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00:00:00 Good morning, I am Anselm Gibbs with a news update.
00:00:06 Prime Minister Rowley is not mincing words when expressing how he feels about Jack Warner's
00:00:12 return to the political arena.
00:00:14 It played out in full public view after he was a minister of government and an acting
00:00:20 prime minister in this country where he is now known as what somebody described as an
00:00:25 international crook.
00:00:27 Mr Jack Warner has been charged, charged with serious criminal conduct, money laundering,
00:00:36 racketeering, fraud, charged.
00:00:43 Efforts are being made to make the gravesite of former president and prime minister A.N.R.
00:00:48 Robinson a tourist attraction.
00:00:51 I did hear Mr Eversley say that the gravesite should be a tourist attraction.
00:00:58 I work at the Tobago Tourism Agency Limited and if you look at the posts surrounding the
00:01:04 gravesite at this time, it is being developed and the gravesite is being upgraded to commemorate
00:01:12 the contributions of this great Tobago son.
00:01:18 And in the weather forecast, sunshine will be interrupted at times by a few showers over
00:01:23 isolated areas mainly during the mid-afternoon and evening hours.
00:01:29 There's also a medium chance of isolated thunderstorm activity likely favoring Trinidad.
00:01:36 Meanwhile, seas remain moderate with swells approaching two meters in height in open waters.
00:01:59 So, it's a good thing that we have a weather forecast.
00:02:29 And I'm sure that you will be able to see the best of it.
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00:03:11 Beyond the Tape, weekdays at 5.30pm.
00:03:34 The biggest party in sport is back.
00:03:37 CPL and WCPL return with more action than ever before.
00:03:45 Watch the biggest names in cricket battle it out in the race for glory.
00:03:53 Get your tickets now at cplt20.com or at the box office.
00:03:58 Join the party.
00:03:59 Experience cricket played louder.
00:04:03 [Music]
00:04:21 Good morning, I'm Marlon Hopkins and welcome to the morning edition.
00:04:24 It's Friday 28th July 2023.
00:04:28 I thought that we would just play some music this morning.
00:04:31 It has been a difficult week.
00:04:33 So we're playing some music this morning to make you feel good.
00:04:37 To make you forget the pressures of the week as we move into the weekend.
00:04:41 And we do appreciate your viewership every day.
00:04:45 We do appreciate you allowing us into your homes.
00:04:49 So it's time to take a look at the Express newspaper.
00:04:52 On the front page today, Rowley sends pre-action protocol letter to whistleblower Abdullah for monstrous lie.
00:05:01 Apologize and pay up.
00:05:03 And more to the bottom of the page, a wreath for coup victims paying tribute.
00:05:10 Activist Wendell Eversley, who was held hostage in the Red House during the 1990 coup attempt,
00:05:15 lays a wreath at the Red House Cenotaph yesterday in remembrance of those who lost their lives as a result of the bloody event on July 27th, 1990.
00:05:26 Yesterday marked 33 years since the six-day siege.
00:05:32 A bittersweet day, says daughter of Clark killed in 1990 attempted coup.
00:05:37 I hope justice for mom is served.
00:05:40 I did not think I would cry, but I have to cry.
00:05:43 It's a bittersweet day.
00:05:45 So said Aficia Caballero, daughter of late parliamentary Clark Lorraine Caballero,
00:05:51 during a coup remembrance and wreath-laying ceremony at the site of the eternal flame at the Parliament Building, Port of Spain, yesterday.
00:05:59 And call for top cop to upgrade grave of officer slain on duty.
00:06:03 Survivor of the 1990 attempted coup, Wendell Eversley, has called on the commissioner of police
00:06:08 to upgrade the gravesite of Special Reserve Police Officer Solomon McLeod,
00:06:12 who was killed when the police headquarters in Port of Spain was invaded by members of the Jamaat al-Muslimin 33 years ago.
00:06:18 And McCormie, I still get PTSD every July.
00:06:23 Veteran broadcaster Dennis McCormie yesterday laid a red, white, and black wreath
00:06:29 at the base of the eternal flame at the Parliament Building, Port of Spain, in memory of those who died during the July 27, 1990 coup attempt.
00:06:39 We're moving on.
00:06:41 PM seeks apology, costs from whistleblower, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley is seeking, among other things,
00:06:48 an unqualified apology and costs from former progressive Democratic Patriots member Aqeel Abdullah
00:06:55 for his baseless, false, and malicious, and slanderous statements made against him.
00:07:01 And Farley, we're protected by Assembly privileges.
00:07:05 Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly Farley Augustine has insisted that he and the whistleblower
00:07:10 who made allegations against the Prime Minister and others in video clips are protected by the privileges of the Assembly.
00:07:19 Yeah?
00:07:20 So we are moving on again, this time to some sports.
00:07:25 Basraf confident of good turnout for third ODI.
00:07:29 And gone too soon, West Indies' Shimron Hetmaya is bowled by India's Ravindra Jadeja
00:07:37 during the first One Day International at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados yesterday.
00:07:43 Windies smashed again.
00:07:45 Hope complains of inadequate preparation.
00:07:48 West Indies sunk to a demoralizing five-wicket defeat against India in the first One Day International yesterday in Barbados.
00:07:55 After left-arm spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja demolished their batting.
00:08:02 Just to tell you that as we move on this morning, coming up at 7.30, we are going to be discussing CPL,
00:08:08 and James Saunders is going to be here.
00:08:10 So it's time to remind you about Trinbago Unite's feature.
00:08:13 To participate, WhatsApp your videos, images to 737-3778, displaying the beauty, talent and uniqueness of Trinbago.
00:08:21 And we do have this for you from the Betham Highway.
00:08:24 Yeah, Betham looks good this morning.
00:08:27 If you are already in Port of Spain and you're heading to work, well guess what?
00:08:31 You're early today.
00:08:32 Yeah, the traffic looks really, really good.
00:08:34 Yeah, a good morning for a drive, wouldn't you say?
00:08:37 You know how sometimes we like to come out and drive?
00:08:41 When it's raining, it would seem like we like to come out and drive,
00:08:45 especially like noon on a Friday in Port of Spain and it's raining.
00:08:50 Everybody wants to come out and drive.
00:08:53 So we do have a lot for you on the program for today.
00:08:57 So we are going to a very short break. We're coming back.
00:09:08 I love the look and smell of litter.
00:09:14 From this huge pile, I can see that many people also find it attractive.
00:09:21 Yes, Charlie. Litter is indeed attractive.
00:09:25 It attracts roaches, flies and mosquitoes and rats.
00:09:30 My pets!
00:09:33 Don't be a litterbug, Charlie.
00:09:35 Do the right thing. Don't litter.
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00:10:09 This is Little Caesar's Stuffed Crust Pizza.
00:10:11 It's a whole new level of pizza with cheese stuffed crust.
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00:10:26 It's simply irresistible. Only at Little Caesar's.
00:10:28 Pizza, pizza.
00:10:29 [music]
00:10:40 [music]
00:11:05 The biggest party in sport is back.
00:11:09 CPL and WCPL return with more action than ever before.
00:11:14 Are you kidding me?
00:11:16 Watch the biggest names in cricket battle it out in the race for glory.
00:11:21 Make a brilliant game. Celebrate some more.
00:11:24 Get your tickets now at cplt20.com or at the box office.
00:11:29 Join the party. Experience cricket played louder.
00:11:35 [music]
00:11:45 And welcome back everyone.
00:11:47 So as we get closer to Emancipation Day, we are now joined by Dr. David Muhammad,
00:11:52 head of the Black Agenda Project, to discuss the meaning and significance of the observance in Trinidad and Tobago.
00:12:00 Dr. Muhammad, good morning.
00:12:02 Good morning, Marlon, all the viewers and listeners.
00:12:05 Yeah, Dr. Muhammad, always good to see you and always good to speak with you.
00:12:09 Well, let's reflect. Emancipation Day is upon us.
00:12:15 What is your impression?
00:12:19 Well, first of all, regarding emancipation, we have to openly express our pride,
00:12:27 particularly on the global stage, that Trinidad and Tobago was the first country in the world to declare emancipation as a public holiday.
00:12:36 August the 1st, 1985, where it replaced Discovery Day, after it last being celebrated in this country on July 31st, 1984.
00:12:46 There were overtures to the state as early as the year 1888 by personalities such as Attorney M. Zumbo Nazare,
00:12:59 who had proposed emancipation be a public holiday after the 50th celebration, going back as far as then.
00:13:06 So Trinidad and Tobago, in many ways, is a haven for that,
00:13:10 and we congratulate the Emancipation Support Committee on spearheading that initiative.
00:13:15 In addition to the history of it, it also has a contemporary significance as well as a historical one.
00:13:23 And the point there being that there are three stages of African history,
00:13:30 the classical period, which explains that Africa was the birthplace of civilization,
00:13:36 where the first human beings and first human communities and civilizations and towns and villages emerged and out of Africa.
00:13:43 Of course, they established the alphabet, the number system, science, philosophy, art and music.
00:13:49 But then we come to the second period, the Holocaust period, where people of African descent were robbed of their name,
00:13:55 language, religion, culture, morals, folkways, laws and norms.
00:13:59 We were disconnected and dispossessed from that glorious heritage of Africa that we once had, which is called enslavement.
00:14:06 And it's very important as well to make the point in this time that the language has changed.
00:14:13 The vocabulary has transformed. We no longer on an academic level refer to ourselves as slaves.
00:14:20 We were never slaves, but we were enslaved. They did not take slaves out of Africa.
00:14:27 They took architects, builders, leaders, kings, writers, philosophers, poets out of Africa, and then they were enslaved.
00:14:39 So we are the descendants of enslaved Africans after a period of enslavement, which is also referred to as the Holocaust period.
00:14:47 But the third period of African history, which we're currently writing now as we live in these contemporary times,
00:14:54 is the reconstruction period of African history, beginning with our liberation, our emancipation,
00:15:03 the beginning of us acquiring human rights and civil rights.
00:15:08 And we normally start off that narrative with some of the magnificent contributions to modern civilization that people of African descent made,
00:15:16 such as Louis Latimer, a black man who invented the light bulb, Brando T. Woods, who invented the railway and the telephone,
00:15:23 Garrett Morgan, who invented the traffic lights and the gas mask, Charles Drew, who invented the blood transfusion,
00:15:28 J. A. Bird, who invented the lawnmower, black man J. Standard, who invented the refrigerator,
00:15:32 and A. Miles, who invented the elevator, which are just a few examples of several others.
00:15:37 But we are still in that reconstruction period where we're lifting ourselves up out of that degradation,
00:15:45 and we're removing the shackles and chains from our hands and feet.
00:15:50 And now we have the mission of removing them from our minds because we're currently in a mind war as well.
00:15:57 So the entire experience spans throughout all of those prior experiences to a continued struggle today.
00:16:05 How have members of the African community, you think, have they done in Trinidad and Tobago?
00:16:15 How how let's speak a little bit about their contributions and how well do you think that they have done here?
00:16:22 Well, Trinidad and Tobago has well punched above its weight in regards to our contribution to the global struggle.
00:16:32 Also, people of the Caribbean in general as well. But Trinidad and Tobago goes back to the African Muslims,
00:16:45 the mandingos of East Port of Spain, who even prior to emancipation were all already free.
00:16:53 And they wrote proposed legislation in both English and Arabic, suggesting that if we're about to be free,
00:17:01 we should be repatriated and allowed to be taken back to Africa.
00:17:07 That started in Trinidad in the early 1830s.
00:17:10 And you have Bath Street in East Port of Spain named after the leader of that African Muslim community,
00:17:16 Mohammed Jonas Bar, who also built Fort George.
00:17:20 So they were already ahead of their time in seeking compensation.
00:17:25 So repatriation eventually became reparations. But we also have coming out of Trinidad and Tobago,
00:17:31 three pioneers of the pan Africanist movement worldwide, Henry Sylvester Williams,
00:17:37 C.L.R. James and George Padmore. When I went to Africa for the first time just last year,
00:17:44 I was stunned to discover that the most famous Trinidadian of all times wasn't any of our sporting heroes or even our first prime minister.
00:17:53 It was George Padmore. And I actually landed in Ghana on September 21st last year, which was Kwame Nkrumah Day.
00:18:03 And George Padmore of Trinidad, who met Kwame Nkrumah in 1945 at the fifth Pan African Congress,
00:18:10 he's considered a major inspiration as a philosopher all over West Africa.
00:18:18 We also have born in Trinidad, the man who popularized the phrase black power to the entire world.
00:18:28 I'm talking about Kwame Ture, formerly known as Stokely Carmichael, born in 1949, right there on Oxford Street.
00:18:36 And we felt the Black Agenda Project Organization and the Nation of Islam under the leadership of the Honorable Minister Louis Varrican,
00:18:44 that seeing we have still in our country highways named after Churchill and Roosevelt,
00:18:52 who in my estimation were warlords, as well as our capital city,
00:18:58 you still have streets named after Frederick, Henry, Charlotte, George, Duncan, Piccadilly, Chacon,
00:19:06 and after Queen and Duke and Gordon, that we had to commemorate our great national heroes of Pan Africanism,
00:19:17 as we also include the great Dr. Eric Williams, who in writing Capitalism and Slavery,
00:19:22 gave the world a rationale for reparations, which is a front burner issue now, or at least it should be, for CARICOM.
00:19:30 Yeah. But Dr. Muhammad, do you think that some of the problems that we are experiencing in communities across Trinidad and Tobago,
00:19:38 you think that we are experiencing those difficulties because some of us just don't understand their history and our worth?
00:19:49 Well, absolutely. I mean, the great Marcus Garvey said,
00:19:53 "A people who are without a knowledge of their history is like a tree without roots."
00:20:00 And the great Carter G. Woodson said in Miseducation of the Negro,
00:20:03 "If you can't control what a man will think, you can't control what a man will do."
00:20:08 Our names were changed. Our religion was taken away. Our culture was distorted.
00:20:14 We were made to believe that we were inferior because we came out of Africa.
00:20:20 We recently spoke about the Trinity College boys hair incident,
00:20:24 but they had a number of tests physiologically to determine how African we were.
00:20:31 And we were categorized as mulatto, quadroon, octroon, metsey, courtsey, and sambo.
00:20:36 They did a pencil test with our hair and a brown paper bag test with our skin color to all determine that we were worth less as human beings
00:20:47 because we were more African.
00:20:50 And as a result of that, a degree of self-hatred subliminally and subconsciously began to sink in our minds,
00:20:58 which was reinforced by a post-colonial educational system
00:21:03 and fake and phony white religious bogus images of Christ and God.
00:21:10 So that combination of all of those factors, which have been a continued mental assault on the minds of African people,
00:21:17 as well as up to this day, the denial and the refusal to properly incorporate black history and black studies into the educational curriculum,
00:21:26 it's almost like we're volunteering ourselves to be participants in our own demise and perpetual self-destruction.
00:21:33 So when you see all the youth in this current crisis situation that we see them in,
00:21:39 they are, for the most part, without a knowledge of themselves,
00:21:44 that if they were to be able to connect to that great glorious history, heritage, and legacy of Africa,
00:21:50 they would think of themselves as different as they do now, and they would see themselves differently,
00:21:56 and they may not be so vulnerable and susceptible to being part of the self-destruction that we're facing today.
00:22:02 So then how do we reverse this vicious trend?
00:22:08 Well, it starts off with knowledge.
00:22:12 We at the Kwame Ture Center in South Islam, until as you would know, we acquired three quarters of an acre of land for the state,
00:22:19 and with our own hands, never a cent in funding or support from any business or government or political party.
00:22:26 We, the men and sisters of the Nation of Islam, constructed this 6,000 square foot institution ourselves,
00:22:35 and of the several projects that we're involved in, the one that is closest to our hearts at this moment
00:22:42 is our Saturday morning Boys Academy sessions, where we have close to 100 young people from all across East Port of Spain,
00:22:52 Mova, Laventers, Beatham, Sealocks, East West Corridor, even from South.
00:22:56 We even have on occasion youth that come over from Tobago.
00:22:59 We provide free breakfast from 10 o'clock in the morning, and then our youth development sessions begin at 10.30.
00:23:05 But it starts with knowledge of self.
00:23:08 We do not have those same problems with juvenile delinquency, violence, the gang culture, ignorance and aggression and hostility against one another,
00:23:20 because not only do we teach that black is beautiful, but we also demonstrate that black is magnificent,
00:23:27 and that African excellence has contributed civilization and science to the rest of the planet.
00:23:34 And when we teach those young children from as early as five years old that they are part of such a glorious past,
00:23:45 and that we go through the history, not from a dogmatic point of view, of all of the prophets of God, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, not Solomon,
00:23:54 that they were born in East Africa, grew up in towns in Africa at the time where there was not any European migration over to these regions.
00:24:04 Jesus, the Messiah, was born in a town called Bethlehem near Nazareth, in a city named Jerusalem, in a country called Palestine, on a continent called Africa,
00:24:17 at a time, again, where there was no European migration there.
00:24:22 It should not be that information like this is new to us in 2023, when we have been bombarded with educational curricula and syllabi
00:24:37 based on European supremacy and domination to justify conquest, world wars, invasion and terror on third world peoples,
00:24:48 which we have seen as normal, that's been normalized in our consciousness.
00:24:52 So it starts with knowledge of self.
00:24:55 So how do you say you have a hundred people, a hundred young people involved in your program at this time?
00:25:05 So how do you get more and more young people involved? What's the process?
00:25:12 Well, we didn't start off with a hundred. We started off with just four or five.
00:25:17 We, as a body or an organization of able-bodied individuals who are dedicated and committed to the upliftment of our communities,
00:25:27 continue to relentlessly work in that vein. So every Sunday we have our open lecture, which I do.
00:25:35 So this Sunday, of course, we're having our emancipation lecture, which is focusing on the mind wars that people of African descent are suffering from.
00:25:43 We have our martial arts, self-defense classes on Wednesdays. We have Juma on Fridays.
00:25:48 But we have a whole range of public speaking. We have had weddings and counseling and marriages in our building.
00:25:57 We have had business expos, the African business expos. We've had 13 so far.
00:26:03 The 14th is coming up soon. But the main idea behind this is that we must get people involved,
00:26:12 because there are so many people within our community who have such tremendous talents and abilities that do not have opportunities.
00:26:20 So we have to be able to unite, pool our resources, settle our differences, open skills banks and think tanks,
00:26:27 and then begin to grant ourselves the same resources that are refused by the states or by the banks.
00:26:35 Our unity is much more powerful than their money.
00:26:39 But do you think because that's an interesting statement that you're making, because as we look at Trinidad and Tobago,
00:26:47 we see there are certain members of the African community who have done very, very well,
00:26:54 are very, very successful, are in prominent positions in Trinidad and Tobago.
00:26:59 So when we speak about opportunities, aren't opportunities available to everyone?
00:27:08 Yes, they are, even though there is an extraordinary Caribbean white privilege and preference,
00:27:17 even from black politicians who support non-Africans more than they support their own communities.
00:27:25 There is a universal syndrome that we find where the African population for all political parties
00:27:33 becomes a vote bank based on perpetual promises that are never truly granted.
00:27:42 But we dedicate ourselves sometimes to being attack dogs against our own brothers and sisters across the political aisle,
00:27:52 while in Trinidad, the families of say, well-off persons of East Indian descent or the Chinese or the local whites or the Syrians,
00:28:02 when they have family members in different political parties, PNM and UNCT for example, they are still family first.
00:28:10 They are still able to do business and trade and commerce with one another and open and go into joint ventures.
00:28:17 When we have family members as African people in different political parties or even within our communities,
00:28:23 it is as if we see ourselves as having to be sworn enemies against our own brothers and sisters
00:28:31 and to participate in this crabs in a barrel type of stabbing in the back mentality,
00:28:37 pulling each other down and impeding our progress as a sign of loyalty to political parties.
00:28:46 That has been a major element of destruction in our social life, in Caribbean societies.
00:28:52 So we have to be able to liberate ourselves from that.
00:28:56 Mohamed, you used an interesting phrase, attack dogs. And you do have a lot of young black men in this society.
00:29:08 And I'm asking you this because I know that you have been doing a lot of work in the community
00:29:12 and you know what the temperature is at the ground level.
00:29:17 And you have so many young people, young black men in Trinidad and Tobago who are attacking each other, killing one another.
00:29:28 Of course, this has to be a concern to you and organizations such as your organization.
00:29:36 Yes. And I mean, we trace that from its earliest stages in juvenile delinquency.
00:29:45 So we know that there are a number of causal factors for juvenile delinquency,
00:29:51 which include broken homes, dysfunctional families, faulty parenting, absentee fathers, poverty and unemployment,
00:30:01 a lack of personal self-motivation, negative peer group influences, the existence of gangs in the community,
00:30:07 and also educational underachievement.
00:30:10 All of these are factors of reality that we face on a daily basis.
00:30:15 The thing is, though, that each of these factors becomes strengthened and reinforced by the presence of certain other factors.
00:30:23 So, for example, all young men in the community might be susceptible to some degree to the lure of the peer pressure of gangs that exist on the streets in their communities.
00:30:35 But that isolated variable would only have more strength and impact if, for example,
00:30:44 that young individual who's exposed to that lure comes from a home where there's no father or there's no support system of uncles and elder relatives or big brothers to help keep him away from that.
00:30:57 Also, the whole idea of getting a weapon, committing an illegal offense or carrying out a home invasion, which is rampant now,
00:31:06 there may be those who might think that their backs are against the wall and they might have to commit some kind of acts like that in order to survive.
00:31:17 But again, that factor could only have its strength and dominance if the individual has less educational qualifications and would have maybe dropped out of school.
00:31:30 So if we combine all of those variables in such a way to have education, stable family life, positive community efforts and structures,
00:31:42 then each of the presence of the positive factors would contribute to what's blotting out the impact of the negative factors.
00:31:49 But sometimes and many people that you have conversations with in society, they tend to isolate one factor by itself and refer to it as the problem.
00:31:59 The religious leader might say, well, the people don't pray. They don't go to the church or the mosque or the temple.
00:32:04 And that is the problem. A social worker might say, well, the fathers aren't in the home.
00:32:09 But there's no good example for the young men. Right. A school might say they didn't take their education seriously.
00:32:16 All of those have their truths in them. But all persons with those different perspectives on the front line are still yet to come together in a dialogue type conversation to see how they could work with one another.
00:32:30 Is there anything is there anything that can be done as it relates to an organization like yours that that your organization and organizations like yours can intervene and say and maybe mediate?
00:32:51 We have done our fair share of that, and we were reflecting just over last weekend, 10 years ago, we did a tour through East Port of Spain meeting with persons who might be described as leaders of gangs.
00:33:11 And. In going from many who would have since passed away, but it has always been our priority for us to be peacemakers in the community as Muslims, we are taught in the Holy Quran and Surah 49, that wherever there are brothers in conflict with one another,
00:33:33 the believer in God is mandated to go between them and make peace. Surah 8 from verses 60 and 61 in the Holy Quran say that if a peace treaty is offered to you, you must take it.
00:33:49 And then the next verse says, even if you believe that you cannot trust the person who was offering the peace treaty, you must still take it and trust in Allah.
00:34:01 And also, if we're involved in any kind of mediation or dispute with anyone, we say to them that the same justice that we want for ourselves is the same justice that we want for you.
00:34:14 Because again, Allah says in the Quran that you must stand up for justice, even if it is against yourself and your own family. And even if you hate someone, that hatred should not prevent you from denying them access to justice.
00:34:31 So with these basic principles, our doors at the Kwame Ture Center are always open to those who are in conflict or disagreement or in dispute or who require some kind of resolution.
00:34:44 And that has been a major part of our work for much more than 10 years. And we're proud of some of the disputing bodies that we've been able to bring together from that basis.
00:34:54 But we also have to teach and train the younger ones to be able to host and offer counsel and mediation because there's so much conflict in our communities, especially when a young person has lost a parent through murder.
00:35:11 Sometimes you have a recycling of venom and rage and anger and pain, which is already fueled by bitterness, unemployment and economic frustrations.
00:35:23 We would have seen the images of those who were lining up to become prison officers. Yes.
00:35:31 Who are being employed. That tells a scary picture. As we see these images of the cruise ship, there was a food hall that opened by Piazza recently.
00:35:40 Again, hundreds of people in long lines, young people. But out of every hundred, there would be a small percentage of those who may not be able to cope with or withstand the social pressures to not commit a crime.
00:35:55 Yes. Those are the ones that we have to reach out to and be able to touch and connect with to show them that there are much better and greater opportunities.
00:36:02 Dr. David Muhammad, it's always a pleasure speaking with you. Thank you very much for your perspective this morning.
00:36:07 All right. Bye for now. So we do have to go to a very short break. We're coming back.
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00:38:40 The.
00:38:50 All right. So welcome back. So we are discussing now the repatriation of relatives from detention camps in northeast Syria.
00:38:58 And we do have on the line this morning. We do have Mr. Darius Figueroa. Mr. Figueroa. Thank you very much for joining us this morning.
00:39:07 Yes. Mr. Figueroa, what are your concerns?
00:39:12 Well, there are multiple concerns.
00:39:18 The primary the primary concern.
00:39:22 Is that leaving them where they are and the reality is, is that we also have nationals in Iraq.
00:39:30 Leaving them where they are is not a viable geopolitical reality for Trinidad and Tobago.
00:39:39 The government has indicated that they are now in the process of repatriation.
00:39:47 But repatriation raises the issue of rehabilitation and reintegration.
00:39:56 You see, it is all well and good to speak of a terrorist threat emanating from those who will be repatriated someday.
00:40:09 But to speak about a threat and you are not doing any research to understand the nature and terrain of the threat.
00:40:20 That is just empty words and scaremongering. Because you must understand the threat.
00:40:29 In order for you to devise measures, instruments to mitigate the threat.
00:40:37 And yesterday we celebrated 33 years of the Jihad of July 27, 1990.
00:40:46 Apparently we have not learned that if you don't understand the nature of the threat.
00:40:54 You expose yourself to possible action.
00:41:02 So just as in the run up to July 27, 1990 when the state and the politicians who manned the state failed to protect the state.
00:41:17 Likewise in 2011-2012 when the migration or as we say the hijra of Muslims to Islamic States started from Trinidad and Tobago going to the Islamic State.
00:41:29 The state once again failed to respond to the threat posed by that migration.
00:41:35 But Mr. Figueroa, I want to be clear here and understand what you're saying.
00:41:40 Are you saying that if these individuals that we're speaking about are repatriated there could be a threat?
00:41:49 If you understand the nature of the discourse of the Islamic State.
00:41:59 And what about that discourse that motivated Muslims from Trinidad and Tobago.
00:42:06 To give up everything they had in Trinidad and Tobago no matter how little.
00:42:11 And migrate to the Islamic State.
00:42:15 Then you must understand that the only reasonable and realistic position you can adopt.
00:42:23 Is that a potential threat exists.
00:42:29 And you have enhanced the threat by leaving them abandoned in these camps since 2019.
00:42:40 So the quicker we intervene as a nation it will have been better for us and our security.
00:42:47 But a serious minded person may say Mr. Figueroa if there is a threat then why doesn't Trinidad and Tobago leave them there?
00:42:58 Because it is not viable geopolitically.
00:43:02 Because there is great pressure upon Trinidad and Tobago to repatriate our people.
00:43:11 And that pressure comes from the United States.
00:43:16 And if you want a license from the United States to buy Venezuelan gas and bring it to Trinidad.
00:43:23 So how then does it work out?
00:43:27 Do we, you scratch my back and I scratch yours?
00:43:33 So that is the reality.
00:43:36 Geopolitically it is not feasible.
00:43:39 And in the case of Iraq it is even worse.
00:43:42 Because Iraq is a recognized state in the international community.
00:43:46 It's government is recognized.
00:43:49 It is not like the case of the Kurds in northeast Syria.
00:43:52 Why then are we procrastinating in providing the travel documents for Wahid and her children to be repatriated to Trinidad?
00:44:03 Remember as Wahid was sentenced to a prison term her children spent the time with her in jail.
00:44:13 But Mr. Figueroa you know how we Trinidadians are.
00:44:18 We are going to say that we did not send them there.
00:44:23 So why should we bring them back home?
00:44:26 Well because the fundamental reality is the same attitude we adopted in 1990.
00:44:32 And that is why all the material that was used to raid the Red House and to take the hostages was imported,
00:44:42 smuggled through customs, stored up, hidden and then released on the faithful private to attack the Red House.
00:44:50 And nobody knew nothing what was going on.
00:44:53 So we have a lousy record in dealing with these realities that emerge from our Muslim community.
00:45:04 So this time now we get realistic.
00:45:07 These people are citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.
00:45:11 What are you going to do?
00:45:13 Deny your obligations to the international community and leave them there and feel that you will not pay a price internationally?
00:45:23 And that's my other question.
00:45:25 So do we have a discretion in the matter you think?
00:45:28 No. We have no discretion.
00:45:31 Because they are our citizens and it is duty bound by Ontario and Trinidad and Tobago to repatriate your citizens as other countries have done in the world.
00:45:45 But do you think, because if you're saying we have no discretion, it means that the repatriation, it is coming.
00:45:53 It has to take place.
00:45:54 So the question is, are we prepared?
00:45:58 Do we have the expertise to deal with such an exercise when our citizens return home?
00:46:07 No, we have people who insist that they are experts.
00:46:12 But the problem with these people who insist that they are experts is that they have no research depth amongst Israel, Trinidad and Tobago.
00:46:24 They have no research depth.
00:46:28 So they have never moved to understand what motivated Muslims of Trinidad and Tobago to leave and to embrace, most importantly, to embrace the discourse of Islamic State.
00:46:44 So how can you rehabilitate and reintegrate when you don't understand what motivated this action?
00:46:54 What aspect of Islamic State discourse that so appealed to them that it packed up on their laps?
00:47:01 And many of them, the majority of them, left in secret.
00:47:07 Many of them did not even want their parents to know.
00:47:13 So then where do we get this expertise?
00:47:18 Well, I am available.
00:47:22 I have written two books on specific Islamic incidents in Trinidad and Tobago, the Jihad of 1990 and the movement of Muslims Islamic State.
00:47:36 And that is part of a five book series on Islam.
00:47:40 So anytime the government wants to tap into my expertise, I'm available.
00:47:46 It's up to them.
00:47:48 But you cannot divide a program of rehabilitation and reintegration and you don't understand what motivated them to go.
00:48:02 And you don't care to understand.
00:48:05 So what we are getting from the government is a series of mixed messages of hard and soft.
00:48:13 Remember. These children have been in these camps since 2019.
00:48:23 We have to determine we have to know their age when they were born to determine the impact of Islamic State socialization on them.
00:48:37 So anybody who had the final battle of Islamic State at Bagus in 2019 was five years and older in 2019 has to be assessed to ferret out the impact of that socialization on them.
00:48:57 Are you then suggesting that if when the repatriation exercise happens and individuals are brought back to Trinidad and Tobago,
00:49:14 there has to be some sort of rigorous assessment, maybe counseling, maybe mediation, a number of things would have to be put in place, Mr. Figueroa?
00:49:27 Yes. It has to be a multifaceted process.
00:49:33 A holistic, multifaceted, simultaneous process of rehabilitation. And the core, the linchpin of this entire process is the assessment.
00:49:46 You must have assessment that is potently noted for its efficacy.
00:49:58 And you cannot have people doing these assessments who knows, one, nothing about the Islamic State, two, nothing about Muslims in Trinidad and Tobago,
00:50:09 and three, nothing about Islam, and especially people who are hostile to Islam assessing Muslims.
00:50:20 So that is the reality. You cannot fail in this assessment.
00:50:27 You feel that there is hostility, as you're saying, against the Muslim community in Trinidad and Tobago?
00:50:34 What we have is a tradition, especially after 1990, of the expectation of a repeat.
00:50:47 That is what we have. People still continue about doing it again, as if nothing has been learned and nothing has been put into place.
00:50:58 And with all the realization that time has flowed, and the strategic terrain now is entirely different.
00:51:07 So there is this fear, and then Islamic State came along and turned this fear into paranoia.
00:51:15 Because Islamic State, by its record, must generate paranoia.
00:51:23 So that is what we have to understand.
00:51:27 So if we do not handle this rehabilitation purposefully and effectively, then we're spinning top and mud.
00:51:38 But I suspect there also has to be some educational element in all of this.
00:51:46 Yes, it's multifaceted, but everything hinges on the assessment.
00:51:52 Because the assessment will draw out, and there are various forms and levels of assessment, various instruments you use to assess.
00:52:06 Now I know that there has been some delay in the repatriation exercise.
00:52:13 I know that government had confirmed that there is a process, and it has been going on for a while now.
00:52:27 What do you think are the stumbling blocks in this entire process?
00:52:32 Politics. Because other countries have been removing their people from the camps in Northeast Syria.
00:52:43 And if we want to understand how to do it, there are countries out there that you can certainly learn from.
00:52:50 So there is no rocket science to repatriate your people.
00:52:57 So you have countries now who were adamant they were not repatriating and are now repatriating.
00:53:08 So that is the reality. So all of the stumbling blocks listed, other countries continue to overcome these stumbling blocks and bring back their people.
00:53:19 And incidentally, their contingents are much smaller than ours.
00:53:23 But do you think it is being handled in an urgent way? It is being seen as a priority?
00:53:29 My personal point of view is that the stumbling blocks are overblown to drag out the process.
00:53:40 So what is cited as a serious problem, other countries overcome and move their people.
00:53:48 So just simply go to these countries who we have diplomatic relations with and learn from them.
00:53:57 The French have just moved their people once again.
00:54:01 We have an ambassador to France present in Port-au-Prince. Learn. The Canadians have started.
00:54:10 I see that recently you penned a letter to the chairman of the repatriation committee.
00:54:18 Has there been a response?
00:54:21 No. What what what I subsequently found out is that the letter is to be delivered and then they will wait on an answer.
00:54:35 The letter will be delivered either yesterday or today.
00:54:40 Yeah. How do you feel about the work of the repatriation committee? The work that they have been doing?
00:54:49 What we know it has reached a stage now where they are asking for family members to come into them and to give biographies of their family who are in the camp.
00:55:04 I found that very entertaining because if you want to find out who are in the camps that are from Trinidad and Tobago, you simply go to the people who are in control of the camps.
00:55:18 So you go to the Syrian Democratic Forces, you go to the AANES, which is the political arm of the administration, arm of the SDF, and you contact them.
00:55:30 And they have all of that information. They are waiting on us.
00:55:34 And if you have if you say you have problems in contacting the SDF and the AANES, you can simply appeal to the United States of America to hook you up.
00:55:45 Is there any opportunity for this entire matter, which seems to be a very messy matter, a matter with with a lot of tentacles and a lot of components?
00:55:57 And are you optimistic that this will be settled any time soon?
00:56:02 Well, my personal point of view on the whole affair is that please do not repatriate the children and the women.
00:56:13 And you're not ready for the rehabilitation and reintegration process.
00:56:19 So don't bring them back and then make it up as you go along when they are here and they are back.
00:56:25 No, that will do even more harm.
00:56:29 So there has to be a more proactive approach to the entire matter.
00:56:33 Yes, it has to be integrated. I am begging.
00:56:37 Move for repatriation when you are ready with your process of rehabilitation, reintegration.
00:56:44 Don't do it haphazard and disjointed.
00:56:50 Darius Figueroa, it was a pleasure speaking with you this morning.
00:56:53 Thank you very much for your perspective, sir.
00:56:55 Thank you. All right.
00:56:58 I'm sure that we will speak again sometime in the future.
00:57:01 Yeah. So it's time for a quick break.
00:57:04 We're coming back.
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01:00:04 Good morning. I am Anselm Gibbs with a news update.
01:00:08 Prime Minister Rowley is not mincing words when expressing how he feels about Jack Warner's return to the political arena.
01:00:17 It played out in full public view after he was a minister of government and an acting prime minister in this country
01:00:24 where he is now known as what somebody described as an international crook.
01:00:29 Mr. Jack Warner has been charged, charged with serious criminal conduct, money laundering, racketeering, fraud, charged.
01:00:42 Efforts are being made to make the gravesite of former president and prime minister A.N.R. Robinson a tourist attraction.
01:00:53 I did hear Mr. Eversley say that the gravesite should be a tourist attraction.
01:01:00 I work at the Tobago Tourism Agency Limited and if you look at the posts surrounding the gravesite at this time,
01:01:08 it is being developed and the gravesite is being upgraded to commemorate the contributions of this great Tobago son.
01:01:20 And in the weather forecast, sunshine will be interrupted at times by a few showers over isolated areas mainly during the mid-afternoon and evening hours.
01:01:31 There's also a medium chance of isolated thunderstorm activity likely favoring Trinidad.
01:01:38 Meanwhile, seas remain moderate with swells approaching two meters in height in open waters.
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01:04:11 Yes, girl. Online here with this weirdo named Larry. I'm getting rid of him now.
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01:04:20 Eh, eh.
01:04:21 [typing]
01:04:24 [laughter]
01:04:27 Let's take a selfie.
01:04:29 [camera shutter]
01:04:31 It looking good, boy. I'm putting it online.
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01:04:37 Hey, I thought you said you went to the beach with your parents.
01:04:41 Who's you?
01:04:42 It's me, Larry, from online.
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01:05:10 And welcome back. Studio is putting us in the mood for Emancipation Day celebrations next week, eh?
01:05:16 And we are continuing our discussion on Emancipation Day.
01:05:19 So now we are chatting with Mr. Moncho Macimba, head of the Walk Street Emancipation Committee,
01:05:25 about the organization's 21st annual Freedom Run, 5K in San Grigrande, on August 1st.
01:05:31 Mr. Macimba, good morning.
01:05:33 Hello, good morning. Howdy.
01:05:35 I'm good, I'm good. How are you this morning?
01:05:37 Please tell us about the walk.
01:05:39 About the run, rather.
01:05:40 I'm fine, I'm fine.
01:05:42 Yes, please tell us about the event, sir.
01:05:45 Yes, well, the Walk Street Emancipation Committee has been existing for around 28 years.
01:05:54 And in the last 21 years, we started a marathon in San Grigrande.
01:05:58 Very small, you know, and it grew to a stage where we now have international runners participating in it.
01:06:05 You know, it's part of our overall programming as a committee when it comes to emancipation programming.
01:06:15 So this year, we have a beautiful program.
01:06:19 It's the 21st annual Freedom Run.
01:06:24 And we hope to pull the people who normally would go into Port of Spain, you know,
01:06:32 normally Port of Spain, have all the activities for emancipation.
01:06:37 And as a committee, we decided that the villages around the country must bring that sense of emancipation
01:06:47 and that sense of freedom into their community, rather than just Port of Spain.
01:06:53 So it is part of the overall plan of the committee to move emancipation into the villages around Trinidad and Tobago.
01:07:02 Yeah. Who's this event for, Mr. Masimba? Is it for children all the way up?
01:07:10 It is for all. In fact, we want the adults and children to come out.
01:07:18 We want this to be a community thing, not just children.
01:07:22 As I said before, we have international athletes participating.
01:07:26 We have athletes from as far as Kenya, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Vincent, you know, Suriname participating in the event over the years.
01:07:36 And we have people in their 80s participating in the event, as well as children as low as three years old running the 5K.
01:07:45 Yeah. How do people get involved?
01:07:50 Excuse me? How do people register? Do they have to register for the run?
01:07:55 We have an online registration, pre-registration, which you can get us on Facebook at Walk Street Emancipation Committee.
01:08:06 You can register online there. We ask participants to like and share the page so it can spread around the country.
01:08:14 We have also a small social media footprint on YouTube Emancipation Committee, Walk Street Emancipation Committee on YouTube, as well as TikTok.
01:08:26 We have Walk Street Emancipation Freedom Run.
01:08:29 Yeah. And let's speak about the day itself, Mr. Masimba. Run us through the process as it were.
01:08:37 What can we expect on that day in particular?
01:08:41 All right. Well, on that day, we have a park program.
01:08:46 One of the things we do every year in Sandy Grande as a committee, we honor people in the community who have given service to the community over the years.
01:08:55 You know, a lot of prominent people in Sandy Grande. We have people like Melvin Fitzwilliams, who the writer of Stranger from Shadow, Shadow, he used to be Califsonian.
01:09:08 He's also a national badminton coach, a lot of badminton players.
01:09:14 He was one of the people that was honored last year. Every year we make sure we honor a different person in the community.
01:09:20 This year we'll be honoring the principal of the Sandy Grande Educational Institution.
01:09:29 The principal of that school is Rodney Atta Edwards, a guy who have given literally his life in education, assisting secondary children who have not gone through the traditional secondary system, whether government or things.
01:09:51 He has a private school where he works with children. That is a principal that will walk the streets on evening, searching to make sure that his students do not stray.
01:10:02 You know, so the committee get together and we thought he would have been a good candidate this year.
01:10:08 As well, we have also a sister by the name of Rashida Nana. She's also an educator.
01:10:15 She normally on afternoon would take children within the village and assist them with their schoolwork, particularly at the common entrance level.
01:10:24 So those are two people that will be honored this year in the Emancipation Program.
01:10:28 Well, of course, the race is the headline, but we also have music from the band Teach and Friends.
01:10:35 It's a live musical band that will be performing this year, called So Reggae, Soka and so on.
01:10:42 We have a rhythm section that will be going with the runners along the road, the Paike road, you know, keeping the rhythm, the African rhythm along the way.
01:10:54 We have art and craft. We have a plant show. We have masseuse, three masseuse that will be taking care of athletes, whether they pick up strain, you know, and so on.
01:11:06 We have a local herbalist who produce a very fine liniment for athletes and so on. They'll have some of this stuff on display.
01:11:15 So it's going to be a packed day. There's a lot to see. People can come out at 2 p.m. The program starts, you know.
01:11:23 So it's going to be a packed day.
01:11:26 Yeah. Tell us about the route. The route, the route that is being taken on that day.
01:11:35 You can get the route on the Work Street Emancipation Committee online. You'll see the route there.
01:11:43 OK. So you can get the route there.
01:11:46 So is it, Mr. Masimba, I want to make it clear. So is it that the run itself begins at 2 o'clock?
01:11:54 No, the run begins at 4. But the program itself, the programming starts at 2.
01:12:00 4 p.m.?
01:12:02 Yes. We have a demonstration around that time. And of course, some of the entertainment.
01:12:09 Yes.
01:12:10 Where the honoring of the people, these things will be taking place just before the run.
01:12:15 OK. All right. Anything else you'd like to tell us, Mr. Masimba, before you leave us this morning?
01:12:21 Well, one of the things I would like to say to the people of Trinidad and Tobago is that we feel emancipation and Emancipation Day is not just for orgasy fools.
01:12:33 We as an organization and as a people think that emancipation should be in your home, not just, you know, buying expensive garments and going to Port of Spain on orgasy fools.
01:12:44 Our minds need to be emancipated. Our homes need to be emancipated. Freedom is not just being able to walk the streets.
01:12:51 It's about it's about keeping your family together. It's about developing a strong home, a strong family unit.
01:13:00 You know, these are some of the things we want to implicate in our people.
01:13:04 And that not just orgasy fools, but a couple of days before orgasy fools, you put on a nice something and you go into Port of Spain. All right.
01:13:14 So that's what we want the public. I also want to ask the people of Trinidad and Tobago to say a prayer, beat a drum, light a candle on that day.
01:13:24 Right. Because our ancestors literally died for us, the freedom that we have today. You know, emancipation is just not orgasy fools.
01:13:33 Yeah, we want it in the homes, not in just Port of Spain. So we say move emancipation from the savannah and carry it into your homes.
01:13:41 You know, strengthen your family, you know, ensure that you have a proper education, keep the family bonded.
01:13:48 This is this is why the nation is suffering in so many ways. Right. We have fragmented families.
01:13:55 So that whole concept of emancipation, we want it to be redefined. Right.
01:14:02 This is this is part of the organization view on and planning for the future.
01:14:06 We hope to take emancipation from just Port of Spain into every village and every home.
01:14:12 We ask people to prepare for emancipation before. It is the only holiday I walk through the streets of Sandy, Gramby and Port of Spain.
01:14:20 And I have not seen one commercial or store offering a 5 percent or 2 percent sale on anything.
01:14:31 It's almost like it doesn't exist. All right. It's just like another holiday when people, you know, get a free day at home.
01:14:39 It's more than that. And I would like the people to understand it's more than that. I would like the people to prepare.
01:14:46 It's something spiritual. Many people die for this day. All right.
01:14:50 All freedom today is not not just because in 1985, the government gave us a public holiday.
01:14:58 There is more to it than that. Yes. So I want that message to get out there to the people.
01:15:05 Yeah. Well, Mr. Masemba, thank you very much for the information and thank you very much for your passion this morning.
01:15:12 We wish you all the best for your events. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
01:15:18 All right. Bye for now. OK, so we head to another break. We're coming back.
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01:17:08 The prime minister's best village trophy competition has prided itself on creating the space for talent.
01:17:14 The addition of diverse segments, including the Clean and Beautify Village Olympics, Queen competition and the non-competitive Junior Best Village have led to citizens getting their starts and honing their crafts.
01:17:26 Many have gone on to do great things locally and internationally. Cultural icons Marshall Montano and singing Sandra, Calypso, Nian Karen, a netballer, Marcia, dim sum, Paran, Queen Daisy, Vose and sprinter Ian Morris are just a few who have been part of the best village experience in giving citizens the avenue to pursue their dreams.
01:17:47 The prime minister's best village trophy competition has remained true to its mission of empowering our people as we celebrate our 60th anniversary. The number of opportunities created, careers boosted and lives changed through participation remains impactful.
01:18:09 Universal Church presents programs of faith. 5.30am the hour of miracles. 5pm it's possible.
01:18:28 Now on TV six.
01:18:47 Remember that at around 7.30 this morning James Saunders takes the hot seat over there and we are going to be discussing cricket, the CPL. So stay tuned for that. OK, but in the meantime, we can take your calls. We just have about 10 minutes to take your calls. You're calling us on 623-1711.
01:19:06 The extension is 1995. A number of things would have happened over the past 24 hours. I know that you may be concerned about certain things or you may have a view on certain things. So again, you're calling us on 623-1711. The extension is 1995.
01:19:24 All right. So Ramesh, COE chairman, that's the commission of inquiry chairman, to account for millions in fees. Jerome Lynch, Casey, chairman of the commission of inquiry into the Paria diving tragedy and lead counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, will be providing a report to account for the fees they were paid for their work.
01:19:48 Now, the Sunday Express reported that 15 million dollars has so far been spent by the office of the prime minister on the commission of inquiry into the tragic deaths of four divers. So again, you're calling us on 623-1711. The extension is 1995. We only have a few more minutes. So you can please call us now before the time elapses.
01:20:12 Yeah. Rowley, enough is enough. Government to take decision on continuing CLECO inquiry. Enough is enough. Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley said he is considering going to the parliament and saying these words in a bid to request that the government stop spending money as it relates to the CLECO inquiry.
01:20:33 Yeah. So again, the lines are free. You're calling us on 623-1711. The extension is 1995. Another blow for Talparo Main Road residents. No phone or Internet service. Residents of Talparo Main Road in Brazil Village who have been affected by collapsed roads since Tuesday have to deal with another issue. They are without landline, mobile data and broadband services.
01:20:58 Now, Kamal George's senior manager of corporate environmental, social and reputation management at TSTT told the Express via text message yesterday that the company was aware of the landslip which collapsed the road and it damaged its underground infrastructure on the Talparo Main Road in the villa. Do we have a call? No? Yes? All right. The lines. Yes, we do have a call. Good morning, caller.
01:21:25 Good morning, sir. I just heard your guest with the refraction of the people said that the government could, the government was at fault of the people traveling to the camps and then how could the government could be at fault? People have their own free will to go wherever they want. What nonsense. But the government supposed to at fault are the people going.
01:21:52 Well, I suspect he was I suspect he was speaking about the repatriation exercise and the negotiations that are going on right now. No, no, no, no, no. You're speaking when they leave. He said that he blamed the government for them leaving to go. He said that in the interview. All right. Okay, then. Thank you very much. You're calling us on 623-1711. The extension is 1995. We just have about five minutes again.
01:22:18 So if you do want to speak with us, you can call us now. So a bittersweet day, says daughter of Clark, killed in 1990, attempted coup. So tell me something. Are we going to be speaking about this matter every year?
01:22:32 And we are going to be speaking about assistance for the relatives of the victims and speak about assistance for the survivors every year. It has been 33 years now, you know, and you have a lot of people who have been traumatized by these events.
01:22:53 And yes, we did have the commission of inquiry. But what about what about providing some level of counseling, some level of assistance, some some level of something for these people who have been affected very, very badly by the events of of 1990?
01:23:14 Yeah. I'm just you know, they talk, they talk, they talk, they talk. Something something has to be done. Right. Maybe some committee. I don't know. I don't know. But again, the government would have spent, according to the reports, $15 million on the commission of inquiry.
01:23:32 So then the question is, they may have to spend a little more money to provide this level of assistance to people. We have another call. Good morning, caller. Morning, mother. Yes. First things first. Morning. I like what you're doing. It's like a real gentleman. Thank you very much.
01:23:50 The second question I want to ask you, the interview with the Prime Minister yesterday morning was really professional. I just want to know if he knew the questions you were going to ask him before you asked them. Absolutely not. Absolutely not.
01:24:04 He said very nice. He answered all the questions so clean. I just want to make sure you didn't know what was coming. Yeah. Because he answered the questions perfect. And you asked some very intelligent questions. Thanks again, my brother.
01:24:19 Yeah. Thank you very much, sir. That's just the way that I operate. I mean, I've been in the business for a little while now, and I do not share the questions with anyone who I have to interview. Right.
01:24:38 We may say, well, here's what we are going to be speaking about crime. We we are going to be speaking about the economy. But I really would never engage in anyone asking me for questions what I'm going to ask. And that did not happen yesterday at all. All right.
01:24:55 So we are taking another call. Good morning, caller. Good morning. Yes. I'm calling from San Juan. Yes. I watched your interview yesterday morning. Almost in entirety. Yes. I was. I would not be disappointed. Yeah.
01:25:15 But I know what to call what to call. You have me have to follow. But there were questions when you spoke about trying to me. I did not get the true answers from the prime minister because I would give you an incident.
01:25:34 I've seen your defense was of a sub group like that. It collided with me. And I asked her, what is that? I should tell me. Her answer to me was if the government did read the law, we should.
01:25:49 But when when when you have white collar crimes going on and you see in good things going on, did you go by the prisons yesterday or for the few days and see how many young men I mean, thousands?
01:26:05 I would say at least 10,000 young men would have applied during the period we have. You have nothing out there. But let me let me ask you something. What is it that you wanted to hear from the prime minister yesterday?
01:26:20 I wanted to hear what we're tackling the crime, not only on the ground level. We need to tackle crime up. Let's start with where the guns were bringing in the gun. Yeah. Up to now, that major cocaine bust that we had, that is what is largest.
01:26:39 We have not heard anything relevant to that. Right. If you could remember the last major on the island, some small men who was guarding it.
01:26:51 They were the only people. All right. And they can't afford that. All right. I hear you. I hear you. Yeah. What I will say is that I tried yesterday to ask all of the relevant questions, all of the pertinent questions for you.
01:27:15 And that I don't know that I could have asked all of the questions, but that's what I tried to do. I mean, it was a very long interview and a number of issues.
01:27:24 And if you remember, I kept on I kept on saying to the prime minister, well, I know we are dwelling on the crime situation because I felt that was one of the most important questions for you all.
01:27:35 So, you know, I mean, with the time that I had, I tried to I tried to give as much as possible. Yeah. So that's going to do it for our calls for today.
01:27:48 It has been a very busy week and we do appreciate your viewership. But that's going to do it for me. Remember, James Saunders comes up next.
01:27:58 We are discussing cricket and CPL. See you right back here at six o'clock on Monday morning. Bye for now.
01:28:24 The experts at Jameson are here for your health and wellness. Our essentials lineup has products that support immune function, gut health, heart health and the maintenance of good health.
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01:29:56 It's simply irresistible. Only at Little Caesar's Pizza. Pizza Universal Church presents programs of faith.
01:30:04 Five thirty in the hour of miracles. Five p.m. It's possible. Now on TV six.
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01:30:51 Do you remember? I can feel it coming in the air. Coming in the air. Coming in the air tonight.
01:31:05 Remember. Remember. Remember. Remember. Remember. Remember. Remember. Remember. Remember. Remember. Remember.
01:31:28 Slavery, a terrible time in our history. The kidnapping, buying and selling of people for profit.
01:31:36 The exploitation of another human being. It still exists today. It has a new name. Human trafficking.
01:31:44 Anyone can be a victim. There is forced labor, sexual exploitation and domestic servitude.
01:31:55 Human trafficking is a worldwide problem and an emerging concern for us here in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:32:02 If you know of or suspect human trafficking activity, call the counter trafficking hotline at 800-4CTU or 800-4288.
01:32:13 Human trafficking is a crime. Identify it. Report it. Stop it.
01:32:19 A message from the counter trafficking unit of the Ministry of National Security.
01:32:24 Thank you, members of the media. This concludes our weekly press briefing.
01:32:30 As the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service continues to protect and serve with pride,
01:32:36 we are calling on all citizens of Trinidad and Tobago to get on board with us to ensure that everyone is able to live in a crime free society.
01:32:48 Are you on board? This is my country and I am on board.
01:32:56 I am on board with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. Let us save the youth of the nation. Get on board.
01:33:03 Crime affects all of us. Children, communities and the country as a whole.
01:33:08 Supporting crime victims and working with the police service, I am on board.
01:33:14 This is my country and I am on board.
01:33:18 My name is Nicolai Blackmon and I am on board with the TTPS.
01:33:22 Vision on Mission is proud to partner with the TTPS because crime prevention is everybody's business.
01:33:30 We are the National Congress of Incorporated Spiritual Baptist Organizations of Trinidad and Tobago and we are on board with the TTPS in its fight against crime.
01:33:40 I'm a farmer, this is my country and I am on board.
01:33:44 I am Charles Jason Gordon, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Port-au-Prince. I am on board in the TTPS fight against crime.
01:33:52 We are all on board.
01:34:04 All the makeup on her face can't make up for where we feel. Some bruises and blood removed with wipes, but you still can't change how she's scarred for life.
01:34:14 Man to man is so unjust. In a lonely room, who to trust?
01:34:19 What culture did we create where a man thinks it's okay to raise his hand?
01:34:24 Hit a woman in the face if she talks too much, cooks too little, start playing man.
01:34:29 We must end domestic violence, do what we can. Man to man.
01:34:34 Hola, my name is Elena. Well, it's actually not my real name.
01:34:43 You don't really care, do you?
01:34:46 All you care about is once you pay your money to my boss that I look pretty, smell nice, smile for you, and let you have a good time.
01:34:56 Enjoying yourself and doing to me whatever you want to do for the money you pay.
01:35:01 What you don't see or know is that I don't get any part of the money you pay.
01:35:07 My boss takes all of it. I am forced to work, taking as many clients as my boss tells me to.
01:35:16 I am beaten, made to take drugs, and I cannot leave this kind of work on my own.
01:35:23 I am a victim of human trafficking. Please, por favor, help me.
01:35:32 I have rights.
01:35:42 I have rights.
01:35:44 You have rights.
01:35:46 We all have rights.
01:35:48 He has rights.
01:35:50 She has rights.
01:35:52 All children have rights.
01:35:54 My parents and my guardians should know all my rights.
01:36:00 Our government should ensure that we enjoy our rights.
01:36:04 Children have rights.
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01:37:07 [Music]
01:37:15 Well, hello and welcome everybody to the Bolder Mode Cricket Show where we discuss all things CPL and all things cricket.
01:37:22 Even though I promised to stay away from Western D.C. to ensure that we all have a great weekend.
01:37:27 Well, my name is James Saunders and I will be here for the next half hour talking to some exciting guests on the show this morning.
01:37:33 And speaking of guests, this morning we have with us a former CPL opening bowler, an educator, a coach, a commentator, and a family man.
01:37:43 Today we take a peek behind his success from the rural community of Barracore to becoming a household name globally.
01:37:51 Let us welcome to the show Samuel Badgery. Good morning, Sam.
01:37:54 Thank you and good morning to everyone tuned in. I hope that you all are hearing me clearly.
01:38:02 I can hear you loud and clear. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
01:38:05 I know I had to wake you up a bit earlier than usual yesterday.
01:38:09 But, you know, seeing that you got that extra rest yesterday with the Western D's, you know, cutting that day in half, I think you might have been recharged enough.
01:38:18 Yeah, yeah, well rested. It was a hard...
01:38:22 We were all going to get half of these people's effort yesterday.
01:38:25 But just briefly a little bit on that game, it was disappointing as a West Indian fan myself, and I'm sure you guys are.
01:38:33 Disappointing effort against a powerful Indian team and hopefully we can do much better tomorrow.
01:38:40 And when we come to Trinidad, the series will be squared up one a piece.
01:38:44 Well, Sam, I promised the viewers that we're not going to talk West Indies this morning.
01:38:48 So let's talk more exciting things.
01:38:50 Like CPL, a man from Barraport, that's a rural community in South Trinidad, moving on to become one of the leading bowlers in the world.
01:38:59 In fact, bowling the most power playovers for a leg spinner.
01:39:02 How did that all happen for Samuel Badri?
01:39:04 Well, as with many young cricketers growing up in the region, it started at the primary school level.
01:39:10 My first introduction to competitive cricket when I was in Standard 2, I made our school team, Rochelle Douglas, a Presbyterian primary school.
01:39:19 And I was playing with the bigger boys at that stage.
01:39:22 So as a 9-year-old competing against 11, 12, 13-year-olds, it was a big step up for me.
01:39:29 But that's where it all started, at the primary school level.
01:39:31 And I always had that ambition in me to play for the West Indies.
01:39:35 I grew up in the back half of our dominance in world cricket as a test playing nation.
01:39:40 And then I grew up looking at Brian Lara, Chevron, Chandra Poole, and these guys.
01:39:45 So the community that I've come from as well, it's a cricket-loving community.
01:39:50 So I was bombarded with cricket at every game.
01:39:54 And yeah, there was that seed that was planted in me from a very early age.
01:40:00 I never dreamt of becoming the number one T20 bowler in the world.
01:40:03 I never dreamt of opening the bowling for the West Indies as a spin bowler.
01:40:08 But it's something that I tried out with the Trans-Omego senior team when we played in the Stanford T20 tournament.
01:40:14 I did it for my club team at Power Jam for a long period of time as well.
01:40:18 So it was something that I was used to.
01:40:20 And when given the opportunity at the international level,
01:40:23 it was pretty much continuing what I was doing for Trans-Omego for a long time.
01:40:28 But yeah, never in my wildest dreams, James, did I think that I would be opening the bowling for the West Indies
01:40:34 and having the career that I had.
01:40:36 Yeah, and how did that part start, in terms of the West Indies?
01:40:40 When you look at your style, Sam, it's a bit unorthodox.
01:40:43 You've gone on to be such a success.
01:40:45 In fact, you're a pioneer, almost, in your type of bowling, the way that you bowl.
01:40:50 How did that start in terms of the West Indies?
01:40:52 Who made the decision and said, "Hey, we need to try Sam in this position," and it worked out?
01:40:56 Well, like I said, it started with Trans-Omego first.
01:41:00 It's a role that I performed in our domestic T20 tournament.
01:41:04 And I did it at club cricket before that.
01:41:07 So it was part and parcel of my modus operandi.
01:41:12 And when I made the Trans-Omego team, Darren Ganga opted to continue with that trend.
01:41:17 We made it to the final of the very first Stanford T20 tournament in 2006.
01:41:22 And then in 2008, we won it.
01:41:24 And we won a few Caribbean T20 tournaments.
01:41:28 It wasn't CPL at that time. It was the Caribbean T20.
01:41:31 We won, I think, three in succession or something like that.
01:41:34 And the West Indies team, they went through all of the spinners in the region
01:41:38 before I was eventually given an opportunity in 2012.
01:41:41 And needless to say, many times during that period, I felt dismayed and despondent.
01:41:48 But at no point in time did I give up on my dream of trying to play for the West Indies.
01:41:52 So it was something that I did with Trans-Omego.
01:41:55 And then when I made the West Indies team, it was a role that they asked me to perform there as well,
01:42:00 having had the experience that I had opening the bowling.
01:42:04 But like you mentioned, it wasn't done with regularity before.
01:42:07 It was something that many teams did not opt for, a spinner in the foreplay with just two feelers outside
01:42:14 and a wrist spinner.
01:42:16 So, yeah, I pioneered that and it worked out well for us as a West Indian team.
01:42:21 Well, I heard you mention Darren Ganga.
01:42:23 It's so interesting looking at your career trajectory and Ganga has always been a part of that.
01:42:28 And both you guys come from the same community, don't you?
01:42:32 Yeah, we do. We live not too far from each other.
01:42:36 There was another leg spinner before me who played for the West Indies, Rajendra Dhanaraj,
01:42:41 who was an early influence in my career as well.
01:42:44 And we also have Jason Morbid.
01:42:46 So for a small community like Barapu to produce four West Indian players of some repute,
01:42:53 I think it's a big accomplishment.
01:42:55 It's something that the people in Barapu are very proud of.
01:42:58 And hopefully we can produce some more international players in the not too distant future.
01:43:03 And you're going to be hearing your voice in just a couple of days when the CPL starts, of course,
01:43:09 being one of the international commentators.
01:43:11 How did that transition happen from being a leg spinner to becoming a commentator?
01:43:16 Well, it's quite an interesting story, actually.
01:43:22 In 2018, when I decided to eventually retire,
01:43:26 and the decision was made on the fact that the C20 World Cup would have been played
01:43:32 in 2020, and at that stage I would have been 59 years old,
01:43:35 and I don't think that I would have been able to perform at my optimum.
01:43:40 And so I decided in 2018 to call it quits and to give some younger spinners an opportunity
01:43:45 to get game time in the lead-up to that 2020 World Cup.
01:43:48 It so happened that COVID came and the World Cup was split in 2021,
01:43:52 and at that stage I would have been 40 years old.
01:43:54 So the decision was validated and vindicated from that standpoint.
01:43:58 West Indies were able to try a few other spinners.
01:44:00 So in 2018, when I made that decision, I spoke to one of the producers
01:44:06 who was working on the CPL, Craig Cosey, and I said,
01:44:09 "It's something that I've always thought about, and if possible,
01:44:13 can I have an opportunity to just come into the comebacks and see what it's like?"
01:44:18 And the finals were playing in Trinidad that year at the Barralara Cricket Academy,
01:44:22 and he invited me into the comebacks, and he actually gave me a spin.
01:44:25 There was a couple of overs, and it was something that I really enjoyed,
01:44:28 I really liked, and I felt that this is something that I want to do post-playing.
01:44:33 I always want to be part of the game and try to give back in some way,
01:44:36 but it's something that I took a liking to.
01:44:39 And later that year in the Super 50 tournament, I was given an opportunity
01:44:42 with Cricket West Indies to be part of the commentary panel for the Super 50
01:44:47 that the CCC won in Barbados.
01:44:50 And in 2019, I was recalled to do the CPL, and I had to work with a diverse group.
01:44:57 I had to work with Danny Morrison, who is the entertainer, so I got that side of it.
01:45:02 I worked with Tom Moody, who is an international coach of great repute,
01:45:07 so I got to see that side of commentary, and of course, Ian Bishop,
01:45:10 who is quite analytical and very good at diction and so on.
01:45:14 So I thought that in 2019, I had a good grounding with three different types
01:45:20 of commentary personnel, and I really took to it from then.
01:45:24 Well, it seems to be a role that you're absolutely enjoying.
01:45:27 Let me ask you, from this side of the fence now, being involved in media
01:45:33 and your playing career, which do you enjoy most?
01:45:37 Is there a favorite?
01:45:40 Well, you always enjoy playing. As any sportsman, the competition, the battle,
01:45:45 and testing out your skills against the best in the world,
01:45:48 I think there's nothing greater than that.
01:45:50 But I will also say that there is so much less pressure on you when you're
01:45:55 in the air-conditioned comebacks, scoring the play, than having to bowl the first ball,
01:45:59 let's say, to Chris Giel in a T20 competition.
01:46:02 So I enjoyed my playing days. I enjoyed the competition.
01:46:05 I enjoyed the camaraderie and the battle, but I quite enjoy pulling the game
01:46:10 and spreading the narrative of what's happening, and I do hope that people
01:46:14 enjoy my commentary as well.
01:46:16 It's such an important part of it so that the people who are sitting in their living rooms
01:46:20 at home enjoy not only the cricket that is on display, but the conversations
01:46:25 and I suppose part of the history that we tell, and all of the things that go with the commentary.
01:46:32 What do you think is something that you've learned on the other side of the fence now,
01:46:35 being a commentator, that perhaps as a cricketer you may not have been able to see?
01:46:41 I think I didn't grasp how important it is to be marketable.
01:46:46 I think we sometimes miss that, and we miss an opportunity to market ourselves
01:46:54 as sportsmen and sportswomen.
01:46:56 We sometimes shy away from interviews, and we don't sell ourselves as a product enough.
01:47:01 On this side of the fence, that's something that I see that I possibly missed out on
01:47:07 in my career, and a lot of cricketers still are missing out.
01:47:11 They're not selling themselves enough.
01:47:13 They're not marketing themselves enough.
01:47:15 Through interviews and through, I would say we have a lot of previews,
01:47:20 and I think it's a perfect opportunity for both men and women to sell themselves a little bit more.
01:47:25 You certainly sold yourself as an all-rounder, not just on the field, but of course,
01:47:28 being an educator.
01:47:30 But there's a particular aspect that I totally enjoy seeing from you.
01:47:34 You've entered the world of coaching, and you've got a large base of youngsters
01:47:39 emerging out of the southern area.
01:47:41 Tell us about that.
01:47:44 I like what you did there, James, a large base.
01:47:47 It's actually called "base." It's the Badgers Academy of Sports Education.
01:47:50 It was founded in 2016.
01:47:52 When we had that triple success, the Westernies on the '19 men's team won the World Cup,
01:47:57 the women's team won the World Cup, and of course we won the World Cup in India.
01:48:02 Coming on the back of that, there was a tremendous interest in the sport,
01:48:06 and I thought that it was a good opportunity to get the youngsters involved.
01:48:10 As a matter of fact, I had an overwhelming response from children and parents in Soul Trailer.
01:48:16 Since 2016, I've been interacting with hundreds of children on an annual basis,
01:48:21 and I use cricket as a vehicle.
01:48:23 So it's a lot of cricket skills, but we also use life skills.
01:48:29 You've been part of it as well, talking about media interaction and how to handle interviews and so on.
01:48:35 So it's something that I'm very passionate about giving back to the young people in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:48:39 Samuel, thank you so much for taking time to be with us.
01:48:43 Of course, looking at that bunch, what an exciting-looking bunch of young cricketers.
01:48:47 I am very sorry--not sorry for waking you up this early, but on the bright side,
01:48:52 at least you're early for the buffet.
01:48:55 Yes, thanks, James, for having me, and I wish you and your viewers a very pleasant day.
01:49:00 Thank you so much. Of course, that was Samuel Badgley,
01:49:03 double World Cup winner with the West Indies, former leg-spinner.
01:49:06 We take a pause, and when we come back, I've got tickets.
01:49:09 Yeah, CPL tickets. I'll tell you about that next.
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01:52:16 Hi, this is my, oh, supposed to be a drift, it's nothing close.
01:52:21 You might have been living under a rock if you don't know the CPL music, the CPL energy.
01:52:26 And if you also missed the good news this week, that the CPL tickets are now available.
01:52:31 Well, the tournament boils off on August 16th in St. Lucia.
01:52:35 That's before ending with the finals in Guyana on September 24th, Republic Day, here in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:52:41 Well, with us this morning to keep us updated on all the new and exciting developments in the CPL
01:52:47 is the CEO, Pete Russell, who is with us on the show. Good morning.
01:52:51 Hello, Pete. First off, Pete, can you do the champion dance?
01:52:55 Do you know what, I can't do it. No. I've been trying to do it forever, obviously, but I just don't have that rhythm.
01:53:03 But look, I'll keep working at it.
01:53:04 Well, Pete, you know, that makes both of us right now. I'm still practicing.
01:53:07 And, well, we're talking about CPL tickets and the good news is that the tickets are available.
01:53:13 Where can we find them?
01:53:15 Great news. We've got the ticket office, both at the Queens Park Oval and Brian Lara.
01:53:21 So from today for the next three days, you'll be able to go and pick up your tickets, obviously, and buy them in Trinidad.
01:53:28 And if you can't get down there, you can still buy them on the website.
01:53:32 So go to cplt20.com and you'll be able to buy them there.
01:53:36 So, yeah, great that we're opening there for the next three days.
01:53:39 And then I think from the 22nd of August, we'll be there full time.
01:53:44 So but I suggest you get down because certainly some of the ones down at the Brian Lara Stadium are selling very quickly.
01:53:52 And I think one thing that Pete forgot to mention is that you've got to give us a champion jig just to be able to get extra tickets.
01:53:58 That's the only way that you're going to be getting tickets for us here.
01:54:01 Now, Pete, of course, we're counting down. I'm looking at the calendar and I'm very excited.
01:54:06 I've lost all my fingernails, in fact, because we are getting set to begin the CPL in just a couple of days.
01:54:12 What is the organization and the planning been like and how is it shaping up at the moment?
01:54:19 Look, it's fantastic. So the first ball is bowled on the 16th of August in St. Lucia.
01:54:26 All the teams are obviously set, ready to go. Squads are beginning to get assembled.
01:54:31 So we can't wait for it to start there, obviously. And yeah, the planning has gone according to how we'd expected.
01:54:38 And we just can't wait to start, if I'm honest. And what can we expect this year for the CPL?
01:54:43 And our fans are we're still waiting on a DJ Bravo song.
01:54:46 You know, that's usually the rhythm that gets us going here in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:54:50 Well, what can we expect this year in terms of the entertainment for the CPL?
01:54:54 Well, obviously he will come at us with another song, I'm sure.
01:54:58 And it's great to have DJ back in Trinidad. So I think that's going to be really interesting to see how he goes.
01:55:05 But it's the same fair that we've got loads of entertainment when people come to the grounds.
01:55:10 We're giving away lots of cash. You know, it's the opportunity to win 500 bucks for the best dressed fan.
01:55:17 We've got the one handed catch comes back. There's all sorts of other activations once you're in the stadium.
01:55:23 So, yes, of course, come for the cricket. But there's plenty of entertainment to enjoy as well.
01:55:27 I've got to work on my one handed catching. That's something that I've got to work on.
01:55:30 Now, we've got morning games as well. 10 a.m. games. During the pandemic, it became a staple in the CPL.
01:55:37 Now, out of the pandemic, what can we expect at the 10 a.m. matches?
01:55:41 Why do I need to get up early to come to a CPL match for 10 a.m.? What can I expect when I do that?
01:55:48 Well, it's look again, it's it's more of a look.
01:55:51 We call the biggest party in sport and we do with that for a reason.
01:55:55 But obviously we have the adult party in the evening and then we have the kids party in the morning.
01:56:01 So I really want to see the stadium at 10 a.m. filled with kids who are there to have a good time.
01:56:07 We've got lots of entertainment for them. So we've got all sorts of giveaways and fun things for them to enjoy.
01:56:12 But, you know, you want kids to go and enjoy. And remember, it's still the best best CPL teams will be turning out to play.
01:56:19 So you're going to see some fantastic cricket at 10 a.m.
01:56:22 So, yeah, I really hope the fans come and watch that because because there's nothing better than kids in the stadium making all that noise.
01:56:29 It's a good vibe. Yeah. And, you know, are there going to be any incentives to get kids coming out as well in the morning?
01:56:36 Schools or anything with that regard? Yeah.
01:56:39 So we've already reached out to a lot of schools and so that will be organized by us.
01:56:43 But obviously the ticket pricing is is very favorable at that time.
01:56:47 So significant discount on what we would normally charge.
01:56:50 But as I said, there's lots of fun giveaways once you're in the stadium.
01:56:53 So I would just recommend the fans to certainly the kids and the moms and dads come down and enjoy three hours of great entertainment.
01:57:00 And of course, our school is out at the moment in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:57:04 But if I'm a teacher right now and I'd love to get my school involved or get some of the kids involved in a group,
01:57:10 how can we make contact or is there any special requirement to do that?
01:57:15 So if you go on to the CPLT 20 website, there is a section where you'll be able to send us an email with all your details and we'll be back in touch to make sure that we can make the necessary arrangements.
01:57:29 And that's a great point. You know, we'd love to hear from you.
01:57:32 Any educational, whether that's teachers or professors or whoever it may be in that environment, we want to hear from you and we'll give you a good time.
01:57:44 Well, good news as well for the folks in Barbados is, of course, the CPL will be in Barbados this year.
01:57:50 Any excitement brewing there in terms of Barbados returning to the CPLFold?
01:57:55 Yeah, it's been four years, but bizarrely since we were last there.
01:57:58 So, yeah, I think there'll be an enormous buzz there.
01:58:01 You know, they've obviously got a great stadium and this year they've got a great team.
01:58:05 And we know the Bayesian fans love nothing more than to win at home.
01:58:10 So I'm sure we'll get a great vibe there as well.
01:58:12 And of course, for the fans here in Trinidad and Tobago, the ladies are going to be here for the very first time in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:58:19 We are quite excited about that. How is things going in that sphere for an organizational perspective?
01:58:26 Look, fantastic. I think, you know, the quality of the international players that are coming over, I think are really good.
01:58:33 You know, obviously, it's a great opportunity for the young West Indian players to really sort of put their stamp on things.
01:58:40 And to also, if you like, introduce themselves to the West Indian public.
01:58:44 So I can't wait to see them get started.
01:58:47 I think we're going to have a really competitive women's tournament that's only going to grow over time.
01:58:53 And also, I should say that the beauty of the games this year is we've positioned them as doubleheaders.
01:58:58 So effectively, you can buy one ticket and watch the women play and Trinidad will always be playing.
01:59:04 And then in the evening, obviously, you get the men playing.
01:59:07 You get both the Trimbago Knight Riders, women and men, for one ticket.
01:59:12 All right. Now, Pete, I'm going to put you on the spot.
01:59:15 I'm going to ask you to make a prediction. It has changed hands in the last few years.
01:59:20 Who do you think might be able to take the CPL this year?
01:59:24 Looking at the scores, of course, just your opinion.
01:59:28 I'm guessing here, I'm not going to tell anybody. I'm going to keep it between us.
01:59:31 The only thing I think it's going to be one of any of the six teams.
01:59:37 It's going to be very competitive. If you push me, I think Barbados have a very good chance.
01:59:45 Trimbago always have a very strong team, so you can never discount Trimbago.
01:59:50 And they'll be hurting also after what happened last year.
01:59:52 So I expect a significant backlash from them.
01:59:55 But all the teams have a chance. So it's just going to be very competitive, as it always is.
02:00:00 I'm definitely going to put my vote in for you for UK Prime Minister.
02:00:03 Of course, that was Pete Russell, the CEO of the CPL.
02:00:07 And that wraps up our show this morning.
02:00:09 Thanks so much, Pete, for joining us. And thank you, all of our guests, for joining us.
02:00:13 Don't forget to tune into EMI Prime this evening.
02:00:15 It's an independence, emancipation weekend, rather.
02:00:19 And we certainly hope that you enjoy your weekend.
02:00:21 That's it for us. That's it for me. Have a great evening.
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