Sports can take us forward
The
Prime Minister, in his last budget presentation, focused
on the intrinsic value of the family unit. A strong family
builds a strong community, strong communities build strong
nations. Is this a call that should be heeded?
Our nation is, at this time, plagued by criminal activity
and our experts are pointing to a breakdown in the family
unit. The situation is so serious that no one is exempt
from the backlash, prompting serious discussion between
the Government and the Opposition forces to try to pass
laws to stem the tide. What should we do?
In attempting to address the matter we should focus on what
advantages we now have which could impact positively on
the building of communities and act quickly.
The recent outpouring of love and appreciation for our Soca
Warriors, Brian Lara’s recent achievements, the success
of our hockey team in getting to the world stage, the good
news in West Indies youth cricket, the focused attention
on the smallest country to qualify for a World Cup tournament
etc, all point to the tremendous impact that sport is having
on the lives and times of T&T.
It is tantamount to a huge gas find! Do we flare it or can
we harness it for sustainable development in keeping with
our vision for developed country status by 2020?
If we ever ignored the impact of sport we should take note
of these facts:
n The Brazilian stock exchange closed its operations when
Brazil played in the last World Cup finals—losing millions
of dollars in the bargain.
n Presidential elections in South America get second billing
in the year of the World Cup. Coincidence that many will
be held next year?
n Sportsmen are more widely recognised than politicians
worldwide. Who remembers or even knows the last Swedish
leader, but Bjorn Borg, yes!
n Far less people would remember the signing of the agreement
for the installation of the largest methanol plant in Trinidad
than the 1-0 victory against Bahrain.
The point here is that we ignore this energy source at our
peril. Sport energises people. The gas to get our nation
going is the organised involvement of the various communities
in sporting events. We may never have a better opportunity
to kick start this phase as we do now.
The concept of Village Olympics, like the Best Village competition,
is not new to T&T. Many of our great sportsmen would
testify to the influence this has had on their sporting
development and achievement. Now that we have the resources,
and more venues than we can manage, we are on the crest
of the wave and there is no need to wait.
On a per capita basis there are few countries which can
boast of so many world-class athletes in so many different
sports. This country should be focusing on developing the
Village Olympics to the point of promoting event tourism,
first locally then internationally. Where can the average
sporting fan go to see world-class athletes representing
their villages?
Imagine the Arima track team led by the world junior record
holder Darrel Brown competing against Tacarigua led by national
champion Marc Burns. Just about every youngster in the areas
would want to identify with them.
What of the village of Preysal coming up against Santa Cruz?
We might even see Brian Lara and Dwayne Bravo coming out
to this one with Ato Boldon providing the commentary for
Cana radio and BBC Sport.
George Bovell could lead the Maraval team competing with
the likes of the Carenage/Westmoorings team. And who is
going to deny seeing the boys from Point Fortin with their
emerging and old football stars up against the boys from
Laventille?
You see, folks, we have the gas in the ground. It is all
there. Do we use it or lose it?
How many of us remember seeing Ron la Forest up against
Leroy Spann, Carenage vs Caroni? Was there any racial divide
then? If you were from Caroni you were from Caroni, full
stop. Didn’t we all kick brass when we felt the West
Indies selectors couldn’t leave out Inshan Ali in Trinidad?
Didn’t we all accept “me mum” from Port Vale,
England ? Didn’t we all feel proud when “de white
boy” scored? Did we feel any less proud when Hasely
Crawford won the gold? Didn’t Mr Moosai harness and
promote the talents of Ian Bishop and Harold Joe? Doesn’t
Mr Faquory put out his money to support underprivileged
youths in Superstar Rangers?
This is the power of sport. It gives us a sense of belonging
and can unite communities and build our nation. How we harness
this power is now the question. We may be looking everywhere
else but right in front of us, not seeing the forest for
the trees.
The focus is now on the Soca Warriors but the ten-days mentality
has been our downfall in the past and can ruin us if we
are not careful. Everyone is focused on the World Cup team
but the games last one month of which our likely contribution
is ten days. What happens in the next ten years ? Do we
continue to boast that we are the gateway to the Caribbean
but tell our friends to stay away?
Do we boast of the riches, past and present while we hire
bodyguards for ourselves, our children and our grandmothers?
Many are the suggestions at solutions to take us forward.
I humbly suggest that we invest in the development of communities,
focusing on sport and the Village Olympics.
We are still proud enough to boast that we are Trinidadians
and all are welcome. We may be as small as a mouse on the
world stage but this mouse has achievements which can compare
with any country of the world.
This mouse roars!
Nieves
Callender
a Guardian reader
Crumbs
from the European cartel
I
recently came across this quote attributed to a US think
tank on the BBC Web site: “Earth lacks the water, energy
and agricultural land to allow China and India to attain
western living standards.”
My initial impression was that here was a group of individuals
with a deep seated concern for the future of planet Earth.
But, on closer reflection, it was obvious that they were
advocating that China and India should stop dead in their
tracks and refrain from seeking a standard of living consistent
with that of the west for their countless millions. To me,
this attitude takes brazenness and shamelessness to its
nadir.
What is sauce for the goose should also be sauce for the
gander. But in the perverted western mind this is not so.
It is therefore quite acceptable for the western nations
to pillage the resources of the rest of the world, build
their economies and societies and attain an exceptionally
high standard of living.
However, when other nations seek to do as they did, all
of a sudden we are told that existing resources do not permit
it. In short, non-European nations are chided to remain
poor and underdeveloped while Europeans live off the fat
of planet Earth. The rest of humanity should be content
to exist on the crumbs that they grudgingly allow to fall
off their tables.
These think tanks have inadvertently proclaimed what radical
thinkers like Andre Gunder Frank, Walter Rodney and others
have long been saying: the current international economic
order set up by Europe centuries ago is designed primarily
to consolidate their dominance and prosperity and wreak
havoc and poverty upon the rest of humanity whose only sin
is to be of non-European birth.
In other words, development and underdevelopment, wealth
and poverty are on opposite sides of the same coin. It is
not and will never be a win/win situation. Every European
winner came at the price of several non-European losers.
That is the way the warped mind of man has designed it.
Therefore all this talk about eliminating global poverty
via these new trading arrangements is simply rhetoric; they
will never even make a significant dent in global poverty
but would only serve to consolidate the dominance of that
European cartel.
It should therefore not surprise us if one of these so-called
think tanks also advocates that available global resources
do not permit T&T to attain developed nation status
by 2020. However, on reflection if this is the way developed
nations behave, I wonder if this is a goal worth pursuing.
CJ Lewis
Trincity
Miracle on Murray Street
At
this time of crime and mayhem in our society, it is wonderful
when something good happens and, as David Rudder says, “out
of a muddy pond 10,000 flowers bloom.”
What started off as a normal Monday morning at Sharon’s
Nursery School on Murray Street, Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain,
turned into a day of anxiety and stress for the staff and
children.
The “funny smell” that had been permeating the
air for the first part of the morning turned out to be a
fire at the house next door. Immediately, as this became
evident, the staff put the emergency evacuation procedure
into action and the older children, sensing the danger of
the situation, were quiet, responsive and orderly. They
exited the compound in an orderly fashion, ushered by their
teachers.
The babies and toddlers are always more difficult to evacuate
as the babies and some of the toddlers have to be carried.
They are also more sensitive to strange situations and react
by crying.
This is when the miracle happened.
First, the business people at No 8 Murray Street offered
to accommodate all the children. Our plan was to evacuate
to Adam Smith Square but this was much better for the children
as they were in an enclosed space with toilet facilities.
People started running towards the building to help us carry
children. They came from as far as Meiling on Carlos Street,
Flour Mills and John Donaldson Institute on Wrightson Road,
Clico, Grupo Saber and Republic Bank on Murray Street, taking
babies and toddlers in their arms.
They made sure that all the children’s bags and lunch
kits were removed and conducted a final search, looking
under every nook and cranny to make sure that no child was
left behind. During this time three fire appliances arrived
and doused the flames.
I want to thank all my neighbours and parents of the children
who helped us on that day. It was a situation which could
have turned into a disaster but did not because of their
interventions and the timely arrival of the fire appliances.
Sharon Marriott
Principal
Sharon’s Nursery School
Woodbrook
Integrity
Essential
Must
have integrity in public office
to keep nepotism at bay
We big, we small, we short, we tall
integrity we mus’ display
Integrity should be the way of life
from de captain to de cook
Doh pull rank, to influence de bank
we all mus’ go by de book
Power corrupts even this judges say
and that is a proven fact
Popes and politicians fall to temptation
so we need that integrity pact
Public officers must be transparent
Smile! “You’re on candid camera.”
It have nuttin to hide, no jobs on de side
and no account in America
Integrity in public office is crucial
no one must be exempted
To protect our state we mus’ legislate
just in case dey get tempted
So is anybody guardin’ the guardians
they are guardin their own pride
Open de gate wide, leh we see inside
if they eh have nuttin to hide.
Vic Dolan Clarke
Diego Martin
Amnesty needs Govt, police help
The
Warriors gun amnesty programme is a brilliant campaign to
rid our streets of the scourge of guns.
However, as is the modus operandi of this Government, it
is sitting on the sidelines doing absolutely nothing to
assist the programme.The programme is only half as effective
if there are serious consequences to the criminals beyond
the programme.
This gun amnesty must be followed up with serious police
work to weed out those with illegal guns and have them prosecuted
to the fullest.
But here again I am displaying my naivete on a number of
fronts: the Minister of Security recognises a unique opportunity
to do something about the crime situation, the police might
actually do work and the criminals might recognise that
human life is important.
Keith
Mungal
Penal
‘Bandit’
now a new profession
In
a broadcast to the nation on January 1, PM Patrick Manning
said he was confident that he will achieve his goal of full
employment in 2006. Apparently “kidnapper” and
“bandit” are now recognised professions.
He also went on to state that our country will become a
major transit hub in the region, while I am stuck in City
Gate waiting for a bus for the past four hours.
Manning also promised that Cepep and URP workers would graduate
into “higher skills and better jobs” through “increased
training and education.”
Could it be that in addition to painting pebbles and whacking
grass, they’ll now be trained in the proper use of
hoes?
Ashram
Beachoo
ashram_b@yahoo.com
