Guyana chronicle new york edition e paper 01 05 2017

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ISSUE No. 83

WEEK ENDING January 5, 2018

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No decision on top judicial posts ‌President grants Jagdeo time to study nominees Page 2

President David Granger greets Opposition Leader, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, upon his arrival at State House (MOTP)

President appoints four newPage 2 senior counsel Page 4

The Principles of Social Page 7 Darwinism

Furious Trump shuns Page his former 9 chief strategist Bannon

Justice Benjamin deserves unbiased consideration for top judicial Page 24 post

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Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending January 5, 2018

No decision on top judicial posts …President grants Jagdeo time to study nominees

PRESIDENT David Granger and Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo are to meet again next month for a another round of consultation on the appointment of a substantive chancellor of the judiciary and a chief justice after Wednesday’s meeting saw the latter asking for more time to consider the nominees of the Head of State for the top judicial posts.

The President was accompanied by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams S.C. and the Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, while Opposition Members of Parliament, Gail Teixeira and Priya Manickchand accompanied the Opposition Leader.

Belize Chief Justice, Kenneth Benjamin, who is Guyanese by birth, was nominated by the head of state to hold the post of Chancellor, while acting Chancellor Yonette Cummings-Edwards was nominated for the post of Chief Justice.

Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire is currently serving as the acting Chief Justice.

Justice Benjamin had served as a magistrate in Georgetown in 1980 and 1981, and subsequently an Assistant Judge Advocate for the Guyana Defence Force. The Guyanese scholar has served 17 years as a High Court Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Court (ECC). If appointed chancellor, Justice Benjamin will replace Justice Cummings-Edwards, who has been acting in the post since March, 2017. Justice Cummings-Edwards has previously acted as the chief justice.

The nominees were selected and recommended to the President by a panel comprising former Justice of Appeal, Claudette Singh; Justice James Patterson and Professor Harold Lutchman. The President had written to the Opposition Leader, informing him of the two persons to be appointed as Chancellor and Chief Justice and Jagdeo is also in receipt of their respective resumes. In a brief comment after the meeting, Minister Harmon informed that the Opposition requested more time to conduct their own due diligence regarding the two nominees.

“He requested a month to do due diligence which the President graciously agreed to…and we expect to meet again on February 7, when we will have that matter finalised,” the

President David Granger and his team comprising Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon and Attorney General, Mr. Basil Williams, meet with Opposition Leader, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, and his team comprising PPP/C MPs Ms. Gail Teixeira and Ms. Priya Manickchand (MOTP)

Ministry of the Presidency quoted the Minister as saying.

Article 127 of the Constitution of Guyana states that the Chancellor and the Chief Justice shall be appointed by the President acting after obtaining the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition; it is as a result of this constitutional provision that President David Granger is bound to meet with the Opposition Leader on the matter.

It is expected that at the next meeting, the Opposition Leader is likely to indicate his agreement with the nominees put forward by the President. Guyana has been without a substantive Chancellor since 2005 since the then Chancellor, Desiree Bernard, retired and took up the post as judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) the same year.

The non-appointment of a substantive Chancellor and Chief Justice is a result of the government and opposition sides not agreeing to the candidates for the post. Should the Opposition Leader reject the initial nominees of the head of state, he (the President) may very well have to return to the drawing board and make additional nominees.

Meanwhile, during his press conference in December, President Granger said every effort is being made to have the appointment made. President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Sir Dennis Byron, during the Bar Association dinner in November, had underscored the importance of having a substantive chancellor of the judiciary and chief justice in place soon.

Gov’t expects UN decision on ICJ soon-Foreign Ministry THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it looks forward to sharing more information on the path ahead with respect to the Guyana –Venezuela border controversy once it receives the decision of the UN Secretary-General (SG), which is expected shortly.

The ministry made the comments in a statement reacting to a Stabroek News editorial of December 31, 2017 titled ’Border Controversy.’

President David Granger in his New Year message also noted that his administration had signalled in the year 2016, that the year 2017 would be spent in setting the settlement of the unlawful and unreasonable claims to our country’s territory on a definite course. He noted that the United Nations Secretary-General this year is expected to discharge his commitment to setting that course in a manner consistent with justice and international law. “We shall continue to defend every ‘blade of grass’ of our homeland. We shall never cede a centimetre of territory or compromise a tittle of sovereignty.”

Back in September 2017, President Granger had met Secretary-General, António Guterres for an update on the progress that has been made by his Personal Representative, Dag Halvor Nylander, who is mediating the matter. Former UN SG Ban Ki-moon and Mr. Guterres, in keeping with the tenets of the 1966 Geneva Agreement,

Turn to page 13

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Better year for Guyana

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, January 1, 2018 Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending January 5, 2018

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in2018, 2018, says says President Granger -–in Granger in in New NewYear Year address address

THE United Nations (UN) is expected to uphold its commitment to bring a peaceful resolution to the Guyana/Venezuela border controversy, President David Granger said in his New Year address to the nation.

“We signified, in the year 2016, that the year 2017 would be spent in setting the settlement of the unlawful and unreasonable claims to our country’s territory on a definite course.

The United Nations Secretary-General, in 2018, is expected to discharge his commitment to setting that course in a manner consistent with justice and international law,” the President said.

He added: “We shall continue to defend every ‘blade of grass’ of our homeland. We shall never cede a centimetre of territory or compromise a tittle of sovereignty.”

In 2015, Guyana lobbied the then United Nations Secretary-General Ban Kimoon to take steps toward a resolution of the controversy, using an option from the menu in the 1966 Geneva Agreement.

According to Article IV of the 1966 Geneva Agreement, if the controversy

is not resolved following the selection of one of the means of peaceful settlement, “The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall choose another of the means stipulated in Article 33 of the Charter of the United Nations and so on until the controversy has been resolved, or until all the means of peaceful settlement there contemplated have been exhausted.”

In 2016, as a consequence of a stalemate on the matter, outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon agreed with his successor, António Guterres, to continue to use the Good Offices Process until the end of 2017 as a means of arriving at a settlement.

According to the mandate of the Personal Representative Dag Halvor Nylander, “If, by the end of 2017, the secretary-general concludes that no significant progress has been made toward arriving at a full agreement for the solution of the controversy, he will choose the International Court of Justice as the next means of settlement, unless the Governments of Guyana and Venezuela jointly request that he refrain from doing so.”

A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL The President also said Guyana is changing for the good.

“We are promoting the good life for all. We are reducing divisions and maximising cohesion. We are protecting our patrimony, pursuing economic prosperity, promoting respect for national institutions and providing better public services and improved human safety,” he assured.

He further recommitted his government to working with all sectors and strata of society to improve the country’s political culture and promote inclusiveness.

“We must repudiate vulgarity. We must rebuke those who abuse our public institutions and reject the poisonous politics of the past,” he urged.

He assured too that his government will continue to work to eradicate the inequalities and disabilities which foster destitution and discrimination.

“We are creating a more equal society – one with greater opportunities and a higher quality of life for all.”

The President also used the opportunity to once again extend open arms of

friendship to all political parties, social organisations and religious groups to work collaboratively for the good of the society.

GREATER SOCIAL PROTECTION “We shall continue to work to provide greater social protection for everyone, particularly our women, children, the elderly and persons in difficult circumstances.

We did increase the minimum wage for the lowest-paid state employees by nearly 50 per cent; we increased Old-Age Pensions by almost 50 per cent; we increased social assistance by 27 per cent, all in only 30 months. We will ensure that the disadvantaged are protected,” President Granger said.

In 2018, local government organs will continue to be empowered under this Administration, allowing for communities/villages across the country to be consistently improved.

“Local democracy will be renewed in local and municipal elections in 2018,” he reassured, while adding that “We declared three new ‘capital towns’ last year to expedite enterprise and economic development in

their respective regions by increasing investment and generating employment.”

He also said that the surge in agro-processing, artisanal manufacturing and cottage industries seen in the regional agricultural and commercial exhibitions is evidence of the green shoots of healthy grass-root economic growth.

The economies of hinterland, rural, riverine communities and villages, the President said, will continue to be strengthened through support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

“Young people, through the new Guyana Youth Corps, will be receiving training in skills to convert their ideas and energy into economic enterprises. We will work with workers in all industries – especially bauxite, sugar and timber – to seek access to alternative employment.

“We shall continue to work towards making the country safer for all by improving citizens’ security.

Security sector reform being undertaken with support from our international partners, aims at creating safer communities and protecting the people from transnational threats such as illegal , firearms- and narcotics-,

President David Granger people-trafficking,” the President further assured.

He said his government is building a country in which everyone can be safe.

“We shall continue to improve the delivery of public services by ensuring that citizens have easier access to education, electricity, health, housing, information, recreation, sanitation, sports and pure water supply services,” he added.

“Life is getting better, year by year,” President Granger assured, while noting that “Guyanese have lots of reasons to feel good about their homeland in 2018!”

SWAT boss under close arrest Let us continue to stand --Prime Minister tall in 2018 Nagamootoo COMMANDER of the Spe- driver were the only occucial Weapons and Tactics pants of the minibus. Ac(SWAT) unit of the Guyana cording to initial reports, the Police Force, Deputy Su- senior officer indicated that perintendent Motie Dookie, there were 10 cases of whisis under close arrest after key in the minibus intended allegedly escaping from for usage at ‘a party.’ police custody. a search of MY DEAR Guyanese brothers andHowever, sisters, as we enter the Dookie was reportedthe minibus revealed there New Year, I extend to all of you best wishes with hope for ly bustedtimes withahead.

30 cases of were 30 cases. They were all brighter smuggled Johnnie seized. Dookie, whoinistradibased New Year finds usWalker bonding together; celebrating whiskey on Saturday night at Police Headquarters in the tional Guyanese fashion. Today, we embrace the Guyanese and was being detained at the city, was not permitted by his way with plenty love and nuff affection. Today our Guyanese Whim Police Station, when commanding officer to leave heart is pure and generous. We seek out old friends, and reach he allegedly escaped.

Georgetown. out to families.

The man’s relatives are But in a WhatsApp mesIt is also traditional to look back at what we have achieved; disputing that the senior of- sage reportedly sent to his and make resolutions to he do better in the New Year. ficertoescaped , noting that wife, Bhano Persaud, which The resolutions we make theseen personal andGuyana family was released from custody at was by the levels are no different from what we wish for our country. by ranks of the Whim Police Chronicle, Dookie pleaded As a nation, are all resolved to remain loyal to Guyana Station and isweassisting with his innocence. and to be united as Guyanese.

We are all committed the the investigation, while the “I did not drive totoavoid goals prosperous country. drinking and driving. I went driverof ofathe vehicle in which year was aremains testing time all Guyanese.

You stood he Last was travelling in for up with public transportation strong and tall.

You defended Guyana’s sovereignty.

You custody. and I learnt of my friend sungThe loudpolice and clear: a bladebeing of grass!”

Together,Iwe alsoa in a“Not release in Berbice. took scaled hurdles and and overcame challenges. stated major that Dookie the dropmany and was unaware of any Above all, Guyana has been spared the plight of dire

Persaud, who is an employee of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), confirmed to the Guyana Chronicle that Dookie left home on Friday to attend a farewell in Berbice. poverty, destitution and want, Persaud which has the toldbecome this newsunfortunate lot of some of ourpaper neighbours.

We became a that it was she, who reservoir of hope for our Caribbean brotherswith andthe sisters, after speaking wife of the driver (name given), when they were struck by disasters.

Guyana remains a informed Dookie that their safe haven for peoples across the region who come here to was alsothe in shop and trade and to shelterfamily in timefriend of need, under Berbice and he could solicit Guyana umbrella of hospitality and friendship. a drophope backfor toGuyana, Georgetown.

The New Year dawns with bright with driver’s wife also works fresh prospects that we could doThe better!

Deputy Superintendent at GRA. our rich diversity, The New Dookie Year must see us celebrating Motie According to Persaud,we afour common culture, and our Guyaneseness.

Together, illegal item being in theTogether, bus,” ter that the her back husband are safe and secure. werealising can watch of Dookie reportedly wrote to had not returned on Saturday each other. his wife. night discussed, sheinmade Whether you are on the coast or inasthe hinterland, our According to thatareas, mes-I extend contact withgreetings him and to it you was riverain or savannah sincere sage, the driver of the bus then he related to her what for 2018. tookWe fullare responsibility had happened.

At the time, he encouraged and by your faith, your trust and suphas cleared the SWAT boss was reportedly at the Whim port; and we are strengthened by your resolve to walk of any illegality.

Police life!

Station. this journey together, to the happy In her husband’s defence, Persaud alleged that

Happy New Year!

Dookie was released Satur- ask the public when Dookie day night while their family was present when Varswyck friend (the driver) was de- was killed no one mentioned tained. She said it was only him…When Royden was aruntil Sunday morning when rested... was he given credit? he returned to the station, that When my husband was away he was placed under close for weeks and months up Linarrest. den and Berbice… leaving his “The driver, who manag- wife and three kids… was he es a bar in Georgetown, took given so much attention? Did responsibility but Dookie anyone see to write a story… said he waiting to assist with that’s how sick Guyana is!” the investigation,” she posShe added this must be ited. payback for the more than 20 But when asked for her years of service he dedicated GRA colleague’s number to to the Guyana Police Force confirm the story told, Persaud and the people of Guyana. then told this newspaper that Two months ago, the her friend had no idea that her current SWAT unit comhusband was in Berbice, and mander took over responit was only until she called to sibility for that unit after inform her that their husbands his predecessor was transhad been taken into custody, ferred after a quantity of that she found out he was there. cocaine went missing from Upset that the case is be- the headquarters of the ing publicised, Persaud had Criminal Investigations to this to say: “I just want toMoses Department.

Prime Minister Nagamootoo

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Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018 SUNDAY CHRONICLE, 31,2018 2017 Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending December January 5,

President appoints four new senior counsel

PRESIDENT David Granger has appointed four long-serving legal practitioners senior counsel with effect from January 1, 2018.

According to a release from the Ministry of the Presidency (MoTP), the four persons are Attorneys–at-law Kalam Azad Juman Yassin, Fitz Le Roy Peters, Andrew Mark Fitzgerald Pollard and Josephine Whitehead.

According to the MoTP, the President made the appointments “having considered their high quality of service in the legal profession and with confidence in their knowledge of the law.”

In January this year, after a 20-year hiatus, President Granger elevated nine legal luminaries to the status of senior counsel and has since pledged to ensure that these honours are conferred annually, the MOTP noted.

Andrew Pollard

Fitz Peters

Josephine Whitehead

KA Juman Yassin

Pollard was admitted to practise in 1987, and is attached to the law firm, Hughes, Fields and Stoby.

Yassin, a former chief magistrate, was admitted to the English Bar in 1970 and the Guyana Bar a year later. He was appointed chief

magistrate in 1992 and served in that capacity for five years following which he returned to private practice. He has been actively involved in sports over the years.

Whitehead, who holds British and Guyanese nationalities, has been in the field of law since 1979.

She has practised here as well as in England and has been active in the sporting arena and in environmental conservation.

Currently, she holds the positions of Director of the Guyana Legal Aid Clinic, and Vice–Chair of the non-governmental organi-

sation (NGO), Help and Shelter.

A former clerk of the Deeds Registry in the late 1960s, Peters was admitted into practice in 1981.

He has served extensively at the Attorney General’s Chambers and is a member of the Linden Legal Aid Centre.

Passport, Immigration Office for Linden by June 2018 RESIDENTS of Linden and surrounding communities in Region 10 will soon benefit from a $30M Passport and Immigration Office.

Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix; Regional, Chairman of Region 10, Renis Morian and Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Presidency, Abena Moore, on Saturday turned the sod to mark the start of construction of the new office.

The office will be located at Lot 43 Mackenzie, Linden on the right side of the Demerara River.

During brief remarks, Minister Felix noted that the

2,000 square foot building, when completed, will be the fulfillment of a promise made by the Coalition Government to decentralise immigration services.

“This Government is delivering to its people, not just on promises but on making their lives better by bringing services out of Georgetown to where they are. To remove the need to be lining up and delays,” Minister Felix said.

Minister Felix highlighted that the office will begin to process other services such as birth and death registry, among others.

He noted the improve-

Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix; Regional, Chairman of Region 10, Renis Morian; and Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of the Presidency, Abena Moore officially break the ground to mark the start of construction for the new Passport and Immigration Office

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ments made within the immigration sector over the past two years and added that the Government is in the process of digitising all of its services, including the immigration department.

Regional Chairman Renis Morian said the construction of the office is a demonstration of the Government’s commitment to bring infrastructural development to the regions of Guyana.

“It will remove a lot of stress and hassle from residents, especially those com-

ing from Kwakwani and soon we might have a sub-office in the Upper Demerara/ Upper-Berbice area.”

According to Morian, 15 years ago, residents made the call for such an investment into the region and “today it has been answered.”

Outgoing Mayor of Linden, Carwyn Holland who expressed satisfaction, noted that “This was something that I was pushing for and as I am leaving I am happy to see it taking place

upon my leaving.”

June 2018 is the date set for completion of the new passport and immigration office. The current office is being housed in the Linden, NIS building.

Recently, there was another sod-turning exercise in Fort Ordnance, Canjie Berbice for the construction of a passport office at that location. Additionally, offices will be constructed in Regions Two, Seven and Eight. (DPI)

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018

The Handel Andrews Column

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T TH HE E H HI IS ST TO ORY RY PA PAG GE E

State of the US Nation

W

ithin these early days of 2018, it may be helpful to look at some aspects of the state of the nation.

POLITICAL DIVISIVENESS I Some political commentators contend that divisive politics is necessary for running a campaign, for getting elected and necessary for the survival of our nation. Even if I were inclined to agree with the two first positions, I disagree with the third.

Politics has never been ruled by what is best for the country, but what is best for the Party. This reached a new low in 2017. President Obama, at an interfaith service in Dallas in 2016 for five officers slain by a gunman, said, “We are not as divided as we seem.” George W. Bush, who sat a few feet away from him, said, “At times, it seems like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together.”

Joel Achenbach and Scott Clement observed (Washington Post, July 16, 2016): “But words may not be enough to overcome those fraying forces. The promoters of national unity may be outgunned, both metaphorically and literally.”

Their point is well supported by the election of Donald J. Trump, arguably the most divisive President in American history. The country had been racially polarized before him, but progress was being made towards national healing. He exploited the situation.

Compromise is the basis of successful negotiation. During President Obama’s tenure, the Republicans refused to compromise, and many good bills were defeated. Political analysts say this was due to hardcore ideological differences.

Many base hope for change on the mid-term elections. However, they would be held November 16, 2018, 11 months away. The Democrats will win some seats in the House; but the Republicans will retain control. The Senate will remain in Republican hands.

Reverse the situation and the old problem remains — unwillingness for either Party to compromise. One solution might be Institutional reform. Reduce the Speaker’s power and increase authority of. Committees. This might result in increased cooperation and less strong-arm votes. Presently, all votes are cast along party lines, which means that the interests of the ruling party take precedence over the interests of the people.

Politics has become bitter. No one expects politicians to be civil. We expect them to be civil to each other. Sociologist, Robert Willer states: “What I think is most concerning is the rising animosity between the left and right. A number of studies show that liberals and conservatives — and Democrats and Republicans — hold more negative views of one an-

other than in the past. We have to develop new approaches to politics that can turn the temperature down on our political conflicts and start bringing people closer together.”

THE PRESIDENCY The present climate of political disrespect is fueled by the President’s total lack of respect for those with whom he disagrees. I disagreed with George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan on many issues, but respected them for their demeanor.

We have sunk to a low level in Presidential bearing and grown accustomed to cel-

Government “of the people, by the people and for the people.” How did the people fare in 2017?

Persons have certain basic needs — health care, employment, food and shelter.

HEALTH CARE President Obama’s Health Care Reform Law provided the poor with health care they did not have. When it came into effect, “millions more qualified for state Medicaid programs, and new subsidized insurance plans sold in state marketplaces kicked in.”

President Obama’s Health Care Reform Law provided the poor with health care they did not have.

When it came into effect, “millions more qualified for state Medicaid programs, and new subsidized insurance plans sold in state marketplaces kicked in.” ebrating folly. “This how he is” has replaced “This is how he should be.”

The AARP Policy Institute estimates that he GOP tax reform law would cause millions to lose their health coverage or pay more. By 2019, people ages 50 to 64 would face average premium increases of

up to $1,500.

The law also eliminates the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, which requires most Americans to have health insurance. This would leave four million more Americans uninsured by 2019 and 13 million by 2025, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates.

Older Americans 50 to 64, who typically pay higher insurance premiums, would bear the brunt of the mandate’s demise.

EMPLOYMENT In November 2017, the unemployment rate was 4.1 %, 6.6 million persons unemployed. For the year 2017, the unemployment rate and unemployed persons was down by 0.5 percentage point and 799,000, respectively over 2016.

In 2017, manufacturing and business services added 548,000 jobs.

In November, manufacturing added 31,000 jobs.

Within construction, employment among specialty trade contractors increased by 23,000 in November and by 132,000 over the year.

The unemployment rate for New York (August 15–September 15, 2017) was 4.8%.

Unskilled labor is not faring well.

Jobs that previously required no training now do. This type of labor is also shrinking due to technological and societal advances.

Thousands of honest, hard-working persons are caught in this dilemma. I am not blaming the govern-

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Editorial

Forging a united Guyana AS we begin the new year, it is a good time to reflect on our condition as a diverse society.

As uncomfortable as it is to discuss ethnicity and race, our ethnic diversity compels us to keep that discourse open. Our ethnic diversity is a function of our evolution as a society from the first encounters between the Europeans and the Amerindians. The Africans would later be brought against their will to bear the burdens of the most anti-human system in the history of humanity -- slavery.

The dynamics of that slave system would continue to have an overpowering effect on the shaping of our collective identity. By the time our East Indian, Chinese and Portuguese ‘brethren and sistren’ arrived in the mid-19th century, the nation had begun to take shape. Emancipation brought freedom from plantation slavery, but it also marked the beginning of a new form of servitude, called colonialism. It is into this state of affairs that the indentured labourers were brought.

Their experiences were, in many respects, not much different from what slaves experienced in their social relations on the plantations. In fact, colonialism continued the dehumanisation of enslavement without the formal architecture of slavery. During colonial rule, our various ethnic groups were forced to seek and find common ground in their quest to combat the consequences of being subjects. This movement for unity, however, was not a seamless exercise.

It was constantly interrupted by the direct and indirect divide-and-rule interventions of the colonisers. But in the end, it was the inter-ethnic solidarity of our various groups that brought us to self-rule in the 1950s. But before

Guyana Chronicle NewNew YorkYork Edition Week-ending September 2017 Guyana Chronicle Edition week ending January 5,8,2018

New Year’s message

Remain focused on nation-building, Harmon urges FELLOW Guyanese, I am happy to bring warmest felicitations and greetings of love, peace, joy and best wishes for the New Year.

The Guyanese Christmas and yearend celebrations are like no other anywhere in the world with our deep traditions, religious practices, spirit of camaraderie, and good neighbourliness and I know that wherever you live, you are enacting our unique way of celebrating these events amongst yourselves and with your families, neighbours and friends.

At this time of goodwill we must reflect and give due recognition to our citizens for their efforts and contributions to national development and the greater good and welfare of the wider society.

In this regard, I wish to thank all of you who have in some way contributed to the development of our country and the fostering of our nationhood.

I know that many of you are willing and ready to do more for our country and I wish to assure you that our Government will continue to provide ways and means to enable you to do so in the New Year.

As for your Government, we have in just over one month, passed the mid-term of our Administration and we have spent the first half correcting the political fissures, social anomalies and economic imbalances in our society and to re-position our nation on a legitimate, balanced, viable and sustainable development trajectory on the basis of transparency and international best practices.

Our task has not been easy but with your assistance we have made significant progress.

Minister of State Joseph Harmon

The second half of our first term in office will see an intensification of our efforts to move this process along on the basis of social cohesion within our national green development strategy, even as we continue to nurture and promote a spirit of nationhood.

As we enter into a new year, it is customary for us to do some measure of stock taking.

As we so do, while things have not always been perfect, I am happy to report that our Government has worked assiduously to improve the lot of all of our people, especially our workers and senior citizens with such measures as increasing the minimum wage of public servants by over 50

per cent, or from $39,540 to $60,000, while Old Age Pensions and Public Assistance increased from $17,000 to $19,500 and $6,500 to $8,000 per month, respectively, from 2015 to 2018.

We have provided G$31B in financial support to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) in order to prevent the total collapse of the sugar industry and to protect the livelihood of our sugar workers.

The sugar industry is not being closed but consolidated and all avenues will be explored to ensure its return to financial viability.

We are also working assiduously to improve our ability to engage you, our citizens in the diaspora; to enable you to: re-settle if you wish to; to make available your skills resources and talents; or just to visit and have fun.

To our citizens in the diaspora, as we reflect on the past year, we look with great hope and expectation in the New Year.

As you would have heard in the recent presentation of the 2018 Budget, there will be increases in Government spending in the areas of education, public infrastructure, public health, agriculture and public security.

There is also great expectation with regard to the emerging oil and gas sector which promises brighter prospects for our development.

Therefore, we should not be distracted but remain focused on the task of nation-building, each of us committed to the task of achieving the good life.

A blessed and prosperous New Year to you all!

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in articles in this newspaper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies and views of the management of the New York Edition of the Guyana Chronicle. we could attain independence, the movement split again; of the country would want a system of governance that this time with disastrous consequences. It is to our credit, guarantees security for all groups. They understand the however, that 51 years into our independence, we are still relationship between polarisation and poverty; that our together as a single nation. This represents a victory for the economic development as a nation is tied to our united unity impulse, first forged during the anti-colonial struggle. purpose.

It has not been an easy road, for the forces of division are It is for this reason that we must, this year, put the constantly at work. realisation of a united government at the top of the The biggest obstacle to a more comprehensive unity agenda. We are lucky to have a president who is prehas been our party politics, which has not been able to pared to walk the walk on this matter. We obviously accommodate the dictates of the politically united system. need constitutional change in order to enshrine the From 1961 to the present, we have articulated the need unity principle in our rules and laws. But those would for a government of national unity, but have not been able mean little if our people do not demonstrate without a to effectively translate that to anything concrete. Yet, we doubt that they are on board. The ball is in the court must continue to work towards that reality in both word of our leaders, and they must step up to the plate and and deed. put their partisan prejudices aside in the interest of the The coming to power of a coalition has understandably nation. But we, the people, must pressure our leaders raised hopes that we are closer to such a government. The to bow to the inevitable and release our nation into the merging of six political in the coalition presents community of diverse countries that dare to confront The views andentities opinions expressed in articles in this newspaper are a model to the nation. In a real sense, the working people their internal divisions.

Disclaimer:

those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies and

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018

robertsconsulting@gmx.com * (347) 279-6668

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The Principles Of Social Darwinism:

Explaining Today’s Republican Party

O

ne of the most confounding issues today in America is a struggle by many people to explain, understand, and rationalize the Republican Party. People are perplexed that the core of President Donald Trump’s supporters now love the Affordable Care Act (ACA) commonly known as Obamacare, a law passed under a Democratic President, while voting for a man who has made his life’s work to dismantle the now-popular healthcare law. How could people vote against their own self interests?

Then there is the new tax law that will visit new hardships on this constituency. And how could moralistic Christian Evangelicals that reliably vote in the 90 percentile for Republicans set aside their core religious values and vote for a man not noted for any strong relationship with the Christian Bible?

Today, the moral-ideological core of Republican conservatism has been thoroughly corrupted. It erroneously presumes that life is a keenly contested and competitive race, that people are born unequal in talent, drive, and ambition, and that those who end up on top deserve their victory and rewards no matter how said victory was won — and those who come out on the bottom deserve their failure and hardships. Republicans believe that any attempt to overturn or even mitigate this pre-ordained, predestined and moral order — whether through government regulation or changes in habits or assumptions in school or on the playground — amounts to an offense against “natural” justice itself.

Of course, this reworked and revised position is not new. Many times in American history it’s been dusted off, tinkered with and altered to fit the particular historical circumstances. It’s called Social Darwinism and this thinking was very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and used to explain social, economic and political relations in the world. It also infused and informed House Speaker Paul Ryan’s philosophical idol, Ayn Rand, whose writings and literary works paid homage to the creative genius of egotistic entrepreneurs.

Truth is that Republicans from the post-civil rights era to the age of Donald Trump have increasingly been enamored with "Social Darwinism." In this paradigm, the real value of individual human beings and societies is clearly marked and determined by their economic productivity and financial value as decided and regulated by market capitalism. This cruel vision treats human beings like animal livestock; "social betters" (the one percenters) engineer certain outcomes to, as it were, “cull the herd” so the most "valuable" and "productive" are nurtured and protected. All others are viewed as

parasites and losers who should be removed, exterminated or bred out of existence.

So the next time you hear President Trump speak about “winning” and how whole populations are “losers, criminals and rapists,” this is the modern language of Social Darwinism, the kind of obscene survival of the fittest without regard for those who just cannot make it because of the lack of opportunities.

Writing at open Democracy, sociologists Margaret Somers and Fred Block contend that in this jaundiced view of human life and existence, a "free market society" consists of two opposing classes or "races": workers and property owners.

While the latter were seen to embody "the high moral character of Enlightenment rationality," the working classes were seen as "motivated only by base instincts."

Such logic is applied when Republican conservatives arrogantly discuss

"makers and takers," "job creators" and "illegal immigrants," "anchor babies," "moochers" or "welfare queens." This thinking is then enacted into public policy whose true end goal is the radical transformation of American society into a deranged social-Darwinist fantasyland.

Indeed, today’s Republican conservatism might well be based on the flawed logic that cruelty begets success.

Consider the following: Republicans who have consistently argued for unfair and inhumane cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),

formerly known as food stamps, and many other “safety net” programs that help the poorest American families, frame these cuts as necessary to get people back to work, suggesting that these programs are a waste of “public financial resources.” These resources "would otherwise belong to more industrious and more wealthy members" of society.

We see this logic played out in Republican arguments for reforming the tax code in a way that benefits only the

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EMPHASIS ON TRAVEL AND TOURISM

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Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending January 5, 2018

Contract awarded for construction of $3.5B Mazaruni Prison TRINIDAD company Kee-Chanona Limited in collaboration with Nabi Construction Inc has been awarded a $3, 562, 081, 575 for construction of the Mazaruni Prison, Minister of State Joseph Harmon has announced.

Speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing on Friday, Minister Harmon said the new Mazaruni Prison will have a floor area of 68, 500 square feet and will include a four-storey building, recreational courtyard,

dormitory-style accommodation with classrooms, a library and self-contained cells. Some 400 prisoners will be accommodated there, he told reporters.

Back in October, bids were invited for expansion of the prison.

The prison is being expanded as a result of the fire which destroyed the Camp Street jail earlier this year, as well as the overcrowding at other penitentiaries across the country.

It is with that compounding

situation, that a site at the Mazaruni Prison was identified for construction of the new wing which is expected to house approximately 400 prisoners. In October, the estimated bid being tendered was for the sum of $2.8B. Earlier this year, the sum of $278M was approved by Cabinet for the first phase of the project.

The works will include renovation of the bachelors’ quarters, trade shop, the dormitories, B-63

living quarters, spinster quarters and the senior bachelors’ quarters at the prison. The estimated cost for the works is $26.1M. Other works include repairs to the self-acting sluices located at the front and east of the prison, the wharf, and the culverts located to the north and west of the prison at an estimated cost of $20M. Ongoing works at the Mazaruni Prison include the construction of 20 living quarters to accommodate addi-

tional prison officers, in anticipation of the new influx of approximately 400 prisoners to be housed at the location.

The living quarters will each contain three bedrooms, a living room, a patio, kitchen and a washroom.

Interested contractors were invited to bid for the project to be carried out through the National Competitive Bidding procedures as specified in the Procurement Act of 2003.

GDF approves 594 promotions Chief-of-Staff, Brigadier Patrick West

COMMANDER-in-CHIEF, President David Granger has approved the promotions of 35 officers and 559 other ranks with effect from January, with two ranks being promoted with effect from January 1, 2017.

Chief-of-Staff, Brigadier Patrick West, who made the announcement, said the promo-

tions were made in accordance with Part III Section 16 of the Defence Act 15:01 of 1977.

Heading the list of promotion of officers is substantive Major Michael Shahoud, who was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, along with three other majors.

Five captains were promoted to the rank of major while two acting and 19 Second Lieutenants were promoted to substantive Lieutenants.

Acting Lieutenant (Coast Guard) Travis Morgan was promoted to substantive Lieutenant (Coast Guard) and headed the Coast Guard promotion list, while substantive Captain, Althea Stuart, who was promoted to the rank of major, was the only officer promoted from the Guyana People’s Militia.

Acting Warrant Officer Class 2, Eteki Stuart, headed the list of Other Ranks promotion, while substantive Petty Officer, Everette Tudor, of the Coast Guard was promoted to Senior Petty Officer, while acting Staff Sergeant, Mark Bovell of the Guyana People’s

Militia was confirmed in his rank.

At the Coast Guard, 62 ratings were promoted to new ranks while 41 were confirmed in their present ranks; totalling 103.

The Guyana People’s Militia Promoted 58 soldiers to new ranks while confirming 12 in their present ranks. The other 386

represented 229 newly-promoted and 157 confirmed in their present ranks in the regular Force.

The Chief-of-Staff, officers and ranks of the Guyana Defence Force extend congratulations to all of the newly-promoted officers and ranks.

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To Advertise in this new and exciting paper The New York Edition of the GUYANA CHRONICLE — Guyana’s National Newspaper call: 917-379-6590 or (347) 385-4115

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018

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Furious Trump shuns his former chief strategist Bannon WASHINGTON, U.S. - After U.S. President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, made caustic comments about the president and his family to the author of a new book - Trump has now fired back.

On Wednesday, Trump essentially excommunicated Bannon from his political circle, excoriating him as a self-promoting exaggerator.

Trump said that Bannon had “very little to do with our historic victory” and has now “lost his mind.”

Expressing his anger and resentment, Trump released a written statement, firing back at Bannon after he made comments in a new book by Michael Wolff.

The forthcoming book called ‘Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House’ was obtained by The Guardian, which reported on the jolting remarks attributed to Bannon in the book.

Bannon reportedly made the caustic comments about the Trump White House and the President’s family to Wolff.

After being pushed out of the White House last summer, Bannon has reportedly remained in touch with Trump - however, following Bannon’s comments, the two now appear to have reached a breaking point.

Trump said in the statement, “Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.”

Berating Bannon for the loss of a Senate seat in Alabama, Trump said the former adviser did not represent his base but was “only in it for himself.”

Trump said that rather than supporting his agenda to “make America great again,” Bannon was “simply seeking to burn it all down.”

He added, “Steve pretends to be at war with the media, which he calls the opposition party, yet he spent his time at the White House leaking false information to the media to make himself seem far more important than he was. It is the only thing he does well. Steve was

rarely in a one-on-one meeting with me and only pretends to have had influence to fool a few people with no access and no clue, whom he helped write phony books.”

Bannon was quoted in the book as suggesting that Donald Trump Jr., the future president’s son; Jared Kushner, his son-in-law; and Paul J. Manafort, then the campaign chairman, had been “treasonous” and “unpatriotic” for meeting with Russians offering incriminating information on Hillary Clinton during a June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower.

According to Wolff’s book, after The New York Times revealed the meeting in July 2017, Bannon

lend credibility to an investigation the president has repeatedly called a witch hunt.

Bannon was further quoted as saying, “They’re going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV.” While Donald Trump Jr. did not make any official statement like his father, following the release of the comments made by Bannon, Trump Jr. jabbed at Bannon on Twitter.

Trump Jr. reposted a message noting that Alabama now had a Democratic senator.

The younger Trump wrote, “Thanks Steve. Keep up the great work.”

Bannon helped propel Moore

said, “The three senior guys in the campaign thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Trump Tower in the conference room on the 25th floor — with no lawyers. They didn’t have any lawyers.”

Bannon added, according to the book, “Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad shit, and I happen to think it’s all of that, you should have called the F.B.I. immediately.”

Wolff said in the book that Bannon also predicted that a special counsel investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and any coordination with Trump aides would ultimately center on money laundering, an assessment that could

to the Republican nomination in Alabama and even stuck by him after the candidate was accused of sexual misconduct with several young women as young as age 14.

Trump reportedly endorsed Moore at Bannon’s urging despite the allegations surfacing.

President Trump and former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon

But, he was embarrassed when the Democrat, Doug Jones, won the election last year in a heavily Republican state.

Alabama had not sent a Democrat to the Senate in a quarter-century.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, New York magazine published an excerpt from Wolff’s book, which cited derogatory comments about

Trump from some of the president’s closest allies.

Thomas J. Barrack, who is a friend and adviser to Trump, was named in the book but pushed back against the comments made in his name on Wednesday.

Barrack was reportedly quoted as telling a friend that the president is “not only crazy, he’s stupid.”

However, Barrack said this account was “totally false,” and added, “It’s clear to anyone who knows me that those aren’t my words and inconsistent with anything I’ve ever said.”

He said that Wolff never ran that quotation by him to ask if it was accurate.

On Wednesday meanwhile, the White House attacked not just Bannon but the book as a whole, in a bid to diminish its reporting.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary said in a statement, “This book is filled with false and misleading accounts from individuals who have no access or influence with the White House. Participating in a book that can only be described as trashy tabloid fiction exposes their sad desperate attempts at relevancy.”

Further, the book is said to have stated that neither Trump nor his wife, Melania Trump, nor many of his aides actually expected to win the election in November 2016.

It said that indeed neither of them really wanted to win.

The book said that Melania Trump was distraught and was in tears on election night, not out of joy.

Further, it pointed out that the new president and first lady were fighting on Inauguration Day. On Wednesday, Melania authorized her office to rebut the book and the first lady’s communications director, Stephanie Grisham said in a statement, “The book is clearly going to be sold in the bargain fiction section. Mrs. Trump supported her husband’s decision to run for president and in fact encouraged him to do so. She was confident he would win and was very happy when he did.”

Sheetal Sukhija (Caribbeannews.net)

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Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018

INNOVATIVE WORKING CAPITAL FINANCING “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

— Luke 6:38

T

his week I would like to re-present an innovative proposal to those with excess disposable income. It is designed to help entrepreneurs get their enterprises launched, get the economy moving and ultimately help yourselves. When the country wins we all win.

In many countries, cities and communities we are faced with a wealth divide, that is the uneven distribution of assets which leads to poverty, crime and unhappiness.

One way to reduce the wealth divide is through a strategy of enterprise development where the entrepreneur is encouraged to pursue his or her idea and nurture it along a journey to sustainable success. The necessary and sufficient ingredients which the entrepreneur ought to combine with the idea are management and money, in that order.

If the entrepreneur has access to finance, then the sustainable growth of the management of the enterprise may be facilitated by a partnership where a mentor is assigned to the entrepreneur. One mentoring strategy recently tested is Shepherding involving a Shepherding tool called the Management of Business Systems (MANOBIZTM) Matrix. This matrix creatively combines the five functions of management with the five business systems (corporate governance, investment finance, marketing, technical and support operations and people development) to remove obstacles along the journey to sustainable development.

If the entrepreneur does not have access to finance, which is usually the case, then it is equally as important that a mentor be assigned to the entrepreneur. The existing financial environment which is dominated by the “loan” financial instrument frustrates the entrepreneur’s attempt to establish and grow the potential enterprise. The traditional conditionalities on a bank loan are (1) hard collateral, (2) immediate monthly repayment of principal and interest and (3) a fixed repay-

ment period.

The entrepreneur is often not in a position to provide hard collateral, the cash flow projections of the enterprise initially are not strong enough to support immediate monthly repayment of principal and interest and there are sometimes penalties if the enterprise does well enough to repay the principal balance well before the agreed upon repayment period.

A solution to the problem is “innovative working capital financing” where “management” replaces hard collateral, where “payment out of future profits” replaces monthly payments of principal and interest, and where “the exit clause” replaces the fixed repayment period.

Management’s first task is to prepare the cash flow and profitability history of the

enterprise or, in the case of a start-up enterprise, to work with the entrepreneur to generate assumptions which would lead to solid cash flow projections. These projections inform as to the quantum and scheduling of finance required.

This is where persons with excess disposable income get involved either individually or collectively. Collective involvement is preferred because of the well established principle that “unity is strength”, in this case you are spreading the investment risk. Your excess disposable income may be giving little or no return in this economic environment but financing the development of an enterprise may. Such persons are encouraged to partner with enterprises and their shepherds towards a win-win outcome.

In practice, the entrepreneur, the financier, the shepherd will all have to arrange their lives to generate profits and adopt the principle of “pay out of future profits”.

Let us not hoard our savings but use some of them to foster enterprise development through the principles of “management

Dr. Basil Springer’s Column

as collateral”, “payment out of future profits” and “the exit clause” couched in the belief that if “you Give, and it will be given to you”.

(Dr. Basil Springer GCM is a Change-Engine Consultant. His email address is basilgf57@gmail.com. His columns may be found at www.nothingbeatsbusiness.com and on www.facebook.com/basilgf).

Four men killed in bizarre knife attacks on New Year’s Eve

LONDON, U.K. - In a bizarre night of crime, four young men were killed in a string of knife attacks, on the New Year’s Eve night.

The Scotland Yard confirmed the incidents and said that the four male victims were aged between 17 and 20 and died in separate stabbing incidents.

The Metropolitan police said that the knife attacks took place in the span of 15 hours in locations around the capital, in north, east and south London.

Three of the killings took place on New Year’s Eve and a fourth in the early hours of New Year’s Day and the Metropolitan police said that none were being treated as linked.

According to the police, the first attack was recorded at 11.30 am on December 31 when an 18-year-old man was stabbed in Enfield.

The victim died in the hospital the same evening.

Then, at about 7.30pm, a 20-year-old man was fatally stabbed in West Ham, and at around 10.40pm a 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Tulse Hill.

The fourth stabbing took place at around 2.30am on January 1, when a 20-year-old man was attacked in Old Street, east London.

A second male, aged in his 20s, was taken to hospital with critical stab injuries.

The Scotland Yard confirmed that the three deaths on Sunday brings the total number of fatal stabbings in 2017 to 80.

Commenting on the incidents, Commander Neil Jerome, of the Met’s territorial policing command, said, “It is heartbreaking that, at a time when so many of us are contemplating what lies ahead in 2018, four families are dealing with the grief of losing a loved one to senseless violence and the callous use of knives as lethal weapons.”

In Enfield, five men were arrested in connection with the murder and there have been no arrests in the other cases.

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he will “work tirelessly in 2018 and beyond to stamp out this scourge.”

Since he assumed office as mayor of London in May 2016, Khan has launched a high-profile “London needs you alive” campaign and knife crime strategy.

Commenting on the spate of attacks, Khan said, “My thoughts today are with the families of four young men who have tragically been killed in four unrelated stabbings in our city last night. The police have today assured me that everything is being done to bring to justice those responsible for these appalling acts of violence.

I urge anyone with information to come forward.”

He added, “The police were out in force helping people enjoy our city’s fantastic celebrations last night, and I thank them. However, it is horrific that knife crime has claimed another four young lives as the New Year begins. We will work tirelessly in 2018 and beyond to stamp out this scourge. I want to be absolutely clear - if you use a knife the full force of the law will be brought down on you. You will be caught and prosecuted.”

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018

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Ease The Tension — Enjoy A Laugh

5. Strain, bottle and store in refrigerator.

SORREL DRINK

Ingredients: 2 pints dried sorrel 6 pints water sugar to taste 2 small pieces spice Method: 1. Used dried sorrel make sure the seeds are taken out.

2. Measure 2 pints of the dried sorrel and put in a jar.

3. Sweeen water to taste and pur over dried sorrel. Add spice.

4. Cover Jar and let stand for 2436 hours.

FROM THE MINDS OF CHILDREN One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her son into bed.

She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, “Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?” The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. “I can’t dear,” she said. “I have to sleep in Daddy’s room.”

A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice: “The big sissy.” # # # # # # # A little boy was doing his math homework.

He said to himself, “Two plus five, that son of a bitch is seven. Three plus six, that son of a bitch is nine . . .”

His mother heard what he was saying and gasped, “What are you doing?”

The little boy answered, “I’m doing my math homework, Mom.” “And this is how your teacher taught you to do it?” the mother asked.

“Yes,” he answered.

Infuriated, the mother asked the teacher the next day, “What are you teaching my son in math?” The teacher replied, “Right now, we are learning addition.”

The mother asked, “And are you teaching them to say two plus two, that son of a bitch is four?”

After the teacher stopped laughing, she answered, “What I taught them was, two plus two,

IT’S A FACT

by JAMES SYDNEY

EATING THE NEW YEAR IN FOODS THAT PEOPLE EAT AS THEY CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR Whenever people celebrate holidays, they eat. Very often, special foods are associated with special occasions. This is very true for New Year celebrations.

In Spain, for instance, at 12.00 midnight New Year’s Eve, people who observe tradition must have twelve grapes, one for each month of the year, ready to eat. If there is a chiming clock within hearing, they start eating the first grape when the clock starts to chime. They try to eat the grapes as quickly as possible – one for each chime – to ensure a good month every month.

Generally the impossible task leaves them with a mouthful of grapes at the beginning of the year. They try to finish off the grapes as quickly as possible.

Some people later wash the grapes down with wine. In many instances, movies and theater presentations are paused to observe the arrival

of the New Year in this way.

The neighboring Portuguese do the same, picking and eating twelve grapes from a bunch. So do Peruvians in South America, but they add a 13th grape to assure good luck. Mexicans and Cubans also follow this tradition

and may associate sweet grapes with good months and sour grapes with bad ones.

In the southern United States, it’s black-eyed peas and turnip greens. The peas represent copper and the greens are dollars. Some people say you have to eat at least 365 black-eyed peas on

New Year’s Day. That guarantees that you will have good luck and prosperity each day of the following year. In Texas and in Alabama, people may eat blackeyed peas with cabbage instead of turnip greens.

For Brazilians, lentils are supposed to bring wealth. On the first day of the New Year they serve lentil soup or lentils and rice.

Some people use fish.

Germans eat carp on New Year’s Day. Many Germans will secure a number of scales from the fish and place them in their wallets for good luck. They may also leave a bit of every food eaten on New Year’s Eve on their plate until after midnight as a way of ensuring a wellstocked pantry the year round. The people of Denmark use boiled cod and many Poles will feast on herring for a great new year.

For Sicilians, good luck follows

THE SUM OF WHICH, is four.” # # # # # # # PAINTING THE PORCH A blonde, wanting to earn some money, decided to hire herself out as a ‘handy-woman’ and started canvassing a nearby well-to-do neighborhood. She went to the front door of the first house and asked the owner if he had any odd jobs for her to do.

“Well, you can paint my porch,” he said, “how much will you charge me?”

The blonde, after looking about, responded, “How about $50?”

The man agreed and told her that the paint and other materials that she might need were in the garage.

The man’s wife, inside the house, heard the conversation and said to her husband, “Does she realize that the porch goes all the way around the house?”

The man replied, “She should; she was standing on it. Do you think she’s dumb?”

“No”, replied the wife. “I guess I’m guilty of being influenced by all the ‘dumb blonde’ joke emails we’ve been receiving.”A short time later, the blonde came to the door to collect her money.

“You’re finished already?” the husband asked.

“Yes,” the blonde replied, “and I had paint left over, so I gave it two coats.” Impressed, the man reached into his pocket for the $50.00 and handed it to her. “And by the way,” the blonde added, “it’s not a Porch, it’s a Lexus.”

those who eat lasagna on New Year’s Day, and bad luck comes to those who have macaroni.

A kind of game is key in Greece and Norway. In Greece, a special loaf is baked with a coin kneaded into the dough. The Christ child is entitled to the first slice, the father of the household to the second slice and the third slice is for the house. Norwegians make New Year’s rice pudding and hide one whole almond in it. The person who gets the serving with the almond in it is supposed to become wealthy.

The Dutch eat a kind of doughnut containing raisins and currants and finely diced apples. Called Olie Bollen (translation: oil balls), they are small and round and more appetizing than their name suggests.

In the Philippines, the kind of food is not an issue. Plenty of food on the table at midnight ensures continuing abundance throughout the year.

In many parts of the world toasting, not eating, is the essential part.

People toast each other and absent relatives and friends.

In Denmark people save old dishes all year to throw them at the homes where their friends live on New Years Eve as it is a good sign for your door to be heaped with a pile of broken dishes when the New Year comes. It shows that one has many friends.

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Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018

Ringing In The New Year T

he party was in full swing at the Woodbine Ballroom’s Annual New Year’s Eve Ball, on December 31, 2017, hosted by its popular owner Ossie “Teach” David . . . but at the hour of 11:59 all the revellers stopped dancing and counted down to welcome the new year 2018 . . . at the hour of 12 midnight, everyone raised their glasses in acknowledgment of the new year, kissed their partners and wished them a Happy New Year with the usual good health, happiness and prosperity in the new year.

The DJ blasted Auld Lang Syne and everyone danced, shook each others hands and wished them a Healthy,

Happy and Prosperous New Year. Hoping that 2018 would bring all the things they wished for and did not receive in 2017.

After welcoming the new year, couples took pictures with their cell phones or at the two professional photographers setups, which were present to capture these special moments.

By STAFF REPORTER The picture at right shows some of the attendees at the Woodbine Ballroom taking time off from their partying to share this New York Edition of the Chronicle picture-op with their host “Teach” sitting in the center.

Guyana Chronicle ‘stopped the press’ for an afternoon of festive fun

he Christmas office party fete and provided an atmosphere of enis a staple for many com- joyment for staff members, the daily panies in Guyana, a tradi- honored some of its staff with awards, tion that serves to thank, and for exceptional reporting in various fields, during the Friday, December 29, reward hardworking staff for a soiree. job well done.

Congratulations to Svetlana Mar-

T

This year, like many others, the Guyana National Newspaper Limited, (GNNL), publishers of the Guyana

shall, Adrian Narine, Navendra Seoraj, and Delano Giovanni Williams, for outstanding reporting. The journalists were presented plaques from GNNL By Board Member, Bertram Wilkinson, Carlotta Clarke and other senior officials, during a simChronicle and the New York Edition of ple ceremony, before the Christmas the Guyana Chronicle, did not only party.

The welcome sign that hung above the staff canteen bar was a clear sign that all were invited, to enjoy the afternoon’s festivity, rocked by merriment, where Editor Godfrey Wray and staff, bogeiing down to a mix of dance music. From Soca, to reggae, to disco sounds, there was no doubt, everyGNNL Board member Bert Wilkinson presenting one, including dance master Akash Persaud, and Sunday an Award to journalist Svetlana Marshall.

Recipients of Awards from left: Svetlana Marshall, Adrian Narine (photographer), Delano Williams (photographer), Ariana Gordon and Navendra Seoraj.

Editor, Linda Rutherford, GNNL General Manager had a grand time. (ag.), Moshamie Ramotar Thanks to General (left); Tangerine Clarke, Manager (ag) Moshamie New York Edition of Ramotar, management, Guyana Chronicle and staff members, en- journalist vacationing in joyed a memorable Guyana; and Godfrey Christmas party, filled Wray, editor of Guyana Chronicle at the with festive cuisine, reChristmas party in laxation, and away from Guyana. deadlines.

Guyana York Edition week ending January 5, 2018 GuyanaChronicle ChronicleNew New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018

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artville Affairs is a ‘Not For Profit and dental hygiene products.

Corporation’, which was established In 2016, the association doin 2011 and receivef the ‘Not For nated three much-needed street Profit Status in 2012’, this associa- lights to the village and hosted a tion is dedicated to transforming the ‘Village Day’ with cultural performcommunity of Stewartville, which is ances by Middle and High School a village on the West Coast of De- students. merara in Guyana, In 2017 the association distribSince its inception the Associ- vuted two crates and two barrels of ation has supplied school supplies to clothing and food supplies to the students of the village in 2012; do- residents of the village. There are nated computers, printers and pe- also ongoing programs of a co-sponripherals to the Elementary and sored ‘Feeding Program’ for over Middle schools; a public address 200 kids daily at a cost of in excess The members of The Association For Stewartville Affairs (ASA) with Con- system to the High School; books to of US$1,000 annually, and annual sul General of Guyana in New York, Hon. Barbara Atherly (fifth from left) the Middle and High school libraries donations of tee shirts for ‘Emanciand President of ASA, Keith Walcott in white jacket. and hosted its first ‘Family Fun Day pation’ and’ Mashramani’ celebrain 2013. tions.

In 2014, the association distribThe President expressed his uted health care essentials, dental gratitude on behalf of the members hygienc, hair and body care prod- of the association to all friends and ucts and clothing to the villagers. In supporters of the association for 2015, it was seniors’ recognition their past support and look forward time, and they hosted a three course for their continued support to enable dinner for over 125 senior citizens. the association to achieve its goal of and each senior was presented with “Transforming the Community of he Association for Stew- ASA that would help Guyana a gift bag consisting of health care Stewartville.” artville Affairs (ASA) achieve its ultimate goal of making closed off its fundraising Guyana a better place for its citiactivities for 2017, with a zens. spectcular ‘Masquerade Ball’ at After the Consul General’s adAntun’s Catering Hall in dress, she was presented with an Queens, New York on Friday, ASA pin by Elicia Thomas, which made her an honorary member of December 29.

The President of the Associa- the association.

There was a raffle drawing and tion, Keith Walcott thanked the large gathering for their support and in- three lucky persons won gifts of two vited Guyana’s Consul General of Google Play devices and a roundNew York, The Hon. Barbara trip ticket to Guyana. Everyone reAtherly to say a few words. The ceived a flyer which outlined the Consul General brought greetings ventures that the association had unfrom the President of Guyana, His dertaken since its inception. Here Excellency, David Granger and said are some of the Association achievethat it was the dedication and sup- ments: The Consul General of Guyana in New York, Hon. Barbara Atherly, being port of organizations such as the The Association for Stewpinned as an honorary ASA member by Elicia Thomas.

ASA CLOSES OFF THE YEAR WITH A ‘MASQUERADE BALL’

T

Gov’t expects UN...

From page 2

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge

had agreed that if by the end of December 2017, significant progress had not been made towards arriving at a full agreement for the settlement of the controversy, the ICJ will be the next means of peaceful settlement, unless Guyana and Venezuela jointly request otherwise.

Meanwhile, the ministry observed that the Stabroek News editorial sought to remind readers of the challenges posed by an impending decision by the United Nations Secretary- General. “The paper anticipates an early choice by the secretary-general regarding a means of peacefully resolving the controversy arising from Venezuela’s contention that the 1899 Arbitral Award is null and void. The editor suggests that Guyanese

are awaiting the ‘big news’ with bated breath. And well they might, for this is a very important decision with the potential to put Guyana on a path that will enable us to attract investments -- local and foreign -- in quantities significant enough to permit the exploitation of our natural resources – not just our oil -- so as to have a dramatic impact on our economic and social well-being in the near and foreseeable future,” the ministry said.

The ministry added that the Stabroek News has, over the years, demonstrated that it is one of the few agencies, outside of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with a clear grasp of the intricacies of the issues surrounding this controversy and one is often forced to admire the quality of the analysis

and deftness of language employed in their pieces. “It also recognises that the list of options available to the UN Secretary-General includes referral to the ICJ, the inclusion of which was approved by Venezuela in 1966.

Contrary to a recent suggestion by a rival newspaper, the UN Secretary-General does have the power to refer this matter to the ICJ. What is more, his letter of December 16th explicitly acknowledges this. That referral does not require Venezuela’s approval beyond that given in the Geneva Agreement of 1966 and acknowledged by their then representative.”

The ministry said the paper is right in calling for more information for the people of Guyana. “We have involved the opposition in our preparations during this final year of a Good Offices process with an enhanced mediation mandate, but rules of confidentiality have bound us beyond that to this stage. 2017 is over. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs looks forward to sharing more widely the path ahead once we have received the decision of the UN Secretary-General, which we expect shortly.”

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Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending January 5, 2018

Revellers turn out in their numbers --to ring in new year at Stabroek Square

By Vishani Ragobeer HUNDREDS gathered at Stabroek Square on Sunday just before the stroke of midnight in anticipation of the traditional New Year’s Eve fireworks display.

There were intermittent downpours of the ‘Old Year’s rain’ that night, but that didn’t seem to deter anyone from basking in the glow emitting from the lit up Stabroek Market. Umbrellas were in abundance.

For a minute, there was a bit of confusion as some citizens set off their own grand illuminations along the Route 40 Bus Park, rivalling the expected grandeur of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF)’s fireworks.

But at the stroke of midnight, huge fireworks, in hues of green, gold and red, appeared behind the market, rising as high as the clock’s tower.

A cheer erupted from the crowd at the indication of the new year, with each illumination seeming to outshine the previous one.

And at times when there were many in the air at once, they seemed to be rivalling each other, fighting for your attention. There was smoke, too, of course, but it was no match for

the lights from the pyrotechnics.

Many persons stood in the square with their umbrellas opened, while some sought refuge under buildings in the vicinity, but none could take their eyes off of the spectacular display until its culmination some eight minutes later.

Choosing the Stabroek Square as the venue for 2018’s display was a welcome change from the usual Camp Ayanganna venue. It was reported that the new venue was selected because it allowed those on both the east and west banks of Guyana to witness the spectacle.

Guyanese all over the world were not left out of the mix, as they were able to watch the events unfold as they happened through the Guyana Chronicle’s livestream. Well wishes for the nation poured in, as many mentioned their hope that 2018 would be a year of prosperity for Guyana, but also one of togetherness.

Here at home, persons in other parts of Guyana also delighted in the spectacular display through this Online medium.

When the GDF’s stream of fireworks ended, many opted to continue the celebra-

Scores attend wake for Gregory Lewis aka ‘Peppers’ Several joined relatives and friends of Gregory Lewis aka ‘Peppers’, proprietor of the Water Chris Hotel and Restaurant, on Waterloo Street, Tuesday night for a wake. Among those at the gathering were Minister of State Joseph Harmon, Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix and many other prominent officials.

Lewis, who died on December 23, will be laid to rest today. His body can be viewed at the Lyken Funeral Home from 1pm after which a funeral service will take place at the Sacred Heart Church on Main Street, Georgetown from 2pm.

He was 64 years old at the time of his death.

It was a fierce competition between the fireworks and the lights on the Stabroek Market

tions by setting off their own fireworks (and firecrackers) in the Square. Subsequently, the bright lights on the market were dimmed by the thick layer of smoke from the pyrotechnics.

Eventually, the crowd dispersed, some to

spend some time with their families, some to enjoy the abundant parties around the town, while others called it a night.

Definitely, for those who were able to see it, the display ushered the year in with a bang.

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending January 5, 2018

15

He didn’t plan on it --but today he’s an instrument-rated pilot, thanks to his unshakable faith in God

Captain Lincoln Gomez

By Alva Solomon “BEFORE every flight and just before landing, I say a special prayer,” says Captain Lincoln Gomez.

A son of the village of Paruima, way up in Region Seven as the Cuyuni-Mazaruni district is officially called, Captain Gomez is not only hungry to fly, but to help the sick and the poor.

The 37-year-old father of two boys started his aviation career in 2008, and has managed to overcome several challenges along the way to his pilot’s licence, including financial constraints.

But according to him, “by God’s mercy” he was able to accomplish what wasn’t exactly one of his plans while growing up at Paruima, not far from the Venezuela border.

Around 2007, he said Pastor David Gates of the Seventh Day Adventist Church approached him and asked if he wanted to learn to fly.

As he explained, the church runs a non-profit air service called the Guyana Adventist Aviation Service (GAAS), which is based in Paruima.

“I studied the idea for a few months,” Gomez said. “I prayed on it, and then I decided I will take up the challenge.”

TRAINING IN BOLIVIA Gomez, who is married and is the last of seven children, said that his training started in Bolivia, where the church has a branch. He started out by training alongside the American pilots at the aviation school there, where he gained experience to man the plane’s controls.

After a year in Bolivia, he came back to Guyana and he flew for a year. He would spend even more time here gaining invaluable experience, and even returned to Bolivia on occasions to undergo more training.

Gomez recently travelled to Guyana on a lengthy flight from Bolivia, a journey which took several days.

He was “checked out” recently here, and passed the practical examination.

At the moment, he is licensed as an instrument-rated pilot, and is able to fly single-engine aircraft in the Upper Mazaruni area, and to Ogle at the Eugene F Corriea International Airport.

These days, Captain Gomez, who obtained his secondary education in neighbouring Venezuela, flies almost daily, transporting the sick, and helping those in need of critical assistance in the hinterland areas of Region Seven.

Some days, he said, the adventure is heartwarming.

EVANGELISM And to think that he initially wanted to study theolo-

Captain Gomez with his wife and children

Captain Gomez stands alongside Captains Daniel Baquero, David Gates and another aviator of GAMAS aviation

gy and become an evangelist! As he hastened to explain, “Several years ago, Uncle David decided to be a missionary in Kaikan. After some time, he saw the need for aviation in Guyana.” The Uncle David to whom he referred is the same Pastor David Gates who it was that encouraged him to take an interest in aviation, and is apparently a pilot himself.

“Flying an airplane was never in my mind then; I was just touched with God's love and wanted to share it,” Captain Gomez said.

He noted that he has the full backing of family and friends, and that his parents are very proud of his accomplishments thus far.

In addition to English, Lincoln is fluent in Spanish and the Indigenous Akawaio and Arecuna languages.

“My family is from the Akawaio tribe,” he said. “My father spoke the language with us growing up, so we had to

learn.”

His grandparents, on the other hand, were born in Venezuela, but moved to Guyana many decades ago. He still has relatives living in nearby Santa Elena, on the Venezuela side of the border where his grandparents are from.

HELPING TO SERVE “I am happy to help those who cannot help themselves,” he said, adding that with the help of Captain Gates and other pilots, including Captains Gary Roberts, Jim Craig, Gary Lewis, and James Ash, he was able to gain valuable aviation knowledge.

He said that by God’s Grace, he will continue to improve his knowledge in aviation, and hopes to some day fly even larger aircraft. “Aviation doesn’t stop,” he said, adding that he will continue to serve those persons who are in need.

11,794 gallons of illegal gallons illegal diesel,of gasoline seized

16 16

Guyana Chronicle New York Week-ending January 5, 20185, 2018 Guyana Chronicle NewEdition York Edition week ending January

11,794 5 diesel, gasoline seized –– five convicted for fuel smuggling in 2017

--five convicted for fuel smuggling in 2017 SOME 11,794 gallons of illegal diesel and gasoline were seized in 36 joint operations, while five persons were convicted for fuel smuggling in 2017, the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) said.

According to the energy agency in a release, the Fuel Marking Division (FMD) continues to work ardently in the fight against fuel smuggling.

As part of its mandate, the GEA dispatches teams of inspectors across the different regions in Guyana to take and test samples of fuel to determine whether it has been legitimately imported into the country.

GEA Legal Officer Thandiewe Benn said the five convictions recorded in 2017 bring the total number of convictions, since the implementation of the Fuel Marking Programme in 2004, to 49.

The work of the GEA in the interdiction of offenders is supported by the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Revenue Authority and the Guyana Defence Force’s Coast Guard.

In July, 2017, the GEA and GRA also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in an effort to continue cooperation and collaboration in the conduct and monitoring of petroleum operations.

Under the MoU, both parties continue to share information, conduct joint investigations and surveillance and use their resources to guard against fuel- smuggling activities.

The FMD inspectorate arm continues to conduct surveillance activities on suspects in the fuel-smuggling network with support from the aforementioned agencies.

To date, several persons and their suspected areas of operations have been under surveillance at various times and at least 37 operations have been conducted during the nights,targeting suspected smuggling operations.

The joint operations, as well as surveillance operations, have contributed significantly to the unearthing of illegal fuel in 2017.

SOME 11,794 gallons of illegal diesel and gasoline were seized in 36 joint operations, while five persons were convicted for fuel smuggling in 2017, the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) said.

is supported by the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Revenue Authority and the Guyana Defence Force’s Coast Guard.

In July, 2017, the GEA and GRA also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in an effort to continue cooperation and collaboration in the conduct and monitoring of petroleum operations.

Under the MoU, both parties continue to share information, conduct joint investigations and surveillance and use their resources to guard against fuel- smuggling activities.

The FMD inspectorate arm continues to conduct surveillance activities on suspects in the fuel-smuggling network with support from the aforementioned agencies.

To date, several persons and their suspected areas of Fuel found abandoned in the Protected Area of the operations have been under National Park earlier this year surveillance at various times and at least 37 operations According to the energy five convictions recorded in have been conducted during agency in a release, the Fuel 2017 bring the total number the nights,targeting suspected Marking Division (FMD) of convictions, since the smuggling operations. continues to work ardent- implementation of the Fuel The joint operations, as ly in the fight against fuel Marking Programme in 2004, well as surveillance operasmuggling. tions, have contributed sigto 49.

As part of its mandate, nificantly to the unearthing The work of the GEA in Fuel found abandoned in the Protected Area of the National Park earlier this year the GEA dispatches teams the interdiction of offenders of illegal fuel in 2017. of inspectors across the different regions in Guyana to take and test samples of fuel to determine whether it has been legitimately imported into the country.

GEA Legal Officer Thandiewe Benn said the

Inmate tries to smuggle narcotics into prison A PRISONER was on Saturday apprehended as he attempted to smuggle narcotics into the Timehri Prison.

Superintendent Ma-

The illegal narcotics the prisoner was trying to smuggle into the compound

hendra Singh and ranks of the Timehri Police Station made the bust on the prisoner, identified as 36-yearold Ramanand Latchman.

According to reports, the inmate, who was working in the prison garden, was seen behaving in a suspicious manner and a check on him found he was in possession of narcotics.

Also on Saturday, a team of policemen from the Timehri Police Station, acting on intelligence, arrested two 16 -year-old boys and a 21-year-old man of Hyde Park, Timehri, with 1500 grammes of cannabis stuffed in a haversack.

The men were busted at Cemetery Road, Hyde Park, Timehri. They are expected to be changed soon.

The cannabis that was seized from the three suspects at Cemetery Road, Hyde Park, Timehri

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, 30, 2017 Guyana Chronicle New York December Edition week ending January 5, 2018

17

Gov’t mulls oil-refining options

THE Government of Guyana is yet to decide where it will refine its portion of oil, when U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil begins production come 2020, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman disclosed Friday.

Speaking at a post-cabinet press briefing held at the Ministry of the Presidency, Trotman told reporters that a sub-committee for the petroleum sector formed by President David Granger is continuing deliberations on oil refineries. “[A]Cabinet sub-committee formed by the President last year is still determining that question as to where. We are examining several proposals from investors for small, modular refineries are being examined,” said the Natural Resources Minister.

The Cabinet sub-committee comprises Trotman, the Ministers of State, Finance, Infrastructure, Business and the presidential adviser on petroleum, Joseph Harmon, Winston Jordan, David Patterson, Dominic Gaskin and Dr Jan Mangal, respectively.

At the level of the ministries, there is also a Petroleum Sector Ministerial Committee comprising the Ministers of State, Natural Resources, Finance, Infrastructure and Business.

Meanwhile, Minister Trotman reminded that Trinidad and Tobago has made a formal request to the Government of Guyana to refine its oil after production commences in 2020. “…

Of course, as the contract terms set out, Guyana may request the operator, that is ExxonMobil, to do its refining and just collect the proceeds therefrom,” the minister said.

Trotman made it clear that a decision has not been taken by the Cabinet sub-committee, but the matter is being actively considered as various options are available.

Each option, the Minister of Natural Resources said, has advantages. “If we refine at home, of course we’d provide jobs, if we refine in Trinidad, then of course there is regional consideration…and the ability to provide petroleum

Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman

products to other CARICOM countries and perhaps take up the slack from PetroCaribe,” said Trotman. Moreover, he said if Guyana decides to send the oil farther afield to the Gulf of Mexico to be refined, the country will receive the proceeds.

“So there are a number of different political and economic considerations that the sub-Committee

is considering,” which he stressed will be taken to Cabinet for further discussions and decisions. Asked to state the pros and cons of Trinidad and Tobago refining Guyana’s oil, the Minister of Natural Resources noted Trinidad’s capacity as an oil-producing nation, but stated that that country’s fuel is heavier.

That aside, a decision was

made by government to reconstitute a high-level committee between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago to further deliberate on the matter.

Additionally, that committee will also discuss avenues in the agricultural, engineering, infrastructural, and tourism sectors to name a few.

“And with 2020 fast approaching, government is looking to finalise all out-

9

standing issues before the start of production. …It is under active discussion and a decision will be made long before production starts,” Trotman assured.

The minister had earlier this year at a Business Summit said that government could ill afford to invest US$5B on an oil refinery here. “Government has concluded that it, as a government, cannot spend five billion dollars on an oil refinery, but we are not in any way dissuading the private sector from taking up the challenge,” he told the summit. Back in May, 2017, ?Director of Advisory Services at Hartree Partners, Pedro Haas, who conducted a feasibility study, said the construction of an oil refinery here to process some 100,000 barrels daily would be a political decision. He explained that it would cost up to US$5B to construct a local refinery, while noting that Guyana would likely see a negative rate of return on its investment at approximately US$3B.

President meet Jagdeo Paddy exports toto Mexico pegged at 88,000 on tons Chancellor, CJ appointments

GUYANA has exported 88,000 tonnes of of Mexico has granted approval for 150,000 paddy to Mexico in 2017, making Mexico metric tonnes of paddy and rice products to the single largest destination of Guyanese enter Mexico from outside of NAFTA, free grain exports. of the payment of taxes.

In July, Guyana loaded 17,000 tonnes Normally taxes for countries, other than O POSIT N L eto a dMexico er Article of with the constituofPpaddy forI Oexport following NAFTA member states 127 trading Mexico, Bharrat JagdeoGovernment’s is expecttion Chancellor that country’s decision to are nine per cent onsays: paddy“The and 20 per cent allow tax-free importation It was March 2017,shall that ed to meet with Presidentof 150,000 met- on rice products. and the in Chief Justice ric tonnes of paddy and rice products from the Embassy of Mexico and the senior leadDavid Granger on the apeach be appointed by the outside of the American Free Trade ership of the GRDB worked together orpointment of aNorth substantive President, acting afterto obAgreement (NAFTA) member states.

The ganise the first business mission to Mexico. chancellor and chief justice taining the agreement of the valueweek, of that contract is US$17.7M, the That mission aimed at establishing contacts next after he failed Leader of the Opposition.” equivalent of approximately G$3.8B. with large supermarket chains in Mexico. to attend a high-level meetJustice Benjamin, a Guyana has been able to send paddy to A country booth was set up at the ing on Friday on the basis Guyana-born Belizean the Spanish-speaking nation as the National Expo ANTAD International Trade Fair in that he was “busy.”Safety and Agro-Food Guadalajara; the chief justice, as a Service of Health, largest trade served fair in Latin At a (SENASICA) People’s Progresin Georgetown Quality approved imports of America with amagistrate focus on supermarkets.

For sive Party (PPP) end-of-year in years, 1980the and and paddy from Guyana.

The SENASICA is also approximately 35 fair1981, has brought press conference at Freedom Assistant processing Guyana’s sanitary and phytosan- together seniorsubsequently managers andan sourcing exitary certificate import rice. ecutives from 40 countries.

House on Friday,tothe oppoJudge Advocate for the Representatives from the Guyana Rice It was through the Mexican sition leader disclosed that Guyana DefenceEmbassy Force.

Development Board (GRDB), the Guyana that initial appointments with large superPresident Granger, in a letter The Guyanese scholar Rice Exporters and Millers Association markets in Mexico were facilitated and addressed to him, nominated has served 17 years as a (GREMA), along with private millers, through which permits to introduce samJustice Kenneth Benjamin High Court Judge of the earlier in the year attended the Expo Antad ples were achieved. The business contacts for the post of chancellor Eastern Caribbean Court International Trade Fair in Guadalajara, at Expo ANTAD 2017 made it possible to Justice Yonette of the judiciary and Justice If paddy appointed chanMexico. It was during that visit that Mex- begin exporting(ECC).

Guyana’s to Mexico.

Cummings-Edwards Yonette Cummings-Edwards cellor, JusticeMoses Benjamin ican Ambassador to Guyana and PlenipoIn 2015, Prime Minister Nagfor the post of chief juswill replace Justicefor Cumtentiary Representative to CARICOM, Ivan amootoo the Presidency that he was had traveled to Mexico the tice.

According to Jagdeo, mings-Edwards, Sierra, made provisions for the “busy.” team to have Open Governance Global Summitwho heldhas in aa consultative wasinformation in the post liaison who meeting related the that Mexico City andbeen there acting he met with Mexico’s The opposition leader was later published in the Mexican Official Agriculture Jose Calzada, scheduled for Friday with since March, 2017. on the and the President are now Minister, Gazette. matter.

Nagamootoo’s meeting followed the President but he (Jagdeo) expected to meet next week Justice Cummings-EdThe Gazette stated that during the period concerns raised by rice farmers over the had informed the Ministry of to discuss the nominations. wards, who has previously January to December 2017, the Government loss of the Venezuelan rice market. Calzada

The nominees were se- dates for the post. In his adlected and recommended dress at the 37th Annual Bar to the President by a panel Dinner held at the Pegasus comprising former Justice Hotel, Georgetown, the CCJ of Appeal, Claudette Singh; President made it clear that Justice James Patterson and it was not the intention of Professor Harold Lutchman. the local constitution to have During his recent press the two most senior judicial c o n f e r e n c e , P r e s i d e n t officials act in the posts for Granger said every effort a prolonged period. is being made to have the Sir Byron noted too appointment made. Pres- that no substantive chanident of the Caribbean cellor has been appointed Court of Justice (CCJ) Sir since Justice Desiree BerDennis Byron, during the nard, Guyana’s first feBar Association dinner male chancellor, demitted in November, had under- office and was appointed scored the importance of as the first female judge of thetrucks CCJ. Former having a substantive chanFLASHBACK: Paddy being offloaded from two of the many that linedacting Justice Kenneth Benjamin Justice Carl cellor of the judiciary and Chancellor, the John Fernandes Wharf on Friday (Rabindra Rooplall photo) Singh, acted in that post chief justice in place soon. acted as the chief justice of from 2005 until his up retireGuyana has not had a the Mexican Embassy has teamed with had advised PM Nagamootoo, after reprethe country, is expected to ment earlier this year.

He substantive chancellor of the the GRDB and COPA Airlines to ensure sentation was made, that Mexico is keen on take up the substantive posithat Guyana has a bigger presence at for the buying Guyana’s rice and assured that steps also stressed the need Judiciary since 2005, mainly tion of chief justice. Justice Expo this year.

The Expo will take place would have been tracked to open market for due to the fact that the oppo- substantive appointments Roxanne from parties March 6-8 and more than 50,000 Guyana’sGeorge-Wiltshire rice in Mexico. Mexico in the guarantee of judicial sitionimports and governing issome currently the acting people from 30 countries are expected one million tons chief of rice annually. have not agreed on candi- independence to citizens. justice.

Meanwhile, as a result of the success, to attend.

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018

18

Emphasis on Real Estate, Taxes and Business The Edgar Henry Column

T

he year 2018 is upon us. Why so much talk of the Social Security issue? Does the system need an overhaul? Are we being treated unjustly by the administration for our hard earned contributions? Is the Trump administration fair in its recent proposal?

WHAT IS SOCIAL SECURITY? per month compared to $2,687 per Social Security operates prima- month last year.

The 2018 COLA marks the first rily as what we call in the Caribbean Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE). Social Se- significant increase in Social Security curity taxes withheld from your pay- benefits in several years following a check are used mostly to pay today’s paltry 0.3% increase last year and no retirees their benefits. The maximum increase in 2016.

Here is where the problem lies. taxable earnings for Social Security withholding for 2018 are $128,700. This year, 2018, it is estimated that This maximum is up from $127,200 the payroll taxes Social Security takes in 2017. Medicare withholding has no in will be less than what it must pay maximum. The maximum withhold- out. Unless something changes, Soing amount is adjusted each year by a cial Security will have to start making formula based on cost of living in- u p creases.

The Social Security tax rate is 12.4 percent; 6.2 percent is withheld from each of the employer and employee. The full 12.4 percent is paid by self-employed individuals.

Each worker must pay in 12.4 percent of wages. If you are self employed you pay the entire 12.04%. If you work for someone else, your employer pays half which is 6.2%.

The Medicare withholding and employer-paid amounts are added to the Social Security rate to get what's called FICA taxes. The Medicare the difference by tapping the Treasrates are 1.45% each, for a total of ury. It is projected that by 2042 they 2.9%. So the total FICA tax amount will be tapped out, at which point Social Security will only be able to pay is 15.3%.

Over the years Social Security out 75 percent of its obligations based has taken in much more money than on the tax revenue it takes in.

WHY THE SHORTFALL? it has had to pay out. This enormous For the most part the problem is surplus is loaned to the Treasury, and in exchange Social Security receives demographic. In a few years’ time Treasury bonds. According to the So- there will be a massive increase of recial Security Administration (SSA), tirees, thanks to the Baby Boomers. the receipts are worth much more Also people will be living longer, than $1.7 trillion and more than $80 thanks to life expectancy. Projections billion in interest annually. This show that there will not be enough year’s benefit payout is in the vicinity contributing workers at that time to provide the level of Social Security of $500 billion. benefits to compensate and offset the PROJECTION benefit payout.

Monthly Social Security benefits for more than 66 million Americans will increase by 2% this year 2018, it is the largest increase in retirement and survivor benefits for workers and their families since 2012. The higher payments will begin this month. The average retirement benefit will increase by $27 per month to $1,404 per month this year. The maximum benefit for someone who retires at full retirement age in 2018 will be $2,788

THE BIG QUESTION? What changes are needed to make Social Security solvent and when should they be made? The Trump administration has signaled that it will propose changing the formula that sets initial Social Security benefit levels, cutting promised benefits by a third in the coming decades.

It is believed that the change would save trillions of dollars in scheduled

Social Security Hiccups 2018 outlays and solve Social Security’s long term deficit. There's a proposal to make individuals responsible for investing some of their own Social Security dollars. And it is hoped that the outcome could have a big impact on your retirement.

Financial experts would like to see more concrete details on how the plan would work, with assurance of safeguards to prevent losses due to bad investments and plenty of investor education. The big potential downside is that people could do a lousy job investing their money, as some seasoned investors are prone to do.

If you're under a certain age, you can opt to take a portion of the

money you put toward Social Security and put it in an investment account. Sometimes referred to as a personal savings account, or private investment account, it would probably function similar to a 401(k). Ideally, you would be able to choose several ways of investing the money, including methods with low return for low risk, or higher risk for the possibility of higher returns. On retirement, you would either start making withdrawals or cash in all or part of your account in return for an annuity that would offer a regular fixed payment.

Can you grow that money into something substantial? There is no possibility in the world that most boomers can throw off enough money to retire comfortably using private accounts.

HOW WILL THIS WORK? Investors and finance experts will likely need more information on who will be managing the money, as well as how those companies will be selected. Ideas now being floated: the government selects one brokerage

company, the government selects several brokerage companies or the government creates an entity that does all or part of the management itself. Another big debate: if you are truly free to invest the money as you see fit, should you be allowed to invest in anything you choose or should the government limit your investment choices?

DOES THAT MONTHLY CHECK REALLY MATTER? In a perfect world, no one would be totally dependent on a Social Security check. But for one fifth of retirees, Social Security is half or more of their income. As a matter of fact it's a major source of income for most of the elderly in the U.S. So what would happen if the majority of them mess up their investments? It's almost impossible not to make a mistake in investments sooner or later. If the system is coming off automatic, are there provisions for teaching individuals the finer points of steering their investment money? Most people are not good investors, and to boot it's even hard for good investors.

The general public doesn't have the working knowledge to grow money. Making smart money decisions takes a lot of knowledge. People who need Social Security the most are the people whose lifetime background least prepares them to make those kind of financial decisions. Likewise, what happens to people who are now halfway through their working-andsaving life but started out contributing to the old system before switching over?

As people get closer to retirement age, and to drawing out their money, there should be a mechanism for lowering their risk. There are so many unanswered questions and for Congress coming up with a plan that would satisfy all the forces out there is quite a herculean task. We now have to wait with baited breath.

“It is always better to have information and not need it than to need it and not have it.”

To have all your real estate questions answered — FREE CONSULTATION — call: Edgar Henry @ (718) 930-9526

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018

19

Is America A “Managed Democracy?”

I

don’t know about you but to me there is something terribly mindboggling about the not recent American — especially the mainstream media and political pundits — obsession with Russia. For most of 2017, after the 2016 US Presidential Elections, the daily news reports were consistently, nauseatingly ad infinitum about alleged Russian electoral meddling, disinformation on Facebook, a thousand times repeated questions about if President Trump and Company colluded with Vladimir Putin, and endless Congressional hearings, political posturing, and tough talk from TV anchors and politicians of all stripes. That’s an obsession, a chronic unhealthy obsession, if I ever saw one.

Okay, so the Kremlin’s forceful annexation of the Crimean peninsula, its military adventures in Syria, and it’s meddling in elections abroad may help explain some of America’s sense of anxiety, alarm and grim foreboding. But pardon me for stating the obvious. These well-known “Russian indiscretions” abysmally fail to explain why Americans are so much more paranoid and vexed by al things Russia than they are by, say, the growing military and economic power and geopolitical ambitions of China.

Americans also appear not too worried about the global ideological challenge of radical Islam or the sheer incomprehensible lunacy of a nuclear-armed erratic North Korea.

Presumably, Russia today suffers from demographic decline and stunted modernization. And too, its economy is over-dependent on exporting natural resources like gas and oil. Ironically, the Russian population has one of the highest percentages of university-educated people but the lowest labor productivity in the industrialized world. And although President Putin is a strong and tough leader (some say he’s ruthless but that’s a mater of opinion) who enjoys huge support at home and celebrity status abroad, Russia’s institutions are fundamentally corrupt and systematically dysfunctional: Russian bureaucrats spend much of their time and energy fighting over money and power and have little time to cooperate to make things work.

And with all of this, Americans are still transfixed, mesmerized and terrified

by Russia. But here’s a curious conundrum: For decades now the Kremlin has sought to explain away its problems and failures by blaming foreign, particularly United States, meddling. Now America is doing the same thing. Moreover, everything that liberal and some conservative Americans dislike — Mr. Trump’s electoral victory, the reverse of the process of democratization in the world, and the decline of American international power — are today viewed as the results of Mr. Putin’s political machinations, shenanigans and plottings. For most Americans, Russia is seen as a frightening example of how authoritarian rule can function within the institutional framework of a democ-

racy. And that sends shivers down their collective spines as they look in the political mirror.

Indeed, Russia’s “managed democracy” — and that is what it is — provides Americans with a clear and unvarnished illustration of how institutions and practices that originally empowered and emancipated citizens from the clutches of dictatorial rulers can be

refashioned, repackaged, and reengineered to effectively disenfranchise these same citizens even while allowing them to vote in presumably “free and fair elections.”

The Russian example is also rife with object lessons about what politics can look like when the elites are completely divorced from “WE THE PEOPLE.” For Americans, especially progressive Americans, Russia’s “managed democracy” is a socio-economic

construct that produced, under Mr. Putin, a highly unequal society and one in which rising inequality is normalized, and where a handful of very rich and politically connected rulers have managed to stay on top without having to resort to much violence. Fact is, the privileged few do not need to dominate or control their fellow citizens; they can simply ig-

An Essay by MICHAEL DEREK ROBERTS

nore them like an irrelevant nuisance.

Okay. I get it. The American and Russian systems of politics, government and economics, despite the rule of oligarchs in both nations, are very different.

That’s very true. And it will take a long time before Americans start to realize that while the American economy is dramatically different from that of Russia, the technological revolution led by Silicon Valley could in time tilt Western societies toward authoritarian politics in the same way that an abundance of natural resources has made Mr. Putin’s regime possible. Robots are not that interested in democracy.

The view from North America for many years was to see Russia and its social and political undulations as a country stuck in the past, perhaps someday to develop into a modern country like the United States. But I submit that that’s no longer the case here. Today, consciously or not, what Americans really are seeing when they look at Russia is the very real possibility that this is what they could become in the future. Problem is that all of the components are already in place as our democratic institutions are being daily eroded and corporations are now “people.” It’s therefore not a huge quantum leap in thought to see America moving to a managed democracy (perhaps a hybrid one unique to the United States).

Hell, we may well be there already.

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018

20

The Principles Of Social Darwinism wealthy. Their argument is that the more money and resources that rich people have will somehow inspire them to invest in society and help “lift all boats.”

This discredited “trickle down” economic theory is still dusted off and resurrected by the Republican members of Congress. Lastly, these deeply flawed and warped arguments underscore Republican neo-conservative positions that poor people behave one way — they are lazy and have lots of babies — while wealthy people behave differently. This classist logic then gets mixed up with racism and is frequently applied to Black people. Today we see Republican stereotypes of African Americans (poor with too many children) as quintessential Social Darwinism.

Transferring the American public's resources upward to the rich has long been the religious goal of the Republican Party from the 1970s to the present day.

Deregulating the economy and annihilating any claim that in a good society human beings have basic responsibilities to one another and are core elements in this strategy. Today, the economic phi-

(from page 7)

losophy called "neoliberalism" — which could perhaps be more appropriately labeled "gangster capitalism" — is closely connected to Social-Darwinist beliefs.

It is perhaps apropos here to define Neoliberalism. It is a political-economic philosophy emphasizing free market capitalism. For conservative Republicans this means a marked preference for small government, limited public expenditure on social services (including welfare), minimal government regulations, free trade, and a large and well-armed military. Neoliberalism is consistent with Social Darwinism’s ideological and philosophical thinking in that both prefer little to no social welfare (or aid to the poor), and vehemently oppose progressive taxation policies that redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor.

Today, Republicans are deliberately advancing a backward-facing view of American society and human development. The next salvo in their war on the American people has already started with loud arguments that programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are somehow too expensive, and thus unsustainable, because of the destruction caused by their tax bill. By removing these

public safety nets, Republicans in Congress and across America are dead set on taking what little the poor still have and giving it to the rich. They are embarking on a journey to make the American society pregnant with vassals.

Many Republican Social Darwinists — consciously or unconsciously — embrace laissez-faire capitalism and racism. They believe that government should not interfere in the “survival of the fittest” by helping the poor, and promoting the idea that some races (“White/Caucasian”) are biologically superior to others. Not always seen or heard openly, but more by the daily actions and behavior of Republicans in Congress, they believe that (mainly White) businessmen and others who were economically and socially successful are so because they are biologically superior to others and socially “naturally” the fittest. Conversely, they reason that the poor are “naturally” weak and therefore unfit. And it would be an error to allow the weak of the species to continue to breed.

Herbert Spencer [see below] gave this racist; cruel and inhumane example of a young woman from upstate New

York named Margaret, whom he described as a “gutter-child.” Because government aid had kept her alive, Margaret had, as Spencer wrote, “proved to be the prolific mother” of two hundred descendants who were “idiots, imbeciles, drunkards, lunatics, paupers, and prostitutes.” Spencer concluded by asking, “Was it kindness or cruelty which, generation after generation, enabled these to multiply and become an increasing curse to the society around them?”

Sadly, such arrogant, racist and cruel thinking still permeates American society today — only in a different form cloaked in $1,000 Armani suits.

[Herbert Spencer noted British sociologist and biologist adapted Charles Darwin's notion of natural selection and applied the theory to human society in a philosophy that became known as "Social Darwinism."

It was Spencer who coined the term "survival of the fittest," using it to apply to the fate of rich and poor in a laissez faire capitalist society. Spencer argued that there was nothing unnatural — and therefore wrong — with competing and then rising to the top in a cut- throat capitalist world.]

State of the US Nation (from page 5) ment. Times have changed. My message to the young is get a good education.

Without it, you are Les Miserables.

HOUSING This section is concerned with hous-

ing in Metropolitan New York. Public housing is in great demand. Everyone needs a piece of it. “Advocates for homeless people are demanding more apartments for families living in shelters.

School officials want space in public housing for new prekindergarten classes. Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to use open land in the projects for new affordable housing.”

Additionally, over 250,000 households are on the waiting list for an apartment in one of the New York City Housing Authority’s 334 developments.

In most areas in Brooklyn, single house buildings are bought and replaced by high rise luxury apartments. People cannot afford to live in “ordinary” apartment buildings. In East Flatbush, for example, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment ranges from $1,500–$1,800 per month.

Mayor Bill Deblasio whose re-election was based on providing affordable housing for New Yorkers, is not delivering on his word. He must provide $23 million for immediate repairs to Castle Hill Houses in the Bronx. The cost for repairs to Baruch Houses, the largest project in Manhattan, needs $241.9 million in repairs.

A popular advertisement states that New York is the best place to live in America. The point is well taken. However, as it becomes more crowded, it is harder to find a place to live.

There was a time when one could find a room to rent easily at a cheap price in New York. These days, prices have risen unreasonably and fewer are available.

This is a real crisis. We listen to politicians, both at City and State levels talking about “the people.” I’ll tell you what always concerns me. Young, single women with children in day care, who work at low paying jobs. You might argue that they should know their situation and avoid having children until they can afford. Who knows? Different strokes for different folks.

DEPORTATION FROM US According to Creede Newton (ALJAZEERA Jan 1, 2018), “The administration of President Donald Trump is still pursuing ‘a dangerous anti-immigrant agenda’, activists have warned, despite recent figures showing a significant decrease in the number of deportations of Mexican citizens from the United States.”

The most reported deportations are of Mexicans. However, Caribbean persons are being deported in record numbers.

Many of these deportees have lived here most of their lives and have no family back home. My argument is that those who have lived here from their early teens or earlier learned their crime here. The US must take some blame for their actions. When they are deported to their “home country”, they create a great criminal problem.

CONCLUSION My hope is that political compromise and civility will replace gridlock and disrespect in the halls of Congress. I wish that the unemployment of the unskilled will improve and that the poor and disenfranchised would have a better year.

Good luck.

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018

New York Chronicle Horoscope

21

CROSSWORD CROSSWORD

ISSUE 82 CROSSWORD ANSWER

ARIES (Mar. 21 - April 20) Sit tight. Things aren’t as bad as they appear. Don’t let an incident at work play on your mind. You could find yourself left with someone’s dirty laundry. Your changing philosophies may lead you into new circles and open doors that will give you a unique outlook on life. Your lucky day next week will be Thursday.

TAURUS (Apr. 21- May 21) Passion is inevitable and commitments can be made during the heat of the night. Travel will enhance romance and adventure. Money can be made if you are willing to take a chance. Much can be accomplished if you compromise. Your lucky day next week will be Friday.

GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) Don’t let someone try to bully you into doing things their way. Your outgoing nature will surprise others this week. You can expand your circle of friends if you get out and socialize. Consider starting a small business on the side. Look for a marketable gimmick. Your lucky day next week will be Saturday.

CANCER (June 22 - July 22) You may want to pull out some of those unfinished project you’ve got tucked away. Be careful; you may upset someone you live with if you don’t consult with them. Don’t hesitate to sign up for creative courses or physical fitness programs. Look into some personal changes. Your lucky day next week will be Friday.

LEO (July 23 - Aug 22) You have to take hold of your life and make some crucial decisions. You will gain valuable insight and knowledge through the experiences you have along the way. You can make a big difference to children if you try to understand the difficulties they are experiencing. Think of joining a health club that will benefit your physical appearance. Your lucky day next week will be Sunday.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept. 23) Travel will be favorable and bring you the greatest rewards. An older member of your family may have left you with a pressing situation. The danger of minor accidents will increase with the turmoil. Don’t press your luck with your loved ones. Your lucky day next week will be Wednesday.

LIBRA (Sept. 24 - Oct. 23 Be sure to cover all the necessary groundwork before signing binding contracts. Your ability to organize and get everyone together will enhance your popularity and bring interest from potential mates. Resist secret affairs that could be detrimental to your reputation. Take a second look; another person’s philosophy may be extremely different from yours. Your lucky day next week will be Saturday.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) Don’t reveal anything about your personal life to those who may use such information against you. Don’t let your emotional partner upset you this week. Legal matters that have been pending may be alleviated through compromise. Don’t make financial contributions in order to impress others. Your lucky day next week will be Wednesday.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 - Dec. 21) Relationships will be erratic this week. Try not to make waves. Invite people home to discuss your plans for group fund-raising events and outings.

Difficulties relating to children will be stressful. Your lucky day next week will be Monday.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22.- Jan. 20) Don’t let coworkers get wind of your ideas or they might try to take credit for your hard work. Call siblings or old friends to catch up on recent news.

It is time to clear your decks. Look out for yourself this week. Your lucky day this week will be Friday.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) Take time to catch up on gossip and make plans to do a little adventure travel. You’re on to something tangible and need to act fast. Discord may arise with someone you’re close to. Your dynamic, determined approach will win favors as well as a helping hand. Your lucky day next week will be Wednesday.

PISCES (Feb. 20 - Mar. 20) Don’t make any drastic changes or begin new projects this week. Plans to make physical improvements may lead to psychological changes, too.

Things may not be as they sound. You may find out that someone is trying to undermine you. Your lucky day next week will be Friday.

ACROSS 1. Long ___ 4. ___ cubes 7. ___ Four (The Beatles) 10. Documentary-maker Burns 11. Like most college dorms 13. “Damn Yankees” temptress 14. Part of a Panhandle address (2 wds.)

17. Tres minus dos 18. Actor Johnson (a.k.a “The Rock”) 19. Slander 22. Heating fuel 23. Doubles 24. Annoys 28. Digits (abbr.)

29. Peugeot product

W O R D F I N D

B E S T

ALLEN BIGELOW BOYLE CAMERON CAPRA COEN COPPOLA CUKOR CURTIZ DEMME EASTWOOD FORD FORMAN FOSSE GIBSON HOOPER HOWARD HUSTON

D I R E C T O R S

7. Cunning 8. Alda of “The Aviator” 9. Army depot 12. L.A. athlete 13. Not in the ___ 15. Wreckage 30. Chart 16. “ ___ the night before . . .”

31. Lockup 19. Alps, e.g. (abbr.)

34. Ecru 20. Army deserter (abbr.)

36. “Flags of ___Fathers” 21. Actress Kudrow 37. Lost feathers 24. Golf goal 38. Sullen 25. Discharge 41. Stubborn beast 26. Irate state 42. Not fit to live in 27. Went rapidly 47. Oafs, informally 29. Trix, e.g.

48. Carson’s successor 32.

Satellites 49. Cowboy Rogers 33. Cornmeal preparation 50. Double curve 34. ___ baked beans 51. Snug retreat 35. Columnist Maxwell 52. Have debts 37. Bangor’s locale DOWN 1. Wanted poster letters 38. Certain slipper 2. Precious stone 39. Responsibility 3. “Hooked ___ Feel40. Outfits ing” (2 wds.)

43. Sleepytime spot 4. Cake frostings 44. Sis’s sibling 5. Punctuation symbol 45. High’s opposite 6. Snakelike fish 46. Pupil’s place

JACKSON KAZAN LEAN LEE LEVINSON MANN MENDES MINGHELLA NICHOLS POLANSKI POLLACK SCORCESE SPIELBERG STEVENS STONE TAUROG WILDER WYLER

ISSUE 82 WORDFIND ANSWER

22

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018

EMPHASIS ON COMMUNITY AFFAIRS

BP DIAZ ISSUES ACTION PLAN FOR PUERTO RICO Ruben Diaz Jr. Bronx Borough President John DeSio Communications Director

“Left In The Dark” outlines 28 steps the City, State and Federal governments can take to assist Puerto Rico and its residents in the short and long term Today, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. issued a new report,“Left In The Dark: An Action Plan for Puerto Rico’s Future 100 Days After Hurricane Maria,” outlining an action plan for the short and long term recovery of the island of Puerto Rico.

The report was released to mark the grim occasion of the 100th day since Hurricane Maria struck the island, and includes 28 recommendations that New York City, New York State and the federal government should enact to assist the ongoing recovery of Puerto Rico.

“The Trump Administration and the federal government are failing Puerto Rico,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. “For 100 days the people of the island—nearly 3.5 million American citizens—have lacked power, adequate food and medical supplies, and other critical necessities that most of us take for granted. Our families and friends, our fellow Americans, need and deserve our help. Given the refusal of President Trump to step up for Puerto Rico, it is up to others to craft the agenda for the island’s recovery.”

Chief among the report’s recommendations is the creation of a new oversight panel to coordinate relief efforts between New York City, New York State and the federal government. This panel would be comprised of elected officials, the business and non-profit leaders, infrastructure experts, healthcare representatives and others, and would guide relief efforts in both the short and long term, in order to best address the needs to the people of Puerto Rico.

In addition the report calls for New York City to open offices in Puerto Rico to provide family reunification and other services, “Sister City” and “Adopt A

— WANTED — ADVERTISING SALES EXECUTIVES The New York Edition (Guyana Chronicle, Inc.) is looking for motivated sales representatives to join our team, selling print and online advertising to an established account list.

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Town” partnership programs to help guide local aid, the creation of a volunteer tourism program in New York State to guide New Yorkers to the Island to assist in relief projects during their free time, the repeal of the Jones Act and the development of an emergency preparedness registry for Puerto Rico to better prepare for the next disaster, among other proposals.

“So many people are doing everything they can to assist the recovery of Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Governor Cuomo’s administration has done more for the island than any local government entity in this nation, and individuals and families all over the nation have done what they can. These efforts are certainly welcome, and I know firsthand from my own friends and family that the people of Puerto Rico appreciate our support. However, the Island needs much, much more assistance,” said Borough President Diaz. “I look forward to working with leaders across the nation to implement this action plan for Puerto Rico and to help the Island and its people recover from the ongoing aftermath of this disaster.”

“Left In The Dark: An Action Plan for Puerto Rico’s Future 100 Days After Hurricane Maria,” can be read at http://bronxboropres.nyc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/bxbp-puerto-rico-left-in-the-dark-100-days-report.pdf.

BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ SWORN IN FOR THIRD TERM

R

uben Diaz Jr. was sworn in for his third full term as the 13th Bronx Borough President at a ceremony held at The Bronx County Building, Veterans’ Memorial Hall.

Borough President Diaz first took office as Bronx Borough President in May 2009, and was reelected last year to serve his third and final term. Borough President Diaz was sworn in to office by Hon. Elizabeth A. Taylor, Judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Bronx County.

“Over the past eight and a half years we’ve done so well in moving the needle forward on our agenda to make The Bronx an even better place to live, work and raise a family,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. “During the next four years we will continue our efforts to improve our borough, as we show

Borough President Diaz being sworn in to office by Hon. Elizabeth A. Taylor, Judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Bronx County.

the entire world how far The Bronx has come and how much further we are ready to go.”

Deputy Bronx Borough President Marricka Scott-McFadden was also sworn in by Judge Taylor during the event.

The ceremony was streamed live on the borough president’s social media accounts, and can be watched at http://bit.ly/2CwJTFk.

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018

23

EMPHASIS ON CARIBBEAN AFFAIRS

Emera Caribbean acquires Bahamas electricity company NASSAU – The Bahamas government says it has approved a 100 per cent ownership of the Grand Bahama Power & Light Company Limited (GBPL), by Emera Caribbean Holdings Limited (ECHL).

ECHL, the wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian-based Emera, is the parent company of Barbados Light & Power (BLPC), majority shareholder in Dominica Electricity Services Ltd. (DOMLEC), and an investor in St Lucia Electricity Services Ltd. (LUCELEC).

The cash value of the acquisition was not disclosed.

In a statement, the Bahamas government said it had taken note of the terms of the buyout of the minority shares held

by Bahamians, pursuant to a proposal commenced over a year ago. The gov-

ernment said it was a transaction which in all respects exceeded the requirements of Bahamas Company Law. “Further, the transaction was approved by a majority of the Bahamian shareholders, who voted at a meeting of shareholders on 8 November 2017,” it stated.

The Hubert Minnis administration said that one of the stipulations for the proposed transaction included a requirement that “the majority of the minority” of shareholders should support the proposed shares acquisition.

“This threshold was significantly exceeded with the support of 96 per cent of those who voted,” the statement noted.

It said while the policy of the government is, and remains, to encourage Bahamian ownership and participation in

the domestic economy wherever possible, it was not found to be legally justifiable for the Bahamas government to intervene in the shareholding transactions between a private company and its shareholders, all of whom had the ability to seek independent counsel and advice.

“The government’s commitment to advancing Bahamian ownership and participation in the economy will, in the near future, be further expanded and deepened with the offering of shares to the Bahamian general public and institutional investors in ALIV (mobile telephone

company) and subsequently in BTC (Bahamas Telecommunications Company).”

The government said this will help in the expansion of a shareholder society for more Bahamians.

(CMC)

51 Killed in Peru Bus Crash

F

ifty-one people were killed when a bus plunged 100 meters down a cliff and landed on a beach in Peru. Authorities called it one of the deadliest vehicle accidents in the nation's history.

Six people survived the crash Tuesday, one of whom jumped out of the bus moments before it fell.

Rescuers worked for more than 24 hours recovering bodies from the wreckage on a rocky beach with no road access.

The bus collided with a tractortrailer on a narrow stretch of highway

known as the "Devil's Curve'' in Pasamayo, north of the capital, Lima.

The road, which runs alongside the Pacific Ocean, is considered one of the most dangerous in Peru.

It has 52 curves in a stretch of 22 kilometers bordered by a low wall just 50 centimeters high. Sea spray and fog make it particularly treacherous.

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski announced Wednesday that he was ordering the transportation ministry to begin working on plans to expand a nearby road farther from the cliff so buses no longer

have to use the "Devil's Curve.''

More than 2,600 people were killed in road accidents in Peru in 2016, most of which involved buses that carry travelers in the countryside.

Poor road conditions and little enforcement of traffic safety regulations are blamed for most crashes.

December 31, 2017 from Toronto.

Customs officials at the Grantley Adams International Airport found 58 vacuum-sealed packages of cannabis concealed in his paddleboard.

Police were informed and Sylvester

was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of cannabis, possession with intent to supply, trafficking and importation.

He appeared before Magistrate Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell in the District “B”

Magistrates’ Court Wednesday and pleaded guilty to the offences.

He was fined $80 000 for the offence of trafficking and convicted reprimanded and discharged on the other offences.

(PR/NB)

Mogherini's remarks came on the first of a two-day visit to Cuba that will include meetings with officials with the aim of a "swift joint implementation of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) between the EU and Cuba," according to an EU statement.

The agreement covers dialogue and cooperation on issues such as human rights, migration and drugs and governance, and commercial exchanges.

US-Cuba ties began to warm when Obama was in office, with the countries exchanging ambassadors in 2015 for the first time since 1961, but Trump has taken a different approach.

In June Trump appeared in Miami before a cheering crowd of Cuban-Americans, including veterans of the failed CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion, to vow

to reverse Obama's measures.

In November, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin laid out a series of revived rules.

Under the directives, Americans will be forbidden from doing business with entities on a State Department list headed by the Cuban Defense and Interior ministries.

Also on the list are five major holding companies with ties to Raul Castro's government or military, and which between them control much of the organized tourism sector.

The list goes on to list dozens of major hotels in Havana and several resorts, along with five Caribbean marinas, 10 stores in touristy Old Havana and industries serving the military.

(Caribbeannews.net)

VOA - Thursday 4th January, 2018

Heavy fine for Canadian drug trafficker

A

Canadian visitor who brought cannabis into Barbados avoided two years in prison when his lawyer paid an $80,000 fine.

Twenty-four-year-old Michael Dwight Sylvester arrived in Barbados on

EU foreign policy chief says 'blockade' of Cuba not solution

B

lockading Cuba is not the solution, the European Union's foreign policy chief said Wednesday on a trip aimed at strengthening ties with Havana, after Washington tightened restrictions on the island.

Much of the half-century-old US economic embargo against Cuba remains entrenched in law, but under former President Barack Obama, federal authorities began to loosen some rules — something his successor Donald Trump vowed to reverse.

"The blockade (of Cuba) is not the solution. The Europeans have told our American friends many times; we have affirmed it in the United Nations," Federica Mogherini said during a presentation to students and teachers in Havana.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini

"We know well that the sole effect of the blockade is to worsen the quality of life of women, men and children," she said.

"The blockade is obsolete, it is illegal," Mogherini said.

24

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018

Justice Kenneth Benjamin deserves unbiased consideration for top judicial post —

by Albert Baldeo

I

nterested expatriates here in the USA, Queens College of Guyana (QC) alumni, and others, have read the subjective and downright unfair attacks on Justice Kenneth Benjamin’s fitness to be appointed Chancellor of Guyana. While we hold no brief for Mr. Benjamin, we urge that no one should be allowed to wallow in the vitriolic tendency to unjustifiably criticize our own and usurp the consideration, respect and due process he has earned in the selection process.

The legal support staff in the USA, including many law clerks, court attorneys and other staff, supplement the work of the Judges and reduce backlogs efficiently — a vital help since many Judges are unduly burdened with constant administrative tasks. The backlog accumulation and budgetary constraints due to a lack of such support staff is no doubt a recurring problem in many jurisdictions, including the USA and many Commonwealth jurisdictions, especially since the Chief Justices, ex officio, are required to adjudicate a greater number of cases than other Judges.

In a recent article, the Amandala newspaper of Belize stated that “the matter of outstanding judgments by the Supreme

Court had come up even prior to Justice Benjamin’s tenure in Belize and that the Bar Association had taken on the Judiciary when Dr. Abdulai Conteh served as Chief Justice of Belize, but at the time, the contention was that there were over 50 delayed judgments, with about 60% of those pending from then Supreme Court Justice Samuel Awich . . . the allegation now is that Justice Benjamin is responsible for the bulk of the pending cases, as the other justices have tried to keep their backlogs to a minimum.”

The most painful delays are wrought in criminal cases, where accused citizens must not be deprived of the fundamentally guaranteed right to a speedy trial. Whereas

any delays in any judicial matter is a cause for concern, the paper does not cite any delays in the adjudication of criminal cases

by Judge Benjamin. Instead, it reported that “there are several cases for which no decision has been handed down, ranging from personal injury cases to banking matters, including a case involving a challenge to the sale of shares in Belize Telemedia Limited to the Belize Social Security Board.”

In 1973, we were given an unprecedented two consecutive holidays at QC when then alumni Kenneth Benjamin and two other Six Formers were awarded the prestigious Guyana scholarships out of 7 national awards for academic excellence.

I remember the pride we felt as QC boys, and the academic impetus our continuing collective scholastic dominance brought us, honoring a proud legacy fostered by other QC alumni, e.g.: Presidents Dr. Cheddi Jagan, Forbes Burnham, Samuel Hinds and Brigadier David Granger; Sir David Rose, First Guyanese Governor General; Dr. Walter Rodney, historian; Sir Lionel Luckhoo, Sir Shridat Ramphal, Fred Wills, Rashleigh Jackson, Diplomats and lawyers; Michael Abbensetts, playwright; E. R. Braithwaite (To Sir, With Love acclaim), novelist; Vibert C. Cambridge, Media Professor; Wilson Harris, novelist; Christopher Nicole, novelist; Martin Carter, A.J Seymour, Wordsworth McAndrew, poets; Sir Kenneth Stoby, Chancellor; Dr. Harry Annamunthodo, Professor of Medicine; Professor E. Nigel Harris; Walter Farrar, Bishop; Rayman Gajraj, Mayor; Guy E. L. de Weever, author of The Children's Story of Guyana; Rhona Fox, actress; Trevor Phillips, British politician; Bruce Pairadeau, Roger Harper, West Indies cricketers; Dr. Nadia Ramdin, hematologist and medical oncologist; Gordon Rohlehr, scholar; Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, lecturer; Dr. Keith E. Wilson, NASA/JPL physicist; Norman Beaton, actor; and many others too numerous to mention and recall.

This was a brilliant start to his legal career, which became further embellished with many outstanding appointments. Justice Benjamin received his legal training from the University of the West Indies and the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago, and then returned to Guyana where he practiced privately, and served as a Magistrate and the Assistant Judge Advocate for the Guyana Defense Force. “Benjie,” as he is affectionately called by many, served on the Court of Appeals in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, sitting in both St. Lucia and St. Vincent. He also served as the Presiding Judge for the Criminal Division of the High Court in St. Lucia and the High Court Judge in Antigua, British Virgin Islands and Grenada. Prior to his Chief Justice appointment in Belize, he served as Chief Magistrate in Antigua and Barbuda, and he

is a member of the Commonwealth Magistrates and Jud-ges Association, a former Rotarian, a former cricket executive in Antigua and a Fellow of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute.

However, it is as an empathetic, knowledgeable, yet humble advocate that we remember Judge Benjamin, who like Ashton Chase S.C., Ralph Ramkarran S.C., Vidyanand Persaud S.C., Judge Prem Persaud, Judge Cecil Kennard and Judge Loris Ganpatsingh, to name a few, was always willing to advise or assist less accomplished members of the legal profession. Indeed, any of these would have made exemplary Chancellors, but some are now unavailable due to the passage of Father Time.

Judge Benjamin is certainly qualified, experienced, temperamentally suited and independent-minded for the Chancellor’s position, and, indeed, brings more to the table than many of his predecessors and rivals, and deserves due consideration.

Being a dual citizen of Guyana and Antigua is an asset, as he may not be vulnerable to either intrinsic and/or extrinsic pressures.

Here’s some food for thought. Another way of filling judicial vacancies is by changing the Constitution and implementing transparent public elections, without candidates running on any party lines. This is the best democratic process. Then let the people decide. Candidates will debate each other, and publicly announce their positions on issues of public and legal importance. It is the most decisive way of filling any position that serves the public interest.

Editor’s Note: Albert Baldeo is a civil rights activist and community advocate, and his political battles placed previously ignored minority communities like Richmond Hill and Ozone Park firmly on the political and economic map. As the President of the Baldeo Foundation and Queens Justice Center, he has continued to fight for equal rights, dignity and inclusion in the decision making process. He can be contacted at the Baldeo Foundation: AlBaldeo@aol.com or (718) 529-2300.

JUSTICE KENNETH BENJAMIN

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending January 5, 2018

25

Justice George did not apply for CJ, Chancellor posts

By Ariana Gordon ACTING Chief Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire did not apply for either position of chief justice or chancellor of the judiciary, sources close to the panel that conducted the interview said on Thursday.

In fact, the Guyana Chronicle understands that there were five applicants including the duo nominated for the two top posts: Kenneth Benjamin (Chancellor) and Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards (Chief Justice). There has been much public discourse over who applied and have been nominated by the President. Many were of the opinion that Justice George was overlooked by President David Granger when in fact, she did not apply for any of the posts. On Wednesday, in a letter to the editor, six representatives of the Red Thread, a non-governmental organisation, joined the debate. In their missive published by this newspaper under the heading, “Both had demonstrated integrity and independence in their decisions,” the letter writers said both Justices George and Cummings-Edwards are worthy of confirmation in their posts.

“Both have demonstrated, particularly since their acting appointments, integrity and independence in their decisions in constitutional and

citizens’ rights cases and in upholding the rule of law, and have clearly not allowed governmental expectations to

and have effectively [been] demoted in preference for someone else. It seems that the notion that women are

who is a Guyanese-born Chief Justice of Belize is an experienced judicial officer and attorney-at-law with highly

Chief Justice (ag) Roxanne George- Wiltshire

Chief Justice of Belize, Kenneth Benjamin

Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag) Yonette Cummings- Edwards

influence their decisions,” the letter said.

The letter writers comprising Andaiye, Karen De Souza, Patricia Sheerattan- Bisnauth, Josephine Whitehead and Danuta Radzik, said it would be disappointing if either of the two women jurists applied for their substantive posts and not be recommended by the advisory panel appointed by the president.

That panel comprises Justice of Appeal, Claudette Singh; Justice James Patterson and Professor Harold Lutchman. “We are not aware of any other acting appointments in which the holders have not been substantively confirmed

dispensable and should be ready to step aside for a man when asked to do so is alive and well in Guyana, despite all the rhetoric about gender equality,” the missive continued. The letter writers opined that the appointment of the women to the acting positions in March 2017 “gave hope and encouragement to women and girls that are survivors of brutal trauma and sexual assault.”

While the other applicants and nominees for the two posts are unknown, sources maintain that Justice George did not apply and as such could not be considered for either post.

Meanwhile, Benjamin,

developed research skills and a profound knowledge of the laws of the Commonwealth Caribbean states and territories, his Curriculum Vitae stated. He was admitted to law practice 39 years ago and serves as a judicial officer at the magisterial, high court and appellate levels in Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Belize for 24 years.

He also lectured and facilitated training initiatives for judicial officers and court personnel in the Eastern Caribbean, Barbados and Belize,

supervisor of implementation of case-management and delay-reduction processes in the criminal justice system in Saint Lucia, participated in committees for rule-making and civil-procedure review in the Eastern Caribbean.

Benjamin also served as chair of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission and General Legal Council of Belize, introduced and executed criminal justice reforms and alternative dispute resolution initiatives to the justice system in Belize and piloted child-friendly family courts.

Additionally, he serves as Chair of the Conference of Heads of Judiciary of the Caribbean, a post he has held since 2015. Benjamin, a former Queen’s College graduate, studied law at the Universities of Guyana and the West Indies, along with the Hugh Wooding Law School.

Justice Cummings-Edwards on the other hand has 28 years legal and judicial experience. She started her career as a state prosecutor and legal advisor in the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecution and rose to various senior positions thereafter. Apart from being acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, she served as acting Chief Justice, Justice of Appeal, judge of the High Court, Acting Director of Public Prosecutions, and Senior state Counsel. Justice Yonette Cummings-Ed-

wards is also the holder of a Masters of Laws Degree from the University of London.

She has also attended several international conferences and participated in a number of international courses including but not limited to, the Inter-American Congress on the Environmental Rule of Law, workshop for judges and judicial officers on cyber-crime, case management and backlog reduction, National Association of Women Judges Conference, Military justice and human rights, workshops on trafficking in persons, narcotics and psychotropic substances control, precursor chemical and witness protection among others. Justice CummingsEdwards is a member of the Guyana Association of Women Judges, where she serves as President, the Caribbean Association of judicial officers, where she is an executive member, the International Association of Women Judges, the Hague Network of Judges, the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association and the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, where she was a fellow. A number of landmark decisions were handed down in the Court of Appeal of Guyana for which she has had responsibility.

SWAT commander busted with smuggled Johnny Walker -- 39 cases in all; said they were for police’s Old Year’s Night party LESS than three months after being given the responsibility to head the SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) unit, Deputy Superintendent of Police Motie Dookie could find himself being asked to ‘walk’ from the Guyana Police Force after he was on Saturday busted with 30 cases of smuggled Johnny Walker Whisky.

Up to last evening, he was being held at the Whim Police Station where ranks were preparing to hand him over to Customs enforcement officers.

The bust took place at a road block which was set up along the Corentyne

Coast in the vicinity of the Whim Police Station and which was headed by a police Lance Corporal whose name was given as “William”.

The Guyana Chronicle was informed that the officer was driving motor van GPP 7399 when he encountered the roadblock.

Dookie reportedly told his juniors that the alcohol was "for police to drink at the Olf Year's Night Ball" which was slated for that evening at Eve Leary.

Knowing the prevalence of smuggled items being ferried along the Corentyne coast, the ranks asked their

superior to produce documentation for the items which he had in his vehicle, but he failed to do so.

A check also confirmed that the alcohol was not the property of the Guyana Police Force. The senior officer was invited into the station where he was promptly detained and senior officers informed of the development.

Dookie was assigned the top job at the SWAT unit in October of this year after the then head of the unit was robbed of a force-issued weapon and several other items during a carjacking. He and a female companion were "breezing out" on the Georgetown seawall at the time.

Shortly after Dookie was given the opportunity to head the unit, the SWAT unit in an operation which hinged on

intelligence- gathering, successfully apprehended prison escapee Royden Williams in West Coast Berbice.

A few years ago, Dookie, who was then a cadet officer, was stripped of his rank after he stopped an associate of a senior government functionary. He was however reinstated to his original rank after challenging in the High Court, the decision to demote him. The court had found that his demotion was unlawful.

26

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending January 5, 2018

Cup runneth over THE Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL)’s distillery production for 2017 has surpassed projections with an increase of 30 per cent over 2016, a statement from the company said on Saturday.

As a result, the company envisages that its distillery production for 2018 will see an increase of a further 25 per cent, but has expressed much concern about developments in the sugar industry.

“These concerns are grounded in the long historical relationship between DDL and GuySuCo, in which DDL is dependent on the sugar estates for its molasses raw material, and in turn is a significant source of cash flow to GuySuCo for its operations,” the company said on Saturday.

DDL says that with the impending closure of the sugar estates, there will be a considerable shortfall in availability of molasses, which is directly related to the reduced projection of sugar production.

“In fact, based on production demand for local and international customers, DDL’s molasses requirement for 2018 is 70,000 tons,” DDL said, adding: “In contrast, GuySuCo has set a sugar-production target of 115,000 tons at the three estates currently earmarked to remain in operation, with molasses production being

pegged at 52,000 tons.”

In light of this shortfall, DDL said it has been actively exploring its potential role in the future of the sugarcane industry, and has executed a high-level technical and economic feasibility study on innovative approaches to use the existing sugar assets to meet the current and future needs for molasses for an expanding distilling industry.

“DDL therefore welcomes the comments from Minister of State Joseph Harmon at this week’s post-Cabinet press briefing, indicating that the Government of Guyana is still open to options that keep the GuySuCo estates operational until arrangements are finalised for them to be privatised.”

The company’s Chairman, Komal Samaroo, said “We are optimistic that the Government of Guyana understands what is at stake, not just for the sugarcane industry, but for all other stakeholders that are a part of the GuySuCo value chain, including the many thousands who are directly and indirectly involved in the production, distribution and sale of DDL’s value-added products, both locally and internationally.”

The company alluded to the position of President David Granger at the launch of DDL’s Special Edition 50th Anniversary El Dorado Rum in April 2016, when he

NIS increases pensions THE National Insurance Scheme (NIS) from January 1 will be increasing the minimum rates for Old Age and Invalidity Pension, weekly and monthly insurable earnings ceilings and funeral benefits.

In a release, the scheme said the minimum rate for Old Age and Invalidity Pension will increase from $27,500 to $30,000 per month while all other pensions above the minimum pension will be increased by two per cent.

This is in keeping with the increase given in January 2017 where the pension increased from $25,000 to $27,500.

The insurable earnings ceiling, which is the upper limit on earnings that attract NIS contributions, will be increased weekly and monthly.

The monthly insurable earnings ceiling will be increased from $220,000 to $240,000 per month while the weekly insurable earnings ceiling will increase from $50,769 per week to $55,385 per week.

This ceiling had also been increased in January 2017 from $200,000 to $220,000 per month and $46,154 per week to $50,769 per week.

And finally, the funeral grant given to offset the funeral expenses of a deceased insured person or his/her spouse will be increased from $40,398 to $44,438.

Despite the scheme recording a deficit of some $95,368,000 (just less than $1B) for the period January 2017 to August 2017, the social security organisation has been able to issue these increases.

The deficit mentioned was recorded after the organisation garnered $13.6B in revenue (or 67 per cent of the $20.2B budgeted for the financial year) for the period but expended some $13.7B (or 70 per cent of the budgeted $19.4B).

NIS General Manager Holly Greaves said, in October, this deficit was $93,849,000 or 1.6 per cent more than the budgeted deficit of $93,841,000.

However, it was projected that by the end of 2017, total income would be approximately $21.4B while the projected expenditure would reach around $21.1B.

-DDL records increased production,to contribute over $2.2B in VAT

said that the country’s rum is precious and must be protected and preserved in the face of peril.

“Workers' jobs and the livelihood of those who indirectly depend on the industry are at stake. The loss of foreign exchange and excise earnings by the industry can result in severe problems in our economy. Guyana's rums are an important economic sub-sector. It is in the national interest to ensure the survival and sustainability of this industry and the Government of Guyana is committed to supporting this industry," President Granger was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, DDL said given that the performance of the distilling industry in 2017 has been a bright spot for the local economy, building on the success of El Dorado “the imperative of finding compelling solutions to guarantee its future sustainability goes without saying.”

The company said it remains committed to playing an active role in forging “the next steps for survival” and has been engaging all stakeholders, including the Government of Guyana.

During a recent visit in October 2017 to DDL’s facilities by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and Minister of Business Dom-

inic Gaskin, the matter of molasses supply was raised. The prime minister had assured the company that molasses supply for DDL would be secure, DDL stated.

“Those who are saying that sugar is dead, or will be dead, should come and take a tour of DDL’s bond and factory; there is abundant need for molasses … so I don’t see today any sign of the death of the sugar industry. Guyana will continue producing sugar once there is a need for molasses,” the prime minister was quoted as saying.

Similarly, Minister Gaskin had commended DDL as “one of the biggest value-added companies in Guyana and probably Guyana’s most successful value-added company.” At the announcement of the company’s three-year $10B investment programme, Gaskin said his government “stands ready to give support to DDL wherever possible.”

“This support is crucial in recognition of the jobs to be created and the significant increase in taxes contributed to the national economy from greater earnings,” DDL said on Saturday.

In 2016, the DDL Group paid $1.9B in taxes, excluding VAT, and is projected to pay in excess of $2.2B for 2017 based on its performance.

Public Health spreads cheer to children of Moruca

Minister Karen Cummings handing over the toys to Region One Acting REO Reneta Williams

MINISTER within the Ministry of Public Health Dr. Karen Cummings presented a quantity of toys to the Acting Regional Executive Officer of Region One Reneta Williams for the children of Moruca, as she continues to spread cheer during this festive season.

During the simple handing-over ceremony, Minister Cummings expressed her delight at being able to bring smiles to the faces of some of

the children of Moruca.

“This is a season for giving and it pleases me greatly to be able to provide some amount of cheer to some of the children of Moruca. I hope that as they celebrate and enjoy this season of goodwill, that they will move into 2018 as happy, healthy children,” Minister Cummings said.

Minister Cummings also donated a wheelchair which is to be used by a seven-year-old child of the

community. On receipt of the gifts from Minister Cummings, Williams expressed gratitude and thanks on behalf of the children.

The Ministry of Public Health has pledged to continue serving the people of Guyana through delivery of the finest quality of public health care available. It also used the opportunity to express best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2018.

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending January 5, 2018

27

Hapless Windies end tour with crushing loss MOUNT MAUNGANUI, New Zealand – Woeful West Indies ended their ill-fated tour of New Zealand in the same wretched manner in which it started, plummeting to a heavy 119-run defeat in the final Twenty20 International here Wednesday.

Colin Munro’s record-breaking third career T20I hundred of 104 was the catalyst behind the hosts’ imperious 243 for five off their 20 overs — their highest-ever total in the shortest format.

Fellow opener Martin Guptill stroked 63 and Tom Bruce, 23, ensuring New Zealand maintained their momentum to gather the seventh-highest total in T20s.

In reply, West Indies produced yet another dismal batting performance, collapsing to a depressing 124 all out in the 17th over.

Only Andre Fletcher with a polished 46 from 32 balls showed any sense of purpose, and was one of only three frontline batsmen to reach double figures and the only one to pass 20.

The Caribbean side’s woes were compounded by the unavailability of Shai Hope who injured his shoulder while fielding and was unable to bat.

Not for the first time this tour, the Windies were tormented by seamer Tim Southee (3-21) and new-ball partner Trent Boult (2-29) while leg-spinner Ish Sodhi claimed two for 25, as the Black Caps claimed their biggest-ever win in T20s and the third largest overall.

For West Indies, the defeat was their seventh on tour in internationals, after losing both Tests, all three one-dayers and two T20s.

The second T20I was washed out after just nine overs on New Year’s Day. The reigning T20 World champions

have also now lost six of their last 12 matches in the shortest format.

Opting to bat first at Bay Oval, New Zealand were propelled by a 136-run opening stand between Munro and Guptill — the country’s third-highest stand for any wicket in T20s.

The left-handed Munro was utterly dominant en route to his third score of fifty or more in the series, facing 53 balls and

he raced to his half-century off 26 balls before reaching three figures off 47 deliveries to mark the fastest-ever hundred for New Zealand in T20s and joint sixth-fastest of all time.

He also became the first batsman to score three hundreds in T20Is. Guptill, meanwhile, was more than just a spectator, lashing five fours and a pair of sixes in a 38-ball knock — his 11th halfcentury in this format.

With the Windies bowlers loose, the pair cashed in, plundering 52 off the first five and 118 at the half-way point of the innings.

Opener Chris Gayle walks off after failing to score in the third Twenty20 International.

(CMC)

striking three fours and 10 sixes.

No Windies bowler was spared from the 30-year-old’s brutal all-out assault, as

Debutant medium pacer Rayad Emrit’s first two deliveries in T20 cricket were greeted with a couple of leg-side sixes

by Munro, in an over which leaked 16 runs

and saw the South Africa-born dynamo to his half-century.

Guptill eventually edged a wide one from Emrit to fall to a catch at the wicket in the 12th over but Munro and Bruce kept the pressure on the Windies in a 55-run, second wicket partnership.

Even when the hosts lost four wickets for 35 runs in 19 deliveries, the runs kept flowing with 60 runs gushing from the last five overs.

The Windies then had a disastrous start to their run chase when Chadwick Walton drove the first ball of the innings from Southee into Munro’s lap at cover.

Four balls later, superstar Chris Gayle was surprised by a short ball and gloved a simple catch behind to depart without scoring, leaving the Windies tottering on one run for two wickets.

Fletcher and Rovman Powell (16) then staged the best partnership of the innings, putting on 41 for the third wicket.

The right-handed Fletcher struck four fours and three sixes —two of which were sweetly-timed back-to-back inside out blows over extra cover in the sixth over by left-arm spinner Anaru Kitchen which went for 20 runs.

Powell holed out to cover off Kitchen in the fourth over and Shimron Hetmyer was tragically run out for seven in the fifth over, leaving West Indies on 49 for four.

Fletcher posted 31 off 20 balls for the fifth wicket with captain Carlos Brathwaite (15) to temporarily stem the flow of wickets but once the Grenadian missed a heave at a straight one from Sodhi and was bowled offstump, the last four wickets tumbled for 44 runs.

(CMC)

Ben Stokes withdrawn from England's ODI squad

A

llrounder Ben Stokes has been withdrawn from England's ODI squad for the series in Australia, and batsman Dawid Malan was named his replacement.

Stokes is still waiting to hear if he will be charged by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for his role in an incident outside a club in Bristol, and although England had picked him in their ODI squad in the first week of December, the ECB said his selection was dependent on the outcome of the police investigation.

"Ben Stokes didl not travel with the group of players leaving the UK on 2 January, pending CPS advice on the incident in Bristol in September," the ECB said.

"Should ECB receive formal confirmation that he has either, a) been charged or, b) will face no charges, the ECB Board would convene within 48 hours to make a decision on his availability to represent England at that stage."

The incident —‚ which also involved England batsman Alex Hales, who was not charged by police and therefore cleared for ODI selection — cost Stokes his place in the side for the last two ODIs against West Indies at the end of the English summer,

and the ongoing Ashes in Australia. There has been no update on whether Stokes will be charged or not since.

Stokes was arrested in September on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm then released on bail. Avon and Somerset police completed their investigation into the incident in November and passed a file on

to the CPS for advice on whether he should be charged. The police also confirmed that a 27-year-old man suffered a fractured eye BEN STOKES

socket in the incident, which occurred outside the Mbargo nightclub in the Clifton area of Bristol in the early hours of the morning after England's one-day international against West Indies on September 25.

Stokes returned to competitive action by playing for Canterbury in the domestic one-day and T20 competitions in New Zealand in December, for which he was granted a no-objection certificate by the ECB. His involvement, or otherwise, with England has overshadowed much of the winter.

Having been initially named in the Ashes squad a few days after his arrest, footage was released by a newspaper appearing to show Stokes throwing a series of punches at a man in the street. England subsequently said he would not be considered for selection until investigations were complete.

Both Stokes and Hales will have to face an ECB disciplinary hearing, whether

or not the police press charges. The ECB's chief executive, Tom Harrison, recently suggested it could take six months to a year to resolve the situation if Stokes is charged, although he added that the board would not prevent him from playing in competitions such as the IPL in the meantime, while he is out of the England set-up.

Without Stokes, England have faced difficulty balancing their Test side and relinquished the Ashes after falling 3-0 behind in Perth — although they did end their run of defeats in Australia by having the better of a drawn Boxing Day Test.

Malan has been one of England's better-performing players during the Ashes, making his maiden Test hundred at the WACA. He has yet to be capped in 50-over cricket but impressed on T20 debut during the summer, when he was Man of the Match against South Africa. His call-up in place of Stokes is expected to be confirmed in the next 24 hours.

The ODI series begins in Melbourne on January 14, after which England and Australia will play a T20I tri-series involving New Zealand. England will then embark on their tour of New Zealand, taking in another five ODIs and two Tests.

ESPNCricInfo - Monday 1st January, 2018 (Caribbeannews.net)

Vickery moves into ASB Classic quarter-finals with win over Royg

Sachia Vickery

Guyana’s Duguid to officiate in ICC Under-19 World Cup GUYANA’S international umpire Nigel Duguid has been chosen by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as one of its match officials for the upcoming ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup scheduled to get underway in New Zealand from January 18.

It marks the second consecutive World Cup appearance for Duguid who also stood in the 2016 tournament in Bangladesh.

Duguid joins Barbadian Gregory Brathwaite as the other regional umpire on the international panel which includes Robert Bailey, Anil Chaudhary, Shaun George, Shaun Haig, Mark Hawthorne, David Odhiambo, Buddhi Pradhan Ranmore Martinesz, C.K. Nandan, Ian Ramage, Ahsan Raza, Shozab Raza, Tim Robinson, Langton Rusere and Paul Wilson.

The former Georgetown Cricket Club

(GCC) left-arm spinner who gave up playing for an umpiring career in 2010, was appointed to the ICC TV Umpires panel the following year and has been officiating in regional matches ever since.

Duguid officiated in his first T20 International, featuring West Indies and Ireland on February 21, 2014 and has done five matches to date. He also stood in his first One Day International (ODI) on March 5, 2017 when West Indies opposed England and has done three more games since. He is also among the umpires in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Duguid also had a stint in the English cricket season in 2012 after doing duties in the Bangladesh ‘A’ team tour of the Caribbean the previous year.

Apart from them, David Odhiambo, Bud-

Nigel Duguid

SACHIA Vickery continues her impressive showing in New Zealand, this time thrashing Paraguayan Veronica Cepede Royg in straights sets 6-2, 6-4 yesterday, at the ASB Classic, in Auckland to reach the quarter-finals of the event.

The 22-year-old Vickery, ranked 122 in the world, showed that her upset win (6-1, 6-2) over defending champion Lauren Davis was no fluke, as she graciously brushed aside Paraguay’s tennis queen to set up a classic showdown with Poland’s Agnieszka Radwańska.

Radwańska, 28, is ranked 28 in the world and has reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and the US Open.

The Polish tennis ace defeated American Taylor Townsend 6-3, 7-5 to set up an expected ‘humdinger’ against Vickery today.

Born to Rawle Vickery, a former National football player from Linden, and Paula Liverpool, also from Region 10, Vickery has been creating waves in the tennis world recently.

dhi Pradhan and Ian Ramage from the ICC Development Panel will also be officiating in the tournament.

Jeff Crowe of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, and Devdas Govindjee and David Jukes of the International Panel of ICC Match Referees, will also be officiating in the tournament.

Shaun George and Ahsan Raza will be the on-field umpires for the match between defending champions West Indies and hosts New Zealand on the opening day at the Bay Oval in Tauranga, while Robert Bailey will be the TV umpire and Timothy Robinson the fourth umpire. David Jukes has been appointed as the match referee for this match.

Umpire and match referee appointments for the knockout stages will be announced after the teams have been confirmed.

The West Indies will be looking to defend their title and emulate Pakistan, who won consecutive titles in 2004 and 2006. Australia and India have each won the title three times while England and South Africa are the other teams to have won the tournament, which replicates a major tournament experience in terms of organisation and playing facilities.

The other teams participating in the 16-team tournament are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ireland, Kenya, Namibia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

The teams have been divided in groups of four.

The top two sides from each group will advance to the Super League while the remaining eight teams will figure in the Plate Championship.

The preliminary round matches will be followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, plus the play-offs.