Black Immigrant Daily News

REAL NEWS: At least three crops, including okra and sorrel, continue to be affected by a newly discovered pest in Antigua and Barbuda. And as a result of the infestation, these items have been scarce on the market.

Dr. Janil Gore-Francis, the Chief Plant Protection Officer, describes the insect as a plant hopper – similar to a grasshopper, green in colour, but smaller. She says the Plant Protection Unit became aware of it after receiving a report about two months ago.

At that time, she says, some samples were obtained and digital samples were sent to the University of Florida to be identified. They were confirmed to be in the family of cicadellidae and belonging to plant hoppers.

Dr. Gore-Francis admits that the Unit still does not know to what species the plant hopper belongs, as yet, since it requires sending a physical sample to be tested.

She is also unable to say whether this pest is actually new, although it is the first time the Unit has received a report of the hopper having this sort of effect on these plants.

In the meantime, before uprooting and discarding any plants that have been impacted by a disease, Dr. Gore-Francis advises farmers to ensure that it is not the newly discovered plant hopper affecting them.

Dr. Gore-Francis notes that planting space is another factor, since the hoppers thrive in a humid environment. Since humidity is increased when the crops are planted too close together, it creates the perfect environment for the pest to be destructive, she says.

And while many farmers may want to get rid of the pests quickly by spraying, the Chief Plant Protection Officer warns that this should be a last resort.

If the situation becomes unbearable, however, a horticultural oil, such as neem oil, is what she recommends.

The Chief says that reports can be made to the Agricultural Extension Division or the Plant Protection Unit’s pest report hotline, which is 462-PEST (or 462-7378). Persons might be required to send a photograph, so that officers can determine what sort of insect has to be dealt with.

While the hopper has been affecting farmers all across Antigua, there has been no report of them on Barbuda, she says.

The situation is improving, however, as Gore-Francis says that farmers have been following the directives to control and eliminate the pest.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

Former West Indies captain and one of their mainstay in batting for a long long time, Shivnarine Chanderpaul was inducted in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame during a function in Sydney (Australia) last evening. Barely a month ago, on October 2, 2022, the West Indies Run Machine, Chanderpaul, was inducted into the USA Cricket Hall of Fame. Chanderpaul couldn’t attend that function as he was tied up in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) as the head coach of the Jamaica Tallawahs. Another USA Cricket Hall of Famer, Mr Jatin Patel received the award on behalf of Chanderpaul that evening. This is the first instance in history that a cricketer has been inducted in the USA Cricket Hall of Fame, first in the world, and the international body in such close proximity.

Expressing his gratitude after his induction in the ICC Hall of Fame, Chanderpaul said, “I am extremely honored and very humbled to receive this very prestigious honor. I do so on behalf of my family who supported me all my life, my teammates who encouraged me and helped me, the many supporters around the world, and the loyal fans of West Indies cricket who I played every magical moment for. From the first moment I stepped onto the field in my West Indies cap, I knew what my responsibility was, and I always knew I had to give my 100 percent. I enjoyed every moment of my time.

“When I was a boy growing up in Guyana with that over-sized bat in my small hands and you told me I would make it into the ICC Hall of Fame, I would have said ‘you’re mad!’. Never ever in my wildest dreams did I think I would make it this far. But I did dream big. And this honor here shows that your dreams, when combined with hard work and dedication, can come true. Your hard work can take you places you never imagined.

“Today I am proud, as I join a list of the game’s elite who represent the best of all time. I receive this ICC Hall of Fame award with humility and hope that what I achieved for West Indies and what I did on the field will inspire a new generation of young cricketers to always dream big and always give their 100 per cent,” said Chanderpaul, one of the finest gentlemen the game has ever witnessed.

The only West Indian cricketer after Brian Lara to have scored more than 10,000 Test runs, Chanderpaul is mostly recognized for his unique stance and dogged determination while batting. Making his debut as a 19-year-old in 1994 till he called it quits as a 41-year-old in 2015, Chanderpaul has scored 11,867 runs in 164 Tests with a batting average of 51.37 and a highest score of 203 not out. There have been many instances when he has single-handedly retrieved West Indies’ plummeting fortunes and that he has done in all three formats of the game, both as the captain of the side and as a lower middle order bat. In 268 ODIs, Chanderpaul has scored 8778 runs with an average of 41.60 and a highest score of 150. He didn’t play too many T20s but, in 81 matches he scored 1576 runs with an average of 23.52 and strike rate of 105.77. His highest T20 score was 87 not out. With his slow leg-break, he has also picked 9 Test and 14 ODI wickets in his career.

Chanderpaul holds some unique records which shows his temperament and the price he puts on his wicket. Chanderpaul has been involved in 771 partnerships in Test, the most by any player, during which he batted with 83 different partners, which is also the highest than any cricketer ever. During his Test career, Chanderpaul watched 507 dismissals of his batting partners from the other end, the most by any batsman. Another highlight of his batting career is when he batted for more than 1000 minutes in a Test match on four different occasions, the highest being 1513 minutes.

A wonderful cricketing brain, Chanderpaul shifted his focus to coaching in 2016 after his retirement and in 2020 launched the Chanderpaul Cricket Academy along with multi-discipline coach and USA Cricket Hall of Famer Mr Jatin Patel. This year, in his first season as the coach of Jamaica Tallawahs, he earned the rare distinction of taking the team all the way to the championship title. The year 2022 has been a good year for Chanderpaul and as the head coach of the USA Women’s Under-19 Team, he led the team to the West Indies Zonal tourney where the USA U-19 girls finished undefeated in the six-team tourney. The icing on the cake this year was when his son Tagenarine Brendon Chanderpaul got his maiden call to represent West Indies in the two-match Test series against Australia later in the year.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has earned many laurels during his playing career, and that includes the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year, Wisden Cricketer of the Year, and the WICB West Indies Player of the Year to name a few. Now as a coach, he has already started making an impact. But, knowing the tenacity of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and his discipline, dedication, and determination to succeed, this is just the beginning of yet another glittering career for one of the finest ever to have played the game and more than that, an amazing human being.

(This article is written by Ajit Bezbaruah)

CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

News

PSA president Leroy Baptiste outside the Industrial Court in Port of Spain on Monday. – ROGER JACOB

LEADERS of five top trade unions in the public sector voiced their upset to reporters at the Industrial Court, Port of Spain, on Monday, as the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) rejected a bid for them to return to the bargaining table for wage negotiations.

Instead, the issue will be heard by the court’s special tribunal next year.

Industrial Court president Deborah Thomas-Felix presided over a three-hour case-management conference with the representatives of the unions and the CPO to agree on a series of dates for tribunal hearings, negotiated separately for each of the five unions.

While the unions had argued that fruitful wage talks were under way, the CPO’s attorney Seenath Jairam did not agree to the unions’ attempts at conciliation.

The unions have continuously rejected the government’s offer of a four per cent wage increase for 2014-2019. The proposal represents zero, zero, two, zero, zero, two for each year successively.

The offer was accepted by the Amalgamated Workers Union and the defence force.

A dejected-looking Ceron Richards, president of the Prisons Officers Association, leaves the Industrial Court in Port of Spain on Monday. – ROGER JACOB

In his winding-up of the budget debate in the House on October 4, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the CPO negotiates with workers in the civil service, the prison service, the fire service, the police service, the defence force and the teaching service.

“When negotiations break down, the negotiations or the disputes are referred to a special tribunal, which is comprised of senior members of the Industrial Court.”

He said there are approximately 20,000 daily-rated workers within the mainstream public service.

“I want to report that four unions have been referred to the special tribunal. Fire, prisons, police, TTUTA and the NUGFW have gone through the process, because they are not referred to the special tribunal, of sending the matter to the Industrial Court.”

But, he said there is always the option, along the way, of the trade unions asking for conciliation outside of the tribunal.

On Monday, Thomas-Felix said conciliation was a voluntary process, implying both sides must consent.

In court were PSA head Leroy Baptiste, Fire Service Association (FSA) head Leo Ramkissoon, and Police Social and Welfare Division head Gideon Dickson – all of whom addressed the court on behalf of their unions – plus TTUTA head Martin Lum Kin and Prison Officers Association (POA) head Ceron Richards.

Accusing the Government of not acting in good faith towards them, the labour leaders argued for wage talks by saying they were not in a dispute.

Jairam responded, “We have no instructions that there should be conciliation.”

The POA’s chief negotiator Burton Hill said his association had been on a firm path towards arriving at common ground with the CPO. He said the association made headway on the issue of someone acting in a post before retirement, declaring,”The CPO responded.” Likewise, on the matter of qualification allowance, he said, “The CPO said he will look at it.”

But Hill then admitted, “We don’t have a memorandum of agreed items.” Saying the association has letters with agreements on a number of things, he complained, “We were blindsided by the Minister of Finance saying the matters were referred to a special tribunal.”

Hill said correspondence dated September 26 showed agreement on several allowances, as he said the association was now taken aback by news it was heading to the tribunal.

Thomas-Felix said, “There is a view that different things had been agreed to.”

Jairam replied that the relevant law allows the Finance Minister to refer matters to a special tribunal.

Thomas-Felix asked, “So the door has closed for discussion?”

TTUTA president Martin Lum Kin, centre, with executive members. – ROGER JACOB

Seenath said yes.

Hill argued,”We have documents that we were engaged in agreeable discussions up to September 26.”

Thomas-Felix said,”Present those things to the special tribunal.”

Speaking for the PSA, Baptiste said, “It takes two hands to clap. But it appears not to be the case.”

He said he had only learnt the union was supposedly in a dispute when he got a letter to go to court, which he viewed as a subtle threat.

“It was shocking to me.”

Arguing for conciliation, Baptiste added,”The court witnessed today three associations all unaware they had a dispute with the CPO.”

Initially, the PSA, FSA and POA agreed for their future court hearings to be consolidated in the interest of time, but later adopted the positions of TTUTA and the PSWA for separate hearings.

The PSA is expected to have hearings on January 19, 20 and 30, and half-day hearings on March 14, 16 and 17.

The FSA will have hearings on April 12, 13 and 14.

The PSWA has hearings on February 15 and 24, and March 13, the POA on May 2, 4 and 5, and TTUTA on May 12 and 19, and June 9.

Union leaders complained to reporters about ongoing financial hardships faced by their members awaiting their salary updates amid rising prices of food and gasoline.

TTUTA past second vice-president Kyrla Robertson-Thomas said, “Collective agreements for TTUTA have been outside since 2014-2017. This is the first one we have on the table. Our first hearing date is in May, so I will tell you we are not happy people today.”

Ramkissoon said the State’s rejection of conciliation was “very, very disheartening and demotivating” to his officers.

“While the minister said clearly during his delivery in Parliament that opportunity would be given, if we so desire, to further discuss around the table and have conciliation in the interest of hammering out a fair settlement, we find that under the cloak or under the protection of the court, they are holding a different position.”

Dickson said his association was not taken aback by the State’s decision but had planned for it.

“We are disheartened to know the State would have shown their hands at this time, to not operate in what we would want to consider to be good faith. That’s of serious concern to police officers.

“We will be engaging our members in the next two weeks.”

Baptiste alleged “a complete undermining” of TT’s industrial relations fabric, with the court used as a whip to oppress workers, with the government’s attorney refusing to engage in conciliation.

“Notwithstanding the posturing of the State, we will continue to engage in the process of trying to bring about a resolution of the terms and conditions of our members even before the hearing on January 19.”

Richards was taken aback by the day’s events.

“We always thought the option for conciliation would always been on the table, based on the utterances of the minister in Parliament. We are very disappointed there is no option for conciliation.”

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

Par Diane Pezeron-Dubois
d.pezeron-dubois@agmedias.fr

Les élèves devraient reprendre le chemin des cours ce matin. • ARCHIVES FRANCE ANTILLES

Fermés lundi à cause des pluies diluviennes, les écoles, collèges et lycées (sauf à Baimbridge) peuvent de nouveau ouvrir leurs portes ce matin.

NewsAmericasNow.com