Sitting in front of the parlour, which was closed yesterday, the child’s mother Diane was visibly distraught. She tried to comfort her 12-year-old twin daughters, Tia and Tamara, who sat at their mother’s feet shedding tears for their missing sister. According to Diane, the walk from her home to the mini-mart is a mere three minutes. “When I saw a certain time I sent one of her sisters to check on her. The owner of the shop said he glimpsed her going up Crook Street,” Diane said.

Believing the mini-mart might have been closed, Diana said she thought her daughter might have gone to another shop on St Paul Street, not too far from where the child’s grandmother lived. “I called the aunt, but they said she not around. I call everybody and they say she not around.” Diane said her daughter never ran away from home. “It was school and home; nothing else.” Tecia Henry was last seen wearing a pink and grey jacket, a denim skirt, a shower cap and slippers.

By:  GEISHA KOWLESSAR of Guardian

Read full Guardian Article.

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Parsanlal said the Presidential powers of pardon were not new. He said Panday’s claim represented “a personal attack and singular attack on the incumbent President.” He later slammed the Opposition, saying it had no moral authority to comment on the matter because of the “conduct” of its leader Basdeo Panday. Parsanlal’s criticism of Panday later sparked a heated exchange of words between the two, with Panday threatening to tell the nation about certain matters about Parsanlal on Mt St Benedict. “I can tell you what happened up on the mount, why you were not ordained as a priest, so you leave me alone,” Panday shouted across the floor. House Speaker Barendra Sinanan then asked MPs to refrain from provoking each other.

But the heated exchanges did not immediately subside. Parsanlal countered: “Mr Speaker, I have been raised in a house that says one must have pity on the afflicted, the conflicted and the convicted.” But even before he could complete that statement, Panday shouted: “I know what you could raise.” Panday later had to apologise on two occasions for his conduct in the House.
Parsanlal said one of the major objectives of the bill was to deal with the crime of money laundering in T&T. He later appealed to the Opposition to lend its support to the legislation.

Gopeesingh Speaks
Opposition support for the new crime bill did not appear to be forthcoming, as Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh said there was no evidence to show that passage of the bill would result in effectively dealing with the offence of money laundering. He said the Government had failed miserably in the fight against crime. He renewed his call for National Security Minister Martin Joseph to resign over the crime situation in the country.

By: Guardian

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Swaratsingh said users of the ttconnect mobile service would be charged a small fee. He said that in time the service will be expanded to grant members of the public access to a wider range of Government services. “By July 2009, the public will be able to access more ttconnect services using their mobile phones such as subscribing for state news and weather bulletins,” Swaratsingh said. He said that the entire ttconnect service comprises the ttconnect service centres, ttconnect Self serve, ttconnect Online, ttconnect Hotline and the ttconnect Mobile all of which will help to improve the image of the public service and improve customer service delivery.

There are six ttconnect service centres in operation at St James, Princes Town, Chaguanas, Arima, Tunapuna and Bon Accord, Tobago, and five self serve kiosks located at the Piarco International Airport, Hi-Lo Foods Stores, Point Fortin, Trincity Mall and the Gulf City Malls in La Romaine and Tobago. Through the services, citizens may apply for a wide range of services including their first electronic birth certificate, home improvement grants, admission into the OJT, MUST and other training programmes and in the near future the issuance of provisional permits and applications for passports, and student visas.

“Such a multi-modal programme of access will help in directly addressing citizens major concerns of choice, convenience, accessibility, timeliness efficiency and satisfaction with Government’s current levels of service delivery. “For the various ministries and agencies, the decongesting of their respective departments is expected to act as motivation and assist in efforts toward the better alignment of services to customer needs,” Swaratsingh said.

By: CORI BAYNES of Guardian

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The meeting, which will comprise selected local law enforcement organisations, will take place on the 13th Floor of the Financial Towers in Port-of-Spain. The source said security bodies dealing specifically with explosives, including their detection and dismantling, will be part of the meeting. These include the Special Branch, Bomb Squad, Special Anti-Crime Unit of T&T (Sautt) and selected members of the T&T Fire Service. With the summit just mere days away, the source said “pre-sweeping” operations have intensified.

These operations involve searches of hotels in Port-of-Spain and other places of interest, particularly for bombs. Following the meeting, the Gold Commander for the summit, assistant Police Commissioner Steve Waldron, is expected to be briefed. Waldron, the source said, was being advised by former UK police commissioner, Bob Bolton. Spouses of heads of state and delegates are expected to take part in a packed agenda, including an informal retreat at Petrotrin’s Pointe-a-Pierre Club at 10 am on Saturday.

By:  GEISHA KOWLESSAR of Guardian

Read full Guardian Article.

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Both fell in two balls and Flintoff soon settled it, finishing with 5-19.
It was a jubilant finale to a long winter for England, which threatened to go without a victory following Test and one-day series defeats in India and a 1-0 reverse in the Test series here. Flintoff’s dramatic hat-trick is the first by an England player in overseas one-day internationals.

There was a four-hour delay because of the wet outfield but the match was all set to begin as a 33-over contest. England started badly, losing skipper Andrew Strauss to the first ball of the second over as Ravi Rampaul made an immediate impact in his first one-day international for over a year. Pietersen struck imperious drives through the covers for four off successive Fidel Edwards deliveries as 35 came from the six overs of the compulsory powerplay.

The fifty stand was recorded from as many balls, Pietersen thumping a Rampaul slower ball straight down the ground for six and Bopara also clearing the ropes with a pull off Darren Sammy. Sammy, the first St Lucian to play for the West Indies, dived forward but it flicked up off his wrists and appeared to bounce on the ground then be trapped under him as he lay on the turf and claimed the catch.

Four wickets fell for 24 in five and a half overs, Bopara’s enterprising innings ending when he top-edged a flick to leg. Collingwood recorded the 50 stand from 45 balls in the final over with a deft glance for four but the big moment came in the first over of the Windies innings.The England all-rounder claimed 2-7 from his opening three-over spell, first dismissing Ramnaresh Sarwan, whose fluent 23 ended when he backed away to one that bounced just that touch more and got a thin edge through to keeper Prior.

By: Guardian

Read full Guardian Article.

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This has been occasioned by the Warriors’ embarrassing 3-0 defeat by the United States of America in their Concacaf Final Round Qualifier in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday night, leaving this country at the bottom of the six-team group on two points, the same as El Salvador. The USA tops the table with seven points followed by Costa Rica (6) Honduras (4) and Mexico (3) with seven matches still to be played by each team.

The Special Adviser when asked to comment on Wednesday night display replied : “I think it was way below expectations of a team that is aspiring to be among the qualifiers for the World Cup Finals in South Africa next year.” “My concern is that we are not getting the required results. Results are all that matter at the moment and we have to start getting the right ones from the next match”, he said.

Maturana, who has come in for earlier criticism from the local media and coaches alike, has twice taken his homeland to the World Cup Finals and will be buoyed by the fact that T&T also had one point after three matches in 2005 when Dutchman Leo Beenhakker took over the reigns from Bertille St Clair and led T&T to Germany in 2006.One local club manager who prefers to remain anonymous said that the only good thing with the team’s situation is that there are two full months before the next match against Costa Rica at home June 6. T&T is also ‘away’ to Mexico on June 10.

“Whether it’s a coaching change or wholesale changes in the team, it’s clear that something has to be done.” The local club manager who has led his club to a host of local and regional triumphs was adamant that the national coach had no idea which was his best team. He added : “I can’t imagine we are three matches into the final phase of qualification and our coaching staff still does not know their best squad yet.”

By: NIGEL SIMONN of Guardian

Read full Guardian Article.

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Among those present at the signing ceremony were TPCL’s managing director Grenfell Kissoon, executive director of Gayelle The Channel Errol Fabien, TPCL’s deputy managing director Brandon Khan, CNC3’s General Manager Cyntra Achong, CNC3’s engineering and operations manager Anthony Seegobin and Rosemarie Sant, Head of CNC3 News. Kissoon said that CNC3’s signature programme was its news, and over the past three years the station had built a reputation of news leadership through its compelling content, high quality presenters, and overall professionalism.

He expressed the view that Gayelle’s choice of CNC3 as its news provider over all other available options in the industry was testament to the quality of the CNC3 news product. He said he recognised and respected Gayelle’s strength in the production of local culture- and community-based programming and was happy to complement their offering with news programming, in which CNC3 had distinguished expertise. In a telephone interview on Tuesday, Gayelle’s head of news Paolo Kernahan said, “Dismal survey figures coming out of Flow, coupled with falling advertising revenue since January, led to the closure of the news department.”

Yesterday, Fabien said, “CNC3 news best represents and reflects T&T. The substance of its (CNC3’s) newscast fits the format of good news.” He said the continued move was the only way forward for consolidation of resources. Fabien said all other programming would remain unchanged. He also said viewers could anticipate a similar situation with radio stations. Fabien added: “I feel some radio entities will merge resources so they can continue to exist, probably even seeing some stations changing hands or divesting interests.”

By: MICHELLE LOUBON of Guardian

Read full Guardian Article.

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Ezekiel Joseph, 29, of Harmony Hall, Gasparillo, was not called upon to plead when he appeared before Magistrate Melville Daniel charged with possession of the drug. He is accused of having the marijuana in his possession on March 31 at Harmony Hall.

PC Marlon Mahadeo laid the charge. In her bail application yesterday, attorney Michelle Rampaul, said Joseph was an employee at the Brian Lara Stadium. She said her client had seven children and another was on the way.
Daniel denied Joseph bail and remanded him to reappear in court on April 9.

By:  ANIKA GUMBS-SANDIFORD of Guardian

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Panday appointed UNC Caroni Central MP Dr Hamza Rafeeq to replace Maharaj as chief whip. It was a case of deja vu for Maharaj who was stripped of the post of Leader of Government Business in the UNC administration of 2001 after Maharaj fell out with Panday and was fired as attorney general. In 2001, Panday replaced Maharaj as attorney general with UNC MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar and placed then-MP Ganga Singh in the post of Leader of Government Business.

Commenting yesterday on the rift with the Maharaj/Warner faction and the 2009 rounds of “stripping,” Panday declared: “This party must be disciplined if it is to be strong enough to remove the PNM Government—that is the only way.” Panday confirmed that he had communicated with Deputy Speaker Pennelope Beckles on Maharaj’s removal and Rafeeq’s appointment. He said he informed Tabaquite MP Maharaj of the development by letter. Asked if Maharaj, Warner and others would be expelled or suspended for the recent fracas at Rienzi Complex, Panday said those who defied rules can be brought before a disciplinary team who will “decide their fate.”

However, Maharaj who was brought back into the UNC by Panday for the 2007 general election, said of his “new” position yesterday: “This (removal) was not unexpected. As I said last week—when we had anticipated it—we’ll use the backbench as the front bench to fight for the public. The party needs me more now. I’m not leaving UNC. “But it’s the first time in the political history of the Commonwealth that a chief whip was dismissed for a second time by the same person whom he served as prime minister and as opposition leader,” he said. “But I hold no acrimony and I go to Parliament’s backbench in love and peace.”

By:  GAIL ALEXANDER of Guardian

Read full Guardian Article.

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West Indies finished on 244-7, with the excellent Broad taking 3-41 as England scraped their first win of the winter. Paul Collingwood (69) and Owais Shah (62) did the bulk of the scoring for England after they had won an important toss on a slow wicket in Guyana. England’s bowlers generally did a fine job in defending the total, although a single Steve Harmison over which Shivnarine Chanderpaul smashed for 26 at a crucial late stage nearly undid so much of the good work. As it happened, West Indies were ahead of the “par” score under the Duckworth-Lewis system when the 47th over began, and the umpires hovered over their light meters.

But after Broad had sent down a wide and two legitimate deliveries, the second of which trapped Denesh Ramdin lbw, the batsmen were offered the light, and Dyson beckoned his batsmen into the pavilion. A confusing interlude ensued before a winner was declared, as Dyson approached the match officials with his set of rules. But he appeared to have forgotten to take into account the wicket of Ramdin which turned a West Indies win into an English one. A far more straightforward conclusion appeared on the cards for much of the West Indies chase. Once Broad had removed Chris Gayle early on – lbw to a ball that straightened off the wicket – England had an obvious initiative.

And despite the best efforts of Ramnaresh Sarwan (57) and Lendl Simmons (62), the required run rate climbed to 7.22 towards the end of a marathon 125-run stand which soaked up 27 overs. Simmons certainly rode his luck at times. He should have been run out by Ravi Bopara on 36, and after he had added a further 10 Broad badly misjudged a catch in the deep. In between there were some terrific shots, including a straight six off Gareth Batty and another big hit off Dimitri Mascarenhas which almost cleared the longest boundary on the ground. But of the two, it was Sarwan who was first to fall, tamely caught at short midwicket as he mistimed a flick off Collingwood.

By:  Guardian

Read full Guardian Article.

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Gopeesingh raised the matter after Udecott’s publication of full page advertisements in two daily newspapers on March 7, responding to his statements while presenting a motion on the adjournment dealing with the level of healthcare in T&T. Gopeesingh’s original claim was made while presenting a motion on the adjournment of the House about the level of healthcare in T&T. He said then that Health Minister Jerry Narace had said previously that Udecott had now assumed responsibility for the construction of the Point Fortin Hospital.

“Imagine Udecott again, Mr Speaker? Udecott which you see in the Commission of Enquiry has been doing absolutely chaotic things and has been involved in so much corruption, non-transparency and non-accountability as far as expenditure of the local taxpayers’ money,” Gopeesingh had also said in the motion on February 27. Udecott said Gopeesingh’s remarks were “reckless and irresponsible,” and dared Gopeesingh to “repeat his spurious allegations outside the Parliamentary Chamber and to immediately report his allegations of corruption together with the relevant proof to the authorities, especially since contracts have not been awarded for this project, nor have construction works commenced.”

The Speaker said yesterday that Gopeesingh’s claim, last week, “amounted to contempt of the House and the publications attempted to intimidate him in the execution of his duties as a Member of the House.” Sinanan quoted Erskine May’s Parliamentary Procedures on the matter and then issued his ruling. “Having regard to the facts presented to me, and established parliamentary practice and procedure, I am satisfied that a prima facie, case of breach of privilege has indeed been made and accordingly I refer this matter to the Committee of Privileges for its consideration,” he said. This sparked loud desk-thumping from Opposition MPs.

Earlier, Sinanan denied St Augustine MP Vasant Bharath leave to have the demolition of squatters’ houses at St Joseph debated as a matter of urgent public importance. Parliamentary sources said the most likely sanction to be imposed if found guilty would be an apology by Udecott in an advertisement of equal size. No date for the meeting has been announced. Sinanan is chairman of the committee which includes as members, Colm Imbert, Pennelope Beckles, Stanford Callender, Christine Kangaloo, Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Gopeesingh.

By: RICHARD LORD  of Guardian

Read full Guardian Article.

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True to his word Peter returns as Bruce Lee in the newest play by the Crazy Catholic—Enter the Dragon—which will be held at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s. The play premieres on the Baptist holiday weekend, from March 26 until March 30. This is the first Chinese/Kung Fu play in T&T. Previous plays by the Crazy Catholic introduced Bollywood theatre, fairy tales and clean comedy shows to mainstream audiences locally. His last play at the Hall was Grease.

Enter the Dragon features a 25-member cast of exciting characters from Chinese folklore, including: Errol Fabien (Jet Li), Crazy Catholic (Jackie Chan), George Gonzalez (Kung Fu Panda), Dese Simon (Silver Fox), Sensational Shelly (Crouching Tigress) and Peter Kelly as Bruce Lee. Other colourful characters from popular shaolin movies included in the play are: Bolo, Drunken Master, Monk, Jim Kelly and Ninja.

The storyline includes the transformation of these four well-loved comedians—Fabien, Crazy Catholic, Gonzalez, Kelly—into the legends of Kung Fu as they try to save Trinidad and Tobago from an assembly of villains. This production is part of the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Crazy Catholic, who started performing comedy in 1984. Two persons will be admitted on one ticket at a cost of $150 at the March 26 premiere. Showtime will be at 8.30 pm. Showtime on Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be 8 pm. There will be matinee shows on March 28–30.

Special Offer:
SEA students get an additional $20 off at the Queen’s Hall Box Office and any patron who celebrates their birthday or wedding anniversary that weekend will get in free as part of the anniversary celebrations of the Crazy Catholic.

By: Guardian

The song is about the firing of PNM MP Dr Keith Rowley after he questioned the operations of the Urban Development Corporation and the Prime Minister’s subsequent description of his behaviour as “wajang.” Tigress, who also sang about other contentious happenings within the PNM Government, stressed: “You ent see wajang yet.” Tigress flew back to her Orlando home shortly after the competition Sunday night and was unpacking when Sunday Vibe spoke to her in a telephone interview on Wednesday. She had taken a day off from her job with a pharmaceutical company. “It was a big political fiasco in T&T (the Rowley affair) and we decided to go for it,” she said, explaining the inspiration behind the song.

“It was something people really wanted to hear.” The basic message in it, she said, was that “the truth is rather loud.” Tigress, one of the former United Sisters, which included Singing Sandra, said her strength was in authentic calypso. “That’s who I am, and that’s who I’ll be,” she said. Although she had been living in the USA for more than ten years, Tigress said the stigma of “foreigner” did not apply to her. She said she read T&T newspapers every day and was “very much in touch” with what was happening here.

By: YVONNE BABOOLAL  of Guardian

Read full Guardian Article.

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But Prescod, 22, police said, was no stranger to them. They confirmed that Prescod was wanted by Cumuto police in connection with a robbery in the district. He was also being sought by Western Division detectives in connection with the disappearance of a man from that area, who police believe, was murdered. Shortly before midday yesterday, several loud explosions were heard coming from a hilly area. Police said when residents checked, they discovered Prescod’s body. At the murder scene, Prescod’s relatives declined to speak with reporters. A motive is yet to be established for the killing. Insps Henry Dan and Alfonso Patterson visited the scene and are continuing investigations.

Meanwhile Northern Division Homicide Bureau officers are investigating the shooting death of 27-year-old murder suspect Salim Benoit, of All Stars Crescent, Malabar, Arima who succumbed to his injuries at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex on Tuesday night. Benoit, police said, was the second suspect wanted in connection with the killing of 20-year-old James Jay-Z Howard. Howard of Ackbarali Drive, Malabar, was shot dead at Melodians Crescent on March 2. Another man has already been charged with Howard’s killing. Investigators said around 2.30 pm Tuesday, Benoit was liming with his girlfriend at a basketball court, opposite the Larry Gomes Stadium, when he was shot. Police said the assailant approached from behind and shot Benoit eight times about the body.

By: AKILE SIMON  of Guardian

There were handprints, paint and even slashes on some of the paintings, which are seen by more than 300,000 pairs of eyes every week. While Nexar described the damage as “minimal,” he said the action clearly showed that some people simply did not appreciate the “beauty of work.” He placed the blame squarely at the feet of “some youths,” as he did not believe “mature” people were responsible for defacing the works of art.

Nexar said a security guard witnessed a young boy, armed with a knife, slashing paintings on the wall as he walked along the pavement. He said, “I don’t think that some young people appreciate totally the beautiful work that has gone up there. They don’t really think at that stage. They don’t think about national pride. “But, I hope they would get some in time. I really don’t think mature people did it.”

Nexar was in high praise, however, of the corporate clients who took the decision to let the paintings remain in place at the Oval for the Carnival season. He said, “A lot of people, including foreigners, were seen taking pictures of the paintings. We are very happy about that.” Nexar said citizens could look forward to Carnival 2K10, as plans were already in train to have the entire Oval walls wrapped with even more beautiful paintings.

By: CHERISSE MOE  of Guardian

Scores of police officers, together with Customs and Excise and Port Authority police, swooped down on the port in response to radio and television reports, closing all gates and temporarily stopping all business transactions. “It was real chaos,” one businessman told the T&T Guardian.

The reports traumatised people, with one woman actually reduced to tears when she said that “her son saw the children and they were in a sad state.” A man said he was working on the port and actually saw the dead bodies in the container. Another woman said the son of a calypsonian saw the children and rushed home in tears. In the end, just as the calls came fast and furious, they disappeared with the same speed. It all started when a radio announcer reported that a container with dead bodies had been found at the city port. Then, a television station announced that it was a container with missing children, and thirdly, a report surfaced that a Cuban vessel with stowaways had been stopped by local authorities.

For hours, the T&T Guardian newsroom was flooded with calls from people from all walks of life, some high in government, and others from newspapers in the region and T&T nationals abroad. Several foreign embassies in Port-of-Spain also called the Guardian about the rumours. The main concern for many was the so-called discovery of the container with the children, which brought to the fore the reports of human trafficking in T&T over the past two years. A number of children went missing and have not been found up to today.

The police heard the rumours and quickly assembled a team which swooped down on the port. There was a report that the container with the children was about to be shipped out of the country. Although the police responded to the report, no one really knew where it came from. Then, all of a sudden, the “discovery” shifted to the Chaguaramas and Point Lisas ports. All the rumours were quickly dispelled when acting Police Commissioner James Philbert got into the act. Philbert, in a media release, said, “After a thorough check of the Port of Port-of-Spain by police officers, Port police and officers of the Customs and Excise Division, the allegations are just rumours.” Philbert also described the rumours, which circulated throughout the country, as “causing much concern among the citizens.”

The chief executive officer at the Port Authority, Christopher Mendez, denied the allegations, saying officials found “absolutely no evidence to support the information.” Mendez said security officials at the port would continue to investigate and monitor the premises in response to the report which he deemed as “very serious.” Several police vehicles with officers from units such as the Homicide Bureau of Investigations, Criminal Intelligence Unit, Guard and Emergency Branch and the Audio Visual Unit arrived at the compound, trying to find out “what was going on,” one policeman said.

By: Guardian

“Whether you have Carnival or not, you will still have Ash Wednesday,” Ventor said. After two days of revelry, hundreds of Roman Catholics flocked to churches for the symbolic placing of ashes, in the form of a cross on the forehead. The ash is used as a mark of repentance as Christians begin the preparation for Easter, which observes the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In his sermon, Ventor said, “We don’t only sin at Carnival…We sin before Carnival, during Carnival and when Carnival comes and goes, we still sin.” He called on the assembly to turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel. He also encouraged them to pray and fast, be charitable and abstain from sin.

By: Guardian

For the men in attendance, the chance to gaze at thousands of beautiful women, leaving little or nothing to the imagination in skimpy “costumes,” as perhaps sufficient to explain their refusal to give in to the weather. Former Tourism Minister Howard Chin Lee and Culture Minister Marlene Mc Donald were also present at the square to take in the sights of Carnival.
The parade of the bands got under way from as early as 9 am, with a fusion of colour, rhythm and excitement. A crowd-pleaser was Brian Mc Farlane’s Carnival 2009 presentation, Africa–Her People, Her Glory, Her Tears. The 2008 Band of the Year designer came good again this Carnival, with a beautiful display of earthly colours and tones, which aptly depicted the theme.

Mas band, Harts Ltd, created a stir with its bevy of beautiful women, especially queen of the band, former Miss Universe, Wendy Fitzwilliam. The large band’s presentation this year was titled Persian Empire. Four Swedish nationals could not hide their excitement, when a woman from the band, wearing a thong, showed them some Trini hospitality, giving each of them a small “wine.” Two Trinidadian men who were standing close by, were out of luck though, as she ignored their pleas to give them a dose as well. Medium Carnival band, Spice, led by bandleader, Anya Elias, roused the crowd with their presentation, The Missing Ingredient. However, breaking the monotony of the feathers, beads and headpieces, were mini bands, Family Reunion and Mystery Raiders, with their presentations of The Wild West and Weapons of Mas Destruction, respectively.

Scores of other bands in the mini, small, medium and large band categories also made their way along the venue. Security was at an all-time high and even the blimp was seen hovering over the venue, to ensure that all went according to plan. Music trucks kept the tempo up throughout the day, playing all the popular offerings for Carnival 2k9. However, Road March contender Faye Ann Lyons-Alvarez’s Heavy T Bumper seemed to have got the nod of approval from masqueraders and spectators alike, who were sent into a frenzy every time the track was played. The public would not have to wait much longer as results are being released today.

By: CHERISSE MOE  of Guardian

The results are:

Power Soca
1 – Fay-Ann Lyons
2 – Bunji Garlin
3 – Neil ‘Iwer’ George

Groovy Soca
1 – Fay-Ann Lyons
2 – Shurwayne Winchster
3 – Benjai

bMobile peoples choice
Fay-Ann Lyons

By: Guardian

Joseph said there had been a “gap” regarding the State’s naval assets to properly reduce the inflow. As a result, Joseph said the Government had decided to acquire the three offshore patrol boats, six fast patrol boats and six interceptors. He said the administration also looked at obtaining 12 pirogues on the local market. Joseph said six pirogues would be obtained by month’s end and the other six by March. “That will give increased coverage regarding the reduction of drugs and guns,” Joseph said.

“But something else is happening and one has to be extremely careful…There is something happening with the inflow of drugs and guns coming into the country and it is coming in at a faster rate than it had before.” Joseph said it was not prudent for him to discuss the matter at yesterday’s forum because of various other things in the issue. “So that is a contributory element,” Joseph said, also noting frustration on the part of police to deal with gangs. “When they go to the courts, there are impediments there and we have to correct those impediments. “So it’s not a straight case that we have done this and that and we expect performance…I’m not trying to make excuses as it’s part of the reality.

By: GAIL ALEXANDER  of Guardian

 Read full Guardian Article.

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Popular stickfighter Moses Ralph, of Sangre Grande, was beaten by Kenneth John, of Cushe. John was scheduled to meet with Marcano in the semifinal, while Guy had a bye into the final. John chose to settle for the third prize of $5,000 and conceded the fight to his younger brother Marcano. Marcano, an unknown to the stick-fighting arena, displayed superb craft, striking with either hand and with a change of leading foot, he checked the advances of his charging opponents.

Binealle and Guy were thrown off-balance by the clever moves and ambidextrous strikes of Marcano…a well deserved champion. In the Gayelle semifinal battles, Ortoire won all three fights against Gran Chemin, while Longdenville defeated Sangre Grande by a similar margin. And in the Gayelle final, Ortoire, represented by Cluster Guy, Daniel Barclay and Peter Stephens, won by two fights to one over Longdenville, represented by Anthony Binealle, Nigel Jones and Sunil Kowlessar.

By: TREVOR BURNETT of Guardian

Finding out I was pregnant
Right away she says: Excited!
“Knowing that once you’re married it’s inevitable for pregnancy to occur at sometime, I already had all these plans of what I was going to do. My husband and I sat down and took everything into consideration from my career to lifestyle changes,” she explained. Nonchalantly, she added: “Although I had my plans, God knows best. It wasn’t like I was pregnant for somebody I didn’t know. I’m in a marriage and my baby is with my husband.”

I am legal
Asked if she received support from her family, Lyons placed quite an interesting and perhaps logical twist on her answer. Though support wasn’t an issue she said even if it were, she wouldn’t be too bothered by it. “I’m not a case of a teenage pregnancy, I’m married and I’m an adult so I wasn’t looking to anyone for support. The bible says you cannot serve two masters. I can’t be married to my husband and still be married to my parents. However, she did mention that her father and in-laws were very excited, especially her father as her unborn will be the “blue boy’s” third grandchild.

What really matters
Becoming pregnant for the first time and accepting motherhood is a huge step and a life-changing reality for many and Lyons is not excluded from this list. The two-time Road March title holder said her pregnancy did, in fact, change her perspective on many things. “Being pregnant is a significant change. I no longer take for granted eating on time or getting adequate rest or even staying away from smoke-filled atmospheres. I believe with every significant change in your life your perspectives must be changed because you have grown,” she admonished.

By: BOBIE-LEE DIXON  of Guardian

 Read full Guardian Article.

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But there were other telling signs: immaculately-attired soldiers—with heads bowed and guns in tow—had set the tone for the tribute, occupying positions at the four corners of the cenotaph.
The usually bustling traffic around the park ground to a virtual halt.

It was the shrill sound of trumpets, played by two soldiers, that penetrated the afternoon stillness. King Carlos, dressed in a grey suit and blue shirt, had performed his first gesture of goodwill to the people of T&T before a wildly appreciative gathering of schoolchildren and onlookers.

They had lined the route to Memorial Park to catch a glimpse of the king and his wife, Queen Sofia, during the couple’s first official state visit to T&T. The students, who had waved miniature flags from Spain and T&T, represented schools such as St Mary’s College, St Monica’s Preparatory, Holy Name Convent and Bishop Anstey’s, among others.

Port-of-Spain Mayor Murchison Brown greeted the couple at the Frederick Street entrance of the park. Their Majesties, smothered by security personnel, then briskly made their way along a red carpet to the cenotaph. King Carlos was upright as the soldiers played. Queen Sofia, resplendent in a brown and cream floral-patterned skirt suit and matching shoes, also stood reverently, a few steps behind. The couple waved later to the students.

By: COREY CONNELLY of Guardian

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The left-handed Sherwin Ganga is the other not out batsman on 20. It was Barath’s third Regional First-Class hundred, to follow his maiden century of 131 against this same team in 2007 at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva and 101 against the Windward Islands at Guaracara Park in Pointe-a-Pierre also in 2007. He also eclipsed his previous best score of 132 made against England earlier this month at Warner Park in St Kitts. The former West Indies youth batsman has so far batted for 362 minutes and has struck 21 fours and two massive sixes.

Earlier, under over cast conditions at the venue in East Trinidad, the Leewards, led by discarded West Indies batsman Runako Morton, won the toss and inserted the homesters. The visitors left out Steve Liburd and Akito Willett from their 13-man squad, while T&T dropped Samuel Badree, Richard Kelly and Navin Stewart from their final eleven, allowing former West Indies youth off-spinner Sunil Narine to make his regional First-Class debut. Justin Guillen filled the opening spot left vacant by Lendl Simmons who is on duty with the West Indies team against England in Antigua.

Partnered by regular opening batsman, Barath, Guillen for once failed to impress and was trapped in front to pacer Robert Joseph for seven with the total on 13, thus justifying Morton’s decision to field first. However, Barath took over the show with skipper Daren Ganga bent on playing the supporting role. Barath brought up his half-century with an extravagant cover drive off medium pacer Gavin Tonge. His landmark came in 74 minutes off 58 balls and was enriched with nine glorious fours. An early lunch was taken because of rain and T&T went to the interval on 89 for one with Barath on 55 and Ganga (D) 19. On the resumption, Barath continued to flay the mediocre Leewards’ bowling attack with a wide array of shots on either side of the wicket.

He reached his century with a boundary off out-of-favour West Indies off-spinner Omari Banks, much to the delight of the UWI students who were in a festive mood during their Carnival celebrations yesterday. It came in 150 minutes off 117 balls and was embellished with 17 fours and a six. Barath and Ganga (D) featured in an enterprising second-wicket partnership of 159 in 167 minutes, before the latter departed for a solid 48. Ganga (D) was caught at the wicket by Devon Thomas off Tonge’s bowling.

By: NAZ YACOOB of Guardian

Maharaj said only yesterday he had been told of an immediate price reduction by the packers of the two brands of rice imported by his company. He said the cut represented a “drastic drop” in the price, “so we expect to see the price of rice dropping by 20-30 per cent by next week.” Maharaj said the reason for the reduction was a glut of rice on world markets. He said that a shortage of sugar in Guyana had allowed the Government, “for the first time in history,” to negotiate with Caribbean Community (Caricom) trade authorities a removal of the Common External Tariff (CET) on sugar imported from outside the region.

The CET is a tax imposed on extra-regional imports of products which are produced within Caricom. The tax is intended to protect regional producers by making imported products more expensive. Because of the removal of the CET on sugar, Maharaj said the duties had been dropped and the price of sugar should fall within a month’s time. He said Government had also removed the duties on cheese “and I am sure you will see a reduction on the price of cheese and some other dairy products. I expect the same thing to be happening to milk powder.”

Maharaj said these were very important items for local consumers, adding that duties on cooking oil had also been removed. He said because of the global recession and the decline in the price of oil, prices of commodities had fallen on world markets. “I am hoping that market forces will send down the price,” he said, urging consumers to do their part by shopping around and checking prices before making their purchases. He said if this was done, consumers would be able to benefit from the price reductions.

By: VERNE BURNETT of Guardian