I caution those members who shall be casting their votes in the UNC internal elections next week to think first and think carefully about whom you vote for.

The incumbent political leader squandered the goodwill of John Public, and her strategies for re-election as prime minister failed miserably. For those reasons alone, she should not be re-elected to lead the UNC 

During the coming months I expect to hear more criticism (and hopefully to be presented with strong evidence) of the abject performances of other candidates vying for executive positions in the UNC while they held offices in the recent PP administration. So voting for any or all of them can become very embarrassing to you.

I am not aware of any rule or regulation in any political party that states that the political leader of the party must also be the opposition leader. If you are really serious about change, why then are you afraid to do things differently?

Then there are all those allegations about the elections being rigged! Think carefully.

Azad Mohammed,

Tacarigua.

It really would be instructive to see the well-to-do people in the flesh protesting with Dr Moonilal outside the venue to be advised, concerning the reversion on the cap of earnings per household to the $25,000 HDC limit qualifying income, from the increased $45,000 under the last government

The fact is, the average person in T&T earns between $7,000 to $8,000 per month with many families having one bread-winner. If there are two people earning $8,000 each then the total income would be $16,000 monthly. 

A $45,000 combined income can indeed be considered an upper middle class household and can qualify for an appropriate mortgage allowing them to purchase a home not subsidised by taxpayers.

I agree 100 per cent with this decision, and it is precisely because of decisions such as these under the last government that benefited the well to do only, I no longer support the party I was once a member of.

Kavita Maraj,

Chaguanas.

Consider teaching as a profession to contribute value to society.

This was the advice given by principal of Presentation College, Chaguanas, Gary Ribeiro as he spoke to students who recently sat Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (Cape) and the Secondary Entrance Assessment examination.

Ribeiro was speaking on Wednesday night at the Excellence in Education award ceremony hosted by the Chaguanas Borough Corporation.

The ceremony took place at the borough’s offices on the Chaguanas Main Road.

While addressing the students, among who were 21 primary school graduands and 47 Cape graduands, Ribeiro said students needed to find a way to give back.

“We are in need of good teachers and if you are the brightest please come back to your schools and teach. Consider teaching as an option,” Ribeiro asked.

Ribeiro’s call to give back was echoed by the mayor’s office who called on awardees to volunteer in their communities by assisting in painting a children’s home during the holidays.

In his address, Minister of Education Anthony Garcia said Government policies were key to the quality of education of T&T’s citizens.

He said parents, religious organisations and the business communities were key stakeholders in ensuring successful students.

He encouraged students to continue to succeed in their pursuit of educational goals.

“You will be assets to your communities and your country but also to the Caribbean and the wider world,” he said.

The minister also reiterated plans to hold a national consultation on education next year.

Lisa Martinez, the programme associate of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations country office in T&T and Suriname, says the world is facing a major challenge to feed its expanding population.

 Martinez said the world population stands at 7.2 billion and to nourish the additional two billion people in 2050, food production must rise by 60 per cent.  She said, however, the way food is produced must not be done at the expense of the planet. She was speaking at Tuesday’s opening ceremony of US$30 million to Improve Forest and Protected Area Management in T&T Inception Workshop at Petrotrin. The project is a venture of the Ministry of Planning and Development.

Martinez said the FAO’s mission is to eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition while promoting sustainable development.

“Yet, at the same time, just four—rice, wheat, maize and potato—of the 30,000 edible plants provide 60 per cent of the world dietary energy intake.”

However, she sounded an alarm that, “these are farmed in a manner that takes a heavy toll on the environment. Products of these crops represent a significant value in the Caricom food import bill of over US$4 billion. The crucial message is the way we produce more food cannot be at the expense of the planet.”

She said the FAO has five strategic objectives of which objective two is to make agriculture, which encompasses forestry and fisheries, livestock crops and natural resources, more productive and more sustainable. 

“FAO promotes evidence-based policies and practices to support the agricultural sectors (crops, livestock, forestry and fisheries) while ensuring that the natural resource base does not suffer in the process.

“Its vision is one of a world in which food is nutritious and accessible for everyone and natural resources are managed in a way that maintains ecosystem functions to support current as well as future human needs.

“In this vision, she said, the resource users, including farmers, fisherfolk, foresters and others, are empowered to actively participate in resource decision that results in equitable benefits, decent employment conditions and jobs in a fair-price environment.”

Concerns are being raised by president of Arrive Alive Sharon Inglefield that neither the speed guns nor the new Motor Vehicle Authority have been put into use, especially as the carnage on the nation’s roads continues.

However, Inglefield said the speed gun was absolutely necessary as it was a preventative measure to save lives.

“This, coupled with a complete revamp of the Motor Vehicle Authority to include the speed detection not only by the guns but  also by the cameras, point system in the revoking of driver’s licence... all of these elements are vitally important as preventative measures to save lives.

"We are extremely disappointed these measures have not come into effect," Inglefield said in a telephone interview yesterday.

She said Arrive Alive, a road safety lobby group, had gotten no feedback from Transport Minister Fitzgerald Hinds regarding the organisation's concerns but was hoping to hear from him soon.

"Each one of us is responsible for our own safety and we need to ensure we are obeying the speed limit and adjusting the speed to adapt to the road conditions," Inglefield said.

Calls to Hinds' cellphone went unanswered yesterday.

But John Victor, corporate communications manager at the Ministry of Transport, said he was told by the ministry's legal department that the procurement process for the speed guns was ongoing.

He said a company was working with the Police Service regarding the finalisation of the matter but no time frame could be given as to when the issue would be completed.

Victor added that there was a possibility that the 400 speed guns as previously proposed by the former administration might be reduced as there might not be the need to have so many.

Legislation governing the Motor Vehicle Authority lapsed in the last Parliament and has not yet been re-introduced.

The road death toll currently stands at 135 as compared to 146 for the same period last year.

Speed guns coming

Public Information Officer of the Police Service, ASP Michael Pierre, assured that the speed guns would in fact be put into use.

"I know that process is ongoing but it is not in the back-burner. The Police Service is working on it," Pierre added.

However, he could not give a definite date or the number of guns which would be used.

Co-ordinator of the Police Service's Strategic Road Safety Project, Brent Batson, was also unaware of when the guns would come into effect.

When contacted ACP in charge of Mobile, Deodat Dulalchan, said he did not wish to comment on the matter.

Five road deaths

On Tuesday three people — Anthony Marcano, 54, of Pierreville, Saliesha Ali, 41, of Foodcrop Road, Bristol, and Sherwin Constantine, 54, of Pierreville — died in a crash at Bristol Village, on the Naparima/Mayaro Road, at around 11.30 am.

The crash was similar to an incident on the M1 Ring Road, Princes Town, on Monday in which a father and son died when their car crashed into a truck.

In 2013, former Transport Minister Stephen Cadiz had promised that the speed guns would come into effect by February of 2014 in a bid to curb reckless driving.

Cadiz had made the announcement at a post-Cabinet news conference at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s, in which he said  police  would be trained to use some 400 speed detection devices, which were expected to be made available in all divisions.

But in July this year Cadiz had said an administrative flaw in the procurement process had forced the Vehicle Maintenance Company of T&T (VMCOTT) to terminate its previous tender for the guns and reopen a new tender. 

Cadiz had also said he was “upset” and “disappointed” that the long-awaited speed guns had been further delayed. 

There are rumblings in the trade union movement, with a warning coming from the National Trade Union Centre (Natuc) of an impending fallout if decisions concerning workers continue to be made without social dialogue and consultation.

“Natuc is being left out of conversations on how the economy is carried forward. You are going to have a fallout with the general population,” Michael Annisette, general secretary of Natuc, the umbrella body of 13 trade unions, said.

“This (lack of consultation) would contradict statements about the Government being all-inclusive.”

Annisette further noted: “To date, there is no labour representative on any of the state boards. I am advised they are now looking at it.”

He was responding to questions from the T&T Guardian on a decision by the board of the National Gas Company (NGC), a state entity, to freeze its workers’ salaries.

The NGC’s decision was made in light of the company’s position because of low gas prices and was described by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley as a sensible move.

Annisette said several union colleagues have expressed to him concerns about the lack of consultation and social dialogue concerning decisions affecting workers.

Unions under Natuc include Bank & General Workers Trade Union, Seamen & Waterfront Workers Trade Union, National Union of Government & Federated Workers and Transport and Industrial Workers Union.

Some of these unions are part of the Joint Trade Union Movement which signed a memorandum of understanding with the PNM before it won the September 7 general election. The details of that MOU have not been made public.

Annisette also completely rejected suggestions by economist Dr Roger Hosein that, as a necessary economic adjustment, wage freezes be implemented across the board in the public and private sectors.

Charging that Hosein does not understand the real world of work, and challenging him to a public debate, Annisette said an economy’s survival is based on a thriving, working middle class. 

“If the working class does not purchase goods and services, the economy cannot strive. The economy is not about magic. It is not about inanimate figures. It is about people. If you leave people out of the equation you will end up with a serious crisis.”

He asked, “Why don’t they freeze prices too? When you freeze a worker’s wages but prices keep going up, what position are you putting him in? Wage freezes will have to be decided upon on a case-by-case basis.” 

Annisette said the NGC issue is not about freezing wages but about benchmarking its operations according to the international benchmark.

Public complaints about the slow response times from ambulances are not new and the heart-wrenching account of the incident by Mr Sitahal’s widow should evoke an immediate response from Health Minister Terrance Deyalsingh and all other stakeholders—not just those directly linked to the ambulance services but every level of the country’s emergency response system.

On Tuesday, a pedestrian collapsed on a city street. People walked by, police officers looked on, no one responded to the frantic cries for help from the man’s wife and 45 minutes elapsed before the man was taken to a nearby hospital where he died.

The circumstances which led to the death of 63-year-old amputee Keith Sitahal were not only tragic but highlight yet another of the failings in T&T’s public health system. 

That an ailing citizen could collapse on a street in the centre of San Fernando and remain there for the better part of an hour is an indictment of the country’s medical emergency services which have been operating well below par for a considerable length of time.

Public complaints about the slow response times from ambulances are not new and the heart-wrenching account of the incident by Mr Sitahal’s widow should evoke an immediate response from Health Minister Terrance Deyalsingh and all other stakeholders—not just those directly linked to the ambulance services but every level of the country’s emergency response system. 

An autopsy done on Wednesday showed that Mr Sitahal died of a heart attack. 

According to the American Heart Association, brain death and permanent death start to occur in 4–6 minutes after someone experiences cardiac arrest but conditions can be reversible if the patient is treated within a few minutes. 

Mr Sitahal was left unattended on the pavement for 45 minutes and his chances of survival were reduced by seven per cent to 10 per cent every minute that he was left there without any type of life support intervention. Medical data shows that few attempts at resuscitation succeed after 10 minutes. 

Best practice in the US for medical emergencies is a turnout time of one minute, and four minutes or less for the arrival of a first responder—an objective that has to be met 90 per cent of the time. 

In Tuesday’s case, it is not known if or when an ambulance was ever dispatched since it was a vehicle from San Fernando’s Disaster Management Unit (DMU), summoned by Mayor Kazim Hosein, that eventually transported Mr Sitahal to hospital for medical treatment, that was administered much too late to save his life.

Following a recent public hue and cry over the slow response time by an ambulance, there were disturbing revelations about an inefficient system of dispatch and response, with ambulances and their crews often parked up at hospitals waiting to properly hand over patients at Accident and Emergency departments. 

There are also reports of not enough vehicles or trained paramedics to respond in a timely fashion to emergency calls.

That this should be the state of affairs in T&T, a country which boasts of a certain level of development, is unacceptable.

The health authorities must act urgently to accelerate dispatch and response times. 

A matter of minutes can be the difference in life or death, particularly in the most urgent of medical emergencies, such as heart attacks and profuse bleeding.

Nothing can be said or done now to ease the pain and despair of Mr Sitahal’s widow and his loved ones. 

However, every effort must be made to ensure that this type of avoidable medical tragedy never happens again.

Periodically one reads about thieves who forced their way into a home through one of the doors. Indeed, at one time in Guyana such thieves were described as “Kick down the door bandits.” 

External doors are one of the first entryways considered by thieves and should be a priority security area for homeowners. 

While many homeowners consider security when selecting an external door, a lack of understanding sometimes leads to poor selection or sometimes good selection but poor installation. 

Here, we will address both the physical door and the security of the doorway.

Exterior doors should either be made of solid wood or metal. This construction is difficult to break through. However, there is difficulty in obtaining solid wood doors as most commercially-manufactured doors in the Caribbean are actually wood panel doors. On these doors, the sections that hold the panels in place are very thin and short and glued in place. 

These can easily be kicked apart. Similarly, many wood flush doors are plywood sides with a hollow interior and can be easily kicked apart. They should only be used as interior doors. 

Doors called steel doors come in several designs—hollow steel doors, wooden steel-backed doors and ribbed steel doors. 

The minimum acceptable security specification for a hollow steel door would be two sheets of 18-gauge steel (1/20 of an inch each). 

However, this minimum specification can be penetrated by a determined intruder who pre-planned his attack. A thicker steel (eg, 1/10 of an inch) is better.

A wooden steel-fronted door can also be used as a security door with the wood thickness being three-quarter inch and then the 12-gauge steel (1/10 of an inch) placed in front of the wood. 

The steel should be bolted to the door with the nut end of the bolt on the inside of the door and not accessible to an intruder. 

When cladding steel to a wooden door, it must wrap around the top, bottom and sides so that the steel cannot be pried away from the wood.

A ribbed steel door would be one where the steel on the door would be 1/8 of an inch and then reinforced with steel ribs on the inside. 

Another option in the Caribbean now is to purchase doors that have a decorative facing but with a steel sheet inserted inside it. Many come with three, four or six deadbolts built into the door so that when the door is locked all the bolts engage simultaneously. 

Exterior doors should be made to swing outward. When an intruder attempts to force his way into a building he will apply force to the door to push it inward. 

The intruder will be applying force in the opposite direction to which the door is made to swing. It becomes harder to force the door.

Exterior doors should be constructed in a metal frame of steel, aluminum alloy or solid hardwood core. The door frame can sometimes be the weak point in the security of a door and can allow an intruder to enter notwithstanding how good the door and locks are. 

Hinges are generally screwed into the door frame and if the frame can be jimmied away from the wall, the frame can be removed. 

In moving the door frame, the entire hinge assembly and the door will be moved out and access gained. If the door frame is moved on the lock side then access is gained to the lock bolt and depending upon the type of lock used the bolt can be manipulated to open the door. 

Frames should therefore be made of solid construction to prevent being forced apart.

The tolerance between the door and the jamb should never be more than 1/8 of an inch. A wider tolerance means that the door can be forced open or that the bolt for the lock is exposed allowing an intruder to saw through it.

If incorrectly installed, hinges may contribute to a door’s weakness. 

If hinges are surface mounted so the mounting screws or hinge pins are exposed on the exterior of the door, intruders can quickly remove the screws or pins and gain entrance by opening the door from the hinged side. 

Ideally, hinges should be mounted on the interior of the door. If the hinge is mounted on the exterior and cannot be relocated to the interior then the hinge pins can be welded or flanged to prevent removal. An additional protective measure would be the use of hinge protectors.

Another alternative regarding hinges is to install ball bearing type butt hinges. This has a cap-like standard hinges but does not have a pin. If you remove the top of the hinge there is no pin to come out, instead there are ball bearings inside which cannot be removed. It is therefore suitable for external use. 

External doors are an important component of the security of a home. Care must be taken in selecting the door type and must extend beyond just the door. It includes all components of the doorway.

Brian Ramsey

• Contact the Caribbean Institute for Security and Public Safety for its range of courses on security, law enforcement, corrections, supervision and management, OSH/HSE, etc. Tel: 223-6999, 223-6968, info@caribbeansecurityinstitute.com or www.caribbeansecurityinstitute.com

In response to an article written by Ryan Hadeed on November 25, I am most happy that he was cognisant of the fact that there are two sides to the violence that takes place in the Middle East and he tried to shed light on the fact that the US has its own foreign policy within the region that has failed miserably and innocent civilians within the Middle East were left to suffer because of it. 

However, foreign policy I believe, is soft language for what really is blatant crimes against humanity. 

The US, Britain and France have directly and covertly displaced democratically elected governments within Muslim countries as well as supported tyrants. 

These actions have caused thousands of lives to be lost from riots and uprisings from dissatisfied citizens within the affected countries.   

I must make mention of one of the greatest atrocities: the invasion of Iraq. 

To date, over 500,000 Iraqis have lost their lives due to the invasion; hundreds of thousands are seriously maimed and injured, millions more are displaced from their homes, and don’t forget, the sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council on Iraq resulted in 500,000 children losing their lives according to a UNICEF report. The infrastructure of that country is now completely destroyed. All thanks to Uncle Sam. 

Iraq, a country that possesses the fifth largest oil reserves in the world is now reduced to rubble. A well-to-do, potential superpower within the region is now destroyed. 

This is not failed foreign policy, Mr Hadeed, this is genocide and modern-day economic slavery. 

Now all the oil Iraq produces will go towards rebuilding infrastructure that was already there. How can the cycle of violence end when these crimes go unaccounted?

The US, France and Britain should to be brought before a court and be tried for crimes against humanity. This is only fair and just for the people of the middle east. But as we both know, it will never happen. 

These so-called terrorist groups that we perceive them to be will continue the cycle of violence for they are a creation of the West. 

“IS is the fully grown-up manic, adolescent creature belonging to the US, Britain and France,” says John Pilger in an interview with RT news. 

Fareez Mohammed

Four years ago God the Uncle—my imaginary Uncle Godfrey—called me to sum up the Bible in the voice of Kenrick, the kind of tess who leaves Port-of-Spain and goes to Syria to fight jihad for the Shaitanic State but demands poncha crema and ham at Christmas. 

I return to (Uncle) God’s work today because he wants me to finish Genesis fast and move on to the perhaps more-relevant Book of Revelation; and to avoid thinking about the Turkey voting for World War III by shooting down Russian jets.

Last day, in the earliest manifestation of Steven Spielberg’s company’s name—Dream Works—Joseph interpreted Pharoh’s dreams of seven skinny cows eating seven ears of corn and got out of the Egyptian jail Potiphar had put him in.

The Twenty-Second Bit of the First Book of BC, called Corn Breds The Book of Skulls, called Bluff (A Summation of Genesis Chapters 42-)

And, Jacob (aka Israel), which was Joseph’ father, did see it had corn in Egypt, whereby Joseph had interpret Pharoh dream and store up the excess corn before the famine, nuh, and Jacob tell them same brothers of Joseph who had sell him out to Potiphar to left Canaan and go and buy some Egyptian corn, so them wouldn’ta starve. 

And all ten brothers went for corn, excepting Ben Jammin, the musician one, becaw Jacob did well have he favourites, just like all them Syrian in Town and Indian in the country, who does cause strife in the family by liking one son more better than the next one, but it doesn’t cause too much trouble, once it ent the dotish son they like the most.

And was Joseph-self who did selling the corn, don’t mind he was the CEO of Egyptian Corn, and to see him selling would come like you go in a Apple store and is Steve Jobs cleaning hard drive behind the counter, but don’t mind that, God does move in mysterious ways His chirren to mamaguy.

And Joseph recongise all his brothers but he make himself strange to them, so them ent make he out, and them did well begging for corn becaw mankind did starving in the Canaan. 

But Joseph well rough them up and tell them, All you is spy, come to scope out the nakedness of the land—like it did always have inter-Semite tension in the Holy Land, and like it did always have porn, everywhere—but Joseph brothers say, Nah, Boss, we is all brothers, one man’s sons, and is corn we come to buy! 

We is 12 brothers, Boss, but the little one stop home with Daddy and it have one what gone through.

And Joseph say, Firetruck that, all you is spy, and I locking one of all you up until you all brings the youngest brother to prove you all isn’t spy (although it never had no spy, in the whole history of espionage, who coulda prove he wasn’t a spy because he had a younger sibling; or even a older one; gyul or boy). Otherwise, I will kill all of all-you mother-sew-and-sew-until-she-make-a-dress!

And Reuben tell he brothers, You see, I did telling you all not to sell Joseph. Mankind did spoke unto you like a bicycle wheel but you all didn’t listen; now Pharaoh Corn CEO going and jostle we.

And, all this while, Joseph well following the talk, becaw he did speak Hebrew, but he did pretend to be talking to them through a interpreter. 

And Joseph did well weeping and thing, but he make as eef and turn and snatch up his brother Simeon and tie his ass up like a ’guana in Central Market.

And they laded up their asses with corn, which sound painful, and departed thence. 

But Joseph did sneak and put back een they cash in they bags, so it come like he give them the corn, which them find out when they went to provender the ass and them, and the brethren get well beh-beh, wondering what it is God do them, not realising was Joseph and he tricks of many colours, nuh.

And when them reach back home by Jacob, and they find all the cash Joseph put back in the sacks, them get real FRY-KEN! And you know the Bible is a holy book in true, becaw them was the onliest Middle-Easterners in any book and any time who did ever worry ’bout collecting wares and not paying for it. 

And Jacob say he not sending Ben Jammin to Pharoah, becaw Joseph gone, and Simeon tie up, and to send Ben Jammin would be to throw living son after dead one.

But all man belly was griping, becaw them eat out the corn real fast, as it didn’t have in much corn in them sack, what with Joseph putting back in the money and thing, so Jacob (aka Israel) tell them to take Ben Jammin, and some balm and double-the-money and some spice and honey and the omnipresent myrhh and maybe the Pharaoh Corn CEO mightn’t lash them.

And Joseph did ease them up becaw them did bring Ben Jammin. 

And Joseph bowels did yearn for his brother, which really don’t sound good, like the laded asses, but God knows the Bible mean it in a good way, nothing to do with neither evacuation nor ejaculation. 

And Joseph went and hide in chamber, not for the bowels, but to dry he eyes, and he bring out Simeon, and it had party in the place, and all man had a time, but Ben Jammin time, and Ben Jammin messes was five times everybody else one.

Which mighta be good, or bad, for Ben Jammin.

•  BC Pires is waiting, with only seven more verses left in Genesis, for a good season finale.

Contemporary Caribbean Architecture, a new book by Trinidadian architect Brian Lewis of acla:works, showcases 50 design projects throughout the English and French-speaking Caribbean and includes a conversation between Lewis and architect Jenifer Smith, and essays by architect Mark Raymond and photographer Mark Lyndersay.

An exhibition of photos from the book opened November 20, at Medulla Art Gallery, Woodbrook, and continues until December 17. Gallery hours are weekdays from 11 am–6 pm, and Saturdays from 11 am–2 pm.

Both the book and exhibition are part of the 70th anniversary celebrations of acla:works, a T&T-based architectural practice whose history and founder, Anthony C Lewis, are closely linked to contemporary design in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Mark Lyndersay, a noted photographer and himself a long-time T&T Guardian contributor, writes in his essay that Brian Lewis’ photo project is staggering in its enormity, and praises the photos’ precision and expression.

Mark Lyndersay’s essay is reproduced here by permission of the publishers.
It is probably worth stating this right up front for anyone who has somehow missed the fact that Brian Lewis, the author of this body of work, is a second-generation architect. Indeed, he is a fine designer of buildings, many of which are remarkable examples of Caribbean habitat, so it might not be out of line to wonder why he would bother to be down in the scrum of taking photographs. At least part of the reason would surely be a desire to have good photographs of his work. I can empathise.

Many years ago, I despaired of the photographs that accompanied my stories in the daily newspapers and began taking my own.

That can be a powerful motivator, the need to fully realise a vision, and for a man capable of imagining completed structures where there are only stakes in the mud demarcating land boundaries, the desire must be overwhelming to shepherd a building from imagination to two-dimensional plans and into constructed reality. To have that process scuttled in the public mind by lousy photos of a carefully designed building is to drop the baton before the race is done.

That might explain why Brian took up a camera. To understand why he continued and amplified his goals into this epic effort at capturing the designs of others is, ultimately, the thesis of this book. The architect, you see, is not just a vendor. He is also the client.

Brian Lewis loves a well-designed building. Actually, he loves a well-designed anything, but his passion for structures is lush and promiscuous. He may frown at a detail or two he might have approached another way, but he is fully capable of basking in the clarity of vision of another architect’s sensibility and that informs his images with a passion that’s rare in the business of architectural photography.

This all began in his teens, but truly flowered when he began photographing the buildings his architectural firm was producing. By the time I met Brian he was firmly placed in my mind as an exceptional architectural photographer with a little side practice in designing buildings.

It was on that basis that I asked him to offer some photographs for publication in the T&T Guardian’s Sunday magazine, then rather pointedly named SG Magazine. He responded by offering, pretty much once a month, a remarkable selection of images for which we never had enough space.

His writing accompanying these stories was clear and sensible but the photographs immersed you in the architect’s thinking and more impressively, made it clear why Brian thought the design work was worth a potentially disinterested party’s attention.

For as long as the magazine was published under my guidance, roughly a year and a half, Brian regularly delivered a selection of remarkable images, evolving his approach to compensate for the stark and brutish treatment they received on newsprint, and always maintaining a clear and lucid style that guided and informed.

In remembering that work, and in reviewing what Brian has produced for Contemporary Caribbean Architecture, I’d be tempted to call that early work “Lewis Lite” if it weren’t more accurate to think of it as a rehearsal for the far richer palette he has developed for reproduction here. His earlier ascetic style has matured into a deeper appreciation for all the variations of light, texture and personal quirkiness that characterise our most successful architecture.  

Brian is unafraid of that most challenging of subjects—the Caribbean building lit by the stark, cold light of midday sun; and he uses that cruel severity in many photos to bring deep drama to rooms designed to be illuminated by dark patterned shadows. The minimalist sharpness of these buildings leap to life as frames that embrace the bold colours of the landscape, the rich blues of the sky and sea, the brilliantly verdant vegetation and the languid browns of the wood that accent them.

The enormity of the work is staggering. I dabble a bit in architectural photography myself, but really, what I do is take attractive portraits of buildings. Brian digs in deep, feeling the foundations of the buildings, understanding the arc of the walls and the dip of the stairwells. It is possible to do this work in a day or two, but that supposes a perfect 48 hours and that is a fantasy that anyone who has waited out a building will find utterly hilarious.

This is work that demands an understanding of line and form, of textures and shapes, of light and shadow. It begins with photography, with all its optical and dynamic range challenges, but can only be brought to a successful conclusion through a profound empathy with the architect’s intent and an understanding of the building as a designed space.

The successful architectural photographer does not simply photograph a building, he inhabits it visually, bringing the designer’s concept, the contractor’s concrete, metal, wood and glass, and the style of the owners and their impact on the space, all together into still frames, collections of pixels and dots of ink on paper that breathe a new life and understanding into the finished project.

So the work that follows is the result of Brian’s stalking of these buildings, his wooing them with a careful study of how the light plays over their forms before he chooses his firm and definitive interpretation of the structure. These are works of both cool contemplation and considerable passion, the frames of Brian’s images taut with consideration and very deliberate points of view. He leads us through these buildings with a confident awareness of their purpose and their considerable pleasures.

Brian Lewis has always brought a distinct and clear perspective to his architectural photography. I can always identify his work, no matter where it appears.

That’s a special talent.

To be able to clearly and professionally represent the collaborative work that is a lived space is rare enough. To be able to do so while stamping the work with a distinctive style makes the final project transcendent.

I commend to you, with professional pride and personal envy, the work of Brian Lewis. His loving, precise rendition of the work of the many architects, artisans, contractors, interior designers and commissioning clients speaks eloquently for itself.

WALTER ALIBEY

President of the T&T Football Association Raymond Tim Kee is hoping for another term to complete the work he has started since taking office back in 2012. He has been successful in achieving major changes to the constitution and bringing it in line of the world governing body for football-FIFA. 

Yesterday he was praised by Jimmy Henry- the new secretary of administration at the Central Football Association (CFA) for constitutional changes that allowed others to be able to contest the elections for the first time and in fair manner.

According to Henry “We must praise president Raymond Tim Kee for the work he has done in ensuring that there were amendments to the constitution, both the TTFA and the regional associations, which allowed others to contest elections and ring in a new administration” Henry said.

He added “Had it not been for Tim Kee we still would have been in a situation where no one would have known when the elections are and where it would have been.” The incumbent faces a mountainous challenge to regain his seat with mounting calls for him to be replaced. 

These challenges are coming from David John-Williams the W Connection president, Selby Browne-the president of the Veteran Football Foundation (VFF), ex football referee Ramesh Ramdhan and Clynt Taylor- the first vice president of the T&T Football Referees Association.

Tim Kee is however, riding a wave of his successes to date, particularly the performances of the T&T ‘Soca Warriors’ team which is in the midst of a World Cup qualifying campaign. The ‘Soca Warriors’ first pulled off a major up set in their opening match in Guatemala by beating them 2-1. 

And in the team’s second qualifier against the United States the team drew 0-0 in a match that football pundits have said T&T should have won. The performances of the team have been representative of the product that Tim Kee created and spoke about in his plan for football. He said special emphasis must be placed on the key stakeholders- the football, the footballers, the administration and marketing of the game, if this product is to be achieved. 

Tim Kee has already embarked on a massive marketing and promotion programme which has seen the construction of a new football association website that is making all information about the game, the matches, the players, upcoming football courses, football news, ticket sales, football apparel, promotional football events and sporting archives. He boasts now of the country’s senior men and women’s team being among the top 50 in the world according to the FIFA rankings, saying it is the first time we have achieve this. 

The country’s junior teams have also been excelling in their respective fields such as the T&T Under-20 women qualifying for the final Concacaf Round of the 2016 Olympic Qualifiers and the Under-17 women placing third in the CFU World Cup qualifiers.

Meanwhile, beach football and futsal have also made strides under Tim Kee’s reign as the beach footballers defeated Concacaf giants Mexico and just missed out on qualifying for the Beach Soccer World Cup. All these have been achieved with the incumbent inheriting a football association that had a debt of over $38 million and numerous creditors. 

Tim Kee said in an earlier press briefing that the image of the TTFA was one that corporate T&T wanted to stay far away from.

Tim Kee explained that because of this he wanted to clear some of their debt and he immediately decided to wipe clean the huge bill that was owed to the 2006 footballers that participated at the Germany World Cup that year. He also moved to ensure good governance that comprised proper accountability, fairness, transparency and integrity be the guiding practices within the embattled football association.

Tim Kee pointed out that one of his priorities during his term was to ensure fairness in the election process by taking steps to re-aligning the association’s constitution to suit that of the FIFA. And from this process all regional associations were ordered to make similar and the appropriate amendments also. 

He has promised the formation of an independent auditing commission which will work alongside an already functioning electoral committee- that was formed to oversee the amendments to the constitution.

He is also promising that should he be re-elected as the TTFA president, he will construct a new home for football at lands already allocated in Union Marabella. 

This home will include an office with dressing rooms, football fields that will be used by a national football academy. He promised that his association will not be totally dependent on government for everything and has already began the sale of football apparel and other paraphernalia. He also intends to woo corporate T&T to buy into the new association’s ideas.

WALTER ALIBEY

T&T’s pair of Domonique Williams and Jereem Richards have signed with Alabama head track and field programme. Both Williams and Richards are graduates of South Plains College in Texas (2013-2015).

Williams was a members of the Burnley Athletic club under coach Lucretia Warner-Burnes before she joined local athletic giants Neon Trackers which is now being coached by Ian Goddard. 

She has attained a number of complimentary performances which she can build on if she wants to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil next year.  Among these have been a personal best time of 23.92 in the 200 meters event as well as 52.95 in the 400 meters. In addition Williams also produced a best time of 2:10.78 in the 800 meters.

She was a member of the T&T team that competed in the 2010 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games and is currently the Junior Girls Under-17,  800m champion. 

Williams also competed at the 2013 World Outdoor Championships in the 4x400m and the 2014 World Relays (4x400m) and the Commonwealth Games (400m/4x400m). She is a silver medallist at the 2010 Carifta Games in the girls under-18 800 metre event and in 2011 he also sprinted to a silver medal in the 4x400 metres. 

She ran the anchor leg for the South Plains 4x400 relay team that won at the 2014 NJCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships and at the National Championship here at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo Williams placed second in the 400 meters last year. 

She also won national titles at the 2015 NJCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in the 400 meters, 4x400 relay and distance medley relay. In addition she finished as runner-up in the 400 meters (53.71) at the 2015 NJCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. 

Meanwhile, Richards, a graduate of ASJA Boys College, is a member of the Quantum Athletic club under coach Trevor James before he joined the Abilene Wildcats. The Wildcats are coached by Charles Joseph. Like Williams, he has personal bests of 20.58 in the 200 meters and 45.91 in the 400 meters. 

He earned bronze at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships and World junior Championships (4x400m) and silver medals at the 2011 Pan American Junior Championships (4x400m) and the 2011 Carifta Games (4x400m). At the 2012 Carifta Games (4x400m) and the 2013 Carifta Games (4x100, 4x400) he produced credible performances. 

He also secured a bronze medals at the 2013 Carifta Games in the half-lap event (200m) and was a finalist at 2011 World Youth Championships in the medley relay. Richards won the 2015 Outdoor National Junior College Championships 400-meter race with a time of 46.23 and was a semfinalist at 2011 World Youth Champs (200m).

Former national football coach Everald “Gally” Cummings has hailed retired T&T striker Stern John as one of the best goal scorers in local football, while Angus Eve got props for being one of the best right-wing players. 

Meanwhile, ex-Strike Squad skipper and defender Clayton Morris was saluted as being a leader par excellence and being Cummings’ voice and ears on the field. All three were inducted into the First Citizens Sports Foundation Hall of Fame on Friday at a gala ceremony held at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad on Dock Road, Port-of-Spain.

Cummings said while listening to their respective biographies, viewing their video commentary and admiring them as they took the stage in their sartorial elegance to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, he felt proud.

“I felt elated. I always set the example for those players. I was the first one to play professionally. I was the only footballer to have won the Sports Personality of The Year Award since 1974. No other footballer has won it, which is a great achievement to my career and I’m happy now to see that we have three footballers inducted into the Hall of Fame. I was inducted 26 years ago, with the Strike Squad and to see the captain at that time now inducted makes me feel very proud,” he said.

He remembered Eve representing T&T at the Youth World Cup under former coach Bertille St Clair and was pleased that he has maintained his skill and now used them in his duties as a coach.

Apart from working with the youth in the Carenage community, Eve was president of the district’s football, cricket and netball clubs. He also served as head coach for Naparima College, which retained victory in the Premiership Division of the Secondary School Football League 2015 season. 

Cummings said: “He is coming into his own as a young man. He likes coaching and whoever he has been around, whether it was me or other coaches, he seemed to have enjoyed himself and see it (coaching) as a way to charter a course for his future. I think he is also working with Sky Sports as a commentator. So he is a footballer, coach and reporter.”

Commenting on the state of local football, Cummings said, “I think we need to play like Trinbagonians, number one. Trinbagonians play attractive football. Any part of the world a Trinidadian could take on a foreigner and go past him. Our strength is our individuality. Once that is combined with the element of team play, I think no team could stop us. 

“I think what we need to do is focus on attack and not depend on defending, but at times take chances with the attacking part of the game. I think we need a philosophy for our team, like the Strike Squad had.” 

“Coincidences never happen.  They are God’s plans that us humans know nothing about!”  Thus spoke the old sage. But if coincidences do not actually occur, then surely synchronicity, that element of several related important things happening exactly at the same time, must be real!    

Great timing allows West Indies to be now touring Australia, for three Tests, at the same instant when Cricket Australia (CA); eventually International Cricket Council will also concur; finally plans to honour and recognize records of 1970’s era Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket (WSC).

Influenced by WSC’s initial use of a ball colored in a hue other than red – white, in that original case – pink balls are being used for the very first time in an official day-night Test, featuring Australia and New Zealand. One might come to the conclusion that massive coincidences do actually happen, but maybe God planned this too for our great game! What is amazing is that it took nearly 40 years after WSC’s life; 1977-1979; for cricket’s authorities to recognize how very useful all innovations from that period have really been.  

All have played regularly in colored clothing and with white balls in shorter formats of the game, as “invented” by WSC, but until now, Tests were on hallowed ground. Nothing is new anymore!

Considering that ICC, CA’s forerunner Australian Cricket Board, Kerry Packer and Marylebone Cricket Club—MCC—were at such serious, cantankerous loggerheads that they eventually ended up in court for WSC to even begin in 1977/78, Packer must be laughing very loudly up there!

One senior international cricketer made everyone laugh last week too by suggesting:  “Maybe many cricket authorities and players nowadays either cannot read or do not understand anything that they do read, for a day-night Test cricket game in 2015 is not at all innovative.  It was already done in 1977 by WSC.  The only thing was that it was not officially recognized then!”  

What about those drop-in pitches that everyone were enthused about earlier this month when the All-Stars, captained by Australian Shane Warne and India Sachin Tendulkar, played?  Well, that innovation was also firstly present in WSC’s inaugural season 1977/78.  

By the time I signed in 1978/79, WSC had become so powerful that we played at recognized Test arenas in Australia.

But, those series were very tiring, as they were proper Tests, in name and nature, against the best that Australia and ‘Rest of the World’ could conjure up. How some of us survived unscathed physically, and how West Indies managed to win everything, even with the style, class and talent that our team possessed, is still a major miracle. We had to win, kitted out in that shocking pink for WSC’s ODI’s!

On WSC’s tour of the Caribbean 1979, five five-day Tests, without rest days, and twelve ODI’s were played between WSC Australia and WSC West Indies, from 23 February to 10 April 1979.

Can you imagine today’s prima-donna cricketers playing that much; thirty-seven days of hard cricket in six weeks? Or even playing sixteen ODI’s in WSC International Cup, in Australia, in two months between November 28, 1978 and January 30, 1979, with tremendous cross-country travel included? Not nowadays they won’t!

But there is a caveat for this CA recognition of WSC’s feats.  Unfortunately, even though they were tough, hard-fought Tests, easily the hardest set of games that I have ever played in, wickets and runs thusly gleaned will only count as First Class elements, and not for official Tests.  

So, while my original 125 Test wickets will remain, from 27 official Tests, with no addition of wickets from seven Super Tests played. Per CA’s proposal, the additional thirty wickets that I had in those seven additional games will bump up my First-Class wicket aggregate to 458 wickets from 128 First Class games. 

Hey, not so bad, eh, but you have to be grateful for small mercies!Coming back to WI in Australia 2015, what can we expect? After all, Australia have also lost many of their stalwarts, but, judging from WI’s recent, debilitating exploits in Sri Lanka, who, coincidentally were also rebuilding, WI could be looking at a severe hiding in kookaburra country.

Yet, WI could surprise us. After all, by laws of averages, no team can be that poor in Sri Lanka and not improve, so one has to hope that that improvement is very imminent.  Remember, WI’s selectors, under Clive Lloyd’s leadership, could not find anything wrong with the team’s performance in Sri Lanka, for no-one, absolutely no-one, was dropped for Australia 

WI may not win a Test, but I also believe that Jason Holder’s men will hold their own relatively creditably, probably losing 2-0, but if they could win any of the three Tests at Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney, then another miracle would have occurred amid shouts of another resurgence!

Meantime, those pink balls used by Australia and New Zealand this weekend remind of WSC WI garb in 1978/79.  Where they got that color back then for our clothing is anyone’s guess, but at least, in 2015, the color has been severely tested for the night; day/night Tests, that is! Enjoy!

Central FC head coach Ross Russell is hoping for a reunion with his former side Defence Force in the final of the 2015 Toyota Classic on December 6.

However, before both teams can get to the showpiece encounter, they will first half to take care of business in today’s semifinal double-header at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.

In the first semifinal, Russell’s former club Defence Force tackles defending Toyota Classic champion and two-time winner Play Whe San Juan Jabloteh from 4 pm, and two hours later, bitter Couva rivals, Central FC and three-time tournament winner DirecTV W Connection square off in the other semifinal.

Buoyed by a 4–1 win over Club Sando in its Pro League encounter on Tuesday, Defence Force will be high on confidence against Jabloteh, which wasted a 2–0 lead against Police FC in a 3–3 draw.

However, the “Teteron Boys” coach Marvin Gordon says he is expecting a tough semi-final challenge. The army/coastguard combination defeated St Ann’s Rangers 3–1 in the round-of-16, but had a dismal showing in the quarterfinal stage last weekend, although edging Super League side FC Santa Rosa 2–1.

Defence Force has also met Jabloteh twice already this season, narrowly winning both matches 3–2 on September 30 in the qualifier round of the First Citizens Cup and 1–0 in a league game on October 27, but coach Gordon knows there semifinal duel will be a different battle.

“We played them (Jabloteh) twice already this season and won on both occasions,” continued Gordon. “…but (Sunday) is a different game. They will be coming all-out to stop us.

Defence Force defensive utility player Curtis Gonzales added, “It’s going to be a very tough contest and its one win away from the final.” He added: “We defeated them twice this season and we know a side won’t just allow us to beat them three times in a row, especially in a semifinal.

“But we are looking forward to the battle and my teammates and I are ready. Over the last few days it has been spot on in training with everyone fighting for their picks… just the way professional football has to be.”

Defence Force has never won the Toyota Classic, losing their only final on penalties following a 2–2 draw with North East Stars in 2012, while Jabloteh are five-time finalists, winning the title in 2008 and 2014.

In previous meetings this season, Central FC edged W Connection 1–0 in September to unseat the three-time defending Digicel Charity Shield winners and then in late October the “Savonetta Boys” fired back 2–1 to win the final of the First Citizens Cup to dethrone the two-time defending champions Central.

But despite being held to a 1–1 Digicel Pro League draw against W Connection last Tuesday, Russell is confident that Central will overcome their Couva rivals when both sides meet again this afternoon.

Speaking after Tuesday’s drawn match, Russell said, “We are going to win. I don’t want to express my confidence fully, but we are going to win. Once we bury our chances, Connection would be off our back.”

In the Toyota Classic, Central and W Connection both advanced from the round-of-16 via penalties after goalless results against Point Fortin Civic and Club Sando, respectively. Central went on to defeat Morvant Caledonia United 2–1 in the quarterfinals, while W Connection were comfortable 3–0 winners over North East Stars.

Matches
Today’s Toyota Classic semifinals:
Venue: Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo:
San Juan Jabloteh vs Defence Force, 4 pm
Central FC vs W Connection, 6 pm

Final
Sunday, December 6

Twenty-six years after this country’s senior men’s football team, then known as the Strike Squad, lost a crucial Fifa World Cup qualifying game to the United States (1-0), on home soil, former captain Clayton Morris admits he has only now found ways to deal with the psychological horror of that result.

In a T&T Guardian interview at Friday’s First Citizens Sports Foundation Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony held at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad, Dock Road, Port-of-Spain, where Morris was recognised as a national sporting hero, he said, for an entire decade he went about his daily life blanketed by the shame of the defeat handed down to him and his teammates by the visitors on November 19, 1989.

So great was that loss, said the former defender, it left the nation scared and he accepted full responsibility for inflicting such hurt and the associated torment onto his countrymen.

Commenting on how he has since grown and declaring that being inducted into the Hall of Fame meant to him, he said: “This honour means a whole lot to me. It made me feel what I did in the past was something great and the organisers of the event saw it fit that it should be recorded in history. 

But for me, it is an incentive for me to continue doing the work that I am doing, because a lot of people don’t know, but we make fun of it when November 19, comes around. For everyday I live, I live November 19, 1989. People remind me about that day, but I live that day…every day. For ten years after that day, it has really been a disappointing feeling.”

He continued, “I remember the whistle blew to end the game. I felt like the earth could have opened and taken me. I was laying flat on the ground. 

I felt we disappointed the nation. 

But ten years after that I have come to realise that something good has come out of it, so I live and pass on what I know. I have made a commitment to go to the unprivileged institutions and pass on the positive experiences from that defeat. 

I have to thank God for the opportunity to be able to visit the Prison and share my life experience, not just football and work the inmates who have gave up hope in life. 

Thank God for the University of T&T (UTT) where I am the football coach, I use this as part of an outreach programme. I visit the Prison on Thursday and mentor inmates through small goal football. 

I also do a similar project in the Beetham Gardens, every other Saturday. As I see it, it’s giving back.” 

As painful as the events of 26 years ago are, the ex-skipper was thankful he never had the urge to drown his pains at a rum shop, or turn to marijuana use or engage in any type of substance abuse as a form of comfort. His heeling had been through the outreach programmes which allowed he said allowed him to contribute to the handling of new talent for the sport. 

Many years later, Morris believed he found what he was born to do and found himself in places doing what he enjoys and that coaching football and mentoring youths. He was the football coach at the University of T&T (UTT) and prided himself as being a life coach, too.

Following the 1989 result, the former defender never had a desire to take the field under the national colours and endure the stress associated with this level of national representation.

“But, here it is! Its football I am using to show people life. This award really re-energizes everything that I have been doing and now I want to do more. I have found my purpose, the Lord has kept me back so that I can share my experience of football which I was bless with and life in general.

He praised the late Richard Braithwaite for guiding him through that difficult chapter of his sporting career and dedicated the award and induction honour to him. 

Receiving a photo from one of his UTT students last Thursday, dressed in graduated kit and brandishing his certificate of academic accomplishment moments after the ceremony brightened Morris’ day. As fate would have it, that day was also the anniversary of the Strike Squad’s defeat (November 19, 1989).

He recalled the student in his message wrote, “Coach! Look! A smiling Morris said, he replied, “I said I am very proud of you. So even if these guys don’t come out top footballers, but educational wise they make themselves better than when I meet them, I am very, very pleased. I coach in these hot spots in Chaguanas and I see some of thos same individuals in the Police service. 

That really gives me that incentive and I really feel proud about their achievements. They may not come out a better footballer or make it to the national team, but once they are better citizens of T&T, I’m very happy with that”, he ended.

WALTER ALIBEY

Hours before today’s T&T Football Association Annual General Meeting (AGM) which includes the important election of a president, officials of the Central Football Association (CFA) have made a last-ditch effort to replace three delegates following the recent change in the Zone’s administration on Monday. 

Delegates Glen Khan of Leeds FC, Oswald Mayers of Carapichaima Playmakers, former general secretary

Stephen Bartholomew and an alternate Allan Logan of Perseverance, were chosen by the previous central executive under president Bryan Layne. They were expected to cast their votes for Ramesh Ramdhan who was said to have been nominated by the CFA. 

But following Wednesday’s AGM and election in the central zone, a new administration was elected unopposed. It is being headed by businessman Shymdeo Gosine. Yesterday, Jimmy Henry, the new secretary of administration told the Guardian that a proposal was made to replace Mayers, Bartholomew and Logan with Gregory Mc Sween- of Harlem Strikers,  and Anthony Job as the alternate and himself. An alternate it is understood, is the person who will be a replacement of any of the delegates cannot vote at an election. 

Henry said he contacted the football association’s Acting general secretary Paula Chester yesterday about the change and he was advised to write a letter stating his association’s intentions. Henry said the change is almost certain as the TTFA’s constitution states clearly in Article 22; Subsection 3—that “Delegates must belong to the member zone that they represent and be appointed or elected by the appropriate body of that member. They must be able to produce evidence of this upon request”  

Contacted Chester made it clear that provisions for such a situation were catered for within the football association and therefore the request was granted. “In fact, we have a meeting last week with all the members and this was a matter that came up and needed to be addressed” Chester said. 

Henry and his association have publicly stated that it would not have supported Ramesh Ramdhan because he was not the choice by the general membership before the Zone’s AGM and he not the choice of the new Central Zone executive. But yesterday Henry explained that having listened to the plans of the candidates he was impressed by them all. He did not say who he would vote for but noted that he has already narrowed down his options to two candidates that he is seriously considering. 

Today, he will meet with the other delegates to decide on which candidate the Central zone will support and vote for. 

The main position of president will be contested by five individuals which includes the incumbent Raymond Tim Kee, Clynt Taylor- a first vice p-resident of the T&T Referees Association, Selby Browne- the president of the Veteran Football Federation (VFF) and David John-Williams- the president of TT Pro League Club W Connection and Ramdhan, a former World Cup referee. 

Gosine, when quizzed on who his association would vote for, explained that he will sit with the clubs to decide on a candidate to support. 

...North Zone AGM postponed

Meanwhile, Thursday’s AGM and election of the Northern Football Association (NFA) did not come off as planned and the club representatives and candidates do not know why the meeting did not take place. 

One candidate Nevick Denoon said it is total mayhem in the zone as the present executive appear reluctant to have elections. Thirteen clubs showed up for the elections such as Maple, Malvern, Paragon, Barataria Warriors, RSSR, Petit Valley, Clint Marcelle Coaching Academy, Cosmos Eagles and Morvant Element. 

In attendance for the election were Marcelle, a former national midfielder and vice president of the NFA along with secretary Dale Tavares. Notably absent was incumbent president Roland Forde, who it is understood was ill.

Denoon said they are unsure of what is happening now because no information has been forthcoming. The post of presidency is being contested by Marcelle, sports administrator Tony Harford and Denoon.  

WALTER ALIBEY

It is now a race to the finish for the post of president of the T&T Football Association. After months of intense campaigning by candidates, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) which includes the Election of Executive Officers will begin at 2:00 pm this afternoon at the VIP Lounge of the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo. 

The incumbent Raymond Tim Kee will be challenged for the right to manage the affairs of football in T&T by his friend and colleague in football David John-Williams, who is president of T&T Pro League club W Connection, ex-World Cup referee Ramesh Ramdhan, Selby Browne, the Veteran Football Federation president and Clynt Taylor, the first vice president of the T&T Football Referees Association. 

A total of 49 votes will be cast during the preceeding, and football pundits are predicting that the winner will have to get at least 25 of the votes, but the mathematics can be different today depending on how many delegates turn up. 

It is expected that John Williams will benefit tremendously from the T&T Pro League which has a total 10 votes, being a pro league campaigner through his club W Connection. Apart from the TT pro league however, the votes will come from; EFA 3, SFA 3, TFA 3, CFA 3, NFA 3, Eastern Counties Football Union (ECFU) 3, Referee Association 2, Super League 8, Schools League 1, Veteran Football Federation (VFF) 1, Women’s League 2, Primary Schools 1, Coaches 1, American Youth Soccer Organisation (AYSO) 1, Beach Soccer 2 and Futsal 2.   

During their campaign the candidates all shared their plans for football to the public and the football electorate. John Williams and his team of Ewing Davis (first vice president), Joanne Salazar (second vice president) and Allan Warner (third vice president) have promised a better image for the sport as well as opportunities for youth development and a livelihood from the sport. 

However, Tim Kee, who asking for an opportunity to finish a job that he started back in 2012 has said he will ensure proper accountability, fairness, transparency and a welcome return of corporate T&T to the business of football. 

The incumbent has also allocated a parcel of land at Union Marabella which he expects to use for the construction of a home for football and will implement an independent auditing committee to ensure transparency. However, Browne wants to see a return of the Glory Days of the sport and feel that T&T should also be returned to the number one spot in the Concacaf region. 

He said achieving this can only be done only if he and his team are given the opportunity to refocus and introduce development initiatives from the primary school all the way to the senior level. Meanwhile Ramdhan is promising a complete overhaul of the sport and ensure that T&T no longer struggle to qualify for World Cups and other major tournaments but they are among the top teams in the tournament. 

Joined by businessman John Sabga and a multi talented marketing personnel Curtis Rudd, they plan to implement proper marketing plan that will assist in securing funds and woo corporate TT to get back into the game. There will also be major development plans for referees and all involve Ramdhan said. 

Meanwhile Taylor says that while he will develop the game in it entirety, he will focus on the image of the sport who has gone worldwide.