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By Sorious Samura
BBC World Service
First broadcast Monday, March 22 at 8.05pm
3/5

Vestine - returning home after 16 years

Award winning Sierra Leonean documentary maker Sorious Samura follows, Vestine, a Hutu refugee as she returns home to Rwanda 16-years after the genocide.

He wanted to try and understand what it is like to return to a country from the Democratic Republic of Congo after the terrible events of 1994.

Vestine was 16 when she fled with her family. Some, including her father, died and she did not know where the others were. She said: “I didn’t know where my mother had gone.

“That’s when a Congolese man abducted me. Soon after I got pregnant with my first daughter,” – she had four others by him.

Samura describes many of the problems which contributed to the killings which claimed the lives of 5.4 million people in Rwanda, why the Congolese are so resentful about the refugees in their country and the issues when the refugees return despite their obvious excitement about it.

Fortunately for Vestine, some of her family members had already returned to her village and she was welcomed back – but it will not always be the same for Rwandans coming back.

Tensions in the African country are still evident as Hutus return to live alongside the very people who killed their parents, brothers, sisters and children years before.

The 25-minute documentary deals with a very delicate subject well, and offers a very personal insight to a conflict which was all too often concerned with hundreds-of-thousands at a time.

The Tottenham Hotspur left back has been in startling form in the Premier League this season.

His recent first-team opportunities have come as a result of the injury to Benoit Assou-Ekotto, culminating in a match-winning performance at the weekend in Spurs’s 2-1 victory over Everton.

This will hopefully brighten up the mood of Welsh fans after the horrific injury Aaron Ramsey suffered last Saturday.

After some scintillating performances for Southampton, Bale moved to White Hart Lane for £10 million in June 2007. After some promising performances, which included three goals in his first four games, he suffered ankle-ligament damage after a heavy challenge by Birmingham’s Fabrice Muamba.

The injury ended his season and pushed him down Spurs’s pecking order.

Bale also had the unenviable record of not being involved in a winning-Tottenham side in the league for his first two years at the club, a fact which did not change until his 25th appearance against Burnley as a substitute.

He failed to establish himself at White Hart Lane and questions over his ability to fulfil his potential began resonating on the terraces. But Assou-Ekotto’s injury at the end of 2009 gave the Welshman his chance in the first team and he has improved game-on-game, playing a pivotal role in Tottenham’s attacking play.

His defensive game has also improved dramatically, progression which is beginning to justify the huge price tag and attention he received three years ago.

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp is delighted with the way Bale has been performing recently, and with the return to fitness of Assou-Ekotto, Redknapp faces a difficult selection problem.

He said: “It’s a massive dilemma – two great left-backs, but what a smashing dilemma to have.

“Gareth has done brilliantly, but Benoit is also a top, top player. We’re very lucky in that position.”

Bale quickly graduated from the Wales under-21 side to become the country’s youngest full international when he came off the bench against Trinidad and Tobago in June 2006, aged just 16. Since then he has won a total of 23 caps and is expected to start again tomorrow.

With Ramsey sidelined indefinitely, Bale will need to impose himself on the international scene along with other youngsters like Sheffield United’s Ched Evans, Chris Gunter and Simon Church if Wales has any genuine hope of qualifying for only their second major-international competition and their first since the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.

This afternoon, however, the streets of Cardiff were eerily void of rugby fans, boasting only a sprinkling of French supporters who had made the trip over to cheer on Les Bleus as they took on Wales at the Millennium Stadium.

The reason? Tonight marked the first Six Nations match to take place on a Friday evening on British soil following the decision to repeat the experiment trialled in Paris last year.

The timing of the fixture has led to widespread criticism from supporters and journalists this week who claim it disrespects the traditions of the game and alienates rugby fans for whom their Six Nations weekend away has always been synonymous with the tournament.

In Cardiff today few people seemed in favour of 8pm Friday kick-off. “Having a game on a Friday just isn’t right – it’s all for TV,” said Chris McNamara, who is putting up a group of French friends who run a bar in Le Mans. “It should be on a Saturday afternoon. That is what the Six Nations is all about and why it is so special.”

The timing inevitably affected those French fans who made the 300-mile trip, with many arriving hours before kick-off and planning to leave on Saturday. Thierry Pouce, from Tours, admitted that for fans who wanted to make a weekend of the game, the fixture had caused problems. “It’s our first time in Cardiff and so far it has been good but having the game on a Friday has made it more difficult,” he said. “We have had to miss four days of work.

“Of course, we definitely prefer Saturday games. It’s a lot easier to get here and back, without having to miss work. I don’t think it has stopped many of us coming over but it has made it more difficult.”

Despite the challenges the tourism and marketing company Cardiff & Co reported few hotels with rooms available within a 15-mile radius of the city centre while Cardiff Airport estimates that more than 6,500 people have made their way through the arrivals lounge, with Peter’s Pies doling out 100 free pies to the visitors.

The timing did not make travelling easy for the home fans either. “It’s not a really great idea especially because of the late kick-off time, perhaps an hour earlier would make it better for people to get home,” said Graham Prance, from the Cardiff Blues supporters’ club. “I don’t think we need to stick with tradition but we have to consider it. Welsh rugby fans will support the team whenever. You could start the game at midnight and people will still go.”

And, inevitably, in the immediate build-up Welshmen frantically filed out of their offices and rushed towards the watering-holes surrounding the Millennium Stadium. Normal service had resumed. The game may not have been received well by all but by 8pm the 74,500 sell-out crowd packed into the ground were transfixed by the 30 players on the pitch and the 80 minutes on the clock.

Co written with Mr Mike Brown for The Guardian

But many local businesses are not happy with the game being played on a Friday evening rather than the more traditional Saturday afternoon as they are set to lose trade. Although there is a difference of opinion, the consensus is French fans will not stay for as long as they would if the game was played at the weekend, Wales fans will not spend all day in town as they ordinarily do because of work commitments, and all this at a time of economic difficulty.

Tony Schiczo, manager of Bar Sicilia on Cowbridge Road East, Canton, said: “We will lose out.

“When it’s an early game you get the best of both worlds – you get the trade before and after the game. When it’s in the evening you do not really get much.

“With the French we are losing out big time because they normally stay the whole weekend – Friday, Saturday and Sunday – and they are big spenders as well.”

On a rugby day Mill Lane bars and restaurants open early and by late morning are filled with fans drinking and eating. They spill over onto extra tables which are laid out on the pavement, but Matt Lloyd, assistant manager of Le Brasserie which normally benefits from this, is concerned by the game being on a Friday night: “The French spend well and they like a good party.

“But with the game not on a weekend we look set to miss out on the Welsh fans drinking and eating through the day as they will still be at work.”

Colin Cole, general manager of The Royal Hotel on St Mary’s Street which overlooks the stadium, agreed the city will be less busy than normal, and said: “It’s difficult to know why it is.
“Whether it is France or because of the recession, but generally business from the Six Nations appears to be down this year.

“It is better when its France or Italy for hotels than the other teams because they need somewhere to stay, but there are still plenty of rooms in Cardiff whereas normally a month before everything is booked up.”

Tickets are still available for this evening’s game in the Millennium Stadium, but the Welsh Rugby Union will be benefitting from television payments with the game being at prime-time. Instead its local firms which seem set to miss out because of the change.

A meeting last night organised by Angela Evans-Jones, the Conservative candidate for Cardiff West at St Catherine’s Church, Riverside, Cardiff, saw the tensions flair-up once more between residents, university staff and city councillors.

Problems have grown, with developments in Bute Park eradicating the city’s green areas in favour of the SWALEC Stadium, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, and increased motor vehicle movement within it.

A bridge built to allow articulated lorries greater access to the nurseries, and to aid the set up of major events in the park, has been completed, though it will not be opened to the public until April. And Glamorgan County Cricket Club have recently applied for planning permission to erect another 35-meter floodlight.

Mrs Evans-Jones said: “Bute Park is something which is very important to me because I live on the edge of it, my son cycles around it every day when the weather is good and my husband walks through it to work.

“I think the green spaces we have are very important and makes Cardiff the city it is.”

Mrs Evans-Jones took a back seat for the meeting and allowed Professor Kevin Morgan and Dr Alan Lane, both of Cardiff University, and members of the Bute Park Alliance, to speak and chair the meeting.

Prof Morgan said: “We [Bute Park Alliance] are a group which tries to defend and give voice to the park land which doesn’t have a voice of its own. We were formed to say enough is enough.

“We will not see our green spaces eroded for the sake of development and we are asking the council members and officers to heed their own scrutiny committee report who called on the council for a memorandum of development on their green space policy.

Development in Bute Park

“We want to say to the council we want to work in cooperation with them and help them run the park.”

The group collected a 5,000-strong petition from Cardiff people about continued development on the park during the planning application for the lorry bridge.

Deputy leader of the Cardiff Council, Neil McEvoy, also attended the meeting last night and seemed open to starting a dialogue between any interested parties over the future of Cardiff’s parkland.

“I am here to work with anybody who wants to protect green spaces. For me, the argument has to be for a better Bute Park and not to destroy it.”

But when questioned on the ways the council will try and work with those concerned about green space, the Plaid Cymru councillor failed to offer any real solution. He said: “We need a dialogue, I would accept a call from anyone.”

When pushed further on arranging a discussion, he responded by saying “parks are not in my portfolio” and seemed nonchalant about updating the relevant department.

Coun McEvoy also insisted the meeting was part of a continued Labour backlash, a product of his leaving the party to join Plaid, and stressed it was a politically-motivated meeting.

Coun McEvoy is standing against Mrs Evans-Jones for the Cardiff West seat in Westminster but Prof Morgan was keen to stress the meeting was “above and beyond party politics.”

Plaid councillors for Riverside, Jaswant Singh and Mohammed-Sarul Islam attended the meeting as well as Conservative representative for Pentyrch Craig Williams.

The issues heard by the 75 gathered in the church hall were about the continued destruction of Cardiff’s green spaces and parkland.

Dr Lane, who discussed the problems associated with the erosion of Bute Park, said: “In the last 10 years we have seen the scale of development increase for what I would call improper use.

“We have a legal and moral duty to protect the status of the park.

“Forty years ago the argument for development was strong with the pressures of jobs and so on. But now we know that green spaces are vital and building over them is a serious mistake.”

Coun Williams said: “There are all these organisations across the city which fight their own little battles. What we need to do is bring them together.”

Peter Cox, interim chairman of the Cardiff Civic Society then announced a new charity called Cardiff Partnerships. It aims are to bring together all the groups which are campaigning on single issues across Cardiff and offer help and support to their cause.

The issues raised at yesterday’s meeting concerned Bute Park, Sophia Gardens, Pontcanna Fields and Llandaff Fields but discontent with the destruction of green spaces spreads wide across the city.

The proposed building of two schools on Rumney Recreational Fields — a referendum voted by 93.6 per cent against this — and other proposals in Ely and Fairwater are just some examples creating tensions between the council and residents.

Mrs Evans-Jones concluded: “It was an opportunity to listen to what people had to say, but also to reinvigorate the campaign because I felt it had gone a little bit flat since the bridge application went through — I think people conceded defeat a little bit.”

The strength of feeling shown last night would certainly suggest people are still prepared to fight against what they believe is unjust destruction of green spaces, and with Mrs Evans-Jones and Coun McEvoy running against each other in the general election, it will probably be a key issue of policy in Cardiff West.

But they often forget if they jump red lights and get knocked down they will not be able to reap the benefits.

The mindset of these lycra-clad people are: “I am doing right, I am right, and I will not change my ways for anyone.”

Of course we should praise those who cycle to work and school for doing their bit to help the environment, though they must be stopped from travelling on their wave of self-content and ignoring highway codes.

The worst example is at crossroads, which are controlled by traffic lights. For some unknown reason despite all of the cars, motorcycles, buses and white vans stopping at red, cyclists continue to ghost through the traffic coming from every other direction.

Not only does this put their own life at risk, but pedestrians are put in danger and the driver of a motorised vehicle – which will always prevail over the lowly cycle – may be left with a guilty conscience and a hefty repair bill.

Cyclists come in many different forms from Conservative leader David Cameron who travels to work on two wheels to promote his eco-policies, to those who swap traditional electricity-generating methods for the power of the pedal.

They may well be good people, but they need to check up on their obligations when on the road.

When confronted, the accused do not seem bothered and are in fact proud about dicing with death.

Their overconfidence as kings of the highways does not end there – cyclists also try to dominate the pavements.

Firstly it is illegal for them to take to the kerb. But, having ignored this, they ring their bells in outrage when pedestrians have the audacity to get in their way, causing walkers to jump out of the way like a set of skittles.

The problems continue: zebra crossings mean only cars should stop, one-way systems apply to those who can’t force themselves through and any post sticking out of the ground is a potential parking spot.

Why are these people not fined or punished for their misdemeanours – because when they do inevitably collide with a pedestrian both only suffer relatively minor injuries, and when an accident involves a car it is more often than not the driver who is criticised.

This assumption of road traffic accidents is unacceptable and something we must act on.

Stronger rules have to be implemented to stop cyclists from dictating which laws they abide by and which they don’t. If all who travel by other modes of transport followed a similar mindset there would be utter chaos on our streets.

Not all cyclists may be at fault, and certainly some may ride on the pavements safely where the roads are too dangerous for them – but frankly that isn’t the point.

Laws are in place for a reason, be them to aid traffic control, reduce fraud or increase national security and they must all be obeyed.

The sooner the authorities crack down on cyclists, the safer our streets will be.