Guyana chronicle new york edition 08 18 2017

ISSUE NO. 63

WEEK ENDING AUGUST 18, 2017

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Illegal aircraft flown to CJIA Page 6

Baby in car died of suffocation Page 6

Casino owner and the Dutch connection Pages 2&3

The Beechcraft King Air at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on Thursday

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending August 18, 2017 2 Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending August 18, 2017

Casino owner quizzed about permission to import slot machines TWO officers of the Gaming Authority on Wednesday conducted a preliminary site inspection at the Sleepin International Hotel

and Casino Inc. owned by businessman, Clifton Bacchus.

Wednesday’s visit to the Church Street, George-

town, business was done

by Towanna Winfield, and Holly-Ann Maison, Compliance Officer and Accountant, respectively, of the Author-

ity who met with Bacchus.

During the visit, Winfield explained that the visit was to ensure that the premises have met the strict physical

requirements for a casino licence.

“Whatever applications are there we are now going through that and whatever the necessary probity checks and due diligence examination,” she told Prime News.

She said other checks of the premises have to be done and made specific mention of checks being done to the gaming machines. That will be done during another phase of the process before the application of the licence to operate is approved.

“As we progress, there are steps before you are issued a licence…Mr Bacchus has to have permission from us to import any machinery that he has in here,” said Winfield. The Compliance Officer upon enquiry was told that he (Bacchus) received permission to import the gaming machines and also pointed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Government of Guyana.

“I am not aware of the MoU…we are now here, the MoU was probably before the new staff of the Gaming Authority…so I am taken aback by the fact that there is a MoU.” The Officer noted too, that permission has to first be sought from the Gaming Authority and then the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). But Bacchus said all the relevant documents were submitted to the Authority in the past when his initial application was made.

He, however, admitted to not writing to the Gaming Authority requesting permission to import the machines.

“No, I didn’t. It was prior to the process procedure that I received from the GRA with the MoU that I have with the Government of Guyana,” said the businessman.

It has been reported that the MoU which was signed with the Donald Ramotarled government in 2015 agreed to giving Bacchus

a corporate tax holiday for the hotel’s operations for a period not exceeding 10 years. The agreement also catered for: the facilitation of granting a Casino Operator’s Licence; taxation of the casino operations at a rate of 35 per cent on its net profits with accelerated depreciation and unlimited carryover of losses; interest payments – not the principal of foreign loans being subjected to 20 per cent withholding tax upon repayment; waiver of Customs Duty, Value Added Tax, and Excise Tax on casino equipment, spares and related parts, and tax concessions for the importation of equipment, machinery, fixtures and fittings, furnishings, building and other materials, as reported by one section of the media earlier this year.

Asked whether there is a timeline for licensing to occur, Winfield said “The Gaming Authority is now setting up all timelines for the application process for Casino licence. We will inform Mr Bacchus as to the next steps. If anyone wishes to apply for a Casino licence, we would have the checklist there and what steps, how long the step would take… and things needed to get to the next step.”

Winfield said too that there are two licences that have to be issued by the Authority, namely a premises licence and a licence to operate the casino.

She indicated that reports from her inspection will be submitted to the Board of Directors of the Authority and then a decision will be made as to whether Bacchus is compliant with all requirements.

In February, the Authority had rejected an application for a licence to operate a casino submitted by Bacchus on the basis that there was no evidence that the business was financially sound.

Bacchus has since submitted another application to the Authority.

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending August 18, 2017

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The Dutch Connection …Sleepin Casino Surinamese partner was jailed for money laundering THE owner of Yokohama Trading Company, the parent company of Pasha Global Group, Bhagwandath ‘Bidjay’ Parmessar, one of the main players in the set-up of the Clifton Bacchus-owned Carnival Casino, was on December 23, 2006 jailed for 10 years by a judge in the Netherlands for drug trafficking, money laundering and fraud.

Pasha Global Group is a subsidiary of Yokohama, which imports vehicles and operates in Suriname and Guyana. Pasha Group operates casinos in Suriname, Uganda, Bulgaria and Peru.

According to a Demerara Waves article earlier this year, Bacchus had admitted that his investment is being funded by financial institutions, his personal funds and Pasha Global Group, a Suriname-headquartered company that will be operating the Carnival Casino. He assured in the Demerara Waves article that clean money has been used to finance the investment. “Everything is properly recorded, all- the whole investment- has been properly filed in court, all the mortgages and so on,” he had said.

However, the Pasha Group owner who was described by Surinamese and Dutch judicial authorities as the biggest drug lord in Suriname, was arrested in 2005 in Paramaribo, but since the Surinamese-born businessman holds Dutch nationality, he was extradited to the Netherlands for prosecution. In 2006, a court in Rotterdam sentenced him to a 10-year jail term for two cases of drug trafficking—in 1995 and 2002. Parmessar was among others charged with allegedly leading a criminal organisation, drug trafficking, money-laundering and forgery. Media reports had said that the former owner of several casinos, liquor stores, car sales and money transfer offices in Paramaribo, was

Owner of Sleepin International Hotel, Clifton Bacchus

accused of organising large cocaine shipments from Columbia to Suriname, which were eventually trafficked to Europe, especially to the Netherlands.

According to reports, over six years of investigations, including over 160,000 phone taps during the so-called ‘Ficus Operation’, which cost the Dutch judicial authorities around euros seven million in 2005, had resulted in numerous arrests in Suriname and the Netherlands. Owners and managers of the so-called Yokohama Group of Companies, which operates casinos, cambios, money transfer offices, car sales and liquor stores in Suriname, were suspected of belonging to a criminal organisation, one report stated.

According to the reports, this organisation allegedly smuggled enormous quantities of cocaine from Suriname to Holland and laundered the revenues through their companies in both countries.

Several of the suspects were subsequently sentenced to serve time or community service. In 2006, Parmessar appealed his sentence and the drug charges were dismissed due to a lack of evidence, but his involvement in the money-laundering scam was established sufficiently and he was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.

Since coming out of jail, Parmessar, according to reports out of Suriname, has not played any leading role

The Sleepin International Hotel and Casino is being investigated by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) for alleged money laundering activities (Adrian Narine photo)

in Pasha Global, but many believe that he is still involved in the company.

U.S CABLE Meanwhile, in a January 13, 2006 cable from the US Embassy in Suriname which was leaked through Wikileaks, Washington described Parmessar as a wellknown and influential businessman in Suriname.

The cable also named Parmessar as the chief operator and owner of the Yokohama Trading Company, which Surinamese and Dutch judicial authorities had long suspected of being a front for a criminal organisation.

The Dutch judiciary found that the head of Yokohama was involved in trafficking large amounts of cocaine from Suriname to the Netherlands and other European countries, and laundering the proceeds through his company’s many casinos, car dealerships, foreign exchange offices, and money transfer offices in both countries. The cable read that

despite Parmessar’s arrest and conviction, Yokohoma business entities, such as its car dealerships and casinos, continue to operate.

SOCU PROBE Last month, the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) disclosed to the Gaming Authority that Bacchus and several of his associates are under investigation for money laundering since July, last year. SOCU did not disclose the names of the associates. Earlier this year, the Authority had rejected Sleepin’s casino licence application on the basis that there was no evidence that the business place was financially sound. “The authority wishes to state that having received and thoroughly considered the application, it unanimously found no evidence upon which it could arrive at a determination that Sleepin International Hotel & Casino Inc. qualifies for the issuance of the licences applied for, having regard to its failure to provide the au-

thority with documents evidencing its financial soundness and capability, one of the critical criteria for the granting of such licenses,” the Authority had said in a statement back in February.

DEEP PROBE However, according to documents seen by this newspaper, the Roysdale Forde-led Authority on July 10, 2017, wrote Head of SOCU, Sydney James, requesting information regarding Bacchus. In his letter, Forde, an attorney-at-law stated” The Gaming Authority is desirous of establishing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to share information and documents between your unit and the Authority.” Forde outlined in his letter that the proposed MoU will be submitted for SOCU’s review shortly. However, in the interim, Forde said that the Gaming Authority was currently reviewing and considering an appli-

cation for Casino Licence submitted by Bacchus of Sleepin International Hotel and Casino Inc. “I would be grateful if you can share any information in relation to the aforesaid applicant that you may have in your presence as soon as possible,” Forde’s letter stated.

In a very timely response dated July 11, 2017, James responded to Forde’s letter stating “Kindly be informed that Mr Clifton Bacchus, the Sleepin International Hotel and Casino Inc and a number of associates of Mr Clifton Bacchus are subjects of a money laundering investigation being conducted

by SOCU, which is ongoing since July, 2016,” James said, adding that “Please be informed also that financial and other assets information have been sourced through Court orders and other requests for pertinent information from statutory agencies.”

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Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending August 18, 2017

Venezuelan soldiers rob Guyanese …say had no food in 45 days

By Alva Solomon RESIDENTS of White Water Village, an Indigenous community close to the Venezuela border, are calling on the authorities to establish a police outpost in the area following a robbery committed by a group of Spanish-speaking soldiers last week.

The incident occurred during the day last Wednesday within the North West District village lands, located within two miles of the Amacuro River which separates Guyana from neighbouring Venezuela. Toshao of White Water, Cleveland De Souza, told the Guyana Chronicle that the incident occurred at the Kurasima Creek, a busy spot within the village where persons usually trade items.

Kurasima Creek is a tributary of the Amacuro River.

Following the incident, a

team of Joint Services ranks who are stationed at Mabaruma, Region One’s only town and administrative capital, travelled to the border and confronted the Venezuelans.

The Spanish soldiers told their Guyana counterparts that they were hungry and that no food was supplied to them for 45 days. They then issued an apology to the Joint Services.

De Souza said that prior to Wednesday’s incident, he had received reports that the Venezuelan soldiers were at two locations along the border harassing Guyanese Indigenous Warraus. He explained that each Sunday, the Heart of Palm packaging company , AmCar, which is based in Region One (Barima-Waini) , would send an agent to White Water at an area called “Gajah Landing“ to purchase the palm product known as “cabbage” from

the Warraus. He said that the Indigenous group would travel to the area and sell their products to the AmCar agent.

He noted that the village council had received reports that one Sunday in July, the Venezuelan soldiers had ventured up a creek inland to White Water and took away food stuff which the indigenous traders had bought with the proceeds of their Heart of Palm trade. “”They stopped the people and took away their things, while armed,” he said.

The armed soldiers repeated the act last Wednesday and De Souza said the police at the Mabaruma Police Station were notified.

The Officer-in-Charge, along with several police ranks and a team of soldiers from Camp Everad near Mabaruma , travelled into White Water on Friday, two days after the incident.

Accompanied by the villagers, the team ventured into the creek where the incident

Guyanese soldiers confront their Venezuelan counterparts at the Amacuro River border last Friday

‘Gajah Landing’, an area within White Water Village in the North West District where traders congregate on Sundays (Photos by Alva Solomon)

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had occurred. Reports are that the team then headed farther to the Amacuro River and spoke with the Venezuelan military ranks stationed there.

“They made the excuse that they were hungry and had no food,” De Souza said, noting that the incident has left the village in fear. Following the incident, the Joint Services ranks camped out at White Water over the weekend and returned to Mabaruma on Monday.

A resident of the village noted that persons are fearful, especially at nights. She said that the border is within walking distance of the village and businessmen are concerned that elements from Venezuela would attack the village at any given moment.

“They call them sindicatos (bandits) and we know how the situation is over in Vene-

zuela,” De Souza said.

Reports are that two armed men were spotted in the village at a shop one night last week and residents quickly closed their doors. The men in the village scoured the area for the men but came up empty –handed.

In recent months, scores of persons who migrated to Venezuela in the past, have been returning to the North West District, some of whom have set up small businesses in the region. Venezuela’s economy has been in turmoil over the past three years.

Tensions are high in Caracas as pro-government and opposition supporters of President Nicolas Maduro clash over the state of the Bolivarian Republic’s economy.

According to an Al Jazeera report published in May this year, Venezuela is expe-

riencing the worst economic crisis in its history, with an inflation rate of over 400 percent and a volatile exchange rate. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) figures, in 2016, the country had a negative growth rate of minus eight percent, an inflation rate of 481 per cent, and an unemployment rate of 17 percent that is expected to climb to 20 percent this year.

Over the past decade, it has been the region’s poorest performer in terms of growth of GDP per capita, even though the country sits on the world’s largest oil reserves. Oil prices have been falling since 2014, which has left the economic system unable to maintain the system of subsidies and price controls that functioned during the oil boom years.

Gunmen blitz customers, staff of Coffee Bean TWO unmasked gunmen reportedly descended on customers and staffers shortly before lunch at the Coffee Bean Café and Eatery located at Church Street, Georgetown and carted off an undisclosed amount of cash and other valuables.

According to reports, the robbers entered the café just after two customers, who had gone to a city bank after doing some business,demanded money and also robbed other customers and

employees. The robbery was recorded on close circuit television cameras (CCTV) and the police were summoned to review the footage, after which the business temporarily closed its doors to facilitate the probe.

It is unclear whether the bandits escaped on foot or if they had a vehicle waiting on them, since no one was willing to speak on Tuesday when the Guyana Chronicle visited the scene.

GuyanaChronicle ChronicleNew New York Edition Week-ending August 18, 20177 Guyana York Edition week ending August 18, 2017

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The Handel Andrews Column

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

Remembering Rabindranath Tagore

abindranath Tagore, Ravindranatha Thakurae (“The Indian Goethe” as Albert Schweitzer called him) was the exemplar of the Bengali Renaissance. He was a poet, writer, novelist, dramatist, artist and the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

He was born May 7, 1861 in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). His grandfather Dwarakanath was a business magnate, as well as the owner of huge landed estates and known for his generosity and public charities. He visited Europe twice, met with Queen Victoria and died in London.

His father was Debendranath Tagore, a Follower of Rammohun Roy, the architect of the Bengali Renaissance ( a cultural, social, intellectual and artistic movement in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent during the period of British rule, (from the nineteenth century to the early twentieth century).and helped revive the reformist Hindu sect Brahmo Samaj, founded by Rammohun. The sect could be considered the social aspect of Brahmanism, which attempted to revive the monistic basis of Hinduism, as stipulated by the Upanishads. His mother was Sarada Devi.

“Tagore belonged to a family which was one of the most gifted in Bengal, making significant contributions in the realms of religious thought, philosophy, literature, music and painting. Dwijendranath, his eldest brother, was a brilliant young man whose interests included poetry, philosophy, mathematics and music.

Another brother, Satyendranath, who was to become the first Indian member of the Indian Civil Service, translated many works into Bengali, including a book on the Buddha. A third brother, Jyotirindranath, was a gifted musician and playwright. Tagore’s nephew, Abanindranath, was to become famous for his contributions to painting and literature.

Rabindranath was largely educated at home. At seventeen, he went to England and studied law at University College London. However, he left in 1880, without completing his studies.

He married Mrinalini Devi (an authority in Bengali writing) in 1883 and the couple had 5 children. Mrinalini died at age 25.

POLITICS

Although the Mahatma was his close friend, he was never deeply involved in politics. Some commentators believe this was due to his idealistic thinking and his closeness to the teachings of the Upanishads.

In 1915, he received the honour of Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG). He returned it in 1919 in protest over the Jalianwala Bagh tragedy in which General Dyer and his soldiers had killed 400 innocent civilians and

wounded thousands of others on 13 April, 1899 in Amritsar.

When Rabindranath relinquished his Knighthood, he penned a letter to the Viceroy Lord Chelmsford: “The time has come when pledges of honour make our shame glaring in their incongruous context of humiliation and I, for my part, wish to stand shorn of all special distinctions, by the side of my countrymen, who for their so-called insignificance are liable to suffer degradation not fit for human beings.”

It was he who first called Gandhi the “Mahatma”, “Divine One.” In his obituary of Tagore, Gandhi observed, “In the death of Rabindranath Tagore, we have not only lost the greatest poet of the age, but an ardent nationalist who was also a humanitarian.”

THE POET Tagore wrote in many genres; but he was first and foremost a poet. He wrote his first poem at six and continued to write some of the most wonderful verses this side of Heaven.

In 1913, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was given it, “because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West”

Tagore’s poetry was mainly influenced by traditional Indian poetry. Although it is mystical in parts, he rarely referred to God. He famously said, “When the voice of the Silent touches my words I know him and therefore know myself.”

In some respects, Rabindranath Tagore reminds me of William Wordsworth and David Thoreau. He brought the unity of nature into his poetry.

Here are some popular lines from “Crescent Moon.”

“He longed to be the wind and blow through your rustling branches, to be your shadow and lengthen with the day on the water, to be a bird and perch on your topmost twig, and to float like those ducks among the weeds and shadows.”

Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature based largely on Gitanjali, a collection of 157 poems first published August 14, 1910. They were hugely successful and their publication was highly acclaimed by Albert Einstein, Ezra Pound, Andre Gide and Bernard Shaw. In November 1912, the Indian Society of London published a collection of 103 of these poems translated by Tagore into English.

The word gitanjali is composed from "geet", song, and "anjali", offering,

RABINDRANATH TAGORE

meaning “The poems can be called “An offering of songs.” The English translation appeared with introduction by William Butler Yeats, the immortal Irish poet. Here are excerpts from the brilliant poems: “And because I love this life, I know I shall love death as well. (#95)” “At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.”

“Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou

(continued on page 20)

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Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending August 18, 2017

Illegal aircraft flown to CJIA The Beechcraft King Air 350 aircraft which was found by the security forces in the Rupununi last Sunday night arrived at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri on Thursday.

The aircraft, which bears registration PR-IMG, touched down around 13:00hrs Thursday afternoon at the CJIA. It was flown by Guyana Defence Force (GDF) pilots and is being secured by the army.

No one has come forward to claim ownership of the aircraft, and to date, the Brazilian companies with which its registration is affiliated, have not reported it as stolen.

The twin-engine aircraft is tied to an investment bank in neighbouring Brazil. The financial institution, Banco Bradesco, facilitated the sale of the aircraft between its owners, a Rio-based company and another private entity.

The bank is listed by the Brazilian authorities as the owner since the process of transfer of ownership is ongoing.

The aircraft was found near Santa Fe in the North Rupununi on a recently

The Beechcraft King Air at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on Thursday

cleared illegal runway.

President David Granger had stated that the incident is being treated as a public security matter.

“We know that people were running away from the plane and if they were wounded or injured, they would not have been running, so we have to get to the facts first before we jump to [a] conclusion,” President Granger said on Wednesday.

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is

probing the authenticity of the Brazilian registration attached to the aircraft.

GCAA Director-General Egbert Fields, said checks will be made with the Brazilian aviation authorities to see if the plane is indeed registered in that country and to ascertain its ownership.

This discovery was made just a week after soldiers found another illegal airstrip, a chain saw, aviation fuel, 12 abandoned camps and several dug-out trenches in the same

area.

Following Sunday night’s incident, Minister of State Joseph Harmon noted that the government is working with local and international partners to build capacity and strengthen security.

He said the administration is taking this matter very seriously, and is making every effort to better equip the security forces and strengthen their capacity to secure Guyana’s territory.

taken statements from the parents and others on the day in question as to what transpired leading up to the incident.

He told Guyana Chronicle that so far, until the investigation is complete, the death of the child is being treated as an “incident”.

Little Christian of Lot 1868 Williamstaad Road, Festival City, North Ruimveldt, Georgetown was found panting for breath in her father’s car around 14:30 hours on Tuesday.

According to reports, the child’s father, Jermaine Christian, was playing

dominoes at his neigh bour’s house when his wife, Nikita Christian, gave him their child to keep.

After two hours had elapsed, a female relative went over to the neighbour’s house and collected the baby to play with her.

The young relative reportedly placed the baby girl in the backseat of the car to play and after some time she got thirsty and left the baby in the hot car with the windows rolled up and doors locked and went to get something to drink.

The relative however went about and did other

things such as playing in the yard with other children and watching television.

It was when a neighbour who, usually would take the baby for afternoon walks showed up to collect her, the relative remembered she had left the baby lying in the back seat of the car but by then the child was panting for breath.

The child’s parents were informed and they tried desperately to revive her and subsequently took the baby to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Real agents of change Baby in car died of suffocation GUYANA on Saturday joined youths the world over in celebrating International Youth Day under the theme “Youth Building Peace” and to recognise the contributions of youths here to development.

Youths are widely accepted as agents of change and with 65 per cent of the population below age 35, Guyana can be considered a youthful nation; full of energy and creativity but not fully harnessed.

Here in Guyana, youths can be found in every sphere of national life, be it in the public service, the teaching profession, the legal profession, in business and in politics.

The impact of youths here cannot be underestimated. Many would recall the “Vote Like A Boss” campaign managed by youths and the impact it had in getting young people out to vote in the 2015 regional and general elections.

More recently, a group of young Guyanese were part of the spotlight on the world stage. The Guyana Robotics Team, participating in the International Robotics Championship in Washington, USA, for the first time, secured a place in the top 10, despite coming up against great odds.

These simple lessons have indicated that youths here, if given the opportunity, can be as good and equal to anyone else in any part of the world. And being the majority in Guyana, they hold the keys to change, to the social, economic and political development of Guyana and it is important for this reason that more and more youths play a role in shaping the peaceful, inclusive and prosperous Guyana they all envision.

This is not asking too much of them since they are ideal agents of change, generally see things differently from their senior counterparts and are in the driver’s seat when it comes to making a genuine difference, including breaking down barriers to Guyana’s divisive political culture.

While young people in Guyana have been making a meaningful contribution to the development of Guyana, they can do a lot more but would require support from government and other stakeholders.

Robust efforts must be made in galvanizing parents, spiritual and community leaders in ensuring that every youth, whether rich or poor, receive an education and are positioned on a path of making a meaningful contribution

– post-mortem

COMMANDER of ‘A’ Division, Marlon Chapman, on Thursday confirmed that a post-mortem performed on the body of the nine-month-old baby who was forgotten by a relative in a locked car died as a result of suffocation.

The post-mortem examination was performed by government pathologist, Dr. Nehaul Singh.

Chapman related that relatives of Jadiel Christian are cooperating fully with detectives, who have since

to their family, community and country.

It is heartening to know that the government has been contributing towards this process through the awards of scholarships (some 500 in total in the past two years), a process it has executed without much fanfare. It goes without saying that an investment in education is an investment in people, an investment in skills development and an investment in nation-building.

Aside from education, strong attention needs to be paid in encouraging young people into the world of business, since entrepreneurship is a vital means of youth empowerment, rolling back unemployment levels and creating avenues for innovation.

The young people of today all aspire to having a good

job, a home and a secure future and, education and entrepreneurship are the avenues that will help them realise their dreams. But all of this will be incomplete if they are not imbued with good values such as honestly, respect, discipline and hard work, which when combined with education, allows for the all-round development of individuals and the creation of genuine and capable leaders. Since Guyana is a nation where the majority of her population are youth, it cannot be overemphasised that due attention has to be paid to this segment of the population in ensuring both their growth and development and their participation in the process of national development. In this way, the youths of today can be vital agents in building a peaceful and prosperous Guyana.

Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in articles in this newspaper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies and views of the management of the New York Edition of the Guyana Chronicle.

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending August 18, 2017

7

President to sign broadcast bill …says legislation does not prevent media freedom PRESIDENT David Granger is asking critics of the Broadcast (Amendment) Bill 2017 to be more aware of the peculiar nature of Guyana and the need to ensure that all communities have access to information.

He said the Bill does not prevent any media outlet from fulfilling its constitutional obligations and the government has an obligation to ensure via the media that the entire country is aware of what is going on.

Acknowledging that there are some aspects of the Bill that have caused concern, the Head of State told media operatives Wednesday at State House that a lot of thought went into crafting the bill.

He noted that Cabinet’s support of the Bill was the reason why government went to parliament. “Guyana is a very thinly populated country and the population density is about a few persons per square kilometer and most of the media houses are concentrated on the coastland and in the city of Georgetown, so there are huge areas of our country without media coverage,” President Granger explained “We need to ensure that we walk on two legs and the private media have my support and I will always support freedom of communication, but we have an obligation to ensure that all corners of the country receive public information about what is taking place in terms of public health, public infrastructure and public security.”

He said if the population is unaware of what is happening in certain sections of Guyana because the media is concentrated in Georgetown, there will be a deficit in the flow of information.

Earlier this month, the Broadcast (Amendment) Bill 2017 was passed in Parliament. It was tabled by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who has ministerial responsibility for public information. The 2011 Act was introduced by the then PPP government. Section 18 (1) (i) of the Act states that the Guyana Broadcasting Authority, which regulates local broadcasting, shall require operators to carry public service announcements free of charge. The

Act further states that the Broadcasting Authority shall: “Require licensees to carry a certain percentage of public service broadcast or development support broadcasts as public information deems appropriate as a public service at no cost.”

The Act did not put a cap on how long or how frequently such announcements were to be aired. This was left up to the discretion of the government. However, one of the amendments seeks to rectify this by putting a daily cap of up to one hour on the broadcast time for public service announcements. This has since been rejected by several private operators who contend that it is an imposition on their air time.

Prime Minister Nagamootoo in a statement issued on Saturday, said the sentiments proffered by some critics form part of the “partisan political propaganda against the need for modern legislative changes in Guyana,” and that for the most part, they are “Opposition-driven allegations.”

In fact, Nagamootoo believes the President’s assent to the legislation “cannot be delayed by vested and parochial political interests, and by misconceived or misinformed arguments…the amendments are required with some urgency.”

According to the prime minister, there has been a “gross misunderstanding” and “in a few instances, deliberate misrepresentation” of the recent amendments to the Broadcast Act, which was signed into law in September 2011 by the then president, Bharrat Jagdeo.

“It is apparent that those who have expressed some sort of opposition to the amendments did not examine carefully the provisions of the 2011 Act, which the amendments seek to give effect, as authorised by the said Act. In most cases, the amendments give clarity to certain sections and also, add certainty to them,” said the prime minister. He noted too that the amendments were recommended by the Guyana National Broadcast-

ing Authority (GNBA), and were tabled in the National Assembly as an Amendment Bill, after statutory consultation with the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU), as required by the 2011 Act. Additionally, the prime minister said the broadcasting policy ensures compliance by broadcasters with the Constitution and laws of Guyana and requires them not to incite violence, ethnic, religious or cultural hostility. It provides for review of broadcasting rules that regulate content that violates the Constitution, stimulates sexual violence and abuses women and children’s rights among other areas.

Broadcasting agencies will not be allowed to broadcast advertisements or programmes which contain hate speech, racial incitement or terror threats.

“This cannot be an interference with free speech!

This is in keeping with the Guyana Constitution which, in Article 146 (3), states that ‘Freedom of expression does

cation, Nagamootoo made it clear that depending on the class of service or zone to which the licence is granted, all broadcasters including the State radio and television, have to fill out the new application forms that are part of the Broadcasting Regulations (the Amendment).

This has been the requirement since 2011, as the Act stipulates that all legitimate broadcasters must submit applications for continuation of broadcasting within 30 days of the said Act coming into effect. A person who wanted to start a broadcasting service had to President David Granger apply for a licence under the new conditions in the Act. not relate to hate speech or “The 2017 amendment other expressions, capable of Bill re-applies this requireexciting hostility.’” ment for submission of “It is my strong and application in keeping with confident submission that the classes of licences, the freedom of the press or of zoning for operations and expression is not violated the adjusted fees for the where any law provides for different zones. This is a an action to be taken in the practical measure, and interest of defence, public logical within the context of safety, public order, public the adjusted broadcasting morality or public health; or landscape, which was done for regulating broadcasting in full conformity with or television services,” the the existing Broadcasting prime minister continued. law,” the prime minister (continued on page 22) In the case of re-appli- concluded.

EMPHASIS ON TRAVEL AND TOURISM

8

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending August 18, 2017

‘Help get us off the blacklist’ …CARICOM SG lobbies Sweden on blacklisting of Caribbean countries SECRETARY-GENERAL of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, has urged Sweden to use its position in two major international organisations to highlight the unfair labelling of some of the Community’s member states as “non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.”

Speaking at the CARICOM Secretariat’s Turkeyen, Guyana headquarters during the accreditation ceremony of Sweden’s new Ambassador to the Community, Elizabeth Ekulund, the secretary-general said, “As we seek to diversify our economies and build our services sector, some of our member states, engaged in financial services, have been labelled as “non-coopera-

tive tax jurisdictions.” This is despite the fact that the countries in question are not so designated by the relevant global authorities, such as the Financial Action Task Force and the OECD Global Forum.

“As a member of the EU and the OECD, Sweden can assist in encouraging these bodies to be guided by the informed position of the relevant global regulatory authorities and desist from their unnecessary, seemingly punitive actions,” he added.

The secretary-general called attention to the decision earlier this year by the European Union Council to screen some CARICOM member states to determine whether they were co-operative tax jurisdictions, using new criteria. “The stated cri-

trade. Its socio-economic as a non-permanent memimpact would be disastrous, ber of the United Nations given that remittances which Security Council to raise are the main source of in- awareness in that forum of come for many of our poorest the importance of the concitizens will be affected,” the servation and sustainable use secretary-general said. of marine resources. This, he Development finance said, was one of the priority Meanwhile, LaRocque areas of our Region and the believes that a new model for Community looks forward to development finance needs Sweden’s continued support to be considered, stating that for UN Sustainable DevelGDP per capita should not opment Goal 14, which seeks be the principal measure- to “conserve and sustainably ment used in determining use the oceans, seas and mathe development status of a rine resources for sustainable Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community country. “We will continue development.”

(CARICOM) Ambassador Irwin LaRocque and new to advocate for the use of a He pointed out that “our Swedish Ambassador to Caricom, Elizabeth Ekulund more accurate and realistic countries are vulnerable to It was extremely onerous measure of development, economic and environmental teria go beyond the generally accepted international tax for small countries to ad- which considers vulnerabil- shocks compounded by the transparency and account- dress different international ity, including exposure to effects of climate change. ability standards which our initiatives which dealt with natural disasters and other Therefore, global agreements countries have been meeting the same, similar or related exogenous shocks,” he said. on sustainable development over the past several years,” subject matter, yet stipulated “In the interest of realising and climate change are of different sets of criteria, he our economic aspirations as special significance for the he pointed out. observed. “There appears a Community, we believe Community.” almost to be a predisposition that a new paradigm in devel“Most of our member to blacklisting our coun- opment finance needs to be states bear a heavy debt tries,” Ambassador LaRoc- considered,” he added. burden, brought on in large

que stated. He said a major Ambassador measure by reconstruction

LaRocque

consequence of this blackrecalled two interactions beafter major climatic events, CLIA/IATA OSSN/SATH APTA/PATA CLIA/IATA OSSN/SATH APTA/PATA listing was the “de-risking” tween the Community’s For- in a Region designated as TPOC/IGLTA M/W/DBE CERTIFIED strategies being employed eign Ministers and theCERTIFIED Swed- the “most natural disasTPOC/IGLTA M/W/DBE by certain international banks ish Foreign Minister, Her Ex- ter-prone in the world,” he which had resulted in the cellency Margot Wallström, added. Ambassador EkuELAINE HENRY, CTA, MCC LAINE ENRY , CTA, withdrawal of crucial E corwhich H addressed issues of MCC lund stated that the UN was Travel Consultant respondent banking rela- mutual interest, including central to Sweden’s foreign Travel Consultant tionships. “This particularly Climate Change, Renew- policy and the UN’s Agenda 1053 E 40th Street Tel: 718-377-2071 1053 40th Street 718-377-2071 affects ourEindigenous banks able Energy, Oceans,Tel: Trade 2030 was a top priority. She Brooklyn, NY 11210 Fax: 718-377-1291 and other financial services Gender listed humanitarian actions, Brooklyn, NY 11210 in Small Arms and Fax: 718-377-1291 entities and could lead to the Equality. Some of these are poverty reduction, sustainemail: minitravel@hotmail.com disconnection of our small email:reflected minitravel@hotmail.com in the MoU. able development and Clieconomies from the global www.minervatravel.net www.minervatravel.net The secretary-general mate Change as areas of economy and international welcomed Sweden’s efforts interest for her county.

MINERVA TRAVEL

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

MINERVA TRAVEL

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GuyanaChronicle ChronicleNew NewYork York Edition Week-ending August 18, 2017 Guyana Edition week ending August 18, 2017

9 9

Guyana American Patriotic Forum (GAPF) 47 Remsen Street Brooklyn, New York 11201

Press Release

Decriminalization of Marijuana/Alternative to Incarceration

We, the members of the Guyana American Patriotic Forum (GAPF), are seeking the immediate intervention of the Government of Guyana to halt the criminalization of Guyanese youths who are routinely incarcerated for smoking small amounts of marijuana. GAPF adds its voice to the many civil society stakeholders inside and outside of Guyana calling for the decriminalization of the use and/or possession of a minimal quantity of marijuana.

We remain adamantly opposed to the existing practice of incarceration for the following reasons: First, the imposition of a term of imprisonment for the possession and use of small quantities of marijuana is based on an outmoded concept of jurisprudence, which places emphasis on retribution rather than rehabilitation, and which has led to an exponential increase in the prison population in the United States of America and Europe.

Second, most progressive nations in the world today — North America, South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia have decriminalized the possession and use of small amounts of marijuana used for personal consumption.

Third, there is no empirical evidence establishing a causal relationship between the consumption of marijuana and an increase in criminal activity.

Fourth, there are several traditions, such as the Rastafarian religion and several indigenous religions in South America and Asia, which regard the consumption of marijuana as a sacred sacrament. And, there is scientific evidence that the Cannabis plant is a prophylactic in the treatment of certain diseases, such as glaucoma and hypertension.

Fifth, the imposition of prison terms on youths lead to their separation from society for a substantial period of time, exposes them to homosexual attacks from adult prisoners in penal institutions, interrupts their normal educational progression, leads to disintegration of families and creates a prison record, which will follow them for the rest of their lives, and prevent them from obtaining gainful employment.

Sixth, the incarceration of young people has led to a dramatic in-

crease in the prison population, a congestion of the criminal calendars, an explosive mixture of sentenced prisoners and defendants awaiting trial, which has challenged the capacity of the government to provide adequate prison space for defendants facing trial and has led to prison outbreaks in Georgetown and Lusignan.

Seventh, the increased incarceration of young people is clearly contrary to the principles and policies of the coalition government which has emphasized an increase in education for young people, increased employment of young people in the productive sectors of the economy, and the utilization of young people in the exploitation of Guyana’s abundant natural resources.

For these reasons, GAPF calls upon the Government of Guyana to implement a comprehensive review of the criminal laws, and to eliminate the imposition of prison sentences for the possession and use of small quantities of marijuana.

If the Government deems it necessary to impose penal sanctions for these activities, they should explore the use of alternatives to incarceration, such as, psychiatric evaluations, drug counselling, probation, community service and imposition of fines.

THE Cuban rice market has now been made available to Guyana after a series of negotiations over the past months, and the first shipment of rice to that country is expected to be exported during the latter part of September.

General Manager of the

dy to Mexico. A US$17.7 million (GYD$3.8 billion) worth of paddy is to be exported to Mexico. “Well so far to Mexico more than one shipment has been sent, I think three shipments have been sent so far totalling over 35,000 tonnes and more shipments are expected to

For further information contact:: Colin A. Moore Email: colin.moore@yahoo.com Derrick Arjune Email: derrick5th@aol.com Melvin Duke Email: dukelawfirm58@gmail.com Nigel Hughes Email: c.a.n.hughes@gmail.com

Rice shipment for Cuba in September Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Allison Peters, told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that this is just one of the new export markets which adds to the list of Guyana’s growing export markets.

“There is also a shipment off to Cuba and we are going

to start that off in the third week of September.” Peters explained. She added that, “we have started sending paddy to Panama for this year; we have started in … early July.”

The disclosure comes after Guyana had recently commenced exports of pad-

go,” the General Manager disclosed.

Peters added that another contract is expected to be signed within the next few weeks for the exportation of paddy to Panama.

She said, since the country is now securing more rice markets, the product must

be increased to meet these new demands. Paddy production for the first crop of 2017 was recorded at 518,667 metric tonnes. It was projected that rice production will increase by 1.3 percent in 2017 at the beginning of the year.

(DPI)

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Guyana Chronicle NewYork YorkEdition EditionWeek-ending week ending August August 18, 18, 2017 2017 Guyana Chronicle New

BUSINESS OPTIMIZATION "So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!" — Ephesians 5:15-16 business and may be referred to as busin February 2018, it would be 50 years since I successfully deness optimization whether the business fended my PhD thesis at the Imperial College of Science and is that of government, the private secTechnology, University of London. The title of the thesis was tor, trade unions or civil society.

"Evolutionary stochastic optimum seeking methods", but do not There are many concepts which let that distract you. are currently emerging which are The purpose of the research was to ing steps should be incorporated in the grounded in the philosophy of evoludevelop and discuss automatic com- decision making process which deter- tionary operation which optimize the puter simulation procedures for control- mines the length and direction of the use of our resources. ling variable factors (finding optimum conditions or "success") when the response or output from the system is stochastic (real world, subject to random error, not deterministic), albeit from a theoretical mathematical and statistical perspective.

Over that time, I have often pondered how this research may be applied to solve problems of the Caribbean.

These thoughts resurfaced once again over the last fortnight as Caribbean politicians, in general, and Barbados politicians, in particular, continue with their comical charades.

Until our politicians stop clowning around and seek problem solving advice to complement their own skills, it is unlikely that the haemorrhaging in the economic growth rate and in the happiness quotient of the populace will be arrested.

In the thesis, there is a common philosophy adopted which may be captured in the phrase "systematic and evolutionary approach". It is recognised that the longest journey to success begins with the first step and that we should adopt a step by step approach (systematic) to progress. In addition, it next step (evolutionary). This is reIn Corporate Governance, we are is recognised that the information ferred to in industry as evolutionary op- engaging more and more in virtual gleaned from the immediately preced- eration but it can be extended to meetings where a business discussion

I

Dr. Basil Springer’s Column is conducted via Internet broadcast, videoconferencing, email, or a similar mode thus allowing the meeting to take place without incurring large sums of money in travel related costs and in travel time.

In Investment Finance, we need to consciously treat the business profit as a resource up front, rather than as what is left after all expenses have been paid. As the profits accumulate in this way they may be used for future sources of investment to build the business.

To achieve Consumer Satisfaction we must evolve with the information age. Public Relations and Social Media Marketing must be effectively and efficiently merged with traditional marketing (e.g. advertising) to achieve synergies of interaction for the benefit of the consumer.

To achieve Operational Efficiency, here are examples of Disruptive Innovation Models: (1) Uber competing with taxis; (2) Airbnb competing with traditional tourist accommodation models; (3) merging Political Parties with Civil Society in parliament; (4) combining Taxes and Private Sector Capital as a national resource; (5) Public Relations and Social Media Marketing to enhance the communications strategy; (6) Local Government; (7) inculcating the Abundance Mentality among individuals; (8) data storage in the Cloud rather than on terrestrial Storage Devices; (9) new high quality, affordable Healthcare Models; (10) pay out of Future Profits; (11) Virtual Human Resources working from home; (12) Sourcing Human Resources in different time zones and in countries which optimize value for money.

To achieve Productivity and Sustainable Success in business, introduce Shepherding, where there is a one-onone relationship between the mentee and mentor, versus Training, severalone-on-one relationships between the mentees and mentor. In the latter case, the transfer of information is not focused on the needs of individual business mentees and is more appropriate for the educational system.

Let us bury our egos (Edge God Out), be vigilant, use our heads, take advantage of every opportunity, make the most of every chance you get and optimize the use of our resources.

These are desperate times!

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

Guyana Edition week ending August 18, 18, 2017 GuyanaChronicle ChronicleNew NewYork York Edition Week-ending August 2017

Ease The Tension — Enjoy A Laugh A M THE DRIVER

SORREL DRINK Ingredients: 2 cups dry sorrel 8 cups of water 4 cloves 1 stick cinnamon 1 tsp. grated ginger (optional) 1 cup of sugar to taste (or as needed)

jar and add more sugar as needed, stir until dissolved.

6. Chill and serve with ice!

You can also store in a refrigerator for about one week..

Directions: 1. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot, then add all the ingredients to the pot.

2. Bring back to a boil and reduce the heat to a rolling boil.

3. Allow this to boil for about 5 minutes.

4. Allow to cool (can also leave it over night).

5. Strain the contents into a juice jug or

senior citizen said to his eighty-year old buddy: “So I hear you’re getting married?”

“Yep! replied his buddy” “Do I know her? he asked” “Nope!”

His buddy continued: “This woman, is she good looking?”

“Not really, he replied” “Is she a good cook?” “Naw, she can’t cook too well.”

“Does she have lots of money?”

“Nope! Poor as a church mouse.”

“Well, then, is she good otherwise?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why in the world do you want to marry her then?”

“Because she can still drive!”

IT’S A FACT

by JAMES SYDNEY

SOJOURNER TRUTH MEET PRESIDENT LINCOLN AT THE WHITE HOUSE

S

ojouner Truth called on President Abraham Lincoln at the White House at about 8 o’clock on the morning of October 29th, 1864.

There were about twelve or so other people waiting in the reception room. As the President spoke with them, she was able to overhear their conversations.

According to Truth, who related her meeting with the President later, he showed as much kindness and consideration to the “colored persons” as to the whites.

Sojourner Truth sat and waited her turn.

Already, this Black woman was well known in America. Very tall, with a commanding presence and dignified manner, she was a powerful speaker. She moved audiences to tears as she told her touching stories.

Born to slave parents in Ulster Co, New York, around 1797, she herself had served as a slave. She bore at least five children. Two daughters were sold away from her. She served five masters until July 4, 1827, when slavery was finally abolished in New York State.

Then Isabella, as she had been named at birth, became legally free. She fled her owners’ household, successfully sued to get her son back from slavery in Alabama, and

ISABELLA BAUMFREE (Sojourner Truth)

around 1829 she settled inNew York City with him and a daughter.

In 1843 she set out as a traveling preacher with her new name: Sojourner Truth. With little material possessions she began walking through Long Island and Connecticut, encouraging people she met to establish a relationship with God.

In her journeys around the country, she met thinkers like William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, David Ruggles, Samuel Hill, George Benson and Olive Gilbert. She also lectured on abolition and women’s rights and advocated a ‘Negro State’ and the emi-

11 11

gration of Blacks to the West.

She never learned to read or write but dictated her memoirs to Olive Gilbert. Their publication in 1850 as The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave added considerably to her fame.

As Sojourner Truth recalled the White House meeting, President Lincoln was seated at his desk when she was introduced to him.

He stood, offered his hand, bowed, and said, ‘I am pleased to see you.’

She replied, “Mr. President, when you first took your seat I feared you would be torn to pieces, for I likened you unto Daniel, who was thrown into the lion’s den; and if the lions did not tear you into pieces, I knew that it would be God that had saved you; and I said if he spared me I would see you before the four years expired, and he has done so, and now I am here to see you for myself.”

The president then congratulated her on her having been spared. Truth then said, “I appreciate you, for you are the best President who has ever taken the seat.”

According to her, he replied : ‘I expect you have reference to my having emancipated the slaves in my proclamation. But,’ (mentioning the names of several of his predecessors, among them emphatically that of Washington), ‘they were all just as good, and would have done just as I have done if the time had come. If the people over there

THE HIP OLDTIMER

orris, an 82 year-old man, went to the doctor to get a physical. A few days later, the doctor saw Morris walking down the street with a gorgeous young woman on his arm.

A couple of days later, the doctor spoke to Morris and said, “You’re really doing great, aren’t you?”

Morris replied, “Just doing what you said, Doc: ‘Get a hot mamma and be cheerful.’”

The doctor said, “I didn’t say that.

I said, ‘You’ve got a heart murmur; be careful.’”

THE OLDTIMERS

T

hree old guys are out walking. First one says, “Windy, isn’t it?” Second one says, “No, it’s Thursday!” Third one says, “So am I. Let’s go get a beer.” (pointing across the Potomac) had behaved themselves, I could not have done what I have; but they did not, which gave me the opportunity to do these things.’

She then said, “I thank God that you were the instrument selected by him and the people to do it.” She told him that she had never heard of him before he was talked of for President.” He smilingly replied, “I had heard of you many times before that.”

He then showed her the Bible presented to him by the “colored people” of Baltimore.

After looking it over, she said to him, “This is beautiful indeed; the colored people have given this to the head of the government, and that government once sanctioned laws that would not permit its people to learn enough to enable them to read this book.

And for what? Let them answer who can.”

After the meeting Truth said: “I must say, and I am proud to say, that I never was treated by any one with more kindness and cordiality than were shown to me by that great and good man, Abraham Lincoln, by the grace of God President of the United States for four years more. He took my little book, and with the same hand that signed the death warrant of slavery, he wrote as follows: “‘For Aunty Sojourner Truth, “‘Oct. 29, 1864. A. Lincoln.’

“As I was taking my leave, he arose and took my hand, and said he would be pleased to have me call again. I felt that I was in the presence of a friend, and I now thank God from the bottom of my heart that I always have advocated his cause, and have done it openly and boldly. I shall feel still more in duty bound to do so in time to come.

May God assist me.”

12 12

Guyana ChronicleNew NewYork YorkEdition EditionWeek-ending week ending August August 18, 18, 2017 2017 Guyana Chronicle

AMBASSADOR TEN-POW PRESENTED WITH GOLDEN JUBILEE COMMEMORATION BOOK

P

atrick Zephyr recently made a presentation of the Book “Guyana at 50” to His Excellency Rudolph Michael TenPow, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations at his office in the UN building at 801 Second Avenue, New York, New York.

This book commemorates the ing Patrick Zephyr for the book said Golden Jubilee of Guyana’s Inde- that he will use this book as a tool to pendence (1966-2016) and is ex- enlighten his colleagues in the pected to enlighten future genera- diplomat corps of the beauty and ditions of Americans, who are of versity of his homeland.

Guyanese descent or who are interThe prolific display of pictures sected in learning about their her- on every page makes this book itage and sharing it with others. reader friendly from nursery to uniAmbassador Ten-Pow in thank- versity and as such enjoyable to all.

Patrick Zephyr making the presentation to His Excellency Rudolph Ten-Pow in his office at the UN building in New York City.

Copies may be obtained from email at: rickfyrd@gmail.com or Patrick Zephyr who can be contacted Facebook@Zephenterprise. via telephone at 347-217-2551 or

Non-resident ambassador of Sweden accredited RELATIONS between the Kingdom of Sweden and Guyana are to be further strengthened following the accreditation of a non-resident ambassador of Sweden to Guyana on Wednesday.

President David Granger, accepting the Letters of Credence from Ambassador Elizabeth Eklund of the Kingdom of Sweden at State House, said since the establishment of diplomatic relations from June, 16, 1975, there have been mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs between the two countries.

He said there has also been respect for treaties and international laws and Guyana is pleased to support Sweden’s successful bid on the United Nations Security Council for the year 2017-2018.

The President said Guyana looks forward to the kingdom’s support with the challenges facing small developing states such as those in the

Ambassador Elizabeth Eklund shares a toast with President David Granger

Caribbean, to which Guyana belongs. Adding that Guyana is moving towards becoming a “Green State,” the President said emphasis is being placed on biodiversity, protection of the environment, provision of eco-tourism and the promotion of renewable energy generation.

“Guyana plays a proud part in the lungs of the earth…

Guyana could learn a lot from

Sweden’s experience in promoting green growth, Guyana and Sweden’s common commitment in protection of its environment can be the basis of enhancing cooperation between the two states,” the Head of State said.

Ambassador Eklund said Sweden appreciates the multilateral partnership with Guyana in meeting global challenges.

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending August 18, 2017 Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending August 18, 2017

13 13

19 broadcasters still to pay licensing fees …GNBA says arrears in excess of $140M

By Svetlana Marshall WITH more than $140M outstanding in licensing fees, television, cable and radio broadcasters who are not in compliance as of December 31, 2016, can find themselves off air if they fail to make the necessary payments after the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill takes effect.

Minutes after a closed-door meeting with Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, and the Board of Directors of the Guyana National Broadcasting Agency (GNBA), on Wednesday, GNBA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Prudence Lewis-Bhola, told the Guyana Chronicle that only six television and cable operators are compliant as of December 31, 2016 from a total of 27. A number of radio stations are also in default.

Dr. Lewis-Bhola explained that there are 19 television operators, eight cable operators and 11 radio stations that are being monitored and licensed by the GNBA – the majority of which are in default. “We wouldn’t name (them) but just six are compliant, with respect to payments and other documentations required for a licence,” she posited.

The CEO noted too that GNBA in recent times has written the operators on numerous occasions with the hope that they would have paid their outstanding fees. “We had written to broadcasters asking them to bring themselves as of December 31, 2016 in compliance, in anticipation of the board sitting and reconvene and reconstituted,” the CEO further posited.

To date, the call remains the same, she said.

Chairman of the GNBA Board of Directors, Leslie Sobers, who had also participated in the meeting with the Prime Minister, told this newspaper that collectively, the television and radio broadcasters who are in default, have in excess of $100M outstanding in licensing fees, while the radio operators have approximately $40M outstanding. According to him,

Guyana National Broadcasting Agency (GNBA) (Delano Williams Photo) GNBA's Chairman of the Board of Directors, Leslie Sobers (Delano Williams Photo)

these fees date back to 2014 and as recent as 2016.

Television and radio broadcasters will be mandated to re-apply for their licences within 30 days of the commencement of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Act, but failure to clear outstanding debts could result in GNBA rejecting their application.

Sobers said, however, that the Broadcasting Authority stands ready to work with all broadcasters to make them compliant within a reasonable time frame.

“The Law states 30 days but we are prepared to work with them. You see over the last few years, licences were not issued and I am not sure whether it is entirely the fault of broadcasters or somewhere along the line they were led to believe that there is no need for them to come forward and pay, and for whatever the reason, we are simply saying to them, ‘pay up now, bring yourself up-todate as of 2016’,” Sobers stated.

He made it clear that once the outstanding fees are paid, and all requirements are met, television, radio and cable operators will be relicensed. He noted that the authority at the level of the board, is considering issuing licence for a period of two to three years but applicants must pay up.

Continued violation of the law, however, can result in television, cable and radio op-

GNBA’s CEO, Dr. Prudence Lewis-Bhola

erators being stripped of their rights to broadcast. “We will put the law in motion, call on them to stop broadcasting and if they fail to do that, we will ask the NFMU to pull the frequency, and if for some reason they are still airing on that frequency, then we will have to do what I call ‘boots on the ground‘ and pay them a visit,” the Chairman warned.

The issue of television, radio and cable operators failing to effect the necessary payments was among issues raised by Prime Minister Nagamootoo, when he met with those sitting at the helm of GNBA. “I am told that up to last year, quite a number of operators--TV and Radio--have rendered themselves unlicensed, because they had not paid their licence fees,” the Prime Minister said while seeking clarity on the situation. It was then that the Prime Minister was informed that just about six operators are ready to be relicensed, based on the fact that they cleared their arrears and provided the necessary documents.

According to the Broadcast (Amendment) Bill, which is waiting to be assented to

by President David Granger, failure to apply for the licence within the specified timeframe will result in the broadcasting service coming to an immediate halt. The same will be for those applicants whose applications were rejected.

Publishany anyspecial specialevent eventofof your your loved loved ones ToToPublish ones the ininthe NEWYORK YORKEDITION EDITION NEW theGUYANA GUYANACHRONICLE CHRONICLE ofofthe

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“A person who…continues to carry on a broadcasting service after the expiry of the time specified, without applying for a licence or where he has applied for a licence within the time specified but his/her application for a licence has been rejected, commits an offence,” the Broadcast (Amendment) Bill states.

Defaulters would be fined $1M and imprisoned for one year. The proposed legislation calls for the seizure of equipment relative to the television and radio broadcasters.

“All machinery and equipment used, or which can be used, for broadcasting and owned by or in the possession of, the person

concerned is liable to be forfeited; but property not owned by such person shall not be forfeited unless the court is satisfied that the owner of the property knew or ought to have, with reasonable diligence, known that the person convicted had no licence to carry on broadcasting service,” the Bill states.

REDUCED FEES Compliant operators will, however, benefit from reduced fees in the case of television and cable operators, based on their classification, be it commercial, non-commercial or community, and their zones – primary, secondary and tertiary.

In the Primary zone, the base fee has been set at $1.2M for TV and Cable Operators while Radio Operators will continue to pay $2.5M. In the Secondary zone, the fee has been set at $600, 000 or 3.5% of the gross revenue of the preceding year, whichever is greater for TV and Cable Operators while Radio Operators will be $1.25M. In the Tertiary zone, the fee has been set at $300, 000 for TV and Cable providers and $625,000 for Radio Operators.

Radio and TV stations providing Community Broadcasting Services will only be charged a fee of $150, 000.

14

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending August 18, 2017

Turnkey woes being addressed

By Zena Henry THE Ministry of Housing is spending over $40 million to effect the second phase of repairs for the poorly constructed turn key homes in Providence, East Bank Demerara. Remedial work which started about two weeks ago has not only seen the relocation of some homeowners to allow for the corrective work, but at least two homes had to be completely destroyed and rebuilt due to defective construction.

During a visit to the Providence location, work was being conducted on several houses with minor, as well as major repairs. A private contractor who wished not to be named explained to this newspaper that due to the repairs, several residents had to vacate their houses.

One home-owner, he pointed out, had to remove from his house because the building was unsafe.

“The man (homeowner)

One of the turn key houses that had to be rebuilt at Providence

had to move out for us to break down the house because it was not safe. The whole place was cracking up,” the contractor noted.

Rondane Baptiste said that his family had been living in Providence for three

years and they had applied to the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) to have remedial work done to their home.

He said there were cracks in the walls and foundation and these were repaired.

While his family did not have to relocate to have the repairs done, he was aware of other families who had to leave their homes, including his neighbour, whose entire floor had collapsed.

“That’s the problem.

Most of these foundations are cracking,” Baptiste pointed out.

Another contractor who identified himself as Safie, told the Guyana Chronicle that there were other issues such as leaks due to the use

of inferior materials and poor execution of the work in general. “On some of the houses, they used regular nails, and these rusted easily, so when rain fall the place is leaking,” he said.

Project Manager, Kenneth Dazzel, told the newspaper that 24 houses were being repaired in Providence, with 18 already looked after.

There are about 200 Turnkey homes in Providence and Perseverance.

Many of the Perseverance home defects have been addressed with some minor works remaining on others.

The building of the homes was an idea of the previous government and was sold for just under $5 million, but after complaints, the CHPA reported that more than $100 million would be needed to facilitate remedial works at the two locations.

The ministry of housing had pointed out that some of the contractors who worked on the homes previously could not be located.

Ramnarine not recommended for top post Guyana records 92% …Hold on Police promotions ‘perfect and correct’ – Ramjattan pass rate at CAPE

By Zena Henry

COMMISSIONER of Police, Seelall Persaud, did not include Assistant Commissioner David Ramnarine in his recommended list for promotions, despite him being the second most senior person in the police force and acting in the capacity of police chief in Persaud’s absence.

Ramnarine was not slated for elevation, but Persaud has recommended to the Police Service Commission (PSC) the promotion of Assistant Commissioners Clifton Hicken and Nigel Hoppie to the very senior post of Deputy Commissioner.

The loggerhead between the Police Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner Ramnarine is no secret, with the two more recently declaring publicly the differences that exist in their work relationship. The Officers’ statements were made during the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into an alleged assassination plot against the president to ascertain the manner in which the investigation was handled.

While Ramnarine’s view was that the police had not conducted proper investiga-

Assistant Commissioner David Ramnarine

tions into the assassination claim, the police chief expressed confidence that his men had done a good job.

President Granger has asked however, that the police commission put a hold on the promotions. Some sources believe that Ramnarine’s absence on the list, and his “sidelining” by the police commissioner could be among the reasons for the pause in promotions.

Minister with responsibility for Public Security, Kehmraj Ramjattan has expressed his agreement with President Granger stating that his actions to put a hold on the promotions were “perfect and correct.”

Ramjattan told the Guyana Chronicle on Monday, that in his view, the ongoing CoI was not what promoted the hold on police promotions but a lot of issues had arisen in the manner in which policemen were being promoted.

He said that while the Commissioner of Police makes recommendations for the relevant posts, it is the president in consultation with the opposition leader, who appoints the commissioner and his deputy.

In the President’s letter, no specifics were given as to why he wanted the promotions put on hold.

The P ublic S ecurity Minister noted however that among the issues surrounding police promotions was the fact that police ranks with poor history were being elevated, pointing to the police ranks who had tortured a teenage boy by pouring a liquid on his genitals and setting it alight, as an example.

He pointed out that the Force was seeing the promotion of police ranks who were not even recommended and this was a complaint made by both the Police Commissioner and Assistant Ramnarine. The matter is so that last year, the force

…CSEC results to be released next Tuesday

Minister with responsibility for Public Security, Kehmraj Ramjattan

saw an influx of inspectors who are more than 50 being promoted and added to the existing lot.

He said some “unhealthy” decisions were being made regarding those promotions. He hinted too that the life of the current police commission had less than a month left and there was no need for a rush in promotions when even the leadership of the force had expressed concern.

In the past, there have been many complaints that senior ranks were being held back, while some junior ranks were surpassing them.

THE Ministry of Education on Tuesday night announced that Guyana has secured a 92.57 per cent pass rate at the recently-concluded Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE).

Some 851 students from nine secondary schools and four private institutions sat the examinations in May and June this year, and according to the Ministry, Guyana’s pass rate comprised of 92.57 per cent passes with Grades One to Five, as against 86.74 per cent last year, representing an increase of seven per cent.

The ministry noted that 16.47 per cent of the entries attained Grade One, 22.90 per cent attained Grade Two, 22.93 per cent Grade Three, 18.08 Grade Four, and 13 per cent of the students attained Grade 5.

Additionally, Guyana also secured 100 per cent pass rates (Grades One to Five) in 30 units, namely: Agricultural Science Units 1 and 2; Art & Design Units 1 and 2; Computer Science Unit 1; Food and Nutrition Units 1 and 2; Geography Units 1 and 2; Information Technology Units 1 and 2; Animation & Gaming Units 1 and 2; Spanish Units 1 and 2; Physical Education & Sports Units 1 and 2; Digital

Media Units 1 and 2; Entrepreneurship Units 1 and 2; Green Engineering Unit 1; Logistics & Supply Chain Operations Unit 1; Building & Mechanical Engineering Drawing (Building) Units 1 and 2; Electrical & Electronic Engineering Technology Unit 1; Applied Mathematics Unit 2; Environmental Science Unit 2; Tourism Unit 2 and Electrical & Electronic Engineering Technology Unit 2.

The Ministry further disclosed that Guyana recorded 100 per cent passes in several new subjects offered for the first time this year. Those subjects include Green Engineering, Animation & Gaming Design which was written for the first time electronically, along with Digital Media.

Students would be able to access their official individual results on Friday online at http://results.cxc.org, however, the Caribbean Examination Council has said that CSEC results will be released to Member States before close of business on Thursday, August 17, 2017. Those results can also be accessed on Friday as advised by the CXC website http://results.cxc.org.

Guyana will officially announce its results on Tuesday, August 22, the Ministry added.

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending August 18, 2017

15

Seven-year-old dies More rewards for in E’bo lake accident GNNL journalists AN ACCIDENT at Capoey Lake on the Essequibo Coast has left seven-yearold Wesley Benn dead and others injured.

Sources from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) have confirmed that the lad who lived in Lima Sands, Essequibo, died after the car in which he and his parents were travelling drove off a bridge and into the lake around 16:00hrs on Saturday.

A resident of the village, June Deyounge, posted on

her Facebook page that she heard loud screams coming from the lake, so she rushed to the scene where she saw the vehicle overboard.

Villagers reportedly rushed to the assistance of the victims who were trapped in the car. They managed to save the lad’s parents but he was reportedly pinned by the vehicle.

Deyounge said she went to a nearby sandpit to get a loader, but by time they returned to the scene, persons had already taken the boy

out of the water and rushed him to the Suddie Hospital, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The other occupants of the vehicle escaped with minor injuries. Details are still sketchy as to who was the driver of vehicle.

Toshao of Capoey Lake, Melrose Henry said accidents in the area are rare but when they do happen, it is connected to the usual “weekend lime” at a resort in the area.

THE Board of Directors and Management of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited (GNNL) honoured journalists of the media house who received awards at the recently-held Guyana Press Association (GPA) Awards. The reporters were able to cop most of the accolades, with Senior Reporter, Ravin Singh getting awards in a number of categories, including the award for youngest journalist of the year.

Director, Hilbert Foster speaking to persons who were gathered at the appreciation ceremony on Friday, as (from left) Editor, Godfrey Wray; Editor-In-Chief, Nigel Williams and General Manager, Moshamie Ramotar watch on

Residents of Capoey rush to assist the occupants of the vehicle who were trapped after it ended up overboard on Saturday

CH&PA to build single-unit, two-bedroom houses in several communities THE Central Housing and Planning Authority’s (CH&PA) tender board has opened bids for the construction of 40 duplexes at Perseverance, East Bank Demerara (EBD), Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) Lelon Saul said on Monday.

During a media briefing, the CEO told reporters that it is his entity’s vision to construct single-unit, two-bedroom elevated houses at Onderneeming, West Bank Demerara (WBD), Hope Experiment, West Berbice and Amelia’s Ward, Linden, within the next six weeks.

Perseverance will also benefit from this programme, Saul disclosed, while noting that CH&PA is also in the

CH&PA Chief Executive Officer, Lelon Saul (GINA)

process of engaging private developers, but more information on that process will be made available later this year.

Meanwhile, when asked whether the CH&PA will intervene in the case of a

partially collapsing house located on the EBD, Saul said the issue is of a private nature, while stressing that proper regulations governing building contractors need to be put in place.

In May, the CH&PA hosted a housing exposition at Perseverance to highlight various housing solutions being offered by the sub-agency along with local private contractors.

Among its exhibits were modern-styled duplexes which were available in wood, concrete and in ground and elevated designs. The CH&PA had committed to continue building after the expo in Perseverance and in other regions later in the year.

(DPI/GINA)

From left: Rabindra Rooplall, Ravin Singh, Vanessa Braithwaite, Tajeram Mohabir, Samuel Maughn (photographer), Navendra Seoraj and Stephan Sookram

Horse cart owner charged for damaging Superbet computer A 23-year-old horse cart operator who damaged a computer belonging to the gambling agency, Super Bet after being enraged over losing his money was on Monday charged with damage to property.

Vandam Phagoo of Norton Street, Lodge appeared before City Magistrate Judy Latchman and denied that on July 31 at Durban Street and Cemetery Road, Georgetown, he unlawfully and maliciously damaged an HP computer valued $171,900 property of Super Bet Inc. The man told the court that on the day

in question, he was at the gambling agency when he placed a bet and was given a wrong ticket by a Super Bet agent. However, when he approached the agent about the ticket and his money, he was beaten by a man and this escalated into a fight at Super Bet during which the computer was damaged.

However, according to Police Prosecutor, Corporal Shawn Gonsalves the accused was throwing stones at the Super Bet outlet and one of the missiles hit and damaged the computer. The magistrate released Phagoo on $80,000 bail and adjourned the matter until August 28.

16

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending August 18, 2017

PUC says complaints stack up against GTT …GPL pays out $30M in credits to consumers

By Svetlana Marshall MORE than 500 complaints have already been filed for 2017 against public utility companies for inefficient services provided, with the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) and the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) having to repay over $31M to customers, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has disclosed.

At a press conference on Monday at its Queenstown headquarters, PUC Complaints Manager, Destra Bourne, disclosed that

for the period January-July 2017, the Commission received 505 complaints with GTT accounting for the majority – some 355. A total of 124 complaints were filed against GPL, 23 against GWI and three against Digicel Guyana. Bourne noted that of the 355 reports filed against GTT, 320 were technically related. In the case of GPL, 46 of the complaints were linked to tampering or meter bypass, 28 for application of first service, 18 for technical issues and 11 for billing queries. Additionally, 11 other reports had to do with the disconnection of service, and five each, for change of tenancy and claim

for compensation.

As of Monday, 303 of those 505 complaints filed for 2017 are pending. According to Bourne, the majority of the complaints for the first quarter of the year have been resolved, and though the utilities have not officially updated the PUC on certain matters, it has been reliably informed that 150 of the complaints have been resolved. “Most of the matters received during the first quarter of the year have been resolved. Also, out of these 303 matters, there are numerous matters that the consumers would have advised the PUC that their issues have been resolved

but the utility is still to send that response to PUC,” the Complaints Manager explained.

It was noted that once a report is filed to the Commission, be it via the PUC website (www.puc.org.gy), telephone or in person, verifications would be made to ensure that the complaining customer had first lodged a report to the utility and a reasonable time frame had been given to allow the utility to act.

PUC must then be satisfied that the complaint has merit – that means that the issue(s) raised by the customer must be in accordance with the Law specific to the utility or an Order of the Commission, and in keeping with the Commission’s rules

and procedures.

Once the requirements are met, the PUC would write the utility attaching the reference number and the complaint and based on the magnitude of the problem, a timeframe is given for the matter to be resolved. According to Bourne, these problems are usually resolved in a timely manner once it attracts the attention of the PUC. In many instances, PUC after launching investigations into the complained found that some of the utilities such as GPL and GTT would have either overcharged customers or charged them for services that they were not provided with.

For 2017, these inves-

The leadership of the PUC. In the centre is the Chairman, Attorney-at-Law, Dela Britton. Secretary to the Commission, Vidiahar Persaud and Engineer, Nikita Somwaru are seated to her right, while Complaints Manager, Destra Bourne, and Head of Finance, Moorsalene Sankar, are seated to the left

tigations and subsequent sanctions have resulted in GPL, GTT and GWI paying over $31M in credits to customers. Bourne pointed out that GPL has been made to pay $30M in credits, GTT some $635, 000 and GWI $522, 000 in credits.

COMPENSATION The complaints manager explained that customers are not compensated in liquid cash but the monies in the form of credits are applied to their account, and they would not have to pay the utilities until their credits are exhausted.

Bourne had addressed reporters in the presence of PUC Chairman, Attorney-at-Law, Dela Britton; Head of Finance Division, Moorsalene Sankar; Secretary to the Commission, Vidiahar Persaud; and Engineer, Nikita Somwaru.

That aside, Britton, who took office in June 2017, said the PUC, in keeping with its mandate to regulate, investigate and enforce, will be expanding its services. She explained that the Commission is exploring the possibilities of establishing a division in Essequibo to complement its work at Queenstown, and the division at Port Mourant, Berbice.

Additionally, Britton said the Commission in the near future will be placing complaint forms at all post offices, hospitals, libraries and at Giftland Office Max, in addition to the Oasis Restaurant.

Alluding to a familiarisation meeting that took place shortly after her appointment between PUC and the utilities, Britton noted that the companies had committed to collaborate with the Commission with the aim of alleviating any bottlenecks within the system of communication.

Turning her attention to the complaints, Britton said once the Commission has sufficient evident that a utility has continuous failed to put corrective measures in place, the company can be sanctioned.

“If they fail and continue to fail…we would then meet as a Commission, and we would then take those complaints to the commission level and then decide if that complaint A) warrant a hearing or B) warrant a sanction,” she explained.

The most stringent option, she pointed out, is closure of the utility, however, the Commission over the years have utilised monetary sanctions.

Safer seas Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending August 18, 2017

ARJUNE Permaul called “Bayo”, 45, remembers vividly the night he and two other crew members were attacked by two cutlass-wielding pirates on the “MV Varuni 4” on May 16, 2017 in the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of Tain, Corentyne.

The pirates allegedly demanded the catch and took away their 40HP engine, while ordering the men and the captain to jump overboard, which they complied with but not before they were beaten.

However, a blow to the head of Captain Mahadeo Ramdial, 44, rendered him unconscious and he subsequently died while making his way to shore.

Arjune, a father of one and of Lot 146 Kilcoy Squatting Area, recounted he, along with a young fisher Parmanand Nandan, 21, swam for two hours before they were rescued.

Today, he is thankful for life. Speaking with Guyana Chronicle, Arjune said he has been a victim of piracy four times before while plying his trade in the Corentyne River, but he was never harmed as the pirates only collected the catch and engine.

He said after the last ordeal, he decided not to return to the sea, and was even encouraged by his mother and other family members who feared for his safety.

“I get down courage suh me nah guh back,” he told this publication.

Even though Permaul has left the high seas, he did not give up fishing. His catch now comes from this village and surrounding communities.

“Life goes on, I have to make a living, no body nah provide for me so I does catch meh lil fish and walk and sell around here, me does throw cast net and set

Survivor: Arjune Permaul

seme.”

One thing he missed though is earning the big income but he said he would not trade it for his life.

“I was able to take care of myself and help meh mother if this thing nah happen I would ah still deh out there,” he said.

The incident with Arjune was the most recent pirate attack; the other attack happened about a year earlier.

In May 2016, where three fishing vessels were attacked by a gang of men, leaving one dead, three still missing.

The surviving captain on one of the vessels Harripersaud Persaud, 43, swam for over three hours before he was rescued and notified the authorities of the attack.

SIGH OF RELIEF From then to now, fishermen have breathed a sigh of relief after being tormented by pirates every few months, especially within the period 2011 to 2015.

During this period, families were left without breadwinners and millions in investments (seine, engines, fuel, catch and boats) were lost to piracy.

The current administration during the 2016 elections campaign had promised to help fishers once in power and has since delivered on this promise.

Upper Corentyne Fishermen Co-op Chairman Pameshwar Jainarine

The authorities have been able to the capture and convict several persons, including those that committed the attack of Persaud and others.

Despite the decrease in the frequency of attacks, piracy still remains a threat to the lives of the men who ply their trade out at sea and the government and the fisherfolks are still putting measures in place to ensure the safety of the thousands who depend on this trade for their livelihood.

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan said his Ministry is working feverishly to have boats that operate, registered and fitted with transponders so that authorities can be aware of their locations in the event of an attack and respond promptly.

PROCESS SLOW This process, he said, has not been moving as fast as he would like.

“We haven’t gotten their full cooperation but a lot of the boat people have already registered, because I believe they had to get some licensing arrangements done through the Ministry of Agriculture but most are using fishing licenses from

17

– piracy decreases significantly but scars still remain

Vessels moored at the Number 66 Wharf awaiting departure for sea

A fisherman assembles a seine that needs repairs after several fishing trips

out of Suriname so the Surinamese authorities know a number of them but I have been trying to get all of them registered so we can develop a system of transponders, but a number of these fishermen with their boats, their culture has remain static. They have not moved forward, they don’t want to think in terms of modern things and the transponders is affordable which is nothing compared to what they may lose in an attack,” he said.

Chairman of the Upper Corentyne Fishermen Co-op Pameshwar Jainarine, was high in praise for the po-

lice and government for the decline in attacks, but also shares the view that more still needs to be done.

“The judicial system needs to act in a timely manner. What we find happens is that many times the cases are called and then postponed and that surpass a year. It shouldn’t be that way. Then eventually we find the men are released. So if there are witnesses that want to come forward after the case is called, two to three years after they get fed up and no longer want to testify,” he said.

He also shares the minis-

ter’s view that communication is vital for the overall safety and well-being of the 600-plus fishermen who work out of the Number 66 Fishery.

“We have the transmitters set up already and we get the master radio and we are planning to have each boat equipped with a radio set.

The application was approved by the FMU and we will now source the radios,” said Jainarine.

Many are of the view that the gang members who were carrying out the pirate attacks are behind bars and fishers generally feel a sense of safety.

Teen killer remanded RYAN Singh, 30, the man who is accused of murdering his teenage girlfriend was on Tuesday, August 15 charged with her murder.

Singh appeared before Magistrate Alex Moore at the Sisters Magistrate’s Court, East Bank Berbice, where he was not required to plead to the indictable charge, which stated on July 29, 2017 he allegedly murdered Parbattie Lakhpaul called “Rosanna”, 17 at their Number 2 Village , East Canje place

of abode.

After reportedly committing the act, Singh fled the jurisdiction but was apprehended by Suriname authorities in the neighbouring country on August 9, 2017. The matter was transferred to the New Amsterdam Court. He will return to court on September 26. Meanwhile as the accused exited the court, Singh who showed no remorse, shouted that the victim’s mother should “go find the killer”.

Ryan Singh being escorted by police following his court appearance

18 18

Guyana Chronicle New Guyana Chronicle NewYork YorkEdition EditionWeek-ending week ending August August 18, 18, 2017 2017

Emphasis on Real Estate, Taxes and Business

A

The Edgar Henry Column

s a businessman, do not try to master all your responsibilities all by yourself. Try out-sourcing them to better control your daily commitments. Before you bring someone on board to prepare your books, check their skills and lay the ground rules to ensure you're getting the right person for your business and tax purposes.

As a business owner, even if you are an accountant, you tend to think you can do your accounting by yourselves. But can anyone learn to prepare the books? That's like saying anyone can learn to be a renowned artist or perhaps an accomplished musician.

Although, some will learn the skills easily, others will work at developing the skills for years and still only be "average." There is this general conception that you will save cost by doing things yourself rather than paying an expert to exercise his or her assignment.

You may be a successful business owner with a multitude of skills, but if bookkeeping is one of your weakest links, you should probably hire a competent bookkeeper. To a seasoned bookkeeper/accountant, what I will lay out in the following paragraphs may seem simplistic. Anyway here are some expectations you should establish for your bookkeeper to provide the service your business really needs.

BASIC BOOKKEEPING KNOWLEDGE Your bookkeeper must have a basic understanding of bookkeeping/accounting terms, and should be familiar with a basic understanding of the difference between the five basic types of accounts such as assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses.

DETAIL ORIENTED You need someone who you don't have time to babysit. This individual should be able to take charge and take care of all the little things that need attention when it comes to your basic financial operations, whether authority is around or not. For example, if you buy a piece of equipment, are they going to understand the concept of setting up the asset and liability account? Do they know how to allocate the payment to interest expense and apply the liability principal reduction? In addition they must possess a willingness to follow through. You want someone who'll ensure that projects and questions are followed through to com-

Jack Of All Trades . . .

Master Of None pletion. They need to be responsible for the follow through because you're just too busy to be the one in charge of project completion. You're there to assist with questions, but the financial projects including depreciation have to be something they're in charge of, and able to manage.

MONTHLY FINANCIALS They must have monthly financial statements available on a timely basis. The three basic financial statements include the balance sheet, the profit/loss statement and the cash flow statement. Built into this, they must understand how to do proper job costing and analysis. It's important that they are tracking all the costs by item and job detail. Job costing is critical to the success of knowing how much your projects are truly cost ing. You have to be able to depend on their information to be reliable.

UNDERSTANDING THE PROJECT They must have a basic understanding of your industry. While this is something that can be learned, you'll be miles ahead of the learning curve if the person you hire has a general understanding of your industry.

While bookkeeping for a retail store, hair salon, internet service business and many others have the same basic bookkeeping fundamentals; it's not exactly the same.

Each industry has different terms and insider aspects that can only be learned on the job, so be sure to look for someone with experience in your industry or someone who is

flexible.

COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS They must have good communication skills. If your bookkeeper doesn't understand something, they've got to be willing to ask for clarification or help. One simple misunderstanding not communicated properly may cause an incorrect journal entry which could portray wrong result in your financial statements.Communication is critical so that you'll have a good grasp of what's taking place in the office without you having to be the one doing the day-to-day work.

COMPUTER LITERACY Given today’s technology bookkeepers must be computer literate. The days of doing almost anything by hand are long gone. You must have a computerized bookkeeping system such as “quick books” to be able to get quality reports. Your bookkeeper should not only know the basics of your bookkeeping software but should also be familiar with Word, Excel, e-mail and the internet. Also, they must be interested in continuing their education and should be committed to enhancing their skills with additional classes or self-study to ensure that they're staying up to date with the accounting skills, pertinent to your individual business demands.

COMMITMENT There must exist, a willingness to make a strong commitment to your business. If you're hiring a part-time bookkeeper, it's essential that you find someone who will make your business a top priority. Don't let your part-time bookkeeper "squeeze" their responsibilities to you into their personal life.

Owners at times allow their bookkeepers to do their work whenever they have time. But by doing this, you're enabling them to put your business on the back burner or at the bottom of their "priority" list. You need someone who's focused on ensuring things get done on a timely basis.

If you want your company to truly function in a profitable way, it's critical that you set expectations for your bookkeeper before you bring them on board. Good financial records are fundamental to the success of your business. If you can't rely on your books--or your bookkeeper - then how are you going to know where your business is headed? Set these expectations for your bookkeeper so they'll be a successful part of your team. Avoid being Jack of all trades, delegate as much as possible. Putting this in place you'll be setting your business up for tremendous success. Nothing succeeds like success.

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

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

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending August 18, 2017

19

Kwakwani mini-bus drivers – in protest over deplorable increase fares condition of road

By Vanessa Braithwaite

RESIDENTS of the Region 10 community of Kwakwani are now forced to pay one-way minibus fares to Linden at $2,500, an increase of $500.

Bus drivers have blamed the increase on the state of the Linden to Kwakwani trail, which state has been described as deplorable, especially when it rains.

Not only is the state of the road resulting in frequent trips to mechanic shops, according to the drivers, but more gasoline, since the commute is sometimes up to two hours longer, given the state of the road.

Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle, chairman for the Kwakwani Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), Merna Adrian, bemoaned the situation since it has created a ripple economic effect on the entire community.

Adrian said the increased fare means an increase in the prices for goods that have to be transported in Linden. Given the lack of jobs in Kwakwani and the stagnation of the economy,

when fares go up, it don’t go back down, is now $2,500.

We have to pay to go to Linden and they are saying is because of the road; last week, I travel on the road and it was bad, because the rain fall but I don’t know what is the state now with the sun shining,” Adrian said.

Speaking to another resident on the matter, the pensioner said the road situation is one that has been plaguing the residents for decades now and while works are currently being done, very little improvement is being seen.

“I really don’t understand what going on, because y’all hearing monies allocated for the road, contractor working on the road and the road not getting better and now they up the fare, and you can’t vex with them bus man, I was a driver and I know what it is like,” the resident expressed.

Regional Vice-Chairman Elroy Adolph, who is also a resident of Kwakwani, told the Guyana Chronicle that

The current state of the Kwakwani road

residents have protested the situation, but can do little about it since the drivers too

have a valid point.

“With the fares going up, everything gone up and

Cop in custody after fatal accident Story and photo by Rabindra Rooplall A YOUNG man of Indigenous descent perished on Sunday after a car driven by a police constable slammed into him on the Soesdyke Public Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

The accident occurred around 03:00 hrs and the body of the yet-to-be identified man has been taken to the Lyken Funeral Home.

Investigations revealed that at the time of the accident, the constable was taking an injured policeman in his vehicle PPP 8497 to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, EBD, escorted by a police vehicle with siren and flashing lights on.

The injured policeman, identified as Gavin Gentle of Bartica Police Station, had earlier crashed his car on the Timehri Public Road around 02:30hrs.

Reports indicate that Constable Gentle was proceeding south on the Timehri Public Road in motorcar PTT 5444when he lost control of the vehicle and

The two crashed Toyota Allion cars owned by the policemen involved in separate accidents in the wee hours of Sunday morning, parked at the Madewini Police Station

crashed into a utility pole and sustained injuries.

His police colleague driving PPP 8497 upon noticing the accident stopped his car and gave assistance by transferring the injured policeman to his vehicle, before making a report at the Madewini Police Station.

He was then provided the support of a police vehicle to assist with escorting the injured ranks to the hospital.

It was alleged by the driver of the police vehicle that he swerved from the pedestrian who was in the centre of the road, but Toyota Allion PPP 8497 which

was close behind, slammed into him.

The accident victim was then picked up and placed in the same vehicle with the injured policeman and taken to the Diagnostic Centre, where he was pronounced dead.

The injured policeman was treated and transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation and admitted in a serious but stable condition.

The police said the driver of PPP 8497 was tested and no alcohol was detected on his breath. He is in police custody as an investigation continues.

extensive repair works had Rutherford also said that commenced on the road, Minister of Public Infrathe first phase being from structure, David Patterson, Linden to Kwakwani, but the is also aware of the situation. rainy season has interrupted Residents have also laid part the smooth flow. of the blame at the feet of “What really happen is the contractor, whom they that they start the road late deemed incompetent and it and when the rains start, the has been alleged by an offiwork was affected, but now cial who sought anonymity, that the sunny season coming that the materials used to up back, they should be able construct the road are slugto start back.” gishly thrown on the surface Adolph said that he hopes and roughly graded down. the government expedites the When heavy-duty repair works and takes ad- trucks and other vehicles vantage of the sunny season. pass, the road is opened He also revealed that the bus and the road is left with drivers promised to return huge holes. When it rains, the fare to $2,000, once the the vehicles experience road is fixed. tremendous difficulty to Member of Parliament, pass and have to engage Audwin Rutherford, who has in teams pushing as the responsibility for Kwakwani, vehicle is most times stuck. when asked whether he has Under normal weather made representation to Cen- conditions, it would take a tral Government on behalf bus driver approximately of the residents, answered in three hours to reach their the affirmative and said that destination, but in inclemhe was currently in conver- ent weather conditions, sation with the engineer with it would take about 4-5 responsibility for the road. hours. (continued on page 20)

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Guyana Chronicle NewYork YorkEdition EditionWeek-ending week ending August August 18, 18, 2017 2017 Guyana Chronicle New

Remembering Rabindranath Tagore (from page 5)

worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!”

Rabindranath wrote and put into music his songs. The greatest example might be the Indian National Anthem, “Jana Gana Mana” (“Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people.”), which was composed December 11, 1911 and set into music by him on December 27, 1911.

It is the first stanza of Tagore’s hymn “Bhārat Bhāgya Vidhātā”, Dispenser of the Destiny of India.

Rabindranath wrote the lyrics of Amar Sonar Bangla, My Golden Bengal in 1905. In 1971, newly independent Bangladesh adopted it as its national anthem.

It is Rabindranath Tagore, not Bob Dylan, who was the first songwriter to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

He received this honour when he was only 19. Tagore composed over 2,000 songs which have been popularised and sung widely across Bengal.

THE DRAMATIST In 1881, Tagore wrote his first dramatic piece “Valmiki Pratibha” (The Genius of Valmiki). This was a musical drama about the transformation of Ratnakor, a bandit, who turned into a sage.

“The drama blends together Indian clas-

sical music styles and Bengali folk songs with European theatre techniques, modelling itself around European operetta, but with original songs written by Tagore in Bengali — a true, first meeting of East and West in the days when this was practically unheard of.”

Like many dramatists/playwrights, Rabindranath had an early fascination for the theatre and acted before he wrote his first play at the age of twenty. From age twenty-one, Tagore directed, produced and acted in many of the forty odd plays that he wrote.

His first full-fledged drama written was Raja O Rani (1889), a five-act verseplay. This was followed by “Visarjan”, another full-length verse-play. “Raja” appeared in 1910. In 1912, Tagore wrote “Achalayatan” and “Dakghar.” In 1924, he wrote Raktakarabi, arguably his best play.

“At the most it can be said that some of the thrust of Bengali minority theatre`s new directions in the post-war and postindependence periods was derived from Tagore`s ideas and exhortations.”

THE NOVELIST Tagore was a well-respected novelist. Some of his best known works are: Noukadubi (1906), Gora (1910), Chaturanga (1916), The Home and the World (1915-1916), Ghare Baire (1916),

Hastings-Williams to be appointed public affairs minister MINISTER within the Ministry of Communities, Dawn Hastings-Williams, will be officially appointed Minister of Public Affairs within the Ministry of the Presidency this monthend, President David Granger confirmed on Wednesday.

“It was a question of my own judgment and I have to continuously evaluate the workload of every ministry… It’s a continuous process to ensure that government works well and we need to ensure that we put our best effort where those efforts can have an impact on government,” the Head of State said at State House.

According to the President, Minister Hastings going to the Ministry of the Presidency is a continuation of a balancing process to strengthen the management of that ministry.

Minister Hastings-Williams will be responsible for oversight of the sections, which fall under the President’s secretariat, and will also hold responsibility for the administration of the National Endowment for Science and Technology (NEST) Programme and hinterland and rural rela-

Minister Dawn Hastings-Williams

tions.

Only recently,the President made some adjustments to his Cabinet, moving Dr Roopnaraine to the Ministry of Public Service and elevating Junior Minister Nicolette Henry as the senior Minister of Education. Back in January, the President had also made some additional changes, re-assigning Minister Volda Lawrence from the Ministry of Social Protection to head the Ministry of Public Health, while Minister Amna Ally was moved from the Ministry of Social Cohesion to the Ministry of Social Protection. Dr. George Norton was moved then from the

Ministry of Public Health to the Ministry of Social Cohesion, which falls under the purview of the Ministry of the Presidency.

In 2016, the President had also initiated some changes to his Cabinet.

Minister Catherine Hughes was appointed Minister of Public Telecommunications, while the Ministry of Governance and Protection of the National Patrimony were delinked and the latter renamed the Ministry of Natural Resources and assigned to Minister Raphael Trotman. The functions of the Ministry of Governance were then added to the portfolio of Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo. In addition, Minister Simona Broomes was also shifted from the Ministry of Social Protection to the Ministry of Natural Resources, while Minister Keith Scott was moved to the Ministry of Social Protection from the Ministry of Communities and was tasked with responsibility for labour. Minister Valerie Sharpe-Patterson was then given the nod for the post of Minister within the Ministry of Communities with responsibility for housing.

Shesher Kobita (1929), Jogajog (1929) and Char Odhay (1934).

ESSAY AND SHORT STORY

Tagore is credited with inventing Bengali short stories. His fiction is often set in rural Bengali villages peopled by characters from the underclasses of society. The celebrated Indian film director Satyajit Ray has adapted several of Tagore's stories into movies.

Many of Tagore's short stories were available in English after he gained international acclaim as the Nobel Prize-winning poet. Commentators have praised Tagore for “his blending of poetic lyricism with social realism, as well as the way in which his unearthly tales maintain psychological realism within an atmosphere of supernatural occurrences.”

Scholars also praise Tagore's short stories for the deeply human quality of their characters and relationships. Her Highness Maharani Mehtab Kaur (14 September 1922 – 24 July 2017), wife of the ninth Maharaja of Patiala, said of Tagore, “With an infinite sympathy and rare psychological insight, he works out the emotional possibilities of different human relations.”

THE PAINTER In his seventies, Tagore started painting and made a significant contribu-

tion to modern Indian art.

The “Last Harvest” was an exhibition of Tagore’s paintings to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth. It consisted of 208 paintings drawn from the collections of Visva Bharati and the NGMA. Within the 150th birth anniversary year it was conceived as three separate but similar exhibitions, and travelled simultaneously in three circuits. The first selection was shown at Museum of Asian Art, Berlin, [2] Asia Society, New York, [3] National Museum of Korea, [4] Seoul, Victoria and Albert Museum, [5] London, The Art Institute of Chicago, [6] Chicago Chicago, Petit Palais, [7] Paris, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome, National Visual Arts Gallery (Malaysia), [8] Kuala Lumpur, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, [9] Ontario, National Gallery of Modern Art, [10] New Delhi.

Tagore died on August 7, 1941, in his ancestral home in Calcutta after a long and painful illness, aged 80

In 1940, Oxford University arranged a special ceremony in Santinike\tan to honor the poet with a Doctorate of Literature.

"India gained independence from Great Britain on August 15, 2017. I wish the great subcontinent all the best on its 70th anniversary.

Contraband found in Camp St Prison A LARGE cache of contraband items, including cellphones, cannabis, sim cards, lighters, razor blades and improvised weapons were uncovered during a search of the Camp Street Prison on Tuesday.

Prison Director Gladwyn Samuels said the items were found during a joint opera-

tion at the entire brick section of the prison. He said regular search exercises will be done at all the prisons to ensure they are free of contraband.

Only last month, the Joint Service also unearthed several cellphones and improvised weapons at the New Amsterdam Prison. In light of unrest, fire

and prison breaks, many have been accusing prison officers of colluding with inmates by taking in contraband, especially cellular phones. This enables the prisoners to make contact with accomplices outside and hatch various schemes to create disruption and even to escape.

The items unearthed during the search

GuyanaChronicle ChronicleNew New York Edition Week-ending August 18, 2017 Guyana York Edition week ending August 18, 2017

New York Chronicle Horoscope

21 21

C CR RO OS SS SW WO OR RD D

ARIES (Mar. 21 - April 20) Be careful not to divulge secret information this week. If you have to deal with large institutions, be careful not to make waves. Your mate may want to pick a fight but if you’re persistent with your affections their anger should dissipate. Help those incapable of taking care of their personal affairs. Your lucky day next week will be Sunday.

TAURUS (Apr. 21- May 21) Upheavals may occupy your day. You can make some money if you get involved in a conservative financial prospect that is presented to you. Take the time to do your job correctly or you may find yourself looking for a new one.

You mustn’t give too much to your children. Your lucky day this week will be Sunday.

GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) Uncertainties regarding relatives will make situations uncomfortable if you attend a family function. Read some books on self awareness. Reciprocate by offering helpful hints. Real estate investments could be prosperous. Your lucky day next week will be Sunday CANCER (June 22 - July 22) All your energy should be directed into moneymaking opportunities. Look into ways to better yourself through improving your dietary habits and daily routines. Romantic encounters will develop through colleagues. Do not let lovers cost you money or take advantage of you. Your lucky day next week will be Saturday.

LEO (July 23- Aug 22) You can meet friends who will let you know how valuable you are. Accept the inevitable and continue to do your job. If you can include them in your plans, do so. Partnerships may be plentiful. Your lucky day next week will be Wednesday.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept. 23) Love could develop at social events that are work relate. Double check your work and be sure that your boss is in a good mood before you do your presentation. You may not be happy if members of your family are not pulling their weight. Renovations or purchases made for your home will payoff. Your lucky day this week will

LIBRA (Sept. 24 - Oct. 23) Discuss your objectives with partners or peers. Stay out of other people’s affairs. Your ability to get the job done will result in added responsibility and possible promotion. Uncertainties regarding your home and family are evident. Your lucky day next week will be Saturday.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) You could expand your circle of friends if you get involved in unusual activities. You may be in an extremely passionate mood this week. Your reputation may be at stake if you partake in gossip. Be sure to look into travel opportunities that will provide you with mental stimulation. Your lucky day next week will be Tuesday.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 - Dec. 21) Help children complete projects they’re having difficulty with. You may as well work on projects that will allow you to make progress. Hobbies will be good for your emotional well being. Take the time to close deals that have been up in the air. Your lucky day this week will be Thursday.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22.- Jan. 20) Empty promises could be likely where work is concerned. Try not to argue about trivial matters. Your lack of attention may have been a factor. Some time spent with that special someone should be your intent. Your lucky day this week will be Saturday.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) Don’t let your emotions interfere with moneymaking deals. Problems on the home front might be a little disconcerting. You can ask for favors but don’t take them for granted. You will have a problem sorting out your true feelings when it comes to your relationship. Your lucky day next week will be Sunday.

PISCES (Feb. 20 - Mar. 20) The personal problems you may be having are interfering with your productivity. Overindulgence will mean poor health. You can sell your ideas to those who have the money to back them. Don’t jump as quickly as you usually do. Your lucky day next week will be Tuesday.

ACROSS 1. The “D” in CD 5. “___small world afterall . . . ” (2 wds.)

9. Gun lobby (abbr.)

12. Water (Sp.) 13. Jean who makes bath products 14. Debtor’s letters 15. Flop, slangily 16. Witnesses 17. Badger 18. Play division 20. Cast a ballot 22. Beauty shop rinse 24. Smog-watching agcy.

25. Endearing 27. Monster 31. “Put ___Happy Face” (2 wds.)

32. Cash register worker 35. Ship’s record 36. Carson’s successor

W O R D F I N D

ANTIQUES

C O L L E C T I B L E S

38. Hovering over 40. Boy 43. Uppity people 44, Crinkly material 46. Sense of self 47. Exclamation of discovery 48. Got off 50. Like yellow bananas 54. Jokester 55. Make a scene 56. ___ out a living 57. Prior, in verse 58. Little kid 59. Straphanger’s hope DOWN 1. Small quantity 2. “Here again . . .”

(2 wds.)

3. ___ total 4. Beach structure

MARBLES

BADGES

MATCHBOOKS

BEER CANS

MUGS

BELT BUCKLES

PIGGY BANKS

BOTTLE CAPS

PLATES

BUTTERFLIES

SKETCHES

CARS

SPOONS

COINS

SPORTS CARDS

DOLLS

STAMPS

FANS

STATUES

FOSSILS

STEINS

GAMES

THIMBLES

INSECTS

TOYS

ISSUE 62 CROSSWORD ANSWER

5. Place into office 6. Edison’s initials 7. Eydie’s hubby 8. Fable writer 9. Innings count, usually 10. Address word 11. Eighth mo. j 19. Cable network 21. Truth, in China 22. Sharpen 23. “___ Almighty” 25. Response to an IM joki 26. Slippery as an ___ 28. Fluent 29. Director Howard et al.

30. Hen product 33. Knot of ribbon 34. Hong___ 37. Corrida cheer 39. Roger and Demi 41. In different places 42. Postpone 44. Burn 45. Storm 47. Impress deeply 49. Calligrapher’s purchase 51. Singer Turner 52. ___-soup fog 53. Guess at a price (abbr.)

ISSUE 62 WORDFIND ANSWER

22 8

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending August GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August18, 14,2017 2017

500 scholarships awarded in past two years MINISTER of State Joseph Harmon has reaffirmed Government’s commitment to supporting youth development, pointing out that some 500 scholarships have been given out in the past two years.

He said the youth population must be equipped with the skills, knowledge and experience they need to lead the country into prosperity.

The Minister of State was at the time delivering brief remarks at an event organised by the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) on Saturday for young people in the public service sector in observance of International Youth Day 2017.

International Youth Day 2017 was celebrated under the theme: “Youth Building Peace.”

Minister Harmon said as a Government, the administration recognises that it is their responsibility to provide the good life for young people and to prepare them for positions of authority, in which they can effect change.

However, in order for this to take place, Minister Harmon said it is incumbent on the Government to ensure that youths are properly prepared to perform to their highest potential.

“We recognised that our youths for over 23 years up to 2015 were the forgotten majority. We recognise that it is important that we train our youth, that we prepare our youth not just to take up positions, but that they can make a success of those positions which they take up.

Additionally, on a weekly basis, we invest in our young people, sending them on short courses abroad so that they become acquainted with international best practices so that we are no longer left back. So as we celebrate, I say that the Government of Guyana will continue to support youth development in all of its manifestations,”

Minister of State Joseph Harmon, with some of the young people in the public service sector, who were in attendance at the event on Saturday night (Ministry of the Presidency photo)

Minister of State Joseph Harmon (centre) and Dawn Gardener, Vice- President of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) with attendees at the event (Ministry of the Presidency photo)

Minister Harmon said.

Minister Harmon noted that during the period this administration has been in power, it has made significant investments in equipping the younger population.

Over the two years, more than 500 scholarships were awarded to students to upgrade their education, so as to be able to give of their best to their country.

“Quietly and without much fanfare, this is what your Government has done to prepare our youth for those positions of leadership. Over the period 2015 to 2017, we have invested and sent on scholarships abroad, 53 young Guyanese in places like the United Kingdom, China, Japan. About 540 young people have gone to

This group seemed quite engrossed in the conversation they were having with Minister of State Joseph Harmon at the GPSU (Ministry of the Presidency photo)

local institutions over this period. We are on the cusp of changes that will take place in this country and it makes no sense putting persons in positions and you do not offer them any training, so while we are the current stewards of the national patrimony, we will prepare the groundwork. It is up to you, the young people to

take up this country and take it forward and I want you to always understand that,” the minister of state said.

NECESSARY INVESTMENT Minister Harmon noted that while Government is making all the necessary investments, it is up to the young people to take advantage of the opportunities

which are presented. In this regard, he sounded a call for youths to become organised, so that they can achieve more for themselves and their communities.

“As a Government, we have given support to religious organisations to invest in the spiritual and moral fibre of our young people.

Various organisations and groups have also received tangible support from Government to improve physical facilities and promote the development of our young people. I also wish to take this opportunity to encourage our unorganised youth to get involved in organised activities, as it is through these bodies that you can get the full benefits of partnership with the state for your own development,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nadeila Allen, a public relations assistant attached to the Parliament Office, in a brief presentation, said that youths are important in any country.

She noted that the necessary investments must be made to improve their lives as they have skills, talent and knowledge, which can positively impact the country.

“Youths are one of the most important assets a country can have. When you give youths voices in politics and public life, orient their schoolworks transition, strengthen their skills and facilitate their access to decent jobs, they can play their full part in building stronger, more inclusive communities.

Simply put, empowering young people and ensuring their participation at all levels will help them to shape a better and more equitable future for us all,” she said.

Dawn Gardener, Vice-President, GPSU, said that the event was organised with the sole aim of recognising the young people who are part of the engine of the public service sector. (Ministry of the Presidency)

Minister Harmon interacting with some of the young people at the event to mark the observance of International Youth Day 2017 (Ministry of the Presidency photo)

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending August 18, 2017

23

Government got more out of oil contract – Min. Jordan THE fact that government was able to obtain more in the oil and gas contract deal signed between Guyana and ExxonMobil should be considered a plus.

This is according to Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan. Speaking at a press conference on Monday at his office, the Finance Minister stated, “Let’s be blunt. We inherited the contract from the previous government.

We could jump high, jump low. There is no basis for renegotiating a contract we inherited.”

The minister reminded that several factors needed to be considered, such as the fact that previously no one wanted to get into business with Guyana given the issues with “our neighbours next door.” He also made note of the level of financing that has to be available to ExxonMobil for it to conduct drilling of that magnitude. “And I believe the further out they go will be more depth which will require even more technology.”

Once located at the said depths, another set of advanced technology has to be

Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan

used to bring the oil to the surface, the minister said.

He explained that the deepest ExxonMobil has ever drilled before is said to be in the Gulf of Mexico, and that does not compare to the depth at which it has gone offshore Guyana.

He said, “We can talk till the cows come home, but in going forward we can say that discoveries were not covered by this contract, we have a basis to drive a harder bargain and negotiate

for more. When people go where angels fear to tread, it’s a risk. But when people are going to go (that length) it’s a risk and private people look for reward.” Minister Jordan gave an analogy, positing that someone can choose to stand up in a gambling den and look on all night. However, he noted that at the end of the night, that person will be no richer or poorer. “But if I go with the big boys or girls and put my millions, at the end of

Central Bank warns against illegal money changers THE Bank of Guyana has advised that only banks (authorised dealers) and nonbank cambios licensed under the Dealers in Foreign Currency (Licensing) Act 1989 are authorised to conduct buying and selling of foreign exchange.

In a statement the Central Bank said, the Dealers in Foreign Currency Act (Licensing) Act 1989 states that foreign currency can only be bought and sold from a licensed authorised dealer.

Section 17(1) of the Act states that “any person who sells to any person other than a licensed or authorised dealer any foreign currency, shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine and imprisonment for one year”. Section 17(2) states that “any person not being an authorised dealer who buys or sells any foreign currency, shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine and imprisonment for three years”.

Bank of Guyana notes

with concern that foreign exchange activities are being conducted outside of the official legal system, and empha-

sises that any person caught contravening the Dealers in Foreign Currency (Licensing) Act 1989 will be prosecuted.

To advertise in this newspaper call Dennis at: 917-379-6590

the night I can be X millions poorer or Y millions richer, it depends on how I take the risk.”

He drew attention to the fact that despite the invitations to drill for oil, in years past, “very few took it up.” Those who did take up the offer did so mainly on land, not so much in deep water, he added. The Minister continued, “When you put all together it is not whether we got a good deal or bad deal or whatever… we got a deal.” Using another metaphor, Jordan said, “Hindsight will always be 20/20, but at the time you are making a deal it depends on what cards you hold and what the other person holds.

If you think you have the best hand, then you can drive the bargain. At the time when this deal was put together by the last govern-

ment you may have to ask yourself, what cards did we hold? Did we know anything was under there?”

“The positive that we can take away from this”, Minister Jordan stated, “is that we now have resources coming … that could finally put Guyana on a path of sustained high-end development, where two percent and three can become things of the past…. There is also the need for balanced growth, whether sectorally or regionally or otherwise…That is what I would like to see.”

There are at least three sources of income, the Finance Minister explained.

“These are with-holding taxes, profit oil and royalties.

Those, in terms of the numbers, are fair-sized. He said it makes no sense continuing to waste time lamenting on whether or not Guyana may

have received a good or bad deal. The Minister said that what is now important is for Guyanese to look to the future with hope for development. The Minister told reporters, “It is not for me to be happy or unhappy.”

Jordan said that once Cabinet approves a document, all members have a collective responsibility. “If you do not like something (a Cabinet decision) and you are passionate about it, you have the option to resign. It (the agreement) has been discussed, received and approved by Cabinet. We have gone beyond that.”

Government has already started to put measures in place to have a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) to utilise profits from the sector in a sustainable manner, for the future. (DPI)

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24 24

Guyana Chronicle NewYork YorkEdition EditionWeek-ending week endingAugust August 18, 18, 2017 2017 Guyana Chronicle New

STAND UP — CONDEMN RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION IN AMERICA!

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.”— Ephesians 4:32

The ALBERT BALDEO Column

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “We all should rise, above the clouds of ignorance, narrowness, and selfishness.” — Booker T. Washington

W

e stand in solidarity with the victims of the recent tragedy in Virginia, and all right-thinking Americans who have condemned it. Whenever, and wherever hate and bigotry rear their ugly heads, we have a basic obligation to unite as communities and organize against the perpetrators. We cannot allow neoNazis, white supremacists and their allies, or any hate mongering group whatsoever to bully, harass, and intimidate us into thinking that their putrid racial, religious, and ethnic intolerance are legitimate.

All of us have the responsibility to stand up against intolerance and extremism. The violence fueled by white supremacists in Charlottesville this past weekend underscores why we must continue the struggle for social, economic and political justice.

Our sympathies go out to the fam-

ily of those who died and those who are recovering from injury. The recent violence against those who uphold the values of our democracy grounded in racial equality and first amendment rights is a tragic reminder of how silence can be deafening. It is domestic terrorism at its worst, and eviscerates We must unite and fight bigotry, hatred and strife anywhere and anytime they occur. Here in photo at top, District Leader Albert Baldeo (left – holding placard), protests against racial discrimination and unjust police profiling in New York with elected officials, clergy and community leaders. In bottom photo, he marches, (right) with Comptroller John Liu, Senator Tony Avella, and other community leaders protesting the hate crime against immigrant Jose Sucuzhanay, who was beaten to death with a baseball bat and a broken bottle while his attackers screamed anti-immigrant and homophobic epithets. the fundamental jurisprudential and theological concepts that all of God’s children are created equal!

We must all stand against this evil and hatred as soon as it occurs, and nip it in the bud. It is regrettable that our President and leaders did not act immediately when it occurred, and emphasized that they will not tolerate it.

Indeed, the words, actions and silence of our leaders can fuel racial hatred at crucial times.

Consequently, we demand that our President and all other leaders and representatives at all levels of government, swiftly, definitively and unequivocally reject white racial superiority, and/or any other kind of racial animosity, for silence conveys acquiescence. Bigots seize upon this and create unnecessary xenophobic and other prejudices. It is most anti-American.

Right here in our backyard, and in neighboring places like Long Island, ramped-up immigration enforcement targeting immigrants and people of color and increased KKK recruitment are devastating the social relationships among demographically different com-

munities.

Together, we must also unite and condemn this type of bigotry and hate at all levels, including the courts, in order to keep America safe from the forces of hate and evil. Democracy is not a spectator sport! Attorney General Jeff Sessions was right when he said, "The violence and deaths in Charlottesville strike at the heart of American law and justice. When such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred, they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated. Justice will prevail." He must bring the miscreant bigots to justice swiftly.

Note: Albert Baldeo is a civil rights activist and community advocate. His political battles placed previously ignored minority communities like Richmond Hill and Ozone Park firmly on the political and economic map. As President of the Baldeo Foundation and Queens Justice Center, he has continued to fight for equal rights, dignity and inclusion in the decision making process. He can be contacted at the Baldeo Foundation: (718) 5292300.

Guyana Chronicle New York Edition week ending August 18, 2017

25

Minister ties the knot PRESIDENT David Granger on Wednesday attended the wedding reception of Minister within the Ministry of Communities with responsibility for Housing, Ms. Valerie Patterson-Yearwood and her new husband, Pastor Godfrey Yearwood, at the minister’s residence in Bel Air Gardens.

The President extended congratulations to the couple. “It is mature marriage. It is a Christian marriage. Valerie is an important part of our Government and part of our Cabinet.

She is responsible for a significant section of our Housing thrust, which is a big part of our Government’s philosophy and we are sure that this marriage is going to strengthen

President Granger extending congratulations to the groom, Mr. Godfrey Yearwood

President David Granger with the newly-weds: Minister within the Ministry of Communities with responsibility for Housing, Mrs. Valerie Patterson-Yearwood and Mr. Godfrey Yearwood

‘I acted neutrally’

By Ariana Gordon POLICE Legal Advisor (PLA), retired Justice Claudette Singh on Wednesday made it clear that in providing legal advice to the Major Crimes Unit ((MCU) in the alleged plot to assassinate President David Granger, she was impartial and formed no personal opinions.

Justice Singh appeared before the Commission following a request made by attorney representing the interest of Police Commissioner, Seelall Persaud, Glenn Hanoman.

Hanoman had argued that Justice Singh was critical to charges not being laid by the police and should be placed in the witness box.

Justice Singh who served as a judge for 20 years and worked at the Attorney General’s Chambers for the past 13 years, has been serving as PLA since 2014.

She told the Commission led by retired Assistant Police Commissioner, Paul Slowe, that there were clear challenges in the investigation to the fact that accuser, Andriff Gillard’s story was reported some 21 months after the allegation occurred and was done only in the presence of Gillard and the accused, Nizam Khan.

As such, it was difficult to arrive at a definitive position in the matter.

Singh, who was ques-

Police Legal Advisor, Justice Claudette Singh

Counsel for the Commission, James Bond

tioned by the Commission’s attorney James Bond, said the evidence presented for the most part was tenuous, thereby resulting in no charges being laid.

“I found the evidence tenuous, I could not on the state of the evidence… say Gillard was lying or Khan was innocent… I could not in all honesty advise anybody to be prosecuted because of the state of the evidence,” she said.

Justice Singh disclosed in her testimony that the police were advised to look at the offence of incitement to commit murder for Nizam Khan, while giving false information to the police was being explored in the case of Gillard.

She, however, made it clear that the evidence presented to her was thoroughly examined as she could only act based on that which was pre-

sented to her in the police file.

NOT CONSIDERED The PLA said the offence of treason was not considered, as her understanding of the term is when a foreign state invades Guyana, or anyone attempts to overthrow the government.

“Well, I was looking at the word treason, but I am not of the view that it would be treason.”

Bond pointed to May 16, when she gave advice and indicated that there was nothing to suggest that Gillard’s story was a complete fabrication.

“I was thinking in relation to credible evidence because there was Leon Baldeo who came up and I had some difficulties with Leon Baldeo… from the nature of the allegation, I gathered it was just Gillard and Nizam Khan,

her not only to do God’s work but also to do work in the Government. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Yearwood,” he said. Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon also extended greetings on behalf of the Government, noting that the Government believes in the importance of strong families and as such, it welcomes the union.

– Justice Singh tells CoI into alleged assassination plot

therefore when Mr Baldeo came, I paid special attention to his statement because he is saying on the 26th march…

Gillard went to police on the 29th…so why did Gillard not tell the police someone else was there…so that gave me some problems.”

Baldeo told the Commission that Gillard offered him $50,000 to state that he heard Khan offering him $7M to kill the President. Gillard has since denied the allegation.

Meanwhile, the PLA said she did not believe the investigation was more focused on discrediting Gillard rather than finding or giving a total picture of what may have transpired.

“Not in my view…. Although it would so appear, I think the police were looking at the investigation as a whole, when they came to me that is how it came over…” The PLA said she was looking for evidence that would have corroborated Gillard’s story and was not at any point “condemning anybody”.

“I had an open mind on the investigation,” she assured.

She made it clear that the advice given to the police of the Major Crimes Unit was based on the files presented to her.

“I won’t know what they were doing outside… I advised them from the time the file came to me,” she said, adding that Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum told her of the challenges experienced by his

team of investigators.

Bond then asked, “Would you say all the advice you would have given, or instructions conveyed to the police officer, were carried out in full or in part?”

PLAYED NO ROLE Justice Singh answered in the affirmative and was quick to point out that she had no role to play in the granting of bail to the duo.

“I was not involved in that stage; I first heard it when Mr Ramnarine came here…” she stated while adding that advice was never sought on the matter.

Attorney Hanoman also questioned Justice Singh on the issue of granting bail and it was then that she reiterated that she was not involved in the initial stages of the investigation.

In fact, the PLA made it clear that she became involved in the matter on April 12 when the police file was placed before her.

Notwithstanding, Hanoman asked the PLA to give her legal opinion on the granting of bail.

“I don’t know anything about bail and I do not deal with bail in the Police Force, so I cannot go into that area,” she maintained.

However, as the attorney continued his line of questioning, the PLA agreed that it would be a good investigative tactic to grant bail so as to

conduct surveillance activities of the parties involved.

The police were advised at one point to shelve the investigation, as information was not forthcoming pertinent to the investigation. Confrontations needed to be done between Leon Baldeo and Gillard with the hope of obtaining an admission for those involved.

She accepted that the police had difficulties in having integral players in the investigation turn up for confrontations.

Shortly after, she advised the police to keep the investigations open just in case somebody came forward with valuable information.

“You did not instruct the police on any aspect of the investigation that they should perform… things they should do to continue the investigation? You agree?” asked Hanoman.

“No. I didn’t direct them… they know what they have to do…they are the investigators and they would know what to do…” said Justice Singh while making it clear that she gave advice to the police in relation to the confrontation.

Justice Singh was also questioned by attorney representing the police, Ian Chang, and Commissioner Slowe. Attorney representing Imran Khan, brother of accused Nizam Khan, Christopher Ram passed on the opportunity to ask questions.

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Guyana ChronicleNew NewYork YorkEdition EditionWeek-ending week ending August August 18, 18, 2017 2017 Guyana Chronicle

The il ustrious Roy Fredericks almost turned the Jamaicans' world upside down Len Baichan batted almost the whole day to save the match for Guyana

J

amaica declared their mammoth first innings just before tea on the 2nd day of the 4-day match at Sabina Park in 1972 with a score of over 450 runs, leaving Guyana with a session to bat. Believing the Guyanese to be totally worn out and demoralized, the Jamaicans expected a quick and easy routing of their opponents, especially the opener Len Baichan, who was hurt while fielding and would be unable to bat unless absolutely necessary. In a short time, however, the Jamaicans’ were in complete shock, as one of West Indies’ most illustrious batsmen almost turned their world upside down!

Batting first, Jamaica piled up an imposing 467 for seven. Opening batsman Samuel Morgan was in fine form hitting a brisk 71.

New Batting sensation Lawrence Rowe continued in the same vein and with Maurice Foster the pair added an entertaining 169 for the third-wicket. Rowe made a classy 147 and Foster was run-out for a flamboyant 160. He became the first player in the Shell Shield competition to top 500 runs in a season, with centuries against Barbados, Trinidad and Guyana.

The crowd poured in by the thousands on the fourth day, eager to watch Rowe reach new milestones. As the late Tony Cozier said, "The whole of Barbados, it seemed was there to see him bat . . . gates were broken, walls were scaled and even high-tension electric cables were used as a means to enter. Rowe himself and other players had to be escorted though the mass to enter the ground through a fence. Lawrence was an elegant right-handed batsman who made his debut for Jamaica in 1968-69. He then made history on his Test match debut versus New Zealand at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica in 1972, scoring 214 and 100 not out, the first time that a cricketer had scored a double and a single century on Test debut. It also gave him a batting average of 314 after his first Test match. Rowe, who was nicknamed ‘Yagga’ a few years later in March 1974 sculpted what was arguably the most elegant Test triple-hundred of all time against England at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown Barbados.

Pace bowler Sydney Matthews was the pick of the Guyanese bowlers taking three wickets for 87 runs from 31 overs, Roy Fredericks chipped in with two for 18.

Leaving Guyana with a session to

LAWRENCE ROWE bat on the 2nd day, new West Indies opening batsman Roy Fredericks almost turn their world upside down! Young and fiery fast bowler Uton Dowe who had created a good impression against India took the first over, bowling to Roy Fredericks. Dowe surprised Fredericks with a first ball bouncer and taking evasive action the ball ricochet from the top handle of the bat over fine leg for six. What a

way to start an innings! The second, however, an apparent loosen-upper pitched wide of off, was square driven fiercely to the extra cover fence. A low murmur came up from the crowd.

Next ball, more in line with the off stump was smashed viciously through mid-off, racing away to the fence. The crowd got a bit noisy now. Next ball, around leg stump was discharged like a bullet from a bazooka straight to the mid-wicket fence, sending the crowd into a noisy cheering, with a few even shouting, “Bounce ‘um, Uton! Bounce ‘um!

Sure enough, the angry Uton Dowe unleashed a fiery missile of a bouncer, only to

ROY FREDERICKS see it hooked savagely hard and low, but clearing the backward square fence and into the stands. The crowd went wild with laughter and cheering. Total livid now, Dowe took the ball and stormed back to his mark, with his captain Easton Mc Morris pleading with him to try to stay calm. Dowe must have been saying to himself, “Calm me hell! Ah gun kill ‘um short man here today!” for he unleashed yet another bouncer, only to see this one effortlessly pulled into the square leg fence. Sabina exploded! You could hear the sounds reverberated all the way to Bourda. It was hard to believe that they were cheering an opponent’s batman like this one who was pummeling their star bowler at that!

Totally crestfallen by now, Dowe ran in meekly and sent down a slowest delivery right on middle, perhaps hoping-against hopeto get the last laugh with a slower ball. Fredericks took a single step down the wicket and straight drove the ball immaculately down the ground for yet another glorious boundary, taking 28 runs-644464-off the first over of the innings. All the while, Milton Pydana, one of seven Berbicians on the side, stood bothered, bewitched and bewildered at the other end. At the end of the over, a member of the crowd ran out on the field and declared the eleventh commandment: “Dowe shalt not bowl!”

Uton Dowe was the leading wicket taker in the 1971-72 Shell Shield season with

24 wickets at 15.75 including 2 for 34 and 7 for 19 in the match against Combined Leeward and Windward Islands, a performance which was immediately rewarded with his Test debut against India in which he took 4 for 69 and 1 for 22. Despite his short Test career, Dowe is famous for the so called 11th commandment, "Dowe shall not bowl' dished out to him by spectator in his final Test match against Australia in 1973-73, in response to his erratic bowling to Keith Stackpole.

It seems as though Fredericks has a knack of getting twenty and over runs in an over. Fours years later, in the 1976 AustraliaWest Indies action packed Perth Test, Fredericks was again in a punishing mood where he helped himself to 26 off Thompson’s third over, 25 from Lillee fourth and 24 off Walker's fifth. New balls are not used to being dispatched to the boundary with so much frequency so early in an innings. In the same Test, in the last over to lunch, a time when other batsmen would fold their hands and think about coming back after the break he hit, not one, not two, not three, not four but five boundaries off Gilmour’s bowling. Fredericks top scored with 75 with thirteen fours and three lofty sixes in Guyana’s total of 199. Lall Munilall made a superb 34 and towards the end Seu Shivnarine proved his worth as a batsman with a breezy 37. Len Baichan who had hurt himself while fielding batted a number seven was leg before to Lawson for one. Lawson in a fine display of fast bowling took five wickets for 47 runs in 20 overs of which six were maidens.

Off spinner Claude Campbell gave valuable support with four for 43.

Facing a deficit of 268, Guyana fared much better in their second innings scoring an impressive 406.

Roy Fredericks and Len Baichan opened the innings and once more, Fredericks set the pace with his belligerent stroke-play. The partnership had realized 124 runs of which Fredericks had contributed 84.

It was a magnificent start. Baichan batted almost all of the last day with a runner and was ninth out for 95 to save the match for Guyana.

He was ably supported by Syd Matthews in a seventh-wicket partnership of 145. Matthews crowned a fine all-round performance with a sparkling 82. As if tabooed, Baichan playing for the West Indies Board President’s X1 against the New Zealand touring team in 1972 made 96. Len Baichan must have experienced a lot of nightmares by constantly getting out in the naughty, nervous nineties. The diminutive left-hander opening batsman seldom failed in any series and always demonstrated that he is a batsman who has an insatiable appetite for runs. A valuable trait in Baichan’s character was his calm approach to any problem in the middle. He believes that the ball should be met with the power that it merits, and that attitude has certainly helped him to build many a long and productive innings.

This basic calmness has even influenced the technique in his batting. The certainty and variety of his stroke play assures the fact that he was an exceptionally hard batsman at whom to bowl. In addition, he has always been a great fighter, a fact well illustrated by batting seven hours to make 139 not out with last man Andy Roberts to deny the touring MCC victory with a thrilling last-wicket stand of 84.

by SHAN RAZACK

LEONARD BAICHAN

In 1983, the final year of the Intercounty cricket tournament against arch-rivals Demerara at the Albion Sports Complex Ground (ASCG), Baichan slammed 132 and 101 carrying his bat throughout the second innings. A debut Test centurion, like Bruce Pairaudeau and Alvin Kallicharran before him, Len Baichan was unfortunate not to have played more than three Test matches for the West Indies. But with Roy Fredericks and Gordon Greenidge on the scene, Baichan struggled to bed down a place. He was inked in for the openers’ role on West Indies’ tour to India in 1974/75, but a car crash put paid to his participation. Greenidge steeped into the breach, scoring 93 and 107 on debut and never looked back. Baichan ended with a Test average of 46 and a first-class average of 51, and plenty of thoughts as to what might have been had Gordon Greenidge taken the chance to play for England. Off spinner Maurice Foster was the chief wicket-taker with four for 65 off 38 overs of which 20 were maidens. Uton Dowe took three for 122 and Lawson two for 61.

Guyana’s players entered the tournament badly out of practice because of the weeks of heavy rainfall in the country. Two of the all-time great batsmen were unavailable for the series. Basil Butcher had announced his retirement after the 1971 tournament and Rohan Kanhai did not return after the Rest of the World Series. In addition, Clive Lloyd’s injury kept him out of the first two matches and Test opener Steve Camacho’s appearances were restricted to one because of a cut on his right hand. It meant that several new players had the opportunity to make their mark. One did so! Len Baichan, a dedicated, 26-year-old left-handed opening batsman, topped the team’s averages with a solid 278 runs from five innings. He was the perfect foil to the free scoring Roy Fredericks whom he shared three century opening partnerships-including two in the same match against the Combined Islands, the first time the feat had been achieved by West Indians.

The match was memorable for a few other events, including the first-class debut of Colin Croft, in which he took a severe whipping at the hands of aggressive Jamaican opening batsman Samuel Morgan. Rowe made a superb 147; Foster 160 and Len Baichan batted almost all of the last day with a runner, and was ninth out for 95 to save the match for Guyana. Nothing, however, was more memorable though, than the first over from Dowe to Fredericks!!!

Guyana ending August 18,4, 2017 Guyana Chronicle ChronicleNew NewYork YorkEdition Editionweek Week-ending August 2017

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Joel Garner warns hosts against underestimating West Indies J

oel Garner has warned England not to underestimate the challenge West Indies pose in the forthcoming Test series, saying anyone who writes off the tourists does so "at their peril".

West Indies, ranked No. 8 in the world, last beat England in a Test series in 2009 and have not won against another topeight side since a 2-0 victory over New Zealand in 2012. Since the 1990s, their only successes away from home have been against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. They did hold England to a 1-1 draw in the Caribbean two years ago, however, inspired in part by comments from the ECB chairman, Colin Graves, referring to them as "mediocre".

With West Indies arriving under the cover of England's series with South Africa, they have found some form in warm-up matches against Essex, Kent and Derbyshire, and Garner, the team manager, said they had prepared well for the first Investec Test, starting at Edgbaston on Thursday.

The fact is, it is England's first day-night Test, and West Indies' second, could also play to their advantage.

"It's going to be some interesting times," Garner said. "I think people are writing the West Indies off too early and it could be at their own peril. Cricket is played in the middle at the end of the day.

"Not many people are giving us a lot of hope. What is good is that we came in whilst England were playing South Africa.

We got on with the job very quietly. I think the fellas have got talent. It's who makes the greatest adjustment in the day-night game.

I think that games between England and the

West Indies are competitive. I wouldn't completely write them off."

The recent rapprochement between Cricket West Indies and a number of senior players did not come in time for them to be considered for the England tour and Garner was unsure how many would be interested in returning to Test cricket. But the squad has been strengthened by the comeback of Kemar Roach, the most experienced member of an attack not short of pace.

"It is what it is," Garner said of the selection. "I think that the players have made a decision they want to play a shorter version of the game. There is an amnesty between the board and the players, relating to the players being available. We will welcome them back because they are our better players but at the present moment we are here to play cricket. We've got to work with what we've got and try to get the best results out of it. I think that's as fair as it can be.

"The senior players who are away, they will have to make their mind up about whether they want to come back and play the longer version of the game. What we have now is that Roach is back after a year or so away from cricket. We also have [Shannon] Gabriel, who was injured. He's been working to get his rhythm back and there's the captain, [Jason] Holder."

Stuart Law, West Indies' coach, has only been in the job for a few months but Garner said he had begun to push the play-

ers to be better prepared physically for the rigours of the international game.

"I would say, you can call it criticism if you like, that attitudes have changed somewhat towards training and preparation.

I go back to the way of 'if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail'. Most of what has been happening has been over preparation.

People might not want to train the way that they should train or might not prepare the way that they should prepare.

"Some of our players have become accustomed to the CPL [Caribbean Premier League] way of doing things but with the absence of the amount of cricket we've played before, you still have to put in the work that you get to the standard that is required. We've got to be prepared to work hard to get the results and make some sacrifices.

"The push is coming from the physicals, players being encouraged to train harder and get fitter. We've always had players with some ability, great players, with style and flair - but I think the lack of preparation at the top could have been part of the problem."

Garner also admitted that the clash between the Test leg of West Indies' tour and the ongoing CPL was less than ideal. "That is the biggest challenge because that is where most of the money is being aimed at," he said. "It's where the fellas can afford to make their money in the one-day and CPL . . . I think you have to work around it and get the tours organised in such a way there's no competition from the shorter version of the game because most of the players look forward to playing the shorter version."

(CaribbeanNews.net)

STUART LAW comments flying around like that," Law said.

"And we've instructed them to use that as motivation to go out and play your best.

"There's been a lot said about this cricket team and that is motivation for them. We're looking forward. Let's rewrite that history."

Such motivation worked well the last time these two teams played. Ahead of that series, in 2015, the ECB chairman, Colin Graves, suggested West Indies were a "mediocre" side which should be defeated relatively comfortably by England. The words were stuck to West Indies' dressing-room door and served to inspire the team to a 1-1 series result that hastened the demise of Peter Moores as England coach. Graves subsequently apologised for his comments.

On this occasion there has been no such talk from the England camp. While some aspects of the UK media remain bullishly confident, the most damning appraisal of the West Indies' hopes as come from one of their former players. Curtly Ambrose suggested West Indies would have to "play exceptionally well to even compete against England."

If West Indies are to "exploit those weaknesses" they are likely to need Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel and Jason Holder in top form. On recent evidence Gabriel is not at his best - he delivered 20 no-balls in nine overs against Derbyshire the other day - while Law accepts Roach does not quite have the pace that once made life so uncomfortable for the likes of Jonny Bairstow and Ricky Ponting.

He does, however, have nothing but praise for Holder.

"Kemar had a bit of time out of the game with injuries and a nasty car accident," Law said. "He's had to fight his way back. He's probably not as quick as he has been but I think he's a better bowler for that. He is still fast enough to cause problems and he is swinging the ball both ways.

"Shannon is coming along nicely. He is training the house down and just needs a

bowl to get that rhythm back. He's fit to bowl.

We're just waiting on him to hit his traps - do that and it's 95mph coming at you.

"The ground was uneven in Derby. He hadn't bowled for a while and he was overstriding. When he got it right he looked good.

"As for Jason... He's a young man but very intelligent and high quality. The captaincy is a lot of responsibility but he does it with fantastic integrity. He's a great leader. His bowling is more than very good and he can bat and score runs.

"He's doing everything to make sure he captains this side not just this series but for 10 or 15 years."

While Law does not sound totally convinced by the idea of day-night cricket in England ("it works in certain countries," he said) or the pink ball ("it's very hard to shine... and it sounds like a plastic ball off the bat"), he thinks the format is worth a try for the long-term health of the game.

"We understand the ICC are looking at ways to promote Test cricket," he said. "And if it does bring in extra people after work, or extra funding for grass roots cricket, then it's got to be here to stay."

(CaribbeanNews.net)

Let's rewrite history' — Stuart Law's call to West Indies

S

tuart Law believes West Indies can "exploit the weaknesses" in the England side and prove their critics wrong.

While West Indies are eighth in the Test rankings and without a Test victory in England since 2000, Law feels the inexperience of the England top-order provides "an opportunity" for his bowlers.

In particular, he has noted England's difficulties in finding an opening partner for Alastair Cook - Mark Stoneman is set to become his 12th partner since the retirement of Andrew Strauss - and the lack of experience elsewhere in a top five that includes Tom Westley and Dawid Malan, who have played four Tests between them.

"With a couple of debutants or a couple of new guys to the fore in Test cricket, that's an opportunity for our bowlers," Law said. "You always look at any little crack you can find.

"We've some pretty experienced, pretty good bowlers up front as well. So it's an opportunity for us to exploit those weaknesses."

Law also feels the manner in which some have dismissed his side's chances could play to their advantage.

"Our players understand there's a few

Tallawahs stun Warriors in low-scoring thriller

By Rajiv Bisnauth

wahs had scored 35-1.

Even as the field dropped back, the Warriors continued to maintain the pressure to rein in the Tallawahs, with another couple tight overs of spin. The pressure of that period told in the 10th over when Jacobs bowled the dangerous Andre McCarthy for an 11-ball eight, leaving the Tallawahs 50-2.

Eight runs later the innings took another turn for the worse as Kumar Sangakkara went in similar fashion to McCarthy, off the bowling of Jacobs for five.

The removal of the Tallawahs top-order brought Rovman Powell, and together with Phillips, they threatened to build a substantial partnership, but Powell’s attacking instincts got the better of him as he attempted to hit a second on-side boundary in quick succession and picked up boundary-rider Khan off the bowling of Emrit for a nine-ball seven.

Having lost those wickets, the Tallawahs had to adjust their expectations, and Phillips who batted with some restraint until the 15th over, launched Emrit for his first six. He then

JAMAICA Tallawahs prevailed in a low-scoring nail-biter last evening against the Guyana Amazon Warriors at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence when the 2017 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) continued.

Amid a passionate, excitable crowd dominated by Warriors support, the hosts threw away their outstanding work in the field with a nervous batting display, losing the encounter by two runs.

Set 129 for victory, the Warriors reached 126-4.

Earlier in the evening, the Warriors, instigated by some accurate bowling, had restricted the tourists to 128-7. On a tough pitch for batting the Tallawahs’ late recruit Glenn Phillips was the only player who managed to score with some form of fluency, hitting 51 off 47 balls.

Timely rotation from the Warriors bowling unit saw Rayad Emrit, Rashid Khan and Steven Jacobs, all claiming two wickets apiece. Sohail Tanvir had 1-14 off his four overs, while leftarm spinner Veerasammy Permaul went wicket-less in his spell, which cost just 19 runs.

The visitors’ powerful opening pair of Lendl Simmons and Phillips were well restricted, with only two boundaries coming in the first five overs.

However, the introduction of leg-spinner Rashid Khan in the sixth over yielded the first six, with Simmons using his feet to manufacture a clean hit over the long-on ropes.

After hitting Khan for the first-ball six, Simmons was then bowled the next ball, and at the end of the Martin Guptill is bowled by Powerplay the Talla- Mathurin for 33.

The Jamaica Tallawahs players celebrate after their victory last evening.

smashed Roshon Primus for his second maximum the next over.

Joined by Jonathan Foo, the Guyanese played a late cameo, hitting Khan for two four and a six in consecutive balls. Sixteen runs came off the 18th over before Foo was bowled by Khan.

Phillips and Imad Wasim were the other two batsmen dismissed, with clever spells at the death from Tanvir and Emrit, ensuring the Warriors target would not be insurmountable.

The Warriors’ run chase began steadily, with openers Martin Guptill and Chadwick Walton batting with great assurance, and at the halfway stage of the

innings the hosts were 61 without loss.

The duo gave the Warriors top-order some fresh impetus, with Walton hitting 37 off 33 balls, including three fours before he was taken at point off Kesrick Williams.

Guptill followed soon after, bowled by Garey Mathurin for a 41-ball 33. However, despite the loss of those wickets, the opening stand had helped establish a platform from which the Warriors middle-order failed to capitalise.

Babar Azam and Jason Mohammed joined forces after the dismissal of Guptill, and the pair combined in a busy partnership of 49.

They took the total to 118 when Azam was dropped on the square-leg boundary in the 19th over, an over where three mis-fields even failed to assist the Warriors victory bid.

With eight from the last over bowled by Williams, the Warriors took a single off the first ball, follow by a dot ball. The third ball saw the Warriors manage three runs.

The fourth ball saw Azam dismissed for 23 off 27 balls.

With four runs off two balls, Mohammed managed a single, leaving Primus three runs to get off the last ball.

Primus then skied the last ball to wide mid-on where substitute Trevon Griffith accepted an easy catch, to leave Warriors two runs short of victory. Mohammed was left unbeaten on 24.

The Warriors will clash with tournament leaders Trinbago Knight Riders tomorrow from 12:00hrs - the second of four home games for the Warriors, who remain on two points after five games.