For the ninth time in 35 months, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has made changes to his government (January 27, 2016, February 1, 2016, March 17, 2016, October 31, 2016, June 29, 2017, July 2, 2017, April 9, 2018, April 10, 2018, and August 6, 2018). This time he made a major reshuffle by reassigning Edmund Dillon as Minister of National Security to become Minister of Housing and Urban Development and replaced him with Stuart Young who retained his portfolios of Minister of Communications and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, while vacating his other junior ministerial posting of Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs.

These changes came on the heels of the Prime Minister moving the motion to approve the presidential notification in the House of Representatives on July 30 for Gary Griffith to become Commissioner of Police. It would appear now that the Prime Minister has put his core national security team in place.

It is quite possible that the Prime Minister asked that the party line whip be lifted for the vote in the House on July 30 because he detected that there was division in the ranks of his MPs over the Griffith notification. Every PNM MP who was present, and voted, supported Griffith.

Whether moving Dillon from Knox Street to South Quay will be the answer to the Government’s problems on crime together with the departure of Stephen Williams from Sackville Street and his replacement there by Gary Griffith, we have to wait and see. There is still uncertainty (at the time of writing) about when Griffith will actually assume duties as the substantive Commissioner of Police. Stuart Young has already started his tour of duty as Minister of National Security based on official photographs released in the media.

So why did Prime Minister Rowley move against one of his most trusted Cabinet ministers in favour of another trusted Cabinet minister in a midnight reshuffle? That will remain a mystery for the general public however, Dillon has had to put a brave face on his reassignment based on the tone of the media interviews that he has given.

At the final PNM campaign rally in September 2015, Rowley promised the population that his government would hit the ground running from day one on the issue of crime. He had two brigadiers and a former assistant commissioner of police among his slate of candidates so there was every reason to believe that the PNM had the wherewithal to launch a credible attack against the crime epidemic in the country.

No one really expected, during the heat of the election, that 35 months later that one brigadier would be a backbencher, the other would be tending to the affairs of the nation’s housing stock, and the former assistant commissioner of police would be a Parliamentary Secretary in National Security.

On January 27, 2016, Rowley appointed the Foreign Affairs Minister, Dennis Moses, as a junior minister in National Security in addition to his duties as Foreign Minister. On February 1, 2016, Rowley added Glenda Jennings-Smith as Parliamentary Secretary in National Security. It was obvious he wanted to address the crime problem seriously however, the strategy has failed to date. On July 18 instant, the National Crime Plan was launched by Dillon and now he is no longer there to oversee it.

With two years to go before a general election, it is clear that Rowley is making a final roll of the dice to see if he can get it right in the fight against crime. Perhaps, the best clue to whether these changes are being welcomed internally in the PNM will come this week when people who are interested in standing for office in the internal elections of the party can declare their candidacies.

The PNM internal elections have been shifted from September 16 to September 30, so there is now a longer campaign period. Will there be challengers across the board or will there be unchallenged positions in a majority of cases?

The removal of Dillon from National Security and the replacement with Stuart Young has completed a shift of power in the Government and party towards a Young/Al-Rawi/Imbert axis of dominance.

Doing the reshuffle just after midnight on Sunday and immediately going on vacation on Monday meant that Rowley did not really want to talk about it. Why?

Mr Justice Mann opined that the press overstepped the mark when it reported a story on the existence of a police investigation which, at that time, was yet to result in a charge. A beleaguered Sir Cliff Richard OBE wept at the Royal Courts of Justice on July 18, 2018, when the judgment was delivered. Unbeknownst to Sir Cliff, he was the subject of an investigation in 2014 while he was still assiduously pursuing his artistic career.

The rummage of his home on August 14, 2014, by police was given wide currency, first on the BBC, and then swiftly on tabloids worldwide, and on tablets and smart phones across the World Wide Web. The devastation was instantaneous and ubiquitous. Sir Cliff claimed that both the BBC and the police violated his rights both in privacy and under the Data Protection Act, 1998. His claims were substantial because his life folded and his finances crumbled.

Two years deeper inside the agony, a remorseful police force recanted. In June 2016, they announced that no charges could be brought against Sir Cliff.

In May 2017, the police accepted liability, apologised, and made a statement in open court and paid Sir Cliff £400,000 in damages and agreed to pay his costs and paid £300,000 on account of that costs liability. But the BBC resisted.

Justice Mann adjured that a citizen has a reasonable expectation of privacy in relation to an investigation that is yet to result in a charge and, as such, the right to privacy trumped public interest.

The judgment speared the British media tradition of factually reporting details of pre-charge investigations. The boundaries of British media law have been redrawn. Mr Justice Mann ruled against the BBC. Sir Cliff Richard was awarded £210,000 in damages; £190,000 in damages with a further £20,000 in aggravated damages for the BBC’s decision to nominate the story for the Royal Television Society’s ‘scoop of the year award’.

The threads of every email from 2014 to 2018, tweet, text, and WhatsApp message riddled with black humour unravelled like a hand knotted Bukhara rug during the proceedings. Justice Mann noted that, while a reporter may not be a dishonest person, they seem capable of letting their enthusiasm get the better of them in pursuit of a story and twist matters to create a mosaic that could only be described as dishonest and permeated with tropes that arouse and excite the public.

Human rights simultaneously claim to protect both freedom of expression and the right to privacy. The privacy issues surrounding Sir Cliff’s case are not unlike those under consideration by a UK parliamentary committee inquiring into the democratic crisis created by big data and the targeting of pernicious views.

The committee has been examining the impact of online disinformation on political campaigning—and on ways to build resilience against misinformation into the UK’s democratic systems. The committee considered evidence on Russian state-sponsored attempts to influence elections in the US and the UK, of the efforts of private companies to do the same, and of breaches by Leave Campaign groups in the UK’s EU Referendum and their use of social media.

This inquiry is happening in the midst of exposures about the extent of disinformation and social media data misuse and allegations of election fiddling and law bending which have oozed like dense dark mud in the Devil’s Woodyard, around the 2016 US presidential election.

Exposés about the cottage industry of fake news purveyors that have spun up to feed US voters, in addition to Kremlin troll farm activity and the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data misuse saga with its widespread privacy violations are all drooling.

Sir Cliff was exposed to trolling posts. He was trapped in his own home. He felt despair and hopelessness leading at times to physical collapse. He could not face his friends and family—or even his future. His life’s work was ripped apart and the adverse publicity on the internet and newspapers removed his status as a respected citizen.

This is why the parliamentary committee is seeking to harmonize the hymn book for all online advertisements and messages with those in use for published leaflets, circulars, and advertisements as it relates to political campaigning and privacy protection in the UK. Proximity does not matter any more.

Sir Cliff was on holiday in Portugal when the story broke. The lengths of distances are not obstacles any longer. Contiguity of cause and effect has decayed. Stories travel without itineraries, barriers or border control. Balancing the right to privacy with the competing right to freedom of expression remains contextual and cultural.

Dr Fazal Ali

Anyone who did not believe in Superman and was at the Queen’s Park Oval on Friday night, would be doubting themselves, as the man nicknamed Andre ‘Superman’ Russell played the best ever T20 innings to take his team the Jamaica Tallawahs to a dramatic come-from-behind four-wicket victory over reigning champions Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) in a thriller on Friday night, the third night of competition in the 2018 CPL Tournament.

Shah Rukh Khan travelled 14,459km to see one of his very own players put tears in his eyes, as T20 star Russell who plays for Khan’s other team the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League plundered an astonishing, unbeaten hundred and also grabbed a hat-trick, to literally steal the show and the game away from the TKR players and fans.

The moon acted up in his favour around the last over the TKR innings, when he captured a rare hattrick, as TKR made what they thought would have been a winning total of 223/6 in their 20 overs. He then entered the red arena with his team tottering to score an amazing unbeaten 121 off 49 balls to leave everyone stunned at the Mecca of local cricket.

Muhammad Ali Khan then ripped out the top order of the Tallawahs and had them reeling on 41/5 – game over. Well, 18,000 T&T fans would have thought so but Russell had other ideas. Dropped off his very first ball by Ali Khan – a difficult running catch, the Jamaican made the locals pay. He murdered the bowling and the only one that was spared was Ali Khan who ended with 3/24.

While the fans were dancing and celebrating prematurely as they sense victory around the corner, Russell and Kennar Lewis had other ideas and the pair began rebuilding the team’s response. Russell was brutal, while Lewis who muscled a few to the boundary was more calculated. The TKR found Russell impossible to bowl too and they were mere spectators as white balls kept flying over their heads.

Russell coming into the game with the fastest ever century at the CPL, 42 balls against the same opposition in 2016, went two balls better – striking his second ton off 40 balls. Russell’s record-breaking feat included the most sixes ever struck in an innings in the CPL, 13, beating the previous record of 11 held by Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis. He was also involved in a world record stand for the sixth wicket with Lewis. Their stand of 161 bettered the previous best for the sixth wicket of 126 held by Calum MacLeod and John Hastings for Durham against Northern in the Natwest Blast of 2014.

Captain Dwayne Bravo came under assault from Russell in the 13th over, giving up 22 runs and seamer Javon Searles saw 18 runs come from his opening over – 16th of the innings – as Russell and Lewis combined to take him apart.

Lewis played a hand not to be underestimated and fell 22 runs before the victory was formalised. He ended with 51 runs off 35 balls with four fours and two sixes.

The game was still in the balance with 53 runs required from the last 24 balls but Russell took 20 from the 17th over bowled by Dwayne Bravo and 17 came from the next from Fawad, even though Lewis perished after striking four fours and two sixes off 35 balls.

By then, Tallwahs needed just 16 from the last two overs and Russell put the game to bed in the final over when he cleared the ropes at long-on with Narine.

Earlier, Colin Munro continued his splendid form with the bat, to lead the TKR to 223/6 off their 20 overs. The left-hander followed up his half-century against the St. Lucia Stars in the opening match with 61 scored off 42 balls with five fours and three sixes. Australian Chris Lynn joined the party with a hard hit 46 off 27 balls with four fours and three sixes. They left another man from Down Under took over as Brendon McCullum smoked 56 off 27 balls with five fours and four sixes. Darren Bravo also looked in good touch with 29 off 16 balls with two fours and two sixes.

Last night the TKR were due to battle the St. Kitts/Nevis Patriots in their third match weather permitting

Scoreboard

TKR vs Tallawahs
3rd match
TKR Innings
S Narine c Powell b Wasim 7
C Lynn c Russell b Santokie 46
C Munro c Taylor b Zampa 61
B McCullum c Powell b Russell 56
DM Bravo b Russell 29
J Searles not out 6
D Ramdin c McCarthy b Russell 0
DJ Bravo not out 0
Extras (lb4, w13, nb1) 18
TOTAL (6 wkts, 20 overs) 223
Did not bat: Fawad Ahmed,
Ali Khan, S Gabriel
Fall of wickets: 1-10,
2-108, 3-130, 4-216,
5-216, 6-216.
Bowling
Santokie 4-0-41-1 (w4),
Wasim 4-0-23-1 (w2),
Roach 4-0-64-0 (w2m nb1),
Russell 3-0-38-3,
Zampa 4-0-35-1 (w1),
Powell 1-0-18-1.
Tallawahs Innings
G Phillips c Ahmed b Ali Khan 6
J Charles lbw b Ahmed 24
A McCarthy c Lynn b Ali Khan 0
R Taylor lbw b Ali Khan 1
R Powell b Gabriel 1
K Lewis c Searles b Ahmed 52
A Russell not out 121
I Wasim not out 3
Extras (lb2, w6, nb4) 12
TOTAL (6 wkts, 19.3 overs) 225
Did not bat: K Roach, K Santokie, A Zampa
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-7, 3-15, 4-16, 5-41, 6-202.
Bowling
Ali Khan 4-0-24-3 (w3, nb1),
Gabriel 3-0-28-1 (nb2),
DJ Bravo 4-0-60-0,
Fawad Ahmed 4-0-46-2 (w1),
Narine 3.3-0-42-0 (nb1),
Searles 1-0-18-0 (w2).
Result: Tallawahs won by six wickets.
Man-of-the-Match: Andre Russell.
Toss: Tallawahs.
Umpires: L Reifer, S George; TV – J Wilson.

Pauseforacoors was stopped in her beaver-trick tracks when the John Leatuad trained Rocket Wheels made virtually all the running to run out an impressive win by one and a half lengths in the Arima Race Club feature event yesterday at Santa Rosa Park, Arima.

With the John O’Brien trained Pauseforacoors installed as the 1-5 favourite, Rocket Wheels landed a good touch for her connection as she cruised home at odds of 10/1 with favourite Pauseforacoors adrift in second with Golden Bid in third.

From the off Ronald Ali sent Rocket Wheels straight to front but she was challenged for the lead by Golden Choice with Pauseforacoors tracking and going well in third.

At the far turn, Rocket Wheels and Golden Choice were locked in battle and Kerron Khelawan sent Pauseforacoors closer to the battling leaders.

At the corner, Rocket Wheels was asked to go win her race and she quickened up nicely as Golden Choice came under pressure from the challenge with Pauseforacoors cruising into second. However, with 200 metres left to race Rocket

Wheels went into another gear and would not come back, and try as the favourite did, there was no stopping and catching Rocket Wheels on the day.

Golden Choice held on for third with Desert Dancer running on for fourth.

The time of the event was a good 1:05.20.

The day’s leading rider was Naim Samaroo who rode two winners in Sunset Clouds and Musical Score.

The Alcons Soccer Academy, the oldest soccer academy in T&T is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its existence. This well-known organisation has gained its popularity for creating the brilliant platform and future for over two thousand sportsmen, mostly soccer players, by conducting the strongest form of soccer education, which resulted in hundreds of Soccer scholarships granted to the students of this institution. The organisation has also produced some finest national team players over the years.

However, this year’s camp will be the 48th edition and it will take place at UTT Valsayn Campus grounds from tomorrow and run until August 17th and then from August 20th to 24th starting at 9.00 am each day and ending at 3.00pm.

The participants will be provided with football education and exquisite exposure through the tutoring of the Alvin Corneal, a former Fifa and national coach. He’s also a former FIFA coaching Instructor to coaches and students from across the world.

His partner will be the current Technical Director of the TTFA, Anton Corneal, and a number of trained coaches will also be present to share their knowledge and experience. The regular campers register annually of the past will attend for a nominal fee as they always have over the years.

As has always been the case of the Alcons, their organisation has been offering to the youngsters who attend their academy free tuition for their everyday attendance in the St. Joseph Training Ground.

Their more recent gesture has been to offer free attendance to community kids who may be unable to afford to pay for the exposure of the great game.

The communities within the vicinity of the eastern region are offered an amount of 30 kids to attend with an entry of first come first served, either by calling 468-9114, 682-5346, or 714-3141, or dropping by the venue at 8.00 am sharp on the morning of the first day of camp.

Balls will be available for use while water, beverages and snacks will be supplied by two of the camps’ generous supporting companies of Malta Carib Alcons, Kiss Baking Co. Ltd. and Spike.

The invitation is our effort to engender the enthusiasm, unearth the natural talent which may be available and hopefully, improve the quality of football for the national teams of the future. Girls are also included.

There will be prizes for the best of the lot

While the 1972 Munich Games were marred by the attacks and kidnapping of the Isreali Olympic Team by Palestinian terrorists within the Olympic village, the XX Olympiad also marked the last time that T&T participated in road cycling at the quadrennial competition. The quartet of Clive Saney, Anthony Sellier, Pat Gillineau and Vernon Stauble competed in the Road Race, however, since then T&T’s road participation has been all but deserted.

Leslie Rawlins, Gene Samuel, Maxwell Cheeseman and Njisane Phillip have all proudly flown the red, white and black around the banked velodrome since ’72 but the dust has been left to gather an appreciable heap on the road. This has not been due to a lack of attempts since names such as Richard Dickie and Emile Abraham immediately come to mind as those who would have creditably tried to break this drought in the past, albeit unsuccessful for their respective reasons.

The qualification for track cycling at Tokyo2020, the 12th edition of the Olympic Games since our last participation in road cycling, starts in just under a month for the Americas and the process spans a year and a half. The recent success of our track cycling program in Colombia has expectedly enticed our hopes for a yet another qualification. It is this hope that has fostered T&T’s appetite for this form of the sport.

However, Teniel Campbell has decided to defy this natural attraction and penchant for track cycling even after snatching three bronze medals on the velodrome at the recently concluded Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games.

Instead, the 2018 CAC Games Road gold medallist has squarely lined up the Road Race at Tokyo2020 in her cross-hairs.

Dubbed the “Caribbean Cycling Queen”, you can always find Teniel with her smile on her face. If she does not have one then the odds are that she was unhappy with her performance in a race regardless of the podium outcome. Photo credit: UCI/WCC

To bolster this decision, six (6) months into her high-performance stint at the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland and the PSL cyclist has been gifted with the opportunity to ride with Cogeas-Mettler Professional Cycling Team.

Teniel will compete for the Russian based outfit for the remainder of the world calendar season until December 31st. Though this is a non-paid position in its initial phase, she will still gain UCI World Calendar points and will make her the first ever female T&T cyclist to ride with a pro cycling team. This achievement in itself is a reward for her top 10 placings in two stages of the Women’s Tour of Thailand and the SPAR Flanders Diamond Tour in Belgium earlier this year.

The Women’s Road Olympic qualification differs to that of the track and takes place over one year from October 2018. The top 22 countries in the UCI World Nation Ranking at the end of the period will receive their respective quotas.

That criterion presents itself as a steep incline on the road to Tokyo with Campbell being the only T&T representative competing in World Calendar events. The disadvantageous nature of the criterion stems from the fact that Nations will

have up to eight cyclists receiving points towards their Nation ranking.

In local parlance, this will be similar to climbing through Parlatuvier on ‘big plate’.

There are caveats however in the Olympic criteria that present opportunities for a single cyclist’s qualification. Based on Plain Sports, Bad Manners’ analysis, these are the two most likely pathways to secure the long-awaited nod:

If Teniel finishes the 2019 UCI World Individual Rankings in the top 100, she will automatically qualify Trinidad & Tobago a spot on the Road regardless of T&T’s UCI World Nation Ranking.

Or, if Teniel finishes higher than any other non-qualified nation through the UCI World Rankings at the 2019 Elite Pan American Road Cycling Championships (location to be announced), she will automatically qualify Trinidad & Tobago a spot on the Road.

Speaking recently in an interview with the World Cycling Centre, the 3x Caribbean Women’s Road Champion was buoyant and excited to start her new adventure with the Russian pro team. The decision to go against the grain was a well thought through a process with her coaches both in Switzerland and back home in T&T as Campbell has an eagerness to continuously make history. While she admitted her love for the track and her inkling to return to same for Paris2024, her eyes are set on what needs to be done.

I don’t want to choose between the two. It is possible to do both – a lot of pro women do. Why not the road in Tokyo and track in Paris in 2024? Anything is possible.

If she is successful in her bid, not only would she break an almost half of a century dry spell for road cycling but will also be the first ever female T&T cyclist to compete at the prestigious competition.

Trailblazers often view the roads to success differently. They not only see the challenging task ahead but are able to carve a way through the doubters’ roadblocks. Trinidad and Tobago stand 100% behind Teniel Campbell on her quest to make history and clearing the path that others will follow.

GARY ACOSTA
Cycling Analysis
“Certifications in nothing related to sports with an opinion on everything”
(Plain Sports, Bad Manners—@garyleeacosta)

Dozens of fans came out for a final view of their favourite boats at the Chevron Great Race Boat Show at Pier2 Chaguaramas yesterday, before Saturday’s running of the 2018 edition of the T&T International Great Race event from Trinidad to Tobago.

For this year’s 50th anniversary of the event, three international participants, including Lucas Oil from the United States, will be coming to contest the 130mph ‘A’ Class, where T&T’s top racers such as Mr Solo Too, the event’s defending champion, Paramount, Motul Monster, Jumbie, Ironman and Cat Killer will compete.

The race which is now sanctioned by the world governing body for the sport—the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM), will feature a standardised course that will take participants out of the gulf and straight to Scarborough for the finish, a challenging 95-mile drive.

As part of its effort to improve services for differently-abled students, the Ministry of Education recently completed a two-week sign-language exercise for 22 members of the Student Support Services Division.

Officials said it was part of a wider initiative aimed at increasing the sign language proficiency of officers and coincided with the ministry’s thrust to cater specifically for students with special needs.

Ten special education teachers recently participated in the Certificate in Teacher Orientation and Professional Development for Education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Learners offered by the University of the West Indies in collaboration with Gallaudet University.

The programme took place from July 9 - 14 at the Cascade School for the Deaf courtesy the T&T Association for the Hearing Impaired. The Ministry, through its School Supervision and Management Division, oversees the Cascade School for the Deaf and the Audrey Jeffers School For The Deaf in Marabella.

Additionally, deaf and hard of hearing students in mainstream schools benefit from the provision of teachers of the deaf and interpreter assistants at El Dorado West and East Secondary Schools, South East Port of Spain, and Marabella South Secondary.

Applications are currently being short-listed for the employment of additional interpreter assistants in preparation for the new academic year.

The power of co-operation and friendship was highlighted yesterday when the Thai Consulate hosted a thanksgiving ceremony to celebrate the success of the international rescue mission for 12 young boys and their football coach from a cave in northern Thailand last month.

Speaking at the event at the consulate in Belmont, Honorary Consul Joan Wilson said the operation was made a success through the involvement of several countries. She thanked the countries whose nationals participated.

“Their active participation in the rescue mission is testimony to the remarkable strength of international friendship, co-operation and teamwork,” she said.

“One of the striking aspects of rescue was the way it brought the international community together as everyone pushed aside their differences and worked for a shared common goal and with a spirit of common humanity.”

Wilson said 10,000 people participated, including 2,000 soldiers and 200 divers and representatives from 100 government agencies.

As part of yesterday’s ceremony, Wilson lit 13 candles in tribute to those who participated, including former Royal Thai Navy Seal Petty Officer First Class Saman Kuna, who died while assisting in the 18-day operation.

In brief remarks, British High Commissioner Tim Stew said the operation showed the power of selfless acts of quiet bravery.

“It is the definition of bravery to put the lives of others before your own,” he said as he noted that his country’s prime minister had personally thanked members of the British Cave Rescue Council that participated. Charge d’Affaires of the United States Embassy John McIntyre said the US Pacific Command sent a search and rescue team to assist. McIntyre said he was amazed by the boys’ will to survive and the dedication of the volunteers to risk their lives for strangers.

Quoting legendary US actor John Wayne, he added: “Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.”

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Caricom Tedwin Herbert delivered remarks on behalf of the T&T Government.

On 23 June, 12 boys went exploring in Thailand’s Chiang Rai province with their football coach and ended up trapped deep inside a flooded cave.

Efforts to locate the group were hampered by rising water levels and strong currents, and no contact was made for more than a week. The rescue effort expanded into a massive operation amid intense worldwide public interest. On 2 July, after advancing through narrow passages and muddy waters, British divers John Volanthen and Richard Stanton found the group alive on an elevated rock about 4 kilometres from the cave mouth. Between July 8 and 10 all of the boys and their coach were rescued from the cave by an international team.

Police are investigating murders in Arima, Blanchisseuse and Laventille between Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

At Tecoma Boulevard in La Horquetta, Arima, at around 6.45 pm on Friday evening, Ariel Thomas, 30, was in the gallery of his home when an intruder jumped the front wall.

The man shot Thomas several times in the head and chest. He was taken to the Arima District Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Less than 12 hours later, homicide detectives were summoned to the scene of a stabbing at a beach house in Blanchisseuse.

According to reports, the incident occurred at around 6 am. Garfield Pickering, 47, the caretaker for the beachhouse, was arguing with a group of men when they reportedly drew knives and stabbed him several times. He died on the way to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. The suspects were in custody up to late yesterday.

The latest incident took place at Mango Alley, Laventille, at around 4 pm on Saturday afternoon. Residents reported hearing gunshots and found 36-year-old Anthon Cox lying at the side of the road with several gunshot wounds. He died on the scene.

These murders and the death of a victim from a shooting in D’Abadie last week, raised the murder toll for the year to 336.

In that incident, Alika Scipio, Timmy Rangopaul, Tremaine Paul and 15-year-old Karimah Abdullah were shot while driving along Boy’s Lane in D’Abadie, at around 8 pm on Wednesday night.

Scipio, 25, of Laventille and Rangopaul, 25, a PH taxi driver from Oropune Gardens, Piarco, died at the scene.

Paul, 19, of Maloney Gardens and the teenager from St Anns were taken to hospital for treatment. Paul succumbed to his injuries on Saturday morning. Abdullah remains warded in hospital. No arrests have been made in connection with the now triple murder. Investigations are continuing.

Political activist Devant Maharaj has written to Australia’s Attorney General Christian Porter calling for an investigation into T&T’s planned AU$100 million purchase of two new Coast Guard vessels from Austal.

Maharaj revealed the correspondence yesterday during a press conference at the law chambers of attorney and maritime law expert Nyree Alphonso in Port-of-Spain. He said the complaint, which was also forwarded to that country’s Opposition Leader and transparency institute, centres around the absence of proper procurement procedures for a contract signed by the T&T Government with the Australian shipbuilder.

The contract was signed in July when Austal representatives came to T&T following a visit by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and a Government delegation to its headquarters earlier this year. The proposed deal is to be financed through a loan arrangement with the T&T Government.

“The Australian Government supports ethical business practices and the prosecution of those who engage in illegal practices, your office has a responsibility not only to the people of Australia but also to that of T&T to ensure that this $100 million deal was conducted in conformity with international best procurement practices,” Maharaj wrote.

Porter has acknowledged receipt of the correspondence, which was sent, last Thursday, but has not responded substantively.

Maharaj said he first became concerned when he noticed that the deal was struck without the input of government technocrats or officials from the Coast Guard.

“I ask the question if the Australian PM had visited T&T and decided to buy $100 million in pan, without any sort of expert advice, would the Australian people and Parliament be as equally as accepting as we in Trinidad have been?” he asked.

Alphonso, who has been critical of Government’s handling of the procurement of vessels for the inter-island ferry service, also raised concerns about the deal with Austal. She noted that T&T had a relationship with the company dating back to 2009 when Government ordered six patrol vessels for the Coast Guard.

“Within months of the vessels arriving here, many of them were not operational or badly operational,” she said.

Alphonso claimed the vessels had design flaws which made them unsuitable for rough seas like those between Trinidad and Tobago.

She produced a report from the New South Wales Police Force which showed that it had experienced similar issues with the Austal patrol vessels in its fleet.

In addition with the suitability of the vessels, Alphonso noted that Austal does not have a large presence in the western hemisphere.

“We are buying two Cape class 58-foot vessels and I cannot find a single country in the world who have purchased one of those vessels. Isn’t that interesting?” Alphonso said.

Noting that Austal and fellow Australian manufacturer INCAT were the only producers of fast ferries in the world, Alphonso said Government should consider the latter as the T&T Spirit and Express and other leased ferries were all produced by the latter.

“Their aesthetics value tends to be greater than an INCAT vessel, but when you are looking for a vessel to give 15 to 20 years service, I don’t think aesthetics is what you are looking for,” Alphonso said.

In a series of tweets over the weekend, Finance Minister Colm Imbert hailed the success of the Government’s $4 billion National Investment Fund (NIF) which he said had been oversubscribed by more than 50 per cent. The offer period for the bond ended on Thursday.

In one of the three messages via his Twitter account, Imbert wrote: “Overwhelming vote of confidence from the public in the NIF Bonds. Congratulations to all who worked on putting together the NIF prospectus; on the market research; on the advertising and marketing campaign; on the investor outreach programme. Largest single bond offer in T&T ever.”

In another he stated: “NIF Bonds offer oversubscribed by over 50 per cent. As per prospectus, priority will be given to individuals.”

This was followed by another tweet: “$4B NIF bond issue has been very successful. All targets have been met. Special thanks to the hard working teams at the MOF, FCB, EY.”

Notification of allotments is expected on August 30, and refunds will be given on September 3. The bonds will be listed on the T&T Stock Exchange from September 4.

Because they have been oversubscribed, individual investors will be given priority and everyone else will receive a pro-rated allotment.

The bond issue was rated as investment grade quality with a high level of creditworthiness by regional rating agency Caribbean Information and Credit Ratings Services Ltd (Caricris). It was available from July 12 priced at $1,000 per unit and comprises assets transferred to the Government from CL Financial (CLF) and its subsidiaries.

Government issued the high interest tax-free bonds to recover funds owed from its $23 billion bailout of Clico after the insurance giant’s 2009 collapse.

The bonds were available in three tranche: five years (4.5 per cent), 12 years (5.7 per cent) and 20 years (6.6 per cent )

Labour leaders must be like politicians, seeking members’ interests only when they need them. That was the advice from Dr Andre Vincent Henry, director, Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies, at a forum on Social Protection hosted at the school’s Valsayn campus.

“It cannot just be about every three years you do a collective labour agreement. I will submit to you that some trade unionists are like that, every three years they come to mobilise you to protest for a collective labour agreement,” he said.

Henry said trade unions must go beyond collective bargaining into broader issues that affect the modern worker.

“Non-standard employment is going to become more and more the norm in the Caribbean. We need to be thinking how to organise workers who are engaged in non-standard forms of employment. This affects employment security and it affects earnings. Workers in non-standard arrangements tend to have limited control over when they work and how many hours they work.”

He also warned of a global job crisis where there will be insufficient jobs for the next generation, noting an international trend of “weakening and dismantling of labour laws.”

“There is wage despair, workers are worried about rising inequality, family incomes are in crisis and minimum wages are insufficient to lead a decent life. There is a failure on the part of governments in addressing these crises, ” Henry said.

Job creation results in more robust and inclusive poverty reducing growth, he said, adding that there is proof that the economies of developing countries which invested in creating quality jobs grew faster and there were lower levels of income inequality.

“A foreign direct investment approach that seeks to portray the jurisdiction as low wage, is in a sense, shooting yourself in the foot,” he said.

Michael Annisette, general secretary of the National Trade Union Centre, encouraged workers at the forum to move away from past stereotypes that they are only able to sell their labour, while the “one per cent” that owns big businesses are the ones influencing important pieces of legislation.
“Workers must also own businesses and have a voice at the highest political levels, he said.

Even in death, the debate rages on about the often strained relationship Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul had with the country of his birth. Indeed, his mockery of the people of this country, particularly fellow Indo-Trinidadians, was an underlying theme of many of his successful novels, notably The Mystic Masseur.

But, literary giant that he was, even with what was seen by many as his contempt for the people of his own country, Sir Vidia’s literary successes, crowned by his Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001, brought glory to T&T. This nation was effusive in celebrating his achievements, conferring T&T’s highest award, the Trinity Cross in 1989.

Born in 1932, the second child of Droapatie Capildeo and Seepersad Naipaul, Sir Vidia was the older brother of another successful T&T writer, the late Shiva Naipaul. Writing, it seems, was a family passion and pursuit. His father began contributing articles to the Trinidad Guardian in 1929 and later joined the staff of this newspaper as the Chaguanas correspondent.

After graduating from the prestigious Queen’s Royal College, Sir Vidia won a Government scholarship that allowed him to study at any institution of higher learning in the British Commonwealth. He chose Oxford University and left Trinidad to attend pursue his studies there in 1950. He subsequently settled in England.

His writings over the next six decades showed his constant search for identity across English and Caribbean cultures. An obituary by the BBC yesterday describes Sir Vidia as “a great writer of the English sentence; a master stylist and story-teller with a cold, clear eye for the ironies, tragedies and sufferings of mankind.” It is an apt description of a man who, although he often seemed to want to distance himself from his native land, never managed to completely sever that connection.

Indeed, this nation was the setting for his early novels, providing a colourful backdrop of places and people against which he began his exploration of his personal alienation, highlighting through his characters their struggle with native and Western-colonial heritages.

The honours bestowed on Sir Vidia over the decades were well deserved. He was knighted in 1990 and in addition to the Nobel Prize, was awarded the Booker Prize (1971), the Jerusalem Prize (1983) and the David Cohen British Literature Prize given by the Arts Council of England (1993). In addition, he was the first of three Caribbean Nobel laureates to be honoured by UWI. In 1994, Sir Vidia was elected a Companion of Literature by his fellow Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature.

In his writings and even in his personal interaction with others, Sir Vidia was capable of eliciting strong feelings, both positive and negative. Still, his is a legacy that will be celebated and studied for years to come.

The news that Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad “Vidia” Naipaul has died leaves a void that supersedes the realm of literature. As our only Nobel Laureate to date, Naipaul’s creative voice encapsulated the colonial and postcolonial experience which extended beyond the Caribbean and his generation.

Naipaul’s 2001 Nobel Prize was the ultimate, and most appropriate, recognition of his global voice which was the formality to establishing his aesthetic as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Yet, for all his achievements which shone the spotlight on him for several decades, Naipaul’s life and his works will always be shrouded in a degree of mystery.

Belonging to both Trinidad and India, Naipaul’s complicated and complex origins compelled him to be sympathetically obscure and exceedingly pessimistic, summed up in his 1964 travelogue Area of Darkness which, though focused on the disillusionment of him travelling to India, resonates with the Trinidadian reader for the striking similarities between the postcolonial experiences of both countries.

Much more than this, he embodied the postcolonial ambivalence that seemed to necessarily come with belonging to a former colony.

This ambivalence polarised the critical reception of Naipaul’s literary ethos which was met with admiration and indignation in the same breath. This was the enigma of VS Naipaul, highlighted by his personality long before his 1987 novel The Enigma of Arrival. But his enigmatic personality actually belonged to all of us.

“I am the sum of my books” Naipaul said, in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. In fact, we are all the sum of his books. When Naipaul put himself into each of his books, he also implicated us in the characters and their stories. For who could forget the carpenter Popo of Miguel Street (1959). Popo was forever building ‘the thing without a name’, a poignant phrase that stuck in the postcolonial imagination of Trinidad and Tobago because at the end of the novel Popo never actually finishes anything he makes.

It is reinforced by another character, the poet Black Wordsworth, who also cannot finish his poem past the first line. Miguel Street was the earliest indication of the cultural mimicry and colonial disillusionment which would become a trademark of Naipaul’s literary oeuvre. This trademark was magnified in Mimic Men (1967) which, written and published on the heels of TT independence, was a scathing perspective on the paralysing effect of a copied political ideology.

The list of iconic characters that Naipaul crafted is exhaustive. But what is most significant is that they each added unique dimensions to our post/colonial experience.

Naipaul’s creative mind held up a mirror to ourselves and forced us to look, as any good piece of literature should do. We are all Popo—trying to build something, or Ralph Singh—giving up innovation in favour of mimicry. Politics is regarded as no less deceptive as it was portrayed in The Suffrage of Elvira (1958). Neither is entrepreneurship which, characterised by Ganesh in The Mystic Masseur (1957), relies on the theme of mimicry and deception to portray his dubious attempts at economic gain. But no other character is as prominent as Mohun Biswas. A House for Mr Biswas (1961) became a worldwide classic and literary staple of Trinidad and Tobago owed in large part to the everyman Mohun Biswas who was inspired by Naipaul’s father.

We are all a bit of Mr Biswas searching for something to call our own. The inevitable misfortunes of Mr Biswas resonates with readers because of the universal theme of striving for success in an unforgiving world.

But Mr Biswas also stood for the rise of the modern nation-state which in being postcolonial, attempted to establish its independence. In this regard, Biswas’ constant failures were representative of the postcolonial nation which was tasked with the responsibility of finding its own place in the world.

Naipaul’s perspective is no less relevant today than it was at the time of his writing which pre-dated Trinidad and Tobago independence and spanned more than a half-century. The death of this larger-than-life writer compels us to critically examine ourselves and how far we have come, and how far we still have to go.

He gave us more than a literary tradition to be proud of. By putting himself and his experiences of growing up in Trinidad into his books he also captured elements of our own character. His unashamed slant made us uncomfortable with ourselves.

As the adage goes, the truth really does hurt. Thus, Naipaul will forever remain enigmatic which is a testament to his perpetual relevance to our postcolonial state of mind. For this reason, in spite of his death, his legacy will live on.

JARREL DE MATA
 

Reigning national 200 metres champion Kyle Greaux captured the men’s 200 metres gold medal when he stopped the clock at 20.11 seconds at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Senior Track and Field Championships in Toronto, Canada, yesterday.

Greaux got the better of hometown favourite Aaron Brown who clocked 20.20 seconds for silver and Nigel Ellis of Jamaica who secured the bronze medal behind a time of 20.57 seconds.

In Friday’s semifinal run, Greaux posted 20.74 seconds to secure his place in the final, while his national teammate Nathan Farinha could only finish fifth in heat two in 21.70 seconds which denied him a shot at the title.

In the women’s equivalent, Semoy Hackett finished fifth in 23.27 seconds which was an improvement from Friday’s 23.31 for third place in the semifinals. Reyare Thomas who qualified with a time of 23.62 in fourth place, therefore, advancing as one of the fastest losers finished eighth in the medal run in 23.73 seconds.

The race was won by Jamaican Shericka Jackosn in 22.64 seconds with Crystal Emmanuel of Canada second in 22.67 and American Phyllis third in 22.91 seconds.

Cleopatra Borel followed up her gold medal triumph at the recently concluded Central American and Caribbean (CAC Games) Championships in Colombia with a silver medal yesterday. She threw the ‘iron-ball’ a distance of 17.83 metres on her first and third throws in an effort to challenge American Maggie Ewen, who achieved 18.22 metres in her first and fourth throws with Jessica Ramsey another American came in third with 17.80 metres from her first two throws after fouling four other attempts.

National long jump champion, Andwuelle Wright finished fifth with a best of 7.80 metres he registered on his last jump. of his seven attempts.

The top three places were occupied by Marquis Dendy of the USA (8.29m), Tajay Gayle of Jamaica (8.24m) and his teammate Ramone Bailey who did 8.09m.

In the men’s discus, T&T’s Akeem Stewart did not finish in the six-man field.

In the men’s 4x100 metres sprint relay, the T&T quartet Nathan Farinha, Johnathan Farinha, Jalen Purcell and anchor Greaux captured the bronze medal in 38.89 seconds. Canada won the gold in 38.56 seconds from Barbados (38.69) with Jamaica fourth (38.96) followed by the Turks and Caicos next in 41.21 as the USA did not finish.

In the women’s race, the team of Tyra Gittens, Khalifa St Fort, who was sixth in the women’s 100 metres title run in 11.28 seconds, Hackett and Thomas in that order, did not finish the race as the USA captured gold (42.50), Jamaica the silver (43.33) and Canada (43.50) secured the bronze medal.

Jehue Gordon, who qualified for yesterday’s final in fourth place with a time of 50.02 seconds finished seventh in the final behind a time of 50.12 seconds. Kyron McMaster of the IVB won the gold medal in 48.18 seconds with Jamaica’s Annsert Whyte next in 48.91 and American Khallifah Rosser third in 49.13 seconds.

In the women’s 400 metres contest, local girl Sparkle Mc Knight crossed sixth behind a time of 56.33 seconds.

The event was won by American Shamier Little, who clocked an impressive 53.32 seconds followed by Jamaica’s Janieve Russell (53.81) second with another American Georgranne Moline third in 54.26 seconds.

In the women’s triple jump event, T&T Ayanna Alexander finished sixth with a best leap of 12.94 metres. Shanieka Rickets of Jamaica jumped 14.25 metres to win the gold from Tori Franklyn of the USA whom did a 14.09 jump and Dominica’s Thea Noeliva Lafon finished third with a leap of 13.74 metres.

On Saturday, Tyra Gittens came up just short of the podium showing after a leap of 6.25 metres in the women’s long jump event. American Sha’keela Saunders jumped 6.60m to bag the gold ahead of her compatriot Quanesha Burks (6.59m) with the bronze going to Jamaican Tisanna Hickling, who recorded a distance of 6.38m.

Hurdler Ruebin Walters registered a time of 13.72 seconds for a fifth-place finish in the men’s 110 metres hurdlers event title run.

Jamaica’s Hansie Parchment won the run in 13.28 seconds from American Aleec Harris (13.49) with Barbadian Shane Brathwaite third in 13.52 seconds.

T&T made a bold statement in its opening match and quest for a hat-trick of titles at the Men’s CAZOVA (Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association) Championships at the Ismay Van Wilgen Sports Hall in Suriname yesterday.

The three-time champions took 86 minutes to record a 25-22, 25-23, 25-17 triumph over Haiti, in the first game during the morning session programme.

Skipper Ryan Stewart led from the front for T&T with 13 points and Akim Bushe (11) also in double figures on the scoreboard, but the game’s leading scorer was Jean Phillipe Bayou with 15 kills in his 16 points for Haiti.

T&T had the 39-34 edge in spikes and led 10-4 in blocked shots, but were completely dominant (10-1) on serve with Stewart contributing 60 per cent of the points.

And since the defending champs had not even trained at the venue before, the fact that they prevailed in straight sets was an ominous sign for their future opponents—Barbados followed by Suriname and Bahamas the next morning, respectively.

T&T spent most of yesterday recovering from jetlag after their flight arrived very late and coach Sean Morrison pointed out that, “We started slowly and as a result of not getting in a practice session”.

The former national player said he was very content with the way his players were able to improve as the match progressed. He said Haiti played very well.

Stewart echoed the sentiments of his former teammate and expects the team to perform at the higher level next time out.

Haiti coach Yves Larrieux stated: “We played well, but made too many mistakes at bad moments.”

Their captain Christian Toussaint said: “It was a learning experience and hopes that it will propel them to win our other two games in the round-robin stage of the tournament”.

After this stage ends on Tuesday morning, the top two teams will battle for the title during the night session, following the bronze-medal match.

Forward Akim Armstrong’s first-half brace proved enough to earn Central FC a comfortable 2-0 win over North East Stars, the reigning Pro League (PL) champions, at Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar, Arima last night.

The Stars, less than a shadow of the bunch that celebrated the league title under Derek King last season, fell behind after only two minutes when Armstrong prodded in a Keron Cummings’ cross to belly the back of goalkeeper Glenroy Samuel’s net.

Armstrong grabbed his second on 35 minutes with a cool finish at the back post after Samuel had stretched to his left to spoon out a strike from Duane Muckette. But with Samuel’s defence almost absent and the ball landing in the path of the eventual double-scorer, Central were comfortably in front 2-0.

Armstrong, who joined Central this year from Club Sando, took his tally to four goals in all domestic competitions so far this season for the Couva Sharks, snapping a five-game drought since scoring both goals in a 2-0 won over St Ann’s Rangers in their opening group play of the First Citizens Cup on June 10.

Central went all the way to celebrate the First Citizens Cup on July 20 with a 4-2 penalty win over Defence Force FC following a 2-2 draw, and today enjoyed a winning start to their 2018 PL campaign against their former coach, Yugoslav-born Zoran Vranes, who returned Trinidad this year as part of North East Stars’ new management’s player development approach.

Central was the sole aggressors throughout the match while North East Stars struggled to test Couva Sharks’ T&T international goalkeeper Marvin Phillip.

Vranes’ side came closest to testing Phillip in the fourth minute when Kyle Bartholomew’s pass from the left picked out Rakim Cabie.

A timely challenge, however, stopped Cabie in his tracks but defender Dwight Pope injured his thigh in the process, forcing Central assistant coach Walt Noriega—caretaking in absence of Stern John—into a premature change with Anthony Charles entering play.

Muckette and Cummings scored their goals came from set pieces, and Dominic Douglas’ drilled attempt before the break was just wide of its mark.

However, the Couva Sharks convert their chances in the second half, most notably when Samuel denied Cummings at point blank in the 90th minute, getting a glove to the midfielder’s header off a Taryk Sampson cross before substitute Obadele Dickson was denied by the upright on the rebound.

Cabie then made a clearance at the goalmouth to keep out a Muckette strike after Cummings cued up his hardworking midfield partner in stoppage time.

North East Stars may have walked away at the final whistle pleased to avoid a heavier defeat against a star-studded Couva Sharks outfit, but not with a sixth consecutive loss from as many matches in all competitions so far this season.

Vranes’ bunch must now train their focus on San Juan Jabloteh, whom they host at the same Larry Gomes Stadium from 4 pm on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Central FC has started at the top of the standings, moving ahead of Defence Force FC, 4-3 winners over Morvant Caledonia United on Friday night, by goal-difference with their fourth consecutive win in all competitions and sixth victory from seven outings.

RESULTS
On Friday
San Juan Jabloteh 0 vs Point Fortin Civic 0, at Ato Boldon Stadium;
Defence Force FC 4 (Devorn Jorsling 38’, Jomokie Cassimy Own Goal 58’, Brent Sam 66’, Hashim Arcia 73’) vs Morvant Caledonia United 3 (Quincy Ballah 31’, Renaldo Francois 40’, Sheldon Holder 70’), at Ato Boldon Stadium.
On Saturday
North East Stars 0 vs Central FC 2 (Akim Armstrong 2’, 35’), at Larry Gomes Stadium.
Upcoming fixtures
On Tuesday
North East Stars vs San Juan Jabloteh, 4pm at Larry Gomes Stadium;
Point Fortin Civic vs Morvant Caledonia United, 7pm at Mahaica Oval