Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

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

EDITORIAL

Threatening the journalist There is danger in just about every occupation, but globally, one of the most dangerous seems to be journalism. Just a few days ago a reporter, James Foley, was beheaded in Syria. He was not the first to be killed in the line of duty and unfortunately, he will not be the last. There was the female reporter in Ireland who was investigating a piece on drug trafficking when she was blown up by a bomb placed in her car. There was a similar killing in the United States, again by drug lords who did not like the fact that a reporter was investigating their operations. In Guyana, no reporter has had the courage to investigate the drug trade and expose those behind it for the same reason. The harsh reality is that while the police would welcome the findings of the investigation, they are unable to protect the reporter or the media entity that would carry such reports. Drugs apart, reporters are killed for other reasons. Foley, a freelance reporter from New Hampshire, was kidnapped in 2012, because he dared to attempt to report on the hardships faced by the people in Syria during the ongoing war. There are other journalists in Syrian captivity and the Islamic group, ISIS, is threatening to kill them in retaliation for American action in that part of the world. To their credit, reporters still head to that corner of the world because they see as their role, the right to provide information on what is going on in those countries. In other countries, journalists do come under attack for daring to express the views of sections of the population. They have been jailed in Russia, Zimbabwe and even in neighbouring Venezuela. Guyanese reporter, Clive Bacchus, faced expulsion from a Caribbean island where he had been operating for some two decades. He dared to do a piece that was critical of the government. Some of these countries have even closed down media operations. In Guyana, no reporter has been killed, but many have come under attack because they dared to report on issues that some find disturbing. Indeed, one reporter had his tie cut because he dared to film street protests. Some were saved from physical assault by wiser elements in the mob. Officialdom has actually placed reporters in categories and has actually made attempts to see that harm comes to some of them. There are numerous reporters being denied access to events hosted by those criticized or commented on. More recently, reporters attached to Kaieteur News were threatened by a former treason accused. He was unhappy because the newspaper was reporting on what it considered illegal operations by the Chinese logging company, Bai Shan Lin. He happened to be at a press conference hosted by the Guyana Forestry Commission. His mere presence begs many questions. Who informed him of the press conference, since the invitations would only have been sent to media houses? Why would the moderator allow him to ask a question when surely that moderator knew that he was not a reporter? The threats were reported to the police but there has been no action. One can only assume that the police themselves are cowed by officialdom and considered his actions as being sanctioned by the very officialdom. At recent press conferences, Government Ministers have been scathing in their attacks against reporters who wrote pieces critical of aspects of the government operations. Of course, in countries where there is real freedom of the press, there would be comments critical of a media house. Barack Obama, President of the United States, has been critical of aspects of Fox News. British Prime Ministers have similarly criticized media houses. In fact, just about every country has such instances, but none has ever said anything to cause harm to the reporters. The good thing about Guyana is that the country does not have a culture of attacking reporters. We must do everything to preserve this culture.

Friday August 22, 2014

Letters... Where your views make the news

Our children will be left with wasteland while others build castles in Asia DEAR SIR, Please refer to full page advertisement¯Bai Shan Lin International Forest Development Inc. Creating Jobs, Contributing to the Economy, in your newspaper issue of August 21, 2014. We wish to make only four points, on the contents of that advertisement: First, it is interesting that only now we are being told by Bai Shan Lin and the authorities of the great things Bai Shan Lin has planned for Guyana. But even as they tell us about plans to employ Guyanese, the question is will the percentage of total employees be the same as it

is today¯20% local and 80% Asians or as in the case of the Marriott 100% Chinese? Really, we need to know because we, too, have plans. Second, what will we say to our children when they are a d v e r s e l y a ff e c t e d b y irresponsible logging practices? Sadly, while some will build castles in Asia and elsewhere, our children will be left with swamps and waste lands occupied by reptiles and the spread of various diseases for hundreds of miles. Let us remember that, we are ethically obliged to respect the rights of future generations.

We have said in an earlier correspondence that, we are not expected to be curators of our natural assets but we are the custodians of their value. Exporting raw logs without any value added operations is depleting our natural resources. Where is the value? We have a very serious responsibility not to allow multinationals and locals to plunder our natural resources; we do not own them in the way we own created assets. F i n a l l y, o n t h a t advertisement, there is an old saying–too little too late. We need to know which agency has given these magnificent

concessions without earlier informing the Guyanese people and their leaders. If we destroy our natural environment and continue to plunder our natural assets then there will be no future for Guyanese, and even Bai shan lin with its glorious plans would not survive. We, all, need to pay very careful attention to the way our environment and our national natural assets are being plundered and take steps to stop it now. Royston King Executive Director Environmental Community Health Organization

The Prime Minister and the political circus in Berbice DEAR EDITOR, As regional and general elections loom, Berbicians are once more beginning to get the political circus that normally comes around only when there is need for votes, so that one can get power. Over the past seven days there have been a number of live television programmes on NCN Ch.15 Berbice, DTV Ch. 8 and LRTVS Ch.10 called “In Perspective,” hosted by Christopher Holder and Michael Itwaru and the guest of those programmes was the Hon. Prime Minister of Guyana

Sam Hinds. Mr. Itwaru is the PRO of the Berbice Regional Health Authority but now seems to be in to the political circus of the PPP\C, while Mr. Holder is said to be an independent television host. Before I go on my question to the Prime Minister and his administration, who is paying for these PPP\C Programmes and the host? I do hope that not the tax payers because those programmes are based on the PPP\C political circus forum. Now in all three programmes that were aired, both the host and the Prime

Minister seems to be out of touch with what’s happening in Guyana, because nothing intelligent was said on serious issues that are facing Berbicians, especially about the sugar industry, rice industry, education, health, sports, Berbice Bridge Toll, employment, etc. All the programme is based on, is how to get back the votes the PPP\C lost at the last elections. This circus must stop and issues must be dealt with. On Wednesday 13th August, 2014 on DTV CH.8 around 20:50 I had the

opportunity of calling in and talking with the Hon. Prime Minister and also ask him a few questions. I told the Prime Minister that while the government is talking of development, he must tell the nation at what cost it is coming. I told him that all he and his party is basing on is on the 28 years of the PNC but we are still living under the dictatorship of the PNC and Burnham because they PPP\C is enjoying the Burnham constitution that is a dictatorship type of constitution. I went on to say (Continued on page 5)

Mark Lyte is a capable leader of the GTU DEAR EDITOR, I wish to offer my congratulations to Mark Lyte who was recently elected president of the Guyana Teachers Union. I know Mark is quite capable of representing the interests of the teachers with the necessary enterprise and courage. Mark’s abilty to accomplish his task can be partly attributed to the fact that he attended one of the best high schools in GuyanaWinifred Gaskin Memorial Secondary School, named after the late Winifred Gaskin, who was education minister in the Burnham government. I was in a class/form above Mark (in the mid and late eighties) and remember him as a dedicated student with excellent behavior. Mark was also a versatile sportsman who excelled in athletics and cricket. In the latter he represented Berbice

as a fast bowler. I also remember Mark Benschop who was a very attacking middle order batsman. Other notable cricketers from Winifred Gaskin include Yudendra Dasrath and Ecum Barlow who both represented Berbice. We also produced many outstanding students including former junior Minister of Agriculture in the P.N.C. government, Simpson Da Silva. As I congratulate Mark, I also wish to acknowledge the people who helped to mould us at this great institution. The principal, Ms. Norma Stuart, was a wonderful administrator whom I also had the previledge of working under as a teacher. She mixed discipline with love. She was supported by a wonderful staff of professional teachers. These include: English LanguageDenny Carpen and Richard Bobb; Mathematics-

Mohandas Birbal and Krishna Persaud; Social Studies-Frank McKenzie and Moureen Bynoe; SciencesVivekanand and Goutam Deodat; Geography-Parsram Sukhdeo; SpanishKalawattie Dasrath and Devi Persaud; History-Kenrick Tyndall; Agri. ScienceLy n d e n S c o t t a n d M . Burgess; Technical and

vocational subjects-Jagan Motieram, Niranjan Jagdeo and Henry Munroe; Home Economics-Valerie Kendall. My apologies if I missed anyone. These wonderful teachers made our schooldays enjoyable. Onced again, I congratulate you Mark. Keep the Winifred Gaskin Flag flying high. Mahindra Persaud.

Please continue to expose this corruption TO THE EDITOR AND STAFF. I just want to say splendid work done to the editor and staff of Kaieteur news. I read your online version from time to time. It is your meticulous investigative journalism that I most appreciate. I must say thank you for exposing all the rape our beloved country is enduring. The elected politicians have their hideous motive(s) for not wanting to accept the public and private findings. But I urge you to continue trying to protect our citizens and natural resources from being stolen on a massive scale by exposing the corruption. Nand Sharma

Friday August 22, 2014

Kaieteur News

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

The Prime Minister and the political circus in Berbice From page 4 that Guyana is going nowhere because we cannot count on development, and cost of living is on the rise every single day while there is hardly employment. I spoke of the sugar industry, I told the Prime Minister how can a government plug monies every year into a company that is dying and failing the nation? How can a company that owes almost 58 billion dollars in debt recover when it is not making any profit? How can the PPP\C government continue to fool the workers by targeting them to be used for protest when the industry is failing and the government is so naïve to plug money into a company that is already in the grave yard? To my amazement, the Prime Minister in his response was very weak and unsound. about what I asked, and his response was that “remember long ago there was only NOKIA PHONES and after that lots of other brands came out, so there is always change”. My God, Mr. Prime Minister, how can that be your response to those questions that were posted, but you don’t want to come clean and honest so

you divert in making Berbicians feel that there is a future for the industry. I understand what you were saying in your political style and that is, the industry needs in a diversification state, where other things like ethanol, etc. needs to come into play because sugar will not survive. But you had the guts Mr. Prime Minister to say that under the PPP\C government the sugar industry will never fall. Think, Mr. Prime Minister maybe you are with Alice in Wonderland. Friday night dated 15th August, 2014 on LRTVS Ch.10 the host Mr. Itwaru posted a question to the Prime Minister asking him, “If he thinks that the AFC has served its purpose since they enter into politics in Guyana”. The Prime Minister’s response was that “well you know that no third party cannot make it in this country because there has been only two parties and the people need to stick with the PPP\C, because as you know that politics in Guyana is and can be consider as a race game since in the 50’s and 60’s and unto today, so people need to stick with the PPP\C”. Well Mr. Prime Minister,

I have news for you and your PPP\C cabals because since the formation of the AFC the PPP\C started to get fever and since the AFC enter into the politics of this country we have heard and seen lots of corruption that is being done by this government and its cabals being made public. We saw the amount of monies that is being misused and maybe shifted off from the tax payers, we saw the bad works being done, we saw the friends and contacts of this government being made richer and richer every day, we saw young people that joined the government with nothing becomes sudden multi-millionaires;

we see the lack of representation for all workers, we see the selling out of Guyana by the former President, etc. So the AFC as a third party has done a lot and that is why the AFC has the power to demand from you all in government. The AFC is a third party but it has the guts to stand up against this dictatorship government and tell them to their faces, that we in the AFC and the people of Guyana have NOCONFIDENCE in you and your government. The AFC is the only party in this country that will take away the ethnic voting and the AFC has the strongest and

brightest minds in Guyana politics today with the likes of Khemraj Ramjattan, Nigel Hughes, Moses Nagamootoo, David Patterson, Dominic Gaskin, C a t h y H u g h e s , D r. Versammy Ramayya (your party’s biggest nightmare in Berbice), Trevor Williams, Marcello, Varlarie Lowe, Charrandass Persaud and I can go on; but I want you Mr. Prime Minister to compare all your leadership with those leaders in the AFC and

see what you will get and then speak to Berbicians. Berbicians understand the circus that comes around when there is a regional and national election in the air, but we will not be led astray and our people will fight for the cause of justice and accountability at all times. Stop your circus and train your people to work not play to be laughed at. Abel Seetaram Chaiman AFC RMC REG.5

Friday August 22, 2014

Kaieteur News

Islamic State threat ‘beyond anything we’ve seen’: Pentagon (Reuters) The sophistication, wealth and military might of Islamic State militants represent a major threat to the United States that may surpass that once posed by al Qaeda, U.S. military leaders said yesterday. “They are an imminent threat to every interest we have, whether it’s in Iraq or anywhere else,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters at the Pentagon. Hagel’s assessment of Islamic State, which gained strength during Syria’s civil war and swept into northern Iraq earlier this summer, sounded a note of alarm several days after the group posted a video on social media showing one of its fighters beheading an American hostage kidnapped in Syria. Asked if the hardline Sunni Muslim organization posed a threat to the United States comparable to that of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Hagel said it was “as sophisticated and well-funded as any group we have seen.” “They are beyond just a terrorist group. They marry i d e o l o g y, a sophistication of ... military prowess. They are tremendously well-funded. This is beyond anything we’ve seen.” Hagel spoke as the United States continued

Chuck Hagel attacking Islamic State targets in Iraq. In the past two weeks, U.S. drones and fighter jets have conducted 89 airstrikes against militant targets in northern Iraq. So far, President Barack Obama has sought to limit his renewed military campaign in Iraq to protecting American diplomats and civilians under direct threat. Obama ended the war in Iraq that killed thousands of American soldiers and consumed U.S. foreign policy for nearly a decade, Even after the gruesome killing of U.S. journalist James Foley, Obama is seen as unlikely to deepen his near-term m i l i t a ry involvement in either Iraq or Syria as he seeks to avoid becoming embroiled in another messy Middle Eastern conflict. But U.S. officials say they have not ruled out escalating military action against Islamic State,

which has increased its overt threats against the United States since the air campaign in Iraq began. “We haven’t made a decision to take additional actions at this time, but we truly don’t rule out additional action against ISIL if it becomes warranted,” Ben Rhodes, a senior Obama aide, told National Public Radio earlier on Thursday, using another name for Islamic State. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said officials were worried about the possibility that European or U.S. nationals, radicalized after fighting in Iraq or Syria, would return to their home countries. Dempsey suggested Islamic State would remain a danger until it could no longer count on safe havens in areas of Syria under militant control. “This is an organization that has an apocalyptic, end-of- days strategic vision and which will eventually have to be defeated,” Dempsey said. “To your question, can they be defeated without addressing that part of their organization which resides in Syria? The answer is no. That will have to be addressed on both sides of what is essentially at this point a nonexistent border.”

Lack of leadership hurts Ebola fight in West Africa – MSF (Reuters) - Efforts to curb the deadly Ebola epidemic that swept across four West African states are being undermined by a lack of leadership and emergency management skills, the international head of Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) said yesterday. In an interview, Joanne Liu also said the world’s worst ever outbreak of Ebola has caused widespread panic and the collapse of health care systems particularly in Liberia, where pregnant women have lost babies while seeking a safe lace to deliver. S h e s a i d We s t e r n nations must dispatch more experts in tropical medicine, especially field workers who know how to help communities prevent the often lethal virus from spreading. And the World Health Organisation (WHO) must fulfil its leading role in coordinating the international response to the epidemic, the president of the global, Swiss-based medical charity told Reuter

by telephone. “I think they are in the process of bringing more people from the WHO but the reality is that this epidemic will be not be contained unless there are more players,” Liu s a i d . “ We a r e m i s s i n g everything right now. We are missing a strong leadership centrally, with core nation capacity and disease emergency management skills. It’s not happening.” The infectious disease has killed 1,350 people among 2,473 cases in four countries - Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, according to the United Nations health agency. MSF (Doctors Without Borders) has deployed 1,000 of its own staff in the stricken region, running centres that currently have 300 beds, according to Liu who spent 10 days in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone earlier this month. “All of our centres are overcrowded right now. We have an Ebola centre in Lofa county in Foya (Liberia) which is close to the epicentre. It was meant

to be a centre with a capacity of 20 beds. We have more than 125 patients right now,” Liu said. “The same thing with our centre in Monrovia, which we opened only last weekend, with 125 beds and now it’s already filled. We’re entertaining the idea of increasing the capacity, if not doubling it,” she said. Security forces in the Liberian capital fired live rounds and tear gas on Wednesday to scatter a stone-throwing crowd trying to break an Ebola quarantine imposed on their neighbourhood. [ID:nL5N0QQ2FU] “We are right now, I would say, in a state of global fear in Liberia,” Liu said. “It’s paramount now to reestablish access to basic health care. Because we might be facing the ridiculous situation of having people dying more of non-Ebola pathologies than from Ebola. Right now in Monrovia for example, if you have malaria, nobody knows where to go and consult (for health care).”

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Integrity Commission’s call for declaration of assets should be ignored “The returns will be filed away only to gather dust” In light of the recent call by the Integrity Commission for all public officials to submit their 2014 declaration forms, Former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran says that for many reasons, public officials should not even give the request a “second look.” In a published advertisement in this newspaper yesterday, the Integrity Commission called on all public officers to submit their 2014 declaration forms to the Office of the Integrity Commission. It sought to remind that the closing date for submission is today. It reminded too that all default public officials are to submit their outstanding declaration forms from1997 to 2013 to the Commission. It said too that failure to file declarations with the Commission is an offence according to the Commission’s Act and is subject to Section 22 of the said Act. The Commission said that declarants are also advised to attach supporting documents for the information provided in their forms. Goolsarran gave some background to the Integrity Commission with reference to its Act which was passed in 1997. Though the Act was passed then, the Former Auditor General said that it was not until 1999, that the first Commissioners were appointed, exclusively from the religious community. Goolsarran, who has been highly critical of Government’s lack of transparency and questionable accounting policies, pointed out that arguably, the Commissioners would have lacked the relevant skills to properly evaluate the declarations made to the Commission and therefore, it would have been necessary to engage the services of professional persons skilled in investigative work. However, there was no evidence that this was done. He explained that the Commissioners were re-appointed after their tenure expired, without consultation with the Opposition Leader as required by the Act. This prompted the Opposition Leader to take legal action in May 2005 to nullify the appointments. To date, there

has been no hearing. The anticorruption advocate said that in April 2006, the Chairman of the Commission resigned, and since then he has not been replaced. In addition, since the Chairman’s resignation, there has been no sitting of the Commission for want of a quorum. In 2009, three Commissioners were appointed, but again without consultation with the Opposition Leader. Again also, no Chairman was appointed. While it is a requirement of the law for Ministers of the Government, Members of Parliament and senior public servants, among others, to make annual declarations of income, assets and liabilities, Goolsarran emphasized that it is also a requirement of the law to have a duly constituted and fully functioning Commission in place. In the circumstances, he said that it makes no sense for such declarations to be made, as such an exercise becomes a mere cademic one. The former Auditor General believes that the returns will be filed away only to gather dust, which is not the intention of the law. He also made the point that it is also not publicly known whether the Commission has ever “investigated anyone based on their declarations and whether any prosecutions have been initiated.” Goolsarran also stressed that Guyana is a signatory to both the InterAmerican Convention against Corruption and the

United Nations Convention against Corruption. A key requirement in both conventions is for there to be in place an effective and functioning system for annual declarations of income, assets and liabilities in respect of the abovementioned persons. “Few will deny that perceptions of corruption have reached an unprecedented level, indeed, its highest point in the history of the country, with many senior public officials flaunting unexplained wealth with impunity. Yet we have a dysfunctional system in place, perhaps deliberately so.” Goolsarran opined that corruption invariably benefits the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor and disadvantaged women, children and youths, since funds are diverted away from programmes that can lift them out of poverty. “If we are serious about fighting corruption, our politicians need to get their act together and appoint members of the Integrity Commission who are professionally competent and independent of the political directorate.” The Commission should also be provided with adequate resources to enable it to discharge its responsibilities, including initiating investigations and prosecuting those for whom there is evidence of the acquisition of unexplained wealth.” “We continue to boast about successive years of economic growth, but how much of that growth is accounted for through illicit gains and how much of it cascades down to the poor and vulnerable, disadvantaged and the unemployed? What we are experiencing is growth without development. No wonder the latest United Nations Human Development Report places us as the second lowest in this part of the world, the lowest being Haiti. No wonder also that on the Corruption Perceptions Index, we occupy a similar place. How proud are we when we consider the results of these assessments?”Goolsarran concluded.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans could soon have to scan their fingerprints to buy bread. President Nicolas Maduro says a mandatory fingerprinting system is being implemented at grocery stores to combat food shortages by keeping people from buying too much of a single

item. He calls it an “anti-fraud system” like the fingerprint scan the country uses for voting. In announcing the plan late Wednesday, Maduro did not say when the system would take effect, but other administration officials suggested it could be in place by December or January. The move was met with

skepticism. Critics said the new system is tantamount to rationing and constitutes a breach of privacy. Others simply wondered if anything short of a systemic overhaul of the economy could help the socialist South American country’s chronically bare shelves. V

- Former Auditor General

Former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran

Venezuela proposes fingerprinting grocery shoppers

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Friday August 22, 2014

T&T health workers threaten to stay away over Ebola Trinidad Guardian - Two weeks after the Ministry of Health assured all systems were in place to deal with any Ebola cases coming into T&T, health workers are now threatening to withhold their services out of fear that they can contract the virus. In an immediate response, Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan is advising health workers on the frontline if they cannot do the job, they “should get out of the system.” He said so to reporters Wednesday following an awards ceremony at the National Alcohol and Drug Prevention Programme (Nadapp) conference room, Abercromby Street, Port-ofSpain. sked to provide an update on T&T’s preparedness to handle Ebola cases and if local health workers were fully equipped to treat with such people, Khan said although surveillance measures were in place, management measures still needed to be put in place. During a stakeholder meeting at the National Operations Centre, Port-ofSpain, on August 12, acting chief medical officer Dr Colin Furlonge said a 12-bed triage

area had been set up at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC), Mt Hope. He said two 24-bed wards also had been set up at the Caura Hospital and three rooms at the EWMSC Intensive Care Unit had been identified to be used for the isolation and quarantine of anyone diagnosed with the virus. Asked to clarify Wednesday if those measures were adequate, Khan said: “We are looking at protocols and how to handle it. Surveillance measures are in place but management measures still need to be put in place.” Faced with concerns by port health workers, who are the first agents of contact for people entering the country, Khan said: “The health workers are at risk and are the ones we have to make sure are properly protected.” He said it might become necessary for those workers to don gowns, masks and protective head gear when dealing with arriving passengers. Saying it was a matter of a normal management of any disease or virus, Khan admitted that

“plenty” workers had come forward expressing concerns. “The concerns they are bringing to us are basically that they are scared to deal with the problem so we have to make sure they are well protected. “We have to get the capacity. I don’t think anybody has the capacity right now to deal with Ebola because it has not been fully contained, so I don’t want to say we have the capacity. “We have the capacity for surveillance but now we have to work on management,” Khan said. Revealing that there had been two instances last week when local authorities were alerted by airlines about arriving passengers who had been stereotyped and profiled, Khan assured there were no suspected cases in T&T. “Two cases last week we thought might have had it. The persons were not in Nigeria for a while but were coming to T&T after a fouryear hiatus. We are looking at how we assess and profile arriving passengers, especially where they started their journey,” Khan said.

...‘Resignations example of shareholder democracy’ Trinidad Express Investment expert Subhas Ramkhelawan says the action of Trinidad Cement Ltd shareholders which led to six directors resigning and seven new ones being elected on Tuesday was an example of “shareholder democracy” at work. Speaking to the Express by phone yesterday, he recalled a previous attempt by Mexican cement giant (and still a 20 per cent TCL stockholder) Cemex to acquire 100 per cent of TCL more than a decade ago. Ramkhelawan suggested at that time, the shareholder sought, but was unable to make changes to the

Subhas Ramkhelawan composition of TCL’s ownership. But the special (compulsory) meeting held by a separate group of

shareholders in Port of Spain on Tuesday provided a different result. “It speaks to the idea of shareholder democracy. It speaks to the idea of any concern shareholders might have about whether their votes count,” Ramkhelawan said. “I don’t see anything outside the remit of shareholder democracy.” Section 133 of the Companies Act allows shareholders of not less than five per cent of a company’s stock to call their own meeting for the purpose stated in a requisition. TCL did not agree to a request by the shareholders to call a compulsory meeting.

Jamaica’s drought conditions upgraded to ‘severe’ KINGSTON, Jamaica - The Meteorological Service says Jamaica is now experiencing severe drought conditions. Director of the Met Service, Jeffrey S p o o n e r, s a y s t h e c o n d i t i o n s i n Clarendon, St Mary and St Thomas are extreme. In July, he announced that Jamaica was headed for critical drought conditions. Just over a month later, he now says

despite rainfall in sections of the island, the conditions are expected to get even worse. Spooner says the southern parishes are the hardest hit but rainfall in recent times has been in mostly western Jamaica. Spooner says the Met Service is maintaining its three month outlook, which suggests with a medium to high degree of confidence that Jamaica will get below average rainfall up to October.

Friday August 22, 2014

Kaieteur News

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Is there a power struggle within the AFC? Every excuse that the PPPC has made concerning its willingness to hold local government elections has been unconvincing. Whatever excuse it has provided has created one overwhelming impression in the eyes of the public: that the PPPC is running scared of elections. But why would the ruling party want to create this impression? Why would the PPPC, which has never lost a free and fair election in Guyana, want to do this? Could it be that the PPPC is deliberately cultivating this impression that it does not want local government elections? Is it its plan to lull the opposition parties to feel that the PPPC is not ready to face the electorate and therefore move to have general and regional elections? Is the PPPC forcing the hands of the opposition into moving a motion of noconfidence so that the PPPC can win back its majority in national elections? If this is so, the opposition parties have fallen for the bait. The timing of the AFC’s tabling of a no-confidence motion was quite surprising. It must have had reasons to believe that either it can win

an election or that APNU can defeat the government. It really makes no sense for the combined opposition to be calling new elections, when at best all that will result is a minority government. That will amount to a return to the status quo. So what exactly was the basis of the AFC’s decision to go to early elections? Did the AFC conduct a poll that established that if elections were called now that the party or APNU would win a majority? Before it moved into no-confidence mode it ought to have done this. Political parties do not move a vote of no-confidence these days without testing, through polls, their chances of winning an election. So did the AFC conduct a poll to determine the outcome if elections were held within the next five months? Or was the AFC lulled into believing that the PPPC is weak and that this is the right time to pounce on the PPPC’s support base? If the AFC was so lulled, then the PPPC would have had the AFC right where it wanted it. There are, however, two other possibilities to consider. The first may account for why the PPPC is hedging on

the holding of local government elections. The second may provide the reason why the AFC wants local government elections held early in the new year. The PPPC’s election campaigns are now almost exclusively funded by a handful of powerful financiers. The PPPC no longer has to go around with its begging bowl to Guyanese living in New York and Toronto seeking funds to contest elections. It no longer has to depend on the hundreds of small businesses in Guyana to finance the bulk of its campaign finances. The PPPC is now beholden to a small group of powerful and rich businessmen who finance the party’s election coffers. The problem for the PPPC may be that its financiers may not be willing to finance, in a short period of time, two elections. It is not that these financiers do not have the resources to do so. It is just that they do not care that much enough about local government elections, as to have to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into an election that would not change the calculus of political power in Guyana.

This small cabal controls the PPPC’s purse strings. They are more interested in national elections than regional elections. They may therefore have instructed the PPPC to prevaricate on the issue of holding of local government polls and wait for the big one: national and regional elections. Why waste money on local government elections? But their influence cannot account for the decision of the AFC to take Guyanese into general elections. What therefore accounts for the decision of the AFC to move in this direction through the tabling of a no-confidence motion? Is this related to a power struggle within the AFC? The AFC emerged as a party that window dresses on the ethnic question. It emerged with two main leaders, one of whom was of Indian descent and the other of African descent. In this way, it promoted itself as a multi-ethnic party. Under its leadership formula, the African Guyanese was the presidential candidate for the 2006 elections and the Indian Guyanese was the candidate for the 2011 elections.

This seemed to be the logical succession policy within the AFC. The only problem was that in 2011, the AFC did well enough to hold the balance of power in parliament between APNU and the PPPC. And under its present leader, the AFC made major inroads into the PPPC strongholds in 2011. But there may still be an expectation within the party that the Presidential candidate for any future elections would have to be someone who is a Guyanese of African descent. The AFC has given no signal

as to who will succeed the present leader and carry the AFC into any future election. Could it be that the reason why the AFC is keen to go to the polls is to ensure that the status quo in its present leadership is maintained, since it would now be too late for the party to field a new person as its presidential candidate?

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Kaieteur News

Friday August 22, 2014

== THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN ==

Carl Greenidge’s reflection: A response Mr. Carl Greenidge writing over the weekend about the secret land deals the Government has made with foreign companies wrote the following; “…you would have thought that after the furor over the procurement irregularities of the so-called Specialty Hospital the Government would move very carefully….” Mr. Greenidge went on to enumerate the perpetuation of this morbidity of secrecy. What Mr. Greenidge has written in that letter comes out of the mouths of literally countless citizens of this country. They would ask what kind of leaders the PPP has when last week they got exposed for an illegal transaction then the next day the government does the identical crime and they go on and on. There are two reasons for such a culture within dictatorships. One explanation is theoretical, the

other is specific to the PPP, but both factors are intricately intertwined. First, from time immemorial, when in a primitive society, members of the community broke the rules of sharing and were allowed to keep more than they were entitled to, these people grew bolder. Marxist theory posits that this is the way capital accumulation and class exploitation started, that is, after the resources were pooled and some hunters took more than they were entitled to, they used the surplus to enslave others. It is an inevitability in human nature that if excesses, greed and criminality are not confronted and wrong-doers punished, then inequality leads to enslavement. This story of uncontrolled power is as old as civilization itself. If another American president tries to start a war and he/she is not checked by Congress, then that president

will drag the US into more wars. If a cricketer says that no Guyanese is in the Test squad and he must play and the selectors bow to his demand, Jamaicans, Barbadians and other nationalities will do it. If a judge is dating a litigant before him and his superiors turn a blind eye, he will continue his behaviour. This is the story of civilization. This is the story of unchecked power. It will be with us forever, but we may not have another Hitler or “sweet boy” judge once we are willing to confront illegal, immoral behaviour. The record since World War II, the founding of the United Nations, the spread of democracy, and the fight against racism and abuse of women, have led to lesser evil in the exercise of power. But it is always lurking. We now bring that paradigm to Guyana. Things went badly after the PNC lost

energy and steam during the post-2001 election protest. Mr. Hoyte passed away, the PNC lost interest in power and Mr. Jagdeo used the Buxton violence syndrome to corrupt the police. By 2005, the police, the drug men and the power of Mr. Jagdeo had gone out of control. The rule of law broke down. Mr. Jagdeo consolidated his oligarchic system. Adding to Mr. Jagdeo’s empire was the ethnic protection he received from the race game. The situation has been the same since then. What happened after 2005 was that the latitude that Mr. Jagdeo accumulated brought an enormous inflation to his ego, confidence and psychology. Mr. Jagdeo felt that he had more space to manoeuvre than any other leader in Guyana’s history, and he was right. The irony and ignominy of the present Rodney Commission is that it puts on display President Burnham’s authoritarian character while hiding the curtailment of power Burnham endured because there was a radical WPA, an indomitable PPP, a relentless East Indian population and a vibrant civil society. Mr. Jagdeo’s tyrannical space was larger than the three great rivers of Guyana. There was no resurgent African ethnic community, no energetic PNC, no concerned civil society. By the time he won the 2006 elections, Mr. Jagdeo had monarchial power the English –speaking Caribbean never saw even in colonial times. It calls one’s scholarship into question if

one asserts that the colonial governor and Burnham exercised more unfettered authority than Jagdeo. So crazy and wild was the power that Mr. Jagdeo held that nothing unbelievably horrible in the vocabulary of Mr. Jagdeo, his close confidantes and the PPP party itself was shunned. Mr. Jagdeo and his entourage said and did the unthinkable, with perhaps the incident between Mr. Jagdeo and his commonlaw wife, Varshnie Singh, being the most repugnant anywhere in the world at the time. In such a situation, the President and the PPP felt they could have signed any

Frederick Kissoon deal, sold any resource and sacked any Guyanese they wished to. The Jagdeoite culture is in the halls of power, even though Mr. Jagdeo is no longer the president. This then explains why the PPP will not stop its tyranny unless we stop it.

Dem boys seh... Clinty de Willie frighten he take home get cut Nutten that happen in this country can and should surprise people no more. Dem believe that dem see it all. Imagine, people who got a right to, and who getting pay to protect de people of this country’s interest getting vex when people question dem. Nutten dem seh can be believed. Dem lie bout everything, from de logging in Kwebana to how much logs Bai Shaan ship. De forestry man claim how he can’t talk bout how dem people get duty free concession and how much. He seh that if dem boys want to know dem must ask Khurshid. Khurshid seh that he does only act pun written request suh he can’t talk to de press. De Bai Shaan thing raise so much question that no matter how much sweep dem politician try to sweep dem question away, more coming. Clinty de Willie is a chairman of de body that represents dem manufacturers and de association tek a decision to ask Donald to release all de information that he could fuh let de people see that Bai Shaan ain’t doing nutten illegal. De letter wha de Board write end up in de press. No other member of de association ain’t get vex but Clinty de Willie get suh vex that he tun from black to red. It got to be that he bag heavy. Dem boys want to know if he own Bai Shaan and he vex because people attacking de company. If he ain’t own de company he got to be enjoying some benefit because de man get suh vex that he nearly burst a blood vessel. He tun and tell de business people that he ain’t sending no letter. Well de other Board members had to mek he realize that he is only de president and he is not Donald. Dem ask he is by refusing to send de letter, he saying he no longer de President of the association. That is when he tun like Brazzy and seh how he want confidentiality. Dem boys seh that dem ain’t surprise because he and Brazzy big alike. If nutten ain’t wrang, dem boys want to know why in 2012 Norway cut US$20 million from de money it giving Guyana? Dem boys waiting fuh see how much gun get cut in 2013 and 2014. But something got to be happening. Norway giving Guyana US$50 million a year fuh five years. And that money got too much eyes watching it. It got to be that dem foreign companies promise much more when de year done suh that dem in control pocket US$50 million and still got money to put in de treasury. De people protesting, and it bothering de foreign logging companies suh de people who enjoying de sweet see de money cutting and that getting people like Clinty de Willie get vex. When people get criticize too much, dem does shame. That is why dem boys want to know how this bunch can live wid all de revelations day in and day out and continue like nutten ain’t happen. That is a big question. Dem boys want to know wha dem does go home and tell dem wife and children. Dem know wha de Bees does go home and tell dem children. “Alyu happy, right?” Talk half and study how much money really going to into people pocket.

Friday August 22, 2014

Kaieteur News

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Diamond burglary Divisional Commander meets accused granted bail Kaneville shooting….

with grieving relatives

DEAD: Mark Drexel London Commander Clifton Hicken and his team speaking with Mrs. London yesterday. By Romila Boodram Commander of ‘A’ Division Clifton Hicken and his administrative team yesterday met with the grieving relatives of Mark Drexel London who was shot dead during an alleged attempted robbery in Kaneville more than a week ago. The Commander expressed his condolences to London’s mother, Yvette, and informed her that his ranks are working assiduously to locate the perpetrator and place him behind bars. Kaieteur News understands that the investigative ranks were able to obtain a photograph of London’s alleged shooter who was positively identified by the dead man’s friend, who is also an eyewitness to the shooting. “You can talk to us about anything…we are here to listen to you. Whatever information you may have, you are free to come in to us and we will talk,” the Commander told the victim’s mother. Yvette London expressed gratitude to the team of high-

ranking officers for taking time out of their busy schedules to meet with her and apprise her of the progress of the investigation. “I am happy. At least now I feel a bit at ease that the police are going after this guy who killed my son,” Mrs. London said, adding that she received information of the location where the suspect is hiding. The Commander also informed the mother that the police will soon introduce a number of outreach programmes in her community in an effort to get the youths to socialize with each other and become ‘one.’ “We will bring a similar programme which we have ongoing in Agricola here, so that the youths will get to communicate with each other and use their time to do skillful things,” Hicken revealed. Two Thursdays ago, London, 24, and his friend were walking through a street in Second Field, Kaneville on the East Bank of Demerara,when a gunman opened fire at London.

He was struck in the chest and succumbed shortly after. Recalling what transpired on that day, the victim’s friend explained that he had just returned home from the interior and London visited him early that morning. “He come by me and we gaff a little and then we leave to go by one of his family. While walking, we saw this guy (suspect) walking, but we didn’t pay attention,” the friend explained. He said that it was while they were heading back to his apartment, the suspect approached London, demanding he “pass the thing.” “I don’t know what ‘thing’ he was talking about, but all he was saying was, ‘pass the thing, pass the thing’ and then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun and fired a shot near London’s foot, but the bullet missed.” The friend recounted that after the first shot, he and London ran into different streets. “He (suspect) continued shooting behind London, but he didn’t try to

shoot me.” Kaneville is a small community located at the back of Grove, between Craig and Diamond New Scheme, EBD.

A 21-year-old man was ordered to post $100,000 bail after he was charged for burgling a home in Green Field Providence, East Bank Demerara. Colwyn St. Helen of Third Avenue, Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara appeared before Magistrate Fabayo Azore at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and pleaded not guilty to a Break and Enter and Larceny charge. The court heard that St. Helen and accomplices broke into Nicholas Marks’s Green Field Providence home on July 15, last and stole a Samsung Laptop, one knife, one haversack, a bottle of vodka and a bottle of whisky, a gold necklace and a quantity of gold and silver bracelets. The valuables which

amounted to $407,900 belonged to Marks and Shireen Bissoon. Details of the burglary were not outlined in court by Police Prosecutor, Corporal Aduni Innis. St. Helen was represented by Attorney-at-Law, Dexter Todd, who asked for reasonable bail. He said that his client cooperated with the Police during investigations and is not a flight risk who would abscond during his trial. At the end of the short hearing, St. Helen was also ordered to lodge his travel documents and report to the Providence Police station every Friday at 09:00 hours until the completion of the matter. The case will be called again on October 13 at the Providence Magistrate’s Court.

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Kaieteur News

Friday August 22, 2014

UNICEF sponsored MICS survey for completion by year-end - to determine Guyana’s gains in achieving MDGs

Although not without some challenges, such as limited access to gated communities, the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) is currently at a stage of analysis and will help to inform the progress Guyana has been able to make in the quest to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which have a 2015 deadline. Regarded as a very important survey by Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Shamdeo Persaud, MICS is designed to enable many countries, including Guyana, to produce statistically sound information. As such, he noted that the information garnered in the survey was premised on education, child protection, water and sanitation, and many health issues, including the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Dr Persaud disclosed too that part of the focus of the survey is directed to men and women’s health, and special health issues affecting children. “The MICS will generate for us some good quality population-based information that will address some of the MDGs indicators,” said the CMO as he pointed out that “this year we are wrapping up all of our efforts so that our achievements toward the MDGs will be authenticated and properly measured.” The findings of the Survey, Dr Persaud said, will

also serve to help with the development of the post-2015 agenda. And according to him, the Ministry of Health is keenly awaiting the results of the survey as there are several pressing health matters that will require attention, such as the threat of the introduction of new infectious diseases. However, he asserted that since one of Guyana’s biggest challenges is that of Non-Communicable Diseases, there is need to look at issues such as smoking, which is a major contributory factor. At a press conference yesterday the progress of the survey was deliberated on by a panel including Dr Persaud, a representative of the Bureau of Statistics that executed the survey, and Country Representative of the United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF), Marianne Flach. Speaking at the forum held at the Brickdam, Georgetown, UNICEF Office, representative of the Bureau of Statistics, Ian Manifold revealed that the survey garnered the technical and financial support through UNICEF. And according to him, while gathering the data for the survey was mostly incident-free, there were some instances that the process was hampered. Among these, he listed the inability to reach some of the target people at their homes and the fact that several field officers found

difficulty in accessing some affluent communities. The survey targeted 6,000 households but due to the challenges faced only 5,904 households were enumerated, Manifold said. According to him, field work commenced on April 1, 2014, and concluded on July 10,, 2014 and allowed for the canvassing of both coastal and interior Regions. Manifold disclosed yesterday that the final aspect of the survey is slated to be completed by the end of this year. The survey represents round five of the MICS survey in Guyana. According to Flach, for many countries the mixture bases are among the most important sources of data used for situational analysis, policy decisions and programme interventions and for influencing public decisions on the situation of women and children. Moreover, she noted that UNICEF has supported the implementation of such surveys since 1995 and thus has assisted countries in generating high quality data on the situation of women and children. She said that over the last 17 years, and following four rounds of MICS, a total of 250 surveys have been conducted in over 100 countries. “We are now conducting round five of the survey in many countries...The findings of these surveys will give us

From left: Ian Manifold, Marianne Flach and Dr. Shamdeo Persaud a better idea of the progress that we have made on national priorities as it relates to health, education, protection, participation of children and the issues affecting key populations that need our

attention,” Flach said. She is convinced that once analysed, the data will reveal the gaps that need addressing and serve to inform the Government and UNICEF alike on priorities and

areas for collective attention for 2015 and the following years. It will also help to guide “our joint programming together with the Government,” Flach added.

Vlissengen Road shooting…

Cops confident perpetrators in custody Police are confident that they now have the shooter as well as his accomplice in connection with Monday’s brazen killing of dredge owner Ashook Ragghu and the wounding of his wife. A senior police official told Kaieteur News yesterday that a man they had detained shortly after Ragghu’s murder has confessed to being involved in that robbery. But the suspect claimed that an accomplice, whom he identified, pulled the trigger. “Both are in custody; the guy we had (first) confessed and fingered the shooter, and we caught the shooter,” the official told Kaieteur News. The alleged shooter is an East Ruimveldt man who was previously detained for armed robbery. He was reportedly deported from Antigua in 2012 for overstaying and also for a drug-related charge. Kaieteur News was told that detectives also have an unlicenced firearm that they believe was used in the

- Crime Chief lauds detectives slaying. Police suspect that the dredge owner and his wife were shot with a .32 revolver. Key to the case is a post mortem which is likely to be performed today. Police were reportedly able to crack the case because the killers were not wearing helmets at the time and Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in the area gave investigators “very good” images of the suspects. Crime Chief Leslie James yesterday lauded his ranks for their work on the case and also for their success in solving a number of recent murders. “I’m happy that persons who are prone to such crimes would not be on the road for some time. Our general approach has been to capture the people who commit such crimes and get them before the courts,” The Crime Chief said. “I need the nation to understand that the Guyana Police Force, especially the

CID, is dealing with serious crimes frontally. Almost all serious crimes committed recently have been solved.” Ragghu, of Pike Street, Campbellville, was shot in the chest, while his wife, Shyrazadi Ragghu, was shot in the thigh, at around 14:40 hrs on Monday, after two gunmen on a motorcycle cornered them at the Vlissengen and Regent Road traffic light. The robbers escaped with a bag containing an undisclosed sum of cash and the slain man’s licenced handgun. Mr. Ragghu operated a gold mining operation at Arimu Backdam, Cuyuni, and the family recently moved from Berbice to Georgetown. According to reports, Ragghu had picked up his wife from a city bank and was heading south along Vlissengen Road at around 13:40 hrs on Monday when they were forced to stop at the traffic light near the Botanical Gardens. The gunmen then rode up to the couple’s Toyota Carina, PGG 8291 and tried to relieve the businessman of his money. One of the robbers then shot Mr. Ragghu when he resisted. The businessman was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

Friday August 22, 2014

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Friday August 22, 2014

Residents claim associations paid loggers to back Bai Shan Lin

Logging scandal…

Peeved Kwakwani residents have endorsed the words of Opposition Leader David Granger to the effect that the logging company, Bai Shan Lin, has overstepped boundaries. However, in this case, residents are also lamenting the fact that some Guyanese have been “caught in the net of a few dollars, forgetting that at the end of the day, we are the little ones and those people are living large off of our resources”. Pressured by the daily revelations, Chinese-owned Bai Shan Lin and the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) have come out swinging in defence of the company’s logging activities in Guyana. GFC held a two-hour press conference on Monday last which saw the attendance of the likes of Lindener Philip Bynoe, a former treason accused, who used the opportunity to abuse and threaten Kaieteur News reporters. The following day, a meeting for loggers was held at the Umana Yana, at Kingston. This meeting was hosted by Bynoe, who has close ties to the administration. The “loggers”, inclusive of children and women, were brought to the city to “once and for all put to rest speculations abroad about alleged malpractices in the industry”. They were reportedly drawn from 10 logging organizations in Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice), Bynoe told the gathering that “Kwakwani today is buzzing with economic activity that has come because of the Chinese.” However, hours after that meeting, another one was held in Kwakwani. During that meeting at the Kwakwani Workers’ Club, residents expressed worry, saying that Kwakwani is not as well-off as is being painted by Bai Shan Lin and a few individuals who were in it for the money. That meeting was hosted by Region 10’s Regional Democratic Council. At the meeting, Chairman

Former treason accused Philip Bynoe mocking reporters at the press conference

Region 10 Chairman, Sharma Solomon

GFC Chairman, James Singh

Chairman of Chineseowned, Bai Shan Lin, Chu Wenze

Sharma Solomon reminded the residents of the significant resources in the area, but reflected “look at the community, look at the roads, look at the conditions you are living under, I must say it is not impressive.” It was a resounding no when Solomon asked residents if they were satisfied with the conditions they are living under. The Regional Chairman expressed that he was sure there were people in Georgetown, at the time, saying that Kwakwani is satisfied. He sought to make it clear that he was by no means advising that Kwakwani residents go against each other, mainly because “we live under a system that thrives by the divide and rule concept.” He urged, however, that residents take an aggressive approach to securing better lives for this and the next generation. Solomon said that under the present conditions, he cannot “not even barely”, understand how some can say that “all is well.” He wondered who was benefitting. During the meeting at Kwakwani, it was also claimed that members of logging associations were paid $10,000 to attend the meeting at Umana Yana. Two particular associations reportedly fined members $5,000 each for refusing to attend the Umana Yana meeting. The Chairman said that that money could have gone

to better use. He estimated that the exercise executed on Tuesday “just to make a point” must have cost Bai Shan Lin in the millions as the company paid people to attend, provided transportation and food. “This money could have gone to so many better causes. But look at it, this company prefers to do that before they give you what you deserve,” Solomon said. Bynoe’s presence at GFC’s press conference on Monday was objected to by journalists. There were later accusations that he was placed there to strengthen GFC’s case that nothing was wrong in Guyana’s logging industry. The press conference was called to refute the recent exposures in the media regarding the operations of Bai Shan Lin and other Asian logging companies operating in Guyana. Bynoe was not the only non-member of the media fraternity and non-employee of GFC that attended the press

conference. In fact, a minibus load of Lindeners was brought to Georgetown and the passengers were in attendance. During the media conference, Bynoe and the other Lindeners shouted in agreement with the responses by various GFC officials to the press and sought to distract reporters as they posed questions. But Bynoe was the only one who attempted to ask a question, and he was obviously peeved when he hadn’t the chance to do so. During the media event, he hurled inappropriate remarks and interrupted Kaieteur News’s reporters whilst they were posing their questions. He threatened reporters to deal with them individually and to protest in front of Kaieteur News’ offices. Reports are that money was also paid for the persons to attend the press conference. In 2008, six years after being slapped with a

treason charge, Bynoe was granted a pardon by the then President Bharrat Jagdeo. A Government Information Agency (GINA) statement indicated that Bynoe had been writing to Jagdeo for a pardon for at least one year. GINA noted that, in his appeals, Bynoe had expressed his remorse over the invasion of the Office of the President, and the destruction of public property. In 2002, Bynoe campaigned throughout the country, urging citizens to protest against what he called atrocities against the people by the PPP/Civic Government.

His campaign led to a massive march on July 3, 2002, which culminated in the storming of the Office of the President, leading to the shooting death of two persons, and injuries to several others, as presidential guards opened fire on the intruders. GINA, after Bynoe’s release, reported that Bynoe recognized that the event was an attack on a democratic institution of the state and not directed at the President. By 2011, during the last General Elections, Bynoe was on the PPP campaign trail and was recorded making a passionate plea to Lindeners to vote for the ruling party.

PPP wants extension to Claims and Objections period – Luncheon Dr. Roger Luncheon announced yesterday that the ruling party the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has asked for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to extend its deadline for Claims and Objections period. Luncheon at his weekly press briefing said that government was prompted to ask because of an overwhelming number of transfers. He said that government did not believe that the Claims and Objections period that lasts from August 4 to 31 would be sufficient to ensure a “clean list.” On Monday, General

Secretary of the PPP/C Clement Rohee made claims that the Preliminary List of Electors is padded. Rohee stated that party activists found 18 people living at the same address in Georgetown. He did not specify. Rohee said that the PPP has been submitting irregularities to GECOM on an ongoing basis rather than waiting until the Claims and Objections period concludes. Luncheon said yesterday that he has not seen the letter which was dispatched to GECOM by the government. However he said based on the workload the claims and objections period should be

extended by at least another two weeks. Earlier the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) claimed that it is aware that the PPP is using ‘so called’ Community Support Officers (CSO) to do political work in Barima-Waini Region. A press statement from the Party had noted that the CSOs, who are paid by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs “are masquerading as officers of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and canvassing residents of the region.” In response, Rohee noted “GECOM must produce its evidence of impersonators

posing as GECOM officials in Region One.” He said the claim by GECOM put the lives of the PPP activists at risk. “This hasty and unfounded claim by GECOM about impersonators on the ground on Region One was made in such a way that it put the lives of PPP activists at risk even before they went to check what the truth on the ground was,” Rohee stated. The General Secretary had made it clear that it is GECOM’s responsibility to inform the public that Political Parties are “in possession of these lists and are carrying out house to house work to check for discrepancies.”

Friday August 22, 2014

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Kaieteur News

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VACANCY 24 Hour East Coast Guyoil needs night pump attendants, salesgirl, office assistant & handyman- Call: 669-4755/ 695-9880 Male Security to work in Coverden East Bank Demerara, apply to Alabama Trading Ferry Stelling Stabroek. One experienced Hauler driver, apply in person at Alabama Trading, Ferry Stelling Stabroek. International Cruiseline Purser officer, waitresses, waiters, cooks, receptionist, storekeeper, cleaners, electrician, carpenter, plumber, musicians etc – Tel: 650-9880 One night dispatcher with over three years experienced to work with taxi service – Tel:663-7962 or 622-0722 One shop attendant – Call: 625-5322 FAST GROWING FOOD DISTRIBUTION COMPANY SEEKING A CANTER DRIVER, POLICE CLEARANCE WILL BE REQUIRED IF HIRED – CALL: 231-8344, 223-1034, 223-1035 One night security, apply in writing with a valid Police Clearance to GCC Ground, Bourda. Sales representatives in G/ Town to sell Groceries & beverages. Send application to Maya @ Kaieteur News, 24 Saffon Street.

Unregistered Premio, Noah, Spacio – PRR 738 – Tel: 6970297 2006 Premio - $2.6M, 2003 Spacio - $2.1M, New Model 212 - $1.9M, All Vehicles are fully loaded & unregistered – Tel: 642-7295 Special sale on new model Spacio, with camera, TV, DVD, Spoiler, unregistered $2.1M – Tel: 617-2891 Toyota Voxy - $1.8M, Toyota Premio - $2.3M, Toyota Spacio $2.1M, all vehicle are fully loaded – Tel: 617-2891 Fielder Wagon, PNN Series, in excellent condition – Tel:646-8748 One Honda CRV PHH Series, price- $1.2M negotiable – Contact: 602-1499 Toyota Noah and Voxy (unregistered) - $1.9M – Tel: 603-9700 Unregistered new Model Raum. Milage 78,000KM, selling price: $2M – Tel: 6704190. Toyota AT212, AT192, AT170, AE110, Corolla, NZE, Fun cargo, Raum, Hilux Pickup Vigo, EP71- starlet – Tel:6445096, 697-1453 Solid Diff Toyota Hilux Gasoline & Diesel Pickups, recently arrived, unregistered, in excellent condition – Tel: 691-2077 Toyota RAV 4 PKK Series, lady driven, good offer – Call: 609-8425 Unregistered: 2003 Premio $2.450M Neg, 2004 Spacio $2.150M, 2002 Spacio - $2.150 Neg. Tel: 616-3001, 270-5042 On 1RZ Minibus BNN series - $1.550M, negotiable, manual transmission – Contact: 628-0481 One RZ, 14 seats, A/C, fully powered, BSS series, never worked on the road - $2.6M – Tel:222-4272 , 628-8667

212 New model, Fielder Wagon, Female Computer Inventory F150 Ford – Tel: 624-5632 Clerk with knowledge of One Bedford 4x4 Hiab Truck Peachtree Accounting & $3.8M, One Toyota Hilux Solid Microsoft, for info Call: 617- Axle - $2.4M – Tel: 667-1833 1809 Cashiers @ Shell Service Toyota Hilux Surf, RZN-185, Station Providence EBD. 4x4, Automatic, Excellent Must be able to work shift Condition – Tel: 617-0544 (5am-3pm & 3pm-12pm) – Tel: One Leyland DAF 4x4 Winch 265-7305 bush truck - $3.2M, price negotiable – Call: 667-1833

Business place in Newtown, Kitty – Call: 689-4143 Three bedrooms downstairs flat @ Lot 45 BB Eccles – Call: 233-2277 Campbellville - $90,000, Bel Air Park- $US750, Kitty (business) - $60,000 - Contact Diana: 227-2256, 626-9382 One 2 bedrooms house at Unity East Coast Demerara – Call: 259-3299

VEHICLE FOR SALE

DRESSMAKING Jean offers courses in Dressmaking, curtains, floral arrangements, cake decoration @ 153 Barr St Kitty – Tel:670-2653, 6181706

We buy & sell vehicles for cash, also parts available & 30 seater buses; Extra Cab pickups; 2006 Tacoma- Call: 680-3154 AT192, 212, Allion, unregistered Premio, Hilux Surf, BNN, RZ & Pit-bull, 7 seater super custom. Cash / terms- Call: 680-3154 One Mitsubishi Canter 3½ Tons – Tel: 626-9254, 2642582 Continued on page 32

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Kaieteur News

Friday August 22, 2014

Bartica IMC details noteworthy achievements From page 27

MASSAGE The Gent’s Spa: Be pampered by beautiful masseuses, new attendant Candy, four hands massages, drinks available – Tel: 657-5979 Happy Touch Day Spa: Come & Experienced heavens touch, visit us today! – 668-4554 ACCOMODATION Harmony Inn Apartments and car rental, furnished & air conditioned apartments for local & overseas guest – Tel: 668-0306, 218-1400, 6947817

LEARN TO DRIVE Soman Son & Outar Driving School at Maraj BuildingTel: 644-5166; 622-2872; 6150964; 689-5997

CAR RENTAL Dolly’s Car Rental - Call: 225-7126/ 226-3693 dollys autorental@yahoo.com/ www.dollysautorental.com ProgressiveAuto Rental: Cars & SUV for rental- $4,000 & up per day- Call: 643-5122, 219-3900 ,Email:pro_ autorental @yahoo.com

EDUCATION IAE (Secondary Educational) 194 Camp Street, register for Forms 15, Lessons, CXC Adult Classes for repeaters & beginners – Tel:223-0604; 683-5742 Earn a Certificate in Cosmetology o r n a i l s alone – Call: 226-5904, 225-5360,687-7566 VEHICLE FOR SALE One new Toyota Corolla Spacio - $1,950,000 – Tel: 611-6632, 664-3488

- convinced efforts being made to undermine gains It wasn’t long after the Bartica Interim Management Committee (IMC) had taken office in 2012 that a fire, believed to be the work of arsonists, gutted its headquarters at Lot 18 First Avenue. A report from the Guyana Fire and Ambulance Service outlined that the building of concrete and timber, roofed with corrugated metal sheets, was supposedly gutted by “malicious setting of fire by person or persons unknown.” The building has since been rebuilt, but destroyed in the fire were filing cabinets, a large quantity of documents and other office appliances that were crucial to the efficient operation of the IMC headed by Chairman, Ovid Benjamin. It is believed that the fire was deliberately set to hamper the gains that were being made by the Government-instituted IMC. The IMC was put in place to replace a Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) that was reportedly fraught with mismanagement and fraudulent activities. This move was made at a time when reports were surfacing that both those within the business community and residents were complaining bitterly because they were convinced that they were being overtaxed, as they were not receiving the matching services. But instead of collapsing following the fire, the IMC was able to “rise above the ashes” under the leadership of its Chairman who continues to be ably supported by Vice Chairman, Stephen Belle, and Councillors. At least this is according to the IMC’s Public Relations

A section of Bartica still plagued by litterbugs

Bartica IMC PRO, Sherwyn Downer and Press Officer, Sherwyn Downer, who during an interview with this publication recently, related that despite the many criticisms levelled against the IMC, it has been able to thrive and realise many successes. This, he attributed to the fact that the IMC, although young in its operation, has adopted “an open-door policy”. “Our committed and dedicated team is easily accessible to residents.” In fact, Downer informed that residents are even offered full access to scrutinise the books and records of the IMC on the last Wednesday of each month. He pointed out that there has been no preferential treatment gained by the IMC, as it has been “toeing the line like any proper NDC is expected to do.” According to Downer the IMC is in fact “a solutionoriented management committee.” “We have been having successes amidst challenges, when compared to the former management of the NDC, and so we believe that we have a good story of success to tell,” said a proud Downer as he detailed what he called achievements and accomplishments of the IMC. He disclosed that since

taking office in 2012, the IMC has been able to implement the 48 Stalls Arcade at Mongrippa Hill, complete with a parking lot for shoppers; facilitated the construction of two public washrooms, a multi-purpose complex and roads at Byderabo and Telecoms Hill. Because of the efforts of the IMC to help improve the Bartica community, Downer said that the multi-purpose complex currently entails a medical outpost, public library, indoor games facility for residents of Byderabo and the adjacent communities. Turning his attention to the constructed public washrooms, the Press Officer informed that such facilities were in fact never in place before in Bartica. He

continued to share an extensive list of contributions the IMC has made over a two-year period that suggest that it has been making a positive impact in Bartica. But there yet remain some setbacks, Downer said. These, he noted, include loss of records due to the fire, and even getting residents to comply with rules and regulations that are intended to contribute to a clean and garbage-free community. According to Downer, although there have been some gains in helping to change the wanton garbage disposal by residents; the IMC is still very much challenged by irresponsible dumping. There have been allegations, he added, that indiscriminate disposal of garbage around the Region

Seven community has been deliberately done to undermine the efforts of the IMC. The IMC is also currently faced with a number of inherited debts from the former NDC to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, the National Insurance Scheme, the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated, and three lawsuits amounting to several millions. “These monies could have gone towards so many other community works, but instead we have to keep repaying debts for things we know nothing of,” said Downer. He however, insisted that the IMC is keen on continuing its path of success that will help improve an already developing area.

Disastrous circumstances still exist... From page 25 challenges in supplying fuel at border areas and this has resulted in persons buying fuel from neighbouring countries, more specifically in the North West District. The GEA specifically outlined that fires and explosions fall under the responsibility of the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and they are in the process of preparing a report which will then become the basis on which discussions will be held among the relevant Government agencies

and stakeholders. The Agency has disclosed, however, that while this decision has been made, officers of the GEA have and will continue to routinely visit the area at least twice per year in an effort to garner details of the happenings in the locations. The monitoring agency has since warned, however, that while persons are now aware that the border trade will no longer be deemed illegal, special note should be taken of the condition which has been attached to it. “Persons found transporting or selling illegal fuel will be prosecuted, particularly as it results in loss of revenue from related tax losses and negatively affects legitimate businesses. Illegal fuel

can also affect consumers owing to the fact that usually, the smuggled fuel is often of a lower quality than the legally imported product,” the GEA underscored. “Anyone wishing to import an aggregate quantity of 2000 litres of petroleum and petroleum products in a vehicle, vessel or boat from across the border legally requires a Bulk Transportation Licence from the GEA. If a person is transporting bulk fuel in boats/vessels, the GEA's officers are required to conduct inspections of the facilities, and all operators are required to submit the Petroleum Licence from the GFS, a Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) Inspection Certificate, Captain's Licence, and a Vessel Licence.”

Friday August 22, 2014

Kaieteur News

Judge orders police to bring former Haiti President before him by force if necessary PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti CMC – A judge who has issued an arrest warrant for former president Jean Bertrand Aristide says he expects the police to bring the former head of state before him by force if necessary. Lawyers representing Aristide have filed a motion seeking to have investigating judge Lamarre Bélizaire removed on the grounds of bias. But the judge told the Port au Prince based news website, Haitian-Caribbean News Network (HCNN) that he had not revoked the warrant in light of the motion filed the former president. “I issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Aristide and I don’t know what takes the police so long to bring him before me, because they know where he is,” Belizaire said, adding “I heard rumours that I had waived the arrest warrant. “I want to say that it is absolutely false. The warrant still holds and I am still the judge in charge of the inquiry and nothing has changed in that regard,” he said, that he would continue his work in

Jean Bertrand Aristide conformity with existing laws, without any form of abuse. “I don’t have any particular problem with anybody. I am a judge and I am only doing what the law requires me to do and that is all I can say for now,” Belizaire added. Aristide and several of his former colleagues have been accused of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars from the State through his organisation, Aristide for Democracy Foundation and other organisations during

the period 2001-04. Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest, and his colleagues including Mirlande Liberus, Yvon Neptune, Jean Nesty Lucien and Gustave Faubert, have also been banned from leaving the country. The Dean of Port Au Prince first instance court, Raymond Jean-Michel, confirmed Tuesday that he had received a copy of a motion seeking recusal and disqualification of Justice Bélizaire on the grounds of bias. Aristide’s lawyers said their client did not receive the summons which was sent to his residence, but the judge believed he deliberately chose not to appear. Aristide’s lawyers argue that the judge is now obligated to stop all proceedings in the case regarding serious acts of corruption blamed on the former leader, but legal observers say the arrest warrant against Aristide is still valid and that the judge may proceed with the criminal inquiry while relevant judicial authorities examine the request for recusal.

St Lucia implements ‘indefinite stay stamp’ for all OECS visitors CASTRIES, St. Lucia CMC – St. Lucia has implemented all administration arrangements to give effect to the movement of people across the ninemember Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), according to a statement issued by the OECS Commission’s Regional Integration Unit. It said that citizens of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadine, St. KittsNevis, Montserrat, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands will now be able to stay in St Lucia for an indefinite period. The St. Lucia-based Regional Integration Unit said that upon arrival here, the nationals of these countries that are part of the OECS Economic Union will be offered an indefinite stay stamp by immigration. “The new arrangements for citizens of the OECS Economic Union travelling to St Lucia relate to Article 12 entitled the Movement of Persons as guided by the Protocol of t h e O E C S Economic Union,” the Unit said, adding that citizens of member states of the OECS Economic Union who travel to St Lucia will also be able to drive without a driver’s permit once they are in

possession of a valid driver’s licence with photo identification and the nationality of their respective OECS member state highlighted. Regarding this new arrangement, the Commission said that these citizens seeking employment here will no longer require a work permit once they receive the stamp for indefinite stay. “St Lucia’s implementation of the administration arrangements to give effect to the Movement of people Regime was further facilitated through an intensive training programme organised by St

Lucia OECS Commissioner Ambassador June Soomer, and facilitated the OECS Regional Integration Unit,” the Commission noted. It said that training was held for over 100 officers attached to the traffic, immigration, customs, transport, external affairs, National Insurance Corporation, and other relevant departments. Under the new arrangement, OECS citizens can travel to St Lucia using a valid photo identification which displays their nationality and is issued by their respective government agency.

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Kaieteur News

Friday August 22, 2014

Friday August 22, 2014

Kaieteur News

Page 35

Berbice cyclists to Djokovic faces difficult match pedals on Sunday draw at U.S. Open Cyclists from Regions 5 and 6 are set to return to the roadways this Sunday when the Flying Ace Cycle Club (FACC) stages a 40mile race. The event will peddle off from Marks Bridge, New Amsterdam; proceed to Adventure Village before returning to New Amsterdam for the finish at Main and Alexander Streets. Riders from both the FACC and Trojan Cycle Club are expected to compete as they renew battle for supremacy in the Ancient County. Prizes will be handed to the first six finishers while six sprint prizes will also be at stake. Among those expected to be on show are Andrea ‘Padlock’ Green, Ray Millington, Romallo and Juban Crawford, Elijah Brijadar, Andrew Hicks, Wasim Hassnu, Audrel Ross, Edmond Francis, Keith Griffith, Gary Benjamin, Turhan Harris and Syborne Fernandez as well as female rider Marcia Dick

will all be on show. On Wednesday, ART Sawmilling Enterprise presented the winning trophy and cash incentives to organizer and Coach of FACC Mr. Randolph Roberts at the business entity. Roberts thanked his benefactor and all the other entities who have contributed towards the activity. He noted that cycling is an expensive sport and needs the support of businesses and other members of the community. Roberts noted that it also helps to keep the youngsters off the road and away from illicit activities and trouble. The other sponsors of the race are Homline Furnishing, Tripple ‘S’ Taxi Service, Arokium Funeral Home and Acting Commander of B Division, Senior Superintendant Marlon Chapman. (S.Whyte)

Friday August 22, 2014 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Use your creativity to make things happen today, Aries. This doesn't have to take the form of a finished product. You can come up with new and innovative ways to approach a task, project, or problem. TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) Find new ways to expand your horizons, Taurus. The web has an infinite number of resources and information to explore. Not only that, but your community and local colleges offer various courses to choose from. GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Step out of your usual role, Gemini. Doing this every now and then can add knowledge and expand your life. CANCER (June 21–July 22) Are you satisfied with your current career, Cancer? If not, start by making a plan. There are specific steps that you can take to give you the greatest advantage in the opportunities available. LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Don't fear change, Leo. Even if you think you don't adjust well, you have far more adaptability than you realize. Without change, life would become stagnant and lifeless. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Make your dreams valuable tools for insight, Virgo. Back in the old days, great rulers believed so strongly in the insight of dreams that they employed interpreters.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Follow your instincts, Libra. Even if you have a tendency to listen more to your reason, put that aside. While your ears can hear words, your intuition can hear what's between the lines and provide you with a much bigger picture. SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Feed your mind with new knowledge, Scorpio. Visit a bookstore or read some interesting information online. SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Try to see nightmares as safe ways to understand feelings, Sagittarius. No one likes to experience them, and we'd sooner forget them once awake, the quickest way to ensure they don't return is to understand what they're saying. CAPRI(Dec.22–Jan.19) Are you living your dreams, Capricorn? Are you still in touch with them? The energy from today's planetary aspects can lend strength and encouragement to this part of your life. AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Today's a good day to check into advancing your career or education, Aquarius. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Do you recognize your intuition as a valuable asset, Pisces? Some people do and some don't. Which group are you in? It can be easy to trust more in concrete, factual reality than in the things you can't touch, yet your intuition can serve you more than you may realize.

Reuters - Top-seeded Novak Djokovic was handed a danger filled path to the final of the U.S. Open and a possible showdown with number two Roger Federer after yesterday’s draw for the season’s final grand slam. Djokovic, who has advanced to the finals each of the last four years hoisting the title in 2011, plays his first-round match against unseeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman but the Serb must navigate an increasingly trickier path. The world number one figures to meet either 2012 champion Andy Murray or the on-form Frenchman JoWilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals. Federer, winner of five consecutive U.S. Open titles from 2004, opens against Australian Marinko Matosevic. The second seeded Swiss, aiming to add to his record haul of 17 majors at the advanced age of 33, figures to have a fairly easy ride to a quarterfinals clash against seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, nicknamed “Baby Fed” for his versatile game. On the women’s side, twotime defending champion and top seed Serena Williams also looks to have drawn a stern test with former U.S. champion Sam Stosur of Australia a possible fourthround opponent and eighth seed Ana Ivanovic projected for the quarters. Williams, who has endured a disappointing grand slam season so far, said she was keen to end on a high note and add to her career haul of 17 major singles titles. Second seed Simona Halep of Romania opens against American wild card Danielle Rose Collins with a possible clash against Venus Williams in the fourth round. The other projected fourthround match in Halep’s quarter would have French

Novak Djokovic

Open champion Maria Sharapova against former number one Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. The top half of the men’s draw has third seeded Swiss Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka on a collision course to face the thundering serves of fifth-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic in the round of eight. On the women’s side, the other quarter of the top half is also loaded with upsetminded players and could

offer an early sequel to the Wimbledon final. Third-seed Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic is projected to face seventh seed Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in the quarters in a rematch of their All England Club final. Other dangerous players in that bracket include twice U.S. winner Svetlana Kuznetsova and former number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus threatening to upset the form chart.

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Kaieteur News

Friday August 22, 2014

2014 Regional U-19 cricket review

By Sean Devers This year’s Regional under-19 cricket Tournament was played in Guyana for the 14th time and included all the Regional teams for the threeday competition, while the ICC Americas were added to the six other teams for the one-day format. Despite the adverse weather and dispute between the Guyana Cricket Board and the Guyana Government, the GCB must be commended for ensuring the tournament remained in Guyana and most of seven venues used were in top condition for cricket although some more effort could have been made to ensure that some play was possible in the final, which was washed out without a ball being bowled at Everest. Secretary of the GCB, Anand Sanasie, ensured that the team had excellent preparation which provided them with a firm foundation for success by encamping them at the Chetram Singh Centre of Excellence at LBI where they had access to the indoor practice nets. The general standard of the Umpiring in the tournament was of a consistently high standard and while the Guyana pitches were on the slow side, the fast bowling in both the three-day format and the 50-over version was very impressive and one of high points on the field. Guyana, who began with a draw in the three-day tournament against the Leeward Islands at the Stadium, was the only team that remained unbeaten throughout both competitions to win both titles in the same year for the first time as they dethroned double defending champions Jamaica. West Indies U-19 opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who scored the second most runs including the highest score of the tournament with an unbeaten 132 to average 61.75, was adjudged the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, while Leeward Islands batsman Kacey Carty from St Marten, with 248 runs,

captured the award for the batsman with the most runs after scoring a single run more than Chanderpaul. Barbadian Chad Williams with 26 scalps took the Bowler with the most wickets Award, while Bajan Keeper Leniko Boucher walked away with the Award for the Most Dismissals with 6 catches and a stumping. Chanderpaul copped the Award for highest score while West Indies under-19 pacer Alzarri Joseph from Antigua and the Leewards was adjudged the most promising fast bowler. In the one-day format Guyana had an unblemished record of six consecutive victories in preliminary rounds and like in the first ever Final in Trinidad in 1998, won the tournament by virtue of finishing with the most points, much like Jamaica did when their 1998 final against Barbados was washed out without Barbados having the opportunity to bat. West Indies U-19 opener Shemron Hetymer collected three Awards, taking the Awards for Most runs (321), the Highest Individual score (123) and the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament. Jamaican Wicketkeeper Romaine Morris took the Award for the most successful Wicketkeeper while T&T pacer Akil Seetal had 15 wickets to cop the Award for most wickets in the 50-over version of this year’s competition. Kemo Paul, who scored four half-centuries in five innings in his 288 runs and bowled with genuine pace on occasions, took home the Best All-Rounder Award which was put up by the National Sports Commission (NSC). Chanderpaul scored the only other ton in the 50-over competition in his 233 runs. Brian Sattaur became the first Guyana Captain to win both three-day and one-day titles in the same year, bettering the feat of Steven Jacobs, who lead Guyana to the three-day title in 2007 in St. Kitts before losing to Jamaica in the 50-over final the same year when Horace Miller

West Indies v Bangladesh...

From page 39 Roach. Mominul Haque or Mithun Ali could replace Shamsur Rahman at No. 4, but the decision to bat Shamsur at that position was made from Dhaka. Shamsur will feel he deserves another chance at a role that is not his usual responsibility. Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Anamul Haque, 3 Imrul Kayes, 4 Shamsur Rahman, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 6 Nasir Hossain, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Sohag Gazi, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Al-Amin Hossain.

Tagenarine Chanderpaul

Shemron Hetymer collected awards for Most Runs, Highest Score and MVP. decimated the Guyana bowling attack with an explosive 133. The Guyanese completely dominated the 2014 tournament and played as a united force with Hetymer, Chanderpaul and Paul leading with the bat, while ‘pint size live-wire’ Askay Homraj and wicketkeeper Kemol Savory also played their parts with important runs. Sattaur was a major disappointment in his final year at this level; failing to score a single half-century, and like Hetymer, was guilty of giving his wicket away with impetuous shots. Paul was the spearhead of the Guyana pace attack which was supplemented by Keno Morris and Nail Smith who bowled with pace in his limited chances due to Guyana’s dependence once again on spin. Off-spinner Sharaz Ramcharran and leg-spinner Steven Sankar were Guyana’s leading wicket takers while spin support was offered by Balchand Baldeo and Damion Waldron. Ramcharran and Baldeo are specialist batsmen for Albion in the Berbice. Although Shaquille Martina of the Leewards, Ramaal Lewis of Jamaica, Barbadian Chad Williams and

Ramcharran were among the better off-spinners in the tournament, the spinners were disappointing. In addition to Hetymer and Chanderpaul, who became the only batsmen to score centuries in both formats in the same year, Ross Powell (LW), Amir Jangoo (T&T), Kacey Carty (LW), Ronald Cato (WW), Shamar Springer (B’dos) and Leroy Lugg (Jam) also registered three-figure scores in the three-day format. T&T skipper Jeremy Solozano, was considered by many as one of the best batsmen in the tournament, but the left-hander struggled badly in his last year at this level in a tournament where the general standard of cricket was far lower than in previous tournaments at this level which produced players like Brian Lara, Shiv Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan. Clive Lloyd, the legendary former West Indies Captain said he was quite interested in watching the Under-19s because they are the other set of players that will represent the West Indies and that he was quite impressed. “There were quite a few

players that I saw and we have contracts coming out and I am sure that some of them would have earned one or two.” Lloyd had recently indicated that youth development will be his primary focus in helping revive West Indies cricket. He said that in order to ensure West Indies’ ascension in the ICC Test rankings, emphasis must be placed on honing the potential of youngsters at the regional under-19 level, something he felt was undervalued in the past. “I think it Is important because you want to pick the right people and not to say that others weren’t doing so but looking at the Under19s, I think we have a lot of talent around, it is just about harnessing that talent and getting them to that situation where they could perform well at the highest level,” the newly appointed Chairman of the WICB selectors, said. I am not sure if Lloyd is aware that for the first time teams only played three matches as opposed to five in the past. When I played at this level there was no 50-over format yet the selectors could have picked a West Indies team for the first under-19

world Cup in Australia in 1988. Former Test leg-spinner Rawle Lewis, now a WICB official, admitted that funding was the main reason the tournament was reduced. But the next youth World Cup is not until 2016, so it would have made sense the replace the 50-over version with the two extra rounds of three-day cricket and if Mr. Lloyd is truly serious about reviving Test cricket by using the U-19 tourney as a developmental competition, then he needs to urgently address this issue at a time when U-19 players are being drafted into the Franchises for the CPL T20. Another low point of the tournament was the misleading playing conditions which gave Guyana the one-day title by virtue of finishing with the most points. This was however changed to ‘the winner of the final will be the champions’ although former Test batsman Barbadian Roland Holder admitted that the misleading clause in the playing conditions was a mistake. In other parts of the World someone would have been fired for such a mistake but this is the West Indies and that is another story.

Kaieteur News

Friday August 22, 2014

Page 37

FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup

Oshoala excels as Nigeria, Germany reach final The basic facts are these: Nigeria will play Germany in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 final after beating Korea DPR and France respectively. However, those bare outcomes represent just the final page of an enthralling semi-final story that showcased two different and equally thrilling kinds of football match. The day’s early game was all about one in-form team, with Nigeria carrying out a ruthless demolition job on a Korea DPR side fresh from unseating the defending champions. The Super Falconets’ Asisat Oshoala undoubtedly emerged as the star of the day, illuminating this onesided Moncton encounter with four goals that set all kind of records tumbling. Montreal, meanwhile, witnessed a very different kind showdown of as two European heavyweights contested arguably the most engaging and unpredictable contest of the tournament thus far. And while France dominated and created by far the better of chances, Germany’s clinical finishing and legendary will to win saw them through to what promises to be a classic final. Results Semi-finals Korea DPR 2-6 Nigeria Germany 2-1 France Goal of the day Korea DPR-Nigeria 1-4,

Asisat Oshoala (24) Having been responsible for a hefty percentage of the day’s goals, Oshoala would have been rightly irked if one of her four strikes had failed to find its way into this section. Her second, sure enough, had no equal at either stadium, with the Nigeria star bursting effortlessly away from Jon So-Yon before curling a beautifully judged 20-yard shot into the top-right corner. It was the pinnacle of a performance that ranks among the best this tournament has seen, and bore all the hallmarks of a forward in the form of her life. Memorable moments Falconets’ speed sisters: Nigeria went into today’s semi-final with their reputation as fast starters firmly established. They had, after all, already provided over recent matches the first and secondearliest goals in the history of the U-20 Women’s World

Cup through Courtney Dike and Oshoala. Korea DPR should have been warned therefore and yet, with less than two minutes gone, the Super Falconets had claimed the current edition’s third-fastest goal - scored by Dike and laid on by Oshoala. Uchechi Sunday also reaffirmed her status as the tournament’s ultimate impact substitute, scoring within a minute of coming off the bench for the second successive match. Semi-final specialists: When you have had five shots to your opponents’ 22, and your goalkeeper is named player of the match, that tends to tell its own story. But faced with G e r m a n y ’s s u p p o s e d inferiority in all manner of statistics bar the scoreline, France coach Gilles Eyquem was unequivocal. “You cannot say they stole this result,” he insisted, pointing out that, while Les Bleuettes had the superior

Asisat Oshoala of Nigeria celebrates

technicians, the victors possessed players capable of carrying out the game’s central, all-important task. France, of course, are not the first team to find Germany so ruthless in such circumstances. Indeed, it’s no surprise that a side that consistently combines talent with an uncanny ability to grind out results has now won four U-20 Women’s World Cup semi-finals more than any other team in

the tournament’s history. Fair play, fantastic football: This was Canada 2014’s official FIFA Fair Play Day, which entailed the captains reading a short declaration and the opposing teams coming together to unveil a banner. But while the games were undoubtedly played in the right spirit, the character of the players on show was matched by their quality. Nigeria and Korea DPR set the tone by serving up the

highest-scoring semi-final this tournament has ever witnessed, comfortably eclipsing Germany’s 5-1 victory over Korea Republic in 2010. Germany and France, for their part, provided a match that was the perfect advert for this competition and women’s football in general, with passion, panache and excitement all served up to another appreciative crowd.

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Kaieteur News

Friday August 22, 2014

Pollard looking to step up for Windies St. George’s, Grenada, CMC – Kieron Pollard said he wants to become a more consistent match-winner for West Indies in the future. Pollard hit an entertaining 89 and was the architect of a three-wicket victory for the Windies over Bangladesh in the first One-day International on Wednesday here. He shared a 145-run, sixth-wicket stand with fellow Trinidadian Denesh Ramdin and rescued an

imploding West Indies, following a top-order batting collapse which left them reeling on 34 for five, chasing 218 for victory at the Grenada National Stadium.

Premier League over the last few weeks has been a learning curve for me again and winning that tournament and shouldering a lot of responsibilities there.

“If I am honest with myself, it is about time that I take some responsibility,” said Pollard. “I have been around for a long time and, hopefully, I can become more consistent playing innings like this.

“I want to be more consistent playing innings like this for West Indies and any other side of which I am a part.”

“We have been playing together for a long time and this was a great opportunity for us to come together and get a very good win for the side,” he said.

Last Saturday, Pollard and Ramdin were foes during the contentious final of the CPL at Warner Park in St. Kitts, but their familiarity

“We were however, a little disappointed that we did not stay and carry things right through until the end, but this is something that we

“Leading the Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean

from playing for the Trinidad & Tobago national team in other competitions bred success during their partnership.

will need to continue to work on and try to consistently and strongly finish games.” Pollard said coming from the depths from which they did was a morale boost for West Indies, but it also proved there were areas that still needed improvement. “At 34 for five, there was an enormous amount of pressure, but cricket is a funny game, and it was proven again in this match,” he said. “Ramdin and I were concerned that we were the last two recognised batsmen and it would have been a bigger challenge for us to win, if either one of us got dismissed early. Jason Holder is a very good allrounder and has proven himself in Test cricket so far, but we needed to stay.” “Prior to the game, we had discussed that our batters have to take responsibility, but it didn’t happen and so Ramdin and I knew it was going to be crucial for the team for us to stay there.”

Although he struck five fours and six sixes in his 70ball innings, Pollard said conditions were not the easiest for scoring, but he and Ramdin chose discretion as the best part of valour. “We had to play each ball on its merit, play within our zones and limitations and stil try to counter attack,” he said. “It didn’t make sense getting balls from which you could score and blocking them just because you were in a spot of bother. That helped to change the momentum, then the Bangladeshis pulled things back, and then came another period when we stuck our necks out again.” Pollard also dispelled the notion that the last six weeks of Twenty20 in the CPL had allowed a few bad habits to creep in, leading to West Indies early stumbles when they chased. The second ODI takes place on Friday at the same venue before the series concludes with the last of the three matches next Monday at Warner Park.

T&T trounce St. Kitts 10-0; Martinique beat Antigua 2-0 Port of Spain, Trinidad Host Trinidad & Tobago romped to a huge win over St. Kitts & Nevis while Martinique opened their group B account with a victory over Antigua & Barbuda. Hosts Trinidad and Tobago whipped St Kitts and Nevis 10-0 on Wednesday night in the Soca Princesses opening Group B match of the inaugural Women’s Caribbean Cup final. The home crowd at the Hasely Crawford Stadium can be proud of their team who opened the scoring early in the 3rd minute of play. Scoring for the Soca Wa r r i o r s w e r e K e n y a Cordner in the 3rd and 7th minute, Tasha St Louis in the 6th,10th and 22nd, Janine François in the 55th and 59th while Maylee Attin Johnson, Mariah Shade and Dernelle Mascall netted in the 12th 44th and 68th minutes respectively. In the early encounter of the day Martinique got past Antigua & Barbuda 2-0 at the same venue. Both goals were scored by Prisca Carin in the 12th and 64th minute. The Antigua team started off

promising in the early minutes as they pressured Martinique, But a mistake at the back was all it took for Martinique’s Prisca Carin to score in the 12th minute. Antigua came close to equalizing in the 40th minute when Marley Jarvis whipped in a free kick from outside the 18 yard box which hit the post. In the second half Martinique tried to control most of the ball possession as Antigua came out more aggressive. But to no avail Martinique scored once again from corner kick as Prisca Carin doubled her account as she scored from close range. Matches continued yesterday with two Group A games, Bermuda opposed Jamaica while Puerto Rico played Haiti.

Kaieteur News

Friday August 22, 2014

Page 39

Visitors must kick losing habit to save series

West Indies v Bangladesh, 2nd ODI, at St George’s West Indies sweated for their 1-0 lead on Wednesday but it could prove a crucial advantage in a series likely to be affected by rain. While it is unlikely the hosts will be as slipshod in the second game, Bangladesh are still searching for a performance good enough to bring them a first win in 2014. For the first hour of West Indies’ chase of 218, Bangladesh were producing that performance. They tied down Chris Gayle, played on Kirk Edwards’ patience and induced poor shots from Lendl Simmons and the brothers Bravo, leaving West Indies on 34 for 5 in

13.1 overs. Bangladesh were a wicket away from the tail but they did not get it for 145 runs. Denesh Ramdin was sensible, Kieron Pollard powerful, and they were dismissed only after they had put West Indies on verge of victory. There is room for West Indies to improve with the ball too. Sunil Narine, though wicketless, troubled the batsmen but the seamers were loose with their lines and lengths on a pitch that was on the slower side. Bangladesh have work to do. Their strike-rates at the top need improvement, and they need to find ideas when the match is on edge. They can

take encouragement from the restraint Tamim Iqbal and Nasir Hossain showed while trying to build their innings, Anamul Haque’s application during his century, and Al-Amin’s incisiveness. If Bangladesh don’t get it together today, their winless run in 2014 will cost them another series. Kieron Pollard was Man of the Match in the first ODI but Denesh Ramdin’s role was as important. He rotated strike when none of the batsmen above him had been willing to do so and enabled Pollard to bat with relatively less pressure. ble to find the boundaries too, and his

Walter Moore, the only senior international based Jaguar chosen to play The Guyana Football F ed er atio n ( G F F ) h as officially invited only one senior Golden Jaguar player home to take part in the upcoming Caribbean Cup, whilst failing to offer any other Golden Jaguar based abroad the opportunity to come back and represent Guyana. Walter Moore is the only player included in the upcoming CFU squad and will fly to Guyana from Kazakhstan, where he currently plays club football. Whilst Walter Moore has chosen to come home and represent his country Guyana, in doing so, some support groups are angered that Moore’s overseas-based Guyana team-mates have been neglected by the current administration. Yo u n g Tr a y o n B o b b ,

Guyana’s brightest star in the World Cup qualifiers, has been over-looked and the question is yet to be answered by the GFF as to why. Speaking exclusively, Walter Moore said ‘’Yes I got called up, it’s always a privilege to play for my country, I came through all levels of football in Guyana, I’m in my peak and I don’t think I have long left in this sport, so I want to give back to Guyanese football’’. Asked why he thought other overseas-based players such as Christopher Nurse, Trayon Bobb, JP Rodrigues and Carl Cort were not invited by the GFF, Moore said, ‘’I’m not sure why those guys were not called up but they played as hard as I did every time…they are talented and bring a lot to the

team, they can motivate and lead, we would benefit from them (playing for Guyana)’’. Moore went on to say that he felt he was justified in choosing to play for the National Team despite many of his colleagues being left in the wilderness by the GFF, ‘’every opportunity I get I will play and that’s just my decision and at the end of the day if I can inspire a young player then that’s what I want’’ The Caribbean Cup begins on 3rdSeptember, with Guyana playing their games in St Kitts& Nevis under the management of Denzil Thompson. However, the question remains, with an abundance of Guyanese talent playing abroad, why is Walter Moore the only one coming home? (Santokie Nagulendran)

National football squad in intense training for Caribbean Cup The Tucville ground was inundated with water but this did not prevent more than 10 footballers, training for possible selection to the 2014 Caribbean Cup qualification in St. Kitts & Nevis, from engaging in stiff training sessions, yesterday afternoon. The players worked under the watchful eyes of newly appointed National Coach, former goalkeeper, Denzil ‘Hunky Brains’ Thompson, Assistant Coach

Mark Charles and Development Coach, Naitram Tudy Persaud. Kaieteur Sport sought to elicit a comment from Mr. Thompson but was told that he was not permitted to comment on any aspect of the programme unless he was authorized by the hierarchy of the sport. A formal request to the Technical Development Officer, Lyndon France, proved unsuccessful as he told us that coaching matters

are dealt with by the coach. Nevertheless, we were able to ascertain that the team departs Guyana September 1. When quizzed on the composition of the team, Thompson would only say that he was currently evaluating the players in order to ascertain the best to represent Guyana. Up to the time this reporter left the venue, the players were engaged in warm up exercises.

recent dependable form in the lower-middle order is a welcome support for West Indies. It would be surprising if Mushfiqur Rahim let his batting from the first game affect his innings in the second. He has been Bangladesh’s most prolific scorer this year, and for him to throw it away before getting a proper lookin was unusual. Either Nikita Miller or Darren Sammy could play if conditions are slower than they were in the first ODI. West Indies won an ODI after losing their first five wickets for less than 50 runs for the first time on Wednesday. West Indies (probable): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Kirk Edwards, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Lendl Simmons, 5 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 6 Dwayne Bravo (capt), 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Jason Holder, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Kemar (Continued on page 34)

Kieron Pollard and Denesh Ramdin put on 145 for the sixth wicket to set up victory in the first ODI.(© WICB Media Photo/Randy Brooks)

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Kaieteur News

Friday August 22, 2014

Destructive Criticism!

Sports psychologist Dr. Webster explains why Gibson failed as Coach Many people might not remember that 75-year-old Barbadian Dr. Rudi Webster took 272 wickets from 70 First-Class matches for Scotland, Otago and Warwickshire between 1961 and 1968. Webster’s name in the cricket fraternity, especially among those under 50, would be more familiar as a sports psychologist. He worked at the Cricket Academy in Grenada and more recently with the West Indies team under Daren Sammy when they faced India at home in 2011. In a first-of-its-kind in the IPL, Webster, who has influenced minds like Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Greg Chappell, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag, was appointed by Kolkata Knight

Riders as their mental skills coach in 2012. The respected Webster spoke of how sacked West Indies Head Coach Otis G i b s o n ’s d e s t r u c t i v e criticism style of Coaching took its effect on some of the senior players in the West Indies team leading to his fallout with the players and the WICB. “Coaches sometimes use destructive criticism to motivate their players after a loss or poor performance. This type of criticism rarely improves performance; it usually harms it” said Webster. H e c o n t i n u e d “Destructive criticism is cruel and personal and usually results in anger, resentment, loss of confidence and poor

teamwork. Psychologist Baron claims that the best way to repair that damage is with an apology particularly when the apology contains a credible explanation and an assurance that the accuser did not mean to be cruel or personal. If he does not apologize the accused might then retaliate by venting their feelings to a third party – the press or team mates – thereby intensifying anger and hostility. What can we learn from Baron’s research? If a coach uses destructive criticism he should try to repair the damage by apologizing to the player as soon as possible, telling him that he did not intend to demean or humiliate him, even if it looked that way. The longer the apology is delayed the

worse things become and the player might then use that time to launch his own destructive criticism of the coach. Hostility and other destructive emotions will then escalate until or unless both parties apologize to each other. In the 2011 Cricket World Cup the West Indies team played poorly and the disappointed coach, Ottis Gibson, publicly castigated the senior players for the team’s failure. He hardened his stance in the following days, weeks and months with the support of the CEO of the West Indies Cricket Board. Gayle and the other players retaliated with their own destructive criticism of the coach. The coach then demanded an apology from Gayle and the other senior players. When Gayle did not apologize he was dropped from the team. At the time Gayle was the most feared batsman in the game and arguably the best player in the team. His

omission created a lot of fear, confusion and bad feelings among the players in the team who performed below their potential. About a year later, the Prime Minister of Jamaica intervened and urged the Board to reinstate Gayle to the team only to be greeted w ith an arrogant and insulting reply from the Board. Angered by this response the Caribbean Prime Ministers closed ranks, became involved in the stand-off and eventually persuaded the two warring parties to bury their differences and accommodate each other for the good of West Indies cricket. Gayle was later recalled to the team and team performance immediately improved: the team beat New Zealand in a Test and One Day series and then went on to win the 2012 T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. One of the most important jobs of a coach is to create an environment in which the players can learn,

grow and play to the best of their ability. Ottis Gibson is potentially a good coach but he failed badly in that area. Autocratic coaches who abuse their power and rely solely on the power of their position to get things done often fall short of their objectives because of an inherent power gap that can only be bridged by cultivating honest, trusting, respectful and cooperative relationships with the players. Clearly Otis did not understand the limitations of his power and the importance of building and maintaining those types of relationships. During the crisis there was a clash of values and a change of the team’s first important priorities; power and control took center stage and trumped commonsense, team selection, team performance and the welfare of West Indies cricket. When the stick is used to motivate it should be done s e n s i b l y, w i s e l y a n d s p a r i n g l y ” We b s t e r concluded.

Inter-Village 5-a-side football kicks off tonight

Top city teams to invade the West Side After being postponed for over a week, the Ansa McAl/Stag Beer InterVillage 5-a-side football tournament is set to kick off tonight at the Vergenoegen Rice Mill Tarmac from 19:00hrs and some of Guyana’s best street football players will take center stage. The tournament will see teams from outside of the West Demerara competing since according to the organizers, the overwhelming response has forced their hands to make a change. “With the inclusion of teams from Georgetown, the tournament is now more interesting and will surely add more than flair and e x c i t e m e n t . We w e r e basically bombarded by those teams to be part of it, so, we had to postpone from our initial start to accommodate them” said coordinator Collin ‘BL’ Aaron. Aaron pointed

out that the tournament will feature over 16 teams, though not giving an exact amount noting, “We’ve received more teams that we expected but we’ll chose enough which will allow us to finish within the stipulated playing dates”. Apart from the opening action tonight, the tournament will continue on August 22, 27, 29 and 31, along with September 3, 5 and the grand final on September 7. While the winners will pocket $200,000, second through fourth places will go home with $100,000,

$75,000 and $25,000 respectively. This is first time an event of such nature is being held on the ‘West Side’ and the organizers are optimistic of a successful tournament, with Aaron pointing out, “nothing much is happening in football, especially on the ‘West Side’ and people are hungry for some action, especially the players, so I believe this is a great start for something we hope will be an annual feature which will grow into something big.” The Vergenoegen Rice Mill Tarmac and Pouderoyen Basketball Court are the two venues that are slated to host matches. Slingerz Family will provide nightly entertainment and apart from the games being free for the football loving public, lucky patrons will have a chance to cash in on several give-aways.

Kaieteur News

Friday August 22, 2014

Page 41

Alphonso clan upkeeps GTTA/ITTF hosts Level I, II Coaches’ Certification Programme tradition in Ancient County Donates football gear to young players

ITTF Latin American Development Officer, Spaniard, Ramon Ortega Montes (standing, right) makes a point during his presentation yesterday at the National Gymnasium. T h e G u y a n a Ta b l e Te n n i s A s s o c i a t i o n (GTTA)/International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is currently hosting a Level I and II Coaches’ Certification Programme in Guyana at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue. ITTF Latin American D e v e l o p m e n t O ff i c e r, Spaniard, Ramon Ortega Montes, is conducting the courses. The Level II participants had to complete the Level I course and possess over one year of practical experience as a Coach as a prerequisite. Ongoing is the Level II Course, which is somewhat test-based and participants must attain over 14.5 percent

to do the Level III Advanced programme. This Course is internationally renowned and offers Coaches the opportunity to advance their knowledge. For the Level II Programme, the GTTA has selected Coaches, who have been previously trained at Level I and have been working to develop the sport. The course has an international dimension with participants from Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and Grenada. The GTTA has selected personnel from across Guyana, including Regions 3, 7, 10, and 6 in view of spreading the base of the sport. The programme forms a critical element to

the development of the sport in Guyana. “Based on the fact that knowledge transitioning is critical for international success, this is a step for advancing the knowledge of our coaches and by extension raising the level of the players and creating the catalyst for improving the institutional structure,” GTTA President, Godfrey Munroe said when contacted. According to Munroe, several key initiatives will be undertaken when following the intervention of Montes and the ITTF. He said that all is aimed at transforming the Table Tennis landscape in Guyana.

Guyanese Swimmer helps T&T to 2014 Goodwill Championship G u y a n e s e b o r n D e l r o y Ty r r e l l represented Trinidad and Tobago this year at the 2014 Goodwill Swim Meet and aided the Twin Island Republic to emerge champions. Delroy, competing in his second consecutive Goodwill Swim Meet, copped the Third place overall for the Boys 11-12 age group. He competed in ten individual events and three relays. He swam 2:46.16 in the Individual Medley and secured a bronze medal; Silver Medal in the 50 Fly (33.72), Silver in the 200 Free (2.23.99) and Bronze in

the 100 Fly (1:14.38). Delroy also helped the team to three gold medals in the 4x100 Medley, 4x100 Free Style and 4x50 free style. The Tidal Wave Aquatics swimmer, coached by Hazel and Chabeth Haynes, is satisfied with his performance and thanks God, his coaches and parents for their support. He plans to continue working assiduously to make the Trinidad Carifta Swim Team for next year which will be held in Barbados. Delroy is the son of Drs. Fitzroy and Jianna Tyrrell. He has one sibling, Dominic Tyrrell.

Zack Alphonso presents boots to these happy players.

The Alphonsos are popular residents of Berbice, having contributed to almost every sector in the Ancient County. That tradition was upheld when 10 year-old Zack Alphonso, recently back home on holiday, presented five pairs of football boots to several of his pre teen colleagues. He made the presentation during training sessions at the Hearts of Oak Masters 17th Annual Teach Them Yo u n g F o o t b a l l C a m p conducted at three venues, the Scott Church Ground, the Prison Officers Sports Club and the All Saints Primary School. Alphonso resides in the USA and regularly visits his homeland. He is the son of former national youth player, businessman, Kurt Alphonso and grandson of former President of the Guyana Football Association, businessman and former Mayor, Errol Alphonso. Several other family members including his great uncles and cousins represented Guyana in football and other sports disciplines. He is hoping to start representing Guyana soon.

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National football squad in intense training for Caribbean Cup P.39

Coach of the local squad, Denzil Thompson, engages the players in a pre-training pep talk moments before a session got underway

Destructive Criticism!

Sports psychologist Dr. Webster explains why Gibson failed as Coach P.40

Otis Gibson

Walter Moore, the only senior international based Jaguar chosen to play

Dr. Rudi Webster Walter Moore

P.39

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