GUYANA No. 104279
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 12, 2015
The Chronicle is at http://www.guyanachronicle.com
GUYANA’S MOST WIDELY CIRCULATED NEWSPAPER
Private sector
commends Budget 2015
PRICE: $80
INCLUDING VAT
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–says includes measures to generate growth, boost investment
PSC Chairman Norman McLean
Jagdeo says budget falls short of APNU+AFC promises –but signals support for some initiatives
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CSEC, CAPE Host of activities set for Amerindian Heritage Month 2015 results to be centre
announced tomorrow
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FINALLY!!!
Getting ready! These young men were busy getting the Sophia Exhibition Complex in order for Amerindian Heritage Month, which will be celebrated next month (Adrian Narine photo)
Jagdeo says PPP/C going to Parliament on Monday centre
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
Angry BOSAI workers storm meeting with company, NAACIE ––upset over union’s proposed eight-hour work schedule
SENIOR Personnel Officer Treudel Marks at BOSAI Minerals Group (Guyana) Inc. yesterday said that the Linden bauxite company cannot go ahead with the proposal by the National Association of Agricultural Commercial and Industrial Employees(NAACIE) that employees be placed on an eight-hour per day schedule instead of 10 and 12 hours across the board. According to a press release from the bauxite company, it is apparent that the union did not consult all their members in relation to the proposal. The expected confirmation from NAACIE did not materialise and that proposal is on hold after the meeting was halted abruptly by some disgruntled workers. The NAACIE union representatives last Friday at a meeting with the company and the chief labour officer at the Ministry of Social Protection in Georgetown had among other proposals proposed that all employees be placed on an eight-hour
instead of 10 and 12 hours work schedules in light of the intended retrenchment of some 47 employees, due to an unstable sales market situation facing the company. The BOSAI management had requested that this be conveyed to the workers for their approval and yesterday the union was supposed to confirm that the decision put forward last Friday by the workers bargaining unit was what the employees wanted. In the release yesterday, management through its Personnel and Industrial Relations Department stated that “while at the meeting, some employees disrupted the process by banging on the door of the conference room, demanding to speak with union representatives and bringing the meeting to a halt.” The union representatives indicated to the employees that it was an illegal act to speak to them on company premises and they were not sure if they could even speak with them at that moment. After an intervention by the senior personnel officer, two union representatives met the workers while another stormed out of the meeting angrily calling it a
waste of time. “During an angry discourse with the union representative and the employees, mainly staff employees, it was pointed out that the union never consulted them on the issue of reduced working hours and that the union cannot just make a decision on their livelihood to reduce their pay. They said this will not happen, while further demanding to speak with the general manager on the issue, since the union representatives now see them as ‘these people’ and not ‘members anymore.’” The press release stated further that the general manager and senior managers listened to the angry employees speaking out about non-consultation on the issue by the union and they were not in agreement with the decision of reduced working hours. PETITION A petition was sent to the union and one was also given to Senior Personnel Officer Treudel Marks by the employees against the decision of the union to reduce their hours of work. However, Marks explained to them that they had to speak to their union
representatives off the company’s premises. After the employees had proceed to the northern gate (exit), the senior personnel officer reconvened the meeting and repeatedly asked the union whether the employees had agreed with the proposal. The union subsequently stated that they had held meetings with the majority of their members regarding the eight hours per day proposal instead of 12 hours per day work schedule and they were going with this decision. They, however, refused to give management a written confirmation on the decision. Last Friday, management said that it would accept the reduced working hours proposal with the understanding that the union had consulted with their membership about the reduction of working hours and would inform management of their decision by 10:00 hrs yesterday. Additionally,management said that if the employees through their union had agreed to the reduction of hours to prevent retrenchment, then the company was willing to acquiesce. Concerning the issue of overtime payments,
management said it was very confident that overtime payments were computed and paid in accordance with the labour laws of Guyana. REGRET Further, management said it regretted that it had to make the decision to retrench workers, but this was necessary for the survival of the company, the employees and the community as a whole. The release said also that the current situation of the company is that both calcining kilns are out of operation and several pieces of mining equipment parked and there is then highest calcining inventory at this time. Last month, management had notified its workforce and NAACIE that a decision had been taken to shut down calcining kilns Nos.13 and 14 for approximately four weeks which began on July 8. Marks then stated that “during the first half of 2014, the company had operated both calcine kilns. However, during the latter half of the year only one kiln operated due to the decline in markets for bauxite. In 2015, the company continued to operate one kiln, while sale of the company’s bauxite prod-
ucts further decreased. At the beginning of the year 2015, a decision was taken to park eight pieces of equipment in the mines. To date, storage places are filled and bauxite products are being dumped on the ground around the plant. In light of this, she reported that to sustain the operations management has decided to shut down kilns Nos. 14 and 13 for approximately four weeks which can be extended or retracted, depending on the marketing situation. There will also be a reduced working period of hours worked per week to 40 or eight hours per day within the Bauxite Plant Division. The mines will be allowed to continue working the 12-hour shift schedule to extend and safeguard the stripping lead and general repairs and maintenance works will be done throughout the company. According to the release, after the shut-down of the kilns, the company will operate one kiln for the rest of 2015, which will result in the reduction of staff during the first week of August 2015. H o w e v e r, t o d a t e NAACIE and the company have been unable to negotiate how this reduction of employees will be implemented and there is now the suggestion about all employees in the mines and the bauxite plant working eight hours a day, the release concluded.
GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
Jagdeo says budget falls short of APNU+AFC promises
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-- but he signals support for some initiatives
By Ravin Singh INCOMING Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has contended that the $221 billion 2015 National Budget is not a true reflection of what the APNU+AFC coalition had promised the people during the elections campaign earlier this year. Jagdeo expressed this view at a media briefing following the debut budget presentation of Finance Minister Winston Jordan on Monday. The budget is themed “A fresh approach to a good life in a green economy.” Examining the contents of the budget, the former President explained that “significant increases” in public servants’ salaries which had been touted during the elections campaign and listed in the coalition’s ‘100 Days Plan’ was not fulfilled. In fact, he reasoned that recipients of the 6 to 26 per cent increases in salaries for public servants will only receive half of those amounts as those increases will be effective for only six months. “What bothers me is the date that these increases are effective from. It’s effective from July 1. So you have to divide those figures by 2, [because] it’s only effective for six months in the year. At the end of the day, the public servants are not going to take home 15 per cent who earned $50,000; they are going to take home 7.5 per cent for this year. These are even lower than what the previous Administration gave in the past,” Jagdeo pointed out. On Monday, Jordan had revealed that there would be an increase in the minimum basic salary of each public servant to $50,000, which translates to a 26.4 per cent increase for those still earning the old minimum wage of $39,540; and there would be a 17.1 per cent increase for over 4,000 public servants earning the current minimum wage of $42,703. Additionally, all other public servants will receive a 5 per cent salary increase. The increases were announced by the Minister to be effective from July 1, 2015. NIS As it relates to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), Minister Jordan announced an end to the subsidy of 1 percentage point which was paid by the Government to cushion the effects of the increase in NIS rates in 2003. The Minister said the Government is of the view that the time is “opportune” to end this subsidy, given the “substantial increases” in salaries at the lower level, complemented by the removal of NIS contributions from being taxed. The withdrawal of the NIS subsidy will take effect from September 1, 2015. Unreceptive of this move, Jagdeo sought to question what the Treasury would be benefiting from the elimination of this subsidy. “We need to find out from him [Jordan] how much the Treasury will gain from the withdrawal of the subsidy we were giving to NIS payers,” The new Opposition Leader has said, adding that only after that has been established would one be able to determine in a net sense what this measure means -- whether the funds from this subsidy are larger than the $1.3B. “If it is larger, then it means he is not giving anything to NIS payers, he’s taking from them,” he contended. PENSION As it relates to what was detailed in the 2015 Budget for pensioners, the Minister announced that 42,397 beneficiaries of Old Age Pension will now equally benefit from a monthly pension of $17,000 - a 30 per cent increase on the present amount of $13,125. Divulging further on additional benefits for senior citizens, the Minister said that discriminatory practices must end. He explained that, currently, only 30 per cent of pen-
Incoming Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo
sioners benefit from an electricity subsidy, since it requires either proof of ownership of property or registered tenancy of property. A similar discriminatory practice, Minister Jordan has said, is in the provision of the subsidy for water services. Only 62 per cent of the registered pensioners benefit; More than 16,000 pensioners are excluded. However, the former President told reporters yesterday that it was not clear whether the subsidy for water and the preferential rate for electricity for pensioners will be withdrawn. Speculating, however, Jagdeo said that from all indications -- which includes the Minister’s remarks that “this [discriminatory practice] must stop”-- one can draw a reasonable conclusion that it is so. But if it is indeed true that the subsidy is being withdrawn, Jagdeo reasoned, this may very well end up putting pensioners in a worse off position than they had been before the budget presentation.
for non-commercial use. But, according to Jagdeo, the Government was reducing VAT on some items to satisfy the reduction of the rate that it had initially promised. It is to this end that he noted that, after examination of some of the items which will now be zero-rated, he can confidently say who some of the lobbyists are who were going to get some items zero-rated. He said the inconsistency in the items zero-rated suggests that there had been “serious lobbying”. “On one hand, when you remove Environmental Tax ostensibly because it is discriminatory against regional production, and then you introduce a waiver on VAT for production that competes with regional goods too; if the idea was to stimulate the production of fresh juice, why would you want to waive the VAT on imported carrots?” he asked. “This has nothing to do with cost of living,” he claimed, alleging that this move by the Administration goes against everything that they had promised in their manifesto.
VAT
SCHOOL UNIFORM ASSISTANCE
Value Added Tax (VAT), which was also listed in the coalition’s 100-Day Plan, had also demanded attention during the presentation of the budget. However, an unexpected announcement of Government’s failure to “immediately implement a phased reduction of VAT” was justified by the Finance Minister. He explained that, upon assumption to office, the new Government was greeted with a tax system that is “characterised by high tax rates”, resulting in innumerable requests for tax exemptions and concessions, which totalled $55 billion, in 2014; an unacceptable level of tax evasion that is clearly unlawful, discriminatory and stifles competition; widespread discretionary elements which have been used to favour and reward friends rather than encourage development; and low and/or no compliance. These things notwithstanding, the Minister proposed an amendment to the Value Added Tax Act, 2005 Cap. 81:05 to lengthen the list of commodities that attract no VAT. These include yogurt, cereals, fresh carrots, Milo and Ovaltine, Nestum, mustard and mayonnaise, locally-produced fruit juice, locally-made chowmein, vinegar, locally-made uncooked pasta, ketchup, chicken sausages in packets, locally-produced Chinese sauce, baking powder, liquid detergent, household cleaning agents, rolls of paper towels, liquid detergent, and computer printers
Minister Jordan also announced an increase in the value of school uniform vouchers from $1,500 to $2,000. This, he said, would benefit 167,000 students across the country, and it reflects an additional $337 million investment into the programme. But Jagdeo contended that the $10,000 cash grant which was piloted by the PPP when in Government is being slashed, but not to the benefit of the children. “If we take the $10,000 that we had given as a transport grant and we multiply it by 167,000, we’ll have $1.67 billion. So what they have done is that they have given $337 million and have taken back $1.3 billion from the students,” he said. SUPPORT Criticisms notwithstanding, Jagdeo told reporters that he supports some aspects of the 2015 Budget. These, he said, include the increases for public servants, the subventions for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), the monies allocated to pay rice farmers, and the “Green Economy” initiative being pushed by the APNU+AFC Government. But he said these aspects of the budget would be supported by him and the PPP only once they are funded by “real money”.
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
Kos migrants: Chaos amid Greek registration attempt CHAOS has broken out on the Greek island of Kos amid attempts to relocate hundreds of migrants to a football stadium for registration. Police officers used batons and sprayed fire extinguishers as they tried to impose order on the crowds. It comes after an officer on Kos was suspended for slapping one man while brandishing a knife. Authorities are struggling with a rapidly growing number of migrants, who arrive hoping for a better life. Many migrants and refugees have been camping alongside roads and beaches on the Aegean island, a popular tourist destination. But an attempt to relocate hundreds of people to a stadium for registration on Tuesday degenerated into chaos, with scuffles breaking out in the long queues. Protesting migrants demanding quick registration also began blocking the main coastal road in the island’s
Hundreds of people jostled for space in the crowd main town, according to the Associated Press. They reportedly chanted: “We want papers, we want to eat!” ‘TOTALLY INADEQUATE’ Greece has been overwhelmed by the number of migrants and refugees ar-
riving, with at least 124,000 people reaching its shores by sea in the first seven months
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country illegally from January to July 2015, compared with 32,070 for the same months in 2014. Meanwhile the local coastguard said it had rescued 329 migrants in seven separate incidents off the coast of Lesbos and Kos in the 24 hours from Monday morning, according to AP. The islands are several miles from the Turkish coast, and for many migrants the quickest and easiest route into the EU. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has said Greece cannot cope with the influx of arrivals, and that his country’s economic problems mean it is facing a humanitarian “crisis within a crisis”.
Blast kills around 50 in Nigeria’s Borno state
(Reuters) A BOMB attack on a packed market in northeastern Nigeria bearing the hallmarks of Boko Haram killed around 50 people on Tuesday, sources said. The explosion struck at around 1:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. ET) in the town of Sabon Gari in Borno state, which is the heartland of the Islamist mili-
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of this year alone, according to the the United Nations refugee agency.
The UNHCR says nearly all new arrivals in Greece are refugees from the wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Its European Director, Vincent Cochetel, has said facilities on the Greek islands are “totally inadequate”. A policeman on Kos was suspended on Monday after he was caught on camera striking a migrant. The footage shows him roughly pushing back migrants outside a local authority building in Kos, slapping one man across the face as he shoves others, telling them to get back behind a line he has drawn on the pavement with the knife. Greek police say 156,726 migrants were arrested for entering or remaining in the
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tant group. “So far, 52 people are injured, 47 dead persons have been removed from the market,” Umar Kidda, a member of a civilian viligante group, told Reuters by phone. Kidda, who witnessed bodies being taken away, said the market was busy when the explosion occurred.
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A military source who declined to be named said around 50 people had been killed. Boko Haram has killed thousands of people during a six-year armed campaign to set up an Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria. According to a Reuters tally, more than 600 people have been killed in raids and
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bombings by the insurgents since President Muhammadu Buhari took office on May 29, promising to crush the group. At the start of the year Boko Haram controlled territory about the size of Belgium. The army said it pushed the group from most of that area in the last few months with the help of troops from Chad, Niger and Cameroon, but there has been a recent resurgence in militant attacks. No one claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s blast.
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
Ramesar happy cops getting new guns...
Long overdue
T H E T & T P o l i c e S e rvice (TTPS) has signed a multi-million dollar deal with a firm to equip all police officers with some of the latest and hi-tech guns to even the playing field against the criminal element. Two of the main guns to be purchased include the SIG PRO and the SIG Sauer P226 Pistol. The latter—SIG Sauer P226 Pistol—will be assigned to every “ordinary” police officer in the TTPS, while the SIG PRO will be assigned to officers in the Special Branch Unit, the T&T Guardian has
been told. According to a source who wished not to be identified, the new guns will replace the present ones being used in the service, which include the Smith and Wesson and M&P 9mm, which is similar to the Glock pistol. The source added that Special Branch had already been issued with the new SIG PRO firearms. “That particular weapon is used by counter-terrorism specialist firearms officers, hence the reason it was assigned to the Special Branch Unit,” the
source said. Contacted for comment on the matter yesterday, Social and Welfare Association president Anand Ramesar said the acquisition of new guns for officers was long overdue. “The association has been clamoring for this change long time now and I am giving my total endorsement and support to the Commissioner of Police on this move,” Ramesar said. Ramesar said he was part of a team that attended a demonstration and exhibition on the use of the guns last month.
Gov’t moving to deal with illegal guns in Barbados BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – THE Barbados Government said Tuesday it is moving to curb the illegal entry of guns into the country and urged citizens to be part of the initiative. Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs Adriel Brathwaite said there has been an increase in criminal gangs as a result of the proliferation of illegal guns on the island. Brathwaite, speaking in
Parliament, said that while the criminal gangs were not organised as in other countries, there is still a cause for concern and that he is awaiting a report of a study on gang activity in Barbados. He told legislators that it was important for the island to stem the flow of illegal guns and drugs into the country. “We have to put our heads together to see how we can arrest the situation. Now the Royal Barbados Police Force
obviously is in the process of (implementing) certain initiatives to address this problem. It is a continuing process but they cannot do it alone. “We need to get community involvement, we need to get involvement of Members of Parliament, we cannot sit back and say that it is only certain elements in society (causing the problem),” he said, as he piloted a resolution to borrow BDS$76 million (One BDS$=US$0.50 cents).
T&T Gov’t dismisses assassination allegations against Opposition Leader
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – LESS than 24 hours after the Trinidad and Tobago Government dismissed the allegation by Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley that there is a plot to assassinate him, both the National Security Minister Carl Alfonso and a senior police officer have confirmed the plot. Communications Minister Vasant Bharath in a statement on Monday said that Rowley’s claim made at a political meeting in Tobago on Sunday was completely false and designed to create panic. “Therefore to make such allegations on a public platform is not only irresponsible and deliberately contrived to create panic, it is also a demonstration of using public platforms to incite the population rather than to articulate clear plans for the future,” he added. But Alfonso, who had
previously indicated that he knew nothing of the plot, told reporters that he had been “officially” informed by Deputy Commissioner of Police Glen Hackett. Alfonso said he was also “concerned” at the alleged threats made during a heated election campaign. “We must all be concerned as to what is developing in our politics,” he said. Rowley, speaking at a public meeting of his People’s National Moment (PNM) accused the coalition People’s Partnership government of wanting him dead. “First time in Trinidad and Tobago, the Opposition Leader is under attack from the Government. And when I’m not under attack from their friends who they hire to kill me, I’m under attack from their friends who they hire to lie about me.” Rowley told supporters that a few months ago he had informed people in the country that for the first time “in my
30 years (in public office) I feared for my personal safety. “Lo and behold, as I speak to you now, I’m surrounded by people who you pay to protect me from people who will have me killed,” Rowley told supporters. PNM public relations officer Faris Al Rawi, said he was astonished at the government’s “cavalier” response to the allegation and accused Bharath of politicising the matter. He said the threat assessment was made by the police and that Rowley had nothing to do about beefing up security around him. “Reports of an alleged assassination came into the public domain by way of the media’s observation of seriously increased security provided to Dr Rowley by agencies of the state…and reports had not been put out as political fodder in an election season by the PNM,” he added.
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
EDITORIAL GUYANA VISION 2020 – A GREAT START
THE Granger/Nagamootoo-led APNU+AFC Government rose to the occasion on Monday, unveiling a thoughtful response to the plight of the poor and the working class. There are several takeaways of note for the working poor, the senior citizens and the mothers of Guyana in the truncated 2015 Budget (because of the elections) of some Gy$221 Billion. VAT was removed from some additional food items, including locally made chowmien, locally produced fruit juices and Nestum for babies. The tax on all NIS contributions was also removed, which will transfer some $1.3 billion to the people annually. Then the travellers across the Berbice Bridge (especially school-children and workers who use the mini-buses) will see the toll on passenger cars and mini-buses decrease by some 13.6% to $1,900 per crossing. It
is expected that the traveller will benefit from a comparable decrease in the mini-bus fares from East Berbice across the bridge. Old-age pensions also saw a whopping 30 percent increase to $17,000 per month, which will make living for the old much more financially manageable. One person who would have been very happy with this increase was the late mother of ‘Joey’ Jagan, former President Janet Jagan who fought the Jagdeo Government for significant increases for the pensioners when she was alive, but was always offered the lame excuse that it was a matter of affordability. Well today the Granger/Nagamootoo Government dispensed with that lame excuse and made it possible in an economy that is expected to grow by only some 3.4%. This policy intervention illustrates that pensioners are a priority for the APNU+AFC Government.
But the icing on the cake for the working class was the substantial increase for those at the bottom of the pay scales. It took 15 years before the workers at the bottom of the economic ladder could have seen such significant increases – 17%. A working mother who used to take home a minimum wage of $42,703 per month, will now take home some $7,297 more per month, free of tax. This means that no full-time worker will take home less than $50,000 per month. This is a milestone achievement for the workers of Guyana. Teachers who worked for $52,380 per month in the past will now see their gross pay increase by some $7,620 and they are expected to take home some $5,140 of that after all deductions for NIS and taxes are made. To cap it off, school sweepers who lived on poverty wages for decades were moved much closer to a living wage with an hourly
emolument of $312 per hour. This is still an incomplete journey, but we are well on our way. The Hon. Minister of Finance, Mr Winston Jordan must be commended for a well-crafted budget on his first effort, given the state of the economy and the choices available. On this first effort it seems better to help the poor with the hope that they shall be more incentivised to be more productive. Today, workers’ productivity is at an all-time low and the Granger/Nagamootoo Government must be commended for taking two direct measures towards the transformation of the services offered by public servants, namely – significant wages increases and training. It has been observed that the Public Service Administrative Staff College has been established in the Department of Public Service and high
school leavers are being invited to pursue a career in the public service. It is hoped that with better salaries and training, more young people can be motivated to want to make a professional career out of the public service and thus contribute to the improvement in the productivity and output from the public service. The Minister of Finance has now put forward reasonable plans to help the working poor. This is a work in progress and it is hoped that the business
class can look forward to the promised tax reforms after the completion of the Tax Studies from the Tax Reform Commission. This should translate into actionable measures that the business class can look forward to in the 2016 Budget, which will be unveiled in about six to eight months. Overall, Budget 2015 was a pro-poor and proworking-class budget and will make a positive impact on the lives of the Guyanese people.
DIVERSIFICATION & GUYSUCO
I WISH to follow up on a brilliant piece written by Howard University Professor, Dr Kenrick Hunte, entitled, ‘Policy makers must decide to downsize and diversify sugar cane production.’ In November 2005, the European Union (EU) announced a set of measures to reform the EU sugar regime. Basically and clearly it meant the end of EU importation of cane sugar as a primary product from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. The EU generously gave these countries ample forewarning and a four-year grace period to “fix” their houses during which time the EU preferential price for ACP sugar would decline substantially, but with certain compensatory measures to help these countries withstand the economic shock and re-structure their sugar industries. For Guyana, whose EU quota was 159,000 tonnes at a price of €524 per tonne, it meant a loss of almost €200 per tonne in four years. Since the EU absorbed about 80 percent of Guyana’s sugar, this spelled disaster for the already ailing industry, and worse for a
country whose social, economic and political super-structures were founded on sugar. It is for this latter reason, I believe, in addition to Guyana enjoying a comparative advantage over other Caricom sugar-producing countries, that Guyana held on to its sugar industry, while at the same time hoping to corner the CARICOM market as a result of the collapsing sugar industries in CARICOM countries. U n f o r t u n a t e l y, t h e US$200M spent on restructuring Skeldon was done under purely political considerations, the project given to contractors with exploitative and hegemonic intentions, and the Government risking, as it were, all our eggs in one basket without any in-depth feasibility studies being done regarding diversification, secondary and tertiary production and linkage industries. Dr. Hunte made this a very imperative requirement in his analysis. I would like to submit that all is not lost for Guyana’s sugar industry; that it can, like a good chess player, turn a situation of disadvantage into one of tremendous advantage, and that sugar which from time imme-
morial has been synonymous with bitter oppression, can indeed assume a sweet taste. Further, I would like to maintain that, just as sugar has been used historically by imperialists as an instrument to create great social aberrations – racial divisions, poverty, racial crimes, etc – it can similarly be used to revolutionise the industry and correct those same aberrations in society. For two main reasons sugar has never been a solid foundation for any economy. Both reasons can be expressed with one word – alienation. In the first place, despite its labour intensiveness, sugar production depends heavily on foreign capital (tractors, machinery, fuel, fertilisers, packaging, etc.) the price of which is dictated by the developed counties – the same countries that buy our sugar – also at a price dictated by them. Sugar companies are totally alienated from the pricing mechanism and have absolutely no control of the terms of trade which have mercilessly always taken an unfavourable course against sugar. Apart from alienation from the pricing process, alienation
in the context of Guyana is also manifested in a more devastating way. Labour is alienated from capital. The industry, formerly owned by foreign capitalists, continues to be operated as if it is still of that era. Thus, a feeling of alienation still exists with labour, and perhaps more so since the nationalisation of the sugar industry. The chief result of alienation is declining productivity of all factors of production – land, labour and capital. Throughout the history of sugar, the general response to declining productivity has been (a) increased capitalisation, and (b) increased management and further tightening of labour supervision. Both responses, unfortunately, eventually lead to further alienation. There has never been any significant structural change to address the issue of alienation. The panacea has therefore always addressed the symptom, not the problem itself. Despite increased capitalisation, production has not generally moved to secondary or tertiary stages, but con-
strained, through unfavourable and dictated trade agreements, to remain at raw-material level, that is, the U.S. and EU only let us have a preferential price or reduced tariff for our raw sugar, not processed sugar. This was acceptable so long as we enjoyed indefinite preferential treatment. The U.S. buys only about five percent of our raw sugar at a preferential price which itself is not fixed, but continually decreases. Because of the constantly deteriorating price and fixed quota, the industry cannot increase its income even if it increases production. In addition, because of the deteriorating terms of trade, real income persistently decreases as it costs more and more in foreign capital to produce at a fixed quantity of sugar. Preferences in trade today are granted to countries with commodities - say uranium or oil- which are highly valued and are in strong demand, particularly for security reasons. Preferences are granted by countries that overtly or covertly expect something else in return, such as political or ideological alliances or mili-
tary support. In some cases and times, geo-political importance plays a part in obtaining preferences. In short, global liberalisation of trade is not likely to become a reality because of the hard-line practices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and first world manipulations, for example, agricultural subsidies, which delimit fair trade and make the playing field very rough indeed for Third World countries. And cane sugar is no longer a commodity of power. Neither the EU nor the U.S. manifests strong interest in our cane sugar, or our infinitesimal military or political alliance. For Guyana, unlike its CARICOM neighbours whose main economic industries are non-agricultural, agriculture is the single most important sector of Guyana’s economy, both in terms of foreign-exchange generation and the number of persons employed. Sugar and sugar-based products contribute almost 20 percent to GDP, and in terms of foreign exchange, earns about US$135.0 million a year. One in every seven
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I wish to thank the Finance Minister for a well-crafted budget MANY people, friends and other individuals who have come to know me through my letters to the press, occasionally encourage me to continue writing, enquiring about that next letter. I usually laugh, more often than not replying jokingly that I’d achieved my goal of giving our country a new and better Government. Indeed, it was with much relief and jubilation that the coalition’s supporters learnt of their party’s victory at the recent elections and witnessed the swearing-in of our new President, Brigadier (Rtd) David Granger, and his new Government. I myself could not help but reflect on the appropriateness of the choices by the President for the various ministers to their various portfolios. Listening to the delivery of his first budget speech to Parliament, I could hardly suppress my appreciation for the effort many of us put in to secure the change in Government on May 11, as the Honourable Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, delivered a soundly crafted budget, complete with commitments to address corruption while creating the environment for much-needed investment
and job-creation. The budget covered the host of welfare issues from salary increases and pensions to access to potable water across the country and the delivery of improved physical infrastructure, health and educational services. A major issue in the past has been the elimination of salary increases by unscrupulous retailers and businesses, who use the occasion to give themselves a profit boost by also increasing their prices. These defaulting businesses are urged to desist from this practice this year going forward, and instead seek to achieve sustainable profit growth by attracting and retaining business through greater customer service, improved sourcing and stock management. The minister, in announcing the additional items to be zero-rated, further urged in his budget speech that retailers ensure that the benefits of these newly zero-rated items be passed on to consumers by appropriately lowering the prices on these items. The minister also touched on the burning issues of Government transparency and financial accountability, and improvement in the delivery of Government services to new and existing local and foreign investors by the removal of
“red tape” and the streamlining of licensing processes. Improvements in our respective communities was featured with the restated commitment to local government elections later this year, with emphasis on rebuilding local government and decentralising of authority and responsibility for management and administration of local government bodies throughout the country. This particular issue is one of which we should all take note as this move creates opportunities for localised administrative talent to ensure that our capital city, towns and villages are managed to maintain the upkeep of the local environment and deliver the appropriate level of infrastructural services to citizens. The delivery of green, cost-competitive energy was also a hallmark of the 2015 Budget. The high cost of electricity has historically been one of the biggest constraints to growth and job-creation in manufacturing and industry locally. The commitment was made to explore avenues for hydroelectric sources. Wind energy is one particular area which has been referred to and should be fully examined and exploited with appropriate feasibility studies, because it is one which continues to benefit from improvements in cost efficiencies with
DIVERSIFICATION ... From Page 6
persons is directly or indirectly connected to sugar in Guyana. Since abandoning the sugar industry is not an option for Guyana, and pursuing preferences and subsidies is a deadbeat issue for us, how then can the Guyana sugar industry survive? I would like to outline some revolutionary ways that I feel would definitely help. Firstly, the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuco) will have to change its name to the Guyana Agricultural Corporation. This implies it will have to embark on a massive diversification programme. Previous attempts at diversification failed for a number of reasons, the main one being the alienation problem. The workers who worked in the Other Crops Division (OCD) of GuySuCo were no more than subjugated servants producing tilapia, cheese, milk and yams for managerial staff. They tasted no benefits from their labour, and there were widespread reports of wholesale stealing of tilapia and yams. They sabotaged the works and the OCD became a liability to GuySuCo. It is no wonder that World Bank/IMF required GuySuCo, then, to terminate its original diversifi-
cation programme, according to Fritz McLean, former GuySuCo Crop Diversification Director, (SN 08/11/2015). Therefore, to make diversification work, the issue of alienation must be addressed. My proposal in tackling this issue may be called the Diversified Mobilisation Plan (or any other attractive name). This plan will not only address the alienation issue, but also the issue of declining productivity of land, labour and capital. Declining productivity, as mentioned before, is the chief cause of increasing costs of production and the direct result of the alienation process explained above. For simplification, I would like to outline my Diversified Mobilisation Plan in a number of parts. These parts are not mutually exclusive; they are concurrent. The Diversified Mobilisation Plan calls for the sugar workers to become lease owners of the cane lands. Acreages and terms of lease (5-10 years) varying according to years of service of the workers. Leases are renewable only to those who maintain a certain level of productivity. In terms of cane production, productivity is measured by the ratio of tonnes of cane or tones of sugar per acre. For other crops a productivity/
investment ratio could be used. Consistent productivity over, say a period of 10 years could result in full (conditional) ownership of the land. In the case of factory and office workers, they could be made shareholders in the Corporation, in which event their productivity would be measured, say, in terms of decreasing factory and office downtime, or other devised measures of efficiency. The second part of the Diversified Mobilisation Plan calls for the earmarking of GuySuCo lands, most of it already primed with an excellent drainage and irrigation system, for certain crops depending on soil suitability or, in some cases, proximity to utilities and social infrastructure. Thus, there would be allocations for citrus, pineapple, cocoa and coffee, livestock (dairy, cattle, pigs and poultry), and other products. Dairy farmers would plant antelope grass, perhaps on a cooperative basis. Again, lease-holders are committed to a certain production level or face non-renewal on the expiration of their leases. The third part of the Plan involves GuySuCo embarking on a massive capital investment programme that would build factories to process milk into
advances in technology, very likely with long-term maintenance support from manufacturers, not to mention that it will probably require much less time to complete compared to that of hydroelectric projects which are typically accompanied by cost over-runs. Another advantage of wind energy is that it can be introduced without the large financial commitment associated with hydroelectric projects, with expansion to supply over time as needed to match demand. Wind energy will also drastically reduce our import costs for oil to power GPL’s turbines and generators. This will have a strong, positive impact on our balance-of-payments position and exchange-rate stability while freeing up foreign currency resources. A great benefit of investing in wind energy is reliable and potentially lower energy costs sooner, which obviously makes Guyana an immediately more attractive destination for foreign direct investment, thus reducing the waiting time for those much needed higher-paying jobs. All of this naturally translates into increased output, with potential diversification of our economic base and increased export receipts, along with increased
cheese; factories to use milk, cocoa and sugar, nuts and other fruits to produce chocolate and confectionery; and factories to can pineapple and citrus juices, jams and jellies, and fruits such as mangoes, pineapples, coconuts, etc. Imagine, Guyana will no longer be selling its tropical nuts and fruits, cocoa and sugar at the dictated prices of Developed Countries (DC), then turn back and buy their chocolate, again at the dictated price of the DCs. Instead, Guyana would be biting into the CARICOM confectionery markets currently controlled by the DCs. A fourth part of the Plan calls for in-depth research and analysis by GuySuCo of the North American markets, particularly New York, New Jersey, Florida and Toronto, which are rapidly becoming cities of immigrants whose demand for tropical foods is growing exponentially; and to embark on a greater integration and supervision of the cultivation, processing and exportation to those immigrants the highly demanded items such as pepper sauce and achars, condiments, chataigne and breadfruit; vegetables; all types of fruits (mangoes, sapodillas, guavas, star apples, dunks); beverages in concentrates (sorrel, mauby, mango; jams and jellies; fish and seafood (hassar, tilapia, snapper, prawns, shrimp). The Guyana Consulates/Embassies must thus be fortified with skilled trade officers and not mere cynosures.
government revenues from a larger, more productive tax base. This latter outcome obviously serves as a basis for delivering welfare relief for public servants through increased salaries. One of the lessons easily learnt from the past Administration is that its loss centred on its failure to address corruption and deliver the necessary governance framework to secure the confidence of large international businesses interested in establishing large, and in some cases, strategic operations in Guyana. It is probably common knowledge that corporate governance has become such a big issue globally that many developed countries which are the domicile states of widely known global companies have established laws which address corruption and bribery of Government officials, even beyond their borders. One of the things we should probably also realise is that many of these large multinationals which we are keen to attract to our shores are silently waiting for our government to address governance and corruption issues. Therefore, the large investments of these global corporations which are critical for massive job-creation, wage growth and in-
It is unfortunate that only a small percentage of the tropical foods demanded by Guyanese in New York actually comes from Guyana. The demand for Guyanese foods is so great from Guyanese and other West Indians that many stores falsely advertise hassar, eggplants, pumpkin and dozens of other items as originating from Guyana. At the same time GuySuCo would investigate the viability of growing some of the very tropical and temperate produce that Guyana imports, such as garlic, onions, cinnamon, geera, turmeric, potato, split peas and a host of others, and to vigorously pursue a strong foothold into the multi-billion-dollar food-importing industry of the Caribbean. The next part of the Plan is to attract the youth from areas of high unemployment such as Georgetown, Buxton, Rosehall, etc. and (1) lease them the marginal cane lands bordering their villages (converting bandits’ nests into productive entities), and (2) train them in the skills of farming, livestock-rearing, carpentry, building bio-gas digesters (which will use the waste from their farms). The GuySuCo Port Mourant Training School in collaboration with UG and the Guyana School of Agriculture will have their work cut out for them. President David Granger recently appealed for a revival
creased welfare for Guyanese will very likely only be realised with the institutionalisation of strict internationally accepted governance and anti-corruption mechanisms geared to protect businesses and consumers from the high cost of graft, which was so much a feature of the previous Administration. On this particular issue, the minister was clear about his Government’s commitment to improvements in the tendering process, stronger government accounting and auditing processes and creating a corruption-free environment for businesses. Guyanese can therefore look forward to the rapid economic transformation, investment and job-creation necessary to push our country up in the rankings of countries to invest, visit and live with the strengthening of Government’s administrative and financial systems, the implementation of anti-corruption and governance regulations and guidelines along with the introduction of cheaper and reliable supplies of electricity. I wish to once again compliment and thank our Honourable Minister of Finance for a well-crafted budget. CRAIG SYLVESTER
of the village economies. This might well be the opportunity to return the people to the soil, to dis-alienate them from their birthright. It is man’s proximity to the land from whence derives all moral values, honesty and the sweetness of one’s own sweat. This might well be the means to return the pride of local artisanship for which many villages were once noted. Now, the imperialist banks or countries may not want to lend us the money to embark on this Plan. How do we raise funds? Simply by selling Agriculture Development Bonds to the three-quarter million overseas Guyanese (as well as local investors). I have no doubt that just as they repatriate US$100 million annually to Guyana without expecting any returns, they would gladly invest in these bonds that promise and guarantee good interest. After all, the world’s demand for food is always increasing, and which other country devoid of natural disasters possesses such potential for food production? You may call me a dreamer as John Lennon sang; but let’s face it, either we embark on revolutionary changes in GuySuCo or face the stark reality of massive lay-offs, crime, migration, and possible economic regression. I think we can make Guyana the Food Basin of the Caribbean. GOKARRAN SUKHDEO
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Immigration systems to be reviewed- Felix GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
- following illegal entry of Indian nationals
MINISTER of Citizenship Winston Felix has promised a review of the immigration systems following an incident where eight Indian nationals entered Guyana illegally on an Insel Airways flight from Curacao on July 19. Speaking at a press conference at his office at Waterloo Street, Georgetown, Minister Felix said the incident has highlighted the need for airlines to exercise caution and ensure that those utilising their services have the requisite documents and fulfil entry requirements. “The work of the Ministry impacts activities at every level of Government. Our mandate of ensuring the security of our ports and borders is enshrined in the Constitution and the necessity for due diligence is essential. Previously, there has been a laissez-faire approach to some of the problems we are currently experiencing,” he said.
As a part of the mandate of the Ministry of Citizenship, Felix said, the ports and borders of the country must be protected through proper channels of immigration. He noted that while the new Administration came and met some of the systems, they will not be allowed to persist as they are. The Minister noted that “it is unfortunate that the persons who were attempting to enter our country had not followed the appropriate procedures and it is also unfortunate that the airline that delivered them to these shores chose to let them board without the requisite documentations”. To this end, Minister Felix disclosed that the Ministry will be assiduously working to see that the system is not only reviewed but is made effective as well. “As such, while we are in the process of reviewing our systems with the aim of making it more efficient, we
deemed it necessary to disallow entry to the country at this time, both to be fair and
Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix non-partisan and to send a message to anyone who thinks that they will take advantage of our legendary hospitality. We will welcome to our coun-
try anyone who demonstrates proper documentation and necessary funds to support themselves while here and will not condone any airline that renege their responsibility of ensuring that travellers are suitably documented for entry into Guyana,” he declared. According to Minister Felix, the eight Indian nationals entered Guyana without following the International Aviation rules and regulations which require that passengers must have a visa before they purchase an airline ticket, which would entitle them to enter that territory as well as a return ticket if they are not citizens. NO VISA, RETURN TICKET “Those nationals had neither of those when they arrived in Guyana. No visa, no return ticket. No one was there to receive them,” he said. Minister Felix said that the process to send the men
back to their country was further delayed after it was found that the airline, Insel Air, which had transposed the men, had a problem facilitating them on the flight. “The representatives of the airline first agreed and then they disagreed. They came in around 23:15 hrs on July 19 and that very flight should have returned at 06:45 hrs on the 20th. When they were denied entry, their passports were taken to the airline operatives on duty with the information that they were refused leave to land. The standard procedure is that they ought to be put back on the same flight on which they came. Their passports I am told were handed to the airline operatives and then about 04:00 hrs when checks were made to have them booked in on the same flight, the airline operatives said that they couldn’t do it. They said that they were seeing something about Copa Airlines. Immigration then said that they did not come on Copa
and they cannot go with Copa,” Minister Felix explained. Felix said further that much delay was caused while Insel Air tried unsuccessfully to get the passengers out on Copa Airlines. The Minister said that it was only when immigration insisted that the passengers leave on August 6 that arrangements were made for the Indian nationals to leave. In the meantime, Minister Felix said that he believes that an investigation may be launched. “There seems to be something amiss with the condition of the men, their circumstances and overall situation,” he said. The Minister related that given his background in the Guyana Police Force, it is unusual and strange that the men came all this way from India to spend 16 days in Guyana without so much as funds to last them one day.
Suspect in sex worker murder held in Linden
POLICE said that one of the two suspects, for whom wanted bulletins were issued, in connec-
Mrs. Joy Noel tion with the murder of transgender sex worker Nephi Noel, was arrested
in Linden and is in police custody in the city. Ron ‘Andel’ Forde was arrested on Sunday night at 2nd Avenue Wismar, Linden after police responded to reports from residents after they recognised him and he was taken into custody in Linden and later transported to the city. He is expected to appear in court shortly. Mother of Nephi Noel, Joy Noel, yesterday said she felt good that at least one of the two men who took her son’s life is in police custody and it is only a matter of time before the other suspect is caught. She said that she has been praying for a miracle and is pleased that the case is going somewhere since she is finding it very difficult to cope with the tragic
loss of her son. Joy Noel said further, “I used to tell Nephi that when I get old he will take care of me and I did not know that
have shot him in the foot or something.” Police had issued wanted bulletins for Forde and Kanand Ojha in connection
Wanted: Kanand Ojha
Wanted: Ron ‘Andel’ Forde
I would be the one to bury him instead. They could
with the shooting death of transgender sex worker
Luther. Twenty-year-old Noel of Lot ZZ D’urban Street, Wortmanville was gunned down by one of two men, on July 22, 2015 at about 02:35 hrs, while plying his trade in the downtown area of Carmichael Street in Georgetown. He was shot once to the chest when confronted by the duo during an argument over a paid transaction. Reports are that a male client had earlier visited the transgender sex worker for a paid sexual encounter, but was apparently not satisfied with the services he had received, and had returned to Luther. Not being pleased with the response, the client returned with another man, who reportedly shot Noel
dead before fleeing the scene in a sports utility vehicle. Luther was conveyed to the GPHC where he
Gunned down: Nephi Noel was pronounced dead on arrival.
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
Camp GLOW brightens girls’ lives
EDUCATING and empowering young women throughout Guyana is being made a sustainable process through the events of Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World). During the just-concluded one-week summer camp, girls between the ages of 13-17, from as far as Region 1 to Region 6, were brought together in a beautiful interior training centre in Region 4. They were given the opportunity to explore and discover ways to incorporate leadership skills, healthy relationship and communication skills, and positive lifestyle choices. Through activities and discussions based on a variety of topics about leadership and decision-making, the women were provided with the training and education to enable them to take these skills
back to their homes and communities. This year, the group consisted of 15 Peace Corps Volunteers, 10 Guyanese Counsellors, 5 CITS (Counsellors in Training), and 35 campers. While the Peace Corps Volunteers assisted in hosting the camp, it was the young Guyanese women who managed the camp and brought forth its full potential. The counsellors were previous campers who have a strong passion to pursue this mission, and they returned to empower more women countrywide. The girls were provided with an education in the camp, based on discussions, activities, and presentations from guest speakers who contributed their personal experiences on topics of leadership, career planning, decision-making, and accep-
tance of various cultures and traditions. Topics also included art therapy as well as physical, mental, emotional, and sexual health. The campers were urged to cultivate a healthy body image, good nutrition and diet, and make healthy lifestyle choices. The guest speakers also provided informational discussions regarding suicide in Guyana, a country where the suicide rates remain high. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided transportation for all campers throughout Guyana, food, safe drinking water, housing accommodation, and a weeklong educational programme that would impact their lives forever. After the camp, the girls will continue to work with Regional Counsellors and
other campers to practise their newly-acquired skills and inform others of their experiences. The camp had a bittersweet ending as the girls had to say goodbye and depart from the close bonds they had formed, but they left with newly-acquired skills and tools they would use for the rest of their lives. Podella Williams, a 17-year old Camp Counsellor from Linden, plans to host a radio show called the “GLOW Show” in her village. “This way I can continue educating women throughout my community on ways to exceed and create change.” According to the organisers, the camp is just the beginning of changing people’s lives and the hope is that the gift of Camp GLOW is one that will never stop giving.
Camp Glow participants
CSEC, CAPE results to be announced tomorrow THE Ministry of Education will be announcing the results of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) tomorrow. These results will be announced at a press conference to be held at the National Center for Education Resource Development (NCERD) at Kingston, Georgetown. Later in the day, the results will be accessible online via the Caribbean Examinations Council website. Last year, the Ministry of Education announced with pride that Guyana had once again done extraordinarily well at the CSEC examinations, as the country gained four Regional Awards for Outstanding Performance in the May/June 2014 examinations. Queen’s College reclaimed the top
position with its student, Elisa Hamilton, emerging as the top CSEC performer followed by several candidates from schools outside of Georgetown who also claimed top places. These performers all wrote in excess of 17 subjects at their sitting. Education Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine has indicated that under his leadership, students sitting in excess of the 17 subjects will be administered as this contributes to the extra-lessons industry. Meanwhile, an improvement in Mathematics was seen as it moved from 28.92 per cent in 2013 to 38.7 per cent last year. And English A recorded a marginal increase from 45.69 per cent to 46.98 per cent while the English B performance remained average. Both Mathematics and English performances are recorded as “unsatisfac-
tory”, given that neither has exceeded 50 per cent passes over the years. During the presentation of the 2015 fiscal budget on Monday, Government indicated that it will undertake a detailed and objective study of the weak links in the education system to determine the reason for such a setback. The results of that study will then be used to craft appropriate policy responses. “We cannot ignore the abysmal results for Mathematics and English in this country, where more than half of our students are unable to establish that they have general proficiency in these two foundational subjects,” declared Finance Minister Winston Jordan during his presentation of the budget. The education sector has been allocated $33B, which is 14.9 % of the national budget of $221B this year. Despite the “unsatisfactory” perfor-
mance of the two imperative subjects at CSEC, Guyana has been recording tremendous achievements in the various subject areas year after year and has been labelled as one of the best performing countries in the Caribbean at the CSEC examinations. The analysis of the CAPE results has been completed and will be released tomorrow. The CAPE results were accessible online via the Caribbean Examinations Council last Sunday evening. From all indications so far Queen’s College has once again reclaimed the top performing position. CAPE, unlike CSEC, is voluntary and equivalent to the British Advanced Levels (A-levels) and is intended for university entrance. CSEC on the other hand, marks the end of standard secondary education throughout the Caribbean Region.
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Woman remanded for possession of unlicensed gun, ammo and drugs TWENTY-FIVE-YEAROLD Lisolettela LaCruz of Lot 108 Tucville, Squatting Area, Georgetown was last Thursday busted with an unlicensed gun, ammunition and narcotics following a raid conducted in her home. Represented by Attorney-at-law Paul Fung-aFat, the mother of one was yesterday arraigned before city magistrate Ann McLennan for having an unlicensed .25 pistol with 6 rounds of matching ammunition when she was not the holder of a firearm
licence. It was further alleged that La Cruz was found with two grammes of cannabis. The Tucville woman denied all the allegations levelled against her. Additionally, her lawyer, applying for reasonable bail, told the court that his client operates a shop in the interior. He said a situation of multiple occupancy refers in the case, and the offensive materials could have belonged to anyone. But according to the prosecution facts, read by
Police Officer Deniro Jones, police recovered the firearm in the presence of the accused; and her husband, who is employed with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) as a Lance Corporal based at Camp Ayanganna, while under caution by the police, admitted to ownership of the gun. LaCruz was placed on $20,000 bail for possession of cannabis, and was refused bail for the gun and ammo charge. The matter was transferred to Magistrate Fabayo Azore for September 14.
Repeat offender cops nine months --for breaking into Malteenoes bar
T H I R T Y- E I G H TYEAR-OLD John Herc u l e s w h o re s i d e s a t the East La Penitence Night Shelter was yesterday sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to breaking into a sports bar and carting off cash and liquor. The case against Hercules was that on August 08, at Thomas Lands in Georgetown, he broke and entered the Malteen-
oes Sports Bar and stole $18,000 cash, one bottle of XL rum worth $2,000, one bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label whiskey worth $10,000, and two packets of cigarettes. But police ranks on patrol duty, acting on information received, went to the Malteenoes Sports Bar and found the defendant there. Cautioned, he admitted to breaking into the bar; and when searched, the stated items were found
with him. The prosecution explained that Hercules was a repeat offender who, two years ago, had been convicted for a similar offence before the Court One magistrate. Hercules had been charged indictably, but on application by Police Prosecutor Deniro Jones, the Administration of Justice Act (AJA) was applied, and the defendant was able to plead guilty.
Tucville couple in custody for unlicensed firearm, illicit drugs POLICE arrested 30-year-old Deon Richards and his wife of Tucville Squatting Area in Georgetown on the night of Thursday, Au-
gust 06, and reportedly were able to seize an unlicensed firearm and a quantity of marijuana. The police reportedly found the weapon in a
room in the house, stashed in a bag and placed on a piece of furniture. Richards’s wife is also said to be operating a shop in the interior.
GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
Message to the Young people of Guyana on the occasion of UN International Day of Youth, August 12, 2015 by Hon. Ms. Amna Ally, Minister of Social Cohesion, MP AS Guyana joins with the rest of the World in observance of UN International Day of the Youth, I as Minister of Social Cohesion, salute the young people of Guyana. As many of you know, young people comprise more than half of our population. As such growth and development in Guyana would only be sustainable, by engaging you in all facets of the process. The Ministry of Social Cohesion is not yet well known in Guyana. This is because it is new, established under the Hon. David Granger Administration, following the APNU AFC victory at the May 11, 2015 National and Regional Elections. Some of you may remember in his inaugural address to the nation, His Excellency had indicated that he intends to be “President for all of Guyana”. He had urged all to “embrace each other regardless of religion, race, class, or occupation and work together to realise our inspiring motto of One People, One nation and One Destiny”. It is for this reason that the establishment of the Ministry is so critical. Its mandate is to undertake “the ongoing process of developing a community of shared values, shared challenges and equal opportunity within Guyana, based on a sense of trust, hope and reciprocity among Guyanese.” The Ministry is committed therefore to working with a wide cross section of stakeholders, to ensure that an agenda that seeks to reduce disparities, inequalities and social exclusion is pursued in our country. Programmess, projects and whatever policies are required would be implemented in order to strengthen social relations, interactions and ties at the community and national levels. This latter dimension is designed to embrace all aspects which are generally considered as the social capital of our society. Young people of Guyana, social cohesion is about those elements that bring and hold people together in society. In a socially cohesive society all individuals and groups have a sense of belonging to that society. Moreover, they are allowed to participate in the mainstream of societal processes and their inclusion is considered as important and significant. Beside a sense of belonging, inclusion and participation, in socially cohesive societies, there is respect for others as well as the recognition of the rights and potential of everyone. It is about an awareness of one’s legitimacy
Minister of Social Cohesion Amna Ally and the legitimacy of others. In such societies, people are not necessarily all the same in terms of race and ethnicity. They are not the same in terms of political persuasion, religious beliefs or economic status. Rather, in most societies around the world, including ours, people are different in many ways. However, by respecting differences, we are able to harness or bring together the potential residing in our society (in terms of people, their ideas, their opinions, skills, and resources) for the benefit of all. If we do this, which is what the Ministry aims to accomplish, Guyana would be less prone to slip into destructive patterns of tension and conflict when differences of interests collide I believe you are becoming more and more conscious of the use of the phrase “quality of life”. His Excellency makes frequent reference to this and you may have heard it over and over in the National Budget presentation. As young people, I want you to know that the quality of life for citizens has been a major goal of governments, serving to guide national policies. Under the current Government, Guyana is no different. Quality of life has replaced the idea of wealth as the main goal of societal development. This is a shift from considering economic aspects of life to a broader perspective, to include social and other concerns. A common feature is to focus on the individual. It is about you as a young Guyanese, your family and your community. It is against this background, much discussion will be centered on societal qualities such as the extent of equality, security, freedom or the quality and structure of the relations within our society. Therefore, your relationships in the community are important. The Ministry of Social Cohesion wants to promote useful and productive relationships within and among groups at
the community level. That means your youth group, your NGO, FBO, CSO, sports or cultural group. For us, how you relate to neighbouring communities is also important. It is not helpful for us as Guyanese when groups and communities disagree and cannot find common ground for working together. The Ministry wants to build trust and where healing is needed, create an environment for this to happen and move forward. I mentioned trust and this is important. As young people you must be able to have a sense of trust, trust in the Government….you must believe and know that this Government is working in your best interest, and that we are making decisions that would benefit you and your family. You must have that confidence that if you stay in school or attend a technical or Vocational Centre, or a tertiary institution, this government would have plans and policies, in place so that you can secure a decent job or otherwise establish your own means of generating income. On behalf of the Government, the Ministry considers it important to engage young people in the process of development as many of you are entrepreneurial and are very open to taking risks. Many of you initiate processes and we want to be able to support you in those undertakings. When social cohesion is fostered like this administration is emphasising, there is a level play field for all and everyone is offered an opportunity for upward mobility. As your Minister, I want you to trust me and the Ministry over the short term starting now, to make a difference. You will have opportunities to tell us, what will work in your communities, so that we can partner for these undertakings. My ministry would use these windows of opportunity for working together to strengthen national bonds and diminish intergroup friction. We want to be able to encourage groups, including youth and other interest groups, to organise programmess to foster among others, intercultural understanding for children and young people. We are working with other Ministries, the Local authorities and a cross section of agencies and organisations, to advance the agenda of the Ministry in order to create a socially cohesive Guyana and I welcome our youth population to partner with us.
GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
Private sector commends Budget 2015
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–says includes measures to generate growth, boost investment
THE Private Sector Commission (PSC) has congratulated Finance Minister Winston Jordan and the Government on the presentation, in a relatively short space of time, of a comprehensive budget which highlights the vision of the new Administration. The Commission in a statement yesterday said it is pleased that many of its proposals to the Government for measures which would provide a stimulus to the economy and boost investment have been incorporated. The PSC said the allocations to the sugar and rice industries will allow those industries to regroup and recover so that they can make significant contributions to the economy. The assistance to small and medium scale miners will also allow the industry,
which has produced the bulk of the country’s exports, to adjust to the new reality of lower gold prices. The PSC, headed by retired Major General Norman McLean, also welcomed the allocation of funds for roads, bridges, air and river transport and particularly the rehabilitation of hinterland airstrips. “This will undoubtedly boost the integration of hinterland communities into the economic life of the coastland. The PSC is also particularly pleased about the allocation of financing for the dredging of the Demerara harbour, the siltation of which has for years led to increased shipping costs and therefore impacted the competitiveness of our exports and the final prices of imports. REMOVING RED TAPE
“The Private Sector Commission is heartened at the Minister’s plans to remove the red tape which stymies business activities and urges the Minister to ensure that there is greater inter-agency coordination to facilitate the necessary operations of business. “The Commission also welcomes the salary and wage increases for the public service and especially the significant increase in Old Age Pensions. These will undoubtedly provide welcome relief to a large component of the citizenry. The removal of taxes on NIS contributions is also welcome,” the PSC said. It, however, expressed disappointment at the decision to discontinue the Amaila Falls Hydroelectricity Project and urged the Government to seek alternative renewable energy sources as the high cost of energy continues to be a stumbling block in the way of the production of value-added goods and the growth of the manufacturing sector.
The Commission also notes the decision to lower tolls for the Berbice River Bridge and hopes that this was done within the terms of the Public-Private Partnership agreement. RELIEF TO CONSUMERS The PSC praised the further zero-rating of a slew of goods, with a bias towards locally manufactured products, for the purposes of the Value-Added Tax and believes that this is an acceptable method of providing relief to consumers without the necessity of lowering the VAT rate which would have significant effects upon revenue generation. The Commission, though it had proposed a number of priority areas for reform of the taxation system, is satisfied that this could not have been comprehensively attempted in an interim budget and will await the release of the results of the Tax Committee’s deliberations.
12 more to be deported for illegal entry JUST one day after he had promised a review of the immigration systems after an incident involving the eight Indian nationals, who had illegally entered Guyana, Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix announced that 12 other persons are slated to be deported in the coming days due to illegal entry. Speaking at a press conference at his office at Waterloo Street, Georgetown yesterday, Minister Felix said that around 14:00 hrs, air carrier Copa Airlines Flight CM 254 arrived at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), with a number of passengers including six Haitians, four Cubans, two Russians and one Colombian. He disclosed that when the Immigration authorities checked their documents, it was discovered that none of the Haitians were in possession of a Guyanese visa. They were, however, in receipt of pseudo Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guyana letters, which sought to allow them entry into the country. “They were denied leave to land and they were returned to the aircraft,” Minister Felix disclosed.
Concerning the two Russians, a married couple, the wife was found to be lacking the necessary paper work and suspected to be involved in other illegalities. She was returned to the aircraft and de-
nied entry. Her husband, who was granted entry into Guyana, decided to return to the flight with his wife. Meanwhile, the lone Columbian had no visa or money to support himself in the country. Four Cubans, two females and two children; three and five years old were also suspected to be involved in a journey that had illegalities surrounding it. Having been denied entry, they refused
to return to the aircraft. HUMANE TREATMENT “They are now at Timehri. We are seeking to have the women and children suitably accommodated until they can leave on a flight tomorrow [Wednesday], instead of having to stay in cells with two children…we are seeking to have them under safer and more humane conditions prior to their flight,” he disclosed. The Minister noted that it is imperative that these matters are brought to the forefront since it would appear that Guyana seems to be a focal point for people who are either involved in ‘backtrack’ activities or trafficking in persons. To this end he called on the airlines to observe the international regulations, that is, to ensure that people arriving in the country have the requisite documents and fulfil the requirements to be allowed into the country. “That is what the airlines are mandated to do and in some cases, certain airlines seem to be deficient. The airlines must act
responsibly. We are asking the airlines to simply observe this law… It is unfortunate that we had to once again take these actions to deny entry to visitors in this country. However, as visitors, one expects that you will comply with the regulations for travel to and from this country,” Minister Felix said. According to Minister Felix, there are regulations which must be followed and he will be studying these in depth. He said as a part of the mandate of the Ministry of Citizenship, the ports and borders of the country must be protected through proper channels of immigration. Mr Felix noted that while the new Administration came and met some of the deficient systems, these must not be allowed to persist as is. Minister Felix said the situation seems to be nothing new, but it will not be allowed to continue under the current Administration. “I will not allow myself the luxury of believing that this is now happening. This has been happening way before my time,” he said.
Full-time doctor for Anna Road from Siriki to Tapakuma to be upgraded Regina Health Centre REGION 2 Chairman Devanand Ramdatt has disclosed that a doctor will be based full-time at the Anna Regina Health Centre in light of the growing population in the commercial center of the town on the Essequibo Coast. The chairman, who was discussing projects for the 2016 regional budget with officers of the Regional Administration, Town Council and NDCs last Wednesday, said a project will be included in the budget to cater for accommodation of a resident
doctor at the Anna Regina Health Centre. The chairman, who also had a face-the-community meeting with residents of Good Hope last Wednesday, heard calls from them for a doctor to be based full-time at the Good Hope Health Centre. Residents complained that the building was not fully utilised and the compound was overgrown with bushes. The chairman, after the meeting, visited the health centre in the company of residents and promised that
- to increase agricultural production in Pomeroon
Devanand Ramdatt action will be taken immediately to make the building fully functional with the services of a doctor.
REGION 2 Chairman Devanand Ramdatt has said that the trail from Siriki New Havens Housing Scheme in the Upper Pomeroon River and Tapakuma [St Deny’s Amerindian community] will be upgraded to a roadway to open up hundreds of acres of virgin farmland. The Chairman, addressing the Regional Democratic Council meeting yesterday in the boardroom at Anna Regina, said the road project is included in the region’s budget for 2016.
Former Toshoa of Tapakuma, Doreen Jacobis, who is currently a councillor of the RDC, said she is happy that the road project has been included in the budget. According to the former Toshoa, the road between the two communities is very important because the land along both sides of the road will be cleared and cultivated. She said it will bring about an increase in agricultural production and trade between the two villages.
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
Travel from CJIA to Trinidad now hassle-free
Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Annette Ferguson was part of a local delegation that attended the “Insider Threat” seminar in Trinidad and Tobago A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago to facilitate hassle-free travel for Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) passengers who are in-transit in Piarco International took effect from August 5. The arrangement captured in the MoU is commonly referred to as the “One-Stop” security arrangement for screening of transit
and transfer passengers. It is one of the mechanisms which is being encouraged by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). According to Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson, the general intent is to significantly improve the efficiency of air travel and place less burden on security screening checkpoints. “The One Stop Security
Screening will allow for transfer and transit passengers who deplane at Piarco International (or CJIA) to be directed to the departure lounge and await boarding of their connecting flights without being subjected to further security screening at the main security checkpoints. It will also eliminate or avoid the inconvenience of remaining on board an aircraft for a lengthy period before its departure,” she
Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Annette Ferguson stated. Minister Ferguson indicated that this is one of many initiatives that will seek to strengthen the relationship between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, a country which she said has made significant strides in aviation. The Government of Guyana will also seek to engage similar arrangements with other regional counterparts such as Barbados and Suriname. However, in order to ensure the sustainability of this initiative, the Minister emphasised that the security systems and standards at both airports must function at the highest level. SEMINAR Meanwhile in late July, Minister Ferguson headed
a small delegation to Trinidad for a two-day “Insider Threat” seminar hosted by the Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS) and the U.S.-Transportation Security Administration (US-TSA). The seminar saw the attendance of several high-level officials which included Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Director Generals, and Aviation Professionals from countries within the Caribbean, and the North and South American Region such as the U.S.A., Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, Suriname, Curacao, and Haiti. Also in attendance were representatives of key stakeholders such as LIAT, Caribbean Airlines Limited
(CAL), JetBlue and Piarco International Airport. Participants of the seminar were introduced and sensitised to new and emerging threats which can adversely affect civil international aviation operations within the Region. Of particular interest were insider threats which can evolve from among persons or employees within the various organisations operating within the aviation sector, particularly within the environments of the international airports; and which can challenge current aviation security systems. Furthermore, participants have committed to develop and implement appropriate measures and policies that will seek to maintain and safeguard civil aviation operations from such threats. This will entail making improvements to the screening and verification process for existing employees, applicants, and new recruits that are employed in the aviation sector. Minister Ferguson has echoed similar views in which she has given her commitment to ensuring that Guyana implements the appropriate measures that will ensure ICAO’s compliance and prevent or mitigate against new and emerging threats to Civil Aviation operations in Guyana. CASSOS and the USTSA are planning to have follow-up workshops and discussions with the various national authorities so that this growing area of concern can be diligently addressed.
GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
Billions allocated for upgrades of roads, sea defence FINANCE Minister Mr Winston Jordan has announced that major road works, upgrades to sea defence structures and transport facilities are among the major infrastructural upgrades to be undertaken in 2015. The budget he has presented under the theme “A Fresh Start, the Good life in a Green Economy” was described as a “people-oriented one” as it promises a good life for all Guyanese. Minister Jordan announced that approximately $1.6 billion has been budgeted for upgrade of the Sheriff Street/Mandela Avenue Road, making it a modern thoroughfare for Georgetown. This upgrade will create an improved road linkage between the East Coast and East Bank Demerara. Further, a total of $1.2
billion has been budgeted for completion of that part of the East Bank Demerara Highway that provides improved transit from Providence to Great Diamond. “The Government also intends to create a bypass road linking Diamond, East Bank Demerara to Ogle, on the East Coast Demerara. The new road will open up unutilised lands to support a modern housing scheme for 1,100 households, while creating new jobs for Guyanese as well as establish(ing) a more efficient link between the country’s two international airports,” Minister Jordan said. The Finance Minister said that, in order to link the Sheriff Street/Mandela Avenue urban development to peri-urban communities, the Government will be investing $387 million this year to upgrade the Sophia “Ring
Road”. Rural development will also materialise through investments of $544 million to upgrade community roads and bridges in the 10 administrative regions. Similarly, a provision of $1.2 billion has been made to upgrade more than 28 km of farm-to-market access roads and bridges located in Laluni, Onverwagt, Parika and the Ruby Backdam. Jordan also announced that Government will be seeking to construct a road linking Parika and Goshen and providing an alternative access route to Bartica. That aside, Government will construct all-weather roads in Regions 7 and 9, to open new opportunities “to exploit our natural resources”; and will “upgrade internal roads in the proposed new towns of Bartica, Mahdia and Mabaruma”. It was further announced
that $417 million has been allocated towards air and river transport, so as to better link the hinterland regions with urban and rural centres, to create both direct and indirect jobs for Guyanese while helping to promote eco-tourism within these regions in order to empower the indigenous people. Further, the Minister announced that, in this regard, the Government will improve air service delivery through the rehabilitation of hinterland airstrips and aerodromes, and the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. The Ministry of the Presidency has also said that the Minister announced that a
Finance Minister Winston Jordan sum of $644 million has been allocated for dredging the Demerara and Essequibo rivers; docking the MV San-
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daka, MV Barima, and MV Kimbia; acquiring spares; and rehabilitating stellings at Georgetown, Parika, Leguan and Bartica. In relation to climate change and Guyana’s susceptibility, Jordan said that Government, recognising the importance of the medium- and long-term need for adequate investments in coastal zone protection infrastructure and systems, has allocated $1.4 billion to strengthen sea and river defence infrastructure, with critical works taking place in Regions 2 to 7. In addition, $5.7 billion has been allocated to rehabilitation and extension of the capacity of drainage and irrigation infrastructure countrywide, including the Northern Relief Channel.
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
More emphasis to be placed on education delivery in hinterland regions — Dr Rupert Roopnaraine THE audits of hinterland schools have revealed that there is a shortage of teachers there, and the methods used to impart knowledge are outmoded. Those factors have contributed to a “real” ‘knowledge gap’ between hinterland students and those from the coastland, Education Minister Dr Rupert Roopnaraine has revealed. He has vowed to place more emphasis on the delivery of education in the hinterland regions, given the circumstances the schools are faced with on a daily basis. The schools, he said, are
at a “setback” because of the foregoing disadvantages, and these hinder the performance of students in those regions. Dr. Roopnaraine aims to rectify these disadvantages by staffing hinterland schools with qualified and dedicated teachers. What has also to be addressed is the refusal of teachers to take up appointments in hinterland regions, given that most villages have neither electricity nor Internet access. This newspaper has been made aware that most teachers in hinterland regions, especially in Region 8 (Potaro/ Siparuni), have to travel for
miles to access an Internet cafe in order to gather teaching materials (information) to deliver to the students on the following day. Moreover, the Internet cafés are costly to use, and most teachers find it difficult to keep up with the expense. The multi-year agreement of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) with the Government of Guyana will soon come to an end; and GTU President, Mark Lyte, has said the GTU will be negotiating with the new Government for a 150% increase in station and hardlying allowances, so that teachers
from the hinterland can move freely to the coastland, and vice versa.
Education Minister Dr Rupert Roopnaraine Asked if the Ministry of Education will pursue this, Dr. Roopnaraine said, “We will do what we have to do” so as to address the issues faced in these regions. The audits conducted on hinterland schools will soon
feed into the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) established by the Ministry of Education, and will provide directives on how to address the difficulties faced by those schools. The CoI involves teachers, education officials, citizens from across the country, and experts in various fields. The Government has tasked itself with ensuring that the education system does not perpetuate inequalities by differential levels of access to certain groups, based on their geographical locations and ability to take advantage of educational opportunities. This was outlined in the 2015 Fiscal budget presentation by Finance Minister Winston Jordan, who said Government will bridge the “divides” that exist between hinterland and coastland; between the semi-literate mass and the educated few. To achieve this, Jordan said, Government, under the relevant sectors, will be adopting an approach that is grounded in systems-based reforms and evidence-based
policy making. Since assuming office, Government has been taking measures to sustain the education sector; which, according to the audits, is currently “on life support”. It has been confirmed that most of the 10,000 computers that are underway from China will be distributed to teachers, especially those teachers who would have just concluded their training at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE). Therefore, there will be a One Laptop Per Teacher (OLPT) programme to take the place of the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) programme, which Jordan described as a “corrupted” programme of the past regime. Government has allocated $33B to the education sector, 14.9 percent of the national budget; and has indicated its commitment towards enhancing budgetary transparency for the sector in the near future. (Shivanie Sugrim)
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
Unattended stove may have caused Bella Dam fire
THE conflagration at Bella Dam, Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara that occurred on Saturday and claimed the life of 97-year-old Princess Tinnamon, called ‘Sister P’, besides leaving 71-yearold Vivian Thomas hospitalised, may have resulted from carelessness and lack of attention to a stove that flared up while cooking was being done in the upper flat of the building. That flare-up reportedly ignited the building within minutes; but Chief Fire Officer Marlon Gentle has said that investigations are incomplete, and he cannot make a pronouncement
-– Fire Chief Gentle
The Puran Bros property after the fire
gulfed to the extent that the fire spread to the building next door. Owner of Puran Bros Waste Disposal Service, Lakenauth Puran, said his losses ran into millions, since his building had housed a small-scale fuel depot, an office and a mechanic workshop, and equipment and several parked vehicles had also been destroyed in the blaze. Meanwhile, Office Manager Kalesh Puran told this publication that the company has about 15 employees;
The razed dwelling house
The buildings in aftermath of the fire occupied by two elderly until such time as the inves- women and their relatives, tigations have been com- and ravished the next door pleted. property of Puran Brothers He disclosed, howev- Waste Disposal Service, er, that officials from the which housed an office, a Guyana Fire Service (GFS) mechanic shop, and a smallhave re-visited the scene in scale fuel depot. an effort to conclude their The elderly women had probe. occupied the upper flat of That 10:00 hrs confla- the house, while the lower gration completely con- flat was occupied by their sumed the dwelling house relative Sharon Thomas and
Firemen dousing the flames
her son. Nothing was saved from that dwelling house, while only some documents had been taken from the office of Puran Bros as the employees managed to exit the edifice before it was razed. Thomas explained that she had seen thick smoke billowing from the upper flat of the house, and within minutes it was totally en-
he was inside the office when the fire started, and was able to save only some documents although he had ensured that the workers vacated the premises. He noted there was nothing that could have been done besides moving some important documents and urging employees to vacate the building. He was, however, in distress at the passing of the ‘Sister P’, the elderly woman who perished in the blaze. (Michel Outridge)
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
Host of activities set for Amerindian Heritage Month 2015 Theme: ‘Preserving our customs and traditions’
FIN
Jagdeo sa By Ravin Singh
H
AV I N G s k i p p e d all the sittings of the House in the 11th Parliament, former P re s i d e n t - t u r n e d - O p p o sition-Leader, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, has said the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) will be participating in budget debates in the National Assembly on Monday. Giving this assurance yesterday at a party press briefing at Freedom House, headquarters of the PPP/C, Jagdeo said that party’s appearance in the National Assembly is in keeping with its primary function
Govt fu findi
Minister Garrido-Lowe (centre) along with her team, is all set and ready for Amerindian Heritage Month 2015 AMERINDIANS across Guyana are anticipating a cultural fiesta during the Month of September (Amerindian Heritage Month). The Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs yesterday reeled out its plan of activities to celebrate the month under the theme “Preserving our customs and traditions”. Every September in every year, Amerindians across this country are given opportunity to showcase their cultural diversity to the rest of the nation. This year, the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs has lined up a host of activities which are aimed at further promoting the heritage of the “first people”. Teams have been selected to streamline the activities in an orderly manner. Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Ms Valerie Garrido-Lowe, declared that, this year, the Ministry is promising a bigger and better Heritage Month, and all Guyanese are invited to join in those celebrations. “In keeping with one of our mandates, we have to ensure that hard work and planning (are) put into this year’s festivities so as to
make it bigger and better than ever,” the minister said. Preparatory work, she noted, has already commenced at the Amerindian Heritage Village which will be housed at the Sophia Exhibition Centre. She said the ministry has already cleaned up the nearby trench, and is currently renovating the existing benabs and constructing three new ones, so that there would be access to more facilities, and more activities could be held there. The host of events will be kick-started with a prayer ceremony on August 31 at the area where the Umana Yana once stood tall, or at the Amerindian Village. This is in keeping with the notion that God must be involved in any activity, planned or unplanned, in order that it might run smoothly. CEREMONIAL LAUNCH Following the Day of Prayer, the month of activities will be officially kickedoff on September 1 with the Heritage Ceremonial Launch at the Amerindian Heritage Village, which will be graced
by the presence of President David Granger and other high-ranking Government officials. The President is expected to give the feature address. The indigenous folk will be showcasing their talent and displaying their various delicacies -- beverages, crafts et al. The main focus, the Minister noted, will be placed on the indigenous foods and beverages so as to give the vendors -- especially those who have travelled from far-flung areas -- a chance to showcase and market their products. Being added to the list of activities at the Heritage Village from September 2-6 will be a cultural extravaganza which will see over 150 Amerindian artistes from all the different regions showcasing their talent in the form of poetry, songs, dances, skits, stand-up comedy and much more. As a motivational strategy for each artiste to perform to the best of his/her ability, the Ministry will be paying a stipend to the performers. Artistes such as the Mighty Pirai, the Mighty Chief and the Mighty Pacuri are slated to perform at the Village. Meanwhile, activities at
the Amerindian Heritage Village will include the sashing of the pageant delegates, on September 5 at 20:00 hrs; followed by the celebration of the life and works of Stephen Campbell and other notable Amerindians, on September 10; with reenactments of Campbell during his days in Parliament. The Annual Heritage Fund- Raising Dinner will be held from 19:00 hrs on September 8 at the same venue, where a number of Amerindian delicacies, such as Roasted Labba, Pepperpot, Mountain Chicken among others will be available. Tickets to this treat cost $7,000. AMERINDIAN VILLAGE This year, Santa Aratak in Region 3 (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) has been chosen as the Amerindian Village. Speaking to members of the media yesterday, Village Toshao Aubrey Samuels highlighted the fact that the village is the closest Amerindian Village to the capital city. He disclosed that this is also the second time that this village has been named the
Amerindian Village. This year, the toshao disclosed, the village will be displaying the various traditional foods and beverages, along with the many beauties of nature being showcased. “Persons will get to observe how the Tacoma worm is harvested and eaten, and so on,” he said. Persons are encouraged to join in the celebrations at the Village on September 12. SCHOOL LECTURES Minister Garrido-Lowe said that, this year, the ministry will be holding school lectures at various schools across the country, so as to sensitise students on the way of life of the Amerindians and also their diverse culture. This, she noted, would enhance the students’ knowledge and help them to have a greater understanding of how the “first people” live. The ministry is appealing to young Guyanese to participate in the festivities, and schools are urged to bring out the students and have them engage in the host of activities which has been planned for the month. (Navendra Seoraj)
THE findings of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the operations of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) will determine whether or not Government will further invest in that corporation. Meanwhile, an additional $8.2 billion have been allocated to the company to meet operational costs until the end of 2015. This was disclosed by Finance Minister Winston Jordan when he presented the $221 billion National Budget on Monday in the National Assembly. The Government has appointed a CoI to inquire into the current state of cane cultivation and production and marketing of sugar, molasses and other by-products, including power. This was done because the Administration believes that the economic well-being of the sugar industry is critical to the protection of jobs and growth of the economy, as well as because of the contribution it makes to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country, its exports and foreign exchange. The Minister reminded the House that the Government had previously intervened when it was discovered that GuySuCo was insolvent and needed an infusion of cash to keep it afloat. He explained that $3.8 billion had been injected at the time to avert collapse of the industry and onset of a possible crisis. “This stop-gap measure is neither sustainable nor meant to be a substitute for, or post-
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
NALLY!!!
ays PPP/C going to Parliament on Monday -- to hold the Government accountable. Rebutting the contents of the 2015 budget, Jagdeo said he was taken aback by Finance Minister Winston Jordan’s announcement that the Administration intend to spend $97 billion of the $221 billion budget in the last 4 months of the year. A former Finance Minister himself, Jagdeo said that spending $97 billion in the last quarter translates to the Government spending $800 million per day. According to the Opposition Leader, the debates
might run until mid-September, which would offer the Government only approximately 115 days to spend the $97 billion. And following budget debate, the Opposition would be closely scrutinising procurement practices by the Government for the remainder of the year; and Jagdeo has signalled his intention to challenge Minister Jordan for statements he has made regarding the May 11 General and Regional Elections, and other statements against the PPP/C. “This (elections and cor-
ruption) gives us latitude in the debates, because the debates generally are about the economy in the standing order. But once the Minister of Finance introduces elections, corruption and audits, then it opens the door for us to talk about these things in the debates,” the Opposition Leader said. Nevertheless, he supported the increases given to public servants and the move by the Administration to pursue a Green Economy. Before Jagdeo announced the PPP/C attendance in Parliament on Monday, that party’s Gen-
eral Secretary, Clement Rohee, had spoken on the matter. He had said that the “Mother of all parties” will be participating in the 11th Parliament whenever it was deemed conducive to so do. In the May 11, 2015 polls, the PPP/C had secured 32 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly, an achievement that shifted its status from minority Government to minority Opposition. Having been in power for some 23 years, that party is now expected to keep the Government on its toes in the National Assembly.
unding of GuySuCo hinges on ings of CoI into operations
The findings of the Commission of Inquiry into the operations of GuySuCo will determine whether or not Government will further invest in the company, Finance Minister Winston Jordan has said poning of, the hard decisions that need to be made. Whatever path the industry takes, it is vital for the sake of the national economy that it remains viable to compete in an increasingly competitive and volatile global market,” Minister Jordan told the House. The Minister said the sugar industry in Guyana
has long been in decline. The industry continues to grapple with an unsustainably high cost structure, with production currently averaging US$0.40 per pound for sugar, almost three times the world market price. He further said the sugar company’s continuous subpar performances since the mid-2000s have been well
ventilated. “Between 2008 and 2013, annual sugar production, which averaged 220,362 tonnes, was considerably below the average production level of 286,084 tonnes for the preceding period 2000-2007. Following its disastrous performance in 2013, when a lowly 186,770 tonnes had
been produced, a modest target of 215,910 tonnes had been set for 2014. The final out turn for 2014 was 216,186 tonnes,” Minister Jordan said. The Minister is of the view that the implications of the sugar industry remaining an uncompetitive producer are frightening.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo
Patsan salesman murder PI…
One accused freed, one to stand trial for murder
CITY Magistrate Judy Latchman yesterday freed murder accused Kevin France while committing his co-accused, Randolph Marques, to stand trial at the High Court for the murder of Patsan salesman Bharrat Ramcharran, committed in the course of a robbery on April 24, 2014 in Campbellville, Georgetown. The prosecution’s evidence had not been able to link the 26-year-old France, of East Ruimveldt, Georgetown, to the crime. Moreover, the unrepresented Randolph Marques testified on France’s behalf, and his attorney, Mr James Bond, made stirring submissions on his behalf. The 20-year-old Randolph Marques was not so lucky. The magistrate informed him that a prima facie case had been made out against him at conclusion of the preliminary inquiry (PI). She said she had taken into consideration the prosecution’s case led by Inspector Vishnu Hunt and the evidence was enough to establish a case against him. The teary-eyed accused tried to remain strong when the magistrate asked him if he wanted to address the court or call any witness in his defence. Wiping his eyes with his head held high, Marques replied in the negative. Prosecutor Hunt requested that the three witnesses be reserved and called again to give their testimonies when the matter is being tried at the High Court. The request was granted, but Marques inquired: “How can you reserve something that you don’t have?” Magistrate Latchman was happy to enlighten the young man on something called ‘fresh evidence’. Police had reported that Ramcharran was about to enter the business place of his employer Patsan’s when he was attacked by two men, one of whom was armed with a firearm. The armed man shot Ramjattan to his back, and the perpetrators carted off a bag with an undisclosed sum of cash as they escaped on a motor cycle. The injured man was immediately rushed to the Woodlands Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Ramcharran had been employed at Patsan’s for 19 years. This newspaper understands that he would usually spend all day collecting payments before heading back to the office in the afternoon. He used to conduct business on his own.
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
Critchlow Labour College subventions to be resumed
––subventions to be given FITUG as well FINANCE Minister Winston Jordan has assured that payment of the subvention to the Critchlow Labour College (CLC), long withheld by the former Administration on ground that the CLC management had been guilty of poor accountability for funds provided, will be resumed. Moreover, the other worker education institution, owned by the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), will also be given a subvention. Minister Jordan said: “The return of these subventions is in keeping with our campaign promise to give a subvention to each trade union to assist it to train its workers for a rapidly changing job market and work environment.” The former Administration had also said that in addition to the CLC’s state of non-accountability, Government representatives and University of Guyana representatives had been excluded from sitting on the CLC Board of Directors. Prior to the previous Administration withdrawing the subvention the CLC was receiving, that workers’ education institution had been offering the following courses: Certificate in Industrial and Social Studies, Communication
and Effective Speaking, Advanced Diploma in Project Management, Further Access to Education, Care for the Elderly, Advanced Mental Health I and II, Sewing, Project Management, and Occupational Safety and Health. Over the many years of its establishment in 1968, thousands of students have benefited from these training courses, and have used them as stepping stones to accessing higher institutions of learning. In its heyday, the CLC even boasted campuses in Linden and Berbice. Before the subvention was withdrawn, the CLC had made it possible for thousands of second-chance students -- such as teenaged mothers -- to get another chance to get their lives back into array. (Clifford Stanley)
GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
Linden Enterprise Network programme reactivated with injection of $155M RESIDENTS of Region 10 (Upper Demerara/ Upper Berbice) are to once again benefit from financing for business and entrepreneurial activities through a new Linden Enterprise Network (LEN) programme. This most welcome news comes to the Region 10 community compliments of provisions made in the 2015 budget, and after the region had suffered five years of lack of access to business advisory and business incubation services and financing for small and medium enterprises (SME). Government has allocated $155 million to relaunch the LEN programme, and Finance Minister Winston Jordan disclosed that the fund will be used to provide institutional and capacity building support to SMEs within Region 10. The LEN programme was successor to the Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP) which was launched in 2002. It was reinforced by the Linden Economic Advancement Fund (LEAF), which was designed to finance projects geared towards economic development. The LEN had been dormant since 2010, but a new Board of Directors was inaugurated in 2014 by the former Administration, although that development had some amount of controversy attending it, since the then representatives of the Regional Democratic Council of Region 10 did not hesitate to express their disappointment, during the inaugural ceremony, that members of the board had been handpicked without the RDC representatives having an input in their selection. The then Regional Councillor, Mr. Renis Morian, had given his take on the event: “I am happy that a board is in, but my disappointment is rooted in the fact that the people of Linden, through their elected members, were not allowed to make a contribution to say who should be a part of the board; and it is disturbing that the Chairman for most projects in Linden is always (someone) from out (side) of the Region. We need someone who knows the plight of the people; someone who has felt the pains of the ordinary man in this town. “The Board should be a representative of the people who would have been appointed by their respective groups…for instance, a representative from the RDC appointed by the councillors. Morian had said then:“ It is wrong to foist a Board on the community who, by its very composition, do not feel duty bound to answer to the community for the management of this Fund, because they were not appointed by the people.” The status of the Board appointed by the former Administration in 2014 is currently unknown. (Clifford Stanley)
GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday August 12, 2015
Wanna-be carjacker hospitalised after hot police pursuit in city THE police have reported that at about 20:30 hrs on Monday, August 10, taxi driver Lawrence Singh was hired by a man at a taxi base at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, to be taken to McDoom, East Bank Demerara. However, at Mc Doom, another man, who was armed with a firearm, held up Lawrence Singh, and the two men took away Singh’s motor vehicle, $10,000 in cash and a cell phone. During the robbery, Lawrence Singh raised an alarm to which residents of the community responded, and the armed man escaped while his accomplice drove away with Singh’s motor car. The victim gave chase in another vehicle, and the police also responded to the report they had received. A hot pursuit ensued, during which the perpetrator was apprehended after he collided with another motor vehicle along Sheriff Street in Georgetown. The perpetrator received minor injuries and is currently under guard at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) (M. Outridge)
Wednesday, August 12, 2015 ––– 14:30 hrs Thursday, August 13, 2015 ––– 14:30 hrs Friday, August 14, 2015 ––– 05:00 hrs
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Fraser-Pryce to defend both sprints at World Championship KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) – Jamaican ShellyAnn Fraser-Pryce will defend both her sprint titles at this month’s World Championship in Beijing. This was confirmed early yesterday after the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association announced a 53-member team to compete at the August 22-30 showpiece. Only earlier this month, the 28-year-old said she was unsure of defending the 200 metres title, and was determined to focus solely on her pet event, Shelly-Ann Fraserthe 100 metres. Pryce ... to defend Fraser-Pryce heads the con- both sprint titles tingent along with sprint king Usain Bolt, who will also be defending both his titles he won in Moscow two years ago. Bolt has been in lack-lustre form this year and heads into the Games with several question marks over his ability to make a successful defence of both crowns. Last month at the London Diamond League meet, he emerged from a sluggish start to win the 100 metres in 9.87 seconds, which was perhaps his best showing this year. The Jamaica team also includes former World 100m and 200m champion Veronica Campbell-Brown, along with former World 100m record holder Asafa Powell; 2013 World 200m silver medallist Warren Weir; and Hansle Parchment, the Olympic Games 110m hurdles bronze medallist.
Mental sturdiness main factor in my performance ... Oliver Liep Tjin Shie
SURINAMESE racer Oliver Liep Tjin Shie says that the secret to his dominant performance at the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club’s Race of Champions on Sunday, was his mental sturdiness. The Group 3 driver, who comes all the way from Suriname for race meets, says that Sunday’s performance was the crowning achievement thus far in this motorsport year. “Well, Danny Persaud’s car is much faster than mine, but I think I had the mental advantage. We went into the corner too fast and he spun.” It (the performance) was fine, we have been working on the car since last November and we came and this was actually like a testing for November’s upcoming meet and it was good, the car ran well’ Over the past year, Group Three action has been attracting heated competition with several drivers upgrading their machines to the meet the requirements. The action has been so well received by fans and drivers that the Caribbean Motor Racing Association had to introduce a Group three class for competitors. Liep Tjin Shie says that he is considering a move to the Multi Region championship in the future, adding “I’m trying to work out some sponsorship. You know racing is expensive. I can’t pay everything by myself, but I think so, but I’ll be here in November for sure.” (Stephan Sookram)
WICB to meet... From back page
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cricketers to choose from to improve our own standings in the rankings,” he added. The Barbados Pride, Guyana Jaguars, Trinidad & Tobago Red Force and Windward Islands Volcanoes, Jamaica and Leeward Islands were all represented in the inaugural PCL. Muirhead also spoke on the ongoing dialogue between the WICB and the Guyana government concerning the issues plaguing the Guyana Cricket Board. “Nothing has been formalised with the new government as yet, but they will be looking at revising the position or taking a re-look at the position that was taken by the former government. “You must remember that when this bill was passed, we had the support of the opposition at the time — the current government now. So I think it’s only right they would go back and look and see to right the wrong or correct what was past or make some amendments (but) that has not yet been done,” the CEO said. The Guyana government, in February of 2012, locked the Guyana Cricket Board out of its offices at Bourda Ground and appointed its own interim management committee headed by the great Clive Lloyd. The moves followed the Guyana High Court ruling the GCB a legal nonentity, because it had been in a long dispute over the results of an election in mid-2011. The government said it wanted to administer cricket in the former British colony to fight corruption and help end years of bickering between rival factions. (First published in The Antigua Observer).
Barca win Super Cup with 5-4 extra-time win (Reuters)-Barcelona substitute Pedro scored deep into extra time to secure the European Super Cup with a 5-4 win over Sevilla yesterday after they had surrendered a three-goal lead in Tbilisi. Unsettled Pedro had said in the build-up to the game that he wanted to leave the club but he came on, as he did in 2009, to win the trophy, pouncing on a rebound from a Lionel Messi shot.
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Australia captain-in-waiting Smith to carry burden alone MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) - Faced with the task of rebuilding an Australian team laid low by Ashes failure, Steven Smith’s short apprenticeship under the captaincy of Michael Clarke comes to an end with the fifth and final Test at The Oval. In Clarke, captain-in-waiting Smith has the perfect sounding board on how to lift a team out of the doldrums, but he will not have the benefit of the 34-year-old’s experience at close hand in the dressing room. Following Australia’s calamitous 2010/11 Ashes loss on home soil under Ricky Ponting, Clarke was
also the inheritor of a demoralised team, having served a lengthy apprenticeship as vice-captain. However, while Ponting stayed on under Clarke for the better part of two seasons, Smith will have to rely largely on his own wits. The 26-year-old has already had a taste of leadership, having replaced Clarke as captain for three Tests of the home series against India, but taking over a team in major transition will be a whole new ball-game. “Nothing is confirmed yet either with anything, with regard to the captaincy,” Smith told Australian media in Nottingham. “But if it works out
that way and I am the next captain, then it’s a lot of responsibility. “There are obviously a few guys on this tour, the senior players that haven’t been taking part in the last couple of games. “So it’s always tough when you lose those guys. But I think it’s exciting for Australian cricket, we’re going to have some younger guys coming through.” Smith’s team is certain to have a very different complexion when it embarks on a two-Test tour of Bangladesh in October. Apart from Clarke and paceman Ryan Harris, who suffered a knee injury and promptly retired just before
first Test, wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, Chris Rogers and Shane Watson are all expected to have played their last Tests. Managing the influx of a raft of new players while nursing the egos of the remaining senior ones may be Smith’s toughest task as captain. Man management often seemed an insurmountable job for Clarke, with rumours of dressing room disharmony and clashes with selectors a hallmark of his four years in charge. As Clarke has struggled for runs this tour, the pressure on his deputy also seemed to take its toll and Smith has failed with the
Steve Smith has a tough task ahead - to rebuild confidence in the Aussie team. bat in four innings since his glorious 215 and 58 in the second Test at Lord’s. Though Clarke will hog much of the attention in the dead rubber against England at The Oval, Smith will be eager to stamp his mark at the crease and lead from the front as he did with three
centuries in his three Tests in charge against India. “He was a great captain and a terrific player, so he’s going to be missed, that’s for sure,” Smith said of the departing skipper. “Hopefully we can send Michael off on a high note at The Oval.
Ex-IOC official Carrard to head FIFA reform task force By Simon Evans ZURICH, Switzerland (Reuters) - Scandal-plagued FIFA have turned to the man who helped the International Olympic Committee (IOC) out of their corruption crisis, appointing Swiss Francois Carrard as chairman of their reform committee. The 77-year-old is the former director general of the IOC and was commissioner of the Olympic body’s reform commission following the vote for the 2002 Winter Olympics, won by Salt Lake City. FIFA’s corruption troubles came to a head in May when U.S. prosecutors indicted nine football officials most of whom had FIFA positions and five marketing and broadcasting company executives over a range of alleged offences, including fraud, money-laundering and racketeering. “I think this is a very big crisis, it is somehow comparable to what I experienced with the IOC,” Carrard told reporters on a conference call. “There are accusations of corruption against certain leaders; there are structural reforms which are badly needed. There is the interference of the political world, of the sponsors who are very unhappy. We had similar situations with the IOC at the time.
And there is the interference of the justice ... it is a very, very serious crisis,” he said. A reminder of that seriousness came from the United States, as Kelly T. Currie, the chief U.S. prosecutor in Brooklyn, New York, where a grand jury indicted the 14 men, said FIFA’s reforms needed to be deep. “Superficial changes at FIFA to its statutes will not be sufficient and likewise, mere changes of personnel in certain positions without a genuine commitment to good-governance will not be sufficient. “And, as our investigation continues, we will be looking at what reforms are adopted and how they are implemented,” he told a news conference on cyber security. “We hope that reforms will be deep and they’ll be substantial,” he added. The new FIFA committee was originally announced, last month, as a ‘task force’ of 11 members but has been expanded to 15 with Carrard, two members from each of the six continental football confederations plus two members to be appointed by FIFA’s commercial partners. Adding to the expansion of the personnel involved in FIFA’s reforms, Carrard said he would also be naming a five-person ‘advisory board’ to help him in his role. Initially the plan was for
Francois Carrard the reform group to make recommendations to FIFA’s September 24 executive committee but with Carrard saying his committee will not be able to hold their first meeting until mid-September, the process is likely to be delayed. Carrard said his committee will present its findings to FIFA’s congress on February 26 but with the agenda for that meeting set in December. Those named to the committee included Gianni Infantino, secretary general of European football’s governing body UEFA, and Alasdair Bell, UEFA’s legal director. Asia’s representatives were Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah from Kuwait, a member of FIFA’s executive committee, and Australia’s Kevan Gospar, former vice-president of the IOC. North America will be represented by U.S. lawyer Samir Gandhi, of the Sidley
Austin law firm in New York City and Victor Montagliani, president of the Canadian Soccer Association. The African Football Confederation (CAF) nominated Hani Abo Rida of Egypt and Constant Omari from the Democratic Republic of Congo -- both are members of the FIFA executive committee. The two South American representatives are Wilmar Valdez of the Uruguayan Football Associa-
tion and Spaniard Gorka Villa, who is director general of CONMEBOL, the region’s confederation. Villa is a lawyer who is currently representing one of the indicted officials -Venezuelan Rafael Esquivel. Domenico Scala, independent chair of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee, has already formulated a series of reform proposals, including term limits and salary disclosure along with enhanced integrity checks,
which will be on the committee’s agenda. FIFA said in a statement: “Over the next six months, the committee will develop a package of reform proposals that will be put before the extraordinary elective Congress due to take place in Zurich on February 26, 2016. The work of the committee will build on the reform work FIFA has undertaken since 2011.”
IAAF bans 28 after 2005, 2007 world champs retests LONDON, England (Reuters) - Turning to new technology to uncover previously undetect-
ed substances, the IAAF has initiated disciplinary action against 28 athletes after retested samples from the 2005 and 2007 World Championships found 32 adverse doping findings. World Athletics’ governing body said yesterday it could not name the 28 yet, “due to the legal process”. “A large majority of the 28 are retired, some are athletes who have already been sanctioned, and only very few remain active in sport,” the body said. “The IAAF is provisionally suspending them and can confirm that none of the athletes concerned will be competing in Beijing.” If violations are confirmed the IAAF said it would correct the record books for the 2005 and 2007 world championships and re-allocate medals as necessary. The 2005 event was staged in Helsinki, with Osaka, Japan, hosting two years later. The 2015 World Championships start in the Chinese capital on August 22. The IAAF said its retesting had begun in April, “well before the most recent allegations made against the IAAF by the ARD and The Sunday Times”. The re-testing took advantage of new testing procedures and the 10-year period now offered under IAAF rules and the World Anti-Doping Code. “The latest scientific breakthroughs in anti-doping technology and analysis have been employed in the re-analysis of these samples to allow us to find previously undetectable substances,” Martial Saugy, director of the Swiss Laboratory for Doping Analyses in Lausanne, said in a statement. Beginning in 2005, athletes’ samples from previous championships have been stored at the laboratory and they were used in the re-analysis. “The findings reconfirm, yet again, the commitment of the IAAF to target and uncover all cheating in the sport, no matter how long it takes,” said the IAAF, which was heavily criticised for its anti-doping efforts earlier this month by German broadcaster ARD and Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper.
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Caribbean Sensation break five-year jinx … Wakenaam claim B division title
By Frederick Halley TORONTO, Canada - The five-year wait is over. After reaching five consecutive finals in the East Division and failing to win any, Caribbean Sensation have finally “broken the ice” by emerging victorious in last Saturday’s final
dent Harri Sukhu, saw Home Trust also come on board to form a joint partnership. Set 91 for victory, after Caribbean Sensation had reached 90 for five in their allotted 15 overs, Masters, who included former Guyana players Troy Gobin and Zaheer Haniff, were restricted to 69 for six with
The victorious Caribbean Sensation pose with the winning trophy with some executive members of the OSCL
MVP Rishi Samuel (left) collects his award from OSCL executive Vish Jadunauth. of the Ontario Softball Cricket League (OSCL) 15/15 tournament which climaxed at the Ashtonbee ground here. Playing before vociferous supporters on a day, which also formed part of the OSCL as well as the club’s fun day l, the players used this as an incentive to earn their first major triumph, thumping opponents Masters by 21 runs. The B division final, which also formed part of the day’s proceedings, saw Wakenaam gain sweet revenge on Rebels after losing to the same team in the 10/10 final at the said venue last month. The tournament, which had earlier attracted sponsorship from Caribbean Sensation’s long-standing presi-
only Azam Haniff providing any resistance with 18. Rabindra Diaram claimed two for 12 and Zakir Khan one for nine. Earlier, Rishi (Anil) Samuel had slammed a brilliant 42 which included five fours and two sixes and received fine support from fellow opener Sheik Khan who hit a resolute 20, the two featuring in an opening stand of 47 in six overs. Dave Sirikisson took two for 11. In the B division final, opener Mahesh Richard continued his tremendous season with another swashbuckling undefeated 55 as Wakenaam compiled a challenging 97 for one in their allotted 15 overs, batting first. Richard blasted four
B division winners Wakenaam sixes and two fours and along with Azeez Baksh (22), shared an enterprising opening partnership of 85 as favourites Rebels wilted under the pressure. Rebels never really looked like obtaining the required total, finishing on 76 for six when their overs expired with the veteran
Surindra Beepat capturing two for 12. The respective Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards went to Samuels (Caribbean Sensation), Haniff (Masters), Richard (Wakenaam) and Beepat (Rebels). At the presentation ceremony which followed, OSCL
president Albert Ramcharran congratulated all four teams for reaching the finals and showered praise on the sponsors Harri Sukhu and Home Trust for their generosity. Ramcharran also reminded the players that the OSCL will be fielding a team in the upcoming inaugural Toronto Cup tournament, set for
Kings, Bulls and Jets win opening matches
THERE were opening wins for Kings, Half Mile Bulls and Amelia’s Ward Jets on Sunday as the Linden Amateur Basketball Association’s Under-23 basketball championship bounced off at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court. Kings recorded the first win when they faced Bank-
ers Trust Falcons and after holding a 12-7 first quarter lead were ahead at halftime by ten points 22-12. By the end of the third quarter they maintained control, leading 34-19 before winning 44-41. The top scorer for the winning Kings, were Quincy Easton and Akeel Primo with 18 and 10 points respectively
while for Falcons Mark Persaud had 11 points. Game two saw Bulls down Royals 62-45 after holding 21-18, 33-26 and 46-36, before eventually winning 62-45. Terron Welch had a game-high 21 points, Jamal Bethune 16 and Dennis Niles 10. Keifer Tappin was the lone double-figure
scorer for the losers with 16. In the third game Amelia’s Ward Jets overcame Retrieve Raiders 47-43 as they led 13-5 at the end of the first quarter and at halftime 20-17, before a 30-27 third quarter score before winning 47-43. Amaniki Archibald was the game’s only player with a double-digit score of
18 points. The competition continues tonight with two more matches. At 18:30hrs Bankers Trust Falcons face Retrieve Raiders and at 20:3ohrs Victory Valley Royals take on Block 22 Flames. The semifinals are set for Friday and the final will take place on Saturday.
Labour Day weekend when teams from the host nation, Guyana and New York are set to participate. Sponsor Sukhu, who has pledged to sponsor the tournament for at least the first three years, was high in praise for the OSCL executives who he said were doing a fantastic job in keeping the grassroots game alive in Toronto. Sukhu also urged the players to give the league their undivided support. Prior to the commencement of the tournament Sukhu had told Chronicle Sport, while winning should obviously be the main aim of any team, be it softball or any other sport, he’s making great efforts to also preserve the culture that has been adopted from his native country Guyana.
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Meusa wins inaugural James Bond Chess Invitational WENDELL Meusa carted off the inaugural ‘James Bond’ Chess Invitational, which took place over the weekend at Congress Place in Sophia. The event attracted 11 players and consisted of 7 rounds with competitors exhibiting different classes, strength and playing styles. According to a release, the intense contest was mentally satisfying to the players because of its strategic time control
which varied from five minutes per player, as each round passed, whereby the time increased for example 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 20 min, 30 min, 1 hour. Meusa, Guyana’s only FIDE (World Chess Federation) instructor, emerged the winner after accumulating six points and suffering a loss to Roy Sharma. Sharma;s only loss was to his junior counterpart Davion Mars and he also accumulated six points, but due to the Swiss tie-breaking system Meusa emerged
victorious. Third place was captured by Cleveland Hutson who totalled five points, losing to Meusa and Sharma in the 5th and 6th rounds respectively. Fourth place was won by Davion Mars for accumulating four points while fifth place was secured by the only female player Dr Maria Thomas who earned four points. The other competitors by points standings were: Owen Mickle, 3.5 points, Errol Tiwari 3 points, James
New Recreational Park to be opened in Cotton Tree
THE newly revived C 3 Recreational Park, Berbice’s newest community and family-oriented park and cricket ground will officially opened on Saturday, August 22 and 23 with a grand ceremony. The C 3 Park will be used to host cricket matches and other functions and will be developed into a friendly family-oriented venue with benabs, platforms, clubhouse, paved walkway, wifi centre and a mini water park. On Saturday, August 22, an Exposition and West Berbice Family Night event will be hosted. Patrons can expect to view and indulge in vending booths, international bars, food court dining, all games and inflated rides for children, Cartoon Cotton characters like Barney, Dora, Diego and Spongebob and Mickey will be in the house to entertain the children. There will also be a domestic band featuring, Bunty Singh, Aaron and Sandella, King Murphy Invasion Oneman band among other performing artistes, along with 71 Sounds System. Special entertainment packages will be in store for children from Tons of Fun Party Service. For the first time in West Berbice there will be an Expo and Family Night
with a difference, as the children will be the focus of interest. On the following day, Sunday, the atmosphere will be transformed into a party-like village for a grand cricket extravaganza, featuring the mighty Albion Cricket Club, Young Warriors, Western Berbice and East Coast Demerara. There will also be a feature game between Trophy Stall Girls and Karibee Rice
Jagroop Construction Services, Baljit Supermarket, Silver Lining Tyre Shop and Auto Rental, Berbice Bridge Incorporated, Trophy Stall of Bourda Market Mohamed Shariff (Nanku) Horse Racing Stables, Zaheer Shariff Rice Farms.. The fee for entry to the exposition and family night is $300 with adults and children under 10 no charge. Admission to the cricket is
Bond 2.5 points. Winston Williams, Shaun Griffith and Kibwe Copeland all scraped one point. The release added, “This tournament would not have been possible without the kind sponsorship of Mr James Anthony Bond, Attorney-at-Law, who recently started playing chess, and immediately saw the benefit of instilling chess in the minds of our youths, extracting the raw skill of analysing, calculating, focusing intensely and inspiring discipline.”
Wendell Meusa (left) receives his purse and trophy from sponsor Attorney-at-Law James Bond.
Women’s Super50
T&T on top but face tough fourth-round clash against champions today
Opener Amanda Samaroo hits 32 on Monday to carry T&T to victory.
Tree Recreational Park Female Team. The games are set to commence at 09:00hrs and much entertainment is expected. The event has been significantly supported by the Ansa McAl Brands Carib and Mackeson and fans can look forward to a big treat from the company. There will be giveaways and a special party stand will be set up to ensure that the atmosphere is electric. Other major sponsors on board so far include Ram and McRae, Romell
free and all are encouraged to come out and support. The venue, which is located just off the public road in Cotton Tree, has been abandoned and inactive for over 3 years and a new committee comprising individuals from the community decided to restore the facility. The committee includes Bhoomeshwar Shivnarine as chairman, Goorprasad Budhu – vice-chairman, Tage Singh - treasurer, Vickram Singh - secretary, and 6 other members.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago remain on course for a spot in the final of the Regional Women’s Super50, following the third round of the championship, which concluded on Monday. While Barbados trounced South Windwards by 102 runs at the National Cricket Centre in Couva, hosts T&T strolled to an equally uncomplicated six-wicket victory over Guyana at Macaulay Park in California. Both teams are the only unbeaten ones in the competition. T&T lead the standings with 12 points but are just one ahead of Barbados, with defending champions Jamaica a further four points back in third. Guyana also have seven points but are fourth on net run rate while North Windwards and South Windwards bring up the rear with two points each. T&T, however, face a crucial clash today when they take on Jamaica at the National Cricket Centre. The hosts will fancy their chances of full points especially with the Jamaicans having played unconvincingly and picking up their first win on Monday with a 116-run verdict over South Windwards. Barbados, meanwhile, have a far easier assignment against the winless North Windwards at Caldrac and will see the fixture as an excellent opportunity to top the tables, especially if T&T slip up. The remaining game will see Guyana square off with South Windwards at Gilbert Park. Sunday’s final, following the last round of preliminary games on Friday, will be contested between the top two teams in the table. Last year, Jamaica beat Guyana in the final at Windsor Park, when the tournament was hosted in Dominica.
Sport CHRONICLE
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WICB to meet with heads of PCL Franchises
Women’s Super50
T&T on top but face tough fourth-round clash against champions today SEE STORY ON PAGE 31
Barca win Super Cup with 5-4 extra-time win
SEE STORY ON PAGE 28/
Barcelona’s players, coaches and officials celebrate their victory over Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup soccer match at Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi, Georgia, yesterday. Reuters/Grigory Dukor
Mental sturdiness main factor in my performance
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Michael Muirhead Chief Executive Officer
T JOHN’S, Antigua - Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Michael Muirhead said plans to improve the Regional Professional Cricket League (PCL) will be revealed within the next two weeks. Speaking on OBSERVER Radio’s Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Muirhead said that the WICB has asked the regional franchises to ensure certain measures are in place ahead of the new season and he is awaiting the outcome. “We have made some demands of the PCL, of the franchises, and we are insisting that when those things are accomplished, within the next week or two, that they be made public,” he said. “We think that it is part of the fabric and it belongs to us, and when I say us, I mean us the WICB; us the region. We need to be clear on what their plans are, because it is WICB who is, in large part, funding what is going forward. It is in their hands to make sure they deliver to the WICB the good cricketers so that we can have a pool of SEE PAGE 28
... Oliver Liep Tjin Shie
SEE ON P STORY AGE 28/
Suriname’s Oliver Liep Tjin Shie leads Guyana’s Danny Persaud, Trinidad’s Ravi Singh and Guyana’s Rameez Mohammed in Group 3 action (Photo by Samuel Maughn)
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Wednesday August 12, 2015