Increased numbers of foreign doctors and nurses, hospital beds and specialist centres are expected soon, Health Minister Fuad Khan said as he announced approvals for almost $2 billion in budgets for the health sector. In a post-Cabinet press conference yesterday, at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair, Khan announced that Cabinet had approved two health projects.

The first, a $65 million extended-care unit, is set to be built at the Sangre Grande Hospital while the hospital continues to be expanded through construction. Khan said the unit would improve the physical infrastructure and equipment at the hospital. The unit will include a building with 32 additional beds, including 16 for oncology and 16 for orthopaedics, new clinical areas for oncology, a digital X-ray unit, treatment rooms, conference rooms and a waiting area for 50 people as well as the doctors’ lounge for the entire hospital. “We do hope to start construction early in September as the tendering process has already taken place,” Khan said.

Khan admitted that development of the Sangre Grande Hospital had taken some time but said the ministry was looking at improving designs for a state-of-the-art hospital. In addition to the extended-care unit, Khan also announced that a $107 million state-of-the-art diagnostic centre also would be built at the hospital. “The imaging volume for patients at the regional health facilities has increased significantly,” he said. He said regional authorities did not have enough equipment, such as MRI machines and CT scans, to serve the large volume of patients. “It is a bit perturbing that the North West Regional Health Authority which services close to 800,000 people are serviced by one CT scanner and no MRIs,” he said.

The biggest budget announced by Khan went to the $1.8 billion Arima Hospital. Khan said: “You would have been hearing th ministry speaking about the Arima Hospital for quite a while but now it’s on its way with the approval of the project budget. “In that hospital one would have general medicine, general surgery, acute psychiatry, orthopaedic, intensive care, accident and emergency and other services.” He expected the sod-turning for the Arima Hospital to take place in the first week of next month.

The 100-bed Point Fortin Hospital also received budget approvals and an Australian contractor had already been chosen as part of a government-to-government loan agreement with that country. “With all these hospitals being built, one has to think about the human resource factor and we are looking at bringing nurses, doctors and specialists from different parts of the world,” he said. Khan recently announced the arrival of a team of ten specialists from China.

Yesterday he announced the Health Ministry was sourcing 50 nurses from St Lucia and would be bringing in additional nurses from Cuba and specialists from other countries. He said the ministry was formulating a new manpower plan which would use the over 3,000 nurses studying under the Ministry of Tertiary Education.

More Info: The Ministry of Education has received $200 million in additional funding from the Ministry of Finance to make outstanding payments to contractors. Gopeesingh said that at a post-Cabinet press conference yesterday afternoon at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair. The funding was sourced through a bond issue from the Central Bank.

Education Minister Tim Gopeesingh says this year has produced the best examination results in T&T’s history. Speaking at a post-Cabinet press conference yesterday at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair, Gopeesingh spoke about the results of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC).
He said there had been improved results in both units of the CAPE exam as compared to 2010.

He said unit one of the CAPE exams, which was taken by 8,245 candidates saw over 65 per cent of students obtaining grades one to three, while over 93 per cent of students achieved grades one to five. He said that was the first year a digital media exam was written. Students achieved greater than 90 per cent scores in 19 out of the 25 subjects in the exam, he said. “There has been an incremental improvement in academic importance since 2010,” he added. 

Gopeesingh said that 93.1 per cent of students who wrote unit two of the exam got grades one to five, with 68.1 per cent of students achieving grades one to three. “The performance in CAPE continues to improve and get better each year,” he noted. He announced that of the 21,829 people who did CSEC, 64.6 per cent received grades one to three. “Almost two out of every three students writing the exam received grades one to three,” he said.

Gopeesingh also said there was a significant increase in mathematics, with the 55.2 per cent of students passing the subject this year as compared to 41.9 per cent in 2010. He said the improvements were due to the hard work of teachers and principals as well as direct intervention by the ministry. “This is the best performance that we have had in this country, in all three exam areas, the SEA (Secondary Entrance Assessment), the CSEC and CAPE,” he said.

A lot of discussion is taking place around a number of the fiscal measures that need to be put into the 2014-2015 budget, including their cost and impact, says Finance Minister Larry Howai. “All of these things are still being evaluated at this time,” he added. At yesterday’s weekly Government media briefing, at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair, Howai commented on the 2015 budget to be delivered on September 8.

He said: “We will try to maintain the position of continuing the momentum of the economy and ensuring whatever we do can be sustainable over a period of time and we want to ensure the good macro-economic fundamentals we have will continue into the future. “At this stage, all I can say is we are still working on the budget and we have not included all of the items that are necessary.”

On the fuel subsidy, he said: “I will say the approach is generally in line with what the Energy Minister indicated. “While we do remain concerned with the extent of the subsidy and there’s need to deal with it, we have to deal with it in a way that minimises dislocation in the system and economy as a whole. “It’s not just arithmetic, taking it out of the equation and simply balancing the budget. “The effect of this on prices generally and the effect on the level of demand generally could, in fact, be such a way that, overall, whether you are better off or not is something that needs a lot of work.

“I think we need to consider the commercial and economic impact and the social impact, especially on lower-income groups. “We have been seeking to put a CNG solution in place to minimise the social impact and give sufficient time for businesses to adjust to minimise dislocation that will result at all levels within the economy as a whole.”

Wage negotiations, A priority
Howai also said evaluation and review of initial proposals for upcoming negotiations for the protective services had to be done to see how that could be afforded and to be put into the context of the overall budget. He said that had to be done for all parties and not just the Public Service Association’s issues, for instance, before negotiations with various other sectors could begin.
Howai said the Government had to maintain some kind of parity with all agencies and there was need for a very detailed evaluation before starting negotiation processes for the protective services.

However, Howai said, on the Prime Minister’s directive he had spoken to the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) about dates to start negotiations for the protective services and the CPO said she would examine doing phased negotiations and examine dates for them. Agreement on that would be reached over the next two weeks. A decision was yet to be taken on which arm of the protective services would start, he added.

He said the CPO would produce her own proposal on how the negotiations would commence and it would be done in consultation with the various representative bodies. Howai also said the Parliament’s new Standing Orders may prolong the time the Parliament was involved in the budget and that and other legislative matters could take up most of September.

Led by president of the Public Service Association, Watson Duke, more than 100 staff at the Public Service Transport Corporation (PTSC) and Ministry of Food Production, San Fernando, walked off the job yesterday, citing major health and safety violations. Duke met with the workers at the 103-year-old PTSC hub, which was a railway station during colonial times. Saying it was “satanic” that government was forcing workers to “operate like dogs,” Duke called on the OSH Authority to provide a certificate of compliance for the historic building.

OSHA, he declared, was “being controlled like a puppet on a string by the Labour Minister.” He demanded other proof that the building was safe for use. “We must also have a fire certificate. Indoor air quality tests must be done. We want a structural engineer’s report as well as a Town and Country report on this building,” he added. Duke said a health surveillance book was also needed in which all accidents and injuries must be documented. 

During the tour, mice were seen scurrying around in the stockroom while the stench of urine and faeces pervaded the staircase under which homeless people slept. The security guards in the foyer had an uncased fluorescent light dangling over their heads, while septic water seeped through a crack on the floor of the Information department of PTSC. The walls were swollen with moisture and bins were being used to catch water from the leaking roof.

He also showed exposed electrical circuit boards and poor lighting in various departments. One staff member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they had to bring drapes from home to keep out the glare because the broken blinds were never replaced. Several members of staff said they had breathing problems because of the poor air quality. 

“The vents have not been cleaned and you can see how black it is,” another pointed out. A senior official said within the past few years, four employees had died of cancer during their tenure.
Duke told the staff it was their right to refuse to do work if the conditions were hazardous to their health.

“Paint, carpet and big tiles cannot fool us. They cannot renovate with you in the same building. They have to relocate you. Do not let them treat you like dogs. Even animals have rights,” Duke told the workers.

Saying the Government will never be able to control “the Duke of Abercromby,” the trade union leader said he planned to visit 460 public buildings to enforce the OSH Act. “I will be here next Tuesday to meet with you. If you choose to stay and work in these conditions, then don’t expect me to come back. Don’t call me when you get cancer,” Duke said. He then asked the staff whether they were prepared to sign and leave. 

He also said the workers of the OSH Authority were on contract so it was easy for them to be controlled by McLeod and called on Government to give OSHA real independence by providing proper salaries and permanent positions for OSHA staff. 

The walkout affected the bus service as well as renewals of fishing permits and processing of salaries.

Official Responses
Contacted yesterday, Minister of Labour Errol McLeod declined to comment on the accusations over OSH, except to say: “I dismiss most things that Duke says with the utmost contempt.” He refused further comment.

Late yesterday, PTSC officials issued a public advisory that there would be delays in the bus service in both cities because of the walkout. The PTSC said “it will work expeditiously in the next few hours to normalise service.”

Touchstone Exploration Inc, a Toronto-listed company which derives more than 60 per cent of its daily production from T&T, yesterday announced a second quarter (Q2) net income of CA$2.75 million. The profit, which works out to CA$0.05 per basic and diluted share (after it merged with Petrobank) contrasts with the loss of CA$3.97 million recorded in Q1 2014, and the loss of CA$4.15 million in Q2 2013. 

On May 13, Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd completed a court-approved statutory plan of arrangement of the acquisition of Touchstone Exploration Inc (Old Touchstone). “Production for the three months ended June 30, 2014 was 1,220 barrels per day (100 per cent oil). Trinidad production contributed 830 barrels per day, as the operations averaged 1,574 barrels per day over the 48 day post acquisition period within the quarter. Canadian production remained consistent on a quarter-over-quarter basis and increased 104 per cent from the comparative 2013 period,” Touchstone said.

The company said it has “commenced the 2014 Trinidad drilling programme and participated in drilling four wells” and added that it “generated Trinidad adjusted funds flow from operations of CA$1.74 million or CA$23.08 per barrel in the quarter as adjusted for non-recurring operating costs of CA$1.28 million; and achieved July production of 2,340 average barrels per day of which 1,795 barrels per day was Trinidad based and 545 barrels per day was from Canadian operations.” Old Touchstone was engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil in T&T. At the acquisition date, the acquired assets included approximately 1,600 barrels per day of existing oil production from 10,205 working interest acres of developed land and approximately 50,000 working interest acres of undeveloped land in Trinidad. 

“The producing assets are characterized by large oil in place, low declines and an extensive inventory of low risk drilling, workover and reactivation opportunities. The integration of the operations allows the company to execute an expanded capital program in Trinidad and positions the company to increase shareholder value through improved netbacks, increased cash flow, and superior capital efficiencies. The company will leverage the application of proven Western Canadian production technologies to the large defined Trinidad resource base,” Touchstone said.
Trinidad property and equipment expenditures were CA$7.79 million in Q2 2014. This included CA$5.2 million in drilling and completion costs, mainly for the three wells drilled throughout the quarter. The company also purchased a new service rig for CA$2.1 million.

As at June 30, the Trinidad equipment fleet included four service rigs and one coil tubing unit, Touchstone said. Working capital surplus at the end of Q2 was CA$9.73 million compared to CA$41.98 million in the previous quarter. Working capital decreased as the company paid CA$24.28 million in long-term debt and related interest acquired from the Old Touchstone acquisition. The company also recorded a combined CA$10.99 million in capital expenditures throughout the quarter. “The company continues working toward a new operating credit facility to facilitate its expanded capital programme in Trinidad,” the release said. Touchstone expects to have a minimum of two non-operated drilling rigs in service for the remainder of the year. The company is based in Calgary, Canada, and is active in onshore properties located in T&T and western Canada.

Overall Market activity resulted from trading in 12 securities of which three advanced, two declined and seven traded firm. Trading activity on the first tier market registered a volume of 607,928 shares crossing the floor of the Exchange valued at $2,918,934.92. Jamaica Money Market Brokers Ltd was the volume leader with 450,000 shares changing hands for a value of $184,502, followed by Trinidad Cement Ltd with a volume of 77,000 shares being traded for $154,352.16. 

First Citizens Bank Ltd contributed 58,943 shares with a value of $2,093,908.29, while Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Corporation Ltd added 7,000 shares valued at $29,050
Trinidad Cement Ltd enjoyed the day’s largest gain, increasing $0.05 to end the day at $2. Conversely, First Citizens Bank Ltd suffered the day’s greatest loss, falling $0.27 to close at $35.52. Clico Investment Fund was the only active security on the mutual fund market, posting a volume of 137,798 shares valued at $3,031,556. It remained at $22.

Tertiary Education and Skills Training Minister Fazal Karim says there is no need for T&T to import skilled labour. Speaking at the official opening of National Energy Skills Center’s (NESC) first jobs fair in Couva on Wednesday, Karim said: “It is through these jobs fairs that we are going to address our labour shortage in Trinidad and Tobago.” The minister said Government had heard complaints from employers about a shortage of labour, with one even planning to import labour. “We should not pursue the importation of any labour, especially if we have graduates of our institutions seeking job opportunities, many of whom are unknown to these employers,” he said.

While admitting that importation of labour had been going on for decades in T&T, the minister said the country had the potential to be a net exporter of skilled labour. He pointed out that skilled workers from T&T could be found globally in the energy industry. The minister said there were plans for the NESC to establish training facilities in the region and some African states to boost skills in those countries. He expressed the view that training should be demand driven to meet the needs of the job market. Karim said job fairs served as a useful contact point between employers and graduates, providing the ideal meeting point for employers to meet potential employees. He said the NESC jobs fair was the first in a series to be hosted by agencies under his ministry.

The minister also announced that  several projects were scheduled for next month including the launch of Petro UT and the opening of the Centre for Workforce Research and Development (CWRD) which would ensure there was reliable empirical data about what the labour market requires. The NESC offers more than 15 training programmes in various skill areas including welding, automotive services technology, electrical installation, industrial mechanical maintenance, sound recording and music production. Chairman Feeroz Khan highlighted the importance of dealing with the labour shortage by training young people in areas in which there was demand. “I’m pleased to note that of the 862 persons who are here graduating or projected to graduate we have 476 employers interested in their skills. It is a ratio of about 5 to 1,” he said.

The death of noted actor Robin Williams washed over the world like a tsunami of shock. Even people who only knew him through his celluloid exploits crumbled as if a member of their family had passed on. Some celebrated a lifetime of achievement in the arts, commentators divined an altruistic compulsion driving this unstable reactor of talent to bequeath laughter to a wounded world. Hell, even ISIS jihadis took time out from their bloody siege in Iraq to profess their love for Williams in Jumanji.

Immediately, depression was fingered as the culprit in this suicide. One article theorised that Robin Williams was “killed” by his disease. Not to rubbish the domineering role depression can play in an individual’s life, but it is quite early to convict mental illness as the sole contributory factor. The actor had a history of alcohol and drug abuse, admitting to a relapse on a movie set in 2004. He was married twice before his current, widowed wife. Information about domestic troubles was widely celebrated by tabloid America. 

Williams also confided to friends there were several roles he’d rather not take on, but the usurious demands of alimony payments kept him chasing cheques. Beneath a permanently ebullient countenance, Robin Williams was a man battling not just “demons” but something far more insidious; life. 

http://www.guardian.co.tt/digital/new-members

The applause for COP MPs Winston Dookeran and Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan was long and loud on Tuesday night. That it came from Opposition PNM supporters at St James might have caused a double take by anyone who was unaware that both, hours earlier, had voted against their PP Government’s constitutional reform legislation in Parliament . PNMites at Tuesday’s meeting, chortling “Coalition collapse,” saw reason to celebrate. 

The consequences from the debate continued to flow yesterday, and seem likely to continue, until debate on the controversial bill in the Senate on August 26, with the COP figuring prominently throughout. 

After the COP’s call last Sunday to postpone the debate, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, obviously aware of potential political embarrassments ahead, saved (some) PP face by allowing a conscience vote. While the Government may have won the war on the bill with a successful 23-MP vote, it’s perceived to have lost the unity battle thanks to the COP MPs’ action.

http://www.guardian.co.tt/digital/new-members

Over this August holiday break, I’ve been visiting the beaches and some other natural attractions, like the Diggity Trace mud volcano in Barrackpore and some of the hiking trails. What I am finding as I visit these sites really has me bothered. There is garbage strewn everywhere! Charlie is running wild once again!

People seem to have lost pride in the beauty of their country, and believe me, we are blessed with a truly beautiful country. Also, as I am driving on the roads, I am seeing the incidences of people indiscriminately tossing garbage out of the vehicles increasing. What myopic behaviour!

As simple as it may seems, these acts show that we have lost a sense of connection to the country we all call home. Most people would not throw garbage in and around their house, so why do it in the public spaces? Is it the feeling that no one gets reprimanded for committing the act that gives one the boldness to litter? 

And how do we police such an action? Do we have police stationed on each and every corner waiting for perpetrators to litter so we charge them immediately? Or maybe have closed-circuit TV cameras placed throughout the country to capture these acts? All highly ineffective and improbable solutions, not to mention very costly. So how do we police such an action?

Maybe the solution lies not in waiting for the act to be committed and then taking action, but instead working to engender a sense of pride in our country so that we do not litter in the first place. I turn to the African country of Rwanda to give an example of this at work. The same Rwanda that was recently ravaged by civil war is now experiencing one of the highest economic growth rates in eastern Africa.

There is a mandatory community service day from 8 am to 11 am, on the last Saturday of each month, called Umuganda, which means community service. The day is called umunsi w’umuganda, meaning “contribution made by the community,” which is designed to be a day of contribution and building the country by citizens themselves. By law all able-bodied people above the age of 18 and below 65 are expected to participate in volunteer community work. The start of this practice goes back to colonial times and is still practised today.

Participation in Umuganda is usually supervised by a manager, or Umudugudu chairperson, who oversees the effectiveness and efficiency of community participation. On this day, business activity halts, public transportation is limited, and people are seen everywhere working.

People participate in cleaning streets, cutting grass and trimming bushes along roads, or repairing public facilities or building houses for vulnerable persons. People with particular skills offer their services for free on this day. For example, doctors may offer free medical examination.

The benefits of Umuganda are not merely economic. The day is intended to build community involvement and strengthen cohesion between people of different background and levels. The labour cost from Umuganda also contributes to national development programmes. By reaping the rewards of the volunteer labour and by having more capital to invest in the country, Umuganda has contributed to the growth and development of Rwanda.

Today close to 80 per cent of Rwandans take part in monthly community work. Successful projects include the building of schools, medical centres and hydro-electric plants as well as rehabilitating wetlands and creating highly productive agricultural plots. The value of Umuganda to the country’s development since 2007 has been estimated at more than US$60 million. I ask, could this be implemented in our country?

Kenneth Lee-Pow
Maraval

T&T Red Steel is back home but Trini interest in the Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 remains keen, as nine players from the country will be present at the final at Warner Park, St Kitts, today. Trinidadians Keiron Pollard leading the Barbados Tridents will oppose Denesh Ramdin leading the Guyana Amazon Warriors in front of a packed house, to see who comes away as kings of T20 cricket in the region.

Barbados Tridents include Ravi Rampaul, Rayad Emrit, William Perkins and Akeal Hosein, while Ramdin will have with him Lendl Simmons, Sunil Narine and Navin Stewart. Pollard said: “The Warriors played very well last night, but I am not worried. We will do our preparation and get ourselves ready for playing them, but we are going to concentrate on our strengths rather than worry too much about theirs. “They beat us at home a few weeks ago, so we know we will have to bring our A-Game on Saturday (today) to win. They do have dangerous bowlers in the form of Narine and (Krishmar) Santokie, however, when the bad ball comes, we will look to capitalise on it and it should be an exciting match.” 

Ramdin said, “After last night’s game, the players who did not get a chance to bat yesterday will be working hard in the nets today (yesterday) so we are all fully prepared for tomorrow’s (today) final. Santokie and Narine have been bowling well so we will also be looking for them to carry their good form into tomorrow’s (today) match.” Barbados Tridents coach Robin Singh said, “Preparations have been good this week and we have welcomed the break after playing so many games in quick succession at the end of the group stages. We have some players who have done really well throughout the tournament such as Jason Holder and Kieron Pollard, but we will be looking to prepare all of our players to be their best in the final.”

On being asked how they will try to do things differently from last year’s final, where they lost in the last over, Guyana Amazon Warriors coach, Roger Harper said, “This time around we will be looking to produce our best cricket when it counts. We will not necessarily be looking to do anything different to what we have done previously in the tournament, but we will think about the Barbados Tridents today (yesterday) and fine tune our plans so we are ready for tomorrow (today).”

A number of T&T fans are here in St Kitts and will make an appearance at the ground today, with the majority of them supporting the Guyana Amazon Warriors. Action begins at 4 pm and in an Island with a population of around 50,000—nothing much other than cricket will be the attraction.

TEAM: Barbados Tridents: Keiron Pollard (capt), Akeal Hosein, Ravi Rampaul, Ashley Nurse, Jeevan Mendis, Kyle Mayers, Shoaib Malik, Jason Holder, Jonahan Carter, Neil McKenzie, Shane Dowrich, Raymon Reifer and Kirk Edwards.

Guyana Amazon Warriors: Denesh Ramdin (capt), Sunil Narine, Veerasammy Permaul, Ronsford Beaton, Steven Jacobs, Jimmy Neesham, Lendl Simmons, Krishmar Santokie, Navin Stewart, Chris Barnwell, Robin Bacchus, Rayon Griffith, Martin Guptill and Leon Johnson

ST GEORGE’S—West Indies opening batsmen Andre Fletcher will lead a 16-man Grenada squad in a 50-over warm-up match against the touring Bangladesh team tomorrow, the Grenada Cricket Association (GCA) announced yesterday. The match will be played at Progress Park in the eastern parish of St Andrew’s ahead of the two One Day Internationals between West Indies and Bangladesh at the National Stadium next Wednesday and Friday. The team also includes fellow West Indies players Devon Smith and Nelon Pascal as well as Under-19 medium pacer Preston Mcsween. (CMC)

Squad: Andrew Fletcher (captain) Devon Smith, Nelon Pascal, Herron Campbell, Preston McSween, Ronald Ettienne, Keone George, Rudolph Paul, Imran George, Akim Alexis, Denis George, Nickozi St Hillaire, Eamon Alexander, Josh Thomas, Roland Cato and Ryan John. 

T&T’s World junior silver medallist, swimmer Dylan Carter will be the flag bearer for the local contingent at the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in China today. Some 4,000 athletes from 204 countries from around the world have converged in the southern Chinese city for the second edition of the 15-day quadrennial Games, whose inaugural event was in Singapore in 2010.

The 18-year-old Carter, who attends the University of Southern Califonia, will represent the red, white and black in the parade of teams and national sporting organisations (NSOs) at the Nanjing National Sports Centre Stadium in front of an expected capacity crowd in the 60,000-seater venue. Carter, this country’s top junior swimmer who competed in his first senior open meet for T&T at the recently concluded Glasgow Commonwealth Games in Scotland is spearheading the 11-member T&T YOG team that also include fellow swimmers David Mc Leod and Johnnya Ferdinand; track and field athletes Jeminise Parris, Kashief King, Aduwelle Wright, Akani Hislop and Chelsea James; beach volleyballers Chelsi Ward and Malika Davidson; and sailor Abigail Affoon.

On the eve of the opening ceremony, all athletes will mingle and mix in the YOG “Let’s Get Together Festival” at the Youth Olympic Village square, a welcome session for the athletes, put on by the YOG Cultural and Education Programme (CEP) where the Young Ambassador Jeannette Small will be performing.

Interested persons can follow the progress of the T&T team at the T&T Olympic Committee (T&TOC) social media websites, twitter  www.ttoc.org and the Games’ website www.nanjing2014.org/en.

The action at the Games gets underway tomorrow with Mc Leod in the Men’s 100 metres backstroke preliminaries and opening round beach volleyball encounters for Ward and Davidson against Germany’s Sarah Schneider and Lisa Arnholdt.

US-born T&T senior women’s football coach Randy Waldrum says qualification to the 2015 Fifa Women’s World Cup in Canada is an attainable goal, one that would provide impetus to women’s football across the region. A career women’s coach with a track record of success at various levels, Waldrum and his T&T team will kick off their World Cup qualifying campaign against St Kitts/Nevis in Group B of the inaugural eight-team Caribbean Football Union Women’s Cup at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, on Wednesday from 7.15 pm.

Prior to that match, Antigua & Barbuda and Martinique, the two other teams in Pool B, will kick off their campaign. The Soca Princesses, most of whom are currently involved in a training camp with Waldrum which ends on Monday, will next face Antigua & Barbuda on Friday also from 7.15 pm before ending round-robin play against Martinique on August 24 at 6.15 pm. However, the tournament starts on Tuesday with a Pool A double-header at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, involving Jamaica and Puerto Rico from 5 pm, followed by Haiti and Bermuda at 7.15 pm.

When round-robin play ends for both pools, the top teams will meet in the final on August 26 at Mucurapo, while the second-placed teams in each group face off for third. However, more importantly, the top four teams will advance to the Concacaf Women’s Final Round in the USA from October 16–26 ahead of the 2015 Fifa Women’s World Cup in Canada. Already through to the Concacaf Final Round are host USA and Mexico, who both received byes, where they will be joined by four teams from CFU and two from Central America. At the end of the Concacaf qualifiers, both finalists and the third-placed team will qualify automatically to the 2015 Women’s World Cup, while the fourth-placed team will meet the third-placed team from Conmebol (South America) for an additional World Cup berth.

Admission to the CFU matches for each match day is $20, while the final, which will be a double-header, including the third-place playoff, will be $50. With T&T having its best chance to qualify for a senior women’s Fifa competition, a lot of attention has been focused on the women’s team, with Waldrum hoping to make the Caribbean nation leave its mark on the world stage at yet another Fifa event as stated in a recent Fifa.com feature. The Texan native already holds down the head coaching position at NWSL side Houston Dash, following a quarter of a century of involvement in college football—including 15 years at the famed Notre Dame University.

With respect to the team’s training camp in the USA, Waldrum said, “It is a huge step and probably the first time they have made such a financial commitment and I’m really excited about it.”
Asked about the chances of qualify for Canada, Waldrum said, “We have a good group of players and we will try and get as organised as possible and hopefully qualify. Then we would have six weeks to prepare for the Concacaf tournament.

“If we qualify (for Canada 2015) it would be a first for the Caribbean. It would be a good boost for women’s football in T&T and maybe for the region itself. I’m hopeful good things can happen, but I’m not taking anything for granted by any means.” World top-ranked team USA and the vastly improved Mexico have the inside running as automatic qualifiers to the Concacaf tournament, but Waldrum says the contest for the remaining spots is wide open, listing Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Haiti—managed by respected women’s coach Shek Borkowski—as just some of the nations with lofty ambitions. 

Most of the Soca Princesses’ squad are based domestically, with a few currently plying their trade in the USA college system. Among the better known personnel are one-time Seattle Reign forward Kennya “Yaya” Cordner and inspirational captain Maylee Attin-Johnson.

2014 CFU Women’s Cup
GROUPINGS AND FIXTURES
Group A: Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Bermuda
Venue: Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva

Tuesday
Jamaica vs Puerto Rico, 5 pm
Haiti vs Bermuda, 7.15 pm

Thursday
Bermuda vs Jamaica, 5 pm
Puerto Rico vs Haiti, 7.15 pm

August 23
Bermuda vs Puerto Rico, 5 pm
Haiti vs Jamaica, 7.15 pm

Group B: T&T, St Kitts/Nevis, Martinique, Antigua & Barbuda
Venue: Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo:

Wednesday
Antigua & Barbuda vs Martinique, 5 pm
T&T vs St Kitts/Nevis, 7.15 pm

Friday
St Kitts/Nevis vs Martinique, 5 pm
T&T vs Antigua & Barbuda, 7.15 pm

August 24
Antigua & Barbuda vs St Kitts/Nevis, 4 pm
T&T vs Martinique, 6.15 pm

August 26
Venue: Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo:
Third place: Runner-Up Group A vs Runner-Up Group B, 5 pm
Final: Winner Group A vs Winner Group B, 7.15 pm 
 

Guyana was crowned double champions yesterday as rain spoiled its match against Windward Islands in the final of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional Under-19 50-over competition held at the Everest Cricket Ground in Guyana.

Guyana was handed the title after ending the round robin phase with the most number of points. Guyana, which also won the three-day title, won all six of its matches in the 50-over tournament finishing on top of the Windward Islands. Guyana (36.4 points) and the Windward Islands (21.9 points) finished first and second out of the seven teams to qualify for the final.
Jamaica, which did the double last year ended with 21.8 points to grab third spot. T&T found some form at the end of the tournament to finish in fourth position ahead of Barbados, Leeward Islands and ICC Americas. The T&T batting, led by captain Jeremy Solozano, was below par for most of the three-day and one-day tournaments. 

Guyana was led by West Indies Under-19 duo Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Shimron Hetmyer. Left-handed Chanderpaul, son of West Indies batting stalwart Shivnarine Chanderpaul won the MVP award in the three-day tournament, while Hetmyer another left-hander took home the MVP award in the 50-over tournament. 

Guyana’s potent spin bowling attack proved to be a handful for opposing batsmen throughout the three-day and 50-over tournaments. It has been a successful youth cricket season for Guyana. Guyana dethroned defending champions T&T at the regional U-15 50-over tournament in Jamaica. The only tournament Guyana did not win was the WICB Tobago House of Assembly 50-over competition in Tobago. Guyana finished fourth among the six teams, while Barbados came out on top. 

GEORGETOWN—Shivnarine Chanderpaul is likely to become the ninth West Indies over-40 player to participate in a Test match if he plays against Bangladesh in the two Test series next month. The indomitable left-hander, who has played more Test matches than any other West Indian, turned 40 yesterday.

Barbadian Gordon Greenidge was the last over-40 to play a Test match when he played against Australia in Antigua in April 1991, while George Headley, who played against England in his native Jamaica in January 1954, was the oldest at 44. The only person from the Caribbean to play over 150 Tests and the second West Indian after Brian Lara to reach 11,000 Test runs, that fighting quality and value for his wicket is still the hallmark of Chanderpaul’s stellar career.

The Guyana-run machine has played for West Indies, Derbyshire, Durham, Guyana, Khulna Royal Bengals, Lancashire, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Stanford Superstars, Uva Next, Warwickshire and Warwickshire 2nd XI during his illustrious career, which began in 1991 when he first played for Guyana at the under-19 level. The son of a fisherman and father of Guyana national Under-19 opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, “Tiger” has an amazing average of over 50, not the easiest thing to achieve when you have played so many Tests. His record 46 not outs have in some measure contributed to him sustaining such a healthy average for so long but the fact is, his 29 centuries and 62 fifties in Tests make him one of the most successful batsmen of all time. His latest “ton” puts him level with the great Sir Donald Bradman, and only behind Lara’s 34 on the list of West Indians.

As he celebrates his birthday, he will tell you they say life begins at 40 and the dogged Guyanese is still as fit as most present players in regional cricket and like good wine seems to be getting better with age. His 14,414 is testimony to his determination to continue playing at the highest level for so long. And with former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, who played his last Test against Australia at Sydney in December 1984 at 40, being appointed as chairman of WICB selectors, he will know that age is just a number and allow Chanderpaul to retire when he wants to, providing that he is make a meaningful contribution to the team.

Chanderpaul could join CA Wiles who played against England in Manchester in July 1933 at 40, fellow Guyanese LR Gibbs, who played against Australia at Melbourne in January 1976 at 41 and N Betancourt, who played against England in Port of Spain in February 1930 at 42. Wilfred Rhodes was the oldest man to play Test cricket. He was 52 years, 165 days when he represented England in West Indies in 1929–30.

Guyana's dream of winning the Limacol Caribbean Premier League T20 title disappeared due to rain, as they lost the 2014 finals by eight runs under the Duckworth/Lewis method at Warner Park in St Kitts. Guyana played their hearts out throughout the tournament but was never lucky at any time. They lost two matches through last-ball sixes and with 46 runs needed off 25 balls to lift the title, the rain came and shattered their dream and a chance at representing the region at the Champions League in India in October. They also lost out on the first prize of US$125,000 and will walk away with nothing but a broken heart.

Chasing 153 runs for victory, the Amazon Warriors reached 107 for four after 15.5 overs, when the heavens opened and the rain hung around just long enough to whittle away the time that was required to complete the job. After Tridents got half centuries from Dwayne Smith (59) and Shoaib Malik 55 not out, the Warriors were left to get 153, which was a below par score on the small ground. The Tridents bowlers backed by their inspirational captain Kieron Pollard, was up to the job and delivered when it mattered. The dangerous opening pair of Lendl Simmons and Martin Guptill could not fire and throughout the night, the Warriors were always behind the Duckworth/Lewis par score. It did not come as a surprise that they were behind the Tridents when the final and decisive shower came. 

Earlier, the guile of Krishmar Santokie proved too much for the Tridents to handle. Fingers rolling across seam - seemed to be too perplexing and momentum was always the problem - with regular change of batting personell. The rain also made an appearance twice and this did not help the batting team. William Perkins, one of eight Trinidadians involved in the finals (the others being Ravi Rampaul, Pollard, Rayad Emrit, Denesh Ramdin, Sunil Narine, Simmons and Navin Stewart), did not trouble the scorers and so too did Jason Holder the pinch hitter. 

Opener Smith and Malik then started the rescue work, which was interrupted by rain at 56 for two in the eight over. Smith looked good and utilised the short boundaries to his benefit. The Chennai Super Kings right-hander was able to put together a partnership off 88 runs in 10 overs with the Pakistani. While Smith was doing his thing the large contingent of Guyanese supporters were quiet. Those in the party stand were looking up to the heavens, hoping the rain stayed away. Although today was set aside as a reserve day, they were informed that if the match got washed out on both days, the Tridents would be crowned winners, by virtue of finishing at the top of the standings in the league phase.

The Amazon players also seemed taken up with the fickled weather and erred in line and length and Smith and Malik took advantage. Smith rushed to 59 from 52 balls and struck six fours and three sixes, before he fell to Narine. Next ball, the mystery man had Pollard flummoxed and the big burly power-hitter was out for the third duck of the innings. Raymond Reifer then gave Santokie his third wicket and at 111 for five in the 17th over. The experience of Malik then brought the Barbadian team right back into the contest. He and Jeevan Mendis took the eventual score to 152 for six off 20 overs. Malik was unbeaten on 55 at the end off 42 balls with four fours and two sixes. Mendis was run out off the final ball for 15 off 13 balls. Lendl Simmons was named player of the tournament and got a US$400,000 piece of land at Peaumont Park in St Kitts.

SCOREBOARD
Amazon Warriors vs Tridents
Tridents inns

D Smith c Guptil b Narine    59
W Perkins c Hafeez b Santokie    0
J Holder b Santokie    0
S Malik not out    55 
K Pollard c&b Narine    0
R Reifer b Santokie    5
J Mendis run out    15
Extras b4, lb7, w6, nb1    18
Total 6 wkts (20ovs)    152
Fall of wkts: 6, 8, 96, 96, 111, 152. 
Bowling: K Santokie 4-0-19-3 (1w), V Permaul 4-0-30-0 (1w), R Beaton 2-0-33-0 (1nb, 2w), S Narine 4-0-20-2, M Hafeez 4-0-21-0 (1w), N Stewart 2-0-18-0 (1w).

Amazon Warriors

L Simmons c Reifer b Emrit    20
M Guptill b Mayers    7
M Hafeez c Emrit b Holder    28
J Neesham c Perkins b Holder    17
D Ramdin not out    14
C Barnwell not out    17
Extras b1, lb1, w1, nb1    4 
Total 4 wkts (15.5ovs)    107
Fall of wkts: 12, 49, 74, 76.
Bowling: K Mayers 2-0-9-1 (1w), R Rampaul 2-0-10-0, J Holder 4-0-18-2, R Emrit 3-0-25-1 (1nb), A Mendis 1-0-8-0, K Pollard 3-0-25-0, R Reifer .5-0-10-0. 

Result: Tridents won by 8 runs.
Player of the finals: Shoaib Malik.
Player of the Tournament: Lendl Simmonds
 

Selecting any cricket team anywhere is very difficult. When it comes to West Indian teams, the process becomes so fraught with insinuations, innuendoes, even insider politics, that an already thankless job becomes almost impossible. Whatever selectors do, they will never please everyone everywhere.

Like predicting stock markets, selectors should follow their intuition and reliance on situations which are not always obvious or even existent.  They have to take bold chances and choices, mostly believing heads more than hearts, using foresight, very hard tasks indeed. But the changes published by West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) that former WI captain Clive Lloyd will head a revamped WICB selection panel, as I had predicted, is cause for reserved hope.

That panel will also include two former WI opening bowlers Courtney Walsh and Eldine Baptiste, vastly experienced campaigners, along with retained former wicket-keeper Courtney Brown, which gives a tantalising taste that the process will be handled much differently than has transpired over recent years. It also shows that fast bowlers are not as dumb as many think. Those spinner selectors were terrible.

Head coach Ottis Gibson, also a former fast bowler, has a vote on this panel, while team captains will contribute opinions but no actual vote. That latter part of that equation is seriously flawed, backwards even. Captains must have a vote too. Cricket is not like football, where a coach alone selects teams, sending them out with nominal captains, outfield players doing their only job, kicking balls around, nothing significantly different by any of them. Like only goal-keepers, cricket is a game of individual specialists. Each bowler is unique, batsmen’s functionality all-together different, while all-rounders can do both. Wicket-keepers, like goal-keepers, are a breed apart.  

Necessary bowling changes can only come from captains on the field, not coaches on sidelines. Since active substitutions are not yet allowed in cricket, cricket coaches’ jobs are superfluous; that is expendable. Meanwhile, cricket captains always lead from the front. Only cricket captains on the field could use those unexplainable inner feelings, based on present assessments, to manipulate and make appropriate bowling changes to secure wickets, hopefully, ultimately, gaining success. 

Therefore, captains must have much more than just an input. They must have active votes on players they want as company on the field, with the understanding that confidence in, and chemistry with especially bowlers, make tremendous allies in getting the best performances out of those who trundle. Ironically, it was Lloyd himself, appointed WI captain for 1974/5’s tour to India, who brought that neo-modern belief that captains must have final words as to whom should be selected. Also, there is no doubting Lloyd’s excellent eye for unheralded talent.
 
His first out-of-the-box selections, on his first tour as captain, were young, aggressive, untried batsmen Sir Vivian Richards and Gordon Greenidge, now batting legends in our cricketing firmament. Greenidge made 93 and 107 on debut, Richards made 192 not out in his second Test, history eventually confirming Lloyd’s brilliant vision on that duo. Lloyd, singularly focused as captain-cum-selector, also saw a young, speedy, relatively raw Sir Andy Roberts emerge. Roberts had played only one Test before somehow bowling so quickly and so well that he got 32 wickets in five Tests, in India 1974/75; a stupendous statistic!

With maturing captaincy, Lloyd understood that he needed players he could depend on to always give 100 percent, that armor and ammunition necessary to win.  Luckily, he got those too. He unearthed the diabolical pace of 21 year old Michael Holding, only three First Class matches for WI’s tour to Australia 1975/6. West Indies lost that series badly but not before cool “Mr T” had shown his budding greatness, immediately combining with “Fruit T” Roberts to form half of a great pace quartet.

The skipper was responsible for the other half of that still talked about quartet too, with inclusions and emergence of Joel “Big Bird” Garner, after three First Class matches and myself nicknamed “Bomber”, after four First Class matches, completing “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”, the best pace attack ever. Obviously, with those superlative selections, Lloyd knows talent when he sees it. One hopes that he is allowed to parlay with present players, only as head selector, as was done when he was also captain.

However, his biggest problem in this modern era is not if there are enough cricketers playing the game here, for there are thousands more now plying their game in the Caribbean than 35-40 years ago. The problem is that, mostly, our regional cricketers have been ordinary, with few luminescent slags sufficiently striking enough, right now, to warrant suggestions that they will become supreme. 

Knowing our manipulative Caribbean, that gnawing gut also feeling remains that this appointment is slightly more politically adroit than meets the eye; pigeon-holed, silhouetted shadows for the future. It is obvious that, having previously had ambitions to be president of WICB, Lloyd expects, perhaps even deserves more clout in WI cricket than this appointment of being just chairman of selectors allows. So, we shall see how things go these next two years of the appointments. It will not be easy! Enjoy!

T&T’s swimmer David Mc Leod and T&T Volleyballers Chelsi Ward and Malika Davidson will be the first athletes to compete for this country on the opening day of the 2014 Nanjing Youth Games.

Mc Leod will splash into action in the first of two events he is entered in today from 10.30 am in Nanjing when he lines up in heat two of the men’s 100m backstroke splash from  lane two at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center Natatorium alongside 

Jamaican Timothy Wynter, Korea’s Sukgyu Song, Canada’s Javier Acevdeo, Hong Kong’s Shiu Yue Lau, Estonian Karl Johann Luht and Danail Slavchev of Bulgaria For the event, the Mc Leod who turned 18 on Friday is seeded 29th. 

However, first in action today for T&T will  beach volleyball duo, Ward and Davidson against Germany’s Sarah Schneider and Lisa Arnholdt at 8:00 pm (8:00 am local time) at the Youth Olympic Sport Park in Group E action in the 36-team competition. Group E is one of six groups and also includes Indonesia, Congo, Bolivia and hosts China.

Ward and Davidson sealed their ticket to the Youth Olympic Games after easing past Suriname’s Sigourney Kame and Cabriella Bouterse 21-13, 21-6 in their Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Zonal NORCECA qualifiers which was held at Maracas Beach, last November.

This is the second major tournament for the T&T duo after they participated at the FIVB Under-21 World Beach Volleyball Championship in Croatia, also in 2013. Yesterday, World junior silver medallist, swimmer Dylan Carter was the flag bearer for the local contingent at the official opening ceremony in an event which features some 4,000 athletes from 204 countries in the second edition of the 15-day quadrennial Games, whose inaugural event was in Singapore in 2010. The 18-year-old Carter who attends the University of Southern Califonia is this country's top junior swimmer and competed in his first senior open meet for T&T at the recently concluded Glasgow Commonwealth Games, in Glasgow, Scotland.

He is spearheading the 11-member T&T YOG team that also includes fellow swimmer Johnnya Ferdinand, track and field athletes Jeminise Parris, Kashief King,  Aduwelle Wright, Akani Hislop and Chelsea James and sailor Abigail Affoon.

Interested persons can follow the progress of the T&T team at the T&T Olympic Committee (T&TOC) social media websites, twitter  www.ttoc.org and the Games’ website www.nanjing2014.org/en