Monday April 28, 2014
Kaieteur News
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Letters... Where your views make the news...Letters... Where your views make the news
PULLING NUMBERS OUT OF THIN AIR
DEAR EDITOR, Recently I travelled to Guyana for Easter 2014. My experience was not an encouraging one. It is a known fact that the borders of all countries are known as the gateway to those countries. International airports fall into that category, this makes it part of the border. My concern is at the airport. Every year I travel to Guyana, it’s a different scam at the airport. This year it was the alcohol scam. I arrived with six bottles of alcohol which I purchased from duty free. It was the holidays, so I brought them as gifts for family and friends. I understand that like most countries in the world, you are only allowed a certain amount of duty free alcohol and anything in excess of that, duty should be paid. What was happening in Guyana was they were pulling figures out of the air to tax you. I say this because as I was trying to exit the Customs area I was stopped by the Chief Customs Officer (as I later found out). His words to me were “You got too much
liquor! You got to pay duty.” I said “ok I can understand that!” He sent me over to a female Customs Officer, who, after taking about twenty minutes and two calculators, told me that I had to pay GUY $53,000. For two bottles of Absolute Vodka, one bottle of Baileys cream liquor and a bottle of Henessy; each was 750 ml bottles. Now the four bottles plus the two I was allowed, cost me US $ 120.00. Yet they found it fair to tell me that I have to pay when converted, US 265.00. And they told me that I can leave it if I don’t want to pay. Now why is there not a standard chart posted on the duty to be paid for the common things that you see every day, alcohol being one of them, instead of pulling numbers out of thin air. My second issue is with the Departure Tax. It is known that the tax is GY4000 but if you choose to pay in US they are charging you US$21.00. No one could explain to me why this is so. Except to point me to a painted sine saying it is US $21. Now this sign was posted sometime ago when
the exchange was different. No one had the foresight or just don’t think it was possible that the exchange rate would change. I am writing this mail out of concern that a lot of people traveling to Guyana, including Tourists who have never visited Guyana are greeted with these issues. The primary duty of any Immigration and Custom Officer is to facilitate trade, travel and commerce, not to deter it. Looking at it from a different angle is that these Customs and Immigration officers are the first people visitors encounter while visiting Guyana. They are sort of Ambassadors of the country. They should strive to leave a pleasant impression on visitors, even returning Guyanese. These things could be accomplished without interfering with them performing their duties effectively and fairly. I hope you see this as being important enough to post it and maybe we can start a dialog that produces some sort of positive change. Richie Rich
Please address these problems at Corriverton DEAR EDITOR, Please permit me a space in your newspaper to highlight a few things that are happening in Corriveton, Berbice. 1. There is a stinking chicken pen owned by a businessman who sells the birds at a depot. It stinks across the road to the neighbours. It was reported to the IMC Chairman and Town Clerk, but all they keep telling you is that it will be looked into. There is a neighbour who has a sick son, and the smell is making him more sick, but help is not being rendered. 2. The illegal wash bays. They open at 07:00hrs and close till about 22:00hrs. This is a total nuisance to the residents. This is a matter that is before the court. One of the wash bays is owned by a man
who is the previous Treasurer of the IMC’s son. The wash bay is about three feet from a woman’s house, and it caused her daughter to develop a hearing impediment. 3. Another wash bay is located near the technical school in Kingston, Corriveton. This is also a nuisance. A man has an eight
month old baby and an eight year old daughter. They also can’t get to rest. Kingston is supposed to be a residential area. We are law abiding citizens and we must be able to live peacefully. I think they should jail these people. Authorities should do something. Ossie Khan
Politicians do not know the hardships faced by the poor
DEAR EDITOR, After listening extensively to the budget debates in Parliament, we have concluded that the political executives, especially Ministers do not have a clue about the hardships faced by the poor in Guyana. One by one, Ministers stood in Parliament and praised the budget, claiming that it will help the poor and the working class. This has been their sing song for the last 22 years since the PPP was elected, and still today, they are more poor and homeless in Guyana than at any other time in the country’s history. The political executives at all levels need to come out of their comfort zones and their current high-flying lifestyles and go into one or a few of the depressed and deeplypoverty-stricken areas of the country and live with the poor for a few months in order to have firsthand knowledge and experience of the way of life for people living in these destitute conditions. We have said it before in our letters that to be an effective manager, one needs to go into the poor environment directly and see how the people live, in what conditions they function with the little resources they have to make ends meet. How many in the ruling oligarchy and other executives in prestigious and high paying positions know what it is to be poor? When such persons visit the
different depressed and poverty-stricken areas of the country, only then will they know what it is to be poor and as a result, they should be able to formulate policies to improve the lives of the poor. We recommend that they take a page from the series ‘Undercover Boss’; then they will truly understand what the poor faces on a daily basis, and see the effect of policies they formulate and the decisions they make are not working in the best interests of the poor. They will see and feel the results of the waste that takes place on a daily basis and will recognize the unequal distribution of resources. They will also see the result of their neglect of the poor. They will see the need for more money to deal with social issues such as free education, free health care, adequate water, proper sanitation and training; or even actively assisting the senior citizens with health care and getting homes in which to live. In Guyana, there is no money shortage. It is through proper management of the abundant resources and the assurance of its equal distribution among the people that will ensure that everyone is given the
opportunity to live a prosperous life, thus giving them the opportunity to serve effectively in every strata of society. Presently, there is only one group of persons, the rich and powerful who are serving on Boards of corporations or benefiting from the current system. This has to change for any meaningful development to take place. If there was money shortage, where are the billions coming from to elect these political leaders? Where are the billions coming from to build a new airport that is not needed because there are only four flights per day; to build a Specialty Hospital when the public hospitals are starved for funds, the Marriott Hotel when the occupancy rate for hotels are less than 60% and the billions that are being paid to their friends for shoddy work? Where do they find money to pay sugar workers to protest, to purchase new Continued on page 23
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Kaieteur News
CFATF warns of draconian measures should Guyana be blacklisted
Executive Director of CFATF, Calvin Wilson shakes hands with APNU’s Dr. Rupert Roopnarine following the meeting as other coalition members look on. The picture the team from the Caribbean Financial Action Taskforce (CFATF) painted should Guyana be blacklisted is very draconian and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) says that Government is aware of this and should meet the Opposition’s demand in order to avert this bleak outcome. This is according to Basil Williams, who was a part of the Opposition’s delegation that met with CFATF Chairperson Allyson Maynard-Gibson who was accompanied by Executive Director of CFATF, Calvin Wilson and Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Irwin La Roque on Saturday last. Williams, who among others briefed media operatives subsequently, said “we trust that the government would understand how important it is and that the greater damage could not lie in refusing in assenting to the Bills which were not assented by the President and the passage of the few amendments that we have to the parent Act.” Williams was referring to the amendments proposed
by the Opposition regarding to the Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act, along with the several pieces of legislation approved by the House but never received the assent of the President. According to Williams, APNU is hopeful that good sense will prevail and that Government would “see the light of day and agree to the conditions of the APNU and the Alliance for Change (AFC) and meet them.” Pressed on whether the meeting dealt with the proposed amendments and the possibility of them running the risk of being CFATF non compliant, Williams said that they did not go in depth into the proposals but rather spoke about them in a general sense. “We didn’t go into specific details because we didn’t think that it was appropriate in the context of the meeting.” The next step he said, would be to continue the work of the special select committee and if by some miracle all of the preconditions are met and the Bill completed before the May 29, review by CFATF, when
Guyana comes up for review, he opined that the regional body would not turn a blind eye to the development. APNU’s Chief Financial Spokesperson, who was also present at the media briefing, stressed that it is a two pronged approach, in that there is the work of the select committee as well as the demands made of the President, in order to secure passage of the critical Bill. Pressed on whether there is room for flexibility on the part of the political opposition following the meeting with the CFATF officials, Williams responded by saying that there was no need to rescind on any of their positions. Maynard-Gibson, who was accompanied by Executive Director of CFATF, Calvin Wilson, met with A Partnership For National Unity’s Basil Williams, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, Joseph Harmon, Ronald Bulkhan, Carl Greenidge, Ernest Elliot, Winston Felix, the Alliance for Change’s Leader Khemraj Ramjattan, Cathy Hughes and David Patterson. The meeting took place at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition.
Monday April 28, 2014
Justice For All Party opens constituency office today With a sense of General Elections in the air, Jaipaul Sharma is making a run for Parliament as an independent and is set to open a constituency office at Robb and Camp Streets, at the CNS building today. Severing ties with the A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) coalition and resigning as a Member of Parliament earlier this month, Sharma says that he has decided to run for Region Four, should there be National polls. Sharma told Kaieteur News yesterday that the office will be strengthening his Justice for All party’s presence. He told the newspaper that he has been “sensing” elections since day one, “every budget the government brings is an election budget, a budget to bait the Opposition.” Presently, Sharma said, the party is only capable of running for Region Four and its membership will soon see representatives from other regions as he is currently engaged in outreach programmes for the establishment of regional offices. The politician, who described himself as a geographic MP, said that his recent move to resign from
...calls on police to address death threat reports
Justice for All Party executive: Jaipaul Sharma Parliament in protestation against the Education Minister Priya M a n i c k c h a n d ’ s “provocative” heckling has been seen by many as, “a new dimension to current politics.” He said people see the move as “a breath of fresh air” and he is being encouraged to move forward in his political career, even if he has to do it alone. The Justice for All Party was established by the former parliamentarian’s father,
Chandra Narine Sharma, who sits at the head of the organization. However, Sharma added that his political pursuits are being met with threats and warnings from sources unknown. He told Kaieteur News that along with his father, they have received several telephone messages demanding that they halt the regular mid-day Justice for All call-in television programme. Sharma said they have been receiving threats since last month, and one more as recent as two days ago. He told the paper also, that despite giving the information to the police, including the number from which the messages are coming, they have failed to make any follow up contact with the family, let alone make an arrest. Sharma said the messenger has identified the alleged mastermind and repeatedly notes that he is untouchable by the police. Sharma maintains, however that this will not deter him from his plans, but insists on the police taking a pro-active approach to put an end to the matter.
Mabura businessman murdered in shop
Police are looking for suspects in the brutal murder of a 52-year-old shopkeeper, whose body, with stab wounds to the head, was discovered early yesterday in his Mabura, Region Ten premises. Colin Mclean, of Lot 88 Wismar Housing Scheme, Linden, is believed to have been murdered at around 04.00 hrs, when the lights in the community went off. Mclean has been operating his food and beverage business at that location for the past 10 years.
- cash, gold missing Police in a release said that Mclean’s body was found in his home with suspected stab wounds at around 08:20 hrs yesterday. A source said that money and gold were missing. This newspaper was informed that a little after 04:00hrs yesterday, when the lights in Mabura went off, neighbours recalled hearing a loud scream and upon checking some hours later, the bloodied body of the
Dead: Colin Mclean businessman was found. Residents spoke of seeing a suspicious “redskin” man walking around in the community late Saturday. A taxi driver reportedly told investigators that he picked up the said “red-skin” individual from Mclean’s shop around 05:00hrs yesterday. “We hear that this man went talking over the phone that he did the job well in Mabura and the taxi man hear he and passed on the message to the police,” the (Continued on page 10)
Monday April 28, 2014
Kaieteur News
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Letters... Where your views make the news...Letters... Where your views make the news
GUYANA AT THE UNITED NATIONS
DEAR EDITOR, A Stabroek News report of April 17, 2014 that the United States Embassy had made a direct, and public, approach to the Government of Guyana to join with the United States in imposing targeted sanctions on the Russian leadership on the matter of Ukraine prompts this comment which should have been made immediately after the vote in the UN General Assembly on March 27. The delay afforded a clear definition of the implications and their far-reaching consequences. At that vote, Guyana abstained on a draft resolution which, inter alia, called on all states to desist and refrain from actions aimed at disrupting the “national unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including any attempts to modify Ukraine’s borders through the threat or use of force or other unlawful means.” The draft also “underscores” the referendum held in the “Autonomous Republic of Crimea” on March 16 as having no “validity” and forming no basis for altering the status of Crimea or the city of Sevastopol. One hundred states approved the draft which did not identify Russia. Fifty-seven other states also abstained. Among them were states which have been in the vanguard in respecting the principles of the UN Charter and in contributing immensely towards the maintenance of regional and international peace and security. From CARICOM— Jamaica; UNASUR—Brazil; the heyday of Nonalignment—Algeria Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, India, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia. And, of course, Guyana, who served two terms of office on the Security Council during the administration of Forbes Burnham. Why did this occur particularly since Russia was
reported as exerting enormous pressure on states that could not vote against the draft to abstain? First, like the United States and the European Union, the size of the abstentions suggests varying levels of unpreparedness for the Russian—organised occupation of Crimea and the rapidity of the evolution of events so soon after the Sochi games; second, states may still have been dissecting the history of the Soviet Union with Ukraine and Crimea and particularly the sensitive and strategic ties to Sevastopol; third, their existing economic and trade relations with Russia which could easily be disrupted; fourth, were mindful of past US and UK advocacy for intervention in Iraq based upon their claims about the existence of weapons of mass destruction; and fifth, current allegations about US and EU intelligence involvement in Ukrainian affairs. Faced with the ever present dilemma of contending interests in the conduct of foreign policy, states may anchor their deliberations on some axiom or philosophical theory that best secures the national interest. I believe that this is the conversation that Aubrey Norton sought to develop recently. To explain further, over the centuries impelled by geo-strategic considerations the major states, and later new ones, made and unmade alliances, ententes, associations to secure, or enlarge, their independence and territorial integrity to maintain their civilization and way of life. The United Kingdom is the classic example. An island state offshore the European mainland, it was axiomatic of British policy to prevent the control of the Low Countries by a hostile power. Thus, German violation of Belgian neutrality in August 1914, guaranteed by the treaty of London of 1829, led
to the British declaration of war. Guyana is a good example of the new state, in earlier times and possibly current. Urged by history and geography, and in accordance with the UN Charter, it framed through diplomacy a series of concentric circles of association to maintain and secure its territorial integrity and independence further anchored by the prohibition of the threat or use of force in the settlement of disputes. In the elaboration of any axiom in their deliberations, states may be guided by the law, political/economic/trade interests, or, for the zealous, morality. The Donald Ramotar administration may have approached the Crimea/ Ukraine matter along these lines. The expanding political and economic ties with Russia would be foremost: Rusal’s critical engagement in bauxite and its controversial relations with Guyanese labour, pertinently being reviewed by Lincoln Lewis; Jamaica is having a similar experience. Further, the administration should have been in no doubt about the law, vide Article 2(3) and (4) of the UN Charter prohibiting the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of states. The administration seems to have been persuaded by the cordiality and the economic relations with Russia at the expense of the legal aspects, notwithstanding our reliance on international law to protect an internationally determined and recognized frontier that is still being challenged by the claimant. Did the administration know beforehand that Venezuela would be among the eleven to reject the draft? A presumption that in this instance the legal issue would pre-empt the others is not unreasonable. That this did not occur is signalled in domestic affairs where the administration is disposed to weightier attention to
political and economic interests and to interpret, or reinterpret, the law/ Constitution to bolster a position, say, in the use of the Contingencies Fund. The idea of the location of interests in policy has long demanded attention: from Thucydides to Salisbury, the British Prime Minister (and simultaneously Foreign Secretary), when the boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela brought the Anglo-American powers closest to war, advanced the idea of interests being unaffected by the circumstances of time and place. It was Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, however, in his inimitable and succinct refinement, who observed that there can be neither permanent friends nor permanent enemies, only permanent interests. This matter of Ukraine sought a clear appreciation of this location of interests. We have seen Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea and threats against Ukraine before. In Hitler ’s reoccupation of the Rhineland, the invasion of Germanspeaking Austria, the “anschluss” (the connection) as he called it, the seizure of the Sudetenland—the German-speaking part of Czechoslovakia, the invasion of Poland, and then war. Using Putin’s linguistic theory, is it absurd to fear that Switzerland with its French, German, Italian and Romanish speakers cannot survive as a unitary state? Or, a claim from Suriname to all of Berbice? Or, fomenting irredentist aspirations reminiscent of the Rupununi uprising of 1969? Putin is heir to the grandest deception of all history. A revolution that promised so much to a “backward” Russia, and to the working classes elsewhere, conceived as authoritarian and finely nurtured by the genius of Lenin and Trotsky, disintegrated into an ocean of falsehoods, incurring
incalculable human loss and suffering during the long Stalin years, and collapsed to the wonderment of external Soviet—watchers and Kremlin bosses. Mercifully, the Russian experiment lasted only one lifetime devaluing in the process some genuine achievements. Putin now seeks to
reconstruct the form, spirit and perceived prestige of the Soviet Union, really an Empire, and its associated bloc into a twenty-first century sphere of influence to counter the realities of the eastward EU and NATO’s expansion of territory and influence. In this adventure he Continued on page 23
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Monday April 28, 2014
Monday April 28, 2014
Kaieteur News
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The Donald makes a good move Donald Ramotar was never going to change the economic course of the country. He has generally not varied the economic policies that were introduced by the Jagdeo regime, and with just cause. Why change a successful formula? However, three features have distinguished the presidency of Donald Ramotar from that of Bharrat Jagdeo. The first of these has been a greater commitment to transparency in so far as major government contracts are concerned. If the major deals under the Jagdeo presidency were denoted by their secrecy, Ramotar has lifted that veil by making public the contracts which were signed by his predecessor. There is still a smoke screen of secrecy over the Marriott Hotel deal. But it is expected that sooner rather than later, the President will do as he has done with all the major deals cemented under Jagdeo: make them public. The Opposition now has all the ammunition it wants to criticize the deals made under the Jagdeo presidency. The contracts have been made public, having been distributed to parliament and to the media. Donald Ramotar knew that he would attract some criticism within his party
and government for going this route but he has done. He has laid all his cards on the table. He is not hiding anything. He has come out looking good for so doing. In keeping with his thrust for greater transparency, he arranged confidential briefings with the opposition parties on the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Facility. The opposition parties had the unprecedented opportunity to question the investors about this deal and to raise any concerns they may have had. This approach to greater openness and transparency has left the Opposition and their mouthpieces flatfooted and dumbstruck. By pulling the excuse of secrecy from out under their feet, the President has forced them to oppose the contracts on merit. They have failed to do so. The APNU could only say that they are unaware of the financial architecture in relations to certain deals, despite them having more than one opportunity to explore these issues with the relevant investors. The AFC has hedged its support for the hydroelectric project on the outcome of an analysis by the IDB. The second distinguishing feature of the Ramotar presidency that set him apart from his
predecessor has been the pro-worker decision to set a forty day work week and to demand that workers be paid overtime for work in excess of this period. When coupled with the setting of a national minimum wage, these measures offer the ordinary workers, the greatest benefit and the greatest protection ever. Elements within the private sector tried to balk at the directives. They may have harbored hopes that the government would have reversed itself and allowed for them not to have to pay overtime for work in excess of forty hours. But Donald Ramotar stood firm. Today many ordinary workers are happy. Thousands are no longer being exploited and overworked. Such a policy would never have materialized under the Jagdeo regime. The third distinguishing feature of the Ramotar presidency is now emerging and is likely to take shape in the months ahead. At a conference of the Guyana Police Force, the President of Guyana announced that integrity testing could be introduced into the Guyana Police Force. He even indicated that promotions could be based on this testing. Readers will recall that
Dem boys seh...
Edghill de Ten open he mouth and talk Jagdeo name Everybody who seek justice gun get it one day. Is not dem boys seh suh. Is de Big Man above seh suh. Fuh years dem boys been praying fuh some relief from de torment and de corruption in de country at large. Even dem sometimes does feel that dem ain’t getting no way. But dem never give up hope and dem beliefs and not Hope canal. Rob de Earth done corrupt that already. Edghill de Ten call dem boys and he tell dem that dem must believe, that dem mustn’t give up hope. He quote from one of de holy book. This is wha he seh. “Jesus gives us two story. ‘…Suppose you went to Jagdeo’s gate because you can’t get in de yard at midnight. You want to borrow a loaf of bread…Jagdeo calls out from his bedroom, “Don’t bother me. I in bed. I can’t help you.” Edghill de Ten seh, “But I tell you this—though he
won’t do it out of de goodness of he heart— and he ain’t got neither goodness nor heart—if you keep knocking ee gate long enough, ee will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.” Edghill de Ten seh that de story come from Luke 11:5–8. De next story involve a judge in Guyana… A woman who seh she was married to de president go to him repeatedly, saying, “Give me justice”… The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said… “I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests! I don’t care who she was married to.” Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice
to His chosen people who cry out to Him day and night? Edghill see that da story come from Luke too. Brazzy lie bout de Marriott, he lie bout Fip road contract; he lie bout de Hand in Hand insurance deal wid he budday. He lie bout nuff other thing. Including all dem state property, assets, land and de money he collect from here, there and everywhere. Bobby lie bout Sanata; he lie bout de drug contracts. But he don’t talk. Jagdeo lie bout everything, and dem boys mean everything wha you can think about, wha he do, wha he didn’t do, and wha deh in he mind to do, including how he hate corruption. That is like a hog saying he hate mud. Bottom line: the God you serve is just, compassionate, able and willing to answer your prayers, so keep praying and believing. Talk half and keep on praying, Guyana.
one type of integrity testingthe most controversial type known as polygraph testingwas introduced under the Jagdeo regime. It was introduced for the staff of the Customs Anti- Narcotics Unit (CANU) and the Guyana Energy Authority. It was controversially employed in these two agencies but was stoutly resisted when it was tried in the Guyana Revenue Authority. When asked if it was going to be introduced in large agencies such as the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force, the Jagdeo regime contended that it was possible to have the tests done in such small units like CANU and the GEA but it would have been more problematic for larger agencies such as the Guyana Police Force. Not many persons bought that excuse. And it now seems as if The Donald is not either. He has signaled the possibility of integrity testing in the Guyana Police Force which many people suspect is rife with corruption. Integrity testing must not be confused with polygraph testing. The latter is just one way (and a controversial one at that) of undertaking integrity testing. There are many forms of integrity testing which are now standard fare in organizations in the developed world. Many organizations, in the United States for example, use written psychological tests, as a way of determining whether someone would have the proclivity to engage in dishonest practices. A
great many of these tests are given before an applicant is hired and they are used to assess character and personality traits, unlike the controversial polygraph test which only measures physiological changes to determine whether someone is answering a question truthfully. Integrity testing has now gone beyond the polygraph test which is mainly used in criminal interrogations and not as much for integrity testing relating to hiring and promotion. During the Linden Commission of Inquiry one witness spoke about what he deemed to be the attitude of one of his officers. Now with integrity testing, the psychological of an employee can now be scientifically assessed and could thus form part a person’s employment records, thus allowing for it to be considered for the purposes of upward mobility within the organization. By signaling the possibility of integrity testing, Donald Ramotar is sending a message to the Guyana Police Force that he expects honesty to be hallmark of police work and that this will be an important consideration in future promotions in the Guyana Police Force. Given the timid attitude that the PPPC has traditionally employed when dealing with the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force, this is an important departure by the Ramotar administration, one that is progressive and one that
separates the President from the patronizing policy towards the Disciplined Services that was adopted under the Jagdeo administration.
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Monday April 28, 2014
Newly US$6.6M damaged Black Bush Polder Road…
Engineer blames “illegal” weight After being completed in November 2012, parts of the US$6.6M Black Bush Polder Road have already started to deteriorate. In a recent interview, Civil Engineer attached to the Public Works Ministry, Sunil Ganesh, blamed the deterioration of the road on illegal weight limits. “That’s the problem. We designed the plan for the road based on the legal weight limit, but now, most of the trucks in Black Bush Polder have an extra cab at the top. We never catered for that, so it’s causing some problems there.” Even though the road was constructed for farm to market purposes, Junior Finance Minister, Juan Edghill, during his 2014 visit, said that he was displeased with the weight being transported on the structure. It was noted that the road was designed for 32-ton trucks,
but has been forcefully enduring more weight. “What we have observed is that the trucks operating in the polder, mainly single-axle trucks, all of them which I have seen, carried with them, extension in the trays and that would have meant they are carrying greater weight than they were supposed to be carrying,” the Government Minister had said. He added, “Double axle tonnage in a single axle truck could pose weight problems for the road.” Additionally, Ganesh noted that the road being used by combine operators is also posing a problem. “The thing is, when the combines go to the rice field and come back out, the mud sticks to the asphalt. And there is a problem there, because when the mud sticks, the asphalt comes off. It pulls it off…this was happening during
construction too,” Ganesh said. Indeed, roads have to be maintained, but should this situation at Black Bush Polder continue, that particular road would have to be repaired more often. As part of a two-year liability and defects agreement, BK International would be responsible for the maintenance of the structure until November 2014. However, after this, the Government of Guyana, via the aforementioned Ministry, will have to invest in keeping the road in a good condition. When asked, Ganesh said that given the situation, plans would be revised to have a somewhat permanent solution to ensure that the 34.5-kilometer-long structure would not have to be repaired regularly, as is the case now. According to Ganesh, these works would be budgeted for in 2015, after agreement with BK International would have expired, and the company would no longer be required
The current condition of the Black Bush Polder Road to maintain the road. The entire Black Bush Polder Road project includes the erection of about 10 bridges and installation of 90 culverts. Ganesh said that while the width of the road was initially designed to be 14 feet, this was redesigned and increased to become 20 feet.
Kaieteur News understands that the road was constructed with 12 inches thickness of recycled road material without cement, and six inches of stabilizing material. The roadway also has close to two inches of asphalted concrete surface. The Civil Engineer
estimated that before the construction of the road, it took approximately one hour to get from one end of Black Bush Polder to the other. As of now, he noted, this journey takes about almost half that time. “I traveled there, and it saves time significantly,” Ganesh maintained.
Mabura businessman murdered... (From page 6) dead man sister, Mavis McLean Thompson, said. She added that a little before 09:00hrs yesterday, one of her brothers called and informed her that their sibling had been murdered. “He (my brother) called and say Colin get murder and I asked him if it is we Colin
and he say yes and he hang up and he left to go to Mabura,” the sister of the dead man added. She further related that she was informed that customers visited her brother ’s shop early yesterday and after making several unanswered calls, they went to the Mabura
Police Station. “They see the place open and they know that he does done start prepare things and after they called and get no answers, they went to the police and when the police went into the place, they saw my brother lying on the bed,” the distraught sister said. She added that as the
news about her brother’s death went around in the community, neighbours provided investigators with details pertaining to the suspect who they claimed left Mabura minutes after Mclean was killed. McLean leaves to mourn his daughter and six siblings.
Monday April 28, 2014
Kaieteur News
Private Sector Commission Chairman dies
Ron Webster, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission The Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Ronald Webster died at the Balwant Singh Hospital yesterday. He was recuperating at the private hospital after he had recently undergone a cancer surgery in Trinidad. The death of the Chairman has come as a surprise to many of his friends, relatives and members of the Commission. President Donald Ramotar said the disheartening news comes as a surprise and on behalf of his family and the people of Guyana; he extends most profound condolences to the Webster family and the Private Sector community. “Mr. Webster was admired for his values which underpinned his commitment to public service and the promotion of national development, mainly through private enterprise activities. He left an indelible print on the private sector society, which will be sorely missed. Mr. Webster will always be
remembered as a genuine partner in national development, a true patriot and as someone who has given unequivocal support, above narrow, selfish interests. Once again, my condolences and may his soul rest in peace.” Joining in the President’s message of condolence was Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert M. Persaud. The Minister said, “It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment mourns the passing of Mr. Ronald Webster, and extends most sincere condolences to his family and colleagues in the Private Sector Commission. Mr. Webster served Guyana with great distinction. Our lives have been enriched as a result of the tireless pursuit, wealth of experience and unwavering commitment of Ronald Webster through the various organizations of which he was a leader. The
MoNRE salutes Mr. Webster and mourns his passing.” Persaud recalled that Webster embarked upon his career at the Booker Group of Companies and became the youngest Managing Director of the company. He was the Managing Director of Technology Investments and Management Inc and at the time of his passing, he was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Caribbean Container Inc. Mr. Webster served as President of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association while also receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association. He also served as Vice-Chairman of the Private Sector Commission from 1998 to 1999. “Mr. Webster demonstrated his dexterity on many Boards, including that of the Bauxite Industry Development Company Inc where he served as Chairman of the Board from 1999 to 2005. Mr. Ronald Webster also served as Director on the Board of the National Agricultural Research Institute and Chairman of the Board of the New GMC.” The PSC Chairman was also a Director on the Board of the Aroaima Mining Company from 2004 and served as Chairman of both the Board of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission from 2005 to 2010 and the Environmental Protection Agency. Leader of the A Partnership for National Unity, Brig. David Granger, also sought to express sincere condolences to the family, friends and Private Sector Community on behalf of members of the Opposition.
Police Officers Conference addresses issues raised by President Ramotar The Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Saturday wrapped up their annual Officers’ Conference with 141 ranks successfully participating in the three-day event. The conference was held under the theme “Continuing modernisation with special focus on developing public trust and capacity building through partnerships”. A statement issued yesterday by Guyana Police Force’s Public Relations Department said that facilitators of the Conference placed emphasis on many of the concerns raised by President Donald Ramotar during the opening day, which included, unsolved crimes, prosecution in the courts and the low conviction rate, police reform, corruption, drug trade and the boosting of the Force’s crime fighting capabilities among others. Other areas addressed during the conference include, the maintenance of good working relations, and collaboration with the other Disciplined Services and Law Enforcement agencies in the Caribbean and further afield, improved training for ranks, and enhancing police - community relations. Meanwhile, the officers were evidently
highly motivated during the address by President Ramotar as he spoke of Government’s efforts to address some welfare issues in the Force, including promotion. The statement said the Conference also took cognisance of the address given by Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee in which he focused on Police Reform in terms of its necessity; the expected outcomes inclusive of the strengthening of the Force’s operational capability, technological development and succession planning; the challenges posed and the opportunities created. Further, in his maiden address, Commissioner of Police (acting), Seelall Persaud, DSM, emphasised that the Force will be working assiduously to regain and build public trust and confidence. Commissioner Persaud alluded to a number of areas that include, the installing of Bulletin Boards at police stations which will carry pertinent information for the public inclusive of the names and contact numbers of senior ranks in charge of the station, prisoners’ rights, human rights and crime and traffic statistics as part of this thrust. (GINA)
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The vagina dialogues When two of my peripatetic male colleagues, one in Jamaica and the other from some far-flung outpost of the World Bank recently drew my attention to the same news item and their emails were immediately followed by a call from a Trini friend with his take on the phenomenon to which they had drawn my attention, I had no choice but to take the matter very seriously. The first email from my Jamaican friend was headed “Another Easter Miracle.” The second from my friend who richly deserves his place among the Lords of Poverty as an advocate for the deprived and dispossessed said, “Quite the provocative headline, isn’t it??!!!” As if his question mark and exclamations were not in themselves sufficient to excite my interest and bring my attention to attention, salute and all, the Trini caller took the headline to higher heights. “Tony,” he said, “you see the article?” I knew as sure as the Almighty makes little green bananas to boil and eat with saltfish the article he was talking about. He then gilded the lily, “Incredible eh? ‘Lab-grown vaginas implanted by US doctors’. What ah thing eh?” “Hold on, hold on,” I begged. Telling him that a headline was an act of
marketing and not of journalism, I asked, “You read the rest of the story?” He reluctantly admitted, “Some of it but that don’t matter.” I was not surprised. The story, originating from North Carolina, started with, “A medical breakthrough in the United States has seen four women having new vaginas grown in the laboratory and implanted by doctors…” That set him off and what added further fuel to the conflagration was, “In the procedures, a tissue sample and a biodegradable scaffold were used to grow vaginas the right size and shape for each woman as well as provide a tissue match.” I believe a lot of men, including some very educated ones, started with a misconception similar to the one that the cloistered monk found in the holy book when he rushed out of the dark library where he was translating the scripture from the Latin and shouted, “The word is ‘celebrate’ not ‘celibate’.” It is true for many men, not just my friend at the Bank who admitted, “When I saw it, for a second I thought of the possibility of men having access just to a vagina and leaving out the rest of the female package! In other words, full pleasure without excess costs!!! An economist’s dream!!” I could
imagine those men who buy inflatable dolls for sexual use smirking all the way to North Carolina where they would be so doomed to disappointment that they would “Steups” or suck air and saliva through their teeth to express annoyance instead of pleasure. The fact is that the women for whom the implants had been customized, were born with a condition known as vaginal aplasia in which the vagina did not form properly while they were in their mother’s womb. Dr Anthony Atala, director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest, told the BBC News website: “Really for the first time we’ve created a whole organ that was never there to start with, it was a challenge.” However, this did not challenge my Trini friend in the slightest. He was already seeing the possibilities and given the way that Trinidad and Tobago is now polarized along political lines he jumped on it like Brian Lara to a fulltoss from Dinesh Kaneria, the Pakistan spinner. In fact, my friend put his own very partisan spin on it. “Remember that female politician who used the Government credit card for fertility or gynaecological treatments, hair transplants and clothes?” he asked. I told
Local attorney bashes Guyana’s... (From page 14) and all the other Caribbean countries have adopted and implemented it. We have been toying with it; everything necessary to promote its implementation has been done. It has been approved by the Parliament and I have been hearing for some time that it will be implemented and five years have elapsed and it is not in place. It will most certainly help with the backlog of cases and it will also help to expedite trials.” The Attorney-at-Law also believes that the high numbers of criminal cases in Guyana often rely too heavily on confession statements. In his view, it is about time that law enforcement officers video tape interviews with these suspects. This he said will remove significantly, the risk of allegations of individuals being forced into making confession statements. Videotaping of interviews is employed by other countries and it has worked for both sides. Datadin who has been practicing within the Whitworth Chambers for several years, said that like most lawyers in the Caribbean, he practices extensively. However, he is mainly focused on
commercial, public and criminal law and has made a conscious effort to take on about 30 percent of the cases he handles pro bono. He currently holds a Master of Laws Degree in International Commercial Law from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. He has been a practicing lawyer since he was 24. Though not a regular feature at the Magistrate’s Court
anymore, Datadin says he likes the “rough and tumble” in the Magistrates’ Court. He says as fate would have it, he now does more appeals and as a result, features mostly in the Court of Appeal, the Caribbean Court of Justice and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Most of his practice is now in the High Court both in Guyana and the Eastern Caribbean.
An expensive price... (From page 15) treatment. It is not advised but if they want it that is their choice. We have provided the advice.” In the local beauty industry, dermatologists, skin care experts and makeup artists are divided on the issue. Some support the use while some advise against it and ask that natural ways be used instead of using toxic chemicals. Social Experts also say that low self esteem or self hate and peer pressure or social pressure are just few of the reasons that drive both men and women to use the skin lighteners, apart from the cases where some do not appreciate their skin colour.
him to stop immediately. He did not and continued, “Consider what someone with that kind of buying power could have if this medical breakthrough had happened at that time! Talking about the hair business…” This time I stopped him for good. “Look, let’s not go there,” I insisted. I know there were a lot of concerns at the time. The Comptroller of Accounts raised the matter in an official report about not one, but twenty-nine, Government officials in the Manning Government including ten ministers of whom the person you’re talking about was one and her bill was supposedly only $174,000…” He interrupted, “That should be illegal!” I told him that people were saying so at the time but that never happened so he should leave it alone. I pointed out that as far as I know the use of government or company credit cards for personal use is not an issue and even
though people who do so and then refund the money are still guilty of breaching the terms and conditions of the use of the card, it is not a big deal in the region. He then changed topic. “Yes, but if you accuse a Parliamentarian of doing this in the House or Senate what is the problem? In the British tradition we follow this kind of back-and-forth among members is normal. I remember reading that David Lloyd George said of a Jewish member of Parliament, “When they circumcised him they threw away the wrong bit!” and former Prime Minister Herbert Asquith describing Winston Churchill as, “Begotten of froth out of foam.” I must say that as far as I was concerned the Vagina dialogue ended there and then as Winston Churchill took the stage. When Lady Astor told Churchill, “If you
were my husband I would poison your tea”, he replied, “Madam, if you were my wife, I’d drink it.” And when MP Bessie Braddock said to the great man, “Mr. Churchill, you are drunk,” he replied, “My dear you are ugly but tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be ugly.” He was never called on to apologise because part of the glorious tradition of Parliament is the give-andtake. It has been often said to those who take offence that if you cannot tolerate high temperatures instead of being in the kitchen you should not be there. In other words, head for North Carolina. *Tony Deyal was last seen repeating another Atlee quip about Churchill that applies to many Caribbean politicians, “I must remind the Right Honourable Gentleman that a monologue is not a decision.”
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PROPERTY FOR SALE Property for sale.Call:627-5416 One three storey business property @ Middle St. Georgetown – Tel:619-7134, 225-6481 price negotiable. FOR SALE LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY$19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754. Spare for washing machine, microwaves,fridges, stoves, timers, gearbox, pumps, etc call: 225-9032, 647-2943 Houses located Ogle, Diamond, Herstelling, BelAir, Lamaha Gardens, ETC, Contact: 223-8479/684-4748, www.spaceseek.gy Almost brand new items to be sold: Refrigerator and microwave – Contact:671-2066 1,500 Acres of Land located in Berbice. Includes Machinery, Property and Multiples Vehicles, etc, Contact: 223-8479/684-4748, www.spaceseek.gy One 6125 John Deere tractor for sale. For more information contact: 670-3328 Pure breed German Shepherd puppies - $75,000 each – Tel:682-2148, 655-8674 Pork - $380, Pork Chops - $650, leg pork - $480lb, salted pork $450 (8 Lbs pails) @ Geroge & Hadfield Sts. Red Honda 250 Twister motorcycle – Contact:6713533; 681-2217 Two 212 Carina, 2 AE100 Wagon – Tel:660-0018, 6411040
FOR SALE Toyota Forklift - Excellent condition, 4,000lbs capacity, 117" Lift, Solid Wheels, Automatic Transmission, 4 Cylinder LPG Motor. Call: 604-6108. Games PS2 - $900, PSP $900, X-Box 360 - $2600 & PS3 - $2600 & Original Games Call: 672-2566 New Blackberry 9370 with memory card – Call:675-2239 Short foot puppies and dogs for sale – Call:276-4052 or 6872921 Pure bred German Shepherd puppies with long hair fully de-wormed & vaccinated, good blood line breeding – Tel:696-4659 Pure breed Rottweiler pups, fully vaccinated & dewormed – Call:627-1360 1–48 Feet Boat with 900lb ice box, price negotiable – Tel:609-0783 Day-beds, office desk, vases, divider, wardrobe, table, radio set, photo frames, etc – Tel:226-2284 2 x M132 Laverda Combine, 3 x Pressure Pump 4x3 for gold field, 3 x 50 H/P 3 Phase Motor – call:627-0447
2 Business properties on Whim Public Road Corentyne – Call: 619-7134, 225-6481. Price Negotiable Double lot with house at Lot 254 East Bank Demerara, one block away from Public Road – Call: 621-1766 Dazzell Housing Scheme, Paradise, E.C.D, last street (22nd Street) – Tel:650-0716, 619-5357 One back lot for sale @ Lot 239 2nd Street, East Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown – Tel:691-4009; 679-3895 Vacant corner lot 58 ½” x 30" @ Garnette & Republic Streets, Newtown, Kitty ideal for business – Tel:6450616 Satya Cinema, Good Faith, Mahaicony – Call:641-8472 Property at Oronoque Street near Regent Street. Also double stall in Bourda market facing Regent street- Call:2201324/ 643-0000 Transport house & land @ Tuschen old Scheme newly built & visible from the public road – price negotiable – Tel:667-5900
1-2640 MF Tractor 4wd with 1 – Rome Plough 20 dish, 1CAT Standby 3306,194KVA 3 Phase 60 Cylinder – Tel:6934596 One Brand new led Television with 3D glass – Contact:623-1615
Honda Welder, 270 Amps, 2002 Tundra – Call:611-5114, 220-4495 Clean garden earth, also Bobcat & Excavator rentals – Tel:626-7127 A BLACK XBOX 360 WITH 6 CONTROLLERS AND 10 AUTHENTHIC LEARN TO DRIVE MICROSOFT DISC, EG BLACK OPS 2 – TEL: 601- Soman Son & Outar Driving 7152, 223-9987 School at Maraj BuildingPORK WHOLE SALE, Tel:644-5166; 622-2872; 615WHOLE, HALF & 0964; 689-5997 QUARTER CARCASS. NO Shalom Driving School @ HEAD! NO TROTTERS! – 2 Croal street. Fee $16,000CALL:266-2711, 609-4594 Call:227-3869 Two stalls suitable for cellphones, electronics, pharmacy etc @ Bourda Market (facing Regent street)Call:220-1324/ 643-0000 Loving, fluffy puppies – Call:645-0240, 685-0942 Beverage cooler, great condition – Call:223-9719 Household items: Stoves, bed, couch, sewing machine, EDUCATIONAL closet, coffee dispenser – Practical Electronic Course Tel:223-9719 or 227-1028 beginning May 6th 2014 – Pure Rottweiler Pups - Call Abdul Electronics – 226Call:672-6402/264-2870 6551 or 225-0391
Monday April 28, 2014
FOR RENT PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 Two Bedrooms lower flat apartment, one month’s security - $40,000 per month @ Paradise Factory Rd, E.C.D – Contact:625-9939; 672-2677 Executive Four Bedroom House located in Bel-Air Park- USD $2500-Contact: 223-8479/6844748, www.spaceseek.gy Executive Houses & Apartments Located in Queenstown, Prashad Nagar, Kitty, Lamaha Springs, etc, Contact: 223-8479/ 684-4748, www.spaceseek.gy Office Spaces located in secure compound on New Market Street. Contact: 223-8479/6844748, www.spaceseek.gy One upper flat @ 6th Street Cummings Lodge ECD – Call:622-3580 House @ Lot ‘M’ First Street, Grove Housing Scheme, E.B.D – 3 bedrooms & bottom flat, big yard space – Tel:265-3055, 647-2296
CAR RENTAL Dolly’s Car Rental - Call: 225-7126/ 226-3693 dollys autorental@yahoo.com/ www.dolly sautorental.com VACANCY 24 Hour East Coast Guy-oil needs night pump attendants, salesgirl & office assistant - Call: 670-8893/ 695-9880/ 684-2838 Office clerk senior/junior. CXC: English, Mathematics & computer knowledge an asset- Call:225-0188/2237500 Vacancy for porters: Apply in person at Alabama Trading, Ferry Stelling Stabroek. For experienced Salesgirls at Courtney’s Boutique Stall ‘B’ Bourda Market Accounts clerk & Salesgirl: Apply in person with handwritten application at Alabama Trading, Ferry Stelling, Stabroek. Federal Management Security Services: Armed, Baton Officers, bus drivers. Located @ 120 Peter Rose Street, Queenstown - Tel:2260633, 226-0652, 226-0637 One machinist & one welder – Call:234-0780 or 613-1588
Progressive Auto Rental - carsCall: 643-5122 or 225-8711, Email:pro_autorental@yahoo.com
LAND FOR SALE Blankenburg, Public Road W.C.D (38ftX150ft), (39ftX150ft) $16M each - Call: 658-0132 Lot 12 Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, Market Street – Tel:220-7330
DRESSMAKING Jean is offering courses in dressmaking, curtains, floral & cake decoration. Lot 153 Barr St Kitty – Call:670-2653, 618-1706
SALON
VEHICLE FOR SALE
Make Up Courses, Artist Trained & Certified in Trinidad. Call: 660-5257, 647-1773
First Class Auto: Premio, Allion, Spacio, Raum, 212, Allex, Runx, IST, Fielder, Bluebird, Axela – Tel:6098188, 638-3045 One 8,000 Ford Tractor, one 450 Ford Towing Truck & size 16 & 17 tyres - Contact Floyd: 694-5599
TO LET
One RX-8 Mazda fully air conditioned, stick gear, wheel lights, fog lamps, power windows - Tel: 653-2477
Now Open! Harmony Inn, Georgetown Branch - $6,000 & $7,000 – Contact:6680306, 694-7817, 602-8769
2004 Toyota Tundra GNN Series - $1.6M. Owner leaving country - Phone: 647-5919
Furnished two bedrooms apartment in Linden for short term local & overseas guest – Call:614-4415, 4444704 Available from May 1st: 1bedroom apartment - $28,000 & 2-bedroom apartment $35,000. Christian family – parking & telephone conveniences – Call:6238759, 218-3463 Space for office or canteen in Albertown – Call:225-6458 or 614-8022 Furnished and unfurnished two bedrooms apartment in Eccles, for short or long term – Tel:643-1131 Two bedrooms top flat furnished, for rent at Diamond, E.B.D. – Tel:2160644, 668-8403 1 – Four bedrooms house with all modern conveniences, semifurnished - $300,000 monthly, Happy Acres – Tel:231-7839 (working hours)
212, PMM series; first owner – Contact:658-4805
VACANCY Experienced hairdressers at Magic Touch SalonCall:225-6492 Maid, receptionist, handyman, live-in security @ Lot 12 Henry Street - Call:2259211, 223-6284
To y o t a R a u m , S p a c i o , AT212, AT192, NZE ,LTouring wagon,Fun Cargo, IST, Nissan E24 Caravan – Tel:644-5096; 697-1453 One Toyota AT192, good condition – Price $850,000 negotiable – Tel: 616-1671 2008 Blue Bird - $3M, 2005 Spacio - $2.1M, 2006 Premio - $2.3M. ALL VEHICLES FULLY LOADED & UNREGISTEREDCall:642-7295 Two Model M Bedford 4x4 Trucks – owner leaving country – Call:693-2237 AT192 Carina, HC series, Yellow – Price:$750,000.00 – Tel:676-8233 We buy & sell vehicles for cash, also parts available & 30-seater buses; extra-cab pickups; 2006 TacomaCall:680-3154 Pre-order: AT192, 212, Allion, unregistered Premio, Hilux Surf, BNN RZ & Pit-bull, 7seater Super Customs. Cash/ terms- Call:680-3154 1 Suzuki R1 wagon (Jeep). Automatic, Fully Powered with AC; hardly used – Price:$1.2M Contact Rocky: 621-5902/ 2251400 Unregistered Toyota Raum - Year 2004 , black interior, HID lights, power door, TV navigation – Tel:617-5536
Smart Choice Auto Sales: Unregistered: Premio, VEHICLE FOR SALE Spacio, Allion, Allex, IST, Solid Def and 2 ton dump 212, Fielder, Voxy– Call:652truck; never registered. At 3820; 665-4529 Annandale Public Road- One new model yellow cab 212, in excellent condition – Call:643-0000 Call:691-5086 1 AT 212 Carina (Private). Toyota extra cab pick-up (22 Automatic, fully powered with AC, alarm - Price:1.2M - R engine) manual, (EFI) 4×4, (GPP series) - Price $2.4MContact Rocky: 621-5902 Contact Rocky 621-5902/225Toyota 4 Runner, great 1400 condition – Call:223-9719, 1 AT 192 Carina (Private). 227-1028 Automatic, fully powered, Reduced Prices: Premio, mags, AC - Price$1.1M Spacio, Axela, Raum, Allex, Contact Rocky:225-1400 AT212, Tel:681-4208, 220(Continued on page 23) 6262
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Letters... Where your views make the news
Guyana at the United Nations From page 7 is pleased to tilt at the edifice of centuries of painstaking diplomacy: of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the independence of states, the prohibition of the threat and use of force, the Budapest memorandum of 1994 on security assurances and territorial integrity of Ukraine; having also ignored the independence Georgia. Old conventions about selfdetermination and new ones about the “Responsibility to Protect”, he bends to his pleasure as pretext for intervention and expansion, despite earlier warnings by Kofi Annan that the responsibility was not a licence to make war in the name of peace. The outcome is a gathering disruption of the prevailing international order forewarning of some fundamental change in regional and international security and anxieties for many states including those with territorial claims against them. That is what the vote to abstain identifies with, or supports. Small wonder that twenty-four states, including Belize with a huge threat to its territory, were “absent”. Being absent means that the Representatives had retired to the lounge, the bar, the corridors or had returned at their respective Permanent Missions, though monitoring closely the developments. In the circumstance of this particular vote, it would seem that Guyana’s stronger option was to be absent, as unheroic as this may appear. The censures would have
certainly followed, but Guyana would have concealed its stance on the law and the principles for a limited time only. The Barack Obama administration is engaging diplomacy and the UN system to its fullest, as has not been seen recently. The administration has achieved the support of the entire EU including former states of the Soviet bloc; in the Security Council it has persuaded the People’s Republic of China away from the veto to abstaining on the draft urging non-recognition of the referendum, isolating Russia. It is now reaching out publicly to Guyana who abstained and, I suspect, the entire global community to build support for a programme of sanctions against Russia, the recent Geneva u n d e r s t a n d i n g notwithstanding. The response of the two regional associations, CARICOM and UNASUR, closest to our foreign policy, is anything but definitive. Their votes fell to all categories, with Bolivia and Venezuela supporting Russia and voting against the draft. Surely, a subject for careful analysis. So too, is the continuing collapse of a coordinated CARICOM foreign policy, if it ever existed, and the piercing influence of Venezuela in the region. There was a time when CARICOM support for our territorial integrity was giltedged; now the annual recitation of satisfaction for the existing cordiality between Guyana and
Politicians do not... From page 5 and expensive government vehicles, to build mansions, to pay super salaries to contract employees to do what a civil servant can do for far less? Many of the executives are racking up unnecessary travel and room and board expenses that the taxpayers have to pay. The time has come for them to begin cutting their luxuries, wastage and end the massive corrupt practices that are costing the taxpayers’ billions of dollars. We cannot reduce poverty or talk about sustainable or human development when only one set of persons are being required to make sacrifices. Make no mistake, many of the executives know that if the poor are given the opportunity to succeed, their profits will decrease, but they must understand that unless the poor of the society are financially strong - that is, if
the feet of the society are not moving, then the rest of the country cannot move. Millions are being wasted or recklessly squandered while there are children who cannot even get a proper nutritious meal, proper health care, a roof over their heads or afford textbooks. Instead of fixing the issues, or going to live in the communities themselves for a period in order to be a better manager, they are spending the taxpayers’ money on projects that will help their rich friends and relatives and not the poor. What a shame? Dr. Terrence Simon, Aubrey Reteymer, Asha Balbachan, Chandra Deollal, Esq, Guiliana Jacobs, Noel Moses, Derrick Arjune Harish S. Singh Dr. Devita Khan, Donna Mathoo, Asquith Rose, Dr. Manny Brigall
Venezuela may appear ritualistic to the sceptic. The UN will remain seized of the matter and member states will be obliged to formulate other positions. The time will not be appropriate for mere tepid enunciations of principles and apprehensions, but to be wary and not to panic. Costa Rica, a sponsor of the draft resolution, made the case in
a most poignant statement when it said that small states have only the power of international law “to defend our sovereignty”. In fine, it is not the time to give the dangerous impression of running with the hare and hunting with the hounds; it is the time for unequivocal support, without artfulness, of the rule of law. Cedric L Joseph
Is this what our... From page 4 these medical outreaches without notice. However the Sergeant informed me that if I did not appear in court, an arrest warrant would be issued for me. Without choice, I was then forced to cancel clinic for the entire day as there was no fair way of deciding which patient’s health is superior to the other since the hearing was at 1:00 p.m. (half day’s work). This decision triggered hostility from the patients and resulted in verbal abuse to medical personnel. These individuals with the majority being the elderly, unable to travel elsewhere to seek medical care, were now forced to wait for yet another month as the preceding month’s appointment was filled. Who then is now responsible for any implications that may result from this delay in the provision of health services? Is it me? Should I have refused to sign the form and be locked up for voluntary services offered? I think not! Who then? The ex-police who claims to control the station and directly affects my availability to provide these services? You be the judge! My new matter is now scheduled for the 20th of
June, 2014 now with the same charge, the same generator my father is charged for, which was never even in operation; that EPA clearly states is below nuisance level! What then? Should I now go to court for an additional two years for these false allegations? Should innocent patients in dire need for medical care be neglected? Is this what our judicial system has become? A place where any fool can make accusations without providing any proof for two years and yet again be allowed to bring the same matter before the court? What is the point of the implementation of “zero tolerance” for noise nuisance if the matter goes on for years in the court. Kemol Roshan
MASSAGE The Gents Spa: Be pampered by beautiful masseuses. New masseuses Amanda and Crystal – Tel:657-5979 Neisha’s Massage Service – Tel:674-8147
(From page 22)
WANTED One Legal Clerk – Call: 617-3851, 269-0504 Experienced cashier apply with application & Passport size photo to survival shopping complex – Tel:2275286/9 Experienced sales girl and sales boy – Tel:609-1535,227-8529 Attractive live in waitressCall:327-0252/674-4665 Live in domestic and live in waitresses, 18-25yrs, boarding and lodging free $50,000 monthly – Tel: 6103974 Work from home; earn $5,000$20,000 daily, jobfairworldwide.com or 6221957 (computer skills required). One professional cosmetologist to work in Eccles - Tel: 639-7672, 658-4429 Kitchen Assistants: Come into Dian’s Deli, opposite Kitty Market. Urgently needed: One cosmetologist at Nalini’s Beauty Salon, Vreed-EnHoop Junction – Contact:6253899, 604-2900 Part-time salesman to sell locally manufactured Windows & Doors of High Quality - Telephone #6005253 One mechanic to work in the interior. Must have knowledge about Cummings Engine – Call:681-6044 D.J/Promoter to work at a club in Essequibo – Call:226-9768, 642-7963 Experienced diesel mechanic to work in the interior – Call:226-9768, 626-6909 Urgently needed live-in waitresses to work in bar, offering an attractive salary – Call:689-8859 Live-out domestic babysitter and live-in babysitter – Call:225-0188, 223-7500 (Monday to Saturday ) (8:15am-4:15pm) Do you need an experienced Bahir or excavator operator to work in the interior? Contact:667-3983, 626-9393, 602-1594 200 truckloads of sand. Contact 627-0799 One maid. $14,000 per week working form 8:00 hours to 16:00 hours. Contact 2267766 Two computer literate secretaries. Call 622-7933 Four sand truck drivers. Contact 627-0799
NOTICE Tulsie’s Tailoring @ 40 Charles St. Tailor will be retiring April 30th 2014. Please Uplift your garments ! Thank You!– Tel:227-8826
SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, G R A D U AT I O N , W E D D I N G S , ANNIVERSARY, ETC. – CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 Guyana Passport & Visa Forms Application, USA, Canada and England. Tel: 626-7040; 265-4535. COOL TECH : Repairs Services & Installation of all types if homes appliances: Air Condition & Refrigeration units - Tel: 233-2008; 675-4959 Repairs to Fridge, Freezer, AC, Washers, Stoves: Call 683-1312,627-3206 (Nick) Repairs, sales & spares air conditioning, microwaves, washer, fridges & stoves. Ultra Cool, call: 225-9032, 647-2943 Dating and relationship advice – Tel: 662-6862 Permanent & Visitors Visa Applications, Professional Immigration Consultant Room D5 Maraj Building Call Sabita: 225-6496, 662-6045 Repairs to washers, dryers, stoves, deep fryers, control system, etc – Call:619-0793, 699-8802 Business Cards: 250 $7,500; 500 - $8,500 full colour. Thick 14pt. Glossy cardboard. Special ends May 2nd. Alert Printing 227(COPY)2679 HOUSE PLAN DRAFTING FOR ONLY $10,000CALL:694-9843/227-2766 Brian Moe @ 642-3543: Computer Technician: FB/ Brian.Moe.165/ Home and Office visits at your comfort!! VACANCY Operators- training will be provided, driver/expeditor, security guards. Apply :Guyana Fisheries Wharf Limited Houston, E.B.D- Tel # 227-8176/7
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Locked gates result in NDCs to receive ICT boost estimated light bills - GPL Meter readers are being prevented from doing their job as many Guyana Power Light (GPL) personnel are greeted with locked gates, according to the power company. Officials are encouraging customers to visit its website www.gplinc.com for information on the positioning/relocating of meters to facilitate readings. GPL is calling on consumers countrywide to make the necessary arrangements to facilitate the monthly reading of their meters by authorised meter readers. The utility company is therefore reminding customers that meter readers for all served areas should be allowed to do their jobs between 6:00 hrs to 17:00 hrs from Sunday to Sunday, to ensure accuracy of bills. According to the power company, a significant number of its total post-paid customers’ bills were estimated as a result of the inability of meter readers to gain access to the meters for the purpose of obtaining readings. This occurred mainly in Regions Three and Four, while villages on the West Bank Demerara had the most estimated bills. GPL noted that the right to access to have GPL’s meters read is provided for by law under the Electricity Sector Reform Act 1999, which was amended in 2010. The law also empowers GPL to disconnect the service if it is unable to read the meter.
Regulated Wildlife... (From page 17) continuity of animal species and residents’ livelihoods. As such, enforcement of this new regulation is very important. In acknowledging the issue, the Minister on a television programme had said, “As it is now, people would complain that it’s over hunting, overfishing, disrespect for spawning seasons for fish, giving other species time to procreate…sometimes if you travel along roadways in our hinterland, you would see containers upon containers of ice boxes and when you check these boxes they would contain wildmeat. So you had these unchecked and certainly disruptive practices that have been taking place for a number of years, it had gotten out of control.”
“GPL therefore wishes to inform customers that, ‘failure to have your meters read for two consecutive months would result in the disconnection of service’,” the company stated. “In cases where the customer is not at home or the meter is not visible to the meter reader, customers should make special provisions to have their meters read. For further information in this regard, kindly contact GPL’s billing services on telephone
number 226-2606. “Customers are urged to ensure a valid GPL’s employee Identification Card (ID) is presented at all times by GPL meter readers. The front side of GPL’s employee’s ID should bear a visible photograph of the person, the name and designation and on the reverse side should indicate the company’s Deputy Human Resources Manager’s signature and date of employment,” the release said.
Twelve Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) in Regions Three, Four, Five and Six would be boosted in the area of Information Communication Technology as part of the Community Roads Improvement Programme. According to an advertisement in the state media, the Ministry of Housing and Water has invited bids for the supply and installation of computer equipment and accessories for the 12 NDCs. It was noted that the Government of Guyana has secured financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) totaling US$16.45M towards the cost of the Community Roads Improvement Programme. A portion of that amount has been dedicated towards this project. “Payments by CDB will be made only at the request of Government of Guyana and upon approval by CDB, and will be subject in all respects to the terms and conditions of the Financing Agreement,” the advertisement stated. It was noted that eligible bidders will be required to submit full qualification
information with their bids. Bid documents may be obtained from the Programme Coordinator, Community Roads Improvement Programme, Board of the Ministry of Housing and Water. The bids must be submitted to the Chairman of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, Ministry of Finance no later than May 6, 2014. The Ministry reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, and to annul the process and reject all bids at any time prior to award of contract. In September 2013, under
a US $18.7M CRIP project, the Ministry reported that a cadre of staff has been trained in road maintenance, and ICT management systems have been delivered to all 12 NDCs. Moreover, the buildings that house the staff at these NDCs were either rehabilitated or constructed. The programme catered for the rehabilitation of over 100 kilometers of roads in Regions Three, Four, and Six. The scope of works included the rehabilitation of drains, culverts, and bridges and the provision of safety features such as signage, road markings and speed humps.
Monday April 28, 2014 ARIES (March 21 - April 19): You're exploring new territory today -- maybe in the company of coworkers, maybe on your own entirely. ******************* TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): You'd better shop around -- there are better deals waiting for you if you take the time to think through your options. ****************** GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): Your contact list keeps growing -- so give it a workout today! Reach into the depths and reconnect with folks you haven't heard from in quite some time. ******************** CANCER (June 21 - July 22): Your mind is working like clockwork today, and your memory is especially powerful. ********************* LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22): YYou need to dive into a new topic today -- your mental cravings must be satisfied! ******************* VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept. 22): Your mood is terrific -- or at least as good as it can possibly be -- and you should be able to cope with anything life gives you today. ********************* LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22): You have to find a happy medium between your own
needs and those of your peers today -- but you could do that with both arms tied behind your back. ********************* SCORPIO (Oct. 23 Nov. 21): Focus your energy on other people today -- you can't make much progress on your own issues, but you can make a real difference for others. ******************** SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 Dec. 21): You are getting so much done that you feel like a walking productivity seminar. Your great mood caps off a great day and makes you look forward to more of the same coming up soon! .********************* CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 Jan. 19): You may have an itch to explore your family heritage -- or it could be that a solution to a vexing problem is found in your family traditions. ******************** AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 Feb. 18): You need to show that one friend or colleague that giving can be as good as receiving. ********************* PISCE S ( F e b . 1 9 March 20): Ambiguity is the answer today. When someone tries to nail you down, just smile and let them think whatever they want to think.
Monday April 28, 2014
Kaieteur News
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Dudus ‘money’ disappears! Jamaica Gleaner Investigators find only a fraction of the wealth that the Tivoli don was supposed to have amassed After digging for almost four years, local investigators have found very few assets that can be traced to convicted drug dealer Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke. Despite Coke’s reputed enormous wealth and his control of what is believed to be one of the largest illegal drug operations out of Jamaica, the Financial Investigations Division (FID) has so far found only bank accounts with just over US$300,000 (J$33 million). “He was a very smart organised crime boss in terms of how he held his assets ...
not directly in his name,” one senior FID investigator told The Sunday Gleaner last week. Chief Technical Director of the FID, Justin Felice, also confirmed that the investigators had found no proof of a $30-million mansion in Plantation Heights, St Andrew, owned by Coke. According to Felice, they have found no evidence that the convicted crime boss owned any real estate, motor vehicles, or other assets. However, Felice said the FID is going ahead with forfeiture proceedings in the Jamaican courts to have the money in his bank accounts turned over to the State. Felice also admitted that the investigation has been
“extremely complex and challenging” in light of the fact that Coke had legitimate income through businesses that he operated. To underscore this, principal director of the FID, Albert Stephens, pointed out that the agency was forced by the courts to return millions of dollars in assets that were in the name of Coke’s mother, who is now deceased; his girlfriend; and one of his companies, Incomparable Enterprise Limited. Without pointing fingers, Felice lamented that the probe had been affected by the absence of timely critical information. “If we would have been provided with better-quality information in a more timely
How will tax on withdrawals, assets affect bank fees? Jamaica Observer - THE new taxes on financial transactions and bank assets will definitely be passed on to consumers. However, it is not yet clear how much deposit taking institutions will be able to recover or if the costs associated with collecting the taxes that will be paid over to the Government will translate into fees in excess of the taxes themselves. Come June, a levy of 0.1 per cent is to be charged on all ABM withdrawals, cheques, Internet transfers, encashments at securities dealers and point of sales transactions. The Government also plans to raise an additional $1.788 billion from an 80 per cent increase in the asset tax for deposit-taking entities regulated by the Bank of Jamaica. National Commercial Bank said the new fees won’t be so clear cut given the high degree of competition in the local market. “As to how it will be implemented and what fees are associated, that becomes a competitive issue and that’s not something we can speak about openly,” said Patrick Hylton, group managing director. Assuming that the withdrawal tax goes forward, there will be technological changes in how the bank operates, Hylton told investors at the company’s investors briefing held at its Wellness and Recreation Centre on Friday. The new withdrawal and encashment tax, which is expected to bring $2.3 billion into Government coffers over the nine months to March
Patrick Hylton 2014, is part of a raft of revenue measures aimed at raising an additional $6.6 billion this fiscal year “We understand and empathise, but we are trying to balance stakeholder interest, as well as shareholder interest based on the performance of the institution as well as being a good corporate citizen,” he said. As for the increase in the rate at which the asset of institutions, such as NCB will be taxed, Hylton indicated that the imposition of the tax concerned the bank. “None of us want to be taxed any more, all of us feel that for a very long time we have been making sacrifices, but at the end of the day, sacrifices have to be made, but it is to be done in a way that the burden is more equitably shared,” he said. Still, it appears that the financial institution is banking on possible changes to the proposals. “The minister has indicated that there will be a review of some of the taxes,” said Hylton. “We have to be patient, but if the new measures come into place, we
will be ready.” Until then, Hyton figures the immediate course of action is to find alternatives to propose to the Government. NCB reported a 72 per cent increase in its second quarter profit. “The results demonstrate that we have an appropriate business model for the current economic context,” Hylton said. For the three months ended March 31, 2014, the company posted $2.9 billion in net profit, up from $1.7 billion in the corresponding period in 2013. NCB in its accompanying results said that the beginning of the financial year was challenging but its overall strategy resulted in its positive performance. Net interest income for the quarter under review was $6.1 billion, up from $5.8 billion during the corresponding quarter in the prior year. Net fees and commission income grew by 12 per cent, up from $1.8 billion in the three months ended March 2013, to $2 billion in the quarter under review. Operating expenses marginally increased by one per cent, moving from $6.8 billion in 2013 to $6.9 billion during the quarter under review. “Over the next two quarters we will continue to focus on sales effectiveness and productivity, efficiency and technological advancement, while improving customer service,” he said. The company said it continues its efforts to increase efficiency and transform how it delivers its products and services, with an aim to improving customer experience.
manner, I think FID could have made more of an impact in seizing and restraining assets,” the FID boss said. Before his arrest and extradition in 2010, Coke lived a lifestyle reflecting wealth, spending lavishly at social events, and, based on the word of residents of west Kingston, giving generously to those around him. But the source of the wealth has never been explained nor has anyone been able to quantify just how much the former strongman was worth. Publicly, his company, Presidential Click, staged a number of successful stage shows, parties, and adult and children’s treats. He was also a director of Incomparable Enterprise, a company that received many lucrative government and private contracts. It was alleged that he was the owner of at least two multimillion-dollar houses and several high-priced motor vehicles. In the aftermath of Coke’s guilty plea and 23-year prison sentence in the United States,
the Americans have indicated that they will be going after his assets to collect the US$1.5 million (J$130 million) that district judge Robert Patterson ordered him to pay over to the State. Patterson agreed with the prosecutors that the money should be forfeited based on the criminal conduct that Coke admitted to in connection with his guilty plea. “In connection with his guilty plea, Coke admitted to trafficking in over 3,000 kilograms of marijuana and l5 kilograms of cocaine in the United States ... . Utilising even the most conservative wholesale values for those narcotics - US$200 per pound of marijuana and US$15,000 per kilogram of cocaine - the gross proceeds from the distribution of those narcotics is well in excess of US$1,500,000,” argued the prosecution. That argument found favour with Patterson, who ruled that Coke should pay the money to the US Asset Forfeiture Unit. Patterson also gave the
Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke American authorities a directive to go after the money wherever it was. “... The United States Attorney’s office is authorised to conduct any discovery needed to identify, locate, or dispose of forfeitable property, including depositions, interrogatories, requests for production of documents, and the issuance of subpoena ... ,” said Patterson. While the Americans have not said if they have managed to seize any portion of the US$1.5 million, it appears that any wealth Coke amassed is well and truly hidden.
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Latin Americans celebrate popes’ canonization MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tens of thousands of faithful around Latin America yesterday celebrated the canonization of the late popes John Paul II and John XXIII with pre-dawn vigils, music, prayer and much faith, especially for the Polish pontiff so beloved across the region. John Paul, who was born in Poland, was the main focus of the festivities, including in Costa Rica, where the church attributes to him the miraculous recovery of a woman who had an inoperable brain aneurysm. The woman, Floribeth Mora, attended yesterday ceremony at the Vatican. John Paul’s canonization also drew special attention in Mexico, where he is fondly remembered for his frequent visits to the region, but is also debated for his handling of sex-abuse scandals. A small
parish church in Bahia, Brazil, was renamed in his honor: Our Lady of Alagados and St. John Paul II. Starting Saturday night, nearly 20,000 Costa Ricans crowded into the capital of San Jose’s national stadium for a vigil and to watch the ceremony broadcast early Sunday from the Vatican onto giant screens. Many faithful carried photographs of John Paul, and vendors outside the stadium hawked tiny figurines of the late pontiff who visited Costa Rica in 1983. A young Catholic named Carlos Cruz expressed “immense happiness that God has chosen this very beautiful country to carry out a miracle, something unexplainable.” In Mexico City, the first city John Paul visited as the “traveling pope” in 1979, and
where he returned on four more occasions, about 1,500 people kept vigil at the capital’s huge downtown cathedral. Among them was 76-yearold Maria Elena Alba, who brought the prayers of others. “I am sure they will be granted because the pope is quite miraculous,” she said. “I saw him four times and it was as if seeing God himself.” More Mexican faithful prayed for the two new saints at the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, dedicated to a dark-skinned version of the Virgin Mary who is considered the patroness of the Americas. “He moved many hearts around the world,” Maria Ines Rivera said of John Paul. During his final visit to Mexico in 2002, John Paul canonized Juan Diego as the first indigenous saint in the Americas. The Virgin of
People pray in front of image Pope John Paul II at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City, yesterday. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) Guadalupe is said to have appeared to Juan Diego in 1531 on a hill where an Aztec goddess was worshipped. The canonizations were
No laws against corporal punishment in T&T Trinidad Guardian - There is no law in T&T protecting children from corporal punishment at home or at school. Though former president George Maxwell Richards initially assented to the Children Act—which prohibits the beating of children—on August 6, 2012, it has never been proclaimed. The Office of the President, in a brief telephone interview Friday, charted the sequence of events that took the assented act out of the President’s Office before it could be proclaimed into law. “After it was assented to, it went back to Parliament and I understand that the Child Protection Task Force had been set up and recommended that proclamation wait until the Children’s Authority was fully functioning,” the Office of the President said. “That is as far as it has reached,” the office said. “The act has not come back to the President’s office for proclamation.” That task force was set up by Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar in December 2013. Former attorney general Ramesh Lawarence Maharaj, in a brief telephone interview on Friday, said the responsibility for the failure to proclaim lay with the Cabinet, but added that no one can be arrested or charged for administering corporal punishment as that law does not yet exist. “The Cabinet has to advise the President when he could proclaim it into law. It is a failure of the Executive Arm of the Government that is
George Maxwell Richards preventing this act from coming into force,” Maharaj said. The issue of corporal punishment once again gripped the public’s attention after a recording of a mother, Helen Bartlett, repeatedly hitting her 12-year-old daughter with a belt, was posted online and went viral. While the debate on corporal punishment continues to rage on the social networking sites and within private homes, there is no law to fine, charge or arrest someone for beating a child. As the current legality stands, though, corporal punishment is lawful in the home. Children’s Authority can’t be reached Several attempts to contact the Children’s Authority on Friday proved futile, but in a press release dated November 22, 2013, the authority confirmed that “the Children Act 2012 has been assented to and is yet to be proclaimed to make it effective
law. “The Children’s Authority Act will be proclaimed once the basic administrative, physical and technical infrastructure is in place—such as places of safety, assessment centres, and a critical mass of staff to operationalise the authority. “We are in the final stages of the preparatory work required for start-up and have been engaging key stakeholders to provide a more effective response to children at risk. “As we build capacity within the authority, a key initiative will involve delivering support to families so that they can provide a protective and nurturing environment for their children” the release stated. Flogging still legal in T&T —UN Global Report According to the United Nations 2013 Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, T&T is listed among the 24 states where the laws do not fully prohibit corporal punishment in any setting. T&T is listed among nations like Pakistan, Palestine, India, Somalia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. T&T is also listed among the 39 states, where corporal punishment—caning, flogging, whipping—is still a lawful criminal sentence. Again, T&T is listed among nations like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Brunei Darussalam, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tonga. The report further states that between 2005 and 2011, UNICEF collected statistics on violent punishment of children in 49 low-andmiddle-income countries. The
results show that in nearly all countries over 60 per cent of two- to 14-year-olds had experienced violent punishment—physical punishment and/or psychological aggression— in the home in the month prior to the survey. T&T once again features among the 15 countries in which 70-79 per cent of the young population was subjected to violence. St Rose-Greaves: I’m not speaking about that right now...contact Children’s Authority The Sunday Guardian contacted former minister of Gender, Youth and Child Development Verna St RoseGreaves regarding the unenforced act, but was told that she “was not speaking about that right now.” St Rose Greaves then directed the Sunday Guardian to contact the Children’s Authority. The Sunday Guardian was then told that the “person to speak with” was not at the office and was advised to call back after an hour. However, there was no response to five subsequent phone calls. The Children Act The UN report noted that while the Children Act (2012) was assented to in August 2012 it is still awaiting proclamation. It noted that though Article 4 punishes cruelty to children, there is a caveat in subsection 6: “Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting the right of any parent, teacher or other person having the lawful control or charge of a child to administer reasonable punishment to such child.”
also celebrated across Brazil, the country with the most Catholics in the world with 123 million members. In Sao Paulo, Brazil, where several hundred people packed the Imaculate Conception parish church for a midday Mass, 66-year-old retired teacher Alcina Palma said she was pleased with John Paul’s canonization because “sometimes it can take a long time to become a saint.” Jose de Anchieta, a Spanish Jesuit priest who was a missionary to Brazil in the second half of the 16th century, was venerated for centuries before he became a saint earlier this month. In the northeastern city of Bahia, the Our Lady of Alagados parish church added St. John Paul to its name. The church was opened during a 1980 visit by the pontiff, who was adored in the region for visiting the city’s rough, impoverished slums both then and again in 1991. A special afternoon Mass was being held outside the central Cuban city of Santa Clara, site of a statue of John
Paul that commemorates the first-ever papal visit to the Caribbean island in 1998. But not everyone supported sainthood for John Paul. A collection of leftleaning Catholic groups called the Ecclesial Observatory of Mexico opposed John Paul’s canonization, saying he protected people like the Rev. Marcial Maciel. The Mexican priest who founded of the Legion of Christ religious order was later revealed to have sexually abused boys and maintained relationships with at least two women, fathering numerous children. Maciel’s victims have accused John Paul and his top advisers of ignoring decades of credible abuse accusations, appreciating instead the orthodoxy of his priests and Maciel’s ability to bring in vocations and donations to the church. The Ecclesial Observatory also lamented what it said was John Paul’s failure to denounce past dictatorships around Latin America.
Jamaican govt. may abandon proposed bank tax Jamaica Gleaner - There are indications that the Portia Simpson Miller administration could abandon the proposed bank withdrawal tax by the time Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips closes the Budget Debate this week. The tax on withdrawals from deposit-taking institutions is scheduled to take effect on June 1 and is projected to rake in J$2.25 billion of the J$6.7 billion in new taxes the government is budgeting to collect this year. However, the tax has been met widespread opposition from several professional and civil society groups. Speaking to the Gleaner-Power 106 News Centre on the weekend, Phillips gave the clearest indication that the government could abandon the measure. He says the government will have to consider alternatives as it seeks to balance the value of the tax against the division which it will cause in the country. Phillips says wherever the money is to be found, it must not be a burden on the poor and it must not be a burden on the most vulnerable.
Monday April 28, 2014
Kaieteur News
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PM must investigate Prison Officers Association Trinidad Express - The Prison Officers Association (POA) is calling on Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar to heed the advice of former solicitor general Eleanor Donaldson-Honey well SC and follow through on an investigation into attorneys and prison inmates involved in prison litigation against the State. The call comes even in the face of Attorney General Anand Ramlogan’s statement the matter was adequately dealt with by the former SG. This, said Prison Association (POA) president Ceron Richards, has implications for national security and is a deliberate drain on the Treasury. He said money paid to prisoners should instead be invested in improving the conditions of the prisons. In an interview with the Sun-day Express, Richards said his organisation is not swayed by Ramlogan’s com-ments because it was the POA which drew it to the attention of the former SG and no one has addressed their concerns. On August 30, 2013, Donaldson-Honeywell bypassed line minister AG Ramlogan and wrote to Persad-Bissessar, suggesting a three-pronged investigation by the Inspector of Pri-sons, the Law Association and the Police Service be undertaken to deter-mine whether attorneys involved in prison litigation are engaged in an
“unethical business venture”. In turn, Persad-Bissessar forwar-ded the letter to Ramlogan to address the contents. Last week, Ramlogan said he had held extensive discussions about these allegations “after which she (the former SG) agreed to write a letter to the Honourable Prime Minister to express her satisfaction that the issues raised were adequately addressed and that there was no need for any further investigation from the Office of the Prime Minister. Such a letter was in fact sent”. Richards said: “We started writing the SG about the high incidence of prisoners challenging the prison offi-cers on alleged abuse. We were also concerned that the State was not putting up an adequate defence for the prison officers, which were resulting in judgments against the officers. We were very suspicious about the arrangement being a busi-ness arrangement and not one for justice for the inmate.” The POA provided copies of the letters, which were sent to the SG’s office. In a May 5, 2011 letter, general secretary of the POA Burton Hill wrote to the SG, stating: “It is our observation that a number of actions being brought to the courts by inmates/ex-inmates against prison officers are being concluded in favour of the claimants, under
Kamla PersadBissessar circumstances where a proper defence is not being presented or poorly managed by your office. This is according to our reports. This situation is creating an extremely poor image of our service and is also placing the lives of officers and their family in jeopardy.” Richards felt a newspaper article, published on August 18 and 19 in another newspaper, was a deliberate attempt to advertise the market for this business and had the potential to escalate prison violence. It prompted the POA to again write to the SG. On August 26, 2013, Donaldson-Honeywell wrote to the POA noting their concerns, but observed the State had some success in defending prison officers. She cited examples of successful defence but said: “On the other hand, it is the
duty of the Attorney General to settle matters without proceeding to trial after careful consideration of the instructions and evidence, if we are of the view that it is untenable or impossible to defend the allegations.” Four days later, Donaldson-Honey-well penned a letter to Persad-Bis-sessar which was published exclu-sively in last Sunday’s Express. Richards described reading Don-aldsonHoneywell’s letter as “dejavu”. “We were the first group which suspected this arrangement. We were the first to raise red flags. We were the first to complain in 2011 because our members are seriously affected and subject to public ridicule. We were seeing a trend to blatantly undermine the Prison Service,” he said. Richards said the POA would like to know what “dealt with” means. “We need details. Are people go-ing to be reprimanded? Was some-
thing uncovered? Was nothing unco-vered? We need to know,” he said. Richards said there has been low motivation by all the powers that be to deal with the Prison Service. “After years of being undermined, we won’t accept nothing less than a through investigation,” he said. Contacted for comment on whe-ther he was concerned, Inspector of Prisons Daniel Khan said: “In my capacity as Inspector of Prisons, that does not concern me.” Asked why, he responded: “The Inspector of Prisons is not involved in any cases brought on behalf of the prisons and defended on behalf of the State.” “From my informed view, the Inspector of Prisons has no power to investigate the allegations. From my experience as a member of the Law Association for four years, the Law Association has no power to investigate and the court has pro-cesses to protect abuse of it,” he said. He noted in August 2012,
a meeting was held to discuss default judgments against the State. “The prison officers are saying that they’re not getting the information in time, the SG is saying they are not responding in time and, therefore, millions of dollars have been awarded in the favour of prisoners. They were awarded by default and not settled. Nowhere did any one raise any unethical practices and settlements,” he said. When the Sunday Express asked whether he was surprised by the allegations made one year later, Khan answered: “Am I surprised? “I suppose I am surprised because I don’t think in one year all of these things were settled. And if it was going on before 2012, she would have had that evidence and it seems something happened in the last year, which caused her concern. I can’t see what has happened in the last year in terms of settlement for her to write the letter. But then again, I don’t have all the information.”
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Kaieteur News
Monday April 28, 2014
After drinking spree…
SEAMAN KILLED IN SMASHUP, DRUNK DRIVER INJURED A 38-year-old passenger died on the spot when his speeding and allegedly drunk friend collided with a cow on, the No. 50 Village Public Road,
Corentyne, at around 01.15 hrs yesterday. Rawle Douglas, called ‘Bita’ or Dutty Cup,’ a seaman of Lot 35 No. 53 Village Corentyne Berbice, was reportedly pinned in the vehicle. A police release stated that the driver was found to be above the legal limit in terms of the consumption of alcohol and has been detained. Dian Douglas, the dead man’s sister, said that her brother had returned home last Friday after leaving on Good Friday to go out to sea. She said that her brother
who was the sixth of seven children, then left home to get a drink and returned shortly after with a friend, whom he introduced as the captain of the fishing boat that he worked on. The sister added that after buying a snack, Douglas, accompanied by some relatives, entered a car and headed to No. 52 Village. According to the sister, the car was going at a fast rate, and the relatives asked the driver to stop and he exited, while Douglas remained inside. Kaieteur News understands that the relatives told Douglas to be
careful. However, his words were ‘ah man’. According to information, the woman said the driver took her brother to a cousin’s home, but the driver returned and he and Douglas headed to Eversham at a party. They were allegedly returning home and the car was reportedly travelling at terrific speed when it struck a cow on the No. 50 Public Road in the vicinity of Flood Light disco. The car careened off the road and overturned and Douglas was pinned in the vehicle. According to Dian, they received a call after 01:00 hrs informing them that her
brother was involved in an accident and that a close relative was required at the scene. When she arrived, her brother was still pinned in the front seat. He was subsequently removed and was pronounced dead on arrival at the Skeldon hospital. Douglas is unmarried and has no children. The driver, Ramesh Singh, of Blasoom Street Enmore, East Coast Demerara was allegedly drunk and escaped with minor injuries. He reportedly tried to flee the scene when he was nabbed by residents and handed over to the police.
DEAD: Rawle Douglas
C’bean partners in water and wastewater meet to strengthen collaboration BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - CMC - Over thirty regional organisations working in the areas of water and wastewater in the Caribbean, will meet in Barbados today and tomorrow, to critically explore ways of strengthening their collaboration to improve water security in the region. The Meeting of Regional Partners in the Water and Wastewater Sector is being spearheaded by the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C), the United Nations Environment Programme, Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit (UNEPCAR/RCU) and the Global Environment Facility’s
Caribbean Regional Fund for Wastewater Management (GEF CReW). During the two-day meeting, participating organisations will have the opportunity to work together to identify new mechanisms and ways to strengthen existing ones to help raise the profile of water and waste water in the region. Additionally, the activity will enable stakeholders to highlight critical regional water and waste water management issues and share details of ongoing and planned projects in these areas. Key to the discussions, will be an agreement on a way
forward to facilitate more effective collaboration among the agencies and identifying existing regional projects, tools and resources in water and wastewater to inform individual and joint efforts. The meeting will also build on past regional collaborative initiatives including the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Consortium on Water, which was established in 2010 with a mandate to develop a Common Water Framework for its member states in order to rationalise and coordinate the region’s programmes and activities in the areas of water resources management.
CASTRIES, St.Lucia The National Vision Commission will be launched today. The commission, which was announced by Her Excellency, Dame Pearlette Louisy in the 2013 Throne Speech, will be tasked with leading a consultation process aimed at developing a national vision and accompanying development plan for Saint Lucia. The process will examine all sectors of the economy and is expected to capture the needs and aspirations of a wide-cross section of the public. In keeping with the spirit of bipartisanship and inclusiveness, the commission comprises representatives recommended by the Governor General, the Prime
Minister, Leader of Opposition, Civil Society (including youth, and other non-governmental organisations), trade unions, and major private sector groupings. The chairman of the commission was jointly selected by the prime minister and the leader of the parliamentary opposition. The vision statement, which will be the end product of the process, will guide the development of economic and social policies as well as strategic planning initiatives over the next few years. It is expected to outlive administrations and embrace all political views represented in and out of the House of Assembly, all organisations, as well as the unattached citizen. While there have been a
number of strategic planning exercises undertaken at the sectoral level, the national vision will help in defining the future priorities of Saint Lucia. The commission will be launched at the House of Assembly and the commissioners will be sworn in by the governor general of Saint Lucia. The ceremony will feature remarks by Prime Minister Dr. Kenny D. Anthony, as well as the Leader of the Opposition Gale Rigobert. The feature address will be delivered by Dr. Wesley Hug h e s , w h o l e d t h e national visioning exercise in Jamaica. Professor Av i n a s h P e r s a u d o f Trinidad and Tobago, will also deliver an address on “Adjusting During Economic Transformations: Political and Social Dynamics.”
Nat’l Vision Commission to be launched
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Ukraine rebels free Swedish hostage; Obama seeks unity against Russia KUALA LUMPUR/ SLAVIANSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Pro-Russian rebels paraded European monitors they are holding in eastern Ukraine yesterday, freeing one but saying they had no plans to release another seven as the United States and Europe prepared new sanctions against Moscow. U.S. President Barack Obama called for the United States and Europe to join forces to impose stronger measures to restrain Moscow. The White House said it will add names today of people close to President Vladimir Putin and firms they control to a list of Russians hit by sanctions over Ukraine, and also impose new restrictions on high tech exports. The European Union is expected to follow suit by adding to its own list of targeted Russian people and firms, but Washington and Brussels have yet to reach agreement on wider measures designed to hurt the Russian economy more broadly. In Donetsk, where proRussian rebels have proclaimed an independent “people’s republic”, armed fighters seized the headquarters of regional television and ordered it to start broadcasting a Russian state TV channel. Speaking during a visit to Malaysia, Obama said restraining Russian President
Vladimir Putin’s ambitions in Ukraine would depend on the United States and its allies finding a unified position on tighter sanctions. “We’re going to be in a stronger position to deter Mr. Putin when he sees that the world is unified and the United States and Europe is unified rather than this is just a U.S.-Russian conflict,” Obama told reporters. White House deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken said the new U.S. measures would be imposed today, mostly focused on adding to a list of those barred from travel to the United States and hit by asset freezes. “We will be looking to designate people who are in (Putin’s) inner circle, who have a significant impact on the Russian economy. We’ll be looking to designate companies that they and other inner circle people control,” Blinken told CBS television. “We’ll be looking at taking steps, as well, with regard to high-technology exports to their defense industry. All of this together is going to have an impact.” The stand-off over Ukraine, an ex-Soviet republic of about 45 million people, has dragged relations between Russia and the West to their lowest level since the end of the Cold War. After Ukrainians
President Barack Obama overthrew a pro-Russian president, Putin overturned decades of international diplomacy last month by announcing the right to use military force on his neighbor’s territory. He has seized and annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and massed tens of thousands of troops on the frontier. Heavily armed proRussian gunmen have seized buildings in towns and cities across eastern Ukraine. Kiev and its Western allies say the uprising is directed by Russian agents. Moscow denies it is involved and says the uprising is a spontaneous reaction to oppression of Russian speakers by Kiev. An international agreement reached this month calls on rebels to vacate occupied buildings,
Germans outraged by Berlusconi’s comments on concentration camps BERLIN (Reuters) German politicians yesterday condemned as “unacceptable” and “absurd” comments by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that Germans denied the existence of Nazi concentration camps. Social Democrat (SPD) General Secretary Yasmin Fahimi described the comments as “repugnant, shocking and completely unacceptable”. “These lapses ... not only damage the image of Italy but also endanger the political culture and values of Europe,” she told Reuters. She demanded that conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel respond. Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) are allies of Berlusconi’s Forza Italia in the European parliament’s European Peoples Party conservative grouping.
Silvio Berlusconi CDU General-Secretary Peter Tauber said the comments were “so absurd that they don’t deserve commenting on”. Berlusconi said on Saturday: “According to the Germans, there never were concentration camps.”
He caused a storm in 2003 by jokingly offering German Social Democrat Martin Schulz a film part as a concentration camp “kapo”, or inmate appointed as an overseer. Social Democrat Schulz told Der Spiegel magazine yesterday it was also shocking that an Italian sister party of the CDU was campaigning for May’s European elections with antiGerman slogans, such as “More Italy, Less Germany”. “Such a slogan is outrageous,” he said. German conservative Herbert Reul also criticized the slogan, saying it was “out of order” and he could not understand it. Anti-German rhetoric has been on the rise in Italy and other heavily indebted euro states, since the euro zone crisis led to German demands for economic austerity.
but Obama said Russia had not “lifted a finger” to push its allies to comply. “In fact, there’s strong evidence that they’ve been encouraging the activities in eastern and southern Ukraine.” The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has sent unarmed monitors to try to encourage compliance with the peace deal. The pro-Russian rebels seized eight European monitors three days ago and have been holding them at their most heavily-fortified redoubt in the town of Slaviansk. One, a Swede, was permitted to leave yesterday after OSCE negotiators arrived to discuss their release. A separatist spokeswoman said the prisoner had been let go on medical grounds, but there were no plans to free the rest. The captives, from Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland and Sweden, were paraded before
reporters yesterday and said they were in good health. “We have no indication when we will be sent home to our countries,” the group’s leader, German Colonel Axel Schneider, told reporters as armed men in camouflage fatigues and balaclavas looked on. “We wish from the bottom of our hearts to go back to our nations as soon and as quickly as possible.” Germany denounced the appearance and said Moscow must press their captors to free the prisoners. “The public parading of the OSCE observers and Ukrainian security forces as prisoners is revolting and blatantly hurts the dignity of the victims,” Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement. “It is an infringement of every rule of behavior and standards that are made for tense situations like this. Russia has a duty to influence the separatists so that the detained members of the OSCE mission are freed as
soon as possible.” The OSCE, a European security body, includes Russia. Its main Ukraine mission was approved by Moscow, although the Europeans held in Slaviansk were on a separate OSCEauthorized mission that did not require Russia’s consent. Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, the rebel leader who has declared himself mayor of Slaviansk, has described them as prisoners of war and said the separatists were prepared to exchange them for fellow rebels in Ukrainian custody. Washington is more hawkish on further sanctions than some of its European allies, which has caused a degree of impatience among some U.S. officials. Many European countries are worried about the risks of imposing tougher sanctions - the EU has more than 10 times as much trade with Russia as the United States and imports about a quarter of its natural gas from Russia.
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South Korean PM resigns over India test-fires antiballistic missile government response to ferry disaster
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won bows to the nation after offering his resignation at the Central Government Complex in Seoul, South Korea, yesterday. (AP Photo/Yonhap) KOREA OUT SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won announced his resignation yesterday over the government response to the ferry disaster, in which it was first announced that everyone had been rescued, focusing attention on poor regulatory controls. The Sewol ferry sank on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon to the
traditional holiday island of Jeju on April 16. More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers on a field trip from the Danwon High School on the outskirts of Seoul, have died or are missing and presumed dead. The children on board the Sewol were told to stay put in their cabins, where they waited for further orders. The
confirmed death toll yesterday was 187. South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy and one of its leading manufacturing and export powerhouses, has developed into one of the world’s most technically advanced countries, but faces criticism that regulatory controls have not kept pace. As part of the investigation, prosecutors
raided two shipping safety watchdogs and a coastguard office. They have also raided two vessel service centers, which act as maritime traffic control. Chung’s resignation was approved by President Park Geun-hye, who has the most power in government, although her spokesman said later that he would remain in post until the rescue operation was completed. “Keeping my post is too great a burden on the administration,” a somber Chung said in a brief announcement. “...On behalf of the government, I apologize for many problems from the prevention of the accident to the early handling of the disaster. “There are too many irregularities and malpractices in parts of society that have been with us too long and I hope those are corrected so that accidents like this will not happen again.” Chung was booed and someone threw a water bottle at him when he visited grieving parents the day after the disaster. President Park was also booed by some relatives when she visited a gym where families of the missing were staying.
Separatists seize control of TV HQ in east Ukraine city
DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Pro-Russian separatists yesterday seized control of the offices of regional state television in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk and said they would take it off air and broadcast a Kremlin-backed Russian channel instead. A Reuters reporter said four separatists in masks, with truncheons and shields, were standing at the entrance to the building controlling access, while more separatists in camouflage fatigues could be seen inside. About 15 police officers were standing a short distance away but were not trying to resist the separatists. One police lieutenant, who was sitting in a police vehicle nearby, said it would have been pointless to intervene. It was the first time the station had been seized by the separatists, though previously a transmission tower in the Donetsk region had briefly been seized and technicians forced to broadcast Russian stations’ output.
Pro-Russian separatists, some of them armed, have seized about a dozen official buildings in eastern Ukraine. They say they are rising up against a Ukrainian government they say is illegitimate, but Kiev says they are proxies of the Russian government bent on destabilizing Ukraine. About an hour after the station in Donetsk was overrun, it was still broadcasting its scheduled programs, a children’s show called “Circle of the Sun”. But the station’s director, Oleg Dzholos, who came outsid e t o s p e a k t o reporters, said the people who seized the building had ordered him to change the programming. “They used force to push back the gates,” he said. “There were no threats. There were not many of my people. What can a few people do? The leaders of this movement just gave me an ultimatum that one of the Russian channels has to be broadcast.” Dzholos said three of his staff were still inside the
Pro-Russian activists block the entrance to a television station in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine yesterday. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (UKRAINE Tags: MEDIACIVIL UNREST POLITICS) building, and that the separatists had not ejected him from his office. Separatists who swear allegiance to the selfproclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic already control the regional governor’s office and the city hall in Donetsk, the regional capital. A man in a white shirt who came out of the building and said he was a representative of the Donetsk People’s Republic said that from now
on the station would be broadcasting Rossiya 24, a Russian state-owned news channel. Earlier, a crowd of around 400 people surrounded the building and shouted “Russia!” and “Referendum!,” a reference to a vote the separatists want to hold on seceding from Ukraine. The protesters later drifted away, but the separatist guards on the doors remained.
BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - India successfully test-fired an anti-ballistic missile yesterday capable of intercepting targets outside the earth’s atmosphere, a major step in development of a missile defense system that is available to only a handful of nations. Sharing borders with nuclear armed China and Pakistan, India is developing a two-tier missile defense system that aims to provide a multi-layered shield against ballistic missile attack. “This (test) is part of the ballistic missile defense system which we are developing...,” said Ravi Kumar Gupta, spokesman for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). “The mission has been completed and the interception parameter has been achieved.” The system is intended to destroy an incoming missile at a higher altitude in the exo-atmosphere, and if that fails in the endo-atmospheric within the earth’s atmosphere. Currently, only a small club of nations including the United States, Russia and Israel possess an anti-ballistic missile system. India, China and Pakistan are all nuclear powers. India has fought three wars with Pakistan and came close to a fourth one in 2001. It lost a brief Himalayan border war with its larger neighbor China in 1962 and has ever since strived to improve its defenses. In recent years, New Delhi has accused China of making hundreds of intrusions along their disputed border. However, China denies crossing into Indian territory. Adding to its worries are China’s forays into the Indian Ocean and its involvement in building a string of ports stretching from Pakistan’s Gwadar to Chittagong in Bangladesh. In light of changes in geo-political situation in its neighborhood, many analysts have suggested revisiting India’s nuclear doctrine whose central principle is that New Delhi would not be first to use atomic weapons in a conflict. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is widely tipped to form the next government after ongoing national elections in May, has promised to revise the doctrine, but has ruled out the first use of nuclear weapons.
Sanctions to target Russia’s defense industry, others: US Washington (AFP) - The next round of US sanctions against Moscow over Ukraine will target Russia’s defense industry as well as individuals and companies close to President Vladimir Putin, a senior US official said yesterday. “Starting this week, in coordination with our allies and partners, we’ll be exerting additional pressure on the people closest to him, the companies they control, the defense industry. All of this,” deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken said on CNN’s State of the Union. In a separate interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Blinken said high technology exports to the Russian defense industry would be affected. President Barack Obama said earlier yesterday the sanctions being drawn up by G7 countries were a punishment for Moscow’s “provocation” in eastern Ukraine. “It is important for us to take further steps sending a message to Russia that these kinds of destabilizing activities taking place in Ukraine have to stop,” Obama said in Kuala Lumpur. Blinken, however, made clear that Washington would not meet Ukraine’s demands for weapons despite menacing Russian military exercises on its borders. “Here is the bottom line. We could send weapons to Ukraine. It wouldn’t make a difference in terms of their ability to stand up to the Russians,” he said. Instead, he said Washington would focus economic aid to Kiev, with an estimated $37 billion being rounded up by Washington, the IMF, World Bank and others. “We need to be deliberate and do this in coordination with our partners,” he said. Republican lawmakers criticized the administration’s approach as too little, too late, and called for sanctions that strike directly at the Russian economy. “To me, hitting four of the largest banks there would send shock waves into the economy,” said Bob Corker of Tennessee, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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Serbia’s new PM pledges painful Sisi urges big vote in Egyptian reforms with eyes on EU election; Islamists urge boycott
(Reuters) - Serbia’s parliament approved the cabinet of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic who took office yesterday pledging deep economic reform and a drive to get the country into the European Union by the end of the decade. In March the 44-year-old Progressive Party (SNS) leader won the strongest popular mandate of any government since the days of Slobodan Milosevic, a leader during the wars of Yugoslavia’s demise in the 1990s that left Serbia isolated and bankrupt. One hundred and ninetyeight deputies in the 250-seat parliament voted for Vucic’s 19-member cabinet. Vucic said entry into the EU would be the government’s priority. “The European Union might not be an ideal community but it is the best community we could join and I hope that Serbia will become its member of the end of this decade,” he said. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will visit Belgrade on Monday to meet Vucic and address parliament. The former ultranationalist and Milosevic-era minister, who converted to the pro-EU cause in 2008, promised root-and-branch reform of the bloated public sector, pension system and labour law, as well as a cut of subsidies to loss-making state firms. His lead role in a muchpublicized fight against crime
Aleksandar Vucic and corruption, including the arrest and trial of influential Balkan retail tycoon Miroslav Miskovic, has vested him with popularity and helped him secure 158 out of 250 seats in the parliament. “I am ready to undertake the task of implementing reforms as I am convinced that, in case the status quo is maintained, consequences would be detrimental,” Vucic told parliament. He said his government plans to revise the budget by the end of June to keep the consolidated budget gap at 7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), after a top advisory body warned the deficit could exceed 8 pct of GDP. The measure is key to securing a new precautionary loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which could cut Serbia’s borrowing costs and reassure investors that the
government is committed to reform. Since Serbia ousted Milosevic and emerged from international isolation in 2000, successive governments have avoided any attempt to downsize the public sector, which employs nearly 800,000 people. “One or two years on the same path would lead to the Greek scenario (in Serbia),” Vucic told parliament. He said the government will cut public-sector salaries by 10 percent and stop subsidising 153 state-run firms that employ 60,000 people and absorb 750 million euros (618.75 million pounds) of government subsidies a year. The measure is also a pre-condition the World Bank has set for a disbursement of its budget support loan. Vucic said the government will most likely sell its stake in telecom operator Telekom Srbija next year, while a minority stake in the power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) could be offered for sale in 2016. To bring more liquidity to the Serbian economy which is forecast to stagnate this year, the government will secure subsidies loans to companies via commercial banks, Vucic said. Investors will look to changes in bankruptcy and privatisation laws and a new law on planning in construction, promised by mid-July as a reassurance the government will remain on a reform path.
Israel’s Netanyahu says Iran wants ‘our destruction’ Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned anew yesterday of a nuclearpowered Iran at the annual Holocaust memorial for the victims of the Nazi genocide, saying Tehran wants “our destruction”. “Iran is calling for our destruction, it is building underground bunkers to enrich uranium, producing heavy water for plutonium, acquiring intercontinental missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads that threaten the entire world,” Netanyahu said. In November, Iran clinched a deal with world powers under which it froze some nuclear activities in return for limited relief from crippling Western sanctions. Since then it has been engaged in negotiations with the P5+1 — Britain, China,
Benjamin Netanyahu France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany — aimed at reaching a lasting accord on its nuclear ambitions. Israel, which is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the region, had denounced the
November agreement and repeatedly voiced concern over the ongoing talks between Iran and world powers. Speaking at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, Netanyah u u r g e d w o r l d powers “not to give in for the sake of avoiding, at all costs, a confrontation” with Tehran. Netanyahu, whose government has not ruled out military action to prevent Iran from acquiring an atomic bomb, said the international community must demand Tehran “dismantle totally its capacity to produce nuclear weapons.” Israel and the West have long suspected Iran of covertly pursuing a nuclear weapons capability alongside its civilian programme — something strongly denied by Tehran.
CAIRO (Reuters) Former Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi yesterday called for a big turnout in a presidential election he is expected to win easily, countering a call for a boycott by allies of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Mursi. Sisi, who deposed Mursi after mass protests against his rule last July, faces only one competitor in the May 2627 election - leftist Hamdeen Sabahi. He came third in the 2012 election won by Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Sisi called on Egyptians to vote in “unprecedented numbers for the sake of Egypt”, according to an official statement outlining comments he made during a meeting yesterday with investors in the tourism industry. An alliance of Islamist parties opposed to last year’s military takeover had earlier issued a statement declaring
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi their boycott of the election, describing it as “a farce” designed to appoint “the coup orchestrator” as president. In a statement posted on Facebook, the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy also said it would not recognise election monitoring planned by “Western supporters of the
coup” - an apparent reference to the European Union, which has agreed to send an observation mission. Sisi, who has been lionised by the Egyptian media, was widely seen as Egypt’s de facto leader after deposing Mursi. He stepped down from his position as head of the military and defence minister last month in order to run in the election. His supporters see him as the kind of strong figure needed to stabilise a country in crisis. His opponents, mostly in the Islamist opposition, see him as the mastermind of a bloody coup that robbed power from Egypt’s first freely-elected leader. Egyptians last voted earlier this year in a referendum on a new constitution. It was approved by more than 98 percent of those who cast ballots, with a turnout of 39 percent, according to official results.
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Female sprint team cops 4X100m in World-leading 42.81 Jamaica Observer PHILADELPHIA, USA — The Jamaican female sprint relay team sent a strong message that they will be hard to beat at next month’s
inaugural IAAF World Relay Championships in The Bahamas after retaining the event in a World-leading 42.81 seconds on Saturday’s final day of the 120th Penn Relays
Carnival at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. In a repeat of last year, this was the solitary win for the Jamaicans as they managed two second-place
From left: Jamaica’s Carrie Russell, Kerron Stewart, Anneisha McLaughlin and Tricia Hawthorne wave to the crowd while holding their watches after winning the women’s 4X100m in a World-leading 42.81 seconds at the 120th Penn Relays Carnival at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. (PHOTOS/COLLIN REID courtesy VMBS & TEAM JAMAICA BICKLE)
Man United reach financial settlement with sacked Moyes (Reuters) - David Moyes has agreed a compensation settlement with Manchester United after being sacked only 10 months into a six-year contract, the League Managers’ Association (LMA) said. Media reports said he would be entitled to one year’s salary, believed to be up to 5 million pounds ($8.40 million). “The League Managers Association and Manchester United are pleased to confirm that
terms of settlement have been agreed between the Club and David Moyes in respect of the termination of his employment,” the LMA said in a statement on Friday - Moyes’ 51st birthday. Moyes was reported to have been annoyed to learn of his impending sacking from the media on Monday rather than the club, who dismissed him at an early-morning meeting on Tuesday.
Manchester United’s Manager David Moyes reacts after their Champions League quarter-final second leg soccer match against Bayern Munich in Munich, April 9, 2014. REUTERS/Michael Dalder
finishes, a third and a fourth place in their other events, despite a large and loud Jamaican contingent in the stands. With two members of the team that won gold at last year ’s IAAF World Championships on the first two legs, Carrie Russell and Kerron Stewart, the Jamaican team outclassed the small field with the United States taking second, well back in 43.15 seconds with Trinidad and Tobago third in 43.35 seconds and Brazil fourth in 43.77 seconds. Anneisha McLaughlin ran the third leg, while TrishaAnn Hawthorne ran the anchor leg holding off the USA’s LaKeisha Lawson to send the pack grandstand here into wild celebrations. The men’s team that included veteran Michael Frater on his customary second leg failed to replicate the success of the females as they were beaten on the line by 100th of a second by the
USA team 38.57 seconds to 38.58 seconds, the two fastest times of the year so far. Jamaica’s anchor leg runner Oshane Bailey just failed to get the USA’s Walter Dix on the line. Jason Livermore led off the Jamaican team, handing off to Frater, while Rasheed Dwyer ran the third leg. Disappointing anchor legs in the women’s Sprint Medley and 4x400m Relays cost Jamaica wins as they led after the first three legs. Natoya Goule was passed on the 800m leg of the SMR by the USA’s Ajee Wilson as the Americans won in 3:37.94 minutes to Jamaica’s 3:38.41 with the Caribbean All-Stars taking third. Anastacia Leroy made up for a botched exchange from lead-off runner Natasha Morrison on the first changeover in the event that was run in 200mx200mx400mx800m with a strong leg to hand over to Patricia Hall. Hall ran a 51.7-second
split and gave Goule the lead, but the former Manchester H i g h r u n n e r, n o w a t Clemson, could only manage a 2:01.36-minute l e g a s Wilson’s 1:59.60 proved too strong. Shericka Williams faded from a good lead to finish third in the 4x400m relaysl passed by both the USA, who ran a World-leading 3:25.62l and Nigeria (3:27.16) as Jamaica finished in a disappointing 3:27.32. Christine Day had led off the team in 51.6 seconds as Patricia Hall ran 52.1 seconds and Leroy ran a strong 51.5 seconds split. The Jamaican men finished fourth in the 4x400m in 3:04.99 behind the Bahamas who ran 3:00.78 seconds to take full advantage of some sloppy baton exchanges by the USA who ran 3:03.31 seconds and Brazil were third in 3:03.32. Allodin Fothergill, Ricardo Chambers, Chumaine Fitten and Jermaine Brown ran for the Jamaican team.
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DAREDEVILS KEEP CHENNAI LEAVE IT LATE, BUT WIN AGAIN MUMBAI WINLESS
Dwayne Smith signals his half-century. (BCCI) ESPNcricinfo - It seemed at the halfway point that Chennai Super Kings would face a challenging chase. Two big overs at the death had propelled Sunrisers Hyderabad to 145 on a slow Sharjah pitch, which had seemed difficult to play big shots on. Sunrisers had gone into the match with five specialist bowlers, each different from the other, all of them capable of exploiting the conditions. But as early as the first over of Super Kings’ innings, delivered by Dale Steyn, something seemed to have changed. Dwayne Smith only took six runs off it, but he middled every ball, despite Steyn delivering most of them with a scrambled seam. After a close shave in the next over, off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, when the ball narrowly missed the top of middle stump after hitting his inside edge, Smith continued timing the ball beautifully, raced away to a 46-ball 66, and put on 85 for the first wicket with Brendon McCullum, who was hitting it just as crisply. Dew had come into play, and the ball was coming nicely on to the bat. When Super Kings lost Suresh Raina, they had eight wickets in hand and 36 balls in which to get 32 runs against a Sunrisers attack that was reaching for the towel stuck in the umpire’s waistband with increasing frequency. The chase seemed well in control. Just then, when everything was stacked against them, Sunrisers came back into the game. Suresh Raina mistimed a big hit off
Ishant Sharma, turning a poor over into a reasonable one. Bhuvneshwar Kumar took two wickets in one over, including a lucky break when Smith hit a full-toss straight to long-off. Steyn bowled a superb last over, giving away just four, and Bhuvneshwar followed it up by giving away just five in the next one. Ishant Sharma, who had gone for 33 in his first three overs, got his leg-cutter to work all of a sudden, bowling Ravindra Jadeja off his pads and beating Mithun Manhas twice in two balls. Four runs off that over left Super Kings needing six off the last over. Sunrisers hadn’t used anyone apart from their five specialist bowlers, and they stuck with that plan, handing Amit Mishra the task of bowling the last over. Only two runs came off the first two
balls, but the dew, the pressure of defending four off four balls, and the fact that MS Dhoni was on strike came together for a high fulltoss to slip out of Mishra’s fingers. Dhoni swatted it away to the midwicket boundary, and a result that had seemed a formality five overs earlier had now belatedly come to pass. Having chosen to bat, Sunrisers never recovered after losing two wickets inside the first three overs. Shikhar Dhawan pulled Ben Hilfenhaus straight to the midwicket fielder, and David Warner fell victim to a poor umpiring decision two balls later. The ball, from Ben Hilfenhaus, was short, pitched well outside leg stump, and hit Warner high on the pad with the batsman on the hop. Umpire Vineet Kulkarni gave it out, and Super Kings had sent back two-thirds of Sunrisers’ heavy artillery. The third member of that trio, Aaron Finch, was now forced into circumspection. Super Kings’ bowlers, for their part, did everything in their power to make life difficult for the batsmen. Their three seamers, Mohit Sharma in particular, made clever use of the slower ball, and the best strategy against R Ashwin’s around-thewicket line, at times, seemed to be to let the ball go and hope for wides. No one, barring Ravindra Jadeja on a couple of occasions, gave the batsmen any width. Scores: Chennai Super Kings 146 for 5 (Smith 66, McCullum 40) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (Finch 44, Mohit 2-27) by five wickets.
Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith put on 85 for the first wicket. (BCCI)
M. Vijay plays a square cut. (BCCI) ESPNcricinfo - Mumbai Indians have John Wright as their head coach, Anil Kumble as their team mentor, Jonty Rhodes as fielding coach, Sachin Tendulkar as an ‘icon’ and Robin Singh as assistant coach. Ricky Ponting was added to that list of illustrious names, joining as an advisor. The expansion of the brains trust didn’t result in a change in fortunes, as Mumbai went down for their fourth defeat in a row after their batting misfired yet again. Delhi Daredevils may not have any superstar in their bowling ranks, but they combined to stifle Mumbai on a slow surface in Sharjah. Mumbai scores so far in this tournament have been 122 for 7, 115 for 9 and 141 for 7. To that sorry list, they added 125
for 6 today, again giving their bowlers too little to work with. Things didn’t go according to plan right from the start for Mumbai. The plan to push Rohit Sharma to the top of the order in place of the struggling Michael Hussey didn’t work as Rohit was run-out by a Mohammed Shami direct hit in the second over. The ploy to have allrounder Corey Anderson at No. 3 seemed to be working a touch better as he hit two muscular boundaries, before finding man in the deep. Aditya Tare had already done the same. Ambati Rayudu, an influential member for Mumbai in recent seasons, couldn’t make an impact this time, poking around for a 21ball 14. Perhaps the biggest surprise in the Mumbai
Kieron Pollard loses his bat as he sets off for a run. (BCCI)
batting has been the absent form of the ultra-consistent Michael Hussey, who had another forgettable outing before being undone by a slower yorker from Jaydev Unadkat. Perhaps the time has come to drop Hussey. CM Gautam played sweeps and reverse-sweeps to make an enterprising 18ball 22 and Kieron Pollard overcame a slow start to unleash a couple of monster sixes and lift Mumbai’s runrate above six. Daredevils’ spinners have been one of their weaknesses this season, but Shahbaz Nadeem and JP Duminy proved hard to get away on the sluggish pitch where the ball didn’t come on to the bat. The lack of pace worked for medium-pacer Laxmi Shukla as well, and he troubled Pollard in particular. Daredevils have a formidable top five, and the target of 126 was never going to be a problem unless there were plenty of early wickets. The openers, Quinton de Kock and M Vijay, provided a steady start with Vijay going on to top score with 40. Hussey took a stunner at point to dismiss de Kock, Lasith Malinga got rid of the in-form JP Duminy, and though there were a few anxious moments for Daredevils, Mumbai never really looked like posing a serious challenge. It gave Daredevils their second win in five matches so far. Scores: Delhi Daredevils 126 for 4 (Vijay 40, Malinga 2-17) beat Mumbai Indians 125 for 6 (Pollard 33*, Unadkat 2-29) by six wickets.
Monday April 28, 2014
NBA Round-up: Associated Press DALLAS — Vince Carter hit a double-pump 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Dallas Mavericks a 109-108 victory in Game 3 and a first-round series lead over the topseeded San Antonio Spurs on Saturday. Carter took an inbound pass from Jose Calderon with 1.7 seconds left in the left corner. After a quick pump fake in front of Manu Ginobili, Carter released the ball just before the buzzer. The winning shot was held up on review. Ginobili had given the Spurs a 108-106 lead on a layup before Dallas called timeout to set up the play for Carter. Monta Ellis kept the eight-seeded Mavericks close in the fourth quarter and finished with 29 points. Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 22 points. Game 4 is tonight in Dallas. Ginobili, who scored 12 points, dribbled out most of
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Carter’s buzzer-beater gives Dallas one-point win over Spurs the last 24 seconds before going around Duncan and scoring over Samuel Dalembert. His go-ahead shot spun around the rim and almost came out before falling in. PACERS 91, HAWKS 88 ATLANTA — Paul George and David West hit key 3-pointers down the stretch, and the top-seeded Indiana evened the openinground series at two wins apiece. In a game they had to have, the Pacers finally showed some grit. George put the Pacers ahead 86-85 with a jumper beyond the arc, and West hit another trey with 1:33 remaining. Atlanta had a chance after Kyle Korver was fouled in the corner and knocked down three free throws. But George pulled down an offensive rebound to set up George Hill’s driving shot with 56 seconds left. Pero Antic missed a 3pointer at the buzzer that
would’ve forced overtime. Game 5 is today in Indianapolis. George scored 24 points. Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 29. HEAT 98, BOBCATS 85 CHARLOTTE, N.C. — LeBron James had 30 points and 10 rebounds, and Miami defeated Charlotte to take a 3-0 lead in the series. Dwyane Wade added 17 points for the Heat, who can close out the best-of-seven Monday night. James, who was an efficient 10 of 18 from the field, pushed his record to 180 against the Bobcats since joining the Heat in 2010. Miami has won 19 straight overall against Charlotte. Al Jefferson had 20 points for the Bobcats, who are still searching for the first postseason win in franchise history. After trailing most of the first half, the Heat took a 4240 lead on a 3-pointer by Mario Chalmers. Miami
closed the half on a 16-4 run. THUNDER 92, GRIZZLIES 89, OT MEMPHIS — Reserve Reggie Jackson scored a playoff-best 32 points, and Oklahoma City beat the Grizzlies in overtime, tying up their first-round Western Conference series at two games apiece. Jackson had scored only 15 points combined in this series, but the guard shook off his shooting woes by hitting 11 of 16 attempts. He outscored Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, who struggled through their worst scoring game of the series. Durant was 5-of-21 for 15 points, and Westbrook was 6-of-24 for 15 points. The Thunder blew a 14point lead in the game, and the Grizzlies blew a third straight fourth-quarter lead themselves. Jackson tied it up with five straight points in the final minute of regulation. Game 5 is tomorrow night back in Oklahoma City.
Dallas Mavericks guard Vince Carter shoots the game-winning 3-point basket at the buzzer over San Antonio Spurs guard Cory Joseph Saturday in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
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Chelsea dent Liverpool title hopes
Fernando Torres (left) was unselfish in squaring the ball for Willian (right) when Chelsea scored their second late on. (Getty Images) BBC Sport - Chelsea blew open the race for the Premier League title by ending leaders Liverpool’s 11-game winning streak with a deserved victory at Anfield. Demba Ba gave the Blues the lead at the end of the first half after Steven Gerrard’s slip and Willian capped the win with a breakaway goal in stoppage time. The result ends Liverpool’s 16-match unbeaten streak that had seen them march to the top of the table and means the title is no longer in their control. Manchester City can draw level with them if they win their game in hand, while Chelsea are two points behind, within touching distance should Brendan Rodgers’ side slip up again. Blues boss Jose Mourinho had threatened to field a weakened team at Anfield ahead of his side’s Champions League semi-final second leg with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday but, helped by a disjointed Liverpool display, he produced another tactical masterclass to earn the points. Liverpool’s attempt at a trademark fast start failed in the face of a wall of blue shirts, with the visitors’ fiveman midfield sitting deep to protect their back four. Chelsea were keen to disrupt the home side’s flow in other ways too, taking their time over set-pieces from the first minute onwards to Position Team 1 Liverpool 2 Chelsea 3 Man City 4 Arsenal 5 Everton 6 Tottenham 7 Man Utd 8 Southampton 9 Newcastle 10 Stoke
visibly frustrate Liverpool’s players as well as annoying their fans. The game’s pattern of play was soon established. The Reds were still dominant in terms of possession but, on reaching the edge of the Chelsea area, they struggled to open up a typically well-organised defence. After Liverpool wasted a rare sight of goal when Mamadou Sakho blasted over, they failed to bring a meaningful save from Mark Schwarzer in the first half. Aside from a skidding Ashley Cole shot and an appeal for a penalty when Mohamed Salah’s shot hit Jon Flanagan’s hand inside the area, Chelsea did not threaten much either. But, with Branislav Ivanovic solid alongside rookie Czech defender Tomas Kalas at the back, their game-plan of frustrating their hosts was working and received an unexpected bonus before the break. Gerrard miscontrolled a Sakho pass then slipped inside his own half, allowing Ba to run unopposed towards the Kop before coolly slotting the ball past Simon Mignolet. The Liverpool fans chanted Gerrard’s name at half-time but, try as he might with a succession of longrange shots, their usually
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inspirational skipper could not make amends for his mistake. An absorbing second half again saw Liverpool’s attack up against Chelsea’s defence and, again it was the stubbornness of M o u r i n h o ’s m e n t h a t prevailed. Even the introduction of Daniel Sturridge to join Luis Suarez in attack made little difference, with their usually prolific partnership failing to find a way through. Liverpool’s best effort was a volley from Joe Allen from the edge of the area that a diving Schwarzer brilliantly palmed away, but in truth Schwarzer had little else to do until he acrobatically denied Suarez in stoppage time. Moments later, Chelsea made sure of the three points that puts the title race back in the balance. Fernando Torres broke clear and unselfishly played in Willian to fire home their second goal and ensure it was Mourinho, and not Rodgers, celebrating at the final whistle.
Monday April 28, 2014
Kanhai’s clutch freebies sink All-Star combination Two clutch free throws with 14.2 seconds remaining in game time by Akeem ‘The Dream’ Kanhai led reigning national c h a mpions Ravens to a gripping 59-58 victory over an All-Star combination on Saturday evening, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. The All-star team got off to a fast start with Neil Marks hitting back-to-back jumpers, before Shane Webster got into the act through some neat passes byTravis Burnett to put them up 9-2. Ravens slowed the game down exploiting their quick perimeter passing to score some easy baskets and led at the end of the opening period 19-11. The beginning of the second quarter saw Ravens increase their advantage with some effective play inside the paint, while limiting the AllStar unit’s effectiveness in the lane and held a four-point lead (31-27) at the half. However, the third quarter
saw a change in strategy from the All-star team as they penetrated the Ravens interior to cut the deficit to three, down 45-48 as the whistle sounded to end the quarter. The final period opened with Webster collecting a pinpoint pass from Burnett for an and-one to level the scores at 48-apiece. That seemed to trigger them as they took the lead for the first time since the opening minutes through a layup by Webster, before Ryan Stephney answered with one of his own to once again tie the contest at 50-50. The two teams traded the lead, but a three from ‘downtown’ by All-Star’s Stephon Gillis put them up 5856 with 40.2 seconds on the game clock. After that it was all Kanhai as he sunk one of two freebies to slice the lead to one, before the Allstars squandered a great opportunity to close out the game when Shelroy
Thomas missed both free throws with 18 seconds left which would have given them a three point lead. As Ravens advanced down the court Kanhai was fouled with 14.2s remaining in the game and he buried both free throws to hand them the win as time expired. Kanhai finished with a game high 16 points and nine rebounds, while Ryan Stephney ended with 11 points. Vincente contributed nine points and Jermaine Slater grabbed 12 boards to go with six points. For the All-Stars, Webster scored 11 points, while Dwayne ‘Suga’ Roberts, Gillis, Burnett, and Thomas were all kept relatively quiet all evening, failing to reach double digits. In the supporting games, the senior females topped the junior females 44-38; the Plasiance Guardians defeated the Panthers 23-21, while Pepsi Sonics dropped the Republic Bank Nets 46-30.
Joseph Memorial dominoes
Dream Team, Assassin through to semi Dream Team and Assassin drew the bye to the semifinals when the Orin Joseph memorial million dollars nationwide dominoes continued on Saturday night last at the National Gymnasium. TNT, Scramblers and Determine were the teams battling in the last quarterfinal round. Meanwhile, teams were engaged in a march past on Friday evening last which was taken by Deputy Mayor of Georgetown Patricia Chase and president of the Georgetown Dominoes Association
(GDA) Faye Joseph before the playoffs commenced. Speaking at the ceremony Joseph welcomed the out of town sides and said she is happy to see so many teams in the tournament. She indicated that next year competition will be bigger and better and wished the teams well. Joseph informed that Guyana will be aiming to win the World Council Dominoes tournament which will be played in Barbados in August and trials will be held shortly to select the national team. Joseph stated
that she is pleased that dominoes is on the rise locally. Blue Bird received $30,000 for being adjudged the best dress team while runner up Double Deuce pocketed $15,000. The winning team will take home $500,000 and a trophy, the runner up $300,000 and a trophy, third place $100,000 and a trophy, fourth place $60,000 and a trophy. The most valuable players (male and female) will be given $7,500 each and the player that shared the first double love $5,000.
WIPA, WICB awards set for J’ca June 5 Jamaica Observer Kingston, Jamaica - For the second year running, the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will partner in the hosting of the annual player awards ceremony to acknowledge the top performing cricketers in the region for the year 2013. There will be approximately 14 awards, to include the top male and female cricketers of the year, sectional prizes, and the
WIPA and WICB will each offer a Lifetime Achievement Award. The event is scheduled for Thursday, June 5, at the Jamaica Pegasus in Kingston. WIPA President and CEO Wavell Hinds has said of the partnership: “These awards have always been in existence for 11 years and to have the WICB on board again for the second year shows how dedicated both parties are to the best interest of cricket in the West Indies.
The region is being encouraged to partner also, as cricket is rebounding and we ought to be able to have the support of the region.” In agreeing that the joint awards ceremony works, WICB CEO Michael Muirhead thinks the two organisations have one thing in common — its players. “Any efforts to collaborate for the players are worthy of support and we look forward to have our players perform on top of the
world in all formats of the game.” PJ Patterson, former Jamaican prime minister, who now chairs the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) cricket committee, will give the keynote address. The event precedes the June 8 start of the first Test between New Zealand and the West Indies, scheduled for Sabina Park. It is also the 100th Test for West Indies opener Christopher Gayle. The event will cost US$200 per ticket.