, was intended as a framework for the government’s mandate in supporting the initiative. Critchlow- Cockburn said the ministry plans, very soon, to hold a series of consultations to finalise the revised draft policy.

She said while a lot is being done, much more needs to be done both here and in the other countries which were represented at the meeting. Critchlow- Cockburn said her ministry is committed to working closely with the UNDP to protect the rights of those with disabilities.

Richard Blewitt, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for TT, told Newsday many people with disabilities have “tremendous assets and capacities” to offer society. He expects that all government officials at the conference would be inspired to take up their responsibilities to follow up and report, on a timely basis, the progress they have made in their countries in ratifying the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

He said while many Caribbean countries had ratified the convention, reporting on their work was an important part of the process because it was about accountability and transparency.

The opening ceremony, which included a parade and knockout competition, signals a vibrant start to this year’s proceedings. LLPOSNL president, Debbie Ann Francois, in welcoming the teams on parade, encouraged the players and officials to strengthen the country’s most successful team sport and longest established netball league and build on last season’s success.

Trinidad and Tobago Netball Association (TT NA) Assistant Secretary Allyson Ashby, before officially declaring the LLPOSNL open, highlighted some of the netball tournaments scheduled for 2017 and urged supporters to continue to rally around the sport.

Newcomers Tamana Young Warriors won the parade followed by Mucurapo Ex-Pupils and Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service in second and third place respectively.

The protective services teams also held down first and second spot in the flag competition with Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service placing in that order. Mucurapo Ex-Pupils won best queen on parade. The Intermediate Division Knockout Competition was won by Transcend from a field of 11 teams.

Official competition starts next Wednesday at 5pm at the Jean Pierre Complex with a Divisional Knockout Competition.

The League has three Divisions including Kiwis (developmental), Intermediate and First Division.

On the occasion of World Tuna Day, which is observed today, the Ministry said it is prudent for a coastal State like TT with waters under its sovereignty potentially more than 15 times its land mass, to pay attention to conservation and management of its living marine resources.

World Tuna Day is a day dedicated by the United Nations to raise awareness of the value of tuna resources, the threats facing tuna populations and the social and economic benefits to be gained by sustainably managing the stocks.

The major commercial fleets of Trinidad and Tobago’s tuna fishery are the pelagic longline fleet that is based mainly in Trinidad – these larger- scale, semi-industrial vessels fish farther out and even on the High Seas – and the small-scale artisanal fleets (pirogues) of both islands which catch tuna in the coastal waters.

Overall, these fleets total around 2,000 vessels of which over 95% are pirogues. Over the past five years (2012 to 2016) the longline fleet has landed over 7,000 tonnes of yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna and albacore, with yellowfin tuna making up 90 percent of these landings.

The fleet benefits from a lucrative export market in the US; 88 percent of the landings over the five-year period were exported there with an estimated ex-vessel value of just over US$30M.

Over the same fiveyear period greater than 837 tonnes of the three species were sold locally at an estimated ex-vessel value exceeding TT$5.6M. Other tuna species such as skipjack tuna, blackfin tuna, frigate tuna, Atlantic bonito and little tunny are also very important to the local economy.

There are operations in every ocean and the fisheries in some regions are growing in capacity. Commercial tuna fisheries are among the most lucrative fisheries globally.

A 2016 study carried out for the PEW Charitable Trusts found that in 2012 the Atlantic Ocean catches of the major tuna species (yellowfin tuna, skipjack tuna, bigeye tuna, bluefin tuna and albacore) were about 478 000 tonnes with an ex-vessel (first sale) value of US$1.36 billion.

These figures amount to a little over 10% of the global catches of these tuna species and 11% of their global ex-vessel value.

More than being highly appreciated as food fish, tunas are also admired as predators in terms of their size, speed and power. As such, they also support important recreational fisheries in tropical and temperate waters worldwide. Owing to the high value of tunas for food and sport, several species have been overfished globally, some to greater extents than others.

Resulting from the need to conserve tuna resources worldwide, and considering the distributions and migratory nature of the various populations, tuna fisheries are managed by inter-governmental organisations called regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) whose jurisdictions are confined to specific ocean bodies.

There was no stopping Thong in the Under-11 boys round robin as he easily defeated the other three boys in the division.

Thong outlasted Anthony Allum 11-5, 11-3, 11-1, defeated Nicholas Lequay 11-1, 11-1, 11-2 and cruised past Alec Mendes 11-0, 11-0, 11-0 to win the title.

In the Under-13 boys division, Thong got past Jaheem Alfred 11-0, 11- 5, 11-6 to win group B.

Facing group A winner Scott-Michael Shaw in the final, Thong prevailed with an 11-3, 11-4, 11-2 victory.

Claiming round rob in titles were Sigourney Williams and Aimee De Verteuil. Williams won both her matches in the Under-13 girls category, while De Verteuil won all three of her matches to snatch the Under-15 girls title.

Also snatching crowns were Christopher Anthony (Under-15 boys), Chloe Walcott (Under-17 girls), Kobie Khan (Under- 17 boys), Alexandria Yearwood (Under-19 girls) and Nicholas Caddle (Under-19 boys).

HONOUR ROLL: Under-11 Boys – 1 Seth Thong, 2 Anthony Allum

Under-13 Girls – 1 Sigourney Williams, 2 Nicola de Verteuil

Under-13 Boys – 1 Seth Thong, 2 Scott Michael Shaw

Under-15 Girls – 1 Aimee de Verteuil, 2 Chloe Walcott

Under 15 Boys – 1 Christopher Anthony, 2 Joshua Poon

Under 17 Girls – 1 Chloe Walcott, 2 Jinan Al Rawi

Under 17 Boys – 1 Kobie Khan, 2 Christopher Anthony

Under 19 Girls – 1 Alexandria Yearwood, 2 Marie Claire Barcant

Under 19 Boys – 1 Nicholas Caddle, 2 Jonathan Blanc.