Kaieteur News

PAGE 4

Thursday July 27, 2017

Kaieteur News

KAIETEUR NEWS Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana.

Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: ADAM HARRIS Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491 Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

EDITORIAL

KUDOS TO THE POLICE For well over a decade, crime has been an affliction on our society.

We continue to read about it almost daily. It has been a major problem for us as efforts by the last administration did not reduce it.

In fact, there has never been the political will to end this scourge.

The pervasive nature of crime during that period dulled our senses, as it was essentially treated as just another news topic.

Indeed, it was alleged that some high-ranking officials had in some ways contributed to the crime spree between 2002 and 2008 which led to the deaths of hundreds of youths through extra-judicial killings.

Violent crime became a problem for almost everyone in society.

The people’s backs were against the wall, but history has shown that when people find themselves with their backs to the wall, they tend to unite against the enemy.

Even though heinous acts of criminality continue to be committed against innocent citizens, recent police statistics show that the crime rate is down, and while it is true, we should not rejoice as yet, even though there are significantly less murders and armed robberies today.

The police are at the frontline in fighting crime, but as we have repeatedly emphasised they cannot do it alone.

They need the support of all in society. Serious work is required to stem the devastating effects of crime, and no amount of effort must be spared to protect the lives and properties of our citizens.

It can begin with each of us and extend to our circles of influence.

With the crime rate down, the nation is breathing a sigh of relief.

The police have the opportunity to take more drastic action to force the criminals to change their ways. Everyone - rich, poor, and in-between – should stand together against criminals in order to ensure our safety.

It is clear that the last administration did not have the wherewithal to fight crime and despite the criticisms levelled against them by the coalition parties, they did very little to solve the crime spree.

Even though they tightened the laws, they did not work.

Because as we all know, laws by themselves would not go far in solving crimes.

Their anti-crime measures were weak and their silence allowed the criminals to torment and terrorize law-abiding citizens with impunity.

In a country with billions of dollars in revenue annually, it was nothing short of an obscenity that the last government gave us a pappy show in regards of solving crime.

As we have said repeatedly in this space, crime is a pressing issue and should not be taken lightly.

The nation must not be held hostage again by criminals as it was under the last administration.

This government has mobilized the people to support in whatever way they can, and has employed strategies that seem to be working, because crime has reduced.

The negative impact crime has had on our society is unacceptable.

It has affected the integrity of the nation and driven fear in the minds of the people.

All in society must come together forthwith to reign in the criminals.

Being in office for only two years, the government has done what the last administration did not do in two decades; that is, reducing crime. But it must do more. It must enhance the capacity of the security forces, procure and adopt the latest technology, train staff constantly and review all of the present structures for possible expansion.

We are currently facing difficult and quite challenging circumstances within our prison system, but if we are to be fair in a general sense, it would not be too much to extend kudos to the police.

Editor’s Note; If your sent letter was not published and you felt its contents were valid and devoid of libel or personal attacks, please contact us by phone or email

These are the positions of the WPA on present day Guyana DEAR EDITOR, The much-anticipated meeting of the APNU Executive Committee took place on Saturday July 22, 2017. This meeting arose out of an engagement between the WPA and President Granger on July 17 in the wake of Dr. Rupert Roopnarine’s removal from the Ministry of Education.

WPA had drawn attention to the fact that there was no APNU Executive Committee meeting in nearly two years.

The meeting on Saturday was attended by all the partners of the APNU — the Guyana Action Party (GAP), the Justice for All Party (JFAP), the National Front Alliance (NFA), the Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR) and the Working Peoples Alliance (WPA).

The major agenda item was the consideration of a report commissioned by President Granger in his capacity as APNU chairman.

The report documented and summarized the findings of wide-ranging consultations with APNU member parties on their assessment of

intra-partnership relations and the general condition of the APNU since the change of government in 2015.

The discussions were frank and open with representatives from all the parties taking the opportunity to weigh in on the issues arising from the report.

WPA’s intervention was two-fold. First, we critiqued the general performance of the government thus far and in the process pointed to what we consider as the main areas of weakness and suggested solutions in that regard.

Second, we documented a range of WPA grievances which had accumulated over a long period and which led to a breakdown in relations between our party and the government.

We feel that we were able to impress upon our partners the urgency of reinvigorating the APNU; the importance of ensuring that all partners are treated with respect; and that inclusivity must go beyond words to incorporate meaningful and timely consultations and active participation

in framing the general direction of the government and shaping policies consistent with that direction.

WPA stressed the importance of self-critique within the partnership and re-affirmed our party’s commitment to balancing participation in government with our traditional role of questioning the management of power and fidelity to the defence and protection of the most vulnerable in our society.

In the process, we affirmed our right to independent thought and expression which may at times differ with those of our partners and the governing coalition.

The meeting agreed to hold more frequent APNU Leadership Council and Executive meetings.

It was also decided that APNU fora would be created to facilitate the parties’ involvement in policy-making which would serve as a guide for the government.

The president also proposed the setting up of five councils which would be responsible for shaping the

APNU preparation for Local and General Elections. Finally, a mechanism was put in place for addressing the WPA’s grievances.

WPA held a General Members and Supporters Meeting on Sunday July 23.

The meeting reaffirmed WPA’s commitment to a multiracial solution to the country’s overarching problems in the interest of the security of all its citizens, especially those of the working peoples, the poor and the powerless in our society.

That WPA continued participation in the government must be premised on a commitment to preserve the party’s Rodneyite identity, its independent voice, its right to critique the performance of the government and its ability to influence the government and state to use the country’s common resources to directly influence the lives of Guyanese across the political and ethnic spectrum in tangible ways.

There was consensus that the party must continue to be the voice of reason and selfcritique within the governing coalition.

Continued on page 6

The Minister’s position has become untenable; he should go DEAR EDITOR, In the aftermath of 13 prisoners escaping from the temporary holding facility (Lusignan Prison) that reportedly occurred sometime during the night of July 23 and 24, the Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan, openly accepted responsibility for the incident, but simultaneously bluntly refused to resign.

Two weeks preceding this incident an inferno, caused during a prisoner riot, resulted in the decimation of almost the entire Camp Street prison and the escaping of some 8 prisoners, 4 of whom are still at large, of which 1 has committed the most heinous crime in the history of this country.

Almost a year ago, another conflagration at the Camp Street prison resulted in 17 prisoners being burnt to death.

These 3 incidents occurred under of the watch of Minister Ramjattan, but he would not consider resignation as an option, since as he said “resignation was not a word which he associates himself”, and in his adamancy he further stated “I

am a fighter and will still be here when all is over”. Fine words, indeed.

Editor, when the nation is being gripped with fear and sleeplessness each night, knowing that almost 10 of the most notorious convicts are on the loose, it’s not about Minister Ramjattan expressing his intention that he will not resign.

It’s about providing the people of this country a sense of security and peace, something that he has miserably failed to do in the discharge of his duties.

If Minister Ramjattan really wants to know whether the people of this country want him to remain in his job

as head of national security, then it’s easy.

Go for a poll by an independent, impartial pollster, and ask the people to answer a simple question “Do you want Khemraj Ramjattan to remain as Minister of Public Security?” Yes or no.

The 13 prisoners that escaped from Lusignan did not adopt anything high-tech on their way to freedom.

All they did was burrow their way in sodden dirt through a hole dug under the concrete wall.

Quite reminiscent of Steve McQueen’s classic movie ‘Great Escape’. With all those visits by those responsible for national security, couldn’t

someone have envisaged this happening or will there be another commission of inquiry to determine what implements and methodology were used to dig the hole?

Minister Ramjattan said he was “embarrassed” as a result of this incident.

The nation has no reason to empathize with him being “embarrassed”, for it has been one mishap after another under his watch.

Editor, with the many former army and police chiefs that make up the senior functionaries of this government, it is not only an embarrassment, it is gross incompetence that the management of our penitentiaries and their inmates becomes an elusive responsibility.

Selwyn Narinedatt

“There’s nowt so queer as folk” DEAR EDITOR, Reading the letter about the experience of racism by a youth in an African country, no doubt a colony at the time, reminded me of a bizarre procedure I was told of sometime ago about a happening at a school in B.G. British Guiana - for the benefit of those of pre-Independence birth.

There was a private girls

school, as I recall it, as being one that catered for youngsters from well-off families, mainly based on colour.

On one occasion there was one vacancy and two children seeking admission.

A decision had to be taken by teachers as to which one.

The girls were led to a window, while teachers in the yard below had to decide on the basis of skin colour.

Later on, a friend and I laughed our heads off about this bizarre scene: we would not have stood a chance! “Lambs to the slaughter”, we both thought and wondered whether the children were aware of this drama.

As my favourite Northern England quote goes: “There’s nowt so queer as folk”.

Geralda Dennison

Thursday July 27, 2017

My dismissal as Farm Manager at President’s College was political DEAR EDITOR, It was George Washington Carver who said that; “Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom”.

As youths we are constantly encouraged to pursue an education because of the security it offers.

Having recently completed my degree in Agriculture Science at the University of Guyana, I feel as if the door to my future is being forcibly shut in my face ironically, for reasons I was taught it would open, my youth and my education.

For two years, I worked at the President’s College as its Farm Manager. Initially on a one year contract from September 2014 to October 2015.

I remained employed for six months after that without a contract. Then in May 2017

I was given a termination letter with no reasons provided for my termination.

What is discomfiting is not so much the termination, but the manner in which it was done and how it emerged.

While the letter provided no reasons for my dismissal, the word on the ground is that my dismissal is due to allegations of incompetence.

I say this for three reasons. Firstly, none of the allegations made are driven by sound facts or have been thoroughly investigated, although I have insisted in the interest of fairness and my own integrity, that such an investigation be done.

Secondly, prior to me receiving the notice of termination of my contract, the board, without the support of Administrators of the school, conducted an interview for

my replacement without having advertised a vacancy for the position - talk about corruption.

Thirdly, at the end of my 1 year contract I received a positive appraisal of my performance from the school. I worked with very little resources and was able to make substantial progress with the school’s farm.

The school moved from G$104,000 to over G$4 million dollars in its account; it had 14 swines when I started but it now has over 30; it had over 700 broilers, when I left it had over 4,000; it previously had less than 100 layers, when I left there were over 2,000.

The college is now selfsufficient in eggs, chicken and pork. The only area I was not able to see much progress in is the supply of vegetables Continued on page 6

Is the Town Clerk trying to change only to matters of his style for the better? tening power and more power. Yep! DEAR EDITOR, Kudos to Riley Matthews for his skillful grading of the Town Clerk. His was similar in some respects to that of Debra Gibson way back on August 20 2016.

The question is (and one I often muse about), does this guy read any of the comments on his behaviour, attitude, manners, etc as a public person in such a responsible position?

And supposing that he does, does it not appeal to his better sense to modify, mollify and/or restructure himself to become more acceptable?

Obviously not and that directs us to the theme of

‘power’ and the consequential thoughts of revolt and revolution and removal!

But… well …who will bell the cat?

Now in the days when this guy was the PRO of the City and the GPF and the City and the GPF (he did move back and forth like a yoyo), he would readily rise to the defence of those two organizations even if they were at fault, but now he himself is at fault, he cowers in a corner and keeps quiet.

He knows full well that he is a position of power hence the plebeians can scream and shout, because his left ear is deaf and his right ear is lis-

Plantation White is not a marketable commodity DEAR EDITOR, In July the newspapers, in an item entitled, “Berbicians informed of ‘New GuySuCo’ plans for Rose Hall Estate”, GuySuCo’s Communication Officer Ms Audreyanna Thomas is reported, among other things, to have said; “that the New GuySuCo will include, the Plantation White, which will be evaluated to replace the low priced bulk raw sugar”.

After reading the report, I did some research where I learnt that ‘Plantation White’ is a new form of white sugar which is produced in a nontraditional manner.

My reading also advised me that Plantation White is not a product that has gained much traction since it is still lacks many characteristics to be considered as White Sugar in a contemporary

PAGE 5

Kaieteur News

sense. Having obtained this much information, it is incomprehensible that GuySuCo is going along a path to possibly produce a product which is not accepted by the market.

Furthermore, what is GuySuCo’s contingency should the new Skeldon owner set up a sugar refinery and produce true White Sugar?

I recall the Indian investors who visited the Skeldon factory, according to the press, expressed the idea to have a refinery established there.

It is disturbing for me Editor that GuySuCo which has so much opportunity for a secure future is just giving it away to foreigners who will take even more wealth from Guyanese.

Patricia Persaud

Power corrupts.

This is where developed societies will continue to be developed societies and have their people relatively happy and satisfied.

Political affiliation or not, stern advice is quickly given and remedial action taken if there is persistence in not mending ways.

In a developed society both the Mayor and the TC would have been sent packing a long long time ago, without those silly comments of not wanting to interfere or direct.

The people of the country are more important than the petty dictators flaunting their power.

Carl Veecock Canada

Chickens coming home to roost at GuySuCo DEAR EDITOR, The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) has followed several press reports which focused on the various community meetings organized by the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) at a number of estates.

Those meetings we recognized from the pictures appearing in the media seemed to be very poorly attended despite what we understand are great efforts by the Management to organize and encourage workers to attend.

We wonder whether the Corporation doesn’t find it strange that its highly-marketed encounters see just a handful of workers in attendance.

From all appearances it seems that the chickens are coming home to roost. The actions of the Corporation in the last two (2) years have not been helpful in maintaining the generally positive relations between the Company and the workers and their representative organisations.

Certainly, workers being forced to work at their 2014 rates-of-pay in year 2017; or the significant curtailing of their Annual Production Incentive (API) in 2015 and its outright denial in 2016; or certain changes to the Weekly Production Incentive (WPI) scheme significantly restricting workers benefitting from the scheme; or the denial of workers the opportunity to obtain trade union education or to be granted paid-release to attend their Union’s Congress; or the haughty and arrogant approach taken to their concerns at the workplace, among other things, have all not been helpful in encourag-

ing a positive approach to the industry’s ‘best minds’.

From the press reports, we have recognized that the Management continues to lament the turnout of canecutters but does not seem to offer any rationale whatsoever for the situation.

Certainly, it seems GuySuCo’s ‘best minds’ are more reactive than proactive.

Though turnout is said to be around 60 percent we hasten to ask GuySuCo what percentage of cane cutters qualified for Holiday-with-Pay (HWP) benefit in the 2017 first crop and the 2016 first and second crops.

It should be noted that in order for workers to receive this benefit they (the workers) must work a certain number of days each week or accumulatively over the crop.

The sharing of such data we believe would be instructive in bringing greater clarity to the matter.

It is also a known fact that the industry does not offer year-round work. For instance, the 2017 second crop will see estates operating for not more than sixteen (16) weeks.

When the first crop which lasted about ten (10) weeks is taken into account it means that workers would only be offered in-crop employment for about half of the year.

This is a far cry from what prevailed in the past when the two (2) crops lasted about thirty-five (35) to thirty-eight (38) weeks per year. Even in the cropping period, they are

uncertain about the situation they would face when they arrive to work and whether their rights would be respected. The workers, quite obviously, will seek to secure alternative employment in order to augment their incomes and maintain their families.

Undoubtedly workers commitment, when taken together with assault on their benefits and threats to their livelihood they now face, will obviously wane.

This situation is not new or unique to the sugar industry and it is almost like déjà vu. We recall a similar situation prevailed in the latter 1980’s and the workers returned to work when their rates-of-pay and benefits were aligned with reality in the early 1990’s.

Even before that, the sugar barons allocated abandoned cane fields to workers to pursue peasant farming in order to assist them during the outof-crop periods.

It is perplexing that the Corporation having recruited in recent times several individuals who were associated with the industry in the pre and post nationalization period of 1976 have not recognized this reality and seek to employ corrective measures, but rather they seek to embrace policies that have pushed, and will continue to push, workers away from the sugar company.

No wonder, the New GuySuCo Community Outreach Programme is so sparsely attended.

Seepaul Narine General Secretary GAWU

PAGE 6

Thursday July 27, 2017

Kaieteur News

My dismissal as Farm... HOPKINSON IS COMMITTED TO IMPROVING being rebuked by a teacher From page 5 due to the barrage of stray rather than being treated in a THE LIVES OF RESIDENTS IN REGION 2 animals from the community professional manner. that enter the school compound daily and either eat or trample the plants.

I made several recommendations to the previous and current board to have this addressed however nothing was done. Further, the farm is plagued by poor infrastructure.

Through my efforts and with the assistance of management of President’s College and the Ministry of Agriculture, we were able to secure a grant from the CARICOM development fund to the tune of US$700,000 to expand the vegetables garden, create an orchard segment, a dairy complex and a road, as well as purchase equipment.

Therefore, it was only a matter of time, that I would have been able to realize growth in vegetables production as well and help the school to become self-sufficient in this area.

However, I was prematurely dismissed and worse yet, as a young man who is committed to honesty and hard work, without being given a fair hearing of my concerns and ample reasons for my dismissal.

Given the efforts I have put in and the progress I have made, I believe that that is the least I deserve. I once attended a board meeting with the intention of voicing my concerns.

However, to my shock and dismay I was chased out of the meeting like school boy

My dismissal is a case of ‘stepping on the small man to give the big boys and party loyalists a chance to reach the top quickly’.

I say this because the reality is that my dismissal was driven by a power-hungry and unprofessional board Chair with desires to supplant his associates in the position.

I am among several other cases of abuse of power by the board because we are seemingly ‘small people’.

Further, the schools’ administrators seem to have little voice these days as the board seems to be hijacking the school for political motives.

It appears to me that those who have been charged with management of the institution by being placed as board members want to assume more power than was given to them and to usurp even the responsibilities of the School’s principal and the personnel officer.

Therefore their strategy is to clear out that those who they cannot count as allies as they puckishly exploit the school’s resources for their own good.

I speak for all ‘small men’ in reminding the Guyanese people that, as Martin Luther King Jr. once remarked “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” so I will continue to cry out until I receive full recourse for the injustice that was meted out against me.

Lestor Browne

DEAR EDITOR, I would have previously served under four Regional Executive Officers (REO), in Region 2 and they were all dedicated public servants.

The late Rafiq Khan was an astute administrator whose eloquence was unmatchable while Nankishore Persaud was an institution of knowledge and implementation as it relates to the accounting system.

Each individual brought a different dimension in leadership and which is no exception with Mr. Rupert Hopkinson who now serves as the Regional Executive Officer.

He immediately made an indelible impression with transforming the landscape of the township as well as enhancing the cleanliness of several communities along the Essequibo Coast.

There were many drains and trenches that posed serious health risks to residents which were immediately addressed upon Mr. Hopkinson’s assumption including the main trench in front of the Administrative Office in Anna Regina which remained in a deplorable state for many years.

It was a sight that was embarrassing and which also had posed irrigational challenges since the water could not have drained easily particularly when the rain fell heavily.

Currently there are core groups most of whom are youths, who under the President’s initiative were given equipment including small weeders, cutlasses, files and gloves etc to clean communities and which they have been admirably doing including in the Township.

These are the many operational dimensions of Mr. Hopkinson’s tenure which also included the redesigning and rehabilitation of the State House into an architectural and imposing landmark.

The Administrative Offices were also immaculately painted and equipped to provide the staff with better facilities in an effort to have them deliver proficient services to the public.

Such an enabling and facilitating environment I would have observed has motivated the staff into becoming a more professional unit as well as in the execution of their functions.

There are several abandoned and dilapidated buildings of the state which seemed to have been previously neglected.

Such a scenario is now gradually changing with the intervention of Mr. Hopkinson who has undertaken ensuring that many of the buildings are renovated and made available to Officers of the state including those residing out of the Re-

gion.

This is quite beneficial to the Region given that professional services were denied due to the unavailability of accommodation.

In fact the Region will be provided with a psychiatrist and a psychologist and their services will depend on being appropriately accommodated.

A massive drive has also commenced to generate and stimulate social cohesion through the establishment of strategic parks which are now created in areas such as Cotton Field, Anna Regina and Ex-Mouth.

These parks will enable families to enjoy meaningful time in relaxation and even for the children to participate in fun and games.

It is also the intention of the REO to create an economic space since small entrepreneurs can provide a service to patrons using the facilities.

Additionally the REO has begun to promote the Region as a green state with the planting of trees along the public road in Anna Regina as well as the adjoining street in front of the Administrative building.

It has become quite an attractive site and which will be done in several other villages and at a time when the Region is aggressively promoting tourism.

Notwithstanding too,

there are other challenges that are engaging the attention of the REO. These include the construction and maintenance of roads including stronger access dams for rice farmers, repairs to schools, hospitals, health posts, land and water transportation for school children and officers as well as generally engaging the public through community outreach to ascertain their concerns and addressing same in a timely manner.

While key services such as the provision of electricity and water do not fall under his purview, he is committed towards working closely with the corporations towards ensuring that the people of Region 2 are gaining the highest quality of service.

Presently there are constant black-outs which have considerably affected the population.

However it was confirmed that efforts have been made to have new generators installed by November.

In the interim, there has been a fluctuation of electricity.

Notwithstanding, Region 2 is progressing in steadily under the stewardship of Mr. Rupert Hopkinson who has withstood the test of time for the benefit of improving the lives of the residents in Region 2.

Elroy Stephney

These are the positions of the WPA on present...

From page 4 The meeting recommended that the WPA should refresh and broaden its ideological and general political orientation to serve as the core of a National Renewal Movement aimed at mobilizing broad sections of the Guyanese population to arrest the drift in the society and help restore hope for a better future for the broad masses of people, especially the most vulnerable among us.

The meeting decided that the rebuilding of the party should begin forthwith with the reactivating of its key organs, reenergizing existing members and the recruitment of new members and allies. It

was also decided that the party should begin groundings in communities across the country to hear from the people about their collective problems and to engage in public education on national issues.

The party was also mandated to begin immediate work among the youth with the aim of empowering them to become more involved in the political life of the country.

Finally, the “Ministerial Situation” involving the current WPA representative in Cabinet and the National Assembly was discussed.

Members expressed their views on the matter and recommended that the party continues to consult with Dr. Roopnarine on the matter.

WPA is concerned at the growing crisis in the prison system.

We feel that the recent jailbreaks are symptomatic of a breakdown in the administration of the penal system and the larger problem of alienation and disarray in the wider society.

We, therefore, urge the government to, as a matter of

priority, do everything necessary to halt the drift and restore order in the prison system.

WPA believes that some of the root causes of the recent prison outbreaks lie (a) in the overcrowding of the prisons; (b) in the abominable conditions in the prisons; (c) poor remuneration of prison officers; (d) the lengthy period of incarceration of persons while awaiting trial; and (e) the fact that a small minority of officers have become compromised.

Towards this end the party supports the efforts of the government to address overcrowding.

We join with others who have called for a review of the practice of remanding or jailing citizens for simple nonviolent offences.

We call on government to address the issue of better working conditions for prison officers and improve the wages and salaries of prison officers.

These areas must be treated as top priority.

We also call on the authorities to mount an immedi-

ate campaign aimed at ridding the prison service of corrupt officers and re-educating the force about the importance of integrity.

Having said the above, the WPA wishes to salute the overwhelming majority of officers who put their lives on the line every day.

We express condolences to the family and relatives of Odinga Wickham who lost his life in the line of duty during the first prison break.

WPA also commends the members of the police force for the restraint showed on the day of the prison-break and the subsequent apprehension of the escapees thus far.

Finally, WPA reiterates its position that there is a linkage between poverty and alienation among the country’s youth and our growing crime situation. In this regard, we intend to use our voice within and outside of government to advocate for more social programs aimed at bringing our young people into the formal productive sectors.

David Hinds WPA

Thursday July 27, 2017

PAGE 7

Kaieteur News

Minister expresses concerns Finance Minister appeals to over health of waste pickers officials to develop realistic, achievable budgets The Haags Bosch landfill site is a haven for waste pickers

Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Dawn Hastings-Williams has expressed concerns over the health of waste pickers attached to the Haags Bosch sanitary landfill site.

The Minister, during a recent tour of the site, noted that while there were certain developments at the facility, there should be mechanisms to deal with the health hazard of those rummaging through the garbage on a daily basis.

Hastings-Williams said that it is clear that waste picking is a means of survival for many of the pickers. She pointed out however, that this does not negate the fact that there are no systems or mechanisms in place to protect their health.

“We need a system in place to monitor the health of the pickers and ensure that they have basic things in place like sanitisers. I mean these people are just like us at the end of the day, the only difference is that they find it worthwhile working here.”

The Minister said too that based on her interaction with the workers, they find satisfaction in the work that they do.

“I had the pleasure of interviewing a young man who said that he enjoys doing the work, because it brings in the dollars for him, but we still need to consider the health and social welfare of these pickers are properly addressed, “she stressed.

Some of the pickers have been at the landfill site for as long as 25 years.

Minister HastingsWilliams noted therefore that garbage pickers are basically risking their lives to do a work which will benefit us all.

“They are helping to separate the garbage from other materials which are harmful to the environment in keeping with the efforts of the Green, Clean initiative.”

Sometime after it opened,

Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Dawn Hastings-Williams the Local Government Ministry has reported positive outcomes from the waste collection area which has been touted as a vehicle for a “cleaner and greener” Guyana.

The Local Government authorities have claimed significant benefits from the garbage dumping area following the closure of the unsightly and unhealthy Mandela Avenue landfill site, which seemed to be taking over Le Repentir Cemetery, where it was located at the time.

The Haags Bosch facility is located aback of Eccles, East Bank Demerara and was specially slated, according to the authorities, to respond to various environmental and chemical changes that occur at dumpsites.

The Haags Bosch Sanitary Landfill was supposed to allow for the better control of waste taken there, as waste could be separated according to type and disposed of appropriately.

It was explained that the controlled separation of waste allows for the accumulation of data on the different types of waste being disposed of and could lead to the development and implementation of

national solid waste disposal policies, such as recycling.

However, Guyana’s growing problem relates to the disposing of plastics, particularly soft drink and water bottles. Plastics, metal, glass and certain other materials have value and their recovery for reuse and recycling can have significant economic advantages.

It has been noted that a cultural change must be taken into consideration to improve the system at the dump site.

These involve the landfill management, waste collectors and generators (citizens), for the long term part of the change.

With Government facing mounting expenditure pressures for budget 2018, Finance Minister, Winston Jordan is appealing to the respective heads of agencies to develop realistic and achievable budgets.

On this premise, the economist felt compelled to observe that too many Budget Agencies adopt a horizontal approach to preparing their budgets - that is, spreading resources evenly and adding a “top up” to what was given in the previous year.

Additionally, Jordan commented that even as the Government has employed a more programmatic approach to budgeting, too many Budget Agencies remain steeped in line item budgeting – focusing on inputs, rather than outputs.

In this regard, the Finance Minister said, “My admonition to you right now is to stop it. Begin to adopt a vertical approach to budgeting. This means that those programmes that are core drivers to achieving critical performance targets must be prioritised over those that do not.”

He continued, “Be guided by the strategic plans and the sector’s medium-term

objectives. Be guided by value for money and cost efficiency measures. Above all else, be guided by results.”

Jordan added, “Your job means achieving a balance of all of these. You must demonstrate a persistent and keen interest in managing in a timely manner. Know your sector. Collect the data, know the data, and use it for your evidence-based submissions to the Ministry of Finance and within your own agencies.

Nothing less is good enough.

Nothing less is demanded of you.”

The Finance Minister stressed that the role of Heads of Budget Agencies and the role of their teams are to be change agents; change agents who effectively design and implement theories of change to ensure they are achieving the intended results.

The economist said, “At an individual level, if I gave you my hard-earned money to deliver better education, better health care and improved roads and bridges and drainage, and then discover that you went off and bought chocolates, alcohol, imported fruits, televisions for entertainment, fancier curtains, etc., then tell me, what should I do next? I

Finance Minister, Winston Jordan hope the answer is obvious.”

Furthermore, the Finance Minister said that Heads of Budget Agencies and Other Senior Officials of Government should possess certain qualities.

He said that these include; being proactive; giving back effective feedback; doing continuous follow-up; offering sound technical advice; demonstrating prudence in discharging fiscal responsibilities; using evidence and data to drive decisionmaking; and understanding and applying the legislation that guides their respective sector, such as the Procurement Act. The Finance Minister said that if these qualities are demonstrated by those officials and their supporting teams then Budget 2018 will show significant improvements over Budget 2017 in terms of results achieved.

PAGE 8

Thursday July 27, 2017

Kaieteur News

Cabinet to decide way forward on outstanding US$5M for GTT shares

By Kiana Wilburg Cabinet is expected to make a decision, sooner rather than later, on the way forward regarding the outstanding US$5M owed on the sale of the GTT shares to Hong Kong Golden Telecom Company (HKGT).

This is according to Head of National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), Horace James.

Speaking to Kaieteur News yesterday afternoon, James said that Government will decide whether it will accept a reduced sum, as being proposed by the company, or take its chances in court.

The NICIL Head said, “They offered us US$2M and that was rejected. They said they would have paid that immediately, or US$2.5M, but over a long period, and that too was totally unacceptable.

Then we had to look now and see how each step would play out for us.”

James said that in taking the matter to the court, one

would have to consider how much it is going to cost the state to pay for witnesses to be in London where the case would be tried, as well as how much it would cost regarding the legal fees.

The NICIL Head asserted, “So this matter is still at Cabinet.

They have not decided if we are going to take the money on the table or start doling out funds to go behind the outstanding US$5M. I can tell you that the expenses for looking after the accommodation for witnesses and the legal fees will run you up to US$1.6M. Significantly, the company is well aware of how much it would cost us, because it was indicated to us during the negotiations.”

He added, “But NICIL wants all of the money. Our thing, is we want to see if we can get more than US$2M, because it was at zero, then US$1M and then US$2M and our board is saying, ‘look, go and see if you can get something more’... For the time being, it doesn’t look all that good. But we are trying to correct something that

should not have happened in the first place.”

It was last year that NICIL announced that Guyana would be pursuing the route of arbitration in the United Kingdom, in hopes of recovering the outstanding US$5M from the sale of Government’s shares in GTT. It was James who had said, “We are in the process of executing all the relief measures that are in the sales agreement in order for us to get it back.

We have engaged our lawyers in the USA, and we are using the lawyer who was involved in the sales agreement process and who helped us to draft the agreement.”

“They recommended a company in the United Kingdom to help us in the arbitration whenever that time comes, and when we are going there.”

The NICIL officer added, “It is important that we use a UK company, because the arbitration will be held in London.”

James had said that NICIL

NICIL Head, Horace James is not only going after the recovery of the US$5M, but also interest costs, legal fees, the signatory for the agreement and even the person who guaranteed it.

“So that process has started, and our lawyers have presented all the issues concerning the shares and said that it is a very good chance that we could get back the money.”

INITIAL ARRANGEMENT It was in 2012 that NICIL sold the Government’s

investment in GTT for US$30M of which the sum of US$25M was received. The balance, US$5M, was to be paid within two years.

But there have been conflicting stories since that initial arrangement.

At one point, the nation was told that Guyana’s former Ambassador to China, David Dabydeen, facilitated a debt write-off to HKGT. HKGT is a subsidiary of Datang Telecom International Technology (Hong Kong) Company Limited.

Kaieteur News understands that the purchase agreement between the Chinese company and Guyana was framed in such a

manner that in the event of any legal issue, Guyana or HKGT would have to petition the United Kingdom courts.

NICIL had said that in an attempt to avoid costly and lengthy adjudication of the matter in the English Courts, it called on the government to encourage HKGT, through diplomatic channels, to honour its contractual obligations.

NICIL said that HKGT alleged that following a series of communications with the former Guyana Ambassador to China, HKGT was assured that it was not required to pay the balance of US$5M. This was because HKGT had not been granted the same minority protection rights enjoyed by NICIL—that is, two representatives, instead of one, on the GT&T Board of Directors.

HKGT alleged that it was initially promised two seats by the then Government of Guyana.

NICIL said that HKGT also alleged that the decision to waive the US$5M was contained in a side agreement.

NICIL noted that it has not been able to verify HKGT’s claim of waiver and has requested the assistance of the Government of Guyana to verify the validity of HKGT’s assertion and the documents they produced to support same.

WPA to continue consulting with Roopnarine on ...

From page 3 that was employed.

“He (Roopnarine) was our candidate and we had expected him to have a governmental position, but we felt that the way in which it was done was not in keeping with what we expect coming from our relationship with APNU.

So it was never a question of Roopnarine is not the right person, he was always the right person, but it is we who should formally make the appointment.”

Further, it was asked whether the party was briefed

by Dr. Roopnarine concerning his resignation, and if not, whether he spoke with the party afterwards. According to the WPA Chairperson, Dr. Roopnarine did speak with her on the matter.

Hinds said that when Roopnarine met with President Granger he would have gone into the meeting knowing fully that the party has deferred all judgement to him on the matter.

Further, Hinds said that in light of Dr. Roopnarine's health status, he will be assisted in carrying out his functions that come with his new post to head the Public Service Ministry and that the WPA will offer whatever support is needed.

Hinds also said that although the party was not vocal and observant of Dr. Roopnarine while serving as Minister of Education, the party will be doing the opposite from now on.

Thursday July 27, 2017

PAGE 9

Kaieteur News

The way we were; the way we are The security of the State remains weak. It has always been so. The jailbreak of 2002 and the subsequent situation of the country being under siege, by criminals holed up in one small village, exposed the tender underbelly of Guyana’s security.

The events of the past year have only served as a reminder of the fragility of Guyana’s national security. A major prison riot, last year, could not be controlled, and led to the incineration of 17 prisoners - the worst prison disaster in the Englishspeaking Caribbean.

This was followed earlier this month when prisoners burnt, to the ground, the country’s main remand facility, one which also housed capital prisoners, some of whom escaped during the inferno. The situation got worse this Monday when prisoners who

were transferred from the burnt-out prison to Lusignan outfoxed the prisoner authorities, feigning privacy, when in fact they were tunneling their way out of the prison. Thirteen prisoners escaped, but eight have since been recaptured.

These events signify the weakness of national security.

It is not just a case of poor prison security. The entire national security system failed. Those failures need to be examined.

First, the authorities did not solve the problem of prison overcrowding following the Lusignan jailbreak. The Camp Street Prison was overcrowded.

This facilitated the loss of control which led to the incineration of the prison a few weeks ago. Instead of widely dispersing the prisoners so as to have manageable prison

populations, all that happened was that the overcrowding was shifted from Camp Street to Lusignan.

This made Lusignan an accident waiting to happen.

The authorities were not unaware that Lusignan was a powder keg waiting to explode. They did not have control of the prisoners in the pasture. The prisoners slaughtered a cow and there was nothing that the prison authorities there could have done.

They were overwhelmed. It was the prisoners who were running the prison, not the wardens.

The Guyana Prison Service should have been provided with manpower support from the security services to control Lusignan.

This was not done, and therefore no one should be blaming the prison authorities for failing to do what they

Forestry performance remains ‘relatively stable’ - Minister Trotman The forestry sector brought in an estimated US$19M in the first half of 2017.

Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, explained to the Department of Public Information (DPI) that the sector “is going relatively well and we are on target to bring in good earnings from foreign exchange”. He added emphasis is now “on sustainable development, sustainable use of our forest so Guyanese can expect less logs being shipped out”.

The Ministry of Natural Resources has been pushing for more value-added production in the sector.

Minister Trotman said that “there is great interest” towards this initiative from the industry.

The Minister explained that the earnings thus far are less than previous years because one major exporter no longer operates in the industry. However, the Minister said, “Our local loggers have to raise the bar not just provide uneven measurements and crude

cuts”. Local loggers are also expected to benefit from “the surge in demand” from the government’s housing programme which is about to come on stream soon.

The restriction on the importation of pinewood is considered as an incentive for local loggers to be more competitive on the local market. The Minister stressed that the restriction does not mean that pinewood would be banned outright from entering Guyana.

The Ministry of Natural (continued on page 12)

Dem boys seh...

Trump straightening out de military De world does really turn. One day it pointing in one direction and de next day it mek a complete turnaround. Dem boys don’t mean like when you looking at the sun in de east and de next day you looking at de west. Dem mean that one day something right and de next day it wrong.

Fuh quite a while de world decide to talk about discrimination. People start to claim how anybody who discriminate gun be prosecuted. For example, in de States, if a man did shout anti-gay slogan the police might arrest him.

Obama tek de thing further, he decide to let everybody choose wha dem want to be. If a man think he is a woman then de law allow him to be a woman. De problem was that dem never

use to put him in a woman jail. That woulda cause real confusion.

In de same way, if a woman think she is a man then she could behave like a man. But she too couldn’t go in a man jail and serve time because she woulda serve she sentence lying down, Now Trump changing all that. Obama tek de hint and accept de slogan, “Don’t ask, don’t tell’. People join de army. Some sign as male, some as female and some as ‘trans’.

And that is how dem boys get to know wha de car ‘TransAm mean’. Is a car you can ride to heaven wid a smile pun you face, but de same car can ride you to hell when it done wid you bank book. It playing both ways.

Trump suddenly announce that he done wid

trans in de army. But dem already have a few in de army.

De generals dem want to know if dem got to knock off all de trans.

And if dem have nuff in Iraq or Afghanistan, then you got to call dem home and if dem more than de regulars, is serious problems wid de overseas placement.

All who use to go in any toilet dem please got to go in wheh dem belong.

Dem boys seh Trump mek all dem man who think dem is woman change back to man and vice versa. De problem now is wha gun happen when people try to talk bout discrimination. Of course some people believe that Trump discriminating wid de military.

Talk half and watch how Trump straightening out de army, navy and air force.

were expected to do. They just did not have the means to restore order to Lusignan.

Second, the security services should have been manning the prisons around the clock and not now have to be chasing down the escapees.

An emergency prison watch plan should have been implemented to ensure that no further riots or disturbances took place in the prisons, but especially at Lusignan. The national security authorities did not have a perimeter of security personnel outside of the Lusignan prisons. They wrongly assumed that the worst was over. It was not.

Third, the prison authorities were outfoxed.

They fell for the oldest trick in book, as one cartoon put it. The prisoners outsmarted them.

There is no way that the prison authorities should have allowed the prisoners to fence off a section of the pasture with a zinc sheet, on the pretext of wanting greater privacy when using the toilets.

No structure should have been allowed near to the prison fence. The prisoners simply dug a small tunnel and 13 of them crawled to freedom without the prison authorities being any wiser.

There has been a lot of blame-throwing, but that is not going to help the situation, because it does not matter who is held

accountable or removed.

This was a collective failure of the National Security Council or whatever it is called. It is national security, rather than prison security, that failed.

The bottom line, though, is that security in Guyana has always been a disaster in the making, not just for prisons but for the entire country.

There is no security in Guyana. The citizens of Guyana are all sitting ducks.

Bandits have this country under siege. It has always been that way.

PAGE 10

Thursday July 27, 2017

Kaieteur News

=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===

Barbados is alive, Guyana is dead On Monday, 20,000 Barbadians protested in the streets against an increase in one of the taxes. The estimate of the crowd was done by the police, and not any organization associated with the protestors. Barbados has a population of 288,000.

It meant then that seven percent of the country’s citizens were in an antigovernment demonstration.

Never in the history of Guyana, has seven percent of our population formed into a protest march. I don’t think

we have ever come close to that number in Guyana.

From 1961 to 1964 there were continuous protests against the Cheddi Jagan government, which resulted in an 80-day strike. I have consulted several books for the number of demonstrators, but none stated a figure.

But let us say that those demonstrations carried 20, 000, that would not have been 7 percent of the nation of British Guiana at the time.

It is estimated by sympathizers of the WPA in

1980 that 30,000 turned out for the funeral of Walter Rodney.

There is no official estimate of the crowd in the strict sense of the word, and that event was not a protest against a particular policy.

For a country to have a population of 288,000 and have 20,000 on the streets with placards, shows a very energetic and conscious society.

That is a phenomenally massive turnout for a tiny populated territory. It shows Barbados is alive. It also shows Guyana is dead. We would never get those numbers, even if the worst atrocity is committed by the government.

With the current census, seven percent would be 55,000. They say never say never in life. But I am saying, never would this country see 55,000 in a demonstration against an unpopular decision.

Countless times I have made reference to human rights awareness in tiny places like Bermuda, Grenada, St. Vincent, Barbados etc., but there is absolutely no instinct of disgust and anger at

human rights violations in this country. I spent time in both Grenada and Barbados, and I say in the most inflexible way, the horrible misdeeds of the government, business community and civil society in those states would never be tolerated as they would in Guyana.

I remember in one of those articles, I made mention of a letter that appeared in the Stabroek News in which of one the employees of Muneshwers complained that the staff have to buy their own toilet paper and hand sanitizer for use in the workplace.

That revelation in any other country would have created an ocean of concern.

It just passed unnoticed in Guyana. I say in a majority of countries, there would have been expressions of condemnation and the company would have attempted an explanation.

Not in Guyana.

What is frightening in this place is that from colonial times to July 2017, it has only known oligarchic rule, with insensitive, uncaring and aloof leadership. What happens if a ruling party

Frederick Kissoon wants to go beyond Burnham’s totalitarianism or Jagdeo’s semi-fascism? The possibility is real that this can happen. People come up to me all the time and express curiosity on the prospects of the PPP coming back to power and that means the return of Jagdeo.

Anything is possible in life. But if we live in a dead society and the PPP returns to office with Jagdeo as president, or with Jagdeo as the shapers of things, then there can be no surprise as to what will happen.

He would just pick up from where he left off in May 2015, when he lost power, and

rule as he wishes.

A senior journalist told me to be careful, because since I am the only one penning criticisms of the Vice Chancellor of UG, it will come across as personal.

The journalist went on to state that when the two unions and a number of academics were asked to assess the one-year performance of the new Vice Chancellor, they all declined.

I have nothing personal against the Vice Chancellor and will not direct any personal or personalized remark against him.

He has done nothing that will cause me to go in that direction. But I believe it is my role as an opinion-maker to assess the performance of important state functionaries.

I have not singled out the Vice Chancellor, but I disagree with his approach to developing UG. So many other academics at UG have said that to me, but a dead society prevents them from coming alive and speaking to the press.

What future Guyana has is open to debate. Oil money or no oil money, I believe this land died a long time ago.

Thursday July 27, 2017

PAGE 11

Kaieteur News

Former magistrate accused of attempting to pervert course of justice

Berbice carpenter murder PI…

As the drama continues to unfold in the court proceedings of the Faiyaz Narinedatt murder case, a prominent attorney and former magistrate found himself in a sticky situation after he was arrested yesterday at the Springlands Magistrate Court.

Attorney-at-law Chandra Sohan was taken into custody at the Springlands Police Station for allegedly attempting to pervert the course of justice, in relation to the case. He was arrested after the morning session was adjourned.

Five accused - Orlando Dickie,, Diodath Datt, Niran Yacoob, Radesh Motie and Harri Paul Parsram - all appeared yesterday at the Springlands Court before Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh.

They were represented by Attorney-at-law Sanjeev Datadin and stood before a

Attorney-at-law Chandra Sohan prosecution represented by Attorney Stacy Goodings.

Meanwhile, thus far, three witnesses who would have

provided statements to the police, were taken back to the scene of the crime, and were recorded (video) recounting and explaining in detail where the beating took place, to the point where Narinedatt's body was dumped.

As such, given the nature and gravity of the crime along with the importance of evidence provided in the case, the witnesses who would have given the evidence in the presence of the police and on camera are expected to not go against what they would have given.

According to a source if they (the witnesses) do go against the statements they will be charged and placed before the courts for Purgery, a non-bailable offence. The said video recording will be presented in court and once presented, it will show that the witnesses would have lied if

Campbellville woman freed of trafficking charge Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on Tuesday dismissed a matter of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking charge against Samantha Green, after she ruled that the prosecution failed to lead sufficient evidence against the defendant.

It had been alleged that the 39-year-old Green was busted by police with 990 grams of marijuana on April last at a house in Campbellville Housing Scheme, Georgetown.

Magistrate McLennan during her ruling said that she believed Green, who told the court in an unsworn testimony, that she was visiting the premises at the time, and that she resides at Lot 72 Four Miles Housing Scheme, Bartica.

According to the Magistrate, Green also told the court that she related to the police that her sister occupied the premises and that she was at the Brazilian church at the time of the search.

Although Magistrate McLennan said that the court believed the narcotics was found on the premises and it was intended to be trafficked, there was no evidence to support the allegation that Green had knowledge of it.

It was for these circumstances that the Chief Magistrate dismissed the charge against Green.

According to the facts presented to the court, on the day in question a party of policemen led by Corporal

Christopher Dharamraj went to the house located at Lot 92 Campbellville, Georgetown, which at the time was occupied by Green.

The police ranks then conducted a search on the premises and found the marijuana concealed into two bulky black bags that were hidden in a Karibee rice bag in the kitchen area. When the drug was unearthed, in the presence of the Green, she remained silent.

During the trial Police Inspector Arvin Moore called a total of four witnesses, one being Corporal Dharamraj, who is attached to the Narcotics Branch, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown. He said that he was in charge of the investigation.

According to Corporal Dharamraj, after receiving information, he led a party of policemen to the house where ranks positioned themselves at various locations.

The witness recalled that he saw Constable Singh speaking to Green.

“Constables Singh and Azeez entered the house. I stood at the back door where I was in clear view of the

kitchen area and Samantha Green”, Corporal Dharamraj had testified.

The Corporal said that he saw several bags on the floor in the kitchen area containing groceries. He said that Constable Singh told him something and he began asking the defendant a series of questions.

The police witness recalled that Constable Singh told him that he had found a quantity of narcotics in a Karibee rice bag. He said that the bag containing the narcotics was shown to him and Green was escorted to the Narcotics Branch.

Upon arrival at CID, he said that he reported his finding to the Officer in Charge. Corporal Dharamraj related that based on instructions he received from his superior he revisited the house the following day. He stated that he made several checks for another person who Green had implicated in the drug bust.

“After making several calls I got no response. I made enquiries from the southern neighbour but no useful information was obtained.”

Green was represented by Attorney-at-law Euclin Gomes.

their statements conflict the initial statements given by them.

The teenaged star witness who recently alleged that he was poisoned by a relative of Bisram has since been discharged from the hospital and was present at the court proceedings for the morning session but subsequently left after complaining that he was not feeling well.

The PI continues today with four witnesses on the prosecutions side expected to

take the stand in court.

Faiyaz Narinedatt's battered and bloodied body was found lying lifeless along the Number 70 Public Road after an evening of “partying” at the home of well known overseasbased Philanthropist Marcus Bisram.

It was reported that at the gathering between the 30th October and the 1st November, Narinedatt rejected sexual advances by Bisram, who reportedly ordered Dickie, Datt, Yacoob, Motie and Parsram to

“deal with him”.

Narinedatt was allegedly beaten by the men and dumped on the public road to make it seem as though the carpenter was a victim of a hitand-run. However things quickly unraveled after relatives of Narinedatt insisted that their loved one was murdered.

Bisram was arrested in the United States months after the murder and is currently before the courts there, facing possible extradition.

PAGE 12

Thursday July 27, 2017

Kaieteur News

‘Hope for The Nation’ donates medical supplies to Public Health Ministry The charitable organisation Hope for the Nation Foundation yesterday donated some $60M in medical supplies to the Regional Health Services Department of the Ministry of Public Health.

The supplies included

examination gloves, identification wristbands mother/infant, convertor bouffant caps, foam pitchers, post- partum kits, gauge, disposable nasal mask, ICU medical 20 drop administration sets among a variety of other supplies.

Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence praised the local organisation for donating the medical supplies, noting that “while the Government of Guyana continues to prioritise and mandate healthcare in its budgetary allocation, the

From left: PS Colette Adams; Minister Volda Lawrence; Otello Perreira, Secretary, Hope for The Nation Foundation and Dr. Kay Shako. donation from the Foundation will make a difference in the quality of health care provided to the people”.

“This is the type of partnership that the Ministry looks forward to with NGOs and other kind-hearted persons because not only Guyanese come to give back but other persons come to assist us in one way or the other.

It is these gestures that help us to add steps to the ones that have been outlined to us through the budgetary process. This helps to take us a little further every time”, Lawrence said.

She said the multimilliondollar gift will aid her ministry bridge the gaps in the service delivery.

“It is these gestures that help us to see our goals as reachable. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you on behalf of the staff of the Ministry of Public Health,

but more so on behalf of the doctors and the nurses and the supportive staff, who will feel very happy to know that they have lots of equipment and supplies available to them so that they can be able to carry out their functions,” the Minister said.

The Minister thanked Pastor Otello Perreira, Secretary of the Foundation, for reaching out to the Public Health Ministry noting that the agency is happy to be a ‘benefactor’ of such items.

Perreira explained that the Foundation is focused on fighting poverty, hunger and diseases, hence collaborations with the Government Ministries and other agencies are vital.

“Our organisation’s desire and focus are to make Guyana a place that people want to be and that we can enjoy…so, wherever there is a need, or wherever we can play a part to make that

Forestry performance remains ‘relatively stable’ - Minister ...

From page 9 Resources is currently conducting consultations to finalise the National Forest Policy and Statement.

Minister Trotman said that these documents are expected to be finalised by September. “They can help us to formulate policy a little better”, he said.

Efforts are also underway to finalise the Voluntary

Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union (EU).

Adherence to the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) would mean greater access to European market for Guyana’s lumber, particularly greenheart. The VPA is expected to be finalised by the end of the year.

difference or bring that comfort or relief, we are willing to collaborate with the teams and to reach out to those in need”. Perreira said.

Dr. Kay Shako, RHS Director in an invited comment said the supplies will be distributed to help alleviate problems in the most problematic areas, citing the Georgetown Public Hospital, the country’s sole referral hospital, which is also a selfoperating entity.

“The items will be distributed accordingly to the Suddie Regional Hospital, Region 2; West Demerara Hospital, Region 3 and the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, Region 4”, Shako said.

Meanwhile, Terrence Esseboom, Head of Public Relations and Health Promotion at the Ministry of Public Health said that the Foundation is a very solid one with international ties that has done tremendous work across the country.

“The Hope for the Nation Foundation has been very influential in helping the Health Promotion Department of the Ministry of Public Health.

They have given us lots of food supplies and clothing that we take into the outline communities and people are very happy, so much so that the demand is high”.

Esseboom noted.

The Hope for the Nation Foundation is a registered non-profit organisation working closely with Cross International headquartered in the USA, and other charitable global organisations.

The Foundation was founded in 2016 by Orin Van Rossum, a Guyanese by birth who now resides in Florida, USA.

Thursday July 27, 2017

Kaieteur News

CCJ rules against Belize Transport board PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Wednesday delivered judgement in a matter between a transport operator against the Transport Board of Belize and other respondents.

In a statement on Wednesday, the regional court allowed Froylan Gilharry Sr. the appeal, and declared that the Transport Board did not properly consider the renewal of Gilharry’s application and frustrated his legitimate expectation to operate his business.

The report states that Gilharry’s company – Gilharry’s Bus Line, had been operating buses along the northern route in the country for almost 40 years.

In 2008, the authorities sought to make policy changes in the transportation system which some bus operators vigorously objected to and they then sought an injunction in the courts against the Transport Board .

The injunction was granted.

As a result, the Board stopped granting new permits or renewing old ones.

When the injunction was lifted in 2011, the Minister of Transport and the Transport Board moved to regularise the transportation system, which had been “lawless” for more than two years.

They proposed changes and staged consultations with the operators in order to settle the dispute.

The Board announced that it would observe the new policy and schedules, and granted temporary road service permits for three months to all bus operators in the

north who had applied for, and paid, the requisite fees.

Gilharry was offered new permits but fewer and far less lucrative ones than he used to have – in addition – his old permits were not renewed.

He decided not to pay for the new permits and did not adhere to the revised schedules that were put in place.

Choosing instead to operate his old routes, he was stopped by the police and the case proceeded to court.

Both the Belize’s Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal rejected Gilharry’s assertion that the Transport Board acted beyond its powers, did not exercise its licensing powers properly or fully consider the renewal application of the applicant and frustrated his legitimate expectation to continue to operate his business on the same footing as before.

Gilharry then asked the CCJ, Belize’s highest court, to consider the matter.

The CCJ found that there was nothing illegal with the Board approving the proposed new schedules or bus routes which the bus operators, excepting Gilharry, worked out amongst themselves as the Board was entitled to consider the propos-

als and if it agreed with them, to accordingly approve them.

The Court found that Gilharry had failed to show that the Board had not acted in accordance with its statutory powers and duties.

The CCJ, however, strongly disagreed with the courts that Gilharry was not entitled to a fair procedure as he had been operating illegally which the Court noted he could not be blamed for.

The CCJ found that Gilharry had a legitimate expectation which was not honoured by the Board.

“Although the Board might have been justified to some extent in taking that course, it should not have proceeded without giving Mr Gilharry a proper opportunity to express his objections and concerns.

The law and fairness required this, also because he appeared to be greatly affected by the new policy,” the release noted.

However, the CCJ said that although Gilharry had suffered loss as a result of the actions of the Board, there was insufficient evidence before it to assess his damages as he had failed to properly quantify or mitigate his losses.

In addition to allowing the appeal and making the relevant declaratio n s , t h e Court also ordered the Transport Board to pay Gilharry’s costs before the CCJ and other courts which includes an immediate payment of BZ$40,000 (US$19,982) All other applications were dismissed.

CDB approves funding to enhance Regional emergency response procedures BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) approved a grant to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) to assist with the review and strengthening of emergency response procedures in participating states.

The grant will provide resources to review and evaluate the preparedness and response procedures of The Bahamas, Barbados, Haiti and Saint Lucia.

According to Director of Projects at the CDB, Daniel Best, the Caribbean is among the most disaster prone regions in the world .

“ A recent disaster management readiness audit by CDEMA has revealed an urgent need for improved planning and coordination across sectors, to strengthen preparedness and response mechanisms at the national level.”

He said the grant supports improvements in these areas, which, if made, will significantly reduce potential losses due to hazard impacts.

The grant will also provide resources to include an assessment of the nationallevel actions undertaken in response to Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and the development of recommendations

for strengthening readiness and response protocols and procedures in these countries.

Through the technical assistance intervention, support will also be provided for the – development of action plans, inclusive of a communications plan, for strengthening national preparedness and response in the four selected countries.

The grant will be funded through resources provided to CDB under the African Caribbean Pacfic European Union CDB Natural Disaster Risk Management in CARIFORUM countries programme.

PAGE 21

PAGE 22

SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY,ETC.-CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 2161043; 677-6620 Visa Application: U.S.A, Canada & UK; Guyanapassport application. Graphics design, advertisement. Tel: 6267040; 265-4535.

INNOVATIVEMARKETING & PUBLISHING INC –TEL: 600-4212: We create A/ works, logos, busi ness cards, posters, etc, placements of ads included.

Eagle’s: Re-gas -$8,000, Washing machine repairs, Gas Stove, Plasma flat Screen, computer repairs & more.

Call: 697-2969/646-0966 Passport, permanent & visitor visa application, Professional Immigration Consultant – Sabita Immigration Services.

Call: 225-6496/ 662-6045 Cotton Club 231-1908: for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, etc. 41 Public Road Kitty.

Upholstery: cover any type of furniture at a reasonable cost, home service if possible. Call: 216-2230/682-8718 Repairs at low cost: Fridges, air- conditioners, washing machines, TVs, microwaves, freezers- Call: 629-4946 or 225-4822 Repairs to refrigerators, gas stoves, A/C units, washing machines. Call Lindon: 6411086/ 694-2202

WANTED 1 Accounts Clerk, preferably from E.B.D – 5 subjects CXC minimum @ gtcareers592@gmail.com Live in and live out waitress.

Call: 643-9007/666-4647 Live in or part time maid. Call 695-5505 or 611-6364 between 8am-4pm Urgently! Able body security guard to work day/night must have NIS/ID/TIN certificate.

Call: 226-7337/654-9350 Do you owe housing & want to sell your land? We pay it off & give you cash. Call: 6662326 Land to buy in Eccles, Parfaite Harmonie, Tuschen, Farm, Uitluvgt, Herstelling, we pay best price. Call: 604-6724/6869608 Vegetarian Gardens: office assistant. Call: 227-7714/2310951/223-3448, info@vgiworld.com Experienced shop workers, handyman & domestic to work in the Interior, age 1840yrs. Call: 231-0363 (9am4:30pm). (TIN, ID & NIS) Live in experienced waitress $20,000 weekly. Call: 610-5043 One maid, one babysitter.

Attractive salary. Contact: 696-9386 Experienced roti/puri cook, curry cook and waiters.

Apply @ Hack’s Halaal with handwritten application, 5 Commerce Street. (Day Shift only) Responsible Hire Drivers. Call: 231-7200

SALON - Make-up Courses with Mac, Bare Minerals, etc.

-CosmetologyCourses:$120,000 - Technician Course: $45,000.

Call: 647-1773/660-5257 Register Now! Summer Courses in cosmetology & nails 7th -18th August; Cost: $20,000. Limited space available. Call: 618-2417

TAXI SERVICE GR TAXI SERVICE. CALL: 219-5000; 227-1982 & 2257878 (24HRS)

Thursday July 27, 2017

Kaieteur News

VACANCY

FOR RENT

LAND FOR SALE

FOR SALE

Cook/ Baker for interior.

Applicants must be experienced. Call: 618-2020

PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620

MINING BLOCKS FOR SALE @ OMAI & CUYUNI NEAR BUCKHALL GY$2,500,000 EACH. CALL: 622-7563

LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY$19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754.

One data entry clerk, must be computer literate & have passes @ CXC Maths & English.

Apply PO BOX12118 1 Counter clerk, must have a decent handwriting & passes in Maths & English.

Send handwritten application to PO BOX 12118 1 Experienced person for super bet, sport betting outlet. Apply @ August Beverage with written application in person, 27 Norton Street. Call: 225-5501 MALE CASHIER: night shift, knowledge of point of sale.

Apply @ Fortune House Restaurant, 98 Sheriff Street.

1 Driver/mechanic with minibus license, living in G/ Town attractive salary & benefits. Call: 664-0802 Taxi drivers. Call: 646-8748 CANTER DRIVER/ SALESMAN, MINIMUM 3 YEARS DRIVING EXPERIENCE, FACTORY ASSISTANT 266 4427 Data Entry Clerk.

Requirements: previous experienced in Microsoft Excel & Accounting Software. For further info call: 617-1809 LEARN TO DRIVE C. Persaud & N. Outar Driving School formerly Soman & Sons Driving School @ Maraj Building- Call: 644-5166; 6222872; 615-0964; 689-5997 (affordable packages).

Car CAR RENTAL PROGRESSIVE CAR RENTAL: SUV FOR RENTAL- $4,000 & UP PER DAY- CALL: 677-7827, 6435122 ,EMAIL:PRO_AUTO RENTAL@YAHOO.COM

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE OFACADEMIC EXCELLENCE: Registration commenced for I.A.E Secondary school, forms 15, termly fee -$30,000. Call: 683-5742/621-7365

DOLLY’SCARRENTAL-CALL: 225-7126/226-3693 DOLLYSAUTORENTAL@ YA H O O . C O M / W W W. DOLLYSAUTORENTAL.COM

Rising Star Academy: Register now for kindergarten & Grades 1-4, build a strong foundation for common entrance. Call: 6770296

WING’S CAR & PICKUP RENTAL: LOW DOWN PAYMENT, CHEAP RATES,SPECIAL OFFERS! . CALL: 690-6494

ACCOMMODATION Journey Inn apartment rental, short term with AC & Kitchen, as low as -$15US. Call: 642-1783/ 646-3011634/ 718-2301695

AIDAN’S CAR RENTAL: PICKUP,9-11 SEAT MINI BUS, GOOD FOR AIRPORT & FAMILY OUTINGS, CHEAPEST RATE . Call: 698-7807

Property for rent - 2 storey house at Republic Park, E.B.D $1200USD. Call 647-1773 Fully furnished luxury apartment to rent 2 & 3 bedrooms, long and short term stay. Call: 665-3505 One big two bedrooms top flat house at Phoenix Park, lot 20 West Bank Demerara. Call: 643-9286 Office & business space to rent @ 78 Hadfield Street.

Call: 225-9211/693-3946

W.B.D: Schoonord -$3M, Uitvlugt 50X100 -$2.8M, La Parfaite 50X100 & foundation -$3.5M, $1.5M, $1.6M, Coglan Dam, Nimes -$2.5M. Call: 231-2199/618-7483 E.B.D: Diamond, Farm -$4.5M, Providence 50X185, land of Canaan cleared land -$6.5M acre, Republic Park -$15M. Call: 231-7805/ 618-7483 Land @ No.7 Village W.C.B – 86’X317’, roadside -$34M negotiable. Call:622-6473 (Raj), 648-6873 (Bernard), 661-4604 (Veronica)

Three storey 75ftX30ft building/bond, open floors, 2 offices, 2 washrooms, driveways @ 25B Princes St., Charlestown. Call: 223-0654/ 225-0605

Land in Zeelugt new scheme, $2.5M,Providence- $4.2M, land in Tuschen (Phase 1) - $2.5M & La Parfaite Harmonie - $1.7M – 642-1252

One bedroom apartment well secured for working couple or single person -$35,000 monthly, light & water included. Call: 638-8858

La Parfaite Harmonie- $2M, $1.3M, $1.1M, Herstelling$3M, Tuschen house & land - $2.7M, Tuschen -$2M, $1M. Call: 604-6724/686-9608

2 Bedrooms apartment in Eccles New Scheme, furnished or unfurnished from August 1 2017. Call: 2253234

La Parfaite Harmonie (main road) -$2M, $1.4M, $1.2M, Herstelling -$3M, Tuschen Phase 2 - $1.2M. Call: 6662326

One upper flat in Albert Street, Alberttown. Call: 6183575

2 ½ Acres riverside land, 5 Acres land with 5,000 sq.ft building, Brickery, East Bank Demerara. Call: 653-2477/ 685-6874

2 Bedrooms apartment to rent working couple. Call: 6183949 One & two bedroom apartment available. Call: 2314432/ 681-4275 2 Bedroom with toilet & bathroom, upper flat apartment @ Lot Q19 Pigeon Island, Chateau Margot, E.C.D. Call: 220-6799/2206657/603-9547

Farm -$3.5M, La Parfaite Harmonie -$1.6M, $1.8M, Uitvlught -$3.2M, Ameila’s Ward Linden (fenced) $2.5M, penalty paid. Call: 6560701/651-1969 Prime land to build that dream home. Not far from Princess, New Thriving, Massy, HJ water world $13M neg- Call: 669-8397 VEHICLE FOR SALE One fielder wagon in excellent condition, owner leaving country, price $1.550M negotiable. Call: 659-5226/ 690-8889

PROPERTY FOR SALE Transported property @ Grove and Diamond $16M negotiable. Call: 625-5461

1 RZ minibus, excellent condition. The price is right. Call: 616-3288/233-0269/690-8247

Aubrey Barker -$27M, William Street -$11M, Diamond -$14M, Grove -$7.8M, David Street$30M, Norton -$10M. Call: 2312199/618-7483

Unregistered bluebird 1500cc, 31,000KM, front wheel drive, RZ bus good working condition, owner leaving. Call: 265-0204/2652171/601-0223

1 Two story 3 bedrooms concrete house, Block 8 Mon Repos -$17M negotiable.

Call: 645-8543

One used 1992 Hauler 8X6 DAF lorry, colour: green & black only used for 2 months, excellent condition. Call: 679-4675

One transported property for business or residential located @ Friendship Public Road, EBD -$18M. Call: 6484810/661-5099

One Toyota Fielder, TV deck, remote, short alarm, dark interior. In good condition $1.2M. Call: 611-6632 or 6643488

House & land for sale, latest Toyota Tundra and Tacoma parts. Call: 646-8594 New generator/welding plan 10KVA, 200amps, 13 horse power, diesel, silent & new 3" Troni gasoline water pump.

Contact Melissa: 629-2292 1 Set of used magrims, 4 holes 17". Call: 685-6874/653-2477 Puppies – husky 10 months old poodles, pitbull. Call: 2670205/ 671-9136/ 670-4228 A flock of sheep, price negotiable. Call: 645-2676/ 218-3647 ask for Mike.

TO LET Furnished apartment for local & overseas guest. Call Ms. Dee: 661-7354 or 223-1061

Thursday July 27, 2017

PAGE 23

Kaieteur News

WPA to continue consulting with Roopnarine on ‘ministerial situation’

By Murtland Haley The Working People’s Alliance (WPA), following a General Members and Supporters meeting held last Sunday, has agreed that the party will continue to consult with Dr. Rupert Roopnarine on the ‘Ministerial Situation’. This issue concerns Roopnarine being the WPA representative in Cabinet and the National Assembly.

This was communicated to the press yesterday during a press conference held by the party.

The panellists were Chairwoman Tabitha SaraboHalley and Executive members, David Hinds and Tacuma Ogunseye.

Recently, Dr. Roopnarine had handed in his resignation to President David Granger; however, Roopnarine later withdrew his decision to resign after meeting the president on the issue.

When asked what were the areas discussed at the meeting on Sunday regarding Roopnarine and what reasons were given for the initial resignation, Hinds said that the WPA concurs with government, which announced that Roopnarine’s ill health was the reason.

“Our position on the Roopnarine situation is this: Dr. Roopnarine remains our first choice for representing in parliament and the government. We recognise that Dr.

Roopnarine has to consult with his family, he has to consult with our party, and he has to consult with the president and the government, and I think he tendered his resignation and the President asked him to stay on and he has to weigh that very carefully.” Hinds said that his party has taken the position that it defers to Dr. Roopnarine’s judgement as to whether he can continue to function in office.

The panel was reminded that the party had said recently, that two years ago it was not consulted on Roopnarine’s appointment in 2015. However, the air was cleared by Ogunseye who said that the party was never against Roopnarine being appointed to a ministerial position, but rather, was unhappy with the procedure that was employed.

“He (Roopnarine) was our

candidate and we had expected him to have a governmental position, but we felt that the way in which it was done was not in keeping with what we expect coming from our relationship with APNU. So it was never a question of Roopnarine is not the right person, he was always the right person, but it is we who should formally make the appointment.”

Further, it was asked whether the party was briefed

by Dr. Roopnarine concerning his resignation, and if not, whether he spoke with the party afterwards. According to the WPA Chairperson, Dr. Roopnarine did speak with her on the matter.

Hinds said that when Roopnarine met with President Granger he would have gone into the meeting knowing fully that the party has deferred all judgement to him on the matter.

Further, Hinds said that in light of Dr. Roopnarine’s health status, he will be assisted in carrying out his functions that come with his new post to head the Public Service Ministry and that the WPA will offer whatever support is needed.

Hinds also said that although the party was not vocal and observant of Dr. Roopnarine while serving as Minister of Education, the party will be doing the opposite from now on.

From page 16 at the High Court in Georgetown for the murder of 25-year-old mechanic of Madewini, Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara Pooran Baljit.

It was reported that Baljit was stabbed to death right next to the room his parents were sleeping in at their home.

He was discovered with his head hanging out of his bedroom window with blood flowing from the stab wounds he received to his shoulder and stomach.

WINSTON LONG, JAMAL JOSEPH AND TESHAWN MCKENZIE Earlier this year, he appeared before a city court

charged with assaulting Police Corporal D e t e c t i v e Derwin Eastman, the Subordinate Officer (SO) in charge of the Plain Clothes Patrol section at the Ruimveldt Police Station.

He was also charged for allegedly behaving in a disorderly manner while in custody at the Brickdam Police Station.

Meanwhile, Jamal Joseph is accused of inflicting grievous bodily while Teshawn McKenzie is charged for robbery under-arms.

Kendall Skeete who also escaped from the Lusignan prison and was recaptured yesterday at his relative's abandon house at Wismar,

Linden is likely to be charged soon.

The Joint Services are still to recapture five escapees from the Lusignan Prison Clive Forde, Paul Goriah, Shawn Harris, Kerry Cromwell and Pascal Smith.

They are also still to recapture double-murder accused Uree Varswyck called Malcolm Gordon; Bartica and Lusignan Massacre killer Mark Royden Durant called 'Royden Williams' and 'Smallie'; murder accused Stafrei Hopkinson Alexander and murder accused Cobena Stephens called 'OJ' who all escaped from the Camp Street prison on July 9 during a fire. (Feona Morrison)

From page 20 world where the majority of the population does not come from that country. They used their oil money to create infrastructure, then they invite people to come in, and that is how they make their money.

Using Dubai's most recent infrastructural projects as a reference, Dr. Stanislas stressed, “Dubai makes money from business not oil, so nurture a society for investment.

The UK expert said that all wise economic leaders want to

create an environment to do business.

He then noted that he was on his first visit to Guyana, but had visited almost all other Caribbean jurisdictions.

“Why? That's a serious question?

Why didn't I come here before? That means the country has not benefitted from my tourist money” Dr. Stanislas said that policy makers need to figure out a way to make Guyana more friendly to business and tourists, but not at the expense

of the population.

Indeed, efforts made by the People Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) administration in previous years to present Guyana as business-friendly were deemed a burden to Guyanese.

The PPP/C government had granted “concessions galore” to several companies, saying that this was a strategy to encourage investment.

The government had also allowed certain entities to get away with what some described as “lawlessness.”

Dr. Rupert Roopnarine

Recaptured prison escapees charged

“Future of Guyana's economy depends...

Guyana expects Manganese Production by 2019 By the end of 2019, Guyana is expected to commence the production of manganese.

According to the Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, before the fabrication of construction can commence at the Matthews Ridge, Region One mining site, the Chinese company Bosai needs to continue undertaking introductory works. Minister Trotman informed the Department of Public Information (DPI) that preparatory works are planned for the concluding part of this year and is inclusive of a “wharf facility at Port Kaituma” and the improvement of roads from Port Kaituma to Pipiani and

Matthews Ridge, along with advancement for the mines in the ore extraction. In addition, infrastructural works will be done to promote the procedure.

Bosai is anticipating employing a maximum of 1,200 people to participate while the construction is ongoing and 400 employees when the actual operation begins. The company while in production expects to “ship” some 350,000 tonnes of manganese annually.

Years ago, Manganese was mined in Guyana, also in Region One. A Subsidiary of Reunion Gold Corporation, Reunion Manganese Incorporated, has spent over US$50million to further describe what it described as

a “world-class manganese deposit in Matthews Ridge.

According to the DPI, “There is an initial 10 million tonnes of concentrate with the potential to double with the addition of the satellite site of Pipiani.”

Reunion Gold Production, a Canadian Company that was developing the mine sold the project to Bosai Minerals Group Co. Limited, in November 2016.

Bosai agreed to pay Reunion US$10 million of which US$5 million would be payable at closing and US$5 million to be paid at the rate of US$2.00 per tonne of manganese concentrate or ore shipped from Matthews Ridge once it enters into production.

Security guard remanded on robbery under-arms charge A security guard was yesterday remanded to prison after pleading not guilty to a robbery under-arms charge.

Twenty-eight-year-old Leroy Bagot of South Ruimveldt, Georgetown, appeared before Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts where he denied the charge read to him.

It is alleged that on July 19, at Cummings Street, while being in the company of another and armed with a gun, Bagot robbed the vir-

tual complainant, Alwin Robertson, of one Samsung Galaxy phone note three, valued $130,000.

Police Prosecutor Simone Payne did not disclose any facts in the matter but objected to bail being granted to the defendant citing the serious nature of the offence. The penalty the charge attracts and the fact that a gun was used to commit the offence.

The father of three will make his next court appearance on August 9.

PAGE 24

Thursday July 27, 2017

Kaieteur News

Trump to ban transgender military U.S. sanctions Venezuelan officials, personnel, reversing Obama policy one killed in anti-Maduro strike WA S H I N G T O N (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would ban transgender people from the U.S. military, an action appealing to some in his conservative political base but sowing confusion about the fate of thousands of transgender service members.

Trump’s surprise announcement, in a series of Twitter posts, drew condemnation from rights groups and some lawmakers in both parties as discrimination with purely political motives. But it was praised by conservative activists and some Republicans.

Trump spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the administration has not yet decided whether transgender service members already in the military would be immediately thrown out, saying the White House and Pentagon would have to work that out.

The action, reversing Democratic former President Barack Obama’s policy, halted years of efforts to eliminate barriers to military service

based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

“After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military,” Trump tweeted, without naming any of the generals or experts.

“Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail,” added Trump, who as a presidential candidate last year vowed to fight for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.

Sanders said Trump had “extensive discussions with his national security team” and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was informed after the president made the decision on Tuesday.

“This was about military readiness,” Sanders told a briefing. “This was about unit cohesion. This was about re-

sources within the military, and nothing more.”

Some White House officials were caught by surprise.

A senior administration official said Trump had been determined to act for a while, but the question was the timing, with advisers split on whether to conduct reviews before announcing the move.

It was not the first time Trump has targeted transgender people since taking office in January.

In February, he rescinded protections for transgender students put in place by Obama that had let them use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity.

Senate Armed Forces Committee Chairman John McCain - the most prominent veteran in Congress, who was a Navy pilot and prisoner of war during the Vietnam War - called Trump’s announcement unclear and inappropriate until an ongoing Pentagon study on the issue is completed and reviewed by Mattis, the military leadership and lawmakers.

Wildfires hit French Riviera, thousands evacuated

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at one of the pro-government rallies.

WA S H I N G T O N / CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - The Trump administration imposed sanctions on 13 senior Venezuelan officials as the country’s opposition launched a two-day strike on Wednesday, heaping pressure on unpopular President Nicolas Maduro to scrap plans for a controversial new congress.

With clashes breaking out in some areas, a 30-year-old man was killed during a protest in the mountainous state of Merida, authorities said.

Venezuela’s long-time ideological foe, the United States, opted to sanction the country’s army and police chiefs, the national director of elections, and a vice president of the state oil company PDVSA for alleged corruption and rights abuses.

U.S. President Donald Trump spared Venezuela for now from broader sanctions against its vital oil industry,

but such actions were still under consideration.

U.S. officials said the individual sanctions aimed to show Maduro that Washington would make good on a threat of “strong and swift economic actions” if he goes ahead with a vote on Sunday that critics have said would cement dictatorship in the OPEC country.

The leftist leader was also feeling the heat at home, where protesters backing the 48-hour na t i o n a l s t r i k e blocked roads with makeshift barricades and many stores remained shut for the day.

“It’s the only way to show we are not with Maduro. They are few, but they have the weapons and the money,” said decorator Cletsi Xavier, 45, helping block the entrance to a freeway in upscale east Caracas with rope and iron metal sheets.

Overall, however, fewer

people appeared to be heeding the shutdown than the millions who participated in a 24-hour strike last week when five people died in clashes.

State enterprises, including PDVSA, stayed open and some working-class neighborhoods buzzed with activity. But hooded youths clashed with soldiers firing tear gas in various places including Caracas.

In western Merida state, Rafael Vergara was shot dead when troops and armed civilians confronted protesters, local opposition lawmaker Lawrence Castro told Reuters.

Local rights group Penal Forum said 50 people had been arrested.

Maduro has vowed to push ahead with Sunday’s vote for a Constituent Assembly, which will have power to rewrite the constitution and override the current opposition-led legislature.

Britain will ban sales of new gasoline and diesel cars starting in 2040 as part of a bid to clean up the country’s air.

The decision to phase out the internal combustion engine heralds a new era of lowemission technologies with major implications for the auto industry, society and the environment.

“We can’t carry on with diesel and petrol cars,” U.K. environment secretary Michael Gove told the BBC on Wednesday.

“There is no alternative to embracing new technology.”

Almost 2.7 million new cars were registered in the U.K. in 2016, making it the second biggest market in Europe after Germany.

Meeting the 2040 deadline

will be a heavy lift. British demand for electric and fuel cell cars, as well as plug-in hybrids, grew 40% in 2015, but they only accounted for less than 3% of the market.

Still, experts say sales of clean cars are likely to continue on their dramatic upward trajectory.

“Ending diesel and petrol car sales by 2040 is a step in the right direction but given that electric cars are coming anyway this is probably pretty irrelevant.

It’s a bit like saying we’re banning the sale of steam engines by 2040,” said David Bailey, a professor of industrial strategy at Aston Business School.

The car industry says that demand for electric vehicles will only reach a tipping

point once they’re cheaper to own than conventional vehicles.

“Much depends on the cost of these new technologies and how willing consumers are to adopt battery, plugin hybrid and hydrogen cars,” said Mike Hawes, CEO of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

“Consumers have concerns over affordability, range and charging points.”

The deadline was announced by the government on Wednesday as part of a plan to reduce air pollution.

The blueprint highlighted roughly £1.4 billion ($1.8 billion) in government investment designed to help ensure that every vehicle on the road in Britain produces zero emissions by 2050.

Britain bans gasoline and diesel cars starting in 2040

People evacuated from homes and campsites take refuge on the beach in Bormes-les-Mimosas.

(CNN) Parts of the French Riviera were evacuated late Tuesday and into Wednesday as forest fires burned swathes of land and threatened thousands of people, according to local police.

More than 10,000 residents and tourists were moved after a forest fire started near the coastal commune of Bormes-les-Mimosas, around 40 km (nearly 25 miles) from Toulon, one of the country’s southernmost towns.

Sunbathers lounging on a beach near Saint-Tropez looked on as a wildfire raged nearby.

Children played in the sand, while others snapped pictures on their phones, as flames engulfed pine trees and sent plumes of black smoke billowing overhead.

A combination of strong winds, high temperatures, and a lack of rain have fueled the fires, which took hold in the French Riviera and on the island of Corsica, off the southern French coast. Similar conditions have sparked blazes in Portugal and Italy.

Over 100 firefighting operations have been launched since the blazes broke out, with planes flying over the

Bormes area since early Wednesday morning, dropping water bombs on the wildfires.

Around 3,000 campers were among those evacuated from Bormes, La Londe, and La Lavandou, the prefecture of Var said in a statement.

Many ended up sleeping on the beach at Cap Bénat, a rocky peninsula in Bormesles-Mimosas, as smoke rose in the distance.

Matthieu Dany, a 23-yearold French designer who has been coming to the area for vacations since he was a child, says he’s never seen fires like this.

Thursday July 27, 2017

Kaieteur News

PAGE 25

PAGE 26

Kaieteur News

Thursday July 27, 2017

US energy secretary Rick Perry duped by Russian hoaxers (BBC) US Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry talked for 22 minutes on the phone with a man he thought was the prime minister of Ukraine.

But he was actually speaking to two Russian pranksters, his office said.

During the chat, the hoaxers raised the idea of using animal manure and homemade alcohol as a source of fuel.

The pranksters are known for targeting high-profile politicians and celebrities, including Arizona Senator John McCain and singer Elton John.

Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyaro have been identified as the pranksters, who were impersonating Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman.

“Secretary Perry is the latest target of two Russian pranksters”, said Energy Department spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes.

“These individuals are known for pranking high level officials and celebrities, particularly those who are supportive of an agenda that is not in line with their governments,” Ms Hynes added.

“In this case, the energy security of Ukraine,” she told the Washington Post.

On 20 June, Mr Perry hosted the Ukrainian president and his delegation in Washington.

On 12 July, his office received a request for a follow up phone call, and one week later the prank-call took place, US media report.

During the call, the two discussed US coal exports to Ukraine, Russian hackers, a proposed energy pipeline across the Baltic Sea, and a - presumably fake - new source of fuel derived from manure and homemade alcohol.

Thursday July 27, 2017

Kaieteur News

PAGE 27

PAGE 28

Thursday July 27, 2017

Kaieteur News

PM declares willingness to meet with social partners BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Prime Minister Freundel Stuart says he is willing to meet with social partners who have been clamoring for a meeting – but stated that it will not be behind closed doors.

The Prime Minister was speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, the day after thousands of Barbadians joined with trade unions and the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA) to press the government to meet with the social partnership over recently implemented budgetary measures.

Stuart was speaking on an opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) motion to discuss the issues that led to the protest – when he hinted that he might be willing to speak with members of the private sector and trade unions before a scheduled meeting of the social partnership on August 18.

“Whenever the meeting is held, it is not going to be held in secret. It is going to be a nationally televised meting when’re Barbadians can hear what the government is about, what the social partners are about….it is going to take place in the full glare of the public. I will communicate to the head of the Private sector association and other social partners when the meeting will take place.”

The Prime Minister’s decision to have a public meeting follows confusion surrounding what transpired at a meeting with the private sector last month.

According to Stuart, dur-

Freundel Stuart ing the meeting on June 21, last, a deal had been struck with the unions in relation to a pay rise.

However, the union leaders denied knowledge of the deal. They stated that the protest on Monday was to force the Prime Minister to meet with them to discuss a way forward for the economy.

During the debate in Parliament on Tuesday , the Member of Parliament for St James Central Kerrie Symmonds, said unions and the private sector marched Monday because of “the tardy response of the Prime Minister to their entreaties for further urgent consultations to discuss the debilitating and oppressive effects of the fiscal and economic policies of the Government”, and put forward a resolution, “that this House calls upon the Prime Minister and the Government to convene a meeting of the Social Partnership without further delay to ad-

dress the legitimate concerns of the two members of the Social Partnership, other Social Partners and the people of Barbados generally”.

“You cannot have 30,000 people on the street marching in protest and it be treated to, as though it did not happen,” Symmonds said.

At the end of Monday’s march, President of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Pedro Shepherd, Monday said his union wanted to “bring this Government to its knees” to force the administration to the negotiating table.

Shepherd told protesting workers at the end of a march against Government’s austerity measures that was the reason the BUT had joined the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union, the Barbados Workers’ Union, the National Union of Public Workers and the Barbados Private Sector Association in the demonstration.

Government gets nod to liquidate CFL PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The government has been granted permission to appoint provisional liquidators to preserve the assets of CL Financial as it seeks to recover a $15 billion debt left from the 2009 bailout of the conglomerate’s insurance subsidiaries Colonial Life Insurance Company (Clico) and British American Insurance Company (BAICO).

In the ruling handed down late Tuesday, appellate court judges Peter Rajkumar, Andre des Vignes and Charmaine Pemberton overturned a ruling by Justice Kevin Ramcharan and granted Government’s application for the appointment of two provisional liquidators.

The court also varied the orders sought by the Government as relative to the powers of the provisional liquidators.

Rajkumar told the court that the reversal of Justice Ramcharan’s ruling given last Wednesday, was justified and weighed heavily in favour of the application to preserve and protect the further dissipation of CLF assets, in the public’s interest, as taxpayers are the conglomerate’s major creditors.

Based on this ruling, Hugh Dickson and Marcus Wide of international accounting firm Grant Thornton, will be appointed joint provisional liquidators in accordance with provisions set out in the appellate judges’ order.

Senior Counsel Deborah Peake who represented Government at the hearing, insisted the State did not rush to have the company woundup. “We came to court when it became clear the company does not have the assets to pay its debt,” she said. “An insolvent company is not sup-

posed to be trading.

This company is not temporarily insolvent, this company is chronically insolvent.

“Since 2009, government has been in rescue mode to see what can be done to recover the debt without liquidation.

But there comes a time when enough is enough. This application is to stop the haemorrhaging of the company,” Peake said.

The hearing on Tuesday, was deemed urgent by Government as there was the possibility that a meeting of CLF shareholders also carded for yesterday, would have seen them appointing Kirk Carpenter and Carlton Reis to the board which would have given majority shareholders control of the board and thus, control of the company.

As it stands, Government controls the CLF Board by four to three.

Thursday July 27, 2017

PAGE 29

Kaieteur News

T&T, Guyana win convincingly as Jamaica steal thriller BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – Reigning champions Trinidad and Tobago along with Guyana stormed to convincing victories but Jamaica snatched a narrow win in tense circumstances, on the final day of the opening round of the Regional Under-19 threeday championship here yesterday.

At Conaree, T&T cruised to a 121-run victory over Windward Islands while Guyana beat Leeward Islands by 63 runs at Verchilds.

Jamaica made things exciting at St Paul’s as they chased down 147 to beat Barbados and get among the points.

Looking to make a strong start to their title defence, the Trinidadians proved clinical as they controlled the final day to keep the Windwards out of the contest.

Resuming on 117 for two in their second innings, T&T were dismissed for 207 with Saiba Batoosingh hitting 23 and Jayden Seales, 20 not out.

Ashmead Nedd … finished with four wickets for Guyana.

Navin Bidaisee failed to add to his overnight 39 while Sachin Seecharan made 44 on Tuesday’s second day.

Dillon Douglas (2-28), Lee Louisy (2-38) and Daneal Dupigny (2-42) all finished with three wickets each.

Set 288 for victory, the

Windwards started well but lost their way to be bowled out for 167, with Tahj Tavenier top-scoring with 57, Wayne Edwards getting 26 and fellow opener Kimani Melius scoring 22.

Edwards and Melius put on 46 for the first wicket but

Thursday July 27, 2017 ARIES(Mar. 21- April 20) You can help them with difficult projects. You can get ready to celebrate your new direction. Think about your budget before booking a trip.

LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23) You may find that someone you live with is not too happy, but you can't really do anything about that right now.

TAURUS (Apr. 21- May 21) Put aside any decisions concerning your position at work.

You have a tendency to think that no one else will do things properly.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22)

GEMINI (May 22-June 21) Try to compromise rather than having an all out battle. Plans to make physical improvements may lead to psychological changes, too.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) You are best not to discuss your personal life with others.

Emotional disputes will only end in sorrow. Join groups of a humanitarian nature.

LEO (July 23-Aug 22) Talk to an older, established individual about your present situation. You have been going through a period of change that no doubt caused problems with your loved ones.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23) Don't make unreasonable promises. Residential moves should be considered carefully. Don't trust coworkers with important or personal information.

You can make adjustments in your domestic scene today.

Avoid any petty ego confrontations; they could lead to estrangement if you aren't careful.

SAGIT. (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21) Help those incapable of taking care of their personal affairs. You need to spend some time reflecting on past experiences and involvements.

CAPRI. (Dec 22.- Jan. 20) Do your own research and be prepared. You can bet that you'll draw attention to yourself. Get the whole family involved in a worthwhile cause or cultural event.

AQUAR. (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19) Don't deny yourself today.

Travel opportunities look positive, but be cautious while driving. Depression may result if you don't get to do things your own way.

PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20) Your lover will be extremely sensitive and now will not be a good time to make changes that they won't like. Don't be afraid to speak in defense of others.

left-arm spinner Justyn Gangoo (4-30) and Navin Bidaisee (4-69) sliced through the innings to ensure the last six wickets tumbled for 73 runs.

Tavenier was last out after striking eight fours and a six off 102 deliveries.

Guyana, meanwhile, also had it all their own way against the Leewards. Resuming their second innings on 101 for five, they motored to 172 for six declared with Ronaldo Ali Mohammed finishing with an unbeaten 50 off 84 balls with six fours and a six.

He put on 64 for the sixth wicket with Richie Looknauth who made 28 from 42 deliveries with five boundaries.

Set an improbable 293 for victory, the Leewards made a good fist of it thanks to Javani Tyson who stroked 65 and Dimitri Adams who made 59, while Uri Smith struck 43.

They were struggling on 21 for two before Adams and Smith joined forces to add 93 fo the third wicket and repair the innings.

Adams produced a counter-attacking knock, stroking 12 fours and a six off just 70 balls while Smith was patient, facing 101 deliveries and counting six fours and a six.

Once the partnership was

NSC hosts “Football Coaching...

From page 33 Sports in schools and we are very grateful to the National Sports Commission for the opportunity.”

George shared some of the things that she learned on the first day which comprised of, “Communicating effectively and various systems that can be put in place to allow such. Today was a lot of fun as we learnt how to communicate and impart knowledge on our players.”

Among the players that were present on day one’s practical session was 15 year old Jamal Hinds from North Ruimveldt Secondary School and Fruta Conquerors Football Club. The lad related his delight in being part of the session, “We learned a lot in the fundamentals of football especially passing, I’m happy at this opportunity to be working with top quality coaches.”

Practical sessions are being held daily at the Ministry of Education Ground from 11:00hrs -12:30hrs and 14:30hrs -16:00hrs with theory from 9:00hrs to 10:30hrs.

broken wickets fell steadily and it was left to Tyson, who blasted two fours and five sixes off 94 balls, to provide the late flourish.

Ashmead Nedd led Guyana attack with four for 30 while fellow off-spinner Richie Looknauth picked up three for 58.

Jamaica sprung a big surprise when they came from behind to stun Barbados late in the day, thanks to Andre McCarthy’s 61 and Shalome Parnell’s invaluable unbeaten 23.

They were slumping badly at 36 for four but McCarthy and Brad Barnes, who made 13, put a crucial 48 for the fifth wicket to rally the innings.

McCarthy faced 86 balls and hit four fours and two sixes but was seventh out – one of three wickets to tumble for 14 runs – leaving the Jamaicans on 121 for eight.

But Parnell remained steady in 53 balls at the crease to see his side home.

Left-arm spinner Camarie Boyce was the best bowler with four for 45 while off-spinner Dante Niles took three for 41.

Barbados had earlier fallen for 133 all out after resuming on 33 for three, with Jaden Edmund top-scoring with 22.

David Bird (3-23), Kristoph Virgo (3-28) and Brad Barnes (3-62) all finished with three wickets apiece.

PAGE 30

Thursday July 27, 2017

Kaieteur News

INJUNCTION QUASHED! ‘The way is now clear for us to have elections’ - Claude Raphael

A high profile delegation including Politician David Hinds (2nd right) were present yesterday at MSC. (Sean Devers photo)

By Sean Devers Two days after the Guyana Cricket Stakeholders staged a peaceful protest against the Government of Guyana outside the Office of Attorney General Basil Williams to highlight Government’s apparent reluctance to address the issue of the injunction preventing Elections of the Guyana Cricket Board, the Guyana Cricket Administration Act and the alleged illegality of the GCB, it was announced that the injunction had been quashed, paving the way for Elections to be held.

With a scheduled press conference at Malteenoes in progres s y e s t e r d a y d i s cussing the issues and planning the way forward, which included another protest in front of the Education Ministry planned for tomorrow, former WICB Director Claude Raphael made a late and dramatic entrance with what he termed ‘breaking news’.

The former Chairman of

the GCB’ National Selection panel disclosed that he was just from a meeting with Attorney General Williams at his Chambers where he was told by the AG that the Injunction preventing the Elections of the GCB and their sub Boards (Berbice, Demerara & Essequibo) from being held had been quashed which now clears the way for elections to be held.

“The way is now clear for us to have Elections,” Raphael told the Media and a high-level head table which included former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran, TIGI President Troy Thomas and APNU/AFC Collation member David Hinds.

Raphael further informed that a meeting was set up by AG Williams for tomorrow with the Cricket Board executives in its Acting President Faizul Bacchus and its Secretary Anand Sanasie along with the key members of the Guyana Cricket Stakeholders, invited to attend.

Former GCB Vice-Presi-

Regional Under-15 Championship – 1st round BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Results of matches played in the opening round of the Regional Under-15 Championship here yesterday.

Scores: At North Stars: Leewards won by 36 runs.

LEEWARDS ISLANDS 87 off 38.4 overs (Jaivani Carty 24; Gaurav Ramesh 3-12, Romel Retemiah 3-16) GUYANA 51 off 15 overs (Anthony Williams 18; Kenny Sutton 4-3, Rasheed Henry 4-12) At Rubis Sports Club: Jamaica won by 43 runs.

JAMAICA 122 off 44.2 overs (Brandon English 25, Nicholas Lewin 20; Aneil Pitiram 3-24, Darren Samlal 2-14, Chadeon Raymond 2-15) TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 77 off 40.2 overs (Aaron Bankay 24; Rajiv Redhi 2-9, Brandon English 2-13) At Weymouth Sports Club: Barbados won by four wickets.

WINDWARD ISLANDS 103 off 50 overs (Jedd Joseph 20; Jordan Knight 2-9, Jacob Bethell 2-12) BARBADOS 104 for six off 38.5 overs (Jakeem Forde 30 not out, Tremaine Dowrich 25 not out; Jedd Joseph 2-12, Tyran Theodore 2-12)

dent Bissoon Singh said that he feels the purpose of tomorrow’s meeting is to inform both parties that the injunction had been quashed and not to negotiate any issue.

After Vice-President of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) Neil Barry, the former Guyana batsman, had given a comprehensive opening speech in which he said why this group of alleged ‘illegal’ GCB officials should not be running Guyana’s number one sport, Hinds noted that the impasse Management of cricket has had a negative impact on Guyana’s

cricket.

“It’s unfair and undemocratic when one faction is running the show since cricket is more than just a game for Guyanese. It is time that Government steps in. I will go back to my party (WPA) and try to see if that matter of the cricket Act be brought up in Parliament,” Hinds said.

Barry read a message from the Director of Transparency Institute Guyana Inc (TIGI) Alfred Buhlai, which said, TIGI is pleased to see this large reminder to the Government to execute its duties in a timely manner. Cricket is the

National sport which binds and inspires us most, and this long continuance of the lack of transparency and accountability by the present officials purporting to represent Guyana at the West Indies and ICC levels is corrupting the fairness associated with the word ‘cricket’ here in our country.

The Cricket Stake Holders may therefore certainly be assured that TIGI will continue to be concerned until transparency and accountably are fully restored.

Former Guyana batsman Mark Harper, Neil Barry, Politician David Hinds, TIGI Presi-

dent Thomas, Upper Demerara representative Marvin Burns, West Berbice Cricket Association’s Rabindranauth Saywack and Singh shared the head table.

The group says that now the road is cleared for elections of the GCB and County Boards, a new Ombudsman must be selected and the respective County Boards hold their election before the GCB elections are held.

In light of the new development, tomorrow’s planned protest has been called off pending what transpires at tomorrow’s meeting with the AG.

Centurion Dhawan regales Galle, India eye big total GALLE, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - India opener Shikhar Dhawan smashed a career-best 190 on his test return and combined with Cheteshwar Pujara to lay the foundation for a big first innings total on the opening day of the first test against Sri Lanka yesterday.

The duo added 253 runs for the second wicket to help India overcome the early loss of opener Abhinav Mukund and reach 282 for two at the tea break, scoring at a brisk rate of over five runs an over.

Dhawan, dropped on 31

by Asela Gunaratne at slip, hit 31 boundaries in his 168-ball blitz before throwing his wicket away in the final over before the tea break.

Pujara was batting on 75 with skipper Virat Kohli on one after a free-scoring second session in which the tourists went nearly run-a-ball.

Compounding Sri Lanka’s problems, middle-order batsman Gunaratne fractured his thumb which makes him doubtful for the rest of the match, if not the series, at Galle International Stadium.

With regular openers Murali Vijay and Lokesh

Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara set off for a run, Sri Lanka v India, 1st Test, Galle, 1st day, ©AFP Rahul indisposed, Dhawan and Mukund opened the innings after Kohli won the toss and opted to bat in the first match of the three-test series.

Mukund made 12 before edging an angling delivery from Nuwan Pradeep into wicketkeeper Niroshan

Dickwella’s safe gloves.

Dhawan decided to make the opportunity count and the 31-year-old had luck on his side.

Dhawan hit Lahiru Kumara for two boundaries in three balls and was lucky not to fall in the same over when he

slashed hard at the final delivery and Gunaratne spilled the catch at second slip.

Dhawan swept spinner Dilruwan Perera for a boundary to bring up his fifth test century off just 110 balls at the same venue where he scored his fourth in 2015.

Pujara needed 80 balls to bring up his fifty with a cover driven four off Kumara as runs kept flowing in the postlunch session.

Dhawan swept the spinners with contempt and became one of the handful batsmen to score 100 runs in one session.

The left-hander was cruising to his maiden double century when he charged out to Pradeep, only to hit the ball straight to Angelo Mathews at mid-off.

India all-rounder Hardik Pandya made his test debut in the match as did Sri Lanka’s Danushka Gunathilaka.

Veteran spinner Rangana Herath is leading the home side in the absence of their ailing regular skipper Dinesh Chandimal.

Scores: India 399 for 3 (Dhawan 190, Pujara 144*, Pradeep 3-64) v Sri Lanka.

Thursday July 27, 2017

PAGE 31

Kaieteur News

Priyanna Ramdhani in quarter-finals RHTY&SC, MS Cricket Teams and at Pan Am Badminton Championships Friends donate bicycles to Students

Priyanna Ramdhani (left) and Sara Michelle Barrios Chiong of Guatemala.

Guyana’s Caribbean & National Junior and Senior Champion Priyanna Ramdhani reached the Quarter-Finals Monday evening at the Pan American Badminton Championship Under-17 Girls Doubles which is being played at the Pan Am Centre in Markham, Canada.

She teamed up with her partner Sara Michelle Barrios Chiong of Guatemala to defeat Chile’s Constanza Naranjo But and Belen Troncoso Mandiola in a thrilling three setter.

Priyanna & Michelle, who have been playing for three years together, lost the first game at 23-21, won the second game at 17-21 and close off the third at 10-21.

They were to play yesterday to try and reach into the Semi-Finals.

In the Under-17 Girls Singles, Priyanna lost to Peru’s champion Inés Mendoza Rosell: 2119, 21-8.

The Championships is being played from July 24-28, 2017.

Batting failure leaves Young Windies with defeat

MARONDERA, Zimbabwe, CMC – A batting meltdown cost West Indies Under-19s another moraleboosting series win as they crashed to a 26-run defeat to Zimbabwe Under-19s in the second Youth One-Day International of the three-match series here yesterday.

Chasing a modest 237 for victory, the Caribbean side were well placed at 155 for four in the 34th over but lost their last six wickets for 55 runs, to collapse to 210 all out in the 45th at Peterhouse School.

Opener Keagan Simmons top-scored with 49 while Alick Athanaze got 46 and Matthew Patrick and Bhaskar Yadram, 42 apiece.

But they all perished after seemingly well set and no other Young Windies batsman managed to make it into double figures.

Seamer Dion Mazhawidza was the best bowler with three for 44 while off-spinner Taun Harrison finished with two for 34.

Zimbabwe had earlier raised 236 for nine off their 50 overs with Ryan Murray stroking 59, Dion Myers hitting 45 and Wesley Madhevere, 38.

Sent in, Zimbabwe were stumbling at 64 for three in the 12th over before Murray and Myers came together to add 78 for the fourth wicket.

Murray faced 81 balls and counted eight fours while Myers

struck five boundaries in a 90ball knock.

When they were separated, Myers found an ally in Madhevere – who produced a breezy 39-ball innings with three fours – to post a handsome 39 for the next wicket.

Left-arm seamer Javier Spencer picked up four for 35 while pacer Nyeem Young claimed two for 64.

The Young Windies had a terrible start to their run chase, losing Joshua Persaud (0) and captain Emmanuel Stewart (2) inside the first two overs to slump to eight for two.

However, Simmons anchored two successive stands to revive the innings and put the Windies back on course for victory.

He added 66 for the third wicket with the in-form Yadram, who struck four fours and a six off 56 deliveries, before posting another 45 for the fourth wicket withAthanaze who faced 60 balls and counted six fours.

Simmons was fourth out in the 25th over after facing 63 deliveries and hitting six fours but Athanaze and Patrick added a further 36 for the fifth wicket to keep the run chase alive.

Zimbabwe struck two key blows when they claimed Athanaze and Jeavor Royal (0) three balls part in the 34th over with no runs added to leave the Windies struggling on 155 for six and even though Patrick and Joshua Bishop (9) added 39 for

the seventh wicket, the tourists ran out of steam as the last four wickets perished for 16 runs.

The final game is set for Saturday in Harare.

Scores: ZIMBABWE U19s 236 for nine off 50 overs (Ryan Murray 59, Dion Myers 45, Wesley Madhevere 38; Javier Spencer 4-35, Nyeem Young 264).

WINDIES U19 210 off 44.2 overs (Alick Athanaze 46, Matthew Patrick 42, Bhaskar Yadram 42; Dion Mazhawidza 3-44, Taun Harrison 2-34).

Twenty less fortunate students and one elderly educator last weekend received bicycles from the eight cricket teams of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, MS, and Friends of the Club. The presentation was done under the Club’s Patron and Say Yes to Education Programmes as part of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club celebration of its Patron, His Excellency President David Granger 72nd Birthday.

The bicycles were donated by VNet Communications, Nand Persaud Ltd, Food-for-the-Poor (Guy) Ltd, RHTYSC, A. Ally & Sons and Jevon Stephens and were donated to less fortunate students in an effort to make sure that they attend school.

Club Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster stated that all the students were from less fortunate families and had problems attending school due to the high cost of transportation.

Foster expressed hope that the bicycles would be used for the intended purpose and that the students dedicates themselves in the classroom as education is the key to a successful future.

The long serving Secretary/CEO urged the children to develop a culture of reading, research, dedication and hard work, while noting that poverty should not be an excuse not to pursue an education career as numerous scholars came from extreme poverty.

The Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, MS, he stated would continue to invest heavily in assisting youths to stay in school and would do everything in its power to make sure that every Berbice child Say No to Drugs, Crime, Suicide, Alco-

hol and Yes to Education, Sports, Life and Religion.

Under the Club’s Say Yes to Education Programme the eight cricket teams undertake a wide array of activities including scholarships, dona-

they know the importance of having an educational background.

Special thanks were extended to Mr. Sharaf Sherrifudeen, Mohindra Persaud, Jimeel Davis, Fizal

Kemo Paul and Safraz Sheriffudeeb of VNet hand over a bicycle. tion of school bags, distribution of exercise books, billboards, television commercials, educational competitions, Youth Information booklets, annual magazine and summer camps among others.

Vice President Mark Papannah and Asst Secretary Simon Naidu stated that the eight cricket teams worked beyond the call of duty to make the event a success as they were proud to have President Granger as the Club’s Patron and because

All and members of the RHTYSC for their contribution to the programme.

A special donation of a cycle was made to Retired Educator Mrs Kumarlall of the Belvedere Child Friendly Play School to assist her to fulfill her duties.

A grateful Kumarlall described the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, MS, and its eight cricket teams as a blessing from God and expressed best wishes to the President on his 72nd Birthday.

Cricket West Indies congratulates UWI on faculty of sports St John’s, ANTIGUA – The President, Dave Cameron, Directors, Management and Staff of Cricket West Indies (CWI) has offered congratulations to the University of West Indies on the initiative to officially add the Faculty of Sport to its courses of studies.

The Faculty of Sport at the University of West Indies is a welcome addition to the academic inventory of the Caribbean at this time.

The University continues to be innovative and cutting-edge in its academic development and this suggests that the region is preparing the next generation of leaders, managers and workforce.

The value this adds to the established sporting prowess of the region on the field, track, ring and court shows the extent of what the University believes is an industry worthy of investment.

We are pleased with the addition and wish the University the best in its efforts to support one of the fastest growing industries in the world.

CWI stands by to support these efforts.

Retired Educator Mrs. Kumarlall receives her bicycle from Speaker Dr. Barton Scotland.

PAGE 32

Thursday July 27, 2017

Kaieteur News

Djokovic to miss rest of the season with elbow injury

RHTY&SC, Rossignol Meat Processors, NSC, Bakewell, others donate cricket balls The development of cricket in the ancient county of Berbice took a massive step forward when once again the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club made a donation to twenty five cricket clubs.

A total of $600,000 (six hundred thousand dollars) worth of cricket balls were donated

Fernandes Ltd, Apex Insurance, Regal Enterprise, Claude Raphael, Survival Supermarket and Ronald Williams.

Among the clubs receiving the cricket balls were Bush Lot Rising Star, Whim, Young Achievers, Police, Kildonan, Chesney, Young

Club to get things done properly or to assist them than the Cricket Boards and Foster disclosed that over 90% of Berbice Cricket Clubs have benefitted from assistance from the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, while hundreds of cricketers have also received assistance to

tance and also wished the Club’s Patron, His Excellency, President David Granger a happy birthday and good health in the future.

One Representative stated that in moments of crisis and needs, his club is always confident that assistance would be provided by

Novak Djokovic BELGRADE (Reuters) Twelve-times grand slam champion Novak Djokovic will miss the rest of the tennis season, including next month’s U.S. Open, to recover from a right elbow injury, the Serbian said yesterday.

The 30-year-old posted a video statement on Facebook in which he said he had decided to let heal the injury which caused him to retire during his Wimbledon quarter-final against Czech Tomas Berdych earlier this month.

“I’ve made a decision to not play any competitions or tournaments for the rest of the 2017 season,” Djokovic, down at number four in the world rankings for the first time since 2009, said. “It’s a decision that had to be made.”

Djokovic then told a news conference he had decided to take six months off after consulting doctors and specialists in Serbia and abroad.

“I have been dragging this injury for the past 18 months and it has escalated in the last month or two,” Djokovic, who will miss a grand slam for the first time since 2004 at Flushing Meadows, said. “It became very painful at Wimbledon, where unfortunately I had to retire against Berdych.”

He said surgery would not be necessary, however.

Djokovic has endured a difficult 12 months on the court, losing all the grand slam titles he held simultaneously after winning the 2016 French Open. He also lost his world number one ranking to Andy Murray at the end of last year.

In May he split with his entire coaching team, having parted with Boris Becker at the end of last year.

Djokovic now faces the prospect of being outside the top 10 when he returns at the start of next year — although

he said he was already relishing the prospect of battling back to the top.

“I will definitely play in the first week of next season,” he said. “I have enough time to recover as the first tournament of 2018 is six months away.

“Having accomplished so much in my career I will find it difficult not to aspire to win tournaments.”

“Believe it or not, I am actually looking forward to playing the top seeds in the third or fourth round of major tournaments because for once the pressure will be off.”

Djokovic was troubled by the elbow last season and again this year when he pulled out of the Miami Open. He said it had also been difficult having achieved the career grand slam at last year’s French Open.

“That was the one I craved for because it was the only one missing from my grand slam collection,” he said.

“I have to admit that I wasn’t quite as poised after lifting the Roland Garros because I felt flat after all the exertions.”

The Serb will take heart from the resurgence of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal this year after they both took injury time-outs last year.

Federer won the Australian Open and Wimbledon with Nadal taking the French.

“Congratulations to both of them for their achievements this season and throughout their careers,” he said.

“The bright side is that now I have time to heal and build up my body and strength and focus on elements of my game that I never had time to work on.

“I want to play professional tennis for many years to come.”

Representatives of some of the Clubs pose after the presentation with Major Smith of the Ministry of the Presidency. to the clubs under the Club’s Patron Fund as part of its celebration of its Patron’s 72nd Birthday.

Club Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster stated that the Fund was established in March 2017 when the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club Patron, His Excellency, President David Granger donated $1M to the Club.

The funds were used to assist schools, sports organisation, churches and less fortunate youths.

The donation of the balls was made possible with input from Rossignol Meat Processors, Bakewell, National Sports Commission, Bissan Trading, Ministry of the Presidency, J.R, Engineering Solutions, J.B. Brothers, Fazal Habibulla, 4R Bearings, John

Warriors, Rose Hall Canje, Toopoo, No. 53, Fyrish, Skeldon and Tamarind Root.

The donations represent the third such donations to Clubs for 2017 and forms part of the effort of the five times Guyana Cricket Club of the Year to assist other cricket clubs to reach its high standards.

The Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, he proudly stated is the only cricket club in the West Indies that assist their rivals and also noted that the Club does more for cricket development on and off the cricket field in Berbice more that the present Berbice and Guyana Cricket Board combined.

Clubs in Berbice have more confidence in the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports

fulfill their potentials on the cricket field and in the classroom.

Foster urged the Clubs to use the cricket balls for the intended purposes and to work harder towards unearthing new talents for Berbice Cricket, which is in a state of rapid decline due to visionless and poor leadership.

Berbice Cricket, he stated is being kept alive by the hard working Executives at the RHTYSC, Albion, Blairmont, Young Achievers, Tucber Park and Young Warriors Cricket Clubs who receive no assistance from the Cricket Boards responsible for the development of the game.

Representatives of the Clubs all expressed gratitude to the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club for its assis-

the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, MS, a Club he described as the foundation of Berbice Cricket.

The Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, MS for 2017 has already assisted over 50 Berbice Cricket Clubs and schools with millions of dollars worth of cricket balls, cricket gears, stumps, scorebooks, trophies, medals, personal care items, educational materials, school bags and exercise books etc.

Special thanks are extended to all the donors especially the Director of Sports Christopher Jones, Marcel D’Haese of Rossignol Meat Processors, Rajin Ganga of Bakewell, Bissoondyal Singh of Bissan Trading and Mr. Mahadeo of Regal Enterprise.

Swimming world records continue to tumble in Hungary BUDAPEST (Reuters) World records continued to fall at the world championships as the United States quartet in the mixed 4x100 meters medley relay lowered the mark in blistering fashion yesterday.

Four world records were set on Tuesday and fast racing was plainly evident the morning as the U.S. team of Ryan Murphy, Kevin Cordes, Kelsi Worrell and Mallory Comerford posted three minutes 40.28 seconds ahead of the final later on Wednesday.

The U.S. time smashed the mark set by Britain at the 2015 championships in Kazan, Russia by 1.43 seconds as they qualified nearly four seconds ahead of the field. The mixed medley relay was added to the world championships two years ago and in June the International Olympic Committee put the event into the Tokyo 2020 Games program.

“It’s one of the most exciting races to watch,” said Murphy, who led off in the backstroke. Comerford led

the quartet home in the mixed gender event and Murphy said the Olympic addition was “exciting for the sport”.

He added: “A lot of people like watching individual medley because there are a lot of lead changes, but when you add in guys and girls it makes it even bigger.”

Australia’s Oceania record time saw them qualify in second, with world champions Britain posting the fourth best time. Australia’s otherwise quiet world championships were given a lift

when Cameron McEvoy’s bid for a first global title in the men’s 100 meters freestyle began in energetic style.

McEvoy, the world silver medalist, topped qualifying and was the only man under 48 seconds in the preliminary heats, posting a punchy 47.97 seconds.

Elsewhere, Japan’s Kosuke Hagino began his bid to become the first nonAmerican winner of the men’s 200m individual medley since 2001 with an authoritative display in the heats.

Thursday July 27, 2017

PAGE 33

Kaieteur News

Who will battle for this year’s Digicel NSC hosts “Football Coaching and School’s football title on Sunday? life skills” workshop for PE teachers Semis on today at Leonora

-Five day programme began Monday, concludes tomorrow The NSC is hosting a football workshop for coaches being conducted by two international Coaches, one each from the Netherlands and Suriname. The workshop which began on Monday, will last for five days, concluding tomorrow.

tical football coaching sessions were being conducted.

One of the two international coaches of the programme, Andre Simmelink, who works with the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) in the Netherlands as a Football Coach instructor,

issues to future World Coaches in their area.

From physical education teachers to former professional football players, men or women: anyone can become a World Coach. A World Coach teaches children in a fun and professional way to

Reon McNaughton (#7) fires in the first of three goals past Sir Leon’s goalkeeper Sherwin Luke. (Franklin Wilson photo).

Chase Academy versus Christianburg Wismar, Waramadong versus Annai, that’s the semi final fixtures set for today at Leonora.

While these teams have qualified for the final four previously, only Christianburg Wismar of Linden and Chase Academy of Georgetown managed to lift the title so far.

The big question is who will go through to the grand finale on Sunday.

Defending champions, Chase Academy have demonstrated the type of football that earned them the title in 2016, thumping Hosororo 100 in their quarterfinal fixture, while Christianburg Wismar were made to work hard for a spot in the final four against Buxton Youths, winning 5-4 on penalties.

Sir Leon Lessons have always been one of the better

teams in the tournament, but they lost to a rampant Waramadong 5-2, while Annai also proved ruthless, demolishing Berbice Champs Vryman’s Erven 5-0.

One thing these teams have in common is that they like to attack, so how well their defence stands up may very well have a huge impact on the end result tonight.

Chase Academy will look to the likes of Ryan Hackett, Adrian Arun, Kevin Padmore, Stephon Reynolds and Jeremy Garrick for inspiration against the Linden based team that doesn’t give up that easily, and includes the likes of Andre Mayers, Brentsley Allicock, Jamaine Kingston, Omar Brewley and Jernel Williams.

Waramadong have one of the most lethal strikers in the tournament in Reon

McNaughton, who scored a hat-trick against Sir Leon Lesson. Whitaker Paul, Javin Castro and Ravi Ruddy are expected to lend support.

Annai have the ability to match them and are booming with confidence following their quarterfinal win.

Naidison Daniels, Sherral Daniels and Orville Daniels are dangerous players and a lot will depend on them for glory.

From the look at the form of the teams, previous winners Chase Academy and Christianburg Wismar may very well be upstaged by the teams from the hinterland.

Fans are encouraged to come out for two enthralling and exciting semifinal matches featuring the best young talent in the school system on show. (Zaheer Mohamed)

Hamilton can equal pole record, take F1 lead in Hungary BUDAPEST (Reuters) - If all goes to plan for Lewis Hamilton in Hungary this weekend, the Mercedes driver will equal one of Michael Schumacher’s alltime records and head into Formula One’s summer break as sole leader of the championship.

Hamilton remains a long way off Schumac h e r ’s record 91 race wins but Saturday’s qualifying at the Hungaroring could see him equal the great German’s hitherto unmatched 68 pole positions.

A 58th career win for the Briton, and sixth at the circuit outside Budapest, on Sunday would send the triple world champion off on vacation with at least a six-point ad-

vantage over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

Four-times champion Vettel has led since winning the Australian season-opener in March, jointly with Hamilton after China, but the German arrives in Hungary only a point clear after 10 of 20 races.

Hamilton, beaten by nowretired team mate Nico Rosberg to the 2016 title, but winner in Hungary, has not led the championship on his own since last September but has the momentum after a crushing home victory at Silverstone.

“There’s lots more things that can come up in the future but I think the team’s really energised,” he said after winning from a career 67th

pole position, adding that Mercedes had “absorbed all the energy” from the fans at Silverstone.

“So I hope we can take that into the next races.”

Mercedes are 55 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors’ standings but team boss Toto Wolff was wary of suggesting the champions were the favorites again rather than being the ‘underdogs’ he had talked of after Monaco.

“The moment you say that, you go to the next race and are slapped in the face,” the Austrian told reporters.

“It is tricky. Our car is not always easy to set up and we have become much better at doing so in a great team effort.

Lads being coached during Monday’s session at the education ground.

This initiative is a collaboration between the government of Netherlands and Guyana through the Foreign Affairs Ministry to spread the goodwill of sport between the countries.

Head of the National Sport Commission, Christopher Jones picked up the mantle and gathered Physical Education teachers from around the country, especially those involved in the Digicel Schools football tournament and 32 coaches were identified for this programme which is dubbed “Football Coaching and life skills”.

At the Ministry of Education ground on Monday, prac-

related some of the topics that were covered in the first day that include the definition of Football, the Dutch vision of the sport along with basic coaching techniques and drills.

Simmelink explained that he is part of the World Coaches organization which is much bigger than just football and will also be teaching World Coaches values.

Since 1997 the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) has trained football coaches in developing countries across the world. World Coaches are educated so that they can transfer their knowledge on football and social

play (better) football and at the same time informs them on important issues such as the prevention of HIV and AIDS, and how to reduce crime in the area. In short, a World Coach is a role model: both on and off the field.

Oniffa George, a trained English teacher that is actively involved in football at the Berbice High School in Region 6, is one of the 32 teachers that are taking part in the 5 day workshop.

She said that, “The workshop is very important for not only myself and the other 31 teachers participating but to the overall development of Continued on page 25

Andre Simmelink interacting with some of the participants.

PAGE 34

Kares Engineering Inc and RHTY&SC Teams distribute close to $1M worth of school bags

Kares Engineering Inc Radesh Rameshwar makes presentation to the Guyana Police Force and Region 6 Department of Education Hundreds of less fortu- the Rose Hall Town Youth & nate students from schools Sports Club has been sharing drawn from across the ancient out school bags as part of its county of Berbice would ben- Say Yes to Education Camefit from free school bags paign and noted that over project that is organised by 12,000 students have benefitthe eight cricket teams of the ted over the years.

Rose Hall Town Youth & Foster stated that the Sports Club, MS, with major Rose Hall Town Youth & support from Mr. Radesh Sports Club was highly comRameshwar of Kares Engi- mitted to making sure that neering Inc. every child in Berbice The Parika based busi- achieves his/her potential in nessman donated 500 school the classroom and that povbags to the Rose Hall Town erty does not affect them.

Youth & Sports Club Patron’s In 2010, Guyana Sports Programme.

Personality Awardee hailed The Club during the holi- the massive contribution of days would be sharing out a Kares Engineering Inc and its total of 800 school bags to CEO Radesh Rameshwar for assist less fortunate students the massive investment into to stay in school and complete Berbice and stated that the their educational careers.

Club and its cricket teams are The Ministry of Educa- very grateful for the support. tion Region 6 Department and The Rose Hall Town the Community Relations Of- Youth & Sports Club during ficer of the Guyana Police the school holiday is curForce ‘B’ Division would as- rently hosting a five weeks sist the club to distribute half educational camp for Grade 6 of the school bags. students, share out 13,000 The Ministry of Educa- exercise books and assist at tion received 160 school bags least 200 students with footfor distribution to children wear, publish a booklet on identified as less fortunate, Climate Change and the Green while the Guyana Police Economy and assist schools Force ‘B’ Division received with some sports equipment 150 bags for residents living before school reopens in Sepin crime affected areas. tember.

The remaining school The Club would also be bags would be distributed by hosting its 2nd Annual Career the cricket teams of the Rose and Business Fair for Berbice Hall Town Youth & Sports School Children on Thursday Club, MS, based on the basis 14th September and would be of the students’ personal dis- holding several tournaments cipline, attendance in school for schools - Spelling Bee, Art and family income.

Drawing, Tapeball cricket and Long serving Secretary/ Essay during the month of CEO Hilbert Foster stated that September. for the last twenty five years, In an invited comment,

Circle Tennis action set for Thirst Park tomorrow Banks DIH United Circle Tennis Club will be hosting AL Sport and Tour Promotions on Friday in a Pre - Emancipation Day/Night Circle Tennis match.

The game, which will be an all female affair, is schedule to loop off at 18:00hrs and will be played 125 deliveries per team.

This is yet another game in a series of matches in an effort to promote the game.

Thursday July 27, 2017

Kaieteur News

Mr. Rameshwar stated that Kares Engineering Inc was delighted to be associated with the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, MS, and its effort to promote the importance of education.

Education, the successful businessman stated, is the most important asset a human can acquire and Kares Engineering Inc would continue to invest in assisting youths.

He expressed gratitude to the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club for allowing his Company the opportunity to be part of its list of activities.

The Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club would also like to express gratitude to the Regional Education Office of Region 6 and the Police Commander of ‘B’ Division for their support of the School bags Programme.

Guyana Amazon Warriors Camp commence

By Sean Devers As three-times finalist Guyana Amazon Warriors preparations for the 2017 CPL t20 tournament intensifies, all of the players assembled yesterday at the Providence Stadium for the start of a oneweek Camp in Guyana.

During the four-year history of the CPL, which was inaugurated in 2013, the Warriors have reached the final on every occasion except in 2015 when they lost in the semifinals and yesterday the Warriors’ Assistant Coach Esuan Crandon explained that some of the last batch of players arrived in Guyana on Tuesday night.

“We had a light training session today (yesterday) since some of the players only came in last night (Tuesday) and were tired, while some of them had to go to the Embassy to get Visas to work in the US. This is the first day so I can’t tell you about the fitness levels of the players but what I can say is we already have nice team spirit and the guys are eagerly looking forward to the start of the tournament,” disclosed Crandon, the region’s most successful First-Class Coach.

The Warriors play their first game in Florida on August 5 when they face St Kitts & Nevis Patriots and Crandon informed that the team leaves on August 2 for the USA and will have two days practice in Florida.

“We will practice for the next three days before the first practice game is tentatively fixed for Sunday evening under

Crandon says three practice games set for Guyana as Azam to replace Lynn

Assistant Coach Esuan Crandon talks about the ‘Warriors’ Camp which started yesterday. (Sean Devers photo) lights. On Monday and Tuesday we will have two practice games starting at 11:00hrs,”stated the 35-year-old Crandon who played 38 First-Class, 28 fifty Overs and 18 t20 games for Guyana between 2001 and 2011.

It was also disclosed that Pakistan’s Babar Azam has replayed Chris Lynn who is no longer available after West Indies U-19 Vice-Captain Kemo Paul had replaced fellow Guyanese Shemron Hetymer who was selected to go to England with the West Indies Test team.

The team which lost to two-times Champions Jamaica Tallawahs in last year’s final is coached by former West Indies all-rounder Roger Harper and will depend on,

wicketkeeper, Chadwick Walton, Babar Azam, Gajanand Singh, ICC America’s Jamaican Steven Taylor, Steve Jacobs and Jason Mohammed with the bat.

Afghanistan’s leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who befuddled the West Indian batsman in their recent series, should spearhead the bowling attack.

Full Squad: Martin Guptill, Sohail Tanvir, Rayad Emrit, Veerasammy Permaul, Roshan Primus, Assad Fudadin, Keon Joseph, Steven Katwaroo, Kemo Paul, Ali Khan, Gajanand Singh, Chadwick Walton, Babar Azam, Gajanand Singh, Steven Taylor, Steve Jacobs, Jason Mohammed and Rashid Khan.

Builders Lumber Yard continues support for Boyce/Jefford Classic VIII

Manager at Builders Lumber Yard, Nafeeza Salim (fourth left) hands over their sponsorship to Chairman of the Boyce/Jefford Committee, Colin Boyce in the presence of Managing Director, Avinaish Salim (third, left) and other staff yesterday at their Lombard Street location.

Builders Lumber Yard continued its support for the upcoming Boyce and Jefford Track and Field Classic VIII yesterday when it handed over its contribution for the August 12-13 Championships scheduled for Mackenzie Sports Club Ground, Linden.

Managing Director of

Builders Lumber Yard, Avinaish Salim expressed his gratitude for having the opportunity to support the event. Salim stated that they will continue to support the meet based on its continued growth over the years.

“We have been there from the start and we have seen

how big this event has gotten because of our support and others.

We will continue to be there for the Boyce and Jefford Classic and congratulations to the organisers for hosting yet another year,” Salim said.

The eighth year of

Guyana’s most lucrative track and field championships will have 12 Finals on Saturday, August 12 along with all preliminary rounds and 24 Finals on Sunday August 13; the event began in 2010 at the same venue and has grown to become one of Guyana’s premier sports events.