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GUYANA No. 104065 SATURDAY JANUARY 10, 2015

The Chronicle is at http://www.guyanachronicle.com

GUYANA’S MOST WIDELY CIRCULATED NEWSPAPER

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Indian Gov’t bestows President Ramotar with prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award Page

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NBS dorms at UG vandalised

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Works on US$130M CJIA Expansion Project progressing - Dr. Luncheon

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Gang raped boy remains traumatised, non-responsive

President Donald Ramotar, sharing a light moment with Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister of India following the award ceremony. Also on stage is India’s Vice President, Mohammed Hamid Ansari

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GPHC’s Maternity Ward to benefit from $235.9M upgrade

Teixeira roasts Opposition over ‘wild offensive’ statements – says the power to respond, lies with the electorate

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday January 10, 2015

Indian Gov’t bestows President Ramotar with prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award

India’s Vice President, Mohammed Hamid Ansari, decorating President Donald Ramotar with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman medal the prestigious PravaRESIDENT Donald si Bharatiya Samman Ramotar yesterday Award. This honour is was presented with endowed on individuals of

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exceptional merit and is in appreciation of their roles in India’s growth.

He was honoured for his immense contribution in the field of public service and for fostering ties between India and Guyana.

He was among 15 non-residential Indians (NRIs) who were honoured.

The Award is conferred on an NRI, Person of Indian Origin or an organisation or institution established and run by NRIs or Persons of Indian Origin, who has made significant contribution in any one of the following fields: better understanding abroad of India, support to India’s causes and concerns in a tangible way, building closer links between India, the overseas Indian community and their country of residence, social and humanitarian causes in India or abroad, welfare of the local Indian community, and philanthropic and charitable work, eminence in one’s field or outstanding work.

The award ceremony, held in Mahatma Mandir

Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India, concluded the threeday Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention which was attended by approximately 4,000 delegates from different countries.

The Convention is an initiative to connect India to its vast overseas diaspora, and bring their knowledge, expertise and skills, to a common platform. This flagship event has been coordinated by the Government of India, through the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), since 2003

PBD is celebrated on January 9, every year to mark the contribution of the Overseas Indian Community in the development of India. This date was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion, in memory of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi, who returned to India from South Africa on this day in 1915, and who led India’s freedom struggle, which changed the lives of Indians forever.

These conventions provide a platform to the Over-

seas Indian Community, allowing them to engage with the government and people of the country, as part of their ancestral history and for mutually beneficial activities.

They are also very useful in networking among the overseas Indians, residing in various parts of the world, enabling them to share their experiences in various fields.

The occasions also provide a forum for discussing key issues concerning the Indian Diaspora. (GINA)

A smiling President Donald Ramotar with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 10, 2015

Teixeira roasts Opposition over ‘wild offensive’ statements – says the power to respond, lies with the electorate

“Every Guyanese people should be offended… is the Opposition saying that farmers who borrow money from the bank, who cultivate their lands, who sell their produce, who take that money and buy equipment and fix up their houses…..that these are criminals?

This fact is confusing to the Opposition as they aren’t comprised of the traditional middle class of years past. The new middle class comprises Guyanese of all races and they drive the economy.” - Presidential Adviser on Governance, Gail Teixeira GUYANA is a market driven economy, led by the production of rice, sugar, gold, diamond, timber, bauxite, services and other resources, and while Government cites statistics to tout the nation’s economic growth, it is the average Guyanese who help to drive and expand the economy.

This view was expressed

by Presidential Adviser on Governance, Ms. Gail Teixeira, during a recent edition of the television programme ‘Political Scope’ aired on the National Communications

(WoW) Programme and decides to start a hairdressing operation at her home to better her economic circumstances and again asked if all of these persons can be classified as criminals.

She cited gold production, and stated that it was miners—medium and large scale miners, as well as foreign owned operations—that are facilitating the high production, even amidst fluctuating prices for the precious metal.

According to her, the political opposition and its “so called” intellectuals are

One of the many new housing schemes

Network (NCN), where she bemoaned the joint Opposition’s “wild” statements, which suggest that the successes of average Guyanese men and women are ill-gotten gains.

Teixeira was emphatic that these “wild statements” are nothing less than “offensive” to hard working, ordinary, Guyanese people. “Every Guyanese people should be offended,” she stressed.

DANGEROUS CATCH PHRASES Ms. Teixeira contends that the Opposition is peddling “dangerous” catch phrases, such as Guyana having a “criminalised economy” – comments that beg additional questions.

She asked: “Is the Opposition saying that farmers who borrow money from the bank, who cultivate their lands, who sell their produce, who take that money and buy equipment and fix up their houses…..that these are criminals?”

Teixeira alluded to the woman who gets a small loan from the Women of Worth

attempting to “fudge these issues with their “easy” – albeit dangerous – catch phrases.

“If the famer doesn’t produce and the market vendor doesn’t come to her stall and sell it, and there isn’t a group of people who can afford to buy it then she doesn’t make any money. She then tells the farmer, I can’t purchase as much from you as before… that’s the economy,” Teixeira said – adding that the basics of how an economy works are not hard to follow.

“They (the Opposition)

Rice being exported

have been simmering these things for a while since 2001, but they haven’t caught on… one has to say to the Opposition, if you live in glass houses be careful,” she said.

OPPOSITION’S DILEMMA The Presidential Adviser on Governance added too that the description of Guyanese as criminals is not only an offence to them, but indicates that the Opposition is stuck, while Guyana has developed.

“Basically it about the Opposition not living up to what Guyana has become,” she said.

According to her, the Opposition’s comments underscore the dilemma they now face, which is that the emergence of a middle class that is benefitting from an expanding economy – a result of the current Administration’s efforts.

“This fact is confusing to the Opposition as they aren’t comprised of the traditional middle class of years past.

The new middle class comprises Guyanese of all races and they drive the economy,” Teixeira said.

She noted that the Opposition’s criticisms must be matched against the emergence of a new middle class.

“The new middle class is made up of all Guyanese… people who are able to buy a house, buy a car, to open a side shop….this is the middle class of Guyana. The middle class of Guyana has emerged,” Teixeira said.

She explained that the

old middle class were something of an elite group, some of whom are represented in the combined Opposition’s leadership.

“The problem with the old middle class is that they are wondering where all these people (in the current middle class) came from…it is the new middle class that is driving the economy,” the Presidential Adviser said.

She stated that the political opposition should have a “mea culpa” moment and apologise to the Guyanese people for several issues.

POWER WITH THE PEOPLE When asked, Teixeira made it clear that moving forward the Guyanese people have options available to them.

“The public can do a number of things, ignore it (the Opposition’s comments) and let it die or respond to it and say you’re offensive to us and we’re not agreeing with it and we are not accepting it; and, by the way, if you contin-

ue to say it we won’t vote for your,” she quipped.

She also underscored the fact that the Guyanese people, particularly the electorate, are with whom ‘real’ power resides.

“The public has the power in their hands. The electorate has to know that they are powerful. Ultimately it is the electorate that determines the fate of this country,” she stressed.

Teixeira noted toot that moving forward the choices are clear. “Maybe after elections we can start again and try to find solutions to solve the political issues before us,” she said.

The fact that the political gridlock was not resolved during the prorogation was bemoaned by the Presidential Adviser.

“The electorate has to sift through the noise….I don’t mind if someone comes to me with an outlandish argument and try to defend it, but that is not what is happening, people are coming up with wild accusations and there is

Gail Teixeira

no rationale or justification for it,” she said.

Teixeira acknowledged the existence of challenges, but was of the conviction that legitimate efforts by the current Administration have been made and failed and now the fate of Guyana is with the Guyanese people.

“The people have to recognise that the power they hold in their hands will determine what happens,” Teixeira reiterated in conclusion.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday January 10, 2015

French forces kill newspaper attack suspects - hostages die in second siege

Members of the French police special force advance with their equipment on the Paris ring road near the scene of a hostage taking at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris yesterday (Reuters/ Youssef Boudlal photo)

(REUTERS) - Two brothers suspected of a bloody attack on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were killed when police stormed their hideout yesterday, while a second siege ended with the deaths of four hostages.

The violent end to the s i m u l t a n e o u s s t a n d - o ff s followed a police operation of unprecedented scale as France tackled one of the worst threats to its internal security in decades. The heavy loss of life over three consecutive days also risked fuelling antiimmigrant voices in the country and elsewhere in the West.

O ff i c i a l s s a i d C h e r i f Kouachi and his brother Said, both in their thirties, died when anti-terrorist forces moved in on a print shop in the small town of Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of Paris, where the chief suspects in Wednesday’s attack had been holed up. The hostage they had taken was safe, an official said.

Automatic gunfire rang out, followed by blasts and then silence as smoke could be seen billowing from the roof of the print shop. Amid thick fog, a helicopter landed on the building’s roof, signaling

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the end of the assault. A government source said the brothers had emerged from the building and opened fire on police before they were killed.

Minutes later police broke the second siege at a Jewish supermarket in eastern Paris. A police union source said four hostages had died there along with a gunman, believed to have had links to the same Islamist group as the Kouachi brothers, who was holding them.

HOSTAGES RUSHED OUT News footage of the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in the Vincennes district showed dozens of heavily armed police officers massed outside of two entrances. The assault began with gunfire and a loud explosion at the door, after which hostages were rushed out.

Reuters photographs taken from long distance showed a man holding an infant and looking distressed being herded into an ambulance by police.

Others were carried in on stretchers.

French authorities have mobilised a force of nearly 90,000 since Wednesday’s attack on Charlie Hebdo, a

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An explosion lighting the front of a kosher supermarket as French police special forces launch their assault, where several people were taken hostage near the Porte de Vincennes in eastern Paris. (Reuters photo) weekly that has long courted controversy by mocking Islam and other religions.

The Kouachi brothers were prime suspects in this attack when hooded gunmen shot dead 12 people including some of France’s top satirical cartoonists along with two police officers.

Security sources said the French-born brothers of Algerian origin had been under surveillance and had been

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placed on European and U.S. “no-fly” lists.

The violence raised questions about surveillance of radicals, far-right politics, religion and censorship in a land struggling to integrate part of its five million-strong Muslim community, the largest in the European Union.

Charlie Hebdo had long courted controversy with satirical attacks on Islam as well as other religions and political leaders. A witness said one of the gunmen in Wednesday’s attack was heard to shout: “We have killed Charlie Hebdo! We have avenged the Prophet!”

(By John Irish, Emmanuel Jarry and Ingrid Melander. Additional reporting by Paris and U.S. bureaus; Editing by Mark John, Ralph Boulton, David Stamp and Peter Millership)

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Dial-a-teacher coming, says Dr Tim (Trinidad Guardian) EDUCATION Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh said Cabinet has approved an initiative to allow students to ‘Dial-a-Teacher’ to assist those in need of extra assistance in preparation for the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) levels.

He said so during yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.

He said students would

be able to call a toll-free number “and connect with teachers specialised in various subject areas to receive tutoring and have problematic concepts explained.”

The minister added: “Alternatively, students can pose problems or questions to teachers on a blog and teachers, as well as peers, can respond appropriately.”

He said the teachers would be “housed at a central location of the Ministry of Education’s head office, which will be equipped with toll-free trunk lines provided

Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh

by TSTT.” Gopeesingh said the initiative “will allow students from all economically-challenged circumstances to access support from qualified tutors at no cost.”

He said suitable qualified and experienced teach-

ers would be recruited to provide assistance and coach students to complete homework assignments.”

He said that also would be done at homework centres which were to be established soon across T&T. Gopeesingh said teachers would assist at the SEA level in mathematics, English and language arts and at the CSEC level the subjects would be mathematics, English and integrated science.

The service would be available Monday to Thursday every week from 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm, he added.

He said the measure would be implemented and executed “between now and May.”

UWI lecturers holding back grades, until salary arrears paid (Trinidad Express) LECTURERS at The University of the West Indies’ (The UWI) St Augustine campus are withholding grades from students until they receive word from the institution’s principal on when their salary arrears will be paid, the Students’ Guild has stated.

The Students’ Guild Thursday said it “strongly detests” any move to hold students at “ransom”.

Semester 1 at The UWI ended on December 19.

Registration for semester 2 is scheduled to begin next Monday. However, with three days left before registration starts, students still have not received their examination results from last semester.

The Students’ Guild said it raised the issue of the withholding of grades with campus principal Prof Clement Sankat on Wednesday.

“The principal, Prof Clement Sankat, noted that the decision was in fact taken at the academic board meeting that the grades would be released later than usual so that the marks would be thoroughly reviewed to ensure that students were not negatively impacted by the new GPA (Grade Point Average) system,” a release from the Students’ Guild stated yesterday.

For the 2014/2015 academic year, UWI changed its pass mark from 40 per

cent to 50 per cent. The GPA system was also changed as a result.

“These results, based on a convening of the board of examiners meeting for the purpose of reviewing the results, would have been released either on or after January 15, 2015,” it stated.

Semester 2 is scheduled to begin on January 18.

“The university noted that this may have caused some issues for students in varying circumstances and assured systems would be put in place to ensure that students’ concerns would be addressed. This decision and commitment still stands,” the release stated.

The Students’ Guild said despite these assurances given

by Sankat it was discovered that there is an ongoing “impasse” between the UWI and its lecturers.

“However, recent developments revealed an im-

passe between the university and its lecturers, who are yet to receive retroactive payment from The UWI as the Government is yet to make the funds for this available,” the release added.

The guild said, “As it stands, a number of lecturers are withholding their students’ marks” after a statement issued by the West Indies Group of University Teachers (WIGUT) told them to do so.

“At the WIGUT general meeting, held on January 5, 2015, the meeting directed that all WIGUT members should refrain from entering marks for semester 1 2014/2015 on banner until such time that WIGUT is advised by the campus principal and campus senior management of the date that payment of arrears in salaries will be effected,” the WIGUT release stated.

The Students’ Guild con-

demned this action.

“The Guild of Students strongly detests any move to hold the students of the St Augustine Campus at ransom and believe that good sense must prevail,” said the Students’ Guild release.

“The guild would do everything in its power to ensure that the students do not continue to be disenfranchised and would work with the campus management to ensure that measures are put in place to protect the students from registration issues, failure to access tuition funding based on the inability to furnish a transcript, and any other potential issue,” the release stated.

Roman Catholics still await $2.2m for ‘Christmas cheer’ (Trinidad Guardian) ROMAN Catholic Archbishop Joseph Harris says the Catholic Church has not yet received the $2.2 million promised by the Government for bringing “Christmas cheer” to the less fortunate. In an interview Thursday, Harris said a representative of the Catholic Church had attended a function at the Diplomatic Centre last month and was given a voucher for $2.2 million.

“I enquired what the money was for and I was told it was to bring Christmas cheer to the poor,” said Harris. He said he then asked the St Vincent de Paul Society, which runs 19 homes across T&T, to ensure each home had a good Christmas meal and to bring the bills to Archbishop’s House. He said the homes had complied

and had already started sending bills to Archbishop’s House, though he added a final figure had not yet been calculated.

“If there is money left over after we calculated how much was spent, I will ask the Government what to do with the rest of it. “If it was simply for Christmas cheer then we would have to give the rest of the money back,” Harris added. He said, so far, the church had used its own funds to cover the costs incurred by St Vincent de Paul.

The Roman Catholic Church has 62 parishes in T&T, with 125 worship centres and is the country’s largest church. It is undertaking a major funding drive to restore the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Independence Square, Port-of-Spain.

Police warn against keeping some dogs as pets (Jamaica Gleaner) THE St Ann police are warning members of the public against purchasing of certain breeds of dogs, such as pit bulls, as pets.

The warning follows the death of a two-year-old boy in Cardiff Hall on Monday.

The child, Maximillian Guscott, who was an American, was attacked and mauled to death by about six dogs, said to include bull mastiffs.

The child who was vacationing in Jamaica, was

reportedly at home with teenaged relatives when the incident happened.

His mother, who was hospitalised in the aftermath of the incident, was released on Tuesday.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Michael Young, says the investigation has stalled as the police are not able to question the children without an adult being present.

He says the mother is not yet in a position to facilitate that.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE January Saturday 10, 2015

GUYANA

EDITORIAL

Where are we going?

THE New Year has just begun and already we are seeing the absurdity of political propositions and arguments bandied around by seemingly intelligent, but washed up political wannabes.

Terms like nacro-state, dictatorship, criminalised state, failed state, etc, all of which lack the application of basic common sense, or are steeped in a kind of hypocrisy and double standard that challenge any rational mind, seem to be quite fashionable.

It is quite amusing to see how these people place value on sounding assured and confident and how they reward themselves for stating opinions which they expect others to believe and embrace as facts.

Unfortunately, like a thief in the night, egos slither forward to occupy center stage. Subtle changes are brought about – from being people centered to ego centered and from empathy to arrogance.

It chinks away at our armour of decency and tolerance, and distance us from our morality and the very people in whose name we purport to act. We develop a deep aversion to listen to anyone who expresses new, different or challenging positions.

When we attempt to listen to others, it is just long enough to determine the intersecting point of argument that may confirm out positions.

In this increasingly complex world, it is impossible to see for ourselves most of what is going on irrespective of our assumption to knowledge. To see more of this complexity is to be inclusive. It means involving others and dropping likes, dislikes and most of all assumptions of entitlements, status and authority.

It means asking others for their perspectives and experience knowing fully well that we are opening

ourselves to differing, maybe equally viable visions, some of which will have the emotional energy to rock our comfort zones. It means embracing diversity with all its discomforts.

As we open ourselves to differences and if we are receptive enough, sometimes we discover that another person’s way of interpreting the world is necessary for our progress and development, even our survival.

Being challenged doesn’t mean we are wrong, inferior or someone is out to embarrass us, though all of the above can be true. Whether it is so or not, it is the assumption of truth which triggers our defense mechanism and which plays on our ego and pride.

Cleaving to any foregone or premature conclusion based on dogmatic approaches never serves us well. There must be some truth in both sides of any argument. And therein is a magnificent opportunity for a new beginning. Competing interests however, disallow us from seeing this, and from recognising our focus is becoming increasingly narrower. We see differences to the point where we are unable to understand our multi-faceted problems from an inter-disciplinary perspective.

For us to move forward, we must drop our prejudices, humongous egos, pride, vanity, self-interests and penchant for conclusion, and seek that common link from which we can proceed for our mutual benefit.

Admittedly, in the present adversarial political context this may be in the realms of wishful thinking. Given the often diverse and clandestine interest involved, it may be tantamount to calling for a dialogue of the dumb, deaf and blind!

But herein is the contradiction.

Today, perhaps more than anytime, we need to collectively find common

grounds for solutions to our multifaceted and interconnected problems, even if it means challenging long held concepts and re-examining old prejudices and conclusions. Too much is at stake. Guyana has made remarkable developmental strides. We cannot afford any reversal of our fortunes.

Leadership on all sides of the political divide must be held accountable by the people. Not to themselves or little self-serving enclaves of power baptised committees, but to the real people in whose names decisions are made.

History is replete with examples of sides purporting to struggle for the people while in their names they brought death and destruction on the same people by setting them against each other. We have seen the end results. Disagreements! Demands! Inflamed rhetoric! Threats to violence!

People are incited. We see violence, destruction, murder and mayhem followed by a ‘supervised’ round of negotiation, as if we are undeveloped ‘hard headed’ and backwards adolescents.

After all the mayhem and destruction, compromise is found; something that could have been achieved before the conflagration.

Yet, we hold our heads high and strut in bigoted arrogance. Within the political context we have made our existence relevant. We have created the conditions that will ensure our continued existence and relevance. Whether it be on the ashes of our own dead, a rapture of the national psyche or retrogressive human development, it matters not.

Our personal and partisan interests prevail.

Pre-conceived, entrenched and hardened postures are the precursors to failure and violence. Ideas and honourable intentions surreptitious-

ly transform as the issue mutates from solutions to personalities, superiority and triumphalism. The analytical framework is more often positioned within the context of past experiences.

As a consequence, most of the battles are fought on the grounds of past experiences, past hurt, past grievances and suspicions and not on what opportunities are presently availing themselves in this moment!

While the past is an ideal background to develop a perspective of history and a sense of origin, it cannot realistically lead to any real solutions. It is a bone yard of history defined by past circumstances, past conditions and past realities, all of which cannot be replicated with the same degree of exactness. Whatever linkages are there, they must be approached in the context of today’s realities. Not the past! Not the future, but the present! When we allow the past to cloud our judgment by infusing anger, resentment, prejudice and hatred, it becomes nothing more than a failure on our part to grasp this fundamental truth.

We become victims of

past circumstances which render us unsuitable for present leadership. Unless we are determined to go beyond the barriers of partisanship, we’ll never understand that there is no one race or people that is guilty. We are all in this thing together.

Either we swim together or sink together. Simple!

Quite often we speak about continuity, about looking into the past which will inform the future. But how much of the past have we allowed to destroy the present? Have we really used the past as a mechanism to positively enhance the present in a way that has positioned us nearer to our collective goals? As much as we would like to answer in the positive as a way of bolstering our collective conscience, we know that is tantamount to self-delusion. We are simply lying to ourselves and others of our own kind who are latched on to our way of thinking, those whom we have made clones of ourselves. This is precisely the reason why we are failing so miserably – romanticising with our past ‘glories’ while destroying our present legacy.

GUYOIL fuel dealers feeling the squeeze THE article at caption was featured in Kaieteur News’ Thursday Jan 08 edition, whereby a GUYOIL dealer complained about not getting adequate supply of fuel because of mismanagement of the company.

All the oil companies in Guyana ( GUYOIL, SOL, RUBIS) are affected by shortage of gasoline at the refineries.

This problem has been further exacerbated by long delays of oil vessels at the refineries over the Christmas holiday sea-

son.

During 2014, GUYOIL was supplied some 60,000 bbls (2,100,000 gallons) of gasoline below their nominated volumes at the refineries. During this same period GUYOIL’s pump price ranged from $45/gl to $100/gl below that of the competition. With supply constraints at the refineries and selling at very competitive prices on the local market, management faced great challenges in meeting the demands of

the local market and these challenges have been explained to our dealers, time and again.

Management will continue in its efforts to provide low price fuel to the local market and look forward to the dealers to be reasonable in times of supply challenges.

BADRIE PERSAUD Managing Director, GUYOIL

GUYANA CHRONICLE January Saturday 10, 2015

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There is only one race – the Race of Humanity!

FOLLOWING the publication of my letter – which the you ran under the caption ‘Let the National Healing Begin’, I got a call from someone who recognised I was the writer of that letter (which is of no consequence to me).

This person threw the following question at me, “Stephenson, why do you as a black, Guyanese man with a Buxtonian ancestry continue to write letters to the Editor of the Chronicle newspaper supporting that East Indian government?”

I responded by asking him three questions, “Can you tell me again why I must hate all East Indian people?

Can you explain to me why I must hate all things East Indian? Can you give me one intelligent reason why I must hate all East Indian people?” Of course, this caller was unable to provide answers to my questions, so I proceeded to explain to him that although my father was indeed Buxtonian, hatred of East Indians was not included in his childhood upbringing curriculum.

This conversation caused me to recall an article I had written a few years ago. In that article, I made reference to the fact that the placement of East Indian ‘Indentured Servants’ in British Guiana was not an accidental occurrence. I wrote, “Early in the colonisation process, the British thought it prudent to import East Indian ‘Inden-

tured Servants’ into British Guiana. The motive behind this policy was to ensure that Britain did not have a monolithic disgruntled African ex-slave population to deal with. British policy makers were certain that the African and East Indian races would not co-exist in harmony.

And such future discord could be exploited to the benefit of the colonisers. They were absolutely correct. Though political leaders representing both race groups at one point combined forces to fight against the British for independence, Britain and America were able, craftily, to drive a wedge between the Guiana African and Indian populations while at the same time keeping the country within their ambit and sphere of influence. The result is that, because of these manipulations, sharp racial division still exists in the society today.”

My father was a Station Master with the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) and was transferred frequently. My boyhood days were spent at Hague Railway Station on the West Coast of Demerara.

There I made friends with East Indian children my age as I interacted with them at the schools I attended. They were from Hague Back Dam, Hague Front, Cornelia Ida, and Windsor Forest.

Of this period, I wrote,

“By the time I was in my ninth or tenth year, I realised that as a descendant of African slaves I was expected not to have close association with any East Indian.

The unspoken public instruction was, ‘Do not mix with those people!’

I faithfully disobeyed both plainly spoken and implicit encouragement to separate myself from my East Indian friends. From deep within me, unexplainable and uncontrollable urges to treat East Indians as I would any other human being were rising to the surface of my heart. I could not ignore them”.

From my boyhood days to the present day, I do not respond well to people who tell me what I have to do, who I must associate with, which political party I must support; I also do not allow my prejudice or my emotions to do my thinking for me.

There was an incident that has been indelibly etched into my consciousness. These were the days when the railway was the principal mode of transportation. Here is my brutally frank description of the incident and its aftermath.

“I had to be about seven or eight years old at the time. My mother and I were traveling on a train going from one town to another. At one stop during the journey, an East Indian man and his son entered our car-

riage. The man looked nervous and worried. I soon discovered why. The conductor approached the man and asked him for his ticket. The man stated that not only did he not have a ticket, but he also had no money to neither purchase one nor pay the fare for himself and his son.

“The conductor was of African descent. As I watched him closely, he seemed to welcome this situation. Here was an opportunity for him to unleash the hatred he had for all East Indians on this poor man and his son.

‘If you do not have a ticket when the train stops at the next station,’ roared the conductor, ‘I will put you and your son off the train’. It was dark, and growing darker. The man’s son began to cry.

Amidst sobs he asked his father what they would do when they are put off the train. Electrification had not yet reached the country roads of rural British Guiana. I could envision this unfortunate man and his son encountering considerable difficulties and dangers as they try to find their way home. I could

bear this no longer.

“I tore away from my mother and walked up to the conductor. I asked the conductor how much the fare was. When he told me, I handed the East Indian man a coin that represented more than the fare for him and his son. The man took the coin I placed in his hand and paid the conductor. The conductor did not have enough money to give the East Indian man his change. The conductor was now confused. He had to ask the East Indian man, whom he was only a few minutes ago threatening to throw off the train, to be patient with him while he tried to muster the necessary change to give him.

“It was only after I had given the Indian man the money to pay the fare that other people –adults – found their hearts and began to offer the man money. He – rightly, in my view – refused their belated help.

“That night, as a child, I pondered man’s inhumanity to man. I reflected on the undisguised glee of the conductor at the opportunity to administer cruel treatment to fellow human beings, one

of them a child. I thought of the people who were prepared to do nothing to help that unfortunate man until shamed by my action. This incident changed me forever”.

Evidence in Guyana’s political history confirms the fact there was only one leader who made repeated sincere proposals, offers, and efforts – even making magnanimous compromises – to put together a government comprising all the race groups in Guyana with the principal aim of ending our racial divisions and conflicts: Dr. Cheddi Jagan! And repeatedly he was rebuffed by a power drunk political leadership who were so inebriated by the delusion of the supposed African qualitative superiority over the East Indian that they failed to notice they were mere puppets dangling on the strings of Britain and America.

And so here I stand today, an apologetic unifier who affirm, “There is only one race – the Race of Humanity”!

WILBERT M. STEPHENSON

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GUYANA CHRONICLE January Saturday 10, 2015

Essequibo woman brutally GPHC’s Maternity Ward to by burglars benefit from $235.9M upgrade -afterraped reputed husband beaten

AS Government strives to ensure its citizens benefit from a higher quality of health care, there has been continuous investment in the development of facilities.

In this light, $235.9M million have been approved for extension of the Maternity Ward at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). Speaking to the Government Information Agency (GINA), GPHC’s Director of Facilities Management, Kamal Haricharan, noted that the money which was approved for the project will see the addition of 70 beds for pre-natal as well as post-natal care, and will also cater for the addition of a new operating theatre to ease the burden on the two existing ones at the ward, especially in what is known as ‘peak periods.’

Part of this funding will also be used for re-designing the 24-bed level, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the hospital, which has been delivering a greater level of care to neonates since its establishment.

into unconsciousness

The maternity ward at the GPHC $50M had been budgeted for this project in 2014, but the money had been used as a consulting fee.

Upgrade works on the ward are expected to commence in early February.

The Health Ministry

continues to work towards achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) #5, which is to reduce, by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015, the maternal/mortality ratio.

Also, in 2014, the sum of $22.6 million was allocated for the establishment of maternity and waiting homes in Lethem and Bartica, to cater for antenatal high-risk mothers. (GINA)

Tourism Ministry gets Investigation continues into $220M to construct multi-million dollar robbery of remigrant, brother call centres

By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally THE Ministry of Tourism has been granted a “no-objection” by cabinet for the construction of two call-centres at a cost of $220M. During his weekly press conference held at the Office of the President, the Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr Roger Luncheon, related that cabinet has given its “no-objection” for the construction of two call centres, one at Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo and the other at Enmore on the East Coast of Demerara.

According to the HPS, the cost for the centre at Tuschen will amount to some $114M and the centre that will be located at Enmore will be $106M. Dr Luncheon said that

another project under the Ministry of Tourism was given cabinet’s “no- objection” and this time it was for a consulting firm for the digitalisation of records at the Deeds Registry and SubRegistries.

He explained that the go ahead was given for a “single sourcing of a consulting firm for the digitalisation of immovable records and the establishment of an electronic data base with linkages between the Deeds Registry and sub-registries.”

The HPS noted that the cost for this project will be some $40M and this will enable the Deeds Registry to be able to access efficiently, records also from the sub-registries at Berbice and Suddie in Essequibo.

AS Berbice sleuths continue their investigation into the multi-million dollar robbery on a remigrant and his visiting brother, no one has as yet been arrested, though the police are working on several leads, including voice recognition.

On Wednesday evening last, Nankishore Taijram was aback of his yard at Lot 42 Number 62 Village, Corentyne, where he was accosted by three armed, masked men who sought information about his overseas -based sibling, PooranTaijram.Pooran had days earlier returned to Guyana for a vacation.

Having revealed that his brother was in the house ahead, Nankishore was subsequently tied with rope and was taken to the house a few feet away, where he called on his sibling .

According to him, the three bandits were armed with two knives, a hand gun and a shotgun , which were used to terrorise them, whilst demands were made for money , jewels and liquor among other items .

However, the remigrant confessed that while he was brutalised by the intruders, his siblings suffered a different fate as a pair of pliers was used to squeeze his brother’s tongue, in an effort to get him to surrender his valuables.

After the thieves were satisfied with their booty, they requested alcoholic beverages which were given to them . However, two refused, while the other drank a beer, before locking their victims into the bathroom and escaping .

The brothers waited for

A MOTHER was brutally raped last Sunday morning around 02:00 hrs at Devonshire Castle on the Essequibo Coast while sleeping in her home with her 75year- old husband .

According to reports, the woman of Amerindian origin was dragged from her bed and brutally raped on the concrete floor of her home by two thieves who entered the home after breaking a window.

Reports said the woman who is the mother of several children from a previous marriage, lived with the pensioner in a common- law relationship at his home at Devonshire Castle main dam.

The pensioner Ashborne Mazarene said he and his common- law wife had a few drinks and retired to bed about 23:00 hrs).

According to the pensioner, he was awakened by some noise in the house around 02 :00 hrs and got up to investigate, but someone threw a liquid in his face that he quickly recognised as pepper sauce. He said his eyes started to burn and the persons whom he recognised as thieves started to beat him in his head, face and stomach until he lost consciousness.

The pensioner, who suffered cuts to his face and head and bruises to his stomach, said when he regained consciousness he did not see his wife. He said the entire

a few minutes before going to a shop a few feet away where they were supposedly untied and thereafter telephoned the police.

However, persons close to the brothers believed that the incident was an inside job, whereby someone had tipped-off the robbers.

Meanwhile, according to a police release, investigations are also continuing into a robbery committed about 07:30hrs on Wednesday , when vendor Hemraj Singh, 54 years, of Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, and his wife were held up at the Black Bush Polder Access Road, Adventure, Coren-

house was ransacked and his pension that he had collected on Saturday at a post office was missing from his pants pocket, along with his ID card and other household articles.

He said when he saw his wife at daybreak she told him that while he was unconscious, the two men dragged her off the bed and brutally raped her on the concrete floor. According to the pensioner, when the men finished with her she quietly came out the house and ran to the public road to a friend’s house for help. He said he found his wife’s underwear on the floor.

His reputed wife however did not return to the home, but went instead to her daughter’s home where she was taken for medical treatment at a hospital. The pensioner, also because of fear is now sleeping at his sister’s place in Dartmouth during the night.

The man said his reputed wife suffered terrible bruises to her back during the brutal rape attack and added that it is the second time thieves had attacked him and raped his wife.

He said the matter was reported to the police at Anna Regina and two suspects are in custody assisting with the investigation.

(Rajendra Prabhulall in Essequibo)

tyne, by two men armed with shotguns.

The perpetrators had exited a motor car with two other men and a woman as the car blocked the path of the motor canter that the victims were in.

The men took away $180,000.00 and a cell phone and escaped in the motor vehicle.

A quick response by the police on receipt of the report led to the motor car, suspected to be used in the robbery, being recovered at Scotsburg, Corentyne, and the arrest of a man and a woman. Charges are yet to be laid .

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 10, 2015

Legality of budget spending case…

AG points to procedural deficiencies as Granger's legal challenge continues Chief Justice (acting) Ian Chang on Friday continued hearing arguments into the granting of a Conservatory Order to stay government spending on programmes not approved in the 2014 National Budget.

Attorney General Anil Nandlall who is representing Finance Minister Ashni Singh began his presentation and is expected to conclude Wednesday next.

Speaking to the media after the hearing which is being held in chambers, the Attorney General stated that his line of argument is intended to show the procedural deficiencies that afflict the proceedings as filed. He said his argument on Friday was aimed at showing that the Finance Minister is wrongly named as a party to the proceedings as the State Liability Act clearly states that any action against the state should be brought against the

Ashni Singh

Anil Nadlall

Ashton Chase

Attorney General.

Further he said that he argued that a Conservatory Order is a special type of order that the constitution allows to be granted only when there is an allegation of the violation of the fundamental rights of a citizen. “In this action there

is no allegation that anyone’s fundamental rights have been contravened. This case does not touch or concern fundamental rights at all,” he stated. He further explained that as a result the repertoire of remedies is not available in this type of proceedings

therefore the court does not have the power to grant the Conservatory Order.

Replying to questions on what, if any, effect the granting of the Conservatory Order would have on Government’s spending in 2015 and the usefulness of

the Opposition proceeding with the action, the Attorney General pointed to the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act which provides the mechanism by which the state is to be financed until an Appropriation Act or the National Budget is passed. “That is standard in every year and a conservatory order cannot interfere with the Government’s ability to spend,” he stated.

He further explained that were the court to grant the Conservatory Order requested “what are they conserving? … the $37B was spent and the statement of expenditure has been laid in the National Assembly saying that,” he stated.

The Leader of the Opposition, David Granger through his attorneys in November last year filed an Action challenging the legality of Government’s spending the $37.5B on programmes

not approved in the National Budget. The Conservatory Order was sought to prevent further spending on the programmes after a Statement of Excess was laid in the National Assembly. The Attorney General has maintained that at the time of the filing of the Action (November 2014) most of Government’s spending for the year was completed.

The hearing is set to continue on Wednesday January 14 when the Attorney General is expected to conclude his argument. The attorneys for the Leader of the Opposition would then have a right to reply to the submissions by the Attorney General who is appearing on behalf of the Minister of Finance and Senior Counsel Ashton Chase who concluded his presentation on behalf of the Attorney General on Wednesday last.

Gang raped boy remains traumatised, non-responsive – 50/50 chance of him returning to normalcy

By Leroy Smith DOCTORS at the Georgetown Public Hospital(GPH) reportedly have told the mother of “Ravo” that he has been severely traumatised by the gang rape he sustained at the hands of 10 men on December 31, 2014 and his chances or returning to a normal life are now “50/50.”

This is according to the 18- year-old’s mother Deo-

mattie Persaud, who spoke with the Guyana Chronicle late yesterday afternoon at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

In the company of her reputed husband and another relative, the woman said doctors confirmrd that her son was raped repeatedly and that he was non-responsive, not talking and eating and is unable to independently relieve his bowels.

According to the woman,

she was not initially pleased with the attention her child received at the West Demerara Hospital and had to request that doctors there examine her son to see if his claim of being raped was accurate. The woman recounted her son’s horrible ordeal as was related by him to her.

She said that her son also implicated the uncle of his friend; his friend’s name was given as Romel and ac-

cording to her, after the boys did what they did to him and he reported it to the adult, the adult then went to the young men and together they decided to dump him out of the house and threatened to shoot him after he refused to move from the door due to the pain he was experiencing and his inability to move.

Persaud said that her son met Romel at a Supermarket where the two worked and she admitted that she had seen Romel previously, as her son introduced him as a friend of his.

The woman said that the police began investigating the matter, but someone went and deliberately stated to the police that her son was out of sorts and that he was never of a sound mind; hence his claims cannot be substantiated.

Persaud is however adamant that her son was a healthy young man and had two jobs prior to the incident on Old Year’s night.

She told this publication that her son now appears to be out of sorts, but that it has to do with the shock

and trauma that he is experiencing; something that she said doctors did confirm when they related to her that his new behaviour was one consistent with being traumatised and that he has a 50/50 chance of returning to his normal self.

Yesterday this newspaper was able to confirm that the police had arrested Romel, who is said to have encouraged the gang-rape of the teenager. He was reportedly being held at a West Demerara police station up to late yesterday.

Meet India’s first Cow Minister Otaram Devasi

By Akshay Deshmane (Times of India)

NEW DELHI: His community (Rabaris, a livestock-dependent tribe) traditionally addresses him as ‘Bhopajj’ or priest. He dresses up like a cow-herd himself: a long white cloth wrapped around his bare torso, red turban, dangling ear rings, et al. With a lathi in tow, he walks into everywhere, even the Chief Minister’s office in Rajasthan.

Otaram Devasi, 48, happens to be the Rajasthan’s Minister in charge of Cow affairs. As for him-

self, India’s first-ever minister for the ‘divine’ bovine likes to address himself as “gaupalan mantri”.

BJP and Vasundhara Raje had promised a separate ministry for cows in its poll manifesto. And when the party came to power with Raje as Chief Minister in December 2013, she promptly announced a ministry for the protection of cows, which was later transformed to a “department” after the move struck a constitutional hurdle since states can’t set up new ministries.

In October, 2014, Devasi was made minister of dairy

and devasthan — administration of temples that get government funds — with the extra charge of the “gaupalan department”. His responsibility also includes overseeing Rajasthan’s Gau Seva Commission and Cow Conservation Directorate.

Three months into his tenure, Devasi says he is proud of what he has done with securing the future of cows in this desert state.

And he believes he has set up a department for rest of India to emulate should any other state want to follow this ‘Rajasthan Model’.

Devasi, who himself owns “20-25 cows”, wants

the canvas for cow protection to be bigger. “I have sought an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Union budget so that I can impress upon him on the urgent need to set up a Cow Ministry at the Centre,” Devasi said.

“I believe if cows have to be saved then every state in India must have separate ministries for cows,” he says, insisting that he’s not being just rhetorical. So what about buffalos, goats, even the State’s official animal, camel? Devasi dismisses the question, almost chiding you for being naive.

“Cows have a spiritu-

al importance unlike other livestock animals. They must be protected at any cost. I would request Modiji to ban cow slaughter and, if need be, introduce strong legislation for that,” he says.

For Rajasthan, there are three things high on his agenda: clamping down on rampant cattle smuggling, introduction of a helpline number on the lines of 108 ambulance services to help cattle in distress besides starting a one-of-its-kind “sanctuary” for cows near Bikaner or Jaisalmer.

By his sanctuary, he mans a protected area full of green grass not far

Otaram Devasi

from the desert so that the cows, especially those of the indigenous breed, can eat and live in peace.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday January 10, 2015

Granger maintains no talks outside Parliament AGAINST the backdrop of a prorogued Parliament on November 10, 2013, by President Donald Ramotar, Leader of the main opposition, David Granger is maintaining his “no-talks” condition, once Parliament remains under prorogation.

The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) leader made this disclosure yesterday at his party’s weekly press conference where he reiterated this position, which was expressed since the time of prorogation.

Earlier in the week, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Lun-

President Donald Ramotar cheon had hinted at the possibility of talks outside Parliament, for the presentation of the 2015 Budget which is expected to be presented later this year.

This prompted reporters to

question Granger’s position once more, on the issue of talks outside of Parliament.

However, a stiff-necked Granger maintained that his decision not to hold talks once Parliament is prorogued was as a result of a decision made by APNU. “As long as there is prorogation, there will be no talks” the Opposition Leader said, adding that “I have certain Opposition roles to perform and those roles will be performed but as far as talks on political matters are concerned, there will be no talks, as long as Parliament remains under prorogation.”

The emphatic assertion of “no talks” was made in a letter sent on December 3, to President Donald Ramotar, which served as Granger’s acknowledgment and response to the President’s November 18 invitation to the Main Opposition for talks.

According to the Granger

Opposition Leader Brigadier David Granger camp, via a brief missive sent the media on December 3, 2014 and titled, ‘Leader of the Opposition responds to the President’, ”Brigadier David Granger, Leader of the Opposition, has responded to the letter from President Donald Ramotar, dated 18th November 2014 and entitled ‘Inter-Prorogation Dialogue’.

“The Opposition Leader

iterated that APNU would be unprepared to participate in such a proposed dialogue for as long as the Parliament of Guyana remained prorogued.”

Both APNU and the Alliance for Change (AFC), at the time of the prorogation, made it clear that they will not engage the President in talks unless the prorogation is lifted and parliamentary work resumes.

The President had always maintained that the need for dialogue was uppermost in his mind when he made his decision to prorogue the 10th Parliament. Paving the way for greater dialogue among political parties, he contends, would have kept the 10th Parliament alive to address critically important issues currently before the National Assembly.

Some of these matters include: The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism

(AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill, which is currently with the Parliamentary Special Select Committee; and the second reading of the Education Bill 2014, the Land Surveyors Bill 2014, and the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2014.

Also among the Bills scheduled for a first reading are the Food Safety Bill 2014, and the Motor Vehicles Insurance (Third Party Risks) (Amendment) Bill 2014. Other important matters before the National Assembly include the appointment of Members to the Rights of the Child Commission (ROC) and the Women and Gender Equality Commission. (Ravin Singh) The President also made it clear that if these efforts prove futile, there will be a move to early general elections which is expected to be announced soon.

NBS dorms at UG vandalised STUDENTS of the University of Guyana (UG) Turkeyen campus suffered a severe loss of laptops, phones and clothing among other items, after thieves vandalised their rooms in the New Building Society (NBS) Hall of Residence dorms just after the Christmas season.

The University’s online news entity, Splash, detailed that students returning from their holiday break were greeted with missing doors to their dorms and discovered that other possessions, such as laptops and phones, among their other belongings, had gone missing. It

The vandalised New Building Society (NBS) Hall of Residence dorms at the University of Guyana Manager, Mr. Hugh Gibson, was obvious that the dorms thieves. but those attempts have had been vandalised by The University of Guy- proven futile. ana was officially closed Security measures imon December 19 last and is plemented on the campus slated to reopen for the sec- since last semester consisted ond semester on January 26. of identifying and inspectThe students are in jeopardy ing those who use either of because the laptops, an ideal the university’s entrances. tool for delivering academic This has been augmented work, have all been stolen. with the addition of 12 seThis incident has sig- curity cameras to bolster nalled the violation of the safety of the students. The nouncement Wednesday at University’s security system campus uses contract secuhis weekly post-Cabinet press even though the security rity personnel from Massey briefing at the Office of the unit has, for quite a while, Security, but this latest inciPresident, in Georgetown.

Dr. Luncheon further inbeen implementing strin- dent has caused Gibson to formed that Deputy Permagent measures to prevent now have the intention to nent Secretary in the Minisbreakages and burglaries. employ an in-house security try of Tourism, Industry and The publication Splash has force to effectively oversee Commerce, Dhaneshwar Desaid that attempts have been security at both the Turonarine, has been appointed made to get comments from keyen and Tain campuses.

Acting Permanent Secretary the University’s Security (Shivanie Sugrim) within that ministry.

Findlay appointed PS at Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security DEPUTY Permanent Secretary Patrick Findlay has been appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, with responsibility in the Labour sector.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon made the an-

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 10, 2015

IAC congratulates PM Modi, President Ramotar - for continuing to strengthen relations between India, Guyana

THE Indian Arrival Committee (IAC) has commended the Prime Minister of India, Hon. Narendra Singh Modi for recognising Guyana and the contributions made by President Donald Ramotar.

It noted that this recognition has led to the Indian government bestowing on President Ramotar the prestigious ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Samaan’ award for his immense contribution in the field of Public Service and for fostering ties between Guyana and India.

The IAC, in a statement yesterday, said it believes that such recognition is significant and would serve to foster Guyana’s growing

international image.

“It is therefore with a profound sense of pride that the IAC takes this opportunity to congratulate President Ramotar on being the recipient of this high and prestigious award,” the Committee stated.

Also, the IAC said it would like to commend both President Ramotar and Prime Minister Modi for the various agreements reached during this latest visit to India.

Included are the intention of the Indian government to build a world-class Information Technology Research Centre here and the provision of funding to construct a major thoroughfare linking

the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara.

It noted that both of these projects would contribute positively to Guyana’s continuous development, and in this regard, the IAC welcomes these initiatives. The IAC said it is not unmindful of the tremendous assistance the Indian government has provided to Guyana over the years especially in the economic and cultural fields.

The IAC said it is therefore heartened at the continuous strengthening of relations between Guyana and India as was demonstrated during the conferring of the award to President Ramotar in Gujarat, India, on January 09, 2015.

President Donald Ramotar and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi having discussions following the inaugural session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas event in India

Works on US$130M CJIA Expansion Project progressing – Dr. Luncheon monitoring systems.

He went on to say: “We want to develop a hub, not only a regional hub for South America and the Caribbean, but also for Trans-Atlantic flights from Southern Africa and other parts going out to the East,”

By Navendra Seoraj AN Instrument Landing System (ILS) and Distant Measuring Equipment (DME) were relocated to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) at a cost of $56.3M, in the context of the CJIA Expansion Project.

This was disclosed by Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon at the weekly postCabinet meeting yesterday.

D r. L u n c h e o n n o t e d that the project is ongoing, “teething problems on just two occasions whereby officials of the CJIA had to resort to further engagements with Cabinet to review the design of the expanded CJIA.” However, he said that although they faced these two

problems, works in other areas of the project are still ongoing as planned.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES According to Public Works Minister, Mr. Robeson Benn the project will improve Guyana’s capacity to accommodate larger aircraft, thereby realising its potential as a hub for flights to and from North and South America and further afield.

Guyana’s main port of entry will boast a runway of a total of 10,800 feet, while the current runway precludes large aircraft from coming to Guyana, the expansion project will also see to the implementation of a new terminal building, eight boarding bridges, elevators, escalators, three dimensional x-ray scanners, flight information and security

Benn declared.

BIG OPPORTUNITY He explained that there are a large number of flights from Latin America flying over Guyana’s territory and the implementation of the expansion presents an op-

portunity for them to land here and transfer passengers.

“So there’s a big opportunity we’re foregoing if we don’t do this project,” Benn emphasized.

On an annual basis an average of 4,000 international flights and 600,000

passengers arrive at the CJIA, and these numbers are expected to double in the near future and by the year 2030 this CJIA project will also enable the effective and efficient handling of passengers and aircraft.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday January 10, 2015

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday January 10, 2015

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday January 10, 2015

Arbitration tribunal documents being reviewed by GAWU - Komal Chand

By Navendra Seoraj THE Guyana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) disclosed Thursday that they are currently reviewing the recent documents from the recently-concluded arbitration tribunal with their legal advisor.

This was according to President of GAWU, Komal Chand, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle.

The Arbitration Tribunal sought to look into the disciplinary actions in the case of Skeldon Sugar Estate worker, Daniel Stephen, after he was involved in an encounter with the Estate’s

Komal Chand Manager a few months back.

The arbitrator, Mohamed Akeel, after reviewing the reports from the parties involved decided to declare

Stephen dismissed and the tribunal closed.

GAWU has since expressed its disappointment at that decision in a release which stated: “GAWU favoured Daniel Stephen, but then, it seems, our experienced arbitrator rather suddenly experienced a sea change.”

The release also said that GAWU was flabbergasted by the conclusion of the report, wherein the arbitrator declared that Daniel Stephen remains dismissed although GuySuCo had suspended Daniel Stephen by letter of September 25, 2014, which reads: “This letter therefore

confirms that your summary dismissal has been recalled, and you shall remain off the job on suspension without pay until the outcome of either conciliation or arbitration proceedings.”

That apart, GAWU also noted in the report that it has vowed to pursue this matter at a different fora, and, “We remain convinced that our member is unjustly penalised and is deserving of our full solidarity.”

In the interview on Tuesday, Chand said the Union’s lawyer is expected to advise the union shortly, so that entity’s next step should be expected very soon.

LIAT announces reduction in fuel surcharge on tickets

REGIONAL Airline LIAT announced yesterday that it is reducing the fuel surcharge on tickets.

Chief Executive Officer David Evans said effective January 15, 2015 the fuel surcharge will be reduced by 50 per cent for all new bookings.

LIAT first introduced a fuel surcharge in 2003, in the wake of increasing fuel prices. In 2009 when the prices went down, the company took a decision to remove the fuel surcharge. However, in 2011, LIAT re-introduced the fuel surcharge in response to months of spiraling jet fuel prices. That year alone, LIAT spent US$22 million on fuel, or 18 per cent of total costs.

The price of both jet fuel (the fuel used by airlines), and crude oil have been falling recently.

Mr. Evans said, being fully aware of the impact rising fuel prices have had on customers, it is only fitting that they benefit from the decreased prices.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 10, 2015

Child Protection Agency achieved much in 2014, report shows

By Raveena Mangal IN 2014 the Child Care and Protection Agency (CPA) focused primarily on increasing inter-professional collaboration with other agencies for the provision of services for vulnerable children to reduce the number of those in need of alternative care.

The agency also fo cused on providing family assistance to achieve their objectives.

STATE CARE However, the demand for out-of-home-care for children continued to increase due to child abuse and neglect. This resulted in approximately 520 children being recipients of State care - children being provided with alternative care options by the State, though the separation of children from their biological families was done as a last resort, according to an annual report.

PARTNERSHIP The CPA forged partnerships with Child Link and Forward Guyana for “The One Stop,” a child-focused, facility-based programme in which representatives from key child welfare and protection stakeholders, including the police and the NGOs work together to conduct forensic interviews regarding reported child sexual abuse and exploitation cases.

The operation was able to provide care for approximately 50 sexual abuse cases and the agency further plans to have centers operating in Regions 3, 6, and 10.

Collaboration work is ongoing with NGOs for the establishment of the other centres through further partnerships with NGOs and local groups for responses to vulnerable children.

Additionally, 20 children were unified with their biological parents as a result of the CPA’s partnership with ChildLink in providing training, to the parents and families from whom the children were temporarily removed as part of the Parental Skills Development Programme.

RESPONSE AND ASSISTANCE As the agency continued

to operate its 24-hour hot line service, it aided their response to 2,181 child abuse reports, by September. The agency placed 262 children in alternative care arrangements, providing safe places and recovery for victims is still the bulk of the work of the agency.

The CPA was not only able to prevent the separation of 1,448 children from their families but provided parental education and training to 3,153 vulnerable families, enabling children to remain with their biological families.

FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION The agency which currently has 203 children in their foster care programme, faced many ethical issues concerning decisions to return children to their biological families.

While parents made changes to their lifestyles which caused the vulnerability of children and warranted their removal, subsequent return of their children to purportedly better circumstances were short-lived as the changes made did not appear to be lasting and the children may well become vulnerable again.

FOSTER PARENTS CPA additionally completed training for 45 new foster parents and 126 long standing foster parents in the communities of Linden, Georgetown, East and West Coast Berbice.

Children who were in foster care but were soon to ‘age out’, attaining the age of majority without family linkage, were given opportunity to acquire employable skills and other special training for independent living.

Three children graduated from the Culture Ministry’s Youth Entrepreneur Skilled Programme, three are currently in training at the Kuru Kuru Training College, one child was accepted into the Guyana Industrial Training Centre, two children have completed the USAID SKYE Programme in Georgetown and East Coast, while one child is currently attending the programme in the Region 3 community.

In terms of adoption, the CPA received a total of 153 applications for children and 121 were presented to the Adoption

Board for approval with five cases being denied and one pending.

During 2014, there was also ongoing training for staffers in the agency, particularly for frontline workers for the development of a competent core of professional workers. During the year the professional

officers were exposed to training in various identifiable areas.

Much attention was also paid to the staffing of the three State Care Centres in terms of quantity and quality. A special training programme with the assistance of an external facilitator was conducted. This

programme looked at the mental health status of staff by conducting an assessment of their competence through an exercise called, “Belief in Personal Control Skills” (BIPCS).

The capacity-building exercise led to the selection of eight caregivers to undergo personalised training

to improve their basic skills and to build on areas highlighted in the competence assessment.

The CPA in 2014 continued to work to fulfil its mandate to provide protective services for all vulnerable and at risk children, the report concluded.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday January 10, 2015

Health Ministry gives $11M ambulance to GPHC

IN order to provide a faster response for the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Department at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GHPC), the Ministry of Health Thursday handed over

an ambulance valued at $11M. Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsarran delivered the keys of the ambulance to GPHC’s CEO, Michael Khan.

The minister also disclosed that within the

Minster of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsarran delivering the keys of the new ambulance to Dr. Kulfikar Khan, Medical Director of the GPHC EMS Department

next two weeks the hospital will be receiving two additional ambulances. He said further that this initiative will prove worthwhile for the EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians) in terms of accessibility and reliability.

These views were also underscored by the CEO of the GPHC, along with best EMT performer, Ron Morris, and Dr. Zulfikar Bux, Medical Director of the EMS Department. (By Shivanie Sugrim)

The new ambulance that is now part of the fleet of the GPHC’s EMS Department.

GRC gets $1.1M boost at GRC’s Florida Inc. presentation

THE Guyana Relief Council (GRC) Thursday received a $1.1M donation from GRC’s Florida Inc., yesterday,at the GRC’s head office, Thirst Park.

Present at the presentation yesterday were Chairman of the GRC, Mrs. Yvonne Hinds, along with Treasurer of the Council, Barbara Waldrond, and representative from GRC’s Florida Inc., Ms. Agnes Mundal, along with other officials of GRC. Speaking at the handing over ceremony, Ms Waldrond noted that this donation was a yearly gesture which GRC’s Florida Inc. raises through a dance and dinner.

She noted that the GRC will use the acquired funds to carry out their yearly operations, which entails assisting needy persons, and other relief programmes.

Mrs. Yvonne Hinds (right) receives the cheque of $1.1M from Ms. Agnes Mundal

In brief remarks, Ms. Mundal said that this year they gained a little more through the dinner and dance than they had done in previous years.

She assured that they will continue to be supportive of the GRC in Guyana because they are aware of the great work which this body carries out locally.

“We are working alongside the Diaspora in Florida to develop funds so that more needy families and so forth can benefit from the works of the GRC,” Ms. Mundal added.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the GRC, Mrs. Yvonne Hinds expressed profound thanks to Florida Inc. for their consistent support, even as she looks forward for their continued assistance.

In closing, she stated that, “I’m proud of the GRC’s Florida Inc. for encouraging the Diaspora to give back to their fellow Guyanese back home.”

(Navendra Seoraj)

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600 complete tourism training in 2014

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday January 10, 2015

-areas included bird watching and housekeeping

By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally THE Tourism Ministry and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) have trained some 600 persons during the course of 2014 in a variety of areas such as bird watching and housekeeping.

Minister of Tourism (ag), Irfaan Ali, alluded to the fact that 2014 had been a very successful year on many fronts, as the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) fostered closer partnerships with the Tourism and Hospitality Association

educate Guyanese on the importance of Tourism.

There were special tourism presentations at the Berbice High School with a total of 55 students from Forms 5 and 6 in attendance and Abram Zuil Secondary with a total of 140 students from Forms 4 and 5 attended.

CULINARY ARTS TRAINING Approximately seven groups attended training to enhance their skills in kitchen hygiene and safety,

Two participants of the birding training

meal planning, methods of cooking and cooking terms, among others. A culinary arts training was also conducted during this period at the Guyana International Conference Centre which lasted for two days and saw the participation of 62 persons. The participating groups were OMG Sports Bar, Water Chris, Maharaja Palace, Upper Crust Restaurant, Gravity Lounge, Windjammer Restaurant and Bar and Antonio’s Grill.

Training was conducted in the North Rupununi, Georgetown, Linden, Essequibo, Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) and Ogle International Airport.

Training was done in the following areas: 18 persons in Bird Guide Training in Essequibo; 259 in Basic Conversational Spanish Language Training at CJIA; 21 in Boat Captain Training in Annai; 61 in Culinary Training in Essequibo and Georgetown; 71 in Customer Service Training at the Ogle International Airport and in Georgetown; 70 in First Aid/CPR Training in Rupununi and Georgetown; 39 in Front Desk and Front Office Training in Linden and Georgetown; 42 in Housekeeping Training in Linden and Georgetown; and 25 in Servers Training in Georgetown.

The Iwokrama International Centre conducted a preliminary field bird watching and basic tour guide training to support community conservation and development in the Mangrove Forests near Hope Beach and Greenfield communities on the East Coast of Demerara.

This training which was conducted at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, covered elements such as communication, leadership, effective management and community-based tourism.

PARK WARDENS Frankfurt Zoological Society in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) began a training programme at the Kaieteur National Park for tour guides and park wardens from December 3 to 11. The objective of the programme was to train local villagers from around Kaieteur National Park and to pass on the skills needed to be either a tour guide or a park warden.

of Guyana (THAG) and other private sector companies.

Through collaborative efforts, a series of events were hosted and training within the industry facilitated while Guyana as a unique destination was marketed and promoted.

LIFTING STANDARDS In recognition of the importance of high standards within the growing industry, the GTA also partnered with several agencies to provide technical training to persons within the industry and the staff of the Product Development Department, said the GTA’s Director, Indranauth Haralsingh.

Haralsingh also noted that in 2015, increased focus will also be placed on continuing the enhancement of standards within the industry, focusing on tourism products and services; multi-destination itinerary planning, event management, eco/sustainable principles and guidelines.

At the beginning of 2014 a projected total of 500 persons were to be trained and were initially proposed.

However, additional numbers were included on the training schedule and a total of 800 persons were proposed. Many companies would have requested to be included in training because of the awareness that was done by the Tourism Sector. At the end of 2014, a total of 606 persons were classroom-trained in a variety of areas.

In November, Tourism Awareness Month, the Tourism Ministry along with the GTA embarked on an initiative to

Participants of the culinary arts training

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 10, 2015

Gov’t ‘feels strongly’ that a good case was made out against SECL … public funds, damages can be recovered, says Dr. Luncheon THE Guyana Government “feels strongly” that a good case has been made out against Surendra Engineering Company Limited (SECL), and that expended public funds as well as damages can be recovered for the delays and distress caused by the actions of the contractor.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon Wednesday expressed such optimism, though he noted that the preliminary actions thus far have been “exhaustively slow.”

The status of the Specialty Hospital hinges on the

termination of the contract to design, build and supply the hospital by SECL, subsequent to which three steps were taken by Central Government.

According to Luncheon, one of these steps saw Government informing the Indian Exim Bank, the provider of the concessionary loan financing, and the Indian Government of its absolute resolve to have the hospital built at the site in Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara.

“It is in that regard that the Government has reached out to the Government of India with certain proposals

with regard to the future.

We are awaiting the consideration of officialdom in India to take our next step in our commitment to have the specialty hospital built in Guyana,” Luncheon expressed.

Meanwhile, Government has sued SECL for US$104.3M, which includes US$4.3M lost according to its contract with the company for the design and construction of the proposed hospital.

A Writ of Summons and Statement of Claims were filed by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs

Anil Nandlall. The Statement of Claims stated that the breach of contract includes the contractor’s failure to design and complete the architectural drawings and building plans, for which payments were made; failure to complete the works contracted for, that is, mobilisation, site establishment, supply civil engineering materials, and other works; failure to properly account for the advance payment of US$4.3M, in that they failed inter alia to submit payment receipts; and failure to renew/provide the Advance Payment Guarantee and the Performance Bond for the period March 12, 2014 to present, in accordance with Clause 13 of the General Conditions of Contract.

“In the circumstance, the

contractor is guilty of breach of the terms, conditions and warranties of the contract, by failure to provide services for which they received payment and to renew/provide the Advance Payment Guarantee and the Performance Bond,” the Statement of Claims said.

Additionally, the Government charged that SECL was engaged in fraudulent practices that caused the Government to suffer losses.

The acts of fraud cited include that SECL attempted to obtain an Advance Payment Guarantee and Performance Bond with a company not registered as an insurance company under the Insurance Act, Cap 84:01 of Trinidad and Tobago, named ‘Worldwide Bankers Limited’, purportedly located in Trinidad and Tobago; SECL submitted

a document dated January 13, 2012, purportedly emanating from the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago; SECL submitted fabricated, unsigned and sometimes inflated invoices with no evidence of actual payments made or to support the expenditure claimed.

According to the Statement of Claims, Government lost US$3.6M, which represented a 20 per cent advance; US$505,440 for additional design services; and U$144,000, which was a sum for site mobilisation – a total of $4.3M. SECL’s contract for the design and construction of the proposed Specialty Hospital began in September 2012, after a bid of US$18.1M. VIKAB Engineering Consultants Limited held a 12-month contract as a consultant on the project.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday January 10, 2015

Gayle onslaught powers ...

From page page bowled by Russell.

Cottrell got the breakthrough, however, trapping Hendricks lbw in the fifth over with a full-length delivery which swung in and Holder followed up in the next over, having van Wyk neatly taken at slip by Gayle, to leave the Proteas on 33 for two.

However, Rossouw then anchored two partnerships to rally the hosts. He put on 46 for the third wicket with du Plessis and then added a further 48 for the fourth wicket with Miller. du Plessis accelerated the scoring, cracking five fours and two sixes before gifting his wicket by skying a Russell full toss to captain Darren Sammy at mid-off in the tenth over.

Rossouw, who hit five fours overall, and Miller, who found the boundary just once, then struggled to really lift the scoring as South Africa were held to 86 runs from their last ten overs.

West Indies were three without loss after the first over with Gayle scratching around for three balls over a single run, but it masked the pyrotechnics to follow.

Seemingly awakened by a bouncer from fast bowler Kagiso Rabada that whistled passed his helmet in the

second over, Gayle then sensationally launched the final two deliveries of the over for straight sixes.

He cleared long off with pacer Kyle Abbott in the next over and then ripped into the Rabada in the 19-year-old’s second over which gushed 17 runs.

Smith raised the Windies fifty off 26 balls with the first of two boundaries in the over from Wiese and then watched as Gayle savaged Parnell in the bowler’s first over – the sixth of the innings – which went for 23 runs.

Gayle brought up his half-century off the final ball of the over, carving Parnell to the cover point boundary.

Off the first ball of the next over – the first from Imran Tahir – Smith missed

a reverse sweep and was lbw but Gayle put on 36 for the second wicket with Samuels to keep West Indies on course for victory.

Gayle took a liking to Imran Tahir, punching the bowler over long off for six in his second over and then collecting two consecutive sixes in the spinner’s following over. However, Gayle perished off the fifth ball of the same over, brushing a reverse sweep behind.

Samuels, who hit five fours and a six, and Bravo added 33 off 26 balls for the third wicket but once Bravo fell to a catch at mid-wicket off a leading edge off Parnell, the Windies wobbled before eventually steadying themselves to take the series lead.

SCOREBOARD SOUTH AFRICA innings R. Hendricks lbw b Cottrell 12 M. van Wyk c Gayle b Holder 17 F. du Plessis c Sammy b Russell 38 R. Rossouw not out 51 D. Miller c Bravo b Cottrell 24 F. Behardien not out 18 Extras: (lb-2, w-3) 5 Total: (4 wkts, 20 overs) 165 Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-33, 3-79, 4-127.

Bowling: Cottrell 4-0-33-2 (w-2), Holder 4-0-20-1 Russell 4-0-43-1 (w-1), Nurse 3-0-24-0, DJ Bravo 3-0-26-0, Sammy 2-0-17-0.

WEST INDIES innings D. Smith lbw b Imran Tahir 20

C. Gayle c wkp. van Wyk b Imran Tahir 77 M. Samuels c Rossouw b Imran Tahir 41 DJ Bravo c Hendricks b Parnell 8 K. Pollard not out 8 A. Russell c Abbott b Parnell 6 D. Ramdin c Abbott b Wiese 2 D. Sammy not out 0 Extras: (b-4, lb-1, w-1) 6 Total: (6 wkts, 19.2 overs) 168 Fall of wickets: 1-78, 2-114, 3-147, 4-154, 5-161, 6-164.

Bowling: Abbott 4-0-30-0, Rabada 4-0-38-0, Wiese 2.2-0-20-1, Parnell 4-0-39-2, Imran Tahir 4-0-28-3 (w-1), Behardien 1-0-8-0.

Racing Tips SOUTH AFRICA RACING TIPS Kenilworth 08:15 hrs Happy Forever 08:50 hrs Chestnuts Rocket 09:25 hrs Act Of War 10:00 hrs Hammie’s Hooker 10:40 hrs Legislate 11:20 hrs Coltrans 11:55 hrs Queen’s Jet 12:30 hrs Harvard Crimson AMERICAN RACING TIPS Aqueduct Race 1 Qui C’est Moi Race 2 Partytime Chill Race 3 Hopefaithjoy Race 4 Appearance Race 5 Private Tale Rce 6 Sassicaia Race 7 North Ocean Race 8 Haleeh Race 9 War Hero ENGLISH RACING TIPS Lingfield 08:20 hrs Magical Effect 08:55 hrs The Dream Fast 09:30 hrs Spellmaker 10:05 hrs G 27.tif old Trail

10:35 hrs Big Baz 11:10 hrs Turning Times 11:40 hrs Bobby Benton Kempton 08:25 hrs Daydreamer 09:00 hrs Cocktails At Dawn 09:35 hrs Kingscourt Native 10:40 hrs Hammersly Lake 11:15 hrs Open Hearted 11:45 hrs War Singer WARWICK 08:45 hrs Shady Lane 09:20 hrs Greywell Boy 09:55 hrs Deputy Dam 10:25 hrs Closing Ceremony 11:00 hrs Shantou Bob 11:35 hrs Return Spring 12:05 hrs George Herbert IRISH RACING TIPS Punchestown 08:40 hrs Jarry D’Honneur 09:15 hrs The Book Thief 09:50 hrs On The Shannon 10:20 hrs Douvan 10:55 hrs Dantes Firth 11:30 hrs The Mad Well 12:00 hrs Turban

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GUYANA CHRONICLE January Saturday 10, 2015

Federer tells next generation the Big Four not finished yet

Roger Federer

By Julian Linden BRISBANE, Australia (Reuters) - Roger Federer knows the next generation of tennis players are closing in fast on the Big Four, the so-called elite quartet who have dominated the last decade of men’s tennis.

Federer himself has not won a grand slam title since 2012 and the other members of the troupe, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, have all been battling injuries and illness.

Their drop in form and ailments have coincided with the rise of a new crop of players challenging in the majors, a sign that perhaps their era is coming to an end.

Stan Wawrinka won last year’s Australian Open and Marin Cilic won the U.S. Open - marking the first time since 2003 that two players outside the Big Four won grand slam titles in the same season.

But Federer is not convinced that the changing of the guard is imminent. On the contrary, the 33-year-old Swiss believes last year’s results were an anomaly and normal service will resume in 2015.

“We have had some injuries, it’s not because we didn’t play well or that we maybe dropped a bit,” he told reporters at the Brisbane International yesterday.

“Rafa had his issues, Murray had surgery on his back, I’ve had a tough year in ‘13. The only guy who was really consistent was Novak ... and he took care of it and took advantage of it to some extent. He was still there when it mattered the most.”

Djokovic finished 2014 ranked number one in the world. His season featured

a second title at Wimbledon, where he beat Federer in an epic final.

Nadal won the French Open for a record ninth time before injuries stalled his season. Federer won five ATP tournaments, including the Cincinnati and Shanghai Masters events and finished the year ranked second.

“Rafa was still there again on clay. I was consistent last year. I think Murray is on his way back.

He still made the Masters, even though he didn’t play so well for sometime,” Federer said.

A new wave of players also emerged last year. Kei Nishikori made the U.S. Open final while Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon.

The young trio have all made a strong start to 2015, joining Federer in the semifinals at Brisbane while Djokovic and Nadal suffered early defeats at the Qatar Open.

Federer is impressed by his young rivals but not ready to anoint them just yet, saying they may have to wait a little longer than most people think.

“It’s still a bit early to say. We’ll see again what’s going to happen this year,” he said.

“I do believe there is a group of guys right there that can make a break again and can do special things. I just think it’s too early to say in the season just because Novak and Rafa lost in Doha that there is something on the horizon.

“I don’t read into any of those results. I think they are going to be tough to beat, and favourites for the Australian Open, to be honest.”

GUYANA CHRONICLE January Saturday 10, 2015

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Smith sparkles as Australia … ends series with push lead to 348 record 769 runs

By Nick Mulvenney SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) - Skipper Steve Smith led the way with another torrent of runs as Australia raced to 251 for six and a lead of 348 over India before rain stopped play at the end of the fourth day of the fourth Test yesterday.

Looking to wrap up the four-match series 3-0, the hosts dismissed India for 475 shortly before tea to take a 97-run first-innings lead and then embarked on a fierce assault on the Indian bowlers in a bid to force a result.

It started poorly when spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (4-104) had David Warner (4) caught in the slips after facing five balls and Shane Watson played on for 16.

Opener Chris Rogers, though, hit a 77-ball 56 before he was caught at midwicket, off Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Smith was soon back in his stride.

The Australian captain raced to his half-century in 44 balls and had soon

passed Donald Bradman as his country’s highest scorer in a series against India.

Shaun Marsh came and went for a single run to give Ashwin his third victim before Smith’s 93-minute innings came to an end when Mohammed Shami trapped him plumb lbw.

His 71 brought his series tally to 769 and a group of fans in the members’ stand bowed low to him as he walked back to the Sydney Cricket Ground dressing room to ponder his declaration.

Joe Burns took up the mantle and hit three sixes and eight fours in his 39-ball 66, while Brad Haddin ably assisted with 31 not out.

“It was lots of fun,” Burns told reporters. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to come out tomorrow and win a Test match for Australia, so very exciting.

“The wicket spun and I think it will only get harder to bat on as the game goes on. I’m sure we’re going to create 10 opportunities. It’s just a case of taking all 10.”

Steven Smith tees off on his way to another half-century against India on the 4th day in Sydney.

DECENTLY POISED India captain Virat Kohli has been no slouch

with the bat in this series but he was only able to add seven runs to his overnight score before

clipping a Ryan Harris delivery to Rogers at midwicket some 20 minutes into play.

The 147 helped bring his tally over the four Tests to 646 runs, the second highest by an Indian batsman in an overseas series after the 774 Sunil Gavaskar accumulated in West Indies in 1971.

Despite the Indian tail wagging for the first time in the series and good batting conditions, the Australians managed to winkle out four more batsmen.

They got some help from the third umpire to get rid of Kumar (30), who put on 65 with Ashwin (50) for the eighth wicket, after a referred decision that will do little to persuade India to embrace the Decision Review System.

“It’s still pretty decently poised, although they definitely have an ace up,” said Ashwin, despite 288 being the highest successful fourth innings run chase in a Test at the ground.

“We’ll have to see how it goes.”

Bowlers set up Hurricanes victory A POOR batting performance from Sydney Thunder saw them consigned to a heavy five-wicket defeat at the hands of the Hobart Hurricanes in the first BBL match at Spotless Stadium.

The win elevated Hurricanes to top four in the table and put their knock-out qualification hopes in their own hands with two matches remaining. Thunder meanwhile will now rely on other results going their way if they are to qualify.

Scores: Hobart Hurricanes 5 for 84 (Kallis 2-18) beat Sydney Thunder 7 for 77 (Reed 4-11) by five wickets (D/L method).

Their misery was compounded by an injury to captain Mike Hussey who did not take the field after suffering a calf injury when running between the wick-

Jake Reed more than doubles his career T20-wicket tally with an incisive spell. ets, making him a doubtful innings rain. Hurricanes starter for the next match. chased relatively comfortThe combination of a ably with 5 wickets in hand two-paced pitch, excellent and 3.2 overs to spare. bowling and some poor batJake Reed was the ting helped Hurricanes re- standout bowler for Hurristrict Thunder to 7 for 77 in canes, who elected to bowl, 17 overs. The target was ad- taking 4 for 11 in four overs, justed to 82 following mid- while Ben Hilfenhaus, Tim

Bresnan and Evan Gulbis collected one wicket each.

Only two Thunder batsmen, Mark Cosgrove and Daniel Hughes, reached double figures.

Sydney Thunder’s new signing Jason Roy fell for just four in the first over of the match, striking Reed hard and flat into the hands of mid-off.

Both Jacques Kallis and Aiden Blizzard fell before the end of the Powerplay, off which the Thunder scored just 19 runs; their worst of the season so far.

Things got worse for Thunder when Hussey fell in the ninth over, leaving them reeling at 4 for 27. Thunder never recovered from a terrible start.

Hussey’s departure brought Cosgrove, who was playing his first match of his second stint for Thunder,

and Hughes together. Both batsmen struggled for fluency and added just 48 in 7.4 overs, but they at least managed to preserve their wickets. Cosgrove battled hard for 22 off 36 deliveries while Hughes was a little more successful with 26 off 22.

Rain interrupted proceedings in the 15th over and after a delay of 25 minutes the match was reduced to 17 overs-a-side, Thunder lost three wickets for the addition of 18 runs, closing on 7 for 77. Hurricanes bowled 52 dot balls in an innings just 102 balls long and conceded only five boundaries. Bowling tight lines, the bowlers did not give Thunder batsmen room to free their hands.

Although the pitch was not conducive to fluent

Scoreboard

AUSTRALIA 1st innings 572 for 7 decl’d (S. Smith 117, D. Warner 101, C. Rogers 95, S. Watson 81, S. Marsh 73, J. Burns 58; M. Shami 5-112) INDIA 1st innings (o/n 342-5) M. Vijay c Haddin b Starc 0 L. Rahul c & b Starc 110 Ro. Sharma b Lyon 53 V. Kohli c Rogers b Harris 147 A. Rahane lbw b Watson 13 S. Raina c Haddin b Watson 0 W. Saha c Smith b Hazlewood 35 R. Ashwin c Haddin b Starc 50 B. Kumar c Watson b Lyon 30 M. Shami not out 16 U. Yadav c Haddin b Harris 4 Extras: (b-4, lb-7, nb-5, w-1) 17 Total: (all out, 162 overs) 475 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-97, 3-238, 4-292, 5-292, 6-352, 7-383, 8-448, 9-456.

Bowling: M. Starc 32-7-1063, R. Harris 31-7-96-2 (nb-3), J. Hazlewood 29-8-64-1 (w-1), N. Lyon 46-11-123-2 (nb-1), S. Watson 20-4-58-2 (nb-1, S. Smith 4-0-17-0.

AUSTRALIA 2nd innings C. Rogers c Raina b B. Kumar 56 D. Warner c Vijay b Ashwin 4 S. Watson b Ashwin 16 S. Smith lbw b Shami 71 S. Marsh c Vijay b Ashwin 1 J. Burns c U. Yadav b Ashwin 66 B. Haddin not out 31 R. Harris not out 0 Extras: (b-2, lb-2, nb-2) 6 Total: (for 6 wickets, 40 overs) 251 Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-46, 3-126, 4-139, 5-165, 6-251.

Bowling: B. Kumar 8-0-46-1, R. Ashwin 19-2-105-4, M. Shami 6-0-33-1 (nb-1), U. Yadav 3-0-450 (nb-1), S. Raina 4-0-18-0.

batting, Hurricanes profited by batting second. Knowing how fast they had to score and what they had to chase allowed them to pace their innings appropriately.

An opening partnership of 30, ended by Gurinder Sandhu finding Ben Dunk’s edge, got Hurricanes chase off to a strong start. Although, when Jonathan Wells was bowled by a searing yorker from Pat Cummins for nought just balls later some intrigue was added to the match with Hurricanes still requiring 48 on a difficult pitch.

However, a calm partnership between opener Michael Hill and Shoaib Malik, carried the Hurricanes into the sixties, and even when Hill, Malik and new man Gulbis fell within 19 balls, Hobart were too deep into the chase to fall short. (ESPN Cricinfo)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday January 10, 2015

CCC aiming to be a major contender in Super50 ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) - Head coach Floyd Reifer says he is confident Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) will fare well in the WICB NAGICO Super50 tournament despite their development role in regional cricket.

CCC, drawn in Group A along with reigning champions Barbados Pride, as well as Guyana Jaguars and Windward Islands Volcanoes, are one of eight teams taking part in the tournament which starts next week Thursday in Trinidad and Tobago.

Reifer says CCC can take inspiration from a track record of beating all teams in the tournament with the exception of Jamaica.

“We want to be competitive, but I believe strongly that winning is a huge part of

Chadwick Walton will lead CCC in the NAGICO Super50 competition.

development, so we are going to the tournament looking to win matches,” Reifer said.

“In the past, CCC have played well in these tournaments and have beaten all the territories for the exception of Jamaica, so I believe once we put together a good side and keep them positive and in the winning frame of mind, I think we will do well in the Tournament.”

Wicketkeeper/batsman Chadwick Walton will lead CCC and is one of seven Jamaicans on the 14-man squad which features three Barbadians two Vincentians and a player each from Dominica and Trinidad and Tobago.

Players to watch include Walton who represented CCC in the last first class season, and

was one of their leading scorers with 439 runs, including a century, the experience of off-spinner Ryan Austin and young Kavem Hodge, who has been batting well over the last year and scored four hundreds in club cricket in Barbados.

“And there are a number of young players that are coming on-board from whom we expect to see good performances” said Reifer.

CCC have been an integral part of the regional scene for the last seven seasons – but they are not a part of the ongoing WICB Professional Cricket League Regional 4-Day Tournament, following a shift to franchise-based teams.

“So we have done well in terms of our role in

development, in terms of young players in the Caribbean, but it’s sad we are not involved in the 4-Day Tournament because we have a lot of young talent this year and we are very excited about it,” the coach pointed out.

“We have a good crop of young fast bowlers and batsmen, so we will be looking forward to the NAGICO Super50 and allowing these young players to showcase their talents”.

SQUAD: Chadwick Walton (captain) Ryan Austin, Cassius Burton, Keron Cottoy, Kavem Hodge , Kyle Hope, Kyle Mayers, James McDonald, Paul Palmer, Christopher Powell, Rovman Powell, Kristopher Ramsaran, Shacaya Thomas, Kesrick Williams.

Yaya Toure wins fourth African Some changes Player-of-the-Year title in a row to BMTC meet set for tomorrow

MANCHESTER City midfielder Yaya Toure has become the first player to be named Confederation of African Football African Footballer-of-the-Year four years in a row.

Toure, 31, was nominated after playing a pivotal role in winning the Premier League and League Cup. He also helped Ivory Coast qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER

(Saturday January 10, 2014) Compliments of THE TROPHY STALL-Bourda Market & The City Mall (Tel: 225-9230) & CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL CO. LTD-83 Garnette Street, Campbellville (Tel: 225-6158; 223-6055) Answers to yesterday’s quiz: (1) Ridley Jacobs (14); Darren Ganga (11); Carl Hooper (10); Dwayne Bravo (09) (2) England-9 Today’s Quiz: (1) Put these in order beginning with the man who has scored most Test hundreds for the WI: Chris Gayle; Gordon Greenidge; Desmond Haynes; Ritchie Richardson (2) How many WI have made debut Test tons to date? Who was the first?

Answers in tomorrow’s issue

Yaya Toure played a pivotal role in winning the Premier League and League Cup for Manchester City. had to contend with the disToure beat off the chal- appointment of being part of lenge of Gabon striker an Ivory Coast side that lost Pierre-Emerick Aubamey- two out of their three World ang and Nigeria goalkeeper Cup games.

He was given the news of Vincent Enyeama.

Midfielder Toure scored his brother Ibrahim’s death 20 goals in City’s title-win- only hours after the team ning campaign and also lost their second World Cup netted the equaliser in the match 2-1 to Colombia.

He also hit the headlines 3-1 Capital One Cup final victory over Sunderland at in May as a row over a birthday cake threatened to bring Wembley last March.

He has nine goals in 26 an end to his Manchester appearances for City in all City career.

Everton striker Samuel competitions so far this season, including six goals in Eto’o is the only other player to win the African Foothis last nine outings.

Toure also made the baller-of-the-Year award FIFA shortlist for the 2014 four times but his achieveBallon D’or prize in October. ment was not in successive However, he has also years. (BBC Sport)

THE ORGANISERS of the Budhan Memorial Turf Club (BMTC) have made some changes to their first horse race meeting that is set to gallop off tomorrow at their Number 66 Village, Corentyne Berbice track, where horses will be doing battle in six events, with the first set to run off at 13:00hrs.

According to reports coming out from the Club, all six races will cover a distance of six furlongs, with the feature event catering for J Class horses and carries a first place prize of $130 000 and trophy, while there are two races for horses classified K and Lower, with the winners taking home $70 000 and trophy.

Horses classified L and lower will also run two races with the winners on both occasions set to carry away $40 000 and trophy, while those horses which do not place during the day, would have their chances to compete in a specially arranged event with the winning amount to be decided on race day.

According to organisers Neville and Andrew Budhan the track is in excellent condition and over 40 animals have been entered to compete in the day so far, while a new starting gate will accommodate more horses.

Interesting persons can contact Roopnarine Matadial on 325-3192, Nikita Ross on 662-4668 or Dennis DeRoop on 609-9143 for further information, as it relates to the hosting of the event.

31

GUYANA CHRONICLE SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 2015

Domini Garnett: It’s my dream to play for the Golden Jaguars

By Rawle Toney

MEET 20-year-old Domini Garnett, a striker who plays for Grove HiTech, the recent winners of Ansa McAl’s Super 16 Knockout tournament.

Garnett might not be your household name like forward Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson, but soon, though, the diminutive and well-built player’s name will regarded as one of the top strikers in Guyana.

Three associations participated in the inaugural tournament – Berbice, East Coast and East Bank – but behind Garnett’s dominance, Grove HiTech went on a rampage to capture the crown and the $1.5M first place prize.

For finishing as the highest goalscorer (nine) and being named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) Garnett was awarded $50 000 by Ansa McAl under their Stag Beer brand.

Though being in good form, the East Bank Football Association (EBFA) league winners’ striker is not happy; he wants to don the colours of the Golden Jaguars – Guyana’s senior national team.

Domini Garnett in action for Grove Hi-Tech In an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle yesterday, Garnett said that he believes his time is now and with Guyana preparing for a busy year on the international circuit, the goal-hungry player believes that he should at least be shortlisted.

Earlier this week, a leaked squad went viral in the various sections of the media, but Garnett’s name was not mentioned.

“I was wondering what’s happening because I know

for a fact that I had a good year and at least I should have been called,” Garnett said, after being informed that the squad was not concrete and that Chairman of Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Normalisation Committee will made all announcements at a Press Conference set for today.

Guyana will play Barbados on January 25, in the Land of the Flying Fish as well as featuring in the Brazil 2016 Olympic Qualifiers, and Garnett,

`Hurry Up’ Moore to fight no more in Australia FORMER CABOFE bantamweight champion Leon `Hurry Up’ Moore scheduled fight in Australia later this month has been cancelled.

Moore was down to battle George Kambosos in Sydney, Australia on January 31 but according to former IBF super featherweight champion Gairy St Clair, the plug was pulled on the contest.

Moore was set to fight the undefeated Australian for the WBA Pan Pacific title.

The Guyanese who resides in the USA, will turn 36 this month and has only fought once in 2014. He knocked out Mark Murray in September to take his record to 31 victories and three defeats.

Kambosos is yet to be defeated in six fights and won the Australian lightweight title in August after gaining a unanimous decision over Robert Toomey. St Clair has been instrumental in a number of Guyanese fighters performing in Australia.

Last November, he assisted Atwell to have his first fight Down Under. However,

Leon `Hurry Up’ Moore Atwell failed against Kye MacKenzie and lost by TKO in round 10. Lennox Allen and Laured Steward also had sojourns in Australia compliments of St Clair.

Domini Garnett with his MVP and Highest Goals Scorer awards

who is of age to play, says that he’s looking forward to making his debut then.

“I think I’m full of confidence and also, I’m willing to work hard because it’s my dream to play on the senior national team. I think that it should always be an honour for someone to represent their country and I want to do that at the highest level,” Garnett said.

He added “I’ve played for Riddim Squad and Western Tigers and then back to Grove Hi-Tech. I scored nine goals in the tournament the other day, but I have a chart that I keep after every game and it shows that I’ve scored 56 goals for the year (2014) in all competitions.”

Garnett said that he’s indebted to legendary defender and coach Gordon ‘Ultimate Warrior’ Braithwaite, who plays an integral role in helping him excel in the sport.

Barbados edge Bond to step down as NZ CCC in bowling coach practice match after World Cup BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Captain Kevin Stoute and Shamarh Brooks hit half-centuries as Barbados Pride defeated Combined Campuses & Colleges (CCC) by two wickets with four balls to spare on the Duckworth-Lewis method in a Day/Night one-day practice match at 3Ws Oval on Thursday.

Chasing a revised target of 214 off 43 overs, Barbados were spurred by a fourth wicket partnership of 139 in 24.1 overs between Brooks and Stoute.

Stoute topscored with 75 off 78 balls including eight fours and two sixes, while Brooks made 56 off 73 deliveries with six boundaries.

Pacer Christopher Powell took three for 22 off eight overs and off-spinner Ryan Aus-

Kevin Stoute tin, three for 35 off nine overs.

CCC scored 177 for three off 43.5 overs after winning the toss.

Kavem Hodge made 43 not out, Kyle Hope, 42 and opener Shacaya Thomas, 31.

The match was in preparation for the WICB Nagico Super50 Championship in Trinidad & Tobago, January 15-26.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Reuters) - New Zealand bowling coach Shane Bond will step down after the World Cup, the country’s cricket board said yesterday.

Former Test bowler Bond would not be renewing his contract against the wishes of the board, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said, without elaborating on why the 39-year-old was withdrawing his services.

“Make no bones about this ... we’re very disappointed to be losing Shane,” NZC head of cricket Lindsay Crocker said in a statement.

“He’s given great value to the Black Caps programme and we were hopeful of having the benefit of his input over the next few seasons.

“However, we respect his decision and his reasons for making that decision, and wish him well in his endeavours postworld cup.”

New Zealand will co-host the World Cup with Australia in February and March.

Sport CHRONICLE

The Chronicle is at http://www.guyanachronicle.com

Domini Garnett: It’s my dream to play for the see Golden Jaguars story on page 31

Gayle onslaught powers Windies to victory

been a straightforward run chase, especially after Gayle’s fireworks paved the way.

Cruising at 147 for two in the 16th over, the Windies suddenly suffered an attack of nerves and lost four quick wickets for 17 runs in the space of 24 deliveries, to carry the game down to the last over.

Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin then top-edged a hook at fast bowler David Wiese to fall to a catch at long leg off the first ball, adding further worry to the West Indies camp but Pollard, who finished eight not out, smashed the next delivery to the mid-wicket ropes to end the contest.

Leg-spinner Imran Tahir was the best bowler on show with three for 28 while seamer Wayne Parnell took two for 39.

Earlier, Rilee Rossouw pounded an unbeaten 51 off 40 balls to steer South Africa to 165 for four off their 20 overs, after they opted to bat first.

Captain Faf du Plessis was brilliant in getting 38 off 20 balls while shotgun David Miller was held to just 24 from 21 deliveries.

Left-arm seamer Sheldon Cottrell, who was handed the new ball, finished with two for 33 and bowled a great final over which cost just seven runs.

South Africa were handed decent enough start of 30 by Morne van Wyk (17) and Reeza Hendricks (12), who managed to negotiate handy short spells from seamers Cottrell, Jason Holder and Andre Russell. van Wyk, especially, looked dangerous early on, whipping the third ball of the game from Cottrell over square leg for six, and following up with two boundaries on Chris Gayle makes the fastest T20 tively. either side of the wicket in the third over fifty by a West Indian on his way to a In November Guyana See page 27 match-winning 77 from 31 balls. became the focal point of boxing in CARICOM when Ninvalle was elected to the Executive Committee AIBA. It was the first time that someone from the region was elected to serve on the body.

The GBA president believes that elevation to the Executive Committee is not only a plus for Guyana but the entire CARICOM and Latin America and plans to use his seat to further ST JOHN’S, Antigua - mendations of the Patterassist in the development (CMC) – The West Indies son Report, the Governance of the sport.

Cricket Board (WICB) Committee report and the Ninvalle added that Guywill, for the first time, task force recommendations. ana saw growth in the areas speak on the report subFollowing the chaos of Former WICB president of coaching as Sebert Blake mitted by the Task Force, the India tour last October, Sir Wes Hall is a memwas able to successfully which was commissioned to the WICB commissioned ber of the task force. complete an AIBA Three investigate the controver- the task force, chaired by Star, and APB course in sial abandoned India tour Michael Gordon QC, to sented to the WICB at a Cuba. Blake and Terrence last year. investigate the reasons be- meeting in Trinidad and Poole are the only Three In a release on Thurs- hind the players’ action Tobago last December, with Star coaches in Guyana and day, the WICB said it had and to make recommenda- the WICB, the West Indies part of a handful in the EnPlayers Association and the now studied the report in its tions on the way forward. glish-speaking Caribbean. entirety and would make “a Former WICB president players, all found to be at GBA was also able to specific announcement relat- and Windies legend, Sir Wes fault for the abandoned tour. stage the DDL Under-16 However, the report ing to way forward following Hall, and prominent Barcompetition during last drew strong criticism from today’s meeting.” badian lawyer Sir Richard year and plans are afoot to players’ attorney Ralph The board will convene Cheltenham, also sat on the mould it into an internaThorne, who described it its first meeting of the year task force. tional affair. here today noting recomThe findings were pre- as “flawed.”

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CMC) – Explosive opener Chris Gayle announced his return to international cricket after nearly five months with a stunning half-century, but West Indies made a meal of their target before stumbling past South Africa by four wickets in the opening Twenty20 International of the three-match series here yesterday.

The 35-year-old left-hander, who has been sidelined in recent months by injury, slammed the fastest T20 half-century by a West Indies batsman en route to a top score of 77 off 31, an innings which allowed the Caribbean side to chase down their target of 166, with only four deliveries remaining at Newlands.

Gayle belted five fours and eight whopping sixes, raising his 12th T20I half-century off a mere 17 balls to break Kieron Pollard’s record of the fastest fifty by a West Indies player which had come off 20 deliveries.

Marlon Samuels chipped in with 41 off 37 balls and Dwayne Smith made a run-a-ball 20 in an up-tempo opening stand of 78 off 37 balls with Gayle, to lay the foundation for the Windies victory bid.

However, as has become the norm, the Caribbean side needed to inject the now obligatory drama into what otherwise should have

Good year for boxing - GBA president GBA president Steve Ninvalle THE year 2014 was rewarding for the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) with the highlight being Guyana’s elevation to the Executive Committee of AIBA. Reflecting on the last 12 months GBA president Steve Ninvalle stated that there was slow but steady development in the sport both inside and outside of the ring.

Ninvalle acknowledged that Guyana is a boxing force regionally but pointed out much more work will have to be done to secure medals at major international competitions. He explained that last year GBA was able to meet all its statutory commitments and this year the plan is to focus on preparation for the Olympics.

“We have seen measures of progress during the last 12 months and our aim is to capitalise on, and continue that growth in 2015. We are lucky to have very committed and dedicated personnel who go beyond the call of duty for the success of the sport,” declared Ninvalle.

The GBA boss informed that during 2014 the association created commissions for referee/judges that would oversee work in the two departments. The Commission, he claimed, brought structure and a semblance of order to the two branches of the sport.

In February, Guyana held the inaugural Goodwill Boxing Games, the brainchild of president of the Guyana Olympic Association K. Juman-Yassin.

Four countries participated in the competition with the host nation being crowned champions. Guyana won gold in all the divisions and local middleweights Dennis Thomas and Theresa London were adjudged Best Male and Best Female boxer respec-

WICB to speak soon on Task Force report

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 2014