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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: 225-8491, 225-8458, 225-8465 Fax: 225-8473 or 226-8210
Editorial
Coping with the crime situation A recent letter to the editor by former Assistant Commissioner of Police Clinton Conway should serve to reassure the general public that the Guyana Police Force has strategies to cope with burgeoning crime. What the moreinformed citizens would like to know is whether these strategies been reviewed since their implementation to determine their continued suitability to our local circumstances. It was refreshing to hear the Minister of Home Affairs at the just concluded National Conference for the Prevention of Interpersonal Violence say that he is willing to listen to “constructive” criticism. The question which arises is “Who or what determines when a criticism is constructive or otherwise?” The point here is that one’s perspective will be the determinant of how a piece of criticism is received. We are told that there are certain negatives associated with CompStat which basically is a leadership and management strategy designed to reduce crime. We need to know if this is a case where we have adopted an initiative that was designed for the New York Police Department with no real consideration to its relevance to local factors, or has the GPF implemented its version with due regard to the aforementioned concern? However, whether or not CompStat has been modified, it is recognised that improvement in the performance of a reformed GPF is premised on a strategic approach in consonance with certain desirable and retainable aspects of traditional policing. The GPF reports its monthly performance statistics to the MoHA and this is where our focus should lie if we are to say without equivocation that we are not simply being inundated with figures in the absence of clear and definitive strategies which inform the results. In other words it is through the identification and application of strategies that the GPF can demonstrate its competence and effectiveness in achieving performance results that have been determined beforehand. Another point worth noting is that the personnel dedicated to analyzing performance data must be able to identify whether performance is improving, and advise what new approaches should be considered based upon research on trends and good practices. The foregoing can be supplanted by regular audits complete with quantitative and qualitative analysis to confirm the accuracy of the Force’s efforts and enhance its image. One problem which should be mentioned is that the GPF being the rank-conscious organization that it is, makes it virtually impossible for a junior officer to operate in the latter capacity no matter how qualified s/he may be. This mindset effectively prevents decision-makers from accessing the kind of vital information necessary for the strategic allocation of resources according to specific and immediate operational needs. There must be a concomitant attitudinal rebirth for the GPF is to implement reforms successfully if it is to be described as a modern police organization. It is not quite clear at this stage whether the leadership of the GPF understands its role in moving the force forward with a unified philosophy. Is everyone singing from the same score sheet? At public forums we sometimes get the impression that not all is well at the top levels; that there is a schism and not all the players have briefed themselves on the appropriateness and oneness of approach to issues of concern to the public. This is played out in a not so subtle game of one-upmanship. At the risk of engendering a vitriolic reaction we would like to state that citizens deserve to know that their safety is guaranteed by vision of an organization not subject to the whims of personal preference and power seeking. In other places it has been seen that strategic gains with respect to reforms have been eroded when an incoming leader’s unfounded philosophy collides with a progressive policy framework, and we should not see the GPF as exempt in that regard. We should therefore consider whether we can afford any such slippage. Citizens need to hear much more contributions from former police officers who may have their own viewpoints to offer.
Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur M@ilbox Send your letters to Kaieteur News 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown or email us kaieteurnews@yahoo.com
WORRYING INCIDENT AT THE BARTICA MAGISTRATES’ COURT DEAR EDITOR, I would like to bring to attention some worrying incidents that happened at the Bartica Magistrate Courtroom on Wednesday 27th November, 2013. During one of the recessions of the Honourable Magistrate whose name I cannot remember, two of the prisoners who are being charged for murder, left the bench that is allotted to the prisoners and went to the relatives seated with the other folks attending court to have conversations. This was done in the presence of the Police Officers seated in the courtroom. One policeman was asked about this behavior by a woman in the courtroom
and he looked at her and mumbled something under his breath and turned and walked away. It seems to the others there that these people are above the law and they can do anything they feel. Secondly, The behavior of the Police Prosecutor is very unbecoming as a senior officer towards his ranks and the member of the public. Let me deal with his junior ranks first. Two detectives made some grammatical mistakes on their case dockets: before he called them quietly and point out the mistakes, in a loud tone he told them “to learn to spell and write proper English” and he did this with a grin on his face. Mind you, when he is
prosecuting his grammar is atrocious. I was appalled at his behavior to a woman who I later learnt to be the mother of the deceased, for whose murder the men I mentioned before, are charged. This woman left the courtroom to answer her phone. Whilst she was there standing by the steps, the accusers were leaving the courtroom. As they stepped through the door one of them shouted that the woman wants to take out their photographs. The prosecutor left in a haste and started to shout at the confused woman, who told him that she was not taking pictures. He continued in his loud tone (Continued on page 6)
Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur News
Kaieteur M@ilbox
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Kaieteur M@ilbox
THIS IS A FRONTAL ATTACK ON THE PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO ECONOMIC SELF-DETERMINATION DEAR EDITOR The Kara Kara Bridge issue is the latest in the PPP’s 21 years of unrelenting attacks on the people of Linden/Region 10 and these attacks must stop! This is not only about the workers of Linden Town Council (LTC) and the generation of revenue to manage their affairs, it is a Rights issue and goes to the core of who we are as a people and what we are prepared to stand up and fight for as a nation. The Constitution’s supremacy is established in Article 8 which states, “This Constitution is the supreme law of Guyana and, if any other law is inconsistent with it, the other law shall, to the extent of its inconsistency, be void.” Invalidating a law can come through another law, act(s) of civil disobedience by the people for that law, or the creation of new laws to ensure what’s rightly theirs. The Minister within the Ministry of Local Government, Norman Whittaker, is either being a bully or is out of his depth with his claims regarding the toll issue undertaken by the LTC. The fact that there was a practice based on the government’s earlier approved provision to garner revenue which the minister sought to stop, and threatened workers with dismissal should they work the toll station, then turned around and had Cabinet approve money to pay wages, and this empty threat reinforced by the workers’ representative, the Guyana Labour Union (GLU), bears testimony to the minister’s ignorance of local government and the level this once formidable union has
sunk under Carvil Duncan’s leadership. This is a frontal attack on the people’s right to economic self-determination, once respected, now arbitrarily taken away. The ministry does not hire workers below the level of officers at the council level, which Whittaker and Duncan know. Those workers are hired by the council and answerable to the council who is responsible for the station and took the decision to continue working the station. This was a just decision because it was underscored by prior approval and taken away without agreement or judicial pronouncement. It is being thwarted because the government remains uncomfortable with the LTC self-determination. The PPP’s obsession to place communities in position of want so these arrogant narcissists can ‘come to the rescue’ is small-minded and a violation of fundamental rights. Lest they continue this mental contortion and society be misled, Cabinet’s approval to pay wages is money withdrawn from taxpayers’ contributions to the Treasury; there is no benevolence on the PPP’s part. On a governance point, it must also be ascertained if same was approved in the National Budget or part of their continued lawlessness to spend without approval and the LTC thrown in to silence the opposition. This too must be examined and there must be no silence if a wrong was committed. Local government carries an inherent responsibility to ensure community development through revenue. The Constitution offers two
approaches. Article 76- “Parliament may provide for regional democratic councils to raise their own revenues and to dispose of them for the benefit and welfare of their areas.” This article secures a deeper level of economic selfdetermination. And, Article 77 which stipulates, “The development programme of each region shall be integrated into the national development plans, and the Government shall allocate funds to each region to enable it to implement its development programme.” The opposition parliamentary groups are encouraged to bring bills to the House to strengthen Article 76. Citizens in regions and towns the PPP lost have to confront the disregard for their budgets; refusal to respect elected representatives; refusal to honour rates and taxes obligation, and maintain Central Government’s role in proper maintenance of main roads and attendant drainage, seawalls, desilting the Rivers and environmental health. The continued imposition of Interim Management Committees must come to an end. So too must the denial of contracts and jobs to those within the community when they possess similar or better means and skills. This discriminatory policy denies the community and residents money for their development. The situation in Region 10 is one of naked abuse of power by central government and its continued policy to deny a people economic empowerment in every sphere of their lives. It spreads the gamut from
refusing to respect the right to collective bargaining for bauxite workers even as said right is respect for sugar workers; the destruction of bauxite workers’ Pension Plan by government’s refusal to allow workers to invest it, even as they safeguarded sugar workers’ Pension Plan to guarantee income on retirement by pumping tens of millions of tax payers’ dollars into it; the refusal to advance US$14M to for the rehabilitation of LINMINE which resulted in termination of all workers as they pumped over US$250M taxpayers’ money into Skeldon Sugar Factory which remains a white elephant; the denial of tax-free overtime fought for by bauxite workers and extended to sugar workers under the PNC administration but to date is only enjoyed by sugar workers. The refusal to entertain an offer by bauxite workers to buy BERMINE which was later given to RUSAL for nothing; the refusal to entertain an investment business proposal from an
African group for the Everton Plant, preferring to have equipment worth U.S. tens of millions of dollars rot until years later the Plant was sold to an Indian friend of the PPP for next to nothing; the scavenging and removal of Linden electricity equipment to communities won by the PPP, followed by attempt to impose electricity hike under the pretext that subsidy has to end even as the government subsides electricity for consumers of the Guyana Power & Light, Mahdia Power Co, et al.; the vacillation in respecting the 21 August 2012 Agreement signed between the Region 10 RDC and Central Government that would see the Region realising their plan for economic development and addressing the electricity issue; to the refusal to have the LTC engage in economic self-reliance even as this was allowed consistent with the inalienable right to selfdetermination. In other societies these unrelenting attacks on any community would have
galvanised national outrage and deemed a crisis of national importance. I have called these assaults to economic sustenance economic genocide, a claim based on the United Nations Convention on Genocide. Only in Guyana where the Constitution promises a “system of governance… based on democratic values, social justice, fundamental human rights and the rule of law” some see glaring violations turn a blind eye or tell the violated these are not so. Only in Guyana will a people be subject to these frontal attacks and told their situation present no clear and present danger to humanity, respect for law, justice and order. But it must not be only in Guyana we accept these wrongs and see it as the lot of a people or any group. It is not and we must resist it! And this can only be achieved by bringing bills and realising laws to strengthen the democratic processes or through civil disobedience. Lincoln Lewis
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Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur M@ilbox Five percent for public servants, huge increments for the fat cats DEAR EDITOR, The importance of having a competent, tenured and professional public workforce for effective national development is vitally important for the success of any country. Thus the PPP strategy of marginalizing and underpaying public servants, be they nurses, teachers, soldiers, policemen, sugar workers or office workers is criminal at minimum since at the other end of that pay cheque are children to feed. But this same PPP Government found it as an acceptable public policy to continue a program of hiring mainly Freedom House operatives on contracts at multiple of their net salary worth and then have the audacity to say that the Treasury cannot afford more than 5 percent. I really wonder where these people learnt their economics. This wages policy of giving the traditional public servant 5 percent increments while offering up to the FAT CATS, salaries of hundreds of thousands of dollars is antihuman, and very imperialism at its very best. It is purely insane to have a Freedom House Secretary Ms. Chitrekha Dass securing a salary of some G$3 million a year payable from the Office of the President. However Nurse Sago can only take home 22 percent of that amount (under G$700,000 per year) although she is more qualified and offers much more value for money to the people of Guyana. The PPP has broken the system. This PPP policy is all about self-enrichment of PPP stooges; not development of the country. For this reason, the effectiveness and efficiency of policies in public sector institutions will continue to fail as the impact of government actions in all areas where it intervenes, will remained crippled. In human resource management (HRM) the basics as outlined by Professor Reid, remains employers must attract and
retain human capital; employers must have a depoliticized and meritocratic public workforce; and employers must ensure that staff focuses their efforts on achieving the policy and program objectives of their institutions. If one is to consider the HRM policy of the Ramotar administration, it has failed on all fronts with its 5 percent wages increase policy. To add salt to injury, this policy of invading the public service with Freedom House appointed contract workers is anti-working class and is being implemented by a political party that tries to brand itself as a working class party. What a joke! The IMF through its Article IV Reports that wages bill as a percentage of GDP in 2011 in CARICOM countries in Guyana is very low compared to others. So why this 5 percent story again? From the graph below – in
2011, the Guyanese wages bill was 6.1 percent of GDP and was the lowest in CARICOM save and except for Trinidad where the size of that economy is significantly larger because of the oil industry compared to the rest of CARICOM. In St Vincent, some 12.3 percent of the budget is spent on workers’ wages. This empirical evidence does prove there is significant room for expansion in the Guyanese workers’ wages and it can be afforded. So much for the economic management of the economy by three wise men of the PPP. They continue to embarrass the President with their deception, untruths and mis-advice. There are more than enough funds in the Treasury according to the 2013 Budget to funnel 10 percent into the workers’ wages as a precondition to negotiations in the collective bargaining
process with the Unions. The AFC being a responsible political party, after considering inflation and the mess in which the PPP has placed the economy, continues to call for an immediate 10 percent wages increase subject to further negotiations through the collective bargaining arrangements with the unions. This is not an irrational position, this is not even a political position; this is position of basic humanity and compassion for one’s people. I am personally appealing to President Ramotar - as a former union man, you are expected to have more compassion and rationality to make a humane decision for the workers. This Jagdeo thing of five percent cannot wuk’. Stop being a Jagdeo puppet and be your own man. Let us start the ball rolling at 10 percent. Sasenarine Singh
Worrying incident at the... From page 4 to chase her but she stood her ground. He then told her she has no right to be in the courtyard. Mr. Editor, if the woman has no right there I want to ask if the relatives of the accusers have the right to be there. I want to know if it because she is poor and they
are rich that they have preference than her. They were accused of murdering her son and they have more right than her. The sergeant was not content that the woman did not leave he went further to call a woman officer and told her to put the woman out. Mr. Editor, I would like to know these officers have
a motto to “To Serve and To Protect.” I hope that these matters can be investigated and some measures are being put in places so that they would not have a re occurrences. Mr. Commissioner please does something to curb this behavior of your some of your officers. Concerned citizen
Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur News
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ANTI MONEY LAUNDERING LAW…
Many entities fail to report suspicious transactions Guyana’s Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act, identifies the Bank of Guyana as the supervisory authority for the reporting entities carrying on bankingtype business, including cambios; the Securities Council for certain financial business, money-broking, share issue, unit trust and venture risk capital; and the Commissioner of Insurance responsibility for domestic and international insurance business.
“What is clear is that not only are many of the supervisory authorities not carrying out their statutory obligations.” This is the view held by Financial Analyst, Christopher Ram, who adds that no supervisory authority has been named for a number of activities, including law and accounting. “If we were serious about preventing money-laundering, we not only would have had supervisory authorities named for each class of
Prisoner escapes Police fire from GPHC four shots, damage GPHC’s property
Edgar Blackman who earlier identified himself as Mark Williams to this publication A prisoner, who was under police guard, nursing injuries at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), managed to make good his escape yesterday. The prisoner whose name was given as Edgar Blackman of Houston, East Bank Demerara, darted to his freedom around 15:50 hrs yesterday after requesting to go to the washroom. Blackman was hospitalized at the health institution last Tuesday after he was beaten by Sophia residents for grabbing a woman’s laptop on Dennis Street, Sophia. According to reports, Blackman asked the police
officer who was guarding him to use the washroom but instead used the opportunity to escape. He ran from the Male Surgical Ward to the Intensive Care Unit. While running down the hospital steps, (the one leading to the pharmacy), the police officer fired four shots at the prisoner but missed. The gunshots had security guards at the health institutions running for cover and Blackman used that opportunity to scale the fence and escape through East Street. The police under whose guard Blackman escaped, is under police guard at Brickdam Police Station
activity or business: we would have insisted that they do their job.” Ram, who in his latest writings on chrisram.net, said that as a result of the duality and uncertainty, of the 25 or so categories of reporting entities only two categories reported any suspicious transactions for the entire 2011 and 2012. Of the 1,665 suspicious transactions reported in the two years, 1,644 reports were made by Money Transfer Agencies and the remainder by Licensed Financial Institutions (LFI’s). Ram said, too, that the annual reports of the FIU listed only the first four of the more than 25 categories that ought to report suspicious transactions. UNRULY CAMBIOS According to Ram, while the low level of reporting by the LFI is surprising, the nonreporting of any suspicious transactions by the remaining categories is simply unbelievable. He reminded that 2011 was an election year and money was passing through the accounts of politically exposed persons by the tens of millions of
dollars. “Were these reporting entities simply careless, negligent or evading their obligations to report suspicious money-laundering transactions of their customers, or worse, did they themselves engage in or facilitate such transactions, confident of the FIU’s ineptitude and/or negligence?” Ram believes that the FIU is not the only failure. He adds that the central bank as the designated Supervisory Authority was expected to supervise compliance by the cambios with the requirements of key provisions of the Act. “It needed no special audit or forensic skills to recognise that an overwhelming majority of the cambios were never established with a view to compliance…From all appearances, the Central Bank did little to rein in the cambios…To their eternal benefit, the cambios found the FIU even more inert and benevolent,” said Ram. POLITICALLY EXPOSED Ram also said that the Anti-Money Laundering Act also creates a category of persons it refers to as a “politically exposed person”
and defines it to mean, “senior politicians, senior government, judicial or military officials, senior executives of state owned corporations, important political party officials, including family members or close associates of the politically exposed person whether that person is resident in Guyana or not.” Reporting entities are required to pay particular attention to transactions with such persons including
taking reasonable measures to establish the source of wealth and source of property, and conducting regular enhanced monitoring of the business relationship. “Ironically, the two government officials who are empowered to declare an entity as a ‘specified entity’ are themselves politically exposed persons…Are they going to take such action against themselves, members of the Cabinet or their political party?”
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Kaieteur News
Taxi driver escapes ambush on way from airport A taxi driver is counting his lucky stars and those of his passengers. He stated that God must have been with him when he miraculously escaped the clutches of three bandits who ambushed him as he was on his way from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. Taxi driver, Satram Bharat, of Number 7 Village, West Coast Berbice, recounted his near death experience to Kaieteur News. Mr Bharat said that he left the airport around 22:00 hrs after picking up two passengers, a businessman and his wife who were headed to Skeldon on the Upper Corentyne Coast. Kaieteur News understands that the passengers were Bharat’s cousin and the cousin’s wife, who had just come in from Miami. Bharat was driving his
recently purchased Premio car PRR 9239. He stated that it was raining heavily so he took some time to drive. In the vicinity of Mahaica he noticed a light constantly behind him. The vehicle pulled up alongside him about twice, but did not pass. In the vicinity of Cottage, Mahaicony, by the big tree, the vehicle, a car with three passengers, suddenly over took them and spun across the road blocking their path. Bharat stated that he froze when he saw one of the passengers of the vehicle disembark with gun drawn. He quickly decided to reverse his car as the gun man opened fire hitting the car three times. Two bullets pierced the windscreen and somehow missed him. The gunman kept running behind them and started pounding at the door with the
gun until Bharat was able to turn the car around and head in the direction of the Mahaica Police station. The bandits gave chase with their vehicle. After a while Bharat was able to outmaneuver the bandits and head to the Mahaica police station. At the station his ordeal had just began. The gate was tightly shut and he had to call before a “policeman peeped out and told them to open the gate and come in.” He expressed disappointment at the treatment he received at the station. He said that he did not receive any help from the police. There were only two police officers at the station. Although he shouted and told the police what
happened, he had to ascend the steps to relate his story. The police rank never came out to inspect the car which had a bullet lodged in the dash board. There was no patrol available and no help was offered. He and his two passengers had to remain in the car until about 06:00 hrs. When he tried to leave around 03:30 hrs he was told that he could not leave until day clean when the detective arrived. Around 06:00 hrs a detective arrived and accompanied them back to the scene where they found a warhead which the police believe came from a 9mm rifle. The insurance company also refused to cover the cost of the repairs of his car.
Wanted by CANU The Customs AntiNarcotics Unit wants Lolita for questioning in connection with cocaine found in eggplants (boulangers) at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport yesterday. Lolita (only name given) was said to be living at 135 Grass field, Lusignan, East Coast Demerara.
Sunday December 01, 2013
Nothing legally can stop me from taking... From page 3 powers to enter into any agreement where the facilities have to be placed into the hands of any outside entity. Rather, the power to make such a decision will have to be decided by the members and not by a handful of executives. GFC's executives have reportedly met on the proposal and remain divided, officials said. Both GCC and GFC made it clear that the bodies are not against development of the grounds and their facilities but it has to be done in a manner that comes with the blessings of their membership. The very presence of Ramroop, as Chairman of New GPC, may have worked against him, said a senior GCC official. With Ramroop's proposed cricket/football academy along with a US$30M investment in the stadium, it is the scrutiny of his current companies, including New GPC, that has been worrying the cricketing and football executives. Ramroop's questionable dealings include several concessions; five radio frequencies and a television licence. He is now poised to even be granted permission to take a piece of the telephone industry. The deals have been generating media attention
with Parliamentary members investigating details of Ramroop's transactions. He acquired the valuable Sanata complex, worth millions of US dollars for next to nothing. He has also failed to live up to the privatization agreement of the complex. In addition to being controversially granted almost exclusive rights to supply drugs to Government, Ramroop has also been receiving orders for hardware supplies and was even awarded printing contracts. His newspaper, Guyana Times, and television station, TVG, have been receiving state ads, ahead of the older and more established Kaieteur News, Stabroek News, Capitol News, CNS Channel 6 and RBS 13. Parliamentarians have been expressing increasing worry of the growing control of Ramroop's tentacles, with the help of the administration, in the various industries. It was only about five years ago that Ramroop and New GPC's parent company, Queens Atlantic Investments Inc. (QAII) came to the fore but have since moved well ahead of their competitors. Late last night there was word that Ramroop may have withdrawn his proposal to acquire GCC and GFC but this could not be confirmed.
Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur News
Rape, double murder rock Moblissa The brutal murder of a struggling mother of eight and her 15-year-old son has left the small community of Moblissa on the Soesdyke/ Linden Highway in a state of shock. Thirty-four year old Molly James was allegedly stabbed to death in her camp around 03:00 hours yesterday by her stepbrother, who had earlier raped her 13-year-old daughter. James’ son, Aaron, 16, who saw when the man was killing his mother, raised an alarm, and was brutally hacked to death even as he tried to flee to safety. James’s other children and two relatives, who were in her camp at the time, managed to escape the carnage by running to a neighbour’s residence. It is believed that the murders were sparked by the rape of James’ 13-year-old daughter earlier on Friday by the suspect who has been identified as Orin Rodrigues, 20. Relatives believe that Rodrigues became annoyed by James’ reporting of the rape to the police and took out his anger in the most vicious manner. Kaieteur News understands that last Friday, James, who lived in a camp with her eight children, had left her home to cut wild cabbage which she sold to supplement the family’s meager income. Her 13-year-old daughter tasked with washing the clothes, was doing so at a nearby creek at Mobilissa when she was allegedly accosted by Rodrigues, who placed a knife to her neck and raped her. The man reportedly
James’ ransacked camp shows signs of a fierce struggle with her attacker. threatened to kill the teenager if she ever reported the incident. But the child, who knew her attacker as her mother’s stepbrother, went home and told her mother what had transpired. Molly James went in search of her stepbrother but failed to locate him. She subsequently reported the matter to the Amelia’s Ward Police Outpost. James’ father-in-law, Lawrence Vevirus, said that his 13-year-old granddaughter told him that her uncle, Orrin, had raped her. “He raped this child and slash she hands, and he was her own uncle; he used to live with them. She tell me that she was at the creek, and he go down there and he hold she down, and cut she hand two place.”
Rodrigues soon learnt that the police were looking for him and became incensed. He waited until his sister and her children were fast asleep before he launched his attack on the woman. This newspaper was reliably informed that the woman’s son, Aaron, was awakened by a noise and saw Rodrigues stabbing his mother. He screamed to his 13-year-old sister and they both ran out of the camp towards the public road. The 13-year-old told investigators that Rodrigues ran after them and caught up with her brother. She claimed that she kept running but managed to look behind her and saw
Rodrigues stabbing her brother. She became weak and fell to the ground but quickly got up and ran to her friend’s home on the public road where she told them what happened. The police were summoned and ranks from the Mackenzie Police Station responded promptly to the scene and found Molly James lying motionless in her yard, apparently dead. Her son Aaron James’ body was about 400 meters from their home at the corner of the public road. Both bodies bore multiple stab wounds. Blood was splattered all Continued on page 11
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Dem boys seh
Ramroop and Jagdeo mooma lef state property fuh dem Ramroop and Jagdeo playing bareface bully but dem boys know that dem ain’t no bully. Dem is nutten but damn crooks of de highest order. Dem tekking state assets left, right and centre. Top and bottom too. And when dem ain’t get through wid some of dem crookishness, dem quick fuh holler how dem pulling out because of confidentiality. That is a word that Brazzy, that odda fat crook, mek fuh dem. Imagine dem set about fuh thief de GCC and de GFC ground and tell de people shuu, shuu—Wha that mean? De people of this country shouldn’t know nutten about dem own property. That is exactly wha dem crooks mean. Is like dem mooma alone lef state property in dem will fuh dem. Dem boys can’t help but saying dem crooks eyes pass this nation. Last week dem boys ask de nation nah ask wha dem got dem hand in, ask wha dem nah GOT dem hand in. This week it gone beyond that. Is nah wha dem secretly snatch; is wha more dem want fuh snatch. Dem boys seh that dem suh bareface that dem don’t care who talk bout wha dem tekking. AND poor Donald, dem crooks nah seh nutten nice bout he. In fact dem seh how he is a so and so (and that is de nice word fuh describe a good human being like Uncle Donald). Dem cuss Granger. Dem seh that he does tek bribe and how dem got he in dem front, back and side pocket. As fuh Prak, dem seh that dem nah worry bout he, that he don’t see and hear good. But dem boys got a message fuh Donald, Granger and Prak. When a bully mash you toe, you stay quite; he stamp you foot, you tun you face; he kick you and you know wheh, you fall and you still nah seh nutten. De next day he gun kill you. Well if none of dem politician can’t help this country dem boys begging Uncle Sam, especially Brent de Hardt man. Dem boys know that he got a good heart and he come from good stock. And he got good eyes, better that Prak. He seeing everything. De last time he talk bout de radio and nutten ain’t change. Dem boys looking forward fuh he to act. Monitor dem and let de world ketch dem wid de millions that dem got here, there and everywhere. Is some of that same millions that Ramroop spending all about. He was trying fuh buy GCC and GFC wid US$30 million. Dem boys could only match that wid Guyana dollar. Talk half and beg dem mooma fuh lef something fuh Guyana.
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Kaieteur News
Sunday December 01, 2013
Construction boom or economic confusion? By Zena Henry As the high rise buildings and modern structures, mainly those for commercial purposes, continue to consume the city, disorganized construction remains a worrying issue, especially for those tasked with maintaining the legal development of the city. Those earnestly seeking to address the issue say that there are several hurdles that have to be crossed and even removed before “things can change.” Councilor and Vice Chairman of the Mayor and City Council’s Works Committee, Trini Boyce, is convinced that property reevaluation and the removal of corrupt administrative officials are the most pivotal moves in addressing the issue of construction confusion. The result of the failing system, the Councilor said, is that more than half of the newly constructed buildings and most of those under construction in the city never got approval from the City Council, the mandated body. The M&CC Works Committee addresses all kinds of property issues,
More than half of newly constructed buildings did not get City Council’s approval while the Council itself is responsible for the approval of building plans. “That is, not to infringe on boundaries, Council reserves, etc.” The positioning of commercial or residential properties is the responsibility of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) which determines the areas for commercial activities. “For example, Queenstown is a non- commercial area, but you would notice that buildings are still going up; getting approval from the CH&PA. So we are unsure what is happening at that level.” “You will recall a building that was earmarked for a radio station in Queenstown where a lawsuit was brought against the developer. How they got permission to start building we don’t know since that plan never came to the Council for approval.” “And lots of building plans never come to the Council. The building at the corner of Lamaha and Camp Streets... we wanted to know
who owned that building. It was a big question all over as to who was building this structure; nobody knew. “At City Council when we asked, no one knew, but recently in the newspapers, we had the developers thanking the City Council, and the staff, specifically the engineer’s department for their great help and contribution, but we never knew about it.” Boyce continued that the slackness with the continuing construction errors lie with the Council since he is aware that the building plans are being drawn by officers of the City Council. “If you were to check any one of the building plans, or if I am at a meeting and I say to check this, you will see drawn by the City Council engineer’s Department. The persons pay the City Council to draw the plans, so whilst the original plan is being drawn, the people are using a photocopy to start their construction, knowing that the plan would pass because it’s the City Engineer’s department that draws the plan and is passing it.” Boyce added that building plans, years old, are now coming to the Council to be passed, “And when I
talk about them and I say I am not passing it, the place is already completed; and it is complete with infringements; there is nothing that can be done about it because the developer doesn’t have to look in any direction since they did not draw the plan, they give their little bribe or whatever you want to call it for it be passed and the engineers and so on make money so they can’t turn it back. No matter how we talk as Councilors the buildings are already there. “Further, it makes no sense complaining to the Chief Inspector or the City Engineer, they are together on things. The plans are being passed after it is drawn and the developer is being asked to pay their taxes. For example where a (named hotel) is now located, it was once a little old house and the previous owner paid
$14,000 a year. Now, the owner of that huge hotel is paying that same $14,000 when the year comes because there is no property re- evaluation; a responsibility of the Ministry of Finance. To add to property taxes and to charge more is a function of the Minister and they have to call for that evaluation. “You find hundreds of cases like that, places being transferred and transformed and not re-evaluated,” Boyce related. “It is one way Council is lacking in funds and when I say to persons, before I look at your plans or before I pass it I would need to see the first evaluation, you see that some of these monstrous buildings are still paying rates from years ago, sometimes when a little house would have been on the property.” “When it is asked, yes the developer has paid his taxes but it is the old valuation.” When a revaluation is sought, Boyce said, the structure gets a mere upgrade. “For instance a building would go from
City Hall Vice Chairman of Works Committee Trini Boyce $32,000 to $52,000, it won’t be $3.5M or $32M because they tell you plain that the government’s evaluation is different from commercial evaluation.” Boyce concluded that the “construction lawlessness” is being encouraged by the evaluation department and the Finance Minister who is the only person who can order a new property evaluation.
Schools’ sweeper/cleaners to be paid under new minimum wage order Cabinet has instructed that supplementary provisions be sought to meet the necessary expenditure of paying sweeper/cleaners attached to the Ministry of Education. This payment would be retroactive to July 2013, the date of promulgation of the new minimum wages order. Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon made this announcement during his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the President on Friday. Dr. Luncheon said as Government continues to monitor the implementation
of the new minimum wage order, sweeper/ cleaners in the education system came under Cabinet’s scrutiny. He said the Ministry of Education identified a number of areas that complicated the implementation of the new minimum wage order for this category of service providers. These included uneven employment placement practices in the various Regions uneven remuneration; and late payments. According to Dr. Luncheon, even though the payments were being made they were not consistent with the recently promulgated
minimum wage provision. “Cabinet considered those among other complications and after examination of the matter, Cabinet concluded that there would be an equitable distribution to schools in the Administrative Regions; equitable distribution of services in the 11 school districts,” he added Dr. Luncheon said whether on full-time or parttime employment, the remuneration of all sweeper cleaners would now be consistent with the provisions in the minimum wages order 2013.
Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur News
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THE AFTERMATH OF THE COMFORT SLEEP FIRE
All that remains of the spring mattresses. In the aftermath of Thursday’s fire that destroyed Comfort Sleep, workers have been reminiscing and inspecting what remained of the building. One of the persons on site was Danny Narine, the factory supervisor/foreman who has been with Comfort Sleep for over ten years. He said that it was his firm belief that the fire was the work of an arsonist since two fires in less than a month cannot be coincidental. He said that he believes that the two bonds which were burnt in October might be the work of an arsonist, too.
Narine said that he is not sure who would want to burn them out of business and that as far as he knows his boss has no enemies. He did say, however, that since his boss was featured in the newspaper, saying that his business has grown; the next day the bond was on fire. Now the factory with everything inside has been completely burnt. “Since I have been here with this company we never had a mishap, with electrical or anything, so it’s amazing to know that every time we leave then something happens.” Since the first fire, extra precautionary measures
were taken to eliminate any avenues that could possible pose a fire threat. “Where the foam is concerned we don’t have any electrical things around them” said Narine. According to Narine the mixture of the two chemicals required to make the foam cannot lead to a fire even if the concentrations are not mixed effectively. He did say that the chemicals are fire accelerants but once they are not ignited they cannot start a fire regardless of how long the two chemicals are combined. The foreman spoke highly of his employer, saying that even though they were going
through a financial setback with the losses suffered from their bonds, they were preparing packages and hampers for children for a Christmas party the company would host. The fire apparently started on the top floor of the Eccles building where all the mattresses were stored. From there it spread and quickly engulfed the building, burning everything inside. The Guyana Fire Service was on the scene conducting their investigations to determine the cause of fire as well as to respond to the smoke that was emanating from the burnt rubble within
Rape, double murder rock Moblissa From page 9 over the camp in which the family resided and where James’ four-month-old baby was still sleeping on the floor with three toddler siblings. A trail of blood leading several yards along the Linden highway, and getting thicker at the camp, told the tail of a victim running away from the attacker. “Orin killed mommy and Aaron when we de sleeping. He stab up mommy and chop Aaron, and Aaron run,” one of Molly James’ children told this newspaper. A BETTER LIFE The camp site where the incident took place was a picture of abject poverty, and of a woman’s will to make a better life for herself and children. In front of the camp, the columns for their new home had already been erected, while inside the camp there was a bed, a hammock and the barest of necessities. Standing in a corner was a freezer and generator, seeming somehow incongruous amidst the apparent grinding poverty. Scattered clothing and other items indicated that Molly James had fought for her life, but had succumbed to the knife of her attacker. The blood of her son, Aaron, a stark contrast in the white sand, indicated a clear path to and along the nearby highway, where he tried to escape from his attacker.
The dead woman’s father, Ignatius James, said that he received a phone call with the news of his daughter’s murder around 06:00 hours yesterday. The man, said that he immediately travelled to his daughter’s residence, which is a little distance from where he lives, up the Moblissa Creek. “When I get here, was
only the police,” he told Kaieteur News. The farther said that James, a cash crop farmer, was living alone with her children, since she separated from her husband. However, a young man who claims to have been living with the woman for a couple of months, said that he last saw her on Thursday, when he went across the river
to do some work. It was upon his return to the camp yesterday, that he was greeted with the horrible news. James’ 17-year-old daughter who has a family of her own visited the investigating ranks and tearfully told the officers that she will take care of all her remaining siblings.
certain sections of the building. Fire Chief Marlon Gentle said that investigations are currently underway; he said that it’s too early to ascertain the cause of the fire. The plant supervisor, speaking of the way forward, said that management is looking to see how soon it can re-establish the business. “We have a good relationship with the bank and our suppliers, and I think they will help us. When our suppliers heard what
happened to the bonds we had supplies shipped the next week without worrying about financing because they know that my Boss will ensure they are paid,” he elaborated. He said that when their bonds were burnt a month ago and financing slowed, his boss ensured that all the employees got paid by taking a loan. “And even though we were recovering, the boss was making plans to ensure that his employees get something for Christmas,” said Narine.
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Kaieteur News
Sunday December 01, 2013
Workers should be happy with their 5% increase …protests will not prompt any review - Minister Westford “What protests? I am not aware of any protests,” was the reaction of the Public Service Minister, Jennifer Westford, when asked if Government was prepared to review the five per cent increase for employees in the public sector in face of the widespread protests and outright rejection of the offer. The Minister said that she was unaware of any protests and if in fact there are any, then it is a right of citizens. According to the Minister, she is unaware of any plans to review the proposed five per cent increase. She added that this is not how a government operates. Government, she said, is not going to review the five per cent proposal because of any protests and added that the workers should, in fact, be happy with the increase.
She said that workers need to understand that Government is proposing what it can afford. Minister Westford said that the workers should be happy because Guyana is one of the few countries in the world that has been offering any salary increases to its public servants. She said that Government has been consistently giving its public servants increases on an annual basis. Minister Westford posited that if one were to take a look at several countries in the Caribbean and further afield, workers are in fact being laid off and some have had to take pay cuts in order to keep their jobs. “We can’t give what we don’t have,” said Minister Westford and urged that workers be more understanding of the
The recent protest at Office of the President
prevailing economy not just in Guyana but across the world. Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, had announced that Government will be giving public service workers an increase in pay for 2013. This payout, he said, would be retroactive and is not likely to exceed five per cent. The announcement has since been met with a spate of protests, initially by nurses and the Guyana Public Service Union. The placard bearing nurses have been using their lunch hour to demonstrate against the proposed five per cent increase. On Friday, last, there was another demonstration outside of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation
(GPHC) as well as in Linden. GPSU representative, Kempton Alexander, told Kaieteur News that it was decided by staffers at an internal meeting held at the hospital last Thursday that the protest will go on until their demands are met. If the government continues to neglect public servants, Alexander said that the health care workers will down tools. “The staff at the hospital will be protesting for two hours every day instead of one. Those who are on lunch break from 11-12:00hrs will come out and support us while the ones who get their break from 12-1:00hrs will join us later,” Alexander stressed. Dave Parasram, an orthopedic technician at GPHC said, “Five percent is nothing. When you collect
your salary, pay your rent and bills you have nothing left and when they give you the five percent they take back three percent in tax.” Another staff member at the health institution told Kaieteur News that it is time the President do something for his people. “Did we make a mistake by selecting Ramotar as our leader? Is he sleeping? Who really is running this country,” the protestors queried. At another protest held outside Office of the President last week, another GPSU representative told this publication that the disgruntled public service employees have vowed that they will not allow Government to turn a bread and butter issue into a political one. Jermaine Hermonstine,
the Industrial Relations Officer for GPSU, said that they are calling for the government to pay what was approved in Parliament, and not the five percent recently announced by Dr. Luncheon. The protest action followed a similar exercise the previous day at the West Demerara Regional Hospital. According to the GPSU official, this is but the beginning of the protest action and the union intends to intensify its efforts. Hermonstine said that GPSU is demanding that the Government pay the 15 per cent increase that was voted for in Parliament earlier this year. “Five per cent is a fraction of what was passed at Parliament and it is a right that we deserve,” Hermonstine said.
Sunday December 01, 2013
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Kaieteur News
POLITICAL POWER BECOMES ABSOLUTE WHEN BACKED BY ECONOMIC MIGHT
P
olitical power without economic power is useless. This is something that APNU and the opposition parties do not appreciate enough. The history of the PNC, now the PNCR, the leading partner in APNU, is instructive as to how a political party can find itself beholden to those with economic power. Burnham had recognised this deficiency and had hoped that by bringing over 80% of the economy under State control, he could have worked around this problem. It did not happen. The greatest beneficiaries of PNC rule was a small economic oligarchy which ended up making more money under the system of state control than they would have normally done under a free market enterprise. The State system collapsed under the PNC, and because state enterprises became bankrupt under the misrule of the maximum party, the Desmond Hoyte administration was forced to sell off state enterprises and reduce the level of State involvement in the economy. In other words, the PNC ran from the coffin straight into the hands of the jumbie. Instead of being able to back its political power with economic power, the PNC ended up, because of its mismanagement of the economy, the likes of which has never before been seen in the English-speaking Caribbean, handing back power to private economic forces that today command the greater share of economic power in the country. The PPP was able to woo
those who controlled economic power in the country. In fact, they came genuflecting and on bended knees to the PPP. One came with a fat donation to Cheddi Jagan who rejected him, because while he harboured no personal animosity towards the particular captain, he could never have condoned what was done to the ordinary man by those who made millions while the people suffered under the PNC. The PPP in the end got the support of the powerful economic class. But it did a double-take on this class and created its own economic oligarchy, which today is gobbling up the economic space of the country. One of the valuable national assets now in the hands of the new economic oligarchy is the electromagnetic spectrum that is used for public communication. The new oligarchy controls this resource and with this power at their fingertips, they can control the minds of citizens in ways that the opposition parties cannot begin to contemplate. If the opposition parties believe that the actions of GINA and NCN are a problem, they have not as yet experienced what those who presently control cable licences will be capable of. A great deal of fuss is being made about television and radio licences. And there is ample justification in the concerns about fairness and transparency. There is equally merit in the concerns that those granted these licences are gaining a head start through which they can corner the market that utilises these media. But
television and radio are not the real shebang. The real shebang is cable. The market for cable is growing. More and more people are signing on to cable, which is presently dominated by certain players from the new oligarchy. Cable will within five years totally displace television and radio. The cable companies will also command internet, and the government has
gifted to these companies a larger market through the one laptop per family project. Those who receive the free laptops will be entitled to one year's free internet, but at the end of that year they will have to pay, and this creates a market of ninety thousand clients, in addition to the thousands already using internet. With this market, they will make billions of dollars each year, which will allow them to
graduate to their next target market, the more lucrative and prosperous telephone services. This is why everyone should be concerned about the telecommunication spectrum and its seizure by the new oligarchy. With the power of cable, the power of the internet and the power of telephone services, the owners of cable licences will d o m i n a t e t h e electromagnetic spectrum.
This control carries immense power. That power when put behind the political party of their choice, will mean that the lucky party will never lose political power, because in modern day politics, regardless of what the puritans believe, money talks and 'you know what' walks.
Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur News
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Magistrate Alex Moore: Resolute on the path to making a difference By Kiana Wilburg When many of our highly respected legal minds debate on the “dispensation of justice”, they conclude that Magistrate Alex Moore is one of the most effective and proficient in this area. Many say that as a Magistrate, his court is “unlike any other”. “Magistrate Moore is quite different from any other you would encounter. He is not only strict; he understands his courtroom and respects everyone’s time. He takes time to explain what the law means and reprimands anyone who dares think that they can waste the court’s time… and the police officers or his prosecutors are no exception. What is also admirable about Moore is that unlike most courtrooms,
cases aren’t prolonged. And though he may use a lion’s voice to get a point over to someone, he has always exercised mercy and good judgment,” was how one renowned lawyer described One of the lawyers who even lost a case before the Magistrate said, “It is surprising the lengths he would go to just to explain to a defendant, the consequences of his actions… And it is admirable, especially when one considers the pressure Magistrates are under with the amount of cases they have to deal with everyday. Moore is very organized and has his own unique style in dealing with the court, coupled with his professionalism.” Moore is currently presiding over the
Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court, and asserts that he seeks to make his court as efficient as humanly possible. And for those who have never witnessed him in action, noteworthy is the fact that he is extremely passionate about the law and strives to follow it to the letter. But getting to this “unconventional point” of his life was never foreseen, at least not by Moore. Born to Cheryl and Stanley Moore, the 35-yearold revealed that life as a magistrate is probably one of the hardest and fulfilling responsibilities for those who genuinely love it. Moore attended Stella Maris Primary then moved on to The Bishops’ High School where he spent one year before migrating to Antigua and Barbuda with his mother
Magistrate Moore with his father, Judge Stanley Moore
At this time of the year people tend to take more ris ks, with the result that many of them will not see what most people believe is the greatest day in the year— Christmas Day. The rivers are busy as people try to get to shopping locations for needful things and back home. This would lead to more accidents on the waterways, as we have seen in the past few days. But what is going to happen is that people with no experience at piloting the boats, would in increasing numbers be asked to actually pilot boats. **** The amount of anger in the society at things
fashioned from the behaviour of certain Government officials is going to lead to hostilities in numbers previously unheard of in the country. A family would be rent apart when one member is accused of acting selfishly. The accused member is going to turn violent largely out of embarrassment. This would be one more case for an understaffed police force.
**** The last time there were protests at this time was some 17 years ago. At the time the protest was over the elections. This time the protests are over what the public servants say is a promised pay increase. Pay has always been small in the country ever since the local currency experienced devaluation upon devaluation. At the same time, the government has been literally wasting money on projects that went nowhere. One good thing is that ingrained in people is the need for peace at this time of the year. But the situation does not hold out much for the New Year.
Flanked by two colleagues in the noble profession who worked as a pilot with LIAT. Moore then moved to Barbados where he completed his high school education and then progressed to the University of the West Indies where he successfully obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in English. After this, he returned to Guyana where the journey in what would be his preferred field began. He studied law at the University of Guyana and upon completion, he then went to Hugh Wooding Law School, Trinidad, then onto the University of Washington where he completed his Master’s degree in law. After completing his studies, Moore decided that it was time to return to the Caribbean to enter the world of work in earnest. It was no surprise that his first job was with a law firm based in Barbados. Working there as an attorney afforded him the opportunity to travel and conduct many investigations. But even at this point where a fruitful future was certain, Moore still remembered a most forgettable part of his life. He reminisced about being bullied in his earlier years. “People look at you and think that you have it all, or that you have had the confidence you exude from a tender age, but truth is, I was not confident at all at one point of my life. I never thought that I would amount to anything. When I was much younger, I was this chubby, little awkward adolescent who definitely wasn’t popular or even a hit with the girls, and by the time I was 13, the fat jokes just made me become super selfconscious. “It was at this point of my life that I got into health and fitness and started to watch
what I was eating. So apart from my work which I feel very dedicated to, those harsh remarks became the catalyst for my continued interest in the gym. But most importantly, not being popular at that time, taught me the importance of individuality and being selfreliant.” “As a student I was not the bright boy in school, I came second to last in many of my classes. I spent a lot of time in the bottom ten as well, but I came to discover that my gifts lay outside the classroom. I guess I was the proverbial ‘late bloomer’ because I did exceptionally well when I got out of high school.” “When I look at how far I’ve come, especially with the mindset I had back then, I am quite pleased now more than ever that I can be able to make a difference with the position that I have.” “When I was working with the firm in Barbados, I just had to leave. After working for two years, I realized that the type of work I did placed me in the background, and my hard work was not serving me, I was not getting the credit for the work I did. I was virtually unknown. When I asked for a raise of pay, they used to tell me that I should be celebrating the fact that I have a job and that I can’t get one (raise) because of the economic depression.” So, after leaving the job, Moore returned to Guyana, not having a clue that it was the first step to his journey to becoming a Magistrate. “I was visiting Guyana in late 2010 and I met with some colleagues who expressed that there was a need for magistrates and they also mentioned that there were some challenges such as case back log, cases taking too
long to finish, and other complaints.” “I felt that I could have contributed towards restoring the dignity and decorum that was being stripped away from the magisterial office. I honestly wanted to help in making this place better. And I spoke to a few mentors before taking up the position and one of my mentors, Chief Justice Ian Chang, gave me some advice and it was very instrumental in shaping my decision. Before I assumed the position of a Magistrate, he stressed to me that one should always maintain a humble nature. He always said, ‘the higher you go, the more humble and good natured you should be’. I can never forget that.” While a magistrate’s responsibility is to determine whether someone is guilty or not, and to sentence the offender within the limits of the law, the courtroom provides a candid view on life as it is lived. However, many persons choose to be a magistrate for different reasons. According to a former Magistrate who now practices law, people in Guyana choose to take up the position for a variety of reasons. Some are encouraged by the law firm they are attached to with the belief that it will bring great recognition. Regrettably, some applicants opt to become Magistrates to satisfy their own personal egotistical cravings while others choose this path because they view it as fulfilling a public duty. So why did Alex Moore choose to become a magistrate? Well, according to him, he chose this path to make a difference. He explained that people who choose to be magistrates for any other (Continued on page 39)
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Kaieteur News
Sunday December 01, 2013
MODEL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL, Dr. Yvette Martin, is a ‘Special Person’ By Sharmain Grainger The term stagnate simply doesn’t fit into the vocabulary of Yvette Anitha Martin, and therefore, its meaning hasn’t been allow to invade her nearly six decades of existence. In fact, she can easily be voted the person who is busy getting an ambitious task done even when others are convinced that it isn’t possible. This attitude was instrumental in helping her to remain focused and committed to the delivery of health care, moving from a nurse to a specialist doctor who also currently holds the position of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Registrar at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). This, by extension, means that the local health sector is only too fortunate to have a veteran professional of astounding calibre offering selfless service to those accessing the facilities offered at the public hospital. Although Dr. Martin has over the years developed a mentality to forge ahead even when clouded with some degree of ambiguity, her existence could have been a daunting one had she given much thought to her biological family. You see, while she knows her mother Joyce Wintz gave birth to her on June 22, 1954, there isn’t much else to On duty in the Intensive Care Unit at the GPHC.
remember. What she does remember is being parented by loving and caring foster parents, Harry and Olga Pryce. With no children, the couple was only too happy to share a comfortable abode at Bagotstown, East Bank Demerara, with the young Yvette. She attended Peter’s Hall Anglican School before moving on to the Indian Education Trust College, to complete her secondary education. Immediately after her
head veil, giving her an impeccable professional appearance. The nurse was later identified as Sister Brown, and according to Dr. Martin, during a recent interview with this publication, “I saw her walking in the compound of the hospital and she was so upright and lady-like...from that moment I knew I wanted to be a nurse.” The enthralled Yvette was soon applying to undergo training at St Joseph Mercy Hospital to become a professional nurse. She
“You are not born to be here and that’s it. You must contribute something in life...and when you are young, that is the best time.” schooling she was struck with a desire to embrace the teaching profession, but as fate would have it, her application to do so was not acceptable. Although she was crushed, Yvette somehow knew that she had a significant purpose and was determined to uncover same. And it was during what could be considered an inopportune episode of her life that she was exposed to a most endearing profession. Yvette was stricken with an ear infection and was required to visit the hospital on quite a few occasions. She recalled seeing a nurse attired in uniform complete with a
commenced training in 1973, and by 1976, was ready to portray a similar image of the nurse she had enviably gazed upon a few years earlier. But even as her goal of practicing nursing was being fully realised at Mercy Hospital, another memorable and life-changing event occurred in her life. The young nurse and her sweetheart, Ernest Martin, decided to get married. The two had previously met at a church crusade. At the time she was a member of the Eccles Assembly of God Church and was very active in its youth Ministry. Her husband even then had a fervent interest in
Christianity. He is currently the Reverend at the Lusignan Assembly of God Church. “To be quite honest, at first I wasn’t really interested in him, but he was very persistent...” Dr. Martin recounted as a smile formed on her face. Their union produced three children – Carlos, Coletta and Catherine. But although she was happy with her family life and profession, she somehow knew that there was more to be had. And so before long she was on her way to embarking on a midwifery programme. This saw her being seconded to the GPHC where the training was being done. On completion by 1980, she returned to Mercy Hospital as a Staff Nurse/ Midwife and would remain there until 1982 when she left the private institution altogether. Her move was one premised on the need to expand her academic horizon by pursuing the Ministry of Health’s Medex programme at Liliendaal, Greater, Georgetown. After graduation from the latter programme in 1984, she was placed as the Medex in Charge at the Kitty Health Centre. Although she had seven fulfilling years there, she was constantly overwhelmed with the feeling that she had more to offer to the health sector. “I felt that wasn’t enough...I had the distinct feeling that I needed to do something more,” Dr. Martin reflected. She explained that her motivation was the need to encourage her own children to strive for the best that they could possibly be in life. According to the softspoken Dr. Martin, “you want your children to see that they should not remain where they are...they must see the sky as the limit.” It was just this she had in mind when, although much older than most applicants, she decided that it was time to up her qualification a notch; this time pursuing Medicine at the University of Guyana. But this wasn’t going to be an easy task. In fact, in the first year of the programme she was convinced that “I made a mistake. I remembered coming home one day in tears because somehow I wasn’t getting Bio-Chemistry...I came home and said I’m not going back...this is it! I decided I was going to go back to being a Medex.” But destiny wasn’t about to give up on her. You see it was some years earlier during a symposium at
Dr. Yvette Anitha Martin
A proud graduate of UG’s medical programme
The beginning of a career in nursing the Central Assembly Church that a young pastor spoke prophetically about her life. The pastor, she explained, had in essence predicted long before she even planned on studying medicine that she would become a doctor. In 1992 when she was finally accepted to undertake the medical programme at UG, she realised that studies in this regard was much more than she had anticipated. However, her memory of the
prophecy was the element that helped her to remain steadfast. “I had to pull myself together and I went back to UG...It was hard, but I had a lot of support from my colleagues and my family.” By the end of 1999 she was ready to graduate, and according to her, “it was as if I was finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.” With her newfound (Continued on page 39)
Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 23
== THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN ==
One day the PNC will say enough is enough Last week, protestors in Thailand invaded a number of Ministries and took them over, cutting water and electricity supply. The Government invoked security laws and the next day, the protestors invaded the army headquarters. The main parliamentary opposition has joined the protestors. They openly stated aim of the demonstrators is to remove the Government. At the time of writing there is no police action. What is the reason for the grievance? They say that the politically disgraced brother of the Prime Minister is the real force behind her power. In Kiev, protestors for the third day are out in their numbers reminding the world of the Orange Revolution in the early nineties that brought down the government. What is their motive? The Ukrainian Government backed off signing a trade agreement with the EU. In neither of the two examples cited, police brutality, authoritarian policymaking, cruel governmental action and horrible power abuse were the reasons for the anger. In many other lands as this article is being written, people are protesting for things that are far less egregious than what obtains in Guyana. One more example will suffice. In Bulgaria two weeks ago, after occupying the largest university, the students closed it down. This is a country that has no tradition of political rebellion. In Guyana, under former president Bharrat Jagdeo, some of the worst abuse of state power the Caricom region has seen since Independence went on for more than ten years, and only one expression of anger
occurred. Tragically three persons were shot dead. And even that tragedy ended in farce when the dead men’s families were given US$15,000 as compensation. This was the July 2012 protest against a proposed electricity tariff hike in Linden. With a new president since December 2012, Guyana’s authoritarian overdrive continues. In an interview on NCN, when asked about the recent inundation of Georgetown, President Ramotar blamed the disaster on the PNC. He said that one must lay the fault on the PNC because Georgetown is a City Council responsibility and the PNC is in charge of the City Council. But the worst was yet to come. The interviewer then said to Mr. Ramotar that the problem will then have to wait until local government elections. The President promptly agreed. One anticipated that the President would have followed up by saying that some attempts will be made by his Ministry of Works to alleviate the situation of the garbage and blocked alleyways. But this was not to be. The President simply agreed that Georgetown will have to wait for its survival on municipal elections. Two points need to be noted. First, the City Council’s power has been slowly eroded the past fifteen years and now is almost gone, through the appointment of a Town Clerk that answers to Mr. Ramotar’s Government and not the PNC’s City Council. Secondly, Guyanese just have to endure the collapse of Georgetown until the local government elections. The PNC came in for more blame, this time from another
inflexible PPP leader, Roger Luncheon. He blamed the PNC for policies in the past that are now causing the floods. He cited the opposition control of the City Council. What was crass about Dr. Luncheon’s remarks is that instead of pointing to clogged drains the past twenty-five years, where billions of gallons of water have no exit from the city, he said floods will always be with us, but the issue is preparedness. From the time Mr. Jagdeo became autocratic and ruled
with an iron fist, the PNC (not APNU) has been blamed for the terrible things that are happening in Guyana. The religious body, the Muslim Youth Organization, even suggested six weeks ago that the opposition is behind the crime wave. So we have a big and bad PNC opposition that is the cause of all of Guyana’s political and social atrocities. But this very PNC makes this despotic country look like an oasis of serenity when Guyanese take a look at protest around the world. In
a country where democratic governance has long disappeared one must ask; where is the PNC’s creation of anti-government activism? Where are the demonstrations led by the PNC? At every public meeting by the PPP, at every bottom house discussion by the PPP, the PNC is painted as this, as that, as the cause of Guyana’s protracted problems. The AFC is given some smaller slashes. But this dangerous ploy by the PPP will backfire. If the PNC is the
Frederick Kissoon big, bad wolf then its teeth have disappeared. One day the PNC will wake up and say enough is enough and recover its teeth. Let’s hope it is tomorrow.
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Kaieteur News
Sunday December 01, 2013
Tale of female empowerment staggers but recovers in nick of time Book Review…
BOOK: Runaway Comeback by Sandra A. Ottey CRITIC: Dr Glenville Ashby Topical, nerve wrenching and instructive. Runaway Comeback is an existential odyssey, no less. It’s cemented by a compelling plot that traverses the Atlantic. From Jamaica to New York and back. Selfishness and deception, parry with dignity and selfsacrifice.
Here, domestic violence is raw and maddening. Misogyny reaches new heights, but is interestingly overshadowed by an immigrant’s worst nightmare of being socially hamstrung, undocumented and weaving tales of deception to outwit the system. And amid the turmoil, there is also genuine love and displays of selflessness. Yes, Ottey covers all bases. But is that enough to pull off an artistic triumph? Rosie, the protagonist, is pummeled and deceived by
her husband, her youthful ambitions dismantled ever so slowly and bloodily. She makes a daring escape to the US, her young daughter in tow, a daughter who is unable to cope with a new environment. It’s every woman’s nightmare, a concern to every conscionable human being. What happens next to Rose is on the reader’s front burner? It’s a story line that wallops a punch. But again, does it translate into a pageturning thriller? There are vestiges of suspense, but in
an overreach for detail “Runaway” slides, losing the elements of surprise and incredulity. Momentum wanes intermittently and atmosphere is wanting, loosening its grip on readers. One scene of eroticism seems artificial, almost disjointed from its preceding tormentous setting. Character development too is hackneyed and begging for more. There is need for that greater atmospheric draw. There are flashes of brilliance, but just flashes. Regrettably, Ottey trumps literalism over other literary styles. Readers are quickly aware of Rosie’s dread and her husband’s psychotic rampages. Sure, even the most hardened of twisted machismo cultures will identify and sympathize with Rosie. And when her marauding, duplicitous and sociopathic husband becomes a victim of his own evil, there can be little or no sympathy. His inhumanity is revolting, not for the faint of heart. “Donovan slapped and thumped her nonstop….unleashing every ounce of stored up anger on her, not caring how hard he punched her or where the punches landed ...one of Donovan’s punches landed on her left eye....for a split second tiny white lights flashed before her, then darkness.” And through it all is a little girl, their daughter, who, with her mother makes a daring escape from Jamaica to escape Donovan’s terror. At
times “Runaway” is bereft of structured cadence as Ottey sprints through her paces when a stroll is better advised. But for all its shortcomings, Ottey stirs the conscience with Rosie’s victimisation, and her laboured relations with her daughter, still yearning for her father. But there is always faith. Is Rosie’s waning religiosity the cause of her mired existence? Here, faith is lionised, bringing solace, and may have well helped disentangle her from Donovan’s claws. In one scene, a crestfallen Rosie second-guesses God’s love. Maybe, it’s His way of re-engaging her to the Church. “Dear God, why have you forsaken me?” she bemoans,
reminiscing on Grandmother’s counsel to fast, pray and repent. Cornered, her fate emerges. Her orison is heartfelt, moving. “Dear God...I know you never forget about me. My daughter and I are illegal in this country...You helped me get away from Donavan alive, but now I feel like a prisoner in a foreign country. Lord, I am in trouble. Help me, please.” “Runaway” eventually awakens from its near slumber. We are well aware that a showdown with Donovan is around the corner. Ottey’s undertaking is well timed. Women’s rights, the travails and ever-mounting challenges of the West Indian Diaspora, and the yearning for repatriation, are detailed in the chapter: “Miss my Yard.” It comprises multiple, passionate dialogues that will resonate with readers. In the nick of time Ottey comes alive, rescuing her work from self-destruction, from bouts of ennui and tepid, sappy displays of romance. With a combination of ironic turns and twists, she rekindles her readers’ thirst. How Rosie rids herself of Donovan and finally asserts her independence will keep you guessing. Would some cruel twist of faith open another chapter of woes? The curtain call dangles, providing that much-needed inoculation for a work that began preying on itself. Feedback: glenvilleashby @gmail.com Follow him on Twitter@glenvilleashby Runaway Comeback by Sandra A. Ottey, 2012 PO Box 1297 New York, NY 10276 ISBN 978-0-9858260-0-0 Available: www.sandraottey.com/ Amazon.com Rating: Recommended
Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur News
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My column
Christmas is bringing its own madness These past few days have been almost traumatic. There was the rainfall that flooded the city, then the fires and just a few hours ago, the double murder. The rainfall could be explained; it is a natural thing because all Guyana can talk about is rain and sun. The flooding is another matter. People blame the garbage pile-up and the blocked waterways and they may be right, but there is more to this. For one, there was never any need for the garbage pile-up. Georgetown has been around for nearly 150 years and this was never the case until a few years ago when plastic and Styrofoam became natural pieces of garbage. I remember the days when people went to Chinese restaurants for a take away meal and left with their food in paper bags. Of course the food left the bag soggy, but people did not mind too much. Garbage bins were common things around the city, but what the authorities did not care and cater for were those who came to the city with their indiscipline. All too often I am either standing by the roadside or in a car driving behind another vehicle when I see some piece of garbage come flying through the window to land at the side of the road. I have had cause to drive alongside a minibus from which garbage came and talk to the driver who in turn would turn to the passengers and ask them to stop littering. I live in Tucville and I invite people to visit the community. I can boast that there are no garbage piles where I live. Even people who are squatting on the reserves do not litter. So why is this
happening elsewhere? People do not care about littering where they do not live. Each day I go home with bits of paper in the pockets of my car door and when I get home I empty them into a bin. I remember Georgetown when it had its own garbage trucks and Old Smokey. The place was clean; the main waterways were free of garbage and water flowed. Times changed when people began to look down on sanitation work. Even residents, many of them renting, refuse to clean the inter-lot drains in their neighbourhood. The result is that vegetation takes over these drains. Because of a money problem, some bins have been left to overflow, but that was not the real problem. The government knows that people roam the street emptying bins in search of what only these people know. These are the people who create most of the litter but the council must be blamed, because the nature of the government is to blame everyone and everything for the problems. The government is always as pure as driven snow. To make matters worse, the government, although it expects the City Council to work, denied it the right to
manage its own affairs. A visitor would conclude that the government wants the City Council to fail for whatever reason. That is a matter that would have been solved by a proactive Mayor, but to sit back and allow the government to run roughshod over the affairs of the council is a no-no. And so we come to the flood. We saw the blocked outfall channels and we wondered how on earth City Hall was expected to clear this, especially when in some cases businessmen occupied the reserves that would have allowed heavy equipment to access the reserves. Not since the floods of 2005 did I have to wade through so much water in the city. And to crown it, I did not have water where I live, so I concluded that the problem is in downtown Georgetown. Then as wet as Wednesday was, Thursday was the opposite. There were three fires. The first in Sophia or Liliendaal, destroyed the
home of a pensioner, a man who lived and worked in London and returned home to spend his last days. I don’t know what caused the fire, but I do know that a man who said that he is too old to worry about starting over has a determination to ensure that his family remains sheltered. The other fire has caused some people to be out of work at this time of the year. It struck at a mattress company - that just a few weeks after a fire destroyed the bond. Some say arson is the reason, but I am at a loss to understand why. If the owner owes this employee one could understand. If the owner fired the employee one could understand. Why the owner did not really invest in
security one cannot understand. What is clear is that millions of dollars are lost to an entrepreneur even as some have money to burn. To top everything off is the murder at Moblissa, Soesdyke/Linden Highway. There is a little girl at the centre of all this. There is talk of the assailant raping a 13year-old and when the girl talks to her mother the assailant kills the mother and her 15-year-old son. The news reaching me tells of frustrated probation officers and a less than fortunate mother. What is sad is that as Christmas approaches it is bringing with it a lot of torment and hardships for some families. We had the man who torched his sister, the boys who killed their stepfather, the teenagers
Adam Harris who shoot at and get shot at; and the victims of sex abuse and domestic violence. The season does not hold out much for some people, but it holds out a lot for me. I became a great grandfather this week. My first reaction was that these children are trying to make me so much older before my time.
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Kaieteur News
Sunday December 01, 2013
A tenure characterised by inaction – Part 1 By Trevor Williams MP In recent months the light of scrutiny has been shone with increasing intensity on Guyana’s Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony. It has been examining his performance primarily in the area of the literary arts. While significant, it is one pillar of the monumental failures of Minister Anthony, whose portfolio includes ‘youth’ and ‘sport’ along with other branches of ‘culture’. In this column, we examine Dr. Anthony’s record of (non-)achievement in sport, particularly with regard to what can only be described as his Ministry’s disregard for the achievements of our sporting icons. The Minister seems to have as his modus operandi, operating under the radar while being a poster boy for inaction. He essentially holds the youths of Guyana, sports in Guyana and culture in Guyana to ransom, and in a state of stagnation. It is unjust and unfair, and the time has come for his nonperformance to be brought to the attention of the public. With regard to recognition of achievement in sport, Minister Anthony, in the AFC’s opinion, has been operating in flagrant disregard of the Head of State, His Excellency Donald Ramotar. President Ramotar, in 2012 asserted the following: “...sport is an important element of national
development. I do not consider it an incidental element of human existence and so we have always given high priority to the development of sport...” Further, His Excellency, speaking in March 2012 at the National Sports Commission Awards Ceremony, said the following: “I hope that when your (sportsmen and women) better days are past that the cheers will not be silenced, as I am bothered by the fact that often when the glory fades and fame recedes many of our athletes are too easily forgotten and ignored. This is a sad indictment. No national champion deserves to be treated this way.” A good starting reference point would be to examine how our sister CARICOM nations treat with their sporting icons. The government of Jamaica named Usain Bolt and Courtney Walsh ‘Ambassadors-at-large’. Sir Garfield Sobers is an official living legend of Barbados and the players pavilion at the world famous Kensington Oval is named after him, so too a roundabout and the Sir Garfield Sobers Sports Complex. Brian Lara was named Sports Ambassador by the government of Trinidad and Tobago. He is also Global Ambassador of the government-owned Caribbean Airlines and has a prominent promenade in Port of Spain named after him. The Trinidadian also has a cricket
Trevor Williams - AFC stadium (though it is to be completed) named in his honour. Sir Vivian Richards is a living legend of Antigua and Barbuda. His name adorns the island’s premier cricketing facility. A statue is to be soon unveiled in his honour. Kirani James has been appointed by the government of Grenada as a Sports Tourism Ambassador. Dwight Yorke has had a stadium named after him and he has been named as Global Brand Ambassador by the Tobago House of Assembly. In September this year, the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines named West Indies Women opening batswoman Juliana Nero as a Sporting Ambassador. Darren Sammy was appointed an ambassador by the government of St Lucia. Shane Shillingford has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador by the Commonwealth of Dominica.
Daren Ganga was appointed Sports Ambassador by the government of Trinidad and Tobago. There is hardly a single sporting legend in these Caribbean territories who is not engaged by government directly at some level, through a defined programme, to raise the profile of their respective sport nationally, doing promotional work (including for tourism purposes) and utilizing their skills and stature in giving back to their sport, particularly at the youth levels. What do we have in Guyana? Clive Lloyd had a drive named after him by the PNC administration. The Georgetown Cricket Club, a private institution, named a stand at Bourda after the legendary captain. The Mayor and City Council honoured Shivnarine Chanderpaul by naming a section of a street after the batting maestro. What has the PPP done? What programme has Dr. Anthony pioneered to recognize our sporting icons? Cricket is the national sport, and in addition to Lloyd and Chanderpaul, Guyana possesses a wide cadre of living legends – Rohan Kanhai, Lance Gibbs, Alvin Kallicharran. There are other great names of the game – Basil Butcher, Joe Solomon, Stephen Camacho (his cricketing and incomparable administrative feats taken into consideration). Roy Fredericks, another legend has left us. Off the cricket field, Guyana has two iconic sons in the field of cricket commentary – Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira – and cricket photography – Colin ‘Jah
Bones’ Cumberbatch. As a further illustration, another sport which has allowed Guyana to feature prominently on the world stage is boxing. There are world champions and prominent boxers whose names appear to have been exorcised from the lexicon of the Minister of Sport and his ministry. What of Andrew ‘Six Head’ Lewis? Michael Parris? Terrence Alli? Andrew Murray? ‘Vicious’ Vivian Harris? Wayne ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite? What can Minister Anthony provide as evidence that under his stewardship any of our national sporting icons has been duly honoured for service to nation? These famous names open doors at every level around the world, yet not a single one of them has been named as a sporting ambassador, goodwill ambassador or ambassador of any kind by the Government of Guyana. It is Minister Anthony’s direct remit to pilot initiatives to recognize these stalwarts. The Head of State has publicly urged this. Dr. Anthony flagrantly ignores his own boss. Such is Minister Anthony’s defiance that the names of our famous sons and daughters cannot even be found on the sport ministry’s website – www.mcys.gov.gy. There is no list of our icons, no biographic data, no record of their achievement. There is nothing. It is as if they did not and do not exist. The website’s most significant purpose appears to be government and party propaganda. There are news articles quoting the minister extensively and messages
from the Director of Sport. It features with unmistakable prominence former President Bharrat Jagdeo and Minister Anthony hogging the limelight, posing with the Golden Jaguars in their time of glory. The Minister, his Permanent Secretary and other minions and President Ramotar feature prominently photographically. One cannot find a single photograph of any of the sporting icons. With justification, there are many who consider it a travesty that the Guyana National Stadium has not been properly and appropriately named the Clive Lloyd National Stadium. Lloyd is one of the most iconic names in cricket globally. It would appear though that in the eyes of those who are at the wheel of the executive of Guyana, Lloyd does not qualify for such a national honour. On what grounds, one is only left to speculate. Within the Guyana National Stadium facility there can be little doubt that the Players Pavilion ought to be named in honour of Roy Fredericks. Stands should be named after Kanhai, Gibbs, Chanderpaul and Kallicharran. Butcher, Solomon, Carl Hooper, Roger Harper ought to be honoured similarly as well. The conclusion is unmistakable - Dr. Frank Anthony’s tenure as Minister of Sport has been one characterised by a tragedy of inaction. He has exhibited contempt in strategically ignoring our sporting icons. The Alliance For Change believes that His Excellency Donald Ramotar is obliged to call Minister Anthony to account. Failure to do so would mean that President Ramotar too, like Minister Anthony, would be guilty of dereliction of duty. In Part 2, we will examine Minister Anthony’s failures in the areas of music and the performing arts.
Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur News
SUNDAY SPECIAL GUYANA’S ‘BLACKLIST’ STATUS AKIN TO IRAN, NORTH KOREA – CFATF The blacklisted status applied to Guyana by the Caribbean Financial Action Taskforce (CFATF) is akin to that which was applied to Iran and North Korea. This is according to Roger Hernandez, a financial advisor with CFATF, who in an invited comment to clarify the status of the decision on Guyana said, “Guyana’s CFATF listing is similar to the listing that the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) has applied to Iran and North Korea, in that it calls on its members to apply counter-measures against Guyana, in particular against financial transactions and relationships with persons and businesses from Guyana.” He said that the language used by FATF when it issued a warning against Iran and North Korea is the same applied for Guyana. He noted too that the CFATF statement is carried on the FATF website which is also effectively, “warning all FATF members, which includes all the major economies of the world.” Hernandez said that in order for Guyana to get off the list, it has to do what the public statement says, pass the requisite legislation and remedy the identified deficiencies. MONDAY EDITION 5% INCREASE OF WAGES AND SALARIES FOR PUBLIC SERVANTS… ONLY THE ‘FAT CATS’ WILL SEE BIG BENEFITS – GPSU The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has disclosed that it views the “illegal” five percent imposition of salaries and wages for Public Sector Workers as insensitive, disrespectful and ruthless. An official statement released by the Union blasted Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Roger Luncheon for his utterances on the meagre increase. At the most recent postCabinet briefing, Luncheon boasted about the impending 5% increase, saying that “it will come just in time to supplement the Christmas shopping”, while indicating that “he too was looking forward to receiving the retroactive increase.” GPSU in responding to his utterances stated, “Certainly the ‘Fat Cats’, who are paid significantly more, would enjoy five percent of their millions to satisfy their
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The Opposition is questioning the salary increase announced by Government last week
This is nonsense,” said AFC’s leader, Khemraj Ramjattan. His party controls seven of the 33 seats in the Opposition-controlled National Assembly. The party is now planning to raise the issue there. It was the same complaint raised by GPSU. WEDNESDAY EDITION ‘RECALLAND REVOKE TELECOR’S LICENCE’ – APNU
Christmas fantasies, without having to touch or deplete savings towards that end. The rest of the labour force, whose percent realizes the bare minimum, finds this payout as a meagre aid towards defraying some of the outstanding debt that had piled on their shoulders over more than a year of neglect by an uncaring employer. Christmas then is but a name to many, but truly enjoyed by a few.” GPSU signaled its intention to begin engaging in a series of activities to heighten awareness about the plight of the Public Servants, as well as calling on all members to challenge this abuse of authority which can no longer be tolerated. TUESDAY EDITION RECYCLING MOU….MINISTER’S DAUGHTER RESIGNS FROM COMPANY Natural Globe Inc. on Monday announced that the daughter of the Human Services Minister Jennifer Webster, Andriana, has resigned from the company. The President of the company, Mohamed Osman, had alleged that the Minister’s daughter was an investor to the project which cost US$30million. The Minister and her daughter both denied Osman’s claim. On Monday, the company said that subsequent to the speculation and misinformation by certain members of the fourth estate in this country, it resulted in the Ministry retracting the memorandum it had signed. The company noted that at the outset, it was exactly as stated, a Memorandum of Understanding, and as such contained no contractual commitment on the part of either of the parties. They said that it was more like a document clearly stating the terms and conditions
necessary to effect a mutual agreement between the two parties and the time line to complete an end agreement. According to the company, it had submitted its proposal along with eight other companies. Natural Globe Inc. said that all proposals were duly investigated and its proposal was chosen based entirely on “its merit”, and, presumably, by the fact that the Natural Globe proposal was the only one studied that had no financial impact on the taxpayers. $3B MISSING FROM PUBLIC SERVANTS’ SALARY INCREASE? …HOUSE VOTES $4.4B BUT ONLY $1.5B BEING PAID A five percent increase for public servants by Government has sparked anger by the Guyana Public Service Union. It also has an Opposition party now wondering whether $3B budgeted for workers may be missing. Last week, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, said that
a five percent increase for public servants and public sector workers was most likely in keeping with tradition. He said that the funds were budgeted for. “It is not likely to exceed the planned five percent that is in the budget,” Dr Luncheon stated. This increase, he said in his weekly press conference last Wednesday, is retroactive to January 2013. An announcement of the formal approval is expected to be made shortly, a Government statement confirmed. It is his statement that has the main bargaining body, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), and now the Alliance For Change (AFC) hopping mad. Earlier, this year the National Assembly voted $29.129B in wages for public servants. It also voted $4.4B to cater for salary increases. Government’s announcement of the five percent will cost around $1.5B. “So where is the rest of almost $3B? When we voted for over $4.4B it worked out to about a 15 percent increase.
“As long as the facts are correct, then the licence issued to Telecor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc, must be immediately recalled and revoked.” This is the opinion of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Executive Member, Joseph Harmon, who insists that the law must be applied fairly and to all and sundry. He was at the time responding to the fact that despite a pronouncement by Chairperson of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) Bibi Shadick, that for a company to qualify for the issuance of a radio licence, it must at least, be more than 50 per cent owned by a Guyanese. Telecor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc, is owned 100 per cent by a US citizen, Ruth Baljit, who happens to be the sister of Government Minister, Robert Persaud. The company also has as a Director, Minister Persaud’s wife, Kamini Persaud, the niece of former President, Bharrat Jagdeo. It was Jagdeo who approved Telecor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc for the issuance of a radio licence. That company was issued five frequencies, but Ms Shadick reported on October 1 that the company had only taken up three. Shadick in November last year, called in all operators and told them that they would have to
re-apply for licences, be they for radio or TV. She informed the operators that they would have to ensure that their companies are incorporated, thus making them shareholding companies with a minimum of two directors. THURSDAY EDITION GUYANA’S BLACKLIST STATUS CAN IMPACT ENTIRE REGION …CARICOM URGES SPEEDY RESOLUTION TO DEFICIENCIES The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is urging an early resolution of the issues surrounding the implementation of recommendations to address deficiencies in the anti-money laundering regime of Guyana. A statement issued by the Bureau of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM after its meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday last, said that CARICOM was “deeply concerned about the impact that any adverse action” by Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) Member States could have on “the Guyanese economy, and by extension the CARICOM Region as a whole, particularly in the areas of trade and financial services.” The Bureau said that CARICOM has taken note of CFATF’s consideration of Guyana’s progress in i m p l e m e n t i n g recommendations to address deficiencies in its anti-money laundering regime. “CARICOM has also taken note of the efforts made by the Government of Guyana to implement the said recommendations, including by tabling in the National Assembly a Bill to amend the legislative framework, which Bill has since been rejected by (Continued on page 37)
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Kaieteur News
Sunday December 01, 2013
The government must show leadership on solid waste management Georgetown – once called a garden city, on account of its municipal gardens, grass parapets, tree-lined canals, ornate bridges and historic wooden architecture – is under threat. Knolls of rubbish have disfigured the urban and rural landscape like gangrenous abscesses. Builders waste,
carrion, damaged vehicles and discarded tyres encumber roadsides and sidewalks. Garbage clogs canals flowing into the harbour, floats along the Demerara River and litters the riverbanks. Guyana has a grotesque garbage problem. Every part of the country, not only
Georgetown, is affected by the crisis. Georgetown alone must find economically sustainable ways to dispose of approximately 250 tonnes of residential and commercial waste every day. The other five towns and 65 neighbourhoods have smaller but similar problems. The landmark World Bank study – What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management (2012) – suggested that global, urban solid waste among developing countries - in particular those that lack financial resources and institutional capacity and are unable to keep up with the quantity and cost of increased garbage disposal - is likely to increase by 70 per cent by 2025. This is a challenge to the Guyana Government which cannot be shunted to regional and municipal local government councils. Solid waste management is the single, most important service that town and neighbourhood councils – from Corriverton to Charity – are required to provide to their residents. The collection, processing and disposal of rubbish, also, is often the
largest budgetary item of expenditure, and one of the largest employers of labour for municipalities. Waste disposal in Guyana, up to a few decades ago, seemed to be manageable. Household waste then was made up mostly of natural and degradable materials which could be disposed of by burying, burning or thrown out as scraps to feed domestic animals. Lifestyles have changed over the years. Many townsfolk and villagers have entered the modern economy and adopted new consumption habits for reasons of convenience, cost or choice. Younger populations, changing tastes and the attraction of fast, fashionable foreign foods and apparel have changed the composition of domestic rubbish by both volume and variety over the past two decades. Households now routinely throw rubbish onto parapets or into the canals or rivers. The use of ‘throw-away’ materials, such as disposable baby napkins, plastic bottles and party furniture, styrofoam food boxes and
novelties has soared. Traditional hand-made ‘nibbi’ shopping baskets have yielded to lightweight plastic bags. Electronic equipment and battery-operated toys and gadgets are frequently easier to replac e t h a n t o r e p a i r. T h e s e c h a n g e s have resulted in a sharp increase in solid material waste and a correspondingly steep decrease in organic waste. Industrial and commercial corporations generate much of today’s garbage. The massive importation of used tyres, second-hand equipment, re-conditioned vehicles and non-biodegradable products have contributed to b o t h t h e volume of rubbish and the problem of disposal. Goldmining and logging camps in the hinterland are sustained largely by manufactured imports, and waste is invariably abandoned on mined-out sites. The central government may not be responsible for the wasteful ways of its citizens but, unless it demonstrates leadership in the war on waste, it will be difficult to change public attitudes and
behaviour. A start can be made by designing a comprehensive, national Solid Waste Management Plan with clear targets, techniques and timelines for waste reduction. Such a Plan, as suggested by the World Bank study, must aim “to reduce, reuse, recycle, or recover as much waste as possible before burning it (and recovering the energy) or otherwise disposing of it. Measuring the extent of the problem is a critical first step to resolving it.” Not much of Guyana’s residential waste is currently sorted, except by the motley crew of ‘pickers’ who comb rubbish heaps and landfills. Few incentives are offered for recycled materials even by industrial and commercial corporations which generate nearly most of the country’s rubbish. Municipal markets, farms, restaurants, schools and the hospitality industry in towns and neighbourhoods generate millions of dollars of waste – including a large quantity of vegetable waste – every day. The use of bio-digesters can convert ‘useless’ agricultural and municipal waste into methane and ‘useful’ low-grade organic fertilizers for farming. Methane gas generated by garbage landfills can be saved to be used as fuel. Recycling plants for plastics and cardboard can also create employment. The Solid Waste Management Plan must set specific targets to reduce the level of waste; to recycle solid waste; to mandate the selective sorting of waste and to restrict the use of biodegradable waste for landfills. Much of this can be achieved by a determined government by 2020. Effective solid waste management is possible and practical. It requires collaboration among the central government, municipal authorities, corporations and citizens –to promulgate the plan, to implement and enforce the policies, to manage i m p o r ts, production and sales and, most difficult of all, to alter tastes and reduce household waste. The government must show leadership, produce sensible plans a n d build partnerships to manage solid waste, if the giant monster of garbage is to be tamed.
Sunday December 01, 2013
From page 27 the National Assembly, given the Parliamentary and political configuration that obtains in Guyana.” It said that any action that reduces the ease or increases the cost of processing international financial or trade transactions will adversely affect trade and financial flows in the Region, retard the regional integration enterprise and reverse the gains made by Guyana and the region. FLOOD FORCES CITY TO A STANDSTILL The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy was caught at the crossroads. On the one hand, sections of the country were affected by Wednesday’s flooding whilst farmers were demanding water for their crops. The dilemma was stated Wednesday at a press briefing held at the Ministry of Agriculture. Dr. Ramsammy described Wednesday’s rainfall as the most intense the country has ever recorded during a sixhour period. The heavy rains forced the closure of several private and public schools. Even businesses were forced to forfeit the day’s earnings as the flood waters crept into some stores. The Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on Middle Street was also closed as its entrance and holding cell were “ankle-high” with water. Several streets were also covered, while garbage floated around the city. Dr. Ramsammy said that the Hydrometeorological Office noted a high pressure system over Bermuda which was dominant and forced the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) to shift from its last position bringing it directly over the Guyana Coast. It brought in heavy rains, which the Minister said, could not have been predicted. FRIDAY EDITION BROADCAST AUTHORITY WAS PREMATUREWITH LICENCE FOR TELECOR Days before it formally received its radio licence to operate five frequencies, Telecor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc. appointed four directors to ensure that more than 51 per cent of the voting powers on the board would be Guyanese residing in Guyana. This made the company fully compliant with the requirements under the Broadcast Act. But even before the company satisfied this criterion, its licence was already approved by the
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Guyana National Broadcast Authority (GNBA). Those that became directors are Daramchand Depoo, an Attorney-at-Law in Corentyne, Berbice, Ryan Basdeo, Khemraj Narain and Michael George. This was done on June 21, 2013. However, Chairperson of the GNBA, Bibi Shadick, two days earlier, on June 19, 2013, had announced that 24 licences (Radio/TV/Cable) were ready to be handed out and all that remained for the operators to do was pay their fees. But Telecor had not satisfied the criterion for the voting rights residing in more than 50 per cent of the directors resident in Guyana. This meant that the GNBA had already approved the radio licence for Telecor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc., even before it became fully compliant as it relates to the requirements for directors. FIRE DESTROYS COMFORT SLEEP - SCORES JOBLESS; EMPLOYEES, RESIDENTS SUSPECT ARSON Fire believed to be the work of an arsonist completely ravaged the Comfort Sleep Mattress factory Thursday evening, even as firefighters tried to confine the blaze to the lone entity. The fire started around 17:30hrs at the rear of the building. Comfort Sleep is located in the Eccles Industrial Site. On October 30, last, another fire destroyed two storage bonds owned by Comfort Sleep. Firefighters managed to save the main building that housed the factory. Thursday’s blaze destroyed that main building and everything within it. The October fire was said to have been caused by chemical reactions within containers stored in the bond. Immediately, Fire Chief Marlon Gentle urged business operatives to take more consideration in fire safety for their businesses rather than focusing on heavy security. However, investigations into the devastating blaze may take a twist on this occasion, since residents in the area related that something seems amiss on this occasion. Employees and residents said that it appears to be a disgruntled worker who may have contributed to the fire. This was the overwhelming view that was refuted by a few. The building which was packed with foam and other flammable material had firefighters battling for hours. Fortunately, there were five tenders and a large number of firemen, so adjacent buildings
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were not destroyed. The flames were so intense that the concrete walls collapsed. The firemen had to use heavy cutting equipment to gain access to the building since the grilled gates and passageways actually prevented the firemen from reaching closer to carry out their operation. The residents in the area gathered in shock and surprise, and some workers were seen crying and lamenting on what was transpiring in front of their eyes. One employee, Paul Krishna, said, “I want to let the Guyana Government and the Guyanese people know that this is not natural.”
Pharmaceuticals/Other Medical Supplies/ Consummables For The Period 2014-2016.” According to former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran, the advertisement by this very statement is misleading the public. The Ministry’s budget for 2014 to 2016 has not even yet been tabled or approved. “So how could you say that you have received funding? This is highly misleading.” Another strange fact is that Government only sought to advertise the process in the Guyana Chronicle despite the regulations making it clear that any invitations for prequalifications must be published prominently.
GOVT.’S DRUG PURCHASING SYSTEM AGAIN QUERIED ‘RECENTAD HIGHLY MISLEADING’ – FORMER AUDITOR GENERAL
SATURDAY EDITION BOBBY RAMROOP MAKES BID TO TAKEOVER GCC, GFC - PLANS TO BUILD US$30M STADIUM
G o v e r n m e n t ’s controversial system of purchasing drugs has come under the spotlight again. This time, the Ministry of Health has moved to shortlist contractors, but the very advertisement itself has raised eyebrows because of the billions of dollars that are at stake. On Tuesday, in the stateowned Guyana Chronicle, the Ministry of Health in the “Invitation for Prequalification”, said the firms would be charged with delivering both medicines and medical supplies. “The Ministry of Health through the Government of Guyana has received funding in its national budget, and it intends to apply part of the proceeds of fund to payments under the prequalification process for contracts for supply and delivery of the following:
The best friend of former President Bharrat Jagdeo, Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, has made a bid to acquire the world-renowned Georgetown Cricket Ground and the adjacent Georgetown Football Club (GFC), Bourda. He says that he plans to build a modern stadium, investing US$30M (G$6B). But the battle lines have been drawn as GCC executives and the football clubs have raised objections. New GPC, a company that Ramroop heads, is proposing that the new facilities will rival or offer the same facilities as the state-owned Guyana National Stadium, Providence. He plans to have Test cricket, One Day internationals, T20 cricket and international football matches played there. Ramroop is also hoping to attract the many local and international entertainment
shows that the Providence stadium has been hosting to raise much-needed revenue. It is the plan that national events and ceremonies will also be held there. Both the Bourda and GFC ground are located in one of the city’s most expensive real estate locations— between Regent Road and North Road. The two grounds stretch an entire block between the Shiv Chanderpaul Drive and Vlissengen Road. The New GPC proposal which was signed by Ramroop, and dated November 12, 2013 was addressed to Dr. Lionel Jaikaran, President of the Georgetown Cricket Club. The document was yesterday leaked by angry members of the GCC…a club which is housed in the Bourda ground. The members fear the loss of two historic sporting grounds which have unforgettable memories of some of the biggest clashes between local and international cricket and football teams. Indicating that the proposal for the takeover was well thought out, Ramroop made it clear that his company is very much aware that the
land is owned by the Government and has been leased to the two clubs and that there is nothing stopping his proposal from being favourably considered. “The company further understands that there are no encumbrances or legal issues surrounding this real estate.” Among other things, Ramroop is proposing that a cricket/football academy with all amenities be established; construction of new stands and pavilions; designs that will see the entire stadium covered in later years; installation of permanent floodlights; construction of hospitality boxes for corporate businesses and new club houses maintaining the current architecture. New GPC is also proposing to raise the level of the grounds and improve drainage; extend the playing areas in keeping with new regulations to accommodate cricket, football, athletics and other sports; construct a world class restaurant, entertainment and reception facilities and a bigger parking area. Ramroop is also proposing to call the facilities the Limacol Bourda Stadium.
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Huge collection of Guyanese antiques released By Leonard Gildarie Imagine a place where you can virtually relive old memories. Where you can see, feel and touch some of the artwork of probably from the last century or before that. And it has all been collected in Guyana. For the music lover, an old John Lennon album, or for the housewife who loves nice décor, a variety of items, like an unusual vase or table. Now, there is a place where really old, classy stuff can be found and it is an art lover and historian’s dream. Opened just a month ago, The Antique Shoppe on Carmichael Street, just a few doors north of The Bishops’ High School, has been generating much interest. For over 30 years, the collection of antiques has been growing as a hobby for one family, says Jason Netram, a senior official of the establishment. The collection,
thousands of pieces, is now being released for Guyanese to sample. The shop has what is believed to be an original signed copy of a painting of South-African-based Russian-born artist, Vladimir Grigoryevich Tretchikoff. How that copy of the “Chinese Girl” ended up in Guyana is anybody’s guess, but it is one of the many mysteries of the shop. There is an old Tiffany’s lamp shade worth thousands. According to Netram, Guyana is not unknown for its art work or expensive collection items. One of most famous stamps in the world, said to be sold for millions, came from Guyana. There is an old card table that folds in two; a record player that looked early 1900s, and several dolls. The collection, numbering over 20,000 pieces, has been a major pain to catalogue. There are Indian, Chinese,
GIFT STORE geared towards making Christmas shopping easier As the Holiday season draws nearer, a gift shop on Water Street, Georgetown, in the Avinash Mall, is offering families the opportunity to get the best gifts for their loved ones at the most affordable prices. According to the management team; an array of gift items such as, toys, clothing, cologne sets, accessories and decorations, will be on sale to help shoppers demonstrate their affection with presents of the best brands. Going under the rubric, “The Christmas Shoppe” the team has disclosed to this publication that it is catering for all ages. Their toy section is expected to offer popular brands such as Leapfrog, Vtech, Fisher Price,
Disney and Nickelodeon. Other items for ladies and men include; Coach & Nine West handbags, Marciano, Forever 21 & Charlotte Russe dresses, gift sets, accessories, fragrances and much more at unbeatable prices. Gift wrapping will also be included as a part of their grand package offers. The Christmas Shoppe will be opened to the public from 10am to 6pm daily with hassle free parking.
Magistrate Alex... From page 21 reason other than making a difference often realize that the demands of such a position would only force them to leave at some point in time. His first court was the Mahaica Magistrate’s Court. However, after a Magistrate who was already in charge of the Sparendaam court had to go on leave, Moore was also asked to preside over the that court for a short time. The latter assignment did provide a challenge. “There was a backlog of cases dated so far back, and some that had not even started as yet… I couldn’t leave it like that. I had to do
something. I worked late hours, pushing myself to clear it off. It was just a part of me to do that.” Moore reflects that his approach, though simple has been quite effective. “I do my best to explain to the defendants before me how serious the law is, and how important it is to obey the law, and the consequences that may follow. A lot of people don’t really understand how severe the law can be until they end up on the wrong side of it. Apart from that, I aim to do my utmost for the people I am serving and always try to maintain a good work ethic.”
English, American and even some pre-Columbus pieces, Netram said. However, it is the thousands of bottles, bronze and wood carvings that would send any art lover crazy. I saw some paintings that looked like the old Georgetown. There was even a wooden sculpture of the great Mahatma Gandhi. According to Netram, it may be the first time that there was any attempt to unleash such a vast array of antiques and old artwork on Guyana. “I know for sure that there cannot another such collection in Guyana.” The buyers have been coming from the embassies, mostly Europeans and even local gold miners who see the value. I saw several golf clubs that looked 1930s. In the corner, work is being done to assess several bronze plates that looked Chinese. A large vase, also Asian, stood majestically in place. Of course, the pieces are by no means cheap. But bottles, paintings that are
original, can be had for a steal. “Obviously, collection of art can never be brought in large quantities. A piece here and there…it takes time for your collection to grow,” Jason said. There were three
violins, one of them definitely European…the price was over US$10,000 as it is an original piece. There were also several watches, ceramics and even rare books. “Yes, it pains us to part with the items which
have taken years to collect. But it is an opportunity for especially Guyanese to have painting, a vase, an old table… something Guyana. This is art in its raw form,” an enthusiastic Netram said.
MODEL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL... From page 22 expertise, she was strategically placed in the Anaesthesia Department at the GPHC. It was quite a satisfying feeling, she explained, being able to make the necessary decisions to help improve the health of patients. This was especially important to her since she recalled during her practice as a nurse it was always the doctors making such decisions. With the ability to understand the delivery of health care at the levels of a nurse, medex and a doctor, Dr. Martin disclosed that “it feels good when you see somebody come in, in a bad state, and you are able to say and do the things that can help them out...and when they look at you and say thank you it can be so heartening.” But being a doctor is no simple task, since according to Dr. Martin, there can at times be sleepless nights. For the past few years she has
been at the helm of the ICU and is able to offer critical care to patients. Added to this, she is oftentimes tasked with counselling and giving moral support to patients’ distraught family members. “Being in a position to say something comforting to a family member, and to see them, even though the situation might be grave having a positive outlook knowing that you are trying your very best to do whatever you can, is comforting to me,” said Dr. Martin. Dedication to her profession sees her, on a daily basis, attending thoroughly to, on average, seven critically ill patients, even as she collaborates with other doctors and surgeons in the quest to render proper health care. But her desire to do even more in the medical field has not remotely diminished. Perhaps by now she would have gone on to broaden her
knowledge in intensive care, had it not been for the high cost of such programmes. However, she is optimistic that her ambitious endeavours during the course of her career would serve to not only help improve the wellbeing of ailing patients, but also as an encouragement to other health professionals to improve their health care delivery skills too. “I usually tell especially the nurses to take me as an example. Do not be contented with just being a nurse and
always try to improve your status; don’t just stick to nursing...” Dr. Martin is an ardent advocate for young people seeking to achieve their full potential, once possible, while they are still young. According to her, a life could be considered wasted if every effort is not made to “fulfil one’s potential”. “You are not born to be here and that’s it. You must contribute something in life...and when you are young, that is the best time.”
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Sunday December 01, 2013
Sunday December 01, 2013
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WANTED Contract cars- Contact City Taxi Service- 660-1100 / 2267150 Experienced driver & dispatcher @ Princess hotel - Tel: 265-7075; 265-7076; 616-5419 Cars for Transport Service Call: 672-4090; 657-8380; 225-7532 2 Chainsaw operators -Tel: 677-2281 TRUCK DRIVER & SALESMAN WITH REFFERENCE AND POLICE CLEARANCE TEL: 231-8529 One general worker - Tel: 225-6337 Excavator / Dozer operator seeking employment in interior. Have 5yrs experience. Tel:652-9180; 696-3367 Female worker needed, 3 CXC subject or sound secondary school education- Call:612-1607 Office Clerk: CXC English/ Mathematics- Call:225-0188/ 225-6070 1 Cosmetologist and maid required for a solon Contact: 223-5451; 227-4799 One domestic, live in & live out babysitter from 12pm8pm- Call:225-4492
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WANTED
VEHICLE FOR SALE
URGENTLY WANTED: Thirty five (35) Security officers. Apply: SECURITY ALLIANCE Barrack Street, Kingston (upstairs FedEx)
Buy vehicles direct from Japan authentically – Call: 660-5257 (Before 9am & after 5:pm)
CLEANING LADY, MATURE & REFERENCES REQUIRED - TEL:231-8529 One live in babysitter – Tel: 679-0471 General workers (Male & Female) Operators Apply in person to: B.M. Enterprise Inc. GFL Wharf Houston EBD Tel: 592-2278176/7 One babysitter for 8hrs daily, Monday to Friday- Tel: 6111981
17ft fiberglass boat with 175 Yamaha Seadoo jet ski - Tel: 651-8870 2 - 2007 Toyota Avensis - Tel: 698-0674 Must See!!! 2002&2003 Premio - $2.5M, 2001 Carina 212 - $2.1M. All cars fully loaded & clean. Tel: 226-5473 Mitsubishi Galant Car, fully loaded – Tel: 227-7544; 6122542, 614-6011. 2005 Tacoma 1995 V6 4x4 Tacoma – Tel: 651-8870
Space for gym in Georgetown or immediate environment – Tel:647-4587; 615-5315
1 - 5L Diesel Toyota Hilux, ready for the interior, in excellent condition – Tel:667-2703 or 662-5570
Urgently! Live-in / Live out general domestic, must be able to cook well & 1 cook. Attractive salary - Tel: 2261877; 624-7436
1 Toyota 212, 1-Toyota AT212, 1- 91 Corrola, 1 Corrola Axio 4WD (new model) never registered call: 259-0836, 621-7838
Handyboys to work – 16yrs and over. Live-in accommodation and meal free! Telephone:228-5655; 628-1756 Wanted: contract cars & experience dispatcher @ West Site Taxi - Tel: 6130419; 600-0688
Toyota Tundra, Tacoma, Nissan Tittan, Ford F150 Parts in a hurry! - Tel:226-5473 We buy & sell vehicles for cash, also parts available & 30 seater buses; Extra Cab pickups; 2006 TacomaCall:680-3154 Corrola Axio -$2,850,000 , Spacio PRR Series -$2.1M, CRVPJJ - $1.7M – Tel: 697-0294
Need 1 Plot of land to buy in Parafaite Harmonie – Tel:675-7292
Celebrity Looks. Stations to rent Hair-$6,500 & Nail$4,000. 144 Regent Street Contact Leoita-602-2337
PPP 3361 Runx – Tel:6414684 ($2,350,000)
Person to slaughter and clean pigs at new Hope, E.B.D. call: 266-2711, 609-4594
Live in domestic 30-40 Years, couple for caretaking duties and van driver - Tel: 610-2978
1-AT 212 Carina mag rims, remote start alarm - $9750,000 - Tel: 611-6632
Experienced Roti/Puri cooks, curry cooks, pastry makers, cleaners & handyboys – Apply @ Hack’s Halaal 5 Commerce Street.
Skilled carpenters - Tel: 6157526 or 668-9863
1 Suzuki GSX–R 600cc, 1 Toyota Hilux Pickup 4X4- Tel: 644-5096, 697-1453
Dishwasher, kitchen assistant - Apply @ Shanta’s 225 Camp St, New Market. Salesgirls & porters: Apply with written application @ Best Buy Food Supplies: Lot 1E Middleton & Dennis Street Campbleville One live in attractive waitress 18-25yrs Boarding & lodging free - Salary $50,000 monthly - Tel:6105043 Driver wanted urgently for ice-cream van between ages 40-45yrs – Tel:218-3021 Two joiners and one upholder to work in workshop – Contact:2191342 or 610-7005 Scrap metal – Tel:658-9045; 658-9044 Barbers – Tel:683-1534; 6094983
Rental of wedding dresses & clothing for sale Phone:6160505 Work station @ Salon in New Market Street – Call:601-5143 One two storeys newly built house situated at Section A Diamond, Price $70,000 & $60,000 – Contact Numbers: 223-4281; 678-4072. Property rentals at different price- Tel: 231-2199, 618-7483 Place to rent @ 92 Nismes Public Road prime business spot - $140,000 monthly – Tel:644-9084; 664-9635 Attractive live in waitressCall:327-0252/674-4665 Bodywork man, handyman, apply Guyana Variety Store Tel 227-3939 Domestic to clean only go and come under 30 years Guyana Variety Store Tel: 227-3939 30-40 Years live in domestic duties- $40,000-$60,000 starting rate. Light duties – Tel:227-1830; 610-2978
2004 Unregistered Toyota Sienta with mags, PD, fog lamps – Tel:617-5536 One 1995 Toyota Tacoma stick gear 4 wheel drive 3 RZ engine. Price:$1,650,000 negotiable -625-2516 AT192, 212, Allion, Premio, Hilux Surf, BNN & cheap RZ buses, 7 seater super custom. Cash / terms- Call: 680-3154 1- F150 6CYL, fully loaded $3M Negotiable – Tel:6895254; 256-0504 Toyota Tacoma Parklights & Bumper lights, BMW parklights, Toyota BB Rear Lights. Tel:643-6565 Driven Auto Blowout sale! Unregistered Mazda, Axela $2,300,000 – Pioneer CD, crystal Lights, remote start alarm Tel:643-6565; 226-9931 New 2013 Isuzu: D-Max single & double cabs- Call: 691-0234
Sunday December 01, 2013
VEHICLE FOR SALE 1 Toyota Rav-4, IST, NZE Corolla, Fun Cargo, AT 212, AT192, AT170, Tacoma, Caldina Wagon – Tel:6445096; 697-1453 Tractor from Canada: 285MF $2.5M, 265MF $2M, 165MF $1.8M, 135MF $1.3M, Ford Ranger pickup $1.5M- Call: 682-5230/628-9596 1 Toyota IST, recently sprayed over, chrome rims, excellent condition - $1.9M negotiable – Contact Alisa: 267-1551; 652-4703
FOR SALE
FOR SALE
LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY $19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754.
One Honda CRV Model 2002, PMM series, leather interior, sun roof mag rims – Price:$2.2M – Call:622-6060
Live and pluck chicken - Tel: 220-9203; 650-4421
Nissan pathfinder Suv PEE services, owner driver in excellent condition Contact: 654-0533
5 Head & 7 Head Moulders, 150Kw Genset, CC Saw, Resaw – Tel:626-0024; 6165595; 665-3676
F150, Chevy Cargo Van, Suzuki Sports, Tundra- Tel: 227-8519
NISSAN WINGROAD PRR SERIES - TEL: 695-4785
1 Nissan Canter, need repair - Tel: 228-5655;628-1756 F 350 Diesel (fully loaded, excellent)- Tel: 227-8519 1-G Touring wagon with rims, excellent condition Call: 622-7831 New ATVs: Introductory price $1,199,000 (Duty Free)Call: 691-0234 Is your car Tv getting error “Insert Map Disc”? Software reload available - Tel:6436565 600 Yamaha CBR bike $400,000 – Tel:647-0271 MRR Autos: Fully loaded 2004 Raum, Price $2.25 Neg. Great pre-order deals. Call Today! Tel:657-1796; 6269590 Leroy Trident Car 250 CC, 4 doors, power window, keyless entry $495,000 cash or credit Tel 227-3939, 6214000 Hilux Surf 4 Doors, minor parts needed, sold as is $750,000 cash Tel: 227-3939, 621-4000 Nissan Maxima, fully powered needs repairs sold as is $300,000 cash 227-3939, 621-4000 Mitsubishi 3000GT sports car, fully powered, $1.7 cash or credit available Tel: 227-3939, 621-4000 Stretch limousine, Lincoln Town car, fully powered $6.5 million or credit available Tel 227-3939, 621-4000 10Pcs Trike Can-Am style Motorcycle, 200cc new, unregistered $450,000 neg or credit, Wholesale Tel 2273939, 621-4000 BUY/SELL VEHICLES OR PROPERTY; SAVE TIME + MONEY USING PHOTO ADS – WWW.GYTRADER.COM ; TEL:651-4300, 670-4300
WHOLESALE PLUCK CHICKEN AND PARTS – TEL:676-0931 Houses @ Mon-Repos $23,000,000/$20,000,000, Diamond -$34,000,000, Ogle$65,000,000, East Ruimveldt - $10,000,000 - Contact: 2238479; 647-3768 or www. spaceseek.gy Closing Down Sale! Imported antique furniture, bed sets & centre table & consoles – Tel:622-3587 Massey Ferguson 6140 4X4 Turbo – Call:688-6274/6913851 One pools table - Tel: 686-7180 Honda ATV 500 4X4 DBL shocks - Tel: 688-6274; 6913851
Potting soil, top soil and quality cow mould - Call: 656-1326; 678-0058 1 Complete 6" dredge, 1 – 6" Lavadore – Tel:677-2281 Spare for washing machine, microwaves,fridges, stoves, timers, gearbox, pumps, etc call:225-9032,647-2943 Searay boat fiberglass white leather interior, inboard engine with trailer. Price US$10,000. Email: lpersaud2002@ gmail.comTel: 1 2014483565 (overseas) One windows 8 laptop & Ipad all in one, One Eureka vacuum cleaner & one 7piece dinner table – Call:6111566 Rosetta stone language software – Tel:695-7595 150cc Dirt Bike for parts – Tel:695-7595 Lumber for sale hard wood 140 per Bm, greenheart 220 per Bm – Tel:680-3154 Ducks & Pigs – Tel:688-7291 1-320 Cl excavator excellent condition - Tel: 699-3992
270 Amps, portable welders Telephone: 611-5114
Live/pluck chicken call:6504421, 220-9203
Stereo set (LG speakers)- Tel: 227-8519
Fluffy Dachshund pups – Tel: 642-6664
Heavy duty concrete drill, Air less paint sprayer (for houses), Industrial vacuum cleaners (wet & dry)- Tel: 227-8519
Cheapest iphones!!! - Tel: 626-2771
1 Complete dredge for sale (2 engines, pump, hoses, complete beded) owner migrating – Contact:649-4435 One 8000 Ford Tractor one Ford 450 2005 towing truck contact:694-5599; 689-1864 Three foot KU off set satellite dishes – Price $22,000 – Tel:683-7167, 609-7363 AZ – Evoxl satellite receiver boxes FTA, Price: $22,000 Tel: 683-7167; 609-7363 Pure bred rottweilers – Contact:618-1809 1 Upright freezer -call:6027057 or 266-1768 1 Ice maker, large for business – Call:602-7057; 266-1768 1 Deli food case – cooler and freezer in one, 6ft with counter show case – call:602-7057; 266-1768
Cheapest Online Vehicles!!! – Tel:626-2771 One Toyota Tacoma 3400cc PJJ series - $2,000,000 – Contact:223-8479; 647-3768 Large event B.B.Q grill good for business – call:602-7057; 266-1768 Piano and Organ in one, good for church services – Call:602-7057 or 266-1768 Chicken Hatchery (Robbins), 28,000 eggs capacity fully ready, $ 5.5 million or credit available Tel: 227-3939 6214000 Diesel Generator, 3 cylinder Lister pitter (England) key start, 15 kva, $650,000 cash 227-3939, 621-4000 Clarke forklifts 2000, 3000, 4000 Lb, lifting capacity $450,000 and up Tel: 2273939, 621-4000 (Continued on page 56)
Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur News
Sunday December 01, 2013 ARIES (MAR 21 - APR 19): You’re starting to think a great deal of your past, especially in terms of how you were raised. ******************************** TAURUS (APR 20 - MAY 20): Intense curiosity prompts you to poke your nose into places where it doesn’t belong. Resist the urge to comment on the lives of your friends and neighbours. Otherwise, these relationships will start to suffer. ******************************** GEMINI (MAY 21 - JUN 20): Adopting a practical approach towards finances will keep anxiousness at bay. Pay careful attention to where your money goes over the next three weeks. Keep a record of everything you spend, even if it’s only a magazine or newspaper. ******************************** CANCER (JUN 21 - JUL 22): You’ve always been very insightful, but you’ll be extremely so for the next three weeks. Don’t be surprised if you’re put in charge of an important project. You’ll also have great success with presenting ideas to the public. ******************************** LEO (JUL 23 - AUG 22): Some people may accuse you of having a photographic memory between now and late June. That’s because you soak up your environment like a sponge. Why not use your observational skills to write a book or paint a picture? ******************************** VIRGO (AUG 23 - SEP 22): You’ll be more open to having new experiences, which is an exciting development. Normally, you’re intent on carrying out a set routine, believing this makes you more
Argentina awards Carolyn... From page 51 that would include cattle rearing. And a mission from Argentina will pay a visit to Guyana this month with a view to exploring cooperation in the tourism sector. Other areas identified for cooperation between the two countries include Post Graduate training for Doctors in Specialized areas, Spanish Language training and military training at Argentine Defence Institutions. Cooperation between Guyana and Argentina has intensified since the re-establishment of an Embassy in Guyana two years ago. Minister RodriguesBirkett was accompanied by Foreign Service Officers Heather Seelochan and Jevon Rodrigues. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
productive and disciplined. LIBRA (SEP 23 - OCT 22): An ambitious attitude helps you find ways to advance in surprising ways. If you’re looking for a job, send out a slew of CVs, even to companies that aren’t advertising for help. Set up as many job interviews as possible over the next three weeks. ******************************** SCORPIO (OCT 23 NOV 21): You’ll say what you mean and mean what you say between now and the end of the month. That’s because you’re tired of maintaining a facade to make others feel comfortable. If you don’t feel somebody is working hard enough, say so. ******************************** SAGITTARIUS (NOV 22 - DEC 21): Cultivating the fine art of flirting isn’t as frivolous as it sounds. It’s important to know how to communicate your interest effectively. ******************************** CAPRICORN (DEC 22 JAN 19): You’ll be something of an expert in human psychology in the weeks ahead. All of a sudden, you’ll notice things about others that previously escaped your attention. Act as though you’re conducting a study of some sort. ******************************** AQUARIUS (JAN 20 FEB 18): Creating order out of chaos will be your first order of business over the next three weeks. If your home or office looks as though a tornado hit it, get to work. ******************************** PISCES (FEB 19 - MAR 20): If you want to be considered an authority in your chosen field, get to work. Sign up for advanced courses.
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(From page 54) PROPERTY FOR SALE
SERVICES
VACANCY
Professional and affordable landscaping and tree trimming services. BUDRAM’S LANDSCAPING SERVICES - Call: 6561326; 678-0058
24 Hour East Coast Guyoil needs night pump attendants, salesgirl & office assistant- Call: 6910894/684-2838
Christmas cleaning! Power washing for residential & commercial properties – Call:648-1544 Permanent & Visitors Visa Applications, Professional Immigration Consultant Room D5 Maraj Building Call:225-6496,6626045,223-8115 Repairs, sales & spares air conditioning, microwaves, washer, fridges & stoves. Ultra Cool, call:2259032,647-2943 We Refill HP cartridges for $1800 call: 650-7699 Repairs to Fridge, Freezer, AC, Washers, Stoves: Call 683-1312,627-3206 (Nick) HOUSE PLAN DRAFTING FOR ONLY $10,000- CALL: 6949843/227-2766
One mature pharmacy Technician/Assistant. Must Have at least 5 years working experienced – Tel:661-3124; 675-8790 Office worker needed. Must be computer literate, good at customer care and have pleasant personality - Tel: 642-2028 Salesman for Cooking Gas in Georgetown store, physically fit, completed high school. 676-6700. Experience cashiers & Salespersons needed to work in supermarket/ cosmetics department @ East Coast, age 25-50yrs, call: 220-2128 / 642-1141 Cashier at Shell Service Station Providence, E.B.D. Must be able to work shift (5am-3pm & 3pm-12pm)Call:265-7305
VERSAILLES: Furnished 5 bedrooms, self-contained rooms, modern facilities, generator, beautiful landscape, gated community - Call:592-624-8704/ 592-6849203 Property for sale- Call:6275416 2 flat new building (down town) suitable for business or offices- Tel: 227-8519 Prime 2- storey concrete building dimensions 80x23, 6 bedrooms, 2 master bedrooms @ Leonora opposite to Primary School Tel: 652-0709; 268-3572 4 bedroom top & bottom business place wood & Concrete@ Dairy Parfaite Harmonie; V/Hoop -$4M each – Tel:678-7355 Prime commercial property, Albertown, 3 lots with business, (Nut Centre) best offer. Tel 621-4000, 2273939
LEARN TO DRIVE
One receptionist to work in Georgetown - Tel: 644-7574
Soman & Sons Driving School , First Federation Building Call 225-4858, 6445166,622-2872,615-0964
Technicians available for appliance repairs – washers, dryers, microwaves, stoves, deep fryers, etc – Tel:6190793; 218-0050
LAND FOR SALE
FOR RENT
We repair L.C.D, Plasma, Led TV, Microwave, Washer & Dryer, Amp etc. Call:6472276/693-3277
House lot for sale on the West Bank of Demerara Harbour bridge in Harbourville contact # 6500402
Furnished top flat house, Queenstown, generator, A/ C, Grille & parking -Tel:2271218 or kpthomas7@gmail. com
Brian Moe @642-3543: Computer Technician: FB/ Brian.Moe.165: Home and Office visits at your comfort!!
10 Acres land at Long Creek - Tel: 699-3723
Rooms – Call:225-9223
We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer call:2310655,683-8734 Omar Masons Seeks daily or Job work – Tel:619-3296
Print colour calendars for your business. As low as $9.00 – Many options. 50 minimum. Hurry! 227-2679 Dr. Debra Patterson- Skeete, DDS. Dental Clinic @ 1 Thorne’s Drive Durban Backlands Georgetown. Phone:227-3809; 613-0471 E m a i l : debraskeete@hotmail.com Installation: domestic’s Commercial generator, security camera, first 5 customer get 25% - Tel:6832890; 692-5099 All industrial work, generator repairs and domestic house wiring – Tel:644-9084; 6649635
Parafaite Harmonie & Schonard - $2.2M & $2.6M Tel: 675-7292 Blankenburg Public Road WCD - 38x150, 39x150 $16M each - Tel: 666-3619 110 Acres @ Mahaicony Tel: 225-3070; 686-4994 Promising Gold and Diamond mining lands in various areas - Tel: 699-3992 Westerbeck Mazaruni- $3M, Soesdyke water front $35M, Melanie (Highway) 150X200 Ft $25M – Tel:2312200; 618-7483 Herstelling - $3.8M, Diamond- $6.5M, LBI (ECD), Republic Garden, Continental Gardens (EBD) – Tel:231-2200; 618-7483
Immediate Rental: Newly open concept 3 bedrooms apartment, plumbing, fully grilled, parking & pre-paid meter @ ‘D’ Non Pariel Contact:654-0533
FOR SALE Generac Generator 15 kva, portable, $500,000 cash Tel 227-3939, 621-4000 Diesel Generator silent 28 kva SDMO John Deere engine, missing Fuel Pump, Panel, Avr $900,000 cash 227-3939, 621-4000 TV Sale 27" To 73" some working and some not sold as is Tel 621-4000, 227-3939 60FT Antenna (Mass) for Radio, TV, Cellular, with cables, brackets, sky light $450,000 227-3939, 621-4000 Clean Garden Earth & builders waste also Bobcat rental, excavating, clearing and leveling done- Call:6160617 or 663-3285 Cheap earth delivery to spot E.C.D and E.B.D- Call:6279977, 698-0182 Panel Doors & Arch Frame as low as $19,995 – Tel:6641109;626-8141 FOR SALE / FOR RENT American pool table – Tel: 277-0578 American Slate pool table Tel: 616-8328 SALON Make Up Courses, Artist Trained & Certified in Trinidad. Call: 660-5257, 647-1773 Enrol today @ Nalini’s School of Cosmetology. Classes starting January 2014. Full course only $80,000 – Call:614-6655; 2266705
MASSAGE The Gent’s Spa: Let beautiful sophisticated masseuse pamper you: New masseuse available- Call: 657-5979 American Style massage services- Call:678-7499 Massage therapy service call:674-8147
One shop Merriman Mall to rent, from January 1st Call: 642-6381; Home: 223-6862 after 6PM. Newly constructed three bedrooms concrete property - $38,000 per month @ Melanie North E.C.D – Phone :688-8827; 220-2520 Bottom flat 3 bedroom @ ‘B’ Field Sophia - $50,000 - Tel: 223-1273 Executive Houses & apartments. Contact:2238479; 647-3768; www.spaceseek.gy
VEHICLE FOR SALE 5Pcs Harley Davidson Motorcycles gas model 50cc key / pull start all = $300,000 or 1pc $70,000 621-4000, 2273939 AE100 Toyota Corolla $610,000, Price negotiable – Tel:677-4558
TO LET Furnished 2-bedrooms top flat & 2 bedroom bottom flat apartment for overseas guests @ Bent St, Wortmanville - Phone: 2222778/ 640-4130/ 226-3309 Harmony Inn: Apartments fully furnished, airconditioned apartments: As low as $5000 per nightCall: 668-0306/602-8769/ 694-7817 Fully furnished short term apartments, Eccles call:6797139 One bedroom unfurnished apartment Grove New Housing Scheme, EBD $35,000 Call:642-1956.
CAR RENTAL First Choice Car Rental: Cars as low as $5,000 per dayCall: 668-0306 / 694-7817/ 225-6337 Wings Car Rental- Call: 643-1131 A i d a n ’s C a r R e n t a l & Pickup- Call: 645-7981/ 698-7807 Dolly’s Car Rental- Call: 2257126/226-3693- dollysauto rental@yahoo.com/ www.dollysautorental.com Premio, Vitz call:679-7139 Joshua’s Car Rental Call:6656485; 679-8400
Kingston - 2 office spaces available for immediate rental Tel: 226-1308 or 647-1481 Cassio’s Hotel: $8,000 per night – A/C, wifi, cable, Laundry @ Charlotte St. Short & Long term available. Nice new house @ Diamond, Ogle sea side, South, and business spots – Contact Shawn:231-2199; 618-7483 Panel Doors & Arch Frame as low as $19,995 – Tel:6641109;626-8141 Furnished two bedroom apartment in Linden for short term local & overseas guests – Tel:444-4704; 614-4415
PENPAL Businessman in Trinidad seeks Guyanese woman for friendship & marriage between ages 30-40; email:ramphal mahadeo@ live.com – Tel:0011-868-7243155; 0011-868-4681075 Overseas based Indian male is seeking a female age 29 & up. No texting! Call:661-3299
Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur News
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US/Cayman sign tax treaty WASHINGTON – CMC The United States has signed a number of intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) with the Cayman Islands in implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The US Department of the Treasury said that the FATCA was “rapidly becoming the global model for combating offshore tax evasion and promoting transparency”. US Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs Robert B. Stack said the announcement marks a milestone in the effort to promote global tax transparency. “These agreements underscore growing international cooperation in
the effort to end tax evasion everywhere.” FATCA, enacted in 2010, seeks to obtain information on accounts held by US taxpayers in other countries, the Treasury Department said. It requires US financial institutions to withhold a portion of payments made to foreign financial institutions (FFIs) that do not agree to identify and report information on US account holders. FFIs have the option of entering into agreements directly with the IRS, or through one of two alternative Model IGAs signed by their home country. Signed yesterday, the US Department of Treasury said the Cayman Islands IGA is a
Model 1B agreement, meaning that FFIs in the Cayman Islands will be required to report tax information about US account holders directly to the Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority, which is the sole channel in the Cayman Islands for the provision of tax-related information to other governments. The Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority will in turn relay that information to the IRS, the Treasury Department said. Additionally, the United States and the Cayman Islands also signed a new Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA), to take the place of the original TIEA signed in 2001.
‘Ja fighting a war’ - Seizure of bullet-making machines, warheads signals frightening plot by criminals law enforcer
Jamaica Gleaner - There was a chilling warning yesterday from senior lawenforcement personnel and a top security consultant that the seizure of bullet-making machines, along with over 3,000 warheads, at the ports on Thursday could be an indication that criminal elements are preparing for an onslaught. Up to late yesterday, investigators probing the incident said they were following several leads, but confirmed that the two machines and 3,300 warheads seized were destined for the criminal underworld. Investigators also confirmed that the barrels in
which they were hidden were shipped from the United States and were consigned to Oneil Schrouder, a Mandeville man who has been listed as a person of interest. Sources close to the investigation have revealed that the machines are used primarily to make and/or reload ammunition for the 9mm handgun, the firearm of choice among criminals and gun enthusiasts locally. Noting that the confiscated items were “not something the average criminal can afford”, one highranking law-enforcement officer cautioned that it points to a sinister plot by those
involved in organised crime. “We are fighting a war … and this (the seizure) tells the public what is happening in our society,” said the lawenforcement officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Three thousand three hundred warheads. … That could have been 3,000 lives. So if you look at it in that way, you see how significant this find is,” the law enforcer continued. Up to the middle of this month, there were 1,056 reported murders this year, a nine per cent increase when compared to the corresponding period last year. While agreeing that the items seized could have been destined for the criminal underworld, security consultant Robert Finzi-Smith argued that it could also be the work of an “enterprising businessman”. “Could this be the beginning of an assault [by criminals]?” Finzi-Smith questioned. “Or could it be that some enterprising businessman believes that they can make some money from this?” Either way, Finzi-Smith said this development raises troubling concerns about the way ammunition are accounted for in Jamaica. Shortly after noon on Thursday, X-ray machines at the wharves detected something unusual in a barrel in one of the containers, which was searched and the cache found.
Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur News
Egypt’s draft constitution enshrines army role in politics
Amr Moussa, chairman of the committee to amend the country’s constitution speaks at a news conference at the Shura Council in Cairo. REUTERS CAIRO (Reuters) Egypt’s new constitution, according to a draft text completed on Saturday nearly five months after the army deposed an Islamist president, will bolster the military’s hand and ban religious parties. The constitution, expected to be put to a referendum in December, is part of an army-planned political transition meant to lead to parliamentary and presidential elections next year. “In the early hours of the morning the assembly (reached) an overall consensus over the constitution articles,” its chairman, former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, told a news conference. The 50-member constituent assembly later began voting to approve the draft, article by article, and once this process is complete it will submit the document to interim President Adli Mansour, who will set a date for the referendum. The final draft, seen by Reuters, does away with the Islamist-inspired additions that featured in the constitution approved by a referendum during Mursi’s year in office. It empowers the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to approve the choice for a
defense minister who would serve for eight years from when the constitution becomes law. Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mursi, Egypt’s first freely elected leader, on July 3 after mass protests against him. Sisi suspended the constitution and an assembly was named to draft a new one by December 3. The document it has produced proscribes any political party founded on “a religious basis”, reverting to a prohibition that was in force during Mubarak’s 30-year rule. Even though Islamists dominated five national
votes held since Mubarak fell in 2011, the constituent assembly includes only two Islamists - one from the hardline Salafi Nour party and the other a former Brotherhood leader who is now harshly critical of the group he left last year. The draft constitution also allows civilians to be tried in military courts - another holdover from the Mubarak era and one that will dismay pro-democracy campaigners. Assuming the draft constitution is approved, next year’s parliamentary election will be run under a different voting system, with twothirds of the seats allotted to individual candidates and one third to party lists - reversing the proportions in the last polls, which Islamist parties won. The authorities have pursued a campaign to repress the Brotherhood, accusing it of violence and terrorism. Hundreds were killed when security forces stormed two pro-Mursi protest camps in August and thousands have been arrested since then. The Brotherhood, which formally renounced violence decades ago, accuses the army of staging a military coup.
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Syrian PM, visiting ally Iran, says government winning civil war BEIRUT (Reuters) - Prime Minister Wael Halki said yesterday Syrian government forces were winning the war with rebels and would not rest while a single enemy fighter remained at large. Maintaining Syria’s unyielding response to Western calls for President Bashar al-Assad to step aside, Halki said the era of “threats and intimidation has gone, never to return, while the era of victory and pride is being created now on Syrian soil”. He was speaking during a visit to Iran, which has provided military support and billions of dollars in economic aid to Assad during a 2-1/2year-old civil war which has killed 100,000 people and shows little sign of being halted by diplomacy. The United Nations said on Monday that a longdelayed “Geneva 2” peace
conference would go ahead on January 22. The government and the political opposition have both said they will attend, but rebel fighters on the ground have scorned the talks. Assad, whose forces have consolidated their hold around Damascus and central Syria this year, faces little internal pressure to make concessions to his opponents as long as he maintains military momentum and Iranian support. “The Syrian government will not allow a single terrorist on Syrian territory,” Halki told Iran’s First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA. Jahangiri replied that Iran stood “in the same trench alongside Syria, supporting it at all levels against the aggressive axis of evil” aligned against Damascus, SANA said.
Iran has sent military commanders to Syria to help Assad’s army, which is also bolstered by the pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah militia and Iraqi Shi’ite fighters. They are battling rebels whose ranks are swollen by an influx of Sunni Islamist fighters from across the Muslim world. The size of Halki’s delegation, which included Syria’s energy, electricity, health and foreign ministers, reflected the importance of the alliance between the two countries. SANA said they discussed activating Iran’s multi-billion dollar credit facility to Damascus, bringing Iranian companies back to Syria’s war-ravaged economy and speeding up deals to provide oil products, medical equipment and food. Assad’s forces, backed by Hezbollah and local militia, have been fighting to secure the mountainous Qalamoun region overlooking the main highway north of Damascus to the central city of Homs and Assad’s Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean. Activists said warplanes bombarded targets around Nabak, the main town on the
road which is outside government control, dropping bomblets on parachutes which ignited fires. “So far we have three martyrs in Nabak,” said a local pro-rebel activist, speaking by Skype, who identified himself only as Abu Rakan. “In Rima, between Yabroud and Nabak, MiG and Sukhoi planes have carried out eight bombing raids.” SANA said the army had “eliminated a number of terrorists in Nabak and the surrounding area”, and it also made gains in rebel districts to the east of Damascus, a mix of farmland and urban sprawl known as the eastern Ghouta, and suburbs to the south. Casualties on both sides have been heavy, with Hezbollah losing at least 25 fighters in eastern Ghouta over the last week, according to security sources in Lebanon. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britishbased monitoring group, said more than 400 people had been killed across Syria since Thursday, many of them in the battles around Ghouta and Qalamoun. Assad’s force recaptured
Bashar al-Assad
the town of Deir Attiyah on Thursday, a week after losing it in a rebel counter-offensive, but progress has been gradual and sporadic. “At night we push them back. In the daytime, because of the planes and the air raids, the Free Syrian army retreats slightly but at night they return to their positions,” Abu Rakan said. The Observatory said fighting also erupted on Saturday in the old quarter of the ancient Christian town of Maloula, between Assad’s forces and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which has been at the forefront of fighting around Qalamoun. Amid the violence, weapons experts from the
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are trying to oversee the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile. The United States has offered to destroy the chemicals on a U.S. ship, the OPCW confirmed yesterday, and is looking for a suitable Mediterranean port where processing can be carried out. Sigrid Kaag, head of the joint UN-OPCW Syria team, said the mission was striving meet a tough deadline to get the most lethal chemical agents out of Syria by the end of the year. She told reporters in Damascus the chemical arsenal, located at various sites across Syria, would be packed, sealed and moved to Syria’s Latakia port. “Then it will be transported to other ships by other member states that will send it to ... a U.S. vessel. It will not be (destroyed) in Syrian territorial waters,” she said.
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Kaieteur News
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“PTSD happens to cricketers too!” PTSD – Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – is a serious health condition that makes itself known in various ways, defined as a condition that may develop after a person is exposed to one or more traumatic events. While the condition is normally associated with war veterans, those whom may have experienced death, destruction or very serious, often limb-removing injuries, as aggressors or defenders, in conflicts around the world, that great stress can also certainly be associated with sports-persons. United States of America has a Department of Veteran Affairs, which looks after war veterans of past conflicts. What is not known generally is that in any month, as many as thirty USA war veterans commit suicide, so traumatically injured they were, never being able to get battles and bad experiences out of mind. The recent situation that developed around England batsman Jonathan Trott has hit the news, but these situations happen relatively often, and are kept mostly secret, not shared by many, for there is, still, a syndrome of shame, especially in sports, where sports-persons are supposed to be so very
tough. It may be co-incidental that another English batsman, Marcos Trescothick, was one of the first to publicly express that stress was such a burden that he could not continue playing on the international circuit. He suggested that touring presented so many challenges and life-changing situations that he could not endure them anymore. Many times you have heard me describe playing for West Indies, or other country’s representative teams, representing one’s country, as tantamount to war. It really is, if the task at hand is taken as seriously as it should be. Therefore PTSD is real for cricketers too, like anyone else put under these very stressful situations! Consider a batsman of 1970’s or 1980’s, like, for example, England’s Geoffrey Boycott – 108 Tests, 8114 runs, avg. 47.72, or David Gower – 117 Tests, 8231 runs, avg. 44.25. Both were great batsmen, by any measurement. Most of their Tests were played against West Indies and Australia, whose teams, at that time, consisted of actual life-threatening fast bowlers. Then consider that they played when all that batsmen had for real protection were leg pads, gloves and a box-protector, sometimes an arm-guard too, but not the armor-like protections of
Colin E. H. Croft says: Jonathan Trott
Geoffrey Boycott
Gordon Greenidge
today’s batsmen. Note especially that most batsmen of 1970’s and 1980’s had no helmets for most of their careers either. But Boycott and Gower, and others too, made their runs against some of the most fearsome bowlers ever – West Indies’ Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Colin Croft and Wayne Daniel; along with Australia’s Jeff Thompson, Dennis Lillee and Len Pascoe, and Pakistan’s Imran Khan. None of these bowlers gave any quarter nor asked any. Gower and Boycott were excellent, as many would attest later, “made of sterner stuff”, great examples of batsmen who withstood everything thrown at
them, to be successful. Meantime, both, in later years, had confirmed that “their minds were everywhere at the thoughts of facing these fast bowlers.” When West Indies returned from Australia after that debacletype tour in 1975/6, after being destroyed by Australia’s fast bowlers, especially Lillee and Thomson, our stalwart players, to a man, described scenes and situations that could only be akin to war. Records will indicate that, except Gordon Greenidge, the best that West Indies had then, all legendary batsmen, made at least one century during that tour, yet they described open conflict, as raged by Lillee and Co. Some of us are quite tough, being able to survive anything thrown at us, but is not always
that easy. I have a close friend who flies Falcon Jets for the USA Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), which seeks out drug runners trying to bring their illicit products into USA - a very tough job - since his airplane is regularly shot at when he and his comrades try to interdict drug flights, or get information on the drug trade. But in Gulf War 1, “Operation Desert Storm” in early 1990’s, he piloted an F111 fighter-bomber, at the tip of what is called the ‘Arrow’ of Pathfinder missions, flying an airplane that had no armaments at all, but miles ahead of his other four accompanying heavily armed companions – two F-15’s and two F-16’s. His job was two-fold – to use his on-board equipment
All set for the annual Balram Shane Cricket and Volleyball competition today at Albion With the inclement weather showing signs of stepping in, Berbice remains fairly dry. There will be no other place to be today Sunday, 1st December, but the Albion Community Centre. The occasion is the 14th annual Balram Shane challenge Fund raising 50 overs cricket match between archrivals and two of Guyana’s top teams, Albion Community and the Port Mourant Cricket Club and the third annual Senior Inter club Volleyball competition at the Albion hard court. The cricket match and volleyball competitions are being sponsored by popular Businessman, community activist and sports enthusiast, Deonarine Balram of the Balram Shane General Store at Rose Hall Town Corentyne. Both teams are strong and will boost a number of national and former national senior and youth players, while the volleyball competition will see the best teams in Berbice spiking it out for top honours and a bumper crowd is expected to be on hand and a close encounter is envisaged. A close and exhilarating match is anticipated as is the case
whenever the two above named cricket teams tangle. Both teams have named their squads, with several new faces from both sides crossing the floor. The Albion line up will include West Indies players Sewnarine Chattergoon, and Devendra Bishoo, national players Anthony Bramble and Jonathan Foo, with the rest of the lineup reading Kandasammy Surujnarine, Veerapen Permaul, Balchand Baldeo, Avenash Wajib, Sharaz Ramcharran, David Latchaya, Satesh Dwarka, Adrian Sukhwa, Shivnarine Shirkissoon and Narendra Permaul. Andre Percival the former West Indies youth Captain will serve as the player coach with the manager being Muthushanni Permaul. Port Mourant on the other hand will be led by Yougendra Harrinarine and the other players are Andrew Lyght jr, Ameer Khan, Samuel Kintasammy, Joshua Beharry, Robert More, Gregory Crandon, Wicket Keeper batsman Winston Rose, Raju Singh, Davendra Thakurdeen, Tony McKenzie, Manoj Looknauth, Parsram Tilkuram. Former Guyana Youth player Renrick Batson is the player coach with
Godwyn Allicock serving as the manager. The winning team will receive the Balram Shane Memorial trophy and cash incentives, while the runner up will be adequately rewarded. A number of individual awards will also be up for grabs including the man of the match, best bowler and best batsman among others all compliments of the sponsor and his family who will be on hand to bowl the first ball and present the winners with their accolades. Starting time is 09:30 hrs. Albion are the defending champions. Meanwhile, the third edition of the Balram Shane Volleyball competition will also be played simultaneously on the hard court of the Albion CommunityCentre, beginning at 10:00 hrs. Most of the top volleyball teams in Berbice including Guysuco Training Centre/ Port Mourant (GTC/PM) will field two teams, Port Mourant Jaguars, Albion Community Centre, Falcons of East Canje, Rollers of NewAmsterdam and Three door strikers of West Berbice and The Skeldon Community Centre are expected to participate. GTC/PM 1 are the d e f e n d i n g champions. (Samuel Whyte)
to jam any Iraqi radio and radar transmissions, and, more dangerously, to also attract enemy fire, so that his squadron comrades could hone in for the kill. Needless to say, he considers his exploits now as a DEA pilot to be “cake walk”, very safe by comparison. When I think about PTSD, I also think back to the time way before I played Tests, when the likes of Sir Everton Weekes played for West Indies. To go to tours of Australia and New Zealand, even England, they had to travel by boats to get to their destinations, very stressful journeys that took as long as a month. How more sports-persons do not suffer more debilitating break-downs is a wonder, as expectations, and stakes, are always so very high, as if those participating were not humans too. Enjoy!
Revamp of Canada remain unbeaten From page 64 an early goal by Mika EllaTang of Trinidad’s Magnolias, fellow islanders Malvern managed to pull off the come from behind victory by scoring the winner just two minutes from full time. Former top Trinidad international Oire Trotman-Martin was on fire for Malvern as she rattled home the double leaving her team in contention for a spot in the final. The Toros returned later in the day to squash the Hikers ladies by 7-0 in a one-sided duel eliminating the Hikers chance of progressing to the final. With a packed Friday schedule including three matches, the Queens Park hockey club from Trinidad firmly established themselves as the surprise of the tournament. Led by former Guyanese international, Jerazeno Bell, the Parkites outclassed local men’s side Old Fort by 7 to 4 in their first duel of the day. After two quick opening goals by Nicholas Gonsalves and Sean Lee-Quay, Old Fort managed to keep their opponents silent for the rest of the half while pulling one
back on the buzzer through Aderemi Simon. Queens Park however would have the better hand in the second half, pouring in five more goals to Old Fort’s three leaving the score at 7-4. Queen’s Park came back later in the day to defeat the YMCA of Barbados by 9 – 6. Although the Bajans strung together some brilliant moments of hockey mainly through Rohan Thomas and Sean Harewood, Bell commanded his troops to a disciplined performance that was impossible to match. In their final outing of the day, Queens Park brushed aside local national champions GCC by 9 – 2 with a physical high pressure game that left the Bourda side short of answers. The Revamp hockey club of Toronto put on a clinical display of finishing as they upended the YMCA of Barbados by 6-4. YMCA put in a spirited performance but lacked the quality and depth of Revamp to trouble the Canadians. Jonathan Roberts exhibited a litany of skills in producing five of Revamp’s
six goals with Tim Branco scoring the sixth. Ryan Cowie and Donovan Smith each scored one goal for YMCA in the first half but trailed Revamp throughout the match. Right back Sean Harewood made some effective overlapping runs and produced two goals for YMCA in the second half but fell short of catching the Canadians with a final score of 6-4. Fatima enjoyed good success in the Carib veterans division by defeating Old Old Fort by 7-3 and returning to bury Malvern by 6-2. Colin Young and Nicholas Wren were the top marksman for Fatima, both with a six-goal hauls in the two matches. The GCC vets advanced their unbeaten run by defeating Malvern of Trinidad by 4 to 1. The evening was highlighted by the opening ceremony where the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport was on-hand to give a few words of welcome and encouragement to the teams. The finals in all the categories will be played today, at the same venue.
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Kaieteur News
Sunday December 01, 2013
Letter to the Sports Editor
A response to Justice Is Lawrence Griffith’s job on the Line? Kennard letter DEAR EDITOR I refer to certain points put forward by the Honorable Justice Kennard. I was called on the 13th January to an Election meeting been held at his track and clearly remembered saying to Mr. Fazal Habibulla and members of the Ryan Crawford Turf Club (RCMTC), that I was legally advised that the current structure of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority (GHRA) is not in keeping with the required standard for supervising Horse Racing in this country, for documents signed by us and registered at the Deeds Registry made us as individuals, liable personally, in event the authority finds itself being sued by any Horse Owner/ s for sanctions imposed by the body, as such I would not put my little assets to risk in event of same. The selected member’s were also advised, until the passage of legislation it’s just a gentleman’s agreement that we are operating with. As such we have to consult the horse owners, trainers and jockeys to work with the only established Demerara Turf Club rules until the passage
of the legislation. This nonsense of petty finger pointing with regards to dates issued to clubs is not worth my precious time, since it was dealt with already. However, it appears that the learned Judge forgetting things quickly. Just remember his track the KMTC held a Digicel meet in August-his original date was Sunday 4th, it was arbitrarily changed to the 1st which was Emancipation day. It was changed again, a few times reasons being, emancipation clashing with his dates. It was held on t h e 11 t h A u g u s t a n d threw the RSTC race meet set for the 18th off. It’s the same with the Ryan Crawford and Sheriff Racing Stables race meeting - car Racing and the Berbice Regatta on the 24st and the 1st respectively. As such some of the sponsors just like Digicel asked to make the said adjustment to accommodate them. Another point in contention is, the Rising Sun Turf Club ran off an unauthorized PPP race meet on the 5th October, was that date agreed upon at their so called race date meeting?
Didn’t that meet affect the Bush Lot United Turf Club meet which was agreed to by him for 29th September, 2013? My learned friend seems to forget these things so easily and quickly. For three years now the New Year ’s meet was cancelled due to heavy rainfall, must the horse owners sit and wait again on the weather? The organizer of that meeting was told that we the horse owners need to feel comfortable that the meeting will be held this time rain or shine at his venue or at the Port Mourant venue. So we need to see a programme reflecting same, was this done, the answer is no. So now we have this confusion. In closing I would like to ask the learned Judge if my signature was affixed to a document agreeing to certain guidelines, that we all should follow a n d a d h e r e t o , i sn’t it dishonest to alter that document without full consultation with the signatories of that document. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you guys, wishing you luck in sorting out your messy situation, I am not racing. I rest my case. Colin Elcock Trainer, owner, promoter
DEAR EDITOR “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it”. As such I hereby refer to the above caption as it relates to the publication of a letter in K.N. 28.11.13 captioned, “Leave Matthias alone, detractors back off” by Lawerence Griffith. Editor, while I intend to make my comment brief, may, I enquire from Lawerence how long has he been under the employ of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), and what year was he the Secretary of the GFF? While I cannot recall the exact year Mr. Griffith had commenced working with the GFF, or when he was the Secretary, what I do know for sure it was when the GFF had established its office in Bel Air Park, which was under the presidency, of former President, Mr. Colin Klass. For the records and public edification, the individual would have served as Hon. Secretary, of the then GFL and GFA, and definitely not the GFA and GFF respectively! By the way can Lawrence safely, say publicly, under whose presidency that he served as an administrator/employee, a period of six (6) months would have elapsed and only one (1) competition to date would have commenced? With this observation as an established
fact, then given the inherent debt and each strapped situation of the GFF, Mr. Griffith’s employment as Competitions/ Tournament Coordinator should cease forthwith, along with others, who are masquerading as competent administrators. Forty years and still counting of servitude to the sport! Has Mr. Griffith subtracted the years when he was suspended as a former Hon. Secretary, of the then GFL and would he care to state the reason? While I must admit that within the GFF’s Secretariat, the individual is the most knowledgeable administratively and definitely in the area of Refereeing, so, too is his stewardship as a salesman. The individual should do some soul searching. “Perched precariously like a lizard on a limb, while being caught between a rock and a hard place”! Mr. Griffith’s defence of Matthias and definitely not football is riddled with distortions, deceptions and half-truths! Since he claims” Matthias took up the reign of President sometime in March, 2013, and a massive debt in the vicinity of $40,000.000. The AGM of the GFF was held in April, not March, while its public knowledge the inherent debt was $30,000,000. Lawerence why add $10,000,000, is this amount a further
accumulation that is growing to how much we don’t know? Where is the evidence of accountability, transparency and development? Is it within unilateral decisions devoid of General Council’s approval! Shame on you! At the end of the day your sealed lips over the years, for all the shortcomings in the sport was met with stony silence. Can this be construed as condoning malpractices! “For we wrestle not, against flesh nor blood, but against principalities and powers and wickedness that exists in high places”; So, should this present administration of the GFF, be spared? Absolutely not! While a little bit of selfconfession is good for the soul, I do hope Lawerence you don’t live to regret the contents of your letter, over the coming years. Since Associations and clubs are mismanaged more than ever before, which is evident on a daily basis? As a matter of fact with no structured programme of development in place, compounded by the absence of competitions, is also depriving the sport of producing another Lily” Pollard, Adrian Forde, Osmond Juene, Christopher George, Kevin Archer and Dion Barnwell. Please Lawerence set a proper wall, stay focused on the goal-line as this direct freekick, is curling goalwards and don’t duck, as was/is customary! Respectfully Your, Lester Sealey.
Stephney’s letter raises serious concerns DEAR EDITOR, Kindly permit me the opportunity to commend Mr. Elroy Stephney for his candid expression of serious concerns regarding the administration of cricket in Essequibo. He has certainly highlighted a major deficiency in the quality and methodology of selecting players to represent Essequibo. One must remember that it is this very Essequibo Board alone that elected the present Guyana Cricket Board into office. The fact that no development of cricket is taking place in the Cinderella County must send a loud signal that: 1. Funds are not being sent to the ECB, for development of cricket. 2. If funds are sent to the ECB for cricket development, they are either used for personal or other purposes. 3. Apparently this is not a cause for concern to the current ECB who seems
extremely comfortable with the present state of affairs. Since none of the WICB development funds referred to by the WICB Mr. CEO, Muirhead (Wed 27th Stabroek News) have reached to the Berbice, East Coast or Georgetown Cricket administrations, which areas are benefitting from the annual US500,000 grant? Certainly not Essequibo, West Demerara nor East Bank Demerara, for there is no cricket development activity therein. The West Indies Cricket Board must explain why they continue to disburse development funds to a group that obviously spends the funds on something rather than cricket development. Also the GCB must explain what they have done with development funds disbursed by WICB to Guyana for the past four (4) years. This entire fiasco needs to be investigated and make public. Yours faithfully, Winston G. Boston
Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 63
‘Butterflies’ in her stomach but Abigail McDonald prepared to meet challenges head on By Michael Benjamin Two days after arriving in New York City, New York, National Scrabble Champion, Abigail McDonald boards another aircraft this morning for the final leg of her journey, Prague, Czech Republic, to participate in the World Scrabble Championships from this Wednesday, December 4 – 8 next. Naturally, McDonald is experiencing the proverbial ‘butterflies’ in her stomach and admitted that the tournament is extremely demanding even as she reminisced on her inaugural journey to these championships in Malaysia 2009. “I was swallowed up by the enormity of what I met. I didn’t envision the world of scrabble was as ‘ginormous’ as it was; I encountered players who earned a living through participation in the sport; people who were as eccentric as they come and people who, believe it or not, literally familiarized themselves with all the words in the dictionary,” McDonald said. The local scrabble queen is quite cognizant of the challenges yet she retains a high level of confidence of doing well. She continued reminiscing on her inaugural participation at this level, “I saw tile-tracking and strategy at a new level, and sadly, before I even played a game, I was kind-of defeated. McDonald is a vegetarian and bemoaned the cuisine in Malaysia, while hoping for better fortunes in the host country, “It didn’t help being in a country where, despite its variety, the food smelt or tasted like fish, certainly not
Bannas Foundation to host King Dominoes Bannas Foundation of will be hosting a King Dominoes competition today at Smash Hide Out Pink Shop, First street, C Field Sophia for teams in the area. Entrance fee is $500 per player and action gets underway at 13:00hrs. At stake are Trophies and medals donated by Trophy Stall Bourda Market. The competition is being organized by Johnny Barnwell and Kelvin Walcott.
World Scrabble Championships, Prague, Czech Republic Trinidadian Leslie Stewart (R) in an earlier duel with McDonald’s predecessor, Fred Collins
encouraging considering my food preference,” she mused. She also felt that the 12 hours time difference in Malaysia acted against her since she was forced to make stringent adjustments. But all that was five years ago and McDonald feels that her strategy is way better though she admits that she ‘has not been successful in ‘swallowing the dictionary.’ “I do know a whole lot more words than I did in 2009 and my strategy is way better,” she replied to a question posed. “I am not going to create a false impression either; what I do know is that I am going to the Czech Republic a lot more prepared with regards my diet, and I will not be remotely intimidated by any of the big names,” she confidently
pronounced. Pressed for a definitive assessment of her chances McDonald said, “I will do the best I can and let the chips fall where they may. Most of all, I will have loads of fun and I will not be swallowed up by the big stage at all; It’s not very often I say I
am proud of myself, but today I will say just that since I have earned the right to rub shoulders with the best in the business irrespective of my final placement,” she concluded. Tw o other Caricom nationals, Barbadian, Orlet Bullock and Trinidadian,
Orlet Bullock
Abigail McDonald
Leslie Stewart will also play in the tournament. Among those local corporate institutions and individuals that supported the scrabble queen in her quest to win the coveted trophy are Unicomer Guyana Inc, Courts Furniture, Fly Jamaica Airlines, Kings
Jewelry World, Farfan and Mendes Ltd, Starr Computers, Oasis Café, Akbar Auto Sales, Nexlink Communications, Insurance Brokers Guyana Ltd, Republic Bank, Giftland Office Max, Southland International Inc and Star Party Rental.
Caricom Rice Mill T\20-North E’bo
Mohamed 4-wkt haul helps Gunners secure final berth
Siddique Mohamed grabbed 4 wickets for 14 runs off 3 overs as Gunners defeated Lima by 16 runs to book their place in the final of the Caricom Rice Mill T\20
competition recently in North Essequibo. Playing at Imam Bacchus ground, Affiance Gunners batted first and scored 92-2 after the game was reduced
to 12 overs due to rain. Alex Lawry led with 37 with one four and two sixes, while Navin Singh supported with 22 (1x4,2x6) and Grayson Paul chipped in
with 20 (2x4). Lima were bowled out for 76 in 11.5 overs in reply. Abdool Salim was the only batsman that offered resistance with 20 (1x4,1x6).
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Kaieteur News
Sunday December 01, 2013
Second Int’l Invitational Club Festival deemed a success – Shuffler
By Franklin Wilson President of the Guyana Volleyball Federation (GVF) Lennie Shuffler has described the just concluded Second International Invitational Club Festival as a success. The GVF partnered with the three locals clubs, Port Mourant Training centre, Young Achievers and the Guyana Defence Force to host the festival at the National Gymnasium. Emerging as the top male team was Trinidad and Tobago’s Big Sepos who downed Suriname’s Yelyco in a pulsating finale. The female Goodwill series between Yelyco and Guyana’s Vanguards saw the Suriname based club defeating the Guyanese 3-0. This festival formed part of the federations Bloc Development Plan designed to promote increased activity among neighbouring countries at an affordable cost, and to provide international exposure for Guyanese players. President Shuffler did some in depth reflecting on the festival with Kaieteur News’ Franklin Wilson. KN - How would you describe the tournament in terms of success or failure?
Lennie Shuffler addressing the gatehring at the conclusion of the festival LS - The festival can be considered a success since most of our objectives were met. It provided our local players the opportunity to be exposed to international competition and to measure our standard of play. Our coaches, referees, linesmen and scorers gained valuable experience with the sharing of knowledge from our visiting teams. With limited finances our festival organisers did wonders with good creative
Female volleyball development to take centre stage in 2014! Members of Yelyco and Vanguard Volleyball Clubs after the presentation thinking and good cooperation. KN - Is the executive of the GVF satisfied with the tournament? LS - GVF was satisfied with the level of play seen at the festival, the good sportsmanship seen, the cooperation given by participating clubs and the on time delivery and quality of meals by Brittany Hotel. There is of course always room for
improvement and we will be looking at those areas early as we prepare for next year’s festival. KN - You did say that hoisting was a partnership with the three locals clubs, how did it work out? LS - Partnership with clubs worked very well since they all honored their financial obligations so that all expenses for festival could have been cleared. They all benefited from the exposure to what happens in planning a festival at this level. K N - W h a t w a s the feedback garnered from the visiting clubs in relation to the competition? LS - Visiting teams were high in their praise for the level of treatment received, the quality of accommodation, meals and transportation arrangements made. The high
level of competition at the festival was also noted by them. KN - How did corporate Guyana respond? LS - Since we wanted to produce an exciting product for corporate bodies to buy into we did not approach many corporate sponsors but the few we contacted readily supported; Digicel, Beharry Automotive, John Fernandes and Toucan Industries. With participating clubs support we will meet our obligations. KN - The Goodwill series involving Yelyco and the recently formed Vanguard, how did it go and what are the plans of the GVF for the development of the female game? LS - The series served its purpose as it provided our females with quality exposure and at the same time they were
able to establish friendship with a neighboring club for exchange visits. Vanguard will work closely with the Demerara Volleyball Association and GVF in promoting female volleyball. Areas already targeted are the Guyana School of Agriculture, Kuru Kururu College, Buxton Youth Developers and some schools. KN - Fan support was not the best, how would the GVF tackle this challenge with a view to getting spectators to come out? LS - We plan to bring again the Brazilian team from Roraima State and to encourage the large inflow of Brazilians living here to come out. Better marketing and some innovative ideas to bring out people to volleyball including the festival are on the cards.
Diamond Mineral Water International Indoor Hockey Festival
Revamp of Canada remain unbeaten The ladies took center stage in the Digicel women’s competition with a riveting clash between the GCC Tigers and the Toronto Toros as the Diamond Mineral Water International Indoor Hockey Festival continued, at the National Gymnasium. Revamp Hockey Club of Toronto continued their unbeaten run with a victory over YMCA of Barbados, while Queens Park buried GCC in convincing fashion to make them also strong contenders. GCC vets and Hikers, both of Guyana have qualified top of their pools for the semi-finals with Fatima of Trinidad and Old Old Fort poised for the challenge in the semi-finals.
The Toronto Toros went on the offensive from the outset of their clash with the GCC Tigers as Lauren Sudac smashed home a rebound shot five minutes into play. The Toros celebration was short-lived however as, less than a minute later, GCC’s Marzana Fiedtkou wove her way past two defenders and sliding her shot past the Canadian keeper to level the scores. As the game progressed, producing several exciting moments and fine goalkeeping at both ends, GCC earned a penalty stroke which was converted with aplomb by Trisha Woodroffe. Striker Kerensa Fernandes
sent the Tigers up by two with a precision strike five minutes from the half to take the game into the break at 3-1 for GCC. The second half saw resurgence from the Toros and although the game produced good hockey at both ends, Canadian national Kaelan Watson managed to get the better of the GCC defenders in a goal mouth scramble to her team back within one. A defence error in the dying moments saw GCC squander their lead, as Ally Evanyshyn pounced on a loose ball and levelled the score to end the game at 3 apiece. Although succumbing to (Continued on page 61)
Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 65
Early Christmas deal for cricket fans Antigua Observer - ST JOHN’S, Antigua Cricketing fans purchasing tickets for the upcoming home series between West Indies and the visiting England team on or before December 14 will get two for the price of one. This is according to WICB’s corporate communications manager, Imran Khan, who predicted tickets would go on sale in three weeks with unreserved going for $40 and reserved
costing $55. “As soon as ticket sales start, we will be selling tickets two for one so the $40 is actually going to get you two tickets because you will buy one and you will get one free and that will last up until Christmas Eve,” he said. “I want to emphasise that the promotion, when it starts, will last only up until Christmas Eve. It’s our way of giving back to the Antiguan public for supporting cricket in some
very difficult times in the past and we believe that $40 is a very reasonable price especially compared to what you have to pay around the world to watch one day cricket these days. But on top of that, we want to offer this additional special as a giving back to the Antigua public for Christmas.” Antigua will host three One Day International (ODI) matches between England and West Indies between February 28 and March 5 of
T&T U-16s win Don Bradman series Trinidad Express - Port of Spain, Trinidad - The Tr i n i d a d a n d To b a g o i n v i t a t i o n a l U n d e r- 1 6 cricket team saved their best for last, giving a virtuoso performance to beat the Australian national Under16s by 58 runs in the Sir Don Bradman Foundation 50over final Friday. Sent in to bat in a game reduced to 38 overs per side, T&T opened with Bryan Boodram and Jordan Warner who put on 60 for the first wicket before Boodram fell for 30. Amir Jangoo joined Warner and the pair wreaked havoc with the normally consistent and tight Australian attack. They added 130 for the second wicket, with Warner hitting 14 fours and three sixes in a pulsating innings of 100 in just 103 deliveries. It was Warner’s second century of the series. Jangoo made 64 off 68 balls and by the time these two were out, the
Australians were demoralised as T&T had gone past 200 in 32 overs. A late slump limited the final total to 238 for eight in the allotted overs. The usually resolute Australian top order were nervous and uncertain and were stifled from the start. Bryce Street, their most prolific batsman scored 46 at a pedestrian rate, and eventually, the task was beyond them and their chase folded thanks to Saiba Batoosingh with his right arm off breaks (three for 35), supported by Jonathan Bootan (two for 30). Jean Paul Rocke, Bryan Boodram and Emilio Gopaul also took one wicket each as Australia caved in for 180 in 35 overs. T&T copped the majority of tournament awards at the closing dinner. Jangoo was named tournament MVP for his consistency throughout. Boodram picked up an award as the only bowler in
the tournament with a fivewicket haul. Warner was hailed for his two centuries. Coach Kenny Benjamin won the Spirit of the Games award, and team captain Kirstan Kallicharan was named mvp for the T20 series played before the main event. Team manager Camal Basdeo praised to the players for the resolve they showed against a talented home team. Benjamin said for him, the best part of the project was the team learning from earlier mistakes and for their keen observation of their opponents in the perliminary rounds. He said: “It was clear they paid attention to every member of the Australian team and knew what was required in the final.” The T&T team leaves Sydney today for a three-day visit to Adelaide and a friendly match against South Australia Under-17s and a day at the Adelaide Oval as
Wd’s Hotel and Mall T\20- North E’bo
Walton Hall thump Charity by 4 wkts Walton Hall overcame Charity by 4 wickets in the first semi final of the WD’s Hotel and Mall T\20 tournament played last Sunday in North Essequibo. Charity took first strike at Imam Bacchus ground
and managed 84-5 in their reduced 12 overs with Rayan Tang top scoring with 30 (3x6), while Kaisho Rooplall stroked 26 (1x4,1x6). Navin Bahadur claimed 3-5 for Walton Hall who replied with 85-6 in
11.1 overs. Latchman Singh was their leading batsman with 21 (1x6) and Bahadur made 14 (1x4); Mark Narine was the pick of the bowlers with 4-11 and Devin Thakurdeen took 2-10.
Captains’ futures at... From page 66 perhaps sooner rather than later. The alternatives to Sammy are even harder to pick out. For a moment it is tempting to suggest Dwayne Bravo, but he hasn’t played a Test since 2010 and his batting and bowling numbers are
actually worse than Sammy’s. Denesh Ramdin has leadership experience but is continually battling to retain his place and it’s doubtful Shivnarine Chanderpaul wants it on his plate towards the end of his career. Kirk Edwards has led the A team but has been
unconvincing at the top level, while Darren Bravo is another name that has been suggested. Sammy has b e c o m e t h e H o b s o n ’s choice of West Indies cricket. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that this series could mark the end for two captains.
next year. The matches will coincide with the 40th anniversary of the country’s first international cricketer, Andy Roberts, and will also mark the setting of two records by former captain, Brian Lara. According to Khan, plans for the staging of the matches are on course. “We’ve had several meetings with the stadium authorities and as you know, we have had meetings from very early with the government with regards to the hosting of the one day
matches,” he said. “We just had a meeting this week with the ABCA and plans are in place. At this stage, there are no major concerns with some of the seating having been removed from the Sir Vivian Richards stadium and some of the other seating that’s still in place has deteriorated but we have gotten all assurances that those will be replaced. “There is still some amount of time between now and the matches with the first match being on February 28. So there are three full
months and those seats have been sourced and they should be in place well in advance of the first day’s play,” Khan added. Windies will take on England in the first of three matches on February 28 before returning on March 2 and 5 for two other ODIs. All matches here will be played at Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds. The teams will then travel to Barbados where they will play three Twenty20 matches on March 9, 11 and 13 at Kensington Oval.
Cricket fans will surely be smiling.
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Kaieteur News
Sunday December 01, 2013
Captains’ futures at stake in series ESPNcricinfo - Captains have plenty to think about before a Test series begins media commitments, which XI to select and the decision at the toss among them - even before they get to their own performances. That combination of team and personal welfare has proved too much for many and that’s why a captain whose form remains unaffected by the strains of captaincy is such a
lauded and prized asset. Brendon McCullum and D a r r e n S a m m y, t h e opposing leaders in the upcoming Test series which begins in Dunedin on Tuesday, have both had moments to savour as captains at international level but the pair begin this contest with major questions hanging over them. McCullum, a player full of boldness and bravado, is
suffering from a long-term crippling back condition, which forced him home from Bangladesh and means his future is likely to be a fitness, rather than form, issue. Sammy’s Test credentials, having already been removed as the ODI captain, were severely weakened d u r i n g We s t I n d i e s ’ horrendous performances in India, with the defeat in Kolkata ending a run of six
Test wins on the bounce. Being turned over on the subcontinent is no disgrace, but it was the manner in which they folded with barely a whimper, after reducing India to 83 for 5 in Kolkata, that left an empty feeling. Sammy was at the forefront of the criticism for shots he played in the first innings of both Tests - caught in the deep off Pragyan Ojha in Kolkata and in a similarly
reckless manner, second ball, in Mumbai off R Ashwin. ‘Natural game’ and ‘counter-attacking’ are vacuous defences for such shots when your team is in the mire. The problem for Sammy is that the second part of his game, the seam bowling, is not standing up to scrutiny at Test level, either. The overall average of 35.66 is not a write-off, but unless a surface is green or made for nagging medium-pace (the latter was the case when he bowled West Indies to victory against Pakistan in Guyana and may also be the case in New Zealand), he is not a Test-class third seamer. His average rises to 39.94 from his 27 matches as captain. Neither is he a Testclass No. 6 (or even, at the moment, a 7 or 8). Therefore he is a captain being carried. In his last three Tests he has bowled a grand total of 40 overs and taken one wicket. Sammy knows his recent returns are not enough. “I didn’t have a good tour in India,” he said. “I want to reassure myself as a Test captain and Test cricketer.” When he took over the role from Chris Gayle in 2010, he was not even a regular in the starting XI. West Indies needed someone to inspire and unite. Sammy, a man brim-full of passion, ticked those boxes. Six wins in six (and the World T20 title, albeit in a vastly different format where Sammy the allrounder is a more accommodated player) is not to be sniffed at; it is a more favourable return than New Zealand have enjoyed. But even in those Test matches, Sammy averaged 30 with the bat and, most tellingly, 55 with the ball. McCullum’s Test record stands up to somewhat more scrutiny than Sammy’s although his last century, 225 against India, came in 2010 which is a vast gap for such a batsman. Handed the captaincy controversially when Ross Taylor was sacked last year, being bowled out in a session in Cape Town was a rough start, and laid a low base for improvement, but for a while there were signs that M c C u l l u m ’s w a y w a s working. New Zealand should have beaten England earlier this year which would have been their finest series victory since 2002 when they trounced India on homemade greentops, or
arguably 1999 when they overcame England away. Although the hundred continued to prove elusive for McCullum, the way he batted set a tone of defiance and determination. He scored three half-centuries against England, but the return series - in tougher batting conditions - did not see him pass 20. The recent Tests in Bangladesh have again been lean with 54 runs from three innings. He has recently admitted his back was causing him more problems than he let on. Both McCullum and Sammy come across well when they talk. Sammy really does care, which may seem an odd thing to say about a sports captain but it has not always felt the way with some West Indian players, and McCullum freely admits he has to make the most of some meagre resources, which are made even thinner when he doesn’t contribute significant runs. McCullum was particularly impressive as a leader during the series against England and the Champions Trophy, but despite references to “trending” in the right direction their results remain much of a muchness. They had two Test wins in 2012, but one of those came against Zimbabwe at home, and have yet to register one in 2013 although Auckland came desperately close. The draws (two in 10 Tests last year and five in nine in 2013) suggest a team becoming harder to beat, but the Bangladesh series was hard to evaluate. The West Indies series will define their year. McCullum remains one of the best six batsmen in New Zealand (although that is not a view shared by all) despite a failure to make to the most of his batting talent. Ye t t h a t f a c t , a l o n e , highlights the struggle for world-class batsmen that Bruce Edgar, the new national selector, is trying to deal with. If there is debate about a current captain, then what are the alternatives? From the New Zealand perspective there is a succession plan in place. Kane Williamson is the anointed one, but there will be a reluctance to burden him just as he is starting to settle into the demanding No. 3 role. His time will come, though, and (Continued on page 65)
Sunday December 01, 2013
Kaieteur News
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Sampson symbolises strength By Edison Jefford When you are a domestic champion, who completely obliterates opposition, competing becomes so monotonous that it forces a yearning for greater challenges. Jevina Sampson is at that place in her career where her aspirations are beyond these borders. And why not! The pintsized, track phenom has beaten everyone who dared to challenge her for that coveted place on the apex of her generation of athletes. Sampson is name and nature; as the Holy Bible suggests, Sampson epitomises immense strength. Representing North Georgetown at the recentlyconcluded National Schools’ Championships as a fourth form student of Christ Church Secondary School, the 15-year-old Sampson was sublime with three gold medals in the sprint events at the National Stadium. “That was my intention, to get the three gold medals and to break records, but I did not break any records. I believe with how I had to run in that order, I was a bit tired; but I am satisfied with my performance,” the usually quiet Sampson told Kaieteur Sport. She began with the 100m Under-16 race where she faced-off with Running Braves Athletic Club teammate, Natricia Hooper, for her first gold medal of the 2013 competition. Sampson blasted to 12.4 seconds for a comfortable win. The 100m showdown between Sampson and Hooper was an introduction to 48 hours of
Jevina Sampson
rivalry among the two top athletes. Sampson went on to win the 200m in 26.0 seconds and 400m in 59.7 seconds, relegating Hooper to second on both occasions. Her triple-gold medal performance at mid-teen has no doubt made a mark on the landscape of athletics in Guyana for the athlete. But Sampson is used to such success. In fact, her 59.7 seconds time was much slower this year at 15 years old than when she was 14 years old last year. She has the National Schools’ 400m U-16 record with 58.8 seconds, which was done in 2012 at the Stadium. She first caught the attention of aficionados at age nine at the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground in Linden when she won two silver medals. Since then, her ascendancy has been consistent until an unfortunate injury had sidelined her for quite sometime. Sampson was plagued with quadriceps injuries late last year and early this year, which forced her out of contention for the 2013 CARIFTA Games. She returned to competition in late April with a 58.7-second 400m race at the National Yo u t h a n d J u n i o r Championships. That performance against teammates, Avon S a m u e l s a n d H o o p e r, sounded the clear warning that one of the most naturally gifted and talented local female athletes was back in top shape. She did not believe that then however,
stating that she could have ran faster. Sampson originally hails from Kwakwani, a sportsoriented community that set high standards in sports. She is one of two children to her parents. Her uncle, Omally Sampson plays basketball for Kings in Linden and her grandfather, Arthur Sampson was a close familyfriend of the late, Elton
Jefford, who started his sprinting career in Kwakwani. Sampson, therefore, was exposed to a community of sportsmen and women at a very early age. It is no wonder that her competitive nature is extremely high. Two years ago, the junior athlete had turned down a scholarship offer to Singapore for personal
reasons. Many pundits felt that Sampson was making a decision to put her career on the backburner at the time, but the family of the athlete believed that she was too young to be whisked away to foreign territory without proper structures in place for them to offer supervision. To this day, Sampson shows no sign of regret, but
keeps her mind focus on the big prize. “I want to make the CARIFTA team next year and with the help of God, I know that I will,” she told this newspaper when asked what is next on her agenda. But for now, Sampson remains quintessential in athletics and academics, which made her our ‘Youth in Focus’ this week.
t r o Sp Diamond Mineral Water International Indoor Hockey Festival
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Revamp’s Scott Sandison (left) battles for possession against Old Fort’s Jason Dos Santos.
Captains’ futures at stake in series Second Int’l P.66
Brendon McCullum last scored a Test century in 2010 © AFP Darren Sammy’s Test credentials, having already been removed as the ODI captain, were severely weakened during West Indies’ horrendous performances in India © BCCI
Invitational Club Festival deemed P.64 a success - Shuffler
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