RICE AND PEAS; MACARONI PIE
CREAMED POTATOES; SAUTEED BREADFRUIT
BBQ CHICKEN; BAKED PORK
BBQ SPARERIBS; BBQ PIG TAIL
GRILLED FISH; FRIED FISH
LAMB STEW; VEGETABLE GRAVY
STEAMED VEGETABLES; TOSSED SALAD; COLE SLAW
Antigua was jolted Saturday evening by a tremor that lasted for a few seconds, but was long enough to drive fear into many residents.
Described as a slight earthquake, it was felt shortly before 9 p.m.; even though the U.S Geological Survey said the quake was observed at 7:45 pm.
The meteorological office at VC Bird International Airport said the quake was a magnitude 3.0 on the Richter scale and was centred close to the Virgin Islands, with a depth of fifteen and a half miles.
Meteorologist Llewellyn Dyer explained that Saturday’s tremor is quite common, since the Caribbean forms one of the veins in the earthquake belt. Additionally, he said there are at least five or six volcanoes within the region, so such a phenomenon is not unusual.
The met office reported that it received several calls from residents requesting confirmation on whether what they felt was indeed a tremor.
There were no reports of damage or injuries.
On 25 February, another tremor measuring 4.8 shook the island. (Antigua Sun)
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer has described members of the opposition Antigua Labour Party (ALP) as “a poisonous bunch” of politicians, who are agitating to regain power in an attempt to escape justice.
“Their real problem is not so much that they are interested in the people of Antigua and Barbuda… they know what is hanging over their heads,” Spencer said on his United Progressive Party (UPP’s) radio station, Crusader Radio.
“They want to bring a halt to every effort that the United Progressive Party government is making to ensure that justice is done, and if they get an opportunity, by whatever means, to wrest power from the people, that is what they are about.
“They are trying to save their heads in every respect. As sure as night follows day, no matter how long it takes, justice will be done,” Spencer added.
The political scene here has heated up since a 31 March ruling by Justice Louise Blenman that the seats in St John’s Rural West, held by Spencer, and those in Rural North and St George were voided owing to the late opening of the polls in the 12 March general election last year.
The ALP has since accused the UPP of being an illegitimate government, but Spencer said the opposition politicians were “not only hungry, but they are drunk on the whole question of power…, and they would seek to take power in Antigua and Barbuda by any means necessary. That is the most dangerous thing you could ever have,” Prime Minister Spencer said.
On Thursday, thousands of ALP supporters braved pouring rain to participate in the party’s “Black March”.
“I think from the standpoint of the people’s participation you couldn’t ask for more. And that is what I was looking for. It’s not so much the politicians who are out there leading it,” Opposition Leader Lester Bird said.
But despite the ALP’s promise of a sustained and intensified campaign of protests and marches to force the UPP from office, Prime Minister Spencer said he would not flinch.
“No amount of noise by the Antigua Labour Party and their hangers-on will deter the United Progressive Party from governing this country, and we just want the people of Antigua and Barbuda to understand that, and we are willing to stand up to the Antigua Labour Party and whoever else is willing to destabilise this country.” (Antigua Sun)
The rains never ruined the fun and frolic for these revellers. - Photos by Norman Grindley /Chief Photographer
One-man revelry.
Socaphiles ‘group up’ as they march down Lady Musgrave Road in St Andrew.
Revellers make the most of the event.
Revellers enjoying the soca madness as they march down Lady Musgrave
Socaphiles ‘group up’ as they march down Lady Musgrave Road in St Andrew.
Revellers make the most of the event.
Traffic came to a halt yesterday afternoon in New Kingston, as revellers from all walks participated in the annual Bacchanal Road March, despite the scorching midday sun.
It appeared nothing would have stopped the thousands of revellers from enjoying themselves, as they danced through the streets in immaculately designed costumes.
The socaphiles had their every need tended to as an on-the-spot medical team, travelling janitors and a large number of police personnel ensured a comfortable process. And with all concerns allayed, it was now left up to the revellers to make the most of the experience.
They danced freely and expressively to soca hits from Machel Montana as if there was no tomorrow. Truly, there was never a dull moment, as the energy level was high continuously from the starting point at Mona Road to the terminal at Mas Camp.
Onlookers watched in amusement. They seemed entertained by the revellers’ vigorous gyrations on each other.
The police provided security but on several occasions needed a little rescuing themselves as over zealous females flung their bodies on them, as well as the police cars.
Of the seven music trucks made available, FAME FM’s proved to be the one carrying the most swing. Popular radio station disc jockey Kurt Riley had the crowd at his will.
The rain threatened on several occasions, but more and more the revellers showed determination, and on every street the sidewalks were filled with onlookers.
Coupling up was the order of the day, and many could be seen embracing in a seductive manner with Busy Signal’s Up In Har Belly playing in the background.
Amazingly, the rains never ruined the fun and frolic as the bacchanalians proceeded to Mas Camp for what was a stellar finish. (Jamaica Gleaner)
- Roxroy McLean
Children selling in downtown Kingston. - File
Carl Gilchrist, Gleaner Writer
In Jamaica, we seem to continue to flout the law as it relates to child labour, despite the fact that the nation has ratified the Minimum Age Convention of 1973, adopted by the International Labour Organisation.
Jamaica ratified the convention on October 13, 2003, setting the minimum age to work at 15 years.
The Child Care and Protection Act was passed in 2004, which states, in part: “Do not employ a child younger than 15 years old, unless the work does not affect the child’s health or education. Children under 13 should not be employed at all.”
This is in stark contrast to what is observed daily in Jamaica where pre-teens can be seen peddling wares.
Other states on the list of 148 countries which have ratified the Convention have adopted minimum ages between 14 and 16. Among them is England, however, which has decided that at age 13 one can work part-time, but only in certain jobs. At 16, you can leave school and begin working full-time but not in a betting shop or bar.
Conditions
In Barbados, the minimum age for employment is 16, but children under this age are allowed to work under certain conditions. If you are under 16, you should not work between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m., or do work likely to cause injury.
In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is enforced by the Department of Labour, specifies that child labour laws apply to workers under 18. The legal working age varies based on the type of job.
For the majority of non-agricultural jobs, the minimum age is 14, but for some jobs there is no minimum age. These include babysitting, delivering newspapers, household chores, performing in movies, theatrical productions, television shows, business
owned by one’s parents as long as the business does not involve mining or manufacturing. Positions considered as hazardous cannot be held by anyone under the age of 18.
There are also employment guidelines for 14- and 15-year-olds, which include a list of duties persons these ages may not perform. (Jamaica Gleaner)
Placard-bearing participants march from Greendale to Spanish Town proper in a demonstration against criminality and donmanship in Jamaica. Billed as the 10,000-man march, only a few hundred persons turned out to support the church-led initiative. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
Nedburn Thaffe, Gleaner Writer
As church leaders and residents of Spanish Town, St Catherine, trekked through several enclaves yesterday in an ambitious show of strength against criminal gangs, they expressed hope for change despite a lower-than-expected turnout.
The event, dubbed the ‘10,000-man march’, did not live up to its billing, as only a few hundred persons took to the streets, women and children boosting the paltry numbers.
Bearing placards with messages of religious defiance, the demonstrators walked from Dempshire Pen into the heart of the Old Capital, where marauding thugs from the Clansman, One Order, No Order and other gangs reign.
“Mi fully endorse it,” stated a 40-year-old, declining to reveal her name, who has lived all her life in the community. She acknowledged that while the peace push was welcome, it would not last without sustained pressure.
“It will work for the first two week or so but it soon go back to square one,” she told The Gleaner. “If dem have it like two times a month instead of every year, mi believe the man dem will stop dem foolishness,” added the woman, who blamed flare-ups on youth joblessness.
Fed up
Dwight (surname withheld), 40, a Spanish Town resident for nine months, said he has had enough.
“Mi fed up. Mi see dem find man headless, dem find body in the river and all kind o’ things,” he said, while sharing an experience of how he stumbled upon the body of a senior citizen just metres from his church. He believes the march will help stem crime and violence in the area.
Chairman of the Spanish Town Revival Church and chief organiser, Rohan Edwards, said the march demonstrated the community’s commitment to take a stand against crime and violence.
“For evil to prevail is for decent, law-abiding citizens to sit back and do nothing about it, and today we are taking a stance,” he said.
nedburn.thaffe@gleanerjm.com (Jamaica Gleaner)
Dwight Bellanfante, Gleaner Writer
Jamaicans have been urged to quit overloading hospitals with minor health issues and instead attend community clinics islandwide.
“Many health centres are well equipped to handle much of the demand on public hospitals and the ministry is committed to gradually improving them,” noted Dr Jean Dixon, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, at a recent Gleaner Editors’ Forum.
Since the advent of the user-fee waiver, patronage of the public health-care system has increased by between 16 and 23 per cent, mainly at public hospitals.
A comparison of patient utilisation of hospital services provided by the health ministry shows significant increases in demand in various areas:
Visits to Accident and Emergency (A&E) services are up from 725,199 cases in 2006/07 to 824,254 cases in 2009/10.
Pharmacy items dispensed at hospitals have risen from 1,282,507 in 2006/07 to 2,063,617 in 2009/10.
Pharmacy items dispensed at health centres have moved from 382,391 in 2006/07 to 563,995 in 2009/10.
However, despite the existence of health centres islandwide, many prefer to go to public hospitals. Complaints abound about the lack of medical personnel and essential medical supplies at these centres, notwithstanding the fact that more pharmacy items have been distributed there since free health care came on stream, a major plank of the Jamaica Labour Party’s election platform.
But Dixon and change-management consultant at the health ministry, Sandra Graham, are confident that, over time, these problems will be resolved as increased confidence permeates the system.
Reducing hospital visits
They pointed to a number of ongoing and planned efficiencies in the allocation of the ministry’s human and material resources, as well as behaviour-change public education initiatives to reduce hospital visits and admissions. These include healthy lifestyle campaigns to get people to reduce their dependence on health facilities such as safe-sex, childhood-obesity and road-safety campaigns which were having a positive impact on areas such as HIV/AIDS transmission and A&E admissions.
“A lot of these admissions are due to lifestyle and behaviour related issues and so if we can continue to reduce these effects, we can significantly impact this problem,” Dixon said, adding that the primary health-care system could then address more cases.
Meanwhile, Graham noted “there are recommendations to recentralise certain services based upon a number of studies and we are in the process of streamlining those recommendations”. (Jamaica Gleaner)
editor@gleanerjm.com
Tony Cozier
A SEQUENCE of events these past few weeks have accentuated, on the one hand, the desperate efforts to unearth new tearaway fast bowlers and, on the other, the absence, in that quest, of the host of West Indians from previous generations who made our cricket as strong and as respected as it was.
In an island that has produced more outstanding purveyors of pace per square mile than anywhere else on earth, the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) has found it necessary to initiate a programme specifically aimed at discovering the potential successors of Herman Griffith and Manny Martindale, Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner, Wayne Daniel, Sylvester Clarke et al.
At the same time, the three quickest young bowlers in the region have been chosen in the revived West Indies ’A’ team for its forthcoming engagements purely on their potential, not on their unflattering statistics.
And while no programme has been announced for the next step for whoever is unearthed in Barbados or for Brendon Bess, Shannon Gabriel and Nelon Pascal of the ’A’ team, Craig McDermott, the outstanding Australian pacer of the 80s and 90s, is conducting fast bowling clinics for some promising West Indians at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) as part of the Australian government’s Sport Outreach Programme (ASOP).
The BCA’s states its objective in a quarter-page newspaper ad.
PROMISING CANDIDATES: Former West Indies assistant coach Darren Holder, left, and ex-Australia pacer Craig McDermott, second from left, speak to participants at the launch of the Australian Sports Outreach Programme/University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) Fast Bowling Clinic at UTT’s O’Meara Campus in Arima on Wednesday. McDermott and Holder are conducting the one-week clinic. —Photo: ANISTO ALVES
WANTED: Genuine pacers. The search continues! Show the coaches what real pace is! The Barbados Cricket Association is looking for you (male or female, age 17-25) if you believe that you have genuine pace.
Players from Division One clubs are excluded, for they are seen every weekend, others keen to show off to the director of coaching and his staff are doing so at various venues over the coming months.
There have, as yet, been no reports of success but these are early days. Wasn’t Hall picked for the 1957 tour of England after just three first-class matches and a couple of wickets?
The BCA initiative is an unmistakeable sign of the changed times. Not too long ago, all that was needed was a visit to a village match or a look at some beach cricket.
The ’A’ team for the upcoming series against Zimbabwe in Grenada and, subsequently, tours of Bangladesh, Ireland and England, was further evidence of the craving for the revival of the glory days, when batsmen quaked in their boots as giant West Indians threatened their wickets and their well-being.
Bess, Pascal (both 22) and Gabriel (a few days short of that) have been picked purely because of the miles an hour at which they propel the cricket ball and in the hope that such potential can be converted into success.
Bess and Gabriel have the advantage of height, Pascal is a somewhat round-arm slinger.
The Grenadian Pascal has been on the scene longest, a graduate of the West Indies Under-19s with 22 first-class matches, a senior tour of England and an ODI to his name.
Bess has had 17 first-class matches for Guyana, Gabriel just three after his first regional season for Trinidad and Tobago. Their stats are not flattering (Pascal 61 wickets at an average of 33.95, Bess 29 wickets at 48.38, Gabriel four wickets at 39.25) but all three can rev it up.
The word is that, once their ’A’ team engagements are done, they are to join the soon-to-be opened West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) academy for concentrated attention. In fact, Bess is among those presently at the McDermott clinics in Trinidad before leaving on Tuesday for the series against Zimbabwe.
McDermott’s stint in Trinidad, although brief, is to be welcomed as was the previous arrangement under the ASOP that brought Australian fielding coach Mike Young to the UTT.
All the same, the consequent question is obvious. Where are all the West Indian McDermotts?
Ian Bishop is occupied as television commentator in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Andy Roberts is having operations on his knees in England. But wouldn’t one or more of Hall, Griffith, Michael Holding, Colin Croft, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh be available for similar, regular clinics throughout the Caribbean-or to help in the Barbados examination.
The WICB might well be considering a fast bowling component to its academy in which case it has plenty of quality contributors on whom to call.
The MRF Pace Foundation in India should be an encouraging example. MRF, one of India’s largest corporations, brought in Dennis Lillee, the legendary Australian fast bowler, to establish it just over a decade ago.
Since then, India’s fast bowling has been transformed into a potent force from the joke it once was (’Here comes Abid Ali, the fastest bowler in all India, and Kanhai is forward, smothering the spin,’ went one supposed commentary line).
Clinics, Foundations and want ads for ’genuine pacers’ won’t end the West Indies’ concern over present limited pace stocks.
Conditions and fitness regimes are two areas that need urgent attention.
Pitches have deteriorated to such an extent that fast bowlers have become the second-class citizens of regional cricket. Spinners are now kings, so favoured by captains on slow, turning surfaces that they are sometimes given the new ball, an annoying disincentive to the macho men who chose pace as their weapon.
This is accentuated by the growing amount of international cricket that placed increased stress on the body.
The careers of the quickest and most encouraging West Indies’ bowlers to emerge in the first decade of the century-Jerome Taylor, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul-have all been set back by one injury or another. The latest in line, Kemar Roach, is now troubled by an ankle problem.
All fit, Edwards, Taylor and Roach would represent a formidable attack but they have never played a Test together. There must be some doubt that they ever will.
Edwards, now 28, is overcoming a major back operation and Taylor, 26, has been kept out since last November by a hip problem.
Rampaul, who generated 90 miles an hour speed as a teenager, has markedly decelerated since shin splints put him out of action for more than two years.
It is no wonder there is such an imperative campaign to build up fast bowling stocks. (Trinidad Express)
Miranda La Rose
The ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) and the opposition United National Congress (UNC) kick into high gear tonight with public meetings scheduled to start at the same time, 7 p.m.
It is anticipated that Prime Minister Patrick Manning will announce the date of the general election at the PNM’s meeting at the Hi-Lo car park, St Augustine at which he will be the main speaker.
Though UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar expressed doubt that Manning would give the election date this evening, she yesterday called on him to ’name the date now’.
The PNM’s campaign is being held under the banner ’We ready now! - PNM towards a brighter future’.
The UNC’s meeting will be held at Gopaul Lands Shopping Complex, Marabella under the theme ’Let’s take charge now! - Join the wave of change sweeping across T&T!’
Speakers at the PNM meeting include Minister of Local Government Hazel Manning, Minister of Public Administration Kennedy Swaratsingh and former PNM and UNC politician Ralph Maraj, the PNM’s public relations spokesman Jerry Narace told the Express yesterday.
Narace said that today’s meeting will not be the official launch of the PNM’s campaign.
That will be done at a later date, he said.
Its press advertisement in yesterday’s newspapers said PNM speakers will discuss how its government will provide greater opportunities for all; improve the quality of life; and move the country towards First World service delivery.
Persad-Bissessar, who is billed as the main speaker at the official launch of the UNC elections campaign, told the Express that the UNC feels good going into the campaign because of the support and goodwill that the party and its leaders have received.
She said that the UNC will be going into the election with other political forces as a unified movement to rescue the country from the PNM.
The UNC has already reached an agreement with the Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) led by assemblyman Ashworth Jack, she said and is due to meet with Congress of the People (COP) Leader Winston Dookeran today.
The UNC will not contest the two seats in Tobago but will support TOP for those seats.
Asked about the absence of any COP speaker at the UNC campaign launch given the unity talks and going to the elections on a unified slate, Persad-Bissessar said that it was premature to include Dookeran on the agenda without speaking to him.
She said that she requested a meeting with him yesterday but due to other commitments on his part he could not make it.
They are scheduled to meet today, she said. - Page Page 4
COP Leader Winston Dookeran told the Express yesterday that COP was not invited to be part of the meeting but he acknowledged that he would be meeting with Persad-Bissessar today.
Though the campaign could not wait to get a headstart, Persad-Bissessar said that the UNC will be making every effort to meet the PNM in the election on a ’one-on-one’ basis with the agenda being ’a coalition for change’.
Getting the message of a coalition for change will be a challenge, she added.
The biggest challenge the unified opposition faces, she said, was that the PNM was a formidable opponent with a well-oiled election machinery.
Concerns, she said include intimidation and violence as well as irregularities in the list of electors. Already, she said that there was duplication of the names of electors. She gave the example of one such elector in the Cunupia area.
Others appearing with Persad-Bissessar at this evening’s launch include UNC chairman Jack Warner; UNC deputy political leaders Roodal Moonilal and Lyndira Ouditt; William Archie, Verna St Rose-Greaves,Thelston Jagoo and Jason Williams.
UNC deputy political leader Dr Suruj Rambachan will chair the meeting.
campaign diary: today
People’s National Movement United National Congress
Public Meeting Public Meeting
Hi-Lo Car Park, St Augustine Gopaul Lands Shopping
7 p.m. Complex, Marabella, 7 p.m.
Readers can look forward to the latest breaking news from the campaign trail in the Express and also on our new revamped website at www.trinidadexpress.com
Jensen LaVende jlavende@trinidadexpress.com
Former UDeCOTT executive chairman Calder Hart was asked to return to Trinidad and Tobago by the State to answer questions related to his testimony during the Uff Commission of Enquiry.
The questions relate to possible perjury charges he could face following his testimony about a purported family link between his wife and a company that received a $368 million contract to build the Ministry of Legal Affairs Tower in Port of Spain from UDeCOTT while Hart was chairman of the special purpose company.
Hart returned to Trinidad and Tobago from the United States on Saturday night on an American Airlines flight.
Law enforcement authorities now have seven new pieces of information required to ’move forward’ with investigations related to Hart’s testimony at the Uff Commission, sources told the Express yesterday.
An Immigration officer told the Express on Saturday night at Piarco International Airport that Hart had arrived in Trinidad around 10 p.m. but did not go through the normal Immigration and Customs requirements..
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER: Calder Hart
A source at Customs and Excise confirmed yesterday that a special arrangement was made for Hart’s re-entry into Piarco following the flight which landed around 9.30 pm.
Hart was given a deadline to return to Trinidad and Tobago, which he kept, law enforcement officials said yesterday.
The date of the deadline was not disclosed.
Hart returned to the country from Florida where he, his wife Sherrine Hart and their young daughter were staying after he resigned as head of UDeCOTT and five other State boards on March 6.
This was one day after Prime Minister Patrick Manning spoke with him, following a conversation he had with Attorney General John Jeremie.
Hart, sources said, was ’summoned’ to answer questions of possible perjury charges arising out of the Uff Commission of Enquiry into UDeCOTT and the construction sector.
The possible charges relate to Hart’s denial that there was no relationship between his wife and two directors of Sunway Construction Ltd, formerly CH Development Ltd, which was awarded a $368 million contract to construct the Ministry of Legal Affairs Towers, in 2005.
Sunway was later granted an additional $300 million contract for work related the building.
At the time Hart was chairman of UDeCOTT.
Documents obtained by the Congress of the People purported that Sherrine Lee Hart, whose birth name is Lee Soh Wah, was the sister-in-law of Ng Chin Poh, one of the directors of Sunway.
The documents further alleged that Mrs Hart is the sister of Lee Hup Seng, another Sunway director.
Officers involved in the investigation would not say when Hart would be questioned yesterday.
But police sources added that the State was now able to take the investigation to the next step after seven requests from their counterpart agencies in Malaysia to verify the documents produced by the COP were received by the local authorities.
On April 1 Attorney General John Jeremie said that of the seven requests made by local authorities, only four had been addressed by the Malaysian Government.
Government has now received the seven requests for information from Malaysia and is in a ’position to move forward’, law enforcement authorities said.
When the Express visited Hart’s Cascade home yesterday, the only sign of activity was other media houses outside his home. One car was parked in the driveway.
Both the Attorney General and Commissioner of Police James Philbert stated that at anytime Hart, if needed, could be made available for questioning.
On March 24, police officers searched the office of chartered accountant David Montgomery, located at the corner of Abercromby and Gordon Streets in Port of Spain, while other searches were being conducted at Sunway’s Kavanagh Street and St Clair Avenue, St Clair office. (Trinidad Express)
