Kaieteur News

Online readership yesterday 88,619 April 18, 2012 - Vol. 5 No. 16 Price $80

Online: www.kaieteurnews.com Guyana’s largest selling daily & New York’s most popular weekly

Budget debate...

US$15M thrown on Pg. 6

chopping block Truck driver battered to death Pg. 3

A detective dusts the truck Jadesh Dass (inset) was driving, for fingerprints

Chinese telecoms giant Canadian identifiesPg. 14 submits bid to install CANU rank as person Pg. 11 fibre optic cable who beat, robbed him CJIA's US$150M expansion…

Govt. eyes Indonesia, Singapore South and West African markets Pg. 11

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Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Mother, son 'fight-off' armed home invader The strength of a son, a mother's protective instinct and quick response by ranks of the Police Force, landed an early-morning home invader in custody.

Yesterday, around 08:05 hrs, a man armed with a cutlass invaded a Grove Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara residence, but did n o t s u c c e e d i n

accomplishing his motive.

A struggle with the occupants forced the man to flee the scene. The perpetrator, who allegedly tried to escape into the

- Suspect apprehended canefields aback of the area, was intercepted by ranks.

The homeowner, Gangadai Imrit, her son, Mario Imrit, and the attacker were taken to the East Bank Regional Hospital, Diamond. The mother and son sustained injuries to their hands, while the injuries sustained by the culprit were not disclosed.

According to Mrs. Imrit, she was washing clothes in her backyard, unaware that the assailant had passed behind her silently and gained access to her home via the backdoor.

She was only alerted of the intruder when her son, who works as a bouncer at a popular night club on Main Street, shouted “What you doing in here?”

Instinctively, the woman ran to her son's aid, only to find him struggling with the perpetrator.

“I grabbed our cutlass and go help my son…I see he (Mario) hold onto the cutlass with one hand and hold onto the man with another…then I come and the man hold onto my cutlass and the three ah we struggling,” Mrs. Imrit said.

The struggle between the trio ended in the yard, with neither party wanting to let go of their weapon.

Eventually, the culprit managed to break loose and escape with little difficulty since the yard is not fenced.

Alerted neighbours called the police who responded promptly. Given the description of the attacker, the police patrol went in search of him.

Finding him was not a problem as they had passed

Mario Imrit

Gangadai Imrit him on the roadway while heading to the Imrit's residence. According to an eyewitness, when the police questioned the culprit he presented himself as a 16year-old. This was rejected by a rank, who pointed out that many years ago the perpetrator was placed at the boys' school at age 13.

The eyewitness added that an attempt by the culprit to mislead the police as to where he resides also failed.

The man reportedly lives in Diamond Housing Scheme, not too far from where the incident occurred.

The residents complained that the crime situation in the Diamond and Grove Housing Schemes is unbearable. Though crimes occur at nights, it is more prevalent during the day, they noted.

It was opined that this may be because many persons work during the day and many housewives are vulnerable at home.

“These young boys just walking around 'eyeing-up' houses and pouncing on them…they even taking off people zinc sheets, windows and toilet bowls,” a resident stressed.

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Truck driver battered to death

Police on the East Coast of Demerara have their work cut out trying to determine who killed 31-year-old truck driver, Jadesh Dass called ‘Baby-o’, of Chelsea Park, Mahaica, whose body was discovered with its skull bashed in, early yesterday morning.

Dass’ body was found around 02:00hrs by his relatives and colleagues, a few feet from where he had parked the truck he was driving on the Unity, Mahaica New Road.

From all appearances, Dass, who was on his way to the sandpits, was forced to stop his truck on the dark and lonely thoroughfare by his killers, who then bludgeoned him before dumping his body on the nearby parapet close to the trench that runs parallel to the road.

Such was the brutality of the attack on Dass that pieces of his skull were left at the spot where his body was lying.

Investigators have almost ruled out robbery as a motive since the cash that Dass was carrying was still intact. They however detained one of Dass’ neighbours for questioning, after reports surfaced that the truck driver

was involved in a relationship with his wife.

“Is all kinda things we hearing,” said a relative, who confirmed that the police had detained the man who had previously employed Dass.

The owner of the truck that Dass was driving, Nandkumar Gopaul, was also detained for questioning.

Gopaul, before his arrest, had told this newspaper at the scene of the murder that Dass, who had been working for him since the beginning of the year, picked up the vehicle around 01:00h, as per normal.

He was normally the first of Gopaul’s drivers to leave for the sandpits of the Linden/Soesdyke Highway.

The truck owner said that Dass informed his other colleagues that he was going ahead of them and they said that they would follow in another truck.

According to Gopaul, the other truck driver, while travelling along the Mahaica New Road, several minutes after Dass had left, noticed the now dead man’s truck parked in a dark section of the road, with the hazard lights on.

At first, the other driver thought that Dass had been tending to a call of nature in

Dead: Jadesh Dass the nearby bushes and he stopped to ensure that that was the case. However, after calling out for Dass and getting no answer, he became suspicious and decided to check the area around the truck.

His suspicions were further aroused when he noticed Dass’ cellular phone on the road, but there was still no sign of him.

“When he (other driver) pick up de cell phone he say ‘dis nah look right’ and he jump in back he truck and he turn back and he call me. Me next driver de coming down so I tell dem go at de scene

Imam sex case…

Lawyers representing the embattled Muslim cleric who is before the court on sexual molestation charges are preparing to file a motion in the High Court challenging the charges.

Yesterday, the Imam, Neezam Ali, made yet another appearance at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court. He is currently on bail, having been charged with five counts of sexual penetration of two boys below the age of 12. The acts were allegedly committed while he was in a position of trust, being a religious teacher, and knew or could be reasonably expected to have known of the trust in relation to the boys.

The request by one of the

man’s lawyers for the matter to be put down was granted and the accused will return to court on April 24.

The lawyer, Vic Puran, told this publication that he will be moving to the High Court to challenge the constitutionality of the Sexual Offences Act. He explained that a person is not permitted to lead a defence at a Preliminary Inquiry under the Act, and added that the charge is in breach of the Fair Trial Principle under the Constitution.

A mini health check is the first step to donating blood

According to Puran, the motion was not filed in the High Court as yet because the case docket for the matter was not readily available to them.

Initially, the Imam, who headed the Turkeyen Masjid, was charged with sexual penetration of three boys all below the age of 12. He was remanded, but subsequently granted bail. In early January, the matter was made public after an anonymous tip was given to the Child Protection Agency. Charges were later instituted.

Relatives stare at the spot where Dass’ body was discovered and wait deh, me ah come.

When me come, me check and me see he,” the truck owner related. The dead man’s relatives had also been alerted, and they arrived with his colleagues. The truck owner immediately informed the police at the Mahaica Police Station.

Gopaul said that he found it strange that Dass would stop at such a lonely spot an observation also made by some of his colleagues.

“Got to be like somebody drive up in front ah he.

Because if me ah drive a vehicle pon a long road like dis and time like dat, me nah guh stop normal and pick up somebody. De truck hazard been on, so it got to be something mek he put on de hazard,” Gopaul reasoned.

“Dat man nah guh stop so. Even if he puncture and deh pon de road, he would pass and call somebody, he nah guh stop,” another driver said.

This is also the view of a

relative who told this newspaper that Dass must have known his killer for him to stop his truck where he did.

“Is a very lonely area, with no light. Dey did not attack him in the truck. He come out and like he put up a fight,” the relative said.

“His phone was there on the road, his wallet was still in his pocket and he had $20,000 in the truck,” the relative added.

Relatives and friends of the dead man believe that he was attacked by more than one person.

The victim’s mother, Sookranie Dass, told this newspaper that her son left home around 12:55hrs, riding his bicycle to pick up the truck.

An hour later she was awakened by persons calling at her gate.

The callers were Dass’s truck-driving colleagues who informed his relatives that they were not finding him where his truck was parked.

The woman said that she and other family members went to the scene where Dass’ body was subsequently found.

“When we go, we call and search, search and den we find he,” Sookranie Dass recalled.

For the elderly woman, her son’s death is another crushing blow, as she has had to bury her husband and daughter-in-law within the past three years.

Dass’ wife, she said, passed away two years ago.

Apart from the two men in custody, detectives are questioning a few other employees of the trucking service as they try to determine the facts surrounding the brutal slaying.

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Kaieteur News

KAIETEUR NEWS Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana.

Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: ADAM HARRIS Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491 Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

Editorial

Labour Silence

In the ongoing debate in parliament, the voice of labour has been surprisingly muted. Surprising because we are still a country with an underdeveloped economic base in which the lot of workers is quite precarious in the face of globalisation forces.

What exactly are the ground rules as we join Africa in opening up our primary resources to the rising East? Why aren’t the unions placing some pressures on the politicians – from both sides of the aisle?

Most of our early politicians came out of the trade union movement and the nexus between the two sets of institutions for long remained intimate and strong. Not any longer, if we are to go by increasing rapid developments in the last decade.

Trade unions, even those traditionally close to the present government, now appear estranged from the decision-making process – even as it concerns matters directly affecting the livelihood of workers. Union leaders should therefore adapt their organisations to the new challenges if they are to regain effectiveness in securing the rights of labour.

Our plantation economy was a harbinger of the industrial revolution that severed the spatial identity between the place of production and consumption – factories and consumers.

Costs of moving goods, people, and ideas fell rapidly – especially for goods. Steamships and railroads allowed things to be profitably made far from where they were consumed.

The first (steam) and second (chemical/electric) industrial revolutions fostered and were fostered by the first severing.

These revolutions also increased the demands made on labour as the profit motive drove what became known as the “capitalist” mode of production.

Trade union agitation led to the formation of the “welfare” state in which there was minimum protection for the basic needs of the workers. As a poor colonial and post-colonial state, our safety-net was never that secure to begin with, but the ideal was established.

But Pandora’s Box had been irrevocably thrown open: the severing of production and consumption inexorably continued. Costs of moving goods, people, and ideas continued to plummet – now especially for ideas. Cheap and reliable telecommunications made it profitable to organise complex manufacturing tasks in far-flung localities that previously required physical proximity.

Late in the 20th century, factories were unbundled. Supply chains were internationalised and this wave of globalisation was unleashed. Today’s factories don’t make things, they make bits and pieces that are assembled somewhere and sold somewhere else.

Globalisation began operating at a higher resolution.

Instead of harming or helping the fortunes of a firm as a whole, it could reach right into the factory and help or harm a particular production stage, a particular department, or even a particular job.

There are three aspects of this qualitatively new world that globalisation has produced, which trade unions should factor in to prevent the hard-earned rights of workers from being completely eroded.

Firstly, the winners and losers from globalisation are much harder to predict. By their very nature, lower trade costs for goods tend to affect all traded goods in roughly similar ways, and this is why one could tell which sectors would win from further trade cost cuts. When the main barrier is the cost of exchanging information across distance (trading ideas), it is difficult to identify winning and losing tasks.

Secondly, is the suddenness of changes that can be unleashed as multinational firms constantly manoeuvre to maximise their profits. There are no loyalties to nations and nationalities, and production will be switched to other locations at the drop of a hat – even in a commodity like bauxite.

Finally, the old notion of a business being a self-contained unit and the trade union tactic of dealing with an “industry” is over. This globalisation has brought its gaze within individual factories, and competition will increasingly play itself at the level of tasks within firms.

Trade unions will have to adjust both their organisation and operations to this new paradigm: protesting to counterbalance the market power of firms and stabilising the vagaries of manufacturing employment are no longer enough.

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Letters... Where your views make the news

The Home Affairs Minister has overstepped his bounds DEAR EDITOR, I refer to the caption hereunder ‘The oligarchy and bureaucratic officials:- The Chief Justice, Commissioner of Police, Commissioner General-GRA, Home Secretary and Cabinet Secretary — Chief-of-Staff G.D.F. et-al The above represent some of the people who are supposed to be accountable to the public with the Courts jealously guarding their independence and more importantly their supposed civil liberties. “Society’s consent is essential for laws to be seen as ‘JUST—. Public support is the oxygen of the criminal justice system. The importance of social accountability outweighs legal accountability.

The dangers of not treating victims better than at present can be seen in the increased public awareness of a Justice system that leaves victims emotionally bruised.

Substantive justice should depend on a fair process and a fair outcome.

A fair process means more than the objective and neutral application of rules. It also implies the moral obligation.

Take the case of the

Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur. An informed analysis of the tax collections should extend beyond numerical composition of the direct and indirect taxes garnered by the GRA. The analysis should examine the composition of the taxes collected by Revenue type, sectors, regions and classes of taxpayers.

The disparity where a person receiving $10 million dividend, pays no tax while on the other hand an employee earning 090,000 per month pays $240,000 per year is appalling. Self-employed taxpayers of the country pay a mere two per cent of the total income and corporation taxes collected by the GRA. Most Chinese entities claim not to make $10 million so they do not pay VAT. Tax administration requires better governance, accountability and transparency so instead of playing a politician and writing who will or shall benefit from decrease VAT and increase threshold.

The Commissioner ought to look at the inequities and inherently repressive and unfair Tax system in the Caribbean and Latin America.

The Minister of Home Affairs seems to have conferred on himself unlimited eroticized bureaucratic powers. The Minister is neither a Court nor Tribunal prescribed by law.

Article 144 of the Constitution is concerned with the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms.

The “Minister” to whom a discretion is conferred by statute must act reasonably in good faith and upon proper grounds.

In other words, a Minister does not have an unfettered discretion. The Minister has misconstrued his powers under Chapter 16:01. The Commissioner’s office is Constitutional but as he retires at 55 it becomes unconstitutionally, he is then in a master-servant relationship at the behest of the Executive (Mr. Luncheon should note).

If the Minister feels Ramnarine, Assistant Commissioner, a Public officer has transgressed a procedural propriety he has to comply with Articles 40(1)(a) and 144(8). The Minister writing the Acting Commissioner is flawed,

vitiated in law, on the ground of bias and a nullity and an abuse of process.

1) Any Standing Order can be amended by the Commissioner. They are rules and/or governing procedures or guidelines. They are not laws (statute).

2) One cannot give an illegal order to a law enforcement official to an act of corruption, abuse of authority. Under Article 7 Ref. Code of conduct for law enforcement officials UN General Assembly Resolution 34/169 of 17th December,1979.

3) The “Police Welfare Fund” is an “In-house” organization fund with deductions from officers and other ranks via compulsory salary deductions. There is a Central Welfare Committee.

The Minister of Home Affairs has no control, nor, does the Finance Minister or Auditor General. The finance officer and Deputy Commissioner Administration; Welfare Officer controls this Fund.

4) The fact is Assistant Commissioner Ramnarine, received a Welfare Cheque (NBIC) he had a right under Article 40(1) to disclose a Continued on page 5

DEAR SIR, The jurisprudential profundity of the decision of the Honourable Chief Justice, Mr. Ian Chang, in the Henry Greene application appears to have been totally lost to his detractors.

The fundamental issue which, in my humble opinion, confronted the Chief Justice was never whether Henry Greene could have received a fair trial within the criminal justice process but rather whether, in protection of the integrity of the criminal justice process, he should be charged on the basis of the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions which the Court found to be have been infected with irrationality and illegality.

Within the context of an abuse of process application, the issue would have been not whether a fair trial could have been held, but rather whether it would have been fair for Henry Greene to face trial on the basis of the flawed advice - “fairness to try” rather than “fair trial”.

This is precisely why Justice Chang was at pains to explain that the fact that a fair trial can be held does not per se prohibit the Court from

entertaining the the application and/or granting the reliefs sought, but that such a fact ( that a fair trial could be held ) provokes judicial restraint.

All that the Chief Justice did was to act in protection of the integrity of the criminal justice process lest it be abused by criminal proceedings instituted on the flawed advice of the D.P.P. Respectfully, he did not act in protection of Henry Greene since he never barred his prosecution for any offence but rather acted in protection of the integrity of

the criminal justice process.

He never said that Henry Greene should not be charged but rather said that he should not be charged on the flawed advice of the D.P.P. He particularly stated that the Court cannot ex post facto lend itself to such irrationality and illegality by not granting the relief sought.

The focal point of the decision of the Chief Justice was the way the D.P.P. exercised her public law power and not whether or not Greene should be charged. It was a public interest

application and a public interest decision.

Lawyers, most of all, should appreciate the above legal distinction and not have their legal eyes clouded by ad hominen and collateral moral and social considerations. Some social commentators, despite their vaunted and misguided claim to legal analytical competence, can be readily excused.

Lawyers, like Dana Seetahal, are invited to have a second look at the decision.

Robin Hunte Attorney-at-Law

The question is - fairness to try or fair trial for Henry Greene

Youth absent from tourism conference DEAR EDITOR, Stabroek News’ article: “Absence of local, youth participants raises eyebrows at Tourism Conference” by Marcelle Thomas serves to underscore the sometimes deliberate isolation/ omission of our youths from the Region’s developmental process by planners.

More often than not these planners’ agendas are conditioned by available resources, or lack thereof, or whose vision regarding succession planning and future leadership synchronizes with the idea that certain initiatives, national/regional in nature, are the restricted domain of “the regular bunch”.

I wish to urge that youth development be seen as a non-optional investment by regional governments and deputed agencies

responsible for promoting certain programmes.

“Local economic constraints” will always exist, but the achievement and perpetuation of loc a l a n d r e g i o n a l l o n g - t e r m programmes necessarily depends on our youths, and it should never be too early or too expensive to provide them with the exposure and training if they are to indeed be our future leaders.

Of course, some will fall through the cracks. But that is today’s reality, as it had been yesterday’s and will be tomorrow’s.

Youth involvement and development need to be seen as an investment, not a cost. And investments imply risks. Consciously and carefully handled, the risks can be minimized.

T. Jadunauth

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Kaieteur News

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

A closer look at Ramotar failure to dismiss Greene - is there too much at stake? the Marriott project DEAR EDITOR, A great deal of discussion has already taken place in the media on the merits of the proposed Atlantic Hotel Inc. (AHI). I offer brief comments on somewhat neglected areas only. There have been no feasibility studies.

The occupancy rates in the hotel plants in Guyana (particularly Georgetown) are low partly because too much additional capacity was created for Cricket World Cup a few years ago.

The initiative and drive for the 197-room five star hotel has therefore come from the Government of Guyana, rather than private hoteliers.

The decision would conceivably have been based not so much on positive direct benefits and a reasonable rate of private return, but rather on potential indirect socio-economic benefits.

These could include employment creation at the construction and operations stage (provided the foreign/ local labour ratio is not too high); linkages creation with the construction materials, food, recreational and other services industries; higher hotel standards setting (including new products like ‘convention tourism’);

and other external economies. However, the Government has not seriously sought to justify the project in these terms and a feasibility study, supposedly done by an American firm on behalf of the Government, has not been made public.

Rather, a strongly held view is that one of the main reasons for the venture is the government’s desire to dent the fortunes of the country’s current premier hotel whose owner (Badal) had fallen out of favour with ex President Jagdeo and his friends who were outbidded a few years ago by Badal in a previous hotel deal.

Other areas in need of attention are: Unsatisfactory Finance and Contractor Arrangements and Operation and Management and Management Arrangements Finally, although the Government made available some agreements and contracts, it has yet to make available the Management Contract that will be made with Marriott.

The fees charged will be another important determinant of the project’s financial outcome. It is traditional for there to be both a base fee and an incentive fee.

Carl Greenidge

The Home Affairs Minister...

From page 4 fraud is being or has been committed. a) The Minister, during the November 2011 Elections in one of his many transgressions when Kwame McCoy went to a Polling Station intimidating the officials was heard on the “Police Network” to say “[anyone who arrest Kwame McCoy would be dealt with and answerable to him the Minister]” b) Recently, on the Police Communication Network he called on Ranks on mobile patrol to report their position, when they refused a Senior Superintendent intervened calling on the ranks to respond. c) The Home Affairs Minister has occupied a number of Police buildings

around Police Headquarters to a point where he occupied one of the Senior Officers’ Quarters depriving them, the Senior Officers, of their constitutional rights to privacy.

Assistant Commissioner Ramnarine, is right. “Hands on” has seen Usurpation by this Minister to the point of gross “interference”.

President Donald Ramotar needs to reign in the Minister of Home Affairs who has exceeded his mandate.

He is a “Creature” of the President. His wild antics are affecting the morale of officers and ranks of the Guyana Police Force. He should resign like his embattled Comrade (Mr. Commissioner on leave).

Alfred Johnson Ex Police NCO 8753

DEAR EDITOR, This fanfare is due to the “pussy-footing” of Mr. Clement Rohee, Home Affairs Minister, and President Donald Ramotar (two seeds in the same pod) to remove Greene, immediately after the incident, pending a thorough investigation.

After the haggling, Jamaican police EXPERTS were brought in - at a high cost to the Guyanese taxpayers. How silly can they get? Another exposure of gross incompetence and mismanagement.

The issue that is bothering every descent Guyanese - in Guyana and abroad - is the inability of the PPP regime to act swiftly to dismiss Mr Greene, which will happen at the end of all this palaver. But why the delay?

Most people will conclude - that this fellow, Greene, must have been so important to elements of the Jagdeo regime, that there cannot be a straightforward action. Most of us expect a “big fallout” at the end of this episode and some of us cannot wait for it to happen.

Most agree that there is more than “meets the eye.”

I sat in a building next to the City Hall compound last Christmas with some high ranking former police officers and intelligence service gentlemen discussing the illfated Commissioner of Police and at the end of the two-hour long discussion. I can write a book about the level of corruption and immorality that went on under the infamous “Guardian of the Public”.

It was disclosed during the - sometimes hilarious and somewhat disorderly “Guyanese-style gaff” - that the Commissioner’s long career as a policeman, many women had to face the gauntlet. Few, they said, escaped his net.

I was astonished to hear what was related to those of us in that room. These encounters must be regarded as wanton abuse of power and authority, which went on under the 20 years rule of the PPP, a lot of it, I was told happened under the PNC regime also.

Anyone who is doing an objective study of the misrule under the 28 years of the PNC and 20 years of the PPP, would possibly find more evil things that unites the two parties (like general misrule, mismanagement, corruption, immorality and terror) - and less good that they have in common.

The growing discontent among Guyanese is one of “clearing out the stable” of old and corrupt politics and politicians and the ushering in of an anti-Stalinist style of political culture - far removed from the old-style political parties.

Anyone who has had any experience in the Courts and the legal profession in Guyana will confirm that the entire legal system is wholly inefficient, highly corrupt and grossly immoral. Justice cannot be dispensed in a Judicial system, where there has been historical and overt political interference.

This “legalised and inherent” corruption of our laws and our legal system is rooted in a backward political culture introduced by the Burnham regime, in conspiracy with the PPP - hence “Critical Support” by the Jagan PPP and those who are officially “officers of the Court”.

By comparison, I have had the privilege of engaging in the British legal system by virtue of living in the UK and found a level of competence among a large section of its members in the British legal system.

I must also confess that when compared to our legal and judicial system, one must conclude that we are rated among the lowest on the scale of one to ten. For the ordinary Guyanese - justice is a Commodity - like any other commodity - that is bought and sold to the highest bidder. Justice, relatively speaking, went through the door following the Independence of Guyana and the dictatorial rule of Burnham.

Who is expecting our

National Assembly (our Parliament) to pass laws to curb the excesses of members of the Legal profession, our magistrates, Judges, police officers, prison officers and the lot?

After-all, our magistrates and Judges come from the legal profession - who largely foster corruption and immorality in the daily practice of their profession. How can they change? There is no special training for them before they are elevated to such a high offices - is there?

In the case of the Director of Public Prosecution, Mrs Shalimar Ali-Hack, one cannot help but single her out also among those that I have just criticized above. She has long lost her credibility, not only as a supposedly leading jurist in our Judicial system but in her own Muslim community.

Her alleged interference in an “on-going” police investigation into accusation of rape by a Muslim cleric, added to claims of “bribery and corruption”.

Her husband, Sheik Moenool Hack, the Spiritual Head of the Council for Islamic Organisations In Guyana (CIOG) that employed the Islamic teacher, continue their campaign against the mother of the alleged victims.

During the last General

elections, Mr. Donald Ramotar (now Guyana’s minority President) and the infamous Jagdeo, paid a high-profile visit to the “Saheed Orphanage” run by the CIOG. The Jury is still out against the so-called Muslims leaders of Guyana, particularly the Council of Islamic Organisations of Guyana (GIOG).

They have failed to defend Muslims in Guyana against wide-spread discrimination and, in particular, open support to those in the Middle East and Palestine, who are being killed every day by anti-Islamic forces - loyal to the Kings of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and their backers in the United States of America other such reactionary and decadent regimes.

Two radical things must happen for major changes to take place (1). we need to Draft relevant Bills - with the full consultation of the masses of ordinary people - with a castiron guarantee - that our Combined Opposition parliamentarians will pass them.

(2). Failure to make our MP’s accountable - nonviolent actions must be taken - the SUREST way to bring real JUSTICE and EQUALITY. JINNAH RAHMAN

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Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Budget debate…

US$15M thrown on chopping block …Granger declares Budget will be re-tailored to reflect will of the people

By Gary Eleazar The Leaders of the Combined Parliamentary Opposition made their intentions clear yesterday as the presentations to the 2012 Budget debates came to an end by sending an unwavering message that it will be altered and tailored to reflect the will of the people at the recently concluded General and Regional Elections.

Today, the House will dissolve itself into the Standing Committee of Supply, where each allocation will be addressed specifically by the Members of Parliament, at which time various amendments can and seemingly will be made.

Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition, Brigadier (retd.) David Granger, in his maiden presentation to a Budget Debate, declared that March 30, 2012, represented the end of an era.

The date that Granger referred to was the occasion of the presentation of the 2012 Budget by Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh.

Granger declared that the time has come to an end where “we witnessed the attempt of a minority to craft a budget on its own and impose it on a majority…this

is the last time we will see an attempt to introduce a budget not in consonance with the public will.”

Even as Granger addressed the areas where the budget needs to have a greater focus, the Alliance For Change (AFC) Chairman, Khemraj Ramjattan, called for accurate reflections on the nation’s finances and drew reference to bank accounts with monies held by NICIL, GGMC and GFC, among others, for which he said that billions are not reflected in the budget. $3B (US$15M) ON CHOPPING BLOCK Had there been any apprehension that the opposition, come today, will not seek to slash sections of the Budget, Ramjattan submitted for consideration slashes in the form of a motion to the tune of some $3B (US$15M).

Ramjattan has put up for the chopping block allocations to the Ministries of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Housing and Water, and Culture, Youth and Sport.

The cuts alluded to by Ramjattan, point to Contracted Employees at the Tourism Ministry, the Bureau of Standards, International Conference Centre, Central Housing & Planning

Opposition Leader David Granger

AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan

The late Forbes Burnham

The late Dr. Cheddi Jagan

Authority and the National Sports Commission, among others.

The AFC Leader in his presentation, reminded his colleagues of the words of the late Cheddi Jagan in his 1979 presentation to the budget debates, where he said that, “if you examine the structure of the Budget, step by step, sector by sector, we can find the money to pay the workers.”

Ramjattan said 2012 is a reflection of the time where the founder leader of the ruling administration, while in opposition, had charged that the then PNCR Government should not spend on ‘fanciful’ projects at the expense of the people.

He said that this is a reflection of the same position Guyana was in when the late Dr. Jagan made the argument, and Ramjattan identified as fanciful projects this time around, the proposed Georgetown Marriott Hotel and Amaila Falls HydroElectric Project, among others.

“We see things in this budget that the AFC can

support, but on a number of things we will be deemed unprincipled if we don’t ask for reviews, changes and alterations.”

He was also vehement in his call, to have all of the nation’s finances properly accounted for, saying that with prudent management, the money can be found to pay the pensioners and workers an increase.

Ramjattan said, “We have to learn to live within our means”. He charged that there are a number of cases of duplication in Government work, and added that should these duplications be eradicated, then the money will be located to pay the increases for the masses of Guyanese people.

“It is important that we manage our finances better, even after bloated bureaucracy.”

BILLIONS LEFT OUT OF BUDGET This, the 19-year veteran parliamentarian said, can only be achieved if all of the country’s finances are in the Consolidated Fund.

He said that when the nation believes that it can only afford $192.8B to disperse it may not accurately reflect “what is the actual amount.”

Ramjattan was speaking to the billions held in special accounts by entities such as the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission. To bring home his point of monies being had

outside of the Consolidated Fund, which according to him should have parliamentary scrutiny for the benefit of the people, Ramjattan drew reference to the recent sale of the GT&T shares previously owned by the Government to Datang Telecoms for US$30M. This, he said, is money not being reflected in the 2012 budget, “We have this kind of management of our finances….Money is not reflected in the Consolidated Fund but will be reflected in NICIL Fund.”

He said NICIL sold lands to GBTI to build “that beautiful bank…but we don’t have the money.”

Ramjattan formally requested in writing, that the Minister provide an account of all the monies held in the accounts of NICIL, GGMC and the Guyana Forestry Commission, among other entities.

“That’s when we are going to know if we have more or don’t have to pay the pensioners.”

Ramjattan’s indication of a call for all the monies to be accounted for and to be reflected in the Consolidated Fund coupled with the cuts, seemed to go hand in hand with the calls of the Leader of the Opposition, Granger, to prioritise its spending.

GUYANESE TODAY DON’T KNOW BURNHAM OR CHEDDI Granger in his impassioned presentation, devoid of heckling at the insistence of the Speaker,

Raphael Trotman, told the House that given the shortcomings of the 2012 Budget, the Opposition will be pushing to have a Budget Committee established so that future expenditure will not be prepared with stakeholder exclusion.

He said that the preparation of the Budget must be a yearly cycle, as against an isolated document prepared by the Finance Minister.

Granger warned the Government that the management of public finances “is our most important annual activity and must not be left for one side of the House.”

The Opposition Leader plugged the point, that as the legislators address the issue of managing the nation’s finances, “The eyes and ears of the nation are open and the people want to know what the Budget has for them.”

Granger warned the House that a Budget is a financial plan and not a review of what happened in 1960s or 1970s or 1980s “or who is better at this or that”.

The first time Parliamentarian told the House that there are those that have become obsessed with the past “but they must realize that the budget is a plan for the future…people want to know what will happen tomorrow.”

“The majority of Guyanese today don’t know who is Burnham or Cheddi….they want to know (Continued on page 14)

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Kaieteur News

Nigerian ex-state governor jailed over US$250M fraud A former Nigerian state governor was jailed by a British court for 13 years yesterday for his part in a US$250 million fraud of state funds.

James Ibori, 49, who was governor of Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta State between 1999 and 2007, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court in London. Scotland Yard says that during his two terms as governor, Ibori “systematically stole funds from the public purse, secreting them in bank accounts across the world.”

In February, Ibori pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder money, five of money laundering and one of obtaining a property transfer by deception.

He also admitted conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to make false instruments, and one count of money laundering linked to

James Ibori a $37-million share fraud surrounding the sale of shares in Nigerian company V Mobile.

Ibori “deliberately and systematically defrauded the people whose interests he had been elected to represent,” said Sue Patten, head of Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service central

fraud group.

Global rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement that Ibori’s conviction was “a landmark in the global fight against corruption.”

“The world has just got smaller for government officials who believe they can loot their country’s resources with impunity,” said Daniel Bekele, HRW Africa director.

“By prosecuting Ibori, the UK authorities have struck a blow not only against financial crimes at home, but also against impunity for corruption around the globe,” he said in the statement.

Britain’s International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said corruption was a “cancer” in the developing world and the sentence sent a strong message to people eyeing Britain “as a refuge for their crimes”. (AFP)

UN sees need for more Syria observers, aircraft BEIRUT (Reuters) - A United Nations mission to oversee an end to violence in Syria may need to bring in its own aircraft and deploy more troops to ensure that a firm ceasefire takes hold throughout the country, U.N. Secretary General Ban Kimoon said yesterday.

A six-day-old truce has held in some parts of Syria since President Bashar alAssad pledged to enforce it last week. But in strong opposition areas such as Homs, Hama, Idlib and Deraa the army continues to attack and battle rebels, using heavy weapons in violation of the pledge by Damascus to pull back.

After negotiations led by former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan acting as envoy of the United Nations and Arab League, Assad’s government has agreed to allow a small U.N. force to monitor the ceasefire.

But the planned 250strong mission is a fraction of the size of U.N. peacekeeping forces sent to other conflicts,

raising doubt among Assad’s opponents about whether it can be effective or will serve as a figleaf substitute for more robust action.

Annan delivered a status report to Arab League ministers, who called on Assad to let the U.N. observers do their job.

“We fully support Mr Annan and his six-point plan, but sadly, the killing still goes on,” Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim bin Jabr al-Thani told reporters after the meeting. “We are fearful that the regime is playing for time. We expressed this to Mr Annan.”

U.N. Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon Ban said the ceasefire was being “generally observed” although there was still violence. But the 250 observers would be “not enough considering the current situation and the vastness of the country”.

Page 7

Stung by gas prices, Obama seeks new oil market crackdown WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama, whose political fortunes are threatened by rising gasoline prices, proposed new measures yesterday to reduce oil market manipulation that are unlikely to get support from a divided Congress.

Obama called on lawmakers to raise civil and criminal penalties on individuals and companies involved in manipulative practices.

He also pressed for more money to fund the agency charged with policing the markets to hire “more cops” for oversight and upgrade old technology.

“We can’t afford a situation where speculators

artificially manipulate markets by buying up oil, creating the perception of a shortage, and driving prices higher, only to flip the oil for a quick profit,” Obama said in the White

House Rose Garden.

“We should strengthen protections for American consumers, not gut them,” he said. Republicans, who blame Obama’s energy policies for high gasoline prices, called the effort a political gimmick, and said the new measures would not help Americans struggling with high gasoline prices.

“It probably polls pretty well, but I guarantee it won’t do a thing to lower prices at the pump,” said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. “The president has all the tools available to him if he believes the oil market is being manipulated,” said John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives.

Home Secretary (interior minister) Theresa May said yesterday assurances she had received from Jordan about the way Qatada’s trial would be conducted meant Britain could proceed with his deportation, sure that he would get a fair trial.

“British courts have found that Abu Qatada is a dangerous man. He is a risk to our national security and he should be deported to Jordan,” May told parliament.

“I believe the assurances and the information we have gathered will mean we can soon put Qatada on a plane

and get him out of our country for good.”

Under the deal struck with Jordan, May said, Qatada would be tried by a court used to hearing criminal cases and not a quasi-military body, the case would be heard in public with civilian judges, and his conviction in absentia would be quashed.

Jordanian Justice Minister Ibrahim al-Jazi confirmed this, telling Reuters in Amman “If Mr Abu Qatada is deported to Jordan he will face a full trial and this trial will be before a civilian panel at the state security court.

Barack Obama

Britain says will deport radical cleric Abu Qatada

LONDON (Reuters) Britain re-arrested a radical cleric once described as Osama bin Laden’s “righthand man in Europe” and said yesterday it would resume plans to deport him to Jordan, where he has been convicted in his absence of involvement in terrorist plots.

Jordanian preacher Abu Qatada had been under virtual house arrest at his family home in London since February, when he was freed from a British prison after a court said his detention without trial was unlawful.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in January that Qatada would not receive a fair trial in Jordan because evidence against him might have been obtained through the use of torture.

Page 8

Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Govt. minister says CSME suffers Argentina plans inside from lack of total agreement look at YPF’s value PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - CMC - A senior Trinidad and Tobago government minister yesterday said a lack of agreement on key issues is preventing the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy (CSME) from functioning effectively.

The CSME allows for the free movement of goods, skills, labour and skills across the 15-member regional bloc, but Works and Infrastructure Minister Austin “Jack” Warner said that one of the stumbling blocks is the lack of agreement on who qualifies for the benefits.

“For professional service within the context of the CARICOM Single Market and there is need…to have a common definition of what is a professional services so that all can be clear as to are covered by the policy,” he told the launch of a local registry for professionals.

“There is also no common policy on the requirement and

Austin ‘Jack’ Warner procedures for registration and licensing of professionals,” he said, noting that “at present some member states have p o l i c y a n d regulatory framework for the commission of professional services while others do not.

“In other words I am saying there is no commonality among member states,” Warner said, adding that until this is rectified the

CSME cannot be considered a success.

Warner said as a result “what you have therefore is fragmentation” adding “what you also have is the coexistence of both regulated and non regulated market for professional services within a single space and that I am suggesting compromises the effectiveness of the single space for professional services”.

In his address Warner encouraged professionals to register with the local registry noting that it can have advantages for businesses as well as for those seeking services.

Regional governments say the CSME is intended to benefit the people of the Caribbean by providing more and better opportunities to produce and sell their goods and services and to attract investment. It is intended to create one large market among the participating member states.

Grenada only Caribbean island involved in UN project Grenada’s Ministry of Environment is launching a new climate change project in partnership with the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development.

Grenada is the only Caribbean country to launch what is, for now, a pilot project, called “Integrating Climate Change into National Sustainable Development Strategies and Plans in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

The programme, which has appointed three Grenadian consultants, will look at three main areas

potentially impacted by climate change: water resource management, renewal energy options to be used after natural disasters, and the restoration of costal ecosystems.

It will also build a “green economy for sustainable development” in Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

The Grenadian consultants met last week with UN representatives and officials from the Ministry of Environment.

Grenada’s work on climate change, and particularly its leadership on climate issues, has recently found praise, particularly from the United Kingdom.

Guatemala and Bolivia are the two other participants in the programme.

(Caribbean Journal)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina accused Spain’s Repsol oil company yesterday of hiding the true value of its Argentine YPF unit and said a thorough review of its books after seizing control of its offices will affect the compensation paid to its shareholders.

The allegations by Deputy Economy Minister Axel Kicillof came as Spain, Argentina’s leading trading partner, denounced the takeover of YPF and warned of potentially damaging retaliation. Kicillof told Argentina’s Senate that the company has major debts to pay, and suggested that environmental cleanup costs could be deducted from

whatever the Argentine government pays for Repsol’s expropriation.

“Only from the inside can we know the environmental damage, much of surely has not been published in their balance books.”

Repsol estimates that the 51 percent stake in YPF that Argentina is expropriating is worth $10.5 billion. Kicillof cast doubt on that, and said that Repsol will be responsible for any debts and damage it caused while running the company.

“We’re going to see where they threw out each cubic metre of contaminated water,” he vowed.

Spain’s government had warned that Argentina’s

Axel Kicillof nationalisation of the Spanish-controlled energy company would be seen as an attack on the South American country’s leading trading partner, and responded sharply yesterday to President Cristina Fernandez’s announcement that she is making good on the threat.

T&T be the beneficiary of US$300M in investments T&T would in coming weeks be the beneficiary of US$300 million worth of investments in different sectors, said Trade Minister Stephen Cadiz.

He made the announcement Monday at the official signing of a US$65 million pipeline project with Bredero Shaw Middle East Ltd (BBSMEL), at the ministry’s head office, Nicholas Towers, Port-ofSpain.

The signing took pace place among the Trade Ministry, T&T Free Zones Company Ltd (TTFZ) and BBSMEL. Cadiz said this US$65 million pipelinecoating project is the first of the several large projects the ministry and TTFZ have lined up for 2012.

“These multi-milliondollar projects were as a result of the removal of the US$50 million cap on capital expenditure by a company wanting to operate in a free zone,” Cadiz said.

“This initiative

Stephen Cadiz encouraged more investments into T&T.” He explained that this augurs well for T&T because most of the investments are US$50 million and over.

Noel Corcoran, project manager at BBSMEL, said the company signed a one-year contract with T&T and its focus would be on pipeline concrete and corrosive coating.

The Canadian company, one of seven business units

under ShawCor Ltd, is no stranger to T&T as the pipeline-coating company has been in T&T in 2003 and 2009.

ShawCor Ltd is a global energy services company specialising in products and services for the pipeline and pipe services, and petrochemical and industrial segments of the oil and gas industry and other industrial markets.

The company’s third visit to T&T, Corcoran said, is to reestablish a pipeline concrete coating facility and storage yard at Site A, Union Industrial Estate, La Brea. He said about 180 locals would be employed with the company and 90 people from neighbouring communities would be hired.

When the production increases, Corcoran stated the number of workers directly hired would increase to 150. (Trinidad Guardian)

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Kaieteur News

HOME-GROWN SOLUTIONS

One of the better parliamentarians of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is Mr. Basil Williams.

He has always been realistic, reasonable, sensible and nonabrasive in his politics.

It was unfortunate that he was not elected as the PNCR’s presidential candidate, because he would have made a very good leader for both APNU and the PNCR. In his Budget presentation last week, he raised an important issue which the government tried to rebut, but were not convincing in doing so. He made the point that we have achieved very little with respect to the foreign-funded justice reform project, of which it was said that some 1.5 billion dollars has so far been expended.

With that sort of money, one would have expected more significant improvements. By the time that project is completed it is likely that a few more billion dollars are going to be spent without any significant transformation of the judicial

system.

There is no doubt that the physical environment of the judiciary has been improved.

The courtrooms in the High Court were in a sorry state.

There has been improvement.

One no longer has to fear an attack of asthma because of dust inhalation in those courtrooms.

Many of the magistrates’ courts have also improved and others are undergoing renovation or are scheduled for repairs. It is very costly to maintain these courts and this is something that will eventually have to be addressed by creating a special fund for the judiciary into which fines and penalties levied should be paid so that the judiciary can be selfsustaining and not have to depend on government or international financing for improvement.

When it comes to international funding, there has been little progress in terms of the main problem of the judiciary: the backlog of cases.

These internationally-

funded programmes are failures. A few years ago, the government promised that Linden would make a giant LEAP forward as a result of a two-billion-dollar injection of funds. The two billion has already been disbursed, a significant portion of which would have gone into paying foreign and local consultants.

Linden has not made a great leap forward. The EU-funded LEAP and LEAF had not transformed Linden as promised.

The same fate will befall the IDB-funded judicial reform project. It is time that the government dumps this project and dumps it quickly.

It has not made an appreciable difference to the functioning of the system of justice. True, the courtrooms now look like proper courtrooms, but the judicial system is still clogged up.

What is needed is the faster movement of cases.

This can only happen if two things are done.

The first of these is to make mediation compulsory in civil matters. The lawyers,

Dem boys seh

Jagdeo and Brazzy think everybody stupid Some people can find excuse fuh anything.

Robeson mek Jagdeo and Brazzy put excuse in he mouth fuh de airport expansion and fuh brucking down de one that dem got now. Dem boys notice that he was looking fuh a sport since de other day. He organise a sport fuh de tenth anniversary of de airport.

That was when dem woulda launch de new project.

Uncle Donald stop it because he know that de airport was more than ten years old. Is then Robeson, talking after Jagdeo and Brazzy, tell de nation that he was planning to celebrate de anniversary when dem change de name.

De other day he listen to Jagdeo and Brazzy and come wid another excuse. When dem boys ask he why he think he got to expand de airport when even wid de one Guyana got people don’t come he announce that he catering for people from Indonesia, South and Western Africa and Singapore.

Dem boys want to know if he mad again. Trinidad and Barbados got beach; dem got money, dem got comfort. That is why people never use to come to Guyana all this time.

But Robeson think people stupid. Dem don’t guh to nuff countries and dem don’t even know wheh Guyana deh.

Now Robeson behaving like a man who buy a Rolls

Royce and put it pun Hog Island fuh wuk taxi when dem don’t have road and certainly dem don’t have people who gun want travel by any taxi anyhow.

Dem boys seh that dem got de money fuh thief and dem got to find a project. De airport is only one project. If dem don’t build it somebody ain’t gun get one hundred million American dollar. De airport really cost US$50 million, but Jagdeo and Brazzy fix de price at US$150 million.

That is why dem got suh much white elephant in Guyana. Dem spend de money and dem thief even before dem spend. Dem don’t

care if de project don’t wuk.

Tek Rob Bert. He mek nuff drying floor fuh rice. De cost was high. He tek he cut and de kantracta use de rest pun de floor. Today people playing cricket pun de drying floor. Rice farmer still prefer de road. Rob Bert don’t care.

He done get he cut. Well Robeson got de airport. He holler how he prepare fuh go to jail over de sea defence.

Well dem boys seh that be better look sharp he might go to jail over de airport.

And to think that Uncle Donald ain’t saying nutten.

Is like if he want all of dem to go to jail and lef he alone.

Talk half and send de rest to jail when dem thief.

however, are not going to support this, because they will feel that if mediation is compulsory it will eat into their legal fees. But a more efficient system will allow for society to become even more litigious, and therefore result in more cases, thus more fees for the lawyers.

Right now there are thousands of persons who have problems with other persons, but who are reluctant to take these disputes to court because of the time it takes for a case to be heard and resolved.

However, if mediation was made compulsory, the backlog of cases will be significantly reduced, since many disputes would be resolved before going to trial, and this will be good for the justice system.

The second solution is for ten temporary judges to be

appointed from the Commonwealth to hear rape and murder cases. A great number of the matters listed for hearing at every assizes relate to murder and rape, and the majority of these matters are never completed. They have to be thrown over to the next assizes. This results in persons being locked away in jail for years awaiting trial, simply because of the volume of cases which cannot be completed in each assizes.

The solution is simple.

Recruit from the Commonwealth ten retired judges on contract to join the complement of judges to hear these cases. This will clear the backlog over a five-year period.

Instead, therefore, of foreign-funded monies going to pay consultants to tell us that we need to varnish the floors and docks of our

Page 9

courtrooms, let some of these millions be dedicated to recruiting judges.

Let some of this money also be used to recruit a draftsman who will quickly prepare the legislation to make mediation compulsory.

The result will be faster court hearings and faster decisions.

Forget about the foreignfunded consultants. We need home-grown solutions.

If this is done immediately, it is certain to please Mr. Basil Williams, who is not convinced that the system is in good shape despite the large sums expended so far.

Page 10

Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 18, 2012

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

Charisma in Guyanese politics, 1950-2012 This columnist has been told by reliable sources that there has been, and maybe still is, consideration inside Freedom House of an early election. The fact that Parliament has to approve of the money for GECOM does not preclude the Freedom House strategists from reflecting on a snap election.

The discussions on an early poll are characterized by trenchant divisions. One adumbration is that the PPP is very uncertain about what will happen between now and the next two years in terms of exposure of colossal skullduggery.

These uncertain times could produce devastating consequences for the stability of both the PPP and Guyana. Some PPP planners think that the crucial one and a half percent missed in 2011 could be recovered in another round of balloting.

Opposed to this is the argument that some Freedom House strategists are not inclined toward another road trip because Mr. Ramotar could face a gruelling competition for the presidential candidacy from some ambitious apparatchiks who feel they could pull it off with more certainty than Ramotar.

Fuelling this zeal is the shape the PPP gave the last campaign. It was a Bharrat Jagdeo bandwagon for the entire world to see. The PPP’s campaign in 2011 featured Bharrat Jagdeo as the star.

That was intended. The answer was that Mr. Ramotar was not charismatic enough to hog the limelight.

Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan told this columnist that the possibility of Ramotar losing the candidacy should there be another election is very strong.

In advertising Bharrat Jagdeo as a brand name in the last election, the PPP was conceding a point that has become a virtual law in politics – charisma will lead to success. I don’t think any scholar or journalist will deny the role charisma plays in catapulting an activist into leadership and then power. If you don’t have it you can still get through. But if you have it, then your future is made.

Vincent Alexander is one of the best leaders Guyana produced, but lack of charisma has stopped him from reaching the apex of the PNC. In Guyana, I can trace three examples of penetrating charisma in the past, and one at the present time. In the fifties there were Burnham and Jagan. But Burnham’s charisma was more enduring because Jagan lacked an essential ingredient in

charisma that sustains its life – intellectual articulation. No matter how attractive you are, how committed is your politics, the oratory is an exigent requirement.

Jagan was not a persuasive speaker and his words lacked the poetic cutting edge, Dickensian angles, and the mesmerizing effect. The oratory comes from the intellectual endowment. Jagan was a dentist. Burnham was trained in the use or words, which is what law is all about.

I would put Walter Rodney as the third charismatic activist of 20th century Guyana. He was better than Burnham in delivery, because he had access to a post-colonial passion which spawned a whole generation of poets, writers, intellectuals, artists and musicians, to which Burnham had no access.

While Burnham could mix Latin with Shakespeare, Rodney did the same but threw in Bob Marley and Linton Kwesi Johnson.

I would be doing an

injustice to three other 20th century Guyanese, but my analysis will not include them in the same category with Burnham, Jagan and Rodney.

In the seventies, three men came close to possessing charisma, but lacked some of its main contents that are necessary to allow for that aura to which people cling.

They are Dr. Omawale, Rupert Roopnaraine and Moses Nagamootoo.

Omawale was a reluctant activist but he could charm an audience. Being a biologist, his semantic reach was short and that was an obstacle.

Rupert Roopnaraine was not interested in grounding with the ordinary people the way his predecessors did, and that diluted his mystique, even though the passionate oratory was brilliant.

A young, handsome Nagamootoo posed a deadly threat to Cheddi Jagan, but not to Rodney, because sadly Moses did not have the intellectual dimensions that people wanted in their leaders. Moses became a victim of a West Indian

Frederick Kissoon complex. I am glad he is now a lawyer.

The only charismatic person in politics today that I can see from where I stand is Nigel Hughes—a hugely built man that when he projects his personality, it dwarfs those in close proximity.

Armed with a fantastic Rodneyite style, the intellectual flow is persuasive, dynamic and permeating.

I campaigned with Nigel Hughes in the last national election, and I don’t believe anyone came closer to electrifying an audience the way Jagan, Burnham and Rodney did as Hughes in 2011. I have a feeling the presidential mantle will come Hughes’s way one day soon.

Mangrove Restoration Project...

UG to research related climate change issues The National Agricultural Research & Extension Institute (NAREI) has entered into a $6M agreement with seven University of Guyana (UG) lecturers to undertake, over the next year, 12 research projects focusing on abating climate change in relation to mangroves and its management.

The projects, worth in excess of $10M, are in line with the overall objective of the Guyana Mangrove Restoration Project (GMRP).

This is according to Chairperson of the Mangrove Action Committee, Annette Arjoon-Martins.

She emphasised that each project could either be done as a senior undergraduate project

or a graduate thesis by students from the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, or Faculty of Natural Sciences.

The students would be collecting and analysing data on different topics aimed at assisting in monitoring and evaluating the GMRP. They would: develop coastal zone maps; identify community awareness, interest and involvement in the GMRP; conduct chemical and sediment load assessments of water in the coastal zone; evaluate planting practices, locations and survival rates of seedling in the restored areas; estimate carbon sequestration in mangrove

forests; establish permanent sample plots to test alternative planting methods; and test an alternative planting structure.

Arjoon-Martins disclosed that the projects were reviewed for funding by technical representatives of the Sea and River Defence Division (S&RDD), Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and UG’s Turkeyen and Berbice Campuses.

“This multi-faceted research effort will provide baseline information for further monitoring and evaluation efforts as well as provide opportunities to improve on current restoration efforts. Some of the projects are interwoven as an integrated effort to understand the interrelationship between coastal zone activities and the survival of existing and restored mangrove stands,” Arjoon-Martins said.

“This collaboration was made possible by the considerable commitment of personnel time and resources (about GY$4 million) by UG, GMRP, NARI, GFC, EPA, S&RDD and several other agencies that have committed to support the lecturers and students in their data collection and analyses.”

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Kaieteur News

Chinese telecoms giant submits bid to install fibre optic cable Two bids were submitted yesterday at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), Ministry of Finance, for the installation of fibre optic cable for the Lethem to Providence Electrical Works-Repeater Stations. Huawei International Pte Ltd of Trinidad submitted a $104.4 million bid, while Cummings Electrical Company’s bid was $100.3 million.

The engineer’s estimate is $86.6M. Government said that it will “rollout” the US$32M ($6.4B) Coastal Programme that complements the Lethem to Providence fibre optic cable.

It was touted by the administration that at the project’s conclusion, residents from Moleson Creek, East Berbice, to Charity, Essequibo Coast, will enjoy high performance, high-speed internet with high density connectivity being made available in the most populous areas along the intended route.

Project Manager Alexei Ramotar had noted that the contract with Chinese telecommunications giant, Huawei, has already been signed and the company has dispatched a Project Manager, with two more to follow.

With an engineer’s estimate of $86,651,000 the bids were:

Under the Ministry of Public Works and Communication, a lone bid was submitted for the consultancy for updating of a feasibility study and design for the West Coast Demerara Road Improvement Project Nine (Vreed-en-Hoop West Parika East.)

The bid submitted:

Meanwhile, two bids were submitted for the supply and delivery of meals for Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) under the Ministry of Education. The bids were:

The NPTAB also opened bids for the procurement of stationery items for the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA).

With an estimate for Lot 1—$2,010,970 and Lot 2—$1,071,600 the bids submitted:

In addition, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) under the Ministry of Agriculture received bids for the procurement of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) tubes.

With an estimate of $13,000,000 the bids submitted were:

There was also a retendering for the rehabilitation of Sanbach Koker, Vive La Force, West Bank Demerara region three, under the NDIA. With an estimated construction cost of $16,963,100 the bids were:

Page 11

CJIA’s $150M expansion…

Govt. eyes Indonesia, Singapore South and West African markets Government will be spending at least US$150M for the expansion of Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), saying on Monday that Guyana stands to potentially benefit from untapped markets in Africa, Indonesia and Singapore.

During his presentation in the ongoing 2012 National Budget debate, Public Works Minister, Robeson Benn, also said that he is prepared to go to jail if the Parliamentary Opposition could prove deliberate wrongdoing with contracts that fall under his portfolio.

In an afternoon session punctuated by clashes and interruptions between the opposition faction and the government benches, Benn insisted that the current airport is too small to handle large aircraft and boasts no modern equipment like air bridges and other needs to handle growing passenger demands.

Government is now tying up negotiations with the Export-Import Bank of China for a US$130M loan and will be plugging in US$20M of its own monies, he said.

This particular project had run into early troubles after Guyanese only learned of it through an announcement in Jamaica’s media. There were immediate accusations of it being a secret deal and questions whether it was indeed a feasible project in light of the country’s present passenger arrival figures which, in 2010, stood at over 473,000. This improved by 6% last year and so far for this year has improved by 23% as compared to the same period last year.

According to Benn, a bigger, improved CJIA will solve many of the physical

Blairmont strike called off after affected workers receive money All sugar workers attached to the Blairmont Estate resumed operations late Monday, after two of their colleagues who were injured on the job in March, and had still not received National Insurance Scheme (NIS) benefits, received two financial payments out of the estate’s coffers.

Several categories of workers downed tools on Monday morning after two of their colleagues, chain men, Naipaul Omrow and Nazeer Hussain, were being given the royal runaround to receive NIS benefits after

...another payment promised Friday having their fingers crushed and severed respectively while on the job. In a bid to quell the situation and get the workers to resume duty, the Blairmont Estate released two payments to the men, $35,000 to Omrow and $26,000 to Hussain later in the day.

The workers then resumed their duties.

According to Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) Field Secretary at Blairmont, Hardyal Ramdihal, the factory turned out for the 2 pm- 10pm

shift on Monday after the payment was made to the two workers. “Everything is back to normal....the matter [has been ] resolved... [there was] intervention through telephone conversations on Monday”.

He confirmed the estate paid some monies to cushion the compensation to the two men and that the “NIS process will take some time...by next week they [are] supposed to get their money through the NIS”. The GAWU official did blame the

estate saying that it “is the estate fault, yes, because if the estate was paying their contributions to the NIS, the NIS would have paid the people them (their benefits)”.

Mr Omrow said last evening that Blairmont Estate promised him and his colleague “a next part of the payment on Friday”, so “we waiting and then if we don’t have anything, we gotta know what really going on, because the personnel at the Blairmont Estate told us they are looking after the NIS cheque”.

Public Works Minister, Robeson Benn issues, squatting, and security concerns that currently plague the present facility and restrict the landing of bigger planes.

It will also come with the completion of works this year to the Ogle Airport.

Already, $1B has been spent to install modern navigational equipment at CJIA. ASIA, AFRICALINKS In justifying the project, Benn said that Guyana is eyeing opportunities with flights from South and West Africa, Indonesia and Singapore. This will allow wide-body aircraft flights and reduce security risks of drug smuggling at the airport, he said.

China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) is the company that has been awarded the contract.

It is the same company that Jamaica’s ContractorGeneral, Greg Christie, had earlier this year asked new Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller, to consider terminating a US$600M contract that was granted without the benefit of a

tendering process.

JAIL TIME Meanwhile, Benn dared Joe Harmon, Parliamentarian for A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) who questioned a sea defence project at Profitt, Abary, which he said $156M was spent yet there was only around $20M worth of work done.

Harmon wanted to know where the rest of the money went as the issue was covered in the 2010 Auditor General’s Report.

This query by Harmon during his presentation immediately led to objections by Benn who said that the APNU Parliamentarian was impugning his character and that of his ministry by suggesting that the money was stolen.

However, the Speaker, Raphael Trotman, would have none of it.

In his explanation of that particular project, the Minister disclosed that it was for $267M, of which there were advances of over $100M for the purchase of materials, among other things.

The contractor has fallen behind on the work which is 65% completed.

Already, the Ministry has moved to recover $27M in liquidated damages.

Benn stressed that on this particular project, the Auditor General never gave his Ministry an opportunity to explain. He again challenged the Opposition to point out any contract where wrongdoing could be found, insisting he is willing to go to jail if proven wrong.

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Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Finance Minister pleads with Opposition to use ‘Scissors’ judiciously

By Gary Eleazar Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh yesterday made his presentation/rebuttal to the 2012 Budget debates where he sought to rip through the arguments put forward by the opposition.

“With a few exceptions” he acknowledged but condemned the majority of opposition presentations as “political grandstanding.”

The Finance Minister however closed his presentation on a completely different tone from the one with which he started and commenced to plead with the opposition to use its ‘scissors’ judiciously as it attempts to make cuts to the $192.8B Budget.

Already the Alliance for Change (AFC) Chairman, Khemraj Ramjattan, has outlined some $3B (US$15M) to be placed on the chopping block.

Dr Singh in wrapping up his presentation urged the combined Opposition, “Don’t use the power of the majority of one, to cut solely for the purpose of cutting. It is the people of Guyana who benefit from the services provided. Join us, and if we were to be guided by the platitude offered, there is still some hope.”

The Finance Minister

called on the House, particularly the combined opposition, to not wield the “tyrannical emblem of the dictator of one, the scissors, capriciously.”

He said that were the opposition to do so they would be “venturing perilously close to squandering the golden opportunity that presents itself with the new dispensation in the House”.

Dr Singh cautioned that even if the opportunity would have been lost during the past days of “political grandstanding” in the House, “it would be my sincere hope that over the next six days there would be judicious and responsible conduct”.

He said that as the combined opposition gets set to make its cuts to the 2012 Budget, it must be borne in mind that the allocations speak to important government programmes.

POLITICAL GRANDSTANDING As the Finance Minister opened his presentation he immediately acknowledged the Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition, David Granger’s presentation, which he conceded as the only statesman-like presentation to the House from the Opposition benches and said

that it was rich with positive contributions.

The Finance Minister took specific umbrage to charges made by the ranks in the AFC benches, particularly that of the party Chairman Ramjattan and Dr Singh’s longstanding parliamentary colleague formerly on the same side of the House, Moses Nagamootoo.

In taking Ramjattan to task, Dr Singh told the House that “we must not be shy of embracing objectives when we agree with them and we must not oppose some for the cause or purpose of opposing.”

He said that the Budget debate is never intended to be an exercise in intellectual exhibition or a contest of linguistic or oratory versatility.

“Tragically, with a few exceptions, it is my own estimation that my colleagues on that side of the House missed the opportunity completely,” Dr Singh retorted.

NICIL, GGMC PRIVATE ACCOUNTS Speaking directly to the charges made by Ramjattan as it relates to finances being hoarded outside of the Consolidated Fund, hence not being fully represented in the Budget, and the need for this to happen, the Finance Minister indicated that the administration was satisfied with the current arrangement and signalled that it will not change.

According to the Finance Minister, all of the agencies that the Parliamentarian referred to are registered and operate under the Companies Act of Guyana.

He said that these companies are public

corporations and as such arguing that their revenues are not reflected in the budget is akin to arguing for the Guyana Sugar Corporation or the Guyana Power and Light’s revenue streams to be reflected in the Budget.

Dr Singh insisted that each of the agencies are subject to the relevant audits and reports under the Act and while it may not be as timely as the opposition would like they are being undertaken.

He made no clear commitment to have any of the monies controlled by the separate agencies to be transferred to the Consolidated Fund.

Dr Singh insists that the Budget is a reflection of the expenditures and programmes for Central Government which are specific budget agencies, such as the Ministries.

He said that Central Government is designed by statute to have boundaries, and as such, NICIL and GGMC are within regulations to control the monies under its purview.

Central Government’s budget, he explained, is not one that includes entities that are separate or established under a statute.

MARRIOTTANDAMAILA FALLS HYDRO On the issue of the proposed Georgetown Marriott Hotel, Dr Singh said that it was disappointing to see that even after the Government has made available volumes of documentation as it relates to the project, the opposition is still harping on the issue.

Ramjattan retorted from his bench that the feasibility study for the project was never supplied.

Dr Ashni Singh said that

the administration is prepared to make available all documentation, provided that it is not covered under any confidentiality agreement.

He said that even the confidentially agreements do not hinder the government’s revelations to the opposition and drew reference to a special in-camera session held on the proposed Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project.

Dr Singh told the House that the Members of the Opposition were privy to a presentation by NICIL boss Winston Brassington, where all of the details were ventilated and the opposition queries were aptly addressed.

This he said was done at a session chaired by Head of State Donald Ramotar, and reflects the importance with which the Government treats with sharing information with the opposition.

This he said was not even acknowledged by the Opposition that continues to make misrepresented statements on the project.

“Instead of reflecting on the documents, all we were treated to is, we don’t need another hotel,” said Dr Singh.

He said that on the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project, following the presentations to the opposition, the government was given kudos, but this was moot during the debates and rather the Opposition treated the nation to sound-bites.

Dr Singh said that it is alarming that the opposition would behind closed doors praise the project but return to the House and debunk it.

He said that this speaks to the credibility of the Opposition when it talks about meaningful engagements.

“I didn’t hear anything

Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh from the opposition on the analytical work done on project…all I heard was political sound-bites and rhetoric designed to get headlines and cast Government in bad light.”

VAT REDUCTION WILL NOT HELP THE POOR The Finance Minister also took the political opposition to task on the issue of the Value Added Tax. Dr Singh told the House that on the campaign trail the Opposition presented VAT as a millstone around the necks of Guyanese and that its reduction would alleviate poverty.

To this end, the Finance Minister challenged the opposition, saying that a reduction in VAT would only help the wealthy.

He qualified his assertion by saying that VAT is charged on consumption, and the basic necessities for the poor are already zero rated.

Dr Singh explained that should the VAT rate be reduced by 2 per cent then the savings to a poor consumer will be reflected at about $300 for a $50,000 per month salary, whereas a wealthy person making a purchase will attract larger savings.

“The most vulnerable will benefit the least from a reduction in VAT,” Dr Singh declared even as he said that the administration, “would have thought that it is a selfevident fact...This is not rocket science” The Finance Minister also chided the opposition’s stance on Guyana’s political history saying that for a frank discussion to be had on the nation, it has to be accepted where the country has progressed in order to understand the current growth and future trajectory.

“It is from this history that we are recovering. To pretend it didn’t happen or to rewrite the history is most reprehensible.”

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 13

Page 14

The police are expected to question an agent of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) who was identified by a Canadian-based Guyanese as the person who beat and robbed him last Easter Monday.

This newspaper understands that the CANU operative was identified at the Cheddi Jagan International

Kaieteur News

Airport, Timehri, yesterday morning when the victim, Abdool Gafoor, went there to accompany his son who was returning to Canada.

The CANU rank, Kaieteur News was told, has denied the allegation, claiming that he does not know Gafoor.

Gafoor, who is a Canadian citizen and operates a vehicle import business at his Good

Hope, East Coast Demerara residence, said he was on the Ogle seawall with his family on Easter Monday when the incident occurred .

He told this newspaper that it was around 17:00 hours when he had a minor altercation with some little boys who had attempted to steal his kite.

The boys, he said, went

Wednesday April 18, 2012

away and returned with the suspect, who identified himself as a policemen.

Gafoor said that the man called him and when he approached him, he was grabbed by his pants.

“I had money in my pocket. He just say ‘police, to the station’. I asked him which station and he pull out a gun. It looked like a 9mm, it was shine, and he start to beat me in my head with it,” the Canadian citizen recounted.

“That man beat me in my head and leave me lying on the ground. My son jump over to rescue me and he out one slap in my son’s face,” Gafoor added.

He said that his son was going to retaliate, but he had to restrain him since the ‘attacker’ was brandishing his gun and he was afraid that he might use it.

According to Gafoor, while he was on the ground, an accomplice of the CANU operative snatched off the gold chain he was wearing.

The chain he said carries a value of $360,000. He also accused the CANU rank of robbing him of $100,000.

“I run out and tried to get help and this guy just walk away into Sugrim Singh Road, where a blue Hilux came and picked him up and drove away,” Gafoor told Kaieteur News.

He said that he reported

Abdool Gafoor claims to have sustained injuries to his head as a result of the beating the matter to the police at the Sparendaam Station and subsequently obtained medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Yesterday, Gafoor went to the airport to see his son and his family off, when he came upon the CANU rank.

“My whole family was watching this guy, because this guy who beat me up was right in front of me with a white shirt-jack. My son came over and said ‘Dad, look the guy who beat you up’.”

Gafoor stated that he waited until his son and his family were safely on the plane before contacting police ranks at the airport. .

The Canadian-based

Guyanese stated that he has several persons who can positively identify his assailant.

“I want justice to take its course in this matter, because this guy can be killing people with the CANU gun and nobody will get results. So I need justice and nothing else.

I’m not punishing, I’m not hungry. If nothing happens in this matter, I’m prepared to pack up my business and go back to Toronto,” Gafoor said emphatically.

A senior CANU official told this newspaper that although the rank will avail himself for questioning, the entire episode sounds “fishy”.

US$15M thrown on...

(From page 6) what type of life they can expect, and young people want to know about tomorrow.”

The Opposition Leader was drawing reference to the fact that over the years, the budget debates have oftentimes descended into a history of the PNC’s 28-year rule or the ascension of the late Cheddi Jagan to the presidency.

Forbes Burnham, the cofounder of the People’s Progressive Party and the People’s National Congress died almost 27 years ago, while Dr. Cheddi Berret Jagan, co-founder of the People’s Progressive Party died 15 years ago.

BEYOND BURNHAM, CHEDDI Granger was adamant that the time has come for Guyanese to move beyond the merits or demerits of Jagan or Burnham adding that, “Every pensioner and wage earner wants to know, this week or next week, what you (Parliamentarians) doing for we.”

He said that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is cognizant of the fact that a Budget is complex and appreciates the difficulties

that the Finance Minister might have had in preparing the document in isolation.

Granger said that this is why APNU has been pushing for greater collaboration on the preparation of the Budget and charged it must not be a process “forced by circumstances” but rather it must be appreciated also that “no one knows everything.”

“We don’t want a collision and we will speak to anyone, anywhere, anytime, to get the Budget right.

Collaboration is not an option anymore, it is an obligation,” warned Granger.

He said that the minority has to collaborate with the majority and warned that, “the days of we will go it alone are over…They cannot do it by themselves and we want to work with the other side of the House.”

The Opposition Leader whose presentation was heralded by all, including the Finance Minister, said that the budget debate is not an opportunity “to shout at each other but a time to listen.”

He said that it was not a campaign rally or an opportunity to give favours to selected communities.

Granger said that the

annual ritual that is a budget debate is an opportunity to, “stand in front of the Guyanese people and say we have listened to your voices and this is the best that we can do for the Guyanese people”.

As he proceeded to make his suggestions to the House for the 2012 Budget, he reminded that in crafting such a document, APNU is not concerned only with facts and figures but also with policies.

The Opposition Leader spoke of the need for the basic rights and freedoms of people to be enshrined in the budget and alluded to: freedom from fear, freedom from poverty, freedom from ignorance, freedom from discrimination and freedom to communicate.

These freedoms, he mentioned, are addressed in allocations such as those for education, infrastructure and security, among others.

The House will today dissolve into the Committee of Supply where each of the current and capital expenditures will be addressed, amended or approved, as is resulting in the approved expenditures for the 2012 financial year.

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 15

Argentine family touring in bus arrives in Guyana

By Sharmain Grainger Driven by their passion for travelling and a desire to learn about new cultures, an Argentine couple yesterday for the first time made Guyana their first Englishspeaking destination.

Accompanied by their fouryear-old daughter Zaina, the couple – Matu and Shanti Buscando a Yaiza, who hails from Patagonia, Argentina, has over the years been making their global journey by bus.

The aim is to travel as far as possible across the world in their old Mercedes Benz bus, capturing the picturesque views through photography - which has for many years been one of the couple's favourite pastimes.

They have their eyes set on somehow making Mexico their ultimate destination.

The ambitious mission, according to Shanti, started in November 2005 when the couple decided to sell their home and most of their worldly possessions and buy the bus from a relative.

“We sold our car, our cameras, our furniture and even things in the kitchen to buy a 20-year-old passenger

bus,” Shanti recalled speaking fluent English with a deep Spanish accent.

“We were hungry for new culture and we found that the only way to do it was to do it with the bus.”

The bus, she revealed, was already outfitted with a kitchenette and other living facilities and was almost fit and ready to be taken on the road in the quest to fulfil their touring dream.

Their travels initially started in their homeland, but soon expanded to Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador.

The couple had the option of staying in some countries in excess of six months using the little money they had to buy food and other basic necessities.

During their stay in Peru, Shanti discovered that she was pregnant.

“It was a surprise; we didn't plan it at all...” she recounted with a smile on her face as she gleefully eyed her young daughter scale a window's grillwork.

“She is a monkey girl,” said a proud looking Matu, whose English words were barely discernable as he too

The Argentine family flanked by their new friends, Omkaar Sharma (left) and Roberto Tiwari directed focus to his daughter as his face “lit-up” with a bright smile. Both parents disregarded any possibility of danger.

Continuing the story of their life, Shanti said that it was in the Amazonian lands of Ecuador that she eventually gave birth to Zaina. She explained that their travels were restricted

to that country since the roads were bad, compounded by the fact that she had developed some pregnancy complications.

“A few days after she was born we started travelling again...the only home she (Zaina) knows is this (the bus)...there is not a lot of (our) family back in Argentina,” Shanti divulged.

Their travels have not been without challenges, as according to her, they are from time to time confronted with mechanical and financial problems. In fact, so daunting was the journey at one time that they were convinced that Mexico was not a reachable destination.

“We found out that there is no way to go to Mexico by

driving, without going by boat to Colombia...But it was so expensive for the bus to cross too.”

Overwhelmed by some level of frustration, the couple decided to head to Venezuela and was forced to remain there for the longest period yet, since their bus developed some mechanical (Continued on page 18)

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Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Kaieteur News

Kitty taxi driver murder…

Police have found no evidence to confirm that the man they have in custody killed Kitty taxi driver Balram Jadoonauth, although they still believe that Jadoonauth's death is linked to an affair.

An official told Kaieteur News that investigations seem to confirm that the suspect was at home when the 24-year-old was gunned down. The source said that the East Coast Demerara

Cops say detained man's alibi checks out

resident, who is also a taxi driver, did not work last Saturday night. Police confirmed that he went to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport the following day to pick up a relative.

A source said that investigators suspect that someone was paid to kill Jadoonauth.

Kaieteur News understands that the 36year-old man admitted that he had threatened to kill

APNU calls for 'quality product' in Education A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)'s shadow Minister of Education, Amna Ally, has said that there is no doubt that training and development is vital in this sector, and her party feels that Guyana does not necessarily benefit from mass production, thus “we must not lose sight of quality production”.

“I feel very proud when I read in the Budget speech that enrolment for the Associate Degree at the CPCE is approximately nine h u n d r e d students…Annually too, the University of Guyana produces approximately five thousand, five hundred students.”

She however urged that the Government not focus on how much fees they can garner but whether they are

Page 17

fulfilling the variables that will give us a quality product.

“Many of our teachers are trained but migrate thereafter because our conditions and salaries are not attractive…why can we not recognize this? Without teachers we cannot have the other professions,” Ally said.

She called on the Minister with responsibility for the sector to ensure that the needs of students and teachers are met while d e v e l o p m e n t a l opportunities are made readily available. “ We m u s t a s k t h e question why again in 2011 poor performance is reflected in CSEC.” Ally alluded to the fact that for a number of years the question of literacy and numeracy has (Continued on page 19)

Jadoonauth because of the young man's relationship with his wife. However, the man denied that he had committed the act. Police have also detained the man's wife.

Checks of the man's phone records reportedly showed that he had contacted Jadoonauth on numerous occasions.

The last phone calls were allegedly made just a few days before the murder.

A female relative of the detained individual said that the man was at home the

entire Saturday. She said he left for the airport at around 06:30 hrs on Sunday to pick up a cousin who was scheduled to arrive on a 07:30 pm flight.

While he was away, police ranks visited the home and enquired about his whereabouts. They then informed her about the murder and searched the premises, but found nothing.

T h e l a w m e n subsequently took the man's wife into custody and left.

On his return, the relative told the suspect about the

police visit and he went to the Kitty Station.

Jadoonauth, also known as “Sanjay”, was shot dead in front of his Lot 25 Dennis Street, Campbellville home, in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

The GR Taxi Service employee was reportedly shot in the back shortly after arriving home in his car.

Relatives are certain that robbery was not a motive, since the young man was still wearing his gold chain and rings. He also had all his money in his wallet.

Balram Jadoonauth

Page 18

Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Argentine family...

The rear of the tourists' bus (From page 15) problems.

In order to address their mechanical woes, they decided to compile their photographs and facts about their travels into a book with the aim of selling same for financial gain. Compilation, design and printing of the book would take about a year and yet another year was needed to facilitate the sale of the books. The travellers were by then so devoid of finances that they made a request to friends to support their efforts, all of whom were refunded after the sale of their book, which showcases in detail and elegant photographs, their travels.

With a few copies of their publication stored safely in their bus, they decided to make their way back to Boa Vista, Brazil, which they had previously visited, since parts for the bus were available there.

Having ensured that all mechanical problems were fixed over a period of three weeks, they made the decision to head to Panama, in hope of finding a cheaper way of getting to Mexico.

Efforts to ensure that the bus was mechanically intact saw the family heading some 20 kilometres away from Boa Vista, effectively reaching the borderline between Brazil and Guyana.

“We initially had no intention of coming to Guyana because people told us that the road is very bad and we can't pass; they said we couldn't pass, too, because we don't have a four-wheel-drive vehicle...so we hadn't expected to get into Guyana.”

However, at the borderline, the couple observed smaller buses (minibuses) were travelling from Georgetown to Boa Vista. As such they decided to take the chance themselves to travel to

Georgetown, a journey which took them two days.

They arrived in Georgetown just after noon yesterday.

However, this was not before being forced to stop on the East Bank of Demerara to source cooking gas at DOCOL, make new friends, and be introduced to their first meal of eggball and Coca-Cola.

It is impractical, to say the least, that the couple would have been able to not attract attention along the streets of Guyana, given the conspicuous nature of their mode of transportation.

Having brought to a halt their vehicle, which was outfitted with a huge sign on the back reading “We are a family from Patagonia, Argentina. We go to Mexico, can you help us with some diesel and food please?” they were soon befriended.

They were given a very warm welcome by Roberto Tiwari, a Venezuelan who has made Guyana his home, and Omkaar Sharma, a Canada-based Guyanese.

Both were ready and willing to assist the touring family.

Friendship was soon brewing and discussions about the Argentine family's next move soon started, with the first option being to head to this publication to announce their arrival in the land of many waters.

According to Shanti, although they were permitted to stay in Guyana for a mere two weeks they are anxious to have their time extended to learn more about the local people and their culture. Those who wish to assist the touring family in any way can do so by contacting them via email a d d r e s s elbicholatino@hotmail.com , follow them on Twitter @amigosdelbicho or check out photographs of their t r a v e l s a t http://picasaweb.google.co m/elbichoblog.

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 19

Missing fisherman’s relatives LCDS can promote sustainable return empty-handed Tourism Development Conference…

environmental policies - President Ramotar

President Ramotar and First Lady Deolatchmee Ramotar pose with several regional and international tourism specialists at State House last evening.

The 13th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development (STC-13) continued yesterday, under the theme “Keeping the Right Balance: Sustaining Our Resources” and a reception was hosted last evening for delegates and media representatives at State House.

Regional and international tourism specialists, Ministers of Government, as well as developmental experts from the cultural, environmental and academic spheres and the local communities joined President Donald Ramotar, to share their experiences and offer solutions to the problems in the development of sustainable tourism.

President Ramotar asserted that Government has reaffirmed its commitment to building a vibrant Caribbean community and to the deepening of the integration process.

He stressed that tourism is an important economic sector which is pivotal to economic growth in regional economies and their livelihoods.

Adding that Guyana’s biodiversity and ecosystems form the foundation of the regional industry, Ramotar said this sector must be protected, and through effective environmental stewardship, the tourism sector will be developed.

“Our Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) seeks to find the right balance for economic prosperity and the maintenance of sound environmental practices. I

urge all of you to make our low carbon development strategy an object of study, since I believe it offers a model that can be adapted to the economies of the region by promotion of sustainable environmental policies and leveraging our ecological assets for the development of tourism.”

According to Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, Hugh Riley, the public perception of sustainable tourism has changed for the better.

Riley explained that the travel industry is at the forefront of this change; tour operators and tourism enterprises of all sizes are embracing “green” strategies as part of their plans, and gradually becoming more conscious of how their

business affects the communities in which they operate.

In turn, travellers too have become more sensitive to the idea of conservation, greater efficiency, and an abiding respect for the environment, and have begun to expect those ideals to be practiced in the destinations they choose to visit.

He noted, with this in mind, that this year’s conference has been aptly themed.

“Experts from within our region and farther afield will focus on how the Caribbean must strike this delicate balance between increasing the economic benefits of this powerful tourism industry and preserving our assets for generations to come.”

- CID takes over search After venturing out to the Pomeroon River in search of the missing fisherman who allegedly jumped off of a vessel last week Tuesday, the family members of 32-year-old Lakeram Bhagwandin remain distraught after returning empty-handed.

It was alleged that the Foulis Enmore resident had been “tripping out” and got involved in an argument after which he was taken to rest in a cabin from where he disappeared a short while after.

While it is still unclear as to whether or not someone witnessed Lakeram actually jumping off of the vessel, his mother, Margaret Bhagwandin maintained that

she does not believe that her son would just jump off of a boat in the middle of nowhere.

As of Thursday morning last, Bhagwandin’s family, clinging to some sort of hope, ventured out to scour the rough Pomeroon waters for his body.

The incident occurred whilst the man was on board the “Noble Sun”, a fishing trawler traversing some 17 miles off Charity and about 25 miles off the mouth of the Pomeroon River.

According to the man’s brother, Bisram Bhagwandin, the matter has been handed over to the CID at Charity, Essequibo.

Young Bhagwandin

Missing: Lakeram Bhagwandin added that the owner of the vessel, Rasiawan Doodnauth, has been continuously assisting them in their search. He is also financing the search for Lakeram, or his body, on the family’s behalf.

APNU calls for 'quality product'...

(From page 17) been receiving injections for improved performances.

“You will recall some years ago that it started with the BEAMS project, where lots of money was floating about and then there was the end of the funding, consequently, the end of the project.”

According to Ally, twelve of those trainers were retrained and they were working in the regions.

“One would have thought that the Ministry would have been serious to address the literacy and numeracy problem and so they would have given them the support for continuity, instead Mr.

Speaker, the Ministry decided that it was going to frustrate these trainers, so they called them together and requested of them to pull (pull as in a raffle) the region they have to be posted to.”

“Mr. Speaker, we have

heard the Minister speaking about a Pilot Project to improve English and Mathematics in schools where some $85.7 million has been earmarked to finance this project.

Mr. Speaker, this is nothing new.”

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Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Primary health care is a paramount need Primary health care has always been, and will continue to be, a paramount need in any country, particularly in a developing country, says Dr. Stephen Guy. The kidney transplant surgeon, who is currently attached to the Drexel University College in the United States, has over the past few years been offering his specialist service to aid kidney transplant operations in Guyana.

Dr. Guy is a kidney, pancreas and liver transplant surgeon specialising in multiorgan transplantation for over 15 years. He, along with a number of other reputable health professionals, has been lending support to Dr. Rahul Jindal, who has been spearheading kidney operations here in Guyana.

It is the view of Dr. Guy that “while we are augmenting what was already being done with sophisticated forms of treatment” there is need for the local public health sector to channel resources to further bolster primary health

care. He pointed out that there is a large group of people who are likely to develop kidney failure, a health challenge which is historically caused by diabetes and high blood pressure.

“Those two illnesses are prevalent here in Guyana and throughout the world and so I would hate to see large portions of the population being written off because of the lack of sophisticated treatment.”

According to Dr. Guy, it was with this awareness in mind that the North American-based kidney transplant team decided to provide surgical expertise with a vision that local physicians would provide most of the follow-up care.

He alluded to the notion, too, that doing transplant operations in Guyana lends to the raising of standards of medical care in other related areas.

“It shows you can do this and anything in a country such as Guyana, given the requisite infrastructure and

A mini health check is the first step to donating blood

- Transplant Surgeon support for this kind of endeavour...and it doesn’t have to be limited to North America.”

However, he noted that since not every patient diagnosed with kidney failure could undergo a transplant operation, the aim of the visiting team is to find ways to help address their condition.

“For me, helping people and saving their lives is a very satisfying profession, and coming here to Guyana and helping is an extension of that.”

Having visited this country on a number of occasions and seeing the firsthand delivery of health care, Dr. Guy noted that while it may be at a different level than that obtained in North America, it still is very good.

“This is a small country and there hasn’t been people trained to do this kind of surgery and this kind of treatment, so we are providing this service.”

Another member of the kidney transplant team, Dave Oliver, Clinical Manager at the Walter Reed Army

Military Medical Center in Washington D.C., recently explained that even fruit juices in too large quantities could negatively affect persons suffering from diabetes. According to Oliver, a specialist in clinical dialysis and a registered nurse infusionist, while there are varying ways that can be used to address kidney failure, prevention should be placed at the top of addressing this health condition. Prevention awareness, he stated, is in fact the least expensive alternative, which includes being knowledgeable about one’s blood pressure, blood sugar and diet.

“Being aware of these factors is very important for folks who may or do have some signs of kidney failure…”

Taking precautionary measures such as pressure screens and the use of necessary medications are regarded as relatively inexpensive means of addressing renal failure.

Oliver pointed to the fact that high blood pressure is known to damage virtually

every organ in the body with the most visible effect being kidney failure, heart conditions and vision problems.

Given the impact that a high blood sugar level can have on an individual with diabetes, Oliver said that it is especially important for diabetics to “avoid foods that are high in concentrated sugar which can damage many organs, especially the kidneys, which can help to push the pressure up. You need to control the foods.”

And not only foods high in sugar could pose a threat to persons with diabetes, as according to Oliver, too much salt can also be dangerous.

Oliver’s contribution to the kidney transplant programme in Guyana will also include training of local health workers at the Balwant Singh Hospital, as he asserts, “my goal is to make my needed presence obsolete. I would like to begin to train a few staff to take over my duties.”

He nonetheless acknowledged that the hemodialysis capability of the nurses supporting the local transplant programme has been laudable.

“The nurses here have

Dr. Stephen Guy done a marvellous job and are becoming better at what they do...the only thing missing is the peritoneal dialysis expertise aspect. It is not as technically difficult, as it does not require machines, a high level of training, huge resources such as facility space and time, but it does require the expertise of knowing how it works in the theory,” Oliver said.

As such, training of staffers will begin shortly, including the proper use of catheters, and efforts will be made to make them (catheters) an available resource.

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 21

EU/Iwokrama project to conclude in June The European Union (EU) and Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development (IIC)’s project geared at promoting sustainable fishing and enhancing tourism in the North Rupununi is expected to conclude in June.

Called the Sustainable Tourism Development and Fisheries Management project, it began in December 2009.

The EU is providing 90 percent of funding for this 300,000 Euro project with IIC providing the remaining funds. IIC will continue to work with the communities beyond the close of the project to further build on capacity.

Between April 12 and 14, Head of the EU Delegation to Guyana, Ambassador Robert Kopecký, accompanied by officials of IIC, visited the project to appreciate the impact of the project, as it comes to an end.

Kopecký stated that such a form of Guyanese– European cooperation is in line with EU’s global priorities in the area of sustainable development and the environment.

“I was heartened to see tangible results of all the different programmes, which are the product of a lot of effort and devotion of real people, all this on the eve of the upcoming Rio+20

Conference due to take place in Rio de Janeiro, which means literally next door, in June this year,” he said.

The project has been implemented primarily in six communities: Annai, Wowetta, Surama, Fairview, Rewa and Yupukari. It focuses on strengthening the organizational capacity of the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB), which is the umbrella body for the 18 communities of the North Rupununi.

Its Chairman is Michael Williams, who is also the Toshao of Annai.

Key areas of the project cater for the enhancement of fisheries management by extending the North Rupununi Arapaima Management Plan to cover all fish species; and development of awareness and strategies to manage three main areas in the North Rupununi – Upper Rewa, Pirara-Karanambu-Simuni and the Surama Conservation areas.

Fisheries in the communities are done at the community level - small scale and commercial fishing.

Workshops were held in the communities to create a better framework for fisheries, which defines fishing periods for certain species and explains new fishing techniques and methods. Three of the communities are involved in

NRDDB Chairman, Michael Williams developing aquaculture in their villages.

In addition, a manual was developed for the fisheries sector in the six communities.

Management plans were also drafted following consultation with each community.

The objective is to establish sustainable fishing in the wetlands (rivers and lakes).

In the area of tourism, the project seeks to enhance existing tourism products in Annai, Wowetta, Surama, Fairview, Rewa and Yupukari, with greater international marketing of communities in Rupununi tourism products.

Emphasis is also placed

Head of Delegation Robert Kopecký (right) Vanessa Benn, Coordinator EU-ACP Forestry Research Network Project (centre), and Vibert Welch, Operations Manager, IIC on building and establishing research and tourism networks, especially linkages to outside entities.

The major activity in the

development of tourism is capacity-building and manuals in the area of financial record-keeping, product development,

services delivery, ethics and standards. Workshops were conducted in the villages and tourism business plans are being finalized.

Page 22

Kaieteur News

SERVICES Permanent &Visitors Visa Applications Professional Immigration Consultant Room E-4 Maraj Building 225-6496/662-6045.

WANTED Technical series Inc Industrial Site Eccles, 1 accounts clerk, Tool room clerk, 1 Industrial electrician, apply in person. Call: 6144358 East Coast Guyoil wanted day & night pump attendants, washman, manager, office assistants & sales girls. Call: 684-2838, 671-3983 One male or female to work in Interior; 1 Shop Assistant.

Call: 663-4476 Girls to work in bar as waitress. Age 18 to 25. Call: 256-4096 Cashier, sales staff, Grocery & clothing apply with written application to Nirva Supermarket.

Pooran Sanchar General Constructing Services, 4 able bodied labourers, 1 driver. Contact us on: 2653586, 665-3550, 617-8369 Porters & sales girls apply with written application at Lot 1 E Dennis& Milton Street Campbellville One live in domestic.

Contact:658-9495 / 627-2550 Female workers needed 3 subject or sound secondary education. Age 18-28yrs.

Call: 225-7307 Taxi drivers. Call: 225-3234 Maid/Helper cosmetologist.

Tel: 227-4799, 223-5451.

Cleaners Handy boys & kitchen assistants apply Hack’s Halaal Restaurant, 5 Commerce ST, 9-11am.

Excavator Operator, Mechanics (Caterpillar, Perkins & model M Trucks) Jetmen, Marrack, sailors.

Call: 223-5273-4 P.S.G.C.S workers in farm at Yarrakabra. Apply at Lot 122, Covent Garden Island E.B.D. Call:265-3586 One skilled lathe operator attractive rates. Call:613-3091 One live in maid. Call:2235324 1 general domestic to work in Georgetown Mon-Sat. Call:614-7267

WANTED Drivers for car/van/canter, 3 years experience. Call: 2250188, 225-6070 Live in/live out babysitter/ clerk/domestic. Call: 2250188, 225-6070 One live in or out maid & experienced sales girls. Call: 264-3356, 253-3149, 668-3985 Mason, painter, security guard, maid. Call: 225-3234 Manager’s Assistant general duties including Custom and Bond, Security Guards, accommodation available.

Call: 676-6700 1 lumber yard labourer. Call: 2263736 Cashier & pump attendants apply @ Ramsburg Service station, Providence East Bank Demerara One experienced hire car driver. Contact Mrs.Z.Khan, at 11 Thomas Street Kitty.

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Care taker to live on Linden H/Way farm couple or elderly male and dog Friendly. Call: 666-7480

ONLINE SHOPPING NO COMMISSION, WEEKLY S H I P M E N T S , AFFORDABLE RATES, FREE PRIVATE MAILBOX T E L # 2 3 1 - 5 7 8 9 FREIGHTLINKEXPRESS@ GMAIL.COM WE FILL OUT PASSPORT & VISA FORMS:USA, UK & CANADA TEL#231-5789 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer. Omar:231-0655,6838734 We refill HP cartridges for $1,800. Call:650-7699 Repairs, sales & spares, air conditioning, microwaves, washer, fridges & Stoves.

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Call Sharmela: 225-2598, 6410784

2 Mechanics to work in Trinidad work permit available. Call: 684-8231 Cooks/ waitress and bartenders to work in Kitty area. Call: 226-7054 One mechanic to work in supply E.B.D. Call:624-7036

Drivers with lorry license apply @ Wieting & Richter Ltd Experience sales represented, apply Wieting & Richter Ltd

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Experience taxi drivers, dispatchers and bus drivers.

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One live in domestic to do general house work, no cooking. Call:639-7000

Salesgirls & salesboys.

Apply Avinash Complex Water St. Georgetown. Call: 226-3361, 227-7828 1 refrigerator & washing machine technician/ Trainee.

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Call: 656-1284

CAKE & PASTRIES Courses in cake decoration, pastry making & cookery, tel: 670-0798. Wedding dresses for sale & rental.

1-lb character cakes $5,000, pastries at whole sale prices.

Call: 223-9497

Get your US Non-Immigrant Visa application process.

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One night security. Call: 2335235, 667-5717, 623-2728 Chainsaw operator attractive salary. Call: 676-4262, 2315691 Porters to work on water truck $15,000 per week. Must be from the W.C.D. Call: 684-8231

VACANCY Have an interest in customer service? Then be apart of Q! Call:220-0401, 225-6466

SALON Make up courses, artist trained & certified in Trinidad: 660-5257,647-1773 Cosmetology courses. Tel: 225-6026, 682-2604 Quality yourself in Cosmetology or nails, make up, Register, Limited spaces.

Call Abby: 216-1950, 6197603, 666-5241

WANTED Live in maid/ cook apply Marie. Telephone no#2261445, 226-8094. Excellent Salary

FOR SALE Dell computers complete with LCD from $49,000, Dell.

Future Tech. Call:231-2206, 644-6760 Roofing shingles $5,995 per bundle. Call: Mr.Skepmire: 227-5195 Games for PS2-$900, PSP$900, PS3-$2600, Xbox 360$2600, Xbox 1-$2000, WII$1600.Call: 672-2566, 2653231 PS2-PS3-PSP-WII- Games, consoles, controls. Call: 6666661 1 overhauled & repainted Ford 5000 tractor with Boughton Winch. Call:6619318 Spares for washer, microwaves, fridges, stovetimers, gear boxes, pumps etc. Contact:225-9032, 6472943 Toyota Starlet 2 E Turbo engine with gearbox and ECU: Call: 624-7155.

NARS lipgloss, eyeshadow & Clinique lipgloss. Tel: 6698374.

One 2002 Tundra, low mileage and one welder 4 cylinder with Perkins engine 400amps. Call: 685-8962, 6115114 1 washing machine, 1 Dryer, 1 PS3 160GB 100,000. Call: 650-7719 Compaq laptop $85,000. Call: 675-1168

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HEALTH HIV/AIDS you can still have a second chance. Call: 6396054

Wednesday April 18, 2012

FOR SALE 1 330 Bedford Turbo engine, 3000 PSI pressure washer, power horse 2’’ water pump, 1 ½ Ton forklift Nissan.

Contact: 617-7691

HP Laptops-500 GB, HRD 4 G Rom 15 inch, window7 $150,000. Torch blackberry16 GB Memory card $6000.

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Call: 628-9119 Bread tapes. Call: 231-8819 Short fluffy puppies vaccinated & dewormed $12,000. Call: 220-4247 Gold detector water proof, headset & battery charger.

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Accessories included. Call: 680-1722

FOR SALE 1 Daf 45 flat bed, 26 Ft tray.

Call:609-7803 1 complete audio system, alphansonic 2400W, Rockfordfosgate 2000W, 1 Pioneer Inbox 5000W, Clarion/crossover. Call: 6570529 Used: QSC Amps MX2000 & MX3000, Roland sampler SP-404, Rcf speaker: 12" & 18", celestion speaker: 15".

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Call:698-5046, 696-2721, owner migrating New pressure washers 2600 PSI Honda, 3000 PSI, 2500 PSI 6.75 HP. Call: 627-7835 1 Kawasaki Ninja Bike, 2009CC. Contact: 677-1218, 216-0317 Slightly damage zinc sheet.

Call: 226-7054 Curtis Brand Home Entertainment centre, 5.1 CH Speaker system with sub woofer center & satellite speakers. Call: 687-4519 10x10ft projector, resolution 640x240 DPI, 120 volts, 50/60 HZ Play DVD’s, games, satellite box. Call: 687-4519, $110,000 Engines parts 620, DAFT, spring, front, axle, tray dump, Chassis engine Block. Call: 642-5915, 654-3488 Yamaha outboard engine parts for 115HP-200 HP, Crankshaft fat & fine top, pistons, bearings. Call: Terry665-9405 2003 GMC Savana Cargo Van, great for business, huge space & power 2.5M. Call: Terry-665-9405 Transported land (37’x732’), Bagotsville, WB. Call:6600036, 223-1719 Gold and Diamond land concession. Call: 223-1719/ 600-0036 Large Restaurant food warmer. Call: 223-1719, 6000036 Playstation 2& X-box $30,000 each with 2 games.

Call: 223-1273 1 washing machine, 1 dryer, 1 PS3 160 GB 100,000.

Contact: 650-7719 2 Leyland Daf double Axle.

Call:678-1317 Pluck chicken for sale.

Call:682-8236 Eggs for sale. Call:682-8236 (Continued on page 23)

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 23

Letters... Where your views make the news

Where are your views Caribbean?

DEAR EDITOR, Is CARICOM coming, going, or going backwards?

Where are we really going?

Do we have any ethical principles or moral characteristics? Is parliament doing what it is designated to do in our respective countries?

So we have one, two, three, or how many CARICOM regulations.

If we start wrong, we will finish wrong. I’ve repeatedly stated that with the wrong set of people in leadership, purposes are disappointed.

The essence of CARICOM is not above status power. It is all the essence of measuring of CARICOM. CARICOM is doomed to failure, almost immediately if we do not get our act together. CARICOM leaders must now let their voices be heard concerning the matter of the Suriname Prime Minister being granted amnesty for crime against humanity, and holds such a high public office.

An amnesty is no

solution for the past. These six men, who initiated the controversial proposal, should be barred from any public office. This is deemed disgraceful degradation of democracy.

Do we remember when the Argentine people had to close the courts and reshape the entire judiciary before the country was again able to function as a civilized state?

We cannot sit back and allow our freedom to be jeopardized by our ignorant leaders who see us only as a set of slave people.

Come on leaders, get it right, now. It is unacceptable for the Suriname President Desi Bouterse to be granted immunity for crimes committed against humanity.

If this is how CARICOM leaders expect to conduct their business, sorry Sirs and Madams.

We rarely would need no parliament, no courts, and no judiciary system. The bottom line is that CARICOM does not know where to start, or the way forward.

CARICOM leaders are confused about the way forward. Everyone wants power and does not know what constitutes power. If a person does a crime, that person must do the time.

CARICOM leaders, you must address this mockery that has the potential to dislodge every ounce of progress made in CARICOM. Slavery done long, long ago, I therefore, call on all the people of the region and beyond, rise up and let your voices be heard now. Away with CARICOM if this matter cannot be addressed in a respective manner now and forever from the top.

Good Governance article 17 the chapter for civil society 1997 The states shall adopt and implement all appropriate measures to ensure that good governance, which is just open and accountable.

The states recognize and affirm that the rule of law, the effective administration of

justice, and the maintenance of the independence and the impartiality of the judiciary are essential to good governance.

The states, in order to ensure morality in public affairs, agree that holders of public offices and all those who exercise power, the exercise of which affects or may affect public interest, shall so order their affairs in accordance with national law, that such ordering gives no cause for conflict to arise, or appear to arise in between their private interest and their duties to the public or to otherwise compromise their integrity.

To this end, the states agree to establish a code governing the conduct of the holders of public offices and all those who exercise power; the exercise affects all the public interest.

So we see clearly, CARICOM leaders have started wrong and must correct it now, now, now. We the people declare.

Godfrey Isaacs

DEAR SIR, The Guyana Police Force is responding to an article published in the Kaieteur News on Monday April 16, 2012, under the caption “Oh, what a wonderful state we are living in!”

In the article, the unnamed writer who claims to be a resident of Enmore, ECD, alleged that the police failed to respond to his calls for assistance on behalf of a female neighbour whose home was being broken into during the early morning of Sunday April 15, 2012, and whom he claimed had called him by telephone to assist.

The Guyana Police Force wishes to set the records straight in relation to this matter where about 2:00h on April 15, 2012, Chandrawatie Persaud, 34 years of Logwood, Enmore, ECD, called the police at the Enmore Police Outpost on the telephone.

She reported that her brother Mohamed Habeeb Charran, 23 years, had come home under the influence of alcohol and had begun to continuously bang on her door while demanding $3,000 which he claimed she owed him from monies sent from overseas by his mother.

The Constable who took the report informed the police mobile patrols, one of which responded to the report, after directions to the specific house were ascertained.

Upon arrival at the scene the ranks contacted Chandrawatie Persaud and arrested her brother

Mohamed Habeeb Charran, who had also damaged a window to the house after his sister did not open the door or respond to his demands for the money.

Constable Durant who is named in the article and who was on duty at the time at the Divisional Operations Room at Cove and John, ECD, has acknowledged that a male caller did report the matter and that she had also informed the police patrols.

Mohamed Habeeb Charran has been charged with malicious damage to property. He appeared before Magistrate Nyasha Hatmin at the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court on April 17, 2012, where he pleaded guilty to the charge and was

placed on a one-year bond.

Chandrawatie Persaud who made no complaints about the police and who has expressed satisfaction with their quick response has denied calling anyone, other than the police, in this matter on the night in question.

In relation to the further allegation by the unnamed writer that he/she learnt that some time during the morning his/her opposite neighbour’s home was invaded and some articles stolen.

The police wish to state that a check of our records has revealed that no report of burglary/breakage of any home at Enmore, ECD, was made between Saturday April 14, 2012, and the time of penning this response.

In addition, cognisant of

the article which is apparently aimed at sullying the image of the Force, the police went into the area and questioned residents, but no one has indicated that their home was broken into and articles stolen during the period.

The Guyana Police Force wishes to reiterate that the ranks involved in this matter responded in a professional manner in dealing with the reports made, which resulted in the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrator, to the satisfaction of the affected party.

Ivelaw Whittaker PRO

Police find news report erroneous

Disgusting action

DEAR EDITOR, On Monday April 9, 2012, Easter Monday, imagine my uttermost surprise when I learnt and saw that the Police in ‘G’ Division, that is the Essequibo Police, held a Bar-B-Que and Lime in the Police Compound next to the Richard Fikal Police Training School. Loud, lewd and vulgar music was played.

The fact is that the Suddie Public Hospital is not more than about sixty yards from where the music was played, and I am sure that this was much to the annoyance and discomfort to many of the patients there.

The question is if this is going to be the pattern of the behaviour displayed by those who are supposed to be there to uphold the law as it relates to noise nuisance, then what actions are members of the public to expect when a report of noise nuisance is made to the Police in this Division.

ARCHIE W. CORDIS

A mini health check is the first step to donating blood

TOUR Suriname vacation shopping seeing 28th April-1stMay, trip. Contact Matthew:6392663, 665-5171,644-0185, 2278290

LEARN TO DRIVE Soman & sons Driving School. First Federation Building Call: 225-4858, 6445166, 622-2872, 615-0964 Prudential Learning “Training to Pass” automatic also stick/manual. Call: 6424827. We’ re #1

(From page 22) TO LET Short term apartments Eccles. Call:679-7139 Short term apartments. Call: 667-1549 Three (3) office spaces with kitchen C/Ville. Call: 6500716, 223-1051

VEHICLES FOR SALE 99 Honda Civic Leather interior. Call:648-2075

Building-16000 sqft , yard50000 sqft, can be used for Bond, factory etc.

Contact:225-7643, 225-7493

Just arrived: Allion and Premio, tel: 624-2000, 6221610 Unregistered Premio, Allion, with TV & rims. Call: 6098188, 602-6307

Lot 10 Area “G” Ogle. Tel: 683-6666, 650-6450 Unfurnished newly built apartment W.C.D. Call:6986496 Business place new road.

Call: 682-3011, 254-0694 Eccles-60,000-US1100, Nandy Park-US800, Hotel & Bar US3500, Apartments Bonds etc. Diana: 227-2256, 626-9382 New 2&3 bedroom apartment, prime location Diamond AA block X. Call:682-3483

UNREGISTERED ALLION, PREMIO, SPACIO, RUNX, ALEX, 2 TON CANTER, AVENSIS, VEROSSA, 212.

CALL:677-7666/ 610-7666 Hilux 4x4 solid Def pick up, Diesel, long base, excellent condition. Call: 623-0243 3 Ton enclosed canter, unregistered.Tel: 617-2891 3 Ton 4 wheel drive canter, unregistered. Tel: 617-2891 1-2RZ Mini bus, reregistered.

Call: 617-2891 Unregistered Black Spacio, Silver Premio; reverse camera, Cerisor. Call: 6970294, 220-9514

PROPERTY FOR SALE Fully furnished home in Diamond ‘A’ neg. Call:6194682, 687-2806 Two story wooden and concrete building located at 14 ‘A’ Kersaint Park, L.B.I., E.C.D land measuring 75ft, by 75ft, kitchen cupboards, window grills, 6 bedroom, alarm, system,concrete fence and drains, large storage bond adjoining property price 21 Million (negotiable). Call: 643-2403, 227-2712 Hotel for sale on the Essequibo Coast Fully Furnished. Contact: 7715388, 680-1198 East Bank-12M, Prashad Nagar-40M, Republic Park25M, Sheriff Street-150M. Diana: 227-2256, 626-9382

Toyota Diesel Prado Excellent Condition Diplomat Vehicle. Call:624-6702 One EP 71 Starlet Auto, 1 Pajero JR, 1 AE 91 Sprinter.

Call: 644-5069, 697-1453 1 Toyota pickup V6 SR5 4WD. Call: 642-4779 1 Bedford 500, 1 Mazda Titan, 1 Nissan Atlas, 1 Nissan Diesel. Contact Keith:642-6234 1 RZ Minibus E.F.1 BKK Series in good condition, 1.1M neg. Call:265-3694 Unregistered Mitsubishi enclosed canter. Call: 6229123, 679-8056 One private RZ minibus immaculate condition. Call: 649-1290 Galant $1.1M low miles, excellent condition. Call: 6479520 1 500 Bedford Truck long Tray, 1 Leyland DAF 620 Truck. Call: 642-5915, 6543488

CAR RENTAL Progressive auto rental, cars from $3,500 per day. Call: 6435122, 656-0087, www.progressiveautorental.com Al’s Car & Pick up Rental.

Call:698-7807

MASSAGE American style massage services. Call: 609-4036

Premio, 110 Corolla. Call: 679-7139

Treat yourself to a relaxing massage. Call: 622-6256

Page 24

Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 18, 2012

The Abigail Column NTN CHANNEL 18/C ABLE 69 05:00hrs -Sign on with the Mahamrtunjaya Mantra 05:10hrs - Meditation 05:30hrs - Queenstown Masjid Presents Quran This Morning 06:00hrs - R. Gossai General Store Presents Ram Bhajans 06:15hrs - Jettoo’s Lumber Yard Presents Ram Bhajans 06:30hrs - Muneshwar Limited Presents Ram Bhajans 06:45hrs - Double Standard Taxi Presents Ram Bhajans 07:00hrs - RRT Enterprise Presents Ram Bhajans 07:15hrs - M & M Snackette Presents Raja Yoga

Discourses 07:30hrs - Dr. Balwant Singh’s Hospital Inc Presents 07:45hrs - The Family of the Late Leila & David Persaud Presents Ram Bhajans 08:00hrs - NTN This Morning Live with Reyaz Husein 09:30hrs - Indian Soap - Ram Milayee Jodi 10:00hrs - Indian Soap Yahaan Mein 10:30hrs - IPL 5 KINGS X1 PUNJAB v KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS 14:00hrs - Indian Soap - Choti Bahu 14:30hrs - Indian Soap - Pavitra Rishta 15:00hrs - Indian Soap - Punar Vivaah

Guides are subjected to change without notice

15:30hrs - NATGEO 16:30hrs - Devotional Times 17:00hrs - Drying Tears Live with Pastor Edson 17:30hrs - Kingdom Agenda Hosted by Bishop Dr. J. Edgehill 18:00hrs - Ganesh Parts Presents - BHAGAVAD GITA ( In English) Serial 18:15hrs - Birthday Greetings/ Deaths Announcement & In Memoriam 18:30hrs - Hare Krishna Today 19:00hrs - Music Fantasia with Asif Nawaz 20:00hrs - Ashmins Presents DANCE WITH ME with Joel 21:00hrs - Indian Soap - Ram Milayee Jodi 21:30hrs - Indian Soap Yahaan Mein 22:00hrs - Indian Soap - Choti Bahu 22:30hrs - Indian Soap - Pavitra Rishta 23:00hrs - Sign Off with the Gayatri Mantra NCN CHANNEL 11 02:00hrs – NCN Late Edition (R/B) 02:30hrs – Late Nite with GINA 03:00hrs – Movie 05:00hrs – Inspiration 05:30hrs – Newtown Gospel 06:00hrs – NCN Late Edition News(r/b) 06:30hrs – Feature 07:00hrs – Guyana Today 08:00hrs – Let’s Talk Tax (R/ B) 08:30hrs – Feature 09:00hrs – Stop the Suffering 10:00hrs – Cricket 1st Test West Indies VS Australia Day 4 12:00hrs – Lotto’s Cricket Info & Quiz 12:40hrs – Cricket Resumes 17:00hrs – Anderson 18:00hrs – NCN News Magazine – Live 18:30hrs – Feature 19:00hrs – Al Jazeera 19:30hrs – Feature 20:00hrs – 3d/daily millions/ play de dream/lotto draw 20:05hrs – GWI Alert 20:35hrs – Oral Tradition 21:05hrs – NCN Sports Magazine 22:05hrs – NCN News Late Edition 22:35hrs – IPL#23 Kolkata Knight Riders vs King XI Punjab (Delayed)

I’m afraid to tell my mom, “I’m pregnant” DEARABIGAIL, I’m a twenty-three-yearold student who will be done with school this year. My boyfriend and I have been dating nine months and I am now two months pregnant.

He is aware of the situation and is very supportive. My mother, however, is very strict and set in her ways. She reinforces all the time that I must not have sex with anyone until I’m married, and she has been asking me questions about whether or not I’ve had sex with my boyfriend. I am very afraid to tell her I’m pregnant

because there is no telling how mad she will get. What do I do?

Student Dear Student, You’re in a difficult situation right now, and it’s unfortunate that you also have to worry about figuring out how and when to tell your mother about the pregnancy.

But remember that at age twenty-three, you are a fullfledged adult, and although your mom may not approve of your decision to have sex, or the decision you make about your pregnancy, these are officially your decisions to make.

As you probably know,

you need to decide what to do about your pregnancy.

You have several options, including keeping the child, or having an abortion. You can weigh the pros and cons of each possibility and evaluate your feelings about each, rationally or irrationally.

To prepare for talking with your mom it may help to think about what you hope to get out of telling her. You could sit down with her, in a place where you’re not likely to be interrupted.

Whatever the case, keep in mind that sometimes life takes unexpected turns, and we can simply do our best to deal with them head-on as they arise.

Wednesday April 18, 2012 ARIES (March 21 - April 19): Even if novels aren't quite your cup of tea, flipping through some books on the bestseller shelf or looking through a short story collection could give you a brand new idea about how to handle a real life problem. ******************* TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): One of your friends is experiencing some relationship problems and they are letting them affect your friendship a bit too much, in your opinion. They're distracted when they're with you, and can only seem to talk about what's bothering them. ****************** GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): Coworkers can certainly help you get ahead in your career life, but as far as your social life is concerned, you should not look to them for help right now. ******************** CANCER (June 21 - July 22): The only problems you will have today will be caused by your unpredictable energy level. Your mood will be swinging a bit wildly, and it could be difficult for people to hang on for too long. ********************* LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22): Taking people at their word is not a very wise thing to do today, because all that glitters is definitely not gold! Turn up your skepticism a little bit, and don't hesitate to doubt what you hear. ******************* VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept.

22): Not everyone can be as informed and as experienced as you are, and it's not always their fault. So cut some people

some slack when they frustrate you with their questions. ********************* LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22): Chemistry is important, but you must be on the same level as the people in your life if you want to find complete harmony. So if you're finding yourself attracted to an 'opposite' personality, be careful. ********************* SCORPIO (Oct. 23 - Nov. 21): This is a good day to play things cool. Be low key, and you'll end up getting much more attention than you would if you were running around schmoozing with everyone. ******************** SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 Dec. 21): Your old ideas are getting musty! It's time to get a fresh perspective on your job, your family, and your relationships. **************** CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 Jan. 19): If you're hit with a financial windfall, you shouldn't invest it all in one place -- or spend it all on one thing! Show your gratitude to the universe by spreading the love around! ******************** AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 - Feb. 18): Just because someone you know is looking for answers in their life does not mean that you need to give them to them. You might know exactly what they need to do, but they might not agree. ********************* PISCE S ( F e b . 1 9 March 20): There are going to be many tantalizing options for self-promotion today -- but the question is, will you be bold enough to grab them?

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Kaieteur News

Jazz outlast Nowitzki, Mavericks 123-121 in 3OT SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Al Jefferson hasn’t been close to the playoffs since his rookie season.

Seven years later, the Utah Jazz big man is doing everything he can to make sure he’s not on the outside looking in again.

Jefferson scored 28 points and tied a career-high with 26 rebounds to fuel Monday night’s 123-121 triple-overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks. ‘’Right now we just got to win every game, no excuse,’’ said Jefferson, who had 10 points in the extra periods. ‘’This is a big test for us. We just got to see where our heart is and I know everybody in the locker room wants to make the playoffs. So we are going to fight and we are going to fight ‘til the end. That’s all we can do.’’

Dallas was coming off an overtime loss Sunday to the Los Angeles Lakers, and Monday’s felt just as bad. It was the Mavs’ first triple-OT game since Dec. 29, 1989, against Portland, which they also lost.

Monday’s win halted Utah’s seven-game losing streak against the Mavericks, but more importantly kept the Jazz in the postseason race.

Utah began the day 10th in

Utah Jazz guard Alec Burks, left, fouls Dallas Mavericks guard Vince Carter (25) the Western Conference but pulled one-half game behind Phoenix and Houston for the eighth and final spot with four games remaining. The Jazz (32-30) hold the tiebreaker with the Rockets but not with the Suns, who they face again next week.

The loss dropped defending champion Dallas to seventh in the West, onehalf game behind Denver.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 40 points against Utah for the second straight time. His 3pointer forced the second overtime, but he couldn’t

Deonarine feeds off Shiv to...

From page 27 from over the years and he helped me throughout the innings.”

Deonarine added: “After losing Bravo early in the day, I knew I had to really dig in and look to build up a partnership with Shiv. We talked a lot about rotating the strike and not allowing the bowlers to settle and bowl too long at anyone of us.

“It was not an easy pitch to bat on and scoring was difficult. It was not the ideal pitch for strokeplay, so as a batsman, you had to leave out some of the attacking strokes and look to graft and build.”

Deonarine concluded: “So far when you look at it, everyone has struggled, so we knew it would’ve been a tough battle out there. I’ve come back into the team and into Test cricket after some time away and I’ve come back as a fighter.”

convert late in the third extra period. The Jazz forced overtime on Paul Millsap’s put-back dunk with 2.2 seconds remaining in regulation.

The Jazz led by as many as 11 points early, and were up 87-83 with 46 seconds left in regulation before Vince Carter hit back-to-back 3s, including the second with 8.5 seconds left in regulation.

On U t a h ’s final possession in regulation, Gordon Hayward drove the lane but missed, only to have Millsap fly in for thunderous put-back dunk.

Nowitzki’s long 3 to win it at the buzzer in regulation came up short.

Utah led by four in the first overtime, only to see Nowitzki force the second extra period with a 3 with 3.9 seconds left. Jefferson hit a jumper in the third overtime then blocked Ian Mahinmi’s shot, setting up Millsap for a fast-break score and 115-113 lead.

Devin Harris hit a 3 and Jefferson’s 6-foot running

jumper after Nowitzki’s missed 3 gave Utah a 120115 lead with 1:08 remaining.

Delonte West sank a 3 with 56 seconds left to get Dallas back within two points. Millsap made 1 of 2 free throws with 14.9 seconds left and Utah led 121-118. Jason Terry and Nowitzki both missed 3s in the final 10 seconds. Terry finished with 27 points and four 3s.

Harris’ free throws p r o v i d e d U t a h ’s f i n a l points, before West hit a 3 that was too little too late.

DeMarre Carroll instead would come up with two huge rebounds for the Jazz late in the third overtime.

Carroll was playing just two days after having a front tooth dislodged and suffering a mild concussion in a loss at Memphis. He was cleared to play Monday morning, and finished with 15 points, four rebounds, six assists and a steal for the Jazz. Hayward added 24 points for Utah and Harris had 23, with five 3s.

Like the last game played in Utah between the teams, this one got chippy, with the Mavericks whistled for three individual technical fouls.

West drew chants of ‘’Throw Him Out’’ after he was called for a technical in the second quarter after fouling Hayward away from the ball then poking his index finger in the back of Hayward’s head a few seconds later.

Nothing was more physical than the matchup between Nowitzki and Millsap, who bumped and battled the entire night.

Millsap finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.

Horse disqualified on no grounds - 1st...

From page 27 especially when neither jockeys or horses were in contact.

In an event like this, both horse owners are suppose to discuss and come to a mutual agreement. Mr. Fazal Habilbulla claimed that the jockey was disqualified because jockeys have 5 minutes to go the jockey room to weigh so since he did not make it there on time, he was disqualified.

How is it expected that jockey Balgobin would go to the weigh in while he was been beat on the track or to enter the track again in the same crowd who tried to seriously injure him.

Indeed, Balgobin cut across the horse although it was ahead, but it is no different from what takes

place in worse situations with the Guyanese jockeys on other tracks. The foreign jockeys from Trinidad who have experience from various countries are always abiding by all rules and expect their fellow jockeys to do the same.

It is unfair that some Guyanese jockeys feel they can take advantage of the rules and not be punished in any form. According to the history of riding in Guyana, jockeys are rarely fined for not abiding by the rules, but that wasn’t the case on Sunday at the Rising Sun Turf Club.

They disqualified a jockey while others do far worse.

Since the jockey was disqualified and Serenity was announced winner, the trophy was suppose to be handed over to Jumbo Jet Stables. To their surprise,

Serenity was also disqualified. It’s the first time in history in Guyana to my knowledge that this has ever occurred. There was no legitimate reason for the disqualification. When asked for a proper reason by management, they were unable to give a reason and just said it was their decision.

Since Jumbo Jet Stables were not getting satisfaction, they just decided not to participate in any other race for the day.

Mr. Ryan Crawford, as an esteemed lawyer, should act in a far more matured manner.

He did not have any horses in the race nor was he involved with any of them so why did he come and attack an innocent Jockey and chase after him?

Mr. Nasrudeen Mohamed

has always tried to promote the horseracing sport in Guyana. He is working with many other people of Guyana to become more involved to participate in this wonderful sport. It is unfortunate that some people have to make complications instead of working together to better the sport.

Let’s try to prevent future problems by not turning to violence or negative remarks as a solution to indifference.

Continue to come out to the future horserace meetings and leave the issues at home.

I attach two photos; one of the start showing horses cutting in on each other (Serenity being one of them affected) and two of the police trying to break up the fracas.

All for your information.

Concerned horseracing fan

Page 25

Page 26

Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Central Essequibo are Rickey Toney Essequibo Cricket Board t/20 champs Central Essequibo defeated South Essequibo by seven wickets to win the Rickey Toney\ Essequibo Cricket Board twenty \20 competition on Saturday evening at the Anna Regina Community Centre ground.

Central won the toss and inserted South to bat first in front of a fair size crowd.

Left-handed opener Royan Federicks was South’s leading run scorer with 32, while Jagdesh Dindyal supported with 17 as they were bowled out in the 19th over for 109. Medium pacer Ganesh Mangal bagged 4-7 off 4 overs while Latchman Rohit took 2-20.

Central in reply hardly encountered any difficulties

as they reached the winning target in 15 overs ending on 112-3. Herell Green and Yougeshwar Lall were their leading batsmen with 37 and 21 respectively.

Green took the best batsman of the final trophy, while Mangal collected the award for the best bowler.

Central received $250,000 while South got $100,000.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony Rickey Toney of Toney’s Elite Styles thanked the teams for participating and said next year competition will be bigger and better. He also stated that an All-Star team will be selected to play in the Jam Zone competition at the National Stadium.

Meanwhile, Central and South Essequibo won their respective semifinal matches.

Scores: Semi-final 1North E’bo 100 all out in 14.4 overs (Faizal Karim 36, Herell Green 3-12, Ganesh Mangal 3-16, Narendra Madholall 3-10). Central E’bo 102-2 in 12.2 overs.

(Keith Fraser 45 n.o) Semi final 2: Pomeroon 123 all out in 15 overs (Esuan Crandon 57, Royan Federicks 3-25) South E’bo 124-6 in 14 overs (Royan Federicks 55).

Preliminary games scores: East Bank Essequibo 92 all out in 19.3 overs (Punraj Singh 316) lost to North E’bo 96-2 in 15 overs. (Chris Calvan 33)

by 8 wickets.

Wakenaam 94-9 in 15 overs (Ricardo Adams 37,Herell Green 3-8) lost to Central E’bo 98-7 in 14 overs (Latchman Rohit 37, Wayne Osborne 2-12, Nokta Moses 2-8) by 3 wickets in a game reduced to 15 overs.

Leguan 91-6 in 10 overs (Tatteshwar Chetram 43, Sanjeev Ramdeen 3-10) lost to Pomeroon 94-0 in 8 overs.(Esaun Crandon 68) by 10 wickets. The game was reduced to 10 overs.

South E’bo 109-9 in 15 overs (Jagdesh Dindyal 41, Rupesh Motilall 3-17) beat Bartica 99-9 in 15 overs ( Robin Narine 31, Norman Federicks 4-10) by 10 runs.

(Zaheer Mohamed)

Lyon haul gives Australia advantage despite century...

From back page breezy first innings in Barbados, picked out longon and Shane Shillingford added to his opposite number’s success when he got an inside edge that was superbly held by Ed Cowan at short leg.

Lyon’s fifth wicket came when Kemar Roach was given caught down the leg side although Wade was more interested in the s t u m p i n g o p p o r t u n i t y.

Australia’s new keeper was impressive in tough conditions, not conceding a bye in 104 overs.

The evening collapse of five for 19 in 12 overs was another example of West Indies not being able to sustain a performance for long enough to take control.

The 44 overs that Chanderpaul and Deonarine combined (and the period when Darren Bravo was also at the

crease) was another of those uplifting passages that West Indies are just managing to produce slightly more regularly.

Chanderpaul’s role came w a s no surprise but Deonarine showed application that was less well known, remaining calm as he reached 4 off 43 balls before beginning to expand his strokeplay either side of lunch.

Before Ly o n ’s intervention Australia’s only breakthrough had come from Michael Hussey as Michael Clarke again went through his book of captaincy tricks. On a surface gripping for medium-pacers Hussey, developing something of a golden-arm of late, and Shane Watson were tough to score off.

Hussey produced a delivery that swung late to beat Bravo and take his back pad. Again, though, Bravo had given flashes of

what makes him stand out as a batsman particularly his off-side driving.

Chanderpaul had been given a life on 8, off Lyon’s bowling, when Clarke could not hold a thick edge at slip which came off Wa d e ’s p a d . A l o n g s i d e Deonarine he initially focused solely on survival - although Deonarine was inches from being run-out the ball before lunch - but at the start of the afternoon session Australia lost their way a little and the batsmen cashed in.

Pattinson struggled with his rhythm throughout the day and later left the field clutching his back after an awkward piece of fielding. His first over of then afternoon was taken for 16 by Chanderpaul which included three boundaries alongside two no-balls.

Deonarine was not all defence, either, and a whip

through midwicket off Lyon stood out before he launched David Warner over midwicket for six. Rain brought an early tea, but had not seemed to disrupt West Indies.

Chanderpaul brought up the 200 with another six, a slog-sweep off Michael B e e r, and when D e o n a r i n e ’s t h i r d h a l f century arrived from 132 balls with a rasping cover drive thoughts were even turning to the potential of the hosts building a firstinnings lead that would put the pressure back on Australia.

T h e n , h o w e v e r, Te s t cricket showed that despite it being the longest format a strong position can unravel in the blink of an eye. And, for West Indies, it was a familiar feeling.

(West Indies 252 for 9 (Baugh 17*, Edwards 0*, Lyon 5-68) trail Australia 311 by 59 runs)

Bishops High dominate YBG Under-16 League From back page record the “Young Warriors” entered the Championship Round under great pressure to not drop a game.

Their sojourn began against New Amsterdam Multilateral, who did not post much of a challenge for the oversized backcourt of the young warriors.

Even though they where without their talented Point Guard, Marvin Durant, Bishops’ blew out New Amsterdam 76-23.

Next up was Marian Academy, who tested every ounce of resolve of the Bishops team, who eventually held on to a nail biting 45-44 win.

In the finals, the “Young Warriors” of Bishops was

back to their usual dominant selves as they completely outplayed a very talented and deep President’s College team, winning the title game with another blow-out 60-32.

Bishops’ seemingly unstoppable Power Forward, Daniel Haynes, who has a tournament average of 15.7 points, 15.4 rebounds and 3.8 steals, was instrumental in the schools’ dominant run in the NSBF Georgetown U-16 conference.

Haynes received the awards for Best Big Man and the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Durant, Rondel Holder, Daniel Ramlagan and Lashawn Jeffrey were also impressive for Bishops so far in the tournament.

“I felt the pressure of the entire school on my shoulder, I didn’t want to let them down” Haynes was quoted as saying following his team’s performance. He gave credit to all of his team-mates for his schools’ success to-date.

Also receiving awards were President’s College duo, Jaleel Duke for Best Point Guard Play and Shaquelle Adonis, who averaged an amazing triple-double of 17 points, 12 rebounds and 10 steals and received the award for Best Around Play.

The seeding for the NSBF U-16 include: (1) Bishops; (2) Presidents College; (3) Kwakwani Secondary School; (4) Marian Academy; (5) Plaisance Academy; (6) Unclassified; (7) St. Roses

High; (8) New Amsterdam Multilateral; (9) Maes Secondary and (10) Brickdam Secondary School.

The following players were named to the first team: Marvin Durant, Daniel Haynes and Rondel Holder (Bishops); Dellon Wallace (Kwakwani), Shaquelle Adonis, Shakeel Garnett, Jaleel Duke and Kobe Carmichal (Presidents College); Darroll Williams (Saints); Andrew Peroune (Marian Academy); Anfernee Jarvis (St. Roses); Christian Narine (St. Joseph) and Juan Fraser (Maes Secondary).

Another 13 players will be selected after the NSBF for the Junior All-Star game and the YBG U-16 Academy Training Programme.

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Kaieteur News

Letter to the Sports Editor

Horse disqualified on no grounds 1st time in Guyana’s History

DEAR EDITOR, Mr. Nasrudeen Mohamed has been bringing in jockeys from Trinidad since the first horserace meet of 2012. At every horserace meet that these Trinidadian jockeys rode, they heard verbal threats from some of the local Guyanese jockeys and were even bullied while racing.

Whenever an incident like that has occurred in the past, inquiries were made to the stewards to solve the problem and to give a warning.

Apparently, a mere warning to the Guyanese jockeys was not sufficient.

At Port Mourant Turf Club on Sunday April 8th, the same thing happened on a higher scale. Jockeys Badire and Razak were verbally threatened again before riding. There was an inquiry with Stewards Chico & Ramnauth about Jockey Drepaul (aka Old Bai) verbally threatening Badire’s life on the race track. According to Badire, Drepaul said, “I’m going to kill you on this same track.” Drepaul also bounced Badire on the turns and coming on to the homestretch. The stewards asked the jockeys for their point of views and a warning was made again. Because of that, Badire did not return to Guyana to ride on Sunday, April 15th.

Although it was acknowledged that Drepaul did not follow the rules, he was not was he disqualified or fined.

At the Horserace meet last Sunday, April 15th at Rising Sun Turf Club was when things became physical.

The day started out great for the Jumbo Jet Stables with a win in the E& Lower Class race, the first race of the day.

Trinidadian jockeys, Balgobin and Razak, claimed

they heard some talk and threats but did not take it too seriously since they were off to a good start.

Things changed after the 3 Year West Indies and Guyanese bred race went off.

It was a competitive race indeed but Serenity managed to take the lead after getting a bad start. Serenity was about 2 horse lengths ahead of Storm in a Tea cup (ridden by jockey Ramnauth, aka Put), owned by Mr. Sherriff (not Mr. Ryan Crawford) while approaching the finish line.

Jockey Balgobin changed lanes as he crossed the finish line.

Balgobin claims his reason for doing this is because jockey Ramnauth yanked his horse, Storm in a Tea Cup, straight into Serenity causing Serenity to be in the back of the pack.

This, however, did not interfere with Storm in a Tea Cup because there was a big enough of distance for the

two horses not make contact.

Storm in a Tea Cup did not even change its lane because it was not affected at all.

As the horse was parading after its victory, Mr. Ryan Crawford initiated the fight by throwing a bottle at jockey Balgobin then everyone around him joined in. Mr. Ryan Crawford then took jockey Drepaul’s whip and started lashing jockey Balgobin several times, one getting him on his forehead causing him to bleed. After that a group of people started attacking jockey Balgobin on the horse, he took his helmet and threw it in self defence. It’s not certain if the helmet actually hit anyone.

Jockey Balgobin jumped off the horse to flee from the fight but a group circled and attacked him. He had no other choice but to curl himself up like a ball on the ground to protect himself.

The people around him were beating him up with their

bare hands, kicking him and using horse wips and bottles to strike the hapless rider.

Jockey Balgobin was helpless for a short while until he was rescued by a few people leading him to a truck where Mr. Nasrudeen Mohamed was observing the races from.

After the jockey fled the scene, the group, including Mr. Ryan Crawford, on the track, went after Nasrudeen Mohamed Junior. He was circled around and had a horse whip as well trying to chase the attackers away.

Police officers then came and stopped the fights, separating both parties.

Jockey Balgobin came to the truck to safeguard himself and to stay away from any further confrontation when Mr. Ryan Crawford lead his mob of about 30 people to the truck. Mr. Ryan Crawford threw some remarks to the jockey trying to get him down from the truck to continue beating him.

At that time, fellow turfites who saw the advantage of what was going on came to the defence of the jockey and the Jumbo Jet Stables and family to help protect them. Unidentified turfites began fighting again until Mr. Ryan Crawford and his mob ran away. The police officers came and intervened and one person was arrested.

After the fight was broken up, it was announced that Horse #5, Serenity from Jumbo Jet Stable won the race but the jockey is disqualified and forbidden to ride for the remainder of the day.

Stewards were questioned under what grounds the jockey was disqualified Continued on page 25

Page 27

Deonarine feeds off Shiv to pull Windies out of a hole PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — When Narsingh Deonarine went to the crease with West Indies in deep trouble on Tuesday morning, he knew he had a huge fight on his hands.

The left-hander West Indies batsman fought, making a determined 55 in over four hours at the crease to pull the hosts around on the third day of the second Digicel Test match against Australia at Queen’s Park Oval.

He found the perfect ally in the ever-reliable Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who fell for 94 — agonisingly short of what would have been the 26th hundred of his outstanding Test career and second century in as many matches, following the superb 103 in Barbados last week.

The pair of left-handers came together early in the day and added 130 for the fifth wicket, as the Windies made a strong reply to Australia’s

first innings of 311.

The home side however suffered a batting slide late in the day and closed at 2529, with off-spinner Nathan Lyon taking five wickets.

Deonarine, who made a return to Test cricket last week, said the Queen’s Park Oval pitch was a challenging one for the batsmen, but he enjoyed the time he spent at the crease with Chanderpaul at the other end.

Deonarine played some well-timed drives and counted seven fours and a big six over midwicket, in his third Test half-century.

“It’s always great to bat with Shiv, he’s an inspiration,” said Deonarine. “You couldn’t have asked for a better man at the other end in that kind of a situation.

“He has been in those tough situations so many times and he knew exactly what to do to pull us out. He is someone I have learnt a lot Continued on page 25

Bush Lot United Turf Club races set for Sunday April 29 The Bush Lot United Turf of West Coast of Berbice is up and running again and will be the centre of activity on Sunday 29th April when the club holds a grand one day horserace meet. There has been much improvement to the facility which has made a comeback in 2011 after a dormancy of close to 12 years.

Turfites attending the race meet will be able to view the activity in comfort as massive renovation work have been undertaken to improve the facilities all for the comfort of the spectators.

Among the improvements done to the entity in the short space of time is the renovation and covering of the Grand Stand, the relaying of the track, which has been extended to cater for longer races, while the track is being rolled and leveled constantly. Washroom facilities, which were recently constructed, have been further improved with running water and other modern amenities.

Eight races are listed for the day with prize money totaling over $2.5M in cash trophies ad other incentives up for grabs.

There are a number of feature events on the day’s programme including the feature for Animals classified F and lower, G and lower and another for three year old Guyana Bred animals.

The Feature event is for animals classified F and Lower with the winner set to take home a winning purse of $400,000 and trophy over 1800M will be sponsored by Beverage giants Banks DIH Limited.

The G and Lower race carries a winning purse of $250,000 and trophy over 1400M. The Two Year old Guyana Bred event has a winner’s money of $150, 000 over 1200M. The H class winning take is set at $120,000 and trophy over 1200M. The event for I3 Maiden horses over 1000M is for a winning purse of$100,000 and trophy.

There is a race for animals classified L1, 2 and 3 for animals three years and over covering 1200M with the winner set to collect $100,000 and a trophy. The J and lower race will see the winner take home $80,000 and a trophy over 1000M. The race for group one horses for a winning money of $60,000 and trophy will be a 1000M affair.

Among the other sponsors on board so far are Buddy Shivraj, The Shariff Racing Stables, Rommel Jagroop, the Trophy Stall, Bourda Market and GT&T. The organizers would also like to express thanks so far to a number of persons who have assisted to bringing the venue to what it is so far including Rommel Jagroop, Buddy Shivraj and Senior Council Marcel Crawford, who is the legal advisor to the club, among others.

Interested persons can make enquiries with President R. Jagit (tel 232-0231), Secretary Arjune Singh on 688-4764 and Treasurer Lakeram B. Sukhdeo on Number 232-0558. Race time is 13:00 hrs. (Samuel Whyte)

Page 28

Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 18, 2012

VV Royals Schools’ Basketball Championship Aruwai Regatta 20/20 KO semis & final on this weekend MHS, LFS prevail in latest battles New Line Cavaliers oppose South E’bo; Orient play Wakenaam

CEO of Hopkinson Mining, Morris Hopkinson is all smiles as he presents the cheque to Cianna Persaud, Secretary of D&C Promotions.

Twenty20 fans and the hundreds of Barticians home for the Easter holidays are bracing themselves for what is anticipated to be a grand climax to the 3rd annual Aruwai Mining Enterprise sponsored, D&C Promotions 20/20 competition this weekend at the Bartica Community Centre Ground.

The four teams in the semifinal battling on Saturday for a place in the championship game which will be contested on Sunday are defending champions New Line Cavaliers who will come up against South Essequibo and home team Orient who will take on Wakenaam.

The respective teams were winners of their respective quarterfinal matches that were played two weeks ago at the same venue, the organizers taking a break for the Easter Regatta

activities which included the usual Power Boat races on Easter Sunday and Monday at the Golden Beach Circuit.

Corporate support has been very encouraging according to the organizers and apart from the main sponsors Aruwai Mining enterprise that have donated the top three cash prizes of One Million, $500,000 and $250,000 respectively, Hopkinson Mining has also chipped in with their contribution.

CEO of Hopkinson Mining Morris Hopkinson, an ardent supporter of sports at the simple presentation to D&C Promotions Secretary, Cianna Persaud, stated that Hopkinson Mining has always been supporting sports development and the growth of athletes in Bartica over the years.

“We are particularly happy with the vision and

commitment of D&C Promotions in taking on the challenge of bringing a competition of this nature to Bartica. It has caught on really well and Hopkinson Mining will always be there to support this venture, we are pleased to see the support of the fans and the commitment of the teams that take part.”

Hopkinson also noted that the many youngsters who turn up at the venue, apart from seeing some of the past national players on show will be motivated into taking up the sport. The event he said also serves to fulfill a social need in terms of clean entertainment for the fans.

Cianna Persaud thanked the entity for their continued commitment towards the tournament noting that they have always been ensuring that they make their contribution towards community building.

Georgetown Turf Club horserace meet fixed for Sunday Great anticipation is the order of the day at the Georgetown Turf Club Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara this Sunday from12 noon when the Georgetown Turf Club stages their horserace meet which has a total of 1.5 million dollars in cash prizes to be won.

The meet which has a record of 54 horses registered to date will see horse lovers and spectators vying for and witnessing seven races, all with the same distance of 1200m.

The feature race, H & Lower, will see horses such as Prospect Pride, Sir Ballgy

Mackenzie High School (MHS) reeled in their second win of the tournament as they whipped Wisburg Secondary 43–23 while Linden Foundation Secondary (LFS) got the better of New Silvercity Secondary 55–38 when the Eighth Victory Valley (VV) Royals Schools’ Basketball Championship continued on Monday in Linden.

Parish Cadogan, who poured in a game high 24 points, helped MHS regrouped from an early jitter that saw them trailing by as much as ten points in the first six minutes of the contest, but they bounced back and SCHOOLS L.T.I C.W.S.S L.F.S M.H.S N.S.S.S Wisburg

showed why they are the defending champions.

The first half ended 19– 13 and, in the second stanza, Cadogan single-handedly took apart the Wisburg defence and put on an excellent display of the game for their supporters that included back-to-back threepointers and a sensational tamer-hawk dunk.

Wesley Williams with eight and Kenneth Semple (four) top scored for their school, which is yet to register a win in three outings so far.

Meanwhile, New Silvercity Secondary proved to be no match for Linden

GAMES PLAYED 3 2 3 2 3 3

WIN 3 1 2 2 0 0

Foundation Secondary (LFS) as the former champions bounced back to register their second win in three outings at the Mackenzie Sports Club Hard Court.

It was a team effort that saw them coasting to a comfortable 17-point victory (55–38) with Vibert Benjamin leading the way with 17 points along with Paul Kellman 16 points. Dennis Niles and Isaiah Kellman each netted 14 points.

Selwyn Noble scored a game high 22 points for the losers who have also slumped to their third lost and are yet to secure a win with two more games remaining.

LOSE 1 1 3 3

POINTS 3 1 2 2 0 0

Bob Cat of Berbice, BCB 20/20 Cup

New Amsterdam Canje teams prepare for battle The Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) as part of its continued efforts to expand and develop the standard of the game in every area of the Ancient County launched the Bob Cat of Berbice 20/20 tournament which will feature over a dozen teams from the New Amsterdam/ Canje area.

Teams will be drawn from the East Bank of Berbice, New Amsterdam, Canje and No. 19 areas vying for the winner’s trophy and cash prizes, this is the first tournament of its kind organised by the BCB. Special Events Committee Chairman of the BCB Hilbert Foster stated that the Board will this year be placing special emphasis in this area along with West Berbice and Central/ Upper Corentyne.

There are also plans to host a 40 overs tournament for the said teams in an effort to encourage player develop and at the same time, unearth new talent. Foster noted that most cricket tournaments in Berbice were won either by Albion Community Centre or the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club and tournaments such as this 20/20 offers an

opportunity for other clubs to claim titles of their own.

Treasurer, Anil Beharry expressed gratitude to CEO of Bob Cat of Berbice Mr. Srikissoon Ramjanan for his sponsorship of the tournament.

He challenged the clubs to cooperate with the BCB Competitions Committee in order to ensure a smooth completion of the tournaments this year.

President Keith Foster called on all the clubs in the area to invest in youths as they are the future, while placing priority on discipline throughout the tournament.

Mr. Srikissoon Ramjanan expressed his delight at being associated with the BCB as he was highly impressed with the work of the Board and its plan for even more success. He pledged his continued support for the game and urged other sponsors to come on board and be part of the cricketing revolution in Berbice.

The tournament will be played on a knockout basis and teams would only be allowed to play one First Division player in each game.

-- raffle drawing to be conducted and The Gump, just to name a few vying for top prize of $375,000. The I & Lower registered horses will be contesting for $140,000, $70,000, $35,000 and $20,000.

The I & Lower will see the winner walking out of the turf with $130,000; K & J and L & Lower winners will have in their possession $110,000.00 and $100,000.00 respectively.

Shane, Red Dragon, Cat Thief, Red Light and Pinky will compete for the top cash prize of $80,000 in the Cart Horse Class; the second and

third place winners will receive $40,000 and $20,000.

Horses competing in the U/ Classified Class will be battling for $90,000, $45,000, $25,000 and $12,000.

There will also be a raffle drawing; the funds from the raffle will be going directly to the club to aid in its development according to the President of the Turf Club, Nigel James.

For more information, contact Nigel James, President of the Georgetown Turf Club: 665-5611.

This Bob Cat representative presents the cheque to BCB Treasurer Anil Beharry in the presence of other BCB officials, President Keith Foster (left) and Secretary Angelina Haniff.

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Kaieteur News

GT&T and BCB donate balls to Berbice Clubs

Page 29

John Fernandes Insurance Services Ltd Second Division Hockey League

Old Fort scores upset win over 2nd ranked All Greys

First Division Clubs receive cricket balls from BCB and GT&T. The ten (10) first division cricket clubs in the Ancient County of Berbice on Wednesday last received $240,000 worth of white cricket balls compliments of GT&T and the Berbice Cricket Board during a simple ceremony at the BCB Office, New Amsterdam.

The Clubs are West Berbice, Blairmont, Edinburgh, Police, Memorex Bermine, Young Warriors Universal DVD, Albion Community Centre, Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets, Port Mourant and Skeldon Community Centre.

Chairman of the Board’s

Special Events Committee, Hilbert Foster at the presentation ceremony disclosed that the donation was part of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company’s sponsorship of the Berbice Inter County teams.

The sponsorship caters for assistance to clubs as part of the Board’s effort to assist their affiliates to fulfill their mandate of playing at all levels.

Foster noted that in 2012 they have committed to assisting most of the clubs in Berbice, and to date clubs have received over $5M

worth of items. The Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club Secretary/CEO stated that every Berbician should be proud of the outstanding work of the Berbice Board while noting that the GT&T Inter County sponsorship was the first of its kind in the history of the sport in Guyana.

BCB Treasurer Anil Beharry praised GT&T for its investment in Berbice and urged the representatives of the different clubs to not only take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Board but to work along with them to make sure that

Berbice cricket continue its upward movement.

Board President Keith Foster recalled the state of the sport there one decade ago, pointing out that it was due to the consistent, committed work of every executive member of his administration that the standard is at its highest level ever.

The President pledged that the work of the BCB would expand even more in 2012 especially in coaching and assistance to clubs.

Representatives of the clubs expressed gratitude to GT&T and the Board for their assistance.

Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets; Futsal Football Competition

Intense rivalry anticipated this evening in Linden Eight more matches are scheduled to be played when the Linden segment of the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets; Futsal Football Competition resumes tonight, at the New Silvercity Hardcourts.

In the opening fixture, Top Class and $100 Car square off in a battle where the latter will be hoping to register their first set of points in the competition.

Next up will be the clash between Constab Warriors and Exodus and this is a game that both teams will be searching for full points to put themselves in contention to make it to the knockout phase, while the encounter between Classic Six and Cherokee Park, also promises to be an affair where both teams will be looking to earn valuable points in an effort to qualify for the latter stages.

Attackers and Hard Knocks engagement is a hard one to call, but the latter is slightly favoured, having played unbeaten to date, while their opponents have managed just one point salvaged from a draw in two matches so far and will be determined to gain full points.

Speightland United and

(FLASHBACK) - Some of the excitement that Futsal Football generates will be seen tonight in Round 6 of this year’s Linden’s Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Competition.

South Stars is a straight battle between two teams yet to impress in the tournament to date and predicting a winner seems to be a difficult task.

Sheriff Squad judging from their exploits so far should start as favourites against Barsenal, but as everyone knows this format

is one where teams could get lucky and score an upset win.

Pepper Skull is another team that has shown consistency since the tournament commenced and they are favoured to defeat Street Vybz, who like High Stars is the cellar dwellers in the group and in the final

game of the evening between Wisroc vs. Scheme any one of the teams could emerge victorious.

It should be an interesting night of top class futsal football and fans are being urged to come out in their numbers to witness the anticipated rivalry.

Following the weekend’s hockey action, Old Fort took on and defeated 2nd ranked team in the tournament, All Greys, to advance in the John Fernandes Second Division League.

From the onset, both teams mounted attacks as they seemed determined to secure a victory.

It was Old Fort, h o w e v e r, w h o f i n a l l y entered the scoring book with a roaring goal by Troy Leitch in the 13th minute to take a 1-0 lead.

Nevertheless, the All Greys never looked as though they were going to easily give up and responded with an all out attack.

After some strong back and forth attacks, a careless tackle by Old Fort resulted in a penalty corner for the veterans which was scored by Damon Wo o d r o ff e i n t h e 1 8 t h minute to tie the score.

The All Greys fought to go ahead, but some good defensive work by Old Fort Goal Keeper, Aderemi Simon prevented the veterans from pouring in more goals.

Onassis Fraser, who netted in the 29th minute allowed Old Fort to regain the lead by a 2-1 margin.

The pressure by the Veterans bottled Old Fort in their half and Woodroffe scored on a penalty stroke to tie the score at 2-2 in the 32nd minute.

Old Fort bounced back and applied tremendous pressure on the All Greys defense and edged into a 3-2 lead through crafty stick work from Terry Shaw in the 39th minute, slipping one past the hapless Ryan Whitehead stationed between the uprights.

M i n u t e s l a t e r, t h e persistent veteran Alan Fernandes in the 41st minute finally answered with a field goal which soared past goalkeeper Simon to tie the game.

Damon Woodroffe

Alan Fernandes However, another decisive shot by Old Fort’s Omar Hopkinson in the 46th minute took his team forward once more to 4-3.

They stretched their advantage further when Leitch added another goal in the 58th minute for his team after dribbling past the All Greys defense, deceived the goalkeeper, before hammering a shot into the goal to make it 5-3.

The relentless forays orchestrated by All Grey’s Sheldon Corlette resulted in a goal in the 60th minute to pull the veterans within one, down 5-4.

This, however, was not enough to stop Old Fort from earning a hard fought victory.

Action continues on Friday when G.C.C. takes on the All Greys, at the G.C.C. ground from 16:45 hrs.

Coaches Goodwill Under-17 Football Competition reach quarterfinals Play in the Coaches Goodwill U-17 football competition completed its quarterfinal stage on Thursday and Friday last at the Fruta Conquerors Playfield, Tucville Ground.

In results from the scheduled matches: Fruta Conquerors FC hammered Camptown 4 – nil, GFC gained a walk over from Renaissance, Northern Rangers defeated Flamingo 2 – 1 and Black Pearl defeated Riddim Squad 3 – nil.

Page 30

Kaieteur News

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Deccan woes continue as Bangalore overcome Pune Warriors in a thriller Rajasthan nail big target Chris Gayle bludgeons one away

AB de Villiers celebrates Royal Challengers Bangalore's victory.

Yahoo!

Cricket – Bangalore: Saurabh Tiwary and AB de Villiers smashed 21 runs off Ashish Nehra’s last over as Royal Challengers Bangalore came out of nowhere to steal a sixwicket win over Pune Warriors at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here, on Tuesday night, after Chris Gayle had set the home side on the path of great haste with a murderous 81.

Set a target of 183 by Pune, Bangalore was jolted when Gayle was cleaned up by a Nehra yorker and with 56 needed off 26 balls, the Indian paceman knew the scales had tilted yet again.

What followed rivaled the frenzy of Gayle’s assault.

Ashok Dinda bowled a great 19th over for just seven, leaving Bangalore 21 to get in the last over.

Nehra restricted Tiwary to a single on the first ball. de Villiers lost his balance second ball attempting a Dilscoop, and yet managed to get the ball to the boundary.

Immediately the South African made amends for his off-kilter shot with two stupendous sixes.

Nehra was stupefied.

Four needed off two balls, as the rain came down, but nobody, least of the batsmen, were in the mood to troop off. de Villiers scampered a single, leaving the home team three runs to get for a memorable last-ball win.

The left-arm paceman charged in, erred on the fuller side and Tiwary - may the Lord bless his brave soul - flatbatted it with all his might over long-on.

What a win for Bangalore, and what a tremendous performance by the man who set it up Gayle! The West Indian hammered eight sixes - five consecutively off a distraught Rahul Sharma after an unusually subdued start. He scored just three off his first eight balls, but garnered momentum with a boundary and a couple of sixes against Nehra early in his knock.

The hulking West Indian reached a crescendo of brutality when a sequence of 4, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 sought to salvage Bangalore, who were staring down the barrell at 72 for three (the batsmen out

Romario says Brazil wouldn’t win World Cup today SAO PAULO (AP) Former star Romario says Brazil wouldn’t get past the group stage of the World Cup if the competition was played today.

Now a congressman, Romario used an expletive to describe what he thinks about the national team and said coach Mano Menezes needs more time to be able to form his squad.

Romario said he would like to see former South Africa coach Joel Santana in command if Menezes is fired in case Brazil fails to earn a good result during the London Olympics.

He also said in his interview to the local Rio de Janeiro daily ‘’O Dia’’ that he was ‘’by far’’ better than Argentina’s Lionel Messi. He said he is in the top three all-time, along with Pele and Diego Maradona.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mayank Agarwal and Virat Kohli) in the 12th over.

Such was Gayle’s influence on the contest that it overshadowed the exploits of Pune after they had elected to bat. Robin Uthappa and Jesse Ryder lived up to their promise of uninhibited aggression at the top of the order. Uthappa made clear his intent in the second over, slog-sweeping Dilshan for six, and kept the boundaries flowing as Ryder too got into the act at the other end.

The pair added 63 in seven overs, at which point the chunky New Zealander top-edged and was held at deep square.

Ganguly came and left in a hurry, timing a sweet cut straight into the hands of Mayank Agarwal at deep point, but Uthappa continued to get quick runs and reached his halfcentury in 33 balls with a boundary off Dilshan.

The powerful righthander was handed a couple of repreives - a missed runout by Dilshan and a tough high chance by Apanna at the long-off boundary - but was unable to make the lives count as he was out after adding just eight to his score.

It was time then for Marlon Samuels to make it happen. The West Indian sped to a 20-ball 34, adding 47 in under five overs with Steve Smith, as Pune looked set, momentarily, to breach the 200 mark, but fell well short of the magical mark.

Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 186 for 4 (Gayle 81, Tiwary 36*, de Villiers 33*) beat Pune Warriors 182 for 6 (Uthappa 69, Ryder 34, Samuels 34) by six wickets.

Yahoo! Cricket – JAIPUR: Brad Hodge went ballistic as Rajasthan Royals preserved their perfect home record in IPL-V with a dramatic last-over win, by five wickets, over the beleagured Deccan Chargers at Jaipur, on Tuesday.

Chargers, looking for their first success of the season, elected to bat and posted a huge 196-2, as their top four batsmen came to the fore with racy knocks, and looked set to finally get on the points board after they pegged Royals back despite the visitors’ rapid start.

Fifty-five were needed in four overs when Dale Steyn came on to bowl. Hodge spanked four consecutive boundaries to arrest the spiralling asking rate, and continued his assault against Anand Rajan’s medium-pace, in the 19th over, to leave Royals with 11 to get off Steyn’s last over.

Hodge took a single and a couple on the first two balls, and the responsibility for the end-game shifted to the unknown entity Dishant Yagnik – who had been pencilled in as a last-minute replacement for the injured Shreevats Goswami.

The left-handed Yagnik did not even need the four balls at his disposal - two purposeful hits on the off-side, all the way to the fence, and Chargers were left staring at another defeat from a position of virtual invincibility.

Hodge was named man of the match for his 48 (21b, 6x4, 2x6), but really Royals should

Brad Hodge scored 48 off 21 balls

JP Duminy made a quickfire, unbeaten 58

thank their skipper Rahul Dravid for providing them the start they wanted. Dravid (42, 24b, 7x4, 1x6) added 62 in just 5.5 overs with Ajikya Rahane (44, 31b, 5x4, 1x6) setting up a nice platform for the later batsmen to capitalise on.

Chargers had a decent total to bank upon, but lapses in fielding – Owais Shah and Johan Botha were dropped, although neither proved costly – and a lacklustre business end of the match cost them dear, just the way it had against Mumbai Indians when Rohit Sharma denied them an expected win in the last over.

Chargers, however, had started on the right foot. Sangakkara (44, 32b, 5x4, 1x6) and Shikhar Dhawan (52, 43b, 8x4) gave their team a solid 94-run opening stand, and although they were out within 14 runs of each other, Chargers didn’t let the dismissals affect the scoring rate.

It was left to the devices of J.P. Duminy to take the visiting side to 196. The South African hoicked five sixes on his way to an unbeaten 26-ball 58, as runs flowed thick and fast in the death overs. Eventually, Hodge’s innings overshadowed Duminy’s, leaving Chargers still without a win to their name in three games this season.

Scores: Rajasthan Royals 197 for 5 (Hodge 48*, Mishra 3-32) beat Deccan Chargers 196 for 2 (Duminy 58*, Dhawan 52) by five wickets.

Adams’ fifty in vain as Jaguars, Sans Souci record victories Sans Souci and Sans Souci Jaguars recorded victories as the Mac t\20 cricket competition commenced last Sunday at the Wakenaam community center ground with two matches.

In the day’s first encounter which was reduced to 15 overs due to preparation moisture on the pitch, Sans Souci defeated Good Success by 41 runs. Sans Souci took first turn at the crease and posted 125-8 off their allotment of overs. They lost a few quick wickets before Satnarine Sahadeo who scored 39 and Seon Venture (26) batted sensibly to take their team to victory.

Medium pacer Wazir Khan and off spinner Nazeer Mohamed took two wickets each for Good Success who in reply only managed 846 off their 15 overs. Shoaib Namaz made 20, while Mohamed contributed 16 and Vijay Persaud 10 as off spinner Keval Persaud who bowled impressively bagged 3-15 for the winners.

In the second match Sans Souci Jaguars got the better of Zeelandia by 27 runs. Nokta Moses 30, Zameer Zaman 26 and Imran Khan 18 ensured the Jaguars ended on a defendable total of 150-8 after the game was reduced to 15 overs. National U-19 player Ricardo Adams and Navishaul Pooran picked up two wickets apiece.

Zeelandia then replied with 126-8 in 15 overs.

Adams hit five sixes and two fours in a top-score of 65 while left arm spinner Imran Khan grabbed 3-24.

The competition which is being sponsored by former Sans Souci cricketers Sarfaz and Mohamed Sherifuddeen continues on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Safraz told Kaieteur sport that they are pleased to be associated with cricket on the Island once again, adding that their first competition which took place last year was played in memory of the late Mohamed Mac Bill, a former member of the Sans Souci Sports Club. (Zaheer Mohamed)

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 31

Local teams endure defeat in CFU Championships

Guyana’s Milerock attack after they won a corner in their clash against Curacao’s Hubentut Fortuna which the visitors won 2-1 yesterday, at the National Stadium.

It was an embarrassing night for Guyana’s Alpha United and Milerock as they both faced dreadful upsets from InterMoengo Tapoe of Suriname and Hubentut Fortuna of Curacao on home soil at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence as Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Championship kicked off.

The skirmish between Guyana’s present top team, Alpha United and InterMoengo Tapoe was a fierce battle as they both desperately wanted victory to earn their full 3 points.

Stehano Ryssel opened the account for InterMoengo Tapoe in the 23rd minute to put Alpha at the disadvantage.

Ryssel goal was made possible when he received a lucrative ball which bounced off from one of Alpha’s players around the 18 yards box after a scrimmage between the players; Ryssel made no mistake, shooting the ball out of the reach of National goalkeeper, Richard Reynolds.

Dwight Peters, who was given a red card in the 75th minute after attacking a player, missed creating goal scoring opportunities to make the equalizer for Alpha in the first half after a one on one face off with Tapoe’s goalkeeper, Germaine van Dyck.

Tapoe took advantage of Alpha with their 10 man team and defended their territory to the end as Alpha

desperately tried to reply.

Dwain Jacobs missed the best goal to make the equalizer to draw the game when he dribbled Germaine van Dyck minutes before the referee blew the whistle to signal the conclusion of the game.

Milerock suffered a 2-1 defeat in the opening game against Hubentut Fortuna after squandering at least six of their goal scoring chances.

Milerock first goal eventually came when Keon Sears netted in the 31st minute after receiving a pass from his teammate on right flank of the field, blasting the ball towards Hubentut

Fortuna keeper, Elfried Weijman, who was unable to stop the ball.

The tables turned in the second half as two of Hubentut Fortuna players registered their goals in the 69th minute and 79th minute.

Jose Adriano Lisandra Trinidad goal in the 69th minute was the equalizer as Chacas Gomes’s 79th minute goal was decider of the match.

The Championship continues tomorrow at the Stadium with InterMoengo Tapoe and Milerock locking horns at 4pm and Hubentut Fortuna and Alpha United battling from 6pm.

The goalscorers for the victorious Hubentut Fortuna team (from left)- Jose Adriano Chacas Gomes and Lisandre Trinidad.

Suriname’s InterMoengotapoe goalscorer Stefano Ryssel.

rt o p S

Lyon haul gives Australia Bishops High dominate advantage despite century stand YBG Under-16 League from Chanderpaul, Deonarine - takes top ranking ahead of NSBF Shivnarine Chanderpaul was lbw for 94

Narsingh Deonarine goes over midwicket

Bishops High School is presented with their award after a dominant performance in the YBG U-16 League.

West Indies came close to having a very good day in Port-of-Spain but finished on the verge of conceding a significant first-innings lead to Australia on the third day of the second Test yesterday.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who fell six short of another hundred, and Narsingh Deonarine added 130 for the fifth wicket before Nathan Lyon broke the resistance then swept through the lower order with the second fivewicket haul of his career to leave West Indies trailing by 59 and the last pair together.

Nothing appeared more

certain than Chanderpaul reaching his 26th Test century, and second of the series, after another masterful display of defiance but he was pinned lbw by Lyon from around the wicket - the fifth such decision of the innings. Opposition teams expend huge energy trying to shift Chanderpaul, but know there are likely to be some easier rewards once he has gone.

To make the timing even worse for West Indies, two overs earlier Deonarine’s excellent supporting hand had also been ended when,

with his first ball back into the attack, Lyon drew him down the pitch and Matthew Wade showed the importance of having a tidy wicketkeeper.

Lyon had been brought back to the bowling crease with the second new-ball only seven overs after Ben Hilfenhaus and James Pattinson had not made the most of it. He waited until his 21st over for a wicket but a bowlers’ lot can change in a flash.

Darren Sammy, in an attempt to repeat his Continued on page 26

Team-mates congratulate Nathan Lyon on another wicket

After six weeks of intense competition in the Edward B. Beharry and Company Ltd sponsored-Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) Under-16 Academy League, The Bishops High School ‘Young Warriors’ has secured the top ranking in that category.

Bishops completed a near-perfect pre-

season run, which guaranteed them the top ranking and the favorite status in the U-16 competition of the 2012 National Schools Basketball Festival (NSBF) when the regional conferences are completed.

After finishing the first round with a 7-0 Continued on page 26

Usain Bolt says London 2012 can make him a “living legend” Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt wants to “amaze” the world at London 2012 by running 9.4 seconds for the 100m and 19 seconds for the 200m.

Jamaican Bolt, 25, is the reigning Olympic champion and world-record holder over both distances, with times of 9.58secs and 19.19secs.

“People are looking forward to me running 9.4, 19 seconds, anything that’s amazing,” Bolt told BBC Sport. “So I’m working as hard as possible so I can go as fast as possible.”

Talking on the BBC1 programme 100 Days To Go, Bolt added that more performances, such as the ones that saw him take three gold medals at the 2008 Olympics, would make him “a living legend”.

“They want to see my personality, me enjoying it and doing crazy stuff, but they also want to see that time,” he said.

“If I

Usain Bolt

dominate the Olympics, I’ll be a living legend. A living legend walking around.

Sounds good.”

American swimmer Michael Phelps, a 14-time Olympic champion, said he hoped London would be the perfect ending to a stellar

career.

“Being able to prepare myself to look back through my career and say I’ve done everything I’ve wanted and I’ve been successful is something I really want to do,” said the 26-year-old.

“This is the last chapter of my career as an athlete and I’m just hoping it goes the way I want. I’m trying to work as hard as I can to make sure it does.”

Meanwhile, England footballer David Beckham, who hopes to be part of the GB side, expressed his pride at the possibility of competing in his home town. “ T o s e e t h e transformation in east London, somewhere I was brought up as a kid, is really incredible. “As a fan of the Olympics and as a dad, to be able to say that I am going to be able to take my sons and my daughter to an Olympic Games in the place where I grew up, I’m proud of that.”

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