Guyana chronicle e paper 09 09 2017

The RACE is on!

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–– as Region 4 officially launches regional ‘agri’, market fair

‘Major lapses’ No. 105030

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2017

Price: $80 (VAT Inclusive)

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… President points to lapses in Police Force's operations … says Slowe CoI made ‘very strong recommendations’

Irma lashes 300 Guyanese in Barbuda

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De Veldt man threatens to kill mother, court hears Page 2

Gov't, miners agree on way forward Page 8

Man begs wife to return home Page 13

The aftermath of Hurricane Irma’s destruction of Barbuda (Michael S. Browne photo)

‘I have nothing to hide’

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… Lawrence maintains position on $632M drug purchase

Dolly Boodram

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

Irma lashes 300 Guyanese in Barbuda … gov’t obtaining ‘info’ on citizens in other islands

By Alexis Rodney

THE Guyana Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been taking steps to provide assistance to Guyanese who have been hit by Hurricane Irma, even as it has confirmed that some 300 of this country’s citizens living in Barbuda have been affected by the storm.

Already devastated by Hurricane Irma, some Caribbean islands are now bracing for the back-end of a deadly double-whammy, as powerful Hurricane Jose prepares to make landfall. The unrelenting pummelling of the Caribbean was set to continue this weekend as Category 4 Jose followed a similar path to Irma, the National Hurricane Center said. According to the NHC’s 11 a.m. advisory, Jose was roughly 415 miles east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands -- which Irma already hit earlier this week -- barrelling in at 18 mph with 150 mph sustained winds. Antigua and Barbuda were alerted of possible “life-threatening flooding” due to Jose. Hurricane watches were in effect for Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, St Maarten, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy. Those islands had already counted 12 of the 23 deaths related to Irma.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Guyana Chronicle on Friday that it has been in touch with Mr. Robert Reis, the Honorary Consul in Antigua, who has since informed that there are about 300 Guyanese living in Barbuda-- one of the islands that was virtually flattened

A barge from Barbuda with people and belongings arrives (Photo Credit to Hugh Bailey Jr.) by the monster storm. The ministry said Mr. Reis is currently trying to obtain information about the welfare of Guyanese.

Regarding St Maarten, another of the islands that have been devastated, the ministry said it was impossible to reach the Honorary Consul there, Mr. Cleve Beresford, since communication lines are down. However, on the French side of the island, Guyana’s Honorary Consul in French Guiana, Ms. Pravis Tracey-Lecante, has indicated that persons requiring information on their relatives may contact her on the following address: consul.guyana.cayenne@ gmail.com. The ministry said the consul-general would need the persons’ full names, dates of birth, genders and addresses.

The Guyana Chronicle on Friday reported that Guyanese residing in Caribbean nations in the path of Hurricane Irma, like the inhabitants of those islands are bracing themselves for the Category 5 storm, which has already devastated several locations that it has visited, leaving thousands of people homeless and at least 10 dead. From initial reports, many Guyanese have been affected on the islands Irma stormed through. Some have lost their homes and many others have been unable to communicate with their families. Families and friends of those in the path of the storm are praying and are hoping for the best. Guyanese-born journalist, Olivia Rose, who is currently posted in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), told the Guyana Chronicle Thursday that the country is

in a total state of preparedness.

Mere hours before the hurricane actually hit the archipelago state of 40 low-lying coral islands, Rose said gusty winds and heavy rainfall were already being felt.

Speaking to this newspaper via Facebook, Rose said she had completed her last-minute preparations and was ensuring all is in place before the electricity and water facilities are disconnected.

“Nothing too devastating as yet for us,” she said, adding: “Our fear is tonight (Thursday), into tomorrow.”

In her report, Rose said shelters have been activated throughout the islands, with special emphasis placed on flood-prone areas and those susceptible to the more than 180mph wind speed that the hurricane has been maintaining for the last 24 hours. An-

Ex-cop jailed for armed robberies A 23-YEAR-OLD ex-policeman was on Friday convicted of two robbery under-arms charges when he appeared before City Magistrate Dylon Bess.

Edwin Nunes of West Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara (WCD) was found guilty of robbing Damion Charles of two silver rings, one silver chain and other items valuing $45,000 on July 18 at Campbellville, Georgetown.

He was sentenced to two years imprisonment for the first robbery and 18

months for the robbery with violence. The magistrate ordered that the sentences run concurrently.

At the time of the robberies, Nunes who was in the company of others, was said to be armed with a cutlass and knife.

According to reports, at about 12:20 hrs, on the day in question, Charles was walking north along Sheriff Street, when Nunes came out of a yard with an abandoned building, pointed a knife at the victim and demanded that he hand over his valuables. After

Charles complied, Nunes made good his escape and the victim subsequently made a report at the Kitty Police Station.

The ex-cop-policeman was also convicted for robbing Parmanan Harrilall of a cellular phone valued $20,000, on the same day while on Sheriff Street.

Nunes was armed with a knife and used personal violence against the victim.

Reports of that incident stated that, Harrilall was about to enter his vehicle when Nunes, who was dressed as a woman, ap-

proached him and asked to be taken to a bar on Sheriff Street.

However, when Nunes got into the vehicle, he took out a knife from under his dress and ordered the victim to hand over his valuables. Harrilall, being fearful for his life, handed over his cellular phone and Nunes made good his escape. The victim also lodged a report at the Kitty Police Station.

A confrontation was done at the police station and Nunes was positively identified as the robber.

other Guyanese in the TCI, Delana Isles, via Facebook, described the atmosphere as scary, noting that Irma is on a head-on-collision course with the island. “I’m truly sad at the destruction I’ve seen in two countries I’ve called home these past few years.

It truly hurts me to see the destruction in Tortola and the many pleas for contact with friends and loved ones here on Facebook. Barbuda, the damage is too devastating for words. Here in Turks and Caicos, we are preparing for the worst, and quite frankly it is more than a little frightening.”

In Antigua, where Irma has devastated sister isle, Barbuda, Guyanese designer Dawn Von Rossum said the atmosphere there is very tense. She said Antigua managed to escape the full force

of Irma as the storm shifted somewhat, but another growing storm, Jose, which currently carries a Category One status, has given cause for some panic. “We dodged the bullet. In fact, I slept through the storm and there was minor damage in my location but people are very nervous.”

Despite Jose being likely to be much weaker than Irma, she said persons are fearful after seeing Barbuda, the Queenstown resident said.

President David Granger has since committed Guyana’s support for Caribbean states which have been ravaged

by Hurricane Irma, even as the international community mobilises its response to the disaster. In a statement on Thursday, the President David Granger-led Government said it stood in solidarity with the people of the hurricane-ravaged territories of the Caribbean and President Granger expresses condolences to his colleague Heads of Government and residents of affected states and to the relatives of those who lost their lives as a result of this storm. Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, who is responsible for the disaster relief agency, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), said that Guyana stands ready to lend technical and other forms of support.

He disclosed that the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) has already sent out Situation Reports (SITREPS) to all its member states, but thus far there has been no direct request for assistance as need assessments are being completed.

De Veldt man threatens to kill mother,court hears RYAN Sauers, 38 years, an unemployed resident of De Veldt, Berbice River, was on Thursday arrested at his home and charged with then unlawful possession of a single barrel twelve gauge shotgun, along with two live twelve gauge cartridges.

He appeared before Magistrate Alex Moore at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court on Friday, he pleaded not guilty and was remanded until October 04, 2017.

The charges stemmed from the defendant on Wednesday last, during a heated altercation with his mother, allegedly pointed a shotgun at her and swore that he would kill her.

An alert neighbour responded and successfully disarmed the irate Sauers. The unlicensed firearm and the cartridges were promptly handed over to the police.

Meanwhile, at his second court appearance, the defendant will have to answer to an additional charge in respect of the threats her made to his mother.

‘Major lapses’

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

… President points to lapses in Police Force's operations

… says Slowe CoI made ‘very strong recommendations’

By Svetlana Marshall “VERY strong recommendations” have been included in the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) report on the alleged plot to assassinate President David Granger, even as it confirms that there have been major lapses within the operations of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), thereby affecting its efficiency.

This is according to President David Granger, who spoke with reporters on the sideline of the launch of the Region Four Regional, Agricultural and Commercial Exhibition (RACE) at the Ramada Georgetown Princess Hotel,on Friday.

It has been approximately one week since the CoI report on the alleged

plot was handed over to the President by retired Assistant Police Commissioner Paul Slowe.

Though the report has not yet been placed before Cabinet for consideration, President Granger disclosed that “some very strong recommendations” have been made.

“Even persons who have been following the day-to-day reports would realise that there has been a significant lapse in professionalism at a very high level of the Guyana Police Force,” the President told reporters. Stating that the matter is of concern, the Head of State added that the report “has brought to light some serious deficiencies.”

“I am very confident that the work that Colonel Russell Combe is

doing will point to ways in which we can correct the deficiencies. You know the important thing is to ensure that we get information so that we can correct faults; it is not a witch hunt, we are trying to make the law enforcement agency more efficient,” the President stated. Colonel Combe is the former top United Kingdom military officer who is assisting Guyana with the implementation of the Security Sector Reform Action Plan (SSRAP) which forms part of a UK-funded initiative aimed at improving the security sector here.

President Granger gave the assurance that when the report is deliberated upon at the level of Cabinet, the public would be informed. Earli-

Processing fees for gold to be reviewed CHIEF Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA), Avalon Jagnandan, has said that they have managed to get a commitment from Government to review the processing fees per ounce of gold.

The Guyana Gold Board had recently increased the fee from $1,000 to $2,500 per ounce, which caused an outcry by small and medium-scale miners.

According to Jagnandan, the Gold Board had proposed an increase of $4,000, but that was withdrawn after the association objected. “Over the past few weeks we received numerous complaints from

miners about the $2,500 processing fee,” he said.

The association had reportedly asked the Gold Board to give an increase of $2,000 or less, but they went ahead with $2,500.

Jagnandan said they had a chance to raise the issue again on Thursday during a stakeholders’ meeting at Cara Lodge.

After hearing about the impact that it has on small and medium-scale miners, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman and representatives of the Gold Board reportedly gave their commitment to review the fee.

A miner who was present at the meeting said he was grateful for the decision to review the fee, because it was burdensome to him.

CEO of the GGDMA, Avalon Jagnandan (Adrian Narine photo) The miner said when he calculated his expenses and the processing fees, he was left with a marginal profit.

er in March, a Grove, East Bank Demerara (EBD) businessman, Andriff Gillard,had alleged that he was offered $7M by Nazim Khan to assassinate President Granger in 2015, shortly after he took office.

Gillard, who was among a long list of persons who testified before the commission, accused officers of the Criminal Investigation Department’s Major Crimes Unit, headed by Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum, of not taking his report seriously. He based his allegation on the basis that accused brother Imran Khan has close ties to Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud.

Attorney Selwyn Pieters, in his final submission to the commission in

mid-August, argued that the Guyana Police Force deliberately tried to minimise the evidence that would support claims made

by Gillard. Pieters contended that the interference by the police commissioner in the investigation while he was on annual leave represented an obstruction of justice, noting that Persaud as the head of the institution ought to have treated the matter with much more seriousness.

“It is our submission that the evidence produced during the CoI clearly presents a course of calculated, coordinated, and deliberate conduct to minimise the evidence that would support any claims made by Gillard, and enhance any claims made by Khan that the report of the complainant was false or

President David Granger fabricated,” he stated.

Pieters had called on Commissioner Slowe to reject the submissions that the police had approached the case objectively.

Scheduled power outages for West Bank communities SEVERAL communities along the West Bank of Demerara will today, tomorrow and Monday experience scheduled power interruptions to facilitate the installation of a 1.6 megawatt Caterpillar unit.

The Caterpillar unit has been rented by the Guyana Power and Light to address the electricity supply interruptions along the West Bank of Demerara due to a damaged submarine cable.

In a statement to the media, the power company said the installation of the Caterpillar unit will begin today and “Upon completion, there will be no need for load-shedding during the hours of peak demand.”

The communities of Aracari, Versailles, Bella Dam, and Coglan Dam will be out of electricity from

18:00hrs to 22:00hrs today, while the communities of Patentia, Vriesland and Sisters Village will be affected during the same period on Sunday.

On Monday, Phoenix Park, Goed Intent, Walcott Street, Pouderoyen and Pouderoyen Public Road will be out of electricity also from 18:00hrs to 22:00hrs.

On August 25, the power company through its Public Relations Officer (PRO) Shevon Sears, had told reporters that following weeks of load-shedding, normal power supply would have been restored across the country the following day.

Sears had explained that there was a generation shortfall in the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) which represented all served areas.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

FEMA head predicts...

Irma will ‘devastate’ parts of US too HURRICANE Irma will “devastate” either Florida or neighbouring states, the head of the US federal emergency agency has said.

Brock Long said parts of Florida would be without power for days. Half a million people in the state have been ordered to leave their homes.

Hurricane Irma has left a trail of destruction in the Caribbean, affecting an estimated 1.2M people.

At least 20 people are known to have died so far.

It has been downgraded to a Category Four storm, but officials warn that it remains “extremely dangerous”.

The US National Weather Service says that Irma was expected to bring wind speeds of around 165mph (270km/h) over the weekend as it hits Florida.

“Hurricane Irma continues to be a threat that is going to devastate the United States in either Florida or some of the south-eastern states,” Mr Long said.

“The entire south-eastern United States better wake up and pay attention,” he added.

Florida Governor Rick Scott said all Floridians should be prepared for possible evacuation, and issued a stark warning to those in threatened areas.

“We are running out of time. If you are in an evacuation zone, you need to go now,” he told reporters.

“Remember, we can rebuild your home; we can’t rebuild your life.”

The death toll continued to rise on Friday in the Caribbean.

France’s Interior Minister

Gérard Collomb said nine people were dead, and seven missing in the French territory on Saint Martin, an island shared with the Netherlands, and St Barthélemy, known more commonly as St Barts.

Another death, the second to date, has been confirmed in the Dutch territory of Sint Maarten.

French officials said six out of 10 homes on Saint Martin were so badly damaged that they are uninhabitable.

The US Consulate General in Curaçao said it believes an estimated 6,000 Americans are stranded on the island.

French, British and Dutch

military authorities have deployed aid, including warships and planes equipped with food, water and troops, to their territories.

Reporting from another badly damaged island, Barbuda, the BBC’s Laura Bicker says the destruction there is worse than feared.

WHERE NEXT? The storm lashed the Turks and Caicos Islands, and brought torrential rain to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, before battering the north coast of Cuba and the central Bahamas.

About 50,000 tourists are fleeing or have fled Cuba, with resorts on the north coast now empty, Reuters reports.

A huge evacuation of south-eastern, low-lying coastal areas in the Bahamas has been ordered. The tourism ministry has said in a video statement that thousands of tourists left before the storm’s arrival.

Meanwhile, Mr Long has predicted a “truly devastating” impact on Florida.

South Florida “may be uninhabitable for weeks or months” because of the storm, the US National Weather Service said.

On the archipelago of Turks and Caicos, with a population of about 35,000, one witness described a drop in pressure that could be felt in people’s chests.

Irma ripped off roofs on the capital island, Grand Turk, flooded streets, snapped utility poles, and caused a widespread black-out.

Governor John Freeman told the BBC that people in low-lying areas were evacuated and sent to shelters. The islands’ highest point is only 50m (163ft).

Irma also caused some damage to roofs, flooding and power outages in the northern parts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

WHAT TO EXPECT Irma is due to hit Florida as a Category Four hurricane on Sunday, bringing storm surges and flooding.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

Race against time --as ‘barely habitable’ Barbuda braces for Hurricane José THE entire population of Barbuda, the small Caribbean island devastated by Hurricane Irma, has been told to evacuate as a second powerful storm, Hurricane José, is expected to hit the region on Saturday.

The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, said Barbuda had been left “barely habitable”, with 95% of its building structures destroyed by Irma.

The BBC’s Laura Bicker? arrived on the island on Friday, sharing images that show the impact of the

storm. She described the aftermath as “truly horrendous”, with “barely a building left untouched”.

But more devastation is feared to be on its way as José follows Irma’s path across the Atlantic.

Mr Browne ordered the emergency evacuation of everyone on Barbuda, around 1,600 people, after Hurricane José was upgraded to a Category Four storm on Friday.

Speaking to the BBC, the first international broadcaster to enter Barbuda since Irma swept through the territory, Mr Browne said that the

Irma will...

US President Donald Trump said: “I can say this: Florida is as well prepared as you can be for something like this. Now it’s just a question of what happens.”

Hurricane and storm surge warnings have been issued for south Florida and the Florida Keys, the US National Hurricane Center says.

Mr Trump’s own Mar-aLago estate in Palm Beach is among those ordered to evacuate, the Washington Post tweeted.

After ripping through Florida’s Atlantic coast, the storm is expected to move into Georgia and South Carolina.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal said a mandatory evacuation on the state’s Atlantic coast was scheduled to begin on Saturday.

Roads and airports have been jammed as thousands of people tried to evacuate areas at risk, with reports of fuel shortages and gridlock on some roads.

Many tourists are stranded with no seats left on flights back to their countries, as flights to and from airports in Florida are being suspended.

Orlando’s international airport said commercial flights would stop from 17:00 local time (21:00 GMT) on Saturday.

Another storm, José, further out in the Atlantic behind Irma, is now a Category

Four hurricane, with winds of up to 240km/h (150mph).

It is following a similar path to Irma, and already hampering relief efforts in some of the worst affected areas.

Residents of Barbuda, where 95% of buildings have been destroyed by Irma, have now left the island as José approaches.

Hurricane Katia, in

intention was to transfer all residents to neighbouring Antigua.

“The objective this morning is to ensure we get every single resident off Barbuda.

We cannot afford a situation in which Barbuda is hit by yet another hurricane in these kind of conditions,” he said.

He urged any “defiant residents” of Barbuda to evacuate to Antigua, which he said was “the responsible thing to do”.

Boats and at least one helicopter are now racing against the clock to get people off the island.

An elderly Barbudan resident being helped to safety

From Page 4 the Gulf of Mexico, has strengthened to a Category Two storm, with winds of up to 140km/h (85mph). A warning is in effect for the coast of the Mexican state of Veracruz, and the storm is expected to make landfall on Saturday. (BBC)

Hurricane Irma spared Antigua the same level of damage that was suffered in Barbuda, which is just 60km (37 miles) away.

Small groups of four or five Barbudans have begun arriving in Antigua in a steady stream, but conditions are beginning to worsen.

Hurricane José’s ap-

proach is making the journey, which people are undertaking by air and by sea, increasingly hazardous.

If the storm remains a Category Four hurricane, the second-highest rating, it will bring winds of up to 240km/h (150mph) and could wreak yet more havoc on the tiny island.

On Friday, the US National Hurricane Center predicted the centre of José will pass near or to the east of Barbuda. The eye of the storm is not expected to pass over Barbuda, as Irma’s did.

Antigua, Anguilla, St Martin and St Barts are also at risk from the second hurricane. (BBC)

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Editorial

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

Single mothers as night security

THE proposal by Junior Minister of Social Protection, Keith Scott, to ban security services from hiring single mothers to do the night shift was met with consternation.

On Monday, Scott who has portfolio responsibility for labour in the Ministry of Social Protection, said the ministry “has no intention of relenting on its agenda to minimise, in the first instance, and eventually eliminate night work for single mothers within the private security industry.”

It was further advised that this decision came out of a seminar, involving stakeholders, held by the ministry last month, and the minister had requested of his colleagues and senior Government ministers to give effect to the policy.

On Thursday, Minister of State Joe Harmon issued another position, which states, “As far as the government is concerned, we have had no de-

bate on the matter. The senior Minister of Social Protection in that regard would have to bring a paper to Cabinet and Cabinet will have to debate it.

Until such time that occurs, the situation remains as it is and that is to say that women will continue to either [work] day or night and there is no restriction on them.”

Minister Scott may have been taken by surprise that the persons, more notably, Red Thread, which is seen as a vocal voice in women’s affairs, has criticised the policy.

In announcing the decision on Monday, the minister said the “feminist organisations would find favour with the elimination of night work by single mothers that would go a far way in repairing the moral fabric of our society, which is seriously negatively affected.”

The feminist movement was initiated and propelled by women’s desire for equality in every sphere of society,

including the right to vote, reproductive rights, respect in the workplace and wider society, equal role in issues of national character, including decision-making, which entails having a seat at the table. In short, they wanted equality to be themselves unleashed and realise their potentials and not be discriminated against because of their gender. Equally, feminists will argue that the responsibility of repairing the moral fabric of society is not theirs alone, but equally that of the man.

The issue of women, particularly single mothers, having to be at work at nights as security guards, would likely have some impact on the family no doubt.

At the same time, while some single mothers will advise that such is a decision of choice for them, others may say it is because of limited to non-existent choices. In either or both instances, the socio-economic realities cannot be ignored. It is

equally the role of the father to parent as it is of the mother and where men are falling short and women feel compelled to enter the security sector and having to work at nights to provide for the family, this deficiency requires holistic, objective analyses in order to inform requisite actions.

Outside of the family unit having a strong, single-parent component, in some instances the father is absent from the home, not necessarily because the relationship soured, but because of economics. Guyana remains a low-wage society, employment and economic opportunities are scarce, oftentimes leaving little or no option but to leave the home and seek opportunities. Even in this situation, single mothers may also feel the need out of economic self-determination, or having to supplement the income of the father who is away in order to provide for self and family.

Whatever choice may in-

form a woman’s decision to enter the private security sector, it is safe to say, as an adult, she is entitled to such pursuit. What society should recognise is, the importance of ensuring that where a woman is employed, that wages and conditions of work meet at least basic requirements consistent with labour laws and ethical practices. The private security services should not see women as labour of lesser value or to be treated with disregard.

Feminists are advocates for equal pay for equal work and equal opportunities to ascend the ladder.

This is the 21st Century and the family structure has evolved, taking on different formats, all of which should be respected. The single family unit is not inferior to the nuclear, extended, same gender or others.

And though each has what may be termed advantages, some have also argued that each carries some inherent challenges. Though there is no interest to get into this particular analysis, the socio-economic, cultural and political ramifications that would hinder or retard opportunities for mobility are the factors worthy of attention. Such attention would aim to seek understanding and have such knowledge aid decision-making. Minister Scott, who in August made public his concern about single mothers working as night security guards, even as he expressed his view and said he was open to other opinions, such pursuit should continue. And it may be fair to say that in making such a move,that women are invited to be more involved.

PPP/C does not want to cooperate with local and central government Dear Editor,

IN the media on August 28th, 2017, the Opposition Leader Mr. Jagdeo declared that he disagrees that PPP/C NDC councillors are uncooperative and categorically stated that these councillors have valid reasons for not participating in events.

Then he absolved himself by guilefully stating that the PPP/C has declared its willingness to work with both the Local Government and Central Government officials, but he then defended the NDCs Chairpersons and Councillors by stating that ‘they have their opinion, they are on tight schedules and are constantly engaged in the people’s work’.

I beg to differ. The PPP/C never wants to co-operate with Local Government and Central Government and there is ample evidence to support this. I know for a fact that every NDC and RDC statutory meeting is preceded by a caucus, where

PPP officials will come all the way from Georgetown to direct councillors what to say and do at the meetings. The political spin is always preferred and it’s always about making the Government look bad.

Based on information, these councillors would have been directed not to attend certain events organised by the Government and to boycott the use of regional flags. They were also directed not to raise rates and taxes at the various NDCs, although the rates and taxes are ridiculously low. An annual rate/tax of $80 is paid in prime housing areas with many rich residents living in huge houses. This has starved the NDCs of the revenue which they so badly need to develop their communities. There is hardly any improvement in these NDCs. If it were not for the CIP workers who are paid

by Central Government, then all the drains in the NDCs would have been clogged and the entire areas overgrown

with bushes. Chairpersons and councillors must tow the party line or else they are threatened with serious disciplinary action and face the possibility of not being re-elected.

Jagdeo claims that these persons are ‘constantly engaged in the people’s work.’

Again I beg to differ. Many residents don’t even know their councilors, although they are living in the same areas. Many persons from different areas visit my office on a daily basis and ask me to resolve various issues affecting them and made it clear that they do not even know who their councillor is.

So the excuse of ‘tight schedules’ cannot hold water. They are uncooperative as directed. I will agree that they have ’tight schedules’ at Freedom House and to attend caucuses and party activities.

Whenever the Government tries to train these chairmen and councillors to become more efficient and to deliver a better service to the com-

munity, the PPP reverses this training and makes it counterproductive. It is always about finding the ‘political twist’ and to garner ‘political mileage’, never development. It must be recalled that for 23 years the PPP never held any caucus because they never wanted councillors to make any input.

Chairmen and councillors remain in their respective positions for years and years, since no local government elections were ever held. Jagdeo is taking the high moral ground speaking about the Local Government Commission (LGC), but the PPP government killed local government democracy from since 1994 to 2015, a period of nearly 20 years. Our Minister of Communities has made it clear that the LGC will be operative this year, so I see no reason for Jagdeo’s politicking. At least it will not take two decades. He must understand that this Government brought back to life our local democracy and will never do

anything to stifle it.

Jagdeo also took a cheap shot at President Granger, accusing him of wanting people ‘to pay homage’ to him and wanting ‘PPP councillors to wear shirt jack suits and ties’ whenever he goes to any region. This statement is totally untrue and there is no evidence to support this. Councillors must dress appropriately as a matter of respect for the Head of State, so where is the problem if a councillor wears any of the attire mentioned.

I saw many PPP councillors wear their red shirt whenever Jagdeo visits or to attend any function at Babu John or elsewhere. Are we to assume that they were directed to do so by Jagdeo? What about the garlands which always adorn the necks of Jagdeo, Ramotar and other PPP officials? Were these not directed ‘to pay homage’ to them? PPP organisers will ensure that they get party members to elaborately prepare these garlands. Also, many

times ‘money garlands’ were used as well.

I must also add that the majority of these councillors are hardcore PPP members or supporters who have no independent will of their own, yet Jagdeo claims that they have their ‘own opinions.’ Some are not even literate or barely so and all they can do is say ‘yes comrade.’

The PPP controls most of the regions and the NDCs and they must understand that when they impose their political agenda on these Regional Chairmen, NDC Chairmen and councillors, they are retarding or destroying the development of these regions and communities. Guyanese are not that naïve to blame this Government when they know who controls these regions and the NDCs. Regards MR GOBIN HARBHAJAN Regional Democratic Councillor, APNU+AFC

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

Gouveia writes GCAA on improving aviation sector Dear Editor BELOW is the full letter by Gouveia

Dear Director-General, PLEASE find outlined below my personal views and comments as they relate to aviation safety and security in Guyana currently.

AVIATION SAFETY IN GUYANA The aviation sector has been met with three separate and distinct accidents over the last two months , accidents which were totally unconnected and spread the profiles of flight, such as the landing phase with an empty aircraft , the take-off phase with cargo and the descent phase with an empty aircraft crashing into a mountain.

These accidents garnered much concern from the general public , the Government , the stakeholders and The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) which met the gravity of these concerns with a specific intervention.

“Suspend Shuttles” While in principle I do not fundamentally have a difference of opinion as it relates to the request from the GCAA for specific SOPs as they relate to “Shuttle Operations,” I have been on public record as saying that the suspension order for shuttle operations was a “knee jerk” reaction to what I believe is a much more substantial series of issues that needs a more comprehensive and detailed review and actions to fix. The people in the hinterland will be facing undue and unnecessary hardships while waiting for manuals to be written to outline what is generally already being done on a daily basis by pilots as they shuttle food and supplies to remote areas on the mountains. Against this backdrop, kindly permit me to offer some key perspectives on the structural and

operational challenges facing the aviation sector, followed by specific and actionable solutions.

This submission benefits from my “40 years” of flying in Guyana and around the Caribbean, as well as from the technical and professional training I acquired from institutions such as the George Washington University and the NTSB in Washington D.C., where I was trained specifically in aviation safety and security as well as Aircraft Accident Investigations internationally, notwithstanding my experience of being the founder and CEO of Roraima Airways over the past 25 years.

THE CURRENT SITUATION Operational and Safety Standards The aviation sector in Guyana in my view currently enjoys an extremely high level of safety, when one takes into consideration the thousands of flights that are completed safely every year and the very low percentage of accidents and deaths that occurs.

This level of safety is a direct result of the high quality of work being done by the GCAA and the highest standards of compliance by local airlines in keeping with the GCAA Approved Operations Manuals that every airline is mandated to follow ; in addition, all local commercial aircraft is maintained by local maintenance organisations manned by highly trained aircraft engineers that meet the highest international standards , coupled with pilots who are trained to ICACO international standards.

However, our aviation sector is plagued with serious institutional deficiencies, which I believe are contributing significantly to the current state of concern. It

is important to highlight that these deficiencies have been plaguing the local aviation sector for decades.

Operational and Safety Challenges Due to the lack and at times inadequate institutional state systems to support a growing aviation sector, suitably qualified pilots flying perfectly safe planes must often times rely on local knowledge through years of flying experience and extraordinary human skills to complete flights daily into our hinterland. This reality exposes the pilots to the vulnerabilities that exist in the local aviation landscape which is plagued by high mountains, high trees, short runways with poor surface conditions, no air traffic controls support outside 75 miles from the CJIA and lack of adequate and relevant weather information in an environment which is generally hostile and unforgiving.

Structural and Operational Deficiencies faced by pilots daily.

1. Unavailable accurate and relevant weather reports are the frequent norm 2. Lack of air traffic control to separate aircraft beyond the 75-mile radius of the CJIA. 3. Lack of security and management systems on hinterland runways 4. Poor runway surface conditions 5. Lack of Search & Rescue capability 6. Inadequate lessons from past accident investigations 7. Non-existent navigational aids outside the 75mile radius

CURRENT OPERATIONAL STATUS Flights are usually dispatched with insufficient or inadequate knowledge of the en route weather, the

winds aloft and more specifically, the details of weather systems at the destination and forecast weather at the alternate runways.

Note: Pilots are reporting daily, highly unusual and unexpected weather conditions.

Pilots fly unassisted through the vast expanse of airspace beyond the 75-mile radius of CJIA, depending primarily on his/her own radio contact with other planes for safe separation from other planes to avoid mid-air collisions Pilots must therefore take on the added responsibilities of multi-tasking as an air traffic controller, and is essentially solely responsible for the safety of him/herself and passengers beyond the 75-mile radius.

Pilots are landing on state-owned runways that have no airport security systems and no operational management control systems, exposing them to the hazards of unexpected runway incursions by vehicles, individuals and animals.

And even more specifically, not knowing with certainty whether the runways are cleared of objects and obstacles, which could cause severe damage to the aircraft on take- off or landing.

The stress on the minds of pilots is amplified by the thoughts and knowledge of the clear and present danger they face as a result of the lack of an established national search-and-rescue system -- and more particularly, the lack of the ability of the state and regulatory authorities to effectively conduct a successful and timely rescue operation to save lives, given the lack of an adequately equipped helicopter.

There is a total lack of Navigation Aids outside the 75-mile radius around CJIA, leaving the pilots to their own devices to navi-

gate across our vast country.

While our pilots are highly and suitably trained, their safety is threatened by the lack of institutional support, and as such, every flight they take into the interior of Guyana can be deemed high-risk.

SPECIFIC AND ACTIONABLE SOLUTIONS 1. Mandate the use of high-end MOVING MAP GPS in every plane with a secondary back-up GPS 2. Mandate that local pilots are trained and competent to use the GPS systems.

3. Mandate that pilots are trained, and must understand the safety and accuracy checks of the GPS prior to each flight using the ground-based navigational systems at the CJIA. 4. Establish flight corridors for every route into the hinterland runways using agreed GPS waypoints.

5. Establish procedures using GPS waypoints to assist pilots in maintaining stabilised flight and stabilised approaches to all runways.

6. Mandate every aircraft to be equipped with the ADBS System tracking system.

7. Ensure that the state ADSB system is fast tracked to completion and is always operational and functioning.

8. Mandate that spot trackers be installed on every aircraft operating in Guyana.

9. Mandate that each local airline must have the ability to track and flight-follow their aircraft moment by moment.

10. Mandate that every runway operates with a management system for security and operational readiness 11. Ensure that a reli-

able and accurate national weather reporting system be put in place, and deployed across the country to assist the pilots in making the right decisions.

12. Ensure that air traffic control services are deployed at specific geographic locations beyond the 75- mile radius of CJIA such as Kaieteur Falls, Port Kaituma and Lethem to militate against midair collisions and thereby improve aviation safety in this rapidly expanding sector.

1 3 . Wi t h o u t d e l a y, move to establish the national rescue capability by acquiring an appropriate/ suitable helicopter to execute timely and safe extractions from the jungle if the need arises.

14. Organise and schedule national aviation safety seminars bi-annually for all local aviators 14. Revise the bi-annual flight checks for pilots to include a route check operating in compliance with the new GPS procedures.

This submission in my humble view should assist in giving momentum to an aviation sector which is vital to the economic life of Guyana. Aviation services pay a vital role not only in economic activity, but also straddles social and humanitarian efforts. These observations and recommendations are by no means exhaustive, but are meant to stimulate discussions around what I believe are the core issues affecting Guyana’s objective reality as it relates to aviation safety and security.

Regards CAPTAIN GERRY GOUVEIA CEO, Roraima Airways Arrowpoint Resort Duke Lodge

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Gov’t, miners agree on way forward … Trotman says ‘things need to get better’

By Navendra Seoraj

STAKEHOLDERS within the mining industry have made some progress in getting the authorities to address issues which

mond Miners Association (GGDMA), the Guyana Women Miners Association (GWMA) and the National Mining Syndicate on Thursday at the Cara Lodge, Georgetown.

seriously enough.

Some of the issues that were raised include access to mining lands, taxes, bad roads and the tributors tax.

Stakeholders also used the opportunity to point out

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

to mining, which gives other miners the opportunity to capitalise on it.

Alphonso, as such, emphasised the need for GGMC to become more serviceoriented because miners are the ones who contribute to the work of the commission. It was suggested

because nothing is without a solution and we found good solutions,” he said.

The minister expressed his pleasure in the commitment of the stakeholders to work closer together and have a more collaborative approach to dealing with issues.

through constant engagements they can keep moving in a positive direction.

“We need more engagement, especially now that we have a united movement with the women miners, the GGDMA and the syndicates…we are moving with one voice,

Stakeholders in the mining industry discussing their concerns on Thursday at Cara Lodge during the meeting. (Photo by Adrian Narine) affect them-- a process which Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, believes augurs well, but he is of the view that “things need to get better.”

Concerns, opinions and recommendations were tabled during a meeting among representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Guyana Gold and Dia-

“The meeting was very open…no one was told not to say certain things although harsh comments were made, but I believe I needed to hear it,” said the minister in an invited comment to the Guyana Chronicle.

According to him, all the stakeholders who were present at the meeting had the opportunity to express their concerns about the state of the industry and the perception that government was not taking them

the alleged “irregularities” taking place at the GGMC. Vice-President of the GGDMA, Andron Alphonso, pointed out some of the alleged irregularities, which include allegations of persons’ lands “shrinking” when they renew their contracts and the inefficiencies of the “stock sheets” that are not reflective of the reality.

In addition, he said persons now have to wait six months to change their permits from prospecting

Colombian fined for overstaying in Guyana A 62-YEAR-OLD Colombian national was on Friday fined $50,000 for overstaying here.

Maria Medina appeared before City Magistrate, Judy Latchman and pleaded guilty to the charge which alleged that between July 21, 2017 and September 4, 2017 at Georgetown, she overstayed her time.

It is alleged that Medina failed to comply with an entry permit which allowed her to stay in Guyana for one month, June 21, 2017

to July 20, 2017.

According to reports, Medina arrived in Guyana via the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on June 21, 2017 and was granted a one-month stay.

However on September 04, 2017, police at Mabura stopped a Route 94 minibus in which the Colombian national was a passenger.

The woman who was searched also ordered to produce her Colombian passport which indicated that she overstayed her time

here.

An unrepresented Medina, with the aid of an interpreter, told the court that she is a cancer survivor and had undergone two surgeries for her cancer. She begged the Magistrate not to deport her as her country is experiencing economic turmoil.

The Magistrate in imposing the fine, ordered that should the woman be unable to pay she should serve 14 days in jail, following which she would be deported to Colombia.

that the commission focus on helping the operations of miners to become more profitable. Although all of the issues were pertinent, Minister Trotman made specific reference to the GGMC, saying that there were allegations of them not responding in a timely manner and so forth. He however said the level of dysfunctionality is not unique to the commission.

“We will address the concerns of the miners…I will speak to colleague minister about the issues

He went on to say the process which they have started will continue because it brings out views, opinions and good recommendations to fix perennial problems. Stakeholders will, as such, meet again next week to continue the discussions.

Alphonso said he welcomes the cooperation, adding that they were pleased with the responses from the ministry. It was mentioned that there are many things in the industry that need to be fixed, but

so we are hoping to make more of an impact by being more constructive,” Alphonso said.

The GGDMA vice-president said despite the importance of the potential oil industry, gold should not be forgotten and placed on the backburner. In addition, he posited that oil and gas should not be a replacement for gold or any other industry, but it should be considered as an addition to the resources.

Labourer charged with drug trafficking A 39-YEAR-OLD labourer charged with drug trafficking was on Friday released on $30,000 bail by City Magistrate, Judy Latchman.

It is alleged that on September 7, 2017, Quacy Moore while at Bourda Market, had in his possession one gram of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

The unrepresented man denied the charge and told the court that the drug was not found in his possession.

Police Prosecutor, Shawn Gonsalves objected to Moore being re-

leased on bail on the grounds that no special reason was provided to the court.

Gonsalves said too that the analyst report on the drug is still outstanding, and would properly take about two months given the current backlog at the Forensic Analysis Lab. However, despite the prosecutor’s contention, Moore was released on bail and the matter adjourned to September 25, when he will appear before Magistrate Leron Daly.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

‘Reading Carnival’ in Region Two promotes literacy through technology STUDENTS, parents and teachers on Friday participated in a ‘Reading Carnival’ in Region Two. The event was facilitated by the Region’s Education Department under the theme, “Literacy in a Digital World.”

well-read and how the use of technology can make it a much easier process.

Nine-year-old Sabirah Khan of Huis’t Dieren Primary said that she enjoyed the occasion. The enthusiastic student said, “Reading is very import-

homework, instead of going at a library and hunting through books, you can just go on the internet and you can type in whatever you want and you can find whatever you want,” Mohan explained.

D e b o r a h To r r e s , a

Students decked out in their literacy costumes during the ‘Reading Carnival’.

The Carnival saw students from Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools from across the region participating in the activity in observance of Education Month. The aim of the Reading Carnival was to bring awareness of the importance of being

ant to us, we must know how to read, and readers are leaders.”

F o u r t e e n - y e a r- o l d , Ushana Mohan of Abram Zuil Secondary School, said she believes that technology could play a great role in assisting students to learn. “For example,

parent who attended the Carnival , said that she thought the initiative was a great idea. According to Torres, “reading is everything.” She added that “in the digital world, even from the smallest child, you walk and you see everybody with a gadget,

a tablet, a cellphone and it is moving forward and this is a great step for the region.”

Martin Samaroo, a teacher of Huis’t Dieren Primary, commended the initiative taken by the region’s Education Department. He said that it is something that he has not witnessed in his six years of teaching in the region. Speaking to the theme, ‘Literacy in a Digital World’ Samaroo stated that “it is important that we remember that as teachers, because these kids that are now coming up are so au fait with technology, we are left at a loss even as teachers when it comes to that sort of thing.”

Assistant Chief Education Officer Owen Pollard, in his brief remarks reiterated that literacy is everybody’s business. Pollard noted with technology rapidly evolving, it is important that children have the basic level of literacy to begin their lives.

“From this basic level of literacy, children can then move on to improve and develop skills in any field, be it academic, non-academic, cultural or technical,” Pollard stated.

Nicole Agard representing the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NC-

ERD), called on teachers to take advantage of the use of technology in the classroom. Technology, she said, has the ability to capture the attention of students and that teachers need to capitalise on it.

“One way that we know children pay keen attention is through the use of our technology, so we are not just doing it because we want them to feel excited, we are doing it with a target in mind.

We want that when the region’s results come out, in every region of Guyana,

Speaking to the theme of the Carnival, Singh said that, “while we give thought to the needs and development required to facilitate ‘Literacy in a Digital World’, I urge our teachers to begin to explore the technologies that can support progress in the classroom.”

Singh also asked private companies and all relevant authorities to make an investment and recognise the importance of boosting the use of technology within schools.

The ‘Reading Carni-

A section of the gathering at the Reading Carnival.

we must see an improvement in the number of children who are mastering the literacy,” Agard explained.

District Development Officer, Deodat Singh, also called on teachers to maximise the use of technology in the classrooms.

val was one of the many Ministry of Education planned activities in observance of Education Month, which is being held under the theme “Promoting Wellness in Communities through Quality Education”.

(DPI/GINA)

Third GECOM list still being Indigenous Heritage Festival launched reviewed-- President Granger

PRESIDENT David Granger is currently reviewing the Curricula Vitae of the third list of nominees submitted

by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, being considered for the chairmanship of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

On Friday, the President told reporters at the Ramada Princess Hotel, “I want to ensure that Guyana gets the best candidate and that the nomination was in accordance with the constitution and that person would be able to function without fear or favour.

In brief, I am looking for a fit and proper person.”

Late last month, the opposition leader submitted the third list of nominees to the President after the previous lists were rejected by President Granger for not being in conformity with Constitutional requirements.

The third list comprises former GECOM Chairman Major-General (retired) Joseph Singh, Attorneys Teni Housty and Sanjeev Datadin, businesswoman Annette Arjoon-Martins, Pastor Onesi La Fleur and former Magistrate, Krishendatt Persaud.

The head-of-state has maintained that nominees must reflect the criteria set in Article 161 (2) of the Constitution, which speaks to the selection of a ‘fit and proper’ candidate to fill the post.

The President was unable to state when he will complete his review of the Curricula Vitae of the nominees, but maintained that he is not to be blamed for the delay in the appointment of the GECOM chair. He last consulted with the opposition leader in June after the second list of nominees was submitted.

RENOWNED Guyanese artist George Simon launched the “Onhare Indigenous Festival of Arts and Craft” at the Courtyard Mall, Georgetown on Thursday.

The festival seeks to foster entrepreneurship by providing vending opportunities for indigenous arts and craft, while promoting social cohesion between the indigenous communities and coastlanders.

Courtyard Mall Manager David Yhann said the festival includes an art exhibition at the National Art Gallery, art workshop for children in Paramakatoi which is ongoing until September 18, 2017 and a reporting session to be hosted by Terry Jannick at Moray House at the closing of the workshop.

In preserving indigenous culture and heritage, Yhann noted that avenues for entrepreneurship are created and these can address issues such as poverty and unemployment.

During the launch, the Rupertee Culture Dance

Group of Region Nine executed two of their songs “The five plegs in North Rupununi and the Kanaima Dance,” which captivated

of Indigenous Heritage Month.

“I would help in whatever way I can to let the public become more and

markets.

During the festival, artists and craftsmen will showcase indigenous craft, foods and music

Dancers from the Rupertee Culture Dance group performing at the launch of the Indigenous Festival on Thursday

their audience.

Social Cohesion Minister, Dr. George Norton, was impressed with the dancers and pointed out that the festival was in keeping with the spirit

more aware of activities like this,” he said, noting that indigenous vendors should take the opportunity to learn from each other to improve their business skills and get into new

at the courtyard mall.

The three-day event is sponsored by Massy Distribution, New Building Society, Trans Guyana Airways and Sterling products Limited.

10

The RACE is on!

–– as Region Four officially launches regional ‘agri’, market fair

By Svetlana Marshall THE Demerara-Mahaica Regional Democratic Council (RDC) on Friday launched its Regional, Agricultural and Commercial Exhibition (RACE), with

Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan touting it as an event that will aid in transforming the economic landscape of the region.

RACE was launched at the Ramada Princess Hotel in the presence of President

David Granger, whose brainchild the initiative is.

From November 24 to 26, the Lusignan Community Centre Ground will be transformed into a commercial hub as the RDC creates a platform for the farmers, pro-

Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017 and centre of our development, and we have spared no efforts in this regard,” he told the gathering.

The Communities Minister said it was on the foregoing grounds that the government took a decision to increase the budgetary allocations for the various regions, adding that the increased allocations are part of a strategic public policy at decentralisation and local empowerment.

When empowered, the regions and local governments, he said, will be able to address many of the issues affecting people within the regions and municipalities.

Minister Bulkan said, too, that it is through empowerment and initiatives such as RACE that unemployment and underemployment will be reduced.

“In our approach, it can be best be realised by hand-

“Our Council believes that it is prudent for us to have such commercial exhibitions at this juncture to promote commerce and other business opportunities within Region 4.

“We believe that such an investment will help to develop the region by exposing businesses to additional markets, and introducing our small and new business owners to consumers.”

FRESH IDEAS Allen also said the RDC has taken note that the country is being propelled in a direction that demands fresh and innovative ideas that would guarantee sustainable development.

She said it is for this reason RACE has been launched, as it creates an opportunity for bold and unique ideas that that would

President David Granger viewing some of the art and craft exhibits during the launch ducers, manufacturers, and innovators of the region to ing the power to make deci- allow for citizens to be more showcase and promote their sions back to the people as competitive in the provision businesses, while connecting envisaged by the crafters of of their goods and services. with local and international our Constitution,” he posited.

“We want to ensure that investors.

As the government em- avenues are opened not only A d d r e s s i n g a w i d e powers the regions and lo- to producers and businesses, cross-section of stakehold- cal governments, they must but the consumers who comers, including primary and take ownership for creating plete the trade,” the regional secondary school children and delivering growth and chairman said. from within the region, Min- business opportunities for “New opportunities must ister Bulkan said RACE citizens, he further posited. also demand quality and will play an integral role in Regional Chairman, Gen- standards, so that our country transforming the country’s evieve Allen said RACE is is competitive in what is now regions into veritable eco- geared towards the contin- a global market from where nomic hubs. ued promotion of environ- the choices are endless,” she He said that RACE will mental-friendly economic added. help citizens to be more agricultural fronts on which Similar exhibitions were competitive in the trade of the country has currently launched in Pomeroon-Sutheir products and services. embarked. penaam (Region Two), “We need to move away “It seeks to attract poten- Mahaica-Berbice (Region from the simple buying and tial investors, both local and Five), and Upper Demerselling attitude, and think foreign,” she said. ara-Berbice (Region Ten). more innovatively; to think of ways we can improve and enhance our products to create market opportunities further afield,” he urged his audience.

Minister Bulkan said, too, that RACE is a strong indication of the government’s determination to empower people within their communities.

PEOPLE EMPOWERMENT “The launch of this RACE represents another example of the administration’s delivery of decentralisation and people’s empowerment.

We were elected on a pledge and a promise to reinvigorate local democracy; to put local government front

Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan and Region 4 Regional Chairman Genevieve Allen examining the well packaged coconut biscuits (Photos by Adrian Narine)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

Guyana a powerhouse for agricultural needs

– Chile Ambassador CHILE’S Ambassador to Guyana, Claudio Rojas Rachel, believes that Guyana can do much more to reap revenues and boost its economy should Guyana take up its place as the “powerhouse” in the regional food and agriculture sector.

He said Guyana has all the elements to become a powerhouse for food security within the Caribbean and the rest of the world. Ambassador Rachel was at the time addressing the closing session of the CODEX Coordinating Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean (CCLAC) workshop held at Cara Lodge, on Friday.

“We are of the view that Guyana has all the elements to become the powerhouse for its self-sustenance and to sustain other countries with all the agricultural needs with its vast lands, excellent quality of soil and water resources.”

The ambassador, who has been living in Guyana for almost two years, said he would make regular trips to the local market where he is able to get fresh fruits and vegetables.

“But when I go to the supermarket, the problem comes. There we are exposed as consumers to goods that are imported from other markets with labelling in different languages and components of information.” He said Guyana can do much better in this regard, noting that his country would like to see a space for cooperation in the area of agriculture and food safety, labelling of foods and security.

The ambassador noted that while Guyana is blessed with the food and space, it may have some challenges with innovation and engineering. “In that process , we are of the view that there is ample opportunity for my country to assist Guyana to expand its production capacity”, he said.

“There is no doubt that now to all trades have to be standardised to fulfil international standards….

There is no doubt that a bigger population sees an opportunity for Guyana to set itself into playing a key role in food security within the Region,” the Chilean diplomat continued.

Meanwhile, Chair of the

Chair, National Standards Council, Allison Butters-Grant

National Standards Council, Allison Butters-Grant, said that Guyanese must come together to make use of the available resources because the world is “begging for our food.”

She said Guyana should seek to have an area where value-added products are made available and where products are tested to know the nutritional value. She said foreign nationals are coming into the country taking Guyanese local products and using them for their

own businesses.

“We cannot let people take our products out of our country and then sell it back to us. We have to think along the lines of economic value as we think about food security,” Butters- Grant said.

The official said more needs to be done particularly for small farmers who collectively form a major network for large markets. She shared an incident where a farmer recently had to sell his eddoes

Chilean Ambassador to Guyana, Claudio Rojas Rachel

for Guy $10 per pound, because he could not get them to the local market on time.

“If he had a network that he was within that could say to him, dry your eddoes make them into powder, how we can get the technical assistance from any part of the diaspora.

Our farmers have to understand that that is manufacturing practices.”

Coming from the business sector, Butters-Grant said she has been meeting

with a number of persons who are interested in exporting their produce. The challenges she said include getting the produce from “point A to point B” and persons not knowing what are the best value packaging practices for individual products.

She said as Guyana talks about food security, it must also educate. “We must talk to the man in the market; we have to continue promoting our services,” she urged.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

Guyana Goldfields supports heritage celebrations

GUYANA Goldfields Inc. has partnered with the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs for the hosting of this year’s Indigenous Heritage Village Day celebrations set for St. Cuthbert’s Mission, Region Four, on Saturday.

The celebration is part of Heritage Month, which will feature the life and work of first indigenous parliamentarian Stephen Campbell and other notable persons of indigenous descent.

The company also made a financial donation to St. Cuthbert’s Mission for the construction of an eco-lodge there.

The company’s Field Assistant, Leon Roberts, made the presentation to Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs , Garrido –Lowe and representatives from St. Cuthbert’s Mission at a simple yet significant handingover ceremony at her office.

Minister Garrido-Lowe thanked Guyana Gold Fields Inc for the kind gesture.

“They are good corporate citizens and I’m happy to have them on board and their continued support is needed. Thank you very

much and we will continue to work together to build our country and our hinterland in a sustainable way.”

In addition to receiving monies to support the village day activities, the village also received a tangible donation for the construction of an eco-lodge, which will be located in view of the village landing.

GOING GREEN Minister Garrido-Lowe, who has been an advocate for sustainable eco-tourism activities within villages, said “We are going green and are in support of eco-tourism in the hinterland; therefore, a lodge in St. Cuthbert’s would really be great for people to stay when they go, in an eco-friendly surrounding.

Right now they have a guesthouse but that is not enough for everybody going up for the heritage who would want to stay on the night of the 9th, so that’s a plus for them and I’m looking forward to that.”

After receiving the donation, Lenox Shuman, who is the toshao of the village, pointed out that “The com-

munity has enjoyed a very healthy relationship with Guyana Goldfields and we appreciate it; they have provided a lot of tangible resources to the community and provided stability to families, so we look forward to growing that relationship.

We are happy that Guyana Goldfields have pledged some money towards that and I think this is just the first steps in getting it right, and we look forward to that.”

According to Shuman, the construction of the lodge is expected to begin immediately following the hosting of the Heritage Village Day celebration since some materials have already been procured.

GRATITUDE Speaking to the Village Day celebration, the toshao said he is grateful for the support received from the company and his team on the ground is working assiduously to ensure the successful hosting of the event which is an annual attraction during the September Month festivities.

Meanwhile, Roberts noted that “Guyana Goldfields is pleased to contin-

Guyana Goldfields Field Assistant Leon Roberts hands over the cheque to Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Valerie Garrido-Lowe ue our relationship with supporting cultural development in Guyana. We have done similarly for Arrival and Emancipation and now its Heritage Month and we want to celebrate with our First Peoples in an appropriate manner, and every year we do support the efforts of the ministry in recognising individuals who have contributed to the cause of the indigenous peoples in Guyana.”

He also noted the longstanding relationship shared with St. Cuthbert’s Mission and the donation for the

construction of an eco-lodge, according to Roberts, is “in keeping with our mandate to support sustainable activities with communities that we engage with.”

St. Cuthbert’s Mission also known as Pakuri Village is located approximately an hour’s drive east off the Soesdyke-Linden Highway and is home to close to 1500 residents.

Last year, the village was selected to host this year’s Village Day celebration and in doing so a number of critical works were undertaken, including the sprucing up of a number of buildings,

as well as the construction of a new benab located in the centre of the village, which will host the formal activities.

Security measures include cordoning off of the area close to the village landing as well as upgrades to the main thoroughfare into the village. Assistance from the Guyana Defence Force has also been activated.

The 2017 Indigenous Heritage Month of Activities is being celebrated under the theme: “Guyana’s First Peoples: sustaining a rich cultural environment.”

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

Audit Office capacity must be strengthened -- to handle oil revenues, GCCI president urges

PRESIDENT of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Deodat Indar, has urged the Audit Office of Guyana to strengthen its capacity as it prepares for oil and gas revenues in 2020.

Indar’s message was conveyed to employees of the Audit Office and other officials of the finance sector during the closing ceremony of a technical cooperative workshop at the Marriott Hotel on Thursday.

The GCCI president explained the importance of a strong and independent audit office, noting that its work cannot be understated because the revenues of the country will grow with the advent of the oil revenue. “ We s h o u l d m a k e sure it is strong and fully equipped with all the resources to complete their mandate,” he said.

According to recent reports, assuming a minimum of 800 million barrels of oil are produced at a

Man begs wife to return home

Kilkenny Duncan and Dolly Boodram when they were together

A 27 –year-old father of three is seeking assistance from the public to locate his wife who has been missing since Sunday.

Kilkenny Duncan of 250 Sisters Village, West Bank Demerara, told the Guyana Chronicle that Dolly Boodram also known as “Gem” was last seen at home with their three children on Sunday when he left for work that morning.

Duncan has since made a missing person’s report to the Ministry of Social Protection Welfare Department and the

Wales Police Station.

“I don’t know the reason why she would do something like that,” he said, claiming that there was no problem in their relationship as he urged the woman to return home for the sake of their children.

Boodram was last seen in a black spandex dress with black sandals at the Kitty Cabs Taxi Service.

Anyone with information on the missing woman is asked to contact Kilkenny Duncan on 629-9242 or the nearest police station.

Lance Corporal charged with assaulting lover

A 36-year-old Lance Corporal of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) was on Friday charged for assaulting his lover.

Randy Martin, who is married and lives with his wife and two children at West Ruimveldt Housing Scheme, denied the three charges read to him.

Particulars of the first charge alleged that between April 1 and April 18, 2017 at South Ruimveldt Park, Martin unlawfully assaulted Cassandra Wickham.

It is further alleged that on April 17 at the Kitty Seawalls, Georgetown, the Lance Corporal assaulted the woman with whom he was involved in an extra-marital affair.

Additionally, between April 1 and April 13 at South Ruimveldt, Martin’s actions amounted to the use of threat towards Wickham.

It was reported that the duo had put an end to their relationship and during the aforementioned periods, Martin assaulted the woman, threatened to kill her, brandished a gun at her, held her by her throat and forcefully kissed her.

He appeared before Magistrate Judy Latchman and was released on $30,000 bail for each of the charges.

The matter has since been transferred to Magistrate Leron Daly and will be heard again on September 25.

GCCI President Deodat Indar addressing the gathering on Thursday at the Marriott Hotel

rate of US$50 as Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman had indicated, it means that US$40 billion will be generated from this production.

The report went on to state that should ExxonMobil (oil exploration company) benefit from a cost recovery of US$5B and the remainder divided 50/50 (between Guyana and the company), it

means that Guyana could receive US$17.5B in oil revenues.

Country representative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Sophie Makonnen, said Guyana needs transparency and accountability now more than ever.

She emphasised the need for the auditing processes of the Audit Office to be enhanced in order to

improve public accountability.

The IDB, over the past 15 years, has funded technical training for the Audit office.

Through the training, the Audit Office has been able to use applied information technology for audit processes with special emphasis on reducing document retrieval time and so forth.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

Garbage contractors not hearing from M&CC

By Telesha Ramnarine THE two major gar bage contractors attached to the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) are willing to resume work, but have not heard from City Hall ever since they opted to withdraw their services in early August.

Representatives of Puran Brothers Disposal Services and Cevons Waste Management, Kalesh Puran and Morse Archer told the Guyana Chronicle recently that they would be happy to resume work, but the

City Council is silent.

The M&CC had said that the pulling out by the contractors ‘opened their eyes’ to the possibility that they can provide the same services competently on their own and the money saved could be paid to the contractors to cover heavy, outstanding debts.

“We can’t work without payment. If we don’t have working capital, what’s the sense in working? We didn’t receive a cent since. We keep calling, but we get no positive feedback. We haven’t received a dollar.

They need to sit and talk with us,” Puran commented.

Since the last meeting was held between the parties early in August, Puran said another has not been called.

Archer is saying that even before the contractors decided to pull their services, the M&CC would schedule meetings with them and then postpone them.

“We’d be happy to resume, but nobody is talking to us. It’s been about five weeks now.”

Solid Waste Management Director Walter Narine said he preferred not to comment on the issue of a failure to call meetings with the contractors.

T o w n Clerk Royston King has said the M&CC is looking forward to opening new talks with the contractors and setting new conditions, especially since the contracts are up for review in October.

The contracts, which feature a review clause, remain in force until 2020.

“We are preparing to re-engage our contractors within another month, to open new talks with them… and to set new conditions, so that we can move forward,” King said at a press conference.

City Hall, through its Solid Waste Management Department, has undertaken to provide garbage collection and disposal services throughout Georgetown, with assistance from a few small contractors.

But King has subsequently reported that the trucks and other equipment belonging to M&CC are very old and have never been subjected to this type of pressure before, since the municipality had been depending on the contractors.

“They’re now being put to the test,” King offered, and this, he said, is affecting the way the M&CC is collecting the city’s waste.

According to King, the M&CC is now moving to procure trucks from overseas, so that it can eventually cover 60 per cent of garbage collection and divide the remaining 40 per cent between contractors.

“While we have been paying and building private contractors, improving their capacity, we have neglected our own capacity, so we really have limited capacity to do what we’re doing.

So we must re-think our operations and build our capacity and so if we hire contractors, they will not be doing the bulk of the work,” King said.

The two contractors opted to pull their garbage-collection services from the city due to outstanding balances from the M&CC. King had told city councillors in July that the M&CC was finding it increasingly difficult to honour its financial obligations to the contractors.

He said Council has been trying to keep up with current bills, although it has outstanding sums for the years 2015 and 2016.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

Guyana, Argentina collaborate on the restoration of art

A TEAM from Argentina is in Guyana to give much-needed support to the restoration of the pieces of art in the National Collection housed at the National Gallery of Art. According to a release from the Ministry of Social Cohesion, the government agency and the Embassy of Argentina, earlier this week, hosted a reception at the Theatre Guild in honour of the visiting art restoration and preservation experts, Néstor Barrio, Dean of the Research Institute on the Cultural Patrimony, and Damasia Gallegos, Director of the “Taller Tarea”.

The visit is a result of a collaborative effort between the Government of Guyana and the Government of Argentina, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The restoration project is estimated to impact approximately 250,000 people belonging to the cultural institutions and the visual arts community in Guyana, inclusive

so Monarch – Diana Chapman, the Nachgana Dance Academy, the St. Cuthbert’s Dance Group and a masquerade performance by the Golden Arrowhead Band, the release added.

Minister of Social Cohesion, George Norton in remarks at the event noted that “Guyana and Argentina have over the years shared fruitful bilateral relations in various sectors, including culture; this will see the restoration of a number of prized paintings from the National Collection of Art which has deteriorated … This collaboration has far reaching implications and will certainly go a long way in the preservation of cultural heritage in Guyana… The Ministry of Social Cohesion considers this a priority.”

“Cultural preservation is a humongous task which cannot be undertaken by the Government of Guyana alone. As such, I wish to take this opportunity to express profound gratitude to the Government of Argentina for their support,”

of artists, students, researchers and the general public.

Prior to the reception, a cultural presentation showcasing aspects of Guyanese culture through dance, song and steel pan was held and the audience was entertained by the National Dance Company, the National Steel Orchestra, the reigning Calyp-

he said, while adding, that where collaboration exists, great things can be achieved. “I look forward to the successful implementation of this project and the further deepening of ties between the two countries,” he said.

The impact of the project augers well for the future of art, cultural

Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr George Norton as he delivered remarks at the event.

heritage, cultural institutions, and the visual arts community and by extension the wider public, the release added.

Addressing the gathering at the

He further explained that it is all part of an effort among countries to strengthen bilateral relations through culture, arts and education projects and emphasised that this is the beginning of a new brand of coop-

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Buenos Aires, Argentina. It will be conducted in coordination and collaboration between the National Gallery of Art of Guyana and the experts of TAREA-IIPC UNSAM. The visit is essentially an exploratory mission in which the Argentine team will be conducting a first assessment of the damaged works of art, most of them oil and acrylic paintings on canvas, canvas boards, tentest and tentest lined with fabric, after which a proposal will be put in place on the way forward to implement the project.

Also during their stint here, the Argentine experts will undertake several tasks, including: - Identification of the material and techniques needed in order to restore and conserve works of art, in order to consolidate the future exhibitions of the Guyana National Collection of Art. - Identification of a pool of resource persons from the National Gallery of Art and other cultural

The National Gallery of Art, as most important gallery in Guyana, it has a constant flow of people from all over Guyana and other countries who regularly visit to view the exhibitions. As such, the project can contribute greatly to the visibility of art in Guyana, thereby generating more interest and knowledge about the artists of Guyana.

The project will also impact on the lives of those artists whose works need to be restored and preserved. In addition, it will have an impact on the families of the deceased artists, whose works will also be restored in this project. In turn, the project will garner positive results for the persons who will receive training throughout the different stages of the project, and will serve other cultural and heritage institutions in Guyana, which face similar situations with needs for conservation and restoration.

Participants who will benefit from the training he persons will be selected from the various

institutions of Guyana, who will receive training in conservation and restoration.

- Works of art will be meticulously examined by experts of TAREA-IIPC UNSAM and assessment of conditions and needs for restoration and conservation will be conducted.

cultural institutions proposed by Guyana including the National Gallery of Art, the E.R. Burrowes School of Art, the University of Guyana, the National Archives, the National Trust, the National Museum, the Museum of African Heritage and the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology.

Cultural presentations which took place at the event.

event, Ambassador of Argentina to Guyana, His Excellency Luis Martino, said with the new mechanism of the South/South cooperation, it was decided that culture and arts are part of a major effort undertaken

by Argentine to promote regional integration.

eration, and is the first of its kind in the South/South Cooperation Fund.

The project will be implemented by the “TALLER TAREA” of the Cultural Heritage Research Institute (TAREA-IIPC) at the National University of San Martín (UNSAM) located in the city of

Kumaka Market tarmac to be completed by year-end

BY December this year, the market tarmac at Kumaka in the Mabaruma sub-region is expected to be completed and the vending public in the area is being sensitised on the impending opening of the new facility.

The tarmac was constructed under the previous government at a cost of G$34M, however, there were several defects in the design and this led to a re-design, spearheaded by an engineer at the Ministry of Public Works at the time.

The scope of works was re- examined and approved by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) on August 22, 2012 and the contractor was advised.

However, additional changes were made due to the boggy nature of the land, with the installation of a revetment at the sides and front catering

The recreational facility at Bumbury Hill on the outskirts of the town of Mabaruma, undergoing construction

for the most vulnerable and traffic traversing areas of the tarmac. The facility was built in a swampy area.

After Mabaruma became a town following the local government elections last year, the Town Council undertook a number of projects, includ-

ing the rehabilitation of the tarmac.

Town Clerk, Barrington Ward, told the Guyana Chronicle recently that the tarmac is being fixed in time for the Christmas season this year.

He said some 13 spots have been allotted to vendors to

The Kumaka waterfront at Mabaruma. In the foreground is the market tarmac which is undergoing rehabilitation.

sell at the tarmac so far and the Council is in the process of contracting additional spots to vendors.

A meeting was held recently at Kumaka with the business community to sensitise persons on the forthcoming opening of the tarmac and

according to Ward, the facility will be complemented by the rehabilitated Kumaka Stretch which is being rehabilitated.

The roadway is undergoing significant upgrades and is expected to be of concrete when completed in a few weeks.

The general aesthetics

of the area is being cleaned, Ward noted. He said too that the Town Council is working to complete several projects which the body had on its agenda for completion this year. “Projects are ongoing at the moment,” he said.

One such project is a recreational vending facility at Bumbury Hill, located several miles from the Mabaruma township, which is expected to be completed this month-end.

Ward noted that nine sanitary blocks are being built at the site, where a playfield is being constructed along with vending stalls. The park will be fitted with seating and lighting facilities.

He said that the park is being built with the intention of creating business opportunities for persons in the immediate vicinity, as well as villages within the sub-region.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

Guyana needs to strengthen CODEX standards

MINISTER of Business, Dominic Gaskin, on Friday called for more emphasis to be placed on CODEX standards, a set of guidelines that can improve the quality of products and drive the need to do business.

The minister was at the time addressing stakeholders at the closing ceremony of CODEX ALIMENTARIUS workshop, themed “Strengthening the function of National CODEX structure in Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia and Suriname.”

The project was coordinated by Chile CODEX Coordinating Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean (CCLAC) with funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Chilean Food Safety and Quality Agency (ACHIPIA) and the Inter American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

The event was held at Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown.

The goal of the project is to strengthen CODEX functioning at the national level of participating states.

Among its objectives were to raise awareness of the CODEX importance to national authorities and stakeholders and to improve knowledge and structure to effectively participate in CODEX. According to Minister Gaskin, Guyana’s regulatory

and trade-facilitation agencies must have among their key performance indicators, some measure of the quantity and quality of their outputs as facilitators of business.

“Standards can improve the quality of products by specifying certain requirements which have to be met to sell or export it. Harmonised standards can create a level playing field in which goods and services can be traded internationally with a certain degree of confidence and consistency.

“In other words, there must be a measure of many approvals of certificates is-

the CODEX workshop is a revival of the local project, which had for years fallen by the wayside.

In 2014, the programme was resuscitated and has been receiving much support from government through the Agriculture Ministry.

According to him, CODEX addresses the collection of internationally recognised standards codes and practices, guidelines and recommendations for food and food production.

IMPETUS Holder said the workshop has acted as an impetus to

Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder

A section of the gathering at the workshop at Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown

sued for the importation and exportation of products.”

Also speaking at the event was Agriculture Minister Noel Holder, who said

ensure that quality food and safe food are available for consumption in the country.

He reminded participants that the Agriculture Ministry plays a significant role in the

growth and development of Guyana and government is mandated to ensure that the country is food-secure.

“The ministry has embarked on a mechanism to ensure food security, includ-

Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin

ing the implementation of its food and nutrition strategy along with the continued measures to be taken to ensure that exports and trade mechanisms are intact,” Minister Holder said.

Minister Holder said the National Codex Committee has not been functioning effectively, but government was able to develop a multisectoral approach to ensure that all key stakeholders play a meaningful role in food security.

He said in lending support to CODEX, the Agriculture Ministry has taken steps to ensure that food production is backed up by guaranteed strategies of food and agricultural practices, especially extensive services, livestock, pest and disease management and the food safety and hygiene promotional codes.

In terms of legislation and regulation, the ministry has also developed and augmented the seed bill, the food safety and animal and welfare bill among others.

Meanwhile, Inter American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) representative Wilmot Garnet, said the activity was undertaken within a broader framework of a technical cooperation agreement.

He said achieving effective participation in such international forum is heavily dependent on the existence of a national CODEX structure, which is functioning efficiently and effectively.

The project saw the discharge and operation of a sound national CODEX that would enable Guyana to improve its participation as well as its capacity to discuss topics of interest to the sub-regions, Garnet said.

The final activity in Guyana also sought to address Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) One, Two, Seven and Eight and sought to assist the national CODEX contact point of participating countries and governing bodies relating to food imports through increased national awareness participation and effective influence in international food safety and food quality standard processes.

The invitees included representatives of IICA, PAHO/WHO, permanent secretaries and other government officials.

App. developed to connect farmers and customers SEVERAL information technology students have developed a computer application which can connect mainly farmers and customers in the agriculture sector.

And, one group operating under the name, InnoSys, was adjudged the winning entry in the Ministry of Public

Telecommunications CODESPRINT 2017 competition.

Second place went to UV3 Media while Intellect Storm copped the third place.

The winners were presented with their prizes at a simple ceremony held on Friday afternoon at the Ministry’s boardroom, Colgrain House on Camp Street. The

competition was geared at bringing out the best in computer applications which will bring producers, sellers and buyers of various agriculture products into a single online market place.

Deonauth Mohabar of InnoSys’ explained that the group developed its app with the aim of connecting local

Ministerial Advisor at the Ministry of Public Telecommunications, Lance Hinds presents the winning token to members of InnoSys, the top performer at CODESPRINT 2017. (Delano Williams photo)

stakeholders within the sector, as well as, with international clients. The participants were given a month to develop the applications.

Ministerial Advisor, Lance Hinds noted that 14 groups signed up for the event but only seven participated and completed the exercise.

According to the Ministry of Public Telecommunications, the project must have the ability to generate demand statistics that must be accessible to farmers, generate statistics based on volume per product, average price and total dollar value.

The application must also include a payment system

that should be fast and easy, along with contain an order –tracking function, among other parameters.

The applications must be able to resolve the ageold marketing problem which has been forcing farmers to see their produce below market value or to discard them.

The winners of this year’s CODESPRINT competition. (Delano Williams photo)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

‘I have nothing to hide’ …Lawrence maintains position on $632M drug purchase …Pasha presses for sanctions in minority report

By Svetlana Marshall PUBLIC Health Minister Volda Lawrence said she has nothing to hide, even as a commissioner on the Public Procurement Commission, Sukrishnalall Pasha, is calling for her to be sanctioned over the controversial purchase of $632M in critical drugs by the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation earlier this year.

pared by the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) on GPHC’s multi-million drug purchase. However, Lawrence, when asked to respond to Pasha’s report, declared: “I don’t have anything to hide.” Noting that she is positive that the Government’s tertiary health facility has pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies available for the people of Guyana, the Public Health Minister said that her inten-

who had appeared before the commission when the investigation was being conducted into the drug purchase.

During her appearance, she denied approving the purchase of $632M worth of emergency drugs by the GPHC. Minister Lawrence reportedly told the commission it was the then Chief Executive Officer (GPHC) Alan Johnson, who had issued the purchase, maintaining

Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence

“In my respectful view, having regard to all the evidence, facts and circumstances of this matter it is clear to my mind that the minister should be held responsible for this illegality, since the process was activated by her institution and intervention,” Pasha said in a 30-page report, according to a source who has seen it. He added that based on his findings, the case should be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to allow criminal charges to be instituted where and if necessary. Additionally, he called for sanctions to be imposed against those who had erred administratively.

Pasha’s 30-page minority report is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly by the Opposition – the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) – with the intention of countering the substantive report pre-

tions were pure, and would repeat the act if needs be.

“If I had to do it again, I will do it again. It’s the process that we have to address,” she told the Guyana Chronicle. Minister Lawrence pointed out that in addition to the investigation conducted by the PPC, she had ordered the GPHC Board of Directors to conduct an internal investigation, and while that report is available, she is awaiting release of the PPC’s report.

The commission’s report on the multi-million dollar drug purchase was submitted to the Parliament of Guyana by the PPC Chairperson Carol Corbin.

“I have not seen his (Sukrishnalall Pasha) report, neither have I seen the PPC’s report, when I see the PPC report, that is the big thing for me,” Minister Lawrence posited. The Public Health Minister was among those

that she had never granted any approval. Months after the Public Health Minister had appeared before the PPC, GPHC, in a statement in July, said that Minister Lawrence was not at fault based on an investigation conducted by the board.

According to the GPHC, the findings have revealed that after a drug shortage was reported at the medical facility, Minister Lawrence met with management and asked that a plan be devised to alleviate the situation.

Subsequently, a plan of action was developed and presented to the minister by the GPHC’s finance director.

That plan of action included determining the availability of drugs from the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO), the Materials Management Unit (MMU), and local suppliers; obtaining quotations from suppliers; sending an eval-

uation report to the National Procurement and Tender Administration (NPTAB) for approval, followed by the award of tender.

What transpired, however, was that rather than follow the prescribed plan of action to the letter, the then CEO wrote the NPTAB seeking approval for the contracts after the corporation had begun receiving pharmaceuticals from the suppliers.

But Pasha in his minority report shared a different view. In addition to contending that the commission has omitted critical information from its substantive report, Pasha, who was nominated to the position by the PPP, is reportedly claiming that the GPHC had rigged the procurement process to give Ansa McAl the lion’s share of the $632M drug purchase.

According to a reliable source, who has seen the report, it is Pasha’s belief that Minister Lawrence played an integral role in the procurement process, and as such should be held accountable.

According to that source, Pasha in his missive, said: “In my respectful view, having regard to all the evidence, facts and circumstances of this matter it is clear to my mind that the minister should be held responsible for this illegality, since the process was activated by her institution and intervention.”

Based on his findings, Pasha recommended that the case be sent to the DPP to allow for criminal charges to be administered where and if necessary. Additionally, he called for sanctions to be imposed against those who had erred administratively.

When contacted on Tuesday for a comment, Pasha asked that the Guyana Chronicle return a call within one hour, but subsequent calls up until Friday have gone unanswered.

However on Monday, he declined to comment on the matter at hand.

“I don’t wish to speak on the issue. Whatever I did,

PPC Commissioner Sukrishnalall Pasha

it was supposed to be kept with some level of confidentiality,” he said.

The source told the Guyana Chronicle that Pasha in his minority reported acted outside of the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the investigation carried out by the PPC. The PPC chairperson told this newspaper that the commission did not recommend sanctions against the errant public officials, noting that decision lies with the Government and those sitting at the helm of the GPHC. While confirming that the findings have confirmed that the procurement laws were breached, given the fact that the GPHC had sought approval from the NPTAB after it had started to receive drugs from suppliers, the chairperson maintained that it was never the intention of the commission to recommend disciplinary action.

“That was not the purpose of the investigation,” she emphasised.

Based on the Terms of Reference (ToR), the investigation was executed to determine the circumstances under which the emergency drugs were procured. Additionally, it sought to determine whether the GPHC had acted in compliance with Procurement Act Chapter 73:05 in the procurement of emergency pharmaceuticals.

Another key aim of the investigation was to have greater understanding of the Public Health Minister’s involvement. Additionally, it was the intention of the PPC to provide a menu of measures that would allow the premier health institution to improve its procurement practices in keeping with the Procurement Act Chapter 73:05.

In July, 2017, the Finance Minister Winston Jordan confirmed reports by the Guyana Chronicle that NPTAB had never approved the purchase of the more than $632M in “emergency pharmaceutical supplies” for the GPHC.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

Smart City Solutions ‘eyes pass’ City Council --APNU Councillor says company must ‘bow’ to new re-negotiating team

By Telesha Ramnarine A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Councillor, Ivelaw Henry, on Thursday waded into SMART City Solutions (SCS), contending that the parking meter company has pushed it a little bit too far.

“SMART City Solutions (SCS) eyes pass this Council! They eyes pass the people of Guyana! Some of the figures we see in the project document [are] abominable!” Henry said at a forum for City Councillors to air their views on the report recently submitted by the Parking Meter Negotiation Committee.

He said SCS must be made to “bow” to the new committee that will be appointed shortly to re-start the negotiation process.

The salaries of $1M and $750,000 that SCS said it plans to pay some of its officials are repulsive, Henry said, noting that the City Council should seek to undertake the project on its own.

“I would have liked us to do this project ourselves.

Our people could be employed in this. And, it is no longer a contractual arrangement where they are above us and we are below, like boy and father; we are equal partners in this project. That is the way we are going to negotiate with them,” he said.

Thirteen of the 25 councillors voted in favour of setting up a new committee, possibly consisting now of members of the public, to start a fresh process of negotiation with SCS, the foreign company that the City Council granted a concession to install parking meters in Georgetown.

The contract that the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) entered into with SCS came under heavy criticism from some councillors who called for a

complete revocation of it.

Others have suggested a wait on the outcome of a court case that has a bearing on the matter.

Mayor Patricia ChaseGreen, along with Councillors Heston Bostwick, Carolyn Caesar, Noelle Chow-Chee, Oscar Clarke, Welton Clarke, Yvonne Ferguson, Junior Garrett, Winston Harding, Ivelaw Henry, Trichria Richards, James Samuels and Monica Thomas voted in favour of continuing to negotiate with SCS under different conditions and with a new re-negotiating team.

The majority, nevertheless, voted in favour of re-negotiating with SCS under new conditions. For instance, SCS will now be obligated to provide required documents during the negotiations.

EXTENSION Following the majority vote at City Hall, Town Clerk, Royston King will now be writing to Communities Minister, Ronald Bulkan, seeking an extension of the holding of the parking meters to facilitate the setting up of the other committee.

nity to legally hold up our end of the bargain. This recommendation (to continue engaging SCS via a new renegotiating team) doesn’t allow for the continuation of the contract in its present form. In entertaining them, the committee should have ultimatums that if documents are not submitted, we squash the contract immediately.”

Peter observed that refusing to provide documents mean SCS is hiding information from the M&CC. “But because we are bounded legally, we ought to entertain them.”

The parking meter created a very lonely road on the Avenue of the Republic

Councillors Gregory Fraser, Bishram Kuppen, Lionel Jaikarran, Sherod Duncan, and Khame Sharma voted for a complete revocation of the contract with SCS, while Councillors Philip Smith, Carlyle Goring, Malcolm Ferreira, Andrea Marks, Alfred Mentore, Akeem Peter and Sophia Whyte voted for M&CC to await the court’s determination on the matter before deciding on the way forward.

Ultimately, some reasoned, the M&CC will have to go with the decision of the court regardless of what the Council decides now.

The mayor has asked that councillors submit names of persons to serve on the new team by Monday, when the next statutory meeting will convene.

“Let us take our time and move this process through. Nobody will push my buttons, Chase-Green said.

Councillor Peter offered that the City Council is bounded by the contract it has with SCS, and hence should continue to entertain the foreign company, but only according to the new provisions made for doing so in the ‘Ferreira report.’

“It gives us an opportu-

A SHAM Alliance For Change (AFC) Councillor, Duncan is not opposed to the idea of parking meters being installed in the City, but to them being delivered by SCS, whom he repeatedly referred to as a “sham of a company”.

“There isn’t any company by the name of ‘Smart City’ anywhere in the world. It’s a sham. The documents show us the company has two directors and within the last year, they fired one and the substantial director is involved in a court matter where he allegedly shot a child in the

USA,” Duncan pointed out.

Duncan questioned the point of continuing to do business with SCS if it denied the very committee that City Hall installed pivotal documents.

“How can we contract with them further? If as a councillor in the City of Georgetown a year and a half later I do not have sufficient information, it’s an indictment on the Council.

SCS has not been respectful to us and I have no intention of being respectful to SCS. No intention of doing that.”

While SCS was touted to M&CC as a company having years of experience in the business, Duncan argued that nothing they have done to date proves such.

“No company with years of experience… would put parking meters in front of secondary schools; that is not smart. In the middle of the pavement; that cannot be smart. SCS put a parking meter in front of Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre.

What is smart about that?”

Based on his findings in Mexico, while on a trip the government sent him on, Duncan said an efficient public transport system and cycling were among the first options available for reducing congestion in the City. Conversely, he observed that the installation of parking meters in Georgetown was proposed as the first option to reduce traffic congestion.

Councillor Oscar Clarke offered that the M&CC cannot continue to permit the lawlessness occurring on the streets with regard to vehicular traffic.

If the metered system is put in place, he feels that persons who do not absolutely need to drive will leave their vehicles at home and opt to take a bus or taxi.

“Other countries use trains and other means to get to work. We want to

restrict them if they do not need to come into the City.”

Clarke is saying it is not a question of whether anyone wants the contract or not.

“There’s a contract in place so it’s not whether you want it or not; it’s legal and binding.”

People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Councillor, Kuppen offered that no one in their right mind would give away so much to SCS for so little in return.

“The company is taking advantage of this City. This is not the best we can do for the citizens of Georgetown.

This contract is an illegal, unproductive contract that violates every single good business procedure. We must scrap it. We don’t need this. We can go to another contract. If you open this up to the public, you will have a lot of investors coming in, overseas and local. It doesn’t do justice to our people,” Kuppen said.

For those councillors who feel that the M&CC is bounded by the contract with SCS, Kuppen pointed out that Central Government did offer a way out of it.

Kuppen’s fellow PPP Councillor, Sharma offered that during the time that the parking meters were in effect, Georgetown was nothing but a ‘ghost town’.

“People would see me all over and ask ‘You mean that thing coming back?’”

Sharma said.

Councillor Mentore clarified that it was not the M&CC that signed a contract with SCS but that Town Clerk Royston King did.

“The contract that currently exists should be revoked. If the meters are necessary, I would like to see us having a better deal. I would like to see us having 80 percent of that deal and the other side 20 per cent,” he said.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 9, 2017

Youths must be partners in development– Linden Mayor

By Naomi Marshall

THE Linden Mayor and Town Council (M&TC has said it intends to pay keener interest in getting young people involved in development, when it hosted a workshop on Friday, geared at improving youth involvement in local governance.

The workshop was declared open by Mayor, Carwyn Holland, who proposed the formation of a majoring youth council in all municipalities to build leadership skills and civic engagement opportunities for youths.

“The way this will work is, we will have the mayor youth councils in all the municipalities and they will have an entire Municipal Council by themselves, where they will have various committees and a member or two that will be seconded to the municipality and the regional

authority so that they can be a part of the different committees, social, health, etc,” Holland said.

An agreement between the CDB and the Bank of Guyana (BoG) addresses a number of development areas, including local government and which has been among included in the discussion for the past two days.

And, tasked with the responsibility for taking forward a country strategy programme for the next five years is Mr Damion Reese, Country Economist for Guyana at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

According to him, “What we try to do is focus on areas where we think we are best placed to, we are interested in ensuring what we do is complimentary to what other partners may be doing. The strategy focuses on areas such as infrastructure where we are hoping the UK Caribbean Infrastructure

Fund can fund some of the work that is coming out of Linden and heading into the interior,” stated Reese.

sultations with various stakeholders who would be affected and those who would benefit.

In addition, Reese is hoping

opinions on the developmental outcomes that can follow from the project.

“The outcome of this is, we

Linden Mayor, Carwyn Holland (fourth left) and Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Country Economist for Guyana, Damion Reese (left of Holland) with youth leaders from Linden

The infrastructure project will involve community con-

that the youths will have a chance to share their views and

hope to design some kind of technical assistance programme

which will help address local government in Guyana,” Reese added.

Some of the objectives of the youth in governance programme includes, creating an environment that is conducive to the positive development of youths and youth engagement, and provide youths with skills, knowledge and experience that would prepare them to be effective partners for a positive change in the towns.

Linden’s Deputy Mayor, Waneka Arrindell posited that the municipality is very focused on developing the youths of the town and is grateful for the initiative.

“If you want something and it is right in front of you, use the best of it,” she told the gathering.

The seminar was attended by stakeholders, Linden group leaders and members of the Linden Town Council.

Six Guyanese youths participate in U.S. exchange programme SIX secondary school students and one adult mentor benefitted from a three-week cultural and developmental programme in the United States of America (USA) from August 7 to 27.

The six Guyanese youth ambassadors selected this year to participate in the Caribbean youth ambassador programme

were: Sarah Dos Ramos, Claudia Garraway, Omar Hoppie, Shafeena Milton, Vishani Ragobeer and Ayodele Roach, along with their adult mentor, Jacquelyn Johnson. They were joined by youths from 11 other Caribbean countries also.

Throughout the programme, these youths were afforded the opportunity to

engage in capacity-building exercises and leadership training; project planning and implementing workshops; and cross-cultural exchange and communication with their American home stay families and with youths from around the world.

All of the participants met in Brattleboro, Vermont, for

Creditinfo, Commercial Registry sign data-sharing pact A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) paving the way for the further expansion of the breadth of data in the credit bureau database was signed on Friday between the Commercial Registry of the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority and Creditinfo (Guyana) Inc.

to facilitate regular and efficient flow of data on registered businesses and companies that would further enhance the quality of credit reports being provided by the credit bureau. Under the terms of the agreement, the publicly available information will be shared under strict protocols

Ms Judy Semple-Joseph, CEO-CreditInfo, Guyana, and Ms. Nicole Prince, Registrar of Commerce (ag) during the symbolic exchange of signed agreements

Affixing their respective signatures on behalf of the two entities were, acting Registrar of Commerce, Ms. Nicole Prince and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Creditinfo (Guyana) Inc., Ms. Judy Semple-Joseph.

The bureau in a release noted, that the information sharing agreement is intended

for inclusion in the credit bureau database which primarily serves the financial sector and other subscribers to the credit bureau.

Through its mandate to operate as a credit bureau in various markets, Creditinfo has established high standards of data requirements for its Credit Bureau System (CBS)

database. The Business and Company data repository by the Commercial Registry is therefore needed to satisfy the requirements of data sufficiency for this market and, in addition, contributes directly to a favourable assessment for Guyana on the World Bank Doing Business Index. This development of a credit bureau in Guyana has now created an enabling environment in which larger numbers of persons can access much needed credit far easier and within a shorter processing time. Also, with the credit bureau the credit decision- making process is facilitated much easier.

As one of the newest subsidiaries of the global Creditinfo Group of Companies, Creditinfo, Guyana, has been forging ahead with its mandate to provide the full range of credit reporting services to the local market and continuously improving it data quality.

The Commercial Registry is a Statutory Body established under the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority Act No. 4/2013 and tasked with the operational and repository aspects of publicly available documents and data.

In addition it creates processes and stores documents that formalise the legal registration of all businesses and companies in Guyana and disseminates them as allowed by law and necessity.

The 2017 Youth Ambassadors from Guyana along with their mentor after their meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Guyana, Mr. Perry Holloway, at the Marriott Hotel.

the first segment of the programme before splitting into groups that travelled to three host cities: Seattle, Washington; Tulsa, Oklahoma and Kansas, Missouri.

The programme then culminated in Washington D.C., where the youths visited the State Department and prepared for their follow-on project in their home countries. This ‘follow-on’ project entails the implementation of a community-service project by the ambassadors, based on all the skills they acquired from the exchange.

Team Guyana structured their follow-on project on ‘Health’. While attending the project presentations in Wash-

ington D.C., representatives from Guyana’s Embassy in the U.S. commended the Guyanese cohort for conceptualising a “timely” project, given the emphasis being placed locally on promoting good health.

After returning to Guyana, the young ambassadors met with the U.S. Ambassador to Guyana, Perry Holloway, along with other staff from the embassy on September 6. The group recounted their experiences during the programme and explained their revitalised passion to contribute to the development of Guyana and how they intend to make a positive impact on society.

The U.S. envoy congratulated the team on successfully

representing Guyana and affirmed that the experience will be instrumental as they seek to contribute to their country.

The Caribbean Youth Ambassadors programme is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and is supported through the local embassy. The implementing partner since 2015 for this programme has been ‘World Learning’, a global not-for-profit organisation.

Since the project’s initiation in Guyana in 2012, 37 youths and seven mentors have benefited throughout the years from this project. With the return of the 2017 cohort recently, that number has grown to 43 young ambassadors and eight adult mentors.

The youth ambassadors pose with the Golden Arrowhead and members of Guyana’s embassy in Washington D.C. after delivering their follow-on project presentation.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, SATURDAY, September 9, 2017

GUYANA FOOTBALL FEDERATION INC. (GFF)

Extra Time

CAPACITY BUILDING FOR NATIONAL GOALKEEEPING COACHES COMPLETED

T

he Guyana Football Federation (GFF) hosted a FIFA-facilitated Goal Keeping coaches’ course to build capacity among the national coaches The five-day programme which began on Monday, 4th September was officially opened at the course’s venue – Training Centre, Guyana Fire Service (GFS) – on Wednesday, 6th September at 10:00hrs and wrapped up on Friday, 8th September, 2017 Acting President of the GFF, Brigadier (Ret.) Bruce Lovell and Claine Plummer, FIFA’s GoalKeeping Instructor, gave remarks at the opening while the closing ceremony saw remarks from Keith Ojeer, GFF’s Executive Committee Member and Plummer. Honourable Minister of Social Cohesion with Responsibility for Youth, Sport and Culture, Dr. George Norton also paid a visit to the training session on Thursday and expressed his support to the development of football in Guyana The programme saw participants from

all of the nine GFF’s Regional Member Associations (RMAs) and other administrative regions including Regions 1 and 8

“I’ve learned a lot, it is my first time and I’ve really enjoyed it.

When I return to my region, I wish to see the youths who are interested in football develop themselves and reach higher levels of football. My interest is to teach the goalkeepers the way to hold a proper ball, the movements and the technical aspects of the game, to read the game among others. What I’ve learned here, I will not keep. I hope the next course I’ll be involved again” Edward Isaacs, Rupununi Football Federation

This will take me a long way. I would also like to thank our facilitator, or coach, for the simplifying the information, for asking us questions and making learning easier. I also would like to thank FIFA, and the GFF for the course.” Elwes Jones, Bartica Football Federation

“This course, for me, would have been great as it would have changed my perspective of what really a goalkeeper is as most times goalkeepers would have been bashed and blamed for mistakes on the field. Being here for the last five days would have enlightened me that it’s nothing of the sort. If your goalkeeper is not properly prepared for the task at hand, they would not be ready for same. So this knowledge that was imparted to us will go a long way in taking us to another level and, overall, Guyana’s football will be much more beneficial.” Rawle Griffith, Essequibo-Pomeroon Football Federation

PRODUCED BY THE GUYANA FOOTBALL FEDERATION INC. (GFF) AND DESIGNED BY THE GUYANA CHRONICLE

For further Information or should you have questions/comments , please contact: General Secretary Guyana Football Federation (GFF) 17 Dadanawa Street, Section “K” Campbelville, Georgetown TEL: +1 592 227 8758 ext. 102 FAX: +1 592 225 2096

e-mail: gff@networksgy.com WEBSITE: www.gffonline.com FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/GuyanaFootballFederationInc INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/guyana_football_federation_inc/ SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/guyana-football-federation-inc LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/guyana-football-federation-inc TWITTER: @GFF_Inc_

GUYANA CHRONICLE, SATURDAY, September 9, 2017

West Indies fight back after Stokes’ half-century (REUTERS) - England all-rounder Ben Stokes followed his bowling masterclass against West Indies with a halfcentury and Stuart Broad blazed away for a vital 38 as the hosts took a 71-run first-innings lead on the second day of the third Test at Lord’s yesterday.

Resuming on 46 for four in reply to the tourists’ 123, England were bowled out for 194 and were again indebted to Stokes who struck 10 boundaries in a fluent innings before being bowled out by Shannon Gabriel.

On a chaotic opening day, Stokes took a careerbest six for 22 with a devastating spell of swing bowling as West Indies lost their last eight wickets for 45 runs.

West Indies stayed in contention to claim a first series victory in England for 29 years, however, as paceman Kemar Roach finished with five for 72, although they may come to rue allowing England to stretch their lead.

Rain meant only four overs were bowled before lunch with Roach having Dawid Malan caught behind for 20 to leave England on 63 for five, still 60 in arrears.

Two balls after a rainextended lunchbreak Stokes was dropped on 24 and went on to reach his 12th Test halfcentury in 51 balls with 10 boundaries.

With Stokes scoring freely and England edging ahead of West Indies’ feeble first-innings score

it looked ominous for the visitors. But they hit back in style.

CARBON COPY Shannon Gabriel looked crestfallen after bowling Stokes with an inswinger only to be no-balled for over-stepping, but two balls later he broke Stokes’ stumps with a carbon copy ball and this time there was no reprieve for England’s vice-captain.

Stokes had earlier shared in a 56-run partnership with Jonny Bairstow who fell lbw to the impressive Roach for 21.

With the game tantalisingly poised, Moeen Ali was the next to fall for three, as he edged Roach to Kyle Hope who made up for his earlier drop of Stokes with a head-high catch in the slips.

England were 11 runs ahead with two wickets in hand and put on 60 for the last two wickets.

Stuart Broad scored 29 with Toby Roland-Jones before his entertaining last-wicket partnership with James Anderson saw him swipe two sixes.

Broad was eventually caught behind off the last ball before tea leaving Anderson, who needed one wicket to reach 500 in Tests, unbeaten on eight.

The series is locked at 1-1 after West Indies hit back from a first-Test drubbing at Edgbaston to win a thrilling match at Headingley, their first Test win in England for 17 years.

SCOREBOARD WEST INDIES 1st innings 123 ENGLAND 1st innings (o/n 46 for four) A. Cook c wkp. Dowrich b Roach 10 M. Stoneman c wkp. Dowrich b Roach 1 T. Westley lbw b Holder 8 J. Root c Powell b Holder 1 D. Malan c wkp. Dowrich b Roach 20 B. Stokes b Gabriel 60 J. Bairstow lbw b Roach 21 M. Ali c K Hope b Roach 3 T. Roland-Jones c S. Hope b Holder 13 S. Broad c wkp. Dowrich b Holder 38 J. Anderson not out 8 Extras: (lb-4, nb-7) 11 Total: (all out, 52.5 overs) 194 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-15, 3-19, 4-24, 5-63, 6-119, 7-128, 8-134, 9-163.

Bowling: Roach 24-8-72-5, Gabriel 15-1-64-1, Holder 13.5-1-54-4.

WEST INDIES 2nd innings K. Brathwaite b Anderson 4 K. Powell b Anderson 45 K. Hope lbw b Broad 1 S. Hope not out 35 R. Chase not out 3 Extras: (lb-5) 5 Total: (3 wkts, 31 overs) 93 Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-21, 3-69.

Bowling: Anderson 9-2-17-2, Broad 8-2-25-1, RolandJones 6-2-17-0, Stokes 8-2-29-0.

Position: West Indies lead by 22 runs with seven second innings intact.

Toss: West Indies.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, SATURDAY, September 9, 2017

Region One’s top athlete Rakue Williams seeks assistance to further his career … Eyeing 2024 Olympic selection

By Michael DaSilva BORN and bred in Region One (Barima/Waini) in the small village of Waramuri, 17-year-old Rakue `Ricky’ Williams has his eyes set on representing Guyana at the 2024 Olympic Games, but urgently needs assistance in whatever form from all stakeholders to achieve his dreams.

During a one-on-one interview with Chronicle Sport, Williams who started his athletic career in 2014 at the Ministry of Education National Schools Track and Field Championships said after winning the 5 000 and 10 000-metre races at the Inter-zone level then going on to win the 10 000-metre road race at the National Schools Championship level, he was inspired to pursue an athletic career and so when he got back to his Region One Waramuri Village, he upped his preparation for things to come in the future.

Since then, he has been very consistent in his performance, and his consistency

has come about with the assistance of his current coach, Leslie Black, who after witnessing his performance in 2014, immediately furnished the-then 15-year-old with his (Black) contact number and thenceforth a relationship developed and resulted in Black giving Williams a work programme which he (Williams) adhered to and this resulted in Williams becoming consistent with his performance over the past 60 months.

Some of Williams’ achievements during this period include placing second at the Guyana Golden Jubilee Independence celebration 10K road race that was sponsored by the Guyana Diaspora community and a second-place finish in the junior category of the Office of the Presidency-sponsored 5K road race, which was held in observance of Guyana’s 50th Independence celebrations.

Last year also, Williams placed third in the Annual Massy 10K road race and also occupied the same posi-

tion in the Annual COURTS 10 Road Race.

He subsequently won the Athletics Association of Guyana’s 5K Cross Country and placed second in the 2017 version of the same event. He was then selected to be a part of Guyana’s contingent for the South America Junior Championships which was held at the Leonora Track and Field facility here in Guyana and placed fourth in the 19K race.

A third-place finish was all he could have mustered in the 5000-metre at the recently concluded Boyce and Jefford Athletic Classic which was staged at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground.

Then came the trials for the Inter-Guiana Games and Williams easily won the 5000-metre trial and was selected to be a part of the Guyana team. He then went on to win the event in neighbouring Suriname in emphatic fashion.

With such achievements over a period just short of

three years, and being a mere 17-year-old, Williams, like most athletes his age around the world, is expected to peak by age 24 when the 2024 Olympic Games will be held. If given the support needed, to be a part of Guyana’s contingent could be a great opportunity for Guyana to secure another Olympic medal after Michael Parris’ 1980 bronze medal in the discipline of boxing.

Hamilton Green Cup KO football tournament

TWO exciting matches scheduled for tonight at the MSC ground THE Hamilton Green Cup Knock-Out football tournament will continue this evening at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground with a double-header beginning at 19:00hrs.

The tournament will involve two of the mining community’s top teams coming up against a team from neighbouring Kuru Kururu and another from Plaisance, a member of the East Demerara Football Association.

The feature game which is scheduled for a 21:00hrs start will see home side Milerock square off against Plaisance, while in the opening fixture; Winners Connec-

tion of Linden take on Kuru Kururu of the Soesdyke/ Linden Highway.

For the opening game, the hosts (Winners Connection) will be hoping to take advantage of their home turf and will be relying heavily on their star strikers, Marley Davidson and Rawle Gittens, with over-lapping midfielder Keon Sears lending support.

The defence will be marshalled by Derrol Dainty and Alan Garnett while Shakell Frank will be on duty between the uprights.

For Kuru Kururu, goalkeeper Joshua George will be the last line of defence and is expected to get support from

defenders Joseph Walker and Catio Sttholpe.

Over-lapping midfielders Kester Alleyne and Kester Fraser will lend support to Cordel Johnson and Michael Charles who will both be on the strike line.

For the feature game between Milerock and Plaisance, Milerock will be hoping that strikers Juel McKinnon and Kevin Beaton come good and they are expected to get valuable support from midfielders Denzil Fordyce, Nellon Walcott and Lawrenso Copeland.

The defence will be marshalled by Colrick Beckles and Oswald Benjamin with

Jonathan Copeland doing duties between the uprights.

The opposition’s (Plaisance) attack will be spearheaded by Vincent Thomas with support from midfielders Keon Kyte, Oneal Clarke and Akeem Thomas.

Manning the defence will be Travis Simon and Javid Mohamed.

The tournament will continue on Friday, September 15, with another double-header at the same venue when Silver Shattas tacklie Riddim Squad in the opening game from 19:00hrs and Eagles United challenge Soesdyke from 21:00hrs.

The onus now is for the AAG as well as the Ministry of Sport, the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs and the Guyana Olympic Association to work collaboratively and assist Williams to achieve his true potential and dreams.

In this regard, Williams needs to firstly secure a transfer from the Waramuri Secondary School which he is currently attends, to a secondary school in the capital so that he can be better equipped to write the seven CSEC subjects he is preparing to write at next year’s CSEC. The seven subjects are English, Science, Modern Mathematics, Principles of Business, Office Administration, Integrated Science and Agricultural Science.

Once he gets the transfer, Williams feels he will have a better opportunity to secure good grades and, with his academic achievement coupled with his consistent athletic performance, he could secure an international athletics scholarship.

Williams, like his coach, Black, is pleading with the Ministry of Education and all other stakeholders to assist him in making his dream a reality.

DeSinco’s 11-race Degree cycle programme set for today in National Park CYCLE coach/organiser Hassan Mohamed will conduct the 16th Annual DeSinco Trading 11-race cycle programme under the company’s Degree brand today around the inner circuit of the National Park.

The feature event over 35 laps is open to Schoolboys, Novices and Invitational cyclists and will see Michael Anthony go all out to make a successful defence of the title he won last year in a time of one hour 18 minutes 22.77 seconds.

This time around Anthony will have to stave off the challenges of a fit local bunch comprising Raul Leal, Orville Hinds, Jamal John and Paul DeNobrega, who are all in good nick and who have been dominating the 2017 cycle season.

Apart from the above-mentioned riders, Anthony will also have to be wary of Alonzo Ambrose, Andrew Hicks and Warren McKay among others.

Junior Niles will be defending the veterans’ Under-50 years five-lap title which he also won last year in a time of 12 minutes 45.48 seconds, but will once again get stiff competition from the likes of Warren McKay and the Fernandes boys.

Curtis ‘Chappy’ Dey (Trojan CC), Nigel Duguid (Team Evolution), Christopher Cornelius (Team Evolution), Adealie Hodge, Jason Cameron (Trojan PSL) and Marcus Keiler (Roriama) will fight out the Juniors 10 laps race.

There will also be races for Ladies, BMX and Mountain Bikers.

Action begins at 09:00hrs.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, SATURDAY, September 9, 2017

Lower Corentyne bowlers keep Georgetown in check at Lusignan

By Rajiv Bisnauth THE Lower Corentyne’s bowling attack kept Georgetown in check at the close of the opening day of the second round Jaguars Franchise League 3-day competition at Lusignan yesterday.

The City team, in response

and Ashmead Nedd created most of the problems for the visitors, as the trio shared nine wickets. Off-spinner Suknanan (4-43), was the most successful of the bowlers, while Sankar and Nedd had figures of 3-42 and 2-35 respectively.

Medium pacer Christopher Barnwell (1-4), did the early

taking the prized scalp of Devon Clements (25), who was bowled after putting up a short resistance.

Nedd, the national Under-19 spinner then added to his wicket tally when he bowled Alex Algoo without scoring.

Foo and Kasim Khan went to lunch on nine and one respectively, but soon

Win or go home!

Guinness Cage football quarter-final action on tonight

and Raymond Perez then started the innings in elegant fashion, adding 50-run for the first wicket, but when the partnership was broken after Perez was removed by spinner Umroa for 14, Georgetown batsmen collapsed in a heap.

Bacchus (36), was the other dismissed batsman with North Ruimveldt’s Travis ‘Zorro’ Grant (first from left) on the attack against Sparta Boss on Thursday evening, during his side’s 2-0 win.

Robin Bacchus drives Raun Johnson through the off-side in his knock. (Photo: Adrian Narine)

to Lower Corentyne’s first innings total of 165, closed on 154-8.

Christopher Barnwell was unbeaten on 73, when bails were lifted.

Asked to bat first, Lower Corentyne suffered a batting meltdown in the morning session to go to lunch on 876, a position from which they did not recover, despite Jonathan Foo providing the lone stability with 63 late down the order.

Spinners Gajanan Suknanan, Steven Sankar

damage, dismissing Akeem Hinds leg-before-wicket for one, but it was the spinners Suknanan and Nedd who grabbed five top-order wickets to spark the collapse in the morning session.

Fellow opener Jason Sinclair made a fighting 19 before he was removed by left-arm spinner Nedd.

Suknanan then took charge and ripped through the top order, bowling Kelvon Anderson (11), Seon Hetmyer (16), and then

after the interval Khan was dismissed off the bowling of Suknanan for five.

Foo then led some sort of recovery, and combined with Nial Smith (7) for an eightwicket stand of 51 where he dominated the bowling somewhat, hitting two fours and four sixes.

But soon after, Sankar removed Smith, Kelvin Umroa (4) and Foo to wrap up the innings minutes before the tea interval.

Openers Robin Bacchus

double figures, as spinner Khan (4-49), Clements (221) and Umroa (2-52), made steady inroads. Barnwell provided the highlight of the innings with five fours and similar number of sixes. He has so far faced 78 balls.

Meanwhile, in the other second-round matches Upper Corentyne faced East Coast at Port Mourant, West Berbice took on Essequibo at Bush Lot and East Bank clashed with West Demerara at Eve Leary.

FOUR teams will ‘walk the plank’ tonight as the inaugural Guinness Cage Football Championship moves into the quarter-final stage tonight at the National Gymnasium.

Ol Skool Ballers will play Albouystown-A from 20:00hrs, followed by Mocha versus Leopold Street at 20:45hrs, Back Circle will tackle tournament favourites Gold is Money from 21:30hrs and North Ruimveldt will battle Future Stars in the night’s final proceedings.

In the tournament’s final group-stage matches, Mocha picked up an easy three points after Tiger Bay were a ‘no-show’ for their encounter, while Ol Skool Ballers defeated Albouystown-B 2-0.

Leopold Street, thanks to a hat-trick from Okeene Fraser (4th, 6th, 12th), defeated Champion Boys 3-0 and West Front Road ‘Gold is Money’ earned their spot in the final eight with a 2-0 win over Hustlers.

Back Circle’s final game

in the group stage saw them win 4-0 against MBK AllStars, with Runnel Gordon netting a hat-trick of goals, scoring in the 7th, 12th, 13th minutes. Selwyn Williams was the other goalscorer for Back Circle, doing so in the 3rd minute.

Albouystown-A had to depend on their superior aim from the penalty mark, winning 2-1 over Future Stars, after they ended regulation time scoreless.

The proverbial kings of indoor and small goal football, Sparta Boss, will have to watch from the sidelines after losing 2-0 to North Ruimveldt on Thursday evening, in their must-win game.

Over $800 000 in prize money and trophies will be up for grabs with the winners set to receive $400 000 and the championship trophy, while second-, third- and fourth- placed finishers will take home $200 000, $100 000 and $50 000 respectively along with trophies.

GuyanaNRA resumes team training WEST Indies Fullbore Shooting Council (WIFBSC) Long and Short Range defending champions Guyana have recommenced preparation for their title defence.

The Guyana National Rifle Association (GuyanaNRA) will celebrate its 150th Anniversary this year and will host the championships and celebrations from October 9 to 15.

Fullbore captain Mahendra, who has been at the helm of this nation’s dominance throughout the region, has disclosed that team practice will continue to be the focus of the region’s marksmen.

Next month’s competition will see participation from Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, USA, Scotland, Wales and the Falkland Islands.

The last team practice session took place on Sunday at the Timehri Rifle Range and Persaud said that the

scores recorded were impressive and augurs well for the upcoming 150th championships.

Persaud and countryman Lennox Braithwaite recently returned from competing at the Canadian National Championships. Their participation was partly funded by the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA).

The duo recorded some impressive scores, Persaud reported, while both recorded four possibles each while notching scores of one off - 49 and 74s.

Persaud’s four possibles were 75:7 in the Army and Navy shoot where he won the silver medal with this shoot losing out on the Gold by a single V. He shot 50:6 in the Macdougal 300 metres, 50:4 at the Macdougal 500 yards and 50:4 at the Beckett 300 metres.

Braithwaite’s possible’s: 50:5 in the Macdougal 500 yards, 50:5 in the Brick 600 yards. In the Gibson 600 yards he shot 50:8 and 50:5 in the Hayhurst 500yards.

Local rifle-shooters are currently getting in shape for the GuyanaNRA 150th Anniversary and WIFBSC 2017 championships, October 9-15.

Persaud also had scores of 74:8 at the Long Range Challenge 1, 74:8 in the Ottawa Regiment, 74:11 at the LR Challenge 3, 49:7 in the Gooderham 500, 49:5 in the Gooderham 600, 49:7 in the Tilton 300m, 49:9 at the Beckett 800m, 49:3 in the Brick 600, 49:5 in the Gibson 600 and 74:4 in the Gatineau 900 metres.

Braithwaite’s one off scores recorded were 49:5

in the President’s 600 yards, 49:5 at the Macdougal 300 metres and 49:3 in the Tilton 300 metre.

The captain also related that Braithwaite, who did a course on re-loading ammunition a few years ago, did the reloading of ammunition alongside a former Guyana top marksman Paul Archer, who now resides in Toronto, Canada for the shooters to save on cost and to improve

on accuracy.

“The reloads turned out to be fantastic and once done properly will improve accuracy and keep the cost of ammunition down. Reloading of target quality ammunition is being done by shooters from all over the world from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and South Africa, hence their dominance of target rifle-shooting.”

“It is, however, not being

done in the Caribbean as yet.

It brings the cost of shooting down by 50% where one round of factory-made ammunition could cost as much as US$1.50 to US$2.00.”

Participation in Canada, according to Persaud, forms part of the duo’s training for the Commonwealth Games next year in the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

“We plan to go to the CSF in Australia immediately after our 150th since it is an exact course of fire as the CG 2018 and shot on the same range. Most of the other countries will be there having a test run. This was part of our training programme which was submitted to GOA, two years ago.”

Five shooters were initially shortlisted by the GuyanaNRA but it has now been whittled down to Persaud and Braithwaite who were this nation’s reps at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, two years ago.

At those games, the duo placed 6th in the Pairs event, finishing 5 points off the bronze medal.

DeSinco’s 11-race Degree cycle programme set for today in National Park

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West Indies fight back after Stokes’ half-century

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Stokes was eventually bowled by Shannon Gabriel for 60, two balls after a no-ball dismissal. (Getty Images)

DJ Bravo vs Gayle storm -Who will win CPL 2017

Dwayne Bravo (L) of Trinbago Knight Riders and Chris Gayle (R) of St Kitts & Nevis Patriots with the trophy during a press conference before the Final of the 2017 Hero Caribbean Premier League at Hyatt Regency on September 08, 2017 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. (Photo by Randy Brooks - CPL T20 via Getty Images)

Our fielding was not up to par - Emrit on Warriors loss (SPORTSMAX) - Guyana Amazon Warriors captain Ryad Emrit admits a surprise bowling tactic by the Trinbago Knight Riders was unsettling but ultimately did not cause the team to lose the second Caribbean Premier League (CPL) qualifier on Thursday.

The Knight Riders secured a six-wicket win over the Warriors and with it a spot in the CPL final against the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots today.

The Warriors, who defeated the Tallawahs in the previous round, possessed two of the league’s most in-form Amazon Warriors captain Rayad Emrit batsmen in Chadwick Walton and Luke Ronchi, but the duo seemed held vinced that the team had enough runs on the in check by Bravo’s opening gambit which board to win the encounter.

“We didn’t get a chance to line up with saw seven different bowlers used for the first any bowler and that worked in their favour eight overs. but I still thought that 159 was a good score Pushed on the back foot early on, Ronchi to defend but our dropped catches didn’t who made a blistering 70 from 33 in the help us,” Emrit said. previous match and Walton the tournament’s “It’s probably one of our worst nights leading scorer, were dismissed for 37 and 23 in the field, our fielding definitely wasn’t respectively. Ronsford Beaton ended with up to par, but that’s how it goes; we will figures of two for 30, with Narine claiming have our bad days and we will have to put 2 for 21. it behind us, unfortunately, it was in the Despite that, however, Emrit is con- semifinals,” he added.

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER, 9, 2017