Guyana chronicle 14 04 14

GUYANA No. 103798

MONDAY APRIL 14, 2014

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

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President Ramotar challenges Opposition on Parliamentary conduct Page 3

President Donald Ramotar

Gerry Gouveia: Cut to transport 5 budget a devastating blow

Thousands usher in Holy Week

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Page 15

Canal No.2 man dies as Page 14 truck topples at Mazaruni No one seriously hurt as...

Minibus plunges overboard at Page 2 Meadow Bank turn

The blessing of Palms at St Teresa’s RC Church on Sheriff Street, Campbellville

Guyanese by extract wins Voice UK contest 18 Page

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No one seriously hurt as...

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

Minibus plunges overboard at Meadow Bank turn

––two toddlers among 18 passengers on board

By Asif Hakim SOME 18 passengers, including two toddlers, escaped serious injury late yesterday when

a Route 42 minibus plunged into the trench on the western side of the East Bank Demerara carriageway as the driver failed to negoti-

ate the Meadow Bank turn.

Most of the passengers, along with the two toddlers, received minor injuries in the accident, which occurred at about 16:45hrs, and they were rushed to hospital to seek medical attention.

When the Guyana Chronicle arrived on the scene, a large crowd had

The Route 42 minibus after the accident

One of the minibus’ passengers who was lucky to escape unscathed

already gathered, and many public-spirited persons were seen assisting to rescue the passengers.

According to the owner of the minibus, BNN 7790, just yesterday she rented the bus to the driver, who has been identified only as Collis, and she cannot believe that the vehicle ended up overboard.

One of the passengers said the minibus, which was heading to Georgetown, was speeding along the East Bank Public Road and started to wobble in the vicinity of Providence.

Sensing that something was amiss, the man said he shouted to the driver to slow down as the bus approached the Banks Breweries turn at Meadow Bank, but the vehicle failed “to make the turn” and ended up in the trench.

Another passenger said she did not know what exactly happened, but she lost all her belongings, including groceries and a purse with money.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

President Ramotar challenges Opposition on Parliamentary conduct

By Vanessa Narine

LEADER of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Mr. David Granger told the National Assembly last Tuesday that the main Opposition will withhold support for proposed spending that is not in the nation’s interest.

He said the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Budget 2014 will be “measured by its public impact and APNU reserves its right to disagree with provisions which are not in the national interest.”

On Thursday, President Donald Ramotar said the Opposition must stand to their word and only “cut” with the national interest in focus, particularly considering the positive “impact” of many major projects, such as the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project.

Noting these transformational schemes will not just benefit the social welfare of the Guyanese people, but advance economic development as well, the President said that had the Amaila Falls Hydropower budgetary allocation been supported last year and allowed to start, the country’s economic growth would have surpassed the recorded five per cent.

“If he (Granger) holds to his word, there will be no cuts,” the President said during an interview at Office of the President last Thursday, just before the start of Day Two of the examination of the 2014 Estimates in the National Assembly.

On the said day, the combined Opposition, APNU and the Alliance for Change (AFC), disapproved of several key allocations in the 2014 Budget.

The cuts include: The Specialty Hospital ($910M); the upgrading of Regional and District Hospitals, including Port Kaituma, Kwakwani, Linden, Bartica, the Eye Surgery Operating Room at Linden etc. ($360M); ambulances, ATVs and Boats ($42M); surgical equipment and instruments ($32M); the Amerindian Development Fund ( $1.1B); other Amerindian Programmes, such as ATVs, Tractors etc.($40M); the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) modernization project ($6.6B); Civil Aviation ($50M); and Hinterland Airstrips ($185M).

At the time of speaking, the President expressed optimism that there will be no major amendments to the 2014 Estimates, particularly since Government Members of Parliament (MPs) are ready and available to give “exhaustive” answers to questions from the combined Opposition.

The Head of State said no questions have been left unanswered to date, since the commencement of the 10th Parliament.

President Ramotar said the proposals in the 2014 Budget

reflect the same fundamental priciple on which the Founder of the ruling party and ‘Father of the Nation’, the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s ‘Development with a Human Face’ theory was grounded, and maintained that the 2014 Budget has something in it for everyone, of every class and every sector.

He said a look at the major social sectors, with education taking the lion’s share of the Budget, will indicate Government’s unflinching commitment to investing in social and national developmental programmes to benefit the people of the country. “Isn’t this development with a human face,” he asked.

As for the Opposition’s unsavoury comments that there is “nothing good” in the 2014 Budget, the President reasoned that either their members did President Donald Ramotar not read the Budget, did not understand it, or are simply being “malicious” with the positions they have taken. He also decried what he termed as an obvious pattern of “opposing for the sake of opposing alone.”

WORRYING TREND He is of the opinion that the Opposition’s disposition is reflective of a worrying trend, given his Government’s many attempts at inclusive governance, in the interest of tackling the challenges that face Guyana, both at an economic and social level.

He said cuts to the National Budget would be a violation of the ruling of Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang, who pronounced, on January 29, that the National Assembly has no right to cut the national estimates.

On the much talked about cutting of allocations to the National Communications Network (NCN) and Government Information Agency (GINA), President Ramotar said this is

purely a matter of “vindictiveness” and is without any objective reasoning.

He alluded to GINA’s function of updating the Guyanese people on the works and progress of the current Administration and said any reduction to its spending can be read as the Opposition attempting to “muzzle” the Government.

The President said when it comes to NCN, the words and actions of the combined Opposition contradict each other. A case in point, he said, was an incident where an APNU MP, Sydney Allicock, was bullied off an NCN programme by his colleagues last week.

Allicock, who had been invited by the Network to appear alongside Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, on the live programme, ‘Budget In-Depth’, last Friday night, was instructed by APNU’s Chief Whip, Amna Ally, to “Get off that TV!” OVERHEARD SHOUTING While the broadcast was being aired from the lower flat of the Public Buildings, Ally was overheard shouting from the upper flat: “Sydney! Sydney! Get off that TV!” Allicock, however, defied the instruction and continued on the programme. Malika Ramsay, who identified herself as APNU’s Public Relations Officer, showed up and questioned why the Opposition MP was appearing on an NCN programme without her or Ally’s permission. Ramsay also, reportedly, demanded that the broadcast be ended, and Allicock taken off it.

The Head of State concluded that, in addition to the Opposition ‘opposing for the sake of opposing’, there is a general level of non-cooperation from the combined grouping.

He cited the position on the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill as one of the more glaring cases in point.

“If we can have a little cooperation, we will be able to move forward,” President Ramotar said.

He said there is no objection from his Government to engage in consultations and noted that the only reason for ignoring the many requests to consult on the 2014 Budget was to justify reducing the estimates.

He remarked that it is easy for the Opposition to make promises, even to the extent of fueling false expectations among citizens, when they are not the ones who have to be accountable in the delivery of a better life for the Guyanese people.

On that note, he reiterated that the Opposition must hold to their positions that the national interest will be the focus of any amendments to the 2014 Budget.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

Guyana Police Force commits to making Albouystown safer THE Guyana Police Force (GPF), in collaboration with Heavenly Light Full Gospel Fellowship and Masjid An-Najm Social Centre of Albouystown, has launched ‘Impact Albouystown’ project,which, through law enforcement and social interventions, is intended to make the

criminal role model, computer training, job creation, workforce development, clean and healthy environment, vocational skills, drug demand reduction, violence avoidance, literacy training, electrical installation, refrigeration, and counselling.

Other activities include art and craft, theatre arts,

Acting Police Commissioner, Mr Seelall Persaud said the GPF has been establishing similar projects in a number of targeted areas.

He said these projects were developed based on analysis that youths between the ages of 16 and 30 constitute the majority of persons involved in serious crimes; there-

Acting Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud is seen greeting a member of the Albouystown community at launching of the Albouystown Impact Project, which was held at Independence Boulevard, Hunter Street, Albouystown

The computer system that was donated to the community

neighbourhood safer.

Through this project, youths of the Albouystown community will have the opportunity to empower themselves through training in areas such as denial of

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music and steel pan training, and basketball, football, table tennis, cricket and volleyball.

Speaking at the event, launched at Independence Boulevard in Albouystown,

fore, the GPF has formulated a strategy to work -- in partnership with the joint services, Government and non-governmental organisations, religious bodies, the private sector and community leaders -- to ensure that the neighbourhoods are safe, and programmes are implemented to target youths.

Mr Persaud also said that heavy emphasis would be placed on gun crimes in the Albouystown community, domestic and gender-based violence, illegal drugs, and youth gangs; (PLEASE SEE PAGE 5)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

Gerry Gouveia: Cut to transport budget a devastating blow

RORAIMA Airways’ Chief Executive Officer, Captain Gerald Gouveia, has said that the action of the combined Opposition in voting against the aviation sector’s allocation is a devastating blow to the tourism sector.

“I can just say to you -as a tourism operative here in Guyana, and as pilot and an airline owner –- that I am devastated, because this has

to do with people’s lives; this has to do with safety; this has to do with the new dispensation: The development of our airport...

“The development of this airport is so (very) vital and crucial to the development of tourism and business development in Guyana,” Gouveia told the National Communications Network (NCN) in an invited comment on Friday.

Using their one-seat majority on April 10, the opposition voted against the budgetary allocation of $6.5 billion for the aviation sector. That vote also affected the funding for other aviation services, as $235M had been budgeted under the same heading with the CJIA for rehabilitation of hinterland airstrips as well as for the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

Gouveia said he was very perplexed over this development, as tourism bodies have been calling for investments in the sector. “I really cannot fathom why they would interfere with the aviation budget, (which has) got to do with tourism and the creation of new jobs,” he reiterated.

The CJIA expansion is regarded as a major developmental project. It would see

Guyana Police Force commits to ...

(FROM PAGE 4) besides environmental crimes, truancy, vocational skills training, and addressing the material and physical needs of residents.

The GPF has selected Albouystown because, according to police analysis, the community is the most challenged at this time. “To the people of Albouystown…this is your time. Your fortune is a safe, decent, respectable and productive community, where parents will be proud of their children and where children will look up to their parents as role models. So come, work with us and your community leaders to deliver this fortune,” the police commissioner urged.

An area was also earmarked to construct a playground, and computers and garbage bins were donated to the community.

The Guyana Police Force has embarked on a project to create a number of “Safe Neighbourhoods”, and has been collaborating with other stakeholders in this regard. The project is intended to develop better community/police relations, and specific focus will be placed on youths in many of these neighbourhoods.

Some of the areas of focus include the Community Action Component of the Citizen Security Programme (CSP), the Cops and Faith Community Network, the House of Justice programme, and establishment of scouts and youth groups in communities.(GINA)

The garbage bins that were donated to the Albouystown Community

Guyana’s main port boasting a runway of 10,800 feet, which could accommodate large trans-Atlantic aircraft; a new terminal building; eight boarding bridges; elevators; escalators; three dimensional x-ray scanners; and flight information and security monitoring sys-

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the movement of goods and people in and out of those regions.

These projects suffered cuts in 2013, when the Opposition voted to slash the entire $5.6B allocated to the transport sector programme, of which $5.3B were budgeted for the upgrade, expansion and modernisation of the CJIA; $248M for the rehabilitation of airstrips in Matthews Ridge, Imbaimadai and Kamarang, and the maintenance of 43 airstrips in Regions 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9; and $80M to procure an Automated Dependent Surveillance Broadcast to bring precision and reliability of satelGERRY GOUVEIA lite-based surveillance to Guyana’s national tems. airspace.

The hinterland airstrips The servicing of the play a vital role in develop- European Union loan for ment of the regions in which the Ogle Aerodrome modthey are situated, and their ernisation was also affectmaintenance is critical to ed.(GINA)

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EDITORIAL

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

GUYANA

The Albouystown Impact Project DESCRIBING the recently-launched Albouystown Impact Project as the first of its kind is an erroneous assumption, because such a programme was initiated almost immediately after the PPP/C took office, at the behest of President Dr. Cheddi Jagan.

The joint initiative among the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the Heavenly Light Full Gospel Fellowship and the Masjid An-Najm Social Centre of Albouystown, which was launched on Friday last as the ‘Impact Albouystown’ project which, through law enforcement and social interventions, is intended to make the neighbourhood safe, had as its predecessor a similar initiative that involved the True Vision Foundation of Albouystown, the Guyana Police Force under then Police Commissioner Laurie Lewis, the Ministry of Works under then Minister Tony Xavier and the Ministry of Local Government, with input from the Private Sector.

Through this new project, youths of the Albouystown community will have the opportunity to empower themselves through training in areas such as denial of criminal role model, computer training, job creation, workforce development, clean and healthy environment, vocational skills, drug demand reduction, violence avoidance, literacy training, electrical installation and refrigeration and counselling. Other activities include art and craft, theatre arts, music and steel pan training, basketball, football, table tennis, cricket and volleyball.

Its forerunner had initiated similar projects; but the first project was a massive clean-up campaign.

When the PPP/C Government took office in 1992, the entire country was like the legendary Augean stables, with every community clamouring for help from a Government that had inherited massive debts; an empty exchequer in a bankrupted economy; devastation in the land with the collapse of every possible infrastructure; and a hopeless and battered nation. The PNC had not only depleted the nation of resources, distributed extensive areas of State lands to itself and elitist supporters, while leaving wide swaths of the masses homeless, with no housing programme in place, but they had also depleted the various arms of the Government of basic office equipment, essentials such as desks, typewriters, fans, furniture of every kind, vehicles, all artwork from the national collection. They had also burnt records in massive bonfires that created a maelstrom of logistical problems.

But the faith in the new Government by the people to immediately right all wrongs and correct all the injustices done to the Guyanese masses by the PNC administration was strong, and they approached their new President, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, with the conviction that the Father of the Nation would not fail them. And he did not.

With scant resources available to his government, he appealed to people of means, experience and expertise to throw their support behind his government to rebuild Guy-

ana, and restore the morale of the Guyanese people, with the incentive of remuneration of a dollar a year.

Vic Insanally, of Guyenterprise, became a dollar-a-year Public Relations Advisor to President Jagan, and he mobilized the entrepreneurial giants in the Private Sector and his good friend, Commissioner Laurie Lewis, to join in the nation-rebuilding exercises.

Among the plethora of initiatives was the Albouystown rehabilitation project, which Vic delegated to a senior member of his staff, who worked with the True Vision Foundation to first clean up the community. Government had no money, so success of the proect depended on massive input from the Private Sector.

The late Tony Amres, of Readymix Concrete, did a survey.

The environmental and socio-economic depression of the community was overwhelming. The entire ‘Boulevard’ was a mountainous garbage dump. The Sussex Street canal was so silted up that animals were grazing on the vegetation growing there without sinking. The outfall had not been opened for years, because a PNC member had been allowed to build a fish-processing complex adjacent to the koker, so access by land was impossible. As a consequence, there was no outlet for water, which was lodged in the community, making that community water-logged, whatever the weather, every day of the year; with garbage, including faeces swirling in yards where children were playing.

Crime was rampant. Youths had no entertainment, no jobs, and the citizens had long ago lost pride in their community. So the Guyenterprise representative approached Dr. Jagan with a proposal to employ the residents to clean up their own community and create a recreational/entertainment area on ‘The Boulevard’. He agreed, and threw his full support behind the project, with support from Government coming through the Ministries of Works and Local Government. Tony Xavier’s Ministry employed the workforce and provided them with the requisite tools necessary for the massive clean-up campaign envisaged to get the community clean and healthy. A backhoe was sent from the Ministry of Local Government to clear the Sussex Street Canal. Working groups cleaned the streets and internal drains of the community, which was discovered to have the best drainage structure in the country.

Toolsie Persaud Ltd cleaned the canal, from the outfall to the La Penitence Market, and Tony Amres got help from the Vieiras to load equipment on a barge to clean the outfall from the Demerara River. For the first time in decades, the stagnant water in Albouystown (and surrounding communities like Alexander Village) was allowed to flow out of communities.

With the help of the backhoe and trucks provided by Tony Amres and Tony Xavier, ‘The Boulevard’ was cleaned of the mountains of garbage.

Tony Amres then layered dozens of truckloads of sand on ‘The Boulevard’, and for the first time in decades, the youths of Albouystown had an outlet for their energies; and families

had a recreational area to picnic.

People like Bernice Mansell; Leon Davis of Food for the Poor; Lennox John of Ashmins; Eddie Boyer of National Hardware Ltd; Paul Chan-a-Sue of Ansa McAl and many others threw their entire weight behind adjunct educational, entertainment, and care package to the needy and elderly programmes. True Vision and the late Errol ‘Taps’ Butcher organized Mashramani celebrations, concerts, and award-giving programmes, for which First Lady, Mrs. Janet Jagan was patron.

Dr. Jagan visited the community several times to have a first-hand look at the progress of the various exercises, and he instructed the Sports Ministry to provide sporting equipment to the community. The presentation ceremony was done at the YMCA building, with then Minister of Sports, Gail Teixeira, and Geoffrey Da Silva representing the government.

Minister Teixeira had given Hamilton Green millions of dollars to create a sports venue for the youths of the surrounding communities, but this never fructified; so, with the help of Laurie Lewis and his senior staff, streets of Albouystown were blocked, and the first street football tournaments began.

Simultaneously, Guyenterprise and the Police Force lauched a programme similar to the Rosemary lane (Tiger Bay) initiative to involve the children of Albouystown in creative/educational programmes, while offering driving lessons and other skills development training to the residents.

Tony Amres and the Guyenterprise representative encouraged members of the private sector to become part of the skills development initiative and many youths from depressed areas were trained in the various professions and various areas of skills and are today gainfully employed with those very companies.

So Police Commissioner Seulall Persaud is on the right track with his stated intention that the force’s strategy is to work in partnership with the joint services, governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), religious bodies, the private sector and the community leaders to ensure that the neighbourhoods are safe and programmes are implemented to target youths.

But he needs to ensure that the initiative is self-sustaining and would not die like its forerunner did when the key players were no longer part of the equation.

Poor people apparently cannot get justice MALA Persaud was left disfigured in an acid attack, which occurred in June last year, after she complained about noise nuisance, but she says she has lost the will to pursue the matter, as the police are continuing to show no interest.

Although there has been a remarkable change in her facial appearance after three surgeries, she still avoids looking in the mirror, and hardly goes out in public.

I knew that one day -- and I said it -- people would be hurt and even killed for this noise nuisance nonsense. I hope the police officers who are in the pockets and payrolls of these

noise polluters think about this before they count their dollars.

People work different shifts, so they eat and sleep at different times. People are sick and need peace and quiet at all times; and children do need peace and quiet to concentrate on their school work, which is called homework.

The police must be reminded that not all people like the music, the lyrics, the rhythms and beats of the loud music that they took money to allow their payroll masters to blast in the ears and minds of others.

I once asked a guy who was playing loud music if he likes

Chinese music, and he said no. I asked him why, and he said nobody listens to Chinese music. I asked him, “You wanna bet people do?”

He said, “Yeah, yeah, I know what you saying, but Chinese music is not popular.”

I then asked him why he thought that I wanted to hear the trash he was playing and calling popular music, and I also asked if I were to pump loud Chinese music in his eardrums, like he was doing to others and me, if he would (PLEASE SEE PAGE 7)

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

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Racial overtones colour every aspect of our lives IT IS common knowledge that the greatest constraints to overall development in our country originate from the racial prejudice that affects our activities in the various spheres of our existence, whether social, economic, political, or even to some extent spiritual.

Even the problems we are at present witnessing among the players in our Parliament can be traced to this schism within our society.

And although it may seem very improbable that we can solve this mountainous dilemma at any time in the foreseeable future, each Guyanese must see it as his/ her duty to play a part in its elimination, so that even if we feel that we will not live to see the fruits of our labour, we can at least leave a legacy of communal peace and stability for those who come after us.

To do so, an assessment of the causes of and extent to which this cancer has taken hold of our body politic would be useful in determining any strategy that needs to be instituted to deal with it.

Anyone attempting such an objective appraisal of this phenomenon in our society will find so many factors which militate towards prolonging its existence that it would appear permanently intractable.

Some of these are:1. Race is intricately intertwined in the economic imbalance that exists between the racial groups, especially the two in the majority. Employment practices, occupational preferences and habits all tend to perpetuate this disparity.

2. Succeeding generations since the middle 1950s were born into a society largely divided by racial strife, and they have, whether on purpose or by default,

Poor people apparently cannot get ...

(FROM PAGE 6) like it, and he replied that he does not like Chinese music.

I then told him to think about what he was saying, and asked him why he thought that I or others liked the trash he called music; and I advised him that we did not want to hear it, so he should play it so that only he could hear it.

A repeat offender told the court, “…everybody does make mistake, so see with me.

24-year-old Seon Blair, a mason as reported, told the court, “Your Worship, I would like to know if you could see with me. Everybody makes mistakes. I went to visit a relative.

I ain’t want to lie; I rather talk the truth. Everybody makes mistakes. I is nah de first.”

I would love to stand there and tell the magistrate that one day in the near future, this convict, Seon Blair, would graduate to killing to defend his loot.

Seon Blair is not a stupid criminal. He was very clever not to fight back against Grant Wynter, the victim in this case. But one day soon to come, if this convict is let go through the revolving door of justice, he will break and enter another home, most likely with an elderly person, and once confronted, he may kill to defend his loot.

These are the convicts most citizens are so afraid of, and they are the reason why people lock their doors with ten locks and put big bars on their windows during the day and night.

Seon Blair, with two previous convictions, told the court he has two children. Why would the court want to entertain this stupid idea of this convict having two children? You bet your life Seon Blair does not support any of his two kids, period. But if he does, why doesn’t he work to support them?

It’s a well known fact that some men make kids and take off, leaving the mothers to fend for the kids while they go to other women to make more kids. I often wonder if the chief magistrate does not know what is going down in Guyana when it comes to criminals like this one. Or do they in the judiciary turn a blind eye to 110% facts?

T. KING

passed this on to their children, who comprise the present generation.

3. The international powers created and, to some extent, strive to maintain, the schism of our people into two racial camps, so as to counteract, in their view, the threat of communism within the state apparatus. This means that although our international benefactors may act generously towards our welfare in other areas, we cannot expect much help from outside with this, our major problem.

4. Some politicians will not surrender their policy of playing the race card, as they see this as the only means of maintaining the support of their parties at elections, each being hopeful that they would be able to garner enough from the other side to place or keep them in

power.

5. Our religions are mainly aligned along racial lines, this being inherited either from those who brought their faith with them, or who adopted them for the centuries of their living here. It is true that Christian denominations have made some inroads among traditionally non-Christian groups, but it is still believed that racial prejudice still largely affects relations among respective members, especially in the rural areas, where other social factors impact on them.

6. The physical arrangement in which the two main racial groups have settled historically in so many enclaves, and which has been maintained by various racial disturbances, starting from the breakup of the original PPP in the 1950s and heightened in the 1963/64 and

other post-election disorders, has militated against groups benefiting from close interaction, which would have led to more understanding and appreciation, and consequently treating one another primarily as human beings rather than members of an alien entity.

7. Because of the inherent cultural differences which exist between the races, which in some cases are diametrically varied, and the reluctance of all sides to compromise in these because of their perception that their culture would lose its gravity, many deep-seated differences have been maintained; and these further drive a wedge between our groups.

An examination of these factors must show how each one is problematic, and how slim are the chances for them to be resolved by any

strategies that do not consider the personal element of racial prejudice, which is at the heart of the impasse.

Although we tend to lay the blame for discrimination and racial violence on groups, including the Government, racial prejudice is basically a personal depravity that needs to be dealt with at the personal level if we are to permanently get rid of the problem.

It has to start in the heart and soul of each of us, and I therefore call on each Guyanese to see it as his/her binding duty to do whatever he/she can to eradicate this scourge from among our midst, and thus enable us to deal with each other as fellow human beings who share the same hopes and aspirations for our people as a nation.

ROY PAUL

Sugar subsidy benefits workers only when they work IT WAS not public information that Linden enjoyed an electricity subsidy for more than 22 years during the PPP/C tenure in office, and also during the PNC’s 28 years in Government. That secret was closely guarded, but for what reasons? Only after the PPP/C Government attempted to ease the nationwide burden was the massive subsidy revealed, resulting in the 2012 Linden riots.

But the justification to remove Linden’s electricity subsidy had prior approval by the same PNC-APNU-WPA leadership of David Granger (PNC) and Dr Rupert Roopnaraine (WPA) in an agreement with the PPP/C Government.

Why did WPA-PNC-AFC extremists subsequently find such fertile ground to demand continued subsidy for only Linden’s PNC supporters? No other Guyanese people – despite colour, race, religion and what not - mattered at that time to Linden’s extremist champions. Do even the rest of the Afro-Guyanese in the nation matter so that they also might get cheaper electricity? Are they rich, unlike Linden’s “poor people”?

Race only matters to those who are “possessed”, and when the few jumbies so decide. No other Guyanese citizens -- regardless of colour, religion, friendships, inter-marriages, and proximity as neighbours -- supposedly count, or have any say.

Sugar workers nationwide must, regardless, still work tomorrow to tap into the sugar levy; unlike every Lindener, who automatically benefits, regardless of whether or not they work.

For anyone to croon about the nationwide sugar subsidy, which provides jobs and earn foreign exchange, and ignore its political, racial and economic repercussions, is most pitiful and reprehensible. How does it compare to validating rioting for Linden’s electricity subsidy?

Well, since Linden is all black, it seems that race is all that matters. It provides traction for mayhem and proves their point. Can there be any future magnanimous fairness and honesty? Production of comparable rioting evidence that Indians indeed fought against subsidy for Linden based on race may do the trick; but such evidence simply does not exist.

Now we find some 300 sugar workers in 2014 picketing

the National Assembly without disturbing the free flow of traffic, brutalizing and robbing people, burning private buildings and schools, and without throwing any stones at the police, which is excellent reason why no one was arrested. How can political affinity, race, behaviour, education, crowd control or the race-baiting agitation be responsible for any contrasts at both events?

What was the role of those WPA and AFC instigators during the 2012 riots? Is it still a secret?

In contrast, how long has the sugar industry been subsidized, especially with AFC/APNU future goals to ensure its demise? Does Guyana’s nationwide sugar industry (and workers of all races) have the right to a subsidy? For how long can this last? That is the big question.

Indo-Guyanese workers were quickly put to work to stabilize Guyana’s economy right after landing. Even those many freed black slaves from the Caribbean who came as indentured servants, as well as Portuguese and Chinese labourers, shied away. Finally, when all else failed, Indian sugar workers were brought to build the wealth of Guyana.

They still continue to do so in contributions to subsidize education and upkeep Guyana’s growing infrastructure.

In the 1970s, the PNC imposed a levy on sugar and skimmed the fat off the profits for “national development”.

Was any such levy imposed on either Linden or bauxite for national development?

President Barack Obama quickly ensured that American banks and major car and housing industries were adequately subsidised after he was elected in 2008. (I stood in line for five hours to vote for him).

However, what some champion as subsidy to a community rather than an industry is only encouraging laziness, which can only ultimately create a welfare country. Encouraging any Guyanese community to remain anchored on handout dependency only continues to keep them mentally shackled and does them no good. Sooner or later, even GuySuCo, if it continues to remain needy, must be divested to prevent the entire ship from sinking; but only the PPP/C Government, and no one else, must be prepared to make that decision!

VASSAN RAMRACHA

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

National Library stages grand Hat Show –to usher in Easter activities

By Shirley Thomas The National Library on Friday ushered in the

Easter festivities with a grand ‘Hat Show’ which brought together about 100 dandily dressed cuties

These little cuties sure know how to strike a pose

sporting a dazzling array of uniquely-designed hats.

The activities kicked off with a colourful parade through the streets of Cummingsburg, Georgetown, under a banner which read: “Rising to Greater Heights through Reading.” Also on parade were two huge Easter Bunnies and novel creations of two huge Easter eggs designed as hats.

The children who participated were drawn from the Central Library, the Ruimveldt Library and the Bagotville Library in West Demerara. At 10:00 hrs, the jubilant band of parading children moved off from outside the Library.

With upbeat musical accompaniment from the Prisons Steel Band, the kids, full of excitement, took to the streets, first wending their way east along Church Street, then north into Carmichael Street before turning west into Lamaha Street and south into Main Street,

The children assembled outside the National Library after showing off their fancy hats then back into Church Street, before the parade culminated in the National Library compound with a mini fair. There they had fun, jumping on the trampoline, enjoying snacks and playing games.

Senior Library Assistant and Supervisor of the Juvenile Department, Ms. Francica Burgess, who coordinated the activities, outlined that the Hat Show, being held for the

second time around, was the initiative of the late Chief Librarian, Ms. Gillian Thompson, and was a good way of perpetuating her memory.

Meanwhile, Chief Librarian Ms. Emily King, commenting on the morning’s show, said the staff was all nostalgic about it, put their all into the planning and execution, and look forward to seeing it grow from strength to

strength, with more creativity in designs.

She is hopeful that, with the passage of time, the Hat Show will become bigger and more competitive. While there is no judging of hats at this stage, Coordinator Ms. Burgess said that in order to reward participation and sustain interest, incentives in the form of kites will be given the kids for really good creations.

Hugo Chavez Centre to be completed by June

By Vanessa Narine THE Hugo Chavez Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegration, at Onverwagt, West Coast Berbice, will be completed in June this year and an allocation of $6.7M for the culmination of works was approved in the National Assembly on Thursday night.

The allocation falls under the $34.8M for capital

expenditures in the social sector, under the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security.

Subject Minister, Jennifer Webster, told the House that the $6.7M will be spent to address several areas of work, including $1.3M for concrete drainage infrastructure; $1.25 for security grills; $375,000 for a pump for a fish pond at the facility; $1.5M for the construction

of a facility to rear chickens; and $650,000 for fencing to separate the facility’s agricultural plots from its recreational space.

Minister Webster was fielding questions from A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) front bencher, Volda Lawrence, who also asked when the facility would begin to house the homeless persons it was set up to accommodate.

The facility’s admainistrative building (Photos by Leroy Smith)

One of the facility’s many ‘dorms’

Webster said that this will be done in June and added that the ministry is continuing its selection process and is also looking into securing support staff and a management board to oversee the facility’s operations.

The Centre was commissioned on August 10 last year, and was expected to begin accommodating homeless persons (100 males and 80 females) by August 2013.

At the opening ceremony, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, Patrick Findlay, explained that a careful selection process was being

undertaken that would involve a close examination of the mental state of the persons to be housed at the facility, In February this year, the Human Services and Social Security Minister explained that 80 homeless persons have already been identified and evaluated by the ministry to take up residence at the facility.

The Hugo Chavez Centre for Rehabilitation and Re-integration was constructed with US$2M funding from Venezuela, and comes with recreational, medical, kitchen, conference room, training

and dining facilities. In addition, a section of the land space is dedicated to meaningful occupation of residents in agriculture practices.

Construction of the facility started in January 2010 and was billed for commissioning in May during the visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic, Elías Jaua Milano, but was postponed due to unforeseen circumstances.

The commissioning came five months after the death of Venezuela’s much respected President Hugo Chavez, in whose honour the facility was named.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

Old Kai: Chronicles of Guyana...

APNU and AFC need to stop discriminating against Amerindians in Guyana GRANGER and Nagamootoo have registered a damning insult to our first people.

There was a time when the population of our indigenous people was on the decline. In fact, we were worried at that time that Amerindians in Guyana would become an extinct race. We never knew what was happening outside of our communities; we never had access to education or basic health facilities such as a health hut in our village. There were no roads, and travel by air was almost non-existent; and in the case the plane did come, we could never afford a flight out to Georgetown. Later, I was to learn that even if we did get on the plane to bring an ailing relative to the capital city for treatment, there was no guarantee of accessing the most basic treatment, as health care -- just like everything in Guyana back then -- was broken.

So many of our kids died at childbirth, many of our mothers died at childbirth, people died from common ailments and complicated ones, but we were ignorant of their actual illnesses; there was no way of knowing.

There was no Amerindian Affairs Ministry to look into the causes of our people.

When we were flooded during the wet season, no one came to our aid. When our crops died from droughts, no one came to our aid. Our kids never had the opportunity to step into a school, much less get scholarships to further their studies. Amerindians were kept in a constant state of under develop- ment, but we never knew there was an alternative. We were never educated, we were never consulted, we were never made to feel that our presence was appreciated and our contribution to the Guyanese identity was recognized.

I will never forget the story of little Rokomoto, as we fondly knew him; he died from a broken hand after he fell from a tree. There was no place we could take him for treatment, so the village mended him as best its residents could, but after his wounds became infected, there was nothing more we could do. I still remember looking into his eyes, wondering what was going through his mind.

He was so quiet he almost never said a word.

This memory will haunt me for the rest of my time on earth; and today, as I relive that day in the hut, I am thinking that that incident would have been prevented had we had then what we have now.

There were countless others like little Rokomoto.

This is the story of our life during the PNC dictator-

ship. This is the story which David Granger and company want to hide from our people today. Today, after being on the decline up to 1992, Amerindians are still the fastest growing segment of our population. This did not happen by magic.

Amerindian children are benefiting from access to education in an unprecedented manner.

The support structure is also growing, with free distribution of uniforms; hot meals; solar power-generated electricity, so they can study at nights; transportation to take them to schools, or housing in hostels; scholarships to pursue studies at university level, and overseas.

Many Amerindian students are either completing studies in Cuba, among other nations, or have already completed studies in a variety of fields, especially in the medical profession. They are now returning to serve their communities, so they can contribute in providing a better future for Amerindian children.

Transportation has been vastly improved from the days when there were only foot trails linking our villages. Mile by mile, the PPP/C Government partnered with Amerindian villages to cut routes through some of the most unforgiving terrain. Tractors began providing transportation through the mountain ranges, gradually developing small village economies and giving farmers now better access to markets and the ability to purchase cheaper goods for their communities.

Every year funds are set aside to continue the further development of Amerindians.

In terms of job creation, it will always be difficult for small economies to develop among these lightly populated and scattered villages, but the Government has embarked on an ambitious project to train Amerindian youths in several areas of entrepreneurship. The aim is to ensure they can start their individual small businesses, or team up and lead the way in creating more opportunities for their communities. It had to start with an idea and some amount of effort. The PPP and the PPP/C Government have proved to be willing allies of Amerindians.

However, contrast this with the actions of the opposition; who, despite claims of being concerned about the welfare of our first people, continue to do all they can to negate the gains the first peoples have made.

The AFC and APNU have cut the Amerindian Development Fund, which caters for all the areas highlighted above and several others, all ideas generated, and which will be executed, by Amerindians.

They have cut funding for the health sector, which will affect Amerindians; and they have cut funding for the transport sector, which will affect the provision of better transport facilities for Amerindian communities.

But the AFC and APNU leaders would have the nation believe that they care for Amerindians. The fact is that it is the complete opposite. The opposition leadership apparently feels it has some intellectually superior capacity over our indigenous population.

Granger first stated, “…hinterland communities do not need baubles, beads, toys and trinkets…” and Moses followed up by accusing the Government of “dangling a billion-dollar toy”, in reference to the funds provided for hinterland projects.

Is this not the greatest insult to the intelligence of Amerindians?

Are these two leaders saying Amerindians are so primitive that any little assistance in the form of ‘toys’ would appease them? Are they saying Amerindians are incapable of deciding what is best for their communities and their continued development, as the ideas for the projects for which funding has now been cut came from the Amerindians themselves?

Are they saying that Amerindians can be easily fooled by the provision of ‘toys’?

Why did both of these individuals have to make reference to ‘toys’ when they addressed issues dealing with Amerindians? Was it a mere coincidence or an ingrained psyche in the opposition?

Can this explain reports that an APNU MP, who is Amerindian, was literally hauled off the air during a live interview with the National Communications Network by two hooligans associated with the opposition?

If this is indeed true, is this a sign of their true intention for the Amerindian community? Is this a continuation of the ‘collateral damage’ policy targeting Amerindians from the previous two years?

The actions of the opposition raise very many questions, none of which they are prepared to answer.

They clearly feel they are all powerful and do not have to be accountable to anyone for their actions.

Strange enough, these are the very people who beat their chests and proclaim to be fighting for accountability.

The time will come -- soon enough -- when Amerindians will show the AFC and APNU just how smart the first people are!

Key Parliamentary sub-Committee meets just once since composition

By Vanessa Narine THE sub-committee of the Parliamentary Committee of Supply, currently reviewing in detail the 2014 budgetary allocations, has met once since it was set up, according to Government Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira.

The sub-committee was set up on Wednesday to be the body that would negotiate contentious allocations, and was the suggestion of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, in light of the Acting Chief Justice’s ruling on the National Assembly’s right to cut the national estimates.

In January this year, Acting Chief Justice, Mr Ian Chang ruled that the National Assembly has no right to cut the national budget. The Chief Justice handed down his decision in the High Court on January 29. In the Preliminary Ruling given in June 2012, the CJ had ruled that the National Assembly had a role to either approve or disapprove of the national estimates, not to cut them.

A Notice of Appeal of Chang’s decision was since filed in February by lawyer and Leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan, on behalf of Speaker of the National Assembly, who was listed as the appellant in the court.

The Speaker is the Chair of the Committee. Government’s repre-

sentation includes: Teixeira, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh, and Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall.

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is represented by its Leader, David Granger, Shadow Finance Minister Carl Greenidge, Basil Williams and APNU Chief Whip Amna Ally. Leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC) Khemraj Ramjattan, and Moses Nagamootoo are the other members on the sub-committee.

According to the agreement, the issues of contention are to be presented to the sub-committee at 9:00am for discussion.

ONLY MEETING At the only meeting, Government Members of Parliament (MPs) have bemoaned the genuineness of the talk of consultations.

The Finance Minister told the Guyana Chronicle that the only meeting was on Thursday and the list of the Opposition’s concerns that was supposed to have been forwarded by 9:00am did not materialize until late.

Singh stated that when APNU’s Chief Whip finally forward a list of concerns, it included four “vague” items with no statements as to what was being requested, if it was a reduction or an entire cut.

He said, “The appetite for compromise depends on the scope of

the compromise being demanded. “…it is difficult to say you are interested in compromise when you are not willing to say what issues are worrying you….this has not been done….how do I know when I compromise today, tomorrow another 10 things won’t come up.”

The Minister made it clear that there has been no commensurate response, in terms of a genuine willingness to compromise, from the Opposition.

Following Thursday’s meeting the entire capital expenditure head under the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, some $1.142B was not supported, because of disagreements over the $1.1B for the Amerindian Development Fund.

The allocations to the Ministry of Public Works was also approved in part, with the Transport allocations, under the capital expenditure grouping, being disapproved by the combined Opposition on the basis of non-support for the $6.550B allocation for the continued modernization works at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA). The Transport allocation totaled $6.785B. The Ministry of Health was treated in a similar manner, with the total allocation to Regional and Clinical Services of $1.351B, under the Ministry’s capital expenditure grouping, being disapproved on the basis of non-support of $910M for work on the Specialty Hospital.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

The power of the people prevails over AFC/APNU/PNC scissors

THE CRESCENDO of the voices of the GuySuCo workers superseded the threats and pronouncements of the PNC/ APNU/AFC combo, and propelled the joint opposition to reconsider passage of the estimates for the agriculture sector, although Government is still being held to ransom and is being blackmailed into giving in to opposition demands to get vital allocations to several sectors passed.

This happened despite Nagamootoo referring to the protest against cuts to the proposed $6B subsidy to the sugar industry as paid ethnic mobilization.

It is hardly likely that Moses Nagamootoo could ever again return to campaign in the sugar-producing communities; not after betraying them worse than Judas in tricking them to give their votes to the PNC, to destroy the party of their idol, Dr. Cheddi Jagan.

Nagamootoo used his history of affiliation with the PPP and the Jagans to fool PPP/C supporters in the sugar belt that he would look after their interests. He did this to win their votes away from the PPP/C in the 2011 elections, only to take the seats garnered through PPP supporter votes and hand them over to the PNC. This was amply demonstrated to Nagamootoo and the world when sugar workers stopped just short of beating him outside of Parliament, when they turned out in their numbers to demonstrate their anger at the AFC/PNC/APNU strategies and pronouncements in trying to force a closure of the sugar sector, and to protest the imminent threat of the opposition to cut the Government’s allocation of $6 billion to the sector that directly and indirectly provides sustenance to tens of thousands of Guyanese from all walks of life.

Although Moses Nagamootoo claimed the workers were paid, and he referred to their peaceful protest as ‘ethnic mobilisation’, the voices of the workers prevailed, and the GuySuCo employees returned triumphant to their respective sugar-producing communities.

Government is still being held hostage to PNC/APNU/ AFC bullyism, but the opposition bullyism and malice continue unabated in the hallowed halls of that august House called Parliament, as vital aspects of national development in key sectors were remorselessly butchered by a ruthless joint opposition.

Most poignant of all were the cuts to the health sector and the hinterland developmental funding, done for various petty reasons.

These continued displays of trading on their combined 6-vote, one-seat majority is an indication of their commitment, or lack thereof, to the welfare of the Guyanese people, including their own constituents; and a combined leadership that only fosters its own self-interest at the expense of the people’s good.

Granger’s weak excuse for cutting hinterland developmental funding, among others, is that arms are coming through Brazil. He should know, given that it is generally his supporters who have a track record of committing crimes of a violent nature in the land; but this is a mere ploy.

He is trying to pull the proverbial wool over the Guyanese people’s eyes, because, from the PNC’s track record; from the infamous X-13 Plan; the slo’ fiah, mo’ fiah and Buxton resistance strategies of creating mayhem in the country for political expediency; this is a unique leadership technique peculiar only to the PNC, of which the mini and inconsequential parties in the APNU coalition -- including the AFC -- are mere adjuncts, existing only to lend credence to the name APNU; and in the case of the AFC, to empower with their additional parliamentary seats.

Cutting the health sector budgetary allocation was a sop to the Bharrat Jagdeo/Bobby Ramroop haters, as well as to one of the mini parties’ financial backers in the drug trade.

The New GPC supplying drugs to the health sector is the real contention. The fact that the New GPC’s operations provide jobs to Guyanese, produce local drugs, and earn foreign exchange for the country, as opposed to the mini-party’s funder,

who imports drugs and expends foreign currency, had no relevance to their considerations.

Cutting funding for the Specialty Hospital was also another act that kowtowed to a profit-motivated party leader in the malicious coalition, whose client wants the contract and who is using his power in Parliament to attempt to force the Government to concede to the terms dictated by his client.

Another mini party MP – a PPP/C defector - extracted millions from a Chinese contractor slated to work on the CJIA expansion project, and is probably hoping for several more millions in the continued subtle blackmail of both Government and investors hoping to do business in Guyana.

What is apparent is that these opposition parties are scratching each other’s backs in their various anti-developmental, self-gratification agendas, like the WPA subsuming justice for Walter Rodney for a parliamentary seat and a promise of a share in government should the coalition ever win an election in Guyana.

There are sinister implications to the smooth passage of the Home Affairs Ministry’s budget, and PPP/C supporters are concerned that the budget was passed without any question put to Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee – a minister the opposition parties love to hate.

PPP/C supporters quite correctly perceive sinister implications in the smooth passage of the Home Affairs Ministry’s budget, given Granger’s meeting and affiliation with GDF heads and ranks, Felix’s track record, and the PNC’s constant calls for ‘kith and kin’ support from the security sector.

The concern is also justified when consideration is given to the history of joint services’ support of PNC’s various pogroms against PPP/C supporters.

The intentions of the joint opposition were apparent from commencement of the Tenth Parliament; they wanted total control of Government, and not be mere adjuncts to the administration. This was apparent since 2012, with its almost virtual boycott of the several committees and sub-committees established by the President to address issues of governance in efforts to break the impasse and enable the country to move forward. Converse to the composition of the parliamentary committees, each party had equal representation, yet there was precious little, if any, cooperation by the opposition with those initiatives.

On the eve of debating the 2012 Estimates, AFC MP Ramjattan and APNU MP Carl Greenidge brought motions, on the night of April 17th, to cut the budget sub-heads for the employment of contracted workers in the Office of the President; the ministries of Education; Housing and Water; Health; Labour, and Human Services and Social Security. Alerted by the media following a hastily-called press conference by the Government, 500 public servants, including staff from the Parliament Office – most of them opposition supporters -- held peaceful pickets in front of the Parliament Building against the proposed cuts by the opposition on the following day, April 18, forcing a withdrawal of those motions by the joint opposition at the April 18th sitting.

A request by APNU for a meeting to discuss the 2012 Budget was assented to by Government, with the proviso that the Opposition makes available in writing the list of issues it wished to discuss. The delegation of the Government of Guyana (GoG), headed by the President, and the delegation of APNU, headed by the Leader of the Opposition, David Granger, held meetings from April 18 to 24, 2012, to try to reach agreement on the 11 issues raised by the APNU in order to reach agreement on the 2012 Budget. AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan initially refused to participate in the talks, but eventually joined the meetings on April 23, 2012.

At the first meeting, convened on April 18, 2012, the Government agreed to the APNU proposal for an increase of the monthly rates of the non-contributory Old Age Pension.

The Government’s caveat to the agreement was that it would expect APNU to support the additional charge of over Gy$1 Billion on the Budget. On that same day, the Minister of

Finance announced the increase at the sitting of the National Assembly.

Additionally, agreement was reached, on April 19, 2012, between the GoG and the APNU on a staggered reduction in the subsidy for electricity supplied to Administrative Region 10, and specifically to the township of Linden. At the allday April 22, 2012 meeting between the two sides, progress appeared to have been made, and a draft press release was prepared to that effect. Hon. Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, with the full concurrence of Leader of the Opposition David Granger and Rupert Roopnaraine of the APNU, (who were shown a copy of the statement before it was read to the National Assembly), announced the agreement at the sitting of the House on April 19, 2012.

On the following day, April 20, 2012, leaders of the AFC travelled to Linden and, with APNU leaders from the Region, including PNC MP Vanessa Kissoon, opposed any reduction in the subsidy for electricity. The Leader of the Opposition also travelled to Linden, and at a meeting there, reneged on the agreement reached on April 19, 2012 with the Government.

Subsequent actions by the AFC and PNC/APNU precipitated a literal and figurative inferno at Linden, and later, Agricola, which left several persons dead, many private and public properties destroyed, and many ordinary citizens - including children - traumatized for life because of assaults on their persons.

On the following day, April 23, 2012, APNU and AFC MPs tabled motions to cut the Budget by over Gy$20 billion.

The draft press release was not agreed to by the two opposition parties and was never released. Talks between the two sides on the nights of April 23 and 24, 2012 failed to reach agreement, and in fact reversed what progress was made with the entrance of the AFC delegation.

The Opposition motions to reduce the 2012 Budget were tabled and voted on by majority at the April 25 and 26, 2012 sittings of the National Assembly.

The Appropriations Bill for Budget 2012 was passed as amended, with a massive cut of Gy$20.9 billion on April 26th 2012. Most telling were those Government agencies which were reduced: the Office of the President; the Guyana Elections Commission; the Guyana Power and Light; the Ministry of Finance’s Low Carbon Development Strategy programme; the State Planning Secretariat; the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU); and the Ethnic Relations Commission, one of four constitutional rights commissions.

Government resorted to the judiciary, and the High Court ruled in the Government’s favour, stating that the Opposition-controlled National Assembly acted outside its constitutional remit in imposing the cuts to the 2012 Budget.

In keeping with the court ruling on the budget cuts, the Minister of Finance, on August 9th, returned to the House, requesting approval for expenditures under supplementary provisions, in keeping with the court order. This attempt was partially successful, but this time, funding of the original heads which were reduced on April 25, 2012 for the Office of the President, were reduced to 0 immediately prior to the commencement of the recess of the first session of the 10th Parliament.

Although the Acting Chief Justice upheld the preliminary determination on the budget cuts in a ruling handed down in the High Court on January 29 of this year, the joint opposition -- with the sanction of the Speaker, who has, to date, exhibited blatant partiality to his opposition colleagues in the House -- are intent on flouting the law under the assumption that the Standing Orders of the National Assembly are paramount to the nation’s Constitution.

And the farce being enacted in Guyana’s National Assembly continues, with the only solution perceived by Guyanese citizens being general elections, which would hopefully restore the majority in the House to Government.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

11

After careful scrutiny...

House approves Security Sector allocations

By Vanessa Narine THE allocations for the Security Sector were unquestioned in the National Assembly on Thursday night, and Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Raphael Trotman pointed out to the Heads that they have the full support of the House.

The current and capital expenditures approved related to the Home Affairs Secretariat services, Guyana Police Force, Guyana Prison Service, Police Complaints Authority, Guyana Fire Service, General Registrar’s Office and the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU).

The CANU vote had been expected to attract some degree of scrutiny in light of the many references

by Members of Parliament (MPs) to Guyana’s economic success being advanced by “drug money” and narco-trading.

Leader of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Mr. David Granger was the last Opposition MP to make such a reference on Tuesday night.

He charged that Guyana is now closer than it has ever been to becoming a “narco-state”, based on

the revelations of its narcotics linkages, and the government’s “inability” to enforce drug trafficking measures.

BETTER PAID “Police have to be better paid and they have to be retrained; that is the most important thing, having a good Police Force… the important thing is to ensure that you have an efficient Police Force, well paid, well trained and committed to performing their duties,” he said, adding: “It turns out now that there were local gangs operating in that area but, because of the minister’s intrusive behaviour, innocent policemen have now been stigmatised by being transferred.

“Unless you deal with the Police Force, you cannot deal with things like murder, banditry, piracy and all of these other crimes and traffic accidents can only be brought under control by an efficient Police Force.

“If you have a Criminal Investigations Department (CID) that is weak, if you have traffic police that are weak or venal, they are taking bribes, you can’t stamp out crime…at any level

whether it’s domestic violence or narco-trafficking.”

President Donald Ramotar has since challenged the Opposition Leader to provide evidence for substantiating his allegations.

BIG INSULT The Head of State declared: “I think that is a big insult to all the people of our country, who are working very hard in order to develop themselves as individuals and in the process developing our country. “...I think that the Opposition, in general, and the Leader of the Opposition, in particular, needs to apologise to the people of this country for the statement that he has made. Let him point to which building he knows that is narco-driven in this country. I find that obnoxious and a total lack of appreciation for the efforts of the hardworking people of this country.”

He further insisted that Granger should withdraw the accusations.

This year, the National Drug Strategy Master Plan (NDSMP) 2014-2018 will be finalised to enhance Guyana’s ability to combat drugs at the local, regional and

Lusignan man dies after ingesting rat poison IMRAN Ally, 31, of Lusignan Front, East Coast Demerara, committed suicide by ingesting carbon tablets (rat poison) late Saturday night.

Unfortunately, he died on the way to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

His father, who wants to remain anonymous, told the Chronicle that he doesn’t know why his son did what he did, as he was not a troublesome person.

“Imran was always a good boy; he loves to go Masjid and pray. I don’t know why he did that; there is no reason that I could say surrounding his suicide. He is single, and don’t have no

The late Imran Ally

children. I am very, very sad; words cannot express how I’m feeling. I never know he would have done such, may Allah forgive him,” the man said sadly.

Another Lusignan resident said he never knew Imran to be a suicidal person, because he was always on the go, teaching and helping youths in that community.

“I always know Imran to be a very good person; he was always helpful; no matter what, he always was a good man. I never expected this from him, because he always teaching youths about life. I’m so shocked and surprised... I cannot believe this,” the man lamented. (Asif Hakim)

international levels.

Of the Security Sector $19.5B vote, training will be conducted for the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Unit and $382.6M has been earmarked to train the Joint Services, while $413M is budgeted to equip, as well, community policing groups countrywide, in an effort to restore safe neighbourhoods to citizens.

COURTROOM PROCEDURES Coursing will also commence for staff at the Forensic Laboratory on

chemical and drugs analyses, toxicology and courtroom procedures.

A sum of $1.2B is for the completion of the Forensic Laboratory and the Fire Service Training School and the continuous upgrading of physical infrastructure for the Joint Services at locations across the country.

An amount of $1.1B is to support land, air and sea operations of the Joint Services, while another $1.1B is to effectively equip the Forces to serve and protect citizens.

Additionally, a new National Action Plan 2014-

2015 for trafficking in persons is, presently, being developed and will guide ongoing efforts by seeking to reduce vulnerability to the lure of traffickers, expanding sensitisation and awareness, broadening the involvement of civil society and strengthening law enforcement response This year’s provision is expected to allow Government to continue its focus on ensuring that strategic planning and evidence-based interventions are made towards the maintenance of public order and safety throughout Guyana.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

THE RISING TIDE OF PROSPERITY

By Hydar Ally

THE quality of life of citizens in any country is dependent to a large extent on the size of the Gross Domestic Product or GDP in short.

Countries with low GDP are unlikely to provide a high standard of living to their citizens whereas countries with high levels of GDP are more likely to ensure that their citizens are afforded a better quality of life.

The size of a country’s Gross Domestic Product is therefore an important determinant in measuring the quality of life. This is why any decline in the growth rate of the economy is treated with so much concern by policy makers since it translated into a shrinking of the GDP and a consequential decline in the quality of life of citizens

One indicator of the share of the national wealth from a distributional standpoint is what economists

er the likelihood of a better quality of life even though this is not always true since per capita income is little

‘There can be no doubt that there is today growing levels of prosperity in Guyana which resulted from prudent management of the economy and good governance. This rising tide of prosperity has in a sense lifted all boats and set the stage for even higher levels of modernization and growth’ refer to as the per capita income which takes into the GDP divided by the total population. The higher the per capita income, the great-

more than a crude statistical construct and do not necessarily reflect a true and accurate picture of living standards.

I thought of making this observation if only to highlight a fact in our economic history when the size of our gross domestic product took a severe beating to a point where the economy instead of growing was getting smaller and smaller with each passing year. Those were the years when the country experienced what is known as ‘negative growth’ which in effect means that instead of the national pie increasing annually to compensate for an increase in population size and inflationary tendencies, it is actually getting smaller.

It does not take a trained economist to realize that in a scenario such as that alluded to above, the quality of life of the citizens as a whole declined as there would be more mouths to feed from a shrinking cake.

And yet this was what actually took place for the greater part of the twenty eight years when the PNC regime occupied the seat of political power. The few ‘good’ years when there were some positive growth especially during the mid-1970s which resulted mainly from windfall prices of bauxite and sugar on the world market

and not from any real increase in production and productivity.

In fact one distinguishing characteristic of the PNC years was the downward trend in production in all the key areas of production in particular rice, bauxite and sugar. The country experienced a production crisis which emanated from a political crisis. The political crisis was due to undemocratic and authoritarian rule where all the institutions of the state were subdued by the doctrine of ‘paramountcy’ of the then ruling party.

There is a dialectical interconnection between the economic base and the political superstructure of any society. The lack of democracy stifles economic growth and expansion which in turn results in a curtailment of the cultural and creative expressions of the citizens as a whole. In other words, the whole of society is poorer when the body politic is impaired through rigged elections and the suppression of democratic rights and freedoms as happened during the former PNC regime.

This is why the PPPC administration must be commended for putting in place measures and mechanisms to strengthen our democracy and democratic institutions.

What we have today is a rule-based and law-governed society where there is full separation of powers and

HYDAR ALLY where the Executive arm of the State does not interfere in the work of the other two arms, namely the Legislative and the Judicial as was the case under the PNC administration.

More significantly, the current PPP/C administration has managed to grow the economy and secure the economic fundamentals for accelerated growth and development. The administration led by President Donald Ramotar deserves credit for being able to mobilize local and foreign investment and capital to grow the economy and create jobs at a time when several other countries are finding it difficult to do so.

There can be no doubt that there is today growing levels of prosperity in Guyana which resulted from prudent management of the economy and good governance. This rising tide of prosperity has in a sense lifted all boats and set the stage for even higher levels of modernization and growth.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

Michael Gordon assumes GM duties at Chronicle ––promises improved conditions, better management/worker relations

By Leroy Smith EMPLOYEES of the Guyana National Newspaper Limited (GNNL), the printer and publisher of the Guyana (Daily and Sunday) Chronicle newspapers, were on Wednesday last officially introduced to their new General Manager in the person of veteran media operative and former

Acting CEO of NCN, Mr Michael Gordon.

Selected by Office of the President following the recent resignation of Mr Nandkumar Puran as Acting General Manager, Gordon, along with outgoing Chairman of the Board, Mr Keith Burrowes and Press and Publicity Officer at Office of the President, Mr Kwame McCoy, met with the staff in

At the meeting. From left are Chronicle Editor-in-Chief, Mr Mark Ramotar; General Manager, Mr Michael Gordon; Chairman, Mr Keith Burrowes; and Office of the President’s Mr Kwame McCoy the lobby of the company.

Speaking at the formal introduction, outgoing Chairman, Keith Burrowes explained that now the company is welcoming its new General Manager, he is confident that the right choice was See page 14

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

Michael Gordon assumes GM duties ...

GNNL staffers at the meeting last week (Photos by Sonell Nelson) From page 13 made, and that the company will be moving forward.

He expressed confidence in Gordon’s leadership, and his ability to work with staff in improving GNNL’s operations.

Meanwhile, Gordon made it very clear to the staff that his style of leadership is not the ‘big stick’

approach, in that he has an open-door policy where, once time permits, staff at any level may approach him.

While there is a list of things the new general manager hopes to be looking at, his priorities will include strong financial oversight, an improved human resource/management relationship, diversification of the company’s endeav-

ours, and a more vibrant marketing strategy.

But these things aside, Gordon, though not looking to have his own way, made it clear that if there was ever a unilateral decision he could make immediately, it would be to improve working conditions at GNNL, the procurement of a new press, and increasing the profits of the company.

Canal No.2 man dies as truck topples at Mazaruni TWENTY-SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Robby Kopper, of Canal No. 2 Polder, West Bank Demerara, died last Friday when a truck he was travelling in turned turtle at Puppy Show Landing, Mazaruni, and pinned him to death.

According to reports, the truck was being driven down a hill when the accident occurred.

Word is that efforts are being made to transport his body to Bartica as police continue their investigations.

The truck in which Kopper was travelling when he died (Photo courtesy of a friend of the Chronicle)

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

Bishop of the Catholic Church, Francis Alleyne, during Palm Sunday Mass at the GCC yesterday (Photos by Rebecca Ganesh-Ally)

Thousands usher in Holy Week with Palm Sunday observances

By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally

THOUSANDS of Guyanese yesterday joined their Christian brothers and sisters around the world in observance of Palm Sunday as they ushered in the Holy Week celebrations that will culminate in Easter.

The day marked the end of the Lenten fast for Catholics and Anglicans alike, and the beginning of the most solemn and important week in their calendar: Holy Week.

The week commences on what is traditionally called Palm Sunday, which is one of the most important days in the Christian calendar. This final Sunday before Easter, Christians remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, cheered on by palm-waving crowds, in church services around the country.

Yesterday’s event marked the sixth year for a joint Palm Sunday mass held at the Georgetown Cricket Club Ground (GCC), Bourda, for Catholics in commemoration of the occasion. Processions from various parishes culminated at the GCC with singing of hymns and bearing of palms.

This year, the symbolic blessing of the palms was done at the respective churches before the beginning of the procession, which saw parishioners from St Teresa’s (Campbellville), Our Lady of the Mount (Meadow Bank), Sacred Heart (Main Street), Our Lady of Fatima (Bourda), St Pius X (East LaPenitence), Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Brickdam), Holy Spirit (North Ruimveldt)and Our Lady of the Rosary (Kitty) walk from their place of worship to the GCC. As a symbol of their faith and devotion, many Christians keep the palm crosses, which are distributed during Palm Sunday services, and hang them in their homes throughout the year.

Common Palm Sunday observances include processions with palm branches, the blessing of the palms (which will be burned and used next Ash Wednesday), and the construction of small palm crosses.

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Parishioners in procession with their palms singing joyful hymns

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

Castellani exhibition showcas

By Michelle Gonsalves

FOR OVER two decades, Castellani House (The National Art Gallery), located at the corner of Vlissengen Road and Homestretch Avenue in Georgetown, has been the place to go for those who want to see the finest works of Guyanese art.

Normally, we see the works of talented students;

this time, however, the ongoing exhibition is shining the spotlight on the people who help to shape Guyana’s best artists. The exhibition is showing off the work of the tutors of the E.R. Burrowes School of Art, most of whom are past students of the school and come from a tradition of bonding, said Acting Curator of Castellani House, Mr. Ohene Koama.

In those testing days of financial constraints, even a meal seemed impossible to many, but a solution by way of a “bush cook” saw many smiling faces. The sculptors led the way in the cooking, since a mistaken chip of wood in the pot was more tolerable than a lump of paint or even clay. This act of bonding strengthened the barriers against any likely ethnic, class or

economic discrimination that might have impeded unity.

These tutors are living testimony of survival against those social, political, and economic constraints that constantly presented themselves.

Continuing in the tradition of unselfish gains, the tutors are seen mentoring and nurturing, in formal ways, those who

have come with a willingness to learn the requisite skills that would inevitably determine their future in the visual arts.

Bestowed with the responsibility of imparting knowledge to students in the various disciplines, the tutors are seen as the vanguard of the institution.

The tutors whose works are on display are Administrator Ivor Thom (Drawing, Sculpture), Director of Studies Jynelle Osborne (Painting), Everley Austin (Ceramic Art), Robert Cumming (Textile Construction), Vandyke David (Ceramics), Sheena Henry (Children Classes Vocation Workshop), Dawn Isaacs (Ceramic Art), Nicole Bisoo-Williams (Colour Theory and General Studies), Genghis Khan (Painting and Drawing), Josefa Tamaya (Three Dimensional Foundation Course and Sculpture), Dahlia Peters (Ceramics), Volda Russell-Ramsammy (Textile Design and Basic Design), Joseph Saunders (Computer Graphic Art) and Sean Thomas (Graphic Art).

HISTORY The E.R. Burrowes

School of Art was founded in 1975 by the late Director of Culture, Dr. Denis Williams, an Artist, Art Educator, Pioneer Archae-

Dancers (2012), a bronze b

Visitors to the “The Tutors Exhibition” contemplate painting

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

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ses works of ‘Burrowes’ tutors ologist and Anthropologist.

The institution was, from the onset, modelled on the British curriculum of formal

Art training. Founded after Guyana became independent in 1966 and a Republic in 1970, and also after the

by Ivor Thom

e “Kissed” (2004), a Nicole Bissoo-Williams acrylic

groundbreaking Caribbean Festival of Arts (Carifesta) that was held in Guyana in 1972, the school was a timely addition to the cultural life of a young nation.

Its predecessor is the Wo r k i n g P e o p l e s A r t Class (WPAC), which was formed by Barbadian ‘Father of Guyanese Art’, E.R. Burrowes, in 1948. Dennis Williams was a member of the WPAC. On returning

from his Art Scholarship to Britain, he felt compelled to continue the tradition of art groupings, which he knew best, resulting in him forming an art institution and naming it after his teacher and mentor, E.R. Burrowes.

The school survived many trying times during its 39-year existence, moving from the village of Eccles on the East Bank of Demerara to Sophia, east

of Georgetown; and then to Carifesta Avenue, where it presently sits.

The Castellani House was named in 1993 after its architect, Cesar Castellani, when the inaugural collection of the Art Gallery was first shown. The original building was constructed during the period 1879 to 1882, and was the residence of the Government Botanist George Jenman, beginning

in 1883.

During his tenure as Prime Minister, and later as President of Guyana, former President Mr L.F.S. Burnham resided there from 1965 until his death in 1985. The Castellani House is the home of the National Art Collection.

The exhibition will continue until May 3, 2014.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

Guyanese by extract wins Voice UK contest

JERMAINE JACKMAN

By Alex Wayne NINETEEN-year-old Jermaine Jackman, born to Guyanese parents, was crowned winner of The Voice UK competition, beating Sally Barker, Christina Marie and Jamie Johnson to win a recording deal with Universal Music.

When presenter Marvin Humes announced the result, Jermain, coached by ‘will.i.am’, was visibly shocked and overwhelmed. He said later: “I want to thank Will for everything he has done for me over the course of the last few months. You have been the best coach ever. I want to thank God for all the opportunities that I’ve had. I want to thank all my family and friends. This is not just an achievement for me, but an achievement for every single person around the world -- especially in the UK -- who has had a dream, worked hard for that dream, and achieved that dream. I want you guys to know: Work hard for that dream and you will achieve it!”

In being announced the winner of The Voice UK competition, Jermaine Jackman has ultimately become yet another Guyanese heritage youth to take a hold of that title. And while social media has gone viral with their rants for and against the decision, one thing is clear: This kid, who sang in Guyana last August at the St George’s Cathedral and blew those in attendance away, is the 2014 winner!

His father, David Forde, is actually from the village of Plaisance, East Coast Demerara, and many who met with Jermaine during his sojourn in Guyana can attest to him being proud of his Guyanese heritage even though he was born in London.

Leona Lewis, also of Guyanese heritage, became an international hit maker after winning the UK Voice show, and has been identified as the daughter of a London-based Guyanese.

But we have not seen her on local soil as yet.

According to Shauntel Maloney, “I heard this guy sing at the St George’s Cathedral last year…. He has a really good voice.”

Alison Barkie states on Facebook: “Heard him sing last year at an ordination of deacons at St George’s Cathedral”.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

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‘Festival with Taste’ extravaganza billed for Easter Saturday at Everest Ground

By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally GOURMETS, gourmands, tourists, and Guyanese at large will be given the opportunity to embark on a culinary adventure in a veritable food and beverage paradise when the annual International Food and Drink Fest (iFest) of Guyana 2014 takes place at the Everest Cricket Ground on Easter Saturday, April 19.

This year’s festival is dubbed “the Festival with Taste” and has been endorsed by the Ministry of Tourism and the Guyana Tourism Authority. The event is part of Guyana’s tourism

calendar of events.

Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority, Mr. Indranauth Haralsingh, speaking on behalf of the Minister of Tourism, said, “ We are in full support of the festival, it will help to showcase not only the culinary aspect but Guyana in its entirety. This event can lead the way to position Guyana as one of the top culinary destinations to visit within the Caribbean. We also wish to congratulate the Karate College on all their achievements and accomplishments

‘This event can lead the way to position Guyana as one of the top culinary destinations to visit within the Caribbean’ over the years in teaching young people and children a very disciplined sport.”

Master Frank Woon-a-Tai, Chairman of the Karate College, related that the objective of the college is to assist children, to teach them to develop their character, self-control, discipline and sincerity. “Without self-control people revert to violence, we have to teach the young men to respect women and not to abuse them and we have to teach the women to protect themselves,” he said.

Master Woon-a-Tai updated the media on the progress of the college which is currently under construction at Liliendaal on the East Coast of Demerara. He stated that, “the building will cost some $50M to complete; we have raised $26M with the help of (PLEASE SEE PAGE 20)

FOOD-FEST MEET: Seated from left are Acting High Commissioner of India to Guyana, Mr Tirath Singh; Chairman of the Guyana Karate College, Master Frank Woon-a-Tai; Guyana Karate College Vice-Chairman, Mr Jeffery Wong; and Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority, Mr. Indranauth Haralsingh

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‘Festival with Taste’ extravaganza billed for Easter Saturday at ...

(FROM PAGE 19) the previous festival, donations and fund raisers.

With this we have laid the foundation for the building and we have already paid $8M for the steel frame for the building.”

He observed, however, that the construction is moving too slowly and persons are getting impatient, so the committee has decided to approach a financial institution to acquire the remainder of funds needed to complete the project. However, they have outstanding documents to be processed before this can be approved.

This event is one of the

largest culinary events in Guyana and is being held with the support of the diplomatic community and also has on board all the major beverage companies here, including Ansa McAl, Banks DIH, and Demerara Distillers Limited.

The festival this year will see more international chefs getting involved to create an authentic food experience for patrons. There will be more international booths available from Europe to South America, Asia and the Caribbean. There are 13 countries that have confirmed their participation and there is the likelihood

For Monday April 14, 2014 -14:30hrs For Tuesday April 15, 2014 -05:00hrs For Wednesday April 16, 2014 -05:00hrs

of more participating in this year’s event.

There will also be a “happy hour around the Globe” with an experienced ‘mixologist’ from Cuba who will be on hand to prepare the famous cocktails of the participating countries, including the martinis, highballs, lowballs, shooters, and tropical drinks such as the Margarita, Mai Tai, White Russian, Caipirinha, Martini, Daiquiri, Mojito, Tom Collins, Pina Colada, Cuba Libre and Sea Breeze, among others.

BEER FESTIVAL And not forgetting the beer lovers, there will be a “beer festival” with beers from 17 different countries, with the most popular ones coming from Australia, Germany, Belgium, Mexico England, Netherlands and of course Guyana.

This one-day gastronomic event will be filled with fun, authentic signature dishes, yummy treats, famous cocktails, and other popular beverages from countries around the world. Additional features will include a children’s activity area, live on-stage performances by local cultural groups, dance performances, and a musical showcase that will depict the musical culture of all participating countries.

All proceeds from this event will go towards the building fund of the new headquarters of the Guyana Karate College, which is currently under construction at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

Aries March 21 - April 19

You’re going to have an enthusiastic fan today, and he or she will be singing your praises to anyone who will listen -- try not to blush too much! This wave of adulation might make you feel embarrassed at first, but as the day wears on and you take bow after bow, you’ll start to enjoy the sensation of being recognised for your work -- and it will feel good. This is a boost to your ego, which means it’s a good time to initiate new projects.

You’re unstoppable.

Taurus April 20 - May 20

Today you may find yourself talking to someone you’d never think of talking to before.

And to no one’s surprise, you will end up enjoying the experience immensely. Your curiosity is piqued by this person, who sees life differently than you do. This is your chance to learn something, regardless of whether they are from a different culture, background, or economic group. They can teach you things you never knew about the world -- and about yourself, even.

Gemini May 21 - June 21

Today’s going to be an easy day -- definitely something along the lines of falling off a log. So if you want, feel free to put your overworked brain on auto-pilot -- especially when it comes to the tasks you perform every day. You’ve impressed everyone you need to impress for now, so don’t worry about your reputation. Today is all about the simple route and the ease of knowing exactly how to do everything you need to do. This effortless energy will keep you smiling all day.

Cancer June 22 - July 22

No one is ever going to walk up to you and ask for your ideas today. If you want to put your thoughts in motion, you have to step in and start the discussion. Frame it in a way that’s favourable to your ideas. What you say today will be heard and taken seriously, so have faith. Be bold and insert yourself into situations that seem like they can be advantageous to you. It’s okay to be calculating from time to time. Be more active in pushing your agenda.

Leo July 23 - August 22

Don’t care what others think about you. Yes, your reputation is important. But when you stop yourself from saying something you feel or doing something you want because you’re worried about how it will look, you’ve gone too far. The stress caused by trying to dress the right way, say the right thing and be the right kind of person takes too much energy out of you. To start feeling good, you need to forget the useless quest for perfection -- now.

Virgo August 23 - September 22

Take a look at your closet today and count how many things are in there that you never wear. Chances are, no matter how high the number is, every single one of those forgotten items was an impulse buy -- wasn’t it? Today, remember those neglected outfits when you see something you think you must have. Think about all the money you could have now if you had just resisted that compulsion. Don’t spend money on something you don’t need.

Libra September 23 - October 22

Beware of people who are being too nice to you today -- they may have an ulterior motive for charming you to their side. Getting attention from others is always flattering, but you can’t take the compliment without any scrutiny. Take note of their position and what they could gain from having you in their corner. It’s not fun to think that a person could be playing you, but you’d be silly not to consider it as a possibility. Protect yourself always.

Scorpio October 23 - November 21

Your brain is extremely active right now, and it’s urging you to do lots of things in a little amount of time. This frantic energy is exhilarating but also limiting -- you will have little patience for the people in your life who can’t maintain your pace. This is a mistake. If they cannot keep up with you, go ahead and move forward on your plans.

They’re not holding you back -- just don’t forget about them.

Sagittarius November 22 - December 21

There is nothing wrong with a flirtatious encounter with a stranger today -- in fact, it might give your ego the boost that it’s been thirsting for. As long as you don’t promise anything or get too explicit about your implications, you are safe to flatter and charm anyone who strikes your fancy. Your sense of humour is your biggest asset, so lead with a funny anecdote and join in when the laughter starts flowing.

Capricorn December 22 - January 19

You’re getting closer on a personal level with an authority figure at work, but being more social with this person doesn’t mean that you’re going to be getting any special treatment. But this is a good thing. It would be insulting if they started treating you differently anyway, wouldn’t it? Not to mention the fact that it could negatively affect your reputation. Plus, you need to be rewarded for the value you bring to the job, not how fun you are to hang out with.

Aquarius January 20 - February 18

Being polite and having good manners is important, but if someone is rude to you, you certainly don’t owe them any courtesies. If someone pushes your buttons, then let them have it. Celebrate your obnoxious side today and use your creativity to craft an insult that will really get your point across. You aren’t someone who can sit quietly while someone disrespects you or a love one, so why act like you are? Conveying truth in your actions is never a mistake.

Pisces February 19 - March 20

This is a great day for starting projects that involve improvements around your house.

Even if you don’t have the greatest handyman skills, you do have tons of elbow grease.

So stick with what you know you can do, and do it. Paint a room. Fix a leaky faucet.

Clean out a closet. Then make arrangements for a professional to come in and take care of the rest. You run the risk of making a bad situation worse if you attempt something beyond your level of expertise.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

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Bishoo and Joseph torment T&T after ...

From Backpage

dle stump as the left-handed batsman went for an audacious drive at 275 for 9.

Despite an authoritative drive from Joseph through the cover region off Gabriel, Guyana lost Ronsford Beaton who was caught

by Jaggernauth at second slip off Emrit for 1, leaving Joseph unbeaten on 5.

Emrit finished with 3 for 35 and Gabriel had 2 for 44 in support of Jaggernauth’s second-day 4 for 78 for T&T, who need to win this match outright to take the title.

They raced to 37 without loss from the first 10 overs of their second innings.

Lendl Simmons 25 (30 balls 3x4) was first to go when he had his leg stump rocked back by a pumpedup Joseph, who took over the fast bowling role with ease, after Beaton left the field with an ankle injury, before Stephan Katwaroo and Darren Bravo added 34 for the second wicket.

Katwaroo got two fours off Trevon Griffith after lunch which was taken with the visitors on 49 for 1 - a lead of 61 - with the wicketkeeper/batsman on 18 and Bravo 4, while he got another boundary, this time off Joseph who was working up some pace.

The introduction of Bishoo, who tormented the Twin Island Republic batsmen in the first innings with his 9 for 78, saw the demise of Bravo who was lbw for 8, followed quickly

by Katwaroo, who was also lbw to Joseph, leaving T&T on 77 for 3.

It became 99 for 4, when Evin Lewis who was forced to bat at number five due to an injury, was caught by Vishal Singh on the deep midwicket boundary off Bishoo for 12, which included two sixes struck off Bishoo and Joseph.

The T&T 100 was realised from 24.1 overs, but at 110 for 5, they lost Jonathan Augustus (2) who swept at and missed a googly from Bishoo, even as Jason Mohammed, who got two lives from Anthony Bramble off Bishoo, rubbed salt into the wounds with fours off Bishoo and Shadir.

Bishoo had the last laugh when Mohammed picked out Shadir at cover after contributing 33 to T&T’s total from 85minutes batting in which he faced 71

deliveries and struck three fours, while Emrit was deceived by a Bishoo googly and was bowled all over the place for 20 at 146 for 7.

Marlon Richards 25 (32 b, 2x6, 1x4) came to the fore and looked like a batsman possessed, hitting Bishoo over long on, followed by another six over the same area off Shadir, piercing a hole in one of the windows on the Media Centre building, before Joseph trapped him lbw with his first ball of his second spell.

Guyana, through Joseph

T&T first innings 294 GUYANA first innings (o/n 247-7) T. Griffith c wkp. Ketwaroo b Gabriel 23 T. Chanderpaul run-out ( Augustus) 14 S. Hetmyer c Richards b Jaggernauth 0 L. Johnson c wkp. Ketwaroo b Jaggernauth 78 V. Singh c wkp. Ketwaroo b Jaggernauth 2 A. Bramble b Jaggernauth 16 C. Barnwell b Emrit 50 Z. Shadir c Jaggernauth b Emrit 58 D. Bishoo b Gabriel 27 R. Beaton c Jaggernauth b Emrit 1 K. Joseph not out 5 Extras: (b4-, lb-2, w-1, nb-1) 8 Total: (all out, off 92.3 overs) 282 Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-37, 3-51, 4-59, 5-89, 6-169, 7-213, 8-275, 9-275.

Bowling: Gabriel 20-4-44-2 (w-1) Richards 4-0-21-0 Jaggernauth 245-78-4 Mohammed 14-3-27-0 (nb-1) Khan 21-3-67-0 Emrit 9.3-2-39-3.

T&T second innings L. Simmons b Joseph 25

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and Bishoo, mopped up the tail, with Joseph removing Imran Khan for a resilient 29 (69 minutes, 50 balls, 3x4) while Bishoo had Jaggernauth lbw for 13 to end with his third best bowling figures at the first class level, following his first-innings 9 for 78 and 6 for 64 that he had taken two years ago.

Asked to score 225 for victory, Guyana lost Griffith who was lbw to Jaggernauth for 13, at 17 for 1, following which the umpires offered the batsmen bad light at 17:30hrs, which they gleefully accepted.

S. Ketwaroo lbw b Joseph 32 DM Bravo lbw b Bishoo 8 J. Mohammed c Shadir b Bishoo 33 E. Lewis c Singh b Bishoo 12 J. Augustus lbw b Bishoo 2 R. Emrit b Bishoo 20 I. Khan c Shadir b Joseph 29 M. Richards lbw b Joseph 25 A. Jaggernauth lbw b Bishoo 13 S. Gabriel not out 0 Extras: (b-8, lb-2, nb-3) 13 Total: (all out, off 59.4 overs) 212 Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-71, 3-77, 4-99, 5-110, 6-139, 7-145, 8-183, 9-212.

Bowling: Beaton 4-1-7-0, Joseph 14-4-55-4 (nb-3), Barnwell 2-0-11-0, Griffith 2-0-13-0, Bishoo 22.4-5-716, Shadir 15-1-45-0..

GUYANA second innings (Target 225) T. Griffith lbw b Jaggernauth 13 T. Chanderpaul not out 3 D. Bishoo not out 0 Extras: (lb-1) 1 Total: (for 1 wkt, off 11 overs) 17 Fall of wickets: 1-17.

Bowling: Gabriel 3-1-2-0. Emrit 2-1-5-0 Jaggernauth 3-1-3-1, Mohammed 3-1-6-0.

08:20 hrs Golden Slipper 08:55 hrs Victoria Park 09:30 hrs Sir Isaac 10:00 hrs Lunar Emblem 10:30 hrs Noah Forever Irish Racing Tips

Tramore 11:35 hrs Wood Breizh 12:05 hrs Tobar Na Gaoise 12:35 hrs Pleased As Punch 13:05 hrs Vasco Du Mee 13:35 hrs Preswell Lad 14;05 hrs Easyondeye 14;35 hrs Oscar ‘ Swan American Racing Tips Philadelphia Park Race 1 Megador Race 2 Prestons Princess Race 3 Twill Be Race 4 Show Ya Luv Race 5 Swig It Race 6 Tazer Race 7 I Love It Race 8 Emerald Bracelet Race 9 Early One Morning

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

Kenyans dominate as Farah toils in London marathon debut

By Justin Palmer

LONDON, England (Reuters) - Double Olympic champion Mo Farah toiled on his highly-anticipated marathon debut with the Briton trailing in eighth as Kenyans Wilson Kipsang and Edna Kiplagat secured London titles yesterday.

Farah, the world and Olympic 5 000 and 10 000 metres champion, was given a “tough” baptism by the world’s best - finishing almost four minutes behind world record holder Kipsang on a sunny morning in the capital.

The 32-year-old Kenyan claimed a second London title with a course record two hours four minutes 29 seconds, pulling clear of compatriot Stanley Biwott who was 26 seconds back with Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede third.

“The pacemakers went too early for me so I had to push myself,” said Kipsang

Wilson Kipsang of Kenya crosses the line to win the men’s race in the 2014 London Marathon on The Mall in central London, yesterday. behind the leaders from the who also won in 2012, the same year he won Olympic bronze around the streets of London.

“At around 31k I decided to push harder as I felt very comfortable and strong. And then I pushed again towards the finish line and that was when I broke away.”

Farah, who was never in contention after dropping

start, gritted his teeth to cross in 2:08:21, outside the British record that has stood since 1985.

“That was tough. I’m very disappointed,” said a chastened Farah.

“I didn’t really know what to expect. Training went well.

The crowds were exciting and really helped me along.

“It was a little bit windy

and I didn’t really have a plan. I’ll definitely be back.”

Edna Kiplagat won her first London title after finishing runner-up in the past two years, getting the better of compatriot Florence Kiplagat in the final 200 metres to win in two hours 20 minutes 21 seconds.

The winner outkicked her namesake who finished three seconds behind after the pair had dropped debutant Tirunesh Dibaba, stepping up from the track where she enjoyed a glittering career.

“Towards the end of the race I tried to push a few times but she was always there,” Edna Kiplagat, who retained her world title in Moscow last year, said of her battle with the world half-marathon record holder.

“I felt strong so I wasn’t too worried.”

Ethiopian Dibaba, a threetime Olympic track champion, was still in contention when she blundered at a drinks station, stopping to pick up her dropped

Kenyan Edna Kiplagat crosses the finish line to win was feeling pretty good but it’s water bottle and losing valuable difficult to lose so much time time on the front pair. against top athletes.”

“When my bottle fell, I Last year’s London wintried to pick it up because it’s ner Priscah Jeptoo dropped important to me,” she said afout of the race at around the ter finishing third, 14 seconds 25-km mark while Olympic behind the winner. champion Tiki Gelana fin“That made me lose lots ished ninth.the London Marof time with the lead runners. I athon women’s race.

Liverpool sink City to close on title, Chelsea stay in touch

By Steve Tongue LONDON, England (Reuters) - Liverpool took a huge step towards becoming English champions for the first time in 24 years when they beat third-placed Manchester City 3-2 in a thrilling Premier League game at Anfield yesterday.

Chelsea won 1-0 at 10-man Swansea City to stay within two points of leaders Liverpool, whom they visit in two weeks time.

A Chelsea victory in that game could let in City, who trail Liverpool by seven points but have two games in hand, one against bottom club Sunderland on Wednesday.

Liverpool have not finished top since 1990, two years before the Premier League began, but Raheem Sterling and

Martin Skrtel put them 2-0 up inside 26 minutes before David Silva led a City revival in the second half.

The Spaniard reduced the deficit and an own goal

by Glen Johnson levelled matters before Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho drove in the winner after a mistake by City captain Vincent Kompany 12 minutes from time to secure Liverpool’s 10th successive victory.

Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson was sent off in stoppage-time and will miss three of the four remaining games, including the potentially decisive visit of Chelsea.

Manager Brendan Rodgers, who has revitalised the team in two seasons since taking over, hailed “a remarkable perfor-

mance”.

“I thought we were incredible today,” he told Sky Sports.

“We showed so much spirit and quality. We have been put under pressure in a very big game but you can see from the quality of our football that we are coping with it.”

It was an emotional day for the club, who commemorated 25 years since the Hillsborough disaster in which 96 of their supporters died at an FA Cup semi-final. There was a minute’s silence before kickoff, after which the home fans roared their team into a sixth-minute lead.

Luis Suarez outmuscled his marker Gael Clichy and fed Sterling, the teenager cleverly dummying Kompany and England goalkeeper Joe Hart

before scoring.

Twenty minutes later Hart saved well from a header by unmarked Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard but from the resulting corner Slovak defender Skrtel headed in.

TOURE INJURED In-between, City lost influential Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure due to injury and not until shortly before halftime did they threaten. Johnson and Sterling had to clear off the line in the same attack and Fernandinho’s half-volley was saved by Simon Mignolet.

City, champions two years ago before losing their title to neighbours Manchester United last season, continued to improve after halftime with James Milner and Sergio Aguero coming on.

In the 56th minute Milner set up Silva to score from close range and five minutes later Silva and Samir Nasri worked a neat passing move that ended with Johnson deflecting the ball past his own goalkeeper.

Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge, a former City player, and Suarez both wanted penalties in separate incidents but television replays suggested the ever controversial Suarez had dived. Having already received a yellow card, he could have been sent off.

City were looking the more likely winners and Mignolet had to save well from Edin Dzeko before Silva just failed to reach Aguero’s inviting cross.

But Liverpool came again and after Kompany had miskicked a clearance Coutinho beat Hart with fine low shot from 15 metres.

Henderson’s red card came for a lunging tackle on Nasri. At the final whistle, a tearful Gerrard gathered his team in a huddle in the middle of the pitch as the home supporters celebrated wildly.

Liverpool may still need to beat Chelsea, who played against 10 men for most of their game at Swansea after Chico Flores was sent off for two yellow cards in the first quarter of an hour.

Chelsea dominated from then on but could not break through until Demba Ba, whose goal knocked out Paris Saint-Germain in a Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday, scored in the 67th minute.

“Patience was the key today,” Chelsea captain John Terry said.

Pakistan’s Amir won’t play in World Cup even if ban reduced KARACHI, (Reuters) Banned Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir will not be eligible for next year’s World Cup even if he returns early to domestic cricket, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Friday.

PCB Chairman Najam Sethi told a news conference in Lahore that under the amended

anti-corruption laws of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Aamir’s five-year ban could be reduced by 12 months.

Amir, 21, was banned for a minimum five years in 2011 for spot-fixing during Pakistan’s fourth test against England at Lord’s in 2010.

His captain Salman Butt and fellow fast bowler Moham-

Mohammad Amir

mad Asif were also banned for the same offence and the three players served jail terms in Britain in 2011-12.

Sethi said Pakistan had pushed for a reduction in Amir’s suspension because of his age.

“The message we got from the ICC committee at this week’s meeting in Dubai was

that Amir could get a one-year relaxation under the amended anti-corruption laws,” he added.

The amended ICC anti-corruption code should ensure quicker returns to international cricket for players serving long-term bans.

PCB chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed said that

although Amir could play firstclass cricket he will not be eligible for next year’s World Cup. “They are no indications even if the ICC reduces the ban it will allow him back to international cricket before the five-year ban period ends,” Ahmad told Reuters.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

29

Pacquiao gains revenge on Bradley, reclaims title

By Liam Happe MANNY Pacquiao regained the WBO welterweight title from Timothy Bradley with an exciting unanimous decision in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao was far from his career peak at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, but stylishly stepped up through the gears from the seventh round onwards while the previously unbeaten Bradley struggled to stick to a game-

plan after a strong start to the contest.

Regardless of the outcome or just how strong individual performances were, however, the chemistry between the two combatants once again struck gold as they produced an even more entertaining scrap than their dramatic June 2012 encounter.

Pacquiao had also appeared to secure a win two years ago, only for the judges to award it to

the American via split decision.

This time around, ‘PacMan’ started hot, dazzling the defending titlist in the second round after an even opener before keeping the pressure on in round three courtesy of some vintage fast footwork.

Rounds four, five and six saw Bradley start to find his range, however, and several stiff rights rocked the Filipino at various intervals, leaving the

fight finely poised at the halfway stage.

It was from here that Pacquiao and his corner began to pull away, while ‘Desert Storm’ found himself consistently reliant on swinging wild overhand counters and taunting his opponent after each lightning Manny flurry.

Come the final two rounds, Pacquiao asserted himself to the point that Bradley would require a finish to retain his title but all he could manage was a slight improvement as the two closed their second encounter with a bang.

At the end of the final

hard-hitting six minutes, both men raised their hands - though it was clear from Bradley’s body language that he knew Pacquiao had evened the score.

Pacquiao won it on all three judges’ scorecards 118-110 and two at 116-112 - with Eurosport also rating the contest as a four-round Pacquiao win.

O n t h e u n d e rc a r d , three entertaining bouts also ended in unanimous decision victories. Ray Beltran claimed the NABO lightweight title in the chief support bout against late replacement Arash Usmanee in what was addi-

tionally a world title eliminator.

Jessie Vargas claimed a very tight points-victory over Khabib Allakhverdiev for the WBA junior welterweight championship, taking all three judges’ scorecards after 12 rounds in a physical, bloody, back-and-forth battle of unbeaten boxers.

Bryan Vazquez outclassed Jose Felix Jr in a scrappy, but engaging opener on the main televised card. Vazquez retained the WBA interim super featherweight championship with a unanimous decision win.

(Eurosport)

Watson lands his second Masters title

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

LAS VEGAS, Nevada - Timothy Bradley and Manny Pacquiao trade punches at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Chanderpaul, Jordan make bright start to new campaign

Shiv Chanderpaul LONDON, England (CMC) – Veteran West Indies lefthander Shiv Chanderpaul hit a typically composed, unbeaten half-century to prop up Derbyshire on the opening day of the English

County season here yesterday.

At the close at Chelmsford, Derbyshire were 139 for five in reply to Essex’s paltry 94, with Chanderpaul leading the way with a top score of 66.

He has so far batted for just under three hours, faced 134 deliveries and struck nine fours and a six. The Guyanese has been at the core of two key partnerships which helped to repair the innings.

He added 56 for the third wicket with captain Wayne Madsen (30) after Derbyshire slipped to 17 for two, and then posted another 44 for the fifth wicket with Wes Durston (21), to pull the innings around from 91 for four.

Chanderpaul’s teammate Leeward Islands left-hander Chesney Hughes made just nine

before he was fourth out, bowled by seamer Graham Napier.

At Edgbaston, Barbados pacer Chris Jordan made a bright start to the new campaign, picking up three for 15 for Sussex to help blow away Warwickshire for 87 in their first innings.

The right-armer, who plays for England, conjured up a devastating opening spell to knock over openers Varun Chopra (1) and Laurie Evans (4) cheaply, before accounting for Test star Ian Bell without scoring, as Warwickshire crumbled after electing to bat first.

In reply, Sussex were dismissed for 229, to lead by 142 runs on first innings, with captain and opener Ed Joyce cracking 117.

Jordan fared poorly with the bat, however, scoring just 15 in nearly an hour at the crease.

AUGUSTA, Georgia - (Reuters) - Bubba Watson withstood an inspired early challenge from playing partner Jordan Spieth to clinch the Masters for a second time in three years with a three-shot victory at Augusta National yesterday.

Trailing the prodigiously talented Spieth by two strokes after four holes, lefthander Watson took advantage of a stumbling run by his fellow American around the turn as he upped his own game, then maintained control on the back nine.

Watson, who landed his

first major title with a thrilling playoff win over South African Louis Oosthuizen in 2012, mixed five birdies with two bogeys to card a three-under-par 69 on a warm but mainly overcast afternoon.

The 35-year-old from Bagdad in Florida, known for his distance off the tee and his audacious shot-making, covered the back nine in even par to post an eight-under total of 280.

Spieth, at 20 aiming to become the youngest player to win the Masters, had to settle for a share of second place at five under after signing off with a 72, finishing level with Swede

Jonas Blixt (71).

Pony-tailed Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, at the ripe age of 50 aiming to surpass Jack Nicklaus by becoming the oldest Masters winner, placed fourth after also carding a 71.

American world number seven Matt Kuchar, seeking his first major victory, briefly held a share of the lead after three holes but then struggled on a layout running fast and firm on the way to a 74 and a tie for fifth with Rickie Fowler (73).

German veteran Bernhard Langer, a double Masters champion, rolled back the years with a closing 69, to finish at even par, level with five others including Rory McIlroy (69) and American Jimmy Walker (70).

U.S. golfer Bubba Watson (R) shakes hands with compatriot Jordan Spieth after winning the tournament on the 18th green during the final round of the Masters Golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

30

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

Barbados dare to dream after demolishing Leewards NORTH SOUND, Antigua (CMC) – Barbados crushed hapless Leeward Islands by an innings and 49 runs inside three days here yesterday, to leave themselves with a slim chance of winning the WICB President’s Trophy.

Starting the day needing to accumulate as many points as possible, Barbados steamrolled the Leewards for 183 all out just before lunch, to walk away with 17 points from the Regional Four-Day encounter at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.

The victory took them to 82 points, ahead of pre-series leaders Trinidad and Tobago who started with 72 points and are playing Guyana at Providence, Georgetown.

Barbados were spearheaded by speedster Fidel

Edwards who claimed four for 24 while off-spinner Ashley Nurse took three for 94 and left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn, two for 52.

Once again Devon Thomas led the Leewards fight with a top score of 60 but failed to find major support from his teammates.

Captain Kieran Powell added just eight to his overnight 23 while Jahmar Hamilton chipped in with 29.

The Leewards finished the preliminary round with 42 points.

Resuming the day on 54 for two, the Leewards suffered an early setback when Powell was taken at slip by Benn off Nurse, with the score on 66.

Thomas, yet to score at the start of the day, then combined with Hamilton to resist the Barbados attack,

in a 58-run fourth-wicket partnership.

The right-handed Thomas spent a shade over two hours at the crease, faced 94 deliveries and hit nine fours while Hamilton counted four boundaries in his crisp 54-ball knock.

The stand was looking ominous when Hamilton drove Nurse to Fidel Ed-

Fast bowler Fidel Edwards finishes with four for 24 to spearhead Barbados’ attack.

LEEWARD ISLANDS 1st innings 94 Barbados 1st innings 326 LEEWARD ISLANDS 2nd innings (o/n 54 for two) K. Powell c Benn b Nurse 31 J. Liburd c Phillips b Nurse 9 O. Peters b Benn 17 D. Thomas c Phillips b Benn 60 J. Hamilton c F. Edwards b Nurse 29 J. Peters c wkp. Dowrich b F. Edwards 15 J. Taylor c K. Edwards b F. Edwards 1

wards at mid-off to depart, and Jaison Peters (15) hung around for nearly half-hour to add 31 with Thomas before edging Fidel Edwards behind.

Wickets then tumbled as the end came swiftly for the Leewards, with Fidel Edwards grabbing three of the five wickets that fell for 26 runs.

G. Tonge c Hope b F. Edwards 2 Y. Leonard b F. Edwards 8 K Walters not out 0 A Martin run-out 0 Extras: (lb-4, lb-6, w-1) 11 Total: (all out, 55.5 overs) 183 Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-54, 3-66, 4-124, 5-155, 6-157, 7-167, 8-179, 9-183.

Bowling: F. Edwards 7.5-3-24-4; Nurse 23-5-94-3; C. Brathwaite 2-03-0 (w-1); Benn 23-11-52-2 Points: Barbados 17, Leewards 2.

Late wickets give Jamaica the edge CAVE HILL, Barbados (CMC) – Two late wickets – one of them Chadwick Walton in the final over – tipped the scales in favour of Jamaica in their battle with Combined Campuses & Colleges for the last semi-final slot in the Regional Four-Day Championship here yesterday.

Walton made a composed 47 and Raymon Reifer batted resolutely for 30 before they were both dismissed in the final half-hour, as the CCC reached 155 for five in

their second innings at the close on the third day of the seventh round match, still needing 82 for victory.

The pair added 67 for the fourth wicket to revive the home team, after they wobbled to 64 for three, chasing 237 for victory on a 3Ws Oval pitch still playing quite true.

Both gifted their wickets however, with the dismissal of Walton in the final over highly likely to cause the most consternation in the CCC outfit, as they chased

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Answers in tomorrow’s issue

a victory to seal a place in the Final Four, starting next Saturday.

Earlier, Carlton Baugh Jr hit 78, his second half-century of the match, to lead a rearguard action, as Jamaica were bowled out for 215 in their second innings about 55 minutes after lunch.

Jermaine Blackwood supported with 48, but the visitors’ batting was undermined by leg-spinner Akeem Dewar with four for 74 from 25 overs, while Raymon Reifer and off-spinner Ryan Austin grabbed two wickets apiece.

CCC then stumbled to 56 for two at tea, after Jerome Taylor had Shacaya Thomas caught at second slip for 15 and the veteran left-hander Floyd Reifer, Raymon’s older cousin, caught behind down the leg-side for two from a top-edged hook.

After tea, left-arm spinner Nikita Miller set back the CCC further, when he trapped Kyle Corbin lbw for 31, playing back and across.

The younger Reifer came to the crease and spent close to 90 minutes with Walton and eased the tension with circumspect batting, defying purposeful spells from Taylor and leftarm fast bowler Sheldon

Carlton Baugh Jr strikes his second half-century of the match with 78.

Cotterell, as well as Miller’s steady bowling.

Just when it appeared that Jamaica’s shoulders were about to droop, the younger Reifer essayed a slog/sweep at a delivery from leg-spinner Damion Jacobs and was caught at deep mid-wicket.

With the close approaching, Walton chose discretion as the best part of valour and seemed determined to cause his opponents a sleepless night.

But Jamaica captain Tamar Lambert turned to John Campbell’s uncomplicated off-spin in the final stages and it paid handsomely, when Walton tried to clear long-off and was caught just inside the boundary with four balls remaining in the day.

Earlier, two wickets in the space of three balls to Dewar had Jamaica scrambling on 94 for five inside the first hour.

Starting the day on 79 for three, the visitors lost West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels caught behind down the leg-side for 11 from a glance in the fifth over of the day.

The beanpole Dewar then tightened the screws, when he had Andre McCarthy caught at second slip for four and Lambert caught at silly-point for a second-ball duck.

But Baugh came to the crease and dominated an 80run stand with Blackwood

JAMAICA first innings 182 Combined Campuses & Colleges 1st innings 161 JAMAICA 2nd innings (o/n 79 for two) N. Bonner c Corbin b R. Reifer 12 J. Campbell c Corbin b Warrican 38 J. Blackwood c F. Reifer b Dewar 48 M. Samuels c wkp. Walton b R. Reifer 11 A. McCarthy c F. Reifer b Dewar 4 T. Lambert c Thomas b Dewar 0 C. Baugh c R. Reifer b Dewar 78 N. Miller run-out 0 D. Jacobs b Austin 10 J. Taylor c Corbin b Austin 6 S. Cotterell not out 1 Extras: (b-6, nb-1) 7 Total: (all out, 80.2 overs) 215 Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-69, 3-89, 4-94, 5-94, 6-174, 7-176, 8-202,

that took the sting out of the CCC attack, reaching his 50 from 49 balls with an extra cover drive off Austin for the fifth of his six fours.

Blackwood was caught at second slip off Dewar, as the Jamaicans reached 175 for six at lunch before crumbling after the interval, despite Baugh’s aggression.

With the top three teams – Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados and Windward Islands – having all secured a place in the semi-finals, the last slot has come down to a straight shoot-out between CCC and Jamaica.

9-208.

Bowling: McClean 4-0-20-0; Austin 19.2-3-50-2; R. Reifer 11-3-32-2 (nb-1); Warrican 20-8-32-1; Dewar 25-3-74-4; Jacobs 1-0-2-0.

CCC 2nd innings (target: 237) S. Thomas c Campbell b Taylor 15 K. Corbin lbw b Miller 31 F. Reifer c wkp. Baugh b Taylor 2 C. Walton c Taylor b Campbell 47 R. Reifer c Taylor b Jacobs 30 S. Jacobs not out 18 Extras: (b7, lb3, w1, nb1) 12 Total: (5 wkts, 48.2 overs) 155 Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-27, 3-64, 4-131, 5-155.

Bowling: Taylor 7-1-36-2 (nb-1, w-1); Cottrell 6-0-10-0; Miller 212-56-1; Jacobs 11-1-31-1; Lambert 2-0-8-0; Campbell 1.2-0-4-1 Position: CCC trail by 81 with five second innings wickets standing

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday April 14, 2014

31

Trophy Stall/EBFA U-15 League winner and others rewarded ‌Threvon Pluck is MVP and joint leading goalscorer with Shane Meusa GROVE Hi Tech captain Threvon Pluck was named Most Valuable Player of the just concluded Trophy Stall-sponsored East Bank Football Association (EBFA) Under-15 League and was presented with his trophy at yesterday’s presentation held at the Grove Community Centre.

Pluck, who led his team to the championship trophy and the only team to end unbeaten also ended as the joint leading goalscorer of the competition along with Shane Meusa of the second-placed Soesdyke Falcons. They both scored seven goals each.

Pluck scored in every game of the two-round league which attracted four clubs and saw a total of 51 goals being scored in the twelve games that were contested at the Grove Playfield. Just a single game was drawn (Diamond v Herstelling 0-0) with no walkovers recorded.

G ro v e a l s o w a l k e d away with the Best Goalkeeper prize which went to Shawn Dominic while their coach, Levi Braithwaite was also rewarded for his efforts.

Fourth-placed Herstelling who ended the tournament with one point, received a trophy; thirdplaced Diamond United collected the third place trophy and 18-bronze med-

Joint leading goalscorers, Threvon Pluck (right) and Shane Meusa (left) receive their trophy from Diamond United FC president Phillip Cox. als for their efforts, ending and will continue to play with 7 points. their part.

Soesdyke Falcons, who This Under-15 League won their last game against will be contested on an anDiamond to overtake them nual basis, Brandon said. for the second place, col- EBFA president Wayne lected a trophy and 18-sil- Francois and secretary ver medals accumulating 9 Franklin both complimentpoints from their quota of ed the teams for their efmatches. forts as well as the parents/ Champions, Grove Hi guardians, coaches and Tech received the Cham- club officials for investing pions trophy and 18-gold valuable time in ensuring medals tallying some 18 that the players were prespoints from their six un- ent for every game. beaten games.

Wilson disclosed that Trophy Stall Market- the EBFA Under-17 ining Representative Tra- ter-club tournament will vis Brandon thanked the kick off shortly while there teams for participating in will also be Under-13 and the league which he said his Under-10 tournaments in boss Ramesh Sunich was the ensuing months. very pleased to support.

The EBFA expressed He said that this was not gratitude to Referee Shawn the first time that Trophy Singh for his sterling conStall has been supportive of tribution of standing in the football on the East Bank middle for every game.

Trophy Stall Marketing Representative Travis Brandon presents the winning trophy to Grove Hi Tech captain Threvon Pluck in the presence of happy teammates and other officials.

Sport CHRONICLE

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

Trophy Stall/EBFA U-15 League winner and others rewarded (See Story on page 27)

Bishoo and Joseph torment T&T after Shadir’s half-century

… Match interestingly poised

By Calvin Roberts

Well done Bishoo! Skipper Leon Johnson high five his leg spinner Devendra Bishoo, after he had Jason Mohammed caught by Zaheer Shadir (not in picture). Also in picture are wicketkeeper Anthony Bramble, Christopher Barnwell and Shimron Hetmyer. (Photo by Adrian Narine)

Manny Pacquiao celebrates

LAS VEGAS, Nevada - Manny Pacquiao celebrates after his unanimous decision victory over Timothy Bradley during their WBO world welterweight championship boxing match at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday in Las Vegas. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Image)(See story on Page 29)

ANOTHER five-wicket haul from Devendra Bishoo, backed by an impressive spell of fast bowling from Keon Joseph yesterday, left the Guyana versus Trinidad and Tobago seventh-round encounter in the West Indies Cricket Board Regional fourday match at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, interestingly poised.

Scores Trinidad and Tobago 294 and 212 Guyana 282 and 17 for 1.

Bishoo took 6 for 71 to end with match figures of

15 for 149, his best overall to date while Joseph snared 4 for 55, dismissing Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) for 212 in their second innings, following a first-innings lead of 12 runs, as both Bishoo and Joseph shared all 20 wickets to fall for the opposition.

At the close of play, Guyana who were asked to score 225 to record their first victory of the tournament, were 17 for 1 with Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Bishoo on 3 and 0 respectively, needing another 218 to win from today’s play.

Earlier in the day, Guy-

ana’s Zaheer Shadir who resumed his innings on 39 with Bishoo on 18 and Guyana 247 for 7, recorded his fourth first class half-century from 83 balls with six fours and one six, celebrating same with back-to-back fours off Ryad Emrit, who later had him caught by Amit Jaggernauth at extra cover.

Bishoo followed in the next over, as Emrit took the second new ball when Shadir was dismissed, reaping results as Shannon Gabriel knocked back Bishoo’s mid-

(See page 27)

India-Pakistan Test series likely in 2015 PAKISTAN’S conditional support for the ICC revamp hinges on the promise of six series against India, including a ‘home’ series in the Middle East as part of an upcoming, reworked eight-year FTP cycle from 2015 to 2023, ESPNcricinfo has learnt.

The change in the PCB’s stance has taken place on the condition that Pakistan would be involved in bilateral series against all Full Members, including India. If Indo-Pak series are officially slotted into the eight-year FTP, it could also involve a ‘home’ series for Pakistan against India in the United Arab Emirates.

The PCB is now waiting for a final confirmation from the BCCI following its Working Committee meeting, which the PCB has been informed, is expected to take place in the next 15 days. It will then enable the PCB to work out a long-term broadcasting deal with regular India series at its centre.

The PCB’s opposition to

PCB chairman the ICC’s original position their earlier commitments paper that recommended a with PCB until 2020 and remodelling of the ICC’s are chalking out a fresh plan administrative structure and for the period from 2020 to its revenue distribution rest- 2023.

The BCCI could look to ed on the argument that it was against the principle of slot in as many as six series against Pakistan, due to the “equality”.

However, following gaps that are available in the certain changes in the existing FTP calendar.

The first of these biresolutions as well as the possibility of playing In- lateral series could take dia frequently led PCB to place in the UAE in the support the governance, winter of 2015. “Cricket finance and FTP changes in between both countries is the ICC, which was driven beneficial as the Pakistan entirely by the BCCI, ECB government is also keen to revive ties with India on and Cricket Australia.

ESPNcricinfo under- a high note,” PCB chairstands that all the nine mem- man Najam Sethi said on ber boards have confirmed Friday following the two-

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day ICC board meeting in Dubai.

India and Pakistan have not played a full series since the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, which India blamed on militants based across the border. However, Pakistan visited India for a short limited-over series in December 2012, but despite not getting any revenue out of the series, it was regarded as a stepping stone in reviving cricketing ties between both countries.

Since July 2013, Pakistan have been without a longterm broadcasting deal, one of the major sources of income for the PCB. The PCB already had to deal with a long-standing budget-deficit, which in August 2013, was calculated at nearly PKR 500 million.

The PCB estimates that after committing to the ICC revamp, the financial benefits could reach PKR 30 billion from the bilateral ties, the major chunk of (See which Story will be on earned from hosting India. (ESPN page 26) Cricinfo) MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2014