Joseph Brewster, a trustee at the TT Secondary Schools Track and Field Association (TTSSTFA) said, “We must understand that the Trinidad and Tobago National Track and Field Championships really and truly is a springboard into the future for many of these athletes. We have athletes who came through that system. Rondell Sorillo, Keshorn Walcott, Renny Quow and Michelle- Lee Ahye all came through that system.” President of the TTSSTFA, Philip Allard, encouraged the public to support the young athletes in person or by tuning into Sportsmax. Allard said, “We look forward to the nation being glued to Sportsmax, we look forward to people actually taking the day off on Thursday and Friday next week. Take your day off and come to look at our young athletes as they go for glory.” Brian Lewis, president of the TT Olympic Committee is hoping the annual meet reaches the heights as its equivalent in Jamaica.

“The number one school track and field games in the region is undoubtedly Boys and Girls Champs (in Jamaica) and there is nothing wrong in saying that. It means that’s the benchmark that we have to strive too.” Shelly Slater, a curriculum officer at the Ministry of Education said, “The vision of the Ministry of Education is to ensure the development of all of our nation’s children. It is through participation in physical education and sport that we see the development of these students physically and academically as well.”

The man has been identified as 38-year-old Pascall Roberts, a former student of Fatima College.

According to police sources, Roberts endured a traumatic experience during his time as a police officer, and his mental condition deteriorated, until he ended up on the streets.

Newsday attempted to speak with relatives of the former policeman, but they refused to give any information.

“I don’t have to justify him to anyone. I knew who he was, so I don’t have to say anything about him. Let people think what they want” said a relative yesterday.

Police sources told Newsday yesterday that the former officer was involved in a situation in Piarco several years ago, where a grenade was thrown into a police vehicle.

After the incident, police said he became mentally unstable. He lost his job as an officer, fell on hard times, and resorted to petty theft to maintain himself. Newsday understands that he had several matters in court for petty theft.

According to a source, the referees took the decision at the annual general meeting of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association held at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, on April 9.

And they have sent a copy of that decision to Trinidad and Tobago Football Association general secretary Justin Latapy-George.

Now they have decided not to offer their services to leagues and associations under the umbrella of the TT FA for the 2017 season which is due to kick off with the TT Pro League early next month.

Speaking to Newsday yesterday, Latapy-George said he did receive correspondence from the Referees Association and is currently seeking to quantify the monies owed before addressing the matter.

“I would have asked our head of the referees department to engage them (Referees Association) to determine what is the magnitude of that debt before we can determine any plan of action moving forward,” he said.

It is understood the referees are owed over $200,000 for match fees and travelling expenses.

The referees at their AGM viewed the non-payment of fees with grave concern and believe it shows a great disrespect to the officials.

In a strongly worded letter to the TT FA, the referees body indicated that the leagues and associations under their purview continue to request and receive service from the referees without honouring their responsibility to pay for such service promptly or within the agreed time frame.

The TT FRA stated that as a consequence, this practice results in individual referees suffering out of pocket loss which has become a burden of financially supporting football activity above and beyond officiating the match.

Newsday spoke with an OAS Oilfield Workers Trade Union shop steward, who asked to remain anonymous, who said workers, many of whom have yet to find employment since losing their jobs, were called out to collect cheques after a year of negotiations between the OWTU and the National Infrastructure Development Company (NIDCO) following the latter’s firing of OAS, for abandoning construction of the now stalled Point Fortin highway.

NIDCO chairman Herbert George told Newsday that although workers were not contracted for labour by NIDCO, the company took upon itself the responsibility of offering some redress to workers.

“When OAS left, they left quite a few creditors, some of whom have sought redress in the courts for equipment and so on,” George said. “But workers have no such way of getting similar redress.” Herbert said the OWTU sought redress for 909 workers and NIDCO agreed to pay them 100 percent of their severance packages and 50 percent fringe benefits owed by OAS.

Workers were asked to present IOUs given to them by OAS detailing the money owed by the company and NIDCO checked it against copies of the IOUs which OAS luckily left behind.

Herbert said the payment represented only around 35 percent of the money owed to workers, however.

They are still owed backpay for salary increments not paid over five years, vacation, and salaries for two fortnights.

Asked whether workers could expect to be paid the remaining money, George said NIDCO has a duty to complete the construction of the highway using whatever money remained for the project since OAS’ departure. If the cost of the highway’s completion turns out to be less than the contracted amount, the difference would be used to offer further redress to workers.

This initiative – the Atlantic Good Governance and Accountability Programme – is a joint initiative between Atlantic and Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI).

Camille Salandy, Atlantic’s Head of Sustainability and Corporate Communications, explained that the participating NGOs are all partners with Atlantic on the company’s various Sustainability initiatives that target youth development through sport or capacity building at the community and national level.

“Atlantic wanted to increase the already significant impact that these NGOs are making on the children who participate in our sustainability programmes and there is an established link between good governance and good performance,” Salandy said. “Over an 8-month period, the Atlantic Good Governance and Accountability Programme will evaluate and upgrade the governance policies and processes of our NGO partners. They will be assisted through guided self-assessment exercises; special workshops on governance and accountability; and then through post-assessment interventions using the expertise of TTTI.” Dion Abdool, Chair, Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI), said that the Institute’s partnership with Atlantic was part of the organization’s wider aim to build good governance policy and practice in the public and private sectors and also in civil society organizations.

Abdool said that TTTI recently hosted an initial workshop on Accountable Governance, Financial Management, Human Resource Management and Accountable Programmes for these NGO partners of Atlantic. “The NGOs were exposed to the Accountability Tools – seventeen elements which comprise the Civil Society Accountability Toolkit, a framework developed by TTTI in collaboration with the Commonwealth Foundation.”

At the close of day one on April 8 against Merry Boys at the Wilson Road Recreation Ground in Penal, Clarke Road, replying to Merry Boys’ 1st innings total of 152, closed on 167 for six with Ottley unbeaten on 47. Earlier in the innings Adrian Ali struck 73, while Amir Khan grabbed three for 46 for Merry Boys.

Batting first, Merry Boys were indebted to Mario Belcon who top scored with 63. Bowling for Clarke Road, Ahkeel Mollon was the chief destroyer, taking 6/50.

In other matches continuing today, Tableland will play Jailal Enterprise Victoria at Barrackpore West Secondary, Powergen and Central Sports will face off at Invaders Ground in Felicity, and defending champions Queen’s Park will battle Alescon Comets at Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair.

FIRST DAY SCOR ES: TABLELAND SC 133 (Brent Harriot 35, Al Small 33, Farrell Jugmohan 3/33) vs VICTOR IA SC 220/4 (Andre Bryce 61 not out, Keron Kanhai 52, Al Small 2/38).

POWERGEN SC 183 all out (44.5 overs) (Nicholas Sookdeosingh 41, Gibran Mohammed 41, Vedesh Sookhai 24, Jeron Maniram 22, Jovan Ali 21; Shazan Babwah 5/84) vs CENTRAL SPORTS 132 (35.3 overs) (Gajanand Singh 54, Jahron Alfred 22, Rakesh Maharaj 20; Kavesh Kantasingh 7/69).

QUEEN’S PARK 380/8 (89.2 overs) (Daron Cruickshank 127, Justin Guillen 72, Nicholas Alexis 59; Vikash Mohan 4/65) vs ALESCON COMETS .

MERRY BOYS 152 (41.4 overs) (Mario Belcon 63, Jeetendra Sookdeo 29; Ahkeel Mollon 6/50, Jyd Goolie 3/28) vs FIRST CITIZENS CLARKE RO AD 167/6 (42 overs) (Adrian Ali 73, Yannick Ottley 47 not out; Amir Khan 3/46, Aniel Kanhai 2/40).

Bravo, who has not played for West Indies since he was sent home from Zimbabwe in November 2016 following his criticism of board president, Dave Cameron, is claiming lost earnings of around US$120,000 based upon what he could have made from ODIs against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, BPL and PSL contracts, and regional Caribbean competitions.

The claim has come as a surprise to officials at WICB who believed they were on the verge of a reconciliation with Bravo. They are also surprised at the suggestion he was prevented from playing in the BPL or PSL as no application for an NOC (no objection certificate) was made ahead of either tournament and, when Bravo did apply for such a certificate ahead of the IPL, it was granted immediately.

“It is true that Darren has initiated legal action against us,” WICB chief executive Johnny Grave told ESP Ncricinfo. “It has come as a surprise as I was under the impression we had agreed a way back for him. I’m very disappointed and yes, a bit frustrated.” Grave believed he had made significant progress towards resolving the stand-off with Bravo.

Having inherited the disagreement when he was appointed at the start of this year, Grave gained agreement from Cameron over a partial apology to Bravo (the president is prepared to acknowledge he was wrong to suggest Bravo had ever received a Grade A contract from WICB).

He also thought he had agreed on the wording of an apology from Bravo to the president with Bravo’s legal advisors. Indeed, he was hoping news of Bravo’s reconciliation could be announced during the ODI series against England with a view to him playing in the Test series against Pakistan.

As things stand, though, Bravo’s tweet calling the president a “big idiot” has not been deleted and the apology has not been made public by Bravo. The launching of legal proceedings against the board on the eve of West Indies’ series against Pakistan suggest a conflict still exists.

“I just want what is best for West Indies cricket,” Grave said. “And having the best players available is part of that. Of course a player of Darren’s experience would be an asset. “I thought everything was agreed with his legal advisors. We didn’t want this to play out publicly but yes, it is true, his attorney is asking for damages and West Indies supporters deserve an explanation as to why he is not in the squad in Jamaica.

“There is still a lot of sympathy for Darren. He was frustrated at the time of that tweet and we understand that. We want to move on and we want to move on with him. But that issue does have to be resolved before he can play for West Indies.”

There will be matches in the Super League and the B Division, as seven fixtures have been carded for today, two for tomorrow and two on Monday.

Today’s action will start at 12.15 pm with Glamorgan meeting Police in the B Division (Women) followed by a trio of Super League (Women) games – Zenith versus Defence Force, West Side Dream Team versus University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) and West Side Stars versus Southern University (SUVA).

University of Southern Caribbean (USC) will then be involved in two B Division games, against West Side Trendsetters (Women) and Vishnu Boys College (Men), with Big SEPOS (South East Port of Spain) meeting Police in a Men’s B Division game.

Fixtures – Tomorrow – Men’s B Division: Zenith vs Central Warriors, 8 pm; Men’s Super League: Glamorgan vs SUVA Dream Team, 9.30 pm.

Monday – Men’s B Division: Glamorgan vs Police VC, 7.30 pm; Men’s Super League: Technocrats vs SUVA, 9 pm.

The group won the title on Easter Sunday in San Rafael.

Members of Los Amigos Cantadores, captained by former National Parang Association of Trinidad and Tobago (NPATT) president Neil Marcano, are no strangers to the parang circuit.

They sang Maria Magdalena by Henry Perrieira and a Gavilan Medley.

La Esperanza de Parranda, a fairly new band on the parang landscape, with no experience in national competitions, placed second. The band was captained by Kaychelle Padmore.

Competitors were required to sing one song on the resurrection or crucifixion of Jesus Christ and another song of their choice.

The competition was judged by Neville Mendoza, Dr Francisca Allard and Keith Simpson.

The Arima Boys RC and Girls RC Primary School Parang band, which placed fourth in the National Junior Parang Competition, were among the many who gave special performances on the night.

The Venezuelan Embassy was represented by Maria Nuitter, who performed a Burriquita De Choroni dance.

According to SRAPA members Kerry Ragoobarsingh and Anthony Solozano, the purpose of the event was to promote the preservation of the authentic parang sound.

“We are trying to preserve parang in it’s natural form.

Let it stay like this.

“We will enjoy the soca parang and chutney parang.

“But we want the traditional sound to stay,” said Solozano.

He said parang has deep roots in San Raphael and the first ever recorded parang song was done by a band called the Brazil Serenaders captained by Tommy Ribero.

“The last member of that band, Ernest Cummings died last year,” he said.

The event was hosted by SRAPA in collaboration with the San Rafael RC Church.

Results
1st: Los Amigos Cantadores
2nd: La Esperanza de Parranda
3rd: Los Antiguos Alumnos
4th: La Casa de Parranda
5th: Los Reyes de la Colina
6th: Mucho Baila
Best lead instrument: La Casa de Parranda – mandolin
Best cuatro: La Esperanza de Parranda
Best guitar: Los Reyes de la Colina
Best maracas: La Esperanza de Parranda
Best box bass: La Esperanza de Parranda
Best Lead Singer: Los Amigos Cantadores
Farouk Khan Challenge trophy: La Casa de Parranda
Youth award: La Esperanza de Parranda
Best Original Composition: Los Reyes de la Colina – Make yourself at home.

Webster, coming off his maiden first class century, struck 55 off 52 deliveries to guide QPCC One to 186 for six batting first. Justin Guillen, who shared in a 66-run opening partnership with Webster, pitched in with 35. Darren Deonarine (2/27) and Christopher Mitchell (2/40) snatched two wickets each for QPCC One.

In reply, schoolboys Dexter Sween and Kirstan Kallicharan had an unbroken 104-run sixth wicket partnership but could not get QPCC Two to victory.

Sween (54 not out) and Kallicharan (45 not out) took QPCC Two from 37/5 to 141/5 after 20 overs.

Spin bowler Akeal Hosein was the best bowler, taking 4/15 in four overs.

All other round one matches were played on Thursday. Round two bowls off on Tuesday.