Kaieteur News

Kaieteur News

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KAIETEUR NEWS Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: ADAM HARRIS Tel: 225-8491, 225-8458, 225-8465 Fax: 225-8473 or 226-8210

Editorial

The debt trap Guyana’s small but encouraging success in its attempts to reduce the stranglehold of debt on the economy is proof that the country and its CARICOM counterparts continue to be among the most indebted countries in the world. And while none of these countries are very wealthy, based on North American and European standards, they are not overly poor either and there is hardly any starvation among their populations. Guyana’s debt, which is approximately US$1.65billion continues to be a major impediment to economic growth and human and sustainable development. It has deprived the government of the ability to use monetary policy to promote growth and provide the path for improved lives. It has become obvious to the authorities that everything has to be done to reduce the debt, because it is economically unwise for the nation to be burdened by such a huge liability. Economists have posited that when the debt is over 75 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is not the case in Guyana, a country cannot grow its way out of debt and it will be difficult for it to improve its economy. It is worthy to point out that several Caribbean countries are already in this debt trap. Jamaica leads the way with a debt to GDP ratio of 110.5 percent in 2015 followed by Barbados at 108.5 percent, Grenada at 99.1 percent, Antigua at 96.4 percent, The Bahamas at 82.4 percent, St Vincent at 79.4 percent, St Lucia at 78.4 percent, St Kitts at 78.0 percent, Belize at 77.3 percent, and Dominica at 74.1 percent. Guyana’s debt to GDP ratio is 55 percent, which is the lowest in the Caribbean. The English-speaking Caribbean countries are in a terrible slippage in debt sustainability due to a lack of prudent fiscal management. Many could face serious economic problems including a recession if efforts are not made to reduce the debt. In its latest economic report on the Caribbean, the United Nations Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has stated that the region’s public debt declined marginally from 72 per cent of GDP in 2013 to 70.7 per cent of GDP in 2014. However, ECLAC was quick to point out that significant increases in borrowing in the first half of 2015 erased the gains made in 2014. Debt servicing costs have increased in the entire region by an average of 25 percent of fiscal revenue in 2015 and are likely to be higher in 2016. Debt at these high levels requires debt rescheduling and restructuring as in the past. However, most governments in the Caribbean have an insatiable appetite for debt, therefore debt rescheduling would lead to the supervision of their economic and monetary policies by the International Monetary Fund in order to help reduce the level of their debt. In the past, debt restructuring has had a negative effect on the countries of the Caribbean. It requires cutbacks in spending on social services, a reduced civil service and a reduction in the value of currency. The experiences of Belize, Grenada, St Kitts and Jamaica show that it was a Band-Aid approach. Yet debt restructuring is seen as a success of economic management by the governments of the region. Everywhere else, it is seen as an obvious sign of failed economic management. However, one would think that the region’s experience with debt rescheduling and the stringent policies of the IMF in the past was such a tough lesson that they would reduce their borrowing and instead seek to improve their fiscal and economic policy and debt management. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. Debt continues to rupture the Caribbean countries’ economy. Countries that fail to learn from past experiences are living with the consequences. But the problem is that it is not the politicians who feel the economic pain of failed debt management, it is the people.

Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur M@ilbox Send your letters to Kaieteur News 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown or email us kaieteurnews@yahoo.com

Rex McKay says 55 companies are in violation of the by-laws DEAR EDITOR; In Kaieteur News of the 23rd July, 2016 I expressed my support and welcomed the decision of the City Councillors to set up a “National Capital Planning Commission to guide the development of the City”. That day has not yet arrived. However, It is hoped that the commissioners will each be provided with a copy of the Georgetown Building By-laws made under the Municipal and District Councils Act Chapter 28:01 and be guided thereby. The conjoint effect of By Laws 67 — 70 of the Georgetown Building ByLaws mandate firstly, that “No building to be used... for any manufacturing, trade or business shall be erected or built on any lot” (east of Oronoque

Street) secondly, “no such building shall be used for any such purpose aforesaid”. The area “East of Oronoque Street” is bounded on the West by Oronoque Street, on the East by Irving Street, on the North by Lamaha Street and on the South by Church Street which includes from West to East Oronoque, New Garden, Peter Rose and Irving Streets; from North to South — Lamaha, Anira, Laluni, Crown, Lance Gibbs, Forshaw and Church Streets. There are presently fifty five businesses carrying on “trade or business” within the restricted area East of Oronoque Street in defiance of the By-laws. For example, the following businesses are located in Laluni Streets

between New Garden and Peter Rose Streets: a shipping company and a car dealership. In Peter Rose Street between Laluni and Church Streets: a private school, a security company, a baker shop, a car dealership, a private school and a general store. A comprehensive list with names of the said businesses is provided hereunder. During the past ten years, residents of Queenstown have seen the Systemic degradation of their Residential District which was created by the Georgetown Building By-laws over fifty years ago. The result of the degradation is due exclusively to misfeasance by the authorities approving applications for (Continued on page 6)

Sunday August 21, 2016

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Kaieteur M@ilbox

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These out-of-court settlements Adumbrations on the three by Govt. must be questioned branches of government

DEAR EDITOR; Editor’s note; this is the conclusion of this letter published in our edition yesterday

Having publicly castigated the contractor for shoddy works and having appealed the aforementioned Court ruling, one would have expected that the AttorneyGeneral would have prosecuted his appeal and then sue the contractor for damages for breach of contract for the substandard work about which his Govt. complained. Instead, and to the public’s absolute surprise, this Govt. negotiated a “settlement” with the contractor, whereby, rather than the Govt. receiving compensation for the contractor’s breach of contract, the Govt. agrees to pay to the contractor US$5.7M. It is as if the Govt. is rewarding the contractor for the same shoddy and substandard works about which the Govt. itself publicly complained. When questioned about this bizarre settlement, three Govt. Ministers conveyed the clear impression that the contractor had sued the Govt. for compensation in the sum of US$10m, and that the Govt. managed to persuade the contractor to accept just over 50% of the claim. Indeed, the AttorneyGeneral, on the 8th of August, 2016, in the Committee of Supply, expressed great fear that if the case is not settled, then the Govt. may be forced to pay a huge judgement. He cites the Rudisa judgment in support of his argumentation. My inquiring mind propelled me to get a copy of this “case”, because I wanted to examine the claim of the contractor. I diligently searched the Supreme Court Registry

for the years 2015 and 2016, but could not find any case filed by BK against the Government, claiming compensation in the sum of US$10M as was alleged, or at all. So, again, the nation was misled. This $1.7b of taxpayers’ dollars, which is being paid, is in relation to a non-existing case. To sum it up: this contractor received hundreds of millions of dollars under the PPP with respect to this contract; that it breached the contract, there is no doubt; rather than demand from or sue the contractor for compensation, this Govt. rewards the contractor in the sum of $1.7b and allows him to exit in 2015, a contract that was to end in 2021. In the end, when all the monies paid to this contractor under this contract are totaled, this contractor would have received the full contract price of US$10m for less than 5 years of sub-standard work under a 10 year contract. THE RUDISA CASE This case was filed by Rudisa in the Treaty Jurisdiction of the CCJ claiming a refund from Guyana, of monies paid under a section of the Customs Act, which was found to be in violation of the Treaty of Chaguaramus. While these proceedings were pending, the Attorneyat-Law for Rudisa, indicated to the Court, his client’s readiness to withdraw the proceedings if the offensive section of the law is repealed. The Court adjourned the matter for several months to allow Guyana to repeal that provision. Twice, we piloted bills in the APNU/AFC controlled tenth parliament to do so. On each occasion, I detailed to the House the facts of the pending litigation and the consequences that will

flow if the section is not repealed. On both occasions, my pleas fell on deaf ears. On both occasions, the APNU/AFC rejected the amendments. Judgment was eventually granted against Guyana in sum of G$1.2b. Had the APNU/AFC supported the amendments, Guyana would have been saved this money. As an aside, what can be only described as unparalleled sophistry, the Attorney-General still blames the PPP for this debt. Significantly, during the hearing of this matter, a senior functionary of the distributor of Rudisa’s products in Guyana, admitted under cross examination, that these products were under-valued by Rudisa before shipped to Guyana, in order to compete with Guyanese products. By this admission, Rudisa was guilty of under-invoicing and, therefore, never pay the correct amount in taxes on these products. If an assessment is to be done, using the market value of those products, Rudisa would be indebted to Guyana in the billions. These monies can be set off against the judgment. In the end, Guyana would not have had to pay a cent and Rudisa may still have been indebted to us. This was our plan. Although, it was made known to the Govt. rather than pursue this course and save the country over $1.2b, with bewildering alacrity, they paid the judgement. Anil Nandlall Attorney-at-Law

DEAR EDITOR; Editor’s note; this is the final section of this letter carried in our edition yesterday Article 106 of the Constitution provides for the composition of the members of cabinet and in addition to the presidents, the vice presidents such other ministers as may be appointed by the president will be members of the Cabinet. In Guyana the person who acts as Attorney-General (AG) and who is necessarily an Attorney-at-law also acts as Minister of Legal Affairs. In practicality it is expected that the Ministers of Government assist the Presi-

dent/the Head of State/the Executive to manage, oversee and operate the business of the government of Guyana for the Ministry of which they are assigned as Ministers (Article 107). However, the Ministry of Legal Affairs is the only Ministry of the Government which the Minister wears two hats as a single Minister, one as AG and the other as Minister of Legal Affairs. Article185 provides for the offices of the Attorney General and Minister. The duties of these offices are perform by one and the same person even though the functions may be vastly different. According to Article 112 the

Minster when performing is Attorney-General function he will be doing so as ‘the principal legal adviser to the Government of Guyana.’ There is constitutional provision addressing the functions of the Minister of Legal Affairs but by virtue of Article 100 Parliament/the President is empowered to establish offices of the Minister of Government of Guyana. An issue to be determined is whether the Conveyancing functions of the Deeds Registry are simply administrative functions or whether the functions performed by the Deeds Registry are judicial or quasi-judicial. A careful (Continued on page 6)

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Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

Kaieteur M@ilbox

Kaieteur M@ilbox

The City Council needs the $16 billion owed to it DEAR EDITOR, The Mayor and City Council has not always been portrayed in a very flattering light. Nonetheless, there is need to take a look at the positive side of things while reiterating some of the more familiar challenges the Council faces. The Council has, for a number of years, been faced with a very tight budget constraint. The consequences of this have been Council’s inability to provide regular and efficient services to the populace which it serves. A large portion of Council revenues comes from the collection of rates and taxes,

special levies and market fees. In some instances, funding may come from external sources through project funding. For over two decades, property valuation has not been conducted to update the rates and taxes for many property owners in Georgetown. So it is for this reason that many, including commercial property owners, get away with the near criminal act of paying ridiculously low rates and taxes or in some instances neglecting to pay them at all. In a sense, the private sector holds the Council at ransom by constraining its abil-

ity to convert revenues into efficient services for the residents of Georgetown. In excess of $16 billion is currently owed to the Council. This represents about five years of services sustainably maintain the City. However, 1 billion dollars is by no means a tiny sum in the coffers of the Council; is a lot and could contribute towards improving the management of Georgetown. The city is dependent on citizens and business owners of Georgetown to pay up this sum. The Council even went as far as having three months of amnesty in 2015 to encour-

Rex McKay says 55... From page 4 building permission in which to carry on trade or business within the restricted area of Queenstown in breach of the building bylaws. Breach of any of the By-laws is a Criminal offence which the City Engineer is authorised to prosecute. By-law 77 provides that: “A person guilty of an offence against these by-laws for which no special penalty is provided, or who in any manner contravenes or fails to comply with the provisions of these by-laws shall be liable to a fine of two hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.” By-law 78 provides that: “The City Engineer is hereby authorised to institute and prosecute any legal proceedings in any court against any person for any breach of these by-laws”. No discretion is vested in the City Engineer or the Central Housing to waive any of the provisions in the By-laws. The failure of the City Engineer to enforce the law is to aid and abet the breaches committed which is a grave dereliction of duty and a misfeasance in public office. A public authority cannot exercise a dispensing power by waiving compliance with the law, for this would amount to an unauthorised power of legislation. There is therefore no power or discretion for the City Council, the City Engineer or the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) to waive compliance with any of the Georgetown building by-laws, nor is any such power possessed by a Minister of Government. “The primary rule is that no waiver of rights and no consent or private bargain can give a public authority more power than it legitimately possesses...”. “...By-laws have the effect of law which it is not within the power of any body which exercises public or quasi-public authority for the time being to dispense with. Such bodies are no more entitled than are private persons to dispense with the law of England; they have no dispensing power whatever, and they are bound by the law like anybody else. Therefore the District Council of St. George were bound by their by-laws, and ought to have said so when this plan was presented to them for their approval.” Yabbicom —v- King (1899) 1 QB 444. The question arises therefore is whether the present Government with its declared intention to govern by the Rule of Law would allow the said institutional lawlessness to conti:iue or whether they will take pre-emptive action to ensure that such lawlessness should cease forthwith. The following Companies carry on “trade or business” within the prohibited area East

of Oronoque Street, Queenstown in defiance of By-laws 67-70 of the Georgetown Building By-laws: 1. Amanda Curtains and Bed Clothes 2. Aubrey’s café 3. Auto Supplies Co. 4. Bahadur and Co. 5. Best Buy Auto Sales 6. British American Insurance Company 7. Dr. Budhu 8. C&V Shipping Ltd. 9. Casablanca Shop 10. Diamond Fire and General Insurance 11. Federal Management Systems Inc. 12. Dr. Sen Gupta 13. Guyenterprise 14. Guyana Book Foundation 15. Guyana Freight Services Inc. 16. Herdmanston Inn 17. H F D Mining Supplies 18. HJTV 19. Imon Wireless Solutions 20. Impressions 21. Innogen Energy 22. Integrated Security 23. International Language Institute 24. Jack Alli and Sons 25. Josel School 26. JW Potter 27. Milady’s House of Beauty and The Closet 28. Nehemiah Comprehensive School 29. Paradise Health Bar and Gym 30. PCare Diagnostic Traumatic Services 31. Pooh’s Haven 32. Queenstown Inn 33. Quest Medical Centre 34. R &T Taxi Services Inc. 35. Rawl Jordan Associates Inc. 36. RHI Ecogreen and Mecca Ecotech Associates 37. Royal Castle 38. Royal Real Estate Services 39. RUSAL 40. Saj Rice Group 41. Sonic Business Services 42. Specom Standby Power Engineering Co. 43. Strategic Action Security Limited 44. The G&A Group 45. TechNet Solutions 46. Total Protection Services Inc. 47. Trust Company (Guyana) Ltd 48. Unique Group 49. Valmiki Vidyalaya High School 50. Variety Woods and Greenheart Ltd. 51. Vijay’s Hair Salon 52. Visions and Excellence Personal Development Centre 53. World of Flowers 54. WWF Guianas 55. WUSC Caribbean Rex H. McKay, S.C.

age defaulters to pay their accrued balances on rates and taxes less the interest. The response was indeed good but still the outstanding sums are a significant portion of the Council’s budget on which it is highly dependent. And while there are those, who are bent on dishonoring their civic duties of paying their share of taxes, there are good law-abiding citizens, who empathize with the city and take full responsibility to hour their debts. For this the Council is grateful and sends a sincere thank you to these residents. Though faced by these constraints, the Council continues to work assiduously to serve the residents. In 2015, the Mayor and City Council would have reached out to local communities and contributed in a more tangible way to the economic development of Guyana.

As most citizens would recall, there was the massive cleanup initiative around the city, which was pioneered and managed by the Council and supported by Central Government. This initiative would have provided temporary employment to more than 2000 residents from different local neighbourhoods in the city. This cleanup campaign came with a hefty price tag of $170 million dollars. From hindsight, it would appear that this was just an activity for the purpose of aesthetics. However, it had far reaching consequences which benefitted the ordinary person. It is a fact that most of these clean up ventures were spearheaded by community groups led by women. This would have impacted positively on the income for these households, albeit the employment was temporary. The aggregate multiplier effects of this temporary in-

come generation would have also benefitted the private sector where most of these funds would have been spent on consumption goods, as well as to provide an enabling environment which allowed businesses and corporations to enhance their profitability. Despite the challenges and financial constraints, the Mayor and City Council will continue to work diligently towards the development of a better Georgetown. We care enough to do our best. It is the Council’s hope that it will be transformed to one where service provision and professionalism are second to none. Continuous efforts will be made to ensure that all outstanding sums owed to the Council be fully repaid and used effectively for the sustainable enhancement of the City of Georgetown. Royston KingTown Clerk City of Georgetown

Adumbrations on the...

From page 5 examination of the DRA will reveal that the Conveyancing function of the Registrar and Deputy Registrars of the Deeds involve both a judicial and administrative/governmental element. The Deeds Registrar may be statutorily required to liaison where necessary with clearly non-judicial governmental official such as where it is required by Section 7(m) of the Deeds Registry Act (DRA), Cap. 5:01 that the Registrar makes weekly returns to the Lands Commissioner of all transports, mortgages or leases of lands held under title from the State passed under the said Act. The Deeds Registry Act also provides for the Deeds Registrar to pass transport in open court transports, mortgages and leases (Section 16, 17 and Rules of The Deeds Registry in Cap. 5:01). Where the Registrar perform this function she must have only done so as a petty judicial officer and it is necessary that her appointment be in accordance with the some minimal generally recognised practice of appointing petty judges. It is for the mere fact that the Registrar or in the Registrar ’s absence the Deputy Registrar or Assistant Registrars of the Deeds Registries are required to perform judicial or quasi-judicial functions that the appointment to such positions must be placed directly under the control of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC). The Act by virtue of Section 8 of the DRA empowers the Chancellor who is indis-

putably a judicial officer to make rules and regulations for the order and management of the Registry. The Act where it so provides for the interference of the Minister of Legal Affairs in the activities of the Deeds registry it did so by empowering the Minister to perform his administrative function as Head of the state’s Legal Affairs. The Minister is constitutional debarred from performing or interfering with any judicial/quasi-judicial functions which is vested in the Registries/Registrars. The Act provides for the appointment of the Registrar and Deputy Registrars as notary public by a board of which the AG is a member (Section 3 of the DRA). The only mentioned of the Minister of Legal Affairs is found in Rule 3 of the Deeds Registry Rules. This Rule by providing for the Minister to approve the charge of any branch registry made to a sworn clerk and notary public by the Registrar seemingly mentioned the Minister in an administrative capacity as he is the overseer of the administrative/governmental functions of the governmental organisations entrusted with the state’s Legal Affairs and not judicial affairs. This may also be supported by the fact that the Deeds Registry is not in its entirety administratively autonomous. The Minister of Legal Affairs in the absence of being a member of JSC and as a single entity cannot be the overseer of the judicial affairs or Judiciary of Guyana. The power to exercise any

control where necessary over the judicial affairs or judiciary is vested in the Judicial Service Commission (Articles134, 198 and 199 of the Constitution and Section 13 of the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority Act No. 4 of 2013). It is for this very reason that the appointment of the Registrars to the Deeds Registry will be suitably performed by the JSC. And this is provided for by Article 199 (3) of the Constitution and Section 13 of the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority Act No. 4 of 2013). Therefore, it is submitted that the pendulum of constitutional law and political and governmental science does not support the view of the AG that the Deeds Registry and Commercial Registry fall under the Executive Arm of Government. Further, the functions of the Deeds Registry and Commercial Registry are not solely executive functions. Moreover, it is worthwhile to remind the Honourable Minister that neither the Executive nor the Legislature should unreasonably interfere, altered or reduce the power of the JSC whose main function is to assist in maintaining the independence of the judiciary or judicial affairs of the country. Marsha Archer

Sunday August 21, 2016

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Kaieteur M@ilbox

Kaieteur M@ilbox

Many important types of drugs are in short supply DEAR EDITOR, Regardless of being overused the saying, ‘the health of the Nation is the wealth of the Nation’ will always remain relevant until the end of time. Therefore, the Nation’s health must and should be the priority of any government of any given label. This is so prioritized in the 2016 Budget and will again be prioritized in the 2017 Budget but the relevant question is our citizens getting the benefits that they ought to get from these budgeted amounts? Do these figures really mean anything to our citizens? The answer is a resounding NO! These ‘figures’ have to be delivered! The health care service in this country is at an all-time LOW and deserves immediate rectification since our citizens deserve better. Things are falling apart in the Health Sector and the corrupt practices coming to light are signals of impending disaster, since incompetence and corruption are the worst combination. It is indeed paradoxical that more money is being budgeted and spent but the citizens are receiving poorer

health services than before! In March 2014, Dr Norton, who was then the shadow Minister of Health pronounced on the real reason for the drugs shortage which he said lies with its sourcing. He further added that ‘…the Ministry of Health needs to stop playing around with people’s lives…’ One year after, a source from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) revealed that 68 of 86 drugs on the essential drugs list were out of stock. This is under Dr Norton’s watch. Although this was vehemently denied by the Ministry of Health, it was later confirmed that 186 drugs were in fact completely out of stock or in short supply. It became clear that it was a bad decision by the Minister of Health to stop sourcing drugs from the New GPC before seeking alternative sources-it was tantamount to ‘cutting your nose to spite your face’! However, it is the mother of all ironies that the same Health Minister who wanted to eradicate corruption in the Health Sector by stop purchasing from the New GPC ended up being involved

in even more corruption-is he fighting corruption with corruption? This drug shortage situation is getting worse with no solution in sight despite excuses and out right denials from the Health Ministry. It has become a vicious circle! On 17th August, a letter writer wrote about the unavailability of insulin at the New Amsterdam Hospital. However, when I questioned the Director of Health Services in Berbice, MrJevaughn Stephens, he denied that there was such a shortage. This was on 18th August and he was technically correct since 600 (10 mls) bottles were purchased on 16thAugust and became available to outpatients on 18th August. But what was revealed when I checked the Pharmacy records was that there was an acute shortage of insulin since 28thJanuary, 2016. Outpatients who were insulin dependent were not given any insulin from that date until 17th August, 2016a period of over 6 months! Whatever little insulin was in stock was used in the hospital wards and outpatients had

to find up to $4,000 to purchase one bottle. This is highly unaffordable since some patients use as many as 4 bottles per month! Where will our poor citizens, especially the pensioners, find $16,000 per month? This is not about budgeting but it is about delivery of the health care to our citizens! This situation has been going on at all the hospitals in Region 6. Furthermore, the 600 vials of insulin purchased by the Region 6 Health Administration will only last up to this month end even though outpatients are given just one vial each. When the stock ledger is scrutinized it was seen that on 19th January, 2016 only 100 vials were received and therefore even if we can attribute the drug shortage to the inefficiencies of the Materials Management Unit or late receipt of requisitions (CRIVS)

from the Region, it is difficult to accept that it took over 6 months for the delivery to materialize! It is difficult to accept that an emergency purchase could not have been done to alleviate the sufferings of our insulin dependent diabetics! Diabetics simply cannot wait for insulin! However, insulin is not the only drugs in shortage or in poor supply. There are a number of medications which are often not in stock and this includes those used in the labs. But drugs shortages are not the only problem. At New Amsterdam Hospital, the chemical analyzer has been down for about two weeks which means that no biochemistry tests can be done, in addition to the microscope and the electrolyte machine. The surgical theatre is expected to be operational by next Wednesday after a pro-

long ‘illness’ of approximately 6 weeks. It is heartening to note that the Ministry of Public Health will be conducting investigations to determine stock balances in order to reduce stock balances and that the Minister ‘believes’ that the problem lies with the requisitioning of drugs from the Regions but this attempt to shift blame to the Region is a poor shot. The Minister should not try to mask his incompetence! The Director of Health Services in Region 6 is a competent person who will never allow such infractions to take place so it cannot be concluded that ‘mismanagement’ caused ‘shortages’. The MMU simply cannot distribute what it does not have! So the Minister can continue to fish his ‘red herring’! Haseef Yusuf Chairman of Region 6 Health Committee

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Kaieteur News

MAHAICA FATAL ACCIDENT…

Daughter unaware of mother’s death, remains hospitalised

DRIVER: Haroon Eshack Scheneza Lewis, the 23-year-old British citizen whose mother perished in a tragic accident last Wednesday on the Chelsea Public Road, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara (ECD), has no idea that the woman has succumbed. Lewis is nursing injuries to her jaw, ribs and neck at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). In an interview, her father, Daniel Lewis said that no one has told his daughter that her mother, Bibi Haroon O’ Donovan died in the accident, because “she is already in a lot of pain”. Although she is frequently asking for the 58-year-old woman, relatives have managed to keep O’ Donovan’s death a secret. “She is not talking, but she is showing

DEAD: Bibi Haroon O’ Donovan

INJURED: Scheneza Lewis

signs,” the father said. O’Donovan and her daughter migrated to England more than 20 years ago. At the time of the accident, they were returning to their home, having spent three weeks in Guyana. According to information received, the overseas-based Guyanese were passengers in motor car HC 6753 which was proceeding west along the Chelsea Public Road, at a fast rate, when the driver lost control and crashed into the rear of a stationary lorry, on the opposite side of the road. Haroon Eshack, the taxi driver was subsequently charged for causing death of O’Donovan. Meanwhile, Lewis said that his expartner owned a house in Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice and whenever she visited, she would stay there with her

daughter and relatives would visit. Lewis said that he visited his daughter the night before the accident and they had a hearty chat. “She told me that she planning to get married in Italy and she want me to go. She said that she would be coming back in December to fix my papers,” he recalled. According to the older Lewis, his daughter and O’Donovan were heading to the airport in a taxi when the accident happened. “A friend with a lorry came and picked me up and brought me to the scene at Mahaica Bridge. I was told that the car slammed into the back of the truck and my daughter’s mother lost her life and she was injured,” Lewis said. When Scheneza Lewis recovers, she will be heading back to England.

Sunday August 21, 2016

Private businesses critical of PPP/C Govt. were victimized – USAID …Party members, supporters received contracts, radio licences, undervalued lands Under the former People’s Progressive Party Civic government some private entities were marginalized and victimized, including the private media, for criticizing government policies or its ministers. This is according to a recent report published by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The international body noted that the private sector, like others in the society, is dependent on government favours and patronage. As a result of this prevailing culture, the organisation found that businesses and private citizens were regularly intimidated and directly punished when criticizing previous governments. According to the document, those businesses which supported the PPP/C regime were recognized to have benefited tremendously from government contracts. However according to the report, the party’s favours did not stop there, as preferential treatment was also given in the areas of placement of government advertisements, awarding of radio and television broadcast licences and waving of taxes and access to lands at costs below market value. These issues did raise eyebrows under the PPP/C government whereby in September 2011, former President Bharrat Jagdeo had brought the Broadcasting Bill into law, setting up the National Broadcasting Authority, which proceeded to distribute about 22 radio and television licences, two months before general and regional elections that year. Suspicions of favouritism were raised when it was unearthed that some of the licences were given to friends and supporters of the party. On the issue of deferential land distribution, last October the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU) had completed a report which revealed that in 2010 President Bharrat Jagdeo and his Cabinet authorized the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) to privatize state lands. Investigations revealed that members of the PPP/C and prominent citizens acquired prime real estate at considerable low prices. It was reported that $200M was spent to prepare the Sparendaam East Coast Demerara seafront estate. Certain recipients reportedly paid a meagre $1.5M for one lot or $114 per square foot at the time. These are two issues which are still to be addressed by the current APNU-AFC coalition government. In August 2015 Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo had promised to revise and reclaim radio and television licences that were distributed under the former PPP/C administration. And SARU is keeping a close eye on the “Pradoville Two” matter and it is expected that charges, whether criminal or civil, will eventually be levelled.

Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

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No contracts, agreements released to Dem boys seh... media despite green light from Granger Some people think Despite the fact that President David Granger himself said that he believes all contracts and concession agreements should be made public, a brick wall continues to face media operatives who try to lay their hands on such documents. Transparency advocates believe that this should not be the case. They are saying that citizens have a right to know what is going on once the information does not interfere with national security. Christopher Ram is firm in his belief that there should be no delay in releasing the contracts. He said that if the President really wants the contracts to be released it would be very easy for him to set things in motion. Ram said that the President is very powerful and can demand that the contracts be released to the media. “The President can simply pass instructions that the contracts be released. If coordination seems to be a problem then he (President David Granger) can arrange for all contracts to be sent to the Ministry of the Presidency. They can then be released from there or can even be placed on the Ministry’s website. It is that simple.” Another advocate of t r a n s p a r e n c y, Anand Goolsarran, agreed that the nation has a right to know what is going on. He told Kaieteur News, “I read what the President said when he spoke about these contracts. I totally agree with him, it is a step in the right direction. The nation has a right to know what is going on, unless it is a matter of national security.”

dem more smart than de Creatah

President David Granger

Transparency advocate, Christopher Ram

Transparency advocate, Anand Goolsarran

He continued, “I have three main words I like using, governance, transparency and accountability. Releasing these contracts and agreements of sale for hundreds of acres of land will only increase the level of transparency.” Goolsarran noted that the public has a stake on all that is going on with regards the sale of state property “these things belong to all Guyanese.” Goolsarran said this as he spoke about the fact that Guyana never knew about the agreements between the PPP/C government and individuals who were given hundreds of acres of land. Further, Goolsarran said that government should not even wait to be asked, “There should be voluntary disclosures. Once there is

nothing to hide, then these agreements should be released; and there should not be anything to hide when it comes to our resources, national security is another matter.” In June, President Granger said that contracts and concession agreements should be fully disclosed to the public. Kaieteur News had reminded the president of a promise that his government had made on several occasions – that certain contracts and concession agreements would be made available to the public, especially those which relate to the controversial Chinese logging company, BaiShanLin Forest

Development Inc. and the Marriott Hotel. But it has been over a year since the APNU+AFC coalition has taken office and this promise is yet to be fulfilled. Kaieteur News had asked Granger if he intends to honour the commitment or if he has changed his mind. He responded in the negative. Granger noted, however, that there are exceptions. In this regard, he said that the procurement of defence equipment should be kept under wraps. Aside from this, the President said that commercial agreements should not be treated as “state secrets” and that they should be fully disclosed.

De Creatah know why he mek only one of everything, but it look like if dem got people who think dem more smart than de Creatah. Dem creating conditions wheh people want to believe that if de government don’t two of de same thing nutten can’t go good. Nutten rent a bond and pay a lot of money although de government got a bond that big enough to store all de drugs in de Caribbean. This bond got electronics, suh drugs can be stored by date and everything. The intention was to reduce the quantity of expired drugs. It got storage suh that things can be stored even according to de alphabet. When Nutten get into trouble because he pay Larry de same money fuh de bond that Larry pay fuh de building, Soulja Bai order he colleagues, Moses, Trotty and Joe Lin, to investigate de deal. Dem come up wid dem finding that de government need two bonds and de reason so stupid that dem even justifying why Jagdeo use Bobby. Dem claim that because is one road that gun affect distribution whenever dem got traffic jam. Dem boys want to know why dem don’t have two Ohh Pee in case of a fire. De reasoning is that dem should have Two Prime Minister, and two Trotty in case one get sick. Dem should also have two parliament in case dem have a protest outside one of dem.But Heavens forbid that dem have two Health Minister, two Jagdeo, two Luncheon and two Kwame. Dem boys want to know how dem can criticize Jagdeo. He had he friend, Bobby, who build a bond specially fuh Guyana. And nobody didn’t tell Bobby to build two bonds because one could burn down. Dem didn’t consider that is de same one Diamond road that de drugs had to travel. In that case Bobby should have build two bonds. De Waterfalls paper boss man should build two Waterfalls paper, just in case. That is de nonsense Moses, Trotty and Joe Lin telling de people. All of dem should have two houses. De people ain’t stupid. Dem know that is a big cover-up fuh protect Nutten. Talk half and tell Soulja Bai to conduct another investigation.

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Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

Is Guyana’s manufacturing sector dying? Pt. 6

IDB approached to develop Industrial Policy for next two decades By Kiana Wilburg It is unanimously agreed that Guyana’s manufacturing sector needs to be repositioned and re-tooled if it is to make a bigger contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, Government is prepared to play its role in helping the sector make greater strides. In an interview with this newspaper recently, the economist sought to tackle a number of the complaints and challenges facing the sector as well as how the Government intends to attend to them. HIGHELECTRICTY COSTS Addressing the complaint of high electricity costs by local manufacturers, the economist said that it was indeed a legitimate constraint. He however, reminded that the Government had made conscious efforts to alleviate the situation, including providing fiscal concessions on the acquisition of generators and increasing the rebate granted by the Guyana Power and Light Company from 10 percent to 15 percent, with effect from April 1, 2016.

- CDB to provide data on feasibility of reestablishing financial development bank - Finance Minister Jordan said that the Government has also completed an energy matrix, with assistance from the IDB, and will be pursuing cheaper and cleaner energy through the provision of hydropower. The Finance Minister said, too, that since the Government assumed office, there have been two reductions to the electricity costs for consumers. With this in mind he said, “Do these two reductions count for nothing in the eyes of the manufacturing sector?” BINDING AGREEMENTS Some members of the manufacturing sector have advocated over the week that the Government should move swiftly to implement some barriers, so as to provide a level of protectionism against foreign products which benefit from a far more enabling environment and fiscal regime. Minister Jordan made it clear, however, that this is just not possible. He said that there are certain agreements which fall under the World

Finance Minister, Winston Jordan Trade Organization (WTO) partnership and the Common External Tariff (CET) arrangement which Guyana has signed on to, which speak to non-discriminatory treatment in the application of tariffs on imports and domestic production. He said that very little can be done in terms of a level of protectionism through that mechanism. By way of a specific example, he made direct

reference to the discriminatory application of the environmental tax on imported bottles. A bottling company successfully prosecuted its case before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), costing the Government in excess of $1.5 billion. Other bottling companies have since approached the CCJ for similar judgments. The Finance Minister stressed, however, that there are other measures which can and will be considered by the administration. Furthermore, the Minister also made it clear that he understands the complaint by some manufacturers that access to cheap financing is difficult. He agrees that this needs to be improved, but reminded that institutions, such as Guyana Cooperative Agricultural and Industrial Development Bank (GAIBANK), which were established to make available this type of financing to the manufacturing and other sectors, were closed by the PPP/C government.

Jordan said that his Government is presently pursuing technical assistance from the Caribbean Development Bank to assess the feasibility of reestablishing a financial development institution. GOVERNMENT’S PLAN The Finance Minister was also asked to respond to a comment by a letter writer who specifically challenged him for Government’s plan and policy to reinvigorate the sector. Jordan in response stressed that it is necessary to first acknowledge that the PPP/C government never had a plan or policies to propel the sector from the 10 to 12 percent share of GDP that it seems to be trapped in for years. “And most of that share continues to be contributed by rice and sugar; the sector, otherwise, remains largely undiversified,” the economist added. In fact, he emphasized that the sector has actually retrogressed from the 1970s to now. Jordan noted as well that he met with some members of the Private Sector Commission and the

manufacturing sector earlier last week and views were exchanged on the embarrassment felt after facing the troubling reality that certain “ridiculous products” are being imported. GOVERNMENT’S VISION With regard to Government’s vision for the sector, Jordan made it clear that Guyana needs to attain higher levels of sustained economic growth in the medium term, to significantly impact prevailing unemployment and poverty. In order to facilitate investment and higher economic growth in the productive sectors of the economy, he said that the Government has set itself the goal of accelerating the process of diversifying and transforming the economy over the medium term, away from its dependence on primary products, by expanding production of higher value-added goods and services. The Finance Minister said that this process will be undertaken within the context of good governance and human safety in a green economy, taking account of the impacts of climate change and linking centres of economic development in the hinterland with those on the coastland. Jordan said that government is, therefore, seeking to develop a policy framework for its priorities in relation to creating the climate that can attract and retain local and foreign direct investment (FDI) into the manufacturing and other sectors. The economist said that an improved investment climate is viewed as a key component of fostering high levels of economic growth and reducing poverty. Jordan asserted that high levels of economic growth can be attained on the basis of export expansion through economic diversification of world class higher value– added production that are linked to Guyana’s natural resource base. In this regard, he said that the development of a world class jewellery industry, for example, could be achieved from the processing of raw gold, diamonds, precious and semi-precious stones. Jordan said that such an industry would require the engagement of global leaders and international experts to assist domestic stakeholders in shaping the industry, local and FDI investment in product design and production, promotion and (Continued on page 65)

Sunday August 21, 2016

PAGE 11

Kaieteur News

Convicted drug trafficker/deportee hired as Manager of GWI’s Debt Recovery Unit As questions continue over the granting of fuel licences to the head of the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI), Dr. Richard Van-West Charles, another scandal is brewing at the state-owned entity. According to details now emerging, a close friend and business partner of the Chief Executive, was hired last year as Manager in the all-sensitive Debt Recovery Unit. That unit handles tens of millions each year collected from delinquent customers. However, it seems that GWI failed to conduct proper background checks of the Manager, Lear Goring. They missed the very pertinent fact that Goring was convicted by US authorities in the 1990s before being deported twice- the last time in the early 2000s. According to US court files, Goring was convicted twice of drug trafficking in 1990s. In the first instance, after a conviction, he was deported in 1993 to Guyana. Not to be daunted, he used a forged passport to travel back in 1995 - again with drugs. Again he was caught. In 1996, he changed his not guilty plea after an agreement with prosecutors and the New York court sentenced him to

63 months in the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix, New Jersey. It is unclear if he was deported before his sentence of actual jail time, which amounted to 48 months, ended. What is known is that between January and June, 2002, he was deported yet again from the US. Goring’s name surfaced last week after he was named with Van West Charles, his current boss at GWI, as being a director of Atlantic Fuels Inc. That company was granted a fuel import and storage licence last November. The revelations of the licences immediately raised concerns, with questions asked if Van-West Charles’ connections to the Coalition Government was what tipped the company that applied. Local documents filed in the Deeds and Commercial Registry disclosed that in June last year, weeks after the coalition, Van-West Charles, a former minister within the People’s National Congress (PNC), and his close friend, Goring, became directors for Atlantic Fuels. The other partners are Andron and

GWI’s head, Dr. Richard Van-West Charles

No background checks? - Lear Goring Ronaldo Alphonso, close relatives of business magnate, Alfro Alphonso. In late September, applications were filed with the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) for the licences. The licences were issued five weeks later. In October, Van-West Charles became the Chief Executive of GWI, a stateowned entity that is charged with providing potable water to homes across the country. Shortly after, he hired Goring, a business partner, to head the Debt Recovery Unit.

Army Sergeant burnt by flare during simulated attack An army platoon sergeant is nursing burns after a simulated attack on Thursday went wrong. According to a statement from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), around 17:45hrs on Thursday, Sergeant Christopher Alleyne was injured during Exercise Homeguard when his section came under attack. Alleyne, a Platoon Sergeant, attempted to raise an alarm after a simulated attack was carried out on his position, the army explained. “While raising the alarm a flare fell on his trousers igniting his left leg above his knees resulting in first and second degree burns.” The injured soldier was

airdashed to Base Camp Ayanganna, then taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he received treatment and was discharged.

“Sgt. Alleyne is currently a patient at the Medical Centre at Base Camp Ayanganna in high spirits,” the army said.

The GWI’s head had come under fire last year for the hiring of Goring and another ‘friend’, Lance Mars. Both positions were reportedly not advertised. The GWI’s boss had reportedly said that both men were known to him personally. He reportedly said that he needed someone “competent” to deal with the debt at the state company. But Goring was not hired because

he is a friend. “He had applied to GWI and I know him…but I know many people in the organization, so it’s an area that I have responsibility for and…we have shown results already; in the month and a half, we have collected over $50M already in terms of the level of indebtedness, so I am satisfied with his performance,” Dr Van West Charles noted in a statement

to an online news. Back in December, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, was asked to comment on the posts being filled without advertisements. He reportedly said that it is a non-issue, as long as the men were qualified. “Well they are qualified…let me say this… Guyana is a small country and we have to utilize the resources that are available to us…everybody is somebody’s friend,” said Harmon. With regards to those lucrative fuel licences, GEA last week in response to questions by Kaieteur News, disclosed that indeed the application came in late September and was granted on November 5th, 2015. GEA said that all was above board when it came to the application and that Atlantic Fuels listed the storage facility of another authorized company in its application…not something unusual. Fuel has been rivaling gold when it comes to generating ready cash. It is big business.

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Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

Shocking twist in Berbice businessman murder PI…

Hotel owner arrested for offering cop $400,000 bribe to suppress evidence In a shocking twist in an already controversial case, a relative of one of the three accused in the murder of businessman Shameer Ali Mursalin is in custody for trying to bribe a police rank to suppress evidence. The detained relative, who is a hotel owner, was taken into custody yesterday when he turned up at CID Headquarters, Eve Leary, to hand over $100,000, of a $400,000 sum, to a member of the Major Crimes Unit as an initial payment. Confirming the arrest, Acting Police Commissioner David Ramnarine told Kaieteur News that “we have someone in custody who is assisting us in the investigation into that matter.” Police reportedly have video and audio evidence of the hotel owner offering the bribe and handing over the money. Kaieteur News understands that police ranks are scheduled to testify in the Preliminary Inquiry tomorrow, and attempts were reportedly being made to stop them from

doing so. According to reports, the relative of one of the three accused visited CID Headquarters a few days ago. He then made the $400,000 offer to a detective from the Major Crimes Unit, which is being lauded for cracking several difficult murder cases. The businessman indicated that he would give the detective an initial $100,000 and pay the $300,000 on Monday (tomorrow). After appearing to agree to the offer, the detective notified his superiors and a trap was arranged. The relative was then taken into custody yesterday when he turned up with the cash. The development came just two days after relatives of murdered businessman, Shameer Ali Mursalin had raised concerns about the actions of the Magistrate who is presiding over the Preliminary Inquiry into the case. Mursalin, called ‘Kazac,’ a trader, of Grant 1805 Weld Tank Dam, Crabwood Creek, Berbice Corentyne, in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), was fatally shot to the head

following a longstanding dispute with a fellow businessman, on October 24, 2015. According to reports, police were investigating a report of threatening language and damage to property at Mursalin’s house. After calling out for him for some time without any response, the police officers ventured into the yard and found the victim’s body lying in a pool of blood at the residence. Berbice businessman Dennis Veerasammy and two of his employees, Basheer Harrinauth and Delroy Fraser, were later arrested and charged with the murder. The three men are facing a Preliminary trial before Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh at the Springlands Magistrate’s Court in Berbice. However, relatives of the dead businessman believe that there is a deliberate ploy, by parties involved, to sabotage the case. According to the relatives, the Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the matter had been postponed on several occasions, despite the availability of several witnesses. In addition to questionable adjournments, the

Mursalin family said that at the last hearing, the Magistrate did something that is even more baffling; he adjourned the matter without rereading the evidence and allowing the main witness of the trial to review and sign his deposition. “I am really concerned. First, he write down the evidence on four pieces of paper that look like scrap and then he ain’t give the man it to sign. All he (the magistrate) said is that he adjourn the matter because he hungry,” a female relative explained. “He ain’t care. He just come off the chair just so in front the police and the other court staff. I ain’t really know that that could happen. I never see any Magistrate adjourn a case without allowing the witness to see or sign what dem said (the deposition)…And this is the man that actually witnessed the shooting,” she added. She stressed that the matter has suffered the several postponements without any proper explanation. “The prosecutor would come to court and call the witnesses but the matter would get put down just so, “the woman

Murdered Berbice Businessman Shameer Ali Mursalin.

claimed. All we need is justice for our family. The family is hoping the relevant authorities will take notice and intervene on their behalf. Kaieteur News has since obtained information to verify the claims of the dead man’s relatives. A senior court official told Kaieteur News this is not the first time that the Magistrate has not allowed witnesses to sign their depositions. “He (Magistrate) gone again wid this thing. If the witness doesn’t sign and something happens to him/ her; the deposition has no value.” “It is the proper legal procedure for witnesses to certify their testimonies. A breach of this procedure can definitely have a negative impact on the case.” In addition, a number of legal practitioners and retired judicial officers said that the Magistrate’s actions are indeed questionable and should be brought to the attention of the Judicial Service Commis-

sion (JSC). The JSC, headed by Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Carl Singh, is responsible for appointment of Judges and Magistrates. The Chancellor could not be reached for a comment on this matter. In his most recent comment on the conduct of judicial officers, Justice Singh had noted that allowing Magistrates who conduct themselves inappropriately to remain on the bench will be a serious indictment on the part of the judicial administration. He added that this act would mean that the judiciary has abandoned the people and public’s interest. “We have a responsibility to produce an environment which is conducive for hard work. Magistrates in Guyana are servants of the people. It is important that Magistrates and Judges give of their best, so when we find that Magistrates are involved in grave wrongdoing, then we will have to protect the public’s interest,” the Chancellor said.

Sunday August 21, 2016

PAGE 13

Kaieteur News

GOVT. US$5.7M SETTLEMENT…

No court records found for BK “US$10M claim” For months, some members of the Government have been harping on the tune that had it not entered into a US$5M out-of-court settlement with a local construction firm, it would have risked losing double the amount. The impression given by Government officials was that the company, BK International, filed court proceedings against the Government demanding compensation in the sum of US$10M after it was found that the company’s contract on a multimillion-dollar project was arbitrarily terminated. To date, such supporting documents cannot be found. And the parties involved have offered little to no help. Kaieteur News contacted Managing Director of BK International, Brian Tiwarie, on Tuesday last, for a copy of the related documents. Tiwarie said that his assistants were not in office at the time. He said that he could not confirm as well how much in compensation he was “demanding from the Government via the court.” He skirted the question and asked to be contacted at 10:00 am the following day. Even when this was done, the businessman failed to honour this commitment. He subsequently asked for an extension to do so on Saturday. When contacted this time around, Tiwarie disclosed that he had already travelled to Miami, Florida, since

Attorney General, Basil Williams Thursday, and that calls should be made to his office for the document to be uplifted. But even those efforts proved futile. Attorney General Basil Williams was also contacted for further assistance, but he made it clear that he was not going to cooperate with the newspaper. The Minister of Legal Affairs said: “I am not going to cooperate with Kaieteur News. Kaieteur News attacks me all the time and I see despite the fact that the ‘chatree’ (Former AG Anil Nandlall) said he gon kill all ah y’all, he is back in y’all good books on the front page attacking me. Unless you can show me a different

Man fatally shot outside...

(From page 3) on Camp and Durban Streets. The police in a press release said that investigations so far have revealed that earlier in the night, the man went to the Camp Street Prison, on John and Durban Streets, and behaved in a disorderly manner. He reportedly threw down some steel barriers, in the presence of the ranks, guarding the perimeter of the prison. He was taken into custody by ranks of a police patrol but subsequently returned and continued the said behaviour and action, in front of the Prison. According to the release, a TSU rank armed with a service weapon and under the supervision of a subordinate officer approached the suspect.The suspect then reportedly attacked the rank, to which he (rank) discharged a round—hitting the suspect to the abdomen. The man was immediately rushed to the GPHC where he eventually succumbed. A source close to the investigation said that the rank’s weapon has been lodged as the probe continues.

approach, how could I give you a document with BK matter? And then you try to use the document...So if you disparage me as Attorney General, Chairman of the PNC, wha’ else? Member of Parliament…then y’all come and beg for me to pull back case I had against y’all. I don’t know nothing about BK. Go ask (Minister of) Communities.” Just a few months ago, it was revealed that Government entered into an out-of-court settlement with BK International, whose management of the Haags Bosch Landfill was terminated, was compensated US$5.7M. The administration which came to power last year, ending a twodecade reign by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), had vowed to be more transparent than the previous Government. However, a number of transactions, including this settlement, have been placing them under fire. BK is said to have close ties to the administration after a falling out with the PPP/C. According to Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, the settlement was “designed” to allow the government to pursue a better project that would see another company managing the landfill site. Bulkan said it was crucial for Government to move forward with the development of the Haags Bosch Landfill site. The facility was opened in early 2011, replacing the dumpsite at Le Repentir Cemetery in the city, which had to be closed because of health

Managing Director of BK International, Brian Tiwarie and capacity reasons. Under the arrangements, BK was supposed to be paid for every

tonne of waste processed. The matter came to a halt when the administration of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic on February 27, 2015, terminated BK’s contract for the construction and operations of the landfill. The government said that the company missed deadlines and committed other breaches. On March 13, 2015, BK through his lawyer, Davindra Kissoon, filed a lawsuit asking the former Chief Justice (Ag) Ian Chang, to overturn the decision and claimed instead that he was owed hundreds of millions of dollars for the construction and for the daily management of the Eccles site. Chang ruled that Government was under a public law obligation to afford BK an opportunity of being heard before it made any decision to terminate the contract. He also ruled that BK was entitled to compensation for the works he did in the management of the Haags Bosch site.

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Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

DIVERSIFICATION IS THE WAY TO UNLOCK BERBICE’S POTENTIAL, says President …as county’s Expo and Trade Fair kicks off

The New GMC booth

President David Granger delivering remarks at the opening of Berbice Expo.

The Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce on Friday evening officially kicked off the Berbice Expo and Trade Fair at the Albion Sports Complex, Corentyne under the theme “Promoting entrepreneurship for a diversified economy”. This year marks 12 years since the expo has been in existence and saw participation by corporate Guyana, several Government Ministries and small business operators. Given the current world trends where countries are being forced to adopt to economic and climatic changes to thrive, the theme which embodies the need to diversify and develop entrepreneurial skill was well suited and mirrored in the remarks of the various speakers. The exposition is said to be the single largest event in the region and allows for both large and small businesses to gain from sales and promotions. During his opening remarks, Secretary of the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Poonai Bhigroog, expressed his satisfaction and gratification with the Chamber’s efforts in successfully organizing another such event. “I am happy to see that the Chamber of Commerce has recognised the need to promote entrepreneurship and diversification.” Mr. Bhigroog said. Bhigroog made a call on Guyanese to seek new avenues by diversifying their

produce when dealing with the rice and sugar industries. “We have to explore new ways to keep rice and sugar alive.” he added. Agriculturally, the region is probably Guyana’s largest producing regions given that most of its agricultural activities are rice, sugar, fishing and cash crop based. For 2015, the region produced quarter of the national production for rice and just over quarter of the national production for fish. Many businesses operate in fishing, etc., but the major strength lies in agriculture. Appeals were also made for persons to practice Climate Smart agriculture. Guyana has the potential to supply fruits and vegetables to its sister CARICOM countries on a large scale basis, and the Ministry of Agriculture, through the Guyana Marketing Corporation, has been working tirelessly with farmers to ensure that the best possible markets are tapped into. This, however, can only be achieved through smart and planned agricultural practices. During his feature address, President David Granger appealed to the Corentyne as a whole to change so that the Corentyne can be better. “This is a vast region. You have the potential to give your residents the good life. You are gifted with a strong production base and an abundance of talent.” DIVERSIFY The president also urged the residents to adopt new avenues and diversify the

market in order to stimulate growth in the economy. “You have to change because even if you are depending on rice and sugar and you are getting good prices for a year, you can almost guarantee that you will get unsatisfactory prices another year due to fluctuating world market prices.” President Granger added. The president called on the relevant authorities to develop a Corentyne action plan based on information technology, adding that that is the gateway to several opportunities. He added that there is a need for information to make informed decisions. “You can sell your products but you need information about what the market is calling for.” The President also called on residents to be cautious of the contraband trade. “In order for Guyanese manufacturers to make a greater impact on the local, regional and international market, they need to be more innovative. More emphasis needs to be placed on packaging and the innovation of new products. If products are to be sold internationally, entrepreneurs need to place more emphasis on their creativity when creating and packaging their products. The region is full of resources and there is great room for agroprocessing to develop and add growth to the region.” Also speaking at the opening ceremony was the president of the Central Corentyne Chamber of

Commerce, Mr. Mohamed Raffik. He expressed that over the years the expo has evolved despite a number of challenges faced by the Chamber of Commerce, adding that there is still room for growth. In his message, he expressed that in today’s global village scenario, Guyana needs to boost diversification in its economy. This, he said, can only come about with its citizens’ willingness to be imaginative, to think outside the box, to shed fossilized mind sets and prejudices, to inculcate the entrepreneurial spirit, to reach out to one another for ideas and partnership and cooperation. “Sugar production is linked to every person’s life in this region. We are producing sugar at US$0.40 cents per pound and selling it for US$0.20 cents per pound. It is unfortunate that we are in this state. For too long sugar has been a political football and it is time the people of this region wake up and stop making sugar a political football. We must also understand that rice is a business and we have to run it like a business.” Mr. Raffik said. He called for persons and government to employ better technology for the industry and move away from labour intensive practices to fully exploit the sector’s abilities. POSITIVE GROWTH During his remarks, Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin, said that government will continue to

work with persons to formulate commodities to uplift the economy which will involve a diversification programme to reduce import and advance export. “Even as El Nino posed great challenges for the region, Guyana is still expected to see a four percent growth in the economy,” the Minister stated. He pointed to the fact that Guyana’s economy is the only one in the region with positive growth. This flies in the face of Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo who publicly pronounced that Guyana’s economy is in a downward spiral. Echoing similar sentiments during her remarks was guest speaker Ms Patricia Bacchus, CEO of Caribbean Container Inc. She described Guyana’s economic status as “…handsome given the state of other Caribbean nations like Trinidad and Tobago, who are experiencing economic contractions rather than economic growth”. She added that industries like the rice and sugar industry are susceptible to a number of factors such as world market

prices. “If you remove rice and sugar from the equation, manufactured products would account for about three percent GDP.” she said. Ms. Bacchus also urged the residents of Corentyne to explore diversification. “Do not put all your eggs in one basket. I see diversification as simply adding more baskets to put your eggs. Re-engineering the way we do business is as important as diversification, given the integrated world economic trade arena,” she added. During the expo, patrons are getting a chance to visit booths set up by the Ministry of Agriculture. They are being given the opportunity to see the various products and the services they offer while having the opportunity to clear up issues with extension officers. Patrons can also sample and purchase different items from exhibitors like Digicel, Ansa Mcal, Edward B. Beharry and Company and other small businesses. The Berbice Expo and Trade Fair ends tomorrow.

CEO of Caribbean Container Inc., Patricia Bacchus

Sunday August 21, 2016

PAGE 15

Kaieteur News

That shady bond deal…

Govt. Bond capable of storing all drugs for - can even store medical supplies for other countries and generate millions in revenue -int’l report Guyana and more The state-owned Diamond warehouse which was established with international funding in March 2013 was expected to reduce the millions of dollars Government was losing over the years by renting other storage facilities. This is according to a report that was prepared on by the Supply Chain Management System (SCMS). The report notes that the construction of the state-ofthe-art facility was funded by a collaboration of the Government of Guyana, the United States Government, the World Bank, the InterAmerican Development Bank and Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM). The report even points out that the 31,000 squarefoot facility not only has the capacity to store all the drugs

for the nation but would even have extra storage space which could be leased by the Government. Drafters of the report said that the revenue earned from the leasing of the storage space can even be used to fill other financing gaps in the public health system when needed. According to the report, the Diamond warehouse is a fully-operational, climatecontrolled, automated pharmaceutical–grade facility. The construction of the facility was also intended to eliminate the incessant outsourcing for storage space for drugs and other pharmaceuticals. The report also pointed out that Guyana is currently only utilizing in the facility, 1,365 available pallets (the base on which the drugs and medication are stored for easy

movement). However, the storage facility has the potential to store 2,300 more pallet locations. The document proposes that Guyana can make approximately $70M with the leasing of those pallet locations. In spite of the aforementioned, a Cabinet sub-committee is insisting that a storage bond in Sussex Street for which it is paying a $12.5M rental fee is necessary. The members of the Committee include Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and Minister of State, Joseph Harmon. In fact, another member of the subcommittee, Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman acknowledged that the Diamond facility has the capacity to store all of the nation’s drugs. The sub-committee,

GNBA Board members to put aside differences, work together for greater good - Nagamootoo There is now a ray of hope that the Board of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) may finally move forward and make some much needed changes in the Broadcasting sector. For quite some time, the Board has been plagued by discord. It became so bad between two key members of the Board—Leonard Craig (Chairman) and Anthony Vieira—that they began refusing to work with each other. This situation has been allowed to go on for quite awhile and the nation suffered as a result. Illegalities in the broadcasting sector continue to exist and broadcasting fees remain high. However, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who has responsibility for the Board, has finally stepped in to put an end to the impasse. Kaieteur News understands that the Board of the GNBA recently had a meeting with the Prime Minister. At that meeting, Nagamootoo reminded the members of their duty to serve Guyana to the best of their ability. He encouraged them to move ahead with activities that can reflect major changes for Guyana. The Prime Minister told Kaieteur News that the Board members renewed their commitment to serve Guyana. “They have pledged to move forward and committed that they will review the (Continued on page 16)

Chairman of GNBA Board, Leonard Craig

GNBA Board Member, Anthony Vieira

Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo however, offered two excuses to justify why Government is still going forward with the use of the Sussex Street Bond which is owned by Larry Singh, of Linden Holdings Inc. It was noted that it is not safe to have all of the nation’s drugs and medical supplies in one facility, in case of a fire

Natural Resources Minister, Moses Nagamootoo

or some natural disaster that can have calamitous consequences to the national health care system. The sub-committee stated too that the location of the Diamond warehouse can affect distribution of medical supplies, given traffic congestion issues that are associated with the East Bank

thoroughfare. Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, is facing pressure for renting of the Sussex Street bond and the justification offered. The deal only came to light after the Opposition raised questions about spending in the National Assembly.

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CSEC 2016…

Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

12-year-old earns distinction in Principles of Accounts

Chirag Chandwani, 12, acquired a distinction in Principles Of Accounts The look of satisfaction was evident on the faces of students of Morgan’s Learning Centre, (MLC) yesterday, as they shared their Caribbean Secondary Certificate Examination (CSEC) success stories. In recent years, young MLC students have been among the nation’s top CSEC achievers. The students, who are between the 12- 15 years old, have been leading the way in this regard. This year, MLC pupils have collectively acquired CSEC passes in four subject areas. These include Principles Of Accounts (POA), Principles Of Business (POB), Mathematics and Office

‘Sir’ Orin Morgan (at far left) and the group of successful CSEC achievers of MLC Administration, (OA). When Kaieteur News visited MLC’s John Street, Campbellville, Georgetown location, the students eagerly shared examination experience. Chirag Chandwani, 12, obtained a distinction in Principles of Accounts, (POA). He said that he is thankful for the confidence which his teacher, ‘Sir’ Orin Morgan, placed in him. “When I first came here to register my (older) brother

for lessons, Sir Morgan saw my (potential) and expressed confidence that I would do well… I have been attending classes here for about nine months now and I am happy with my CSEC results,” the Mae’s Secondary School student stated. “I am thankful to my teacher, parents and of course God for my results.” Similarly third formers, Shemar Berkley, Malini Ghansiam, Carolann

Correia, Tarren Niles and Princess Charles expressed gratitude to their parents and teachers for motivating them to do well. The teenagers wrote POA and acquired distinctions and Grade twos in the subject area. Pupils at the fourth form level also did exceedingly well. The successful students are Sausha Seepersaud, Roshanna Young, Tamera Gomes, Kofi Victorine, K e v o n F r a s e r, M a l a c h i Adonis, Tamera Leslie,

Stephen Rodney, Sushela Charran, Krystal Ambrose, Jasmine Waldron, Kimberly Hooper, Shanice Rose, Jared Harris, Shemar Clarke, Nicholas Brusch and Issana Sunich. They too expressed thankfulness to Mr. Morgan and noted satisfaction at attaining the top Grades. A beaming Sir Morgan told Kaieteur News, that his goal is to always stir up the potential of his students. According to Morgan, MLC is a place where ordinary students are given the opportunity to do

extraordinary things. He noted that “dedication is all it takes.” He said that the institute is dedicated to providing the quality education, in addition to a fun and memorable learning experience. M r. M o rg a n a l s o stresses the importance of having a balanced lifestyle and inculcating supplementary activities in the academic programme. As such, MLC has social etiquette classes and athletic activities as part of its curriculum.

GNBA Board members to put aside... From page 15 regulations in an expeditious manner.” The Prime Minister continued, “Craig and Vieira saw me and we addressed

their differences. They assured me too that in spite of their differences they will work for the greater good of the country and to have the regulations completed, so as

to lead to the review of the controversial radio licences.” Vieira is the Chairman of a sub-committee that has been set up to deal with very important business of the GNBA. That Committee is referred to as the Legal Matters and Fees Committee. Regulations that are supposed to prompt major changes in the Broadcasting industry remain stuck in that committee as Vieira was insisting that he could not work with Craig. It was in April that the GNBA held its first press conference. That was eight months after the Board was appointed. At that press conference, the Board laid out the glorious plans for the broadcasting industry in Guyana. These plans are to be of major benefit to broadcasters and consumers alike. This includes zoning, improved monitoring, a broadcasting fee reduction and a redistribution of radio licences

Sunday August 21, 2016

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Kaieteur News

GPHC finally boasts baby-friendly status By Sharmain Grainger After many years of trying and failing, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) is finally able to boast of being a ‘baby-friendly’ institution. This essentially means that the hospital is now able to ensure that mothers who deliver in its Maternity Unit breastfeed their babies wherever possible. In cases where breastfeeding is not possible mothers are encouraged to use cups and refrain from introducing their babies to bottles. However, ‘breast is best’ is the motto that the Maternity Unit is currently operating by. Given the fact that breastfeeding, which ensures that babies get the right amount of nutrients, has immense benefits for not only babies but mothers as well, health sectors across the globe have for some time been promoting its importance. But for some reason, all the efforts plugged behind promoting this crucial practice have not been embraced by some hospitals. Here in Guyana desperate efforts are

consistently being made to have all hospitals achieve the ‘baby-friendly’ status. Just recently five hospitals were certified as ‘baby-friendly’ joining six others that already have this status. Aside from the GPHC, other hospitals recently certified were: Suddie, Oscar Joseph (Region Two) and New Amsterdam and Skeldon (Region Six). But it was an especially difficult task for the GPHC to attain this status, given the fact that it is the largest hospital in the country, the lone referral and tertiary institution, as well as the regional hospital in Region Four - and thus attracts an unusually large patient traffic. This state of affairs was revealed by Senior Departmental Supervisor of the Maternity Unit, Sister Denise Marks during a recent interview. Although Sister Marks only recently assumed the leadership position, she is very well aware that the GPHC had long been struggling for the babyfriendly status. The struggle

might have occurred over the past 15 years. But those who were part and parcel with the struggle are only too elated that the struggle was not in vain. “I am so excited that we have gotten it now. It means a lot to us, because we are the only referral, teaching hospital with this status, perhaps in the whole Region. This is a big hooray for the Georgetown Hospital,” said an elated Sister Marks. She reminisced on the many hiccups which at times made achieving the intended goal appear unreachable. The hiccups, according to her, were often linked to the fact that because the GPHC is a referral hospital, its Maternity Unit sometimes had to attend to many sick babies who were not exclusively breastfed. Attaining the breastfeeding status comes under a Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) which was first launched by the World Health Organisation in 1991, and is a global effort to implement practices that protect, promote and support

Sister Denise Marks (sitting) in the company of other nurses (from left) Jennifer Peterkin, Michelle Pompey and Sister June Cato.

The Baccoo Speaks This is the time when gunmen believe that they have the run of the place. Of course the community action of which I spoke has kicked in. In the past, especially in the city, many people would fall prey to criminal attacks because people simply kept to themselves. Now that they realize that anyone can be a victim they are responding en masse and with good effect. ** Another scandal is

brewing. A young female employee would be linked to a prominent individual who is supposed to be teaching moral to young people. The criticisms of the young

woman would be harsh but the brunt will fall to this moral teacher, a pastor who is always on the radio. ** Another wedding house brawl will lead to the death of a young man. This would come about after a bout of drinking and recollections of a previous incident. There would be a stabbing that would eventually lead to a massive community action. The offshoot would be the destruction of the home of the perpetrators.

The GPHC Maternity Unit

breastfeeding. Moreover, Sister Marks noted that attaining the status meant that assessors had to routinely check to ensure that as soon as babies were born they had skin to skin contact with their mothers. But this could not have been done on all occasions. “There were times we couldn’t have gotten that done because of Caesarean Section births, and some babies are born so small that we just had to rush them to the neonatal unit,” recounted Sister Marks. But even before she took on the task to steer the Maternity Unit to ‘babyfriendly’ status, she revealed that there were the likes of Sister Majorie Arjune, former Senior Departmental Supervisor, and also Sister June Cato, both of whom were able to put some crucial work in. Sister Marks recalled many sensitisation sessions for all level of staffers attached to the Unit including attendants, security guards and clerks. “We had to sensitise them all, because we knew that when the assessors come to the hospital they would interview these persons too,” said Sister Marks as she recalled tireless efforts being made to get mothers on board too. She added, “We had to teach the mothers (before and after pregnancy) about breastfeeding and question them to see if they were able to grasp the importance of what we were saying...we had workshops, we had various teaching sessions...doctors were involved in these sessions, too, because we knew that all these people had to be a part of the process.” The end result was staffers of the hospital having an appreciation for encouraging breastfeeding and making things happen in favour of achieving the ‘baby-friendly’ status. “Our midwives in the

birthing room understand that after delivery, as soon as the baby is born, there must be skin to skin touch between mother and baby...our nurses are able to say why that is being done,” noted Sister Marks as she added, “we really, really worked hard to reach where we are today.” “We owe this one especially to Sister Arjune, because she worked a long time on attaining this, I only took over in the month of June, but she was here years before, putting things in place and it is because of her hard work we have accomplished this feat,” Sister Marks confided. But there were other nurses who also played instrumental roles in helping to realise the baby-friendly status. These included nurses Shannon Haynes,

Michelle Wade, Michelle Pompey, Janessa St. Hill, Diana Grimes, Glenis Mingo and Simone Watson, among others. And according to Sister Marks, the entire staff at the GPHC is committed to ensuring that the ‘babyfriendly’ status will be retained. The GPHC like the other hospitals certified will be assessed in another two years and, according to Sister Marks, “we will be ready to be re-certified.” Other hospitals that are certified with the ‘baby friendly’ status include: West Demerara Regional (Region Three), Upper Demerara (Region 10), Davis Memorial, Mahaicony Cottage Hospital (Region Five), Mahdia District (Region Eight) and Lethem Regional (Region Nine).

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Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

A stranger in her bed – What if you woke up one morning to find that your husband was not the man he claimed to be? By Michael Jordan It was just before dawn on Friday, March 22, 1996, that Linda Jairam and her husband, Gregory Grayson, were rudely awakened by banging at the front door of their Almond Street, Queenstown home. The persons who were making the racket identified themselves as ranks from the Guyana Police Force and demanded that the occupants open. Grayson, an American citizen, eventually opened and several policemen entered. “Are you John Anthony Diaz?” one of the policemen asked. Grayson said that he was not. “Are you Gregory Grayson?” the officer then asked. When Linda Jairam’s husband confirmed that he was indeed Grayson, the officer said: “That’s the person we want.” Linda Jairam then listened incredulously as the policemen informed Grayson that they had an arrest warrant for him for murder. How could this be? Before all this, life could not have been better for Linda Jairam. She had two wonderful children. And she had also met and married a wonderful man. She had met him in November 1993, when the US citizen, who introduced himself as Gregory Grayson, visited her Almond Street home. Her first impression of the stranger with the

Married to a killer: Linda Jairam and John Anthony Diaz, who lived in Guyana and introduced himself as Gregory Grayson bodybuilder’s physique was that he was quiet and pleasant. They fell in love and married shortly after. She would later reminisce that he was a very good father to her two young children. Grayson gained employment with an advertising company and in his spare time, he lifted weights at a Georgetown gym. In hindsight, Linda Jairam would remember a conversation she had with her new husband. While participating in a local call-in programme, she had indicated that she favoured the death penalty for murderers. For some reason, her

remark had upset Gregory. What Linda Jairam did not know then that her newfound husband had every right to be concerned. His real name was John Anthony Diaz, and he had killed someone back in America. A young white woman named Dawn Brown. Back in the summer of 1991, John Anthony Diaz was living in Cape Cod with his mother and was employed as a physical therapist aide while attending Springfield College. During this time he started dating a young Caucasian woman named Kimberlee Brown Goldstein. But in the spring of 1992, Diaz’s girlfriend told him that she wanted to break off the

relationship, but would like to remain his friend. In May of 1992, the exgirlfriend began dating another man who she would eventually marry. By September of 1992, she started a job in New York City and moved to New Jersey. Later that month, Diaz telephoned her. The conversation went pleasantly until the young woman told Diaz that she was dating someone else. Diaz then reportedly called her a ‘f—ing bitch’ before hanging up. It is believed that from then, an obsessed John Anthony Diaz began to plot revenge against the girl who had jilted him. What he did next seems to confirm later suggestions that Diaz had become mentally unbalanced after the breakup. First, he took steps to change his identity. From the records in a local library, Diaz obtained information about a dead child, who would have been Diaz’s age had he lived. In early 1993, he obtained the child’s birth certificate and received an identification card, driver’s licence, social security card and passport under the name Gregory Grayson. Diaz also sought advice from a friend about firearms and “man-stopping” ammunition. On May 11, 1993, he purchased a Glock .40 calibre semi-automatic handgun and Black Talon ammunition. On July 10, 1993, the exgirlfriend, Kimberlee Brown Goldstein, held her bridal shower at her mother’s home in Quincy, Massachusetts. Also in attendance was Kimberlee’s sister, Dawn Brown. That evening, the sister went out for refreshments and ice cream with her boyfriend and her teenage nephew. The three returned at around 23:00 hrs. Around the same time, Diaz, who was apparently stalking his girlfriend, was also outside the premises. On spotting the blondehaired woman, Diaz stood a foot away from the victim, pointed his Glock semiautomatic handgun at her head, called out her name, and fired. Leaving the mortally wounded woman on the ground, Diaz drove his vehicle to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. Using the false passport and $10,000 he had obtained from credit cards, the killer boarded a flight, and eventually arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. On July 13, 1993, from his hotel room in Malaysia, he

telephoned a friend who lived in Hyannis, Massachusetts, to confirm whether his exgirlfriend was dead. It was then that Diaz received a shock. The friend told Diaz that Kimberlee was very much alive. Kimberlee’s sister, Dawn Brown, had recently dyed her hair blonde. That blonde hair made Dawn Brown look just like Kimberlee, the sister with whom Diaz was obsessed. John Anthony Diaz had killed the wrong sister. On being told of his mistake, Diaz reportedly told the friend: “I am not fit to live.” Now a fugitive from justice, Diaz left Malaysia and traveled though several countries before arriving in Guyana on September 30, 1993. And that was how he met and married Linda Jairam. He got a job. He made friends, among them some members of the Guyana Police Force with whom he trained at a weightlifting gym. For almost three years, Linda and the man she knew as Gregory Grayson lived happily in Almond Street with Jairam’s two children. But on one fateful night in March 1996, the producers of the popular television series ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ aired a story about a woman who was mistakenly slain by her sister’s ex-boyfriend. A photograph of the killer identified him as John Anthony Diaz. The programme was broadcast on a local television station and someone who was watching it recognised the photograph as that of Gregory Grayson. The Massachusetts State Police were informed of Diaz’s whereabouts and notified the Guyanese authorities of his presence in the country. On March 22, 1996, after obtaining an arrest warrant, ranks from the Guyana Police Force swooped on the Almond Street home where Diaz was staying and arrested him. On March 23, 1996, two Massachusetts State police officers flew to Guyana to interview the defendant. A local attorney was appointed to represent him and extradition proceedings commenced. On March 25, 1996, Diaz’s local attorney successfully filed an injunction that restrained the Attorney General of Guyana and then Commissioner of Police

Laurie Lewis from expelling “Greg Grayson” until completion of the extradition proceedings. A faithful Linda Jairam attended court to be by her husband’s side. But on April 19, 1996, a local magistrate found that Diaz had entered Guyana on a false passport. He ordered that Diaz be deported before his extradition hearing was completed. In the early hours of April 22, 1996, Diaz was transported to the Timehri Airport, and turned over to the Massachusetts State Police. They then boarded a flight to Miami. During a stop in Trinidad, Diaz attempted to flee but was quickly apprehended and placed in shackles at the request of the airline. He was then transported back to Massachusetts, where he was arraigned on the murder charge. During the trial, Diaz’s attorneys argued that the killing was not a deliberate act, since the accused was mentally ill at the time. According to the defence, after learning that his ex-girlfriend was dating someone else, Diaz had become depressed, did not return to school, quit his job as a physical therapy aide, and was contemplating suicide. In the spring of 1993, the defendant told a friend that he thought the breakup with the victim’s sister was caused by her father’s racism. Some of Diaz’s friends provided similar testimony. His mother also stated that, from January 1993, to the time of the murder, the defendant rarely left their home. A psychiatrist also testified that at the time leading up to the shooting, the defendant was suffering from severe depression that left him unable to think rationally and prevented the defendant from deliberately premeditating the killing. The defence also claimed that, because Guyana deported him rather than waiting for the extradition process, he did not receive the process he was entitled to under the treaty between the United States and Guyana. Despite a strong defence, a jury eventually convicted John Anthony Diaz of murder in the first degree. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. An appeal for a retrial was denied.

Sunday August 21, 2016

PAGE 27

Kaieteur News

== THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN ==

Traudl Junge, Brunhilde Pomsel and the Guyanese protégés

Frederick Kissoon

Traudl Junge and her boss, Adolf Hitler It came as no surprise to any Guyanese, no matter where he/she lives, that there were outpourings of eulogies for Forbes Burnham on his death anniversary in the first week of August. The identical scenario goes into motion when Cheddi Jagan’s time comes in the month of March. In the immediate future and long after generations would have come and gone, the methodology used to assess the nature and role of these two men will endure. Burnham will continue to be seen by people he protégéd as a phenomenally brilliant man whose visionary endowments have no parallel in modern Guyana. These protégés have passed on their emotions to subsequent generations and the adulation of Burnham continues. A letter in this newspaper overflowing with panegyrics of Burnham was written by someone who acknowledged that he was three years old when Burnham died. It obviously calls into question where he got his material from. The answer is obvious. Without even a slight shift in vocabulary, Jagan’s school of cadres that he nurtured many moons ago will write the dictionary of Jagan using the same sentiments and Freudianism that you find with Burnham’s admirers. So come next year,

President Granger will enter the Botanic Gardens and sing praise to the uniqueness of Burnham. In March next year, Moses Nagamootoo and Ralph Ramkarran will remind us how special Jagan is to Guyana. What both sides do is what historians will find completely unacceptable. The protégés and their younger generations will pull down from the stars, the wonderful nuances from the lives of Burnham and Jagan. Falling on the ground will be pieces of astral materials that remind them that Burnham and Jagan were not that great after all. But they will wrap the stellar nuances in starry gift paper and conveniently throw the astral vices in the dustbin. Why would they do that? Maybe a glimpse into the lives of two controversial German women holds the key to understanding why aficionados of Burnham and Jagan cannot accept that their greatness was equally matched by their badness. Traudl Junge was Adolf Hitler’s secretary and stayed with him in his bunker until the moment he took his life. Junge’s memoirs, “Until the Final Hour,” caused furious reactions around the world for two reasons. She asserted she did not know about the killings, the murders, the annihilation of the Jews, the

Bromhilda Pomsel, secretary to Goebbels

Former President, Forbes Burnham

Former President, Cheddi Jagan

Propaganda Minister Goebbels and wife with Hitler authoritarian state machinery. That stretches one’s imagination to nauseating limits. Hitler ran a one-man show. He ranted and raved every second of his chancellorship, yet Ms. Junge said she knew nothing of Hitler’s badness. Is she lying? The answer is yes and no. It is when you read the other reason for her attitude to Hitler then a complex situation becomes incomprehensible, ironically yet understandable. She said that all she knew and could remember were Hitler’s generosity and kindness to her. Through a Freudian

process of displacement, Ms Junge substituted Hitler’s personal, gentle attitude to her and she locked away memories of his evil side. When she wrote her memoirs, only the good things Hitler did for her came into her consciousness. Junge died in 2002, but Brunhilde Pomsel is still alive at age 105. Her story is made into a documentary titled, “A German Life.” Ms. Pomsel

was the secretary of one of Hitler’s most feared and trusted friends, Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels. It is from his name, we got the adjective, Goebbelsian. Pomsel’s account of life under the Nazis is uncannily similar to Junge’s. She said she knew nothing of the evil side of Goebbels. The same Freudian process occurred with Pomsel as what happened

with Junge. Pomsel in “A German Life,” recounted the generosity of Goebbels and his wife. Both Hitler and Goebbels treated their secretaries finely and appeared as modest leaders to them. These kinds of attitudes play on the psychology of protégés. The disciples internalize the favoured memories, they become lodges inside the sub-conscious and it dictates how they feel about their leaders. I told David Hinds last week on the balcony of the magistrates’ courts that Burnham was learned, visionary and charismatic. He charmed his disciples with transformational vision. They were fascinated with his futuristic plans like hydropower, multilateral schools, local agri-manufacturing. That is what they remember him by. They do not want to hear about the death of Walter Rodney. It doesn’t exist for them. Jagan’s disciples can only conjure up memories of a simple, incorruptible, modest man who wanted the best for the poor. They don’t want to see his dark side where he made Guyana into a pawn of the USSR. As the world goes on, there will be millions more like Junge, Pomsel and the protégés of Burnham and Jagan.

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Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

WE MUST SENSITIZE OUR YOUNG TO THEIR CULTURAL HERITAGE

At the height of our Golden Jubilee, the National Trust of Guyana partnered with the World Monuments Fund (WMF) and staged the first ever International Heritage Conference at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre. National Trust is only continuing its efforts to make Guyanese of every generation very aware of our nation’s history, of the people who shaped that history, and the buildings, places, sites and objects they bequeathed to us. Of course, our responsibility, just like the generations before us, is to preserve the buildings, structures, objects and other work of man or nature, above or below the surface of the land or the floor of the sea within territorial waters of

Guyana, and any site, cave or excavation of national, architectural, historic, artistic or natural interest or importance, and their surroundings. This responsibility is vested in the National Trust of Guyana. Monuments are as varied as their creators. They represent the hopes and aspirations of the people and are built to withstand the sands of time. National monuments are the vested responsibility of the National Trust and are gazetted as such, after cabinet has approved them. At present there are nine gazetted national monuments in Guyana. Prime Minister & First Vice President, Moses Nagamootoo, made it clear that Guyana’s heritage predates our independence. “It (our heritage)

encompasses our culture and our natural resources along with our historical sites, monuments, buildings”, he said when he declared that conference open. The Prime Minister spoke about a few of Guyana’s historical sites, one of which is now his official residence located on High Street, Kingston. The building was only recently rehabilitated, with most of its original architecture restored. He spoke about other architectural gems such as City Hall built in 1889, St. George’s Cathedral and the Victoria Law Courts. He said, “Our Government expects that one day soon Georgetown would be counted among the heritage capitals of the world. (We

have to restore) it to pristine beauty, building by building, block by block, and we must lead the way in becoming transformed into a green and clean Capital. We highly appreciate the World Monuments Fund for including our historic Georgetown City Hall in their 2014 World Monuments Watch, which calls international attention to at-risk, cultural heritage sites around the globe. This was the first time a site in Guyana was included on the Watch. (The exposure will) garner local and international attention, and (we expect to receive) support to preserve this remarkable piece of architecture. We commend the Trust for winning a UK International Green Apple Award for the Built Environment and Architectural Heritage 2016.”

OUR HERITAGE, OUR LIFE, OUR PLANET THE 1763 MONUMENT was unveiled by former President Forbes Burnham on 23 May, 1976.It commemorates the 1763 slave rebellion, the first revolt that came close to success. The leader, Cuffy, was declared a national hero and his legacy has been immortalized in bronze. Philip Moore was the sculptor of this 10.1 metres (33 feet) symbol of struggle and freedom that stands tall on the Square of the Revolution. It symbolizes the struggle of the Guyanese people, particularly of African descent, for their liberation from physical slavery and degradation. FORT KYKOVER-AL was erected at Cartabo Point in the Essequibo River and early documents suggest that it was the earliest Dutch fort, but there has been some controversy over the date of construction. Jan Jacob

Hartsinck claimed that work on the fort commenced in 1613 and concluded about 1623. Major John Scott claimed that it really began in 1616. Others wrote that the fort was ready for use by 1627. The ruins of the fort indicate that it was not very large. The ground floor was a storehouse for ammunition, food and other ‘goods’ traded with indigenous (Amer)Indians, goods such as cotton, tobacco, annatto, and balsam copaibo. There used to be provision grounds around the fort with benabs for the conduct of trade. There were three rooms on the top floor for the soldiers, the Commander, and the Secretary of the colony. Today, all that remains of this fort is an arch. Apparently the fort was earlier named Fort terHoogen after an ‘Influential Dutch gentleman’ but its name was later changed to Kyk-over-al for its strategic location that allowed the Dutch colonists a long view of the Essequibo River and its tributaries. FORT NASSAU was constructed on the eastern bank of the Berbice River by Dutch merchant, Abraham Van Pere. This fort used to be the seat of Berbice, governed as a separate colony until the 1831 unification of the three colonies, Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice. This fort was constructed of wood and enclosed with palisades. It had an irregular rectangular redoubt with a larger stone building and barracks built to house about 60 soldiers. The main building had two floors with the Governor, the Captain of the Troops, the Secretary and two Lieutenants dwelling on the upper floor. On the first floor was a Council Chamber and Church Hall. In 1712 it was demolished when Alexandre de Grasse, Baron de Mouanset de Sartoux and his privateers (today known

as mercenaries) bombed the fort and held Berbice at ransom. A new fort was later constructed. During the slave revolt of 1763 led by Cuffy, it was again destroyed by fire by Governor Van Hoogenheim and his soldiers to prevent the slave rebels from acquiring it. STATE HOUSE This house with its 100 windows was built during the 1820s on land belonging to the Anglican Church. Several governors including Governors Charles Campbell Woolley and Sir Richard Edmonds Luyt resided there. Each had paid a monthly rent of 240 pounds. The original building had two storeys and a double stairway, and faced Carmichael Street. By 1894, the building’s main entrance was on Main Street. Known as the ‘Grande Dame of Main Street’, this elegant wooden building exhibits some of the finest old English wooden architecture. Many of the ornate designs in the interior are credited to Cesar Castellani who came to British Guiana in 1860 with a group of Italian priests. Castellani’s genius is preserved in a number of prominent buildings including the Brickdam Cathedral, Castellani House, the Brickdam Police Station and the New Amsterdam Public Hospital. He made alterations and additions to the first Church of the Sacred Heart on Main Street which had opened in 1861 for our Madeiran (Portuguese) labourers. In 1875 Castellani completed the installation of a sunken panelled ceiling in the eastern wing of the Parliament Building. Now restored to its former glory, State House is the official residence of the President of the Republic of Guyana.

Sunday August 21, 2016

PAGE 29

Kaieteur News

My column

Sports is a stepchild in Guyana The past two weeks have been good for the lovers of sports and a wakeup call for Guyana, in this world where sports is perhaps the most powerful event to attract people. Brazil pulled off the 2016 Olympics and highlighted the extent to which security could be enhanced. There was this American swimmer who fashioned a movie script after a drunken night with friends. Being a world renowned swimmer and the fact that the Americans kept their cameras firmly on their own, the story immediately gained a life of its own. His story was that he was going to his corner of the Olympic village when people dressed as policemen pulled him over, put a gun to his head, and robbed him of everything except the chains he was wearing, his medal and whatever object of value he might have had, including his cell phone. Immediately he set about to tarnish the image of this country that was under intense focus from the start. There were even calls for the Olympics to be shifted. What this swimmer, Ryan Lochte, never bargained for was the extent of technology in that country. He also never considered that this was one of the largest economies in the world—a First World country. With that attempt to place a blemish on the Games, I saw the extent of security cameras in Rio de Janeiro. Guyana has started on a similar project given the relatively high volume of crime in the

country. I was heartened when then President Bharrat Jagdeo talked about these cameras. They worked in a few cases, but they failed to do what they really were supposed to do. Millions of dollars went into the project that now demands millions of dollars more. Meanwhile, just about every business place has these cameras and more than a few homes sport them. The cameras have become ubiquitous. Guyana is moving along, but it is not moving in the direction of sport. Our athletes are simply not up to scratch. I saw the son of the Business Minister finishing second in his heat and pride swelled my heart. Here was somebody who was on the cusp of challenging the best. But where is the money coming from for his training? He might not have been swimming had his parents not dug deep into their pockets. This is only one example. We have runners, albeit people living overseas, who have used whatever facilities at their disposal to hone their skills. But back in Guyana, the support from the local business community is minimal. I recently told someone that our businessmen are more interested in having massive bank accounts and acquiring even more wealth without helping to invest in sport. We have a synthetic athletic track that came almost fifty years after Jamaica installed its own. I don’t see banners indicating that certain businesses are behind promoting track and field. It

is the same with the aquatic stadium. There is no young athlete who is being sponsored by a business house, as would be done in other Caribbean countries. Dwight Yorke, the Trinidadian footballer of world renown, was sponsored by a Trinidad businessman. He didn’t have to worry about food on the table while he trained. Usain Bolt, the prodigy, got sponsored help when he burst on the scene. Today he is unbeatable and he is giving back to the community, the country, and the people who helped him. There are many others who are now known by almost all of us who enjoy such a facility that they now attract millions of dollars from powerful companies in the United States. I say this not because I expect our business community to pour millions of dollars behind athletes, but because we need to break out of the shackles that have us believing that it is the responsibility of the government to promote sports and every athlete. We must be the only country in which athletes are left home because they cannot find a few thousand dollars to represent their country. People leaving to cover certain sports events overseas beg a few businessmen for support and get it. But when I look at the extent of the support I see a pittance—a few hundred US

Adam Harris dollars. There was the Lotto Fund, some of which should have gone to sports. I don’t know if there was any money in it. I do know that some went to the radio and television

station to broadcast cricket some time back. Our badminton and squash players are what they are because their parents could have afforded the cost of support. And if there was a working adult involved in these activities, certainly that employee would not have been given the requisite timeoff. Way back when, the late Forbes Burnham was so into sports that if someone was selected to represent Guyana, that person was given all the necessary time off to train. And he got his pay. Burnham brought the best coaches for things like boxing and table tennis from Cuba and China. He even brought chess coaches. We don’t get that any more. Our lone

bronze medal is credited to a Cuban coach. If we spend, we will get. People from countries are pursuing athletic scholarships in the United States because the American people are paying. The universities know that sports is big business, so they invest. Nike is the world’s largest seller of footwear because it spends millions of dollars on promotion and gains massive tax deductions on such expenditures. I am sure those businessmen who invest in sports personalities will get the money back in the form of tax deductions. At the same time they would be helping to develop people who would make us proud while we sit and look at television.

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Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

Young, educated, employed and enterprising This country will falter if its youth flounders. Youth will fail if employment is unavailable. Employment will be difficult to find without education. Employment is essential to human development. Employment provides incomes which generate sustainable livelihoods. Employment improves everyone’s standard of living and quality of life. It shapes people’s life expectations and creates a sense of identity. It is the principal means which allows people to escape from poverty. Employment enhances economic development. The administration is committed to generating employment in the economy. The pre-Independence administrations bequeathed a legacy of youth unemployment. The establishment, first of the Guyana Youth Corps (GYC) in 1967 and, later, the Guyana National Service (GNS) in 1973, were the earliest governmental attempts to train youths for employment. The deliberate dissolution of the GNS in 2000 triggered a surge in youth unemployment the effects of which the country is now enduring. This administration, therefore, has reembarked on a strategy to prepare youths for the world of work. The Minister of Finance, in the administration’s first budget presentation a mere three months after the May 2015 general and regional elections in August 2015, announced the launch of the Sustainable Livelihood and Entrepreneurial Development (SLED) Initiative.

(Address by His Excellency David Granger at the Sustainable Livelihood and Entrepreneurial (SLED)Initiative Award Ceremony) The SLED Initiative emphasises the administration’s employment policy by encouraging entrepreneurship, particularly for young people. It contradicts the criticisms that the administration has no employment plan for the unemployed and the underemployed. The SLED Initiative is part of a programme that reinforces the administration’s efforts to stimulate economic development in communities, especially at the grassroot level. It has provided training, mentorship, business development skills and start-up grants to individuals and groups. The administration also announced the launch of the Linden Enterprise Network (LEN) which enabled 40 youngish entrepreneurs from across the Upper Demerara-Berbice Region to receive loans to further facilitate their business enterprises. This was made possible through the administration’s $155 million subvention to LEN in the FY (Financial Year) 2015 budget. I exhorted Lindeners to think outside of the box and to seek new business ventures, such as those in agriculture. I encouraged residents, for example, to each plant a breadfruit tree, as business could be found in making breadfruit chips as an alternative to imported potato chips. The Region alone has the potential

President, David Granger to produce one million kilogrammes of breadfruit every year. I compared the dependency on wage labour to an addiction, and encouraged residents to withdraw from this addiction and become enterprising and selfemployed. I suggested that, with the establishment of ‘capital towns’ in every region, the aim should be to create a Youth Enterprise Network (YEN) in every town and not solely in Linden. The administration, in order to reduce unemployment, also

launched the billion-dollar Hinterland Employment Youth Service (HEYS). This service – aimed at 2000 young people in one hundred and six communities in the four hinterland regions Barima-Waini, Cuyuni-Mazaruni, PotaroSiparuni and Rupununi – is administered by the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs. The SLED, HEYS and LEN initiatives are all part of that the administration’s grand youth employment strategy. That strategy stands on a bipod of education and entrepreneurship. Education is one of the state’s most important functions. Education unlocks opportunities for young people, who must be prepared to grasp opportunities for self-employment. They must be educated if they are to improve their performance and acquire the correct attitudes, values and skills to secure employment. Employers have complained frequently of young applicants who do not possess the skills needed to fill vacancies. The secondary school matriculation rate is low, with only 2,380 or 28.3 per cent of the 8,430 public school students who wrote the CSEC examinations in 2015 securing passes in five or more subjects, including Mathematics and English. Retraining is needed to improve the ‘marketability’ of those school graduates who do not leave school with satisfactory qualifications. Young people must be equipped with knowledge of information technology in order to be better integrated into an increasingly knowledgeintensive job market. Information

technology is a driver of economic growth, particularly for the services sector. The liberalisation of the telecommunications sector will encourage increased investment and employment. We will continue to encourage the growth of the information communication technology sector because of its potential for employment. Entrepreneurship will stimulate employment in industries, including agroprocessing and micro-industries in rural and hinterland communities. Entrepreneurship will be promoted so that more persons, including young people, could start-up their own business and become selfemployed. The government’s employment strategy depends on attracting foreign and domestic investment. Initiatives are needed to help our young people to overcome the constraints to greater selfemployment. The lack of access to finance is one such constraint. The government has begun to improve access to finance for business start-ups. It will continue to do this for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which account for half of all formal employment globally, and which tend to enjoy higher levels of job growth when compared to large enterprises. The government, quite clearly, has been finding employment for the unemployed. The Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency of the Ministry of Social Protection registered 3,430 job-seekers in 2015 and placements were found for 3,051 persons or 89 per cent of those registered in that year. There is need for more employmenttomeetpeople’sneeds, especially of the 15,000 students graduating from the University of Guyana and from our secondary schools every year. The World Bank has estimated the youth unemployment rate in Guyana at just below 25 per cent. The Caribbean Development Bank, in a study entitled Youth are the Future. Employment for Sustainable Development in the Caribbean claimed that youth employment in Guyana since 2000 has been around 40 per cent. The unemployment rate will escalate unless there are measured interventions to meet young people’s needs. The state will do everything necessary to find employment for all young school-leavers. The public services, together with the

private sector and foreign corporations must combine their efforts and energies to generate employment. This administration has demonstrated its commitment to creating an enabling environment for economic growth by: ensuring macroeconomic stability by maintaining low inflation and exchange rate and interest rate stability; encouraging increased employmentgenerating domestic and foreign investment; and enacting simplified systems of business registration, licences, permits and regulations and excising bureaucratic bottlenecks. The SLED Initiative, in collaboration with the Skills and Knowledge for Youth Employment (SKYE) initiative has been providing skillstraining to disadvantaged youths. Training is important, but certification must be converted into careers. The Initiative’s beneficiaries must be equipped for employment or selfemployment. Certification must enhance employment prospects and bring increased recognition to those who are starting their own businesses. The SLED Initiative, through its programmes and with its partners, is fostering a culture of self-employment. It must be commended for the fruitful partnerships that it has developed with other programmes such as the SKYE Initiative, which is part of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative and which targets atrisk youth and the Caribbean Local Economic Development Project (CARILED). The LEN and HEYS initiatives, additionally, will create more opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship. These initiatives have all made small but smart starts to overcoming the problem of unemployment. Their impact on employment and enterprise generation has resulted in business start-ups, provided support to several groups and will set the stage to be introduced into all ten administrative regions. These initiatives are about the future. They must also make themselves more relevant by exploiting emerging opportunities through the creation of green enterprises and green employment. They must empower a corps of young people who will become the new entrepreneurial class. No one can doubt the government’s commitment to ensuring ‘a good life for all’ through education, employment and enterprise.

Sunday August 21, 2016

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Kaieteur News

Male Infertility: Devastation for some couples By Dr Zulfikar Bux Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine A silent killer in relationships is infertility. Females are more often the ones at risk of being infertile. What is not well known is the fact that 30% of the time males are the reason for infertility. Male infertility is a damning condition and can lead to depression and even broken relationships. The men are often depressed and some are ridiculed in society. Being infertile is not the end of the line. There is hope. Today we will look at options available for infertile males. WHAT IS MALE INFERTILITY? Male infertility is the term doctors use when a man has trouble getting a woman pregnant. In order to get a woman pregnant, a man needs to have a normal number of healthy sperm. Doctors call this a “normal sperm count.” Men with infertility can have one of the following problems: Ï%They have no sperm at all Ï%They do not have enough sperm – this is called having a “low sperm count” Ï%They have unhealthy sperm – the sperm might move too slowly or have

abnormal shapes There are many reasons that men can have an abnormal sperm count. These include: Ï%Problems in the testicles, such as a block in the vas deferens – The vas deferens is the tube the sperm travels through to reach the penis. A block can be caused by a past infection or by a vasectomy. A vasectomy is a surgery a man can choose to have so that he can’t get a woman pregnant. Ï%Having low levels of the hormone testosterone Ï%Genetic problems that men might be born with But most of the time, doctors cannot explain why a man has an abnormal sperm count. WHEN SHOULD I SEE A DOCTOR? In most cases, doctors recommend that a man be tested if a couple cannot get pregnant after having unprotected sex for one year. At that time, both the man and the woman are often tested. But if you are worried, talk with your doctor or nurse. He or she might recommend that you have tests done sooner. If your partner is over age 35 and has not gotten pregnant

after six months of trying, your doctor will start tests at that time. WHAT TESTS WILL I HAVE? Your doctor will order a test called a “sperm count” to check your sperm. This test counts your sperm and checks to see how healthy they are. For this test, a man needs to provide a sample of his sperm. If your sperm count is low, your doctor will repeat the test one or more times. If repeat sperm counts are still abnormal, your doctor might do other tests. For example, he or she might do: Ï%Blood tests Ï%An exam to measure the size of your testicles Ï%Tests to see if there is a block in your testicles WHAT TREATMENTS CAN HELP MEN WITH INFERTILITY? Different treatments can help men with infertility still be able to father children. These can include: Ï%Hormone treatment to increase sperm counts – Some men have low hormone levels in the brain and can be treated with hormone shots. Ï%Surgery to open up a block in the testicle – For example, a man who had a vasectomy in the past can have surgery to reopen the

tube the sperm travels through. Ï%In vitro fertilization, also called “IVF” – During IVF, a doctor takes an egg or eggs from a woman and sperm from a man. He or she puts them together in a test tube so that the sperm can fertilize an egg. Then the fertilized egg is put into the woman’s uterus to grow. DO TREATMENTS ALWAYS WORK? No. Treatments do not always help a couple get pregnant. The same treatment can help one couple get pregnant, but not another couple.

WHAT CHOICES DO I HAVE IF I CHOOSE TO STOP OR NOT HAVE TREATMENT? Couples who choose to stop or not have treatment have other options. They can: Ï%Try to have a baby using another man’s sperm, such as sperm from a sperm bank (called “donor” sperm) Ï%Adopt a child Ï%Not have children of their own Couples can have a tough time making these decisions. You might find it helpful

Dr. Zulfikar Bux to talk to a counselor or go to a support group for people who are facing the same issues. But do not stay at home and get depressed. Be open about it. Talk to your doctor and try the options available.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday August 21, 2016

SUNDAY SPECIAL AS SARU DRAFT LEGISLATION GETS ON BOARD… BANKING INDUSTRY CONCERNED ABOUT STOLEN STATE ASSETS PLEDGED FOR LOANS What recourse will banks have where assets have been pledged as collateral for a loan and are subsequently found to be recoverable under the State Asset Recovery Agency (SARA) legislation? This worrying question was brought to the forefront by a representative of the banking community during consultations on the SARA Draft Bill two Thursdays ago at the Pegasus Hotel. According to UK Asset Recovery Expert, Brian Horne, there is adequate protection in the draft legislation for cases of third party interest. Horne, who is a Guyanese by birth, and has worked in more than 22 countries in the field of state assets recovery and the successful prosecution of the defaulters, stressed to the banking officials present at the consultations, that if the property was stolen from the state, then it remains recoverable. He noted, however, that this would not be done in an arbitrary manner. Horne said that the bank may be in a position to argue that in good faith, it conducted the proceedings with the client and as such, would be able to seek protection under the law and recover its moneys in such a circumstance. Legal Officer of the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI), Nazla Faizoul also expressed worry about the disclosure of clients’ information. She said that the banks are a bit concerned about the extent to which they may in the future; have to divulge client’s information. The Legal Officer said that at present, they can receive a customer information request from the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) as well as an Order of Court from the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU). Faizoul said that when the SARA Bill is passed, the resulting entity can present banks with either one or two types of orders for client information. She noted, however, that banks would like to have the assurance that whoever is assisting SARA with investigations that they treat the information collected from financial institutions with the same level of confidentiality. ”We live in a very small country and I do note in the Bill that if we tip-off our clients, then we can be held liable and fined or imprisoned… So I wanted to impress upon the authorities that we try to limit as much as possible those who may have access to the information provided because at the end of the day it is client’s information.” Horne assured the GBTI official that there are provisions in the act which state how the Director is to handle information from financial institutions. He said that it is expressly stated in Section 22 of the draft Bill. BK SETTLEMENT IS PLAIN “CRIMINAL,” SOMEONE MUST BE GETTING KICKBACK ‘… THIS SHOULD BE AMONG THE FIRST CASES TAKEN ON BY SARA’ – FORMER AG NANDLALL Former Attorney General (AG), Anil Nandlall is convinced that the out of court settlement that the coalition government made with BK International in relation to the Haags Bosch dumpsite is not as straightforward as the current government is making it out to be. He insists, “There is something sinister about this entire deal.” The Member of Parliament said that the

government had a strong case against BK, so there was “absolutely no need to settle.” ”I still cannot come up with a legal reason why government should have moved to settle out of court, and the Ministers have not been able to give me an acceptable reason,” said Nandlall. Nandlall said that the settlement is one that needs to be investigated, as there seems to be much more to the story than what has been made public. The former AG said he noted the current AG’s announcement that the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) will go after all Ministers – past, present and future – but insisted that that was not enough. ”The Agency should be looking it all levels of corruption. Nandlall stressed, “The BK settlement should be one of the first cases that is investigated, because over a billion dollars belonging to the State was gifted to BK. Someone in public office must be benefitting.” BK International’s contract to manage the dumpsite was terminated last year, resulting in the contractor’s move to the court. Having settled out of court, it has been agreed that a total of US$5.7M (approx. G$1.1B) will be paid in three parts to the company. MONDAY EDITION IS GUYANA’S MANUFACTURING SECTOR DYING? -TAMARIND BALLS AND COCONUT WATER FROM THAILAND, RICE FROM PAKISTAN, PACKAGED PLANTAIN CHIPS FROM JAMAICA, PACKAGED ROTI AND PURI FROM SURINAME ON OUR LOCAL SHELVES Rice from Pakistan. Tamarind balls and coconut water from Thailand. Packaged roti and dhal puri from Suriname. These are just five of many imported items that are slowly taking over local markets. In the face of this, many entrepreneurs acknowledge that Guyana is already producing some of these products and has the potential to manufacture many other imported goods. So what is causing the proliferation and domination of these imported products? Is it an indication that our manufacturing sector will soon lose its relevance and die a slow death? Does it signify that our manufacturers are being stifled by a less than enabling environment? Or are they just too lazy to be innovative and competitive?

According to manufacturers, one of the main reasons for the saturation of imported products which can and are being produced here, has to do with the culture of the manufacturing sector itself. One manufacturer said: “I think this culture of the manufacturing sector has changed and there are a number of reasons why it has moved from being an extremely diverse area in our economy to one that is filled with numerous traders. And it is simple. It is just easier and cheaper to trade. It isn’t easy becoming a manufacturer here. That is like a philosophical ideal of a job now. In the 70s and 80s, Guyana’s manufacturing sector was an extremely vibrant and innovative field. We were producing all of our own jellies, matches, detergents, milk, cheese, cooking condiments, house hold appliances etc. ”Then all of a sudden, we ended up in an environment where the culture of manufacturing is about some traditional items like rums, paint, rice and sugar. This 10 to 18 percent growth rate that we keep talking about in the manufacturing sector is really false too because the only thing that keeps it up in that bracket is rice and sugar producers. Take them out and you would really see where the manufacturing sector’s growth is at. We are stagnant.” Another manufacturer, CEO of Umami Products, Chris Persaud believes that the current state of the sector is due to, among other things, the failure of manufacturers to adapt to the relevant technology. He said that manufacturers should be upset that products such as roti, dhal puri, sweet tamarind and coconut water are being imported. NO MORE SLAPS ON THE WRIST…BLACKLIST, PROSECUTE ERRANT CONTRACTORS – URGES MIN. PATTERSON For years, the state has sustained billions of dollars in losses over shoddy work produced by contractors and subsequently cleared by supervising firms.

But Public Infrastructure Minister, David Patterson said that given the disaster surrounding the Kato Secondary School it becomes even more imperative for examples to be made of errant contractors and supervising consultants. He said in no uncertain terms that such disrespectful actions call for either of two actions; blacklisting or having those at fault taken before the courts to recoup losses. The Minister told this newspaper, that he is appalled at the substandard work on Kato Secondary and insists that “someone must be held accountable for this disaster.” Patterson recalled that the construction of Kato Secondary was conceptualized due to the recognition of several benefits. For one, he said that the school, when completed, was intended to accommodate approximately 400 students and would serve children from other communities such as Monkey Mountain; Kurukubaru; Kopinang; and Itabac. The Public Infrastructure Minister recalled that the contract for such an ambitious undertaking was awarded in late 2012 to Kares Engineering Inc. Work commenced in 2013, with a completion date set for April 2015. He said that the project was plagued with delays and a subsequent audit of it revealed severe structural defects. From the findings, Patterson said that it was revealed that approximately 60 percent of the project had defects, with another 30 percent just over the borderline. Only about 10 percent of the project was deemed (Continued on page 33)

Sunday August 21, 2016

(From page 32) structurally sound, he said. The AFC Executive Member said that because of the shoddy work done by the contractor, some students wouldn’t get to attend secondary school for another year and parents would be forced to reorganize their plans. Patterson noted, too, that the post-contract services of the supervising firm, Designs and Construction Services Limited (DCSL) failed to address the issue of amendments and extensions to the design contract buildings. The politician said that Kares Engineering Inc. simply failed to produce a completed project according to the terms of the contract as is evident by the poor quality of the building. What unnerves Patterson also, is the fact that the contractor was overpaid for the current works completed and paid well in excess of the present value of works on site. TUESDAY EDITION DRUGS BOND SCANDAL…NORTON SHOULD BE SENT PACKING – ROHEE General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Clement Rohee firmly believes that Minister of Public Health Dr. George Norton should be fired from his position for his actions concerning the Sussex Street storage bond issue. Rohee made this assertion at his Party’s weekly press conference at Freedom House Monday. He told media operatives that the Public Health Minister deserves to be sent packing for “the lies which he told in Parliament”. Rohee described Norton’s actions as most disgraceful. The former Home Affairs Minister said that he finds it even more dreadful that during Norton’s presentation last Monday, the Government side in the National Assembly found the situation humorous. Rohee explained that when Norton was asked to give a specific location of the bond, he began making a mockery of the issue by

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giving confusing and inaccurate directions. ”That is not a serious Government and a serious Minister. You ought to answer questions in a responsible manner.” According to Rohee, the Minister then proceeded to tell “a host of blatant lies” regarding the bond. One such untruth, he highlighted, concerned the certification of the Sussex Street bond owned by Linden Holdings Inc. ”He (Norton) said that the place was certified first by PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) and then he changed his mouth and said that it was certified by the Ministry of Health. He said that drugs were already stored at the bond. He also said that there was no rental paid for the bond, and later on as the truth came out, it was a totally different story.” The General-Secretary reminded that his Party had strongly suggested that Norton should go before the Committee of Privileges. ”This slap-on-the-wrist…apology is unacceptable. Lies in the National Assembly and making statements like that in the National Assembly should be taken seriously.” COURT COLLISION IMMINENT AS…AG WANTS JSC POWERS REDUCED AFTER DEPUTY REGISTRAR APPOINTMENT In March, she was interviewed for the position of Deputy Registrar of the Deeds Registry by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). Now, more than four and half months later, Attorney-at-Law Zanna Frank has gone to court, asking the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Basil Williams, to ex-

plain why she was not allowed to do her job. Frank was reportedly granted court orders Monday asking the Attorney General to provide reasons for his actions. The matter is heading towards a collision course between the Attorney General’s Chambers and the commission, a constitutional body, with the Government official believing that the appointment of Frank was not legal. The matter was first raised publicly Monday when former AG, Anil Nandlall, in a letter to the editor, complained that Frank was being illegally sidelined, despite JSC being the authority for appointments to the Deeds Registry. Later Monday, Williams in a press conference at his Carmichael Street office expressed concerns about the appointment, and signaled his intentions to examine the revision of JSC powers with regard to the appointment of Registrars of the Deeds Registry. ”I think that that is something we have to move quickly to remove from the law,” Williams said at the press conference. He pointed out that the Deeds and Commercial Registry is an autonomous body which falls under the executive arm of the state, while the JSC falls under the ambit of the judicial arm of the state. The AG argued that JSC’s appointment powers were an anomaly that was introduced by the previous administration. However, he said, the 1996 and 1980s constitutions do not make these provisions. ”There was this struggle with the Chancellor and the Registrar at the time…as to who had the line control of the Deeds Registry and the Supreme Courts Registry also.” The appointment of Frank as Deputy Registrar by the JSC was out of jurisdiction, Williams contends. “The JSC was acting excessively and out of their jurisdiction.” WEDNESDAY EDITION DEPUTY REGISTRAR APPOINTMENT…ATTORNEY GENERAL HAS NO AUTHORITY TO INTERVENE IN JSC DECISION-MAKING – NANDLALL One day after announcing intentions to review the powers of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to appoint critical justice officials, Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General (AG), Basil Williams, is facing a backlash. His predecessor, Anil Nandlall, Monday insisted that the commission has no obliga-

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tion whatsoever to consult with the AG on appointments. In a scathing statement, Nandlall, an attorney-at-law and Member of Parliament for the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), also accused the AG of attempting to interfere in the independent workings of the JSC, a body that comprises a number of judges. The clash was sparked by news that Zanna Frank, an attorney-at-law, was rejected and prevented from carrying out her duties at the Deeds Registry for more than four months, despite being interviewed and appointed by JSC since March. She was later allowed to take office, but has not been paid. Last week, Frank successfully applied to the High Court, asking the AG to explain why she was prevented from doing her job. On Monday, the AG during a press conference at his office made it clear that he believes that the JSC exceeded its powers to make the appointment and in any case, the Deputy Registrar, was not qualified enough. Further, his office was not consulted. He wants the powers of JSC to be reviewed and reduced. The case would cause ripples, as the JSC is an independent constitutional body. Tuesday, Nandlall in a strongly worded statement explained that Article 199 (1) and (3) and Article 226 (1) of the Constitution give the JSC powers to appoint. ”As a matter of fact, another article, 199 (3), explains that the article applies to the office of Commissioner of Title, Magistrate, Director of Public Prosecution, Deputy Director of Public Prosecution, Registrar of the High Court, Deputy Registrar of the High Court, Registrar of Deeds, Deputy Registrar of Deeds…” GPHC CEO FLOUTS TAX AND PROCUREMENT REGULATIONS – AUDIT FINDS —RESOLUTION EXPECTED THIS WEEK Between the period January 1, 2012 and May 31, 2015, there were numerous infractions at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) involving its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Michael Khan. In fact, according to the findings of a forensic audit conducted by the Chartered Accountants of Ram and McRae under the purview of the Ministry of Finance, Khan (Continued on page 34)

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(From page 33) deliberately flouted the law not only when he refused to pay taxes on income earned, but when he condoned questionable procurement practices at the institution. Khan was sent on administrative leave last year to facilitate the audit which had a primary focus on scrutinising the financial operations and functioning of the hospital. The administration leave was in fact, vacation leave accrued by Khan over a period of time. The Board of Directors of the hospital, headed by Dr. Carl ‘Max’ Hanoman, has since issued a letter to Khan to resume duties against the backdrop that Khan, based on the audit, was not found guilty of any wrongdoing. Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, has shared an opposing view that “when one, even at a glance, evaluates the (audit) report, there is so much evidence (against Khan), enough for him to be deprived of further employment (at the GPHC).” But the only time the report noted that Khan was cleared of wrongdoing, is when the auditors made reference to an unsigned nine-page paper which was sharply critical of the CEO and strongly suggested criminal intent on his part. The auditors, however, note that “unfortunately, we never had the opportunity to meet with the writer or to communicate with him/her to obtain any evidence to support the allegations. To the extent that we could check the allegations, we found no evidence of wrongdoing on Mr Khan’s part or support for some of the assertions.” Added to this, the auditors said that “we have decided against reproducing the paper to avoid any accusation of defamatory conduct by any person.” However, it was noted that the paper did contain a number of recommendations that were quite useful which support many detailed in the report. These include a complete overhaul of the statutory form of the Corporation, establishment of an array of policy and procedures for all functions and departments, and the computerisation of the Finance Department and Materials Management. LEGAL FRATERNITY CALLS FOR SPECIAL COURT, JUDGES FOR ASSET RECOVERY CASES – LEGAL FRATERNITY CALLS FOR SPECIAL COURT, JUDGES Numerous civil and criminal cases remain clogged in Guyana’s judicial system for a plethora of reasons. But when the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) comes on board, the legal fraternity wants to see cases from the entity being dealt with in an expeditious manner. In fact, it was during the second round of consultations on the SARA draft legislation, held at the Pegasus Hotel that this matter was brought up. Raising the issue was head of the Guyana Bar Association, Gem StanfordJohnson. During the question and answer segment, the attorney raised a number of concerns, one of which was the need for a special court to deal with asset recovery cases, as the court system is already plagued by a backlog in cases. She said that a special court may be necessary, since, given the current system, it may take approximately five to seven years to conclude asset recovery matters, “especially when one takes into account the fact that there are clever lawyers who may find ways to delay the process.” In relation to the concerns expressed, Attorney General Basil Williams said that the

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country is based on the system of a separation of powers, and such an issue is one for the Chancellor of the Judiciary. Williams believes however that there could be consultations on that matter between the judiciary and the Executive. Other members of the legal fraternity who were present at the event agreed with the suggestion and stressed that a special court is absolutely essential in such a circumstance. Head of the State Asset Recovery Unit (SARU), Dr. Clive Thomas said that he was pleased with the consultations and is in agreement with the suggestion. It was since last year July that the coalition administration promised that it would set up a special court to preside solely over corruption cases. Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo had made this disclosure at the book launch of former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran. He said that the anti-corruption court will have to be established when all the anti-corruption laws are in place. He noted that government has already made steps towards this end, in addition to its efforts to strengthen already existing anti-graft laws. His disclosure was given full support by Minster of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, who reiterated that the number of cases government expects to have in the future on lawbreakers, would perhaps necessitate an entire court. Ramjattan said that one cannot argue that such a court would not only support government’s commitment to enforcing the anti-corruption laws, but would also serve as

a reminder that no one will escape punishment once they are found to have committed the crime.

Sunday August 21, 2016

sence of a storage bond at the company’s address, the GWI’s chief said that the licence does not require the company to store fuel at the lot.

THURSDAY EDITION GEA GRANTS FUEL IMPORT LICENCE TO GWI’S BOSS, OTHERS

ST. ROSE’S GIRL IS NATION’S TOP CSEC PERFORMER

A senior Government executive whose name has surfaced as benefitting from a 10year oil importation licence has defended it saying, that nothing is wrong. Dr. Richard Van West Charles, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI), made it clear that the licence was issued to a company which he has been part of prior to the coalition Government entering office in May last year. The application for the licence was made in February 2015 by Atlantic Fuels Inc., he stressed Wednesday. The licence was issued on November 5th, 2015 and signed by the head of the Guyana Energy Agency, Dr. Mahender Sharma. The CEO happens to be a Director on the company along with Andron Alphonso, Ronaldo Alphonso and Lear Goring. The Alphonsos are said to be close relations to prominent businessman and miner, Alfro Alphonso. ”As a private citizen I’m allowed to do business,” the GWI’s chief said Wednesday. Questioned whether the granting of the licence and the fact that he is the head of GWI does not place him in a peculiar situation, Van West Charles made it clear that it does not constitute a conflict of interest. He pointed out that he does not supply fuel to GWI or any GWI-affiliated entity. The licence stated that Atlantic Fuels Inc. operates at 16 Sublot A, Mudlot, Kingston, and that permission was being granted for the importation and wholesaling of diesel. That office is the same one used by the Alphonsos. Permission was also granted for the company to store the diesel at the Kingston location. There were no visible signs of fuel storage facilities there. When asked about the ab-

This year’s top Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination performer is a product of St. Rose’s High School. While the institution has over the years had students among the top performing CSEC candidates, it has surpassed expectations this year. And claiming the top spot this year is 16year-old Fatima Karim of Tucville, Georgetown. Karim’s name led a list of candidates, many of whom hailed from traditional top performing schools such as Queen’s College (QC) and more recently the Sarawati Vidya Niketan (SVN) Hindu School. Presenting the 2016 CSEC results was Ms. Ingrid Trotman, Assistant Chief Education Officer (ACEO) (Nursery). Based on a preliminary report on the examination made available by the Ministry on Wednesday, there was an increase in the number of candidates who wrote CSEC this year. According to Trotman, there were a total of 12,809 candidate entries, which was translated to 8,269 from public institutions and 4,540 from private. There were 73,303 subject entries which saw the participation of 8,132 females and 4,677 males. Trotman during her presentation noted that while the Ministry has not yet done a full analysis of individual candidates’ performances, “we have requested however, a list of candidates who have secured Grade one passes in eight or more subjects from the Caribbean Examination Council.” The ACEO (Nursery) noted that in response to the Ministry’s request, a list of 157 candidates was made available. Of (Continued on page 35)

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Kaieteur News

(From page 34) these, 46 secured 11 grade ones or more. QC PRODUCES OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES AT CAPE With 6 grade ones and 1 grade twos, Deenuath Mohabeer of Queen’s College (QC) has claimed a top performing spot at this year’s sitting of the Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examination (CAPE). He secured grade one passes in Caribbean Studies (Unit 1), Computer Science (Unit 1), Pure Mathematics (Unit 1), Computer Science (Unit 2), Management of Business (Unit 2), Digital Media (Unit 2) and a grade 2 pass in Information Technology (Unit 2). The ambitious 18-year-old hopes to someday study and eventually be an artificial intelligen c e d e s i g n e r. Also commanding a top performing place at CAPE this year is Larissa Wiltshire, also of QC, who secured grade one passes in six subject areas: Communication Studies (Unit 1), Applied Mathematics (Unit 2), Biology (Unit 2), Chemistry (Unit 2), Environmental Science (Unit 2), and Pure Mathematics (Unit 2). ”I am very happy about my results,” related the 18-year-old who credits her success to her parents, teachers and friends who were very supportive. She already has plans on stream to complete studies in the area of Dentistry at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. Other QC students securing grade one passes in six subject areas are Joash Gobin, Ashley Anthony and Shannon Woodroffe. FRIDAY EDITION FUEL LICENCES TO GWI BOSS, PARTNERS WERE GRANTED IN FIVE WEEKS – SAYS GEA There are more startling details emerging over the grant of a fuel import and wholesale licence to a company that was formed just three months before the historic May 11, 2015 elections. The company, Atlantic Fuels Inc., was created in February 2015 and the registered directors of the company were Andron Alphonso and Ronaldo Alphonso. Andron and Ronaldo are sons of mining magnate Alfro Alphonso. Interestingly, when the APNU+AFC coalition won the May 11 elections, documents were suddenly filed in early June by the said company at the Commercial Registry, which added Dr. Richard VanWest Charles and one Lear Goring as new directors. Dr. Van-West Charles is a prominent official with strong ties to the Coalition Government. According to the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Atlantic Fuels Inc. applied for the fuel import and wholesale licence on September 28, 2015. One week later, Van-West Charles was appointed head of the GWI. Lear Goring, was then hired by Van-West Charles as GWI’s Manager of the Debt Recovery Unit. In less than five weeks after starting his job as Chief Executive of GWI, licences for import and storage of fuel for the company were approved by the GEA. This was on November 5, 2015. The licences, both the import and storage ones, have raised eyebrows because of the timeline, among other things. The GWI boss this week on Wednesday insisted that the licences do not raise a conflict of interest situation at his work place. He

had also insisted that the application for the licences was made since February 2015, when the coalition was still in Opposition. But statements from GEA have since proven otherwise. Van-West Charles, a former Minister under the administration of the People’s National Congress, prior to 1992, said that as a private citizen, he is allowed to do business. He pointed out that he does not supply fuel to GWI or any GWI-affiliated entity. PROCEDURES FOR ISSUING DRIVERS’ LICENCES TO BE EXAMINED – RAMJATTAN With the increase of fatal deaths on the country’s roadways, Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan has outlined several measures that will be implemented to address this issue. One of the many he mentioned was the need to examine the procedures pertaining to the issuing of drivers’ licences to persons. Ramjattan made these remarks during the launch of a Road Safety Magazine at the Traffic Headquarters in Eve Leary on Thursday. The magazine is published by the Guyana National Road Safety Council (NRSC). ”We have to do something about that because lots of people who get driver’s licences seem not to know how to drive,” Ramjattan said. He also added that re-testing of senior citizens to ensure that they are fit to drive is also up for consideration. Delivering remarks at the event, also, was the Traffic Chief, Dion Moore, who explained that his department is collaborating with the Cops and Faith Network to have them invigilate and mark the theoretical exams that need to be taken before licences are issued, and to monitor the practical examination, as well. This particular measure, he pointed out, is to ensure transparency and reduce any form of unprofessional conduct by police ranks, Moore said. Over the years, persons desirous of obtaining a driver’s licence have registered their concerns with the process of obtaining the document. Many have also reported the ‘high prices’ being called by Law Enforcement Officials who have claimed to have ‘links’ to obtain drivers’ licences.

MURDERED TEEN IN HOPE CANAL…PRIME SUSPECT ‘SATAN’ FOUND HIDING IN BARREL After managing to evade the cops for a little over a week, Alvin Reid, known as “Satan,” was captured Thursday, hiding in a barrel in a relative’s house, near a cemetery at

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Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara. Reid is the prime suspect in the murder of 14-year-old Malika Hamilton, whose body was fished out of the Hope Canal on August 12, last—one day after she left home to go and swim with the suspect and a young boy. Initially, it was suspected that the Ann’s Grove teen had drowned, and while the Post Mortem examination showed that she died from asphyxiation due to drowning, it also revealed injuries to the throat, indicating that someone had choked her. When news of the teen’s death broke, Reid had disappeared from the village, raising suspicions of his involvement. The teen’s grandmother, Dorrel Cambridge, alleged that Reid had claimed that he was teaching Hamilton to swim. A police source said that the boy who had accompanied Hamilton and Reid said that the trio crossed a bridge at “Star-apple tree” area, where men go to catch birds. They then went to the backdam. On arriving there, ‘Satan’ allegedly told the boy to stay there, since he was taking Hamilton to pick mangoes. He said Hamilton and ‘Satan’ never returned. The child claimed that when it became dark, he asked someone to take him over the bridge and he went home. Kaieteur News was told that ‘Satan’ went to the family’s home the next day after learning that Hamilton’s family was searching for her. He reportedly said: “Wait, that girl (Continued on page 36)

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Kaieteur News

Sunday August 21, 2016

(From page 35) ain’t come home?” SATURDAY EDITION BERBICE BUSINESSMAN MURDER PI… MAGISTRATEADJOURNS MATTER WITHOUT ALLOWING WITNESS TO SIGN DEPOSITION Relatives of murdered businessman, Shameer Ali Mursalin are raising concerns about the conduct of a Magistrate presiding over a matter, for which three men are charged for his murder. Mursalin, called ‘Kazac,’ a trader, of Grant 1805 Weld Tank Dam, Crabwood Creek, Berbice Corentyne, in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), was fatally shot to the head following a longstanding dispute with a fellow businessman, on October 24, 2015. According to reports, police were investigating a report of threatening language and damage to property at Mursalin’s house. After calling out for him for some time without any response, the police officers ventured into the yard and found the victim’s body lying in a pool of blood at the residence. Berbice businessman Dennis Veerasammy and two of his employees, Basheer Harrinauth and Delroy Fraser, were later arrested and charged with the murder. The three men are facing a Preliminary trial before Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh at the Springlands Magistrates’

Court in Berbice. However, relatives of the dead businessman believe that there is a deliberate ploy, by parties involved, to sabotage the case. According to the relatives, the Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the matter had been postponed on several occasions, despite the availability of several witnesses. In addition to questionable adjournments, the Mursalin family said that at the last hearing, the Magistrate did something that is even more baffling; he adjourned the matter without re-reading the evidence and allowing the main witness of the trial to review and sign his deposition.

TWO REMANDED FOR MURDER OF BOY, 13 Two men were on Friday remanded to prison for the murder of 13-year-old Daveand Sanchar, whose body was found with a chop wound to the head on Sunday last, at Plantain Walk, Triumph, East Coast Demerara. Kevin Sahoy, 20, of 64 Agriculture Road, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, and Raymond Wong, 27, of 110 Agriculture Road, Triumph, East Coast Demerara, were not required to plead to the indictable charge of murder read to them by Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Seepaul. Police Prosecutor David Goodridge told the court that on the day in question, the 13-year-old and the two accused were at a wedding house in the area. He said Sanchar became annoyed at Sahoy dancing with his aunt and subsequently left the wedding house for home. According to Goodridge, Sanchar returned with a cutlass and an argument ensued between him and the accused, which resulted in Sahoy lashing him to the head with a piece of wood. Goodridge added that Wong was the one who chopped the teenager to his head with a cutlass. Goodridge stated that Sanchar was picked up and transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. FUEL LICENCES TO GWI BOSS, OTHERS…COMPANY HAS NO STORAGE FACILITIES – GEA As questions continue over the granting of fuel import and storage licences last year to a company owned by a senior Government executive and his three business partners, the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) has revealed that the company involved had indicated use of other authorized storage facilities in its application. The Importing/Wholesale Licence and Storage Licence were granted to Atlantic Fuels Inc., a company that has close links to Chief Executive of Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), Dr. Richard Van-West Charles and Manager of the Debt Recovery Unit, Lear Goring.The GWI boss and Goring became directors in Atlantic Fuels in June, weeks after the May 11th elections last year which saw

the Coalition Government taking power. In late September, Atlantic Fuels applied for the licences, and was granted them on November 5. Van West Charles started his duties as GWI’s head in October. The granting of the licences has been raising eyebrows, with questions being raised whether Van-West Charles was given special considerations because of his closeness to the current administration. He is the son-in-law of former President and Leader of the People’s National Congress (PNC), Forbes Burnham and served as a Minister prior to 1992. BOYFRIEND GETS LIFE SENTENCE FOR KILLING TEEN Twenty-four year-old Shieldstown, West Bank Berbice resident Shazam Khalil, the man who was on trial for the January 2015 murder of his girlfriend, has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Khalil stood before Justice Jo Ann Barlow and a Mixed Jury in the Berbice High Court. He was found guilty of murdering Shazina Mohamed, 19, of Edinburgh Housing Scheme East Bank Berbice. The woman was brutally stabbed about her body around 19:00 hrs on Saturday January 17, 2015 outside the Yang Yi Chinese Restaurant in Rosignol, West Bank Berbice. Khalil was given the sentence following a probation report which was read by Probation and Social Service Officer Adessia Semple. Attorney at law Stacy Goodings had told the court that the woman was ambushed and stabbed by the accused who then fled the scene. Mohamed was picked up and rushed to the Fort Wellington Hospital from where she was subsequently transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital where she succumbed. The attorney had related that Mohamed was at the restaurant with two friends when the incident occurred. She had journeyed to Rosignol to collect a phone and decided to go to the Restaurant with her friends to eat some food when she was attacked by the suspect. During the trial, the prosecution had called a number of witnesses, including their two main witnesses who were on the scene when the incident occurred.

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Kaieteur News

Why the happenings of the global economy should matter to you If you thought for one moment that the matters of the emerging and developing economies are not your business then think again. A domino effect exists in almost every circumstance of our lives and believe it or not, Guyana’s monetary system, its capacity to grow and offset external shocks cannot be done if attention is not paid to what is really happening in the global market. And so today, the role of emerging and developing countries in the global economy will be placed in the spotlight. It is worth remembering that these countries are home to 85 percent of the world’s population. And it is not surprising that—slowly but steadily—these 85 percent have become a major engine of global activity. At the moment, emerging and developing economies account for almost 60 percent of global GDP, up from just under half only a decade ago. They propped up the global economy as advanced countries grappled with the after effects of the financial crisis. Together they contributed more than 80 percent of global growth since the crisis so clearly, the 85 percent matter for the global economy. According to Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, China, has of course, emerged as an

economic superpower. It has also recently become a member of the Special Drawings Right (SDR) currency basket—a decision based on a technical assessment that was wholeheartedly endorsed by the IMF Executive Board. Lagarde noted, however, that after years of success, emerging and developing countries are now confronted with a new reality. She stated that growth rates are down and cyclical and structural forces have undermined the traditional growth paradigm. The IMF Managing Director explained that on current forecasts, the emerging world will converge to advanced economy income levels at less than two-thirds the pace we had predicted just a decade ago. Lagarde noted that this is cause for concern. She asserted that China itself has embarked on an ambitious multi-year rebalancing of its economy, toward slower and more sustainable growth. The IMF Director expressed that this is a positive endeavour that, in the long run, will benefit everybody. In the short run, however, this transformation generates spillover effects – through trade and lower demand for commodities, and through financial channels as well. Lagarde said that not only have oil and metal prices fallen by around two-thirds from their most recent peak, but supply and demand side

Managing Director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde factors suggest that they are likely to stay low for a sustained period. She said that many commodity-exporting emerging and developing economies are under severe stress, and some currencies have already experienced very large depreciations. “We have all seen it in Latin America, and I have seen it first-hand last week in Nigeria and Cameroon – two countries that are hit hard by lower oil prices and domestic fragilities. So where does this leave economic policy? And what can the other 15 percent of the global population do for global growth, and to help emerging and developing countries adjust to the new global environment? Certainly any solution must involve individual countries – advanced and emerging –tackling their own vulnerabilities and policy

constraints,” noted the Managing Director of the IMF. More generally, she stated that in advanced economies, monetary policy can no longer be the only game in town. Lagarde said that it needs the support of fiscal policy and structural reforms to support aggregate demand and raise growth potential. And emerging economies need to redirect their economies toward new sources of growth. The IMF Director expressed that in the Euro Area and Japan, weak growth and low inflation call for continued monetary accommodation. In the United States, she said that firming activity laid the ground for monetary normalization by the Federal Reserve. She stated that lift-off has gone smoothly. Lagarde intimated that it was clearly communicated and priced in by financial markets.

The key issue going forward Lagarde said is the pace of normalization. Lagarde explained, “Clearly, emerging market are benefiting from the fact that many central banks in many advanced economies still have a very easy policy stance. And yet, if financial tightening by the U.S. were to coincide with further easing in the euro area and Japan, there could be further dollar appreciation vis-à-vis the euro and the yen.” “For emerging economies, this could raise vulnerabilities in sectors with dollar exposures, especially corporates. Foreign exchange exposures by corporates have grown sharply over the last five years, in part because of the search for yield in a low interest rate environment.” Beyond dollar appreciation, the IMF Boss said that there is also the potential for increased exchange rate volatility. She said that this volatility could be induced not only by the divergence in monetary policies in major advanced economies, but also by uncertainty about their overall prospects and policy action. Putting it all together, she said that the key issue for emerging economies is that heightened volatility is manifesting at a time when many of them are already under stress. Lagarde said that another bout of global risk aversion could lead to further commodity price

declines, widening spreads, and depreciating exchange rates. The IMF Boss said that this matters a lot for advanced economies too. “It matters because of the current environment of elevated uncertainty and financial market volatility. In such an environment, events and policy decisions that in “normal” times may have limited cross-border effects can now trigger much larger financial reactions,” she explained. Lagarde said, too, that an equally compelling reason why advanced economies should heed what is happening in the emerging world is the impact on growth. According to the IMF’s estimates, there are strong indications of a slowdown of one percent in the emerging world which would lower growth in advanced countries by at least about 0.2 percentage points. Lagarde said that this is substantial given anemic growth rates, lack of employment, and increasing social tension in large parts of the advanced world. She stressed that for the aforementioned reasons, there is a need for a global policy upgrade, a stronger global financial safety net, and a framework for safer capital flows. The IMF Boss stressed that in a nutshell, a global policy upgrade is not only desirable for improved global health, it is essential.

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Kaieteur News

Years Spent Overweight Boosts Women’s Cancer Risk The longer a woman is overweight, the higher her risk of several cancers, researchers report. The study, which followed nearly 74,000 U.S. women, found that the longer a woman carried excess poundage, the greater her risk of breast, endometrial, colon and kidney cancers.” We’ve known for a long time that excess weight is important in cancer risk,” said Susan Gapstur, vice president of epidemiology for the American Cancer Society. The cancer society says excess

weight contributes to as many as 20 percent of all cancer deaths. “This study is interesting because it suggests that the number of years you spend being overweight also matters,” said Gapstur, who was not involved in the research. And that, she said, should provide further incentive to avoid excess weight gain in the first place. Currently, about 7 out of 10 adults in the United States are overweight, and more than one-third are obese, according to background notes

with the study. The new findings are based on data from the Women’s Health Initiative - a huge government-sponsored study that followed U.S. women aged 50 to 79. At the outset, researchers measured the women’s current weight and height, and asked them to recall their weight at ages 18, 35 and 50. Over the next dozen years, just over 6,300 women developed a form of cancer that has been linked to obesity, such as breast, ovarian, endometrial, colon, kid-

ney, liver or pancreatic cancer. It turned out that the risk of developing any of those cancers rose in tandem with the number of years a woman had been overweight. On average, the study found, the odds rose by 10 percent for every 10 years a woman had been obese. Similarly, they climbed by 7 percent for every decade she’d been overweight. When the researchers took a closer look, four cancers were clearly connected to the duration of a woman’s excess weight: breast, endometrial, colon and kidney. But the findings do not prove excess weight causes these cancers. http://www.webmd.com.

Sunday August 21, 2016

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Walking Helps the Heart and Brain Regular aerobic exercise such as walking may protect the memory center in the brain, while stretching exercise may cause the center - called the hippocampus - to shrink, researchers reported. In a randomized study involving men and women in their mid-60s, walking three times a week for a year led to increases in the volume of the hippocampus, which plays an important role in memory, according to Dr. Arthur Kramer, of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Urbana, Ill., and colleagues. On the other hand, control participants who took

stretching classes saw drops in the volume of the hippocampus, Kramer and colleagues reported online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings suggest that it’s possible to overcome the age-related decline in hippocampal volume with only moderate exercise, Kramer told MedPage Today, leading to better fitness and perhaps to better spatial memory. “I don’t see a down side to it,” he said. The volume of the hippocampus is known to fall with age by between 1 percent and 2 percent a year, the researchers noted, leading to impaired

memory and increased risk for dementia. But animal research suggests that exercise reduces the loss of volume and preserves memory, they added. To test the effect on humans, they enrolled 120 men and women in their mid-sixties and randomly assigned 60 of them to a program of aerobic walking three times a week for a year. The remaining 60 were given stretch classes three times a week and served as a control group. Their fitness and memory were tested before the intervention, again after six months, and for a last time after a year. Magnetic reso-

nance images of their brains were taken at the same times in order to measure the effect on the hippocampal volume. The study showed that overall the walkers had a 2 percent increase in the volume of the hippocampus, compared with an average loss of about 1.4% in the control participants. The researchers also found, improvements in fitness, measured by exercise testing on a treadmill, were significantly associated with increases in the volume of the hippocampus. On the other hand, the study fell short of demonstrating a group effect

on memory - both groups showed significant improvements both in accuracy and speed on a standard test. The apparent lack of effect, Kramer told MedPage Today, is probably a statistical artifact that results from large individual differences within the groups. Analyses showed that that higher aerobic fitness levels at baseline and after the one-year intervention were associated with better spatial memory performance, the researchers reported. But change in aerobic fitness was not related to improvements in memory for either the en-

tire sample or either group separately, they found. On the other hand, larger hippocampi at baseline and after the intervention were associated with better memory performance, they reported. The results “clearly indicate that aerobic exercise is neuroprotective and that starting an exercise regimen later in life is not futile for either enhancing cognition or augmenting brain volume,” the researchers argued. The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging, the Pittsburgh Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, and the University of Pittsburgh Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. The authors said they had no conflicts. http:// www.everydayhealth.com.

Sunday August 21, 2016

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Nausea Cell Phones Affect Brain During Activity Pregnancy (Morning Sickness)

It is common for a pregnant woman to live through nausea and vomiting during her first few months of pregnancy. It is difficult to predict whether it is going to happen. Some women have no nausea during their first pregnancy, but feel sick with subsequent pregnancies. ”Nausea and vomiting are the commonest symptoms experienced in the first trimester of pregnancy, affecting 70-85% of women” (British Medical Journal, 2004;328:503 28 February, doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7438.503). The severity of the nausea varies from pregnancy to pregnancy. Some will feel a bit queasy during the morning hours, others may vomit just in the mornings. Others will feel bad all day long, and throw up at any time. The term “morning sickness” may seem meaningless to the mother who is throwing up in the evening. In most cases the nausea goes away during the end of the third or beginning of the fourth month. It can, however, continue right up to the end of the fifth month. Doctors and scientists are not completely sure. As hormonal changes take place when a woman becomes pregnant it makes sense to

suppose that they are the cause. Some say an imbalance in the blood sugar could also be to blame. It might be no coincidence that hCG, a pregnancy hormone, as well as estrogen rise in levels during the first trimester, and drop at about the same time the nausea starts going away. Anecdotal reports by doctors, nurses and midwives indicate that women who carry twins/triplets are more likely to experience morning sickness during their first months of pregnancy, compared to mothers who are carrying a single baby. If your vomiting is such that you are losing too much liquid and essential nutrients and minerals, if you are suffering from dehydrationyou should tell your doctor. If you suffer from hyperemesis gravidarum - the vomiting is causing fluid and electrolyte disturbance - your doctor may decide to give you fluids through a drip, this usually requires hospitalization. You should see your doctor if you are losing weight, vomiting many times during the day for many days, becoming dehydrated, or your vomit has blood or a brownish color, your urine is dark colored and looks concentrated. In the vast majority of cases the nausea will go away without anything to worry about. Here are some tips for reducing the severity of morning sickness nausea. . Eat a little bit of something when you get up. Some women have found that eating a dry cracker or some dry cereal before getting out of bed helps. . Eat a little bit of something just before you go to bed at night. . Eat regularly, in small amounts, throughout the day. . Make sure you are having plenty of liquids. . Keep away from fatty foods. . Keep away from spicy foods. . Avoid caffeine. . Many women say dry foods, such as crackers or toast help. . If you are particularly sensitive to smells, remember that cold foods smell less. . Some women find ginger tea helps a lot. . Make sure you are getting enough physical rest. However, try to avoid having a nap immediately after you have eaten. . Try not to move around straight after eating. . There might be smells that make you feel sick - avoid them. . Get some light exercise each day, go for a walk. . Fresh air often helps. . Have a small snack next to your bed. If you wake up during the night, eat some of it. Many women find this helps stave off the nausea the following morning. . Eat snacks that are high in protein You should not take anti-sickness tablets unless your doctor has prescribed them for you. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com.

Holding a cell phone to your ear for a long period of time increases activity in parts of the brain close to the antenna, researchers have found. Glucose metabolism that’s a measurement of how the brain uses energy - in these areas increased significantly when the phone was turned on and muted, compared with when it was off, Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and colleagues reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “Although we cannot determine the clinical significance, our results give evidence that the human brain is sensitive to the effects of radiofrequency-electromagnetic fields from acute cell phone exposures,” co-author Dr. Gene-Jack Wang of Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island, where the study was conducted, told MedPage Today. What We Know About Cell Phones and Cancer Although the study can’t draw conclusions about longterm implications, other researchers are calling the findings significant. “Clearly there is an acute effect, and the important question is whether this acute effect is associated with events that may be damaging to the brain or predispose to the development of future problems such as cancer as suggested by recent epidemiological studies,” Dr. Santosh Kesari, director of neuro-oncology at the University of California San Diego, said in an e-mail to MedPage Today and ABC News. There have been many population-based studies evaluating the potential links between brain cancer and cellphone use, and the results have often been inconsistent or inconclusive. Most recently, the anticipated Interphone study was interpreted as “implausible” because some of its statistics revealed a significant protective effect for cell phone use. On the other hand, the most intense users had an increased risk of glioma — but the researchers called their level of use “unrealistic.” But few researchers have looked at the actual physiological effects that radiofrequency and electromagnetic fields from the devices can have on brain tissue. Some have shown that blood flow can be increased

in specific brain regions during cell phone use, but there’s been little work on effects at the level of the brain’s neurons. So Dr. Volkow and colleagues conducted a crossover study at Brookhaven National Laboratory, enrolling 47 patients who had one cell phone placed on each ear while they lay in a PET scanner for 50 minutes. The researchers scanned patients’ brain glucose metabolism twice - once with the right cell phone turned on but muted, and once with both phones turned off. There was no difference in whole-brain metabolism whether the phone was on or off. Are Cell Phones Dangerous for Kids? But glucose metabolism in the regions closest to the antenna - the orbitofrontal cortex and the temporal pole was significantly higher when the phone was turned on. Further analyses confirmed that the regions expected to have the greatest absorption of radiofrequency and electromagnetic fields from cell phone use were indeed the ones that showed the larger increases in glucose metabolism. “Even though the radio

frequencies that are emitted from current cell phone technologies are very weak, they are able to activate the human brain to have an effect,” Dr. Volkow said in a JAMA video report. The effects on neuronal activity could be due to changes in neurotransmitter release, cell membrane permeability, cell excitability, or calcium efflux. It’s also been theorized that heat from cell phones can contribute to functional brain changes, but that is probably less likely to be the case, the researchers said. Dr. Wang noted that the implications remain unclear “further studies are needed to assess if the effects we observed could have potential long-term consequences,” he said - but the researchers have not yet devised a follow-up study. “The take-home message,” Dr. Kesair said, “is that we still don’t know, more studies are needed, and in the meantime users should try to use headsets and reduce cell phone use if at all possible. Restricting cell phone use in young children certainly is not unreasonable.” http:// www.everydayhealth.com.

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Kaieteur News

LADY GAGAANNOUNCES

Orlando Bloom Wants to “Perfect Illusion’’ as Next Single Propose to Katy Perry in the Next Four Months, Source Says

We’ve been waiting for her next album since she dropped Artpop in 2013, and now it appears Lady Gaga has finally given us a hint that it’s on the way. The singer took to Instagram to announce her next single, “Perfect Illusion,” which will mark her first in nearly three years. But what else can we expect from her upcoming fifth studio album? The singer as well as those collaborating on it have spilled just enough of the beans to get us incredibly excited. Here’s everything we know so far: It Has a Nickname: While we don’t know the title just yet, the album has been nicknamed by both fans and Lady Gaga. They call it LG5. It’s Due for Release at the End of 2016: During the 2016 Grammy Awards, Gaga spoke with reporters backstage and though she didn’t give an exact date, she did say the album should come out by the end of this year. “You know, I am putting out an album this year,” she said. “I won’t tell you when.” It Has “Dark” Influences Stemming From American Horror Story: The singer said working on AHS helped her “reawaken” the “art of darkness” inside of her. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2015, she said she plans to put that energy into her new music. “It will inform me from this day forward, everyday more and more,” Gaga said of the TV series’ impact on her music. It Includes Lots of Big Collaborations: Everyone from Mark Ronson to RedOne, Diane Warren to Nile Rodgers, Bloodpop to composer Giorgio Moroder and Tame Impala has commented in some way shape or form about working on the album. Ronson told Charlie Rose earlier this year, “She’s a Muso at heart. She’s the happiest when she’s sitting at a piano barking orders at the drummer, and I don’t think

that’s the side of her the world has seen. They’ve seen the massive pop singles, tours, and dance numbers, so it’s really great to make this very honest, authentic, analog kind of record with her.” Ronson also shared a photo of Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker as well as producer Bloodpop (who worked on Justin Bieber’s “Sorry”) in the studio with Gaga a few months ago. Meanwhile, RedOne - who worked on “Just Dance,” “Poker Face,” and “LoveGame”—told People magazine he helped work on eight songs for the new album. “It’s a mixture of classic music and futuristic, too - I didn’t want to go too far from what she is. We kept it [similar to] what Gaga is, what she’s done all these years. It’s special,” he said of the upcoming music. Elton John Loves It: During an interview with Beats 1 in June, Elton admitted, “I’ve heard two or three songs from her new record, which she’s

making with Mark Ronson, and it’s absolutely brilliant. So you’re gonna be really happy when you hear that later in the year or early next year.” It Will Show a New Chapter for Her as an Artist: Gaga’s new manager, Bobby Campbell, told Billboard he wanted to reinvent Gaga’s image ahead of her new album. “From the time I began managing her, I saw that there was a vocal minority that did not respect her for all that she brings to the table. I wanted to change that and set her up to be the icon that she is,” he said in December 2015. “You’ve seen the articles. She was ‘eccentric,’ ‘too artsy.’ People were judging her unfairly, so I wanted to press the reset button and remind them that whatever their perceptions, she’s an incredibly talented musician, performer and songwriter,” he continued, later adding, “I think it’s clear that new music will be on the horizon. http:// www.eonline.com.

Kylie Jenner Buys $4.5 Million Hidden Hills Home Next to Her Current Mansion Kylie Jenner may have just turned 19, but she’s already a real estate maven. The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star just bought her second home this year in the same exact neighborhood as her mother, Kris Jenner, and her current main home. Kylie’s realtor Tomer Fridman confirmed to E! News that the recent birthday girl purchased the home for around $4.5 million and it is actually next door to the home she bought in May for $6 million. The mansion sits on 3.9 acres, is roughly 5,000 square feet and offers four bedrooms

and four bathrooms. A source tells us that Kylie will be using the new property as more of a home office, while keeping her current living situation the main home. Sounds like an expensive home office if you ask us! And it looks like grabbing real estate in Los Angeles is in the family’s DNA, as Kylie’s older sister Kendall Jenner recently spent over $6.5 million on a stunning 4,8000-square-foot West Hollywood home that was once owned by John Krasinski and Emily Blunt.It’s getting harder and harder to keep up with those Jenners! http://www.eonline.com.

Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry’s relationship is far more serious than their steamy makeout sessions have lead on. As it turns out, the couple-whose romance first went public at the 2016 Golden Globes - could be headed for the altar in to time at all. A source tells E! News the duo has discussed marriage and children, adding, “They are in love and happier than ever. [Orlando] would like to get engaged to [Katy] before the year is up.” The actor is already a father to 5-year-old son Flynn with ex-wife Miranda Kerr, who is set to walk down the aisle with Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel. The insider insists that Kerr’s recent engagement has nothing to do with Bloom’s commitment to the pop sensation, saying, “He has been over her for some time and [is] ready to begin his life with Katy.” Perry says that a second chance at marriage is in the “Rise” singer’s future since her divorce from comedian

Russell Brand in 2011. The source tells us, “[Marriage and children] is something Katy has always wanted when she met the man she was ready to settle down with.” And although it could be some time before the couple ties the knot, Orlando and Katy are “not opposed” to welcoming a little bundle of joy together prior to a wedding, the source adds. In addition to their headline-stealing Italian getaway

earlier this month, Bloom and Perry have shared a whirlwind romance of jet-setting all over the world. Most recently in April, they attended a wedding in Aspen. Prior to visiting Colorado, Katy and Orlando flew to Hawaii for a “last minute kind of trip” and in late February they headed to New York City, where Perry dazzled in a beaded black dress during a two-hour dinner with Bloom at the famed Polo Bar. http://www.eonline.com.

Why Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez Can’t Quit Each Other: ‘’Some Feelings Just Don’t Go Away’’ The world has witnessed one of the most elaborate roller coasters ever when it comes to the romance of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. For years, fans have watched these young stars go from blissful love to bitter breakups, over and over and over again. And just when we thought the Jelena chapter of everyone’s lives was completely over, it was sparked back to life yet again this week when Gomez responded to Bieber’s photo with rumored new girl Sofia Richie. So, what is it exactly with these two? Why can’t the Biebs and Selena quit each other? Well, a source tells E! News, “They have a rocky relationship. They were very in love at one point and went through a lot and so some feelings just don’t go away. Justin’s made a lot of mistake but he’s matured and grown up.” The insider adds, “He has made attempts in the past to show Selena he cares for her but the timing hasn’t been

right. Justin has been seeing a few different girls.” A source also tells E! News that Selena’s “been on tour and he’s been traveling they haven’t seen each other.” After posting a number of photos with Richie on Instagram, Justin caught some backlash from fans on the app. “I’m gonna make my Instagram private if you guys don’t stop the hate this is getting out of hand,” he wrote

on Instagram. “If you guys are really fans you wouldn’t be so mean to people that I like.” Out of what seemed to be left field, Selena apparently decided to clap back. “If you can’t handle the hate then stop posting pictures of your girlfriend lol – it should be special between you two only,” she reportedly wrote. “Don’t be mad at your fans. They love you.” http://www.eonline.com.

Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

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Road users bemoan poor traffic management at East Bank highway expansion sites at night With the East Bank Demerara thoroughfare currently being expanded to accommodate additional lanes among other upgrades, commuters and drivers have registered their disappointment with the ‘poor’ traffic management measures that are in place at nights. One driver expressed his concern saying that there are no adequate demarcations in place to caution drivers in advance of the sudden rises, merges and diversions along the roadways. He added that now the construction is in its final stages of completion, the diversions are becoming more frequent and it is difficult for drivers to pinpoint the alternative routes, especially at nights, when there is less lighting and no ‘proper’ indications. Persons have also been calling in to Kaieteur News saying that there are not enough notices to forewarn drivers of the sudden rises and ‘drops’ along the roadways. Many have indicated that the contractors

IDB approached to develop... From page 10 marketing, specialised equipment and training among other factors. An industry of this nature, he said, can produce high end value-added products for the export market, creating significant foreign exchange earnings and job opportunities. The Finance Minister said that a similar approach to the development of manufacturing industries and industry clusters, producing value-added products will be pursued, including, but not limited to: wood products (plywood, furniture) agroprocessing (refined and specialty sugars, ethanol, dairy products, corn, coconut, soya-bean products, rice and rice products, fruit juices, jams, jellies, pepper sauces, alcoholic beverages, meat and fish products) minerals (alumina and aluminium products, petroleum and petro-chemical products including fertilisers, ammonia and methanol. Recognizing this, Jordan revealed that the Government has approached the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) for technical assistance to develop an Industrial Policy for the next two decades.

are working and upon completing their day’s work will ‘just roll barrels to barricade the unfinished section and that’s it’. Also, there have been reports that drivers are stopping and removing barricades to gain access to uncompleted roadways. Ve h i c l e s a r e a l s o s e e n driving over curbs to gain access to sidewalks endangering the lives of passengers and pedestrians. Meanwhile, vehicles are also seen encroaching on the one-way roadway resulting in oncoming vehicles dashing to avoid collision. A Police spokesperson, when contacted, recently stated that the onus was on the contractors to have systems in place to manage traffic. However, the Police have been working with the contractors to have better systems in place, while operators as well as pedestrians should utilise the roadways in a careful manner so as to avoid mishaps. “It’s common sense, if you see a barricade why would you want to remove it? It was placed there for a reason…To avoid you from

Workers carrying out road-laying duties along the East Bank Demerara Highway yesterday. driving on terrain that is still under construction that can harm your vehicle and passengers,” The lawman also called on persons witnessing these events, to report it to the police so that action can be taken. Earlier this month, Kaieteur News had carried a picture on its front page showing vehicles disregarding the traffic rules by driving along the sidewalks. The errant drivers were charged and placed before the courts. The expansion works are slated to be completed by the end of this month.

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Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

Tests prove no poultry disease outbreak in Region 6

Authorities say that there was no disease outbreak in poultry farms in Berbice.

Samples that were taken in June from a Region Six poultry farm, and sent for testing at the University of Georgia have proved negative for poultry diseases. “All the tests were negative. That confirms our suspicion that it wasn’t an outbreak of any particular disease, but it was a management issue,” Dr. Dwight Walrond, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) told the Government Information Agency (GINA). The official was speaking at the the Authority’s Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara office on Thursday. The samples were taken following media reports in June, that there could be a possible poultry outbreak in Region Six, CorentyneBerbice, with about 800 birds dying at a poultry farm. At that time, the GLDA representative had indicated that the issue appeared to be localised and that there was

no outbreak. “We want to test for a wide array of diseases. Based on clinical signs there are two different manifestations taking place, that’s why we are using the University of Georgia to test for four to six diseases. The University of Georgia is a reference laboratory. Sending the samples to Georgia is the best course of action since it would give us a good idea of what’s happening on East Bank Berbice,” Dr. Walrond had told GINA in June. Additionally, Dr Walrond said the livestock authority has since taken steps to educate farmers in Region Six and surrounding areas about farm management practices to prevent a recurrence of wide-scale poultry deaths. Given the loss which can take place in the absence of proper farm management practices, the deputy CEO, told GINA that the agency has since completed training

of farmers in the do’s and don’ts of farm management. “We have since conducted a focused training exercise for those farmers on the East Bank of Berbice a few weeks ago, and that training was conducted by the head of Extension, Mr. Selwyn Anthony, and it was well attended by farmers in that part of the Region and from other parts of Region Five. What we are trying to do is to let farmers understand that the little things matter because it would take the little things to cause that level of mortality. When you are suffering over 70 or 80 percent mortality it is not good for any business,” Dr Walrond asserted. The GLDA is the agency responsible for monitoring and providing support services to the local livestock industry. It currently has extension officers in all regions of Guyana and continues to provide several support services to farmers and other stakeholders.

GWI partners with Surinamese counterparts to enhance sector The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) has started an exchange programme with the Suriname Water Company (SWC) which is expected to create improvements in the sector. The partnership is also expected to bear improvements such as water quality analysis and the design of water treatment plants in Guyana. Chief Executive of GWI, Dr Richard Van-West Charles said that one of the high points that came out of the discussions during the week with officials of SWC is the need to ensure that prior to design, all the water parameters are available to those who will bid for design and construction of treatment plants. Van-West Charles speaking

at a press conference at the GWI head office, Vlissengen Road, Georgetown, said that the teams from the Guyanese and Surinamese utility companies undertook a full week of work and exchanges. He continued that both teams were able to explore mutual areas, such as non-revenue water, water quality, waterdistribution systems and design of treatment plants. He further pointed out that Guyana is embarking on the construction of three new water plants at Diamond, East Bank Demerara; Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara; and Sheet Anchor, Berbice. He said GWI’s young engineers have been able to improve their knowledge and

skill sets in a number of areas. “We were able to explore and we will continue when our team visits next September to look at various strategies that they (SWC) have embarked on”, he noted. Van-West Charles pointed out that GWI has been able to share information with the visiting Surinamese on the type of filters deployed in riverain communities and usage of other tools. “One of the critical areas of course for both utilities would be intense work on the issue of water quality”. Sophie Makonnen, the IDB Country Representative, told the media that the collaboration is important for the bank. She said the move “can create and foster improvement and better communication.” “IDB has been supporting, for the past 12 years, the water operator partnerships and they are in various regions across the world,” she said. She explained that since 2008, the IDB has been providing technical assistance to nations and the bank is pleased when it works with various countries and the activities “become concrete”. Jerrol Ferrier of the Suriname Water Company noted that there had been discussions in the past, but they never materialized. He pointed out that although there had been visits from GWI officials to Suriname before, a team had never made the trip to Suriname. “Now it’s going on, on an actual basis, and I’m quite pleased with this collaboration between our two countries.”

Sunday August 21, 2016

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Kaieteur News

CONSUMER CONCERNS

International Youth Day and empowerment of Guyanese youth

The Side Effects of Medications on Oral Health By Dr. Neromini Fagu We take medications for solutions to certain health problems but sometimes these medications can have side effects that we may not know or even anticipate. Many medications can affect our oral health causing such things as dry mouth, swollen and tender gums, and even alter our sense of taste. Prescribed drugs are not the only culprits that can impact our mouths. Nonprescribed medications such as vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements may also have side effects. Some of the most common side effects from medications that affect oral health include: •Dry mouth •Enlarged gums •Altered taste •Inflammation, mouth sores, or discolouration of the soft tissues in the mouth •Abnormal bleeding •Tooth Decay •Colour changes to teeth and gums •Thrush or oral yeast infection •Bone loss DRY MOUTH Saliva is very important for cleaning our mouths and if it is not flowing normally, dry mouth may develop leading to gum infection and tooth decay. There are more than 400 medications that have the potential to cause dry mouth and some of these include: •Antihistamines •Decongestants •High blood pressure medications •Antidepressants •Sedatives •Pain medications •Antacids ABNORMAL BLEEDING Certain medications such as aspirin and anticoagulants, also known as blood thinners, are used to decrease blood clots. These medications are important in helping to prevent heart attacks and stroke but may also impact your oral health. After surgical procedures such as extractions, stopping bleeding is important, so you need to advise your dentist if you are on these medications so precautions can be taken. ALTERED TASTE There are certain types of medications that can make food taste differently or they

can cause a metallic, salty, or bitter taste in your mouth. Taste changes are especially common among elderly patients who take multiple medications. Usually the taste changes are temporary and go away when you stop taking the medicine. Such medications include: •Cardiovascular drugs (some beta blockers and calcium channel blockers) •Central nervous system stimulants •Antibiotics (such as Flagyl) •Nicotine skin patches •Some respiratory inhalants SOFT TISSUE REACTIONS Some people can develop inflammation, mouth sores, or discolouration of the soft tissues in the mouth when taking prescribed drugs. Your dentist can recommend dental care instructions to help reduce the discomfort. These are some of the drugs: •Blood pressure medications •Immunosuppressive agents •Oral contraceptives •Certain chemotherapy medications ENLARGED GUMS Enlarged gums, also known as gingival overgrowth, may develop when using certain medications. Extra care will be needed when brushing and flossing in order to prevent damage to the gums. Medications that may contribute to enlarged gums include: •Antiseizure medications (such as those for epilepsy) •Immunosuppressant drugs •Calcium channel blockers INCREASED RISK OF TOOTH DECAY Many medications, especially those given to children, contain sugar. Sugar is also an added ingredient in antacid tablets, antifungal agents, cough drops, and many chewable tablets such

By PAT DIAL

Dr. Neromini Fagu as vitamins. Long term use of sweetened medications can lead to tooth decay. Some of these medications such as cough syrup may be available in a sugar-free alternative. You can also protect your oral health by rinsing out your mouth after using sugar containing products. COLOUR CHANGES TO TEETHAND GUMS Certain drugs can change the colour of your teeth or gums. For example, Minocycline – a drug used in treating acne - can cause black pigmentation on gums and a black or gray discolouration of teeth. Also, Chlorhexidine, a mouth rinse used to treat gum disease, can also stain your teeth. ORAL THRUSH Thrush, also known as an oral yeast infection, is caused by a fungus (Candida) and appears as white lesions on the mouth and tongue. Taking antibiotics, steroids, or chemotherapy medications can cause thrush. It is not recommended that you avoid using certain drugs because of their side effects. However, it is important that you always keep your dentist updated with the medications you are taking so he or she can take this into consideration when providing treatment. For more information contact OMNI DENTAL at 295 Quamina Street, Georgetown Tel: 227-0025, Parika Tel: 260-3133 or send emails to nerominifagu@hotmail.com.

The Guyana Consumers’ Association (GCA) over the last 30 years has been encouraging young people to get into the mainstream of national life. In the GCA, there has been consistent drive to get youth to be involved in the work of the Association and to serve in its various offices. We therefore welcomed the advent of the annual commemoration of International Youth Day on 12th August last. Since International Youth Day was first commemorated under the auspices of the United Nations in 2000, its observances and themes have increasingly caught the attention and imagination of governments worldwide. In most developing countries such as Guyana, youth forms a majority of the population. It is now realized that Society could never be happy, prosperous and fully creative except youth are involved and empowered at all levels. In Guyana, Government, Opposition, all political parties, NGOs and religious bodies are committed to youth development and stand on the same platform. This is one of the few issues which have such universal endorsement and support from otherwise contentious groups. The theme of this year’s Youth Day is “The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Consumption and Production.” This theme, though it stresses job-creation, equally involves learning to use the opportunities of financial services, participation in public life, adequate health care and education, including perfection in income-earning skills. The Government of Guyana has put forward a National Youth Development Policy. Many of the developing countries worldwide have likewise been adumbrating such policies, and whatever are the imperfections of all such policies, the important thing is that the positive uplifting and empowering of youth has now become accepted as a permanent policy and agenda of the overwhelming majority of countries. Education has always been part of the agenda for Youth Development, but greater skill, experience and expertise need to be tapped when framing educational policies and the content of such education. Children and young people need to read

far more and be introduced to the world’s classics. If they read the world’s classics, they would not only drink of their distilled wisdom, but would be improving their understanding of the Human Condition and fellow-humans, raising their cultural levels and at the same time enter a new world of enjoyment. Job-creation is one of the most pervasive and important of youth policies, but this is mainly treated as businesses and other agencies creating the jobs where young people could find employment. Young people creating their own employment - selfemployment - is by far the better option, but self-employment needs a great deal of background conditioning and guidance. Indeed, unlike half-a-century ago, today’s youth seem to be far more enterprising, more innovative and more articulate, and themselves provide good material for being self-employed and creating their own businesses. Those who may be working on youth development therefore have an excellent infrastructure on which to build. Parental conditioning of children and young people is extremely helpful in creating successful self-employed individuals and entrepreneurs. Children and young people have to be taught to save and fully utilize the goods and services for which they have paid. They have to be taught that money is not only for consumption but also must be used to generate wealth. They have to learn to take risks. For example, if many who live in rented accommodation took the risk and made the sacrifice of buying a house-lot or a small house, the property will most likely appreciate in value, or if they lived in their own house, the rent they would have paid would go towards paying off for the property. Parents who belong to cultural groups where such entrepreneurial values are weak, should be introduced to such values which could be useful to them and may even transform their lives. Such parents would then be able to condition their children. Parental conditioning could make youth empowerment far more possible and successful, allowing youth to have their rightful place in society and be able to achieve social and economic betterment, thus helping to create a more stable, prosperous and happier society. (You can contact GCA via email: patdial26@gmail.com)

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Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

PM: Govt. not idle on T&T Isis recruits Trinidad Guardian - This country is on top of the situation involving the nine T&T nationals who were arrested in Turkey en route to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis), says head of the National Security Council Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. Commenting on the matter, in his first public appearance after returning from vacation, Rowley said, “Our missions abroad and Ministry of Foreign Affairs are very much in touch.” He was speaking at last week’s post-Cabinet press conference, at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair. Rowley said the Government was doing everything it could about Isis and was aware that citizens were being induced to join the terrorist organisation. Regarding the detainees who were held at the end of

July, Rowley said not much could be done without information from abroad. “We have a significant amount of population that are Muslim who are open to inducement to go abroad and do that...and worse to be encouraged to commit atrocities at home. This is the world we live in 2016.” He said the National Security Council was very aware of these situations. “Rest assured, we, in association with our larger partners in national security, are doing what we can to minimise our exposure and be alert to the threat that you mentioned.” He said Cabinet approved on Thursday the purchase of certain equipment for the security services to strengthen our electronic response, while our borders need to be secured. Rowley also told trade union leaders who have ramped up protest action in

Dr. Keith Rowley the last few weeks for outstanding back pay to workers, “they cannot get more from less. Now we have far less money to discharge those debts.” The PM said citizens were hitting the streets with placards because of pent-up aggravation over monies owed from an earlier time. “Our obligation is to preserve jobs.”

Navigating A Clear and Present Danger: Jamaica’s Response to De-risking

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Prime Minister Andrew Holness says the Government is strengthening initiatives to tackle the threat of international banks ending their correspondent banking relationships with local financial institutions. In order to reduce reputational risks and be in compliance with international regulations, particularly relating to criminal activity, such as money laundering, fraud and terrorist financing, international banks have threatened to cut ties with banks in the region in a de-risking move. Holness said he considers the issue “a clear and present danger.” He noted that the Government is working assiduously to lobby banking counterparts in the United States, as well as to engage local banks on ways to mitigate the threat. The Prime Minister added that the Government has held a series of consultations with stakeholders and has been working closely with banks to ensure compliance with international standards. He said he has also met with the Bank of Jamaica and the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, to facilitate further discussion on the matter. “At CARICOM, all the

Andrew Holness

leaders agree that we would make a concerted effort to lobby the United States on ensuring that the correspondent banking issue does not de-stabilise the fiscal and economic growth security of the countries,” he said. The Prime Minister emphasised that countries in the region must move quickly to ensure that their legislative and regulatory frameworks align as much as possible with international banking requirements. “The process is ongoing and I think that there is an evolving understanding on the part of the US regulators

about the Jamaican challenges and the threats that derisking poses,” he said. Holness also commended local banks for initiatives already taken to mitigate the risks. Correspondent banking involves banks in large countries facilitating certain transactions for other banks. This may include wire transfers, business transactions, deposits and gathering of documents on behalf of the other financial institution. CARICOM has indicated that it will be hosting a global conference in the Caribbean aimed at strengthening this advocacy. (Caribean360)

Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

Bribery in Bajan Business? Private Sector Leader Raises Eyebrows Sir David Simmons

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The umbrella agency of private sector organisations in Barbados has stopped just short of admitting that some of its members engage in bribery and corruption. While making it clear he did not have any evidence that business people were bribing politicians as claimed earlier in the week by former Chief Justice Sir David Simmons, new Chairman of the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA) Charles Herbert said in any case, if there were an easier way of conducting business here, there would be no need for bribery. “It is very hard for us to know how much of it [corruption claims] is true. What I

would say is, when there is an ease of doing business, bribes go away, because you don’t need a bribe to get something done quickly. The minute there are delays, it opens the door for bribery because there is something to bribe you to do. So we can get rid of it by solving the ease of doing business,” Herbert told online newspaper Barbados TODAY. Speaking on a radio talk show, Sir David charged that there was a high level of corruption in Barbados, which was being swept under the carpet. While he did not cite specific examples, Sir David said there was evidence to suggest rising incidence of corrupt practices both at the pri-

vate sector and Government levels, with the business community offering bribes to people in the public sector. “The bribers are usually the people in the private sector. All the big international companies that get exposed from time to time, they would have bribed the politician who is then held up to ridicule and exposed and often a lot of them get away. They are the ones in the wrong. You have to look at the briber and the “bribee”,” he said. In response, Herbert suggested that there was a culture within the public sector that encouraged bribery. Insisting that any form of corruption was wrong, the BPSA head spoke of the difficulty faced by businesses in getting things done. “It is difficult to do everything. It takes three days to get a liquor licence; it takes a month to get an amalgamation through Corporate Services; it goes on and on. Everything we do is difficult to do,” Herbert said. Therefore, he said, some within the business community might feel that in order to keep their businesses afloat they had to circumvent the system by offering kickbacks. In fact, Herbert said, some members of the private sector were able to get things done which others found difficult to achieve. But, while bribery might be suspected in some instances, he was not prepared to point fingers at anyone.

Barbados Government Nudges Banks With Increased Tax BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler has announced an increase in a tax on bank assets, on the heels of banking institutions not passing on to customers the benefits of the elimination of a minimum interest rate. Sinckler said the 0.15 per cent increase in the Bank Asset Tax – up from 0.2 per cent to 0.35 per cent – is expected to raise an additional BDS$14.3 million (US$7.15 million) in revenue. Delivering the 2016 Budget last week, Sinckler complained that although the April 1, 2015 removal of the minimum 2.5 per cent interest rate by the Central Bank of Barbados was intended to ultimately benefit consumers, that had not happened. “It was hoped that by freeing banks of this requirement, that as banking institutions received the benefits of a

lesser cost burden at this end, it would have fed through for a faster and deeper benefit for consumers of banking services in many other critical portfolios,” the minister said. “To date, however, I must confess that like the average Barbadian, I am particularly unimpressed with the efforts made by the banks in this regard. As such, and as a little reminder to them of the need to share their new found and much appreciated benefits from the liberalization of the minimum savings rate, I have decided to use a little more concrete persuasion to nudge them along in the desired direction,” he said. The increase in the Bank Asset Tax took effect immediately, with the assessment for the assets starting from April 1, 2016. “The expected intake from the tax for a full financial year is estimated to be $33.3 mil-

lion using the 2015 asset base of the banking system,” Sinckler said. President of the Barbados Economic Society (BES) Jeremy Stephen has warned that customers could end up hurting more as a result of the tax increase. “Banks are not in the business of absorbing taxes, so more than likely this will be passed on to consumers, and as such you can expect even further interest rate cuts, unless consumers decide to move their money out of that liquid banking system and into say, Government debt, which is really what I believe is the intent here,” he told online newspaper Barbados TODAY. And President of the Barbados Bankers’ Association (BBA) David Noel has called for the tax to be shared equitably across the entire financial sector. (Caribbean360)

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SALON - Make-up Courses with Mac, Bare Minerals, etc. - Cosmetology Courses: $120,000 - Technician Course: $45,000. Call: 647-1773/660-5257 SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY,ETC.-CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 2161043; 677-6620 Visa Application: U.S.A, Canada & UK; Guyana p assport application. Graphics design, advertisement. Tel: 6267040; 265-4535. INNOVATIVEMARKETING & PUBLISHING INC –TEL: 600-4212: We create A/ works, logos, business cards, posters, etc, placements of ads included. Repairs at low cost: Fridges, air- conditioners, washing machines, TVs, microwaves, freezers- Call:6294946 or 225-4822 RAMDASS VISA APPLICATION & immigration services, room A-4, Maraj Building, Georgetown. Call Samantha: 227-0295; 615-9295 Passport, permanent & visitor visa application, Professional Immigrant Consultant – Sabita Immigration Services. Call: 225-6496; 662-6045 Hello the doctor is back! Have your gas stove service and repairs. Call: 601-0595; 220-4073; 220-5785 Jadesco Offers: Architectural designs, 3D modeling, building estimation/quotation, rehabilitation works & general construction. Call: 612-0468, 629-3605, email: jadesco15@gmail.com Repairs at affordable prices: fridge, air conditioner, washing machines, dryers, TV, microwaves & freezerCall: 610-5846 or 661-8158 Repairs to LED, Plasma, LCD and other electronic items. Abdul Electronics. Call: 2250391

VACANCY One Trainee A.C, Refrigerator, Technician – Call: 231-0655 Cashier for supermarket 624-0033; Driver for water truck - 680-3863; Pump attendant /Security in store ; 680-3863; Porters- Call: 6803863 Assistant Accountant with own transportation & QuickBooks, PAYE, NIS & VAT knowledge -$150,000. Call: 673-5475/kevin@ expresstruckingcorp.com Male & Female workers, machine operators with TI certificate & experienced Accountant, bond clerk. Call: 330-2399; 623-5920 Taxi Drivers wanted between Better- Hope –Enmore. Call A1 Taxi. Call: 220-1000 1 General Domestic able to prepare vegetarian meal. Apply in person @ Alabama Trading, Georgetown Ferry Stelling Stabroek. 1 Mechanic/Welder for interior, must have knowledge of Doosan excavator & engine at least 5yrs experienced. Call: 6859028 (8-3pm) Experienced & qualified teachers for secondary level @ Academy of Intellectual Minds Pouderoyen & Parika branch. Call: 264-3176; 6687705 Assistant Cook (food handlers certificate), House Keeper,Preferably female. Contact: 222-7334 – 63

TAXI SERVICE GR TAXI SERVICE. CALL: 219-5000; 227-1982 & 225-7878 (24HRS)

FOR RENT PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 Hair station rental at convenient location, Georgetown, Call: 638-1106, discounts given to newcomers, persons with experienced & clients

Bottom flat for business in Robb Street Bourda ,Prime business area. Call: 226-1647/ 691-4498 2 Upper flat, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, verandah & 1 Bottom flat bedroom apartment (furnished) -$60USD daily negotiable. Call: 653-7628 2 Bedrooms house upstairs with toilet/bath, no parking. Student or working couple $55,000. Call: 654-9807 1 Small one bedroom apartment toilet & bath included single or couple no children. Call between 9 to12pm & 2pm to 5pm @ Charlestown. Call: 225-1418 Two Bedrooms fully furnished apartment for vacation rental - Call: 678-6690

DOLLY’S CAR RENTALCALL: 225-7126/226-3693 DOLLYSAUTORENTAL@ YA H O O . C O M / W W W. DOLLYSAUTORENTAL. COM Aidan’s Car Rental: 4WD pickup. Call: 698-7807

Tuschen Front (Phase 1) $3.5M, Tuschen (Phase 2) $2M with foundation, Uitvlugt Main Road -$2.3M. Call: 642-1252 La Parfaite Harmonie-$2.3M, La Parfaite Harmonie -$2M (Corner Lot), Zeelugt -$2.3M, Herstelling 4th Bridge -$4M. Call: 642-1252 La Parfaite Harmonie -$1.2M & $1.6M with titles, Farm (110ftX55ft) -$3.2M. Call:6585897; 673-2692 FOR SALE/RENT American Pool Table. Call: 277-0578

VEHICLE FOR SALE 2009 RX8, Allion, Music Bus, Small bus, Motor cycle, Benz. Call: 265-4979 2010 Premio -$3.3M, 2010 Noah & Voxy -$2.5M, 2004 Mitsubishi canter 2 ton $2.4M, unregistered & fully loaded. Call: 642-7295 3 TON CANTER ENCLOSE AND OPEN BACK WITH 4D ENGINE, PRICE -$3.6M, NEVER REGISTERED – CALL: 617-2891 2009 BELTA -$2.3M, 2011 BLUEBIRD -$2.7M, 2009 IST -$2.7, 2012 RACTIS $2.6M, 2009 ARUIS -$2.5M –CALL: 617-2891 RZ minibus -$1.2M, 192 Car $800,000, 2009 unregistered bluebird -$2.8M, excellent condition, owner leaving country. Call: 265-0204; 676-5824 Fielder 2006, Bluebird 2006, Army general 6X6 truck, extendable 40 FT Trailer. Call: 616-5595; 665-3676 One 2008 Toyota IST-Call: 614-9742

WANTED 1 Male cook in the Interior. Call: 678-0565 Live in or live out babysitter/ domestic –Call: 223-7500. Monday-Saturday 8:154:15pm General worker (must have basic Maths & English), general domestic, restaurant cook- Call: 225-9211 Pastors, voluntary pastors, members, part-time secretary wanted for opening of new Church. Call Pastor & Bishop Walters: 686-3421 We are interested in buying lands in Farm New Scheme E.B.D, corner lots preferably. Call: 266-0693

White Toyota AE110, PKK series, price -$600,000. Call: 697-8639 SALE @ STAR CARS: PREMIO, RUNX, IST, AXELA, RZ BUS, SPACIO, FIELDER. CALL: 679-3140 RUSH – Call 621-7145 Price Negotiable 2003 Verossa with leather interior & alarm. Call: 6670338 One Toyota Spacio in good condition -$1.2M. Call: 6386045 Toyota Pickup-$2.5M- Call: 653-7628 Toyota Belta 1300CC, one owner, PLL 9400 + Series, 2006 model - $1.7M negotiable. Call: 655-0767

FOR SALE LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY$19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754. ADORABLE FLUFFY PUPPIES FOR SALE. CALL: 615-0146 Purple Heart: 30X80 $25,000, 32X80 -$28,000, 34X80 -$28,000, 36X80 $28,000, Free Delivery- Call: 688-9712; 651-0717; 6712490 CAT 320 BL excavator, 428 CAT back hoe, CAT930 Front End, 9 Wheeled Pneumatic Roller -Call: 275-0538; 683-7225 1 Perkins V8 Turbo Charge 170KVa Generator in working condition, Call 223-7380 D4H CAT Bulldozer, Mack 8 Cubic Yard, cement mixer truck, all in working order. Call: 275-0538; 683-7225 Audi A4-$3.7M, BMW$2.3M, Ist-$1,895,000,Fielder$1,895,000, Spacio-$1,995,000. Contact#650-0402 Prime commercial building for sale @ Broad & Charles Streets, Georgetown, 68,000 square feet. Call: 592-231-6694 1-Leylad DAF-45 $1.5M, 1Cat 928F Loader-$6.9M,1Hyster Forklift-$1.5M, Light To w e r- $ 8 0 0 - 0 0 0 . Contact#650-0402 Double Steel Drum Compactor, CAT 215 Excavator, Leyland DAF55 Truck, 400 GLS, Bitumen Kettle. Call: 275-0538; 683-7225 Playstation 3 with 4 Control -$60,000, playstation 4 with games -$60,000, used clothes at a cheap price. Call: 670-6215 Fans (2 on stand), music set, TV, Table Set, Kitchen Utensils, digital scale, minibus BKK 8932. Call: 685-2206

Self-contained rooms in Prashad Nagar. Tel: 227-2993

Experienced Driver & cashier apply @ Hacks Halaal with written application, 5 commerce Street.

HEALTH Need Herbal supplements? Contact Hazel’s Herbal Store. Call: 226-9136

Driver preferably who lives on the East Bank to work taxiCall: 615-3303; 697-3658

TM Bedford Lorry Truck, single axle. Call: 600-7799

One experienced cook to work in snackette & bar – Call: 647-7432; 223-5798

Music Set, 6 mid range, 5 base,5 horn (top box), cash offer at reasonable price. Call: 687-7376; 649-3125

Ladies to clean fish & crab in Suriname. Call: +597-8754660

CAR RENTAL CAR RENTAL

LAND FOR SALE Transported land for sale @ East Coast Demerara 60X200 Road Front, close to public road -$7Million. Call: 648-9066

Self contained apartment with internet service. Out/In town students are welcome. Call: 610-0240

Brian Moe @ 642-3543: Computer Technician: FB/ Brian.Moe.165: Home and Office visits at your comfort!! Guytec Repairs Services & Spares to washing machines, pressure washer, dryer, stoves, refrigerator, treadmill, vacuum, etc –Call: 680-2377 East Side Animal Clinic: Vaccination, treatments, surgeries. Lot 147 Section ‘A’ Block ‘Y’, Golden Grove, E.B.D. Call: 592-621-1865, 592-6512245; 592-216-4414

Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

PROGRESSIVE CAR RENTAL: CARS& SUV FOR RENTAL- $4,000 & UP PER DAY- CALL: 643-5122, 6560087 , EMAIL: PRO_ AUTO RENTAL@YAHOO. COM Wings Car & Pickup Rental: Low down payment, cheap reates,special offer for the summer. Call: 690-6494

1 EXPERIENCED DRIVER TOWORK@ RUIMVELDT: APPLICATION, POLICE CLEARANCE & RECOMMENDATION FROM PREVIOUS WORK PLACE NEEDED. TEL: 2318529 Persons to lay floor tiles. Call: 227-1830 Experienced cook with supervision skills for restaurant in Kuru Kururu. Call: 600-0036/ 261-6454

Honda Civic M/Car “SS” series -$1.3M, very good condition- Call: 696-2815

TO LET One bedroom apartment preferably working couple or single person. Call: 623-0076 2 Bedrooms apartment ‘B’ Field Sophia, 3 Months advance. Call: 600-0036; 2231273 EDUCATIONAL IAE: Register for full time school (Grades 7-11) CSEC lessons; adults and school leavers CXC classes. Call Mr. Roberts: 683-5742

One complete trout boat for sale, less than a year old. Call: 654-2817

1 Heavy Duty Juki sewing machine, straight stitch. Call: 642-6079 Muscovy Ducklings- Call: 602-7203 French Muscovy Ducklings for sale -$400 for 1. Call: 671-2474 2 Canter (Dyna) plus additional spaces for sale $1M negotiable. Call: 6275641; 222-3196 1-3306 DI Fuel Pump, 1-3306 DI Turbo, 1-3306 Starter 24 Volt. Call:600-3518; 655-2385 Continue page 71

Sunday August 21, 2016

PAGE 71

Kaieteur News

Attorney argues cop misled client to obtain confessions

- urges court to exclude statements from evidence Attorney Adrian Thompson is arguing that a policeman attached to the Narcotics Branch in order to obtain confessions misled his client, Seon Brammer who is before the court on a drug trafficking charge. According to the attorney, such an act is a violation of the judge’s rule. Brammer, of Eighth Avenue, Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, is accused of having 464 grammes of cannabis in his possession for the purpose of trafficking on May 13. The 34-year-old, father of two, is currently out on bail. When the trial continued on Friday before Magistrate Judy Latchman, Thompson told the court that his client admitted to owning the illicit drug because Corporal Edu threatened to arrest his 74-year-old mother Linda Brammer for t r a f f i c k i n g the illicit substance. The police are saying that they found a quantity of marijuana under a chair cushion and under a bed after they conducted a raid on a house occupied by Brammer and his mother. Police Prosecutor, Kerry Bostwick told the court that after the drug was unearthed, police ranks put the allegation of trafficking narcotics to Brammer and he replied. “Yeah yeah the drug is me own. Nobody aint know about it but me.” Bostwick said that police ranks also put the same allegation to Brammer after they found more marijuana under a bed and he replied, “I done tell you the weed is me own. Meh mother aint know about it.” However, Thompson is contending that Brammer was not present in the home when police found the drug. The lawyer told the court that during the Voir Dire (trial within a trial) the prosecutor failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the (confession) statements were given freely and voluntarily, and asked the court to exclude them from evidence. Thompson pointed to several discrepancies and inconsistencies in evidence given by two police witnesses who were called to testify on behalf of the prosecution. During the trial, Thompson recalled that Corporal Edu testified that his client was standing at the door when police arrived at the premises. Constable Kelman,

CHARGED: Seon Brammer Thompson recalled, testified that Brammer was in the yard when police arrived The attorney stated that it is now left up to the court to decide who is telling the truth. He stressed that the main

reason for the police visiting the premises was to arrest his client’s brother, Rawle Brammer, who was wanted. However, Prosecutor Bostwick asserted that it was proven beyond any reasonable doubt that the

statements were made by Brammer after police told him of an allegation. Bostwick said that no forms of inducement, promises or act of force were used to obtain the statements from Brammer. Bostwick added that it was based on Brammer ’s response that police decided to arrest and charge him, instead of his mother. The prosecutor said that Brammer had ample time to make a report against the police while in custody at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary, but never did so. In addition, Bostwick urged the court to believe the evidence led by the prosecution’s witnesses, since they were all credible and did not contradict each other. He said the intention of witnesses called by Brammer was to mislead the court. Magistrate Judy Latchman after recording submissions from both parties adjourned the matter until Tuesday.

From page 70

FOR SALE Text Books: My Lady Cosmetology, Barbering, Taber’s Medical Dictionary, Clinical Procedures @ Anointed Christian Bookstore, 59 Robb St. ROAD TO BELWASA & A DIP AT THE SANGAM. AVAILABLE @ AUSTIN’S BOOK STORE- TEL: 2267350/7 & AT LATCHMANSINGH DRUG STORE. TEL: 226-5053 Cargo Trawler. Call: 6828724; 616-5954

PROPERTY FOR SALE Transported property @ Grove and Diamond $16M negotiable. Call: 625-5461 Transported property, 5L Hilux pick-up, 1-complete music set. Call: 265-3586 House for sale @ Public Road Soesdyke, E.B.D –Call: 261-5287 Brand new 2 storey concrete building in 5th Avenue, Diamond, E.B.D, all modern amenities -price reduced– Call: 662-9335; 612-3244 High value transported land and 2 bedrooms newly built house, Greater Diamond E.B.D -$16M negotiable. Call: 265-4338

PROPERTY FOR SALE Property for sale at Lot 32 Princess Street, Werk-EnRust- Tel: 621-8767 1 Church building in front and 2 story building at the back 30X120, vacant possession, 180 Charolotte Street Bourda. Call:6247341/ 227-6817/226-5183 Property @ 172 Zohora Street and Market Street Better Hope E.C.D. Call: 2201583/ 1718-847-4196 (NY). Serious buyers only. Tuschen, Light St, upfront, 1-2 storey concrete house $23M negotiable, Non-Pariel E.C.D – 1 two storey concrete house 56X36. Call: 642-1252

One transported two flat 6 bedrooms concrete property in Strathspey, E.C.D (large land space) -$14M negotiable. Call: 689-5103 Furnished wooden house & land & neighbouring land 60X100 -$20M Negotiable, Sol separately also M.M.Z, W.C.D. Call: 655-0767 2 Storey concrete building, upper East Bank Demerara, 80X60X30 (transported) parking more than 20 vehicles, serious enquiries only. Call: 653-8754 One (2) plus storey house, 3 self contained bedrooms, fully carpet. Price negotiable. Residential scheme, W.C.DCall: 275-0582, 650-6723

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Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

Girl, 2, killed, sister, 4 injured in Mahaicony collision - mom unconscious, three others injured A two-year-old girl was killed and her four-year-old sister and mother injured at around 01.00 hrs yesterday after a speeding car slammed into the vehicle in which they were travelling on the Mahaicony Public Road. Police said that Rafina Harry succumbed at the Georgetown Hospital, where her sister, Ravina Harry, four, and their mother, whose

identity was not verified, were also adm i t t e d . The children’s mother was still u n c o n s c i o us up to late yesterday. Also hospitalized are Latoya Wayne, 33, a marketing employee of Little Rock Television Station at New Amsterdam; driver Sue Ann Walcott, 36, of Melanie, East Coast Demerara; Carlos Fausette, 33, the other driver,

of Glasgow Village, New Amsterdam, Berbice, and Samantha Dowding, 34, of Linden, who is a Guyana Fire Service employee. According to reports, Sue Ann Walcott, was driving towards Georgetown at a fast rate when she lost control and collided with Carlos Fausette’s car, which was carrying the two little girls and their mother.

Fausette was reportedly transporting passengers from Georgetown to Berbice. Eyewitnesses recalled seeing the two girls and their mother lying motionless on the roadway near the mangled vehicles. The injured were reportedly taken to the Mahaicony Hospital before being transported by ambulance to the GPHC. Rafina Harry succumbed shortly after.

A relative of Latoya Wayne said that she had travelled to the city earlier in the day and was heading back to Berbice when the accident occurred. Samantha Dowding’s sister, Sharon Ramdass, said that her sibling was travelling to Berbice to visit her eightmonth-old daughter. Up to late yesterday evening, Wayne, Dowding and Fausette were in a stable condition.

INJURED: Samantha Dowding

Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

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Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

Kurds versus Syrian army battle intensifies, complicating multi-fronted war Reuters - Fighting between the Syrian army and Kurdish forces intensified late on Friday and into yesterday, creating the risk of yet another front opening in the multisided civil war. The two sides have mostly avoided confrontation during the five-year conflict, with the government focusing its efforts against Sunni Arab rebels in the west, and the Kurds mainly fighting Islamic State in northern Syria. In an indication of their reluctance to escalate further, pro-government media said yesterday they had held preliminary peace talks. After the fighting broke out this week, government warplanes bombed Kurdishheld areas of Hasaka, one of two cities in the largely Kurdish-held northeast where the government has maintained enclaves. Fighting there could complicate the battle against Islamic State because of the Kurds’ pivotal role in the U.S.backed Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) fight against the group. On Friday, warplanes from the U.S.-led coa-

Binali Yildirim lition flew what the Pentagon called protective patrols around Hasaka to prevent Syrian jets from targeting U.S. special forces, who are operating on the ground with the SDF, the first sorties of their kind in the war. Ground fighting intensified late on Friday when Kurdish YPG fighters battled Syrian forces, whose air force flew sorties over the city, Kurds and monitors said. “The clashes continue in areas inside the city today. There were military operations,” a Kurdish official said. Many inhabitants of Kurdish areas fled on Friday and at least 41 people have been killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitoring

group, said. “There are efforts to cool things between the army and the Asayish (YPGaffiliated forces), and a first meeting was held aimed at a ceasefire,” Sham FM, a progovernment radio station, reported. As well as complicating the war against Islamic State, fighting in Hasaka could create problems for the government’s campaign in the city of Aleppo, where Kurdish forces have been accused of coordinating with the Syrian army against rebels backed by Turkey. Yesterday, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkey would take a more active role in Syria in coming months to stop it being torn along ethnic lines - an apparent reference to the YPG gains in northern areas.

Congo voter registration to delay election beyond Kabila mandate Reuters - Congo’s voter registry will not be complete until July 2017, the electoral commission said yesterday, signalling a delayed election that will let President Joseph Kabila extend his 15-year rule beyond the end of his mandate in December. Though an election postponement had been expected, failure to hold the poll this year will likely fuel anti-Kabila street protests in which dozens of opposition activists have been arrested and killed since last year. There was no immediate reaction from the opposition to the announcement but an African Union mediator on Democratic Republic of Congo, Edem Kodjo, said the way was open for all-party talks to secure agreement on the election to start on Tuesday. A drive to register more than 30 million voters started in March and will take 16 months to complete, election commission president Corneille Nangaa told representatives of political parties in the capital, Kinshasa.

Joseph Kabila

“The issue before us today in Congo is how to reconcile the electoral cycle ... with the technical constraints we face,” Nangaa said, referring to the logistical challenges of holding elections in a nation roughly the size of western Europe. Congo’s highest court ruled in May that Kabila could remain in office if no election was held by November. Kabila succeeded his assassinated father in 2001, then won his first election in 2006.

The constitution limits a president to two terms, though opponents accuse him of stalling the election to cling on to power. Mineral-rich Congo is plagued by militia violence in the east and has never experienced a peaceful transition of power. About 40 demonstrators died in anti-government protests in January 2015 and opposition leaders plan further demonstrations if he does not stand down in December.

Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

IMF says Jamaica’s economic growth is recovering KINGSTON, Jamaica The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that Jamaica’s economic growth is gradually recovering, and should reach 1.7 per cent next year. In a release Friday following a press briefing at Jamaica House in Kingston, the IMF’s team, which was in Jamaica for the past 10 days, said that growth in 2015/16 has been revised up to one per cent, driven by agriculture and manufacturing. “Growth is expected to reach 1.7 per cent in FY2016/ 17, as ongoing investments, including in tourism, crystallize and agriculture continues its strong recovery,” IMF said. The IMF also noted that inflation remains low, and gross international reserves continue to increase, reaching almost US$3 billion at the end of July. It pointed out, however, that unemployment remains high, at 13.7 per cent, partly reflecting an expansion in the labour force. “Programme implementation under the EFF remains strong, all quantitative performance targets through endJune were met, with tax revenues exceeding expecta-

Audley Shaw tions, and structural reforms are well in train,” the Fund said. It also argued that continued strong implementation of the government’s growth strategy is essential to support job creation and poverty alleviation. “In this context, strengthening the social safety net will be essential to shield the poor and vulnerable from any adverse effects due to the shift from direct to indirect taxation. “The mission also underscores the importance of ongoing reforms in the public sector to achieve efficiency gains,” the release said. “The mission welcomes the authority’s recent proactive and successful liability management operation, which helped reduce refinancing risk

in 2017 through 2019. In order to further minimise concentration and refinancing risks, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive strategy for liability management. “The mission also held preliminary discussions on the broad contours of a successor programme after the current EFF expires in April 2017. Discussions are expected to continue in the months ahead,” it added. While here the mission met with Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Finance Minister Audley Shaw, Bank of Jamaica Governor Bryan Wynter, State Minister Fayval Williams, acting Financial Secretary Everton MacFarlane, as well as senior government officials, members of the private sector and civil society. (Jamaica Observer)

PAGE 75

Ex-U.S. Navy SEAL author agrees to pay $6.8 million to government: NY Times Reuters - A former U.S. Navy SEAL who wrote a book about the daring operation on Osama Bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan has agreed to forfeit $6.8 million in book royalties and speaking fees, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing federal court documents. Matt Bissonnette, who wrote the book under the pseudonym “Mark Owen,” also apologized in a statement for not getting the book vetted by the Pentagon before it was published in 2012, the New York Times said.

“I accept responsibility for failing to submit the book for review and apologize sincerely for my oversight,” the newspaper reported the statement as saying. In the past the Pentagon has threatened legal action against Bissonnette for alleged violation of non-disclosure agreements because the manuscript was not submitted for a pre-publication security review. The Department of Justice could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

Trump companies owe $650 million: NY Times Washington (AFP) - Companies belonging to Donald Trump have at least $650 million in debt, more than twice the amount shown in public filings made by his presidential campaign, the New York Times reported yesterday. The paper employed a property information firm to search publicly available data on more than 30 US properties connected to the Republican candidate, including offices and golf courses. In addition to the $650 million liabilities, “a substantial portion of his wealth is tied up in three passive partnerships that owe an additional $2 billion to a string of lenders,” the Times said about debt that could significantly affect Trump’s wealth.The billionaire tycoon campaigns on what he says is his spectacularly successful real estate record, claiming to be worth $10 billion and citing his business acumen as

his major qualification for the presidency. However, he has dismissed mounting pressure even from within his own party to disclose his tax returns or allow an independent valuation of his assets. Trump’s campaign filings show his businesses owed at least $315 million, the Times noted, saying they appear to be accurate and that Trump was not required to disclose all of his business activities. Although the paper does not accuse him of any wrongdoing, the investigation “underscored how much of Mr Trump’s business remains shrouded in mystery.” The probe “also found that Mr Trump’s fortunes depend deeply on a wide array of financial backers, including one he has cited in attacks during his campaign,” the Times said. His lenders include one of the largest banks in China —

Donald Trump which the Republican candidate accuses of being a US economic foe — and the investment bank Goldman Sachs, which he says influences his Democratic White House rival Hillary Clinton. As president, the Times said, Trump would be able to make decisions that would have a major influence on his business empire and net worth.

Venezuela condemns ‘bold threats’ from Paraguay Caracas (AFP) Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez yesterday condemned what she called “bold threats” from her Paraguayan counterpart after he announced a “total freezing of relations.” Paraguayan Foreign Minister Eladio Loizaga announced on Friday that he would not return to Caracas indefinitely over what he called “rants” by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “Venezuela will not allow itself to be threatened or suc-

cumb to the fear from those who choose to serve the empire rather than the people,” Rodriguez tweeted in response. “(Loizaga’s) bold threats... insult our heritage of independence and freedom.” Earlier this month, Maduro said Venezuela was being “persecuted” by “a corrupt Paraguayan oligarch and drug trafficker,” referring to Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes. Venezuela — in political and economic crisis, facing severe shortages of basic

goods — has come under fire from its Latin American neighbours for allegedly failing to comply with the region’s Democratic Charter, a binding document. Earlier this week, Brazil accused Maduro of imposing an “authoritarian” regime on his country. A group of 15 countries from the Organisation of American States (OAS) on Thursday called on Venezuela to act “without delay” to clear the way for an election over whether to recall Maduro from office as a way out of its mounting crisis.

North Korea state media says diplomat defector ‘criminal’ Seoul (AFP) - North Korea’s deputy ambassador to Britain, who defected to South Korea this week, is a criminal who had been ordered to return home for questioning, Pyongyang state media said yesterday. Thae Yong-Ho is one of the highest ranking North Korean diplomats ever to defect to the South — gifting Seoul a major propaganda coup at a time of rising tension on the divided Korean peninsula. Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that Thae, who they described as “human scum”, had embezzled state

funds, raped a minor and spied for South Korea in exchange for money. The report did not name the “diplomat who fled his mission in London” but was apparently referring to Thae. Any defection by a ranking member of an overseas North Korean mission would make waves, but London is considered a particularly prestigious posting that puts Thae’s move on a whole different level. The news agency in Pyongyang criticised Britain for handing over Thae and his family to the South, saying that Pyongyang had previously told London of his

crimes and requested his extradition. The comments mark Pyongyang’s first public response to the high-level defection, which was a rare and damaging loss of diplomatic face for North Korea. Seoul said earlier this week that Thae’s defection reflected a loss of faith among North Korea’s elite in Kim Jong-Un’s leadership. Thae had become disillusioned with the Pyongyang regime, admired South Korea’s free and democratic system, and was concerned about his family’s future, the South’s Unification Ministry said after the defection.

Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

Windwards, Guyana to square off in final KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, CMC – Windward Islands and Guyana confirmed their spots in today’s one-day final of the Regional Under-19 Championship, by scoring convincing victories in the last round of preliminary games here Friday. Playing at Park Hill, Windward Islands produced a superb run chase to beat Trinidad and Tobago by three wickets while at Arnos Vale, Guyana defended a modest total to defeat Barbados by 85 runs. The Windwards finished on top the standings with 22.6 points, just ahead of Guyana on 22. Barbados were third on

17.2 points, Jamaica fourth with 13.3 points while Trinidad and Tobago were a disappointing fifth with 9.9. Leeward Islands were one from bottom with 6.5 points, with ICC Americas last on 2.1, after failing to win a single game. The Windwards sent a stern warning with their performance as they chased down a very competitive 259 to win with eight overs to spare. Emmanuel Stewart, batting at number three, slammed 92 off 89 deliveries while opener Johann Jeremiah stroked 61 from 79 deliveries. Following the early loss of Anil Matthew for 11 in the

fourth over with the score on 18, Stewart and Jeremiah came together to add 150 for the second wicket. Stewart, voted Man-ofthe-Match, struck nine fours and two sixes while Jeremiah counted five fours and two sixes before perishing at the end of the 28th over. However, Stewart added a further 44 for the third wicket with Alick Athanaze, who hit a cameo 45 from just 29 deliveries, including two fours and three sixes. Stewart eventually fell short of a hundred when he was lbw to off-spinner Bryan Boodram (3-36) in the 33rd over and Windwards suffered a bit of a scare when they lost

Sunday August 21, 2016 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Take the time to do your job correctly or you may find yourself looking for a new one. You will need to spend extra time sorting through your work. You are best not to discuss your personal life with others. TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) You will find that you can work progressively at improving yourself today. Use your ingenuity to manipulate things to get what you want. Someone you live with will be impossible. Refuse to get involved in idle chatter; it will only make you look bad. GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Try to be understanding. You must avoid gossip and focus on what you have to do. Social activities that involve the whole family will be enjoyable. CANCER (June 21–July 22) Don't be too quick to judge those you live with. You'll find you're detail oriented today. Spend time with friends and relatives. Travel for pleasure. LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Older family members may take advantage of you by making you feel guilty. You are best not to confide in anyone right now. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Don't get upset. Opportunities to expand your circle of friends will result in possible new romantic encounters. You are best to ask questions if you aren't certain about issues that are con-

fronting you. LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Accomplishment is yours if you direct yourself accordingly. Offer love and affection instead of conflict and rejection. Limitations will set in if you haven't followed the rules. SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Let your lover know what your personal intentions are. You have to feel free to come and go as you please to achieve happiness. Try to ease any disappointment by making amends. SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Try not to push your philosophies on others. You will earn recognition for the work you are doing. Don't make large purchases unless you have discussed your choices with your mate. CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Entertainment should include your whole family. Try to make amends by planning a nice dinner for two. You're likely to encounter new partners if you take short trips. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18) Take some time to change your house around. A change in position could be better than you thought. Take care of your personal needs. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Be sure to keep communication open with those you live with. Your boss may not be in the best of moods today. Your determination may make you a little overbearing when dealing with others.

four wickets for five runs in the space of 12 deliveries, to slump to 236 for seven. But West Indies Under-19 player, Ryan John, slammed a four and a six in scoring 15 not out to see his side home. Earlier, T&T were dismissed for 258 off 48,3 overs, with opener Joshua da Silva top-scoring with 88, Kirstan Kallicharan getting 38 and Keagan Simmons, 32. Da Silva struck nine fours and three sixes off 99 deliveries, putting on 91 for the first wicket with Simmons, 41 for the second with Dejourn Charles (15) and exactly 50 for the third with Kallicharan. Athanaze claimed four for 43 with his off-spin to be the best bowler. Guyana, meanwhile, needed Marlon Hubbard’s four-wicket haul as Barbados were bundled out for 98 off 37.5 overs, in pursuit of 184 for the win. Only opener Shian Brathwaite, with 35 off 89 balls, showed any resistance and was one of just three players in double figures. Guyana had earlier been dismissed for 183 with a single ball remaining in the innings with Raymond Perez scoring 37 and Keemo Paul getting 33. Nicholas Kirton (3-15) and Tremaine Harris (3-34) picked up three wickets apiece. In the other game played, Jamaica defended 168 to beat Leewards by 72 runs, with Brad Barnes (3-18) and Tyrone Daley (3-21) both claiming three wickets each.

Frederick expects... (From page 76) I’ve been to literally every major championship so now there’s nothing to fear and nothing holding me back. “For the upcoming season, I’m going to take this, move forward and qualify. Frederick was one of three Caribbean jumpers missing out on Saturday’s final, with Barbadian Akela Jones and St Lucian Jeanelle Scheper also failing to advance.

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Brazil beat Germany on... (From page 78) in the bronze-medal match, with Sadiq Umar scoring a hattrick. Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi, who captained the Nigerian side, said: “I am so proud of this team, the boys worked so hard. “It is very important, because football in Nigeria is absolutely massive.

We had extra-pressure perhaps, but we have done it for us, for our family, for Nigeria.” Umar’s treble gave Nigeria a 3-0 lead before Honduras, who qualified from the group phase at Argentina’s expense, scored twice through Antony Lozano and Marcelo Parera to set up a tense conclusion.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday August 21, 2016

Triathlon: Jorgensen takes gold with perfect race RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) Hot favorite Gwen Jorgensen produced the perfect race to win the Olympic women’s triathlon gold on Saturday, the American unusually staying with her rivals on the bike before surging clear of defending champion Nicola Spirig-Hug on the run. Jorgensen has dominated the swim-bike-sport over the last two years but usually wins her races by chasing down the stronger bikers during the 10km run. On Saturday, however, she gave as good as she got on the hilly 40km bike course and broke the challenge of 34-year-old Spirig-Hug on the run to win America’s first gold in the sport since it was introduced to the Games in 2000. Switzerland’s SpirigHug, who has had a baby since her photo-finish victory in London, held on to take silver and become the

first woman to win two Olympic medals in the sport. British team mates Non Stanford and Vicky Holland, who live and train together in Leeds and are great friends, battled it out for bronze, with Holland just taking it. Jorgensen’s victory, following Briton Alistair B r o w n l e e ’s s u c c e s s f u l defense of the men’s title, means that the sport’s reputation for upset Olympic champions has been firmly put to bed. It was also a long overdue gold for the country that invented the sport after the United States had previously managed only Susan Williams’s bronze in 2004 since it joined the Olympic party in 2000. After a choppy sea swim off Copacabana Beach a group of 18 quickly formed on the bike leg, including all the favorites. Everyone in the field knew that if Jorgensen remained in that pack going

into the run it would be next to impossible to beat her. OCCASIONAL DIGS H owever, des pite occasional digs by her chief rivals on the main climb on the eight-lap 40km course, the American sat in looking comfortable and nobody seemed prepared to put it on the line to push the pace. Spirig-Hug eventually tried to make a break but she got no help and was duly reeled in and they all rolled into the second transition together. The defending champion, who has competed sparingly since 2012 and taken time off to have a baby, was not about to sit back and hand over her title, however, and went clear with Jorgensen from the start. It was an unfamiliar sight in a major triathlon as Jorgensen is invariably cruising through the field in the early stages of the run and the vastly-experienced

Gold medalist Gwen Jorgensen (USA) of USA reacts after the Triathlon Final. (REUTERS/Toby Melville

Spirig-Hug seemed to be getting under the American’s skin as they exchanged words and clashed arms heading into the final lap. Jorgensen did not seem to be enjoying the head-tohead but removed herself from it with an injection of

pace at the 8km mark that immediately took her clear and allowed her to enjoy her run up the finishing chute with a beaming smile. Four years ago, SpirigHug dipped Sweden’s Lisa Norden in a photo-finish but this time she was comfortably clear of the fastfinishing British duo, with Holland collecting the

country’s third triathlon medal of the Games following the Brownlee brothers’ 1-2 in the men’s race. Fabienne Saint-Louis, t h e 2 2 - y e a r- o l d f r o m Mauritius who made the start line despite being diagnosed with cancer nine months ago and undergoing chemotherapy, dropped out during the bike leg.

New Mosque claim Masjid an-Najm seven-a-side football title Third day washed out in T&T By Sean Devers in Trinidad In association with Cascada Hotel & Lifetime Real Estate

Respective prize winners with their accolades. New Mosque of Alexander Village captured the Masjid an-Najm and Social Centre of Albouystown annual Inter Jamaat seven-a-side football title after defeating La Bonne Intention of East Coast Demerara 2-0 in the final which was played on S u n d a y l a s t a t Albouystown.

Six teams competed in the tournament which included Masjid An-Najm & Social Center, Kitty, Masjid Muhammad on M a n d e l a Av e n u e a n d Mocha Mosque. After pulsating action in the knockout stage, New Mosque and LBI advanced to the final and Kevin Griffith double strike handed

New Mosque a hard fought victory. Third place went to the defending champions, Masjid An-Najm and Social Centre which is a community based project under the Guyana Islamic Trust. Griffith was the tournament MVP, while Kenny Fraser of Masjid an-

Najm was the highest goal scorer. Each player on the first, second and third place teams received a medal and a trophy. The organizers would like to thank the following sponsors; Mohamed Enterprise, Guyana Islamic Trust, Masjid an-Najm, Bettencourt’s of Durban Street among others.

It was another depressing day at the Oval as the third day’s play in the fourth and final cricket Test between host West Indies and India was abandoned without ball being bowled. Less than a session and only 22 overs were possible on day one in which time West Indies lost Leon Johnson (9) and Darren Bravo (10) to reach 62-2 with Kraigg Braithwaite (32) and Marlon Samuels (4) at the crease, while the entire second day was completely washed out. Hopes were high for a start before lunch since yesterday morning was blessed with blue skies brilliant sunshine but while the pitch and most of the outfield were in a playable condition. An area near the Western boundary of the ground remained soggy due to faulty drainage and the ground staff forked up the area to aid in the drying process. It is understood that this area is usually used to accommodate the stage at Carnival Events at the Queen’s Park Oval. With just two days left in the contest it would take a near miracle for a result to be achieved here especially with more rain forecasted for last night. India have already won the series 2-nil with a win in Antigua and St Lucia but they must beat West Indies to remain the world’s number one Test team. Play is scheduled to commence at 09:30hrs today but that is highly unlikely. Scores: West Indies 62 for 2 (Brathwaite 32*) v India.

Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

PAGE 79

Australian athletes detained Adams retains in Rio for tampering with IDs women’s flyweight title

Nicola Adams (GBR) of Britain and Sarah Ourahmoune (FRA) of France compete. (REUTERS/Peter Cziborra) R I O D E J A N E I R O 1920 Antwerp and 1924 losing semi-finalists. (Reuters) The first woman to Paris Games. Women’s boxing was win an Olympic boxing gold “I’m absolutely over the introduced to the Olympics medal became the first to moon,” said Adams. “I’m at the 2012 London Games, repeat the feat on Saturday now the most accomplished with Adams the first of three when Britain’s Nicola amateur boxer in Britain that champions. A d a m s r e t a i n e d h e r we’ve ever had... it’s been an Adams had fought the flyweight title by beating amazing journey. I’ve made shorter Frenchwoman on F r a n c e ’ s S a r a h history.” four previous occasions, Ourahmoune. Ourahmoune’s silver winning every time, but she Adams, 33, became the was France’s fifth medal of still needed to use her jab to first British boxer to win two the tournament. maximum effect to see off an successive golds since Ren Cancan of China, opponent who won the third London policeman Harry the 2012 silver medalist, and round after losing the first M a l l i n w o n t h e Colombia’s Ingrit Valencia two. middleweight division at the Victoria took bronze as “It was always going to be tricky when you’ve boxed somebody that many times, they know a lot of your movement and you just have to keep changing things up and try to make it different through the bout,” said Adams. Fighting out of the red corner, the Briton was clearly ahead in a brisk first round and used her longer reach to good effect in the First division basketball A m s t e r d a m Wa r r i o r s . second. The third saw action is set to continue in The teams in each group will Ourahmoune getting in Berbice today with one game play each other once with the some combinations to in the A. Ally and Sons top two advancing to play the narrow the gap but it was all Basketball Competition. Set top two in the other group. too late. “You still keep trying, to do battle at the Tain The winners will advance to keep hoping that the points Basketball Court from the semifinals. 16:00hrs will be Rose Hall M a t c h e s i n t h e add up,” said the French Town Jammers and new tournament are being held fighter. “There’s always a little hope but that’s sport. comers Guyana Human every Sunday. Development Centre Cash, trophies and other Without regrets, I did all I (GHDC) who will be at incentives will be presented could.” Adams said her second home. to the top three teams with the Six teams are set to Most Valuable Player (MVP) Olympic gold was “well up participate in the competition a n d o t h e r o u t s t a n d i n g there” with her first. But the with group “A” comprising individual performers will be world champion would not be drawn on whether she of Smithfield Rockers, awarded. might be tempted to try for a Fyrish Black Sharks and In the one game Ithaca Hardliners of West scheduled for last Sunday at third in Tokyo in 2020, even Berbice. t h e V r y m a n ’ s E r v e n if her age would surely be The teams making up B a s k e t b a l l C o u r t against her. “I’m going to go on a group B are Rose Hall Town Smythfield Rockers gained Jammers, Guyana Human a walkover from Fyrish nice holiday, take some time out and think about what Development Centre of Black Sharks. comes next,” she said. Corentyne and New (Samuel Whyte)

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Nine Australian Olympic athletes were detained overnight and fined for tampering with their identity cards to be able to watch their home country’s basketball semifinal, officials said Saturday. The athletes “had tampered credentials” to get into the arena where Australia was facing Serbia in the basketball at the Olympic Park late Friday, Rio police said in a statement. Nine were charged with “the crime of use of false documents,” the statement said. They were taken before a judge and let off in return for payment of 10,000 reais (US$3,120) fines. They included members of the cycling, rugby, archery, hockey and rowing teams, the Australian

Olympic team said in a statement. During an all night court session, the athletes were offered the chance to have charges dropped in exchange for the fines, with their passports being kept until payment is made, Australian team spokesman Mike Tancred said. Otherwise the athletes would have been forced to stay in Brazil at least three weeks, pending trial, and face a potential jail term if found guilty. “The athletes were supporting their teammates, they were not attempting to defraud anyone, no-one had suffered a material loss and no-one was harmed as a result of the i n c i d e n t , ” A u s t r a l i a ’s deputy team leader Fiona de Jong said. A spokesman for the Rio

Olympic organizers called it a “minor incident.” “The athletes were required to give evidence and were released following accordance with the law,” he said. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach speaking at a press conference on Saturday declined to comment on the incident saying he hadn’t been briefed on the details. The incident followed a drama played out in the B r a z i l i a n a n d international media over the claim by four US swimmers, including superstar Ryan Lochte, to have been robbed at gunpoint in Rio. Three were detained on accusations of making a false report and later accepted that their account had been fabricated.

Sweden’s Rissveds wins gold in women’s cross-country

A. Ally and Sons Senior Basketball Championship

Basketball action continues in Berbice today

Jenny Rissveds (SWE) of Sweden competes. (REUTERS/Paul Hanna) (Reuters) Sweden’s Jenny Rissveds raced away to gold in the Olympic women’s cross-country cycling event on Saturday. Rissveds was in a twoway battle with Maja Wloszczowska as the bell rang for the final circuit of the rolling 4.8-km course

b u t b r o k e t h e P o l e ’s resistance with a powerful attack. The 22-year-old former European champion pulled a w a y q u i c k l y, s a f e l y tackling the hazardous Rio Rocks and Flip Flop sections of the layout before sprinting to the finish line.

Wloszczowska hung on for the silver with Canada’s Catharine Pendrel in the bronze-medal position. Rissveds’s victory was the second gold for Sweden in Rio, following s w i m m e r S a r a h Sjostrom’s win in the 100m butterfly.

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Vishal XI, East Coast XI triumph

Vishal XI-Members of the victorious Vishal XI with their hardware Vishal XI and East Coast XI registered victories when the Everest Cricket Club hosted two softball matches on Friday night. Vishal XI overcame HS Masters by seven wickets. Batting first, HS Masters managed 138-6 off their allocation of 15 overs. Rocky Ally slammed 52 while Shaheed Mohamed g o t 3 0 ; Yo o d h a n l a l l

Sunday August 21, 2016

Kaieteur News

Sukhlall, Lakhan Mohamed and Akiem Vieira took one wicket each. Vieira then blasted six fours and three sixes in scoring 52 as Vishal XI replied with 139-3 in 12 overs. Sahadeo Hardaiow struck 40 and Sukhlall, a former Essequibo U19 player made 35 not out. Vieira picked up the man-ofthe-match award.

East Coast XI defeated Savage X I b y e i g h t wickets. Savage XI batted first and scored 142-8 in 1 5 o v er s . R aw l R ei d stroked 45 and Raymond Bisraj 36; R. Reddy picked up three wickets. East Coast XI responded with 143-2 in 13 overs. R. Ryan made 51 and Reddy 25. (Zaheer Mohamed)

Frederick expects to improve despite Olympic disappointment RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, CMC – Antiguan high jumper Priscilla Frederick believes her outing at the Rio Olympics was a great learning curve and believes the experience will serve as an excellent springboard for the future. The 27-year-old missed out on Saturday’s final after failing to clear 1.92 metres in qualifying at the Olympic Stadium on Thursday. She made 1.80 on her opening jump but then needed three attempts to clear 1.85 and 1.89, before bowing out at the next height. Frederick, in her first ever Olympics, said there was little to complain about despite not reaching the final. “Leading up to this it’s been a little difficult, making sure my injury was good, making sure I was [ready] for my first Olympics,” Frederick said. “I felt really amazing out there. My practices have been absolute crap so to come out here and jump my best for this outdoor season was good. “You have to be excited, it’s the Olympics and you compete and my [saying] is,

Antigua and Barbuda’s Priscilla Frederick. ‘stay fierce and fabulous’ and I think I did that and you know, maybe next time.” Frederick was born in the United States but qualified to represent Antigua and Barbuda through her father who hails from the tiny Caribbean nation. She also featured at last y e a r ’s B e i j i n g Wo r l d Championships where she again failed to make the final after leaping 1.85 which was only good enough for 22nd overall.

Frederick, who won silver at last year’s Pan American Games in Toronto, said the experience o f t h e s e m a j o r championships was helping to erase the fear factor. “Now that I have seen and competed against every top high jumper in the world, now it’s about staying positive, staying focused,” Frederick said. “It’s always a learning lesson when you come to big meets like this and now (Continued on page 73)

Bach calls troubled Kennard Memorial TC post Emancipation Day horserace Rio Games ‘iconic’ event set for September 18

Emancipation Day has come and gone and horseracing fans accustomed to the horserace event that grace this period would be happy to hear that their interest have not been totally ignored. To this effect, the Kennard Memorial Turf Club will honour its word to provide the usual entertainment when the executive stages the Post Emancipation Day Horse Race Meet at the club’s Bush Lot Farm, Corentyne Berbice headquarters on Sunday September 18 next. Seven potentially action packed races are carded for the day and turfites are assured of a day of fun and frolic. When activities get underway the horses in the L Category will take to the tracks in a race over 5

furlongs for a top prize of $120,000. The three other successive places will receive $60,000, $30,000 and $15,000 respectively. Several other races will grace the tracks with the feature attraction being the race in the A3 & Lower over 7 furlongs. With a lucrative top prize of $1M, the battle for the top prize should provide just the type of excitement race horse lovers crave. The second place finisher will also be tangibly rewarded with a $500,000 cheque, while the two other podium spots receive $250,000 and $125,000 respectively. There will also be heated action in the D3 Maiden and E and Lower Open category over 7 furlongs, H & Lower over 6 furlongs, K & Lower over 5 furlongs, J1 & Lower

over 6 furlongs and the 2 years old comprising of Guyana bred horses over a distance of 5 furlongs. Horse owners are reminded that the meet is being conducted under the aegis of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority (GHRA) and all applicable rules will be enforced. Entries close on Sunday September 11 and late entries will not be accommodated. Owners and trainers are also reminded that they could have their horses registered through Justice Kennard (226-1399, 225-4818 0 R 6 2 3 - 7 6 0 9 ) , Roopnarine Matadial (325-3192), Ivan Dipnarine (331-0316), D e n n i s D e R o op (6099143), Fazal Habibulla (657-7010) or Compton Sancho (602-1567).

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach speaks during a press conference following an Olympic summit on June 21, 2016 in Lausanne. (Photo: AFP) RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — IOC president Thomas Bach said Saturday that the troubled Rio Olympics, marked by financial crisis and empty stadiums, have been “iconic” and Brazil have been “great” hosts. Bach said he would be ready to award the Olympics

to Rio again despite the criticisms that have been made. Bach said Rio had staged “iconic Games” and that “the Brazilians were altogether great hosts.” The International Olympic Committee president’s end of Games description of the event is

much awaited, particularly in the case of Rio de Janeiro whose buildup was hit by political and financial crisis. There were budget cutbacks in the buildup and since the Games started on August 5 there has been widespread comment about empty stadiums. “These are iconic Olympic Games in many respects,” he said highlighting the many athletic records and achievements such as Kosovo winning a gold medal on its first Olympic Games. The sports movement leader said the IOC “has shown that it is possible to organis e the O lympic Games in countries which are not at the top of the GDP ranking.” He added that it had been good for the Games to see the “social reality” in Rio, a city marked by violent crime and huge wealth disparities.

Kaieteur News

Sunday August 21, 2016

PAGE 81

Gayle expected to shine under Everest overcome Harvard lights at Albion on Sept 11 of T&T in 30-over fixture

E x c i t i n g Tw e n t y 2 0 cricket is coming back to Guyana with a bang. However, this time it will be hosted at the Albion ground, Berbice under lights on Sunday September 11. This will be the first time in the history of Berbice cricket that so many high profile cricketing stars will shine under what is expected to be clear night sky displaying top class batting power and exceptional bowling skills. According to promoter Paul ‘DJ Stress’ Bonar the excitement in anticipation for what should be a pulsating Event is all over Facebook since the news and video updates were uploaded last week. “Many cricket superstars from the Caribbean and many from Guyana will be at Albion Community Center Ground compliments of the cricket promotional group Cricket Kings. The

Chris Gayle champion players coming to Guyana include Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Rayad Emrit, Sunil Narine, Dwayne Smith, Jason Mohamed, Rovman Powell, Nicholas Pooran and Lendl Simmons,” informed DJ Stress. He also informed that the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has granted written permission for the Champions Twenty20 Cup, while the Berbice Cricket

Board (GCB) has given their blessings to the mega Event. There will be an exhibition match at 16:00hrs followed by the ultimate Champions Twenty20 Cup match at 20:00hrs. Tickets cost $1,500 and will be released this Wednesday at the following locations: - Imran & Son (Rosehall Town), Imran & Daughters (Rosehall Town), A. Ally & Sons (New Amsterdam & Corriverton), Sham Beer Garden (Cumberland, Canje) and Lalsa General Store (D’Edwards Village) or pay $2,000 at the gate. For more information and updates, you can add DJ Stress on Facebook at Paul DJ-Stress Bonar, whatsapp (609-5100) or email (djstressevents@yahoo.com). Interested sponsors are asked to contact 609-5100 OR 225-6547. (Sean Devers)

Neil Mc Lean (left), Mark Jeffers (center) and Richie Looknauth Host Everest defeated Harvard of Trinidad and Tobago by 17 runs in an U19 30-over fixture played on

Caribbean Badminton Championships 2016 – Aruba

Guyanese players into semi-finals and medal rounds of boys & girls singles, boys doubles The Caribbean Badminton International C h a m p i o n s h i p s (CAREBACO) currently being played in Aruba and started on August 18 at the Centro Deportivo Sports Hall, continued Friday. No.1 Seeded player SUNBURST Narayan Ramdhani defeated Jehu Gaskin of Barbados: 21-11, 21- 12 to reach the SemiFinals in the Singles competition. Jonathan Mangra lost to Shea Michael Martin of Barbados: 21-16, 21-18 in the Singles QuarterFinals. Priyanna Ramdhani, the youngest player in the Carebaco Under-19 International at the age 14, defeated Cheyanna BurnettGriffith of Barbados: 21-5, 21-2 to reach the Singles Semi-Finals. This is a breakthrough for her and Guyana Badminton as it’s her first step in the Under-19 Singles Events to reach so far and a medal which will

Narayan Ramdhani & Priyanna Ramdhani (top) in action against the Surinamese pair of Jascha Atmodikromo & Santusha Ramzan. t a k e h e r B W F Wo r l d Ranking Points higher. Her events are usually under-15. In the Under-19 Mix

Doubles Narayan Ramdhani & Priyanna Ramdhani Defeated Jascha Atmodikromo & Santusha

Ramzan of Suriname: 21-10, 21-10 to reach into the SemiFinals. The GBA would like to thank Mohamed’s Enterprise, Republic Bank, NSC, BK International, Hand in Hand Insurance, Crown Mining, Gio Tech and Cosmopolitan Trading for their assistance. T h e To u r n a m e n t continues today with Finals in the Singles, Doubles and Mix Doubles. In the scheduled action: Boys Singles - Narayan Ramdhani Vs. Cesar Adonis Brito Gonzalez (Dominican Republic) Girls Singles - Priyanna Ramdhani Vs. Amanda Yearwood (Barbados) Boys Doubles - Narayan Ramdhani & Jonathan Mangra Vs. Jade Allman & Joshua Smith (Trinidad) Mix Doubles - Narayan Ramdhani & Priyanna Ramdhani Vs. Renaldo Sinanan & Jade Renales (Trinidad)

Friday. Openers Mark Jeffers and Rajin Sukdeo added 26 for the opening stand before Sukdeo went for 16 while Jeffers got 21. Ariel Tilku made 11, batting at number three, but following his dismissal Everest suffered a collapse with no other batsman getting into double figures, and were bowled out for 103 in 29 overs.

Adam Reyas bagged 512 and Josiah Herrera 5-22. Pacers Neil Mclean and Jeffers rocked Harvard top order reducing them to 12-4. Harvard never recovered despite 36 from Herrera they were sent packing for 86 in 29.4 overs. Mc Lean who impressed with his pace grabbed 4-23, while Jeffers claimed 3-5 and Richie Looknauth 2-6.

Diamond Tennis Camp 2016 commences The Guyana Tennis Association (GLTA) in collaboration with Guyana Bank for Trade & Industry has begun its 5th Annual Tennis Summer Camp over this weekend at the GBTI Diamond Tennis Courts. Residents within and beyond the vicinity of Diamond Housing Scheme who are eager to learn tennis and might be looking for a mode of relaxation during their school holiday vacation are all invited to participate in the camp free of cost! The camp will run for three consecutive weekends, commencing 20th-21st August, 27th28th August, and concluding on 3rd-4th September. Children ages 14 & u n d e r w i l l b e accommodated from

3:00pm - 4:30pm, and adults from 4:30pm- 6:00pm. Persons are required to walk with a cap, snack, water bottle and a tennis racket if they have one. Racquets will also be provided. This initiative that is being upheld by the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry is simply an expression of their support for the development of youths and adults in the Diamond Community through the sport of tennis. On completion of the camp persons would not only be able to play tennis, but will also improve the development of their physical, technical, mental and social well being. Interested persons can register by calling the numbers (592) 639- 1735 and 674-7198.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday August 21, 2016

More volleyball action set for Berbice on Sunday 28th The presentation from the recent Jets one day volleyball tournament.

After a lull due to the inclement weather, volleyball action in Berbice is back at full tilt. After the successful staging of the Jets one day volleyball competition on the Upper Corentyne on

Sunday 14th the Volleyball action now swings to the West Berbice. The Berbice Volleyball Association (BVA) will on Sunday 28th August be hosting the 3 Doors Strikers Volleyball Competition at

the club’s court at D’Edward Village, West Bank, Berbice. Over 20 teams are expected to take to the court to take part in the all-day competition which is expected to feature games among the male and

female seniors and junior males. Teams are expected from Orealla/ Siparuta, up the Corentyne River, Rollers of New Amsterdam, No.52 Survivals, Jets of C o r r i v e r t o n , Ta i n

Humanitarian, Port Mourant Jaguars, PMTC, GTCPM, host 3 Doors strikers, Black Bush and Berbice High School among others. Incentives will be presented to the top teams in

the various categories and the outstanding individual players. The activity will be c o o r d i n a t e d b y B VA President and National Coach Levi Nedd. Action serves off at 09:00 hrs.

Brazil beat Germany on penalties to win men’s football gold BBC Sport - Neymar scored the winning penalty as hosts Brazil beat Germany 5-4 on penalties to win their first men’s Olympic football gold medal in Rio. The game finished 1-1 after extra-time, with Neymar’s first-half freekick cancelled out by Max Meyer’s strike. In the shootout, Germany’s Nils Petersen’s had his penalty saved by Weverton before Neymar won it. It comes two years after Germany thrashed Brazil 71 in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals in Belo Horizonte. In front of a capacity crowd of 78,000 at the Maracana, Brazil got a measure of revenge as they finally won Olympic football gold after losing in the finals in 1984, 1988 and 2012. Barcelona forward Neymar, who missed the World Cup semi-final through injury, opened the

Neymar gets mobbed by his teammates after scoring on a free kick. (Getty Images)

Goalkeeper Weverton races towards Neymar who sinks to his knees after he handed the gold medal to Brazil. (Reuters) scoring with a fine 25-yard free-kick, but the hosts were lucky to go in at half-time with the lead. Germany hit the woodwork three times in the

first half - through Julian Brandt’s 25-yard effort, a deflection off a Brazilian defender and Sven Bender’s header - before they gained a deserved equaliser shortly

after the restart. Sven Bender passed to the overlapping Jeremy Toljan and he found the unmarked Meyer, who arrowed a low shot into the

net. Nei t h e r s i d e c o u l d find a winner before the drama of the penalty shootout gave Brazil the gold.

Nigeria win first medal of the Games Nigeria won their first medal of the 2016 Olympics as they beat Honduras 3-2 (Continued on page 73)

Kaieteur News

Sunday August 21, 2016

PAGE 83

Massy hands over cheque for annual 10k race The annual Massy 10km Road Race and Fitness Walk will be held on September 4 with Massy’s Chairman of Conglomerate, Deo Persaud, handing over the sponsorship cheque to Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) President, Aubrey Hutson on Friday. Hutson informed that the race is in its seventh year. “The great support for this annual event cannot be understated, I thank them for this opportunity,” he said. “Massy in its usual kindness will be giving out prizes and awards to all of the athletes who do exceptionally well, we’re still in discussions to even give something a little extra to other athletes who participate. We know all the athletes have been training and are going to have a great

race come September,” Hutson continued. Persaud highlighted how grateful Massy is to be a stakeholder in the event, since the company sees it as an important way of giving back to the Guyanese community. “This is a happy occasion for us. Because if people are healthy and well then they could serve themselves, their family and their country better. We see this as an important part of our community activity in Guyana,” Persaud said. Both Hutson and Persaud reminded that the event is open to the general public, and registration to take part remains free. Defending champion, Cleveland Forde was present at the forum. He spoke to the media.

“I know that when I go out there I will expect the other competitors to be as good as you are or even better, but you always have to run smart,” Forde said. The event will begin at 6:00am from Vreed-enHoop on the West Bank to the Massy Headquarters, which includes a run across the Demerara Harbour Bridge. Hutson stated that the run over the bridge is one of the challenges of the race. “There’s one part of this race that separates the boys from the men, that’s the Harbour Bridge. Moving the race from one region to another, the Demerara Harbour Bridge continues to pose a great challenge to the athletes, ensuring that this event is not just a regular flat race,” Hutson observed.

Massy’s Chairman, Deo Persaud (left) hands over the sponsorship cheque to AAG President, Aubrey Hutson.

Guyana American Heritage Foundation instrumental in Atwell’s surgery and recovery Multiple boxing champion and world rater, Clive Atwell is recuperating well at the Kingsbrook Hospital, New York, where he had gone to perform corrective surgery for an injury incurred in his last title fight here in Guyana. Atwell was rushed to the Balwant Singh hospital where Dr Amernauth Dookie had performed corrective surgery following an injury incurred in his bout against Dexter Gonsalves. Founder and CEO of the Guyana American Heritage Foundation, Lady Ira Lewis, has been a key person in Atwell’s team to have his surgery performed in a timely manner and said that his decision to travel to the USA for the surgery was done in the nick of time since further delay could have been catastrophic. “Clive did a cat scan on Friday and was immediately placed in the critical care unit,” informed Lady Ira. She said that the prognosis was not good as the doctors performed an MRI and detected 2 slipped discs in Atwell’s lower back. “The doctors said that this injury was responsible for

Clive and Dr. James Cort

Atwell and Lady Ira just before he was admitted Atwell’s demise in the (aforementioned) bout with Gonsalves,” Lady Ira further said. She said that the neurosurgeons in New York had shown some concern over certain lapses in Atwell’s condition which should have been corrected during his initial surgery. Notwithstanding, Lady Ira said that the popular idiom ‘all’s well that ends

well’ is applicable to Atwell’s situation. “To my knowledge, this is the final surgery but Atwell will have to undergo a recovery period that entails rigorous therapy, she said. She said that she is unable to quote the cost of the procedure since this can only be ascertained when he is finally discharged from the hospital.

Meanwhile, Lady Ira said that a large team of concerned individuals had dedicated their time and other resources to ensure that Atwell’s surgery was a success. Apart from the local crew mentioned earlier in another report several members of the USA Diaspora should also be commended for their unselfish input which

included housing and other needs. Those individuals are Mitchell Melville, who had a s s i s t e d w i t h accommodation, Dr James Cort of the Guyana Medical Mission, Bibi Alli (Fight for your dreams without fear) and Monica Sanchez, CEO Miss Caricom pageant. Following his initial surgery, Atwell suffered a

recurrence and was advised by medical experts that he would have had to undergo further surgical intervention. Several Guyanese, both at home and out of the (USA) Diaspora had unselfishly supported Atwell’s bid and he finally underwent that surgery at the Kingsbrook Hospital, New York some 3 days ago.

t r o Sp

Brazil beat Germany on penalties to win men’s football gold

The script was perfectly written for Neymar to be the hero and he took full advantage as he blasted in the winning penalty. (AFP Getty Images)

Sweden’s Rissveds Third day washed out in T&T wins gold in women’s cross-country

Jenny Rissveds (SWE) of Sweden celebrates before crossing the finish line. (REUTERS/Eric Gaillard)

The ground staff at Queen’s Park Oval tried various means to get the outfield fit for play on day three, all in vain © AFP

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