Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 01, 2015

Kaieteur News

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Letters... Where your views make the news... Letters... Where your views make the news

ARGUMENTS FOR FEDERALISM

DEAR EDITOR, Guyana requires its own form of federalism. The United States of America has been politically stagnant for the last eight years because of political gridlock at the top. The USA still functions because the individual states have the money and authority to keep their states going. Were it not for the power of the states to manage their own individual affairs the USA would surely have been paralyzed. Similarly the government of Guyana has been politically stagnant for the last 23 years (and arguably for the last 49 years). The similarity of this matter ends with the separation of powers. Guyana has no federal system of its own; the Neighborhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) do not function as independent bodies but as arms of the government. As a result they are paralyzed because Parliament is paralyzed. I believe it is high time for Guyana to embrace federalism in order to ensure for the future generations that we don’t see the same political stagnancy and instability which has plagued us more or less since our inception as an independent nation. Federalism across the globe has been seen as an opportunity for democracy to be at its best. Federalism gives people control over not only national issues but local issues as well. Though Guyana is a smaller country, it is still almost the size of the United Kingdom (which in its own way embraces certain tenets of Federalism). Issues in Georgetown are not always issues in Lethem. Federalism involves the people in ways a central

government cannot because they would no longer have to wait on the central government to act but appeal to a more local institution which would be smaller and more open to the concerns of the region they are serving. It also encourages civic participation in people. The people will care more about their local situation and feel they are more able to participate in the policies that become law. The central government must take into account the needs of the entire nation (as it should, though the last 49 years of Guyana might say otherwise). However, the needs of the nation are not always the needs of the region. The preferences of Vreeden-Hoop many not be the preferences of Port Kaituma. For example, Vreed-en-Hoop is a commuter town—a place where people live but many if not most of its residents work elsewhere, in this case: Georgetown. Were it part of a federal system, Vreed-en-Hoop would be able to levy a higher property tax because its residents could afford it since they may want to live in a quiet yet developed area. Conversely, Port Kaituma is a poor village. If Guyana were federal, their local government could perhaps offer incentives such as lower tax rates for either companies, coastal Guyanese, or diaspora Guyanese to come settle and develop the area. This diversification of policy would bring both

regions success as defined by their needs without affecting one another. Efficiency is also a boon of federalism. When things are smaller, they are typically more efficient. Take the case of policing. The central government can only efficiently manage so many stations thus there would only be so many stations within a certain radius. If there is a crime, a nationally controlled police station may be 20 miles away and take longer to respond. If Guyana were a federal nation, there would be more police stations as they would be built to serve specific regions only and their maintenance and operation would be the responsibility of the local government only, which, once again, is something that can be more easily influenced by the local population. With independent legislation by the more local government, things that would be a crime in Parika may be legal in New Amsterdam. This provides for a much more focused police enforcement and response time. More local government means more local laws which means greater differentiation in laws and culture as culture is easily influenced by the legality of certain actions. Take for example the issue of Marijuana. It is illegal in most of the world and certainly looked down upon as well. Now take the current repealing of its illegality in the United States and Netherlands. In Colorado, where it has recently been not

only decriminalized but legalized (the difference being decriminalization means no jail time, but punitive measures in the form of community service or fines), their state tax revenue has gone up and to top it off, they get to keep that money instead of handing it over to the federal government (where it is still legal). This would encourage the marijuana industry which brings tourists looking for a judgement and punishment free high which means foreign cash and more development. It will also bring industry as hemp fiber is made from non-potent strains of cannabis which can be used to build rope, various food products, and oils for

cosmetics. A region that adopted legalized marijuana would see a gain in population, tourism, and industry, all of which can provide growth and be strong competition for neighboring federal divisions. This, again, goes back to my point about trying new things. It would be an incubator of ideas for national trends. In summary, federalism encourages democracy and civic participation. The powers are spread between local and national governments. The people are protected from the tyranny of the center and can rely on their local division for stability. The people can easier implement new ideas and test

them at the local level as opposed to national policy which may turn out worse for the country or may only be suited for a particular region’s needs. Federalism encourages expediency. Where the national government would be slow to respond, the individual regions can better accommodate their constituents with faster responses. Greater differentiation allows people to better form their government to their needs and they can feel more comfortable with the local law reflecting local culture and ideas. Ideas from your fellow citizen, Publius Concivis

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Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 01, 2015

GTUC blasts Jagdeo over wage increase statements - “Whatever he says must be taken with a grain of salt” By Zena Henry Former President Bharrat Jagdeo has come in for stiff criticism after questioning wage increase pronouncements being made by the united opposition parties ahead of the upcoming 2015 General Elections. The former President, at Freedom House last Saturday, ridiculed statements made by his former party colleague, Moses Nagamootoo, who, with his APNU+AFC Coalition, is proposing wage increases for a public sector which the opposition insists has been badly beaten by the current Administration. While Nagamootoo was proposing around 10 percent wage increases for public workers, Jagdeo was of the opinion that Nagamootoo had no idea what he was talking about, since he knows nothing about policy and what a salary increase would mean for the country economically. When asked to comment on the proposal, the former president charged that Nagamootoo “wouldn’t know how much it is as a percentage of the country’s GDP or what fraction of the budget deficit it is.” After accusing the former PPP member of being a disgruntled, power-hungry politician who abandoned the party after failing to be elected as the Presidential

candidate, Jagdeo said, “If you ask him (Nagamootoo) what (the increase) means, he wouldn’t know. He just plucks these numbers from his head. He is a rabble rouser.” However, when asked to comment on the wage affordability itself, the former President and Finance Minister refused, stating that, “I’m not going to give Nagamootoo any serious consideration.” He promised to deal with the “Nagamootoo types” on the rally platform; but nothing on public workers was discussed at the Kitty rally last Sunday. However, Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) General Secretary Lincoln Lewis is not impressed by the former President’s statements, and warns that, “Whatever he says must be taken with a grain of salt.” Lewis insisted neither Jagdeo nor his successor President Donald Ramotar “has the moral authority to address any issue objectively that would impact workers welfare.” “Over the years, he (Jagdeo) and Ramotar imposed wages against the law... the constitution.” Lewis noted that the GTUC is not interested in numbers (increases) put forward by any of the contending sides, “but the principle of collective bargaining within the public service.” He said government has to engage the unions and return to the ethics of doing

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo things. If for any reason, he said, increases are imposed, then “it would mean we are accepting the same attitude of the government. So while it is a proposal, it is expected that the unions will be engaged.” Collective bargaining, Lewis reminded, comes under the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention of 1998 and was ratified by Guyana in 1966. This issue is also addressed in the Trade Union Recognition Law passed in 1997 that once the union is recognized, employers are compelled to acknowledge. Going back to Jagdeo’s record with the public servants, Lewis insinuated that the former president is not to be trusted since to date the 1999 Armstrong Arbitration Tribunal award is still to be honoured. This matter involves significant strike action resulting from the former President’s insistence that his government could not have paid more than a three percent increase to public workers. He had claimed economic downfall being the result. However, when speaking on this matter, Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU)

APNU+AFC PM Candidate Moses Nagamootoo

GPSU President Patrick Yarde

GTUC General Secretary Lincoln Lewis

President Patrick Yarde had told reporters, that the former president went to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and related that public servants should get only three percent for the next 10 years, because the country could not afford an increase. Yarde said Jagdeo claimed that the country would be economically devastated if the workers got any percentage more than the three percent, “but the arbitrators (reps from the government and union) decided to give public workers 31.1 percent in one year and 26.6 percent the next year; and the national information showed that in 2001 inflation was at its lowest ever.” “It’s either Jagdeo is the biggest dunce or it was the

biggest scam to be played on public workers,” Yarde had concluded. Lewis then pointed to the 2012 issue of RUSAL/ Bauxite Company and the Bauxite union where this matter went to the court and a ruling was given for the Labour Ministry to reissue the letter of arbitration, but this was never done. Like Yarde, Lewis insisted that the current Administration is ‘an uncaring and unreasonable government.” Lewis said that Jagdeo is speaking for a government, “that has no regard for workers’ rights.” At Whim, Berbice, last Sunday, Prime Ministerial candidate Moses Nagamootoo said that the opposition is proposing a $15,000 increase in Old Age

pension and a 10 percent hike in salaries for government workers. A multi-year proposal by the GPSU suggested 25 and 30 percent wage increase for 2013 and 2014 respectively. A 35 percent increase was also proposed for discussion this year, but talks on these proposals never got off, because the government never considered the proposals, GPSU said. Annually, increases such as five percent have promoted protest and widespread condemnation in the government’s direction. GPSU says that for more than a decade the government abandoned bargaining agreements with the union and imposed its own increases.

113 new police ranks... (From page 3) for,” Persaud stated. The Force’s training officer Senior Superintendent Paul Williams assured those who had gathered at the TSU Drill Square that despite the public perception, the screening process of the organization is designed to ensure that the right persons are chosen from among those who applied to become lawmen and women. He was bold enough to add that the training provided by the organization is adequate enough to ensure that the custodians of the law could properly carry out their

mandate. “I want to say yes, through the selection process we’re bringing the right people on board, and even if it is known sometime during the training or thereafter and people recognize that the right people are not on board and there is evidence to substantiate that there is a departure from the organization, we will work with that evidence and do the necessary,” Williams assured. He called on the parents and other relatives to commit to assisting the Police Force in ensuring that the new ranks adhere strictly to the motto of the organization. “We have moulded and shaped your children to give service and protection and you are the ones who will have to help to sustain them in that regard…because there are

numerous temptations out there and you need to still work with them so that they are able to sustain that uniform that they wear,” Williams emphasised. The passing out parade of the newly appointed Constables occurred at a time when the Guyana Police Force is desperately trying to restore some amount of public trust, which has been shattered over the past few years. As such the emphasis of their training had a lot to do with the police relationship with the public and the vexing issue of the use of force among other topics. The new ranks, through Constable 22638 Hartman, gave an undertaking to restore the Force’s good image. “We must make a change. We must be different,” Hartman said.

Wednesday April 01, 2015

Kaieteur News

Iran nuclear talks miss deadline; U.S. threatens to walk away

(Reuters) - Six world powers and Iran negotiated past a March 31 deadline into the wee hours of Wednesday, struggling to conclude an outline accord on Tehran’s nuclear program in the face of a U.S. threat to abandon the talks. With Iran asserting its “nuclear rights”, the talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne entered a seventh day, bogged down this time on the issues of nuclear research, the lifting of U.N. sanctions and their restoration if Iran breached the agreement. Officials cautioned that any accord would be fragile and incomplete, but the U.S. State Department gave the go-ahead for talks to go past a self-imposed midnight deadline. “We’ve made enough progress in the last days to merit staying until Wednesday,” acting The six powers - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - aim to stop Iran from gaining the capacity to develop a nuclear bomb in exchange for easing international sanctions that are crippling its economy. The outline political accord is meant to lay the foundation for a final settlement of the long-running nuclear dispute by June 30 - another self-imposed deadline, but one that Western powers have said they do not want to extend.

A senior Iranian negotiator said Tehran was willing to negotiate until the deadlock was resolved. “Iran does not want a nuclear deal just for the sake of having a deal, and a final deal should guarantee the Iranian nation’s nuclear rights,” the negotiator, Hamid Baidinejad, told reporters. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in Washington that U.S. negotiators would not wait until June 30 to walk away from the talks if they could not reach a preliminary political agreement. “If we’re not able to reach a political agreement, then we’re not going to wait ... until June 30 to walk away,” he said. A German delegation source said “it remains an open question whether we will succeed”, adding that it was “too early to think about stopping the clock, (though that) may perhaps prove necessary”. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters in Lausanne that “we are moving forward, but it’s complicated.” TWO SCENARIOS Disagreements on enrichment research and the pace of lifting sanctions threatened to scupper a deal that could end the 12-year-old standoff and reduce the risk of another Middle East war. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful. For days officials have

been trying to agree on a brief document of several pages outlining headline numbers to form the basis of a future agreement. Parts of any understanding reached by the parties will likely remain confidential, though they will likely issue a statement if a deal is reached. It is possible they would not agree on anything. “We are preparing for both scenarios,” a Western diplomat said. Speaking in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande said it would be better to have no deal than a bad deal. An agreement would almost certainly lift sanctions only in stages, deferring even a partial return of Iranian crude exports until at least 2016. Sanctions have halved Iran’s oil exports to just over 1 million barrels per day since 2012 when oil and financial sanctions hit Iran. Brent crude dropped toward $55 a barrel on Tuesday as negotiations proceeded. STICKING POINTS Officials from both sides said the main sticking points were the removal of the U.N. sanctions, their reversibility and Iranian demands for the right to unfettered research and development into advanced nuclear centrifuges after the first 10 years of the agreement expires.

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Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 01, 2015

Wednesday April 01, 2015

Kaieteur News

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A growing country may need to borrow more Let us say that you decide to start up a small business. A prudent way to approach this issue is to seek seed capital and perhaps working capital. As your company begins to do well, you may find that there is need to open new branches. This means that you have to borrow more. Your debt increases. But if your business is doing well, the size of the debt should not pose a problem, so long as you can meet payments to your suppliers, keep your workers happy and more importantly, meet your debt obligations. Better yet if in doing all of these things your business can grow and you can show a profit. If however your debt begins to pile up on you and when compared with your total assets, it is prohibitively high, that is a problem. If, for example, your interest payments cannot even be paid and thus have

to become capitalized, there is a problem. If after paying the debts, there is little left to pay the workers and maintain the machinery, then you have problem. If in order to have working capital you have to borrow more, the problem is compounded. So it is not the size of your debt that is the problem. It is the size of the debt relative to the size of the business. It is the size of the debt relative to the business you are doing. It is your ability to repay the debt on a timely basis that is the problem. Similarly, it is not the size of a country’s debt that matters. The countries with the highest debt in the world are the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. If the size of the public debt was a measure of how well those countries were doing, then they would be in poor state. But we know these

are developed economies. They are large, powerful economies and it is the debt that has aided in them achieving this status. What matters is not the overall debt, but other ratios. What matters is how the debt stacks up in relation to the size of your economy. What matters is a country’s ability to meet debt payments when they are due. What matters is the type of debt that has been accrued. Is it concessionary debt or is principally nonconcessionary debt? There has been a lot of talk about Guyana’s debt increasing. That is expected of any growing economy. The more your country is doing better, the more you are likely to borrow, since you are expanding and you have more capacity. So the size of the debt is not the problem. Other ratios are more pertinent. What, for example, is the debt to GDP ratio? The

Dem boys seh...

Jagdeo got different memory fuh different people Some people can be funny and dem don’t know it. Kwame is a good example. He funny in more ways than one. Some people can be an idiot and dem can’t recognize it. Tek Jagdeo, he can remember things wha happen 25 years ago but he can’t remember wha happen two days ago. Now he tun an expert on wedding. He seh that APNU and AFC married pun Valentine Day. He seh he know that one year wouldn’t pass dem together. Well dem boys hear when Greenidge seh that Jagdeo is not an expert in anything, more so marriage. He own marriage is clear evidence. Before de woman could move in de house, he file fuh divorce. Khemraj and Harmon seh

that Jagdeo didn’t know what to do wid a woman and de woman support dem. She seh that she sleep pun de couch before she know that she married. Jagdeo was nutten like 30year-old Morris. He go to de doctor and when he return home he tell his wife, who is also in her 30s, that de doctor tell him that he only got 24 hours to live. Given the reality, Morris ask he wife for sex. She agrees, so they make love. About six hours later, Morris hunch she and seh, ‘Honey, you know I now got only 18 hours to live. Could we please do it one more time?’ “Of course,” de wife seh, and they do it again. Later, as the man gets into bed, he looks at he watch and

realize that he now only got 8 hours left. He touch his wife again and asks, “Honey, honey, please... just one more time before I die.” She says, “Of course, Dear,” and they make love for the third time. After this session, the wife roll over and fall asleep. Morris, however, worried about his death, tosses and turns until he is down to 4 more hours. He taps his wife, and she wake up. “Baby, Baby, Please. I got only 4 more hours. Do you think we could...?” At this point de woman sit up and seh, “Listen Morris, enough is enough! I HAVE TO GET UP IN THE MORNING ... YOU DON’T”. Talk half and hope that Jagdeo remember everything he do.

international financial institutions pay keen attention to this indicator, because they do not wish a country to carry a higher debt than the size of its economy can bear. There is no indication that the size of the debt is a problem. What can be a problem is the per capita debt. But in examining this, one has to look at not just the crude numbers, but the movement of this indicator over time. At one time, Guyana had one of the highest per capita debt in the world. Guyana was once considered a HIPC heavily indebted poor country. It is no longer a heavily indebted poor country. This improvement has proven problematic, because it means that Guyana no longer enjoys as much concessional financing as it once did, and there has been a shift in the new debt profile towards more bilateral sources of the debt. The reason is that Guyana

did so well economically, and in terms of reducing its debt burden, that it graduated from a status that would have allowed it to gain more concessional financing. Success has its downside. But more important is the capacity to repay the debt. There was a time when the country’s revenues were just sufficient to cater for scheduled debt payments. Very little was left for anything else, including expanding the size of the economy, maintaining its infrastructure and productive assets.

We have moved far beyond that and this is why the country can afford to borrow more. It can borrow more because it has the capacity to repay its debt without affecting internal development and maintaining its productive assets. This is quite unlike the situation in the past when not only could we not do so, but the banks had deemed Guyana non-creditworthy.

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Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 01, 2015

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

Correlation between “lil boy” status and wealth Mr. Jagdeo’s character must be judged by his attitude to the libel writ he filed against me and this newspaper. The man’s boast of having his day in court was carried boldly in the state media. Jagdeo didn’t turn up to testify. Instead Dr Roger Luncheon turned up and testified on behalf of Jagdeo. Luncheon didn’t appear to be robust physically and had to be helped into the court, and was allowed to sit and give testimony rather than stand in the witness box. This entire country knows why Jagdeo did not offer evidence. What we knew about him would have been amplified. What we don’t know about him would have come to light. Having run from a fight in the libel trial, Jagdeo is trying

to cultivate the image of a political pugilist. He yelled out at his press conference that he would debate the opposition leaders. He knows that he will be ignored because he is not the presidential or prime ministerial candidate, therefore protocol will not allow it. It is just a silly little boast to get attention. Jagdeo knows an election debate is always between the top two of the battling parties, so there is no chance of Granger or Moses Nagamootoo taking him head on. Jagdeo knows too that the AFC leader will not debate him, because he is not the de jure leader of the PPP. It would be better for Jagdeo to know his place and take on one of the executives

from both APNU and the AFC. And since there are some small parties contesting, Jagdeo cannot exclude them from the contest. In other words, any election campaign between Jagdeo and executives of APNU and the AFC must also involve leaders of all the contesting parties. This will allow Mark Benschop to have a go at Jagdeo. Having tried a thing with his debate offer, Jagdeo put his foot in his mouth when he described Cheddi Jagan’s house as being fancy for that particular era; that is the sixties and seventies. Countless critics have jumped on him for that egregious insult to Cheddi Jagan and his wife, but missed out on a hidden dimension of Jagdeo’s

statement. In making reference to how Jagan lived and dismissing the luxury of his lifestyle, Jagdeo was trying to deflect the raging tide of corruption charges that have dogged his administration and which have extirpated completely his attempts to birth a legacy. Jagdeo knows that he will never be admired and put in the same presidential category of the two Jagans, Burnham and Hoyte, because the corruption culture that canopied his twelve-year-old rule has effectively destroyed his image. Knowing that he is the face of the PPP’s 2015 campaign (what a silly, shameless, humiliated, selferasing man Ramotar is), he knows he has to devise a dam to stop the flow of the corruption tide. He fired the first salvo in that strategy at his press conference and he was an abysmal failure. In trying to use the house

of Dr. Jagan to tell the nation that as a past president, he must live in comfort, he failed to show what he never had – intellectual thinking. He chose the wrong subject. This entire country knows that both Jagan and Burnham respectively had a peculiar strong point that cannot be touched. Burnham was madly in love with Guyana, so his nationalism was above reproach. Jagan was madly in love with communism and had no time for luxury and wealth. Instead of choosing a safe pitch to bat on, Jagdeo played cricket in the rain and his innings got washed out. It would have been better to leave Jagan’s house out of the strategy. But Jagdeo had to defend Jagdeo’s opulent lifestyle. And in defending such an abomination, he stumbled fatally, and this will deter him from entering any debate. Jagdeo’s fatal weakness

Frederick Kissoon in bringing Jagan’s house into the picture was that Jagan was never in control of the country’s treasury, so he could not have been accused of corruption. He was Premier under the colonial governor, so his spending had colonial supervision. When he became president, he died three years after. It was during Jagdeo’s tenure that daily accusation became a stuck record – “lil” boys with no previous possession of even modest sums of money and with the most powerful government jobs paying peanuts, how did they (Jagdeo and his acolytes in the Cabinet and the upper echelons of the public sector) get that kind of money to build houses whose value the nation knew. For example, Jagdeo’s first house was sold for $130 million. Where did he get that sum from?

Wednesday April 01, 2015

Kaieteur News

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GGMC tenders for rehab, maintenance of interior roadways The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) was the lone entity to receive bids that were opened yesterday at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) Ministry of Finance, Main Street. For the rehabilitation of Bartica to 110 Miles Mahdia – Bartica Potaro Road (Lochan shop to Cassandra Bridge) nine bids were tendered.

In addition, seven bids were tendered for the maintenance of Matthew’s Ridge to Baramita Road, Region one.

Ten bids were also submitted for the rehabilitation of Bartica to 110 Miles Mahdia – Bartica Potaro Road (Sherlock residence to Cassandra Bridge). Seven bids were also tendered for the maintenance of the M4 Junction to Arakaka and the M4 Junction to M2 Junction Road Region one.

Finally, ten bids were submitted for the rehabilitation/ restoration of Garraway Stream Bridge. Meanwhile, for the rehabilitation of Black Banana Road, Region one, ten bids were tendered.

Nine bids were tendered for the rehabilitation of Five Star Road, Region one.

Eight bids were tendered for the rehabilitation of the M4 Junction to Noseno Landing Road, Region one.

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Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 01, 2015

Marriott’s reputation will suffer for colluding with “corrupt” PPP – Pegasus owner As the controversial US$58M Marriott Hotel gets ready to open its doors later this month, minus its crucial casino section, prominent businessman Robert Badal has criticized the US manager for participating in a project not supported by all Guyanese. In a harsh statement yesterday, the owner of the Pegasus Hotel also made it clear that the details of the project all point to a massive deception and fraud scheme to use taxpayers’ monies to gain control of it. It was revealed last week that Government had decided to go ahead and hire the Chinese contractor, Shanghai Construction Group, even before an independent feasibility study was completed. Government signed contracts for the hotel since in October 2011, but only had the critical feasibility study done by a Miami-based

consulting firm in September 2012. The feasibility study is the assessment that tells whether a project makes economic sense. “Amid widespread criticisms, this revelation adds to the mounting of evidence on the haste to advance this project. The splurge of tax concessions, issues surrounding title to the land, excess supply of rooms and low occupancy, the commitment of $58M of taxpayers’ money on this project, all point to deception and fraud by the PPP administration,” Badal said. The businessman, who also owns Guyana Stockfeeds Limited and is a large rice exporter, said that many locals are convinced that the US$8M to be used to pay for 67% equity in Marriott represents kickbacks from the project.ý “It was therefore the intention of the powers behind this project to end up

AHI’s head Winston Brassington and Marriott Hotel’s GM, Roberto Grissi (right) owning a US$58Mý hotel by paying US$8M to be received from kickbacks,” he said. Badal was also critical of the silence by Marriott Hotels International which has the management contract of the Kingston facility. “While the poor Guyanese

taxpayers ýare footing the US$58M project, Marriott Hotels International is smiling as its monthly operating cost including salaries, electricity, maintenance, security, etc., are also paid by our taxpayers.” The businessman criticized General Manager, Roberto Grissi, for effectively being given a blank cheque on poor taxpayers’ resources to poach employees of local hotels and other established city businesses. MARRIOTT SILENCE

“While this fraud is tolerated in no other countries of the world, the PPP administration supports it. It is also a fact that the timid private sector bodies are silent on the matter. But what does this say about the morality of Marriott Hotels and the Marriott brand?” Badal said that “Marriott must have known that this project is widely criticized locally, that it was not approved by Parliament; that the National Assembly passed a resolution demanding a forensic audit of this project; that the average hotel occupancy in Guyana is below 50%, and that the people of the poorest country in the region by no means could afford such an expenditure.” The hotelier believes that the Marriott executive must have known that the PPP Government is a minority one and that such misuse of public resources is unprecedented in any democracy in which it operates, and would not even be contemplated in the US. “Then why is its (Marriott International) brand associated with a questionable project? Why

Pegasus owner, Robert Badal continue to be a parasite on the backs of Guyanese taxpayers? The fact is that reputable brands and businesses are built on strong values, integrity, and responsible alliances.” Badal argued that the project represents exploitation of a poor nation and it would be hard to think that Marriott Hotels represents these values. “I believe that its brand would take a big hit internationally because of its alliance with the corrupt PPP administration,” he said in the statement. The Marriott project is being managed by the Government-owned, National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and its subsidiary, Atlantic Hotels Inc. (AHI). Both are Continued on page 21

Marriott International has come under severe criticism for continuing to back the US$58M project that was not okayed by the National Assembly.

Wednesday April 01, 2015

Kaieteur News

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Jagdeo needs to face his ‘real nasty’ record – Greenidge Considering the latest fascination of former President Bharrat Jagdeo to call on members of the opposition to “face their record,” APNU executive member, Carl Greenidge, sought to send him a stern message. “Instead of calling on others to do that, why don’t you face your own nasty record which shows nothing but poor governance?” He said that the former President also needs to stop trying to take credit for things that never occurred under his watch like major declines in the overall debt rate and improved measures of transparency and accountability. “That is a fabricated record Jagdeo is trying to paint for himself,” Greenidge added. Since the former President surfaced to support the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) during its election campaign, he has called on various members of the opposition to confront things he claimed they did.

“Come on Jagdeo, be a big boy and talk about your history of corruption, failed projects, gifting extravagant parts of Guyana to your friends and cronies, the giveaway of the radio licences, the Skeldon white elephant factory etc.”

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo Jagdeo at his second press conference held at Freedom House on Saturday, went into an exhaustive critique of Greenidge’s performance when he served as Minister of Finance over two decades ago. He said that the financial point man for A Partnership for National Unity was the most unaccountable Minister of Finance in Guyana’s history. The former President said

that when the country’s economy was under the stewardship of Carl Greenidge, the nation was not creditworthy. In fact, he claimed that accounts of the country were not available for auditing for almost ten years during Greenidge’s tenure, and as Minister of Finance he incurred the largest rate of external debt for the nation. He even brought specially for Kaieteur News, a copy of Greenidge’s transport of prime property in Bel Air which he acquired just after demitting office in 1992 for $4 million. Jagdeo had said that while he does not want to venture into the past, Greenidge must face his record. Even at the PPP/C’s rally in Kitty on Sunday last, the APNU Executive was still on his mind. Jagdeo spoke

Cocaine found in USbound charcoal shipment Guyana Revenue Authority law enforcement officers and United Nations drug enforcement officials were last night examining what appears to be a massive cocaine shipment that was concealed in charcoal bound for the United States. A GRA release said that the cocaine, stashed in two 40-foot containers laden with approximately 2,900 bags of charcoal, was unearthed in shipments at Silver Hill, Soesdyke/ Linden Highway. “Officers of the Guyana Revenue Authority’s Law Enforcement and Investigation Division (LEID) and the Port Control Unit (PCU) of the United Nations Office of Drug and Crime (UNODC) were seeking to

- exporter detained ascertain the quantity, weight and estimated value of cocaine detected in shipments of charcoal discovered at Silver Hill, Linden Highway,” the release said. “Based on information received from the PCU, a joint examination was conducted on the shipment scheduled to be exported to the United States of America after it was flagged for one hundred percent examination on March 11, 2015.” According to the release, the shipment was scheduled for examination on March 13, at Silver Hill Linden Highway

in the presence of the GRA’s Goods Examination Unit (GEU) and the PCU. However, the exporter did not present the consignment for examination on the scheduled date, indicating that he was experiencing some unforeseen difficulties. “As a result, the examination was rescheduled for March 30, and on that day, a team consisting of Officers from LEID and the PCU proceeded to Silver Hill to conduct a one hundred percent examination of the consignment. The release stated that Continued on page 23

Marriott’s reputation will suffer... From page 12 headed by Winston Brassington, an official who has been under fire for a number of multi-billion-dollar deals. NICIL is the controversial company in charge of managing state assets and investments, while AHI is a holding firm which is overseeing the hotel’s construction and its subsequent operations. Government has plugged more than US$36M of taxpayers’ money held by NICIL into the construction of the Marriott without the authority of the National Assembly.

This sparked outrage by an incensed Opposition which said that the money belongs to taxpayers and should not be spent without their permission. The hotel is set to open this month, but its critical entertainment component that will house its casino and restaurant, will not be completed before yearend. The 197-room hotel and entertainment complex ran into a roadblock last year after an Opposition Parliamentarian, Desmond Trotman, filed court actions which blocked AHI from mortgaging the hotel.

The court action effectively blocked monies from the equity investor from Hong Kong –US$8M and US$27M from a syndicated local being handled by Republic Bank. Only part of the syndicated loan was released by the bank. From indications, taxpayers through NICIL and by extensions plugged in more than US$36M into the project. Despite putting in almost all the monies, Government now wants to go ahead with plans to allow a virtually unknown investor to plug in US$8M but own 67 percent of the hotel.

about his opponent in less than friendly terms. RESPONSE Greenidge in response said, “I really want Jagdeo to tell me why he is so obsessed with me. It’s laughable.” As it relates to Jagdeo’s gifting of a copy of Greenidge’s transport to the media to suggest that Greenidge engaged in a corrupt transaction in 1992, the APNU executive deemed this to be “wicked and malicious but all the same hilarious.” In relation to his Bel Air home, Greenidge said, “Guyana Stores which owned and managed the properties sold them from time to time to persons on the basis of private agreements. The properties were sold to the former Bookers/ GuySuCo managers who lived in them as well as to private individuals. In keeping with that policy, when I offered to buy the property, they initiated a process of sale which was perfectly normal.

APNU Executive Member, Carl Greenidge The property is not on special land. The allegation of fraud is malicious.” The politician also sought to address Jagdeo’s accusations that he wrote to the Auditor General when he served as Finance Minister, prohibiting him from auditing NICIL’s books and the country’s accounts. “It is clear from these allegations that Jagdeo, as a former President, is unable to drop the most distinctive characteristic he exhibited as a President, being a perpetual stranger to the truth. The PPP has been making these allegations for the last 23

years. The claims are inaccurate and silly.” “I urge him to complete his story by finding the letter in question and, since he is so sure of himself, he should have the Police take action against me in relation to the corrupt transaction. I challenge him to make it public.” Greenidge said that he is surprised that Jagdeo could take the trouble to find a copy of the transport to a property he owns, but was unable to ensure that he fix the Skeldon Sugar Factory which he gave a personal commitment to doing. He added, “Come on Jagdeo, be a big boy and talk about your history of corruption, failed projects, gifting extravagant parts of Guyana to your friends and cronies, the giveaway of the radio licences, yhe Skeldon “white elephant” factory, the failed Guyana/Brazil cable project, and the tax-funded Marriott Hotel.” He also said that Jagdeo must speak about the Sanata Complex giveaway, the sale of the GPC, the Amaila Falls road project, the Specialty Hospital, the Surendra pumps, the Enmore Packaging Plant and the CJIA Expansion project.”

Page 22

Kaieteur News

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Wednesday April 01, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 23

Only an Indian can pull support from Cocaine found in... the Indian population – PPP rally hears Bharrat Jagdeo’s first words at last Sunday’s PPP rally in Kitty were, “They (other political parties) can never compete with us, with our love, positive energy and commitment; they can never compete with us and our dreams.” But he soon descended into what some refer to as gutter politics. Jagdeo used that forum which was punctuated by songs of “togetherness” to invoke racial emotions. To do this, Jagdeo, recalled the words of his former Party comrade, Moses Nagamootoo. He said that Nagamootoo has joined the “PNC (People’s National

Congress)” and has forgotten all his principles just because a prime ministerial pacifier was placed in his mouth. Jagdeo then focused on a statement made by Nagamootoo to the effect that he is not Indian, that he is Guyanese. Jagdeo used this as a campaign tool. He told the thousands of Guyanese who gathered to hear PPP’s plans for Guyana, “You heard what he said? I agree that we are all Guyanese, but he says he is not Indian and he promised publicly to take 11 percent Indians to the PNC. How can you not be Indian and you promise to take 11 percent Indians to the PNC?”

The suggestion was that only politicians who are IndoGuyanese, can influence Guyanese voters of Indian descent to vote for a particular political party. “This is not about being Indian, Afro-Guyanese, Amerindian or any other race; it is about the future of Guyana,” Jagdeo said. The former Head-of-State further urged the gathering to ensure that “Nagamootoo does not get away with his rhetoric.” Nagamootoo’s words identifying himself as a Guyanese were also recalled by Irfaan Ali. While Ali admitted that Guyana is a multiracial

PPP Executive Member, Bharrat Jagdeo

From page 21 during the examination, Officers observed four strange objects in one of the bags which did not confirm with the description of the charcoals that were declared for export. As the objects were probed, a white powdery substance emanated. A field test was carried out on the substance in the presence of the exporter and tested positive for cocaine. “The examination process was immediately halted and the exporter was cautioned and detained as a result of the findings. The Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) was contacted and informed of the discovery. Upon arrival at Silver Hill CANU Officers then secured the goods and proceeded to investigate further. “Approximately two thousand nine hundred (2,900) bags were secured in two 40ft containers to be inspected due to the volume of goods and security concerns raised. Investigations are ongoing and the GRA will provide additional details as they unfold.”

PPP Member, Irfaan Ali society “populated with people from different ancestry,” he said that Nagamootoo’s identification of himself as a Guyanese and not as an Indian means that he is ashamed of whom he really is. At point, one supporter who was sitting on the stairs of the media stage mumbled, “Come on! It’s one people and one nation.” Commenting on election violence, Jagdeo said that it has always been triggered by the Opposition and “the nature of the animal has not changed.” He said that “animals” of that nature cannot be allowed to govern the country “because when they have power they can do anything in this country.”

Letters... Where your views make the news

A policeman died in 1973 DEAR EDITOR, Mr. Adam Harris, Editor of the opposition outfit, Kaieteur News, in a Press Conference with former President Dr. Bharrat Jadgdeo, in Georgetown, corrected Dr. Jagdeo that three people and NOT two were murdered during that terribly rigged election by the PNC, in 1973. At the time that the Kaieteur News Editor made the statement, Dr. Jagdeo was referring to the constant denial by Mr. David Granger, leader of the PNC-led APNU Party, that there were no rigged elections in Guyana by the PNC. Jagdeo reminded everyone that Mr. Granger was at the time the head of the GDF Army in Berbice, where the murder of the TWO young men and a police officer occurred. During the PNC rigged Election in 1973, Jagan Ramassar and Bholanauth Paramanad known as, the Ballot Box Martyrs were murdered when they tried to prevent the GDF soldiers from stealing the Ballot Boxes from

the place of polling and taking it to PNC headquarters for “counting” of the Ballots. Incidentally, Dr. Jagdeo challenged the PNC’s officials to explain the brutal killings of these two civilians while trying to protect the integrity of the ballots in 1973. The former President declared, “Ten miles from Whim in 1973, two persons – Jagan Ramessar and Bholanauth Paramanand – were killed when they tried to protect the ballot boxes from being stolen, they were shot dead…” On that note, he dared Opposition Leader David Granger and Vice Chairman Moses Nagamootoo to stand on the platform at Whim and explain why those two men were killed. Despite many foreign Governments, NGO’s, Human Rights Groups, Churches and everyone else knew and were convinced that elections were rigged in Guyana prior to 1992, Dr. Jagdeo pointed out that Mr. Granger constantly denies those allegations. Therefore, he concluded that when Granger hides from

the past and maintains that elections were not rigged, then he is justifying that those two young men (Ballot Box Martyrs) died in vain. Mr. Granger had written in his book, “New Road” about the 1973 election event that the “soliders had performed splendidly in the face of provocation”. Mr. Granger also referred to the PPP supporters as “gangsters” in his book. Even though, none of the PPP supporters and/or civilians who defended the ballot boxes was armed or aggressive towards the heavily armed GDF soldiers on that fateful day at Number 63 Village, Corentyne, Berbice. In his book “New Road”, Granger appeared to be glorifying the role played by the Army, which he led at the time and fails to acknowledge the fact that Guyanese were killed while exercising their basic human rights, as in 1973 and other Elections the ballots were not counted at the place of polling and there were justifiable fears

that the PNC using the Army, would have taken the ballot boxes to an undisclosed place and changed the people’s Votes in favour of the PNC. However, it was the same Mr. Granger, who claimed to have been stationed at Atkinson Field (now Timehri) and thus had no hand in the 1973 Ballot Box shooting that later published “The New Road – A Short History of the Guyana Defence Force – 1966 – 1976” that incidentally bore prominent the flags of the PNC, GDF and Guyana. One can only imagine what the reaction would be like if Commodore Gary Best or any serving officer of the GDF were to issue a publication with the PPP’s flag embedded in it. Mani Singh EDITOR’S NOTE: The death of the policeman confirmed that the crowd at the toll gate was unruly and violent. It is unfortunate that the People’s Progressive Party never acknowledges that policeman’s death. It is as if he was a mere statistic.

(From page 22)

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Page 24

Kaieteur News

Rallies are to energize supporters, not deal with issues and policies - Rohee Even before political parties officially launched their elections campaign, civil society made calls for the campaign to be focused on addressing issues rather than attacking personalities. However, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is stating that that is not what political rallies are for. As he hosted his Party’s weekly press conference at Freedom House yesterday, Rohee said that he has no intention to address issues and policies at those fora. It was pointed out that when Rohee addressed a rally at Kitty on Sunday, he spoke nothing about security in Guyana, even though he has been the Minister of Home Affairs for the past nine years. Rohee was asked if he will continue along this vein throughout the campaign season or if he has plans to, at some point, address the real issues affecting Guyana, especially in security. He was asked if he had intentions to boast about the things he did for security during his tenure. But he responded in the negative. He said that policies and issues are not to be dealt with at rallies; that the purpose of holding rallies is to energize supporters and remind them where to put their Xs come May 11 - the date of General and Regional Elections. Rohee added that when he takes the stage at any campaign it is in his capacity as General Secretary of the PPP and not as the Minister of Home Affairs, and he therefore holds no obligation to speak on issues. He said that all those who are interested in knowing what the PPP plans to do for Guyana and what the PPP has done for Guyana, can check the Party’s manifesto. This is yet to be released.

PPP General Secretary, Clement Rohee When asked to say clearly if he has any intention to at any point, at any location where a rally is to be held, speak on issues, Rohee told the media, “That is for me to decide.” Rohee had told thousands who gathered in Kitty that his Party will bury the coalition, A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC). He called on those who are in support of the PPP and want to see “continued progress” in Guyana to assist in the burial. Rohee charged the crowd to “put the final nail in the coffin” on May, 11 when the nation goes to the polls to elect a government. Rohee told the gathering that the Party remains a fighting party. He likened the PPP to a scorpion and said that everyone knows what is likely to happen to a person who is unfortunate enough to be stung by a scorpion. With that, the politician stretched his arms open, leaned to the side and belted out “A scorpion bite meh, I think like ah gone dead,” stealing a few words from a

popular song. When Rohee was finished with his rendition, he told supporters that when the metaphoric scorpion stings the APNU+AFC coalition, it will die. “Scraven, lickrish and hungish” is how Rohee described the Opposition, saying that, “they took everything for themselves.” Also, he told the crowd that APNU and the AFC were working together all the while and during the life of the Tenth Parliament strengthened their relationship. “There is a Wedding Expo in Duke Street that is going on now; I thought I would have seen the Opposition there.” He said, APNU+AFC Presidential hopeful, David Granger, was “tackling” Moses Nagamootoo during Parliament. “Dey de hustling one another…all ah we got on red, but this is PPP red, not Valentine red.” Rohee said that the “marriage” happen but with “canta” (fake) ring. As he alluded to the fact that the APNU+AFC coalition officially launched its election campaign at Pegasus Hotel, Rohee told his supporters that it was there that Granger and Nagamootoo consummated the marriage. The politician then told the crowd that the time for chances is over as “this country went through too many experiments.” Rohee told supporters that the Opposition is asking for the PPP to give up, but “hell no.” But the man who is responsible for the nation’s security spoke nothing about his record of overseeing a sector that has been the centre of criticism in recent years.

Wednesday April 01, 2015

Prosecution closes case in Plastic city murder trial The prosecution yesterday closed its case in the murder trial of Michael Powley, who is accused of fatally stabbing his neighbour during an argument almost three years ago. According to the indictment, Powley murdered Visnauth Narine called ‘Buddy,’ on June 8, 2012 at Plastic City, West Coast Demerara. Reports indicated that Narine lived next door to Powley at Plastic City, and on the day of the incident, they were allegedly engaged in an altercation during which the victim sustained stab wounds in the region of his chest. The incident reportedly stemmed from a disagreement over a cooking gas cylinder. Following the confrontation, Powley fled the scene, and Narine was rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where he died while receiving medical attention. He was

VICTIM: Visnauth Narine called ‘Buddy’

MURDER ACCUSED: Michael Powley

subsequently arrested and is currently on trial before Justice James Bovell-Drakes and a mixed- twelve member jury at the High Court in Georgetown. Seven witnesses have taken the stand to testify in the trial, including Government Pathologist, Dr Nehaul Singh and Police Lance Corporal, Denzil Frank.

Yesterday, State Prosecutors Natasha Backer and Narissa Leander called their final witness to the stand before closing their case. The matter commenced on February 22 last. Defence Attorney, Basil Williams is currently making submissions in the absence of the jury. The matter is scheduled for continuation today.

Zeeburg fatal accident…

Runaway driver firmly on police radar Police sources have identified the driver who abandoned his car, PMM 6011 on the Zeeburg, West Coast Demerara (WCD) Public Road Sunday night after killing a father of three, as 22-year-old Rajendra Hoosner. Hoosner reportedly resides a few houses from the victim, 37-year-old Odit Narine Singh, a taxi driver of Lot 716 Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo. He also stays with his father at Timehri, East Bank Demerara. A police source yesterday confirmed that they searched the home of Hoosner’s

DEAD: Odit Narine Singh

RUNAWAY DRIVER: 22-year-old Rajendra Hoosner

mother and several other locations, but have failed to locate him. “We received information that he might be by his father in Timehri, but we are going to find him. Once his photograph gets out there, people will start calling,” the source noted. He added that he was informed by ranks who were doing patrol duty on the night of the accident that Hoosner was driving so fast that they (police) had to “slow down and allow him to carry on, hoping that he would slow down when he realized the police were not behind him.” “The ranks said he was driving so fast and he was driving all over the road. Dem boys (police) say they were praying that this man didn’t hit anyone. And we are getting information that he was under the influence of alcohol, that is why he failed

to stop at the roadblock,” the source said. Odit Narine Singh was struck down around 23:00 hrs on Sunday while waiting to cross the public road to get back to his taxi base. Singh’s body ended up under a parked truck. He was pronounced dead at 01:15 hrs on Monday at the Leonora Cottage Hospital. Indira Singh, the dead man’s sister said that she was at home sleeping when a driver, who works at the same taxi service with her sibling, visited her home and informed her that her brother was involved in an accident. The woman said that when they arrived at the hospital, the doctors said that the man died from a punctured heart and bleeding in the brain. The car that was involved in the accident is at the Leonora Police Station. It is a rented vehicle.

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Kaieteur News

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Dismembered woman ID’d as Buxton trader

St. Kitts-Nevis to use PetroCaribe - suspected ‘butcher’ held; victim’s cousin funds to help former sugar workers leads cops to bloodstained house Police have identified the woman whose dismembered body was found at the Annandale, East Coast Demerara foreshore last Thursday. The victim is 40-year-old Samantha Benjamin of Buxton, East Coast Demerara, who is also a Vendor’s Arcade stallholder. Police cracked the case last night after a cousin of the slain woman led detectives to Benjamin’s home. Inside, detectives found a blood-spattered floor, pieces of flesh and two bloodstained sheets. There were also signs that someone had attempted to clean up the gory scene. They subsequently detained a labourer who was in the house. Kaieteur News understands that the man had been employed by Benjamin some six weeks ago to rear poultry. He reportedly claimed that the last time he saw Samantha Benjamin was on Friday. But his employer’s headless and limbless corpse was actually found on Thursday. The victim’s neighbours have told police that they heard loud music and screams

Samantha Benjamin coming from Benjamin’s home last week Wednesday. But no one suspected that the victim at the foreshore could be Benjamin, since she was often out of the country. Police have received reports that the trader was planning to purchase a car. It is suspected that the killer learnt of this transaction and tortured, and subsequently butchered Benjamin to get his hands on the money. According to reports, Benjamin returned from the US a few months ago and was

The suspect being taken into custody living with her ex-husband. She then moved to her father’s house. According to reports, her shocked ex-husband claimed that he was to have accompanied Benjamin to buy the car. But then repeated calls to her phone went to voicemail. Samantha Benjamin’s body, minus the head, feet and arms, was discovered around 06:30 hours on Thursday by an Annandale resident, who was about to bathe his dog at the location. The clothing, a blue brassiere and a red skirt, were rolled up around the midsection of the corpse. There were bloodstains and tooth fragments not far from where the body was lodged between the rocks.

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - CMC – The St. Kitts-Nevis government says it will use the EC$16 million (One EC dollar =US$0.37 cents) it has received from Venezuela to fulfill promises made to former sugar workers. The funds were provided under the PetroCaribe initiative and following the signing ceremony, Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris said that the money would be given to the former sugar workers. “We will over the course of the months be pursuing with the government of Venezuela a number of projects that we think would form part of the expectations of support under these particular programmes,” Prime Minister Harris said. “For now they have readily accepted to provide for us 16 million dollars to cover what we have described as the shortfall in the compensation package to the former sugar workers,” he said, adding that that previous PetroCaribe programmes had addressed the needs of former sugar workers. “The government of Venezuela had in the past been specifically associated with the agenda of support for sugar workers. You will recall for example that they had been involved in the building of homes for some of the former sugar workers. And

Dr. Timothy Harris

they therefore had become interested in assisting the government in meeting this very major policy initiative that we had announced. “Because of their prior engagement in that area, it made it easier for them to appreciate the issues at hand which they had been involved in a number of policy initiatives both in terms of agriculture and specifically to the former sugar workers this is just the first of several initiatives that we intend to pursue with the government of Venezuela,” Prime Minister Harris said. He told the ceremony Monday that he would outline to the media tomorrow to explain how the monetary packages would be distributed. The agreement was signed with Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Álvarez Herrera, who said that the arrangements for the initiative

had taken place in a short space of time. “I would like just to say that this is a moment to tell the importance and the nature of PetroCaribe. PetroCaribe is an energy agreement between countries based on the vast natural resources that Venezuela possesses. “It has the idea to not only keep important levels of security to countries, particularly countries in the Hemisphere and the Caribbean but also be a tool for economic and social development. This is why under the umbrella of PetroCaribe we can have these social programmes. “We also have programmes that tend to be more of a productive nature. The whole idea is to make a balance and to give opportunity, to have energy security, to promote economic and social development and promote regional integration,” the diplomat added.

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St. Lucia minister wants Caribbean governments to subsidise LIAT CASTRIES, St. Lucia CMC – The St. Lucia government says there is sufficient justification for regional governments to subsidise the cash-strapped regional airline, LIAT, indicating that Caribbean countries would benefit significantly from a successful regional carrier. Civil Aviation Minister Alva Baptiste said that the airline industry is inherently unstable citing powerful trade unions and unprofitable routes as being among the major challenges facing LIAT. “LIAT has a number of challenges including powerful unions that can shut down the carrier, and that is a very big issue,” Baptiste said, not-

ing that airlines do not make vast profits. He told reporters if the Caribbean market was so attractive, there would have been a number of private sector interests investing in the sector. “We saw (Allen) Stanford with Caribbean Airlines which never made any profit. People are not entering the market,” Baptiste noting that investors were not entering the regional airline market because of exit problems. “After you have invested substantially in buying planes that depreciate very quickly, who do you sell them to afterwards?” Baptiste said governments should make an allocation in their national budgets

Alva Baptiste for aviation services, since there are at times, no justifications for flying a particular route. LIAT is owned by the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

T&T and Cuba sign tourism agreement PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Trinidad and Tobago says it has signed a cooperation agreement with Cuba that will allow for the development of multi-destination tourism packages. A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here said that the agreement was signed in Havana by Tourism Minister Gerald Hadeed and his Cuban counterpart Manuel Marrero Cruz. It said the accord will allow for the exchange of professionals and specialists in scientific research to improve Trinidad and Tobago tourism product as well as joint venture arrangements in the Cuban tourism industry. The agreement will also allow for Trinidad and Tobago participating in training programmes and student exchanges as well as the exchange of professionals and projects in areas of cultural and natural heritage preservation. “This agreement comes at an opportune moment in Cuba’s history with the introduction of more liberal incentives for foreign investors and the announcement of the restoration of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States

Gerald Hadeed of America in December 2014, which could lead to full normalisation in their relationship,” the statement said. It noted that with visitor arrivals expected to double in 2015, “the prospects and potential for the business community are enormously enhanced by this agreement.

“The expansion of the tourism industry under this agreement will redound to the benefit of the country through increased employment, multisectoral linkages and foreign exchange earnings, which will all assist in the diversification of the economy,” the statement added.

Wednesday April 01, 2015

Kaieteur News

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Killing of GGMC engineer, Sterling Products guard…

Gun found on fake cops linked to murders Police are in possession of a .32 pistol that appears to have been used to kill Sterling Products Limited security guard Wilfred Stewart and Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) engineer Trevor Abrams. An official told Kaieteur News that ballistic tests on shells recovered from the murder scenes linked the firearm to the two slayings, which occurred in December 2014 and February 2015 on the East Bank of Demerara. Police reportedly recovered the handgun and matching ammunition last Friday during a raid in Diamond Housing Scheme, in which two men were detained and a third fled. The suspects, Rayon Paddy, 26, of 278 South Ruimveldt Park, and Orin Arthur, 25, of Block X Diamond, East Bank Demerara, have since been accused of carrying out a recent robbery at Mahaicony, while setting

up a bogus roadblock and posing as policemen. They were remanded on several charges last Monday, A source said that it was too early to link the suspects to the killing of Stewart and Abrams, even though the murder weapon was allegedly found in their possession. Stewart, 45, was shot dead on December 8, 2014, when gunmen in a car forced their way into the Sterling Products Limited compound at Providence, East Bank Demerara. The killers also shot Mario Gohill, an Indian National who was employed as a chemist, to his left leg, before fleeing with the slain guard’s service revolver. Police had said the bandits, numbering about three, also entered the office area, but failed to gain access to a safe with a substantial amount of cash. Investigators retrieved two assault rifle casings and

taining a flash drive, his national identification card and other personal documents. After viewing surveillance footage of two men shooting Abrams, investigators appear to believe that two of their former colleagues committed the brazen killing. Police believe that the same suspects committed a heist at the Linden Post Office some time ago. One of the ex-cops is now in custody. A day after Abrams was

Trevor Abrams

Wilfred Stewart

two .32 shells from the scene. Three suspects were detained briefly but the case remains unsolved. On February 26, last, heavily armed men ambushed and riddled 32-year-old GGMC mining engineer Trevor Abrams, in broad daylight, as he drove on the East Bank Demerara public road near Little Diamond. Abrams’ car ended up in

a canal and he was already dead when rescuers pulled him from the vehicle. There are reports that Abrams had visited a commercial bank shortly before he was slain, but police said that they still had no clear motive for the brazen killing. Kaieteur News was told that the only thing police recovered from the car Abrams was driving was a bag con-

Contractor, 41, guilty of raping girl, 6 Forty-one year-old Harold Naurayan, of Coopers Lane, New Amsterdam, who was on trial in the Berbice High Court before Justice Brassington Reynolds and a mixed jury for raping a 6-yearold girl has been found guilty. The case was tried in camera, with spectators and the media being debarred, due to the new Sexual Offences Act. When the matter resumed yesterday both the prosecution and defence presented their closing remarks before the jury after which Justice Reynolds summed up the evidence to the 12-member panel which retired to deliberate on the evidence. After over two hours of deliberating, the jury returned with an 11-1 verdict of guilty. According to the indictment read by Prosecutor attorney at law Judith GildharieMursalin, the accused between February 1st, 2013 and April 27, 2013 engaged in sexual penetration with the child. Attorney-at-law Raymond Alli, who represented the accused, then requested a probation report which was granted by Justice Reynolds. The judge fixed Monday April 13 as the date for the presentation of that report. According to the case, as presented by Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Judith Gildharie-Mursalin, the accused took advantage of the child when she was six years old and told her not to tell her mother or else she would be beaten. During the child’s

Guilty: Harold Naurayan testimony, she was placed behind a screen. The girl, who is now eight years old, had testified that she had returned from school, and was going to get her slippers to go with her mother who was a vendor on the road, when the man grabbed her and lifted her and placed her on a table in the kitchen. He then removed her underwear and sexually abused her. He threatened her that if she told her mother, he would beat her badly. The girl then went and hid at the back of the house. She subsequently went to her mother, but did not tell her anything. The prosecutor went on to state that on the 27th of April 2013, the child’s younger brother complained to her mother that the girl wanted him to climb on top of her. The woman then beat her daughter, but soon realized that something was wrong. She subsequently questioned the child, who told her that the accused does it

to her. The woman immediately took her daughter to the police station. The child was medically examined. The examination showed that the child had a ruptured hymen and redness to the vaginal area. When the man was found guilty he showed no emotions. Naurayan was on bail for the matter. However after he was found guilty State Prosecutor Assistant Director of Public Prosecution Judith Gildharie-Mursalin asked the judge to remand the accused to jail since he was found guilty. His attorney Raymond Alli requested of the judge that his client continue to have his freedom since he has business to take care of and some matters concerning his children. He said that his client is not a flight risk. However the prosecutor objected to bail informing the court that, Naurayan is no longer free.

Justice Reynolds then ruled that the accused be remanded to jail until April 13. He said that the accused had over two years of freedom whilst the victim and her family had to suffer. Naurayan had earlier given a sworn statement from the dock in which he had denied committing the offence. He had stated that during that time he was at sea. His lawyer had also told the jury not to believe the child since her testimony could not have been believed. Prosecutor Mursalin had urged the jury to believe the child since she said “out of the mouth of a baby comes the truth”. She had urged the court to believe the child.

slain, police seized a grey Toyota AT 212 from a residence in Covent Garden, East Bank Demerara. A fake number plate was reportedly found next to the vehicle, which reportedly had a number of bullet holes. Police said that a woman who owns the vehicle claimed she had given the car to someone to take to a mechanic. The woman and her husband were detained briefly but were not charged.

US revokes four Gov’t officials’ visas ...in major money laundering, bribery probe In shocking developments, the US this week cancelled visas for four high-ranking Government officials amidst a four-year investigation into bribery and money laundering. A team of investigators from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is in the country and has been questioning several persons. According to officials close to the probe, the US has been monitoring the questionable transfer of large sums of cash to several banks within its territories. This actually began after a number of high profile criminals were arrested and transferred to the United States for drug trafficking. One of the persons who had his visa revoked is reportedly a top official who has been questioned about his wealth. FBI was called in after reports were made to the US Government that a number of

officials were approached to take bribes. Already, a number of officials attached to the US banking systems and a large multilateral financing institution have been pulled in for questioning in that North American country. The investigations reportedly stems from major contracts underway in Guyana. Investigators also picked up several transactions dating back to 2012 in which over US$10M was deposited in several accounts over the period of weeks but is controlled by one person or company. The deposits were masked in a manner to avoid mandatory reporting requirements to the US authorities. Kaieteur News first learnt of this development on February 29, last, but was unable to verify the information. (STORY CONTINUES ON PAGE 38)

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Wednesday April 01, 2015

Wednesday April 01, 2015

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MMZ West/Barakat XI overcome Young Warriors by one wkt included two fours and two sixes, and along with Joemal La Fleur who scored 30 with five fours added respectability to the total before they were bowled out for 123 in 19.5 overs. Medium pacer Trevor Benn was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 26 while Sheldon Alexander supported with 3 for 19. Although not picking up a wicket Sarwan bowled economically conceding 13 from three overs of leg

MMZ West team-The victorious Meten-Meer-Zorg West/Barakat X1. Skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan is standing third from right. A Ramnaresh Sarwan led Meten-Meer-Zorg West/ Barakat X1 defeated Young Warriors of Berbice by one wicket in a T20 fixture Sun-

day last at Meten-Meer-Zorg ground, West Coast Demerara. The host decision to insert their guest paid off as

Young Warriors struggled throughout the power play, only managing 36-3. But, Kevin Ramdeen struck a polished 41 which

Wednesday April 1st 2015 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) An element of the mystical and fanciful will play a significant part in your world today, Aries. This energy is likely to come to you unexpectedly, and your first reaction might be to shy away from it. TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) You may sense that the actions around you are fueled by selfish motives. You may be the only one who really sees what's going on, Taurus. GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Take action that will help you find greater freedom in your life, Gemini. In an attempt to please the people around you, you may be giving up too much of yourself. CANCER (June 21–July 22) You may have to consciously let go of some of your plans, Cancer, and simply leave things up to chance. LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Don't let the positive energy of the day pass you by, Leo. You're able to grab hold and make greater use of it than most, so don't hesitate to get going early and keep on going until late. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) You may be tempted to make up your own rules, Virgo, because you really aren't happy with the ones before you.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Your actions may be erratic and spontaneous today, Libra, but they will also most certainly be powerful. SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Take some time to break out of your normal routine and see what's going on in the world around you. You could be so focused and so driven toward a specific goal that you fail to take into account the rest of the world. SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Don't feel like you're obligated to jump through other people's hoops, Sagittarius. Just because someone wants you to do something doesn't mean you have to oblige. CAPRI(Dec.22–Jan.19) You may be acting unconsciously. Suddenly you're halfway through a task and wondering what you really hoped to accomplish by starting it in the first place. . AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) You can rely on your good luck to pull you out of difficult situations today. This is one day when you can launch yourself headfirst without worrying too much about the outcome. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) You may have your guard up as you fend off people and situations that have caught you unprepared. Be careful about putting up such big walls that you can't see over them.

spin. Kevon Boodie and Kemol Savory featured in a fifth wicket stand of 39 after the home team lost some early wickets in reply. After hitting four fours, Boodie was bowled by the lively Niall Smith for 35 with the score on 78, but Savory carried his bat, smashing three fours and a similar number of sixes in an even half century to see his team home; ending on 128-9 in 19.5 overs.

Smith snared 3-26, while La Fleur, Suresh Dhanai, Shawn Pereira and Kassim Khan had one each. Savory copped the man of the match and the best batsman trophies; Trevor Benn was given the best bowler prize. Meten-Meer-Zorg West/ Barakat X1 collected $50,000 and the Odyssey Transport trophy, while Young Warriors received $15, 000 and the Barakat Brothers trophy.

Battle on for prestigious prize... (From page 34) dangerous play that netted him an instantaneous red card in the preceding game but will feel comforted with a strong offensive lineup supported by an impregnable defence cordon. ‘The Hammers’ have proven their worth over and over again but they will have to retain their form against a tough Pele unit. Dwayne Jacobs was sidelined with an injury in the previous game but may be in the

squad tonight. Add the likes of Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson, Travis ‘Zorro’ Grant and the ever dependable man between the uprights, Ronson Abrams and fans know that this game would go all the way down to the wire. The battle lines are drawn and tonight’s games are expected to provide firework. Which teams will survive? Fans would have to visit the venue for the answer to this

tickling question. The teams will also be fully aware of the 2 million dollars up for the winner and will go all outs to clinch that sum. The runners up will win half that amount while the third and fourth place finishers will collect five hundred thousand and two hundred and fifty thousand dollars respectively. There will also be trophies which will be presented for individual and team performances.

Heineken UEFA Champions... (From page 33) off its annual local promotion. “Bars and media houses played in a Foosball competition at the launch Saturday night at Gravity Lounge. Customers will also have the chance to take part in similar Foosball competitions at the various Bars around Guyana in the Heineken UCL Series,” Hiscock informed. He said that Heineken will be hosting numerous events around Guyana where football fans will be given the opportunity to enjoy the final stages of the UEFA Champions League. “This year’s promotion, like last year’s, will end with a massive final party slated for June 6. It will be bigger and better than ever before,” Hiscock assured. In the Foosball competition Saturday night to usher in the Heineken’s UEFA Champions League 2015 Promotion, Capitol News’ Esan Griffith emerged winner with General Manager of Gravity Lounge, Navin Singh second and Chronicle’s, Rawle Toney third.

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Lower East Bank Lions Rishee Thakur capture Cheddi Jagan responds to BCB articles Memorial T20 title Letter to the Sports Editor

President of the Lusignan Community Centre Rocky Ramgopaul (right) presents the winning trophy to captain of the Lions team Rajesh Singh in the presence of his team mates. Lower East Bank Lions defeated Georgetown Bears by seven wickets to capture the Cheddi Jagan Memorial Over-40 T20 title Sunday last at Lusignan Community Centre ground. Georgetown Bears batted first and scored 83-6 in 20 overs. Surendra Hiralall struck 25 from 24 balls, while Reynold Rodrigues made 14 and Shaheed Khan 11. Offspinner Shaheed Mohamed claimed 3-9 from four overs, while there was a wicket each

for Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Rakesh Gangaram and Ramotar Bissoon. Lower East Bank Lions replied with 84-3 in 11.5 overs. Mohamed led with an unbeaten 35 which came off 26 balls and contained four fours and one six. He and Chanderpaul added 63 off 55 balls for the fourth wicket stand. Chanderpaul faced 20 balls and ended on 24 not out with one maximum. Basil Persaud and Rudolph

Chapman picked up one wicket each. Both teams received trophies while Mohamed was given the man of the match and best bowler accolades and Basil Persaud took the prize for being the tournament’s best batsman. Organiser Seeraj Bhimsain congratulated the winners and thanked the others for participating. The tournament was sponsored by National Sports Commission.

Dear Sir, Please allow me to respond to the “piece” in Kaiteur’s Sports page captioned “Contractor Chowramootoo sponsors Berbice cricket”. Before doing so, however, let me place my response in some context. On the 19th March, 2015, a letter in Stabroek News, captioned “Berbicians should not allow their cricket to be hijacked” complained of recent efforts to unseat the longstanding administration of the Berbice Cricket Board. This, of course, came in the wake of another challenge when an injunction was filed against the BCB (SN/11 March, 2015). According to Stabroek News the “injunction was filed last Friday in the Berbice High Court against 16 officials of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) including President Anil Beharry preventing them from holding themselves out to be officials of the BCB”. I responded to the letter of the 19th March, 2015 (SN 21st March, 2015) drawing attention to the fact that since the matter of the Berbice Cricket Board was sub judice public comments appear inappropriate. I also took exception to the fact that the letter made several claims without any substantive evidence, while quite willing to cast doubt on the moral/ethical

WBC featherweight title changes hands as Johnny Gonsalves suffers KO loss to American Just under a year after retaining his World Boxing Council (WBC) world featherweight title against local multiple champion and world rater, Clive Atwell, Johnny Gonsalves surrendered the same title following a crushing loss to American, Gary Russell, at the Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA last Saturday. According to boxrec, Russell floored Gonzalez once in round three and twice in round four to force referee, Tony Weeks to call a halt to the bout at 37secs of the fourth round. The Mexican has now lost 9 of his 54 fights and has KOed 48 of his opponents. Gonzalez had successfully defended his WBC featherweight title by unanimous technical decision over Atwell in Acapulco, Mexico, but he left the bout with a few bumps and bruises. The most

propriety of others. In the end I suggested that the letter was reflective of the ghost-like character of the BCB itself – dead clubs, life-time members, dubious associations – unwilling to take responsibility for its charges by refusing to sign the letter. I suspect the writer/s of the letter cannot respond because he/she/they maybe too close to the BCB and therefore liable to be held in contempt of court, given the injunction of the 11th March, 2015. A little over a week later, 27 March, 2015, another not dissimilar letter from the one of 19th March, 2015, appeared in Kaieteur News. The occasion for that letter is the sponsorship of t20 cricket in West Berbice by a local businessman. The sponsor, it appears “is impressed with the confidence other stakeholders of cricket have shown in the BCB ….. the Board was doing something right.” The businessman, apparently, was also impressed by “the mileage received by sponsors and the level of transparency of the work of the BCB.” Moreover, according to the letter, the sponsor is disappointed at the manner in which the West Berbice Cricket Association (WBCA) runs cricket in the area …” Sponsors, he claims lack confidence, in the latter. Moreover, there is little organized cricket in the area by the WBCA and when one did appear recently it turned out to be fraudulent, involving “cheques, that were dishonoured by the bank”.

This is followed by a long list of social achievements of the Board in the organization and promotion of “village cricket” and the vast number of sponsors at its disposal. Nowhere is there any indication that the newspaper gave the WBCA an opportunity to answer the charges brought against it by the sponsor. Any newsman worth his salt would want to ask the WBCA of the fraud it perpetrated on clubs that participated in its t20 tournament. Should the newspaper in question not want to ask the accused of the story, especially in a case of dishonoured cheques, in order not to perpetrate a slander? Apparently not. Several phone calls proved revealing. The Editor of Kaieteur Sports indicated that no reporter had been sent out to West Berbice to cover the story. The picture and the story had been received as an e-mail from the Berbice Cricket Board and carried as was received. The President of the WBCA had not been contacted by anyone to answer to any of the charges against him. He, like I, found out of his fraudulence, from Kaieteur News – an e-mail from the Berbice Cricket Board. What about the injunction “against 16 officials of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) including President Anil Beharry preventing them from holding themselves out to be officials of the BCB”? Thank you, Rishee Thakur.

Steve Bacchus rules the roost, elevated to ‘A’ category in GDA tourney

Gary Russell Jr (blacksportsonline.com) telling one, a cut over his left eye from an accidental headbutt, had forced officials to stop the bout and go to the scorecards where Gonsalves was awarded the bout after being ahead at the time of the stoppage. Up to then the scorecards were 99-89, 96-92 and 98-90 all in favour of the

Clive Atwell Mexican. Gonsalves then went on to retain the title against Jorge Arce after the referee stopped the bout in the 11th round. Atwell’s handlers had cried foul saying that the bout was stopped prematurely. The Guyanese has since rebounded with a points decision win over Jamaican, Sakima Mullings last

month for the vacant Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) super/lightweight belt. He had signaled an ambition to battle for the title once again but it is not clear whether Atwell, who has since returned to Dominica, will try to influence his management to secure another shot at the title.

Steve Bacchus amassed 10 points to take the top honours when the Guyana Draughts Association (GDA) staged a B Class tournament at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue, on Sunday March 29. The tournament was very competitive and saw Michael Francis taking the second place slot one point adrift of the champion. The third place had to be decided after the judges employed the tie break system to separate Esan Anderson and Rudolph Gentle after both players had finished on 6 points apiece.

The former player eventually earned the nod. The overall winner, Bacchus, was promoted to the ‘A’ category following consecutive wins at this level. Bacchus will now match skills with the bigger boys when the GDA hosts an ‘A’ tournament at the same venue this Sunday April 5. Further, the top 5 finishers in the just concl u d e d t o u r n a m e n t have also earned the right to compete in Sunday’s tournament. Trophies and other prizes have been donated by the National Sports Commission.

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Cycling action returns to Berbice on Sunday Cyclists in Berbice and from both regions five and six are set to return to the road Sunday when Berbice most active cycling entity the Flying Ace Cycle Club (FACC) stages a 40-mile event. The race, which is sponsored by number of businesses and individuals including main sponsor sponsors Hand In Hand Insurance Company and the Benjamin Sports Store of Fyrish, Corentyne Berbice, will peddle off from in front of the Benjamin Sports Store, proceed to the No43 Bridge before returning to finish at its place of origin. Cyclists from both the FACC and Trojan Cycle clubs are expected to don their gear and take to the saddle as they renew their battle for supremacy in Berbice. Prizes will be available for the first six finishers, while six sprint point prizes will also be up for grabs. The first three beginners

as well as the first two veterans will also be rewarded. Incentives will also be available for outstanding female riders. BMX riders will also have their opportunity to perform since they will ride from Albion Bridge to the Benjamin Sports Store. The first three finishers in that category will be rewarded. Among those expect to be on show are Andrea ‘Padlock’ Green, Ray Millington, the Crawford cousins Romallo and Juban, Elijah Brijadar, Andrew Hicks, Wasim Hassnu, Audrel Ross, Edmond Francis, Keith Griffith, Gary Benjamin, Turhan Harris and Syborne Fernandez among others. Top female cyclist Marcia Dick is also expected to be on show. Other sponsors on board include Berbice River Bridge, Visual and Sons Enterprise of Crabwood Creek, Raymond

Ms Zaleena Ramkishun presents the cheque to Randolph Roberts. Mamager Tajepaul Ajodah is next to Ramkishun, while other staff look on. and Nazeela of West Berbice, Mara and Sons of New Amsterdam, Feroze Grocery and Tahal and Sons Construction among others. Randolph Roberts is the coordinator On Tuesday, Supervisor

of The Hand in Hand Company in Berbice, Zaleena Ramkishun, in the presence of Manager Tajepaul Ajodha presented a cheque to organizer of the event and coach of FACC, Randolph Roberts, at a simple presentation cer-

emony held at the business entity. Randolph Roberts took the opportunity to thank all those who contributed towards the activity. He noted that cycling is an expensive sport and needs

the support of the business community and other members of the community. It also helps to keep the youngsters off the road and away from illicit activities and trouble, he said. (Samuel Whyte)

MBK and BF host 4-a-side Guyana Cup Fever reaches boiling Football on Easter Monday point as over 80 horses entered MBK and BF host 4-a-side Football on Easter Monday Bannas Foundation (BF) in collaboration with Meadowbrook Kings (MBK) will host a four-a-side Football tournament at the Meadowbrook Recreational Park on Meadowbrook Drive from 09:00hrs on Easter Monday. The tournament, which will run all day, is divided into two categories, with MBK providing the Trophies and medals for the Open Category and National Cricket Captain and West Indies Test player Leon Johnson sponsoring the Trophies and medals for the Kiddies game. The tournament has been organised by the Bannas Foundation and its Coordinator 69-year-old Johnny ‘Overseas’ Barnwell who has been a Sports Coordinator for 25 years, disclosed that he encourages anything to do with youths and sports and invited everyone to come out and support this event. The Bannas Foundation is a youth group based in the United States of America (USA) comprising former Bannas Foundation members who have migrated to North America. Founded in 1997, Bannas Foundation’s intention is to contribute to Guyana’s development through Sports. Wallcott says the Bannas

MBKs Denzil Butler (middle) presents the championship trophies to tournament Coordinator Johnny ‘Overseas’ Barnwell as Kevin Wallcott of Bannas Foundation share the moment. Foundation feels that the involvement in sports is an excellent method for young people to gain invaluable life lessons. “Our aim is to provide our youths with the opportunity to engage in organised training programmes in each of our traditional sports like Cricket, Football, Athletics, Boxing, Table Tennis, Lawn Tennis, Swimming and Cycling,” Wallcott said. “Guyana is blessed with many resources, with people

being the most precious. It is our duty to ensure that we fully utilize those resources for the benefit of all concerned. In anticipation of the need to coordinate some aspect of our vision with the work of your organisation or Company, I invite your c o o p e r a t i o n , ” Wa l l c o t t concluded. Refreshments will be on sale and admission is free for what should be an exciting day of Football. (Sean Devers)

With all the excitement and heat generated for the boiling hot Guyana Cup Fever Horserace Meet set for Sunday at the Port Mourant (Big Yard) Turf Club, Port Mourant Corentyne Berbice, organizer, Jumbo Jet Business Conglomerate and Racing Stable along with the PMTC has allowed entries to be entered until today. With just a few days to go before race day the excitement is building with most of the top stables and horses rounding out preparations. Turfites are expected to turn out in their numbers, this being a holiday season, for the entertainment promised. Word from the organizers has indicated that over 80 horses have been entered so far with the Jumbo Jet, Shariff, Bacchus, Elcock, Jagdeo and DeRoop Simple Royal stables leading the entries in the quest for royalty. So far it is the richest race meet for the year with prize monies totaling over $10M which includes cash and trophies. Seven races are listed for the day’s programme and the track is in excellent condition setting the stage for intense action and drama. The feature A1event is turning out to be the main talk-

ing point. It is expected to be a keenly contested race with the best horses in the business set to compete. Score’s Even and C.P Got Even, will renew their battle with the record breaking Diplomatic Cat settling in nicely and expected to give the others a run for their money. Take the speedy Curfew Tower and the threatening Jack In My Style and Run Nana Run, Lady Budapest over the 1800M distance for the sumptuous $1.2M and trophy, the heat might be too hot for some of the horses. Spit Fire is in the pink of condition and with Tiz a Holiday, Just Call Me Boss, Unsettled, Swing Easy and Big Man Boss all showing great speed to set up an entertaining co-feature D3 and lower 1600M event for a wining take of $800,000 and trophy. The other events on the day’s programme are; the F1 and lower 1200M event for animals classified three year old, West Indies and Guyana bred for a total prize of $ 940,000 and trophy. The G3 and lower event will also feature West Indies and Guyana bred and 3yrs old animals over 1200M for a combined purse of $750,000 and trophy.

There is an event for West Indies and Guyana bred three year old animals including colts and fillies also for a total prize of $940,000 and trophy over 1500M. The event for Guyana Bred three year old ‘I’ class and lower horses will see a total prize package of $560,000 and trophy over 1200M on offer. The event for animals classified J2 and lower over 1200M has combine purse of $375,000 and trophy. Among the sponsors on board so far are Banks DIH Limited, the Bacchus racing stable, Chris Jagdeo and Sons Construction and racing Stable, Fazal Hibibulla, Dennis DeRoop Simple Royal racing Stable, Colin Elcock Delmur Racing Stable, Shariff Business Enterprise and racing Stable and Romell Jagroop Construction and Racing Stable among others.. A number of added attractions and giveaways and incentives including free kites will be given away on race day. The events will be held under the rules of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority. Nazrudeen “Jumbo Jet” Mohammed Junior is the coordinator. Race time is 12:30hrs. (Samuel Whyte)

Page 32

Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 01, 2015

Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ Competition

Explosive semi-finals anticipated this evening The East Coast segment of the Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ Competition has reached its semi-final stage and while another massive crowd is expected, the final outcome of the two games are up for debate this evening, at the Haslington Tarmac. In the night’s feature contest, former title holders and unbeaten Plaisance ‘A’ go up against BV ‘A’ and this encounter is expected to produce fireworks, especially when the former talisman Warren Gilkes go up against BV ‘A’ amulet Delroy Deen. Plaisance ‘A’ should go into this game full of confidence, having looked impressive throughout the tournament to date and also with the added incentive of having beaten their opponents at the same stage when they went on to win the title.

Gilkes has been in prolific form since the start of competition, scoring in every game and is the leading goalscorer with four goals from as many matches. He will have as support Carlos Matthews and Kester Green whose contributions of two goals apiece have been critical in the team’s conquest of every opposition to date. BV ‘A’ is no pushover either and apart from Deen, Akin Curry and Quacey Price have shown what a potent strike force they could be as well. In the night’s opener, giant killers Nabaclis that slew defending champ Melanie ‘A’ in their previous encounter faces Melanie ‘B’ in what could turn out to be another fascinating clash. They must be feeling confident after dispatching a strong Melanie ‘A’ unit and

should they come out with similar intent which was to attack the ball then Melanie ‘B’ will be in for a rough time. Carlos Kingston and quarterfinal hero Akamo Jack will be looking to duplicate their earlier performances and should that occur then there is a strong possibility that one of the most unlikely teams’ could be seen in the final. Melanie ‘B’ strength lies in its defence which has shown enough potency to scare any team and there is no doubt that this area will be the relied upon to make the championship round. They are yet to concede a goal in the tourney after four engagements. Amunike Rodgers being their top scorer with two goals, but as has been stated before, unless the defence shows up then a long night is

Part of the action in this year’s East Coast Zone of the Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ Competition. in store for them. The winning team will take home $300,000 and the champion-

ship trophy, while the runnerup carts off $150,000, 3rd place- $100,000 and 4th place-

$75,000. The two top teams will represent the East Coast at the national finals.

3rd Annual Nestle Milo Under-20 Schools Football Competition

Chase Academy crowned champions after beating Dolphin in final Chase Academy led by goals from tournament Most Valuable Player Isaiah Reddy and an own goal (Amil Cosbert) carted off the 3rd Annual Nestle Milo Under-20 Schools Football Competition which concluded yesterday before a capacity crowd, at the Ministry of Education ground on Carifesta Avenue. Touted as favourites to win the final with their starstudded lineup, Chase Academy proved the superior team from the first whistle and romped to a 2-1 win over a Dolphin team that matched them technically, but were inferior tactically. Reddy netted in the 15th minute, while Cosbert’s indiscretion occurred in the 70th.On target for Dolphin was Aleim Murray, who netted in the 85th minute of play. In the playoff for third place, last year’s champion Lodge edged Morgan’s Learning Centre 2-1 through a goal apiece off the boots of Kevin Boters and Ryan Hackett, who netted in the 15th and 57th minutes, while Vermont Munroe had given Morgan Learning Centre the lead after eight minutes. In the final, Chase Academy clinched $500,000 towards a project of their choice and the championship trophy,

-Lodge finishes third

Tournament Most Valuable Player Isaiah Reddy of Chase Academy received his trophy from a Ministry of Education official yesterday. while Dolphin took away $300,000 for a similar plan of their choice. Played before a capacity crowd that included Nestle Brand Manager Renita Sital, Chief Education Officer Olato Sam, Guyana Football Federation Technical Director Claude Bolton, Georgetown Football Association President (Acting) Lavern Fraser

and officials of Petra Organisation Troy Mrendonca and Marlan Cole, Chase Academy took the lead when Reddy raced on to a clinical pass from centrefield and fired a shot past the advancing goalkeeper. Dolphin’s Leon Richardson almost gained the equaliser in the 27th minute, but his header was deflected

off the onrushing keeper Amoniki Forde into touch. Reddy was also guilty of squandering a chance when with only the goalkeeper to beat cracked a fierce rightfooter over the crossbar much to the dismay of teammates and supporters. The second goal continued to evade Chase Academy in the first half as Reddy’s

powerful header sailed wide of the mark. Dolphin were then given a helping hand four minutes into the second period as Chase Academy’s centre half Jeremy Garrett was shown a straight red card for violent conduct on an opposing player. Despite their obvious disadvantage, Chase continued to dominate proceedings

and eventually doubled their lead under fortuitous circumstances when Cosbert in an effort to play back to his keeper sprayed it out of his grasp and into the goal. With their title ambitions ticking away, Dolphin eventually cut the deficit fifteen minutes before regulation time through Murray whose powerful header landed into the top right hand corner, after receiving a cross from the left flank. The goal led to the expulsion of two players as Ozeal Small of Chase Academy and Joseph McKenzie of Dolphin were shown red cards for using abusive language towards each other. Forced to contest the remaining minutes with nine men, Chase Academy suffered further indignation when Job Caesar was sent off in the 90th minute for utilizing excessive force on his marker. Nevertheless, Chase Academy held on in the remaining minutes of added time to seal their first major championship. Clinching the tourney’s top scorer award with 11 goals was Kelsey Benjamin of Queenstown, while Chase Academy’s Vurlon Mills received the Best Coach award. Queenstown was voted the Most Disciplined team.