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

EDITORIAL

Mediating in the media landscape It is not irregular for some national leaders to intervene on behalf of one company or another. In this highly competitive world, many companies would hire lobbyists to seek after their interests. In the United States, there are lobbyists in just about every corridor of the Congress. Their task is to lobby the Congressman to procure contracts or to push through some legislation that would suit one business or the other. In Guyana, with its small population, the lobbyists come in the form of people who have close association to political leaders or people in the corridors of power. ExxonMobil has come out of an environment in which it would probably have lobbyists on its payroll given that there are often many changes in the field of operations. There were lobbyists who desperately sought a lower penalty for a major oil spill. In Guyana, one would expect the oil company to seek people in the corridors of power, regardless of which government is in power because it wants the best of everything. For starters, the company has a very good relationship with Guyana’s Foreign Minister to the extent that it could actually seek to have the Foreign Minister intervene on its behalf with Kaieteur News. This relationship was not developed overnight. ExxonMobil exchanged notes with the Foreign Minister from the first sign that the Kaieteur News would revisit its shortcomings in other countries in which it operated. There was the comment that in other countries, the criticisms would come after the start of operations, not before. In Guyana, the criticisms came ahead of oil production because there was need for the politicians to be aware of the pitfalls. Kaieteur News took the position that it should alert the government and the people to some of the indiscretions of the oil company in many countries. The newspaper recognised that Guyana lacked the monitoring capability in the face of international occurrences. For one, Guyana was pushed to recruit negotiators. With help from the international community, Canada and the United Kingdom included, it set about planning its future using the earnings from oil. But there was much more; this country needed to be in a position to monitor the production so that it could ensure its fair share from any profit-sharing venture. Kaieteur News is on a mission to ensure that Guyana does everything to get the maximum returns from its partnership with ExxonMobil. The Foreign Affairs Minister, at the first instance, chided the newspaper for what he called its reports on the oil company. At the same time, the oil company seemed leery of the press. It declined to participate at a public forum because of the presence of the media. The upshot of it all is that the criticisms seem to be taking a toll on the oil company so there has been this approach to the Foreign Affairs Minister. As can be expected, the Foreign Minister then plays the role of an intermediary by appealing to a reporter to halt the attacks. No newspaper worth its salt would take kindly to being dictated to, so the Minister may have taken a step too far. Meanwhile, the oil company for its part has made no approach to the ‘offending’ newspaper. The issue here is that ExxonMobil, unlike most companies making an entrance into a country for the first time, has not met with the press. It might have done itself a world of good had it sought to pour oil on the troubled media waters. No Foreign Minister is a worthy surrogate.

Saturday December 16, 2017

Editor’s Note; If your sent letter was not published and you felt its contents were valid and devoid of libel or personal attacks, please contact us by phone or email.

Monkey terrorizes residents DEAR EDITOR, The residents of Gordon Street, Kitty, were held hostage for over 1½ years. The culprit; an innocent monkey brought out of its natural habitat, at a young age, and into an urban environment. It escaped (or more likely was released by humans when they realized how difficult it was to care for wildlife in the city) and had no choice but to take up residence in yards with fruit trees. When this male Capuchin learned that fruit in the city grows on kitchen tables it began to ransack neighbourhood homes. It entered through doors, windows and even squeezed between burglar bars – at any time of day or night. After more than a year the residents had had enough. They tried everything they could think of to catch the monkey but he outsmarted them. They set a molasses trap, called wildlife traders and the wildlife division of the Ministry of Agriculture, but all to no avail – no one could catch this vandal monkey. At wits’ end, one of the Kitty residents called the Guyana Zoo and spoke to animal husbandry supervisor, Prince Dryden. Prince knew I had a large dog trap (donated by Kevin

Granger) and that I had successful experience in catching a female and male wild Capuchin in Queenstown in 2016 (both successfully returned to their natural environment). We talked and during the third week of November 2017 took the trap to Kitty. We spoke to local residents who described their problem. Several were living in airless houses because they were afraid to open their doors or windows. Others had installed chicken wire on their windows. One told me she had to keep an eye on her clothes line to keep the monkey from stealing the clothes pins. They told us how the monkey would sneak into homes, open the fridge, grab milk or cheese and run off into the trees. One neighbour had chickens and said the monkey would steal the eggs, costing her money. Another said the monkey would tease stray dogs by pulling their tails and how once he saw the monkey swinging from tree to tree with a baby kitten in its arms. While we listened to these stories, the monkey was sitting in a tree no more than 10 feet away listening and taunting us with a menacing look on his face. Everyone agreed, he was one super-smart monkey!

We set up the dog trap, adjusted the floor-based trigger behind which we hung plenty bananas. For four days we waited. The only news being that the bananas were disappearing every day, but no one saw the monkey enter the trap. We all thought, it must be true; “This Capuchin is smarter than we! We were told of another location frequented by the monkey, so we changed our strategy. Since we knew he liked to steal eggs, we put the trap in the new location with several eggs behind the trigger release. We semicovered the trap and put some newspapers over the

trigger. We left the trap and drove off wondering if we were smart enough to catch this monkey. Thirty minutes later we got the call, “monkey in the trap”. Prince Dryden and I went back to the site and loaded the monkey, in the trap, onto our vehicle and took him to the Zoo. He was kept in quarantine for a few days and then released on Monkey Island at the Guyana Zoo. Many thanks to the Zoo workers, Leslie Short and Carl Blair for their support; Prince Dryden who knows the importance of team work, and Kevin Granger for donating the large trap. Syeada Manbodh

Saturday December 16, 2017

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Guyana has become a nation The Killing of Guyanese Women of cultural beggary DEAR EDITOR, Allow me to highlight how Guyana has become a nation of cultural beggary which needs to stop. It is a learned practice from the previous government and spill-over to the current administration. It is embarrassing, offensive, and plain and simple, out of control. I write this letter in the hope that senior officials of the government “may” issue a mandate to all government offices to cease this practice and violators will be sanctioned. But then again, this may be wishful thinking, since senior officials are part of this beggary practice. When senior officials demonstrate robust, marginalized criminal solicitation through “approved” beggary, the philosophy and genius of this surely is a form of instilling fear through victimization. I am a small business owner and also work for a company which requires me to frequent government offices almost daily, and the process of beggary has become pathological to say the least, and approved at all levels of administration. It is a hideous practice and it must not be allowed at government offices. This beggary goes on with commentaries such as my birthday, my son or daughter’s birthday, my w i f e ’ s b i r t h d a y, m y anniversary: “leave me something”, “what you

bring me?”, “my church needs a donation” (and the money is going into the coffers of the beggars), “you have to buy my barbecue tickets” (then others would tune in), and the list goes on. Naming a few entities which are prominent for this disgusting and repulsive behaviour – the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Guyana Power and Light (GPL), Postal Service, and several other governmental entities. I have first-hand experience from all of the mentioned agencies. Now with the Christmas season here, it is worse. I am tired of it. They want a hand-out for their Christmas parties, when I cannot even afford a party for myself, yet the solicitation is never-ending. The GPF, GRA, and GGMC staffers are the worse violators. Going to these offices to conduct business and being confronted with these individuals is a disgusting and frustrating hindrance in accomplishing the goal setout to accomplish. Failure to indulge could become offensive to the perpetrators and the assistance sought may not be provided or delayed through deliberate collusion of behaviour. This type of conduct from government employees should be

considered criminal solicitation, because government officials are part of this and are freely peddling and allowing it at all levels of administration. Rules must be implemented for this practice to cease at all government offices, and if employees are caught doing so, then they must face the music - be suspended or fired. This nasty culture of solicitation is used adversely and coercively as intimidation in the prevention of providing assistance government employees are supposed to provide, when these people are being paid to perform a job. If they cannot do what they were hired for, then they should be removed — no question asked. I highlight this issue because when I go to a government office it is for a particular official reason, not to be bullied and shookdown by people who are in positions where they could use their influence negatively against the public to accomplish their means of feeding their coffers. I am blaming both the past PPP/C and current government for allowing this type of nasty and criminal behaviour to continue. If I have to give to everyone where I conduct business, at the end of each month I cannot feed myself, pay my rent, utilities, and transportation. Disgusted Citizen

Another face of blatant capitalism! DEAR EDITOR, Just in case someone may need more edification. Net neutrality is the principle that all internet services should be delivered on an equal footing by telecoms networks. It is the idea that networks should not restrict or block certain services, or give others an advantage like higher speeds – such as websites the network owns

or ones that pay it Critics of net neutrality laws say they put too much strain on networks, discouraging investment and raising prices. They say sites like Netflix, which consume a lot of data, get an easy ride from the rules. A m e r i c a ’s F e d e r a l Communications Commission has voted to repeal laws passed under the Obama administration that

enforce net neutrality and prevent networks from applying different standards across the web. Another face of blatant capitalism! Rooplall Dudhnath

DEAR EDITOR, Whether one is male or female is not only a biological fact, it assigns one to membership to one of two social groups, known as “gender”. Social, economic and political consequences flow from this membership. Women and men, boys and girls, are treated differently, have different experiences at school, home and work, they do different things and different things are expected of them. There is a universal fear by men of the power of women, and this results in attempts to justify the denigration and control of women and their sexuality. Thus women are often punished, reduced to servitude and mutilated because of this fear. I recently read an article where an Indonesian group amputates the fingers of women when a loved one dies. The men remain intact. There is an African group where during an initiation ritual, the young men have to jump over five cows without falling; the women in attendance are beaten with whips and scarred for life. In Muslim societies both men and women cover their heads as a sign of modesty, but a woman also uses her headcloth as a veil to hide her shame and her modesty about her sexuality in front of men. In the Western tradition, it is Eve who disobeyed God and thus responsible for the loss of immortality for all humans. I was travelling in a taxi

recently and heard the song “Blow” playing on the radio. I was stunned by the lyrics. By stating that all women give “blow” (whether they go to church or not or where they come from or their shade of skin colour) could never be true – it is a song based on stereotypes which is a simplistic, but quick and convenient way of classifying the world. The uneasiness of the song is that it verbalizes not only the fear that Guyanese men have of a woman’s sexuality, but it expresses the truth that many women are using their sexuality to be able to survive in our society which for decades has had a high level of poverty. The fundamental problem, then, is that Guyanese men are no longer able to control the bodies of women. The lack of control over the sexuality of women seems to be therefore reversing the power structure in the society and women are beaten and mutilated as a consequence. Women must know their place in the power structure. There is not only sexual activity in women’s natural interest in self-preservation, but there is also “hand-fare” – that is, just simply asking men for money. The fact that there is a word for the activity means that it is

an important means of survival for some Guyanese women. However, the devices that some women have adopted for survival in the society have driven more fear of female sexuality into men - (hence the content of the song “Blow”) and thus fear of the power of women. The apparent reversal of the power structure may have also played a role in the perceived rise in the sexual assault of children – some men feel that they no longer have power over women, so they turn to the group over whom they have control, that is, children. To reduce the threat that a woman’s sexuality poses for men and the consequent abuse and mutilation of women, more is needed from the government in job creation, training and other economic opportunities for women in the society. I am not only observing the spreading and deepening of poverty in Guyana, but I note the President is showing his power by renovating government buildings that he may or may not be occupying in colours that are similar to those of his political party. The people of Guyana need more than a show of the President’s power. Professor Kean Gibson

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When will the slackness at City Hall stop? DEAR EDITOR, It is just simply beyond my comprehension why things in our capital city have to be so dissimilar and retrograde from other capitals and cities from around the world. M a n y P o l i c e Departments globally around the world have ‘Lost and Found Divisions’ where citizens can go to recover items that they may have accidentally dropped or absent-mindedly left in public parks, on the roadways, and in other public spaces. Every piece of property that comes into the custody of these police departments is carefully catalogued and tracked as part of their mandate to preserve and

protect property by providing professional, proficient and systematic storage and handling of property that is entrusted to its care. At the City Constabulary in Georgetown it is the exact opposite, whereby it is the City Police who are losing or misplacing their property and needing the help of the citizens or the national police in recovering what in many instances are restricted and hazardous items that should only be handled by law enforcement agencies. In the past there have been disappearances of large quantities of ammunition and the puerile excuse given that it was used by a senior officer for target practice; considerable sums of bail

monies and fines deducted from errant officers just vanished and never recovered; and more recently firearms have gone missing. Clearly, this points to gross negligence, sloppy management and extreme dishonesty and the buck must stop at the political and administrative leadership of the Council for these and the many other lapses at the municipality. And this brings me to the big questions and those are: What will be done about it? Who will be sanctioned? When will the slackness at City Hall stop, and when will the square pegs in the round holes be removed from the Council? Shanta Singh

Let common sense prevail DEAR EDITOR, Did President David Granger break the law with regards to the US$18M ExxonMobil signing bonus being placed into a bank account at the Bank of Guyana as opposed to the money being placed into the Consolidated Fund? First, something about laws, rules and regulations.

Laws, rules and regulations are there to uphold our moral and ethical standards. Some of our laws stem from the Ten Commandments. The Jews take the Ten Commandments seriously, including the one where it says you should not perform work on the Sabbath Day. Yet, in trying to decipher what actually construes work, they made a lot of rules and regulations for themselves that caused a lot of confusion. They had to do away with some of those rules and regulations and let common sense prevail.

The President did break the law in not placing the US$18M ExxonMobil signing bonus into the Consolidated Fund. Yet, his approach was the common sense way to do it, even if it was not legal. The legal way to do it would be to place the money into the Consolidated Fund then withdraw it for National Security emergencies. Nothing elaborates how our rules and regulations are entrapping and confusing us more than the controversy surrounding NICIL. Common sense says that NICIL can keep the money it gets from the sale of assets unless it pays a dividend, which would then need to be paid into the Consolidated Fund. Sean Ori

Saturday December 16, 2017

Thoughts of a true Guyanese DEAR EDITOR, All governments lie to some extent, and all governments withhold certain information from the citizens when it’s necessary for national security and the wellbeing of those citizens. And for those who think that the actions and reactions that led to physical confrontations in the National Assembly on December 11th are uncommon, I challenge you to look at a few videos on YouTube and you will see that it’s quite common, even in so called developed countries. Some even see it as a natural consequence of the democratic process. However, what is clear, is that the citizens of Guyana are still not seeing what is really at play here, and we get caught up in the smoke screens and mirror games presented to us by an “elite few”, who continue to short change the citizens of the true wealth of the nation - sell us dreams while they continue to stir up racial tensions as a continued distraction from the fact that no matter which side of the divide they pretend to be on (PPP or APNU), they all continue to get rich, while ordinary citizens continue to struggle for an existence, in a land that has far more than enough for us all. And unlike those who are entrenched behind one political line or the other, those who are neutral like me, can look and see that there isn’t any real difference between the two major political parties; both have some positives, and a lot of negatives.

As someone who is neutral, (having no special preference for any particular political party), and nonracist (believing that all men are equal, and what makes us different is not the colour of our skin but the content of our hearts), I believe that there is a place for all Guyanese right here. In fact, what makes us special, what really is our greatest strength, is our diversity. And no time is that made clearer than at Christmas time. We are truly one people, with one destiny. But instead of making strides to reinforce those facts by behaving like we are one nation, the political leaders on both sides of the divide continue to deepen the racial wounds, all to their benefit. I hold them all responsible. More than anyone else, they should have been far more cognizant of how their actions, and lack of protocol in the National Assembly, and the failure of anyone to even try and defuse the situation before it escalated, could add more fuel to an already volatile nation’s perception of its leaders, and each other. The sugar industry is following the bauxite industry; thousands of sugar workers will lose their jobs at the most inopportune time of the year. Thousands of youth remain unemployed with no real opportunities for progress. The health, education and other critical sectors keep limping along through

prayers. Public servants keep their fingers crossed as they look to their government for handouts to try and close the last two weeks of the year on a better note than they were able to live the preceding fifty. All this while 18 million US$ is hid from the nation. And in all this, the leaders continue to conduct themselves in a manner that is totally opposite to what this nation expects and needs. This is not to justify the heavy handed actions of the police, who are really just another pawn in the political games. They were wrong to assault members of the House, but they are as much the victims as the rest of the nation. The real culprits are the political leaders, and the sooner we the people realize this fact, the sooner we can began to hold them accountable to the nation for their actions. So the fiasco in the National Assembly on 12/11 might be disappointing, but the real tragedy is that we the people continue to sleep, while the politicians continue to enrich themselves. My fellow Guyanese, wake up and see that whether we want to be one nation or not, we are one people with one destiny, and the only way we can demand better from our leaders, is if we stop falling prey to their trickery, and come together. Only then can we the people get what we deserve from our leaders, from the wealth of our country, and our true

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WTO talks collapse, TT Chief Justice Caribbean countries disappointed responds to allegations

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (CMC) – Caribbean countries have expressed disappointment at the collapse of talks towards a final outcome document at the 11th Ministerial Conference (MC11) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). “The reality is that we’ve had countries take entrenched positions, and unless we are prepared to be flexible, we will not come to any meaningful solutions,” said Maxine McClean, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade for Barbados, who is also acting coordinator and spokesperson for the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group at MC11. The talks broke down despite the best efforts by the Argentina’s Ambassador, Susana Malcorra, who chaired the three-day meeting to get member states to agree to a ‘scaled down’ ministerial declaration. Trade observers said no substantive agreements had been achieved during the talks although decisions were passed on e-commerce duties, MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and a commitment made to round up negotiations on fisheries subsidies by the next ministerial meeting in 2019. WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo admitted the outcome was “disappointing,” adding “we can’t deliver at every ministerial”. “It’s not every time that ministers meet that they are going to be able to strike deals of the magnitude of what we achieved in (the 9th and 10th ministerial conferences) in Bali and Nairobi… We knew progress here would require a leap in members’ positions. We didn’t see that,” he told the closing ceremony. The result was partly expected, as negotiations by Geneva-based envoys over the past two years failed to generate a draft ministerial

Maxine McClean, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade for Barbados declaration by the time MC11 commenced. Three days of political wrangling in Buenos Aires were unable to turn the tide, and the Americans put the final nail in the coffin when it rejected a last-ditch draft declaration circulated just a day before meetings closed.The ACP Secretariat said that for its members, it means the fight continues for global trading rules that benefit poorer nations as much as they do more powerful players.It has also sparked a drive to explore parallel tactics to boost the ACP’s meagre share of world trade, which currently stands at less than two per cent. In addition to rigid positions, ACP countries faced an increasing disinterest from powerful economies in terms of committing fully to a system where 165 countries have an equal say in setting the rules. Consensus at the WTO is notoriously hard to achieve, and some countries are turning more towards deals with individual or a few countries at a time. “The core focus on multilateral trade rules seem to be taking a back seat to some of the developed world’s efforts

to focus on bilateral arrangements. That to my mind is detrimental in many respects for the countries of the ACP as developing countries<’ said McClean.“There are real asymmetries in terms of trading power and therefore our best hope is under a regime that is global, transparent, that seeks to address the real situations that we face as small developing countries,” she added. The deadlock here was mainly over two key issues including the reaffirmation of the Marrakesh Agreement, which supports a rules-based multilateral trading system as well as “special and differential treatment” for developing countries that promotes their industrialisation and structural transformation. Officials said the second issue relates to development as enshrined in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), whose fundamental objective is to improve the trading prospects of developing countries. Some developed states refused to reaffirm these principles, calling instead for a review of the meaning of ‘development’, and other key reforms to the WTO.

T&T Court of Appeal orders retrial for Machel Montano PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC)— Prominent entertainers Machel Montano and Kernel Roberts were granted TT$50,000 (US$8,000) (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) bail each after the Court of Appeal yesterday ordered a retrial in their case dating back to 2007. The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal by Soca star Montano and Roberts, the son of the late calypsonian, Lord Kitchener,

against their convictions and sentence stemming from a fracas outside a nightclub in the capital in 2007. Both men had been convicted and fined in 2013 for assaulting a group of people outside the nightclub. In December 2012, Magistrate Maureen BaboolalGafoor found Montano guilty of assaulting Gerard Bowrin, Janelle Lee Chee, Brandis Browne and Russell Pollonais. Roberts was found guilty of assaulting Browne

and Pollonais. Montano was ordered to pay compensation totalling TT$13,500 (US$2,160) and fines totalling TT$13,700 (US$2,192), while Roberts was ordered to pay compensation totalling TT$11,000 (US$1,760) and fines totalling TT$13,000 (US$2,080). When the matter came up for hearing yesterday, Roberts was present but not Montano, whose lawyer said that his client could not get a flight home on time.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Chief Justice Ivor Archie, yesterday indicating that he is not at “liberty’ to say much at this time, has denied media reports regarding the security of judges in Trinidad and Tobago. “Specialised Units of the Trinidad and Tobago Protective Services and the Judiciary Security Unit are the only entities responsible for assessing and implementing arrangements for the personal security of Judges and Magistrate. “It is therefore false, and indeed irresponsible that at any Judge’s meeting, the Chief or any other Judge discussed the retention of any private security firm for the purpose of providing the said personal security,” Archie said in a brief statement. In November, the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) called on Chief Justice Archie to publicly address allegations in the local media, particularly the Sunday and Daily Express newspapers, that he discussed security arrangements for judges with a personal friend. “The article reports a meeting between the Chief Justice and his fellow Supreme Court judges at which he suggested the retention of a private security firm, but that he did not identify any particular firm. “It also reports that he raised an issue concerning security arrangements with

National Security personnel which was forwarded to the Special Branch and the acting Commissioner of Police, but that he did not suggest the retention of private security.” LATT secretary Elena Araujo said in a statement following an LATT council meeting.She said the “Law Association therefore considers that, in the circumstances, it would be the prudent course for the Chief Justice to publicly address the allegations surrounding the discussions he allegedly had with the person identified in the article.” Media reports in recent days have linked Chief Justice Archie to discussing security arrangements for judges with a personal friend

and earlier this week, the friend, Dillian Johnson, told police that he had information on individuals who want to kill him. Johnson had recently survived a gun attack on him at his home in Gasparill, in southern Trinidad. Johnson named at least two high profile people in a 12-page statement he lodged with the Anti-Corruption Bureau.In his statement, the Chief Justice said “more recently there has been discussion in the public domain about an attack on Dillian Johnson. The Office of the Chief Justice expects the relevant authorities will urgently conduct a necessary and thorough investigation into this incident”.

SANTIAGO, Chile (CMC) – The United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is predicting that regional economies will grow 2.2 per cent next year after notching 1.3 per cent average growth in 2017. In releasing its “Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2017,” ECLAC said the projections for economic activity in the region “come about in a more favourable international context than in the last few years.” According to the report, in 2018, it is expected that the global economy will expand at a rate close to that of 2017, estimated at three per cent, and that emerging economies will show greater dynamism than developed ones. “In the monetary sphere, the current situation of ample liquidity and low international interest rates is seen holding steady,” the report notes, adding that domestic demand will play “an important role in

the acceleration of growth in 2018, although with variations among its components.” The report states private consumption continues to be the “motor of domestic demand.” But, in 2018, it says investment will make a greater contribution, thanks to a recovery in gross fixed capital formation. ECLAC Executive Secretary Alicia Bárcena, said that although there is reduced fiscal space in the region, “we need to promote active public policies to sustain the expansion cycle,” adding these include strengthening regulation, productive development, tax collection and intraregional trade. “Spending that has a greater impact on growth and inequality must be prioritized, along with avoiding sharp adjustments in public investment to protect growth in the medium term,” Bárcena said. Despite the more favourable international context, ECLAC noted that some challenges and latent risks persist that could affect the

consolidation of growth in the medium term. In the financial arena, ECLAC said there is uncertainty regarding normalization of the monetary conditions that have been implemented or announced by the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan. ECLAC said this is compounded by the trend toward greater financial deregulation laws to reform Wall Street in New York and consumer protection in the United States. The report states a possible tax reform in the United States could bring with it greater financial volatility due to an increase in capital flows to that country. There are also geopolitical risks, especially those stemming from the increased protectionism seen in some countries and reflected in growing support for anti-globalization parties in some European nations, as well as last year’s vote in favour of the Brexit in the United Kingdom, the report notes.

Chief Justice Ivor Archie

ECLAC predicts regional economies will show moderate recovery in 2018

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Gunmen snatch cash First set of oil money & they at Soesdyke Post Office U.S $18m Exxon signing bonus…

attempted to steal it – Jagdeo …he accuses Greenidge of misleading on ‘special fund’ claim Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, yesterday took the David Granger-led coalition administration to task for the handling of the US$18 million signing bonus received from global oil giant, ExxonMobil in 2016. Government was forced to admit the existence of the bonus, spending the past seven days assuring Guyanese that the bonus is being held in a special Bank of Guyana account and is designated to be used for legal fees to settle the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela. However, Jagdeo stated that the monies should be transferred to the Consolidated Fund where it can be tracked and properly accounted for. “This is a major problem. The first set of oil money I believe they are attempting to steal. One would have forgotten about this special account. It’s not recorded anywhere and suddenly we hear it went for legal fees and that’s the end of it,” Jagdeo stated. He said that the bonus is similar to the Durban Park project which the Auditor General could not audit because there is no proper paperwork “My worry is that if the money is there and it’s not in any of the accounts provided for, then the direction will come from a Minister to the signatories, approve a million dollars for legal fees and its gone…then it’s not recorded in any of our accounts; it can’t be audited,” Jagdeo stated. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, had told the National Assembly that the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMAA) specifically provides for public monies to be held in extra-budgetary funds and deposit funds until they are credited to the Consolidated Fund. Jagdeo, a former President and Minister of Finance accused Greenidge of misleading in his statement that the bonus was placed in a deposit fund. According to Jagdeo, under the FMAA, the Minister has the right to set up the special account and it does not have to be paid over promptly to the Consolidated Fund. However, on the establishment and operation of such fund, the Act

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo requires that the Minister shall notify the National Assembly of the deposit fund and shall specify the source of the fund, the purpose for the expenditure from the fund, the banking arrangement for the fund and the intended investment policy for the funds. “The Foreign Minister misled the whole of Guyana when he said that this money was paid into a deposit fund so it was legally paid over and it is in accordance with the FMFA,” Jagdeo noted. The funds and the surrounding circumstances drew the attention of the Auditor General when a leaked letter addressed to Central Bank Governor, Dr. Gobind Ganga, and dated September 20, 2016, surfaced last Friday. Finance Secretary, Dr. Hector Butts, made it clear in the correspondence that the Bank of Guyana should not treat the money as part of its reserves. The letter showed that a request was made for the opening of a foreign currency account to receive a signing bo n u s f r o m ExxonMobil. President Granger on We d n e s d a y t o o k responsibility for making the decision to secretly hold the funds in the Bank of Guyana. He said that the money is for a legitimate exercise – to be used for certain matters which Government perceives t o b e o f national security interest. Trotman had indicated that the money is being kept to assist Guyana with its

border controversy with Venezuela. Chartered Accountant, Christopher Ram was first to come public that Government had received a signing bonus. At the time, Ram had claimed the amount to be US$20 million. Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, and Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman never admitted to the existence of the bonus despite being asked repeatedly by the press corps. Granger had expressed the view that not all Cabinet Ministers were aware of the bonus. “The Government can’t get its story right. First of all it denied the existence of the fund. Then the President said it’s just a small group of Ministers that agreed to this. Then the Vice-President [Greenidge] came and said it’s the Cabinet. Then he retracted that and said a small group of people. The record is there that they cannot get their story o n t h a t m a t t e r right,” Jagdeo noted. Since the Ministry of Finance letter surfaced, Ram has called for the intervention of the police and an apology f r o m Granger. The Chartered Accountant noted that the forced admission by the government is a shocking revelation of a conspiracy to deceive the people of Guyana about billions of dollars, involving a galaxy of ministers. He said that there are immediate and longer term implications for Guyana, including a violation of Article 216 of the Constitution of Guyana.

-postmistress ordered to lie on floor Two gunmen escaped in a car with $200,000 after terrorising the postmistress of the Soesdyke Post Office around 14.00 hrs yesterday. Police said that postmistress, Grace Gibson, 52, was sitting alone in the building when a man dressed in camouflage pants and hooded top entered. When she got up to serve him, the man drew a handgun and, shouting expletives, pointed it at her. Another man, who was also

armed, then entered. The robbers then searched a drawer and removed a quantity of money. Rather than leaving, they then ordered the terrified postmistress to open a concrete vault, from which they removed $135,000. Ordering her to lie of the floor, the robbers relieved Mrs. Gibson of her phone, exited the building, and escaped in a waiting blue car. They are still at large.

Tillerson urges long halt to North Korea weapons tests before any talks UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson yesterday urged North Korea to carry out a “sustained cessation” of weapons testing to allow the two countries to hold talks about Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs. “North Korea must earn its way back to the table. The pressure campaign must and will continue until denuclearization is achieved,” Tillerson told a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on North Korea’s weapons programs. He did not specify how long the lull should last. He told reporters after the meeting that the United States would not accept any preconditions for talks with North Korea. Tillerson had raised hopes this week that the United States and North Korea could negotiate to resolve their standoff when he said that the United States was “ready to talk any time North Korea would like to talk.” But the White House distanced itself from those remarks by Tillerson and said that now is not the time for negotiations. North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations yesterday made no mention of Tillerson’s call for a halt to testing when he addressed the same U.N. meeting. Ambassador Ja Song Nam said his country would not pose a threat to any state, as long as its interests were not infringed upon. He described the Security Council session as “a desperate measure plotted by the U.S. being terrified by the incredible might of our Republic that has successfully achieved the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force.” LITTLE INTEREST North Korea has made clear it has little

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson interest in negotiations with the United States until it has developed the ability to hit the U.S. mainland with a nuclear-tipped missile, something most experts say it has yet to prove. North Korea conducted missile tests at a steady pace since April, then paused in September after firing a rocket that passed over Japan’s Hokkaido island. But it renewed tests in November when it fired a new type of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), the Hwasong-15, which flew higher and further than previous tests. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told the Security Council that North Korea was “nowhere near ready” to abandon its nuclear and missile programs and was not interested in a meaningful dialogue. He said any lull in missile tests did not mean that North Korea was sitting idly.

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Kaieteur News

Saturday December 16, 2017

The National Psychiatric...

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From page 26 town of New Amsterdam was small, uncomfortable and not conducive for patients and staff. After being uncomfortable for many years, patients and staff moved and occupied small buildings in the Fort Canje area named Fort Look Out in 1899. The building was then named the Fort Canje Mental Hospital; it got its name from Fort Look Out at the mouth of the Canje River. The area was a military camp, built by the Dutch whose soldiers would use the facility to look out for their enemies. They later left and some English soldiers came. They too eventually left. In 1899 Victoria Block, named after the English Queen, was built. The female patients were housed there. The hospital had four female wards, and six chalets for male patients. Among the staff were both female and male attendants, one Medical Superintendent, one Doctor, maids, porters and guards. All senior members of staff were housed in the compound and attendants were trained in the compound. The female and male attendants were dresses like solider personnel. Each member of staff was given whistles. If a patient escaped, the attendants on the ward and shift would have to pay a fine. The compound consisted of one female and a male mess hall form members of staff. One female and one male

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kitchen for patients, a cinema, occupational therapy, mechanic shops, sewing rooms for patients and staff, butcher shop, printer shop, farm, playground, poultry, two laundries , tailor shop, baker shop, mortuary and a burial ground. In 1957 Victoria Block was burnt and later rebuilt. In 1995 the Victoria Block was condemned and three new wards were built. Soon after, one female chalet were again completely destroyed by fire. To date the institution has approximately 200 inmates of whom two thirds are men. The institution being the national one still receives transfers from all other hospitals throughout the country. It was described by former Minister of Public Health Dr. George Norton as 'disgraceful' when he visited in June 2015 just after the Coalition Government took power. The Minister could not understand how people in authority could allow others to be living in such unwholesome conditions. There were many complains including, the storerooms and wards were water logged and an Acute Center not properly constructed. There was the issue of persons who are brought from the prison, being let loose in the hospital, with no police guard. There was no integrated system in place where patients are treated and could be removed and reintegrated into their society. The Minister had promised that something would be done. Since then a lot has changed. A Mental Health Unit is being put in place. That unit when fully functional will include clinical psychologists and psychiatrists.

GPL workers get 6.5 percent salary increase From page 14 that throughout the negotiations there has been much back and forth amidst disagreements – however, both sides were satisfied with the outcome. Chief Executive Officer (ag) of GPL, Renford Homer, added that the level of professionalism that was maintained throughout the negotiations has resulted in both parties coming to an agreement, with hopes of improvement in the coming year. “With the recognition that we needed to be quite prudent in our deliberation as to what we considered to be a reasonable increase in salaries, and I think that level of maturity and understanding came out of these engagements,” Homer said.

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Saturday December 16, 2017

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CARICOM voices strong objection to new EU blacklist accountability standards which our countries have been diligently meeting over the past several years,” he stated. “CARICOM strongly objects to this listing of our Member States and calls on the EU to remove our Member States from this pernicious list,” he added noting that the Community stood ready to discuss this matter with the European Council. A major consequence of “blacklisting” was the “de-risking” strategies that included the withdrawal of correspondent banking services by certain international banks, the CARICOM Secretary-General told the

New Ambassador of France to CARICOM, Antoine Joly with CARICOM’s Secretary-General, Irwin LaRocque The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is strongly objecting to the recent labelling of some of its member states by the European Union as non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, CARICOM Secretary-General Irwin LaRocque said Wednesday. He was at the time accrediting a new Ambassador of France to CARICOM, Antoine Joly at the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana. According to a CARICOM statement, the Secretary-General urged France to leverage

its influence for the EU to desist from “taking such arbitrary and punitive actions against,” those CARICOM Member States it had blacklisted. Those countries, he emphasized, have not been so labelled by the relevant regulatory authorities such as the Financial Action Task Force and the OECD Global Forum. “This decision by the EU has been based on new and unilaterally-determined criteria, that go beyond the generally accepted international tax transparency and

Labourer remanded for robbing male sex workers A labourer will now be spending Christmas behind bars after he was remanded to prison, yesterday, by a City Magistrate for allegedly robbing two male sex workers of a phone and a motorcycle. Michael Macey, 23, appeared before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer to t w o r o b b e r y u n d e r- a r m s c h a rg e s . The first charge alleged that on December 12, last, at Croal Street, Georgetown, while being in the company of others and armed with a gun he robbed Denzil Benjamin of one cellular phone. It was further alleged that on the same day at the same location, Macey while being in the company of others and armed with a gun, robbed Kevin McLean of motorcycle CJ 3621 valued $178,000. Macey was not required to plead to the charges after they were read to him by the Magistrate. Police Prosecutor Richard Harris opposed to bail being granted to the accused. He said that a firearm was used in the commission of the crime and the nature and prevalence of the offense. The court heard that the accused was positively identified by the victims after an identification parade was conducted at the Brickdam Police Station. The court also heard that the accused was arrested on Camp Street with the victim’s motorcycle. According to information, on the day in question McLean was on his motorcycle CJ 3621 and Benjamin was the pillion rider. It was reported that the accused was in a motorcar with three other persons and they drove

up behind the victims. According to reports the accused pelted Benjamin with a water bottle. He and other male passengers in the car exited the vehicle and confronted the sex workers with guns. It was reported that Benjamin was able to disarm one of the bandits after a scuffle. Police on mobile patrol in the Bourda Market area responded promptly to the area where the robbery occurred and were able to arrest the accused. A .32 pistol and five matching rounds were recovered at the scene. The Prosecutor objection was upheld by the Magistrate and the accused was remanded to prison. He was instructed to make his next court appearance on January 26.

French envoy. He said that the impact has had a “detrimental impact on the trade and financial operations of the region’s economies. As Ambassador to the community, your direct engagement in promoting awareness about the extent of our capabilities and the obstacles we face in our aspirations for economic development is of great significance,” he told the new French envoy. A number of countries including Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados were listed by the EU.

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Saturday December 16, 2017

Pence trip to Middle East over shadowed by Trump’s Jerusalem decision WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will underscore the U.S. partnership with Israel during a trip to the Middle East next week while seeking to shore up U.S. relations with the Arab world after President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Pence, a strong supporter of Trump’s decision, will spend three days in the region with stops in Israel and Egypt, the first high-level official to visit after the president reversed decades of U.S. policy and announced the United States would start the process of moving its embassy from Tel Aviv. The status of Jerusalem, which holds Muslim, Jewish and Christian holy sites, is one of the thorniest obstacles to a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, who were furious over Trump’s move and have declined to meet with Pence. The international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the full city. Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal capital, while Palestinians want the capital of an independent state of theirs to be in the city’s eastern sector, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move never recognized internationally. Pence, an evangelical Christian who had planned to highlight the plight of Chris-

tian minorities during his trip, will not meet with Palestinian Christians or with officials from the Coptic Christian church, who declined a meeting in response to the U.S. move Officials said Pence still would discuss the persecution of Christians as well as the Jerusalem decision, countering Iran, defeating Islamic State militants and fighting “extremist ideology.” The dates of his trip have been in flux because of Trump’s U.S. tax overhaul push and the possibility that Pence would be needed to provide a tie-breaking vote in the Senate. He is now scheduled to depart Washington on Tuesday, arriving in Cairo on Wednesday for a meeting with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. He flies to Israel later on Wednesday and will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, deliver a speech to the Israeli parliament, and visit Jerusalem’s Western Wall. “We can’t envision a scenario under which the Western Wall would not be part of Israel,” one administration official told reporters on a conference call. The trip will be dominated by the continuing fallout from Trump’s announcement. “The last couple weeks in the region have been a reac-

tion to the Jerusalem decision,” another administration official said. “This trip is part of ... the ending of that chapter, and the beginning of what I will say is the next chapter.” That view may not be shared by Arab leaders. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the United States abdicated its responsibility as a mediator on peace and Pence’s planned visit to Bethlehem was scrapped. Pence does not plan to encourage Egypt to pressure the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table, an official said. “We think it’s appropriate for the Palestinians to digest what has happened. And once they review the president’s remarks clearly, they will realize that nothing has changed in terms of being able to reach an historic peace agreement,” he said. Arab legislators have announced they will stay away from Pence’s speech to the Knesset. In Egypt, the Sisi government will have a chance to discuss the recent U.S. decision to suspend some of Egypt’s military aid package because of Wa s h i n g t o n ’s c o n c e r n s over civil liberties. Egypt is a strategic U.S. partner because of its control of the Suez Canal and Sisi presents himself as a bulwark against Islamist militants in the region.

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Saturday December 16, 2017

EU gives itself June deadline for deal on refugees

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (C), Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban (L) and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (2nd right) attend the Visegrad Group meeting in Brussels, Belgium. REUTERS/Olivier Hoslet/Pool BRUSSELS (Reuters) European Union leaders appealed for unity in a last-ditch effort to break their deadlock on sharing out refugees by June, telling reluctant eastern states they could otherwise be outvoted on a dispute that has shaken the bloc’s foundations. Coming out from a fraught discussion among 28 EU leaders that went into the small hours on Friday morning in Brussels, rivals in the twoyear-old dispute all stuck to their guns, hemmed in by expectations they have raised with their own voters. The Mediterranean frontline states Italy and Greece, and the rich destination countries including Germany, Sweden, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are demanding that all countries host some refugees as a way to demonstrate solidarity. Their four ex-communist peers Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic refuse to accept people from the mostly-Muslim Middle East and North Africa, saying that would threaten their security after a raft of Islamic attacks in Europe. “There are areas where there is no solidarity and this is something I find unacceptable,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters. At one point during the two days of talks in Brussels, cameras caught Merkel, the bloc’s paramount national leader, as she appeared to become agitated when talking with the leaders’ chairman, Donald Tusk, making her displeasure with him clear. That came after Tusk, a former prime minister of Poland, came out strongly against “ineffective” and “highly divisive” obligatory refugee quotas, ruffling the feathers of those states that back them as well as the ex-

ecutive European Commission. “The manner in which the principle of solidarity was being questioned does not only undermine the discussion on the refugee issue, but the future of Europe,” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told reporters after what he called “intense” talks. Tusk said the ineffectiveness of relocation schemes was demonstrated by the fact that only 35,000 asylum seekers had been transferred from Greece and Italy under a 2015 plan meant to move 160,000 people. “Mandatory quotas remain a contentious issue,” Tusk told a joint news conference with the Commission’s head JeanClaude Juncker, the disagreement between the two playing out visibly despite their usually friendly rapport. “Relocation is not a solution to the issue of illegal migration.” “Will a compromise be possible? It appears very hard. But we have to try our very best,” he said, stressing the bloc was in full agreement about making further efforts to tighten its borders and chip in for development and migration-related projects in the Middle East and Africa. After sealing a deal with Ankara in 2016 that cut off arrivals from Turkey to EU state Greece, the bloc is now pushing to stem African immigration to Italy through Libya. Tusk, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and other leaders said they wanted to make permanent financing available for such activities in the bloc’s next long-term budget from 2021. But it is the feud over how to share the burden of caring for those refugees who still make it to Europe that has weakened the bloc’s cohesion and undermined member

states’ trust in each other at a time they need unity to face Brexit. JUNE DEADLINE After many months of letting the open wound fester, the backers of quotas made clear they want to move on and would vote on the broader reform of the bloc’s asylum system by majority if no compromise acceptable for all is found by June on relocation. “I am not a fan of qualified majority decision-taking but... it can be used,” Juncker said. “Some of our colleagues were openly saying yesterday night that if there is no progress, they will propose qualified majority decisionmaking procedure.” That would inevitably deepen divisions in the EU and the four eastern states warned that the bloc would shoot itself in the foot should it go down this track. The only proposal the EU has on the table on asylum reform has most recently been updated by Estonia and attempts to bridge the divide by proposing that any relocation of asylum-seekers from one EU state to another, while obligatory at times of extremely high arrivals, would in fact only take place if both involved agreed voluntarily to the terms. Diplomats in Brussels hoped Italy would be more willing to compromise after it holds elections, most likely in March, and said Germany could reassume the lead on the file after it forms a ruling coalition following an election last September. A senior EU diplomat from one of the pro-quota countries said they would seek to break the united front of the four eastern states to bring down the number of countries that would eventually be defeated in a vote if everything else fails.

Saturday December 16, 2017

CARICOM denounces EU blacklisting of four of its member states (CMC) – The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has “strongly” objected to a move by the European Union to include a number of Caribbean countries on a list of global countries considered to be tax havens. CARICOM Secretary-General Irwin la Rocque said the decision by Europe had ‘been based on new and unilaterallydetermined criteria” and urged France to use its influence to reverse the “arbitrary and punitive actions” against the regional countries. Earlier this month, EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels named St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago among a list of 17 countries considered to be global tax havens. They said the new list had been drawn up after 10 months of investigations by EU officials. The ministers said the countries on the blacklist were not doing enough to crack down on offshore avoidance schemes.

Potential sanctions that could be enforced on members of the list are expected to be agreed in the coming weeks. The EU said that as a first step, a letter will be sent to all jurisdictions on the new list, explaining the decision and what they can do to be de-listed. But as he accepted the credentials of Antoine Joly, the new French Ambassador to CARICOM, LaRocque said that regional countries had been blacklisted even though they have not been so labelled by the relevant regulatory authorities such as the Financial Action Task Force and the OECD Global Forum. “This decision by the EU has been based on new and unilaterally-determined criteria, that go beyond the generally accepted international tax transparency and accountability standards which our countries have been diligently meeting over the past several years,” he said.

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Berbice Cricket Board 40 overs Second Division Competition

Wins for Betsy Ground, DeEdward Sports Club & Guyana Eagles

Second Division action continued in Berbice over the last weekend with teams battling to qualify to the next round as the preliminary round approaches completion. In the East Canje Area at the Goed Banana Land Ground, fans weretreatedtoafinedisplayofbatting fromtheBetsyGroundTeamasthey battled with the Kendall’s Union Team in a match which was reduced to 20 overs due to early morning rainfall. Batting for the Betsy Ground side, W. Sobhai scored a magnificent 121 (10 x 6, 9 x 4), and M. Rampersaud 53, while K. Gangaram contributed 26. Betsy Ground scored 214 runs for 4 wickets in their innings. Bowling for Kendall’s Union, A. Ramnarine took 3 for 17 in 3 overs, while S. Baker took 1 wicket for 27 runs in his 4 overs. In their reply, Kendall’s Union scored 158 all out in 17 overs with S. Baker 44, M. Baker

30 and E. Garnett 18 being the batsmen with significant contributions to the score. In the bowling department, W. Sobhai of Betsy Ground continued his good form with the ball as he took 4-11 in 3 overs, while K. Gangaram took 3-46 and M. Rampersaud 2-31. Betsy Ground won by 56 runs. At the Sisters Ground in East Bank, Berbice, a keenly contested battle between Sisters Cricket Club and Guyana Eagles led to Guyana Eagles to winning the match by 1 wicket. Winning the toss and batting first, Sisters Cricket Club scored 173 for 8 with Leon Andrews top scoring with 68 runs. Bowling for Eagles, Martin Singh and N. De Jonge were the key wicket takers with 2 wickets each. In their reply, Guyana Eagles reached the target of 176 for 9 with Winston Mingo 48 n.o, Martin Singh 24, J. De Freitas 20 and C. Lindie 18. Spearheading the Sisters Cricket

Club bowling were T. Wilson with figures of 2-33 and N. Nowel 226. In Western Berbice, DeEdward Sports Club defeated Bath Settlement Cricket Club by 63 runs in their match which was held at the Bath Community Center Ground. Batting First, De Edward Sports Club scored 180 runs; K. Fraser 46, J. Heralall 51 and C. Lall 30. Bowling for Bath Settlement, H. Singh took 3-38 in 6 overs, M. Persaud 3-8, while A. Dennis and M Ramnauth took 2 wickets each.In Bath’s reply, R. Ramnauth top scored with 37, while A. Dennis and A. Sewkarran scored 20 and 23 respectively. D. Phillips of De Edward Sports Club took 4-29 in 6 overs, while H. Harilall took 211 in 6. On the Corentyne Coast, Whim Cricket Club defeated Kildonan Cricket Club. The Competition is now in its 6th week, and matches are continuing across Berbice.

Saturday December 16, 2017 Aries: Mar 21 - Apr 19 Today a piece of information for which you've been searching could become known. Your money management skills might be called upon to help out a friend or perhaps a family member.

Libra: Sep 23 - Oct 22 Your strong business sense and practical skills couple with imagination and innovation to bring advancement. Information from far away could prove especially valuable.

Taurus: Apr 20 - May 20 With the shifting planetary alignment, all of your efforts over the past few weeks could finally bear fruit. Success and good fortune are strongly indicated, especially where money is concerned.

Scorpio: Oct 23 - Nov 21 Friends and family could visit you today. They're likely to bring new friends whose expertise benefits a project you're working on.

Gemini: May 21 - Jun 20 A long-awaited vacation or a move you've been hoping to make could finally be possible. Before you go, there may be some paperwork to take care of. Cancer: Jun 21 - Jul 22 Heightened imagination and ingenuity could bring new thoughts for advancing yourself in the financial arena. Practical information from outside sources merges with insights to bring useful ideas your way. Leo: Jul 23 - Aug 22 Relationships with partners of all kinds should be fruitful and mutually beneficial, particularly when the people are also close friends. Virgo: Aug 23 - Sep 22 Your efficient, practical abilities are operating at a very high level today. A long-term goal you've been working toward could finally be reached, bringing good fortune and acknowledgment.

Sagit: Nov 22 - Dec 21 A social event in your neighborhood, perhaps in your home, could bring useful information your way that you can use to advance your career. Capri: Dec 22 - Jan 19 With the current astral environment, your professional and financial interests could take a turn for the better. Any difficulties you may have had seem to disappear as if by magic. Aquar.: Jan 20 - Feb 18 All indications are that you're feeling mentally and physically great. Your professional and financial interests could take a sudden turn for the better. Pisces: Feb 19 - Mar 20 Financial difficulties could be overcome today through the help of someone considerably older than you. Helpful advice could make a future course of action clearer and more practical than it seemed in the past.

Saturday December 16, 2017

Farfan and Mendes Junior skill level Squash tournament 2017

Mekdeci triumphs after thrilling five game match with Persaud The action heated up Thursday night at the Georgetown club as the Farfan and Mendes Junior Skill Level Tournament saw its third day of round robin competition. Highlight of the night came courtesy of Zachary Persaud and James Mekdeci in a breath-taking court battle. It was evident from the get go that each player came to win and they traded point for point in the first two games; each earning an 11-9 win over the other. The third game saw James buckle down and stake his claim in a run of six points after a 2 all draw, before conceding one point and then taking the game at 11-3. Persaud started the fourth still shaky from the loss, allowing James a four point start, then countered to take a massive seven points of his own; rounding this game up eventually in his favour at 11-9. At two games a-piece James came out to dominate in the fifth, storming to an 11-3 final game. Every game of this match saw displays of long rallies, surprising determination and great skill from both players, with Mekdeci certainly earning his victory. Also treating onlookers to a level of squash far beyond expected in category C were Jason Gomes and Louis Da Silva. Powerhouse Gomes met a calm determined DaSilva in a four game clash that shifted in each players favour in the first two games with Jason securing the wins, but saw Louis step up in the third and then Jason brought it home in the 4th to end 1311, 12,-10, 8-11, 11-6. Category D provided further excitement with most of the matches going to five games, but Chad DeAbreu secured his win, conceding only one game to Dhiren Persaud with a display of measured serves, killer drop shots and good length drives. Spectators are anticipating continued thrills in the remaining days of the tournament which concludes tomorrow. Results of the matches played Thursday evening were as follows. Category B Michael Alphonso beat Abosaide Cadogan 11-6, 110, 11-3 Demetrius DeAbreu beat Lucas Jonas 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 Category C Mohryan Baksh beat Nicholas Verwey 11-6, 11-4, 14-12

James Mekdeci beat Zachary Persaud 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-3 Jason Gomes beat Louis DaSilva 13-11, 12-10, 8-11, 116 Category D Jahcinta Adams beat Teija Edwards 9-11, 11-2, 9-11, 112, 11-4 Beau Fernandes beat Aishani Persaud 12-10, 4-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-5 Chad DeAbreu beat Dhiren Persaud 11-6, 7-11, 119, 11-3 Category E Rayad Boyce beat Grant Fernandes 11-6, 11-13, 11-9 Joshua Verwey beat Arvin Seelall 11-8, 11-8

Noah Rahaman beat Angel Rahim 4-11, 12-10, 1210 Lajuan Munroe beats Jared Saul 11-2, 11-7 Category F Brenno DaSilva beat Thandi Dean 11-6, 11-3 Matthew Spooner Jehan Singh 6-11, 11-6, 11-3 Leshaunte Berkley beat Tiana Gomes 11-5, 11-5 Kayden Pynaendy beat Rylee Rodrigues 11-2, 11-8 Category G Shriya Persaud beat Matthew Daby 11-4, 11-1 Jnae Singh beat Nicholas Sawh 11-6, 11-4 Safirah Summer beat Mya Dean 11-6, 11-2

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Saturday December 16, 2017

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Smalta/MOPH under-12 pee wee tournament concludes today

Gibrain Hussein Carrying Guyana flag in US table tennis Championships

Penalty shootout action between finalists South Ruimveldt against North Ruimveldt Primary school earlier in the tournament. The fourth annual 11-years and under Pee wee football tournament for Primary school girls, being sponsored by the Ministry of Public Health(MOPH) and Ansa Mcal through their Smalta brand is set to have its grand finale this afternoon at the Ministry of Education (MOE) ground on CARIFESTA Avenue. The final, which will be competed between the defending champions St. Angela’s and South Ruimveldt primary, will kick off at 13:00hrs after the third place playoff between St. Pius Primary and West Ruimveldt. Both the female matches will be played after two boys exhibition matches and the fifth to eight places playoffs. On Saturday last at Ministry of Education (MOE) ground, the quarterfinals and semifinals were contested where the

defending champions St. Angela’s and South Ruimveldt came out as the girls top Pee wee teams after the six matches were played. St. Angela’s breezed past St. Pius 4-1 in their semifinal match, majorly thanks to Nakasi Jules that fired in all four of St. Angela’s goals. The lass got on the scoresheet in the 3rd, 19th, 28th and 30th minutes to ensure her team’s run to the final. Kesia Wilson was the lone scorer for the battered losers, St. Pius. Meanwhile, South Ruimveldt proved that West (Ruimveldt) was not the best after needling them in the second semifinal. In the 1-0 victory, Fayon Harvey was the hero with her clinical finish in the 26th minute of the match, that ultimately ascended her team it the final.

Action between West Ruimveldt (Yellow) that will be in the third place playoff against Stella Maris at the MOE ground earlier in the tournament.

Gibrain Hussein in action during a recent event. National Paralympic Table Tennis Paralympic Committee (IPC) to gain champions and world 46 ranked Paralympic accreditation status, Guyana has now cleared table tennis player level 10 Gibrain Safarz the way for its Paralympic athletes to compete Hussein is currently in the United States of in world international events and Olympic America Participating in the US Open cycle Paralympic games which has now Championships. become a feature of Olympic styles games. A category 10 player who hails from This was an inhibitor which affected Corentyne, Berbice, He is scheduled to play in athletes such as Hussein from participating in the singles and team edition of the the Pan American Rio Olympic games and championships and in the team edition he will other games in the past. be paired with two players from the USA Of significance is that this clears the way Terrence Octavius and Metcalf Randal and for national federations to start developing will compete against Denmark and Puerto programmes for paraathletes at different levels Rico. Hussien, a national Paralympic sports an area that is growing and for which Guyana award winner, is an ITTF level two coach who can be very competitive on the world stage. works with developing young players in the Gibrain, a prospect for the Commonwealth Corentyne area region six (6) and is making his Games, has his eyes set on being accepted to reintroduction into competitive play on the participate in the 2018 edition of the international circuit. Commonwealth Games scheduled for April Guyana Achieving International 2018 on the Gold Coast, Australia. Paralympic Committee status He is drawn with Daybell Kim World With the advent of Guyana‘s National ranked number 6 player from Great Britain and Paralympic Committee headed by Mr. Wilton Sam Huang of the USA to participate in the Spencer and with the government of Guyana groups with a view of advancing to the round fulfilling the requirements to the International of 16.

Strom Bird takes feature event at Nand Persaud Sky Plus Sprint Classic meet Strom Bird was in a devastating mood as it stormed away early as the animals left the starting gates in the feature D and lower event of the Nand Persaud and Company One Day Sprint Classic Horserace meet to take a comfortable win. The event, which was held at the Nand Persaud and Company Horse Racing facility at No36 Village, Macedonia Estate, Corentyne, Berbice, was dubbed the ‘Nand Persaud Karibee Rice Sprint Classic’ which saw the horses running in a straight line from start to finish over 880 and 660 yards. Strom Bird classified G3 of the Inshan Bacchus stable with Colin Ross on the perch was in terrific form as it won handsomely from the Karibee Racing Stable pair of Honey Flow and Golden Blue Echo with Witchy Poo of the Shariff Stable running in fourth in the 880 yards event. The win was worth $400,000 and trophy compliments of Stag. Got to go of the Jumbo Jet stable with Randolph Richmond riding won the H class race from Sweet Return, Firing Line and T N T in that order. Ready to Romance with Paul Delph was in winner’s row in the J class race as it beat off the challenges of Flash Again and Secret Escape. Secret Escape of the Vibert Stable returned to take top honours in the K class match up with Miss Anjalie, Touch of Class and King Stanley the others that placed. Royal Son won in the Open event for L and lower animals with Princess Saria, Irish Boy and Victoria Secret rounding out the money. The L class Non-winner races was won by Country Girl ahead of Royal Paymaster, Touch Down and Musmillion. The L Class non earners

One of the winner’s collects his prize from Mrs. Persaud. race saw Touch Down cross the finish line ahead of Country Girl and Royal Progression in that order to take top honours. The event was well conducted with technology including photo finish camera and big screen Television available to help with the results. A large crowd was on hand to witness the day’s event which was incident free. The police led by Superintendent Boodnarine Persaud were commended for their days work. The coordinator was Mohindra Persaud. (Samuel Whyte)

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Saturday December 16, 2017

Motor racing returns with Bramble’s unbeaten 196 “Georgetown Grand Prix put Jaguars in control Final Showdown” tonight CWI Regional Digicel 4-day C/Ships

-Jeffrey vs. Daley; most anticipated face-off, Tenpow, Gore, Baksh and Mohamed on pole The last go-kart race meet of the year being dubbed the “Georgetown Grand Prix Final Showdown” speeds off this evening from 18:00hrs at the GT Motorsports circuit on Albert and Thomas streets and the tracks are set to be heated with anticipated intense competition. Even Guyana’s speed ace Kristian Jeffrey that holds the track record at the GT Motorsports venue is foreseeing a big showdown and he mentioned that the current track record may be under-threat, while noting as well that he is calm and confident of turning in good performances. Widely regarded as the Caribbean’s number one karter, Jamaican Colin Daley Jr. will be Jeffrey direct rival and is set to light up the GT Motorsports track tonight when he competes for the first time in the seasonending Georgetown Grand Prix Final Showdown. The 20-year-old, who has ambitions of one day competing in Formula One, touched down in Guyana on Friday morning and is in a race against time to get familiar with the kart and the track. For this reason, qualifying for the Shifter Pro Cup will take place today. Despite starting on the back foot in terms of having lesser preparation time than his competitors, Daley Jr. is not too concerned. In fact, he is very confident of being in peak condition for the grand showdown against the likes of Guyanese Kristian Jeffrey and Stefan Jeffrey, Canadian Darryl Timmers and Barbadian Orry Hunte. “I’m expecting to win of course, but it will take some time. (It’s my) first time at track, learning the track and getting the set-up right, it’s going to take some time,” he added. Daley Jr. chuckled when asked if he had any words for his competitors. “Have fun and watch out because I won’t be taking it easy.” Jeffrey highlighted the grandeur of kartmeet saying, “It’s the best race meet we’re going to have in Guyana. We got drivers from Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados and even all the way from North America and its all seasoned drivers, and even the junior drivers are going to put on a good show. Because it’s the final race you want to close the year on a good note so everyone

would be giving their all because all the talking will go all the way to next year. It’s about bragging rights.” Not much separates the drivers in terms of lap times in testing, making the Shifter Pro Cup a wide open race, something Jeffrey is fully aware of. Among the categories to be contested are Easy Cup Rookie, Easy Cup Light, Easy Cup Heavy, 125cc Junior, 125cc Senior and Shifter Pro Cup. Admission to the venue on race night is $1,000 for adults, $500 for children and $6,000 VIP. Meanwhile, Jeremy Tenpow, Tommi Gore, Raymond Baksh and Haniff Mohamed qualified on pole for their respective categories last night when the first set of qualifying was held for today’s highly anticipated Georgetown Grand Prix Final Showdown at GT Motorsports. Tenpow will start top of the grid in the Sun Burst Kids Cup 60cc after clocking the fastest lap time of 34.657 seconds. Nathan Rahaman (35.076s), Justin Tenpow (35.195s) and the lone female in the event, Paige Mendonca (35.334s) will start in that order. Jamaican Gore, the only non-Guyanese to qualify on pole last night, had a time of 32.076s in the 125cc Junior, followed by John Phang (32.219s), Elan Rahaman (32.734s), Rayden Persaud (33.044s), Faraud Mohamed (33.047s) and Mikhail Persaud (33.236s). The consistent Baksh had the best time in the Easy Cup Rookie, clocking 36.835s. Ralph Persaud (37.706s), Dharmendra Dharmo (37.740s) and Shahab Gajie (38.207s) will start in that sequence on the grid. In the Easy Cup Light, Mohamed will start on pole after he was timed at 37.273s, faster than Raymond Seebarran (37.389s), Ralph Persaud (37.39s), Steven Nobrega (37.395s), Dharmendra Dharmo (37.917s) and Shahab Gajie (38.151s). Qualifying for the remaining categoriesShifter Pro Cup, 125cc Senior and Easy Cup Heavy- will take place today, following which the races will get underway. Action today will commence at 18:00hrs. Additionally, the organisers are advising members of the public that free parking will be provided at the Malteenoes Sports Club ground.

Entries close tomorrow for KMTC Xmas meet on December 26 at Bush Lot Entries close tomorrow for the Kennard Memorial Turf Club annual Xmas Meet set for December 26 its at Bush Lot Farm, Corentyne, Berbice racetrack. These races will be run under the rules of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority and no late entries will be accepted. Registration can be done through Ivan Dipnarine 331-0316, Cecil Kennard 6237609, 225-4818, Fazal Habibulla on 6577010, Dennis DeRoop on 640-6396 or Compton Sancho 602-1567. Seven races are carded for the day with the main event being the B2 and Lower

W/A in which the winner will take home $1,000,000, the runner up $500,000, third place $250,000 and fourth place $125,000. The race will last a distance of 9 furlongs. Other races slated are L-non winners for 5 furs with a top prize of $120,000, F and Lower for a distance of seven furs with a winning purse of $350,000, two years Guyana Bred for six furs for $220,000, LOpen for five furs for $150,000 top prize, H and Lower W/A seven furs for first prize of $280,000 and J 3 and Lower-six furs and carries a winning prize of $180,000.

Anthony Bramble mixed attack with defence at Providence yesterday. (Sean Devers photo) By Sean Devers On a day in which 44 minutes were lost due to rain, a magnificent unbeaten 196 by wicket-keeper Anthony Bramble, who shared in a record 110-run last wicket stand with Gudakesh Motie led Guyana Jaguars to a position of strength against the Leewards Hurricanes when day two of their seventh round Day/Night match in the CWI Digicel Regional four-day tournament ended last evening at Providence. Bramble batted brilliantly and extended his maiden hundred to 196 from 292 balls with 23 fours and five sixes before Motie, who made 44 from 91 balls with six boundaries, rallied the Jaguars from their overnight position of 276-8 to 417 all out. Bramble, who celebrated his 27th birthday on Monday, fell short of Grenadian Junior Murray’ 218 against Guyana in 1997 in Grenada, as the only Wicketkeepers to score a First-Class double century in West Indies cricket. Skipper Rakeem Cornwall (3-117) and Marvin Matthew (2-31) were the main wicket-takers for Hurricanes who were 1149 by the close. L e f t - a r m s p i n n e r Ve e r a s a m m y Permaul, in his 100th First-Class game, took his tally this season to 37with 6-21, while Romario Shepherd had 2-29 and the Jaguars were in the driver’s seat. Hurricanes lost both openers in the space of two runs when Monchin Hodge (9) was bowled by Romario Shepherd at 24-1 and Chesney Hughes (10) was bowled by Kemo Paul. Devon Thomas played aggressively and together with Shane Burton saw the 50 posted but shortly afterwards the 22-year-old Shepherd was trapped by Thomas (20) LBW at 51-3. Akeem Saunders (18) and Burton added 25 runs but with score on 76 Permaul, the leading wicket-taker with 39 wickets so far, struck twice in three balls as Saunders was well taken at slip by Leon Johnson before Jamal Hamilton (0) edged Bramble behind the stumps. Permaul, one of five bowlers with 300 Regional First-Class wickets, struck again when he had Burton (20) caught and bowled to leave the score on 89-6 before Cornwall, who lifted Permaul for six and Terrence Ward took the score 100 before the burly Cornwall

edged a cut to Bramble at 107-7. When Ward (8) was LBW to give Permaul his 25th five-wicket haul and Gavin Tonge (2) was LBW to Permaul two runs later, the Hurricanes were in total disarray at 114-9. Jeremiah Louis (1) and Marvin Matthews (0) saw them to the close, still 304 runs behind the Jaguars’ total. Earlier, Permaul who joined Bramble when Shepherd was bowled by Gavin Tonge on Thursday with the score 268-8 and the pair resumed day two on 276-8 with Bramble extending his maiden ton to 116 and Permaul on one. The pair took the score to 307 with Bramble playing an array of positive shots got to his 150 with a big six off Cornwall before Permaul (11) had his stumps knocked back by Matthews. Last man Motie, who made an unbeaten 72 against Barbados two matches ago, lent excellent support as Bramble who hails from Guyana’s most Eastern Town soldiered on. Bramble, in his 45th First-class game, c o n t i n u e d t o counterattack as the partnership progressed as Motie played a classy cover driven boundary off Thomas. A boundary from Motie brought the partnership to 78 which broke Guyana’s last wicket record off 77 between Vishaul Singh and Keon Joseph in the last match between these two sides in St Kitts. The pair extended their partnership beyond the three-figure mark with both batsmen matching each other shot for shot although Bramble hit the ball much harder and with both batsmen approaching landmarks, the Hurricanes were looking a frustrated group with the record stand growing steadily. But with Motie three short of his second fifty and Bramble six short of getting a double, Motie batting with a level head, inexplicable charged Ward and missed a wild swipe and was stumped. His irresponsible shot selection not only robbed him of a half-century but also left Bramble, who joined Clifton McWatt, Milton Pydanna, Darwin Christian and Vishaul Nagamootoo as Guyanese Keepers with Regional Centuries, stranded on 196. Today is the third day and play starts at 14:00hrs.

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Fourth Generation Nathan Rahaman racing for glory today Just imagine the burden on your young shoulders being a 4th Generation racer and you could immediately figure out the enormous pressure that 10 years old Nathan Rahaman experiences whenever he goes to the starting line. Young Rahaman, who lies second in the Sunburst-sponsored 60cc Kids Cup Series will line-up in today’s Georgetown Grand Prix Final Showdown at GT Motorsports on Albert Street. Speaking at the Team’s garage yesterday, Rahaman whose father and grandfather are Ryan and Jad Rahaman said that even though group leader Jeremy Ten-Pow is in an unassailable lead, he feels he has a good chance of upstaging his main rival. “I’m going all out to win all my races tomorrow (today) I’ve been registering competitive times and I expect to do well to end 2017 on a high,” Rahaman said. The precocious racer disclosed that his preparations to sit the Secondary Schools Entrance Examinations (SSEE) has affected his preparations somewhat, but this

he says is no excuse and he will be throwing down the gauntlet on all his rivals. He, however, assured that come next year when the exams are finished he will be putting in the hard work to develop his skills further and this will mean getting more seat time, a sacrifice he is willing to make. Asked about his love for the sport, Rahaman’s response was that, “I really enjoy racing and would like to become a race car driver following in the footsteps of my father and grandfather someday.” Meanwhile, the young racer received sponsorship from Valvoline, an entity that has supported the Rahaman racers over the years and he thanked them for staying the course and assisting in his ambition to develop his skills in the sport and those before him as well. Asked to describe the job GT Motorsports has been doing under the astute leadership of Vishok Persaud, Rahaman applauded the effort, referring to it as excellent and much needed help to sustain the sport, while also adding to the

Young go-kart racer Nathan Rahaman receives his sponsorship cheque from Sankar Auto Works Operations Manager Darsho Singh in the presence of his father Ryan yesterday at the Team’s Garage on Sandy Babb Street. development of young aspiring racers.He pointed to the upgrade that the track has undergone and the safety measures put in place to

ensure the protection of competitors as commendable expansions by Persaud. Rahaman collected a cheque for

an undisclosed sum from Operations Manager of Sankar Auto Works Darsho Singh to aid in his preparations for today’s event.

ASATT Invitational Swimming Championship 2017

Amy Grant, Daniel Scott, Vladimir Woodroffe medals on night one Dorado Speed Swim Club (DSSC) hauled in three medals, one gold, silver and bronze on night one of the annual Republic Bank Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad & Tobago (ASATT) Invitational Swim Meet hosted by the Marlins Swim Club and taking place at The Aquatic Center 10 lane 50 meter Indoor Championship Pool. Grant was the lone competitor in the Girls 15 & Over 1500m Freestyle where she entered with a time of 22:35.55 and lowered that time with a new mark of 21:56.51.

Daniel Scott won silver in the Boys segment of the 1500M Freestyle also lowering his entry time of 19:20.05 by clocking 18:21.91. Alex Winter placed just outside the medals with a 4th place finish in 19:58.86. The other medalist on the opening night for Dorado was Vladimir Woodroffe in the Boys 9 -10 5om Backstroke where he won the bronze medal with a time of 38.02 which bettered his entry time of 40.06. Following are the full results from Team DORADO on night one:

Daniel Scott

Amy Grant

Part of Team Dorado at the Swimming championship in TT which continued last night.

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Expanded Scotiabank CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship for 2018 Miami – The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) yesterday announced the expanded Caribbean Club Championship, a two-tier regional club championship representing the newest addition to the Confederation’s club competitions platform. The Tier 1 Caribbean Club Championship, which will kick off January 31, 2018, will feature eight professional clubs from four Member Associations – the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. The Tier 2 competition will feature 12 clubs from twelve Caribbean Member Association leagues that do not presently meet the minimum CONCACAF Club Licensing requirements. Together, the new regional qualifying championships will serve as the Caribbean qualifying tournament for the Scotiabank CONCACAF League and the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League, and open the door for wider participation of Caribbean clubs in Confederation championships. ”CONCACAF is united behind restructuring football in the Confederation in a way that benefits stakeholders throughout the region,” said CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani. “The new, expanded Caribbean Club Championship is both the result of our efforts and additional fuel for the growth of the game in the region.” The eight clubs set to participate in the 2018 edition of the Tier 1 Caribbean Club Championship are (in alphabetical order by Member Association): Atlantico FC (DOM), Club Atletico Pantoja (DOM), Racing FC (HAI), Real Hope FA (HAI), Arnett Gardens FC (JAM), Portmore United FC (JAM), Central FC (TRI) and W Connection (TRI). The eight participating clubs qualified via their local leagues (winners and runnersups). W Connection FC and Atlantico FC will

GDF to contest Tier 2

The Guyana Defence Force - GFF, SEL Season 2 Champions. each host four-team, round-robin groups. The two group winners and the two second-place finishers will advance to the final stage, which will be disputed later in the year. The initial Tier 2 competition is scheduled to begin the first week of April 2018. The participating clubs are (in alphabetical order by Member Association): SV Deportivo Nacional (ARU), Weymouth Wales FC (BRB), Real Rincon (BOE), Bodden Town FC (CAY), RKSV Centro Dominguito (CUW), Hard Rock Sports Club (GRN), USR Sainte-Rose (GPE), Guyana Defence Force (GUY), Club Franciscain (MTQ), Cayon FC (SKN), Avenues United FC (VIN) and Inter Moengotapoe (SUR).

Further details on structure and hosting will be announced in the coming months. The winner of the Tier 1 2018 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship will qualify directly to the 2019 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League, while the runner-up and third place finishers will qualify for the 2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF League. The fourth-place finisher will face the winner of the Tier 2 competition in a playoff match to determine the third club that will represent the Caribbean in the 2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF League. The draw for the Tier 1 competition will take place on Thursday, December 21, 2018,

at the CONCACAF Headquarters in Miami, FL. The draw will be executed using a double-blind system involving four pots. Pots 1 and 2, will be the “Team Pots,” and will contain the names of the participating clubs. Pots A and B, “Group Pots,” will be used to sort the participating clubs into their respective groups. As group stage hosts, W Connection FC (TRI) and Atlantico FC (DOM) will be placed in Pot 1. All other participating clubs will be placed in Pot 2. In accordance with the competition regulations, clubs from the same Member Association may not be allocated in the same group.

Mohamed’s Enterprise/New Era Entertainment Futsal Tourney Semifinalists decided Following the completion of the q u a r t e r f i n a l s o f t h e M o h a m e d ’s Enterprise/New Era Entertainment’s fourth annual futsal tournament which were all played on Thursday evening at the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) hard court in the mining town of Linden, the semifinalists are now decided. The first out of the four winners were NK Ballers that kicked off the evening’s play in fantastic fashion after edging Nutman AllStars 7-6 in a 13-goal thriller. Joel McKinnon and Donovan France both netted a brace each while Keon Sears, Kennard Simon and Jermaine Grandison all netted once in the victory for the Ballers. On the score sheet for the losers were Tyrie Macalister who netted a hat-trick along with Stephen Tappin, Andrew Mayer and Rowain Adams who scored one goal respective in the loss. Board Money Hard Knocks defeated Good Fellas in a similar 7-6 fashion in the second game of the night. Keyan Batson led the Hard Knocks victory charge by scoring four goals, while his team-mates Clive Nobrega (two goals) and Randy Small (One goal) contributed to the win. For Good Fellas,

Deshawn Joseph scored a hat-trick while Mark McLean netted two goals and Cameron Wills one goal in the nervy loss. The third quarterfinal was another close match in which Spaniards defeated Swag 5-4. Kenneth Opara, Benjamin Opara and Curtez Kellman scored one-goal each, while Darren Benjamin scored a brace in the win for Spaniards. Colwyn Drakes scored a hat-trick and Shane Luckie scored one goal in Swag’s lost. The event was capped off in fine fashion as Silver Bullets shot past Customs FC 13-10 in the final quarterfinal match. Damian Williams scored a hat-trick and Jermaine Samuels assisted with a hat-trick to help Bullets come out on top in the 23-goal thriller. The tournament will take a one week break and resume next Saturday with both the semifinal matches. Hard knocks will play Spaniards at 19:30hrs, while Silver Bullets will come against NK Ballers at 21:30hrs for a chance in the final that will kick off Boxing Night at the same MSC hard court venue. The winners of the tournament will pocket $500,000 while second place finishers will receive $150,000 and third place will pocket $50,000.

NK Ballers in action against Nut Man All Stars during their 7-6 victory on Thursday evening.

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Saturday December 16, 2017

Will Sparta’s unbeaten run in Guinness finals continue? Will it be second time lucky for West Front Road ‘Gold is Money’ or will it be three straight titles for Sparta Boss. The answer to this question will be known when the two teams square off this evening for the Georgetown Zone title of the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Competition, at Demerara Park opposite Thirst Park. The Organisers of the Georgetown Zone Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Competition could not ask for a better matchup between two teams that has a history of fierce rivalry and tonight’s clash promises to be no different. One could easily be tempted to install ‘Gold is Money’ as favourite to win the title, but the defending champs, the most successful team in the history of the competition, have shown a fondness for this event and usually are well prepared for the battle. Sparta Boss’s reputation in this tournament is well known and documented, and while their opponents will go into the showdown in ominous form, their superior experience at this stage of the competition drives fear into opposing teams. They are unbeaten in finals and this imposing record will definitely be in

the back of the minds of ‘Gold is Money’. Another advantage that Sparta Boss holds is that they are accustomed to playing in front of large crowds and seem to relish the love, hate relationship with the fans which seem to serve as a boost to them. Both teams have been playing without their best players in Sparta’s Devon Millington and West Front Road’s Hubert Pedro, both overseas, but there has been whispers of them being present for the final and if this is true then what a spectacular final is in the making. Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson has held the fort well for Sparta, while Randolph Wagner has stepped in and has performed with similar effect for West Front Road. Richardson has had superb support from players such as the determined Sheldon Shepherd, Eusi Phillips and Cleon Forrester. Wagner has been in rich form, but so too is Deon Alfred, undoubtedly the most skilful player in their line-up, while Jamal and Michael Pedro and the experience Philip Rowley round out a lethal combination. The stakes are high; the incentive for winning is $500,000 and a spot in the national finals, while

The action tonight promises to be intense and fans are in for a real treat. the losing team gets $250,000 and a trophy.Meanwhile, the third place playoff between Leopold Street and Bent Street is anticipated to be a fitting prelude to the final. These two teams possess players with the caliber to maintain the kind of excitement that has typified the entire tournament. In the other game of interest, Kingston go up

against North East La Penitence for a winnertake-all prize of $60,000 and this encounter is another one that could see end to end action. There will be three exhibition games and play starts at 19:00hrs. Also, the Organisers are asking all fans to leave their firearms and other offensive weapons at home.

Kaieteur News

Saturday December 16, 2017

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Caribbean Boxing Championships in St Lucia

Guyanese boxers though to finals with emphatic performances

Keevin Allicock Forgotten Youth Foundation’s 18-yearold Keevin Allicock is now one fight away from a successful defence of his Caribbean Bantamweight title and another Gold medal when he comes up against Ajayi Jones of Barbados in tonight’s finals of the third annual Caribbean Championships (formerly Caribbean Development Boxing Championships) at Grois Islet, St Lucia. He led all Guyanese fighters to emphatic victories on their way to appearing in all the finals of the divisions they participate in. All four won by knockout and have done so in all their bouts

Colin Lewis leading up to the final showdown. Allicock, who hails from Albouystown, won the Bantamweight Gold last year in Barbados to help Guyana retain their team title which they won in the inaugural Championships at home in 2015. Allicock, a Silver Medallist at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Bahamas earlier this year, will be fighting for Gold tonight as will the other three Guyanese in the smallest Guyana National Boxing team assembled in recent times. On Thursday night Joel Williamson had a second round TKO over St Lucian Kareem

Desmond Amsterdam

Joel Williamson and his St Lucian Kareem Boyce.

Boyce, while St Lucian Nathan Ferreira suffered a similar fate when he came up again Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) Colin ‘Superman’ Lewis, while Middleweight Desmond Amsterdam knocked out Trinidadian Mickell Joseph to book their places in the final. Tonight’s action will see Allicock fighting Jones, Lewis battling Jessie Jones of Barbados and Williamson face-off with 2014 Commonwealth Games Bronze Medallist Trinidadian Michael Alexander. However, due to lack of funds the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) could

only send a six-man team including four boxers and even if they all capture Gold Medals, Guyana will not be able to accumulate enough points to retain their team title. Former President of St Lucia Boxing Association Joseph ‘Reds’ Perriera said that the standard is good, especially the Guyanese. However, the Guyanese born Perriera lamented that the attendance for the event has been disappointing and figured that if the event was staged in Castries instead of Grois Islet it would have been better. (Sean Devers)

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Kaieteur News

Saturday December 16, 2017

Kaieteur News

Saturday December 16, 2017

PAGE 45

CARICOM voices strong objection to new EU blacklist accountability standards which our countries have been diligently meeting over the past several years,” he stated. “CARICOM strongly objects to this listing of our Member States and calls on the EU to remove our Member States from this pernicious list,” he added noting that the Community stood ready to discuss this matter with the European Council. A major consequence of “blacklisting” was the “de-risking” strategies that included the withdrawal of correspondent banking services by certain international banks, the CARICOM Secretary-General told the

New Ambassador of France to CARICOM, Antoine Joly with CARICOM’s Secretary-General, Irwin LaRocque The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is strongly objecting to the recent labelling of some of its member states by the European Union as non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, CARICOM Secretary-General Irwin LaRocque said Wednesday. He was at the time accrediting a new Ambassador of France to CARICOM, Antoine Joly at the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana. According to a CARICOM statement, the Secretary-General urged France to leverage

its influence for the EU to desist from “taking such arbitrary and punitive actions against,” those CARICOM Member States it had blacklisted. Those countries, he emphasized, have not been so labelled by the relevant regulatory authorities such as the Financial Action Task Force and the OECD Global Forum. “This decision by the EU has been based on new and unilaterally-determined criteria, that go beyond the generally accepted international tax transparency and

Labourer remanded for robbing male sex workers A labourer will now be spending Christmas behind bars after he was remanded to prison, yesterday, by a City Magistrate for allegedly robbing two male sex workers of a phone and a motorcycle. Michael Macey, 23, appeared before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer to t w o r o b b e r y u n d e r- a r m s c h a rg e s . The first charge alleged that on December 12, last, at Croal Street, Georgetown, while being in the company of others and armed with a gun he robbed Denzil Benjamin of one cellular phone. It was further alleged that on the same day at the same location, Macey while being in the company of others and armed with a gun, robbed Kevin McLean of motorcycle CJ 3621 valued $178,000. Macey was not required to plead to the charges after they were read to him by the Magistrate. Police Prosecutor Richard Harris opposed to bail being granted to the accused. He said that a firearm was used in the commission of the crime and the nature and prevalence of the offense. The court heard that the accused was positively identified by the victims after an identification parade was conducted at the Brickdam Police Station. The court also heard that the accused was arrested on Camp Street with the victim’s motorcycle. According to information, on the day in question McLean was on his motorcycle CJ 3621 and Benjamin was the pillion rider. It was reported that the accused was in a motorcar with three other persons and they drove

up behind the victims. According to reports the accused pelted Benjamin with a water bottle. He and other male passengers in the car exited the vehicle and confronted the sex workers with guns. It was reported that Benjamin was able to disarm one of the bandits after a scuffle. Police on mobile patrol in the Bourda Market area responded promptly to the area where the robbery occurred and were able to arrest the accused. A .32 pistol and five matching rounds were recovered at the scene. The Prosecutor objection was upheld by the Magistrate and the accused was remanded to prison. He was instructed to make his next court appearance on January 26.

French envoy. He said that the impact has had a “detrimental impact on the trade and financial operations of the region’s economies. As Ambassador to the community, your direct engagement in promoting awareness about the extent of our capabilities and the obstacles we face in our aspirations for economic development is of great significance,” he told the new French envoy. A number of countries including Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados were listed by the EU.

rt o p S

CWI Regional Digicel 4-day C/Ships

Bramble’s unbeaten 196 put Jaguars in control p. 34

Gudakesh Motie drives during his record 110-run last wicket stand with Bramble. (Sean Devers photo)

Caribbean Boxing Championships in St Lucia

Will Sparta’s unbeaten run Guyanese boxers though to finals in Guinness finals continue?

with emphatic performances

p. 39

-or will ‘Gold is Money’ be second time lucky p. 38

Motor racing returns with “Georgetown Grand Prix Final Showdown” tonight -Jeffrey vs. Daley; most anticipated face-off, Tenpow, Gore, Baksh and Mohamed on pole p. 34

Some of the top karters that will be on show tonight in Georgetown Grand Prix Final Showdown. Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd., 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown. Tel: 225-8458, 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/226-8210.