Quantcast
Channel: The Trinidad Guardian Newspaper
Viewing all 18762 articles
Browse latest View live

Kale does not pale

$
0
0
Published: 
Saturday, May 6, 2017

Okay I am a sceptic, I am guilty, I always put local produce first. So when kale first started to appear on our grocery shelves, it was imported kale—dark, curly, tough leaves, with even tougher stems. “Oh no”, I thought, “that’s not for me.” I kept on enjoying fresh local watercress, local lettuce, chorai bhaji, pak choi and callaloo bhaji. A year or so later, because our farmers are brilliant, local kale started to appear in our groceries and at the market, but at a very high price.

I was hesitant and so ignored this local kale.

Fast forward to last Sunday, whilst trolling the Namdevco farmers market in Debe, I spotted a large stall, loaded with green bunches of unidentifiable produce.

Upon approaching I realised that his stall was crammed full of a variety of locally grown kale. What a beauty it was: there was curly kale, Chinese kale, dinosaur kale and purple kale, along with forest bhagee, mustard greens and morai greens.

The price was $5 per bunch, and I took one of each. Each night for dinner this week, I’ve eaten a different variety of kale. Easy to eat, easy to cook and quite delicious too! I cooked them all the same way: chopped the leaves and the stalks if they seemed tender, sautéed them in coconut oil and garlic and sprinkled with a touch of sea salt.

The purple kale has slacker leaves with pretty lavender like stalks, gentle flavour and not so tough leaves. The Chinese kale was the most tender of all and quite juicy. I added a touch of Smoked shoyu in place of the salt. The regular curly kale was tougher in texture but still flavourful, as greens go in the flavour zone. And the dinosaur kale, aptly named, as the leaves resemble the roughness of the dinosaur skin, was a bit more bitter than the rest. However what is my take on these local varieties? They are more tender and more flavourful than our imported competition.

Kale can be enjoyed sautéed, in stir-fries, in quiche and in pies. So go ahead and have a kale moment—or moments—as I did this week. It does not pale in comparison to our other greens, but rather adds a bit of diversity for us to enjoy.

 

KALE IN OYSTER SAUCE

 

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp coconut oil

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp chopped ginger

1 small onion, sliced

2 bunches kale, washed and cut into one-inch pieces, stalks removed if tough

Sea salt to taste

 

METHOD:

Combine oyster sauce with corn starch and sesame oil. Set aside.

Heat oil in a wok, add garlic, ginger and onion, and sauté until it is fragrant.

Add kale and sprinkle with salt. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently for a few minutes only. Once it has lost its volume, add the oyster sauce mixture, and cook until liquid is thick, a few minutes. Do not overcook. Remove.

 

Serves four.

 

 

 

PEPPERY KALE CUSTARD PIE

 

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

1 pimento pepper, seeded and chopped

1/2 hot pepper, seeded and chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

4 bunches Chinese kale, leaves and stalks washed and sliced into one half-inch pieces

4 eggs

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2/3 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

 

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat sauté pan. Add oil, garlic, onion, and peppers. Sauté until fragrant—about four minutes.

Add kale and cook just until wilted and bright green. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat eggs, add nutmeg, salt and pepper, milk and cheese.

Stir in kale.

Pour mixture into a greased pie plate about ten inches in diameter.

Bake for 30 minutes until firm to the touch.

 

Serves six to eight

Locally grown kale from Green Age Farms.

Point Fortin honours b-ball icon ‘Voot’ O’Garro

$
0
0
Published: 
Saturday, May 6, 2017

Former basketball great Victor ‘Voot’ O’Garro was honoured last Wednesday for his contribution to the sport. The award came from the South Side Revival Sports Committee, a non-profit organisation from O’Garro’s native Point Fortin community, whose objective is to keep young people involved in sports, away from a life of crime and engage in healthy lifestyles.

O’Garro represented T&T from the age 20, from 1971 t0 1981, touring China, Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Columbia and the Caribbean.

He played professionally in the Dominican Republic in 1974 and 1975 and was named basketball player of the year for ten consecutive years by the WITCO Awards Sports Foundation.

In 1982 he was awarded the Humming Bird Medal, the country’s third highest award given for his contribution to the sport of basketball.

Popularly known in the local and regional basketball circles as ‘Voot’, O’Garro was T&T’s senior women’s coach from 1985-1994 and served on the World Rule Committee for Special Olympics from 1987-1990. In 1989 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame and in 2000 he was selected as one of the most outstanding sport personalities of the twentieth century.

he received his coaching diploma at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, and is now a FIBA Level three coach and instructor, a board member on the Caribbean Basketball Confederation Executive (CBC) and a member of the Federation of International Basketball Youth Development Committee (FIBA).

In 1994 he accepted an offer from the Cayman Islands Government to be its technical director for basketball, a position he presently holds after his successes in taking the game from being a recreational sport to a highly competitive one.

In honouring O’Garro, many past and present basketballers came out to play in a celebrity game in Point Fortin on Wednesday night, where a Ministry of Sport team and a south side representative team that comprised Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Darryl Smith, Minister in the Ministry of Education Lovell Francis, John JJ Bailey of RED 96.7 fm Radio; icons such as Patrick KK Joseph, Ian Poison Gomes; persons who played either with or for Voot, such as; Kerwyn Thompson, Decland St Louis, Denny Collins, Clevon Dunbar, Kern Doring, Kirk Alexander, Kea Blackett and Roger Lewis, who is the SSRSC operations person.

The teams were strengthened by the inclusion of national players in the likes of Miguel Williams, Stephen ‘Lighter’ Lewis, Rhonda JohnDavis together with Kern George, Jonathan Weekes, Mario Davis, Kemrick Julien, Derrick Boxhill and Garvin Warwick—Advisor to the Minister of Sport and former president of the NBFTT. In another exhibition match First Division giants Petrotrin Petro Jazz defeated the Defence Force.

Over the last six years the South Side Committee has hosted basketball tournaments including an Invitational competition with teams from the Point Fortin Borough and other surrounding areas. The League was sponsored by Atlantic LNG, Ministry of Sport, Pt Fortin Borough Corporation and Barcam International. It has also received technical assistance from the NBFTT.

Meanwhile, former outstanding players Kerwyn “Tomtee” Thompson and Earl Philip also received Lifetime Contribution awards to basketball.

T&T's basketball icon Victor 'Voot' O'Garro

Charles McEnearney and Ford, a 94-year partnership

$
0
0
Published: 
Saturday, May 6, 2017

The first automobile in T&T rolled ashore in 1900—a Locomobile Runabout, which was basically a two-seat horseless carriage powered by a small steam engine. Following closely on the exciting new technology trends of the time, there were soon many other cars on the streets when these were still toys of the wealthy, being both expensive to acquire and complex to maintain.

In 1908 Henry Ford introduced his immortal Tin Lizzie, the Model T Cheap thanks to innovative design and economised production lines, the first of these cars hit Trinidad in 1912, when a fleet was imported, by Yldefonso De Lima of jewelry-store fame, to operate as taxis.

The fare from Port-of-Spain to Mt St Benedict, for instance, was $8, a substantial sum equal to the monthly wage of a labourer.

J N Harriman and Co, one of the oldest emporiums in the land and owned by the Boos family, sold Model Ts for a while, but in March 1919 a young Englishman named Charles McEnearney stepped into the picture and acquired the sole dealership for the Ford brand in Trinidad.

Originally a purchasing agent sourcing coconuts for the Schweppes beverage company, Charles saw the rapid industrialisation of the island with its oil economy as an opportunity and began sales on Richmond Street in Port-of-Spain in a small way.

San Fernando was the next frontier, in 1922, with a single-car showroom on Mucurapo Street in 1922; and the cocoa boomtown of Sangre Grande a year later in partnership with George De Nobriga.

The Model T, in Trinidad as in the rest of the world, dominated the roads.

Aside from its rugged simplicity, it was offered in numerous body-styles including pick-up truck, delivery van and sporty roadster right up to the end of production in 1927, when over 15 million had been sold.

In 1931 the Richmond Street headquarters was expanded but the piece de resistance came in 1936, when a grand art-deco showroom was opened on Royal Road in San Fernando.

Designed by John Guppy, the impressive façade incorporated a V8 logo which alternatively represented a tribute to King Edward VIII or else the mighty flathead V8 engine which made Ford a performance legend.

The years of World War II from 1939-45 were a challenge, since the Ford factories had stopped assembling cars and had turned to making war vehicles and implements.

Moreover, spare parts and car tyres were restricted as imports.

After the war ended, sales resumed and thrived, a new branch being opened in Scarborough, Tobago in 1950 with smaller English Fords such as the Prefect gradually replacing the American models which had hitherto been the mainstay. After Independence in 1962 a new government regimen was implemented to assemble cars locally.

Charles McEnearney and Co rose to the challenge and partnered with H E Robinson and Co,(importer for Rootes and BMC cars) to establish an assembly plant in Tumpuna.

Charles McEnearney and Co became part of the Alstons Group in 1968. Before its closure in the 1990s, more than 100,000 vehicles were assembled at this plant. In 1975 Conrad O’Brien was appointed managing director, having begun his career at the firm in 1948 as a salesman. A new horizon rose with the assembly of the Japanese-sourced Ford Laser, which was destined to become a successful rival to the now dominant Japanese brands in the market.

A further foray into Japanese cars came with the addition of the Daihatsu marque in the 1980s.

The year 1989 saw the merger of McEnearney and H E Robinson, which brought the Honda, Mitsubishi and Land Rover brands into the fold.

Faltering vehicle sales in the recession of the decade saw Conrad O’Brien negotiating with Anthony N Sabga, and McEnearney-Alstons became part of the ANSA McAL group.

Logistic difficulties in the 1980s saw the Ford name vanish from the market only to make a grand resurgence in 1996 with a revitalisation of the brand that paired dynamic new cars with an aggressive marketing campaign, thus firmly re-establishing the footing of one of the oldest existing automotive icons in Trinidad, still under the aegis of the company that was one of its earliest representatives.

Charles McEnearney and Co still exists as part of the Ansa Automotive Group and has extended its reach into Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, as well as being noted as the dealer for many prestigious brands of vehicles, including BMW (Oxford Motors), Land Rover and Jaguar.

Volkswagen Beetles

The local Stephen Hawking of the vintage-car world

$
0
0
Published: 
Saturday, May 6, 2017

Rising above the depths of despair, Ghanesh realised that while his career as a farmer was over, the tragic event was a catalyst for him to pursue what was to become his passion, restoring antique cars.

While his body may be confined to a wheelchair, his inquisitive and creative mind is unfettered like scientist Stephen Hawking’s brilliant mind, which he never allowed his debilitating illness amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease, which has left him confined to a wheelchair, to prevent him from developing his groundbreaking work with black holes and relativity and writing several popular science books including, A Brief History of Time.

Ghanesh, 49, together with his brother, Jacob, 50, and adopted brother, Derek Little, are like the characters from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome; “Master Blaster.”

Ghanesh is Master, the brains, while Jacob and Little are Blaster, the brawn and hands of the outfit that restores classic cars and vehicles that were involved in horrendous accidents to life.

Ghanesh also taught Jacob how to repair small engines, lawn mowers, motorised toys, weed whackers, chain saws, mist blowers, water pumps and other agricultural equipment used by farmers, which they turned into a business at their Aranguez home.

The Sunday Guardian visited the brothers when they were putting the finishing touches to their pride and joy, an exquisitely restored 1956 Ford Prefect Deluxe down to the whitewall walls for exhibiting at the V8 Boys Grand Auto Show at Skinner’s Park, San Fernando, on April 30.

Ghanesh gives instructions to Jacob and Little on how to repair an item from a lawn chair which he lies on in the garage.

“We were farmers and had land in Mt Lambert but since the accident we gave that up because it’s hard for Jacob to leave here and do anything else,” he said.

“He has to turn me every two hours so I don’t develop bed sores, he cooks, feeds me, does the laundry, changes my catheter bags and carries me up and down the stairs with Derek.

“I could move my wrists and my fingers to an extent, when somebody calls on my cellphone I hand it over to Jacob as I can’t turn it on.

However, Ghanesh sources and orders “the original parts for these vehicles online and tell Jacob and Derek how to rewire, fix the engine, suspension and do the repair work.”

He said it was his hobby, something to fall back on since the accident, and he taught Jacob how to do the mechanical repairs on the farm equipment.

Ghanesh said it took his sibling two years to learn how to repair small engines because he was “harden,” he said chuckling.

The lines were blurred on who was dependent on one another. Jacob said before their father Balkaran died in 1989, he told Ghanesh to take care of his sibling as he had the business acumen and people would take advantage of Jacob because he was too soft-hearted.

He said it was a kind of rehabilitation for Ghanesh to work on his Ford Prefect, as well as the other vehicles as it kept him busy sourcing parts.

Their self-reliance also extended to the care of two finches, rescued dogs Shaggy and Rocky from Clifford Tardieu of V8 Boys Garage, as well as several ducks and chickens from which they get a supply of fresh eggs.

Little said even when they were schoolboys and they passed the Ford Prefect parked at the home of the original owners, opposite the Mt Lambert RC Church, Ghanesh would tell them it would be his one day.

Little is the straightener, welder and painter at the garage and also brought back the written off 1982 Nissan E23 panel Ghanesh was driving during the accident.

Little said he was often by the brothers’ home and their mother, Rosie, used to tell family members she brought her pickney son, they were close and when she passed in 2010, it was painful for all of them.

Jacob said Ghanesh enjoyed sitting in the passenger seat of his Ford Prefect and being driven around the country, the furthest they took him was La Vega Estate, in Gran Couva.

Despite his physical challenges he maintains a sense of humour, he watches sports and car shows such as Top Gear, Fast n’ Loud, Counting Cars and Wheeler Dealers.

“You have to keep the mind active, it is like a muscle,” Ghanesh said. “I’m not vegetarian, I eating anything that pass. I enjoy chocolates. I don’t drink or smoke,me and chocolates is friends,” he said laughing.

Isaac Ghanesh

Dancing for life

$
0
0
Published: 
Saturday, May 6, 2017

Trinidad-born Dr Joanne Kilgour Dowdy currently teaches adolescent/adult literacy at Kent State University in Ohio, USA, and so even though she has been involved in dance all her life, attendees at the Monday Night Theatre Forum on April 24 were not expecting to be treated to an impromptu dance lesson.

Kilgour Dowdy told the story of a disabled dancer and dance instructor, Keith Williams, whom she met at an assisted living facility in the US. His left side was paralysed following a stroke. She said he had given up on regaining movement and inspired her to come out of retirement to give him the gift of a dance of his own.

After performing the piece, which took into account the paralysis, she asked volunteers to sit in a circle and taught them some of the steps. These involved lots of slow motions, including hand movements, pointed toes and gradual head raises and turns. It was a powerful experience to feel and to watch, as the movements imparted both sorrow and hope.

She said creating the dance and teaching it to Williams was putting the Banyan ideology in practice, which she had learned as part of the Banyan TV Network while in high school in T&T. She would tape the sessions and replay them for him each week, as damage from the stroke damage has affected his memory.

Kilgour Dowdy said it was immensely inspiring to see Williams perform the dance and figure out how to do the dance movements in his wheelchair. She said he had spent his whole career teaching by demonstrating and now he had to teach through explanation only.

She said she saw how being able to participate in creating this dance changed him.

A psychologist who was present said he could see where he could incorporate movement into the work he did with traumatised patients. Kilgour Dowdy said she knew the technique had been used in co-therapy and that Broadway had done several plays with people in wheelchairs. She said Williams wanted to be a leader of a company of differently-abled people now that he had gone through the experience.

Kilgour Dowdy said there are many ways to communicate, including song and dance, and once we ask children just to write, we’re cutting them off from all the forms of expression available to them.

If youth is wasted on the young, what about words?

$
0
0
Published: 
Saturday, May 6, 2017

On the first night of this year's NGC Bocas Lit Fest, which ran from April 26-May 1, 18-year-old Puerto Rican Viviana Prado-Núñez won first place in the 2017 CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Literature. The award honours writing for young adult readers, and Prado-Núñez's self-published novel, The Art of White Roses, took its CAD $10,000 top prize.

On the last night of Bocas, Tobagonian Camryn Bruno—also 18—claimed the first-place prize of $50,000 (TT) in the First Citizens National Poetry Slam. The $20,000 (TT) second-place winner, Alexandra Stewart, is 19: both Bruno and Stewart have been rising stars in previous national spoken word intercols, often standing head and shoulders above their opponents.

Even the 2017 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, largely regarded as the festival's chief celebratory component, was signalled out for matters of youth. As Bocas founder and festival director Marina Salandy-Brown pointed out during the awards announcement ceremony on April 29, this marks the first year that all genre winners of the OCM Bocas Prizes, in fiction, non-fiction and poetry, have been under 40.

The distinction, as overall OCM Bocas Prize winner Jamaican Kei Miller pointed out, is both sanguine and sobering. Miller, who won the US $10,000 award for his novel Augustown, was speaking of the death of non-fiction category winner, Angelo Bissessarsingh. The adored historian and researcher from T&T died at 34 after his seeming defiance of a terminal diagnosis with pancreatic cancer. It was this defiance and good-natured, even jovial, tenacity that would see him research, compose and publish a handsome handful of books, including the ones that were awarded the OCM Bocas non-fiction prize: Virtual Glimpses into the Past/A Walk Back in Time: Snapshots of the History of Trinidad and Tobago.

As Angelo's brother, Kei Miller and poetry winner, Jamaican Safiya Sinclair stood on the Bocas stage brandishing shiny trophies, the rewards of youth—and the perils of trusting in youth's permanence—seemed clear. It is with both persistence and a damning, offhand carelessness that the ambitions of youth are cast aside, in life as in literature. Poets and novelists will be the first to self-deprecate their green verse, their awkward, fumbling debuts on the page. Yet, in youth, some of the most promising gems lie dormant, waiting for creative prospecting.

Consider Prime Minister Keith Rowley's memoir, From Mason Hall to Whitehall, which he read from on April 27 during this year's festival. A large segment of it is given over to Rowley's childhood in Tobago and, in its descriptions of simplicity, humble origins and boyhood romps, a humanising portrait of the politician emerges.

Everyone who is a leader of state, a captain of industry, a senator, sailor or short-term employee, was a child once, and it is to the memories of our childhood that we often return when we want to make meaning real in our stories.

Consider, too, that the stories of youth need not be written down to manifest themselves. At this year's Bocas, some of the strongest stories told never so much as touched the leaf of a printed page, and they were told by the young. In Human, Right?, Bocas' inaugural ole mas competition, masquerader Tracy Sankar-Charleau's son accompanied his mother's cloven-hoofed guest performance of Lagahoo, bedazzling and fearsome in his own right as a masked, glitter-faced Douen.

To encourage our young people that they can do and make anything—in books, in art, in live performance—this should take nothing away from those of us old enough to make decisions in favour of the young. The legacy of some of our veteran members of the arts community in T&T speaks strongly to a continually self-renewing legacy between the young and old. Inspiration for this mission can be found in no finer place than the speech of the 2017 OCM Bocas Henry Swanzy Awardee, Joan Dayal, the founder and owner of Paper Based Bookshop.

Even while standing on the solid platform of 30 years' service in the independent book-selling community, Dayal's mandate remains firmly focused on the future. Her passion, she said during her official recipient's speech on April 29, is the continued stimulation of local reading and writing communities, no matter how fledgling.

Dayal, like so many other wise voices at Bocas 2017, is attentive to the needs of the young: it can be but hoped that her encouragement, and Bocas' work, lights the lamps of youth voices bursting with so much to share.

 

Shivanee Ramlochan is a poet whose debut collection Everyone Know I am a Haunting is published by Peepal Tree Press and was spotlighted during the 2017 NGC Bocas Lit Fest. She is the festival blogger and writes on books for the Sunday Arts Section.

Prime Minister Keith Rowley makes a spontaneous gift of his memoir, From Mason Hall to Whitehall, to an audience member during his Bocas Lit Fest panel.

State saves $10 billion

$
0
0
...as ministries, state enterprises cut back
Published: 
Sunday, May 7, 2017

Belt-tightening has helped the State spend $10 billion less than expected in 2016, the Auditor’s General report for the fiscal year, which ended on September 30, 2016, has shown.

In addition to that, this is also the first time in five years that the country has received more revenue than it has spent, the report states.

According to the report laid in the Parliament on Friday entitled “Public Accounts of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for the Financial Year 2016” the total approved expenditure for the year was $66.967 billion.

However, the actual expenditure for the period was $56.57 billion.

This represented a difference of $10.39 billion less than the approved amount.

According to the Treasury’s documents, the actual revenue for the country for the year was $60.31 billion.

Of the $60.31 billion, $28.99 billion (48 per cent of the total) came from tax revenue and some $11.40 billion, or 19 per cent came from non-tax revenue. The Government collected $3.81 billion, or 6.32 per cent, in capital revenue and borrowed $13.60 billion and it borrowed or received as extraordinary receipts $16.1 billion (26.7 per cent). The extraordinary receipts refer to the Government’s drawdown from the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF) of $2.49 billion.

As $40.39 billion of the Government’s total revenue for 2016 came from tax revenues, the Government accessed $16.18 billion from the sale of assets, dividends and from the HSF.

Because the State’s total revenue for 2016 was $60.31 billion, that it only spent $56.57 billion represented a surplus of $3.74 billion.

It is the first time the country has experienced a surplus in five years, the document stated.

While the revenue of $60.313 billion is the lowest the country has experienced in the last three years, the country’s actual expenditure of $56.574 billion was the lowest in this country for the last four years.

Of the 78 heads of expenditure listed, none spent more than their approved estimates for the year.

The Ministry of Finance led from the front by recording the greatest variance between their total approved estimates for the year and their actual expenditure for the period.

The Finance Ministry’s total approved estimates for the financial year was $7.4 billion.

The Ministry of Finance actually spent $2.35 billion less than that approved figure.

Their actual expenditure was $5 billion.

The first Head of Expenditure detailed in the report was the Office of the President.

Official entertainment for the Office of the President for the year was just under $800,000 less than what was approved.

The Office of the President was approved $1.85 million for official entertainment for the year but only $1.05 million was actually spent.

The explanation for the difference was that “expenditure incurred for functions was less than anticipated”.

The overseas travel approved for the Office of the President for the year was $1.7 million.

Only $1.2 million was spent.

The explanation provided for the $482, 000 difference is that “cost associated with travelling was less than anticipated”.

The Office of the Prime Minister spent $175 million less than it was approved.

The total approved for the Office of the Prime Minister was $390 million.

The actual amount spend by the Office of the Prime Minister was $215 million.

The Office of the Prime Minister was approved $1 million for electricity but only managed to spend $$295,000.

This means the Office of the Prime Minister spent $704,000 less for electricity than expected.

The explanation provided for the difference is that “expenditure was less than projected”.

The Ministry of National Security was approved $6.52 billion, but the actual amount that was spent by the National Security Ministry was $5.08 billion. The difference $1.43 billion was the second biggest variance recorded.

During his address to the nation in December 2015 against the backdrop of low energy prices and a dismal fiscal projection, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley called for all ministries and State agencies to cut expenditure by seven per cent.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert is expected to have a mid-year budget review on Wednesday.

Sunday 7th May, 2017


Sunday 7th May, 2017 WOW

SABGA: DR. ANTHONY NORMAN

$
0
0
Published: 
Sunday, May 7, 2017

SABGA: DR. ANTHONY NORMAN passed away peacefullyon Wednesday 3rd May, 2017. Beloved son of the late Norman and Sarah Sabga. Devoted husband of Minerva Sabga. Cherished father of Linda Hadeed, Norman Sabga, JoAnn Moses, David Sabga, Donna Hadeed and Andrew Sabga. Father-in-law of Abraham Hadeed, Alma Sabga, Dr. Michael Moses, Christine Sabga, Nabeel Hadeed and Helena Sabga.

Grandfather of twenty-nine. Great grandfather of twenty-three. Brother of the late George and Solomon Sabga, Afifi Esau, Jamily Janoura and Zarifie Sabeeney.

Funeral mass forthe late Dr. Anthony Norman Sabga takes place at TheChurch of the Assumption,Long Circular Road on Mon-day 8th May, 2017 at10:00am, followed by privateinterment. Please note, there will be additional parking facilities at The Trinidad Country Club. Funeral entrusted to C&B. For enquiries, please contact Chancellor Walks Funeral Services, 287-0403/04

How to steal land 101

$
0
0
Published: 
Sunday, May 7, 2017

Has the PNM government gone mad? I just read what the Attorney General and Finance Minister had to say concerning squatters having to pay property tax.

These two gentlemen have put into the public domain how land, including state land, can be stolen, with the full approval of the Government, from its rightful owners.

Instead of moving to evict squatters, the Government is legitimising them and paving the way for wholesale grabbing of state lands all over T&T.

That is absolute craziness. But then, I should not be surprised.

This Government is showing, just like the previous one, that it is bereft of ideas to carry the country forward.

 

Linus F Didier

Mt Hope

Sorry not good enough

$
0
0
Published: 
Sunday, May 7, 2017

Tearing up the property tax form is no substitute for the failure of the PP government to either adjust or repeal the 2009 law which is about to be implemented by the Rowley administration.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar cannot just say she is sorry for not repealing the Act and move on when one of the coalition partners, the Congress of the People (COP), had campaigned heavily against the tax going into the 2010 general elections.

The arguments against the tax now occupying the attention of the Opposition were well known when the PP formed the government in 2010, so that Persad-Bissessar must now level with her supporters and say why the Property Tax Act, 2009 was not repealed when she had the constitutional majority to do so. So too must Dr Roodal Moonilal, Kevin Ramnarine and Vasant Bharath.

However much we will groan under the weight of the property tax, the fact is, it the law.

And I remember Basdeo Panday telling his Cabinet colleagues when he was Prime Minister in 1995-2001, that you may dislike a law, but unless you can repeal it, you must obey it.

He did just that during his term by implementing the death penalty because it was the law, and he could not change it. The Rowley government seems to be heading in that same direction.

Persad-Bissessar had the opportunity to repeal and replace the property tax when her party had 29 seats in Parliament.

While it is commendable that she did not raise any taxes during her term, it is of little comfort to people who now feel burdened by the increase in their tax portfolio at this time.

It is particularly onerous on the business community who are already burdened by a plethora of taxes and yet expected to be the generator of employment.

Persad-Bissessar is now promising to repeal the Act when, and not if, she returns to power. All I can say is, there is an old saying, a promise is a comfort for fools.

 

Harry Partap

Tableland

Govt needs to weed out inefficient state enterprises

$
0
0
Published: 
Sunday, May 7, 2017

The recent communication by both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance on the soon to be implemented property tax did quite a bit to allay the fears of many and to correct quite a bit of misinformation that is in the public domain. If this had been done earlier it would have made for a smoother transition. Effective communication is the lifeblood of successful organisations.

A recent speech by Dr Terrance Farrell which unmasked the spectre of a dearth of effective leadership among the elite groups in society was also on point because this is a very real problem in T&T and speaks to putting square pegs in round holes. This speaks to payback time by political parties after getting into power. It is a way of repaying party financiers with multi-million dollar contracts and key positions regardless of if they have the competency to do an effective job or not.

The protests by the CWU about a recent acquisition by TSTT without cabinet approval speaks to this apparent problem as well as the revelations by the JSC that state enterprises are indebted/owe some $44 billion. It becomes imperative therefore that government weed out inefficient state enterprises or seek public/private partnerships in others, especially against the backdrop of the recent downgrades by S&P’s and Moody’s which effectively made the cost of borrowing more expensive for T&T.

Campaign finance legislation which seeks to reveal the names and sources of finance of political parties can go a long way not only in curbing corruption but can also address the problem of poor leadership and the inefficient use of tax-payers money. It should also set reasonable spending limits by both political parties and candidates and level the playing field for both large and smaller political parties.

Given that government now subsides many state enterprises which are in fact loss-makers and that wages/salaries and transfers and subsidies account for some 70 per cent of the annual national budget, this situation appears untenable at this time.

It has been said that the most tangible proof of European co-operation is the use of a single currency in the form of the euro.

A single currency offers many advantages and acts as a buffer against fluctuations in exchange rates and exchange rate values among members. It enables member countries to conduct inter-country trade easier and causes economies to become more stable.

With the current problems plaguing almost all Caricom countries, perhaps the time has come to really concretise the CSME by the adoption of a single currency.

This envisages that the member states use this currency within the trading bloc instead of hard currency or US$ which has become very scarce at this time. The OECS has already made this move successfully and it appears to be working well.

If this move can be successfully negotiated, I think this may be the workable solution to the myriad of problems facing nearly all members at this time. There will be winners and losers at first but once teething problems are ironed out, valuable foreign exchange will be saved by all and sundry which could be used only for transactions outside the trading bloc. This could represent a win/win situation for the CSME as a trading bloc in its own right and represent the solution to the problem of scarcity.

 

Peter Narcis

Monday 08th May, 2017

T&T’s Guerra scores

$
0
0
...as Jamaican Kelly leads Reno to first win
Published: 
Monday, May 8, 2017

Kelly blasted two first-half strikes and followed to hit one of two in the second half, as Reno 1868 dismissed home stadium advantage to claim their first victory of the season, when they pummelled Phoenix Rising 4-0 at the Phoenix Rising Soccer Complex. Elsewhere, Guerra connected for his third goal of the season to hand Charleston Battery a 1-0 victory over Bethlehem Steel at the MUSC Health Stadium.

In Scottsdale, Arizona: A crowd of 6,067 came hoping to see the debut of former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, but it was Kelly, the USL all-time scoring leader with 53 career goals, that made the biggest impact, carrying his aggregate for the season to five and giving expansion side Reno a morale-lifting first win.

Reno goalkeeper Matt Bersano played the ball deep after two minutes and Chris Wehan got a touch from the left side to Kelly, who chested the ball down, darted towards the goal and slammed a right-footed shot from 23 yards out into the bottom left-hand corner to give Reno the lead.

Kelly extended the advantage four minutes later in a counter-attacking move, blasting a left-footed shot from the middle of the penalty area into the bottom right-hand corner off a right-sided cross from fellow Jamaican striker Brian Brown.

The rest of the half unfolded without either team making any inroads, as Kelly missed was twice saved on the line in the final minute of the first half, when Rising’s netminder Josh Cohen stopped his initial shot and veteran defender Jordan Stewart cleared his second attempt from the rebound. But Kelly was not be stopped and he put the match out of the reach of Phoenix six minutes into the second half, when changed direction after running onto a through-ball from Lindo Mfeka enough to create time and space for him to fire the ball into the bottom right-hand corner.

Wehan ensured there was to be no comeback story for the home team, when Mfeka set him up and he shot a crisp left-footed shot from the centre of the box into the bottom right-hand corner of the net in the 77th minute.

In Charleston, South Carolina: The 17th-minute strike from Trinidad & Tobago forward Guerra was the only item that separated the Battery and the Steel.

Playing without their Jamaican scoring leader Romario Williams, the Battery were looking for a new hero and the 29-year-old Guerra filled the breach.

Antigua & Barbuda international Quinton Griffith sped toward the end line to cross the ball from the right and Heviel Cordovés flicked header was redirected toward the left of the six-yard area, where Guerra volleyed low inside the left post for the lead.

The second half turned into a battle of attrition, as the Battery clung to their narrow lead and the Steel tried their best with little success to break down their opponents’ defence to open the game up. (CMC)

Crucially, the Battery came away with a victory that moved them into first place in the Eastern Conference with 16 points from seven matches and one game in hand.

T&T midfielder Ataulla Guerra, left, and Central FC Youth Development Manager Kevin Jeffrey

Tyler Hamilton: “There’s still doping in cycling”

$
0
0
Published: 
Monday, May 8, 2017

Former cyclist Tyler Hamilton has admitted to abusing the same substance alleged to have been in the notorious ‘Jiffy bag’ delivered to Team Sky’s doctor at a race in 2011.

UK Anti-Doping has been investigating whether triamcinolone, a banned corticosteroid, was in that package since last September but has been unable to find any evidence to either prove or disprove the claim.

Confirmation there is no anti-doping case to answer is understood to be coming soon after the general election on June 8, although Team Sky and the sport’s governing body British Cycling will be censured for their medical record-keeping. This, however, will come as a relief to Dr Richard Freeman, the medic involved, as well as the team and its then star rider, Sir Bradley Wiggins.

They have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and have said the package contained Fluimucil, a legal decongestant Freeman claims he administered to Wiggins via a nebuliser. The reputations of all concerned, however, have been damaged, particularly as it was revealed in September by Russian computer hackers that Wiggins had injections of triamcinolone before his three biggest races in 2011, 2012 and 2013, including his 2012 Tour de France victory.

Those injections were legal as he received a special dispensation from the anti-doping rules, known as a therapeutic use exemption (TUE), to treat a pollen allergy. Hamilton, who helped Lance Armstrong to win his first three Tour de France titles before becoming one of his main rivals, said he did not know the facts of Wiggins’ case but was well aware of the drug.

Now 46, Hamilton won stages in cycling’s three grand tours, became the only American to win one of the sport’s five biggest one-day races, finished second in the 2002 Giro and fourth in the 2003 Tour. His biggest achievement was victory in the time trial at the 2004 Olympics but, having already failed tests in 2004 and 2009, he confessed to cheating throughout his career in 2011 and returned his gold medal.

Hamilton admitted he and his team-mates “abused the crap out of” Kenacort, a brand of triamcinolone.

He said: “It helped you ‘lean out’ for the grand tours and it was very effective. Look at the pictures - I weighed 30 pounds less than I do now. Not healthy.

“The main guys on the team would get a TUE to cover the race and then top up during the race - it was like a free pass. “But don’t forget, we were also taking (blood-boosting drug) EPO and doing transfusions. That was the serious stuff.

“And there are legitimate reasons for using corticos and I don’t know the facts of Brad’s case. If cycling wants to address this they’ll have to change the system and perhaps bring in a rule that you can’t ride for two weeks after a shot.” Hamilton, who revealed his doping in a best-selling book in 2012, was speaking on the day it was revealed Italian riders Nicola Ruffoni and Stefano Pirazzi had tested positive for growth hormone ahead of this year’s Giro d’Italia. “The testing is better now, and they’re doing more of it, but there’s still doping in cycling,” said Hamilton.

Former cyclist Tyler Hamilton

Kipchoge sets marathon record but outside 2 hrs

$
0
0
Published: 
Monday, May 8, 2017

Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge failed in his bid to complete the first sub-two hour marathon by an agonising 25 seconds in Italy on Saturday.

The 32-year-old Kenyan - along with fellow elite African athletes, Lelisa Desisa and Zersenay Tadese - was hoping to break the barrier exactly 63 years after Roger Bannister became the first person to run a four-minute mile.

The trio were running as part of the Breaking2 project of sportswear giant Nike at the Monza F1 track in Milan and Kipchoge broke away from the other two runners with a chance of making history but - despite his determination throughout - he crossed the line after a gruelling 26.2 miles in two hours and 24 seconds.

Kipchoge can take inspiration from the fact that he took over two-and-a-half minutes off compatriot Dennis Kimetto’s world record of 2hrs 02mins 57secs, set at the 2014 Berlin Marathon, in Saturday’s unofficial world record attempt.

Three-time Boston Marathon winner Desisa, from Ethiopia, and Eritrean half-marathon world-record holder Tadese dropped off the pace to leave Kipchoge crossing the line alone at the end of the 17-and-a-half trips around the 1.5-mile loop circuit.

Kipchoge admits he was just focused on breaking the two-hour barrier as the last lap approached but vowed to come back.

He told Nike’s #Breaking2 LIVE account on Twitter: “My mind fully was focused on the two hours but in the last seconds I was a bit behind.

“This journey has been good. It’s been hard. It’s been a long journey...it’s taken seven good months of preparation.

“I’m happy to have done it.

“With the race I felt good, I’m a happy man to run a marathon in two hours. Now it is just 25 seconds (I need to lose).

“I believe in good preparation and planning and if I stick to that the 25 seconds will come.”

Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge failed in his bid to complete the first sub-two hour marathon by an agonising 25 seconds in Italy on Saturday.

When will SporTT settle down?

$
0
0
Published: 
Monday, May 8, 2017

Here we go again another resignation at the Sport Company when will the business of sport settledown.

The resignation of the Michael Phillips as chairman of the sport company one week ago was surprising to those who were close to the sporting fraternity, seeing that he was only in office 17 months. Some were elated over his appointment especially as they knew the guy as a former national cycling champion and a promoter of international cycling events in the country.

Few were critical of his ability to handle a project of that magnitude and fewer understood the function of a chairman of such a powerful sports position where the need for all aspects of sports Management and Leadership which were the two prerequisites necessary to improve the quality of sport in every village in the country, processes of bringing the awareness of finding methods of reaching each community with projects which would get our young people involved from a very young age. Not only to participate for fun, but to be nurtured into understanding the value of sport in a similar manner to education.

It would be unfair to be critical of the chairman whose job has never been held for very long by the previously chosen ones. Any form of analytical observation from those who were expecting much more by way of developing a more realistic path to the awareness of sport all-round.

What is even more surprising is the fact that less than one week after the resignation was handed in, a new Chairman has been targeted to fill the vacant position.

Clearly, the process of discussing the reasons for his resignation, the structure which my have been put into place, and maybe Mr. Phillips reasons’ for his resignation, should all have been addressed before deciding upon the criteria to be used in order to guide an improved destiny of the individual who will be adequate enough to handle the duties of such a complex responsibility.

This is not a criticism of Dinanath Ramnarine, the new chairman designate.

Ramnarine has been challenging the business sports management through his association with the controversial West Indies players association and the fact that he had vacated his place in the West Indies team as a top class wrist spinner in order to fight for the best opportunities which players should receive says a lot about his leadership.

He had a short stint of engagement in the advisory committee to amend the constitution of the T&T Football Association some time ago.

Like most other sports associations in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean, efforts to bring improvement for the sportsmen and sportswomen, there was always a preference to turn discussions into arguments and the regular practice of personalizing each issue brought little success.

Even at the local Cricket level, Ramnarine has joined a group of other administrative enthusiasts to battle for leadership in the T&T Cricket Board, a matter which has found itself into the country’s court, where the matter is still being judged.

So we must assume that there could be the start of a new battle in our local cricket, where arguments among members of the board and others like Ramnarine are aspiring to take over office. Two questions must be asked...Where does this pending appointment leaves Mr. Ramnarine and the T&TCB? and what kind of relationship will they have going forward?

While I respect the decisions of those who make appointments for the sports company, I believe that the confrontation process which existed between those in the T&TCB and those who wish to vote them out, consideration must be given.

Another essential factor which should have been exposed long ago was the rules and regulations, term and references, which would govern the management of the country’s sport, its funding, its marketing, its coach education programme, its approach to financial solutions which are often problematic among the national associations, and mysterious when it comes to the investment into community sport, maintenance of stadia and community plating fields.

I wish the new chairman designate all the best in his new encounter and I sincerely hope that the continuation of the distorted battle regarding Cricket will not be a topic for settlement in any unorthodox manner such as personality clashes, vindictiveness, and most of all seeking the advice of all the registered clubs to assist with same.

We must view the future of sport very carefully, as there is much work to be done.

Sportt chairman Michael Phillips

Windies must now do the previously unthinkable!

$
0
0
Published: 
Monday, May 8, 2017

Dear Editor

 

The West Indies cricket team must now do the previously unthinkable in the third and deciding test match vs Pakistan starting in Dominica on Wednesday.

As hard as it seemed to be possible when the West Indies were being well beaten by Pakistan inside of four days in the first Test in Jamaica last month after losing a day’s play to rain the Caribbean side must now win this series 2- 1.

The path to victory is quite simple. WI must do the same things that allowed us to demolish Pakistan in the second Test in Barbados even better.

West Indies have found the formula which I would not reveal like many of our commentators would for the Pakistanis to know. Call names and I’ll say if they are led by a bishop or not!!!

All West Indies have to do in Dominica is find the courage, discipline and maturity as a team to implement it again. I say this because the team’s coach Mr Stuart Law found a particular strategy to win the first One Day International (ODI) vs Pakistan but West Indies did not have what it took to do it twice. This was because this is no small task. Pakistan is a very dangerous team on any given day and therefore cannot be underestimated.

West Indies must now find the inner steel as a team to put its foot on the neck of the Pakistani lion and cut it off!

Towards this end West Indies top order desperately needs strengthening because the Pakistanis would be coming at us hard! Kieron Powell and Vishaul Singh have amply demonstrated that they have neither the technique nor the footwork for the highest level of cricket at this point in time.

If West Indies want to win then the team cannot continue to ask the tail to wag the team. The best replacements West Indies have for those two are Evin Lewis and Jason Mohammed respectively. Shimron Hetmeyer is the future of West Indies cricket and should at least be given one more chance at this level. Also, Davendra Bishoo must now find the form that made him unplayable in our last series vs the same Pakistan team.

West Indies can do it!

 

 

 

Soca Warriors must play stronger teams

Dear Editor

 

If Trinidad & Tobago is serious about qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Tournament to be held in Russia next year, then the T&TFA must start arranging the national team to play friendly practice matches against more sterner opposition than Barbados and Grenada with due respect to our Caribbean neighbours.

I think friendly matches against top club sides let’s say from Argentina, England, etc should be what the management of the National Team let the TTFA administration know that is what is needed right now for our guys.

If the national team have to peak for these remaining World Cup qualifiers in the Hexagon stage then they would need to play practice matches against “quality” players for their own benefit.

So, come on coach Dennis “Tallest” Lawrence, let Mr. David John-Williams, the T&TFA president know that you’re very serious about your job as head coach of the national senior football team.

 

 

Fitzroy Othello West Indies supporter Kelvin La Roche St. James

Make appointment with ‘Doctor’

$
0
0
Published: 
Monday, May 8, 2017
The Jeffery Ross Racing Special

The Love Doctor should provide punters with the right prescription at Windsor tonight, when David Evans’ charge attempts to make it third time lucky in a 2-y-o Novice Stakes over five furlongs of a ‘good to firm’ surface.

They do it right there, never over-water and so many trainers are more than happy to take advantage of a pristine surface; on so many occasions I’ve journeyed to this picturesque Berkshire course, primarily to take advantage of fast time-figures, achieved by juveniles.

Now it’s not possible, nigh impossible, to undertake 200 miles return journeys on a sole mission because of diabolical traffic chaos and, of course, age catches up with us all; thankfully two racing channels provide a service which enables one to espy the action but it is nothing like ‘being there’ and I miss it terribly.

Walking courses, watching horses go to post, race-timing, engaging in conversation with knowledgeable trainers/jockeys, who subsequently provided ammunition for readers, was my modus operandi for decades.

Twice-raced The Love Doctor would always have ticked enough boxes; his recent effort, when a close fourth to Sound And Silence at Newmarket, beaten just over two lengths, is definitely the best form on offer.

Six of ten ‘decs’ haven’t raced but in the long run it pays to take advantage of experience and, significantly, veteran John Egan is again aboard.

John is nearing fifty, oldest jockey in the weighing room, but he’s a real plus, dedicated and fiercely-competitive.

Wootyhot was unearthed after scrutinising the fourteen-runner 3-y-o Maiden Stakes over a mile; James Fanshawe’s charge hasn’t been out since making an auspicious debut 229 days ago; this race is also littered with newcomers. Tom ‘Frankel’ Queally rides.

Half an hour later twice-raced Chiefofchiefs is a speculative, long-priced, each-way ‘poke’ for an ‘aged’ Maiden Stakes over ten furlongs.

Oh to be among the thronging ‘Monday-night’ masses, dodging the ‘Pimms’ drinkers!

Viewing all 18762 articles
Browse latest View live


<script src="https://jsc.adskeeper.com/r/s/rssing.com.1596347.js" async> </script>