Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Kaieteur News Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: Adam Harris Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

EDITORIAL

THE HONEYMOON PERIOD HAS ENDED

The interplay between power, politics and personalities has been on display for the past fortnight in Parliament. It has been a show of coercive power and classical politics by all MPs. Many in the Opposition believe that their attacks on the government were justified, given that, in their opinion, a number of Ministers were not forthright or clear in their statements, and the transparency which the coalition had fought for when it was in opposition has all but been discarded. It is a fact that Ministers of the government, by virtue of their position or status have earned the right to change protocol or depart from tradition or Parliamentary procedures. But what they have not earned is the right to refuse to answer questions raised by the Opposition in Parliament. It seems lost on their minds that their substantive role as Ministers is to work together with the Opposition to help frame the laws that govern the country. But when the people look at the image of their lawmakers in Parliament still consumed by petty differences, they know that Guyana is still heading for the abyss. With such behaviour, how can they expect the ordinary people to have any regard for the rule of law when they themselves are not bound by it? And there are so many important issues to address. There is still no clarity as to the future of thousands of sugar workers and rice farmers. And while the bauxite industry continues to struggle, and as the price of gold tumbles on the world market, the government has on its plate the plight of the miners, who also face an uncertain future. The nation could be in for a bumpy ride, because the budget did not outline any plans to prevent the possible flatlining of the economy. This could spell disaster for the economy which has fallen from 3.2 percent in December 2014 to 0.9 percent in July. For instance for the Agriculture Minister to say that sugar will turn around by the end of the year, and for the Minister of Finance to forecast a GDP growth rate of 3.2, needs seeing to be believed. Also, the perception that some Ministers have suddenly become very hard to reach or access for comment, compared to when they were in Opposition, does not bode well for the government’s image. Not only has this subtle, but worrying development been seen as a talking point, but added to that, it is also quite strange that since taking office more than three months ago, and having already made what appear to have been important foreign sojourns, the President has not yet held a press conference. President Ramotar was duly criticized for doing the same. This leader will have it no different. While the government has been praised for fulfilling some of its 100-day promises, others have criticized it for its sloth. The truth is, no government has ever fulfilled all its campaign promises in 100 days. The PPP did not after being in power for 23 years. Predictably, there has been much focus by the media on the methods of making points in Parliament. For instance, was the PPP’s action against changing the position of the penultimate speaker—the Leader of the Opposition—necessary? Even though it is a tradition? And, instead of clearly limiting the Opposition to obviously inadequate time to discuss the budget estimates, the aim should have been to improve and expand participation for optimum output and results. It appears as though some in the new regime believe that the people are not watching. They are. This leads to a key lesson—one that the powers that be should know. Politicians should always be humble. It more often than not spells success. As a wise philosopher said, people get the government they deserve. The honeymoon period has ended. It is action time.

Thursday August 27, 2015

Letters... Where your views make the news

The withdrawal of Critchlow’s subvention: Political or not? DEAR EDITOR, I write to correct the misrepresentations made by the Honourable Member of Parliament Mrs. Gillian Burton-Persaud during her contribution to the 2015 Budget Debate. In her presentation Mrs. Persaud stated that the decision to withdraw the subvention from the Critchlow Labour College was not political, but due to the lack of accountability and transparency. I wish to draw to the public’s attention to the issues surrounding the withdrawal of the subvention in 2004 and 2007. I served as Principal of the College from 2000–2004 and during those years the subvention given to the College was granted through the Ministry of Education. A separate subvention given to the Guyana Trades Union Congress was issued

through the Ministry of Finance each year. The College was audited by officers of the Auditor G e n e r a l ’s O f f i c e i n accordance with the requirements for agencies receiving Government Subvention, also each year the College presented its budget and financial reports to the Board of Governors. To state that there was no transparency and accountability is to perpetuate a deliberate lie to justify a political position. The issue to me was political given the sequence of events: 1. In 2002, there was a public falling out between the Guyana Trades Union Congress and the Bharrat Jagdeo Government after the General Secretary of the GTUC had accused the government of promoting economic genocide in its dealing with the residents of

Region 10. Arising out of this, the subvention to the GTUC was withdrawn within the same year. 2. Some months after the withdrawal of the subvention given to the GTUC, a report was made to the Government (to which I was required to refute) that the subvention given to the College was being used to support the GTUC; the matter was investigated and found to be without merit. At no point were the funds granted to the College in the form of a subvention used to do anything other than run the educational programme of the College. 3. Before the subvention to the College was withdrawn, I was informed of this fact by the then President of the GTUC and was advised to resign in order to protect my name, since it was stated that with the withdrawal of the

subvention the college would collapse and the good work that I had started would be destroyed. At that time there was no mention of accountability and transparency. This surfaced later; after the withdrawal of the subvention was made public. 4. When the issue of lack of audit was raised, I brought to the attention of officials that the college was audited each year by the Auditor General’s Office. I was instructed that a separate audit conducted by nongovernmental auditors was required. It should be noted here that the government auditors were the ones auditing the college as far back as records were available for scrutiny, and this was accepted as meeting the requirements. 5. In response to the withdrawal of the (Continued on page 23)

Having a decent employer does not mean that anything goes DEAR EDITOR, What is happening with education in the 21st Century is cause for concern. People hardly read anymore. Technological advancement is important for development, but smart televisions, smart phones, and other technological stuff are robbing us of our ability to reason. They are convenient things, but they can take all of our time and attention. I remember once, a former student telling me that my approach to the course I was teaching was causing her inconvenience; causing her to have to use the library and to read. She was proud to let me know that ‘I doan (don’t) use the library Miss. I Google’; and by Googling, she did not mean reading academic articles online that come up in a Google search, but rather cutting and pasting stuff into her assignments. She was not alone in that respect. Another student once told me that I was causing them to reason, as if reasoning was such a bad thing at a university. Some of our youths (and older folks too) tend to have a passing acquaintance with the English language. (I admit it is a difficult language, but the less one reads, the harder it gets). I myself am guilty of not

reading enough. Many of us have a distant relationship with reading material. Only through the expansion of our vocabulary can we use the English language appropriately. Our vocabulary has become quite limited, as we depend more on our gadgets and our shorthand writing to communicate. Consequently, words that are hostile and can cause acrimony where none was probably intended, are used. Those who claim to be journalists should ensure that their vocabulary is extensive. When one checks on a word in the English dictionary, it is amazing to see how often there are other words that can be substituted for that word. Only if one is well read can one know which would be more appropriate to use in the given context. A word like ‘blunder’ has so many negative connotations, meaning for example, a gross, stupid, or careless mistake; while the word ‘oversight’, one of its synonyms, for example, is a much kinder word to use in describing the action of one’s employer. ‘Error’ is not too bad a word either. Having a decent employer does not mean that anything goes. It means that one has more flexibility to do

a good job, but one still has to have discretion in relation to what one says and does. It is called being ‘tactful’, which means ‘having the knack for saying (writing) the right thing at the right time’. The ‘tactful person is appropriate and sensitive, never rude or careless’. The tactful person avoids blunders, avoids being careless with his/her words. One can become overenthusiastic and move from one extreme end of the spectrum where nothing unfavourable to the government was allowed in the state media, to indiscriminately going to the other end of the spectrum, because we now have a government that actually promotes freedom of speech, and we may be inclined to

think that it means that we can say anything in the state media without having discretion. Both are extreme positions. The new government will blunder if they continue to allow the opposition and their henchmen to manipulate them with words such as ‘ethnic cleansing’ and ‘witch-hunting’ into keeping inept individuals, blindly loyal to the opposition, in certain strategic positions that such persons should have had the decency to vacate when the government changed. Those who are not professional will advise or avoid advising and feign innocence, while quietly sabotaging the work of the government. Rosemarie Terborg-Davis

Joe Harmon’s ‘A’ grade DEAR EDITOR, Please allow me to comment on the honourable Joe Harmon’s assessment on the coalition’s performance in its first 100 days. The right and honourable gentleman gave his government an ‘A’ for performance in the first 100 days. I beg to differ. I am a hard assessor. I will the government a grade ‘D’ with the comment ‘ has potential but significant room for improvement. Until the average Jane and Joe can see real changes in their everyday lives, the self-serving assessment of an ‘A’ grade by the right and honourable gentleman would be interpreted as arrogance and cockiness by the suffering electorate. Dr. Mark Devonish

Thursday August 27, 2015

Kaieteur News

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

Crimes and violence A change has come in 100 days originate as domestic misbehaviour DEAR EDITOR, Violent criminal attitudes and occurrences in Guyana of recent decades, originated primarily due to the weakened social fabric of ‘a good home’ and the lack created by such factors that continue to negatively impact order and discipline in our communities — culmination, the nation as a whole. I submit the following: a. The crime studies over the years were presented with academic outlines and solutions somewhat contrary to the criminal activities that were perpetrated, as basic and fundamental home remedies. A disconnect between what is being done applicable to what is to be fixed. b. High unemployment among youths, in particular worsened by inadequate gainful organizations and activities to absorb and account for un/underutilized segments of the population. c. The alarming gap displayed by the ‘haves’ and by the envied ‘have-nots’ irresponsibly viewed as criminal prosperity and reacted to as ‘do as as I do’ misbehaviour by the lessfortunate, under-served and under-privileged persons of daily needs. d. ‘Fighting fire with fire’ law enforcement preparation and practices by abundant expenditures on armament, mobility, dress and carriage and operational procedures those which often do not keep pace with command and control policies, communications, accommodations, environments and inter departmental/ organization relationships. Essentially, such are requisite

to enhance efficiency by effectiveness of speed, credibility and ‘country before self’ initiatives to train and develop personnel in law enforcement and reliable provision of services throughout the Judiciary. Editor, the Opposition now Government of Guyana had extensive opportunities to situate, plan and prepare for this social dilemma [crime] which sucks the life-blood out of our nation, disgustingly. As such, I must reflect on two leadership elements and one international school-ofthought to contribute an immediate relief from this psychological causality and determinism. Ex-President Bharrat Jagdeo, now opposition Leader in the 11th Parliament, appreciated the crime situation in Guyana during his second term (2006-2011) and ordered employment of fifty Police Cadets, most of whom are now Assistant Superintendents, who could have each reduced crimes by one percent; compounded with all the other resources made available then for onward. An analysis of what that objective achieved must be a police management record for future planning and strategy. Dr. Jagdeo once remarked that the PPP/C did not invent crimes, thus, anyone can discern merit in his input of Police Officers to engage the populace smartly as a cost benefit review. International curricula of law enforcement and applicable criminal justice support necessitate studies and training in criminological

theories, police [modern] administration and advanced criminal investigations. It is perceived that without such competent understandings, the now APNU+AFC Government’s approach of sanction for resolution of crime conditions currently in Guyana, may fall unsatisfactorily short of capabilities of law enforcement. To this end, the peoples’ elements of crime prevention must be emphasized by correcting ‘lack’ in our communities along with creation of jobs of social intervention, management and supervision (community counselors and development officers - CCDOs). That along with grassroots employment of environmental enhancement workers (EEWs) will provide gainful continuous work for almost 10,000 employees nationwide. For the prompt removal of idling, loitering, vagrancy and gangsterism from our society - which are the strongholds of crimes and violence justification of a vibrant programme of community service, penalties for minor offenders, is inevitable forthwith! After-all, such deviant behaviour and criminal conduct originate from the home and must be stopped right there. Arnold W. Christiani

DEAR EDITOR, First, I just want to express my pleasure and relief at there being a new Government in Guyana. It has been three years since I submitted an application to the Land Registry at Durban Backlands for the transfer of a property I purchased. During those three years it was pain and stress. So much money and time was lost in numerous visits. I spent so much on taxi fares and phone calls. It was in the thousands of dollars. And who can put a price on time? There was definitely a problem in that office, sometimes I would give up and turn to my God in prayers. I lost a part of life, because I wanted to start building my house as soon as possible. Every time I called the office I could never get to speak to the person in charge – always at a meeting or out of the office. All you are told is to check back in two weeks’ time. I am a person of patience so it did not bother me too much, but not everybody is like me. One thing I admired when I called or visited was that the staff was so helpful and

full of smiles; you could see that they understood your frustration. I cannot forget three persons I interacted with: Mr Naresh, Mr. Andy and a female staffer whose name I don’t know, but she is of Amerindian descent. I just want to say thanks to them and hope that the new Government will see that their employment is guaranteed. People are criticizing this new government but they are still new to a lot of work related issues. I see a new and productive Guyana in the next three years. I want to thank Mr. Joseph Harmon for going personally into that office and putting things in place, and also installing the right person for that job. I can say I am happy and blessed to have received my document. Just to say thanks to the new government headed by its faithful and hardworking President David A. Granger, and his loyal Prime Minister Moses V. Nagamootoo. To Guyana, I want to say God bless our beautiful country. A change has come in 100 days. Satisfied Citizen

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Police say recruitment centres - close to 300 ranks to be filled to capacity added to strength soon The Guyana Police Force has revealed that its training institutions in the three counties are almost filled to capacity, as the organization moves closer towards fulfilling a mandate to increase its establishment by 1,500. The announcement comes in response to a letter in yesterday’s edition of the Kaieteur News captioned: “GPF can probably learn from GDF in terms of attracting manpower” which speaks to recruitment by the Guyana Defence Force as a possible guide/lesson to the police. The Police were obviously offended by the missive, since it made the point that the Guyana Defence Force for some reason appears to be attracting a higher number of recruits. “Cognisant of an article captioned “GPF… which was written by one Patrick E. Mentore and published in the Kaieteur News of today Wednesday August 26, 2015, the Guyana Police Force wishes to state that whoever

the writer is has penned the article out of a state of ignorance in that he is not aware of what is happening in the Police Force,” the police said in a statement yesterday. “The Guyana Police Force wishes to inform that our training institutions in Georgetown and Essequibo are presently filled to capacity. The other training institution at Adventure, Corentyne, Berbice, where renovations were recently completed, now has a capacity of 60,” the police explained Fifty applicants at that location were sworn as members of the Force on Tuesday, while another eight will be sworn prior to the commencement of training which is scheduled for next Monday. These persons have been selected from a waiting list of 1,018 applicants who have been processed. The Force explained that its Training Programme is six months residential, and therefore only two batches can be accommodated yearly at the three training

The Guyana Police Force has revealed that its training institutions are almost filled to capacity institutions. The overall capacity at the police training institutions is 330, which means that the Force can now churn out 660 recruits per year. However this has not been the case, despite the previous Cabinet giving the green light for the Force to increase its strength from 3,410 to 4,956. But while there is no definite timeframe for this to be realized, judging from the Force’s position earlier this year, it would appear that that initiative is no more than wishful thinking at this time. Although the force is boasting of the high number of recruits presently being trained, high-placed sources within the Police Force have indicated that with the low remuneration and the current rate of attrition, the aim of a permanent increase in the manpower strength of the organization from the current

3,410 to 4,956 could take years to achieve. “We are getting some good persons through the walk-in process. We are getting some people of good quality in terms of qualification,” one official disclosed. But the question of keeping those persons in the Force is a huge challenge, since according to the official, some people are just looking for a job as opposed to a career in the Guyana Police Force. “The question is if we could retain them,” he said. This view is shared by the letter-writer, who pointed to several inhibitors to quality recruitment, among which are budgetary constraints and a negative perception of the organization. But it is not that the Force is looking to recruit any and every applicant; the Force has a choice. It was explained

that some applicants are refused entry into the organization for various reasons, including lack of fitness. At least two out of every 10 applicants do not make the cut. Some even drop out during the recruit training process. “Within a year we would get like about nine persons dropping out at the training school level. It is not that they don’t like the job, but some of them might not have been able to maintain the level of performance academically in the classroom, and with the level of discipline that is required of them, they drop out,” the official explained. Remuneration is one area that certainly needs to be looked at. The lowest ranked policeman starts out with a monthly salary of $55,000. When deductions are made, the constable will take home about $45,000. Those who would have taken loans from the Police Co-operative Credit Union will find it even harder to eke out an honest living on their take home pay. “So where does that leave them? It’s either they leave the job for a better paying one, or you know what? They become prone to corruption,” another officer suggested. He is convinced that the current salary scale in the Police Force will pose a serious challenge to the recruitment plan. “You get these security firms that are popping up, especially in the mining sector,

and that is kicking us, because they are paying much better than us. Our people are trained and all they (security firms) have to do is give them a gun and deploy them,” the officer stated. The upward revision of the numbers within the Force is in keeping with the demands of Guyana’s significantly changed security environment in the preservation of law, order and peace. This stems from an increase in population size and the accompanying development of new communities, an increase and frequent occurrences of social-economic activities, significant increases in the number of motor vehicles, and the accompanying expansion of the road network as well as significant opening up of Guyana’s interior regions. “It is not only bringing in the people, you know…you have to find accommodation for them. We have to look at expanding areas like Eccles, Parfait Harmonie and other considerations,” a senior official explained. But despite the shortage in terms of numbers, the force continues to shoot itself in the foot by wantonly transferring ranks to the Juvenile Holding Centre in Sophia where there is nothing to do in terms of police work. Kaieteur News understands that the facility is grossly overstaffed by ranks who have had run-in with the force administration.

Thursday August 27, 2015

Kaieteur News

Gypsy to start anti-Kamla campaign Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Winston “Gypsy” Peters (R)

Trinidad Guardian Winston “Gypsy” Peters Tuesday resigned with immediate effect from Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar’s Cabinet, describing her as the “most ungrateful ingrate, if there was ever one, that I have ever met.” Peters said he had made the decision because he could not in good conscience tell anyone to vote for PersadBissessar in the September 7 general election. He insisted, however, that it was not the end of his career in politics. Peters made the announcement during a news conference at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain,

where he finally broke his silence on his rejection as the United National Congress’ candidate for the People’s Partnership in this general election. Businessman Rushton Paray was eventually nominated as the Mayaro candidate. Peters later said on radio that the UNC was dying and it would lose the election. He also announced his immediate resignation as a member of the UNC. “And as of today I have tendered my resignation from the United National Congress and I have also tendered my resignation as a government minister from Kamla Persad-

St Lucian PM critical of magistracy CASTRIES, St Lucia (CMC) - Prime Minister Dr Kenny Anthony has criticised the operations of the magistracy saying what is taking place there is a disservice to the population “Do they work eight hours a day? How many cases have they heard? How many cases have they disposed of? What is the situation with the performance of these functions?” Anthony asked as he wrapped up debate on the report of the Constitutional Commission Tuesday. According to the prime minister, people judge “our” legal system on what is taking place in the Magistracy and as a result, he wants the

magistrates to be made more accountable. Anthony, while acknowledging that there were problems with infrastructure in the court system, said that in the case of the magistracy, the problem can be resolved because the solution lies in the power of the appointing agency which is the regional Judicial and Legal Services commission. He felt that the Commissioners, who framed the report of the Constitutional Review Commission, should have examined the issue of strengthening the accountability requirements of “these officers”, without interfering with their independent judicial powers.

Bissessar’s Cabinet. I have divorced myself from the UNC.” In explaining the reason for his decision, Peters said for the past year and a half, Persad-Bissessar and others in Mayaro and Rio Claro had been undermining him. Former UNC chairman and government minister Jack Warner, who resigned from the party in 2013, was present for Peters’ news conference. Peters, like Warner previously, Tuesday claimed that he had been instrumental in Persad-Bissessar becoming Prime Minister and leader of the UNC. This is why he said he “could not in good conscience tell anybody to vote for Kamla Persad-Bissessar. I never thought this day would come when I would stand here and say that.” He said he was also not saying this because he was an angry man. “I am saying this because it is logical,” he added. Peters, however, said he was yet to determine his future in terms of joining another political party. “As of now, I haven’t made up my mind to join any political party but Keith Rowley has been a friend of mine. The last person I thought was my friend was Kamla Persad-Bissessar and she is not.” Warner then reminded Peters that Rowley’s offer was made after UNC deputy political leader, Housing and Urban Development Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal, said he (Peters) was from the bottom of the barrel.

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657 babies born to teens at GPHC ...stats not even “scratching for year so far the surface” - GRPA By Desilon Daniels The issue of teenage pregnancy in Guyana continues to be a relevant one, especially in light of new statistics which show that more than 650 babies were born to teenage mothers in Georgetown alone for the year so far. The information was shared by the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) which recently released statistics on the number of babies delivered within the hospital from January to July month end. According to the hospital, 3,125 babies were delivered within the institution during the first 7 months of 2015; 50 of the delivered babies were stillborn. However, the most alarming figure was that of babies born to teenage mothers; the hospital’s data showed that out of the total deliveries 657 babies were born to teenagers. These young mothers ranged in age from under 14 to 19. These figures indicate that of the total number of babies born at the Georgetown Hospital, approximately 21 percent were to teens.

The past four months accounted for more than half of these deliveries. Previous information from the GPHC indicated that 326 babies were born to teenagers from January 1 to March 31, 2015. From April 1 to July 31 there were 331 babies born to teen moms. The hospital did not indicate how many, if any, of the babies delivered to teenagers were stillborn. Meanwhile, this year’s statistics thus far indicate that while there was an increase from last year for the first quarter, there was a decrease within the last four months compared to the same period last year. During the first quarter of 2014, there were 282 babies born to teenage mothers as compared to this year’s 326. Additionally, from April 1 to July 31, 2014, there were 391 babies delivered to teen mothers as compared to 331 this year. Overall, there was a minor decline from last year in the number of babies born to teenage mothers. At the end of July 2014, there were 673 babies compared to this year’s 657. These figures do not take into account babies born to teen mothers in other

Dem boys seh ...

Dem bandits testing Rum Jattan guards Rum Jattan area suddenly attracting bandits. Somebody go next door and tie up an old lady then rob she. It happen before to another neighbour. Dem boys believe that de bandits testing Rum Jattan. Is like if dem saying that although he got guards and police patrol, dem still in charge. Dem got a solution. De guards got to wake up whole night. It mean that de bandits pass by Rum Jattan house, peep at de guards and see dem sleeping, then pounce pun de neighbours. Since this never use to happen, one man believe that Rohee and some other opposition people testing Rum Jattan to see if he got a crime plan. If somebody else was Home Affairs Minister de bandits woulda rob people near that person just to prove a point. Dem boys seh that is a matter of time before all get ketch. But dem got some other things that people should note. From de time Rum Jattan tun de man in charge of crime, de criminals move out of town to go wheh dem think life easier. Some of dem get ketch when dem was coming back to Georgetown. It mean that things wukking except wheh Rum Jattan live. De other day some boys pun bicycle decide to rob a man who car break down. Dey didn’t get far because de police de pun dem tail. Then dem try an old trick. Dem get a woman to hire a taxi and when dem meet in Ruimveldt dem decide to hijack de man car. De police act fast and ketch dem, suh Rum Jattan plan wukking. One thing dem boys know fuh sure. Once de police perform good dem gun get higher pay. And dem really wukking at this time. Dem solving crime. Dem arresting people who woulda get away wid certain things when Rohee was de man in charge of crime. Dem boys don’t want to believe that he still in charge because dem police wouldn’t hesitate fuh collar him. Talk half and help Rum Jattan keep he guards awake.

hospitals, particularly those in hinterland communities where teenage pregnancy is prevalent. NOT EVEN SCRATCHING THE SURFACE “What we are seeing are the realities of our country,” Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth, Executive Director of the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) said. “But what we’re seeing is not even scratching the surface of what our young women and young men are going through each day.” In a 2014 report, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) noted that Guyana has a high incidence of teenage pregnancy and yesterday the GRPA head stressed that this information is being reflected every day in Guyana. She further said that teenage pregnancy in Guyana stems from multiple issues including family breakdown and sexual violence. She

emphasised that the nation was facing a “huge problem” that could only worsen if proper strategies and programmes are not developed to tackle the issue. According to SheerattanBisnauth, the GRPA is working along closely with the Ministry of Education, and is pushing for the introduction of sex education into the school system. She stressed that this programme must be age-appropriate with youth-friendly spaces to facilitate open conversation. She also said that peer education was an important factor going forward. These peer educators must be linked with organisations to carry out roles alongside counsellors. She stressed that counsellors in schools are not proficient enough to deal with the realities because they are trained in workshops rather than in the “real world” where the real issues occur. She also stressed the importance of incorporating edutainment into the process

and shared that GRPA is working on providing community theatres. “We need to learn how to do things better; we need to open those spaces where youths are comfortable to speak on issues,” she emphasised. The GRPA always has its door open to the public, particularly youths in Guyana. The organisation offers clinic services and not only provides tests and examinations free of cost, but also counselling services. Sheerattan-Bisnauth encouraged youths to take up the services available to them and to educate them to avoid becoming a part of the growing statistics. DECLINE IN BIRTHS Meanwhile, the GPHC’s information shows that there was an overall decline in births for the year thus far when compared to 2014. From January 1 to July 31, 2014 the hospital said it delivered 3,207 babies. Out of this total, 56 babies were

Vagrant remanded for allegedly breaking in stall City Magistrate Judy Latchman was taken for a rollercoaster ride by an indecisive vagrant, who appeared before her yesterday after being accused of breaking into a market stall. Chetram Omesh, 40, of Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, was remanded to prison after taking several minutes to plead to the charge. At one point he told the court that he wanted to plead guilty because he has no one to take care of him. Then suddenly he uttered not guilty. Omesh, who told the court that he sleeps in the market, is accused of breaking into the stall of Natalie Gerald between August 16 and 21,

last, at Georgetown. He allegedly stole a 20-pound gas cylinder, an electrical deep fryer and an electrical mug - all totaling $38,000, property of the said Gerald. He finally made up his mind and entered a plea of not guilty. His next court appearance will be on September 8, for statements. Police Prosecutor, Corporal Kerry Bostwick told the court that the virtual complainant secured her stall on Sunday, August 16, and left for home. When she returned the following Friday, August 21, she noticed that the items were missing and reported the matter to the police. Bostwick added that Omesh was seen by a security guard at the market removing

the articles and was later taken into police custody. He was later arrested and charged. When asked by the Magistrate if he had any objections to the defendant being granted his pre-trial liberty, the prosecutor replied in the affirmative. Bostwick highlighted that the defendant has no fixed place of abode. He pointed out that there is a likelihood that he may not return to court to stand trial if released on bail.

GRPA Executive Director, Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth stillborn. This year for the same period, the hospital delivered 3,125 babies, 50 of which were stillbirths. Additionally, over 50 percent of the hospital’s successfully delivered babies were born within the last four months; in the first three months of 2015, the hospital recorded 1,467 births, approximately 48 percent. The last four months recorded 1,608 babies, approximately 53 percent of the hospital’s successful deliveries. In terms of stillbirths, 25 were delivered from January to March while the other 25 were delivered between April and July. Meanwhile, “deliveries in January 2015 surpassed the other months with a total of 565 babies being delivered, while the same period last year April had the highest amount of deliveries with a total of 501 babies being born at the hospital,” the hospital said. Additionally, 2,373 patients were admitted to the GPHC maternity ward in the first quarter while 2,719 were admitted within the last four months, taking the total up to 5,092 admitted patients from January to July month-end. The GPHC delivers about 60 percent of the nation’s babies.

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=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===

Bibi Shadick as UG Pro-Chancellor: Guyana is a parched wasteland On Tuesday evening at 10 o’clock, I called five lawyers to ask a question for this column here. All of them gave the identical answer without me telling them what the others said. Interestingly none wanted their name to be quoted. I don’t know why, but I guess they each have their own reason. My own attitude about their decline is because Guyana is still in that mode where people are afraid to be identified. Here is the question. Could there be a legal contract between employee and employer and the employer cannot terminate

the contract? All five lawyers told me no such contract exists or will ever exist. Last week the highest decision-making body at the University of Guyana, the Council, met in session, with Bibi Shadick as the chairman in her capacity as ProChancellor. This columnist has been informed by some of the most authoritative voices in the Government that Ms. Shadick has refused to resign and since her contract has two more years, the Government has to accept her as Pro-Chancellor. To say this is elephant dung is to put it mildly. Every contract gives the

employer an exit door. It is how the employer uses that pathway that causes the employee to litigate. Take the 2012 termination of my contract at UG. My contract stated in unambiguous terms that I was employed based on the statutes of the University. Those statues compel the university to follow certain guidelines when an academic is fired. Even the layman would know how that operates. You have to be written to; told what complaint is made against you; offered a hearing. In my case none of these requirements were followed and the Ombudsman ruled that the legal advice he received was that my termination was illegal. The corporate world has some interesting contracts. You can be fired without

notice or the contract can be terminated by an immediate letter. But in all circumstances in the corporate world, the contract includes huge financial compensation for abrupt termination. Most CEO’s in the corporate world would not sign a contract where the contract can be ended and notice in writing is not required without insisting on a major financial termination package. The Government cannot be serious when it says that since Shadick has a contract for the next two years, she has to remain as ProChancellor. It is not only that it is not serious, but it may well be deceiving the Guyanese people. Since Bibi Shadick is currently head of the UG Council then she would not cancel her contract, because only the Council can fire the

Pro-Chancellor. But that does not mean there is absolutely no way Bibi Shadick can be removed as Pro-Chancellor. The Vice Chancellor, ProChancellor and Deputy ViceChancellor are academic positions. The Chancellor’s is not. A retired high UN official, a retired top, decorated, army general, a retired top, globally recognized CEO, a former Chief Justice, a former Prime Minister or President can be a Chancellor. When it comes to the other positions, the holders of those offices must be academics. An academic is a person involved in academia. They have to be working at an academic institution. They must be involved in either teaching or researching at an academic institution. Must have appeared at academic conferences where their research was presented.

Frederick Kissoon Must have publication in journals or books. In most instances, the Pro-Chancellor must have higher degrees. This has been so hundreds of years ago. It is simply not possible for the most brilliant manager of the world’s most patronized supermarket to be the ProChancellor of a university. A doctor who is engaged in research and has published his/her findings will be eligible for an academic post. Scientific and intellectual research is sine qua non for being called an academic. Bibi Shadick is very far away from meeting any of these criteria. Ms. Shadick’s profession is law and not in the teaching of law, but a court attorney. Ms. Shadick does not have a higher degree beyond the LL.B. Ms. Shadick has not given written judgements on the law that would be considered of academic value, since she has never been a Judge. Ms. Shadick has never been associated with a tertiary educational institution in Guyana. Ms. Shadick appeared on the Council of UG five years ago as the representative of the ruling party, the PPP. She was made Pro-Chancellor months before the 2015 General Elections. I say unapologetically, Bibi Shadick is unfit to be UG’s Pro-Chancellor. Can her contract be rescinded legally? A school boy knows that can be done.

Thursday August 27, 2015

Kaieteur News

Murder of patient at Psychiatric Hospital…

Cops only knew of incident after reading next day’s Kaieteur News Nurses are contemplating their next move following the murder of a patient by another inmate at the National Psychiatric Hospital on Tuesday evening. And shockingly, the police were unaware that there was a murder at the time, and only learnt of the situation when they read the details in the Wednesday edition of this publication. The Doctor had inexplicably failed to report the gruesome death to the law enforcement authorities. The dead patient known as Eda is said to be in her early 30s and reportedly hails from Blairmont. She reportedly was a patient at the mental institution in 2008, was discharged, and returned in 2010. She was said to have been mentally retarded. The perpetrator

Dudwattie Farri is said to be in her 50s and reportedly hails from the Bath, West Coast Berbice area. She was admitted into the mental institution around June of this year. No more details were garnered about the two inmates. Meanwhile, nurses working in the institution continue to express fear and concerns as to the conditions under which they have to work. A number of times one nurse is assigned to a ward which houses as many as 31 patients. The general area is very bushy, there are hardly any lights and sometimes there are no guards working. When the incident occurred on Tuesday evening last, only one nurse was reportedly working in each ward, and officials were tightlipped. Information was

hard to come by. According to reports the two inmates were both patients of the female admission wards (A and B) of the institution. After exhibiting aggressive behaviour recently they were both placed in a single room along with another aggressive patient. Reports are that around 16:30 hrs on the fateful day, there was a misunderstanding between the two patients which resulted in a fight. Farri reportedly climbed on the other inmate’s head and stamped on her neck. As indicated, at the time only one nurse was working in the ward which housed 22 patients.The accused remains in isolation in the said hospital. The police are continuing their investigations.

Battery-less saw stalls knee surgeries at GPHC Plagued by pain and discomfort, over one hundred persons would have thought it best to take advantage of the cheap price to get orthopaedic surgery done on their knees at the nation’s provider of quality health care. However, it seems as if the cheap way may have been the longest way around the problem. Months after paying for knee surgery at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), those patients are yet in line and waiting to be operated on. In fact, the wait has become so long that persons are becoming uneasy and aggravated by the procrastination which they believe should have been

brought to an end a very long time ago by the hospital’s administration. A broken orthopaedic saw was initially said to be the source which is causing the delay. However, when contacted, the CEO of GPHC, Michael Khan, categorically denied breakage of the saw. He explained that the saw was not broken but rather its battery was damaged and will soon be replaced. He said too that a new saw will also be imported for the purpose of “backup” to avoid future recurrences. When asked about the failure to address the issue months ago, the CEO told Kaieteur News that it was only brought to the

administration’s attention a few weeks ago. Hence, the search for the equipment was ensued and a company named Stryker, a global leader in the medical technology industry, was contacted. Khan told Kaieteur News that there are some difficulties in getting the equipment in a timely manner, but his team is working to rectify the problem in the shortest time possible. Constant contact is being kept with Stryker and a quotation is expected to be provided soon. Stryker manufactures medical devices and equipment. The CEO was keen in making it clear that no other department at GPHC is experiencing such difficulty.

Miner jailed for 2 years on fraud charge A covetous eye has landed 25-year-old Rayon Smith in prison for two years, after he admitted to taking large some of gold entrusted to him by his boss and selling it. Smith, a miner, of Marlborough, Pomeroon River appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts yesterday and pleaded guilty to a charge of fraudulent conversion after it was read to him by Magistrate Ann Mc Lennan. Particulars of the charge stated that on August 23, at

Mazaruni Backdam, being solely entrusted by Neil Gonsalves with 13.7 ounces of raw gold - worth $2.8M, Smith fraudulently converted same to his own use and benefit. The article is said to be the property of Gonsalves. Police Corporal Deniro Jones presented the prosecution’s case. The court was told that after Smith was given the gold he fled to Georgetown. His boss subsequently reported the matter and Smith was captured with two pennyweight of gold and

Jailed: Rayon Smith $200,000 in his possession. Smith was arrested, cautioned and the charge was laid against him.

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Kaieteur News

Two men, woman arrested for carjacking The quick response of the police to a report of carjacking yesterday led t o t h e recovery of the vehicle and the arrest of three suspects, two men and a woman. The trio is in custody assisting with the investigations, but the crux of the matter, however, is that according to police

sources, the three are part of a gang that has committed other robberies. As pa r t of investigations thus far, the suspects have reportedly confessed to three other robber i e s according to senior police officials. Those arrested are part of a group of three men and

two women who attacked and robbed taxi driver Haslington Edwards of Diamond, East Bank Demerara, of his motor vehicle at North Ruimveldt, Georgetown. The five persons had hired him from the Stabroek Market about 00:45hr yesterday.

Thursday August 27, 2015

Govt.’s CCTV cameras lead to 667 arrests By Romila Boodram

“When drivers are caught and we show them a replay, they say ‘Oh My God, I never knew the cameras were working” - Acting Traffic Chief

Police have charged over 600 drivers for running red lights in and around the city for the year so far. Surprisingly, what many people are learning is that the drivers were nabbed after their “unlawful act” was recorded on closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras which are located in the city, on the East Bank Demerara and certain parts on the East Coast Demerara. This was disclosed by Acting Traffic Chief, Superintendent Dion Moore, during an interview yesterday. He also explained that the cameras are being monitored by police on a daily basis at the National Intelligence Centre, located in the Castellani House compound. “The persons, who are violators of intersections and junctions where cameras are placed, will not se e t h e police when they are monitoring the cameras, but as long as they commit a breach, the police will

know through our internal system, the acting Traffic Chief revealed. So far, 667 persons were arrested and placed before the court for breach of traffic light control in several areas.

Superintendent Moore stated that once someone has been caught violating the traffic signals, the police will first try to locate that person and a replay of the footage will be played to them. “When drivers are caught, they say, ‘Oh My God I never knew the cameras were working,’” Moore revealed. Kaieteur News understands that there are some 40 sites around the city with about three or four active cameras at each site. The cameras were erected to combat criminal activity Meanwhile, with respect to speeding, Moore urges drivers not to speed and also for those who are in vehicles driven by irresponsible users to speak out. “Leave early so that you can meet there early. There is no where you can leave late and reached early,” the Superintendant advises.

Once again, the Popeye’s Vlissengen Road outlet has played target for men, hungry for cash, not food. The fast food establishment has been hit with a spate of robberies since it opened its doors, and bandits paid yet another visit around 20:45 hours last evening – this time smashing glass doors and leaving terrified customers behind. It is unclear how much money was taken, but a family who was there when Kaieteur News arrived, said that the two men – mostly

indistinguishable from other customers - had entered the restaurant and within minutes a supervisor came running out, alerting them that the place was being robbed. The supervisor, it was explained, locked-down the fast food restaurant, thinking that the men were trapped. But the glass doors were no match for the two men who soon smashed it and sped away by foot. As they hurried to leave through the North-Eastern driveway, the family noticed that it was the very two young

men who had entered minutes before, wearing black outfits. This time, however, their faces were covered with masks. “They entered like regular customers and apparently, they put on masks when they were inside. Everything happened really fast,” one family member stated. Having cleared the driveway, one of the bandits reportedly fired a gunshot in the air. According to the family, it was then that confusion ensued: children who were occupying the play (continued on page 24)

Acting Traffic Chief, Superintendent Dion Moore

Armed bandits strike again at Popeye’s

The bandits’ trail of destruction

Thursday August 27, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 21

“Out with anti-pregnancy policy,” says Social Protection Ministry employee’s pregnancy or a reason connected with her pregnancy does not constitute good or sufficient cause for dismissal or for imposition of disciplinary action. During the engagement, it was raised that employer’s need protection as well, and an attendee opined that when the policies were put in place, they were done to protect the organisation. It was

Officials of the Ministry of Social Protection in discussion with representatives from various media houses yesterday The Ministry of Social Protection is pushing for the removal of the controversial ‘pregnancy policy’ obtained in the City Constabulary and other disciplined forces, following an uproar earlier this month. During a seminar for Media Houses/Television Stations held yesterday at the Ministry’s Labour Department, located at Brickdam, Georgetown, Deputy Chief Labour Officer, Nadia Samuels affirmed that the policies are nothing but “extremely discriminatory”. The issue of the ‘pregnancy policy’ gripped the attention of the nation earlier this month when news surfaced that three members of the Georgetown City Constabulary were sacked for becoming pregnant. Dismissal letters were issued to the young women stating that they had violated the department policy which prohibits female constabulary officers from becoming pregnant during the first two years.

The decision was a sore point, causing women’s organisations to speak out against it, and pushing social activists to take to the streets to protest against the draconian policy. They had insisted the policy is unconstitutional and infringes on the rights of women. The two-year no pregnancy policy is an ageold one that sweeps across all the nation’s security and military agencies, and is especially enforced during the agencies’ training periods. The position of those against it was supported by the Constitution, the Prevention of Discrimination Act, as well as the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act, which expressly prohibit discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy. As the latter Act was being discussed yesterday, Samuels was pressed by this newspaper for answers as it relates to the issue. She divulged that subsequent to

the situation involving the three women being highlighted, the Ministry has been bombarded with other complaints from the disciplined forces, and they are taking steps to handle it. “The Ministry is engaging City Hall, the Guyana Defence Force and all those places that have those policies, to let them know that they have to remove them, because it is discriminatory… not just a bit, it is discriminatory.” “It’s something that has to be removed, because the law states that if an employee becomes pregnant, the most you can do is modify her conditions of work to suit her pregnancy. So if she was doing some arduous tasks before, you would have to modify that, but you cannot terminate somebody because they are pregnant,” the Deputy Chief Labour Officer stressed. Section Eight of the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act specifies that a female

M&CC “Green, Clean City” concept scheduled to take-off The Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown, (M&CC) is expected to commence work under its “Green, Clean City concept.” According to M&CC Public Relations Officer Debra Lewis, the programme, which was introduced by Town Clerk Royston King, will seek to promote efforts, leading to the development and enhancement of the general aesthetics of the city. Lewis said that a new standard of cleanliness would be achieved through the initiative which involves, tree-planting exercises, refurbishing of parapets and verges, reduction of wanton disposal of waste environmental and maintenance of the drainage system. According to Lewis, every person who lives and

works within the precincts of Georgetown is expected to be a part of this programme. “This programme will span every sector of society and would have a managerial and custodian component.” Therefore, the Council is anticipating that all registered itinerant vendors will cooperate with the Municipality in raising awareness of the “Green, Clean City”. “The vendor’s project is expected to improve the aesthetics in which they operate, make their business more attractive, marketable and, simultaneously promoting a Green, Clean City concept,” Lewis added. Regent Street vendors are expected to meet with members of the council at 09:00 hours today, to discuss their involvement in the programme. Meanwhile,

M&CC officials also noted that massive drainage works in several wards in the city have commenced. According to information disseminated by council, parapets and verges have been cleaned and manicured and the street drains along Carmichael and Main Streets in Georgetown have been desilted. Additionally, cleaning and desilting of drains has also commenced in West Ruimveldt, Ruimveldt, Kingston and Agricola. Efforts are expected to intensify as drainage work continues. Workers are scheduled to be deployed to the Mc Doom and Houston areas. The Council has noted that it will embark on a massive maintenance programme subsequent to the drainage exercise.

highlighted, however, that the said policy would have been enacted sometime in the 19th century. The Labour Official pointed out that other policies and adjustments need to be made to accommodate the pregnant women, whether in the form of time-off from training until after the child would have been delivered or adjust the payment attached for trainees.

“You can’t terminate them because they are pregnant,” Samuels emphasised. It was pointed out too that the army has taken to stymieing promotions and reducing the intake of females. These things will be looked at by the Ministry, the officials assured. The Deputy Chief Labour Officer assured that the Ministry has been engaging (continued on page 24)

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Kaieteur News

SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. – CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620

WANTED Experienced seamstress – 2yrs knowledge: flat/ over lockers/ Serger machines, meeting of deadlines/target a must- Contact: 270-1332 6am6pm & 645-5533 6pm-?

Building or Renovating? For quality services at affordable cost - Contact: 592-682-9935 or email: creativeconstructionservice 15@gmail.com.

Part- time driver! Wednesday, Thursday & Friday – 1pm8:00p, Saturday & Sunday 10:00am-8:00pm – Contact: 643-5838; 223-3574 Domestic from G/Town 2-3 day per week age: 30-45yrs – Call: 641-3687 Contract Cars & Drivers Call: 227-1720, 227-1721 or 660-6102

Visa Application: U.S.A, Canada & UK; Guyana Passport application. Graphics design, Advertisement. Tel: 626-7040; 265-4535. PARTY DECORATING: balloon creation, back drops etc. for weddings, birthdays, anniversary etc. Make your event extra special! Tel Maya: 642-6664 REPAIRS AT LOW COST: FRIDGES,AIR-CONDITIONERS, WASHINGMACHINES,TVS, MICROWAVES,FREEZERSCALL:629-4946 OR 225-4822 REPAIRS & SPARE, FRIDGE, FREEZER, A/C, WASHERS, STOVES CONTACT NICK: 6831312, 627-3206 Floor sanding & Lacquering House plans, Estimate & painting, boat for Santa Mission - Call: 650-4362 Repairs at affordable prices: fridge, air conditioner, washing machines, dryers, TV, microwaves & freezerCall: 610-5846 or 661-8158 INNOVATIVEMARKETING & PUBLISHING INC – TEL: 600-4212: We create A/works, logos, business cards, posters, etc, placements of ads included. Eagle’s fridge re-gas @ 99-100 New Market Street - $8,000 & washing machine repairs. Phone: 697-2969,223-5818 Desmond Repair Services Fridge, AC, gas stove, microwave, washer, etc on the spot repairs –Call: (592)6788683; 687-9709 Licensed Custom Broker/tax consultant: tax compliance certificates, assistance with customs documentationsCall: 660-9478 Permanent & Visitors Visa Applications, Professional Immigration Consultant Room D5 Maraj Building. visadocumentsgy@yahoo.comCall : 225-6496, 662-6045 Welding & fabricating, grill & Boat work –Call: 666-2101 School Bus from E.B.D to G/Town and back, so get your children on board - Call: 687-3017

Waitress to work on E.C.D, live in – Call: 220-1842 or 6915518 Female caregiver for elderly female to work from 7:30am5pm, Monday –Saturday @ Residence, Pouderoyen, WBD –Call: 647-6075 Office assistant to keep records-Call: 660-9478 from 9am -4pm Live in maid/assistant salesgirl, E.C.D- Call: 6035416; 644-9802 Young couple looking to purchase property $12M Max within Georgetown/East Coast Demerara up to Lusignan –Tel: 622-6710 Experienced bartenderContact: 684-1657 Dispatcher at Gem’s Taxi Service (Shift Work)- Tel: 231-3709; 233-2537 Drivers and contract carsTel:231-0316; 231-0002; 2194087 One honest, single, reliable live in domestic with no health problem- Call: 6508632 between 9:00am -7:00pm Live-in maid or waitress to work in Mahicony River-Call: 225-6571, 644-6905 Porters; Age: 18-30- Contact: 225-8066 Handyman to work on farm, preferably family person, live in accommodation –Call: 6199143; 614-8857 One cook to cook for family in the interior –Contact: 6778484. Part time handy man at Tudor’s Business, Linden, age 18-22 years –Call: 4445883 Wanted one person to work on a ranch to take care of cattle & sheep-Call: 619-9143, 614-8857 Live in couple husband: driving & mechanical skills, wife: Demestic. Excellent rates offered. Call: 227-1830

Thursday August 27, 2015

SALON

VEHICLE FOR SALE

PROPERTY FOR SALE

Make Up Courses with Mac, Bare Minerals, Black Opal and Sacha cosmetics. Call: 647-1773/660-5257 Salon & Spa @ Aracari Resort! Available Now: Hollywood herbal skin whitening cream, scrub & sun block. Phone: 264-3312 or 600-3927

1 Mazda Axela, PTT series, low mileage, e x c e l l e n t condition -owner migrating Tel: 649-0956 SmartChoiceAuto:Premio,Allion, Fielder, Carina 212, Bluebird Call: 652-3820; 665-4529 In Stock @ First Class Auto: 08 Premio, Allion, Runx, Axio, Bluebird, Sienta, Fielder, Rush –Tel: 609-8188, 638-3045 1 Nissan Titan 05, 4WD, AC/ Mags/HID, Toyota Vitz R5 (stick gear), 1496CC AC/ Mags/HID- Call: 216-1574; 644-0447

Property for sale, Grove $20M / Rent: $50,000 per month. Tel: 625-5461.

WANTED 1 Female to work in snackette & bar. Must know to cookbetween ages 20-35 -Call: 647-7432/ 223-5798 Experienced Driver Apply @ Hack’s Halaal Restaurant with written application, 5 Commerce Street One live in maid must know to cook – Contact: 677-8484 One male store clerk, apply to K&B Mining Hardware Supplies, Lot 152 Church Street, Alberttown , Georgetown.

1 Yamaha R6 (600cc) price to go, Mitsubishi canter 4D32, long tray (20ft) open back – Call: 216-1574; 644-0447 For Sales: Bus BRR 2501, 19 Seater pit-bull – Contact: 6893173 or 614-3947 Unregistered Toyota Premio 2003, & Spacio 2004 –Call: 681-7117 or 227-5950 We buy & sell vehicles for cash, also parts available & 30 seater buses; Extra Cab pickups; 2006 Tacoma- Call: 680-3154 AT192, 212, Allion, unregistered Premio, Hilux Surf, BNN, RZ & Pit-bull, 7 seater super custom. Cash / terms- Call: 680-3154 2000 Freightliner hauler, C-12 Engine –Tel: 609-7257; 689-9041

CAR RENTAL DOLLY’S CAR RENTALCALL: 225-7126/226-3693 DOLLYSAUTORENTAL@ YA H O O . C O M / W W W. DOLLYSAUTORENTAL.COM PROGRESSIVE AUTO RENTAL:CARS&SUV FOR RENTAL- $4,000 & UP PER DAY- CALL: 643-5122, 2193900, EMAIL: PRO_AUTO RENTAL@YAHOO.COM Aidan’s Car & 4WD Vigo pick up, cheapest rate, low security- Call: 698-7807 Wing’s Car & 4WD Vigo pick up- Call: 690-6494

BMW 320i, Toyota AT212, AT192, IST, EP-71 Starlet, 4 Runner, Canter, Honda 600 RR -Tel: 644-5096; 697-1453 Tractor Massey Ferguson, from Canada – MF165 $1.7M, MF265-$2.1M, MF135 -$1.1M, Ranger Pick Up Truck -$1.4M –Call: 682-5230; 628-9596 EP 82 Starlet, AC 4 Doors, working standard rims, lady driven – good condition $550,000 – serious inquiries only - Call: 662-5052

House for sale @ Lot 180 Block 8 Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, Price $25M negotiable –Call: 266-0309; 626-6555 Property for sale, business place at Kuru kururu, New Town on High Way- Call: 261-6282 or 676-4787 Pearl: Well built 1,995 SF concrete building on 58X165 lot, formerly used at meeting halls-$13.5M-Tel: 649-1670 2 Storey 45x35 concrete property, lower flat incomplete. Land 65x120 @ Diamond N/S 5th Avenue,E.B.D- Call: 629-4017 2-story concrete house on double lot. ECD. $28.5M Tel: 661-9431 Transported concrete, Block “8” Mon Repos E.C.D, top flat 2 bedrooms, bottom flat 2 bedrooms- $18M. Call: 6251514 office hours 231-7255 Property for sale, East La Penetance Arapaima Street $17M negotiable –Call: 6484420, 662-6173 Gated community Hibiscus, West Coast Demerara, flat concrete house -$10.5M, Enterprise -$10M. Contact Raul: 655-8361

LAND FOR SALE $1.2M Parfaite Harmonie (80ftX50ft), $2.8M Diary (100ftX50ft), already & newly fenced, Zeelugt $1.5M Call: 611-7223; 604-2207

One 928F Caterpillar Wheel Loader- Contact # 650-0402/ 260-4988 One 318 BMW never registered for $ 3M down payment $500,000 contact # 650-0402 or 616-0429 One welding machine- Call: 687-7725 250 Rebel Motorcycle, one 250 nighthawk motorcycle, one Toyota 4X4 pickup for more information contact: 662-8715; 680-1198; 7715388-87 Fertilizer! 100% soluble fertilizer: potassium nitrate, calcium nitrate 20:20:220, also plant seed and soil. info@shigam.cm /Tel 6968538 One Honda D15-B Engine & Transmission –Contact: 645-8518 for info Galvanized nail platesContact: 645-8518 1 Complete six inch dredge inclusive of pick up and ATVprice 6,000,000-Contact: 6600422 XBOX 360 slim: 250GB & 320GB with games & controllers also PS4 with game & Controller-Call: 6838386

Four Bedroom House No73 Public Road, Corentyne Berbice- Suitable For Private Residence or Commercial Use- Contact 335-3347 / 6266245

Back to School Sale: Dell/ HP laptop & desktop computers complete, from $55,000, free games and educational software @ Future – Call: 231-2206

Are you interested in selling your home? Call T &T Realty: 660-9478; 672-0865

1-16 inched Bore precisionly built pump on trailer –New $1.2M only, 1-8X8X4ft box Trailer. Call: 227-1830 One male and female pure bred German shepherd dogs –Contact: 654-6355

1 Model M Truck with winch, big tire- Call: 692-9577; 6192406 PNN Toyota Raum, Alarm system, AC, 15" Rims, good condition- $1M- Call: 6177113

Land @ Parfaite Harmonie & Tuschen -$1.5M, $1.3M Call: 604-6724 ACCOMODATION Specials on room! Free breakfast, Wi-Fi luxuriously & comfortably @ Signature Inn, 82 Laluni Street, Georgetown - Tel: 2262145; 227-5037

Republic Park Phase 1, 4 bedrooms, 48M, negotibale Call:645-2580, 609-6516

FOR SALE LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY$19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754.

52ft complete cabin cruiser. In excellent condition- Tel: 592-654-2817, 592-622-2958. TO LET Newly constructed 2 bedrooms apartment in safe and healthy environment Call: 698-6496

1 Toyota Marino, PHH Series. Call: 675-7667 German Shepherd pups. Tel: 619-6086, 699-7077

House for rent furnish $80,000 monthly –Call: 6881342 Apartment in Eccles, rooms in Albertown –Call: 225-3234 LEARN TO DRIVE Soman Son & Outar Driving School at Maraj BuildingTel: 644-5166; 622-2872; 6150964; 689-5997 FOR SALE/RENT American pool tables –Call: 277-0578

2-Two bedroom apartment for rent Mon Repos North, East Coast Demerara, price $60,000 –Call: 689-0123, 688-6005 FOR RENT One four bedroom property with all amenities for sale/ rental on roadside in Bougainvillea Park, EBD- Tel: 616-7635

TOUR Santa Mission Heritage day, September 12th, 2015- Call Joy: 218-1285, 649-9059, 6014906 & Sean: 657-0825 Continued on page 23

Thursday August 27, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 23

Brazil court gives SERBIA WON’T CLOSE another 15 days BORDERS TO MIGRANTS for Rousseff to - PM explain accounts Reuters - Brazil’s highest accounting court gave another 15 days for President Dilma Rousseff to respond to accusations she doctored the government accounts last year to hide the deterioration of the country’s finances. Judges of the Federal Accounts Court, known as the TCU, decided yesterday to give Rousseff more time in a case that her opponents believe could pave the way for her impeachment. Rousseff had already been granted 15 days on Aug

12 to respond to new findings made by court officials. A TCU prosecutor’s allegation that Rousseff delayed 40 billion reais ($11.50 billion) in social payments to artificially bolster fiscal accounts is considered the main argument for a possible rejection of her handling of the fiscal accounts last year, legal experts say. A rejection could serve as the legal basis for the opposition to request Rousseff’s impeachment for violating the fiscal responsibility law, legal experts say.

Reuters - Serbia will never close its borders to migrants, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told Reuters yesterday, but he said EU leaders must help frame a plan on how to cope with the tens of thousands pouring into the Balkan region. About 100,000 migrants, many of them from Syria and other conflict zones in the Middle East, have entered Serbia this year on their way north to Hungary and Europe’s Schengen zone of passport-free travel. Hungary is building a 3.5-metre high fence along its 175-km (110mile) border with Serbia seeking to keep the migrants out. “We will never erect any

fences, any walls,” Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said in an interview ahead of the Western Balkans Summit in Vienna. “We speak about desperate people, we don’t speak about criminals and terrorists,” Vucic said. “They are just on their way to find better lives for themselves and their kids: they need help, they don’t need condemnation and punishment.” He added: “You cannot stop the flow of life with fences.” Refugees would simply find other routes to get to western Europe, he said.

Letters... Where your views make the news

Corruption steals from the poor DEAR EDITOR, “Corruption steals from the poor. It steals the promise of a brighter future.” –Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group. According to research conducted by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) there seem to be a trend, that the countries which comprise the majority of the world, are considered corrupt. This assumption is supported by the following view: “corruption aggravates inequality and injustice, and undermines stability, especially in the world’s most vulnerable regions.” - Yury

Fedotov, Executive Director, UNODC. Another study concludes that aggressive corruption by supercilious government officials aggravates the vices of a society - as manifested by rampant drug use and abuse, alcoholism, mental health crises; quality of life crimes and communal violence. Several experts have opined, that far too often, Guyana for a small country, contributes statistics that are much higher than the international average. The very fact that Guyana has graduated from a major transit country for drugs, to a user country, gives credence to

The withdrawal of... From page 4 subvention, a request was made for reconsideration and time to affect the necessary audit. Representation was made on this matter to the Minister by the planning unit of the Ministry of Education, but to no avail. 6. In an effort to keep the college running, I resigned as Principal, but continued my services free of charge to the College. I was employed as a Consultant (Community Involvement Specialist) under the BEAMS Project with the Ministry of Education during the day and worked at the College for free during the evening. I was, however, instructed to remove myself from the college or my position as a consultant would be terminated. 7. The college carried out the audits as requested, and the subvention was restored after much negotiation between the GTUC and the Government. However, in 2007, even with the audits in place, the subvention was withdrawn again. Since I was not Principal then, I cannot give

a full account of the sequence of events that led to this. However, I do know that Mrs. Gillian Burton-Persaud, in her capacity as President of the GTUC, lambasted the Government over the withdrawal of the subvention, deeming it politically motivated. It is strange that the same Mrs. Burton-Persaud is now singing a different tune. Based on the events outlined above, can it truly be said that the withdrawal of the subvention was purely nonpolitical? You judge for yourself. Phillip Walcott, Former Principal, Critchlow Labour College

that assumption. While the news government means well, it is now tasked with building the infrastructure for good governance, accountability and transparency from the ground up. In retrospect, until now, the government has failed to educate the population as to the processes involved. The government of Guyana must tell the Guyanese people, that in order to build a framework for robust accountability and transparency, it must enact the enabling legislation, and engage specialists in the legal, accounting, investigation, intelligence, enforcement, special prosecutors, negotiators, ICT, banking and a number of allied professions; which necessitates a comprehensive approach for capacity building, and will only yield tangible results in years to come.

The people must know that if a corrupt government ever gets hold of an oil economy; its members will soon purchase war planes and tankers to entrench themselves. The government must also admit it is in a unique position; similar to the one that the late President Mandela was in, when he took over South Africa, in which the “opposition ecosystem” controls threequarters of the country’s wealth. In the interim, Guyana can continue to learn much about how to recover stolen assets from its association with the (STAR) Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative of the World Bank and UNODC, among others. More significantly, the key players in the asset recovery process must abandon the belief that it will be business as usual with respect to their personal protection. Clairmont Featherstone

“They can go through Bulgaria and Romania, they can go through Croatia.” A parliament-appointed rights official in Serbia has suggested asking migrants to settle in hundreds of villages left empty by depopulation, particularly since the wars that broke up Yugoslavia in the 1990s. “We should consider offering (migrants) to stay in the parts of Serbia that are empty,” Brankica Jankovic, Serbia’s Commissioner for Protection of Equality, told B92 TV on Tuesday. Jankovic was chosen to run Serbia’s human rights watchdog in May, proposed by the ruling coalition led by the conservative Progressive Party. Her suggestion drew some criticism. “How would (migrants) integrate into society living in the parts of the country with no economy and no people?” asked Jelena Milic, director of the Belgrade-based Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies. Serbia said around 10,000 migrants were passing through the country at any time, many of them heading for Hungary. Serbia which aims to start negotiations on European Union membership this year, has received several hundreds of thousands euros from the 28 nation-bloc in aid to help refugees, but Vucic said this did not cover the costs of taking care of them.

EDUCATION I.A.E currently registering students for full time secondary school, lessons & evening CXC classes for adults- Call: 683-5742 Writing CXC, Add Maths, Eng, Bio, Human & Social Biology, IntegratedSciences in Jan/June, Form 1, 2,3,4,5 & worker/mature person-Call: 227-7850 Alpha Foundation: Register Now in Region 3, Child care, caring for the elderly, cosmetology & cake decoration- Phone 264-1052/ 663-7930

From page 22

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Kaieteur News

Thursday August 27, 2015

Rights Advocates insist ...

Hinterland youth programme must be participatory, free from politicisation By Nicholas Peters The Hinterland Employment and Youth Service (HEYS) needs to be a participatory programme in order to really address the specific needs of Hinterland communities and youth development. Such a programme, which will be launched next week, also needs to be free of politicisation, build the capacity of young people, provide substantial reports on projects’ success, and meet clear target objectives to be considered a true success. These measures would also ensure that the programme is not a repeat of the recently ended and controversial Youth Entrepreneurial and Apprenticeship Programme (YEAP), which saw the implementation of Community Service Officers (CSO) in Hinterland communities. This is according to Indigenous Peoples’ rights advocates, Jean LaRose, Laura George and Tony James, who in a recent interview with Kaieteur News shared their expectations for HEYS and their observations on the YEAP’s CSO system, launched under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/ C) administration. “In as much as the CSO programme had certain objectives which could have been beneficial if it was properly implemented, the result on the ground has been that it (was) politically carved

out,” said James, Vice President the Amerindian Peoples’ Association (APA). James related instances whereby CSOs would abuse the position they held, which allowed them a monthly stipend of $30,000 from the Government. He shared that whole families were acting as CSOs with political alignments playing into their services. Meanwhile, some abused the system by collecting their monthly stipend, despite living in Georgetown, choosing only to revisit their respective villages only to collect the payment. Nearly 2000 CSOs from Indigenous communities lost their $30,000 stipend, under the coalesced A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) administration after they decided to discontinue the programme. The move was criticised by the now Opposition People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), as one which “unjustly” branded the CSOs as “political activists” and effectively left hundreds of young people unemployed. However, according to Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs during the Parliamentary debate on the 2015 Budget, the PPP/C administration had no intentions of continuing the programme beyond April this year. The Minister claimed to possess documentation which proved that was the case. He noted that the CSOs

A community gathering in North Pakaraima, Region Eight

were neither contracted employees nor public servants. Starting September 1, HEYS will replace the YEAP, and the CSOs, with the objective of providing sustainable jobs for youths in Hinterland communities. This initiative will also ensure that persons who were employed as CSOs undergo training so that they can be reemployed, according to the Government’s ten-point plan for Hinterland development. By the end of the YEAP, James said that there have not been any indicators that the programme was a success. He added that some communities reported CSOs also sitting in statutory meetings with

Armed bandits strike again ... From page 12 park scattered and parents and other patrons were desperately seeking safety. Shortly after, they heard another shot being fired some distance away. Investigations by this newspaper revealed that the men had joined two accomplices who were waiting on motorbikes. Twenty seven-year-old businessman, Ian Jupiter, told this publication that around 21:00 hours he was driving home, but as he turned onto

Duncan Street, he almost ran into four men – two each on two motorbikes - who were racing by. He said in retaliation the men fired a shot at the right side of his vehicle which penetrated the vehicle, missing his right leg. He said it wasn’t until he went to the Kitty Police Station to report what had happened to him that he learnt that the fast food restaurant had been robbed and the men who shot him were most likely those who

“Out with anti-pregnancy ... From page 21 all entities “to revisit those polices and have them remove or change them.” The policies still exist, however, and the Ministry intends to aid these bodies to acquire non-discriminatory status. The Ministry’s officials made clear that such

engagement involve employers and workers. Guyana is also a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which calls for the protection of women’s rights in the workplace.

orchestrated the robbery. Further investigations by this newspaper revealed that the three elderly security guards hired by the entity are unarmed and often times asked to perform other duties, completely unrelated to safety. Kaieteur News was told that the guard who usually looks over the front entrance of the restaurant was in fact sweeping up the area at the time of the robbery and was unaware of what had transpired. “You know how much times this place get robbed and still they won’t hire armed people to protect this place during work hours, and then they make dem men do all kinds of work,” one man expressed. The fast food restaurant was robbed of millions twice before over the last year: once in September and November 2014.

village councillors which was in violation with the Amerindian Act of 2006. James continued to relate that the continued politicisation of CSOs led to divisions in communities more than ever. He questioned whether the YEAP achieved its objectives of building youth capacity, since the monthly stipends did not motivate youth to actively participate in community development. “It wasn’t helping the communities and I cannot say it was a success,” James said. According to LaRose, for people and organisations like the APA to make a proper assessment on the effectiveness of the CSOs system, evidence needs to be provided to show that it actually impacted communities region by region. Such information would outline the number of the programmes implemented

under the YEAP, the number of CSOs that participated and completed those programmes, and whether the programmes ultimately achieved their objectives in Administrative Regions’ communities. However, LaRose shared that the information is not available to make a pronouncement on whether the YEAP or the CSOs were effective methods. Instead, people must rely on anecdotal reports. “Without the obligation to really give back to their community, the monthly stipend made CSOs feel entitled to the money they received, said LaRose. She continued, “It can work if there is a structured programme, if it is not politically motivated, and if at the end there is a targeted objective as to what these youth can attain.” Moreover, George echoed her colleague’s

sentiments by saying that YEAP could have been a very useful engine to build the capacity of Hinterland youth while they earned funds to sustain themselves. However, distrust which grew between CSOs and villagers as a result of questionable contracts which crossed lines with regard to communal administrative services such as education and healthcare, and presented other problems. In her opinion, what the organisers of the new Hinterland support programme need to do is to actually meet with representatives of different sub-districts to really formulate how the impending projects are executed. “Every district has their own - in some cases urgent needs in terms of support, and what it is they want to see for their young people. It needs to be a participatory programme,” George opined.

Multi-billion$$$ gold smuggling ... From page 13 bottom of the pot. It is big money…millions of US dollars monthly. We are losing big time. And everybody is getting a cut of it,” the government source said. Investigators have found that quite a number of the illegal gold traders are holders of US passports or “green cards” who would have seized the opportunity to make a quick buck. It is a fact that most of these traders know each other. They would line up at JFK to declare the gold after disembarking their flights. With regards to the larger licensed traders, the smuggling is even more sophisticated, this newspaper was

told. Official Customs documents are reportedly recycled, with persons being paid off at the airports. Yesterday, Minister with responsibilities for Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, admitted that a probe involving a number of agencies like the Guyana Gold Board and SOCU is underway. “The smuggling of gold has been given priority because every ounce of gold smuggled, we are not getting royalties…we are being robbed.” He said that the gold is being smuggled across the border at Brazil…it goes up to Europe, and of course gold is being smuggled to the US. He declined to give de-

tails, but insisted that the gold smuggling issue is a priority for the administration. Yesterday, General Manager of the Guyana Gold Board, Lisaveta Ramotar, also confirmed that an investigation is ongoing, but she declined to go into details. She made it clear that any gold leaving the country through CJIA has to be approved by the Guyana Gold Board. If there is no permission, she stressed, then it is leaving illegally. “Every ounce of gold that leaves this country undeclared is of concern to us. It is revenues for the country. We feel strongly about this, but it is under investigation by SOCU.”

Thursday August 27, 2015

Kaieteur News

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Govt. undertaking bold policy reforms to boost productivity KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) – Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said the Government is focused on building a strong foundation of productivity that can drive high rates of economic growth and job creation. As such, she said that bold policy reforms are being undertaken that will increase the productive capacity of the people and the economy. These include labour market reform, streamlining the system of waivers and tax incentives, upgrading physical infrastructure and improving education and training. The prime minister was speaking at Newport-Fersan Limited’s 10th anniversary long service award ceremony held yesterday at the company’s Wherry Wharf Complex in Kingston. She noted that the Government is placing greater emphasis on getting local investors and exporters to lift their productivity levels. “We are encouraging and supporting efforts for business expansion, reinvestments and job creation. I know that the excellence we are striving to achieve together, resides within the Jamaican productive sector,” she said. The prime minister lauded Newport-Fersan on 10 years of achievements, noting that the company’s business success will boost the country’s efforts to attract increased foreign investment.

- PM

Portia Simpson Miller She said that as the Government accelerates its mission to improve the nation’s global competitiveness, foreign and local investments must be seen as critical to the process. The prime minister said she is heartened that Newport-Fersan continues to expand the reach of its business beyond Jamaica, serving new and growing markets overseas. She encouraged the fertiliser manufacturer to do more to take advantage of access to the traditional markets of North America and Europe, and as well as those in the Caribbean and Latin America. “You will be aware that in an effort to strengthen economic integration with our non-traditional trading

partners, CARICOM has, over the years, signed trade agreements with several countries in the region. These include the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba and Costa Rica,” she pointed out. She further urged the company to develop and produce even better quality fertiliser products at affordable prices for the agricultural sector locally and internationally. Eight employees of Newport-Fersan Limited were honoured and pinned by Simpson Miller for 10 years of dedicated service during the ceremony. The members of staff have been with the company since inception, contributing to the development and success of the company.

Guatemalan ex-vice president held during corruption trial GUATEMALACITY(AP) — A judge ordered Guatemala’s former vice president to remain in jail yesterday while she stands trial on charges of conspiracy, customs fraud and bribery, based on allegations that she accepted $3.7 million in bribes as part of the scandal that forced her from office. Judge Miguel Angel Galvez ruled that former Vice President Roxana Baldetti would not be allowed bail because she held an Italian passport and was considered a flight risk. On Monday, he ordered her to stand trial on charges of receiving bribes from businessmen to evade import duties. President Otto Perez Molina also has come under increasing pressure in the case that has pushed the

Roxana Baldetti country into political crisis. About two dozen highway blockades were set up around the country by protesters demanding the president’s

resignation and that the Sept. 6 vote for his successor be postponed. The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Congress has the power to remove Perez Molina’s immunity from prosecution as a sitting president. Analysts said the actions provide hope that a strong attorney general backed by an experienced international investigative commission can tackle corruption in the impoverished country. “It’s very exciting in some ways for those who forever have been deeply concerned about corruption and the elite political class that pillages the state,” said Eric Olson, a Central America expert at the Washington-based Mexico Institute. “They got their hands caught in the cookie jar this time, and it’s pretty bad.”

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Kaieteur News

Thursday August 27, 2015

Tsipras softens stand on Greek debt relief before election Reuters - Outgoing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras signalled yesterday he would accept an easing of Greece’s huge debt burden if he wins elections expected next month without any of the write-offs he has long demanded. Tsipras, who hopes to return to power with an absolute majority, told Alpha TV that he favoured longer repayment periods and lower interest rates on the debt, now that Greece has secured a new 86 billion euro (63 billion pounds) bailout. But in the interview, he made no mention of writing off any debt - a campaign promise when he was elected in January that Germany, the biggest contributor to Greece’s three bailouts since 2010, opposes. With his radical left Syriza party split over the latest bailout, Tsipras heaped praise on his finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, and rejected the possibility that his ally may not even run in the election. President Prokopis Pavlopoulos is expected to call the election tomorrow, probably for Sept. 20, an official at the presidency told Reuters. This follows Tsipras’s resignation last week when he lost his parliamentary majority due to a rebellion in Syriza ranks over the bailout’s demands. With Greece facing financial collapse and an exit from the euro zone, Tsipras caved in to the zone and IMF earlier this month by accepting their demands for yet more austerity and painful economic reforms - the very policies he had promised to reverse when he won power. Tsipras has long argued Greece cannot repay all its debt and needs part of it cancelled to return to longterm economic growth after a depression, a view shared by many mainstream economists and possibly even the

Prokopis Pavlopoulos International Monetary Fund. But yesterday he appeared to change tack on debt write-offs, raising only the scenario of “an elongation of maturities and a lowering of the interest rates”. “We will have what economists call fiscal space to repay the debt. This would be the first step for us to return to the markets and regain their trust, if of course simultaneously we have managed to return to positive rates of growth,” he said. While Syriza wants an outright majority - something it narrowly missed in January - the strength of its support is unclear due to a lack of surveys by leading pollsters in the past month when much has changed. Last week, 25 out of Syriza’s 149 lawmakers walked out to form a new antibailout party. The defection has done nothing to heal the rift in Syriza. Many of the 43 lawmakers who refused to back the bailout in parliament remain in the party, at least for the time being. But more seriously, there are also misgivings among members of Syriza’s mainstream “53+” faction, including lawmakers who reluctantly backed the bailout

for the sake of the party and the nation. These include Tsakalotos, the British-educated economist who clinched the deal, and former government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis, members of the faction said. “Neither Tsakalotos nor Sakellaridis have yet made clear whether they will run in the upcoming election,” a member of the faction told Reuters. Tsipras signalled he had won them over, saying both would run for Syriza. “Euclid Tsakalotos has done a marvellous job and it’s true that if he wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have achieved a deal,” he said. This warmth contrasted to the scorn he poured on his previous finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, who became a cult figure among antiausterity campaigners across Europe for attacking the euro zone establishment. Tsipras recalled one session of particularly tough negotiations in June - just before he closed Greek banks for three weeks to save them from collapse - with IMF chief Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank head Mario Draghi and European Commission President JeanClaude Juncker. “Varoufakis was talking but nobody paid any attention to him. They had switched off, they didn’t listen to what he was saying,” said Tsipras. “He had lost his credibility.” Tsakalotos has won the trust of his fellow euro zone finance ministers despite his left-wing views. But he has yet to confirm his candidacy in the election. Under the Greek political system, Tsakalotos could still serve in a future government even if he is not a member of parliament. But if he failed to run for Syriza, this would be a blow to Tsipras who needs the “53+” faction if he is to hold the party together, win the election and implement the bailout programme. President Pavlopoulos has asked a conservative and the leader of the new antibailout party to try to form a new government but the former has already failed and the latter is due to give up formally today. The official at the presidency stressed that the timetable could still change, but Pavlopoulos intended to appoint a caretaker premier, Supreme Court judge Vassiliki Thanou, tomorrow and call the election. Thanou would become Greece’s first female prime minister, but only until a new government is formed.

Thursday August 27, 2015

Kaieteur News

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Virginia TV journalists killed by suspect with ‘powder keg’ of anger

WDBJ reporter Alison Parker (L) is pictured interviewing Vicki Gardner in Moneta, Virginia yesterday, moments before she was shot, in this combination of still images from video posted to the Facebook account of Vester Lee Flanagan. Reuters/via Facebook/Handout via Reuters Reuters - Two television journalists were killed during a live broadcast in Virginia yesterday, shot by a suspect who was a former employee of the TV station and who called himself a “powder keg” of anger over what he saw as racial discrimination at work and elsewhere in the United States. The suspect, 41-year-old Vester Flanagan, shot himself as police pursued him on a Virginia highway hours after the shooting. Flanagan, who was African-American, died later at a hospital, police said. The journalists who were killed were reporter Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27. Both journalists were white, as is a woman who they were interviewing. The woman was wounded and was in stable condition, a hospital spokesman said. Social media postings by a person who appeared to be Flanagan indicated the suspect had grievances against the station, CBS affiliate WDBJ7 in Roanoke, Virginia, which let him go two years ago. The person also posted video that appeared to

show the attack filmed from the shooter’s vantage point. Flanagan sent ABC News a 23-page fax about two hours after the shooting, saying his attack was triggered by the June 17 mass shooting at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, the network said. Nine people were killed, and a white man has been charged in that rampage. The network cited Flanagan as saying he had suffered racial discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying at work. He had been attacked by black men and white women, and for being a gay black man, he said. “The church shooting was the tipping point ... but my anger has been building steadily,” ABC News cited the fax as saying. “I’ve been a human powder keg for a while ... just waiting to go BOOM!” The on-air shooting occurred at about 6:45 a.m. EDT (1045 GMT) at Bridgewater Plaza, a Smith Mountain Lake recreation site about 200 miles (320 km) southwest of Washington. The broadcast was abruptly interrupted by the

sound of gunshots as Parker and the woman being interviewed, Vicki Gardner, executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, screamed and ducked for cover. Hours after the shooting, someone claiming to have filmed it posted video online. The videos were posted to a Twitter account and on Facebook by a man identifying himself as Bryce Williams, which was Flanagan’s on-air name. The videos were removed shortly afterward. One video clearly showed a handgun as the person filming approached the woman reporter. The person purporting to be Williams also posted, “I filmed the shooting see Facebook” as well as saying one of the victims had “made racist comments.” In the fax to ABC News, Flanagan praised shooters who had carried out mass killings at Virginia Tech University in 2007 and at Colorado’s Columbine High School in 1999. ABC News said Flanagan

called the network shortly after 10 a.m. Flanagan said he had shot two people, police were after him and then hung up. ABC News then contacted authorities and turned over the fax, which had arrived about 90 minutes earlier, the network said. Flanagan shot himself as Virginia State Police were closing in on a rental car on Interstate 66 in Fauquier County, WDBJ7 said. Virginia state police said the suspect refused to stop when spotted by troopers and sped away. Minutes later, the suspect’s vehicle ran off the road and crashed, police said in a statement, adding the troopers approached the vehicle and found the driver with a gunshot wound. He was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital near Washington, where he died. WDBJ7 President and General Manager Jeff Marks said he could not figure out a particular connection between Flanagan and the two dead journalists. Speaking to CNN about Flanagan, he added, “Do you imagine that everyone who leaves your company under difficult circumstances is going to take aim?” “Why were they (Parker

KILLER: Vester Lee Flanagan and Ward) the targets, and not I or somebody else in management?” he said. The station’s early morning broadcast showed Parker interviewing Gardner about the lake and tourism development in the area. Gunshots erupted, and as Ward fell his camera hit the ground but kept running. An image caught on camera showed what appeared to be

a man in dark clothing facing the camera with a weapon in his right hand. The station described the two dead journalists as an ambitious reporter-andcameraman team who often produced light and breezy feature stories for the morning programme. The White House said the shooting was another example of gun violence that is “becoming all too common.” White House spokesman Josh Earnest, reflecting frustration that President Barack Obama has expressed over his inability to push through laws to tighten gun laws, told reporters that Congress could pass legislation that would have a “tangible impact on reducing gun violence in this country.” According to his social media sites, Flanagan attended San Francisco State University. A university spokesman said he graduated in 1995 with a degree in radio and television.

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Thursday August 27, 2015

Hungary scrambles to confront migrant influx, Merkel heckled Reuters - Hungary made plans yesterday to reinforce its southern border with helicopters, mounted police and dogs, and was also considering using the army as record numbers of migrants, many of them Syrian refugees, passed through coils of razorwire into Europe. In Germany, which expects to receive 800,000 of them this year, Chancellor Angela Merkel was heckled by dozens of protesters as she visited an eastern town where violent anti-refugee protests erupted at the weekend. The surge in migrants seeking refuge from conflict or poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia has confronted Europe with its worst refugee crisis since World War Two, stirring social tensions and testing the resources and solidarity of the 28-nation European Union. A record 2,533 mainly Syrians, Afghans and Pakistanis crossed from Serbia into EU member Hungary on Tuesday, climbing over or squirreling under a razor-wire barrier into the hands of an overstretched police force that struggled to fingerprint and

process them. Authorities said over 140,000 had been caught entering so far this year. Unrest flared briefly at a crowded reception centre in the border region of Roszke, with tear gas fired by police. Another 1,300 were detained yesterday morning. More will have passed unnoticed, walking through gaps in a border fence being built by Hungary in what critics say is a futile attempt to keep them out. They packed a train station in the capital, Budapest, hundreds of men, women and children sleeping or sitting on the floor in a designated “transit zone” for migrants. Almost all hope to reach the more affluent countries of northern and western Europe such as Germany and Sweden. Visiting the eastern German town of Heidenau, where violence broke out during weekend protests by far-right militants against the arrival of around 250 refugees, Merkel said xenophobia would not be tolerated. About 50 protesters booed, whistled and waved signs that read “Volksverraeter” (traitor), a slogan adopted by the anti-Islam PEGIDA

movement earlier this year. “There is no tolerance for those people who question the dignity of others, no tolerance for those who are not willing to help where legal and human help is required,” Merkel told reporters and local people. “The more people who make that clear ... the stronger we will be.” With frequent attacks on refugee shelters and warnings of rising intolerance of foreigners, Merkel’s cabinet agreed to double the funding this year to help towns cope with the record number of arrivals. Hungary, which is part of Europe’s Schengen passportfree travel zone, is building a 3.5-metre high fence along its 175-km (110-mile) border with Serbia, taking a hard line on what right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban says is a threat to European security, prosperity and identity. Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said parliament would debate next week whether to employ the army in the border effort. The numbers travelling through the cash-strapped Balkans have soared in recent weeks, with 3,000 crossing into Macedonia daily from

A Syrian migrant hands a girl to another migrant over the Hungarian-Serbian border fence, as they cross into Hungary near Roszke, yesterday. Reuters/Laszlo Balogh Greece. The chief commissioner of Hungarian police, Karoly Papp, said police were readying six special border patrol units of an initial 2,106 officers, equipped with helicopters, horses and dogs, to be sent in depending on the situation on the Serbian border. “They don’t have and will not get

an order to shoot,” Papp told a news conference. In Roszke, the police spokesman said some 200 migrants at the reception centre where unrest flared had refused to be fingerprinted, fearing that, as per EU rules, if they are stopped later elsewhere in the EU they will be returned to Hungary as

their official point of entry. “My brother is in Sweden,” said one migrant, who declined to be named. “He told me to chop my hands off rather than give my fingerprints to the Hungarians. So we’re trying to find a way to Austria without meeting the Hungarian police.”

Thursday August 27, 2015

Kaieteur News

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Amy Grant to challenge GASA for 50m Fly National Record One of Guyana’s leading swimmers and talented allround athlete as well as musician, Amy Grant is set to challenge the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) in relation to not being credited with a National Record in the Girls 13-14 50m SC Butterfly which she swam at the July Sprint Meet/Goodwill 2015 Team Trials on July 11th, 2015 at the National Aquatic Centre, Liliendaal. Grant swam a record time of 33.56 in the Girls 13-14 50m SC Butterfly which was a faster time than the record that was previously set by Noelle Smith (33.74) on the 8/ 15/2008 which was achieved at the 2008 Goodwill Games in Guyana. When the results were released on July 12th, 2015 and it was confirmed that she {Grant} swam the record time, Grant’s parents asked the Referee of the Meet, Mr. Charles Corbin when would the records would be

updated to which he told them that there would be no records for the Meet as the times were not important since the Meet was being held to facilitate the learning of time keeping by GTU Teachers. According to the Grant’s, it was a shock as Amy was swimming a qualifying Meet for Goodwill and she was unaware that the times were not important. The Meet Summons, a document that outlines all that should be known including the events, penalties, fees and entry rules among other information had nothing about time not being used for records. The Grant’s further informed that after speaking to Ms. Stephanie Fraser of Dorado Speed Swim Club, Ms. Jaikarran and Mr. Dave Ramnarine of the Sea Otters Swim Club, who attended the Technical Meeting which was held the week prior to the July Sprint Meet/Goodwill 2015, it was established that the issue of the Meet not being used

for records was never discussed or mentioned at the Technical Meeting. The only thing about time mentioned was that the 10 and under were not going to have their times used as a criteria for selection to the Goodwill Games. According to the Grant’s, GASA is being run like it is not an organisation that operates on rules, rather, the association acts on impulse. “If the officials feel like doing something now they do and then change next half hour if it suits them,” the Grant’s suggested. “They pay too little attention to the governing documents and only realize their importance when the deficiencies in these documents land them squarely in the middle of a dispute with a member and they have always been getting away with their bullying tactics and disregard for rules.” The Grant’s said that they had written to Amy’s

Thursday August 27, 2015 ARIES (MAR. 21APRIL 20) You'll be an emotional basket case today. Don't take any comments too seriously. Delve a little deeper if you really want to know the score. TAURUS (APR. 21MAY 21) Either way, you're up for a passionate encounter with someone special. You will need to finalize important deals today. GEMINI (MAY22-JUNE 21) Join a choir or a drama club. You may be considering moving to larger quarters. Jealousy may be a contributing factor to your emotional ups and downs. CANCER (JUNE 22JULY 22) Discuss your objectives with peers or lovers. A little overtime may help you reduce the workload. You may need to make a choice.

LIBRA (SEPT. 24 -OCT. 23) Try not to attempt to do something unless you are fully intent on following through with the plans. SCORPIO (OCT. 24 NOV. 22) Losses are likely if you get involved with uncertain individuals. Take a short business trip if possible. Use your creative abilities to come up with new ideas and directions. SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 23 -DEC. 21) The great outdoors will allow you to teach youngsters some of the things you learned when growing up. You can learn from those who have had similar experiences. CAPRICORN (DEC 22.- JAN. 20) Don't overdo it. You need to enjoy yourself. Don't agree to make any of those cosmetic alterations you've been considering.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG 22) Try not to be overbearing where family is concerned. It might be time to pick up the slack and do your share. Don't allow your lover to take advantage of your good nature.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 21 FEB. 19) Relationships will be erratic today. Go on business trips if at all possible. Coworkers may not be giving you all the pertinent information.

VIRGO (AUG. 23 -SEPT. 23) Update and review your personal investments. You can make money if you are wise in your choices.

PISCES (FEB. 20-MAR. 20) Your fickle nature may cause jealousy. Your personal partner may be less than willing to accommodate you today.

club representative, Mr. Leon Seaton requesting representation of the record being credited to the swimmer. They also wrote to GASA Secretary Ms. Dee George requesting that the matter be brought up at the next Council meeting. Following a conversation with Ms. George, the Grant’s were told by Ms. George that she was also unaware of a swimmer not being able to swim and make record times at the Meet. The first Council meeting was to be held on the first Thursday of August but it was cancelled to the 18th August, 2015. The meeting was again cancelled but with no new date given. The Grant’s emphatically stated that Amy has suffered more than once by the unprofessional approach and disregard to the “duty of fairness” by GASA. “The duty of fairness is simple-it simply means that there is fairness for all athletes.” Amy’s parents further noted that in March of this year at the Republic Anniversary Meet which was sponsored by the Desmond Hoyte Foundation, Amy entered eight events but did not swim two as she was not strong enough after coming out of an illness less than a week before the Meet. She won Gold in the six events she swam. Two weeks later the parents were at a prize giving ceremony where trophies were presented to the first to third place winners and Amy was down to receive the second place trophy. When the Meet Director, Mr. Shefetah Tezdeq was asked how that was possible, given that fact that young Amy Grant won the most Gold medals in her age group and there was no mention of trophies being presented in the Meet Summons, Mr. Tezdeq informed them that the members of Desmond Hoyte Foundation told him that the trophies must be given to the swimmer with the highest points, not the person with the most gold medals and since Amy was one point below the person they selected as winner then she gets the second place trophy. The Grant’s said that they told Mr. Tezdeq that if the information about being rewarded was on the Summons then all Amy had to do was swim the two events she dropped and she would have easily made the required points to be ahead and win. “Two rules were broken, one being it was not mentioned on the summons

and the other - FINA rules G. RESOURCES 17 - states clearly that no sponsor or Government organization must be allowed to interfere with the running of the sport of Aquatics. “GASA needs to learn that policy is what’s written on the paper and not what’s in the mind of the drafters of the policy, or in the collective memory of the organisation.

Amy had paid the entry fee for the events she swam sealing the contract between the organisation and her,” The Grant’s shared. Amy Grant qualified for the 2015 Goodwill Games which was held in Trinidad but she did not make the trip because GASA once again refused to let her mother stay with her knowing that she has a medical problem.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday August 27, 2015

Bolt, Gatlin to West Front Road-Gold is Money vs. face off in 200m Sophia promises to be epic showdown showdown GT Beer/Petra Organisation Futsal Competition...

By Rawle Welch

After three sizzling nights of action, play in the GT Beer / Petra Organisation Futsal Competition is expected to resume tonight with four more matches in the preliminary phase, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. In the opening fixture, North Ruimveldt tackle Beterverwagting (BV) from 19:00hrs; Showstoppers square off against Broad Street from 19:45hrs;

Albouystown go up against Alexander Village from 21:00hrs and West Front Road-Gold is Money and Sophia collide at 21:45hrs. The North Ruimveldt versus BV affair should provide the perfect start for the night’s action since it is a battle between two teams looking to register their first set of points in the tournament. The experienced Gerald Gritten and the energetic Joshua Brown are the leading players to instigate a win for the Georgetown-based side, while BV’s pursuit of victory will depend heavily on the services of Warren Gilkes, Delroy Dean, Devon Griffith and Reon Hopkinson. The game that follows is between West Demerara Showstoppers and Broad Street and here again this is a duel that involves two teams that lost their opening fixtures so right away fans could anticipate a close and exciting contest. Anthony Sancho and Simon Emmanuel, the two players that displayed prolific form in their previous clash will once again be called upon

to lead the charge for victory, while Leon Richardson, Ryan Jones and Devon Charles will have to play similar roles for Broad Street if they are to stand any chance of beating their rivals. Albouystown and Alexander Village matchup should be a bruising encounter, but the former seems to have the slight edge. The speedy Devon Dooker, who had a terrific first game along with Lennox Cort, Marlon Nedd and Denvor Dennis, all are lethal in attack and Alexander Village backline will have to defend for their lives to stop the East Georgetown juggernauts. On the other hand, Jermin Junor, Shem Porter and the wizardry of Leon Yaw could prove effective in stopping Albouystown’s forward march. This game could go right down to the final minute and fans could be the real winners. In the final encounter of the evening, West Front Road-Gold is Money and Sophia is a definite blockbuster and a guaranteed sellout. The star-studded lineups of these two teams

will provide a fitting conclusion to the night’s proceedings, especially with the early form that they’ve demonstrated so far. Sophia was explosive in their demolition of Showstoppers, slamming in eleven goals with Dwayne Lowe and Akeem Jaikissoon hitting the target thrice each, while the Kamal siblings Sheik and Joshua, also showed glimpses of their talent. What more could be said of their opponents West Front Road, a team loaded with flair and enchantment. The calmness that Hubert Pedro brings to the team is a special expertise, but his pace and power are also a joy to watch, while Randolph Wagner, Michael Oie and Michael Pedro, all have the ability to penetrate any backline. The race is on and teams are battling hard to make it to the next round. Close to $1million in prize monies and trophies are up for grabs and apart from Banks DIH under its GT Beer brand, the other sponsors on board are NaMilCo and Trophy Stall of Bourda Market.

BEIJING, China (AP) — Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin set up the sequel to their world championship sprint showdown on Wednesday, both winning their semi-final heats in the 200 metres. After Bolt edged the American by .01 second in Sunday’s 100m final, he will be seeking his record 10th world title overall on Thursday at the Bird’s Nest. “I’m looking forward to it,” Bolt said. “This is my favourite event.” Bolt was grinning widely after crossing in 19.95 seconds, coasting for about 60 metres and checking the stadium screens high up in the stands to see if someone could come close. As usual, none did. “You save as much energy as possible, because you’re going to need it,” Bolt said. In the previous semi-final heat, Gatlin, unbeaten over two years in the 200m, ran 19.87 seconds but worked a little longer than Bolt before easing up. The two topped the qualifying times, with no one else breaking the 20-second barrier. On a night when javelin thrower Julius Yego and steeplechaser Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi extended the surprising lead of the Kenyans in the medals table to six gold, two of their teammates were provisionally suspended following initial positive doping tests. The IAAF said it targeted Joyce Zakary, a 400-metre runner, and hurdler Koki Manunga for testing after competing in Beijing. Zakary ran a national record in the women’s 400 but the 29-yearold Kenyan did not start in the semi-finals. Manunga failed to reach the semi-finals

in the women’s 400 hurdles. Jepkemoi won a three-way sprint to the line to take the gold medal in the 3,000-metre steeplechase ahead of Habiba Ghibri of Tunesia and Gesa Krause of Germany. After a tight last lap, all three finished within .14 seconds of each other. On the field, Yego set the best javelin mark in 14 years with a throw of 92.72 metres, good enough for an African record on top of gold. In the most competitive final in history with five throwers surpassing 87 metres, Ihab Abdelrahman El Sayed of Egypt took silver with a throw of 88.99 and 2007 world champion Tero Pitkamaki of Finland took bronze with 87.64. The 400m final also had its superlatives. Wayde van Niekerk blasted out of the blocks and never looked back to finish in 43.48 seconds and become the fourth best performer of all time. He was later taken away on a stretcher. Behind him, LaShawn Merritt, the defending champion and 2008 Olympic champion, set a personal best of 43.65 but it still was only good enough for silver. Kirani James of Grenada took bronze. With Yarisley Silva of Cuba clearing 4.90 metres to win the pole vault ahead of Fabiana Murer of Brazil and Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou of Greece, the Americans were locked out of a medal. Jenn Suhr, the Olympic champion, and Sandi Morris finished in a share of fourth place after failing to clear 4.80. And Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic kept the United States from gold in the 400 hurdles. Shamier Little of the United States got silver behind Hejnova, edging teammate Cassandra Tate. In the medal standings, Kenya leads with six gold and 11 overall halfway through the championships, while the United States is back in fifth with one gold and nine overall.

Thursday August 27, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 31

RDE Vibes and Sparta Boss ‘King of the Streets’ Football Tourney

Usain is a competitor and West Demerara a champion - Coach Mills teams register upsets

(Left) The hardest of the titles that Bolt has ever won. (Right) MILLS… that’s not the best of Usain but I am completely satisfied with the result. Jamaica Observer Beijing, China - BEIJING, China — Usain Bolt, after stumbling out of the blocks in his 100m semi-final, showed that he is indeed human. But the recovery performance was just out of this world. Hunting a spot in the final, Bolt stumbled after three steps but miraculously kept his balance, composure, and his technique to catch rivals close to home with relative ease and earned his spot in the final, clocking 9.96 seconds. The rest is history. No ordinary person could have done what Bolt did. Bolt admitted he had no idea what happened but his trusted coach, Glen Mills, revealed Bolt probably was thinking too hard. “Like every human being he felt a lot of the pressure that was there, to the extent that he may have overreacted, but when all is said and done, he was victorious,” said Mills, who has guided Bolt from a precocious talent into legendary status. “Basically the semi-final was behind us. Our concentration was on getting a better execution in the final and he was able to do that,”

said Mills. It wasn’t the best of preparations heading into the championships for the Racers’ head coach and his top athlete, as Bolt was struggling with injuries and was not race sharp. Bolt had just two sub-10 clockings, with a season’s best of 9.87 seconds achieved in London. He won his firstround heat in 9.96 seconds in Beijing which was the sixth fastest of the day. Gatlin, his main rival, on the other hand opened with 9.83 seconds. Bolt would repeat the same 9.96 seconds in the eventful semi-final but Gatlin went even faster, 9.77 seconds and pulled his countryman Mike Rodgers to 9.86 seconds. Neither would go faster in the final. Bolt won in 9.79 seconds, Gatlin tightened up and stumbled under pressure to 9.80 seconds with Rodgers fifth in 9.94 seconds. “That’s not the best of Usain but I am completely satisfied with the result,” Mills said with a smile on his face. Bolt, who started his reign at the Bird’s Nest in the 2008 Olympics, went on to win another Olympic crown in 2012 and has now completed his third World Championships 100m

triumph. “This is the hardest of the titles that he has ever won. It was very challenging because of the challenges he had to face in preparation for Beijing and hats off to him for a real gutsy and championlike performance,” Mills lauded Bolt. It was the first time in seven years that Bolt entered a championship and was not the overwhelming favourite to win. Gatlin came in on the back of a 28-race winning streak and posted the five fastest times in the world this year. At 33 years old, Gatlin lowered his personal best of 9.77 seconds achieved in 2006 when he was caught cheating to 9.74 seconds in 2015, then followed up with times of 9.75 twice, 9.77 and 9.78 seconds. “He did more than enough to establish himself as the man to beat and it turned out exactly that. If we wanted to win we would have to beat Gatlin. “Usain is a competitor and a champion, so getting him to be in the frame of mind wasn’t difficult,” he noted. “This is the most difficult one, so we are happy that we were able to overcome,” Mills said.

Raiders and Patentia Street Ballers from the West Demerara registered two massive upsets after defeating Sparta Boss and Sophia respectively as play in the inaugural RDE Vibes and Sparta Boss ‘King of the Streets’ Football Tournament continued on Tuesday night in East La Penitence. Appearing in the final game of the night, the West Side unit edged hosts Sparta Boss 2-1 in sudden death penalty kicks after regulation time failed to break a scoreless deadlock. Sparta Boss’ Roberto Osbourne, put his team ahead with his successful attempt, but the visitors converted to re-apply the pressure on the hosts and next up was the usually reliable Sheldon Shepherd, but his effort crashed on to the upright.

Raiders pounced on the opportunity to grab the win and they did as the penalty was converted to confirm the upset. Patentia Street Ballers, perhaps, motivated by Raiders success played a remarkable game to beat Sophia 2-0. Levi Bradford fired in a brace in the seventh and eight minutes. Also in winners row was Bent Street needled Cross Street 1-0 with Sheldon Profit 16th minute strike separating the two teams. Back Circle led by a solitary goal from Kevin Boters after eight minutes beat West Demerara side Brothers United 1-0. North Ruimveldt survived 2-1 in sudden death penalty shootout against East Coast of Demerara giants Beterverwagting (BV) after regulation time finished in a

0-0 stalemate. Also claiming a 2-1 win via the sudden death route was East Ruimveldt who beat Plaisance after another scoreless encounter. In other results, East Bank of Demerara unit Mocha Ballers crushed West Demerara’s Jetty Gunners by a 3-0 margin, while Upsetters did just that to West Back Road, beating them 1-0 and Island All-Stars won by walkover from West Side Ballers. Action in the tournament is anticipated to resume tomorrow night at the same venue. The winning team will receive $400,000 and the championship trophy, while the second, third and fourth place finishers collect $150,000, $80,000 and $20,000 respectively.

Garbarran stars as Everest Masters overcome West Demerara Mavericks Led by a fine half century from Hemraj Garbarran host Everest Masters defeated West Demerara Mavericks by 14 runs in a T20 fixture played on Sunday. Garbarran struck four fours and two sixes in a top score of 62 as Everest posted 140-4 off their allotted overs, batting first after winning the toss. Shivnarine Chanderpaul slammed 40 not out with two fours and a similar number of sixes as Sham Persaud took 1-16 from four overs. The visitors were restricted for 126-8 in

20 overs. Sudesh Persaud stroked 42 (4x4) and Naresh Bedasee 41 (4x4,3x6). Ronald Jaisingh grabbed 3-22 and Johnny Azeez 3-27. Garbarran collected the prize for being the best batsman; Azeez took the best bowler accolade and Everest Masters received a trophy, all compliments of Trophy Stall Bourda Market, while Carib Foods presented a quantity of caps to the team. The Everest CC also donated a cricket kit to Harmony Cricket Club of Canal Number two.

Yego wins Javelin for Kenya’s first... From page 33 Europea some consolation by taking bronze with his 87.64m best effort. Thomas Rohler, of Germany placed fourth with 87.41, having led in the early stages. “It’s really unbelievable,” Yego, 26, said. “I’m happy. I’ve won a gold medal for Kenya. “And it’s really nice for me because after (the June 7 Diamond League win in) Birmingham, I had a good competition there, but I had a serious injury and thought I won’t compete at the world championship. But I did and

a really big throw. “I have to go and watch my throw now, because I didn’t feel it, but it was almost perfect. So I’ll have to go and watch it, and see, and enjoy,” he said. “Very few athletes have done what I have done. It is not easy.” Yego is diminutive by the standards of international javelin throwers, standing only 5ft 8in (1.75m) tall. Rejected as a runner by sports coaches as a schoolboy, he taught himself the javelin by watching videos on YouTube. After the first two rounds

in the Bird’s Nest Stadium, Yego, winner of Commonwealth Games gold last year, was trailing Rohler and El Sayed. For the third round, Yego threw himself to the ground at the end of his run-up, and his spear hung in the stormy Beijing evening sky before landing eight cm short of the championship record, set in 2001 by the world recordholder, Jan Zelezny. Yego’s throw is the longest anywhere since then and beats the Commonwealth record held by Briton Steve Backley since 1992.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday August 27, 2015

Football must not be Bolt shrugs off Gatlin overlooked in FIFA race threat in World 200m - Platini

UEFA President Michel Platini looks on before the preliminary draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup at Konstantin Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia July 25, 2015. (Reuters/Maxim Shemetov) ZURICH (Reuters) FIFA presidential candidate Michael Platini will publish his manifesto in the next six to eight weeks and wants to bring football back into the spotlight during the campaign, a source close to the Frenchman said on Wednesday. Although Platini, the UEFA president, agrees that reform of scandal-plagued FIFA has to be the priority in the run-up to the election on Feb. 26, he also believes it should not completely overshadow the sport itself, the source told Reuters. Platini, who announced his intention to stand on July 29 and will hold his first media conference since then in Monaco on Friday, has spent the last few weeks meeting people outside soccer’s European ruling body UEFA to test the water. He believes the future of the World Cup, the international calendar, changes to the laws of the game and the role of the lawmaking body IFAB (International Football Association Board) should be part of the debate, the source said. Platini, a former France captain, who was one of the most gifted midfield players of his generation, also wants to discuss the reform of the

transfer system and the role of agents. One of Platini’s biggest gripes as UEFA president has been the so-called triple punishment in which a player who gives away a penalty is sent off and receives an automatic one-match ban. Earlier this year, UEFA sent a proposal to IFAB for the end of the “triple punishment” system. However, the rule-making body agreed only to consider an end to the automatic suspension. Platini is against the use of goal-line technology, which FIFA employs in its tournaments, and prefers the use of so-called additional assistant referees, one on each goal-line, to spot penalty-area infringements. FIFA has not adopted the system and Platini has mockingly said that was because it was not FIFA chief Sepp Blatter’s idea. MORE COUNTRIES Platini’s proposals on the World Cup could include expansion of the finals from the current 32 teams, the source said. As UEFA president, he has already overseen an increase in the number of countries at the European championship finals from 16

to 24, starting from next year’s tournament in France. The move has been criticized for diluting the strength of competition, especially after a successful Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine where 16 seemed to be the ideal number. Platini is seen as the frontrunner in the bid to replace Blatter who will relinquish his mandate at the Feb 26 election. The source said the Frenchman wants to take his time over his manifesto and added he would travel widely from October. Soccer’s world governing body has been plagued by allegations of corruption for years. It was thrown into further turmoil in May when U.S. prosecutors indicted nine soccer officials and five marketing and broadcasting company executives over alleged offences, including fraud, money-laundering and racketeering.

(L) BOLT… I’m always confident. (PHOTO: BRYAN CUMMINGS) (R) Sani Brown of Japan – Ghanian father, Japanese mother. (PHOTO: AFP) BEIJING, China (AFP) — Usain Bolt icily dismissed the threat of American Justin Gatlin after the fierce rivals cruised into the semi-finals of the 200 metres at the World Championships in Beijing Tuesday. The Jamaican superstar, who pipped two-time doping offender Gatlin to win gold in Sunday’s final in Beijing, eased up with some 50 metres to go after coming off the bend well ahead of the field to win his heat in 20.28 seconds. Gatlin, game face on after failing in his bid to dethrone Bolt as the king of men’s sprinting, won his heat in 20.19. But Bolt, whose 100m victory gave athletics a boost after allegations of widespread doping plunged the sport into crisis, shrugged when asked if he was confident of beating Gatlin once more to retain his double world sprint title. “I’m always confident,

man,” sniffed the six-time Olympic champion and world record-holder. “I knew the 200 was going to be harder because I’m not in the best of fitness,” added Bolt, who struggled with pelvic joint pain earlier in the season. “Definitely I was trying to make sure I ran at least 130 metres of the race and then I kind of shut it down. Everybody knows the 200 actually means more for me than the 100, so I’m trying to get through the rounds as comfortably as possible and using as little energy as possible.” “The race felt good,” said Gatlin, who had been unbeaten in 28 races stretching back two years to the Moscow world championships before being floored again by his nemesis Bolt. “The 100m final was a difficult race for me, also emotionally. I made some mistakes at the end of the race

but now I’m going for the 200. I have two more days to go.” “My race would have been slower but Sani pushed me so much,” said the 33-yearold Gatlin. “This young guy from Japan is phenomenal.” Sani Brown, who shot to fame in Japan by claiming a sprint double at last month’s world youth championships, was almost lost for words. “It’s a dream for me to run at the world championships with these stars,” he grinned. “I’m just very grateful to be here. I was a bit ragged at the end but I think I can go faster.” Born to a Japanese mother and Ghanaian father, Sani Brown insisted he had not felt nervous about racing alongside Gatlin. “To be honest I didn’t feel like I was racing him at all,” said the youngster, who was ordered by his mother to choose track over football when in elementary school. “It was just a great experience.”

BCB cricket resumes with the Berbice River Bridge 1st division 50-over tourney After a break due the prolonged inclement weather, the BCB 2015 Cricket season is set to resume on Saturday with the Berbice River Bridge Company 50-Over First Division knock-out Competition which will see twelve teams taking part with the games starting at 09:30hrs. The top players in Berbice will be on show with Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul, Jonathan Foo and Kandasammy Surujnarine turning out for Albion, Rose H a l l To w n G i z m o s a n d

Gadgets will have Assad Fudadin, Delbert Hicks, Eon Hooper in their lineup, West Berbice will have pacers Keon Joseph and Raun Joseph while the Hetmyer brothers, Shimron and Seon playing for Young Warriors. Port Mourant will be led by Rajiv Ivan while the fast rising Tucber Park, formerly Bermine, will have a star studded line-up with pacers Niall Smith and Romario Shepherd and in form all rounder brothers Eugene and Jomal LaFleur.

The other clubs have good players who if they hold

their own can create major upsets.

THE FIXTURES: Round one: Saturday 29th of August, 2015. Albion Community Center vs Edinburgh at Albion Blairmont Community Center vs Bush Lot Rising Star at Blairmont Police vs West Berbice at Edinburgh Young Warriors vs Tucber Park at Young Warriors Port Mourant vs Skeldon at Port Mourant Rose Hall Gizmos and Gadgets vs Upper Corentyne Round two: Saturday September 5, 2015. Winner of game one vs winner of game two Winner of game three vs winner of game four Winner of game five vs winner of game six The board’s annual cricket academy will be held in December 2015.

Kaieteur News

Thursday August 27, 2015

Page 33

Two Kenyan runners Disappointing bronze for test positive for doping KIRANI JAMES IN 400M

Kenya’s Joyce Zakary(right) was second in her opening heat on Monday, running a national record of 50.71 seconds in the 400m. Jamaica’s Christine Day won that heat in 50.58 seconds (Photo: AP) BEIJING, China (AP) — Two Kenyan runners have tested positive for doping at the world championships and have been provisionally suspended. Joyce Zakary, a 400meter runner, and hurdler Koki Manunga tested positive for unspecified substances in targeted tests after competing in Beijing, the IAAF said Wednesday. Zakary was second in her opening heat on Monday, running a national record of 50.71 seconds in the 400m. But the 29-year-old Kenyan did not run in the semi-finals a day later despite having the eighth best qualifying time. Manunga ran in the opening heats of the 400

hurdles on Sunday and finished sixth of seven, failing to reach the semi-finals. “Athletics Kenya has already met with the IAAF and the athletes involved, and has begun investigating the situation which led to these results and appropriate follow-up action will be taken in Kenya,” the country’s national governing body said in a statement. “In the meantime, Athletics Kenya will provide full support and cooperation to the IAAF during (the) results management process, and will not be providing further comment at this stage.” The Kenyans have 13 athletes currently serving doping suspensions.

Wayde Van Niekerk of South Africa crosses the finish line to win ahead of third placed Kirani James of Grenada the men’s 400m final during the 15th IAAF World Championships at the National Stadium in Beijing, China August 26, 2015. (Reuters/Lucy Nicholson) The sport has been hit by doping allegations in recent weeks, with German broadcaster ARD and The Sunday Times newspaper in Britain reporting that they had obtained access to 12,000 suspicious blood tests involving 5,000 athletes. The report says Kenya had 18 medals won by athletes under suspicion over more than a decade. At this year’s world championships, Kenya was leading the medal standings after four days with four golds and nine overall. Some of those medals were won by veterans, including Ezekiel Kemboi and David Rudisha, who have been tested regularly for years.

Yego wins Javelin for Kenya’s first field gold

B

E I J I N G (Reuters) Julius Yego continued K e n y a ’ s dominance of the world athletics championships by winning his country’s fifth gold medal with a monster 92.72 meters throw in a dramatic men’s javelin final. It is the first time that Kenya, a nation noted for its distance-running prowess, has won a world title in a field event, and Yego’s victory comes a day after Nicholas Bett won the 400m hurdles title, the shortest distance over which any Kenyan has become a world champion. In an event which has long been a European stranglehold, there was a

Julius Yego of Kenya celebrates after winning gold in the men’s javelin throw final during the 15th IAAF World Championships at the National Stadium in Beijing, China August 26, 2015. (Reuters/David Gray) one-two for Africa, as Egypt’s Ihab El Sayed took the silver medal with his

88.99m second-round effort. Finland’s Tero Pitkamaki gave (Continued on page 31)

BEIJING, China (CMC) – There was disappointment for the Caribbean here Wednesday as Olympic champion Kirani James failed in his bid to win the men’s 400 metres, as South African Wayde Van Niekerk produced an upset to take gold at the IAAF World Championships. Grenadian James, one of the heavy favourites to take his second World title, was

forced to settle for bronze in a season-best 43.78 seconds, with Van Niekerk storming to a world-leading 43.48. Defending World champion, Lawshawn Merritt of the United States, took silver in a personal best 43.65. Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic set a national record of 44.11 in finishing fourth with Machel Cedenio of Trinidad and Tobago 45.06 for seventh.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday August 27, 2015

FIFA Inspector conducts soil testing at GFF Providence facility

F

IFA contracted i n s p e c t o r D r. Stephen Baker visited Guyana Tuesday and conducted soil testing, as the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), under its Normalisation Committee, moves closer to realising the country’s first Goal Project, a release from the GFF informed. With FIFA stating their intention of installing an artificial turf, Dr. Baker looked at the sub-base, and at the entire typography and will report back to FIFA on what’s needed in order to have the turf installed. The release stated that, In May this year, the GFF signed a 30-year lease with the Eccles/Ramsburg Neighbourhood Democratic Council for use of the Providence Community Centre ground, where a High Performance Technical Centre will be erected on the

8.5 acres on land. Chairman of the GFF Normalisation Committee Clinton Urling, said that Dr. Baker visit is his first of many to come since along with the local architect, the FIFA inspector will work along to ensure that all systems are put in place for the foundation of the Turf which the GFF head said should be completed within a year. Guyana in 2007 under former president Colin Klass began work at Orangestein, on the East Bank of Essequibo, for what was supposed to be the location for Guyana first Goal Project. When Klass had found himself in ‘hot water’, Franklin Wilson, his vicepresident at the time (2013), had assumed the post of president (ag) and travelled to Zurich where negotiations with FIFA’s Development Committee brokered

Dr Stephen Baker (2nd left) looks at a soil sample during the testing as GFF and other officials observe. US$500,000 to be allocated to Guyana to help get the ‘Goal Project’ off the ground. Former President Christopher Matthias, upon taking office, then started

negotiations with the Ministry of Sport for land behind the National Track and Field Centre at Leonora. Things again didn’t materialise, since the Government had only

offered a little over three acres of land which FIFA said was a ‘no-no’. Guyana was actually earmarked by FIFA to pioneer its ‘Goal Project’ with president Sepp Blatter

making his maiden voyage in 1999 for the turning of the sod at the University of Guyana but that also fell through after negotiations with the Guyana Government.

Thursday August 27, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 35

KENYA’S JEPKEMOI WINS GT capture Wiltshire/Gold

women’s 3,000m steeplechase

Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi of Kenya reacts as she crosses the finish line next to Habib Ghribi of Tunesia and Gesa Krause (R) of Germany the women’s 3000m steeplechase final during the 15th IAAF World Championships at the National Stadium in Beijing, China August 26, 2015. (Reuters/Lucy Nicholson) BEIJING (Reuters) Hyvin Jepkemoi maintained Kenya’s monopoly of the 3,000 metres steeplechase when she proved to be tougher than all her rivals in a hard-fought final lap to win the world title on Wednesday. Jepkemoi, 23, produced a sub-66 seconds last 400 and had to battle off the final barrier against the favourite, Tunisia’s Habiba Ghribi, and Germany’s Gesa Krause, to take Kenya’s sixth gold of the Beijing championships in 9 minutes 19.11 seconds. Ghribi, the runner-up at the 2012 London Olympics and 2011 world championships, had to settle for silver once more as the Kenyan passed on her outside. Ghribi clocked 9:19.24, to Krause’s bronzewinning 9:19.25, a personal best. “I think this victory will change my life for sure,” Jepkemboi told reporters. “It is my first big achievement and is very unexpected. I am very surprised and delighted.” The first half of the race was slow, with only a frontrunning effort by Lalita Babar of India picking up the pace towards the final km. Into the final 600, American Emma Coburn made a bid for glory but, as the bell for the final lap rang, Ghribi took up the running towards a title which many had thought was a foregone conclusion. However, as the Tunisian took the final water barrier in conventional style, with one foot on the barrier, Jepkemoi

hurdled the obstacle and forced herself past her rival. As Coburn faded over the final half-lap, eventually placing fifth, the three medallists came off the final fence in line but it was Jepkemoi, sixth in the world final in Moscow two years ago, who was the strongest finisher this time. Ghribi said she was disappointed that the race had been “a bit slow at the

beginning”. “I didn’t think it would go that way. Nobody wanted to run. I tried to win the final sprint but the Kenyan was faster. I’m still proud,” Ghribi added. For 23-year-old Krause, the bronze medal was “super good”. “This is the biggest success of my career. This is the most beautiful present for me.”

CRUSH DOMINOES CROWN

Reginald Bowen presents one of the prizes to Mark Wiltshire. TNT chalked up 71 games to win the final of the Mark Wiltshire/Gold Crush Dominoes competition which was contested on Sunday at Whitee bar, West Coast Demerara. TNT placed second with 68 games while Gold Crush finished third on 65. David Hunte marked 16 games for the winners while Wiltshire and Ryan Boodhoo scored 17 and 14 games respectively for the runner up team. Dereck Whyte made 14 for Gold Crush. GT pocketed $60,000 and TNT $20,000.

Meanwhile, Wiltshire and Reginald Bowen (Lil Mark) will be hosting 21-team 2day competition starting on Saturday at Bowen residence 2169 Festival City, North Ruimveldt. Entrance fee is $6,000 and the winning team will take home a trophy and $100,000, runner up $40,000 and third place $20,000. The organizers will also be hosting a King and Queen competition on Sunday. For more information teams can contact Wiltshire on 665-5855.

t r o Sp

Bolt, Gatlin to face off in 200m showdown

Usain Bolt of Jamaica (C) runs past Roberto Skyers of Cuba and Anaso Jobodwana of South Africa (R) to win their men’s 200 metres semi-final .(Reuters/David Gray)

Justin Gatlin of the U.S. crosses the finish line as he wins the men’s 200 metres semi-finals (Reuters/David Gray)

GT Beer / Petra Organisation Futsal Competition

Amy Grant to West Front Road-Gold is Money vs. challenge GASA Sophia promises to be epic showdown for 50m Fly National Record

Amy Grant in the 50m Butterfly.

Part of the action in the inaugural GT Beer / Petra Organisation Futsal Competition currently being played at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Football must not be overlooked in FIFA race - Platini P. 25

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