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GUYANA No. 104060 MONDAY JANUARY 5, 2015

GECOM’s DCEO, Vishnu Persaud

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

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DCEO: GECOM ready as ever for conduct of elections

– has requisite framework in place

Celebrating the Prophet’s birth

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Rice exports at a record 501,208 tonnes

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AFC proposes ‘secret talks’ with APNU Page

‘Farcical’ Civil Society Summit…

Organisers default on $4M debt for venue, rentals, food 12 Seven-year-old survives Kentucky plane crash Page

Celebrants observing Youman Nabi yesterday at the Alexander Village Masjid in Alexander Village. Inset is the Guest Speaker who spoke on the topic of health and nutrition (Photos by Cullen Bess-Nelson) Page

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, January 5, 2015

Seven-year-old survives plane crash that kills four in Kentucky By Greg Botelho and Nick Valencia, CNN THE knock was faint. But, alerted by his two dachshunds, Larry Wilkins went to his door. He opened it to see a young girl, her lips quivering, her nose bloodied, her arms and legs scratched up. Her name was Sailor Gutzler, and somehow, she was still alive. “She told me that her mom and dad were dead,” Wilkins said. “And that she had been in a plane crash.” The girl’s sister and cousin also died when their Piper PA-34 aircraft went down Friday evening in western Kentucky. Even with the plane upside down, the seven-year-old made it out and

trekked three-quarters of a mile in the dark, through what Wilkins described as “very, very rough territory,” mired with fallen trees, creeks, ditches and blackberry briars. Sailor was barefoot except for one sock, and was dressed for Florida -- shorts, no coat; not for slogging through the January cold of Kentucky. Wilkins got her on his couch and called 911, alerting authorities that a plane had gone down, and there was at least one survivor. Kentucky State Police troopers arrived in about 10 minutes. Sgt. Dean Patterson said the girl was taken to a local hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. “She’s a terribly brave

Sailor (bottom left); sister, Piper (top left) and their parents, Kimberly and Marty Gutzler, in happier times

little girl, I’ll tell you that,” Wilkins said. “I can’t imagine a seven-year-old doing that.” FAA: PILOT REPORTED ENGINE PROBLEMS The plane Sailor was on

had left the warm, sunny climes of Key West, Florida earlier Friday, heading for Mount Vernon, Illinois, a city roughly 80 miles east of St. Louis. Until something went wrong. Federal Aviation Ad-

ministration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen explained that air traffic controllers “lost contact with a Piper PA34 aircraft ... shortly after the pilot reported engine problems, and (said) that he was diverting to the Kentucky Dam State (Park) Airport.” The twin-engine aircraft didn’t make it, crashing in Lyon County, about 30 miles east of Paducah, and less than

10 miles from the airport. Two National Transportation Safety Board members left Washington late Saturday morning for Kentucky, agency spokesman Keith Holloway said. They will join FAA investigators there to try to find out what caused the crash. Kentucky State Police identified the dead early Saturday as Marty Gutzler, 48; Kimberly Gutzler, 46; and nine-year-old Piper Gutzler -- a husband, wife and their daughter. Also killed was 14-year-old Sierra Wilder, the survivor’s cousin. All were from Nashville, Illinois, a community of just over 3,000 people. Lt. Brent White told CNN affiliate, KFVS that first responders “worked tirelessly to find this wreckage and hopefully salvage the lives of those that were on board.” “But, ultimately, it just wasn’t meant to be.” Their bodies were removed, and the plane was covered early Saturday morning, Lyon County Judge Executive Wade White said. Patterson, with the State Turn to page 8 ►

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, January 5, 2015

DCEO: GECOM ready as ever for conduct of elections – has requisite framework in place

GECOM’s DCEO, Vishnu Persaud

By Vanessa Narine THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has a framework in place to facilitate the conduct of elections. The assurance of readiness was given by the Commission’s Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Vishnu Persaud, in an interview

with the Guyana Chronicle. Persaud said that once President Donald Ramotar announces a date for general and regional elections, the necessary timelines will be “fixed” into the framework, and the Commission will kick into action. “The framework we have in place will metamorphose into a Work-plan for the efficient conduct of general and regional elections,” Persaud said. He also explained that the three-month period needed by GECOM, between the date Parliament is dissolved and Election Day, fits into the Commission’s framework. “Within the framework, there are various statutory and administrative requirements, which must be completed and are relevant to the efficient management and conduct of general and regional elections,” the DCEO said.

CLAIMS AND OBJECTIONS PERIOD Asked about the upcoming Claims and Objections period, following the end of the seventh cycle of continuous registration, Persaud noted that this forms part of GECOM’s framework. “One component of the framework is the Claims and Objections, which has to be done to ensure that we have an OLE (Official List of Electors) for general and regional elections,” he said. The seventh cycle of continuous registration commenced on November 30th, 2014, and allowed persons the opportunity to register for the first time, conduct transfers and make changes to their registration details. The numbers released to the Guyana Chronicle indicated that new registrations, currently being verified, number 6,003 persons,

Doctors battling to save husband who tried to hang himself By Shirley Thomas DOCTORS at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation were yesterday battling to save the life of a 22-year-old man who attempted to take his life by hanging, following a domestic dispute with his reputed wife. Kemuel Norton, a seaman, of Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo, was discovered hanging from a tree with a piece of rope around his neck, around 23:00 hrs on Saturday. His wife, Kemwattie Singh, with whom he had an argument minutes earlier, said he left the house and said he was going at the back to urinate. However, after not seeing him return for quite sometime, she decided to check on him. To her horror, she discovered her husband hanging from the tree. Frantically she called

out for help, but apparently none of the neighbours heard her. In a frenzy, she rushed back to the house, picked up a knife and hurried back to where he was and cut the rope from around his neck. He slumped to the ground and at that stage she phoned her father-in-law who rushed to the rescue and managed to get a vehicle to transport Kemuel to Leonora Cottage Hospital. There he was stabilised before being transferred to the West Demerara Regional Hospital. But since he showed no reasonable signs of improvement, Kemuel was evacuated to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) around 02:00 hrs, still in a state of unconsciousness. His mother, Margaret Norton recalled that he was placed on oxygen, and by 06:00 hrs yes-

terday morning he began struggling for breath and showed signs of breathing on his own. Throughout yesterday he remained in the Emergency Room – his neck and throat swollen. He was also occasionally becoming delirious, and had to be restrained to his bed. By 17:00 hrs he spoke for the first time, saying that he wanted fruit juice to drink. Doctors also ordered Computed Tomography (CT) scans of his head and neck. Meanwhile, Kemuel’s mother, Margaret Norton, said that she was aware that the couple would regularly have misunderstandings. “I would try to talk to them, and show her love, but …. Like it not working out,” she said dolefully. Kenuel and Kemwattie have been living together for about three years and have a three-year-old son.

‘Within the framework, there are various statutory and administrative requirements, which must be completed and are relevant to the efficient management and conduct of general and regional elections’ – GECOM’s DCEO, Vishnu Persaud while there were also 1,163 changes and corrections to existing registration information and 1,248 transfers due to issues related to change of address, etc. Also, at the end of the sixth cycle of continuous registration, in the latter part of June, there were registrations of some 14,981 new persons, 14,942 of whom have already been verified. There were also 2,004 transfers, owing to issues related to changes of address, and 2,747 changes/ corrections to existing registration information. Prior to the sixth cycle of continuous registration, the last such exercise ended in December 2013. EXPECTED SOON Additionally, an announcement from President Donald Ramotar on a date for general and regional elections

is expected to be made soon. President Ramotar, in early December, ended the wait of the Guyanese people with the much-anticipated announcement on the way forward to bring an end to the current political impasse – a move to early general and regional elections. A move by the President to set a date will have a bearing on several processes. Once a date is set, it will translate to the dissolution of Parliament, which currently still stands suspended under the November prorogation proclamation. Political parties will then kick into campaign mode. And once a proclamation announcing a date is made by the President to go to general and regional elections, GECOM will have its timelines with which to work. Asked for clarity on a timeline within which a date

would be set for a return to the polls, the President assured that he would make the proclamation early this year. CONFIDENCE The Head of State expressed confidence in his party regaining the parliamentary majority it lost in the 2011 general and regional elections by one seat. At the last elections, the combined Opposition gained control of the National Assembly by a one-seat majority in a 33-32 split. President Ramotar credited his confidence to the Government’s performance in moving the country forward for the benefit of the Guyanese people, and to the experiences of the Guyanese people in the last three years. The last general and regional elections were held in November 2011.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday January 5, 2015

NYC mayor appeals for reconciliation at slain officer’s funeral

Law enforcement officers stand, with some turning their backs, as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks on a monitor outside the funeral for NYPD officer Wenjian Liu in the Brooklyn borough of New York, yesterday. Credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton By Sebastien Malo NEW YORK, (Reuters) - NEW York Mayor Bill de Blasio appealed for

reconciliation yesterday in his eulogy for the second of two police officers murdered last month in an ambush that led to accusations the mayor had contributed to an anti-police climate. Politicians, police brass and other mourners joined family members inside a Brooklyn funeral home to honor Wenjian Liu, believed to be the New York Police Department’s first ChineseAmerican officer killed in the line of duty. Outside, a sea of blueuniformed officers stood in silence. Only about three dozen of them could be seen turning away from de Blasio when he began speaking, disregarding an entreaty by Police Commissioner Bill Bratton for officers to refrain from a gesture that has become symbolic of their disdain for the mayor. Liu, 32, and Ramos, 40, were ambushed on Dec. 20 by a killer who said he wanted to avenge the deaths

of two unarmed black men this summer at the hands of white officers. “New York has been from its earliest days a most tolerant of cities ... but there have always been times when that harmony has been challenged,” de Blasio said at the funeral, one of the largest in NYPD history. “Let us rededicate ourselves to those great New York traditions of mutual understanding and living in harmony.” Caiyao Chen, 32, who moved to the United States from China in 2000, was among a crowd of mostly Asian mourners who pressed against barricades on the sidewalk outside the services. Chen was one of tens of thousands of mourners, a crowd that appeared to be about the same size as the one that gathered for Ramos’ funeral. He brought a handmade placard displaying a picture of Liu at his wedding a few weeks ago and a message in Mandarin that translated as: “Walk away easily.” Chen didn’t know the slain officer but he said he was particularly saddened because Liu was his parents’ only son. “In Chinese tradition, the son carries the blood of the family,” he said. “The family is broken now.” One of the most poignant moments of the service came when Liu’s wife paid a tearful tribute to the officer as a devoted husband and son. “Wenjian is my hero,” Pei Xia Chen told the congregation. “We can always count on him.” SILENT PROTESTS AGAINST THE MAYOR While there was a smattering of dissent among the throng of officers assembled outside the home, a big majority of them faced the mayor when he spoke, in contrast with the thousands who turned their backs last week when de Blasio began his eulogy for Liu’s partner. As pall bearers carried the casket draped in the NYPD

flag to the hearse, thousands stood at attention while three helicopters flew at low altitude over mourners in a ceremonial maneuver known as a “missing man formation,” an NYPD tradition. Even though fewer officers participated in the silent protest against the mayor than a week earlier, the gesture highlights how far relations between the police force and de Blasio have deteriorated since the murders. Immediately after the ambush, Patrick Lynch, the head of the largest police union, said the mayor contributed to the political climate that led to the killings, saying there was “blood on many hands.” It is the latest turn in a national debate over racial relations and law enforcement that was rekindled this summer by the deaths of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City in encounters with white officers. De Blasio offered qualified support for the wave of protests over police treatment of minorities that erupted across the country after the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. He said he had talked to his biracial son, Dante, about being wary in dealing with police. Relations between the police and de Blasio had begun to fray before that. During his 2013 campaign for office, the mayor had criticised some of the NYPD’s tactics, including a “stop-andfrisk” policy that critics said was used to harass African Americans and other minority groups. Before the funeral, U.S. Representative Peter T. King of Long Island said he thought it was possible the mayor and the rank and file police had reached a turning point that could lead to reconciliation. “The fact that the city did come together for the funeral does give the mayor an opportunity to work with the police to go forward together,” he said. “He has to find a way to make this work.”

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday January 5, 2015

US reiterates ‘unflinching support’ for Haiti WA S H I N G T O N , (CMC) – THE United States has reiterated its “unflinching support” for Haiti as the French speaking Caribbean country celebrates its 211th anniversary of independence. “Just as we stand with the Haitian people today as they mark their 211th year of independence, the United States reiterates its unflinching support of the people of Haiti as they strive to build a stronger and more enduring democracy,” said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in his Independence Message to the Government and people of Haiti.

“The people-topeople bonds shared by our two nations sustain a warm friendship that prevails through times of prosperity and trial,” he added. “These unbreakable links give us cause to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to be a partner for a more stable and prosperous Haiti and to wish the Haitian people well on this special day,” continued Kerry, stating that “as Haitians celebrate this milestone (anniversary), they can take pride in the harvest of hard work in reconstruction and development.” The U.S. Secretary of

State also said the 211th anniversary is “also a day to focus on the work ahead to keep faith with the promise of Independence Day. “The year ahead will be pivotal as Haiti works to schedule overdue parliamentary elections,” he said. Observers say a preelectoral crisis looms in Haiti, as municipal and legislative elections are postponed. Last week, Haitian President Michel Martelly, the chief judge of the Supreme Court and the heads of the two houses of parliament signed a political accord hoping of averting the crisis.

Mexico missing students: 10 more police officers held MEXICAN authorities investigating the disappearance of 43 student teachers in Guerrero state have arrested a further 10 municipal police officers. Around 90 people in total, including 58 police officers, have been detained so far. The students disappeared in September after clashes with police in the city of Iguala. National prosecutors say police handed them to criminal gangs who murdered them and burnt their bodies. Parents of the students dispute this, arguing the authorities are hiding what happened to them. The remains of only one student, Alexander Mora, have been identified

so far. They were found near a rubbish dump where criminal gang members say the students were taken to be shot and their bodies burnt. Members of the gang said they killed the 43 and burned their bodies after they were told the students belonged to a rival gang. The relatives of the other 42 missing students say they will not give up hope of finding them alive until forensic evidence proves they are dead. The slow pace of the initial investigation into their disappearance and the collusion it has highlighted between local authorities and drug gangs has led to mass protests across Mexico.

Relatives of the students have been holding vigils and protests across Mexico asking the authorities for answers on what happened to them

John Kerry - US Secretary of State The tentative agreement, which calls for extending lawmakers’ terms, is based on an electoral law being passed before January 12. If no law is approved, Martelly will rule by decree. Haiti became an independent country on January 1, 1804.

Ramadhar backs return of death penalty PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC) – WITH seven murders already recorded since the start of the year, leader of the Congress of the People (COP), Prakash Ramadhar says those who commit murder must pay the ultimate penalty. Following an executive meeting of the party on Saturday, Ramadhar told reporters that he is in support of the death penalty and will assist the People’s Partnership (PP) in pushing through legislation when the matter is brought before Parliament again. “It is important for us to recognise that a message has to be sent that those who’re willing to take life, that the most severe consequence is available to them,” Ramadhar said. “That is why the Government had brought legislation in the past to categorise murders, the most grievous of them, premeditated murders, assassinations. Those are the ones that once one is charged and convicted, you must pay the penalty with your life.” He added that while efforts had been made to speed up trials, before the cases could go to trial they must be solved and suspects arrested, and the use of science would go a long way towards achieving those ends. Last year, Trinidad and Tobago recorded 403 murders, compared to 407 the previous year. COP holds six seats among the 42 representatives in the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday January 5, 2015

Guyana Editorial

PPP’S 65TH ANNIVERSARY THIS month marks the 65th anniversary of an organisation that has been integral to carving an identity and a future for Guyana and its once very suppressed people, who did not achieve independence even after having been granted the instruments of independence by Britain, until 5th October 1992, rightfully hailed as ‘The Dawn of a New Era.’ The story of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is the saga of the amazing journey of Dr. Cheddi and Mrs. Janet Jagan, two dynamic and visionary persons from very diverse cultures who merged their lives and efforts to carve through the grindstone of adversity a future of promise and hope for the longsuffering Guyanese people, and the men and women who joined with them at different stages of the eventful journey that is slowly but surely fructifying into making that future one of Peace, Progress, and Prosperity. As the PPP begins its yearlong celebratory activities to mark its 65 years of existence, homage must also

be paid to the people whose lives were martyred in the struggle for dignity and freedom for the working-class people of Guyana, especially the Enmore Martyrs, whose death so moved a young and idealistic Cheddi Jagan that he vowed to dedicate his entire life “to the cause of the struggle of the Guyanese people against bondage and exploitation.” The legacy of care and love for Guyana and the Guyanese people was entrusted by the Jagans to an equally dynamic and visionary young man, whose potential for magnificent leadership they had the vision and foresight to recognise. And while there was vehement opposition to their choice on many fronts then, today, the world has taken cognisance of their perspicacity at placing into the hands of a then very untested and untried young man all that they aspired for this country. Thus, while they gracefully bowed to their own mortality, they did not abandon their cause to the Fates or Destiny, but continued to guide and nurture the welfare of the nation to which they had

dedicated their entire adult lives, through the strong and visionary leadership of Guyana’s former Executive President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, who has achieved international recognition for Guyana, thereby eradicating the dark image of Jonestown from the silhouette of this nation’s identity within the international consciousness, as a passionate advocate of humanity and the earth, for which he was presented with the Champion of the Earth Award 2010 by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). His sincere commitment to all the people of this land can be gauged by his gifting the not-insignificant sum of his US$40,000 prize money to the most vulnerable Guyanese community, the Indigenous Peoples of Guyana. Dr. Jagdeo had said in one of his many memorable speeches, that we have to forget the past that has caused this nation much pain, grief, and developmental retrogression, and endeavour to carve a better country for future generations, because the past should only be used for analytic

purposes. But when Guyana’s past, and present, are being re-written to make villains into heroes and vice versa by those with vested interests then, for the edification of posterity, it is incumbent upon propagators of truth to put the dynamics into perspective and let the readers judge for themselves, instead of having persons with agendas restructure the landscape of this nation’s history, to the detriment of future generations. The PPP’s battle song “O fighting men” is as relevant now as it was then, because the struggle continues, and the PPP and its affiliate arms, the Women’s Progressive Organisation (WPO) and the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) have no dearth of the fighting spirit that has kept the PPP unwaveringly, unerringly on the path carved in the footsteps of the Father of the Guyanese Nation and spiritual head of the PPP, Dr. Cheddi Jagan for the 65 years of its existence as a party fighting for equality and justice for the Guyanese nation.

Elections 2015: The Mother of all Elections WITH the Christmas holidays now over, Guyanese must now begin to address the coming general and regional elections, slated for when President Donald Ramotar announces the date for such to be held. This is a contest shaping up to become the Mother of all Elections. What is at stake will be the future of Guyana and all that it has gained, including its restoration as a respected State in the international Hall of

Nations. As a Guyanese, I can conscientiously say that since the ascension to government of the PPP/C, Guyanese have been able to enjoy numerous amenities as a result of the many socioeconomic programmes. Of particular note would be the freedoms which we as a people now enjoy. Just look at what appears in the letters columns of the print media, as against the practice prior to 1992! The question for Guyanese, then,

should be whether they desire the continuation of the tangible benefits of national development, or an abrupt end to such, concomitant with reverting to those past painful years. This must not be a situation that should be guided by political Party loyalty for the mere sake of such. Instead, it ought to be choice of party that has proven its known capability for governing in the interest of country and people. And there is only one Party that has done

so in the history of Guyana: The Peoples Progressive Party/ Civic Government. This is the Party whose Government has lifted Guyana from its fallen position by 1992, and has raised it to the level of national transformation, which now pervades.This is indeed the Party that deserves our votes at the coming polls. GEORGE McINTOSH

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday January 5, 2015

Observer was never in doubt ––as to the viability of the Amaila Falls Project OF COURSE, it has to be very good news that after all, the Amaila Falls Hydro Project will proceed. OBSERVER has never been in doubt as to the absolute relevancy of this groundbreaking facility to the socio-economic development needs of the country. Therefore, we join in commending President Donald Ramotar for the resilience in leadership that he has shown in his determination that this seminal project must advance, for the benefit of the nation. It is only the enemies of progress who have, from its inception, sought to stymie, and even scuttle, this very important initiative. For them, it was

“Stop the Amaila at all costs!” So much so that OBSERVER continues to wonder whether these persons were ever sincere in undertaking the solemn responsibility of Representatives of the People. On to this moment, there is no discernible reason that has supported such an anti-national stance as offered by the Parliamentary Opposition Parties, the A Partnership for National Unity(APNU) and the Alliance for Change(AFC). The fact that Guyana’s climate services partner, Norway, has given the accumulated sum of $80M to the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), Guyana’s sum of equity contribution to the hydro project, testifies to the

undoubted support from international institutions for this national project of profound importance. From multilateral agencies, inclusive of the World Bank, and the Caribbean Development Bank, to regional highranking personalities such as Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, have all highlighted Guyana’s energy potential that could be realised under this critical national project, for providing affordable energy to all Guyana, and even exporting same. OBSERVER must again highlight the much-needed benefits all round that will accrue to this nation such as saving $9B of electricity subsidies, and $40B in fuel bills. Our citizens are wise

enough to know what such sums can offer them in terms of improving socioeconomic conditions. For the advancement of the economy, the potential is enormous, for the expansion of the country’s manufacturing and production sector that has long grappled with the challenges of high electricity costs. Affordable energy will greatly reduce the latter, while facilitating value- added dimensions to products, as well as offering opportunities for employment. Finally, as an advocate of a lowcarbon economy, renewable energy will afford Guyana its goal of a green economy, thereby helping to lessen the threatening peril of Climate Change.

Rice exports at a record 501,208 tonnes ––rakes in over $1B

LAST year was another record-breaking one for the rice industry which recorded a production of 635,238 tonnes, of which 501,208 tonnes was exported. A g r i c u l t u r e M i n i s t e r, D r. L e s l i e Ramsammy told the Guyana Chronicle that the export value surpassed $1B. “The growth in rice export since 2010 has

Dr. Leslie Ramsammy been phenomenal, and we expect it to grow even more in 2015,” he said, adding that the export in 2013 was 394,000 tonnes, from a production of 535,212 tonnes, which was far above the original target of 413,000 tonnes. Dr Ramsammy said that of the 501,208 tonnes exported in 2014, some 187,995 tonnes

was shipped to Venezuela, while another 59,279 tonnes was shipped to Panama, with which latter country Guyana inked its most recent rice trade agreement, making it the second largest destination for Guyana’s rice. “Export to CARICOM was 99,000 tonnes,” Dr. Ramsammy said, adding: “Exports to Europe was 102,000 tonnes, plus other shipments that were made.” The country currently has export agreements with several countries in the Caribbean, as well as with Venezuela and Panama, among other markets. Also, arrangements for rice shipments to countries in West Africa are still being finalised. The Minister stated, too, that given that local utilisation is about 120,000 tonnes, only about 15,000 tonnes remain on hand. “Added to our carry-over of about 110,000 tonnes from 2013, we have about 125,000 tonnes on hand that will meet local demand and the international market demands for the period of January to March 2015,” he said. Ramsammy stated too that there are still some 2014 contracts to meet and these shipments will be completed during the first two weeks of 2015. SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION All considered, the Agriculture Minister underscored the “significant contribution” that the rice industry continues to make to Guyana’s economy, despite the challenges on local and international markets. H e c r e d i t e d t h e G o v e r n m e n t ’s commitment to the industry as one of the factors that supported the industry’s

Rice shipments being readied for export maintained viability and success. He said: “Government’s support to the industry has been strong…For example, when farmers were faced with high prices for urea we stepped in to assist also. This investment saw approximately $400M being used to procure urea from Venezuela to make available at a subsidised cost of $5,000 per bag compared to the $10,000 which was being paid. Government is now seeking to ensure availability of urea at a cost of $4,900 per bag. We are hopeful that the private sector will seek to match the government’s price, thus lowering cost of production.” This support will continue in 2015, Dr. Ramsammy said, adding that about 14,000 tonnes of fertilizer will be made available to farmers from the Government’s investment. He said, “This will meet about 33 per

cent of the need. We want to ensure that the private sector continues to play a positive role in the supply of fertilizers, but should the need arise for us to invest more to keep the price of fertilizers to below $5,000 per bag, we will do so.” On that note, he extended his congratulations to all the sector’s stakeholders, particularly rice farmers, for working to ensure the growth and success of the rice export market in 2015. It is expected that someday Guyana will overcome the existing challenges to bring it in line with the world’s largest producers of rice. As such, focus is being placed on exploring new and emerging global markets, tackling the crucial and critical issues to facilitate increasing production. (Vanessa Narine)

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, January 5, 2015

AFC proposes ‘secret talks’ with APNU – Harmon confirms APNU still on the fence THE Alliance for Change (AFC) over the weekend disclosed that it is prepared to hold talks with the Main Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), but on condition that these discussions remain confidential. “We don’t intend to negotiate an agreement within the public space, and therefore will not be commenting further on this matter until there is a substantive announcement to be made,” Party General Secretary, David Patterson said in a statement. Patterson explained that during a recently held meeting, a non-disclosure agreement was tabled for review by APNU. “The AFC tabled a non-disclosure agreement for the review and signing by the APNU, with the clear understanding that on the return of the signed document, the AFC would release to APNU our draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which would form the template for our negotiations,” Patterson said. He said the AFC is prepared to issue its MOU to APNU within 24 hours, once the Main Opposition Party signs the non-disclosure agreement. “Negotiations can start within 48 hours thereafter, which could be as early as Wednesday, January 7, 2015,” he said. Patterson added that in the meantime, AFC continues to engage “serious-minded groups and individuals,” and is in the process of finalizing its campaign team and strategy. APNU STILL TO DECIDE Meanwhile, APNU

further comments,” referring to the coalition proposal. Against this backdrop, though, the same AFC leader, before Granger’s disclosure, had told the Guyana Times that “it is nothing of the sort,” which was taken to mean that the two parties had not yet discussed the matter or sought to engage each other in discussions. In another twist to the plot, after Granger’s disclosure, Ramjattan, through a Facebook post in the group ‘Alliance For Change,’ had David Patterson

Joseph Harmon

General Secretary, Joseph Harmon, told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday that the non-disclosure agreement has been with the coalition since last month, but a review of the proposed document has not yet been completed. “We saw the document around Christmas-time, but we have not been able to study it as yet. Our structure requires consultation at the Shadow Cabinet level, as well as at the leadership level,” he said. Harmon added that a decision to sign the non-disclosure agreement has not been made, since it requires particular commitments. “Yes, there is a document on the table, but we cannot sign it just like that, because it is a commitment to certain things. We are careful in dealing with these matters. The consensus of the leadership is necessary before we make a commitment,” he said. Asked about the possible issues that would form part the agenda for talks, Harmon disclosed that inclusionary democracy and the question of establishing a govern-

ment of national unity after the elections are two such areas. He however said that his Party will be dealing with the matter soon. The AFC’s position, as articulated over the weekend, comes on the heels of statements made by APNU Leader, Brigadier (Rtd.) David Granger, in which he disclosed that there have been no substantial discussions with AFC to date. FLIP-FLOPPING On the question of a possible alliance, the AFC has been flip-flopping with its positions on the matter. I n m i d - D e c e m b e r, APNU confirmed the commencement of talks with the AFC in regard to a possible coalition, and disclosed that a proposal for the two parties to form a coalition to contest upcoming regional and general elections was still to be finalised. Prior to this disclosure, AFC’s Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan, in an invited comment, told the Guyana Chronicle, “We will be dealing with it shortly; I don’t want to make any

stressed that AFC, as a single party, poses more of a threat to the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) than if they were to form a coalition. All considered, however, Harmon, yesterday, told the Guyana Chronicle that APNU is still open to having AFC join its coalition. “Our invitation is open, once partners subscribe to our statement of principles. The door is open…we have to keep in focus what we want for Guyana and what we need,” the APNU General Secretary said. The uncertainty in posi-

tion and the constant shifts in their declarations come at a time when President Donald Ramotar has announced that general elections are likely to be held in the first quarter of the upcoming year. The last general and regional elections were held in November 2011 and APNU secured 26 seats in the National Assembly; the AFC secured seven seats while the ruling People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) secured the single largest bloc of votes earning itself 32 seats of the 65 seats in the House.

Seven-year-old survives plane crash... From page 2

police, said that members of the NTSB were expected to arrive later in the day. Inclement weather was hampering the investigation, he said in a statement. “Officials have indicated a minimum of two days to conduct an investigation at the scene,” he said. Marty Gutzler’s Facebook page showed photos of his smiling daughters, political posts and his family sitting in a small plane with him at the controls. The latest one is of him and his wife celebrating New Year’s Eve at a Key West resort. The Rev. Matthew Wietfeldt of Nashville’s Trinity Lutheran Church said those killed -- whom he’s known for four years -- “will be deeply missed.” “The Gutzlers were a wonderful family, and wonderful members of our congregation and community,” Wietfeldt said. Kent Plotner, an attorney representing the family, said in a statement, “The Gutzler family mourns the loss of

Marty, Kim and Piper Gutzler and Sierra Wilder. We are devastated by this loss, but are confident that they rest in God’s loving arms. We ask that you respect our privacy at this difficult time. Please pray for us, especially for Sailor Gutzler.” A fund has been set up “for the benefit of Sailor Gutzler,” at sailorgutzlerfund. com, Plotner said. “The family thanks you for the heartfelt words of sympathy that have been expressed during this unimaginable loss,” he added. POLICE: ‘IT’S JUST REALLY A MIRACLE’ How the youngest person on the plane managed to emerge alive also hit close to home for many like trooper White, who has an eightyear-old girl of his own. “When I saw ... what appeared to be a seven-yearold child that had walked through this dense forest and through some really tough terrain and some awfully poor conditions tonight and

survived this,” he said, “it’s just really a miracle.” Wilkins believes Sailor saw his street lights through the woods and, thankfully, found him -- in one of only three homes in his neighborhood that are occupied in winter. White, the Lyon County executive, said the fact she went that way “saved her life.” “Any other direction could have ended badly with the cold weather,” he said. Sailor was released from Lourdes Hospital in Paducah just after 1 a.m. Saturday, state police said. Thinking about what the 7-year-old went through and what comes next brings tears to Wilkins’ eyes, he said. “I just feel so sorry for that little girl, I can’t understand it,” Wilkins said. “I just can’t imagine (going through) that, for someone that young.” (CNN’s Carma Hassan, Chandler Friedman, Ed Payne, Dave Alsup, Joe Sutton, and Josh Levs contributed to this report)

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday January 5, 2015

Local Gov’t Ministry rewards staff for their sterling contribution

THE Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development hosted an appreciation and award ceremony for the ministry’s staff and those of the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) on December 31, 2014. The ceremony, which was organised by Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Mr Norman Whittaker, saw employees being rewarded for their years of service and commitment to their jobs by the Minister, Permanent Secretary, Mr Collin Croal, and Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ms. Abena Moore. As a result of an overall assessment of the performance of employees and commitment to their work, 67 workers, including 47 from 24 NDCs from Regions No. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, along with 40 from within the Ministry were issued tokens of appreciation

for long service, commencing from 15 years and up, and for their commitment to the successful implementation of the ministry’s programmes. Minister Whittaker extended heartfelt gratitude to the staff for the excellent services they have provided over the years. He also commended the employees for “finding satisfaction in their jobs, as well as their eagerness to share knowledge they acquired over the years.” The Minister encouraged his employees “to improve the quality of service which will be provided to the people within the NDCs across Guyana” in 2015. He emphasised the need to sustain the efforts of the $1B Clean-Up My Country Programme. He also pointed out that “NDCs should make maximum utilisation of the brush cutters so that their purposes will be more visible by

An overseer receiving his token of appreciation from Minister Whittaker

A typist-clerk receives her token of Government, Mr Norman Whittaker ensuring that roadside parapets and public spaces are kept clean.” He said citizens need to be more responsible when disposing of their waste and urged employees “to arrest this decadence that pervades in some sections of our society where people continue to dump in open spaces.” Further, the Minister also called on the representatives from the Local Authority to place emphasis on the sanitation of communities where persons should “desist from carrying out cattle and poultry rearing activities in residential areas” which pollute the air and water.

appreciation from Minister of Local In addition, he urged representatives “to address the issue of noise nuisance in the communities,” adding: “One of the prime measures of success has to be the timeliness and the success of implementing the Ministry’s plans, policies and development programmes. Our success depends on the large measure of your contribution.” He said that while citizens depend on Central Government for funding, “the human resources whom you provide are integral and equally important for the efficient and effective administration of our local authorities.” (GINA)

Celebrating Youman Nabi ––At the CIOG

Youman Nabi celebrations at the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG) on Woolford Avenue, Thomas Lands (Photos by Sonell Nelson)

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, January 5, 2015

New Year’s Day Cemetery Road accident...

Sole survivor still critical at GPHC SIXTY-four-year-old Brian Aubrey Anthony Devine, injured in the New Year’s morning accident on Cemetery Road that claimed the life of George Barker, 61, remains in critical condition at the Accident Ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), but he is conscious and communicating with persons at his bedside. Devine, who along with Barker had gone to buy newspapers at a newsstand on Cemetery Road, was rammed from behind by an out-ofcontrol motorcar PNN 7977, a Toyota AT 192, and ended up being badly injured and lying in a nearby drain. His injuries include three broken ribs on the left rib cage; compound fractures to both of his legs; head and spinal injuries; injuries to his left side jaw; left ear and left eye. He has since lost vision in that eye, which continues

to bleed as a result of the injuries he has suffered to his head. Having experienced difficulty breathing, he has been administered oxygen, and has since been given two units of blood. He was also given a Computed Tomography (CT) scan, the results of which will be made known to his relatives soon. The Lot 30 Cockrite Street, East La Penitence resident related to the Sunday Chronicle that he and his friend, George Baker had gone to the newsstand on Cemetery Road to buy the daily newspapers, where they met a young woman who said she was asked to sell papers in the absence of the vendor who had gone to the market. She explained that she had forgotten to collect the keys to open up the stand, and asked them to wait while she went to get the keys. Devine said he and his

The injured Brian Devine on his hospital bed

friend Baker were ‘gaffing’ as they waited when suddenly they heard a noise and looked around to see a motorcar approaching at a terrific speed. It hit a speed hump next to a nursery school, and came plummeting towards them. Impulsively, Baker pushed Devine out of the way, or

he would have been killed instantly; but the car toppled and came back towards them. “If you see how this man turn…like if is a war going on... I tell you, he got to be a mad man,” Devine declared. “Ah holler, ‘Oh Gawd, a gon dead’, then blacked out,” he said.

Devine said he was rammed from behind and was hit really hard. He likened it to literally “a nightmare at dawn.” The vehicle hurled him through the air, and he landed in a nearby drain, he recalled, but his friend Baker ended up trapped under the vehicle. Fortunately, the accident happened a short distance from the police outpost, and the police came to the men’s rescue and rushed them to the GPHC. Even though Baker was able to initially communicate with rescuers and give the police his name, he succumbed before arriving at the hospital. Devine said that on learning that his friend had succumbed, he took it hard, and developed difficulty breathing and went into what he perceived to be a coma. He had to be given oxygen. Having suffered compound fractures to the legs,

bleeding from the eyes and other broken bones, he was given a blood transfusion. Devine conceded that had the young woman not left the newsstand to go for the keys, she would also have been hit and possibly killed by the vehicle. The car was said to have hit and demolished a nearby fruit stand before ending up in a trench off Cemetery Road. Through it all, Brian Aubrey Anthony Devine asserts, “But ah lucky to be alive!” He is giving God thanks and praises, and also thanks to his rescuers and the medical staff at the GPHC. The motorist initially fled the scene, but was apprehended and taken into custody by police. However, 72 hours having elapsed, he was released on bail and is expected to appear in court tomorrow, according to Devine’s niece, Donna Waldron. (Shirley Thomas)

Gladwin Samuels now Senior Superintendent of Prisons – Compton Sparman is GFC Divisional Officer SEVERAL approvals have been granted for substantive appointments in the Guyana Prison Service which took effect from December 3, 2014, according to a press release from the Ministry of Home Affairs

last Thursday. Approved were Gladwin Samuels, Superintendent of Prisons, who now fills the position of Senior Superintendent of Prisons; Nicklon Elliot, Kevin Pilgrim, Richard Brown, Alexander Hop-

kinson and Evelyn Crandon, all of whom were previously Assistant Superintendents of Prisons and have been promoted to Superintendents of Prisons. Cadet Officers Carlton Cameron, Deoraj Gyandat,

Mark Smith, Kelvin Hutson and Kofi David were all approved as Assistant Superintendents of Prisons. Principal Officers 11 Seon Charles, Raymond Bagot, Christine George, Marvin Azore, Kirk Joseph, Desmond Darling-

ton, Peter Barker, Patrick Crawford, Beverly Critchlow, Ossie Harper-Nurse and Michelle Baynes are now filling the position of Chief Prison Officer. Prison Trade Instructor, Ann Cornette along with

Principal Officers 1 Ms. Paula Grahame, Maxine Mourant, Joylyn Young-Scott, Lionel Cave, Prince Cox, Orin Halley and Suana Cambridge-Eastman were all confirmed as Principal Officer 11. Turn to page 16 ►

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, January 5, 2015

Fire Chief says...

Diamond fire resulted from careless use of electricity – appeals to all to use electricity responsibly

The house after the fire

CHIEF Fire Officer Marlon Gentle has said the fire that destroyed Addil Rahim’s Lot 123 Block ‘Y’, Diamond New Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara home on Old Year’s Day seems to be electrical in nature. Gentle said that once a fire has started and has been burning for some time, the Guyana Fire Service could do little else other than con-

tain it. Home owner Addil Rahim has expressed displeasure with the time the GFS allegedly took to respond to the fire call, but Gentle told this publication that the GFS received the first fire call at 09:45 hours through its 912 system, and at 09:47 hours the Diamond fire tender was on the scene, and it was observed that the top floor of the two-storey incomplete

house was already fully alight, with flames coming through the windows. Gentle said that according to the GFS’s Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), two other units from West Ruimveldt and Central Station in G/town were dispatched to the scene, and they assisted in ‘mopping up’ the fire, since there was little they could do but contain it. Gentle explained that

Three dead in separate interior New Year murders ONE man is in police custody following the fatal stabbing of Seibert Moore, 41, of Victory Valley, Wismar, at Frenchman, Upper Demerara during an altercation on January 2, 2015. Police reported that at about 14:45 hours on January 02, 2015, Moore was involved in an altercation with another man at Frenchman, Upper Demerara, during which he was stabbed to his body. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the McKenzie Hospital. The suspect has been arrested and is in police custody assisting with the investigations. And the suspect in the

Aracru, North West District (NWD) murder on Old Year’s Day has been arrested and is assisting the police with investigations. Police reported that Augustine Samuels, 52, of Aracru, NWD, was fatally stabbed at about 19:30 hours on December 31, 2014, at Aracru. Investigations so far have revealed that Augustine Samuels and another man, who is the suspect in this matter, were imbibing at a shop when the suspect became involved over an issue with the owner of the shop. The shop owner managed to escape and then the suspect attacked Augustine Samuels and stabbed him about his body. Samuels was

pronounced dead on arrival at the Mabaruma Hospital. Meanwhile, in another incident, investigations are being conducted into the death of miner, Andre Britton, 50, of 111 Miles Mahdia, Potaro, which occurred at about 01:30 hours on January 1 at Mahdia. Police said Andre Britton had earlier confronted a man, who was assaulted for throwing squibs into his yard and the man later returned and stabbed him about his body. Britton was pronounced dead on arrival at the Mahdia hospital. The suspect has been arrested and is in police custody assisting with the investigations.

within a minute after the first fire call had been received, several more calls were received by the GFS; and within three minutes, the first fire tender was on scene. He said the owner and the building’s two other occupants were not at home at the time of the blaze, but a construction worker was there -- since the bottom flat of the house is under construction -and when neighbours alerted him to the conflagration, fire and smoke were already coming through the windows. Gentle said the fire resulted from unsafe use of electricity, and that people are still utilising electricity in a very careless and callous manner; but it is to be noted that once a fire has started and has been burning for some time, it is difficult to extinguish. He pointed out that, in that circumstance, the GFS can only contain the blaze. He said most fires are caused by human activity, and he urged all persons to do the right thing, especially when utilising electricity, to prevent fires from starting. (Michel Outridge)

Monday, January 05, 2015 Tuesday, January 06, 2015 Wednesday, January 07, 2015 -

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, January 5, 2015

‘Farcical’ Civil Society Summit…

Organisers default on $4M debt for venue, rentals, food THE Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC), Rent-A-Tent Guyana, and Grand Coastal Hotel are counting their losses after $4.2M in unpaid debt was racked up by the hitherto unheard of NGO, Guyana National Council for Public Policy (GNCPP). The organisation’s indebtedness has to do with the hosting of what, in some quarters, has been deemed a ‘farcical’ civil society sum-

mit. That Summit was organised by Phillip Mozart-Thomas, Chairman of the GNCPP, whom the Office of the President (OP) had, prior to the event, deemed a questionable character, and as such had urged citizens to have nothing to do with it. Contacted by this publication, the GICC Management was able to confirm that Mr. Thomas attempted to make a downpayment of $3.3M

on December 16, the day before the three-day summit was scheduled to begin. That cheque, with an account from the Bank of Nova Scotia, would have covered the venue, equipment from Rent-ATent, and catering from the Grand Coastal International Hotel. Management of GICC also confirmed that an arrangement was made for 600 persons to attend the event, but the GNCPP had indicated

that this amount would be reduced by some 400 persons for the second and final days. Payment of $3.3M for these arrangements was made, using a cheque from the Bank of Nova Scotia which, the GICC management said, was deposited on December 17. The GICC management further disclosed that a request was made to Mr. Thomas for payment of other monies owed before the second day, but “at the end of the first day, they (GNCPP) announced that the event would be moved to their [Kingston] head office.” Asked whether a decision to move the event would cause the GNCPP not to pay the full cost of $4M, the GICC Management responded in the negative, since the Centre would have already spent monies in preparation for the three-day event, which had been expected to last

from December 17 to December 19, 2014. Things took a turn for the worse on December 31, when the GICC Management was informed that the cheque which was used by Mr. Thomas to make the $3.3M downpayment had bounced, and was returned to the GICC with the words “Account Frozen” printed on it. In an effort to reclaim their losses, the GICC Management said they made contact with Mr. Thomas on the day the cheque was returned, requesting other arrangements for payment. Mr. Thomas was said to have responded that he is aware of the situation and would get back to them, but the GICC Management is still waiting on a response. The GNCPP has come under fire following full page ads in early December, which appeared in major newspapers for more than two days. The

GNCPP Chairman, Mr. Phillip Mozart-Thomas

question of where funding for such an affair comes from is still on the table, with even more questions on how the GNCPP is able to afford its Kingston office and labour force for the three-day summit in December. Mr. Thomas had told this publication on the day of the summit’s opening that funding for the summit comes from a number of organisations, as well as businesses which are to be named at an upcoming event. This event has not been held.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, January 5, 2015

New CARICOM Chair…

Talks on UN Post-2015 agenda ‘of keen interest’ to CARICOM

THE commencement in 2015 of negotiations for the United Nations (UN) Post2015 Development Agenda is an area of interest for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), given the importance of ensuring that the interests of Member States are addressed. This point was belaboured by CARICOM’s new Chairman, Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie, who, in a statement on Friday, said, “This is of keen interest to our Community, as it is important that the

‘This (the UN post-2015 agenda) is of keen interest to our Community as it is important that the concerns of small, vulnerable states like ours must be taken into account and acted upon’ –CARICOM Chairman, Perry Christie According to Christie, discussions of the UN’s Post-2015 Development Agenda will ensure that a more effective route to the sustainable development of all states is found. The UN’s Post-2015 Development Agenda addresses global development beyond 2015, one that builds on and consolidates the gains made via the eight Millennium De-

Christie said, “It will be my duty to work with my colleague Heads and the Secretary-General to lay the foundations for the implementation of our Strategic Plan. Of particular importance will be the high- priority areas identified for focused implementation over the next five years. These will be critical as it is imperative that we find the means

‘In repositioning our Community, as this Plan seeks to do, we will be aiming at making it more resilient to the internal and external factors which hinder our efforts at attaining sustainable development in a rapidly changing world’ – CARICOM Chairman, Perry Christie concerns of small, vulnerable states like ours must be taken into account and acted upon. “We have taken action in this regard by ensuring that our concerns and interests are part of the platform for the negotiations agreed to last September in Samoa by the grouping of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).”

velopment Goals (MDGs). FOCUS ON PEOPLE Additionally, relative to the implementation of the Community’s five-year strategic plan, the CARICOM Chairman assured that in going forward there will be increased emphasis on the development of young people.

to reverse the dire economic situation with which so many of us are faced.” He added, “I think that there will be an important discussion on the investment in the cultural development of our community, including sports and music. There must be increased focus on this part of our human development as we look toward

the future of the Region,” he said. The priority areas of focus of CARICOM’s fiveyear strategic plan are: Accelerating implementation and use of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME); Introduction of measures for macro-economic stabilisation; building competitiveness, and unleashing key economic drivers to transition to Growth and Generate Employment; human capital development; advancing Health and Wellness; enhancing citizens’ Security and Justice; Climate Adaptation and Mitigation, and Disaster Mitigation and Management; Developing the single, secure ICT space; deepening Foreign Policy coordination (to support strategic repositioning of CARICOM and desired outcomes; Public Education, Public Information and Advocacy; and reform of the CARICOM Secretariat, the organs, bodies, institutions and governance arrange-

Perry Christie

ments. Additionally, the integrated strategic priorities are: building economic resilience; social resilience; environmental resilience; technological resilience; strengthening the CARICOM Identity and Spirit of Community; and strengthening community governance, along with coordinated foreign policy and research and development and innovation. The new CARICOM chair said, “This Plan is a bold step that demonstrates our determination to provide the best options for the growth and development of

our people. This Plan is an important part of the reform process in our Community and we stand to be judged both by its success and the actions we take in its implementation. “In repositioning our Community, as this Plan seeks to do, we will be aiming at making it more resilient to the internal and external factors which hinder our efforts at attaining sustainable development in a rapidly changing world.” CARICOM’s first ever Strategic Plan was approved by CARICOM Heads at their 35th Regular Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda from July 1 to 4, 2014, and identifies eight integrated Strategic priorities for the Community over the five-year period 2015 to 2019, and key areas of interventions for each. “The responsibility is now mine to continue to advance the interests of our Community and strengthen the integration process with the assistance of my colleague Heads of Government and the Secretary-General, and the support of the people of CARICOM,” Christie said.

Clifton Hicken heads Police promotion list – elevated to Assistant Commissioner SENIOR Superintendent and ‘A’ Division Commander, Clifton Hicken and Crime Chief, Leslie James head a list of 18 police officers who have been promoted to senior ranks within the Guyana Police Force (GPF). The list was approved by the Police Commissioner and the Police Service Commission and released to the media on Friday night. The promotion of the ranks will see several transfers within the various police divisions among station sergeants, subdivisional officers and other ranks. In addition, this newspaper has been able to confirm that there will be some reshuffling at the command level, but those are not expected to be at the level of commanders but at the level of deputy commanders. Below is an excerpt of the list as released by the GPF and Police Service Commission, bearing the names of the police officers who were privileged to be promoted to another rank based on their performance and other considerations.

A) TO ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER i) Senior Superintendent C. Hicken ii) Senior Superintendent L. James iii) Senior Superintendent C. Chapman B) TO SENIOR SUPERINTENDENT i) Superintendent R. Andreis-Junor ii) Superintendent R. Budhram iii) Superintendent E. Watts iv) Superintendent C. Brutus v) Superintendent S. Mansell vi) Superintendent R. Das vii) Superintendent W. Blanhum viii) Deputy Superintendent L. Denny C) TO SUPERINTENDENT i) Deputy Superintendent K. Pareshram ii) Deputy Superintendent

I. Trotz iii) Deputy Superintendent W. De Hearte iv) W/Deputy Superintendent D. Fowler-Goodman v) Deputy Superintendent T. Paul vi) Deputy Superintendent L. Lord vii) Deputy Superintendent E. Cooper viii) Assistant Superintendent J. Ramlakhan ix) Assistant Superintendent M. Sutton D) TO DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT i) Assistant Superintendent B. Persaud ii) Assistant Superintendent G. Mc Allister iii) Assistant Superintendent A. Vanderhyden iv) Assistant Superintendent S. Bacchus v) Assistant Superintendent W. Stanton vi) W/Assistant Superintendent C. Jones-Stuart vii) Assistant Superintendent E. Wray

viii) Assistant Superintendent R. Ali ix) Assistant Superintendent R. Banwarie x) Assistant Superintendent R. Ashram

xxi) W/Inspector A. Hermonstine xxii) Inspector M. Caesar xxiii) Inspector R. Stanley

E) TO ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT

i) Inspector S. Jhagroo ii) Inspector R. Geness iii) Inspector K. Bejaimal iv) W/Inspector G. Austin v) Inspector D. Blair

i) Cadet Officer M. Singh ii) Cadet Officer A. Austin iii) Cadet Officer D. Renee iv) W/Cadet Officer L. Halley v) Cadet Officer K. Griffith vi) Cadet Officer R. Das vii) W/Cadet Officer J. Hayles viii) Cadet Officer A. Fredericks ix) Cadet Officer A. Das x) W/Cadet Officer T. Williams xi) Inspector N. Cadogan xii) Inspector R. Persaud xiii) Inspector J. Brown xiv) Inspector S. Telford xv) W/Inspector M. Washington xvi) Inspector B. Lowenfield xvii) Inspector J. Johnson xviii) Inspector R. Kishun xix) Inspector R. Singh xx) Inspector D. Stephen

F) TO CHIEF INSPECTOR

G) TO INSPECTOR i) Sergeant 12545 P. Bowman ii) W/Sergeant 14696 A. Jordan iii) Sergeant 14120 N. Mahindranauth iv) W/Sergeant 11982 C. Layne v) Sergeant 13813 L. Mc Koy vi) Sergeant 11082 G. Thomas vii) W/Sergeant 19961 N. Kendall viii) Sergeant 14523 N. Lall ix) W/Sergeant 14786 N. Nurse x) Sergeant 12397 H. Johnson xi) Sergeant 17322 C. Humphrey xii) Sergeant 15239 V. Hunte xiii) Sergeant 16487 A. Motie xiv) Sergeant 14647 J. Ali

xv) Sergeant 14566 J. Campbell xvi) Sergeant 17854 K. London xvii) W/Sergeant 16248 D. Pollard xviii) Sergeant 15616 S. Houston xix) W/Sergeant 15671 S. Daniels xx) Sergeant 13717 R. Mentore xxi) Sergeant 12987 G. Headley xxii) Sergeant 15871 J. Jack xxiii) Sergeant 18041 S. Singh xxiv) Sergeant 18335 C. Fletcher xxv) Sergeant 18923 N. Newland xxvi) Sergeant 18143 S. Murugayya xxvii) Sergeant 18905 C. Kooldeep xxviii) Sergeant 14300 M. Fraser xxix) Sergeant 12523 C. Playter xxx) Sergeant 18212 K. Beaton xxxi) Sergeant 18026 C. Hooke xxxii) Sergeant 14622 A. Hoyte xxxiii) W/Sergeant 13885 L. Wilson

CGX invests over US$300M to date in pursuit of oil

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday January 5, 2015

––CEO says Guyana Basin offers enough reward for the risk By Gary Eleazar

DESPITE falling oil prices on the international market, Guyana’s push towards oil exploration leading to eventual commercial operations remains feasible, with CGX Energy Inc investing in excess of US$300M over the past six years, US$20M of which was spent last year alone. This disclosure came over the weekend when Chief Executive Officer of CGX Energy Inc, Professor Suresh Narine, provided an update on the industry and the company’s operations, in light of the prevailing international conditions with declining oil prices.

Speaking to the prevailing price of oil on the world market, Professor Narine told media operatives that just as it is the case with other oil companies across the globe, CGX is concerned about the falling prices. “All oil companies, not just CGX are very concerned about the price of oil…if the price of oil continues to go down then I think many oil companies will be revising their strategies,” according to Professor Narine. The CGX top brass did point out that “for us we are not worried at this point…we still feel comfortable that the Guyana basin offers enough reward to take the risk, so we are going full ahead but we are looking very carefully at the

price of oil.” Questioned as to when pursuing oil will no longer be economically feasible, Professor Narine explained that given the varying number of factors, this is difficult to predict, but he noted that optimistically the falling oil prices could very well be a good thing for Guyana. He said that if the price of oil were to fall to a point where certain companies would ‘go under’ then there would be an abundant availability of rigs on the marketplace which will inevitably lead to the price of drilling for the precious crude plummeting also. CGX currently operates only in the Guyana/Suriname basin and over the past six years of its operations, more than US$300M has been invested by the company, representing more than 65 per cent of all monies ever expended in that oil basin, “so we are not about to give up.” According to Professor Narine, the business is CGX’s CEO, Professor cyclical in nature, but “we Suresh Narine are so excited about the basin, its prospects and moreover what this can mean to Guyana.” TRANSFORMATIONAL A commercially viable find of petroleum in Guyana will transform the country within a short space of time, said a confident Narine. He conceded that while oil exploration is a difficult business, CGX’s operation in Guyana is funded entirely based on investors and “people invest because they feel there is a good opportunity at finding oil.” Seeking to bring perspective to the entire operation, Narine reminded that the world has been in the throes of a prolonged recession but, “CGX despite going through some very hard times in 2012 and 2013 has managed to secure a very large partner called Pacific Rubiales which is Latin America’s largest producer of petroleum.” VERY HIGH SUCCESS RATE This company, he said, has a very high success rate at finding oil whenever its explores—a track record of 8.5 out of 10 times, which geologically is exceedingly high, according to Narine. He noted that with the injection of technical acumen (insight) as well as financing from Pacific Rubiales, CGX has managed to reverse the poor conditions experienced in 2012. The Professor reminded that in 2012, two wells had been dug and while the wells had demonstrated an active petroleum system, there were not commercial quantities available at those locations. This led to the CGX stocks taking a beating on the international market, hence the move to invite Pacific Rubiales into a partnership. This move, according to Narine, led to CGX last year completing the shooting of 3D Seismic Surveys on the Demerara block costing in excess of US$20M. Narine stressed the importance of this venture by pointing out that it represents work undertaken, four times greater than what was initially scheduled for last year. “We spent four times the amount of money because we are so excited about the seismic in the area,” said Narine. Last year, according to Narine, was a year of rejuvenation, renewed interest, vigour and confidence in CGX and its operations in Guyana. He said too that at present the company is undertaking aerial surveys on the Berbice onshore block, an undertaking that has never been done before. Looking forward to CGX’s operations as the year unfolds, Professor Narine told media operatives “We plan to drill a well in 2015.”

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday January 5, 2015

16th batch of Cheekies hampers given to New Year babies

ALL babies born on New Year’s Day at hospitals across Georgetown and Berbice were treated to ‘Cheekies Bundle of Joy’ hampers, distributed by Cheekies of ANSA McAL Trading. T h i s y e a r ’s h a m p e r distribution marked the sixteenth anniversary of the annual tradition, executed by ANSA McAL. Congratulating the lucky mothers, on behalf of the Company, was Cheekies Brand Representative Joel Lee, who also wished them a Happy New Year. Lee said it was his and the Company’s pleasure to support mothers as they ushered in a new generation and a new year filled with hope and promise. Large hampers containing 224 diapers, and packs of baby wipes were presented to the mothers of the first boy and girl born at the Georgetown Public

Hospital Corporation (GPHC), while all other hampers contained 168 Cheekies cloth soft diapers and baby wipes. The recipients of the hampers included, from the GPHC: Adesa Sealy, who gave birth to her first baby, a girl (first baby born on New Year’s Day) and Christien Jarie, who also gave birth to her first baby, a girl. At Woodlands Hospital: Michelle Holder gave birth to her second baby, a boy ( first boy born on New Year’s Day), and Shalima Nohar gave birth to her first baby, a boy. Berbice recipients at the New Amsterdam Hospital included Sasha Dey, who gave birth to her third baby, a boy; and Ameena Morgow, who also gave birth to her third child, a girl. ANSA McAL Trading also took the opportunity to express their appreciation to the management and

Guard believed strangled after shirt gets entangled on high fence By Michel Outridge AN elderly live-in watchman met a tragic end in a freak accident sometime Saturday night when he tried to climb a high security fence at Best Buy Auto Sales, located at Lot 171 Peter Rose Street, Queenstown, Georgetown. According to reports, it was habitual for the man, identified as Hamjad Ali, 64, to climb the high fence to exit the secured business place in order to make purchases; and on Saturday night, it was no different. The watchman, who also stays at the property, managed to climb the fence and had bought several bottles of alcoholic beverages which he rolled under the fence. However, when he was climbing the fence, he somehow got caught by his shirt and reportedly strangled himself. His body was observed, early yesterday morning, dangling from the side fence which is very high and outfitted with razor wire. The police were summoned to the scene, after which the body was taken down and removed. Sleuths said they arrived at the scene at about 07:00 hours yesterday after one of the workers at the business found the man’s body suspended on the fence and being held there by his shirt. A post-mortem examination is expected shortly.

staff of all the hospitals throughout Guyana who had assisted in making the ‘Cheekies Bundle of Joy’ presentation on New Year’s Day 2015 a great success.

Adesa Sealy, who gave birth to her first baby, a girl, on New Year’s Day at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, receives her hamper in the company of ANSA McAL representatives

The three Muslim scholars (Photo courtesy of CIOG)

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday January 5, 2015

Muslim trio successful at scholarship programme in South Africa

THREE Guyanese Muslim scholars recently completed an intensive one-year programme at the Al-Madina Institute in South Africa, and were awarded with the Ijazah certificate. The Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), in collaboration with the Al-Madina Institute in South Africa, secured scholarships for Momin Ali Sugrim, Mohamed Iqbaul Faroude Khan and Sheik Haniff. They will be attached to the education department of the CIOG. The programme was carefully designed to offer students a comprehensive foundation in the main sciences of Islamic knowledge, as well as some practical skills in leadership, communication and research. Female and male students from different countries were welcomed to a new approach to learning Islam in an environment that is warm, welcoming, and encourages questions, free thought, and frames the classical knowledge of the pure Quran and authentic Sunnah within the modern context that we live in, a press release stated. With an outstanding range of internationally-acclaimed scholars from South Africa and the U.S.A., students were assured that they were being taught by instructors who are among the best in their fields. The main instructor throughout the programme was Shaykh Dr. Muhammad bin Yahya al-Husayni al-Ninowy. “Our students were able to benefit from a very solid foundation in the core subjects which will increase their knowledge, certainty and conviction, purify their hearts and enhance their contributions to society,” the release stated. They were also exposed to community work and leadership opportunities to develop their skills in teaching, public speaking, writing, and service to humanity. The Muslim students were selected from Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice. Mohamed Iqbaul Faroude Khan hails from the Essequibo Coast, Sheik Haniff from Alberttown, Georgetown and Momin Ali Sugrim is from No.1 Settlement, Blairmont, West Coast Berbice.

Gladwin Samuels now Senior ...

From page 10

Appointed as Principal Officer 1 were former Principal Officers Dazley Grandison, Gershwyn Gordon, Roger Dublin, Michelle Eversley, Yolanda Persaud, Troy Rodney, Jacqueline Henry, David Dias, Marcia Collier, Joel Campbell and Shelly Oxford Newly-appointed Prison Trade Instructors are Justin Eastman, Frank La Rose and Erwin Mentore, who were all former Principal Officers. GUYANA FIRE SERVICE With regards to the appointments in the Guyana Fire Service, the newly-appointed Divisional Officer is former Station Officer Compton Sparman. Former Sub-Officers Debbie Stephenson, Aubrey Hardy and Everard Harding were all approved as Station Officers. The appointments of Sub Officers include Section Leaders Ezla Bynoe, Dehola Jacobs, Tricia Lawrence, Shannon Crawford, Fitzroy Sutton and Courtney Springer. Leading Firemen Michael Davidson, Delbert Pitt and Ryburn Williams were all approved as Section Leaders. Taking up the position of Leading Firemen were Fireman 1272 Gillard Hope, Fireman 1288 Surain Samaroo, Fireman 1293 Sunil Persaud and Fireman 1284 Marvin Watts. Leading Firewomen were announced as Firewoman 108 Melissa Belle and Firewoman 109 Franka Thomas. (Ravin Singh)

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday January 5, 2015

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday January 5, 2015

Sangakkara gives Sri Lanka advantage after 11th double century WELLINGTON, (Reuters) - Kumar Sangakkara completely changed the complexion of the second Test against New Zealand with an outstanding double century as the visitors finished the second day with a 113-run lead. Sangakkara, who scored just seven runs in the first Test loss in Christchurch, made 203 in Sri Lanka’s 356 and held together four important partnerships that rescued his side from a precarious 78 for five at the start of play yesterday. The visitors, who need to win the Test to level the two-match series, were dismissed with about an hour’s play remaining to give Sri Lanka a 135-run lead after New Zealand were bowled out for 221 on the first day. The hosts finished the day on 22 without loss, with Tom Latham on nine and Hamish Rutherford 12 not out. Sangakkara, who became the fastest man to score 12,000 Test runs on

Saturday, dominated the day’s play and was at his imperious best, stroking the ball to all parts of the sundrenched Basin Reserve. The 37-year-old’s 11th Test double century moved him to within one of the record held by Australia’s Don Bradman. “It really flattened out today and it was a lot harder work to get wickets,” New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham told RadioSport. “But having said that, Kumar batted unbelievably and showed everyone at the ground why he is one of the best batsmen the game has seen.” Sri Lanka had been in danger of conceding a first innings deficit when Sangakkara and Dinesh Chandimal strode to the wicket yesterday and while they initially suffered some nervous moments, they flourished throughout the morning session. They eventually put together a 130-run partnership that took the visitors within sight of New Zealand’s total

.. combines in four important partnerships Boult at point five balls later. “You would never want batsmen to score runs against you but then it’s also a bit of lesson to watch a player like that go about his work,” Neesham added. “You are running in

Kumar Sangakkara celebrates his 38th Test hundred against New Zealand on the 2nd day. before Chandimal was dismissed for 67. Sangakkara brought up his century with a punch through the covers for three runs off Mark Craig, and then began to up his scoring rate as he combined in three partner-

ships worth 148 runs with his bowlers, of which he scored 110 runs. He brought up his double century with a cover drive off Neesham for his 18th boundary before he was spectacularly caught one handed by a diving Trent

NEW ZEALAND 1st innings 221 (K. Williamson 69; N. Pradeep 4-63) Sri Lanka 1st innings (Overnight: 78-5) D. Karunaratne c Neesham b Boult 16 K. Silva b Bracewell 5 K. Sangakkara c Boult b Neesham 203 L. Thirimanne c B. McCullum b Bracewell 0 A. Mathews c Watling b Southee 15 P. Jayawardene c Neesham b Bracewell 6 D. Chandimalc Watling b Neesham 67 D. Prasadc Watling b Neesham 11 R. Herathc Watling b Boult 15 S. Lakmal st Watling b Craig 5 N. Pradeep not out 0 Extras(lb-4 nb-3 w-6) 13 Total (all out, 102.1 overs) 356 Fall of wickets: 1-18 D.

and your margin of error is so small to a player like him and you also knew that if you bowled a good ball then it was a play and miss. “But if you missed by a little bit then he really punished you.”

Karunaratne,2-25 K. Silva,3-29 L. Thirimanne,4-58 A. Mathews,5-78 P. J a y a w a r d e n e , 6 - 2 0 8 D. Chandimal,7-242 D. Prasad,8-289 R. Herath,9-356 K. Sangakkara,10-356 S. Lakmal Bowling: T. Boult 24 - 3 - 75 2(w-2),T. Southee 26 - 3 - 87 – 1, D. Bracewell 24 - 2 - 93 - 3(nb-3 w-3),J. Neesham 11 - 0 - 42 - 3(w-1), M. Craig 17.1 - 3 - 55 – 1. NEW ZEALAND 2nd innings T. Latham not out 9 H. Rutherford not out 12 Extras (w-1) 1 Total (for no loss, 11 overs) 22 Fall of wickets: To bat: K. Williamson, R. Taylor, B. McCullum, J. Neesham, B. Watling, M. Craig, D. Bracewell, T. Southee, T. Boult Bowling: S. Lakmal 4 - 0 - 9 - 0(w-1), N. Pradeep 2 - 0 - 5 – 0, R. Herath 3 - 0 - 6 – 0, D. Prasad 2 - 0 - 2 – 0.

Bradman-12... Blades cause major FA Cup upset, Wrexham cause fright From Backpage innings, which is joint second-highest in Tests. Len Hutton also made 50% or more of England’s scores in an innings four times. Don Bradman and Brian Lara lead this list having made such contributions to their teams’ scores five times. 428 Runs scored by Sangakkara at the Basin Reserve in five innings - the highest by any visiting batsman at this ground. Sangakkara averages 107 and has hit two hundreds in three Tests here. 278 Runs added by Sri Lanka’s last-five wickets the most they have added in a Test innings outside Asia. Their previous highest was the 234 runs added in the Lord’s Test in 2006. 2 Number of times Sri Lanka have managed to post a total of 300 or more runs after being five down for less than 100. The other instance

had come against South Africa in 2006 when they were 86 for 5 before recovering to post a total of 321 in their first innings the Test. Sri Lanka bettered that in this Test by scoring 356. 67 Runs added by Sangakkara and Suranga Lakmal - Sri Lanka’s highest and their first fifty partnership for the ninth wicket against New Zealand. This was also only the fifth fifty-plus partnership by Sri Lanka’s ninth wicket outside Asia. 130 Partnership runs by Sangakkara and Dinesh Chandimal - the second-highest stand for sixth wicket by Sri Lanka in Tests outside Asia. Chandimal’s wicket fell with their partnership just eight runs short of the highest which had come against England at Lord’s in 1984, between Amal Silva and Duleep Mendis. Shiva Jayaraman is a sub-editor (stats)

By Ian Chadband

LONDON, (Reuters) - Sheffield United pulled off the major shock of the FA Cup third-round weekend when the third-tier English side triumphed 3-0 at Premier League Queens Park Rangers yesterday. Rangers, struggling near the foot of the Premier League table, had more misery heaped on them at their Loftus Road home, with a second-half double from winger Jamal Campbell-Ryce sealing the emphatic victory for League One’s sixth-placed team. On a Sunday in the world’s most famous domestic Cup competition when the minnows of England’s lower leagues went hunting for the Premier League Goliaths with particular relish, there were other frights for -- and laboured efforts from -- some of the country’s bigger teams. There was a particularly noble bid from non-league Wrexham, who were 10 minutes away from winning at Stoke City before late goals from Marko Arnautovic and a couple from Stephen Ireland spared the Premier League side’s blushes with a 3-1 win

over the Conference side. On what had promised to be a glorious day for both of Sheffield’s steely teams, Premier League champions Manchester City had to come from behind with two James Milner goals to celebrate his 29th birthday and seal a 2-1 win over Championship side Sheffield Wednesday in injury time. One of the Cup’s most famed giant-killers, Yeovil Town, gave Manchester United a couple of serious scares in the first hour before a dazzling strike on the turn from Ander Herrera and a superb breakaway goal from Angel Di Maria sealed a professional 2-0 win at the Huish Park home of the League One strugglers. Southampton, fourth in the Premier League, had to fight back to earn a 1-1 draw at home to Championship team Ipswich Town while only an 88th-minute Christian Benteke goal enabled Aston Villa to beat the Championship’s bottom club Blackpool. Chelsea, the current Premier League leaders, had fewer problems as they shook off the hangover of their New Year defeat at Tottenham Hotspur by overpowering

Watford 3-0 with second-half goals from Willian, Loic Remy and Kurt Zouma.

MAKE MOCKERY Pride of place among the shock merchants, though, went to Sheffield United, who had already despatched Premier League teams Southampton and West Ham en route to the Capital One (League) Cup semi-finals. They struck through t h e i r t o p s c o re r M a rc McNulty after 36 minutes before Campbell-Ryce twice cashed in on poor Rangers’ defending to make mockery of the 34-place gap between the two sides. Wr e x h a m , 9 7 p l a c e s below Stoke in the English footballing pyramid, went ahead from Mark Carrington’s 73rd-minute header, offering 5,000 travelling Welsh fans the daydream that they could repeat their celebrated 1992 giant-slaying of the then champions Arsenal. Stoke’s late Ireland-inspired fightback amply demonstrated the superior fitness levels of the big teams, something Manchester United also showed as they finally wore down Yeovil.

The home side, whose entire weekly wage budget of 37,500 pounds ($57,476) is about the same as Radamel Falcao’s daily earnings, competed stoutly for an hour and even had the chance to take the lead before Kieffer Moore fluffed his lines in front of David de Gea’s goal. Then class prevailed, with Herrera’s swivel and shot on the bounce from about 25 metres out a quite stellar finish. United’s champion neighbours also left it late to come good, Milner, in a striking role, scoring twice in the last 25 minutes after City had shown a distinct lack of invention in trying to respond to Atdhe Nuhiu’s 14th-minute goal. Alan Pardew, an FA Cup hero in his day at Crystal Palace, took over the reins at his old club with a double from defender Scott Dann setting Palace on their way to a 4-0 stroll at Conference side Dover Athletic. Sunderland prevailed 1-0 against the Championship’s Leeds United, a goal from Patrick van Aanholt ensuring the result mirrored that of the teams’ storied 1973 Cup final.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday January 5, 2015

Emotional Warner unsure about SCG return (REUTERS) - Australia opening batsman David Warner is unsure how he will cope with an emotional first return this week to the venue in Sydney where Phillip Hughes was fatally struck by a bouncer. Warner and Australian team mates Brad Haddin, Nathan Lyon and Shane Watson were fielding at the Sydney Cricket Ground in November in a domestic game when fellow opening batsman Hughes sustained a blow to his neck that led to him passing away three days before his 26th birthday.

David Warner Warner and his team have coped admirably with the tragedy to take an unassailable 2-0 lead over

India in the test series that was rearranged following the death but the loss of Hughes continues to haunt

the side. The combative Warner, who scored an emotional 145 and 102 at the Adelaide Oval in the first test following Hughes’ death, said memories of the incident flooded back when he walked out at the SCG yesterday, ahead of tomorrow’s final Test. “This Test I honestly can’t tell you (how I will be) until I go out there and sing that national anthem and walk out there,” Warner told reporters. “At the moment, not just for me but for the guys that were here as well they are

putting on a brave face. “It is going to be emotional, I know for myself it will be, just walking out there today, just brought back memories. “I know when I go to face up at that Randwick End I’m going to be looking down at that spot. It’s going to be tough but I’ve got to try and hold back the emotions and do what I do for the team and try and score runs.” The hosts are without pace bowling spearhead Mitchell Johnson because of a hamstring problem but

will be boosted by the news that Warner has recovered sufficiently from his thumb and arm injuries. He was hit on the thumb during the second Test at the Gabba and then took a blow on his forearm while practising before the drawn third test in Melbourne. “I’m fine, I’m ready to go, the arm is sore but I just have to play through that pain like I did for the last game,” said the 28-year-old, who has not scored a fifty in four innings following the twin centuries in the first Test.

RHTYSC launches Silver Jubilee anniversary celebration with religious service and multi-million Christmas Charity programme GUYANA’S leading youth and sports organisation, the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, was formed in 1990 by three-time Commonwealth Youth Service Awardee, the St Francis Community Developers. Last Sunday, the Club officially launched its Silver Jubilee celebration with a morning religious service at the St Joseph Anglican Church. Executives and members of the Club attended the service which was conducted by Father Abel Nq’andeve Musonda. The service included several cultural presentations while the club also shared out food hampers to five

senior citizens of the church, with toys also being shared out to children who attended. In addition, each male attendee was presented with a Christmas gift while the RHTYSC handed over special gifts to Father Abel Nq’andeve Musonda and Ms Sonia Leow for their outstanding contribution to the church. Light refreshments were served to everyone attending the religious service. Secretary/CEO of the RHTYSC, Hilbert Foster, in brief remarks, stated that the club was proud to celebrate 25 years of unbelievable progress and disclosed that 2015 would be celebrated as the Silver Jubilee Year with

a total of 200 programmes/ activities planned. These will be executed under the sub-headings of sports, education, anti-suicide, community development, youth development, charity, awards and religious. Foster informed the attentive congregation that over the years, the RHTYSC had made a positive difference in the lives of tens of thousands of persons and would continue to do so in the future. He also announced that in 2015, emphasis would be placed on the club’s nursery cricket section in an effort to produce new talents for the future and special emphasis would also be placed on

religious activities as the club continues to place faith in God during its 25th anniversary. Father Abel Nq’andeve Musonda praised the club for its outstanding role and expressed confidence that the next 25 years would be as successful as the previous one. The cricket teams of the club along with its Over-35 section also successfully completed a multi-million charity programme for the Christmas season as part of the Silver Jubilee launching. Hundreds of less fortunate families received food hampers while thousands of children received a toy each for Christmas. Senior

citizens were also treated to a Christmas luncheon and received numerous Christmas gifts while 40 orphans at the Camal Children Home in Albion received special attention as well.. A massive feeding programme was also organised for the less fortunate residents while numerous churches and NGOs received footwear, toys, food items and special gifts for distribution to their members. To this end, the RHTYSC would like to express gratitude to all the donors of the 2015 Christmas Charity Programme especially DDL, Ansa McAl, DeSinco Trading, H.A. Snacks Ltd,

Toucan Industries, Namilco, Cirkel Distributors, Southland International, Busta, Sterling Products Ltd, Sentinel Security, Universal DVD, Scotiabank and Beharry’s. Gratitude is also extended to Suriea Sweets, Food for the Poor, F+H Printery, Churches, Goodwood Racing Service, The Gift Centre, Farfan and Mendes, Bounty Farm, John Lewis Styles, Lens Craft, A.M. Khan, Apex Insurance Brokers, Ministry of Public Service, Starr Computers, DTV-8, Gilgeous Pawn Shop, Ricks and Sari, Narine’s Trading and Gizmos and Gadgets.

UDFA Executives aiming to have `Matthias bans’ uplifted By Rawle Toney “ E V E RY O N E i s n o w enjoying what we were banned for, what we stood up for and it’s like they don’t remember us,” the words of Claude Williams, one of the ten persons in the Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA) banned by the then Christopher Matthias-led Guyana Football Federation (GFF). Along with Williams, Collie Hercules, Patrick Dey, Rawle Johnson, Aswart Bharrat, Jeffery Trot-

man, Terrence Mitchell, Clive Brush and Wainwright Bethune were all banned from the game for five years. President of the UDFA and Regional Chairman Sharma Solomon was given the harshest of punishment with an eight year suspension. The decision to inflict penalties on the UDFA stemmed from the Association’s choice to play the final of the first installation of the GT Beer Year end Competition on January 1, 2014 even though the Congress had

passed a ruling that no other final should be played, but the Banks Beer Knockout Cup which was played on the same day (January 1). Matthias had told Chronicle Sport that the now b a n n e d U D FA E x e c u tives “disobeyed the directive of the Congress” and that “each member must comply fully with the directive and decisions made by the Congress,” adding that the UDFA went ahead and played its final on the same day as the Banks Beer Cup which totally contravened

the decision and agreement of the Congress. But Williams in an interview with this Newspaper yesterday pointed out that on January 1, 2015, three finals were played with no confusion and that everyone gained. He said that while calls were made for the ban-decisions to be revised by GFF Normalisation Committee, it fell into deaf ears. “We met with Mr. Urling (Clinton) when they were just put into office,

and we told him how we felt among other things, but then like other people got to him and told him that it’s not their (Normalisation Committee) place to get into lifting our ban or even revisiting it,” Williams said. The sometimes animated Williams further pointed out: “I don’t think this is normal. Apparently Jesus died on the cross for some people when I know he died for all of us so I don’t understand why people can’t see with us and look into the ban. Look at it this way, people in Linden and all

over benefiting from what we fought for and stood up to Matthias for and now we can’t get to function around the game we love because of what was a mistake on their part.” Asked what is the course of action being taken now to rid themselves of the ban he still calls “unconstitutional” Williams said, “Well, we were told now that we have to write to FIFA or CONCACAF and I think we have to do that through the GFF so as we speak, that letter is being sent to them so we can move on.”

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday January 5, 2015

Sir Vivian Richards’ World Cup column DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - One of the most aggressive and destructive batsmen ever to play the game, Sir Vivian Richards won the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1975 and 1979 with the West Indies. He played in the 1983 final and captained the side in the 1987 World Cup. Richards featured in 23 World Cup matches and scored 1,013 runs at an average of 63.31. One of his three World Cup centuries was in the 1979 final when he scored 138* off 157 balls. In 21 World Cup innings, he belted over 85 fours and 20 sixes. I NEVER CHANGED THE OUTLOOK OF MY BATTING Vivian Richards writes on individual glory, his greatest personal achievement in the ICC Cricket World Cup, and the dis-

appointment of not being able to win the trophy in 1987. I believed in keeping the game as simple as possible and my approach to batting was pretty straight-forward. Sometimes you can get very focussed on all the changes that need to be made for the different formats of the game. But I always believed that when you have a proper understanding of the longer version of the game, it makes the shorter version of the game easier. That’s the way I always looked at it and even do so now. I am not sure that many batsmen think like that in the present day. Today, there are certain players who are described as Test cricketers and others as ODI cricketers (or even Twenty20 cricketers). I find

Sir Vivian it rather ludicrous . I wouldn’t want to be left out of an ODI team because I am just a Test cricketer and had only reasonable success in shorter formats. It is, after all, all about making the necessary adjustments. It is about being smart enough to know how to make those changes from

The deadly arm of Viv Richards

By Martin Williamson

THE inaugural World Cup final was played out in brilliant sunshine, in front of a packed crowd at Lord’s. The contrast between the stuffy formality of the members’ areas and the joyous colour and noise of the rest of the ground, taken over for the day by West Indies’ supporters, could not have been more marked. West Indies, sent in, had overcome an early wobble to post 291 for 8, thanks to Clive Lloyd’s hundred. In reply, Australia were in a good position on 162 for 3 with 21 overs remaining. Two of Australia’s wickets had been run-outs, both direct hits from Viv Richards. Ian Chappell pushed the ball to the left of midwicket and started off for a run, but realising it was Richards lurking, hesitated. Richards fumbled, and Chappell started again, this time committed. Even though the ball went no more than three or four yards, Richards, lithe and powerful, swooped, turned and fired in exactly three feet above the stumps, which Lloyd, the bowler, took. Chappell, well short, car-

Viv Richards turns the final against Australia around with three strikes. ried on heading towards the pavilion. Richards, arms outstretched and with a massive grin, turned to the crowd for acclaim as his colleagues ran to him. Richie Benaud provided this bit of advice of commentary on the BBC - “The old rule of never run on a misfield still holds good.” In the Times, John Woodcock reflected that Australia’s strong position “showed what might have been had it not been for three fatal hesitations and the deadly arm of Vivian Richards”. As for Richards, he recalled that the Australian running had been targeted before the match. “We decided we might pick up a few of them that way.”

Doug Walters fell soon after Chappell, and Australia looked beaten. But the tail wagged, and when the last pair of Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee came together, they needed 58 off seven overs. The next 40 minutes were pulsating cricket as the runs required slowly ticked down. After Lillee was caught off a no-ball, Thomson was robbed of most of his kit in the ensuing pitch invasion. In the end the ask was just too much, and with 19 needed from nine balls, Thomson was runout. It was lucky that the game took place on June 21, the longest day, as it didn’t finish until well after 20:00hrs.

Richards

one format to the next. Two names from modern day cricket come to my mind, Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara. They are batsmen who made that adjustment across all formats quite easily. If you love cricket, you can accomplish that, and then basically you can achieve anything This was the belief I had during my playing days that there is nothing I couldn’t accomplish. I was introduced to limited-overs cricket because of Somerset. I started playing for that county club in 1974 and played in a lot of different formats of the game. There was a 40-over league on Sunday, 55-over competition matches on Saturday and finally the 60-over tournament. Playing cricket on a regular basis in England meant that I wasn’t a newcomer to the ODI format when I made my debut for the West Indies in the ICC Cricket World Cup 1975. That experience of playing different formats in English conditions, whether county championship matches or limited-overs matches, was of enormous help. Like I mentioned before, my approach to batting was quite simple and it was about playing attacking cricket. I thought a fast bowler is someone who is running in at me as fast as he can. He is a guy with a killer-instinct. And I always

felt that I am the man to go out and deal with this individual. I thought that there was no one I could not face. Of course, there are times when you will have that fear inside you. But you do not show it. Because if you do, it will show your opponent that you are vulnerable. And that’s where I would keep things simple. The chewing-gum, for example, was my greatest comfort zone in the middle. When you are on the field with 11 other players, plus two umpires, you are outnumbered to a degree. You are out there on your own. I felt that the chewing-gum was my companion. I had got a mouth-guard (like they use in boxing) made but I never used it. My dentist at that time was very annoyed with me. He said, ‘I have never seen you use the mouth guard, you are always chewing gum’. I told him that I wanted to be comfortable at the crease. Chewing gum also made me look cool and wearing that mouth guard impeded my comfort zone. The chewing of gum helped take my mind away from stuff like not wearing that guard or even a helmet. I never wore a helmet when batting and I never faced a bowler against whom I thought I should be wearing one. There was always this chance that I might get hurt. But then, in my mind, I thought about racing drivers. Just because he gets in an accident and he survives, is a racing driver going to quit his profession? Racing is a more dangerous sport than the one I am involved with. If I did get hit while batting, well, tough luck! If something worse happened, then, at least, I was in my comfort zone and I enjoyed playing cricket, so it gave me satisfaction. That was always my thought.

My outlook on batting never changed througho u t m y c a r e e r. E v e n when preparing for an ICC Cricket World Cup, I didn’t change anything. Perhaps, I felt a little change in 1987, because I was captain and when you lead there is more responsibility on your shoulders. Even then, my batting approach didn’t change overall. I never wanted to complicate things, because when you do that, you struggle. I wanted to win the World Cup as captain, be as successful as a batting captain and emulate my mentor Clive Lloyd who had achieved this feat twice in 1975 and 1979. I was not able to do so and that is my biggest disappointment in the ICC Cricket World Cup. I couldn’t keep the great West Indies’ run at World Cups going. You can be a heavy contributor with the bat but that is all individual glory. For example, as a batsman I scored 138 not out in the ICC Cricket World Cup 1979 final against England, or 119 against India in the ICC Cricket World Cup 1983 at The Oval, or the 181 I scored off just 125 balls against Sri Lanka in the ICC Cricket World Cup 1987. Those were great knocks. However, I wanted to achieve more, on a collective basis, by winning that ICC Cricket World Cup 1987. That to me would have been a bigger statement. While I did have a few personal achievements as a batsman, I always felt more proud of what I could achieve in a team environment. For me, it was always about the team. And so, even though I didn’t make a contribution with the bat in the 1975 final, those three run-outs that I affected to help my team beat Australia, remain my greatest personal achievement in the ICC Cricket World Cup

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday January 5, 2015

Foo makes return after four years in the wilderness By Calvin Roberts AFTER FOUR years in the cricket wilderness, during which time he has been racking up the scores for Albion Cricket Club and even Berbice in the Guyana Cricket Board four team tournaments, pugnacious middle order batsman Jonathan Foo has made a return to the national cricket team. The 24 year old Foo, who burst onto the Regional scene in 2010 with his boisterous hitting which guided Guyana to the inaugural West Indies Cricket Board Caribbean T20 title, was named in the Guyana Jaguars

Vishaul Singh 14 man squad which will contest the WICB/Professional Cricket League NAGICO Super50 tournament and will be released soon by Cricket Guyana Inc. Eight teams will do battle for supremacy out of two groups, with the Jaguars being placed in group

‘A’ alongside defending champions Barbados Pride, Windward Islands Volcanoes and the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC), all of whom they will meet in the preliminary round when the action bowls off on 15th January, with the Jaguars facing the Volcanoes at the picturesque Queen’s Park Oval. F o o ’s l a s t 5 0 o v e r s match was in the 2010 Regional one day tournament with his final match being against T&T at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, contributing 8 out of Guyana’s 200 for 9, before he was lbw to spin wizard Sunil Narine, a game the Guyanese lost. After that game, he played three T20 matches against CCC, Barbados and T&T, aggregating 26 runs a far cry from his exhilarating performance in the 2010 competition, when he singlehandedly guided Guyana to the title and a subsequent place in the ICC Champions League in South Africa. His maturity over the period of time he was in the cricket wilderness from the national team, has a lot to do with the management of Albion Cricket Club, whom with programmes and guidance, help nurtured Foo and several other cricketers, preparing them for national duties at various age groups. Also included in the Guyana Jaguars lineup for the regional limited overs tournament is dependable

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER

(Monday January 05, 2015) 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 178 Tests 22 Today’s Quiz: (1) How many matches SA Shaun Pollock took to achieve the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in Tests? (2) Who faced the first ball in the first WI/SA Test match played at Bourda? Who delivered it? Answers in tomorrow’s issue

-Chanderpaul to open batting with Griffith

Flashback! Jonathan Foo was Guyana’s hero for scoring a 17-ball 42 in the 2010 Caribbean T20 final against Barbados at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain. West Indies middle order batsman in the 40 year old Shivnarine Chanderpaul, whose 18 year old son Tagenarine Chanderpaul along with Shimron Hetmyer and Kemo Paul will don the maroon for the West Indies youth team in the NAGICO Super50 tournament. The elder Chanderpaul is expected to open the batting, as he did in last year’s tournament, alongside temperamental opener Trevon Griffith and

will have Everest Cricket Club’s seasonal opener Rajendra Chandrika as an alternate, as he is also named in the 14 man squad. With the absence of the left handed trio in Assad Fudadin (injured), Leon Johnson and Narsingh Deonarine (West Indies duties), Georgetown Cricket Club’s Vishaul Singh along with Foo, Raymond Reifer, Christopher Barnwell and Royston Crandon who are all named in the squad, will be expect-

ed to contribute with the bat from the middle order. Steven Jacobs will lead the lower order batting with support from wicketkeeper/ batsman Anthony Bramble who can also deputize as an opener, while spin twins Veerasammy Permaul and Devendra Bishoo, who are no rabbits with the bat, will be expected to add respectability to the lower order batting as well. West Indies ‘A’ fast bowler Ronsford Beaton and Paul Wintz were the talk of the tournament last year as Guyana’s new ball pair and with amicable support from Reifer and Barnwell, backed by Permaul and Bishoo who will be supported by Jacobs and Crandon, the Jaguars have the necessary artillery to bring back the prey to the Land of Many Waters. Judging from the stellar manner in which he led the team in their two matches in the WICB/PCL Regional four- day tournament in the absence of Johnson, Singh is expected to be given the reigns of the team for this tournament as well, even as both Jacobs (CCC) and Barnwell (Guyana) also have the capabilities to lead the side The team will be in-

volved in two practice matches on Wednesday and Friday at a venues to be named, before departing for the Twin Island Republic on Tuesday 13 th January and swing into action two days later when they oppose the

Christopher Barnwell Volcanoes at the picturesque Queen’s Park Oval in their first match. The Guyana Jaguars 1 4 m a n s q u a d re a d s : Vi s h a u l S i n g h ( c a p tain), Trevon Griffith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Rajendra Chandrika, Christopher Barnwell, Jonathan Foo, Steven Jacobs, Royston Crandon, Raymond Reifer, Anthony Bramble, Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul, Paul Wintz and Ronsford Beaton.

Pollard fails again but Strikers get over the line BRISBANE, Australia, (CMC) – West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard had a game to forget but Adelaide Strikers still did enough to beat Brisbane Heat by five wickets in the Big Bash League here yesterday. Sent in, Brisbane rattled up 152 for six, with opener Peter Forrest top scoring with 33 from 31 balls and Nathan Reardon getting an unbeaten 31 from 30 balls. Chris Lyn slammed 28 from 16 deliveries while opener Jimmy Peirson got 27. Left-armer Craig

Travis Simmons snatched two for 26 while seamer Ben Laughlin took two for 31. Pollard, however, leaked

Head 11 runs from his one over, giving up two boundaries on either side of the wicket to Forrest in the sixth over of

the innings. I n re p l y, S t r i k e r s slumped to 63 for four in the tenth over, before Travis Head struck 57 not out off 40 balls in an unbroken 87-run, fifth wicket stand with Alex Ross who scored 36, to steer the visitors to victory with seven balls to spare. Pollard was the fourth wicket to fall, holing out to long on off left-armer James Hopes in the tenth over, after he had made just six. The Trinidadian righthander has managed just 28 runs from three innings in the glitzy Twenty20 tournament.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday January 5, 2015

Johnson, Samuels steady Windies after AB de Villiers ton CAPE TOWN, South Africa, (CMC) – Leon Johnson and Marlon Samuels mounted an admirable fightback as West Indies overcame the loss of both openers to steady themselves, and set up an intriguing penultimate day of the third Test on Monday. At the close yesterday, the Caribbean side were 88 for two in their second innings, thanks to an unbroken 61-run, third wicket stand between Johnson and Samuels. The left-handed Johnson was unbeaten on 37 while Samuels was not out on 26, in a partnership that was necessary after both Devon Smith (7) and Kraigg Brathwaite (16) fell in the space of 18 deliveries, to leave West Indies tottering on 27 for two an hour into the final session. Smith survived 36 balls in 50 minutes at the crease before gloving a leg-side catch behind off seamer Morne Morkel, at 23 for one. With four runs added, Brathwaite missed a back foot defensive prod at one from off-spinner Colin

AB de Villiers celebrates his 21st Test hundred on the 3rd day of the third Test in Cape Town. balls over his first nine runs, Harmer that turned, and hit Johnson finally showed some off-stump. aggression when he lifted He batted just over an Harmer over the in-field to hour and faced 55 balls. the ropes at long on, in the If the Proteas were ex- bowler’s sixth over. pecting the now customary He followed up by slashWindies implosion, it did ing fast bowler Dale Steyn not materialise as Johnson square for four before punchand Samuels buckled down ing Morkel to the mid-off to produce mature knocks. boundary in the penultimate Johnson has faced 66 balls over of the day. and struck five fours while Seeming oblivious to Samuels has consumed 57 the looming close, Johnson deliveries and counted four took a couple of boundaries fours. off the day’s final over from Emerging from a cautious Steyn – the first a streaky start which saw him spend 28 shot through gully and the second a convincing pull off the last ball. Samuels, meanwhile,

was more sedate than usual especially against Harmer but still found time for two pulled boundaries off the bowler early in his innings and a lovely back-foot drive through cover. His innings was not without event, however, as he survived a review on eight off an lbw decision to seamer Vernon Philander and then gained a reprieve on 13 when Morkel at mid-on grassed a difficult low chance off Steyn. Earlier, AB de Villiers completed his 21st Test hundred and second of the series as South Africa were bowled out for 421 in their first innings on the stroke of tea, after losing their last seven wickets for 194 runs to gain a first innings lead of 92. Overall, the right-hander faced 194 balls, in five hours and 23 minutes at the crease, and counted five fours and a six. He was eventually last out, taken in the deep off Samuels as he tried to accelerate the scoring. Off-spinner Samuels finished with two for 68 and fast bowler Jason Holder, two for 87. Significantly, two wickets fell via the run route route as the visitors’ ground fielding improved tremendously.

Resuming the day on 227 for three, South Africa lost captain Hashim Amla after he had added just eight to his overnight 55, taken at the wicket off Holder in the seventh over of the morning. He hit seven fours off 150 balls in 189 minutes. de Villiers then took control of the innings, posting 96 for the sixth wicket with Stiaan van Zyl who chipped in with 33. Starting the day on 32, de Villiers moved quickly into the 40s with boundaries in the first two overs of the morning from Samuels and Holder, before reaching his half-century with a couple square on the off-side off Holder, in the fifth over of

WEST INDIES 1st innings 329 (J. Blackwood 56, L. Johnson 54, D. Ramdin 53; D. Steyn 4-78) South Africa 1st innings (Overnight: 227-3) A. Petersen run out (Blackwood) 42 D. Elgar lbw b Holder 8 F. du Plessis st Ramdin b Benn 68 H. Amla c Ramdin b Holder 63 A. de Villiersc Gabriel b Samuels 148 T. Bavuma b Gabriel 15 S. van Zyl lbw b Samuels 33 V. Philander run out (Holder, Benn) 0 S. Harmer lbw b Taylor 10 D. Steyn run out (Johnson) 0 M. Morkel not out 4 Extras(lb-7 nb-10 w-13) 30

the morning. He lost Amla but put on 34 for the fifth wicket with Temba Bavuma who scored 15 before dragging on to fast bowler Shannon Gabriel, as he tried to pull out of the stroke. At lunch, de Villiers was unbeaten on 84 with South Africa on 313 for five and he reached three figures in the fourth over after the break, by smashing three fours off Samuels’ ninth over which cost 16 runs. Van Zyl had batted an hour-and-a-half and faced 63 balls when he was lbw to Samuels at 384 for six and his dismissal saw the Windies quickly wrap up the innings as the last five wickets fell for 37 runs.

Total (all out, 122.4 overs) 421 Fall of wickets: 1-48,2-104,3-157,4254,5-288,6-384,7-385,8-404,9-408, 10-421 Bowling: J. Taylor 20 - 2 - 80 - 1(nb1 w-1),S. Gabriel 17 - 2 - 64 - 1(nb-7 w-3), J. Holder 24 - 4 - 87 - 2(nb-2 w-1), M. Samuels 16.4 0 - 68 – 2, S. Benn 45 - 9 - 115 – 1. WEST INDIES 2nd innings K. Brathwaite b Harmer 16 De. Smith c de Villiers b M. Morkel 7 Total (for 2 wickets, 34 overs) 88 Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-27. Bowling: Steyn 10-2-31-0, Philander 9-3-17-0, Morkel 6-3-10-1, Harmer 9-4-28-1. Position: West Indies trail by four runs with eight wickets intact.

GTTA serves off first tourney Richardson wants WI batsmen to convert class to substance next Sunday By Firdose Moonda in Cape Town

THE Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) will serve off its first tournament for this year this Sunday, with a senior’s Open table tennis tournament from 10:00hrs at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. Once again the tournament will be sponsored by two former national junior players in Jonathan Sankar and Orin Hickerson, and is expected to feature seniors playing. Players expected to participate are Sankar, Hickerson, Kyle Edghill, Elishaba Johnson, Shemar Britton, Jamaal Duff, Bryton Murray (Berbice), Joel Alleyne, Paul Meusa, Warren Hacksaw, Brad and Brandon Belle (Bartica), Remy Taitt, Devon Richmond, Xenophon Goliah, Gibran Sarfaraz (Berbice) Chelsea Edghill, Tiffani Barton and Angeli Persaud (Berbice) just to name a few. Invitation is also extended to players who are interested to compete in the tournament and they can do so to the Tournament’s coordinator and General Secretary of the GTTA Linden Johnson. The GTTA will coordinate tournament fixtures; provide umpires, tables and balls among other resources to host the tournament, which is aimed at: fostering camaraderie among players, promoting/creating a healthy lifestyle through sport, opportunity to participate in recreational activities and promoting the basic objectives of the GTTA, which is to have more players actively participate in the sport.

IF West Indies do not believe they can square the series against South Africa, they may as well head back to the airport as far as their manager Richie Richardson is concerned. Although they have suffered sizable collapses in the series so far - 6 for 39 and 7 for 44 in Centurion, 5 for 15 in Port Elizabeth, and 4 for 30 in the first innings here - Richardson remains confident that if West Indies push on, they could cause a massive upset. “You cant change the past, and you cant compete thinking about the negatives. If we are going to think like that, we may as well pack up and go home tonight,” Richardson said. “It’s important for two of our batsmen to get in and get centuries. South Africa are going to have to bat last on this wicket.” Although the Newlands surface remains suitable for batting, it is getting more difficult and is known to deteriorate on the final two days of a Test. “If you get in, it gets a bit easier. There are some cracks, a couple keep low and the spinner is in the game. There is more than enough for bowlers to work with,” AB de Villiers said, as a positive for his own attack, who will be looking to limit the lead tomorrow. Once it starts to inch towards 200 and if it tips over that, de Villiers predicts things could get tricky for the hosts. “Anything over 200 would be chaseable but tough,” he said. With West Indies four runs behind, with eight wickets in hand and two days left to play, recent form of the two teams aside, it would appear the match is shaping up to be much more competitive than many thought it would be and reflects well on West Indies. “We’ve shown quite a bit of improvement from the first Test match and that’s what we asked for,” Richardson said.

“We’ve seen the team playing better and better. We’ve got to learn to dig in as early as possible. We had a bad start but we’re happy with the progress we’ve made.” Throughout the series their batsmen have got starts and as it has developed they have managed start building on them. This is their final opportunity to show that they can convert something small into something substantial, and Richardson hopes they will not squander that chance. “We have to work on turning those 40s and 50s into big hundreds. A lot of the players are young and inexperienced but they have the potential,” he said. “We have coaches, mentors, analysts, we collect data, we assess ourselves, we have a lot of discussion but at the end of the day, it’s up to the individual to go out there and make the decision. To say: ‘I’m going to score 150, I’m going to bat four hours.’ When you look at our batsmen, we’ve scored faster than the South Africans. We have class players, we just have to be a bit more productive.” In the two men at the crease - Leon Johnson and Marlon Samuels - West Indies have a mix of determination and defiance, and in the ones to come, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Denesh Ramdin, they have the experience they want. But they will be up against a South African attack that does not need much prompting to turn it on, although de Villiers gave them - one, in particular - a nudge, just in case. “We know the game will speed up a bit now. We’re hoping we can start really well tomorrow,” de Villiers said. “Simon Harmer will be really important for us. We’ll be looking to him not only to do a holding job but also as a strike bowler.” (ESPN Cricinfo).

Sport CHRONICLE

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Johnson, Samuels steady See Page 27

Slingerz FC fuming over short Bradman-12, payment of prize money Sangakkara-11 ...writes GFF Normalisation seeking intervention

Champs Again! Slingerz FC players and staff celebrate after winning the inaugural WDFA Banks Vita Malta/Aqua Mist Water KO tournament on Boxing Day.

By Rawle Toney THEY were promised, as was advertised, $1M for winning the inaugural West Demerara Football Association (WDFA) Vita Malt/ Aqua Mist Water Knockout tournament, but Slingerz Football Club is now fuming over being owed $200,000 by the organisers. Slingerz FC kept their two year unbeaten run on ‘West Side’ intact following their 4–1 penalty shootout win over Den Amstel in the finals,

played on Boxing Day (December 26) but those smiles soon turned into frowns. The club, after the prize money was made payable to the WDFA by sponsor Banks DIH, was given $800,000 and were told that the Association could not have raised the balance to pay the full $1M as promised. As such, a letter of complaint was dispatched to Chairman of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Normalisation Committee, Clinton Urling, outlining

UDFA Executives aiming to have `Matthias bans’ uplifted See Story on Page 24 Claude Williams

their dismay and seeking his intervention. In a letter obtained by Chronicle Sport, Slingerz FC’s General Manager told Urling that: “On Monday morning, December 29, 2014, via a phone conversation with my President / Managing Director, Mr. Javed Ali, informing me that the WDFA President, Mr. Nigel Garraway, had called informing him that Banks DIH had only commit to the Association ($1,500,000).” “Mr. Garraway then informed him that the prize money would have to be reduced to $800,000 instead of the agreed sum prior to the commencement of the tournament of $1M.” Aaron added that he later contacted Garraway, stating to him that the short payment was rather unfortunate and as such, Slingerz FC will not support a reduction to the promised $1M, but was told by the WDFA President that “the WDFA did not enter into any contractual agreement with any of the clubs and that the clubs are being governed by the Association.”

In an interview with Chronicle Sport via telephone, Garraway said that indeed, the club was given ‘short money,’ because plans didn’t come through with the sponsors who had all made financial promises. Slingerz FC made two proposals to the WDFA President which, to their estimation, would’ve covered the $200,000 owed. “The Slingerz FC is committed to participate at no cost to the Association in any fundraising venture promoted or organised by the WDFA in aid of raising funds for the Association. Slingerz FC is willing to accept a document as advanced paid levy fee for the Club Annual West Side Tournament scheduled for February – March 2015, for the remaining sum of $200,000, despite the levy fees being $165,000,”Aaron said. But Garraway pointed out that while the proposal from Slingerz FC seems practical, a decision of such will have to be done at the executive level. “We had commitment from several sponsors and at the last moment, actually, after the tournament most of them said that they can’t facilitate us and we asked the clubs to see with us,” Garraway said. The tournament was a success, enjoying great crowd support throughout the duration, especially during the finals that saw the Den Amstel Community Centre being filled from corner to corner and asked why not use the funds garnered to offset the money owed to the clubs, Garraway said, “The association has to live too.” He added: “We finally got enough to at least start our programmes this year, so we have to think about life after this tournament. All the clubs we asked to take the reduction, but it’s only Slingerz making a fuss about wanting all their money.”

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Kumar Sangakkara brings up his 11th Test double century. in Tests at an average of By Shiva Jayaraman 58.92, which is the second highest after Bradman KUMAR Sangakkara’s among batsmen with at five 200-plus scores in least 5000 runs. away Tests equals the most 57.02 Sangakkara’s by any batsman. percentage contribution to 11 Number of 200-plus Sri Lanka’s score in this scores Kumar Sangakkara innings; This is the sechas in Tests now - only ond highest by a Sri Lanka one behind Don Brad- batsman when the team has man’s record of 12. Five of scored 300 or more runs. these scores have come in Sanath Jayasuriya’s 253 away Tests, which equals in Sri Lanka’s 438 against the most by any batsman. Pakistan in the 2004 FaisBradman, Wally Hammond alabad Test is the highest and Brian Lara also had such contribution. Click five 200-plus scores in here for a list of the highest away Tests. contribution by batsmen in 38 Centuries hit by an innings. Sangakkara in Tests. Only 4 Number of times Sachin Tendulkar (51), Sangakkara has contribJacques Kallis (45) and uted 50 percent or more Ricky Ponting (41) are to his team’s score in an ahead of him. SangakkaSee Page 23 ra has scored 12198 runs MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 2014