Housing for elite athletes agenda must be pursued

The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee proposal for expedited housing for elite athletes has been rejected. But TTOC president Brian Lewis says he will pursue the proposal despite this setback while Minister of Sport Brent Sancho says he is fighting hard to make it a reality.

In a March 25 correspondence to the Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the Minister of Housing and Urban Planning Dr Roodal Moonilal and Minister of Sport Brent Sancho, the TTOC president made a request for expedited access to HDC housing for athletes, attaching a policy proposal for housing assistance for athletes.

The proposal was a two-page document under two headings--one giving first the policy statement and then the second explaining rationale behind the proposal. The TTOC also invited further discussion if more details were required.

But on May 12, the Housing Development Corporation managing director Earlean John, in acknowledging receipt of the TTOC March 25-dated letter, declared that the HDC “takes its directives relative to the allocation and distribution of housing from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.”

It continued: “Consequently, we thank you for your proposal but any implementation of an ‘Elite Housing Assistance Programme’ by the HDC will have to be mandated by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Development.”

Contacted yesterday, TTOC president Brian Lewis praised Minister of Sport Sancho for making representation to his cabinet colleagues. But he said a response coming from the HDC, which he never wrote, seems to be “paper-pushing”.

“The letter didn’t go to the HDC. Considering that the correspondence was sent to the Prime Minister and copied to the Ministers of Housing and Sport, the reasonable expectation would have been to be given the opportunity to discuss the rationale for the proposal,” Lewis said.

Lewis added that T&T elite level athletes make huge sacrifices to represent the country sometimes at personal and financial costs to themselves. “Why must our athletes always have to consider packing up or migrating. The disrespect for what our athletes go through must stop. “We will not achieve 10 or more Olympic gold medals by 2024 if the plight of our athletes continue to be dismissed,” Lewis said.

But Minister of Sport Sancho said the Government is receptive to the idea but since this is the first time a government would be undertaking a venture like this, the issue had to be examined thoroughly.

“We are putting together a holistic plan and last week I had a meeting with TTOC and some other governing bodies as it relates to a 2016 push for Rio. Separate and apart from elite athlete funding we are looking at ways at how we can now generate this machinery, for lack of a better word, that could prepare our athletes holistically and not just throwing funds into their pockets, but also the possibility of housing, preparation and the training that will accumulate into us being very prepared, as my good colleague from the TTOC coined the phrase to be podium ready,” said Sancho, adding that he plans to reveal that plan in another week or two.

On the elite athlete housing assistance issue, Sancho said while he understood Lewis’ frustration and that the culture of the country doesn’t place enough emphasis on sport, he is confident because all the parties involved are receptive to the idea.

“The receptive mess by all parties to make it a reality, as sport minister I am trying hard and want it done – the TTOC president wants it and a prime minister that is receptive to the idea speaks well for us moving forward,” Sancho said.

Sancho added that one of the other projects he is working on is a pilot project of a sports academy at the primary and secondary school level.

But Lewis is adamant the housing issue must come to the fore sooner rather than later.

“The aspirations of 10 or more Olympic Gold Medals by the year 2024 is a powerful motivating impetus,” Lewis said, “The TTOC is of the resolute view that the athletes of Trinidad and Tobago especially those who are giving their all in service of their country require support in a manner such as proposed. That the TTOC did not get the opportunity to present its case does not diminish in the view of the TTOC the merit of its efforts to get acceptance for the proposal.”

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SEVEN WEEKS after their victory at the conventional 15-man game, in which Trinidad and Tobago were crowned North American and Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) champions, the TT Sevens squad suffered at the shorter format, beaten in all their matches at the NACRA Sevens in the United States last weekend.

The Olympic qualification hopes for the TT men were dashed as they failed to win a single game in Pool ‘B’ of the regional playoffs in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The TT men were beaten by Canada, the Cayman Islands, Guyana and the Bahamas, finishing at the bottom of the five-team pool without a point.

While individual match results have not been made available, TT scored a total of 24 points but conceded 96.

The US won the playoff and qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, while runners-up Canada will have another chance to qualify.

As reported in the Newsday yesterday, the TT Women finished third in their tournament and will have another opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Sevens in Rio.

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A HIGH COURT judge has quashed the decision of the Minister of Town and Country Planning to grant permission to the Sport Company of TT (SPORTT) to construct a sporting complex at the Orange Grove Savannah in Tacarigua.

In a 70-page ruling yesterday, Justice Ricky Rahim found that the minister breached his duty under Sections 6 and 7 of the Town and Country Planning Act to take steps to amend the national development plan as it related to the Orange Grove Savannah. The judge also found that the decision of the minister to grant permission to TT (SPORTT) to develop the lands was in breach of natural justice and was void and of no effect. “It is manifestly clear that there was no consultation with those affected,” the judge said in his ruling in favour of a group of Tacarigua residents, including two sporting clubs, which have used the savannah for decades.

“If anything these claimants are the ones to be most affected by the construction more than perhaps any other as they have had continuous and undisturbed use of the grounds over many years,” Justice Rahim said. It was an emotional end to the three-year fight by the residents. Public relations officer of the Save Our Orange Grove Savannah lobby group, Dr Carol James admitted to Newsday it was an emotional battle. As she was embraced by the scores of residents - some of whom wept after the ruling was delivered in the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain - James said the fight for the ‘green space’ was done for the families who for generations come together at the savannah.

“It is our space and we want to keep our space for our children,” she said.

The residents filed legal action after they were informed of the decision to construct the Eddie Hart Regional Sporting Complex, a multipurpose sporting complex, which would have featured a 25 metre swimming pool, cricket ground, football field, pavilion and 400 metre running track.

They complained that there was no full disclosure as to the scope of the project and that the SPORTT application, dated August 26, 2013, to the Town and Country Planning Division had been granted on September 25, 2013.

Their attorney, Senior Counsel Fyard Hosein submitted at the trial before Justice Rahim that the residents and the Ulric ‘Buggy’ Haynes Coaching School and the Dinsley Cricket Club, would be adversely affected if the planned sporting complex was constructed as they would no longer have access to the green space.

Hosein accused the executive of not adhering to the statutory provisions of the Town and Country Act which mandates that a National Physical Development Plan be submitted to Parliament, along with surveys, every five years.

He said the plan was important to ensure there was consistency and continuity as it related to how land was developed.”You cannot run a country without a development plan,” he argued, adding that, “The State has not satisfied its duty imposed by Parliament.”

In ruling in the residents’ favour, Justice Rahim found that there was a breach of duty on the part of the minister to update the national plan.

The judge ordered that minister reconsider the SPORTT’s application in a ‘procedurally fair manner and specifically after genuine consultation’ with the residents and other affected members of the public.

In his ruling, the judge said that the minister was aware of the public objection to the proposed construction but deprived the residents of the opportunity granted to them by statute to object or make representation as it related to the effect that the sporting complex would have on their daily activities.

“There was a duty on the minister to act fairly when considering the application for planning permission. Consultation is not only about objections but also about representations to arrive at the best possible plan which would benefit the various interests in the community and at the same time give effect to the government’s intention,” the judge said.

He also pointed out the former minister of sport, who, when approached by cricket clubs’ executive, declared that the sporting complex “can’t be stopped, it wouldn’t be stopped and is going full steam ahead’ was indicative of the approach taken to the construction of the sporting complex without sufficient regard for the right of those who make the community their home and whose lives revolve around the savannah to be heard. Justice Rahim said residents had to discover matters relating to the project largely through their own efforts; literally had to plead for genuine consultation and had to resort to the national media in an effort to be heard.

“But alas their pleas have all fallen on deaf ears,” he said.

The judge, in ordering the minister to pay the residents’ costs of bringing the action, suggested that not only should recreational areas be provided but also consider that “green spaces deserve some measure of protection.”

“Developed nations appear to have gone the way of eco-friendly references in acknowledgment that the phrase green space does not only define a place for human recreation but also goes beyond to acknowledge the reservation or conservation of a community, rural, natural or historic character and the conservation of land for recreational ecological environmental or aesthetic interest.

As we continue to develop as a nation in the 21st century the time may have arrived when those who govern may wish not only to ensure that sufficient recreational areas are provided but also consider that green spaces deserve some measure of protection,” Justice Rahim said in his ruling.

Also appearing for the residents were attorneys Rishi Dass and Marina Narinesingh while Russell Martineau, SC, Gerald Ramdeen and Kendra Mark represented the minister.

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Trinidad and Tobago were well represented at the UCI Fastest Man on Wheels competition over the weekend as Arima Wheeler's Kwesi Browne won bronze in the final of the men's keirin. The meet was held at the Valley Preferred Cycling Centre in Pennsylvania, USA.

Browne finished third after a keenly-contested keirin final, with Eddie Dawkins of New Zealand finishing as the winner. Njisane Phillip meanwhile, placed sixth overall in the final after excelling in the heats and semi-final leading up to the main event on Friday.

Both sprinters raced into the semi-finals and then into final, where they faced a decorated field of elite-level cyclists. There were three riders from New Zealand, one from the Netherlands, one from Canada and a British cyclist. They all were in the field along with both Phillip and Browne.

Both sprinters came into the event after a busy six weeks. Phillip competed in the National Championships at the beginning of May, and then the Caribbean Track Cycling Championships in Havana, Cuba from the 27-30. Browne wasn't with the team in Havana, but competed at the National Championships. Both athletes also gained crucial UCI points, which will make them eligible to race in the upcoming Cycling World Cups in 2016.

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Lalonde Gordon snared silver in the men's 400 metres event at the Mohammed VI d'Athletisme IAAF World Challenge meet, in Morocco, on Sunday.

The Trinidad and Tobago quarter-miler completed his lap of the track in 46.02 seconds to finish behind Grenada's reigning Olympic champion, Kirani James, the winner in 45.15. Bahamian Demetrius Pinder secured bronze in 46.16.

Gordon came off the final turn near the back of the eight-man field. The 2012 Olympic bronze medallist, however, had plenty gas left in his tank. He powered down the home straight, reeling in all but James to secure the runner-up spot in his second individual one-lap outing this season.

In his 2015 400m opener, in St Martin on May 9, Gordon emerged victorious in 45.50 seconds. He captured an impressive double at that meet, winning the 200m event in 20.53.

Gordon will be home for the June 26-28 NGC-Sagicor NAAA National Open Track and Field Championships, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain. The 26-year-old quartermiler is expected to square off against Machel Cedenio, Deon Lendore, Jarrin Solomon, Renny Quow and Jereem Richards for the men's 400m title at Nationals. Quow is the reigning one-lap champion, while Gordon captured 200m gold last year.

Josanne Lucas was also on show at Sunday's IAAF World Challenge meet, in Morocco. The 2009 IAAF World Championship bronze medallist finished sixth in the women's 400m hurdles in 57.53 seconds.

South African Wenda Nel earned gold in 55.36, finishing ahead of Ukraine's Anna Titimets (55.86) and Morocco's Hayat Lambarki (55.94).

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