Monday February 23, 2015
Kaieteur News
Page 5
Letters... Where your views make the news...Letters... Where your views make the news
Trump-up rape charge The Opposition Coalition against Toshoa and firing of had just been Checkmated Magistrate are vindictive DEAR EDITOR, Very nearly everything that is done in this country from the awarding of government contracts down to what should be the most basic of services to the citizens, is done with the aim of getting a bribe thus enriching those in the regime who are supposed to serve the people. From ministers down to the ordinary clerks are corrupt. The people must pay something other than the registered fees or charges in order to get services that are supposed to be free. This type of bribery is common in all government departments, from the office of the President to the mi n i s t r i e s a n d s t a t e agencies. Of course, at the ministerial level, the business conglomerates are generally asked to pay up front under the alias of Party Financiers and their demands are met when contracts are awarded to them, or their contacts are rewarded with lucrative State jobs, or for them to be allowed to pay lower or no taxes or be granted free electricity to operate their business. These self-proclaimed “untouchables” have broken the law several times but none has been arrested or prosecuted because of the compromised Police Force. We should all remember that the head of the GRA employed his children and close relatives and claim that he did nothing wrong because there is no law stating he should not have done what he did. If the PPP regime wants to end nepotism and allow fairness and justice to prevail, that loophole in employment practices would have to be plugged, but we are confident that the Jagdeo/Ramotar regime will do nothing because they have no morals or integrity. The PPP—Police Force are always worried about the bandits and the gangs in the streets, but care nothing about those who protect and serve the gangsters. In Guyana, business conglomerates have and continue to thwart justice and
the intent of the law because they are politically connected to the PPP regime either through party affiliation or bribes. The PPP cabal’s rich friends and relatives have gained millions of dollars to the detriment of the public by skirting the law. But it is at the highest level of government that the biggest and most frequent abuses of justice and corruption are occurring. This particular PPP cabal believes that upon taking office, the country’s resources belong to them and they can do whatever they want it, and the people and justice are damned. The year 2014 saw the continuing woes and scandals of the PPP regime played out in public. They began toward the end of July when the Minister of Finance spent $4.5 billion without the approval of Parliament and the Minister of Education’s vulgar and cuss-down behaviour on the American Ambassador at his residence. This was followed by threats of censure against the Minister of Finance a n d t h e P r e s i d e n t ’s prorogue of Parliament to avoid such embarrassment. Then came the “tape gate” fiasco by the Attorney General that was vulgar, abusive, repulsive and unbecoming of the office of the Chief Legal Officer. Internet bloggers had a field day, dubbing the incident the “Anil-gate Scandal” that has embarrassed the country. By the end of last year, the
nation was salivating as another firestorm rocked the PPP regime. A report surfaced revealing that a Presidential Guard slapped an Amerindian citizen for asking the Mr. Ramotar about his and Jagdeo’s track record. A few weeks later, the president was caught on tape being abusive to another Amerindian citizen who asked a similar question. It is easy for the do-nothing and abusive president to attack the PNC record but it is very difficult for him to defend both his and Jagdeo’s pathetic track record. The PPP cabal is so spiteful that they have filed trump-up rape charges against the Amerindian Village Chief, Mark Goerge of Moco Moco because he refused to allow the President to visit his community on very short notice. And the wicked PPP regime has fired Magistrate Geeta Chandan-Edmond because she found the son of Prime Minister Sam Hinds guilty of assault and was about to sentence him to prison on the same day she was fired. Go figure! Is Guyana not a cowboy country run by a cake shop management? So where do these scandals leave the PPP in this election year? Interestingly, the scandals have negatively impacted the PPP regime to the point that their own supporters are abandoning the party and will vote for the AFC/APNU Pro-Democracy Alliance on May 11. Dr. Asquith Rose, Chandra Deolall Esq, Dr. Merle Spencer-Marks.
D EAR EDITOR, The Opposition coalition was given a free lesson in shock and awe when the PPP/ C announced its Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2015 Regional and General Elections, Her Excellency Ambassador Elisabeth Harper, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One question which immediately raises in my head is why are they shocked? By ‘they’ I particularly refer to David Granger and some of the Burnham clan who are still around. Unlike APNU’s scandaltainted choice for Home Affairs Minister, Winston Felix, Mrs. Harper is a consummate professional and a Diplomat par excellence, who has been in the Public Service for almost three decades. She would have worked under the despotic PNC (now APNU) regime where she would have witnessed massive denial of employment in the Public Service to those who were not card carrying PNC members. She would have witnessed that while Guyana’s Foreign Service reached its epitome at that time, the PNC’s capacity to deliver essential services had virtually collapsed. Infrastructure remained severely dilapidated. The
supply of potable water was limited to a small proportion of the population, drainage and irrigation systems had deteriorated to the point that they were no longer useful, and health and education services had become so inadequate that social indicators for the country had fallen to among the lowest in the Caribbean. The monies that were pumped into the Foreign Service by the despotic PNC regime at that time was used on two levels, first to ensure that Guyana’s image on the international stage remained one of exaltation and secondly, to ensure that the economic and social reality in Guyana remained concealed from the international limelight. Mrs. Harper would have also seen the post 1992 catalytical transformation currently taking place under the PPP/C Government. She would have witnessed firsthand the return of democracy and the rule of law, equality among all Guyanese, prosperity and the resurgence of Guyana’s economy, which can be described as nothing less than a miracle given the state it was left in by Carl Greenidge and Co. What the Grangers, Burnhams and others a did not cater for is that Mrs. Harper does not view life
through the prism of race but as a Guyanese and a human being who could distinguish between right and wrong. There are some Facebook politicians who claim that Mrs. Harper doesn’t have a constituency or that she cannot deliver anything for the PPP/C at the 2015 elections. The fact is that they are running scared, because they know the caliber of the woman and what she brings to the table. They are worried of her presence on the slate of Guyana’s only multi-racial party that has created an environment where people of all communities are ensured sufficient safeguards to their life, property, dignity, and honour, besides facilitating the fulfillment of their needs and aspirations. Mrs. Harper sees a Government that has embarked on determined steps towards a brighter future for this nation. A future without discrimination or exclusion of anyone. Rekindling the excitement of past years is a Government committed to public service solely to give everyone a better quality of life. In other words, the appointment of Mrs. Harper has political genius written all over it; the opposition coalition was just checkmated. Cedric Lord
Page 6
Kaieteur News
Monday February 23, 2015
Green or Sooba?
Confusion looms today over Mash Day vending spots
Persons will set up shop according to the numbers written on the roadway Mrs. Welch looks at Mr. Wills’ receipt which he received for the spot Confusion has erupted over who will vend on designated spots provided by both the Council’s Social Development Committee and the Town Clerk’s office. The Mayor and Councilors and acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba are at odds over the sale of Mashramani spots this year. The Council says that it has always been the job of the Social Development Committee to sell spots and it will remain that way. Sooba says however, that the sale of spots is her responsibility and the process will be done by the officers under her management. With citizens unsure as to which arm of the Council holds the authority, some have opted to purchase spots, especially since they were warned by the Town Clerk that action will be taken against them if they didn’t. Others have opted to go with
the announcements of the Mayor and Councilors and did not pay for spots, since they were being offered for free. Vendors started to unpack their goods and set up for today’s event; but some got a rude awakening when they found that they were occupying spots that other people paid for and will have to move. Small arguments erupted but vendors were more concerned with the Council’s poor management of the activity. When Kaieteur News met Murlene Abrahams and Latoya Todd along Vlissengen Road late yesterday afternoon, the single mothers were waiting on a minibus to head to City Hall to find out what remedy they could find since they were ousted from a spot that another woman had paid for. Todd told the newspaper that on February 11, she went
to City Hall to purchase a spot for Mash Day. She said she asked where she had to go for information on the process and was directed to the Mayoral section of the compound, where she was told that the spots were for free. She said she received instructions and the following day she went to uplift a receipt which identified her number. She had done this for her aunt also. However, yesterday when the women arrived at their spots on Vlissengen Road, they were approached by another woman holding a receipt showing that she had paid for the said spots since February 9. Reluctant and disappointed, the women had to remove from the location. But they were peeved that they had every intention to pay for the spots and were turned down. Todd said she had also visited the Town Clerks office, but her aunt, Abrahams suggested that because of Todd’s diminutive stature, and childish features, she was probably mistaken for a
juvenile and sent to the Mayoral section. “We already spend hundreds of thousands in stuff,” Abrahams lamented. “Plus we are all single mothers. I didn’t buy anything for me or my children, I invest all the money.” They intend to sell drinks, and a variety of food items. A short distance away, Kaieteur News met the Wills and Welch families. Wills had purchased a spot from the Town Clerk’s quarters, but when he came to check on his spot yesterday afternoon, he was surprised to see the Welchs already setting up tents in his area. Mrs. Welch said she was assured that the spots were not for sale. “Now we come today and it is this problem.” Luckily, the Wills and Welchs are relatives, so they were able to settle their matter amicably. But Mr. Welch wasted no time in expressing his disappointment at the ongoing City Hall dispute. “This is family yes, but what about other people. How will they resolve their matter?” “Why can’t they just work
in the interest of the people?” Mr. Welch said that for nights his wife had not slept properly because she feared exactly what they were now experiencing. He said she was so concerned that she did not spend all the money she had originally intended to. Another vendor who gave his name as ‘George’ said that if he could, he would get his money back and forget it all, “because it’s not worth it.” He was at the time helping his daughter to unpack her items at her spot. He said that she paid for her location, but he was sure that someone would eventually come to claim the area, since it is a prime spot. George maintained that “this mash spot confusion is recipe for disaster.” He predicted that there would be much confusion, “and the end result is ordinary people fighting when we are all just looking to make a living.” In the meantime, the Town Clerk is adamant that vendors who are occupying spots that were not paid for will have to move. And even if they occupy another spot that is not paid for they will still have to pay for that space. She said no spot is being offered for free and persons will have to pay like everyone else or they will
be dealt with by the “Constabulary and the national police.” The Town Clerk said that the Head of the Constabulary, Andrew Foo, had advised that he was unsure where he stood in the bickering between the Administrative arm and the Executive, but he told this publication that on the ground, the ranks would have to adhere to the Town Clerk. The Deputy Mayor, Patricia Chase-Green, is also the Chairman for the Social Development Committee. She had told this publication that should someone occupy a space that was paid for, the individual would be asked to move, since the person who paid would have to be given priority. The Deputy Mayor said that for years the committee has been handling the Mash proceedings in the form of a social activity which aids in after the Mash clean up and other areas. It was never an economic event, she charged, before slamming the Town Clerk for the “exorbitant” spot prices being offered. Both the Executive and Administrative arms say that they will be on the ground today. “It can only be imagined what will play out tomorrow (today),” a vendor charged.
Monday February 23, 2015
Kaieteur News
Conservatives overtake Labour ahead of election – poll
David Cameron
(Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party has overtaken the opposition Labour Party in a poll on voters’ intentions for an election on May 7. The Opinion poll for the Observer newspaper published yesterday put the Conservatives on 35 percent compared to 33 percent for Labour — the first time Cameron’s party has overtaken Labour in that polling series since March 2012. It follows a Guardian/ICM poll which put the Conservatives at their highest level in that series since May 2012. Most other opinion polls since the start of the year have had Labour narrowly ahead or level with the Conservatives before what is shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable elections in modern British history. Yesterday, Labour leader Ed Miliband, whose party faces a threat from a surge in popularity for the Green Party as well as strong support from the Scottish National Party, said he was appointing former Labour deputy prime minister John Prescott as an advisor on climate change.
New Defense Secretary hosts U.S. gathering on Islamic State strategy (Reuters) - New U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is gathering top U.S. military commanders and diplomats for talks in Kuwait today about the battle against Islamic State, as America’s military effort approaches major hurdles in both Iraq and Syria. Carter says he hopes the roughly six hours of largely unscripted discussions will help assess the war that he is inheriting after swearing-in tomorrow as President Barack Obama’s fourth defence secretary. “I’m trying to assess the situation in Iraq, Syria and the region more generally,” Carter told reporters during his first trip abroad as defence
Ash Carter secretary. Carter’s meeting at a U.S. Army camp in Kuwait comes against the backdrop of a
fierce debate inside the United States about the U.S. strategy, which Obama’s Republican critics say is far too limited militarily to succeed. It also comes at a moment of increasing concern about the group’s spread, with Libya emerging as a battleground for militants loyal to Islamic State. Among the long list of participants are General Lloyd Austin, the head of U.S. forces in the Middle East, retired General John Allen, Obama’s envoy to the antiIslamic State coalition and U.S. ambassadors to countries including Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
France to press for U.N. support for Africa force to fight Boko Haram (Reuters) - France will support a bid by the African Union to win the backing of the U.N. Security Council for its five-nation force fighting Islamist militant group Boko Haram, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said yesterday. Fabius spoke on a tour of Chad, Cameroon and Niger, countries that have launched operations against the militants who have killed thousands in a six-year war for an Islamic state in northern Nigeria. “France’s support for the integrated African reaction force is total. France will support a request of the African Union and other concerned countries for a resolution to be voted by the Security Council,” Fabius said in the capital of Niger. The African Union authorized the force combining Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin last month at a summit in Ethiopia. A Security Council resolution could give it a U.N. mandate, say senior African officials.
Laurent Fabius The force was set up in part because of a perception that Nigeria was failing to defeat the militants, who have launched a string of cross border attacks in the Lake Chad area in recent weeks, as well as killing hundreds in Nigeria. “It is indispensable that Nigeria engages fully in the struggle against Boko Haram.
Clearly, the last few actions of the Nigerian government are encouraging,” Fabius told a news conference. Nigerian forces backed by air strikes seized the northeastern border town of Baga from Boko Haram on Saturday, the military said. Baga is at Nigeria’s border with Chad, Niger and Cameroon and was the headquarters of a multinational force comprising troops from all four countries. Its recapture was an important victory, one of several in the past two weeks. Niger will analyse parts of a missile that fell on the border town of Abadam on Tuesday killing 37 people to determine which country is responsible, said Foreign Minister Bazoum Mohamed, adding that France would help in the task. Abadam lies on the border with Nigeria.
Say no to corruption it, it hurts us all.
Page 7
Page 8
Kaieteur News
Monday February 23, 2015
Monday February 23, 2015
Kaieteur News
Page 9
WHO GETS WHAT? The Alliance for Change entered into negotiations with APNU on the possibility of a pre-election coalition with a number of conditions. It has vacated the most important of these. The AFC was definitive that it had to lead any coalition. This was a nonnegotiable position. It wanted the Presidency since it felt this was the only guarantee that would have allowed the supporters of the PPP to vote for the coalition. This guarantee is predicated on the fact that the holder of the presidency is the sole possessor of executive power and with this power in the hands of the AFC the
supporters of the PPP would be more comfortable that their interests will be safeguarded under an APNU-AFC government. Such an arrangement would allow the supporters of the AFC to be more secure and therefore more willing to vote for the coalition. It is this logic that forced the AFC to insist that it must lead the coalition and that this was a non-negotiable position. The AFC has since betrayed its own position. In return for this betrayal, the AFC has been offered the position of Prime Minister in an APNU- AFC government with a promise that executive authority would be ceded to
this person via constitutional change. But as argued before this promise is empty because constitutional change requires a two thirds majority which the coalition is never going to achieve. And if it were to be achieved, then it means that the AFC would have been able to capture a significant block of the PPP’s support base. In this scenario, it would have been much better for the AFC to go it alone because it would have stood a chance of winning a plurality. The AFC has also been promised three vice presidents. Having accepted this promise from APNU, it then realizes that this will raise
Dem boys seh...
Like we, leff we or go to hell De government boasting about freedom of de press and how Guyana got democracy but is like telling people that dem can talk but you put scotch tape over dem mouth. That is wha de government want to do to de Waterfalls paper. De only thing is that de paper got a big mouth so dem don’t have scotch tape big enough fuh tape it mouth. De result is that dem got Kwame trying all kind of things and Kwame know that China supporting Jagdeo who supporting de government. He get he people in Oh Pee fuh call pun dem Chinese hackers who now launch an attack against de Waterfalls paper. Dem trying fuh block de paper from de people who want to read it online. Every child who can talk know who start de attack pun de website. Dem even attack Rob de Earth news outfit
because dem believe that I News talking too much bout de wrongs dem doing. Old people got a saying that success breeds enemies. De Waterfalls paper wuk hard and it is now de best paper in Guyana. In fact, dem boys believe that it will be de best paper Guyana will ever see. Even blind people talking about de paper suh it mean that it suh good that it do wha de Good Book talk about— mekking de blind see. De truth is that people like it because de Waterfalls paper ain’t frighten to call a spade a spade. Donald do stupidness and de Waterfalls paper seh suh while de others keep dem mouth shut like when people see de king naked and frighten to tell he that he ain’t got on no new clothes. Dem boys seh that de paper ain’t got no bones to chew unless is de bones of dem who corrupt. When de people ask de
boss man bout de paper de man tell dem that he and de whole Waterfalls team spiritually and emotionally prepared fuh tek on anything fuh de people of this country. De bottom line is that dem boys don’t live dem life fuh please nobody, not Donald and certainly not Jagdeo who ain’t even trying fuh live he life because he see de jail calling. Dem boys don’t care wha nobody think. “If dem don’t like us don’t talk to us, go to hell and all you problems solved.” If yuh don’t want read the paper don’t deny others from reading it. If yuh don’t believe in de Creatah like nuff ah dem politicians don’t stop a man who going to a place of worship. If yuh don’t eat pork don’t stop a man from smelling it or tasting it. That is wha dem boys seh. Talk half and wait fuh de backlash.
the specter of a bloated government typical of the PNC in its latter days when there were vice presidents, deputy vice presidents, ministers, ministers of State and a large and cumbersome bureaucracy which absorbed critical resources that could have been devoted to development. Having accepted the promise of three vice presidents, the AFC then indicates that under an AFC/ APNU government, it would cut the number of ministries. It should have instead cut the fat that it is creating by having three vice presidents. Another position that the AFC took into the coalition concerned the involvement of civil society and other groups in society. The AFC was not asking for a mere coalition with APNU. It was seeking a broader alliance of forces within the society. APNU however dangled the political carrots in front of the AFC who shamelessly bit them. There is now no mention of a coalition of broad forces. It is now a two party coalition with the AFC being promised forty per cent of the seats in the National Assembly. The twelve per cent party, the AFC, gets forty per cent. APNU gets the
other sixty per cent. This means there is no place at the table for other forces. In order to compensate for this, the agreement speaks to inclusionary democracy with a promise again that certain positions would be given to persons in civil society. Well that again is a promise that must be taken with a grain of salt because the Constitution only allows for a limited number of Cabinet positions for persons that were not part of a party list. With the AFC and APNU taking most of the Cabinet positions, nothing is left for the broader coalition of force. Inclusionary democracy cannot emerge from an exclusionary alliance. The AFC has therefore compromised on its core principle as a third party that it would not align with any of the two political titans. It has surrendered its demands to lead the coalition. The AFC has also vacated its pledge to enter into a broad-based coalition. It has opted for what now amounts to a merger
between itself and APNU. It is a decision that has implications for the future of the AFC. For APNU there will also be implications. APNU comprises one major party, the PNCR, and a number of smaller parties. Those smaller parties will have to get their cut of the sixty per cent share of the positions in parliament. That means that PNCR’s share of parliamentary seats will be significantly reduced. Yet it is that party which hoped to bring in more than 80% of the total votes for the coalition. How is the PNCR going to motivate its comrades to take to the campaign trail when it has given up so much of the spoils to both the AFC and to the smaller parties in APNU? What happens if the coalition does not win? Who gets what then?
Monday February 23, 2015
Kaieteur News
Page 11
Female Hotelier optimistic about boosting Bartica’s tourism potential
Hotelier, Sonia Prowell By Kiana Wilburg Perfectly perched on a steep hill is a villa where local and regional entertainers have been retreating to not only enjoy privacy at its best but also to experience the wonders of the developing township of Bartica. To some, Bartica is filled with many opportunities for tourism development. And one mother of two is doing her part to maximize the potential of that district. It was only last year that Sonia Prowell, a happily married woman, sought to establish a hotel in Eight Street, Third Avenue, Bartica. She calls it, “La Vista Hotel” which when translated, is Spanish for “The View.” With fully furnished rooms and excellent customer service, she has been striving to deliver a hotel service in the mining community that is unlike any other. The Hotel Manager said in an interview with Kaieteur News that she is hoping to raise the standards of the hotel services offered in Bartica, as well as contribute
to accentuating the tourism attractions of the mining town. “I saw a need for a more, or should I say, a higher standard, in the accommodation facilities in this side of the country and if I was going to get involved in it, the primary thing I wanted to remove was the short stay service. So fortunately, or unfortunately, I am not offering stay for three and four hours. And that is part of the reason why I gave it the name The View.” “The view from the hotel is beautiful but I also want a different outlook on the service being offered to tourists and even people who live in other parts of Guyana. But I am also trying to carve out a special niche in relation to this hotel. While it is open to locals, I really am trying to transform it into a sanctuary for local and regional entertainers to enjoy their privacy in a very comfortable environment whenever they are in Bartica.” The hotelier said that this all got started when the much talked about top regional musical superstars RDX and Jah Cure were brought in for Bartica’s Annual Regatta. She said that the hotel was established to cater to the expected “boom in tourists” in that area and the response was overwhelming. She said that both artistes have been regular visitors since their first trip and have always stayed there with her among others. Though quite a few businesses have been forced to cut back due to the “gold struggles”, Prowell is optimistic that she will be able to add to improving the tourism potential of the community.
The La Vista Hotel
As it relates to the perception of the flourishing life that comes with being an hotelier, Prowell said that it’s not that glamourous. As a mother of two, she said that it can be challenging. “I manage it on my own. My husband would render guidance or advice but he has his own ventures and job as well. He shares in my dreams as well but being a female hotelier is not some posh or glamorous lifestyle you automatically get on a platter.” “It is like taking care of an extended family. I treat them with love and care and ensure that when they are here it is like being right at home,” she added. As it relates to obstacles in her arena, Prowell asserts that, fortunately, there aren’t too many. And in hindsight, she expressed that she would not refer to the hurdles she had to surpass as obstacles but rather as things that a new hotelier would learn along the way. But Prowell insists that
having the hotel is also part of the legacy she wants to leave behind for her two boys. “With this establishment, I want to show them how to properly nurture a business. That everything is not about money and that is the mistake most small hoteliers make. They focus on the profits as opposed to placing emphasis on catering to the needs of the customers and seeing them as part of their own family.” Prowell also sought to advise other women who are interested in similar business ventures to ensure that they get the necessary research done and ensure that, included in the realization of their business dreams, is their family. She opined that this is important because, if you are a mother, you shouldn’t dare to make the unforgivable
mistake of placing the development of your business over that of your children. Prowell concluded that she has even more projects in the making to help boost
her community tourism industry. In the meantime, she will continue to deliver great service while developing an extraordinary home for entertainers on a peaceful hill in Bartica.
Page 12
Kaieteur News
Monday February 23, 2015
‘Home alone’ murders of elderly women baffle cops - at least eight unsolved cases between 2009 to 2015 Although they had detained one person, police at Berbice have made no headway in finding the individual who raped and murdered 67-year-old Ramdai Mohabir two Mondays ago. There’s concern that she may join a list of elderly women whose murders remain unsolved. Kaieteur News understands that the man who police had questioned was also held for a previous matter, which is still under investigation. According to a source, the suspect was held based on descriptions given by an informant. However, he was subsequently released. Ramdai Mohabir, called “Aunty Elsie”, 67 was discovered in bed at her Lot 665 Topoo, Albion home by relatives on Monday shortly after 07:30 hrs. The mother of three was found by relatives who had last seen her around 17:30 hrs the night before, when they went over to her home to take meals for her. “My mother’s feet were upraised, and there was blood all around,” her daughter, Vinmattie Reddi, recalled. “Her left side face was swollen (and) her right side neck had a bruise. The two bed sheets were crumpled, as both were under her body. Apparently, she was resisting (her attacker/s). Her neck was swollen and the pillow was found under the bed. She had (had) $6000, (but) that was missing.”
According to a relative, police found a several pairs of female underwear behind the slain woman’s home. Ramdai Mohabir’s daughter, Vinmattie Reddi, confirmed that her mother was somewhat mentally unstable, but said she knew the names of all those around her and would usually do everything for herself, except cooking. She lamented the fact that her mother wanted to live alone although they had offered to let her live with them. To please their mother, they decided to build the oneflat wooden house for her next to her son. Sometimes, she would accept meals through a window and occasionally she would open her door. Ramdai Mohabir had worked as a fish vendor in her youth. Meanwhile, at Essequibo, police are still seeking a breakthrough in the murder of 73-year-old Suroogpattie Ramlakan, called “Auntie Carmen”, whose body was found on the floor of her twobedroom home at Richmond Village, Essequibo last Friday. Her night dress was pulled above her knees and her neck bore lacerations. There were other injuries that indicated sexual assault. Detectives also found a packet of condoms below a window through which the killer(s) reportedly gained entry. A raincoat was also found at the scene. Detectives believe that Ramlakan’s killer dragged her off her bed sometime between
Roger Brandt: Wanted for the March 2011 murder of Khirul Najidam
From left: Rajkumarie Mahadeo, 78: Strangled outside her home on Christmas Eve, 2009. Khirul Najidam, Sukhdai Ramkilaum, 68, Prempattie Ramsundar Thursday night and early Friday morning. Residents later saw blood dripping from the slain woman’s floor. Detectives said that the victim was last seen around 19:30 hrs on Thursday. At least six other elderly women who lived alone were murdered between 2009 and 2015. These cases remain unsolved, although police believe that they know the identity of one of the killers. Three of the victims lived on the East Coast of Demerara, some eleven miles from each other; a fourth lived on the West Bank of Demerara; a fifth in Greater Georgetown and the sixth at Linden. On Friday, August 28, 2009, Bhemwattie Ram, a resident of La Grange, West Bank Demerara, realised that she had not seen her active and healthy 80-year-old grandmother, Kharpattie Shivnauth, for the day. Shivnauth, called ‘Ma’, lived alone in her Lot 66 Independence Street, La Grange home. ‘Ma’ was an active individual who was usually up and about in her yard by 05:00 hrs. On Fridays, in particular, she would pick flowers and then pray in a small temple in her yard. The worried granddaughter contacted the elderly woman’s son, who lived a short distance away. At around 19:00 hrs, the son, Gopaul Nauth, accompanied by a few other residents, ventured into Shivnauth’s home. They found Kharpattie Shivnauth lying nude on her bed. Someone had tied her to the bed with strips of cloth. Another piece of cloth was tied around her mouth. It was later revealed that she was suffocated and sexually assaulted. The victim’s gold earrings, gold ring and gold bands were missing. Shivnauth’s two-bedroom house was ransacked, and the son surmised that the killers made off with cash that his mother had stashed in her home. He speculated that his
Yvonne Adam, 75: Strangled in her home in March, 2014 Christmas Eve 2009
Ramdai Mohabir, 67
Joyce Lewis, 75: Strangled in her home in March, 2014
mother’s killers gained entry by climbing through an open eastern window, which had no panes. Kharpattie Shivnauth was last seen alive on Thursday August 27, 2009, when she had attended a Mandir in the community. A hire car driver had dropped her home at around 20:00 hrs. She had reportedly rested briefly in a hammock under her house before going upstairs. Almost immediately, police began to focus on a man who lived a few houses from Shivnauth’s. Relatives alleged that the man was seen acting suspiciously outside the victim’s home on the night on which she was believed to have been slain. About two weeks before her death, the same man had reportedly tried to sell Shivnauth a gold chain. The elderly woman had ordered him off her property. Relatives described the individual as a drug addict who had recently moved into the area. Someone who knew the suspect also claimed that the man’s jersey and his cutlass were found in Shivnauth’s home. Despite these leads, police were unable to link the man to Shivnauth’s death and eventually released him. No one else was ever detained. Like Kharpattie Shivnauth, 78-year-old Rajkumarie Mahadeo was also healthy and active. She also lived alone in her Lusignan, East Coast
Demerara abode. She habitually woke up early to tend her cows. At around 05:45 hrs on Christmas Eve 2009, Mahadeo was found dead on the parapet outside her yard. She was still wearing some of her jewellery when her body was found. A post mortem revealed that she had been strangled. It is alleged that Mahadeo had received some threatening phone calls a few months before she was slain. The individual was questioned but was never charged and no one else was detained. Mrs. Mahadeo’s children issued a reward for information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of her killers. To date, though, no one has come forward with any information that could result in charges. However, a prime suspect in the case has since died. In mid-February, 2011, some residents of Enmore, East Coast Demerara, were awakened by a woman’s screams. Those screams seemed to be coming from the Lot 88 Second Street home of 64-year-old Prampattie Ramsundar called ‘Aunty Daro.’ One neighbour peeped through her window and observed that Ramsundar’s front door was ajar. She called out to the elderly woman, but got no answer. When the neighbour peeped outside about an hour later,
Ramsundar ’s door was closed. Later in the day, Ramsundar was found dead in the bottom flat of her home. Her hands were bound and a telephone cord was wrapped around her neck. Ramsundar ’s house was ransacked and there were ashes inside, indicating that her attackers were smoking in the house. A sister, who found the body, said that over $500,000 in cash was missing. According to the sister, there was no sign of forced entry to the victim’s house. She believed that this suggested that her slain sister knew her attacker and willingly opened her door. Later that day, a police tracker dog led investigators to a house some two corners away from the slain woman’s house. The house was reportedly occupied by a man who was often abusive to Ramsundar. The woman’s killer remains unknown. In early March of 2011, two schoolgirls found the body of 74-year-old Khirul Najidam, called Babloo Saddick, in a store room located in the lower flat of her 1215 Gaulding Place, South Ruimveldt Park residence. She was bound and gagged and her home was ransacked. Najidam was last seen alive around noon on the same day she was slain. The victim had operated a small confectionery stand. One neighbour claimed to (Continued on page 21)
Monday February 23, 2015
Kaieteur News
Page 21
Bhang the drum slowly It is Carnival week here in Trinidad even though the actual two days of the Masquerade, Monday and Tuesday, have already gone. The promoters are still trying to scrape the bottom of the money-pit with various events and I am back to three a.m. on Monday morning when the masquerade starts with “J’ouvert” (pronounced Joo-vay but a.k.a. “Old Mas’”) which translates into dawn or day-break. I was taking my two daughters, Marsha and Jasmine, clad in their $500 costumes (essentially a white tea-shirt with the band’s name and black shorts) to join with the other members of their band through streets already crowded with other people doing the same thing. I had succumbed to a virus which was so severe, harmful and hostile that I believe the
word “virulent” derived from it, except that “sick like a dog” should have been added with perhaps “feeling to dead” as a lagniappe. It must have been the virus but my mind went back to what seemed like several centuries and I was a little boy in the canefield and coconut community of Carapichaima in Central Trinidad and early one morning, before daybreak on what had to be Carnival day, my cousin Joe and I jumped out of bed, woken by an increasingly loud clatter of many biscuitand oil-tins and many voices raised in what we first thought was some kind of fight. We stood at the sides of the roads and could barely discern in the mist a group of what we thought were demons but later identified as residents of the nearby
village of Orange Field in various stages of undress and inebriation who passed by in a cacophony of bottle, spoon, and mixed accompaniment shouting the words of the popular calypso “Drink JU-C” (a popular soft drink) with the chorus, “In a calabash.” Some of the men were in full display and Joe’s eyes opened wide. “Dey real?” he asked in shock. Even if they were not, there was a lot of old hose around. My adventures in the J’ouvert trade resumed many years after. I was interested in a band named “Go Naked In The World” but found out that you had to pay for the costume. All costumes come with a ubiquitous “band” or “music” fee and some presume to be all-inclusive. Your fee includes food but, as my daughters experienced, the food they paid for in their
‘Home alone’ murders of elderly... (From page 12) have seen three young boys running from the house some time before 15:00hrs, but thought nothing of it, since some persons would often try to steal the woman’s fruits. But police now believe that they know who killed the elderly fruit seller. In March, 2014, police stated that a fingerprint that detectives lifted from Najidam’s home in 2011 matched that of a Greater Georgetown man with previous arrests, and whose prints police have on file. Kaieteur News was told that police used the recentlyacquired Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) to match the two prints. However, investigators have been unable to locate the suspect, Roger Brandt. They have issued a wanted bulletin for Brandt, who is of African ancestry and brown in complexion. His last known address is Lot 169 Stevedore Housing Scheme, Georgetown. In May, 2011, the partly nude body of 68-year-old Sukhdai Ramkilaum, called ‘Mama Rose’ and ‘Rosaline,’ was found in a pool of blood in the bedroom of her Lot 80 Vryheid’s Lust North residence. Her throat had been slit and her home was ransacked. Like the other victims, Ramkilaum also lived alone. The dead woman’s nephew, who lived next door, said that the first sign that he and his wife got that something was amiss was when the woman didn’t respond to calls the afternoon before. His wife then observed blood dripping from the floor boards to the ground below.
The nephew then contacted the police, who accompanied him to the house where they made the grisly discovery. On March 29, 2014, police called to the Amelia’s Ward, Linden home of 76-year-old Yvonne Adams. They found her in a passageway with an electrical cord wrapped around her neck and hands. Kaieteur News was told that a gold chain and two rings that Mrs. Adams always wore were missing. There was no sign of forced entry, leading to the suspicion that the victim had let her killer(s) in. According to reports, Adams who lived alone had not been seen since Friday, March 28, and neighbours reportedly checked on her after she failed to answer her cell and land line phones. Detectives questioned a 68-year-old male friend of the victim who frequented the victim’s premises, after receiving reports that an individual fitting his description was seen at Mrs. Adam’s front door prior to her body being found. He was subsequently released. Police said that the same computersied fingerprinting system that helped them to link fugitive Roger Brandt to
the March 2011 murder of Khirul Najidam, has helped them to solve the March 26, 2014 murder of 75-year-old Joyce Lewis, who was found strangled in her Lot 3630 Christiani Street, North Ruimveldt home. Lewis, who lived alone, was found partially nude and bound in the bedroom of her two-storey house around 08.30 hrs, by a relative who ventured into the residence after she repeatedly failed to answer either her cellular or landline phone. Lewis had reportedly been living alone since her husband, a former Police Inspector, passed away three years ago. On the morning of March 26, last, a relative had ventured to Lewis’s house after she failed to answer several calls made to both her cellular and landline phones. It was then that her body was discovered. Five months later, police stated that they matched fingerprints from the victim’s house to Junior Williams also known as Kevin Alfred, a 23year-old resident of Second Street Crane, West Coast of Demerara. He was subsequently charged and remanded.
$500 ran out – straight to the bank, I presume to join the profits on the t-shirts and shorts. Since most of the rest of the paraphernalia was sponsored by a local beer manufacturer (a plastic cup and bandanna) and the only other item was a mask with some feathers, one must conclude that despite the attempt at anonymity and obfuscation, financially there was indeed a domino effect. The one I remember best was a gathering of the literati and glitterati in a band that was meant to be a delicious pun. A couple of the prominent figures in the band were recovering addicts and decided to spread the message and celebrate their status with a J’ouvert band. From the moment we met it was clear to me that the name and pun “A Band On Drugs”, a play on the word “abandon”, was in deep trouble. It was not the members but the steel-band that had been chosen to provide the musical accompaniment. There are many different disguises available to the masquerader on Carnival day – masks of all description, paints and powders, wigs, moustaches and beards, dresses and stuffed bras even, but the one thing you cannot disguise is the smell of marijuana. From the moment I stepped into the
gathering crowd, doing a preliminary and tentative chip to warm up the legs and increase the circulation, I realized that the marijuana was in greater circulation than I was and had circulated several times already. Now this was nothing to sniff at. These were recovering addicts who, given the ways of Trinidad, started their slide to cocaine via marijuana and here, in the half-darkness could not be easily identified and in that anonymity and the familiar atmosphere could lapse into a relapse. I know that on Carnival (and most other days) the police tend to be on their own high from a combination of power and smuggled drinks passed on the sly to them by their buddies and batchies. But there we were, when daylight broke, heading east along the main drag, Independence Square, to the big stand full of people guarded by hundreds of police waiting to view the mas’ and the marijuana smell rose to a new high, either from nervousness or the anticipation of the big event ahead. We call it “baddening” the head and clearly the heads of the panmen were badder than John Wayne and Lee Marvin combined or Jason Statham on his own. They were
obviously transported and transporting and playing to the beat of a definitely different drummer altogether. Some time during my initial bout with the virus (which it won by a massive knockout by lifting me off my feet like George Foreman did to Joe Frazier) I tried reading. In good times or in bad times, this has been my way, my respite and my sanctuary. With this virus though, it got mixed up with a lot of other stuff but I distinctly remember reading about O’Shaughnessy’s On the Preparations of the Indian Hemp, or Gunjah; Their Effects on the Animal System in Health, and Their Utility in the Treatment of Tetanus and Other Convulsive Diseases. Gunjah’s other name, in India and among Indians is “bhang.” TS Eliot wrote, “This is the way the world ends/ Not with a bang but a whimper.” It comes from the final stanza of his poem “The Hollow Men.” In the starkness of the morning sunlight, I left the hollow men with their hollow pans and walked away, not with a bhang but a whisper. “Ah gone,” I muttered and left despondent. *Tony Deyal was last seen looking at his daughter at J’ouvert and watching his money jumping up.
Page 22
Kaieteur News
SALON Make Up Courses with Mac, Bare Minerals, Black Opal and Sacha cosmetics. Call: 647-1773/660-5257
CAR RENTAL PROGRESSIVE AUTO RENTAL:CARS&SUV FOR RENTAL- $4,000 & UP PER DAY- CALL: 643-5122, 2193900, EMAIL: PRO_AUTO RENTAL@YAHOO.COM
VACANCY Work from home: Earn $5,000 to $20,000 daily, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday - Call: 233-6517/ 638-0595 or www.jobfairworldwide.com Salesgirls apply @ D. Singh & Sons, 95 King Street Georgetown –Tel: 226-1316 International Cruiseline AB Sailors, waitresses, waiters, cooks, receptionists, storekeepers, cleaners, electricians, carpenters, welders, cosmetologists, etc. Tel: 231-6296, 650-9880 One combine operator & one tractor operator, must have mechanical knowledge, Lodging provided – Tel: 647-0463 Waiters to work at a bar at Agriculture Road, E.C.D- Tel: 612-2522 One Female house keeper, between ages 30-45yrs – Contact: 225-8205 RA Soda Factory: Bond Clerk, Accountant, Drivers – Call:330-2399, 330-2772, 6235920 One male sales clerk between 20-30yrs old Contact: 225-8205 Vacancy for cashier/CSR apply with written application & passport size picture to survival – 173 Sheriff Street – Tel: 2275286/9 FOR SALE/RENTAL American pool table – Tel: 277-0578
WANTED 1 Mechanic to work in the interior; must know about Cummings & Perkins Engine. Tel: 691-6260 1 Live in waitress, with Secondary Education – 1825yrs salary $60,000 monthly, must be honest and willing – Tel: 610-3974 1 Carpenter Mason to work in the Interior – Tel: 691-6260
SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY,ETC.–CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 2161043; 677-6620
Presser / Clipper, straight stitch/over edge machine operators, cleaner – Call: 222-2541 (8:00am-4:00pm) (Mon-Fri)
Guyana Passport & Visa Forms Application, USA, Canada and England. Tel: 626-7040; 265-4535.
Cook: must know how to bake, bar attendant, waitress, cleaner and house keeper needed. Tel: 669-1900
Repairs & spare, fridge, freezer, A/C, washers, stoves. Contact Nick: 683-1312, 627-3206
1 Farm Manager to work @ Pomeroon River must have Vast Farming Experienced. Accommodation & Attractive Salary offered. Contact: 226-9768
Repairs to plasma, LED, LCD television etc – Call: Abdul Electronics: 225-0391
Experienced Cook & Chef (shift). Apply in person @ Cotton Club Restaurant & Bar, 44 Public Road Kitty – Tel: 231-1908 Welder/Fabricator. Apply @ Technical Services Lot 18-23 Industrial Site Eccles. Diesel Mechanic, machinist with technical background, 1 office clerk, Apply @ Technical Services Lot 18-23 Industrial Site Eccles. Counter Clerk Call: 629-4946 & 225-4822 One driver must be living within Georgetown, apply in person at 176 Middle Street – Tel: 227-0152 Live in Waitresses to work in bar – Contact: 604-6606 One live in/live out maid / Nanny – Tel:623-5011; 6226113; 227-0152 Pastry maker, counter servers, roti cooks & handy boys @ Hacks Restaurant, 5 Commerce St Georgetown Need real estate agent & maid – Contact:231-7805; 618-7483 Carmen’s Funeral Home, wanted driver, porter, handyman – Call: 265-5010, 265-4099; 666-3637; 647-1776
Permanent & Visitors Visa Applications, Professional Immigration Consultant Room D5 Maraj Building Call Sabita: 225-6496, 6626045 REPAIRS AT LOW COST: FRIDGES, AIRCONDITIONERS, WASHING MACHINES, TVS, MICROWAVES, FREEZERS- CALL:6294946 OR 225-4822 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer Call Omar: 2310655, 683-8734 Eagle’s fridge re-gas - $8,000 & washing machine repairs. Phone: 697-2969, 646-0966 Phone unlocking services/ Computer reload, located @ Tuschen – Tel: 683-2202 Cell phone unlocking and computer games, BBM 53246B41 – Tel:675-2239 Mahadeo Construction for all construction, carpentry, masonry, pluming, painting etc. Free estimates and plan Contact # 669-7376
CAR RENTAL
EDUCATIONAL CXC Day & Evening classes/lessons Forms 1-5, Phonics Classes - Tel:2233086; 619-7911; 690-5008
LEARN TO DRIVE Soman Son & Outar Driving School at Maraj BuildingTel:644-5166; 622-2872; 6150964; 689-5997
DOLLY’S CAR RENTAL CALL: 225-7126/ 2263693 DOLLYSAUTO RENTAL@YAHOO.COM/ WWW.DOLLYSAUTO RENTAL.COM Aidan’s Car & Pickup rental, cheap rate, low security – Tel: 698-7807; 690-6494
FOR SALE LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY$19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754. For Sale & Removal. One high wooden cottage, no reasonable price refused - Tel: 686-2345 70 Inch Aquos Smart Sharp Television - $1.1M; bed set $1.3M, Price negotiable, owner migrating - Tel:628-7884 Sofa Set- $325,000; Aquarium $25,000, price negotiable, owner migrating - Tel: 628-7884 Sale! Sale! 2004 Toyota Premo: TV, CD, DVD, fully loaded, unregistered - $2.2M. Call: 642-7295 New shipment of pit bull parts: Wind Screen, bumpers, fog lights, back/ front bearings - Tel: 628-0909 Lights: Premio, Allion, Fielder & Carina and One Toyota IST never registered - $1.9M - Tel: 628-0909 XBOX 360 S: 250GB, 16GB, 2 controllers & original games each – Call: 683-8386 600 Amp Automatic transfer switch sold as is – Tel: 6277835 Cheap! Cheap! CCTV Security Surveillance Kit, 8 Channels DVR with built in Hard Drive, 8 bullet cameras Tel: 621-4740 2 Digital stereo surround sound system AM & FM, receiver techniques & Kenwood good as new – Tel:216-0671; 622-0267; 6928464 Pure bred pit bull pups – Tel: 661-1601 Brand New, Power fist, 6,500 watts gasoline generator (on wheels) 110/240 volts AC/DC – Contact: 617-2205; 681-1032 3 Engel moulding machine – Please Contact: 695-0333 Earth Delivery on spot – Tel: 617-5536 1-10X10 wooden building (Kabukalli wood), with grill inside can be used for shop purpose (painted) – Tel: 6225986 1 New/ Ridgid /Generator 3600W - $180,000, Two 32" Flat Screen, TV $75,000 – Tel: 672-7194 Sawmill: Timber Harvester, 30th 25th fully hydraulic, electric motor- Tel: 261-2553 Ryobi Tools, routers, sanders, circle saw, glue –Tel: 264-2126/ 683-0113 DRESSMAKING Designing & Sewing classes, ladies wear, curtains etc. (CanadianTrained Tutor), Schoon-Ord, W.B.D- Tel:6262629, 676-6312
Monday February 23, 2015
FOR RENT PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 2-Bedroom upper flat @ 5 Wallers Delight, W.C.D – Tel:674-4929; 662-0187 GT TOOL RENTALS: COMPACTOR; CHIPPING HAMMER RANSOM & FLOOR SANDER, , JACK HAMMER, CONCRETE SAW & MORE - CALL: 675-0767, 627-5098 1 -8000 SQ Feet ware house, located 20 miles from City $5000USD monthly – Contact: 695-0333 Sharon’s Building, limited mall space from $65,000 $275,000- Call: 225-4413/ 614-0949 1 Executive apartment in an exclusive residential area with all modern amenities including parking. Call for appointment: - 653-2920 Furnished two bedroom apartment for short term overseas visitors – Contact: 678-6690 1 Business place to rent opposite Stewartville, Primary & Secondary School W.C.D – Tel: 613-5261 House to rent at Mon Repos North - $55,000 monthly – Contact: 682-6016; 692-9295 One 2 bedroom bottom flat apartment situated in Middle Road, La Penitence. Preferable working couple or single. $35,000. Call 225-5553. ACCOMMODATION Harmony Inn Apartments: comfortable & clean apartments & rooms - $5000, $6,000 & $7,000 – Tel:6680306; 218-1400; 694-7817. Your luxury hideaway…… TO LET Fully furnished 2 bedroom house, short term overseas, TV, cable, Hot/Cold, AC, Washer (South) 689-5877 Apartment with 2 self contained bedrooms in Kitty, wireless internet, Cable, TV, parking, rent $100,000 monthly - Tel: 645-0247 Fully Furnished vacation home with all amenities- Call during working hours – Call: 227-1218
VEHICLE FOR SALE Toyota Caldina, white Car, 2000cc – Tel:679-4420 Toyota Carina 212 real good condition -Tel: 691-5485
VEHICLE FOR SALE Nissan X-Trail 2006, low mileage, good condition $2.6M – Call: 695-9548 Nissan Titan 4X4; fully loaded; good condition; price negotiable - Call: 6201026 We buy & sell vehicles for cash, also parts available & 30 seater buses; Extra Cab pickups; 2006 Tacoma- Call: 680-3154 AT192, 212, Allion, unregistered Premio, Hilux Surf, BNN, RZ & Pit-bull, 7 seater super custom. Cash / terms- Call:680-3154 Toyota Prado, Price$5M Neg. Call: 643-2403 Unregistered vehicle: Toyota Sienta- $1,895,000, Honda Civic-$1,895,000, 318i B M W -$3,000,000 Contact: 650-0402 2008 Fully loaded Rav4 (PRR Series), White Rush (PRR Series), owner migrating – Tel: 628-7884 One RZ minibus, good condition – Contact: 6785887 1-19 Seat pit bull bus BSS series; price $3.5M negotiable – Contact: 6603385 2003 unregistered Toyota IST Special Edition, TV/DVD Player, HID, after market suspension, rims & aero body kit – Tel: 609-2815 One 580C Hymac @ Mahaicony Creek – Call: 611-8283; 638-6125 One 2004 NZE $1.750M, One 2001 Stick Shift, Carina 212 - $1.9M – Call:616-5974 or 618-8703 Blow Out Sale!!! Unregistered Toyota IST $2,150,000- Bodykit, TV, Spoiler, Fogs, Alloy Wheels, Crystal Lights & Alarm – Call: 643-6565, 226-9931 Canter: Short Based - $2.2M, Voxy $1.7M, Spacio $2.1M, (all never registered) – Call: 617-2891 Toyota AT212, AT192, Raum, Premio, BB, AE100 Sprinter, Vitz, RZ Bus, EP71 & 825 Starlet, Yamaha R1 – Tel: 644-5096; 697-1453 GPP Tacoma 5VZ engine, stick gear, 4WD - $2.3M; negotiable – Call: 617-7113 Toyota Vigo smart cab for sale - $3.3M negotiable – Call: 6684553 1 Mitsubishi Canter GNN 722, good working condition – Tel:228-5655; 628-1756 One Toyota 212 Carina PSS Series & one Toyota Premio, PPP, Immaculate Condition (Owner migrating country) – Tel:618-2576; 678-0109 (Continued on page 23)
Monday February 23, 2015
Kaieteur News
His Excellency Donald Ramotar Inspired by a vision of a united, just, democratic, and prosperous society, Guyana threw off the yoke of British colonialism in 1966 and just four years later, in February 23, 1970, elevated our status to that of a Republic. Today, forty-five years on, Guyanese of every walk of life, in every village in every region have come together to celebrate this historic milestone. As we celebrate our Republic, we first of all recall and salute the heroism, the sacrifices and the selflessness of our people who made it possible for all of us to live in this strong and vibrant democracy. We remember and salute our brothers and sisters all across the country and our friends across the world, whose solidarity made it possible for us to defeat colonialism and establish this Republic. All of them, through their determined struggles, ensured that Guyanese today, more than at any time before, enjoy the right of living in a just, united and prosperous country. Accordingly, as a nation, we renew, on this historic day, our pledge to build a better life for all, working closely with all sectors of our society. As we renew our pledge on this the forty fifth anniversary of our Republic, we also take pride in, and celebrate, the progress we have made since 1970 and more so since 1992 towards a better life for all and a more united society. We renew our pledge knowing that today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will bring even more joy than today. As we renew this pledge, our people are conscious of
the fact that, as their community gets clean water, electricity, health centres and proper roads, as many move from informal to formal housing, their turn will surely come as day follows night. This they know, because they have seen the determined efforts of this democratically elected government since 1992, to ensure a better life for all. Indeed, working together, we have helped to restore the dignity of all Guyanese through the broadening access to basic services previously denied to them; in opening the doors to education; the economic opportunities that have been created and in the gathering pace of our country’s economic growth that creates the resources for further advances in improving the lives of all our communities. Our policies and our programmes are all based on the quest for a just society in which individuals and communities are free to practice their beliefs, their traditions and their cultures without fear. As we rededicate
ourselves to building a better life for all, we are conscious that some of the legacies of the past continue to disfigure our nation in the present; that we have not wholly removed the cancer of poverty from our society; that we have only moved slowly towards building a truly egalitarian society; that we still have challenges to overcome. As we renew our pledge for a better life for all, we need to work together. I therefore call on all Guyanese, from all stations of life to rededicate ourselves and work together on the big challenges facing our country so that as today is better than yesterday, tomorrow must be better than today for all the people of our country. Fellow Guyanese, we need to dedicate ourselves to the building of a socially cohesive nation, always working to create a common identity as Guyanese, united in diversity, bound together by the same vision of creating a harmonious society based on truly universal values. Mashramani is an important signpost in our national life. It symbolises the dawn of freedom and democracy. It represents a call to sustain the national effort that brought about freedom, which is critical in consolidating our democracy and promoting national unity. It calls on all Guyanese to unite and defeat poverty and underdevelopment. It calls on all of us to work together for a better future. Let us therefore renew our pledge to build a better life for all. Wherever you are, at home or abroad, I wish you a happy Mashramani. A Happy 45th Republic Anniversary.
Page 23
People’s National Congress Reform The People’s National Congress Reform is pleased to extend greetings and good wishes to all of the people of Guyana as we celebrate the 45th Anniversary of our Republican status. The anniversary of the Republic, apart from the national celebration of Mashramani, is an occasion for reflection and assessment of the state of our nation, 45 years after Guyana was declared a Republic. In that regard, it must be evident to all that we, as Guyanese, need to undertake a frank and honest evaluation of whether our nation is headed in the direction that would bring us all, particularly our young people, progress and prosperity. Our Party has joined our partners in A Partnership for National Unity to declare and dedicate our energies to making 2015 the Year of democratic renewal.
Alliance For Change As Guyana reflects on forty five years as a Republic, the Alliance For Change joins with all Guyanese in the hope that a spirit of reconciliation and harmony will define our celebrations today. This Mashramani we recognise that if we begin with a commitment to national unity and inclusivity based on the principles of equality, and work towards a realization of these ideals, will we truly be able to transform this great nation. We who are blessed with
Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union This message is being communicated within a multi-faceted context. P r i m a r i l y, t h e G u y a n a Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) wishes to extend its warmest congratulations to the State, government and people of Guyana on the occasion of the fortyfifty anniversary of Republicanism – the actual d a t e b e i n g M o n d a y, February 23, 2015 Republic Day. GAWU is also acutely aware that the country is also in the vital preparatory mode for General and Regional elections in the Independence month of May – a little over two months away. That expression of our democracy, coming virtually
two years before its constitutionally preferred, speaks to the 45-year old Republic’s credentials as a democracy, preserved through all attendant sabotage, political and constitutional challenges and doses of economic hardship. So amidst the Republic’s Anniversary observances – including the artistic, cultural, entertaining Mashramani celebrations – Guyanese will consider political choices; will grapple with consistent, conflicting and aggressive messages and appeals by old and new politicians. As a people our will must be expressed according to our ultimate choices. GAWU takes this opportunity to remind the nation, especially those
youthful citizens under forty, that four years after the 1966 Independence, there was again political consensus among our major parties and groups that we should become a Republic within the Commonwealth in February, 1970. Our major political leaders agreed that our Independence should be solidified and given the patriotic, nationalistic status of a Republic. That ushered in a Presidency, added g o v e r n m e n t a l responsibilities and later a new Constitution. The years 1970 to 2015 were not without setbacks but also tremendous progress from the standpoint during the colonial era. Many will argue that 1992
However, we are conscious that, as a nation, we are challenged to remove the threats posed by the scourge of criminality and violence; corruption; the continued lawlessness in high places; the intolerance of views, other than those expressed by the Administration; all of which contribute to infusing a sense of despair and the feeling of hopelessness that is currently afflicting the young people of this nation. This is an Election year and we urge all Guyanese, especially the youth of this nation to vote on Election Day, 11th May 2015. Accordingly, the PNCR wishes all of the Guyanese people a Happy Republic h o l i d a y, a n d a j o y o u s celebration of Mashramani, as we pray that the spirit of peace, love and unity will dwell among us on the 45th anniversary of our Republic.
onwards re-introduced a new era of democracy and development. GAWU will urge serious introspection and assessment at this time. As a union GAWU uses workers’ quality of life from by-gone periods to the present as a yardstick of personal and collective measurement. GAWU members, workers and all Guyanese are hereby urged to celebrate the Republic’s forty-fifth to your fullest or modest extent, all the whole considering your country’s choices for the continuing development of our country and a progressive future beyond May 11, 2015. The future then is in our hands. A Happy Reflective Mashramani 2015.
so much beauty and bounty must halt our self-imposed blight. These 45th Mashramani celebrations take place against the backdrop of pending General and Regional Elections. At this special time we urge all Guyanese to reflect on our symbols of nationhood and to be thoughtful and introspective of that journey which has brought us here. We must learn from the lessons each passing year has taught us. The Alliance For Change regrets that our most supreme symbols of nationhood, our Republican Constitution and our Parliament, have been under severe threat recently. But we take strength in the fact that change is around the corner and will soon be here. To w a r d s t h a t f i n a l drive, the AFC commits to a campaign that is free from racial intolerance and verbal abuse and the forging of a new Guyana where all will be respected for who they are and what they stand for, so that all of us will benefit from this beauty and bounty. Though we are a land of various peoples and cultures our diversity is our greatest strength. May the values we as Guyanese hold dear unite us ýall to a lasting peace and happiness.Happy Mashramani Guyana!
(From page 22)
LAND FOR SALE Eccles: Commercial lots for sale at Eccles – Tel:227-2913. Cell: 683-3033 Measuring 90’X165’ facing Atlantic Ocean, approximately half mile from Sheriff Street on High Way. Contact Shiv: 600-6681 House Lots in 1 of Guyana’s top luxury gated communities @ Eccles, 60X100 - $7.5M. (Special prices) - Call: 2272913; 683-3033 Land @ William Street Kitty; Size: 79FT wide by 116FT length, price $60M Negotiable - Tel: 664-0829 Land @ William Street Kitty; size: 38FT wide by 116FT length, reasonable price – Tel: 664-0829 One residential land at Herstellling Plot ‘B’ E.B.D $4.5M Tel: 661-0618; 6013469; 600-1062 Land located @ Brushe Dam Friendship E.C.D -669-7570 Transported land, cultivation lots 29, 30 & 33 in Rosignol – Tel:327-5934; 625-5746
PROPERTY FOR SALE Houses & house lots for sale in 1 of Guyana’s top luxury gated communities, located @ Eccles E.B.D Tel: 227-2913; 683-3033 One – Two Storied wooden & concrete building at Ketley & Howes Street Charlestown – Tel: 623-9679 Front Section, Diamond, East Bank Demerara – Tel: 674-9266 or 686-9248 Transported two storied concrete property $22M, Block “8” Mon Repos E.C.D Tel: 602-4418 Property located @ Gay Park, New Amsterdam, Berbice Tel: 669-7570 Prime Property in Brickdam $60M – Phone: 617-4261 Executive 4 bedroom house @ AA La Flora Gardens, Eccles, EBD, -$55M negotiable; serious enquiries: houseforsale.921@gmail.com Public Road Grove corner property $25M Negotiable Call: 613-5645
Monday February 23, 2015
Kaieteur News
Page 25
Mashramani is over for me - says Trevor Rose’s mother Statement by US Secretary John Kerry On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I congratulate the people of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana as you celebrate 45 years of independence on February 23. Your nation will hold national elections this year. I am confident that it will serve as an example of the peaceful exercise of the right to vote. Your actions will strengthen the entire region’s commitment to democratic institutions. Guyana participates positively in the region through the Caribbean Basin
Security Initiative, the Caribbean Community, and the Union of South American Nations. The United States stands with you as a partner and friend in the Inter-American System and in continuing to strengthen and revitalize the Organization of American States. We will continue to work together to achieve energy and environmental sustainability, as agreed upon during the recent Caribbean Energy Security Summit. I wish you all a joyful Mashramani and Guyanese Republic Day.
The Independent Party The Independent Party (IP) extends warmest Mashramani Greetings to every Guyanese at home and across the diaspora. As we come together to celebrate our 45th anniversary milestone , let us allow this spirit of togetherness not to be restricted to an occasion or day, only, but instead strive as a nation to bridge the polarization gap that sometimes seekS to divide us. Let us truly embody our theme for Mashramani 2015 “One People with One Celebration”. HAPPY MASHRAMANI GUYANA FROM THE INDEPENDENT PARTY.
- “The police know exactly who killed my son”
DEAD: Mashramani Costume Designer, Trevor Rose Mashramani is that time of the year when you take a break from your everyday life and shake the stress away through the streets of Georgetown during the annual parade. There are a number of local designers who rose to fame from designing Mashramani costumes. One such designer was 33-yearold Trevor Rose, who was known for his explosion of colours and fanfare. Sadly, this will be the
second Mashramani without Rose and his “magical” costumes. His sudden death certainly left a dent in the fashion industry. On January 26, 2014, the popular Mashramani costume designer and Events Coordinator was shot dead, execution style in the back seat of a Toyota 212. For his mother, Lillian Browne, Mashramani celebrations died along with her son. “For me, Mash is over. I wouldn’t be going out on the road, period.” Rose’s mother related that there was a time when she used to go out on the streets to just look at her son’s work. Commenting on the fact that police are still to charge anyone for her son’s death, the still grieving mother said that she has no justice to get from the police. “The police know exactly who killed my child. The man that killed Trevor is a licenced firearm holder, but he did not use his weapon to kill my son.
He used another gun but his weapon somehow fell at the scene,” Browne stated. She alleged that, ‘through the grapevine’, she found out that Rose’s attacker is known to the police. “The police were saying that the gun they found belongs to my son but I know my son didn’t have a gun,” she said. Rose’s mother is convinced that she has no justice to receive for her son’s death. Asked if she has any idea why her son was killed, Browne said that she heard that Rose, a father of eight, had an affair with a married woman. It was the woman’s husband who allegedly killed him, she said. The 33-year-old was fatally shot at the Eccles Public Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD) while travelling in a taxi with the mother of one of his children, Latoya Towler. During the executionstyle killing of Rose, Towler was shot to the buttocks and
the taxi driver Troy Nieunkerk was shot in the left shoulder. Rose was pronounced dead at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) while Nieunkerk and Towler were hospitalized at the same medical institution for a few days. Recalling what happened that night, Nieunkerk told investigators that he was heading home and offered Rose and Towler a drop to Eccles. While at Eccles, a tinted car, which was following the trio from Agricola, pulled up alongside Nieunkerk’s vehicle and asked why he was driving so recklessly. Kaieteur News was told that the driver of the tinted car parked his vehicle in front of Nieunkerk’s car, exited and opened fire, killing Rose on the spot. To date, investigators have reportedly worked on a number of leads but none of them has been able to definitively point to who was responsible for Rose’s death.
FITUG February was chosen as the month to usher in Guyana’s Republican status, 45 years ago, for one major reason. It was in February, 1763, on Plantation Magdalenenburg, Canje, Berbice, that the ill-treated, long-suffering and angry African slaves began a momentous rebellion against their unconscionable Dutch tormentors. The Kofi-led revolutions spread throughout Berbice in a structured militaristic manner before its successes were compromised, and defeated after nearly one year. Guyana’s spirit of rebellion against the evils of domination, racism, slavery, exploitation and colonialism was lit long before others in these parts. FITUG – the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana – therefore and foremost, salutes the Spirit of 1763 as we celebrate the 45th Anniversary of our Republicanism. That status itself was meant to reinforce our four year Independence by fashioning our government, our constitution and Parliament in our own context and image, justifiably relinquishing the colonial
oriented monarchy. FITUG wishes our nation a happy and a peaceful, joyous Mashramani – the entertaining creative celebration after work and achievement. Forty-five years of a nation’s life is a reasonable period to use for assessment. What have we – our leaders and ourselves – done with Republic’s forty-five (45) years? Is the Republic where we – old and young – want it to be? Are FITUG’s thousands of workers enjoying a quality of life they deserve? These questions at the Republic’s milestone posed within the most interesting context of preparations for elections in a few weeks’ time. What better time for reflection within which to make choices once again to install the best we have to manage our resources as they chart the nation’s future. We the people know what is now there. We know what else we wish and prefer. The choice will soon be ours once again. May the oneness of the Republic at Mashramani time carry through to Election Day in May. Let peace, democracy and development triumph. Happy Mashramani.
A Banks DIH costume designed by Trevor Rose and his then wife, Michele Cole.
Harper’s PM candidacy not a threat to APNU-AFC... (From page 19) the offer from a Party which he regards as one of the worst things to happen to Guyana. He said, “I do not want to comment on the choice she made, that is her choice and she already made it.” However, Granger was reported in online sections of
the media saying “I am very disappointed. She should have told the PPP no and that this can’t work.” Granger said that Harper “was” well-respected. “We do not feel that Ambassador Harper’s appointment is sufficient to correct the damage that
had been done by the PPP to this country if that is what they were hoping…the PPP has a very bad reputation for public service and accountability and transparency and the lack of democracy and I think that by associating herself with the PPP, it will
do her reputation no good and I do not know what the PPP expects to gain from it,” said Granger. He added that the move to appoint her seems to be a desperate one and one that will affect the public service and “the public’s perception of public servants.”
Page 26
Kaieteur News
Monday February 23, 2015
Letters... Where your views make the news...Letters... Where your views make the news
Has Mrs. Harper resigned from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? DEAR EDITOR, In relation to this move of desperation by the PPP, has Ms. Elizabeth Harper resigned as Director General
of the Guyana Ministry of Foreign Affairs? She cannot continue to be the top public servant in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and also be
the Prime Ministerial Candidate of the PPP. This farcical “selection” shows again how loosely the PPP plays with democracy
The merging parties have more leaders of quality than the PPP/C can ever hope to field DEAR EDITOR, I welcome the news of the formation of an alliance from the National Assembly’s majority parties. To my mind, this is the surest way to start to defeat the incumbent PPP/ C at the forthcoming elections. However, what I do not quite understand is the stance taken by a major oped columnist of yours ‘Peeping Tom’ and a few of your letter columns contributors. It is my view that these persons are entitled to their personal opinions and that they can court your patience and space in airing their views in public. No problem at all. What I object to is the simplistic air that perhaps the personalities who lead the AFC and the
APNU are naïve in their approach to unseating the incumbent party. That only an alliance led by a person of Indian extraction will be attractive to the polity; that the AFC has gone against its original stance and has supposedly betrayed its membership. The AFC is not a race oriented party like the PPP/C .It never was and perhaps never will be. To my mind the merging parties have more leaders of quality than the PPP/C can ever hope to field. There is much scholarship to be found in these parties. The dregs of the PNC and who have sordid records are safely embedded within the ranks of the PPP/C. Above all the scourge of corruption has not tainted these
personalities. Persons writing in small countries like Guyana where their views can make or break the minds of persons must be mindful of what they place in the public domain. Those of us who write must be mindful of this caveat. The leadership of this new alliance are not simplistic fools but they are the best possible leaders that a small country like Guyana can assemble. We need to congratulate them on this courageous step taken. We need to support them in their efforts to remove an utterly corrupt regime. It is my opinion that this new alliance will overcome its problems and give us good governance at long last. Cyril Walker
and their contempt for Guyanese. This so-called representative of the CIVIC component of the PPP-CIVIC was unanimously supported by the PPP Central Executive Committee. Where was the CIVIC component in that process? Where has the CIVIC component of the PPP-CIVIC being since forever? CIVIC society all over the world is seen as comprised of e.g. University staff, persons in the private sector, the leadership in the Religious sector, persons in non-profit, nongovernmental organizations. Persons in the government service, even more so those in top management positions
in government like Ms. Harper are not seen as being part of CIVIC society. This goes to why the question of Ms Harper ’s resignation is so important. Also going back to the democracy which the PPP continues to trample were real members of CIVIC society in Guyana consulted? This is a rhetorical question as we know that Ms. Harper is not a choice of the real members of Guyanese CIVIC society like Christopher Ram. As some have already said, Ms. Harper if she continues in this charade of being representative of Guyanese CIVIC society would erase all her years of
service to Guyana, which even now must be questioned, given this “selection”, and the issues raised about Guyana’s Foreign Service since the PPP came into power. Questions like the non-rotation of Ambassadors and High Commissioners and the racial profile of the Guyanese Ambassadors and High Commissioners selected by the PPP administration. More motivation for Guyanese to vote these jokers out. By the way the question still remains: when is the constitution to be followed and the Guyana Parliament be dissolved? Fitzgerald Yaw Jr. Canada
I hope that Mrs. Harper... From page 4 that refusing such a request by a government that specializes in vindictiveness against those who deny them might not have been as much as an option as one might like to believe. The recent assaults on Amerindian dissidents and community leaders at a time when the PPP is reportedly courting the Indigenous vote, is indicative of what it does to those that dare resist it. At the press conference, Ms. Harper’s discomfort was clear, as she sat literally tight-lipped throughout the entire event, barely managing to crack an uncomfortable smile, more apparent hostage than willing participant. Predictably, the PPP is hailing the appointment as historical, considering Harper’s gender, in addition to harping on her hitherto only slightly tainted professionalism. There are two critical problems however with its execution of the debut of what has clearly
been a last minute choice. The first is that in so far as she has not resigned her post as Director-General, she has grievously breached Public Service protocol by mounting a political platform, an incredible blunder for a professional whose stock-intrade is strict adherence to professional protocol. More important however is the fact that even as the focus has been promoting her as a strong, professional woman, second in command, her political debut was marked by absolute silence from Ms. Harper, with the President and Clement Rohee speaking primarily on her behalf. In fact, Stabroek News’ coverage of this fiasco sums it up neatly in one line: “Harper was present alongside both Rohee and her running mate, President Donald Ramotar, at the news conference but no questions were allowed about the announcement and while both men spoke about her selection, she said nothing.”
It has not been lost upon me that Ramotar preceded Harper’s announcement with that announcement the day before of Jagdeo heading a supposed high level National Economic Forum, albeit one without an actual body. In fact, very little was said, beyond the platitudes regarding her experience and the energy she will supposedly bring to the campaign, even as she sat there silently letting them speak on her behalf. In essence, the real PM announcement in terms of real (though not constitutional) function was made on Friday. In the upcoming months, I hope that Ms. Harper does find her voice. The PPP will need all the help it can get in trying to defend its record on corruption, discrimination, police brutality, abuse of the state media, collusion with the narco-trade, and a litany of other blatant wrongs. Indeed, considering that she has full knowledge of the substance of many of the international treaties the government has in effect violated, she can and should be challenged on why it is the party she has joined is so tolerant of said violations, for example Cabinet’s failure to block the promotion of the officers involved in the torture of a teenager. In closing, I believe this is actually a boon to the AFCAPNU coalition. Both Granger and Nagamootoo have committed to including reputable persons from the PPP slate in their government; finally, in Harper, they have one. I would still recommend her for the post of Foreign Minister, not in the token way in which she has been placed on the PPP slate but because that is the job for which she is most eminently qualified. I wish Ambassador Harper well. Ruel Johnson
Monday February 23, 2015
Kaieteur News
Page 27
Venezuelan President to visit T&T US, Cuba companies for bi-lateral energy meeting strike phone service deal
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - CMC – The future of the Petrocaribe initiative is expected to be high on the agenda during bi-lateral talks between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine and Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar tomorrow. According a report in the Trinidad Guardian newspaper, Maduro is scheduled to arrive here tomorrow morning. Venezuela’s Energy Minister Rafel Ramirez reportedly arrived on Friday in preparation for Maduro’s visit. During that meeting, Maduro and Ramnarine are also expected to hammer out and sign a bilateral energy agreement. The Venezuelan president is scheduled to depart tomorrow evening. It is understood that Maduro’s visit relates to talks surrounding long-gestating arrangements about the Loran-Manatee natural gas field, which straddles the Trinidad and Tobago/ Venezuela maritime boundary. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar said Ramirez was scheduled to visit the twinisland republic for talks on how to exploit natural gas reserves. The discussions had their genesis under the former People’s National Movement (PNM) government and were continued by the incumbent People’s Partnership administration. At the recent Caribbean Energy Summit in Washington D.C., the prime minister discussed LoranManatee with Maduro, she also proposed a US$1 billion Caribbean Energy Thematic Fund to encourage growth in the region’s energy sector. In September 2013, Ramnarine and Ramirez signed an agreement that established the functional and governance structure to oversee the development of the Loran-Manatee gas field, which has approximately ten trillion cubic feet of natural
… Petrocaribe initiative expected to be high on the agenda
Nicolas Maduro
Kamla Persad Bissessar
gas. This came ten years after an MOU was signed by both
countries to develop cross border reserves. 2013.
Havana (AFP) - IDT Corporation, the largest USbased provider of international long distance calling, has reached an agreement with Cuba’s ETECSA telecom company to provide phone service between the two countries as they normalize relations. The Cuban company, Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A., said in a statement Friday that the deal enables “the reestablishment of direct communication between the United States and Cuba.”
It “will allow for better capabilities and improved communication quality between the people of both nations,” added the statement, published in staterun Granma. The head of IDT hailed the deal as “groundbreaking.” “This is an important first step in the liberalization of telecommunications between the US and Cuba,” said IDT CEO Bill Pereira in a statement last week. “The agreement will help make it easier and more affordable for our customers to call friends and family in
Cuba.” IDT said the agreement was filed this week with the US Federal Communications Commission and is subject to FCC review for a period of 10 days. If the deal is approved, IDT will be the only US carrier to have a direct interconnection into Cuba, the American company said. In December, US President Barack Obama and Cuba’s Raul Castro announced their two nations would begin normalizing ties, ending a half-century of enmity between the former Cold War foes.
Page 28
Kaieteur News
Jamaica hosts Caribbean green economy conference KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica will host the second Caribbean Green Economy Conference (CGEC) from today to Wednesday, in Kingston. Robert Pickersgill, Jamaica’s minister of water, land, environment and climate change, will be the keynote speaker at the official opening. The conference is a collaborative initiative of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the University of the West Indies, with support from the European Union. It will be held under the theme “Implementing SAMOA Pathway in the Caribbean through Green Economy.” Several ministers of environment from across the Caribbean will be represented including Barbados, Dominica, Montserrat, St Vincent and Grenada. The conference will also be attended by other policymakers, civil society, academia and the private sector and will provide an opportunity for crossfertilization of ideas, experiences and institutional
Robert Pickersgill innovations. Countries that will also be represented include Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia and Guyana as well as the United Kingdom and the USA. The conference will enable the establishment of the regional green economy network, as a living platform for sharing national experiences and further strengthening intraCaribbean and intra-SIDS cooperation in the area of green economy. This network
is expected to connect a vibrant community of policy makers, practitioners and thinkers who are focused on achieving poverty reduction and sustainable development through green economy. It will also present and validate signature project activities and achievements as well as identify other programmes that can further contribute to the establishment of resilient societies and economies. These include the review of draft reports for Haiti, Jamaica and Saint Lucia; strengthening of the regional green economy network and the endorsement of green economy activities in the region. A special highlight will be the presentation of the green economy training manual to inform a course in the field soon to be launched at the UWI. Winners of the Jamaica Green Economy’s School’s poster competition organized by the Scientific Research Council will also be announced. (Caribbean News)
Monday February 23, 2015
Cops to charge six with Dana’s murder Trinidad Express - A man in prison custody is now assisting police with details into the murder of Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal. Police investigators have now been given “key information” concerning the details of her murder. This, the Sunday Express understands, means that the Trinidad and Tobago Police (TTPS) will approach Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard SC shortly for advice on charging six men with conspiracy to murder and the murder of Seetahal. However, while the police have been able to identify the shooter based on information, they have yet to determine a motive for the murder. The Sunday Express was told that the man, who has been behind bars since last December and is linked to a mosque in East Trinidad, has been willingly assisting officers as they move closer to completing their file to present to Gaspard. The man, the Sunday Express was told, has given information to lawmen on an individual, who was said to reside in Cumuto, among other places, and who is believed to be a “contract killer” who would have been one of the people i n v o l v e d i n S e e t a h a l ’s death. The suspect was also charged last year, along with
Dana Seetahal two others, with possession of wild meat. He was also a participant of Government’s now defunct LifeSport programme where he earned $1,500 a month to participate in sport-related activities. The prison informant has also assisted police with information on the “contract killer” regarding his other professions and items which would be “prominent” to the ongoing enquiry. The Sunday Express was told that this “new information” meshed with information previously gathered by the investigative team into Seetahal’s death, and that the suspect named was actually one of six “key persons” contained in a file for their alleged involvement in her murder.
The Sunday Express was also informed that almost all of the video evidence sent to laboratories in the United States and England for forensic examination has been returned to the local police team, and now, armed with the new information gathered, the police are expected to submit a file to the DPP within the coming days for instructions on how to proceed. Sources said that the investigative team has been “careful and meticulous” with their approach to the enquiry on all accounts, “dotting all i’s and crossing all t’s” to ensure that when they approach the DPP they limit any “legal loopholes” to be addressed. The Sunday Express understands that an intercept obtained by the TTPS from the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) also forms part of the TTPS’s evidence. Seetahal SC was killed at about 12.05 a.m. on May 4 while driving her Volkswagen SUV towards her One Woodbrook Place home. Police reported that the incident took place in the vicinity of the Woodbrook Youth Facility on Hamilton Holder/O’Connor streets, as she was on her way to her apartment after leaving the Ma Pau casino. She had been shot five times and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Cops to quiz three ministers Trinidad Guardian Three senior government ministers are expected to be interviewed by police this week or early next week as investigations into allegations of witness tampering levelled against former attorney general Anand Ramlogan by Police Complaints Authority Director David West continue. The Sunday Guardian was informed that the three ministers, all of whom are MPs, will be interviewed as investigators ramp up their inquiries now that the distraction of carnival revelry has passed. The Sunday Guardian understands that the police investigation into the witness-tampering allegations against Ramlogan has been expanded to include the allegation levelled against the three senior Cabinet ministers. The investigation is being
…as West/Ramlogan witnesstampering probe continues
Anand Ramlogan
David West
headed by acting Deputy Commissioner of Police Harold Phillip. It is alleged that last year Ramlogan, then AG, sought to have West withdraw a
witness statement he gave against him in a defamation lawsuit that he (Ramlogan) had filed against Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley. The Continued on page 29
Monday February 23, 2015
Kaieteur News
Arrest shows Venezuelan leader panicking: mayor’s wife
Mitzy de Ledezma (L), wife of arrested Caracas metropolitan mayor Antonio Ledezma, shouts next to Lilian Tintori (C), wife of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado (2nd R), during a gathering in support of Ledezma in Caracas Friday. REUTERS/ Carlos Garcia Rawlins CARACAS (Reuters) Venezuela’s president is panicking over falling popularity and has revealed his authoritarian face by arresting Caracas’s mayor, the opposition politician’s wife said. Antonio Ledezma, 59, was seized by intelligence agents in his office on Thursday and charged the next day for “conspiring” against President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government which has been alleging a U.S.backed coup plot. In an interview yesterday, his wife Mitzy, 64, said it was in fact Maduro displaying his dictatorial tendencies by locking up the veteran
politician ahead of important parliamentary elections due for later in 2015. “Maduro is terrorized, panicked by the opposition. He knows that every day there are more opponents,” Mitzy Ledezma said. The OPEC country’s recession, shortages of basic goods from toilet paper to flour, and near-70 percent annual inflation have hurt Maduro, elected in 2013 to replace the late Hugo Chavez. Poor Venezuelans, the traditional base of support for “Chavismo”, are suffering the brunt of the hardships and are increasingly souring on the former bus driver and union leader.
The president’s popularity slipped to 22 percent, the lowest of his nearly two-year rule, local pollster Datanalisis said last month. But a perennially fragmented opposition has so far struggled to capitalize on the exasperation. Mitzy Ledezma said her husband’s arrest was a game-changer that will galvanize their bloc. “Maduro’s mask of a supposed democrat has fallen off in the eyes of the world,” she said by telephone. “He’s committed a major mistake. There will be a before and after... The opposition is more united than ever.”
Cops to quiz three ministers From page 28 allegations stem from an alleged phone conversation between Ramlogan and West, during which it is alleged that the former AG offered West the PCA directorship in exchange for the withdrawal of the statement. Former national security minister Gary Griffith also became embroiled in the controversy, claiming that Ramlogan had asked him to speak with West to find out if he had withdrawn the statement. Ramlogan has vehemently denied the allegations. Griffith has accused a senior member of Cabinet of attempting to pressure him into withdrawing his statement in the matter. He claimed that the minister made certain statements in the
presence of two other Cabinet members. Both Ramlogan and Griffith were dismissed on February 2 when Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar announced sweeping changes to her Cabinet. While police sources remained tight-lipped about the investigation, they confirmed that Griffith’s allegations were also being actively pursued. Griffith has been interviewed by the police and is said to be “co-
operating” with investigators as they continue their inquiries into the allegations. Since the investigation has been expanded, police sources said, it would take investigators more time than expected to complete. Investigators will have to complete all inquiries surrounding the main allegation of witness tampering levelled against Ramlogan before the former AG is interviewed, the Sunday Guardian was informed.
Page 29
Page 30
Kaieteur News
Monday February 23, 2015
Ukraine fears spread of war Islamic State militants claim after blast in eastern city attacks on Iranian ambassador’s residence in Libya (Reuters) - Militants claiming loyalty to Islamic State said they were behind yesterday’s twin bomb attacks on the residence of the Iranian ambassador in the Libyan capital and a rocket strike on the eastern Labraq airport. The attack on the ambassador’s residence came two days after the group claimed responsibility for a double suicide bombing that killed more than 40 people in the eastern town of Qubbah, one of the worst attacks on civilians since a 2011 uprising toppled Muammar Gaddafi.
Western powers are concerned that Libya is emerging as a thriving battleground for militants loyal to Islamic State, which controls large areas of Iraq and Syria. Islamist fighters have exploited instability as two rival governments fight for control of territory. Yesterday, two bombs exploded at the gate of the Iranian ambassador ’s residence in central Tripoli. Iran’s official IRNA news agency confirmed the blasts and said there had been no casualties, adding Iran had already suspended operations there.
“Two devices were laid, one exploded first and then the other. The point of the second bomb was to create confusion,” Colonel Jumaa al-Mashri from the National Security Agency told Tripolibased al-Nabaa television. A Reuters reporter at the scene saw the second device exploding some 30 minutes after the first. Minor damage could be seen at the gate. “Soldiers of the Islamic State caliphate targeted the Iranian embassy in Tripoli,” the group said in a statement posted with pictures of a flame on Twitter.
Ukrainian prisoners of war get ready to be exchanged for members of proRussian separatists near the village of Zholobok in Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine, yesterday. Credit: REUTERS/Igor Tkachenko (Reuters) - Ukraine said yesterday it feared unrest could spread beyond territory held by pro-Russian separatists, after an explosion killed two people at a memorial rally in an eastern city far from the front line. Kiev said it arrested four people who had been armed and trained in Russia after the blast, which killed a policeman and a demonstrator at the rally in Kharkiv, the biggest city in the east, 200 km (125 miles) from the war zone. A week after a ceasefire agreement that Moscowbacked rebels ignored to capture a strategic town, Kiev
and its Western allies are trying to determine whether the separatists will now halt, or advance deeper into territory the Kremlin calls “New Russia”. Germany and France mediated the peace deal that came into effect a week ago, and say they still hope it can be resurrected, even though the rebels ignored it to inflict one of the worst defeats of the war, seizing the town of Debaltseve after encircling thousands of Ukrainian troops. In signs that there may be at least a pause now that the rebels achieved that objective, government and
separatist forces exchanged prisoners overnight. The rebels said yesterday they would begin withdrawing artillery from the front. But Kiev said Moscow was moving more troops and armour into eastern Ukraine near a port it fears is the next target. Russia denies it has troops in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainians held marches and memorial services yesterday for 100 people killed a year ago during an uprising that toppled a proRussian president and led to the war in which more than 5,500 people have since been killed.
A general view of the damage caused by a bomb blast is seen at the gate of the Iranian ambassador’s residence in Tripoli yesterday. Credit: REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny
Bangladesh ferry capsizes after collision, at least 39 dead DHAKA (Reuters) - At least 39 people died in Bangladesh yesterday when a passenger ferry capsized after colliding with a trawler on the river Padma with more than 100 people aboard, police said. Rescuers managed to save at least 50 passengers and were still searching for more survivors, regional police official Bidhan Tripura told Reuters. Low-lying Bangladesh, with extensive inland waterways and slack safety standards, suffers regular ferry disasters, with deaths sometimes running into the hundreds. The 39 bodies retrieved so far from the water, more than half of them women and children, Tripura said. Police have seized the trawler and arrested the captain and his two crew, he said. Another police team, assisted by firemen and the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, was trying to salvage the ferry, he said. Divers were also trying to retrieve any bodies trapped inside the vessel. The ferry was heading to Paturia from Daulatdia in Rajbari, located on the opposite bank of the river and 136 km (85 miles)northwest of Dhaka. Shajahan Khan, the shipping minister, told reporters at the scene that an investigation had been launched. “A probe committee has been formed and they have been directed to find out the real cause of this sad incident within seven days,” he said. A similar accident on Feb. 13 killed at least seven passengers in southern Bangladesh.
Monday February 23, 2015
Kaieteur News
Page 31
Page 32
Kaieteur News
Monday February 23, 2015
Spit Fire burns them up Atwell defeats Mullings to take... on wet day at Rising Sun
Representatives of the Moonsammy stable as they receives the winning trophy in the three year Guyana event from a representative of the Jumbo Jet stable (left). Spit Fire of the Shariff Racing stable and ridden by Rodrigues produced a blistering finish to tear past its opponents and take the feature D1 and lower even when the Jumbo Jet Auto Sales and racing stable held their successful PreMashramani Sprint Classic One Day Horserace meet yesterday at the Rising Sun Turf Club. Despite a wet day and held in front of a sizable crowd, the racehorse in only its third race on Guyana soil,
chalked up its second victory in the 1100M sprint, which incidentally was the distance for all the races. Spit fire looked a class act as it moved up around the far turn and down the homestretch as it raced away to win easily in the end to take the $1M and the Jumbo Jet Truck and Auto Sales trophy. Other winners on the day were Release the Beast of the Jumbo Jet stable in the E3and Lower event. It’s My Choice also of The Jumbo Jet Stable in the Three year old West
Indies Bred event as it won a close race from Storm Bird and Midnight Blue. Sent From Above took top honours in the G1 and lower event with Slim Shady winning the Three year old Guyana Bred event. Mary Ann of the Lenny Singh Stable won the I3 and lower event. Affinity was in winner’s row in the J3 and lower race. The top jockey on show was Paul Delph, with the Jumbo Jet and Lenny Singh Stable the top stables on show.
Show Stoppers steal show to win NEE Mash Futsal title Show Stoppers came from behind to secure literally a last minute goal that pushed them ahead of Silver Bullets Saturday night at the Mackenzie Sports Club Hard Court in the final of New Era’s Entertainment (NEE) Mackeson-sponsored Mashramani Futsal tournament. Show Stoppers stole the show with just over a minute left in the game to come away with a 6-5 victory that sparked loud celebrations from the team and its supporters. Silver Bullets dominated the game up until the late surge from Show Stoppers. Deon Carter was the hero for Show Stoppers with a hattrick, including the deciding goal which earned them the title. Anthony Sancho scored twice while Steve Brewley added the other goal for Show Stoppers in the pulsating and action-filled
contest. Eventual Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament, Silver Bullets’ Colwin Drakes scored twice for his team, which pushed them up 5-3 heading into the closing minutes of the second half of the game. Damian Williams, Jamaine Samuels and Keon Sears had the other three goals in the encounter as Silver Bullets paid a heavy price for being too defensive. Silver Bullets had gone on an attack early in the game and looked to boot Show Stoppers beyond redemption. Having jumped out to a lead, Silver Bullets tried to protect the advantage when they passed the ball around in an attempt to run the clock down. However, the tactic opened opportunities for Show Stoppers who continued on a relentless
attack in Silver Bullets’ box. They managed to get the three goals they needed to put them ahead. Silver Bullets were visibly heartbroken after the unexpected loss. In the third place game, Magic Star drubbed Plantain All-Star 6-3 with Clifford Ally and Clarence Huggins scoring twice for Magic Star. Jermaine Grandison and Tevin Thompson added the other two goals in the win. Donovan Francis scored twice and Tevin David once for Plantain All-Star. Show Stoppers pocketed $300,000 while the runner-up, Silver Bullets got $100,000. The third-placed team, Magic Star received $75,000, with Plantain All-Star collecting $25,000 for placing fourth. The MVP, Drakes got a pair of Futsal sneakers and trophy. High Rollers were adjudged ‘The Best Uniformed’ team of the tournament.
From page 33 proved that he was not his country’s ‘Contender Champion’ by fluke and dug real deep after his handlers repaired the damage and stemmed the flow. He employed wild swings as he moved in for the kill at the start of the seventh round and his punches unbalanced Atwell somewhat. The Guyanese pugilist got up on his bicycle and responded with jabs and crosses and once again the blood spurted from Mullings’ damaged organ. Atwell took advantage and ended that round with a wicked right cross. Round eight clearly belonged to Atwell as he stepped on the accelerator from the onset. Mullings lashed out with a 3 punch combination but Atwell responded with several wallops of his own. Mullins then upped the ante with a wicked volley but a dancing, squirming Atwell seemed supremely confident, employing classic combinations to keep his man at bay. All this time Mullings’ eye was a bloody mess complements of Atwell’s pin point punches. Mullins looked fatigued at the start of the 10th round but demonstrated great courage as he stepped up the pace. He lashed out with vicious punches but Atwell’s fleet footed moves nullified the attack by dancing out of range while scoring punches of his own. The points tally was intermittently released by the judges to Supervisor of bouts, Peter Abdool, who in turned briefed the spectators and at the end of the 10th round Mullings was lagging behind. He sought to make amends in the 11th round, stalking his man and searching for that big punch. He managed to land a few before Atwell once again climbed up on his bicycle and used his jabs to good effect nullifying the attack. Atwell then tied his man up while controlling the action but Mullings managed to squirm out of the clinch and delivered several clouts that had Atwell seeking refuge behind highly held guards. Atwell recovered enough to end the round aggressively with a pinpoint right cross. The final round was a gem as Mullings made a last ditched effort to influence the judges; he lashed out with a wicked volley of punches but Atwell weathered the storm with jabs and crosses as he danced around. The Jamaican warrior dug deep and put everything into those final minutes hoping for a miracle; it never came asAtwell
danced and jabbed to the final bell. Trinidadian judge, Mackenzie Granger and his Guyanese counterpart, Francis Abraham saw the fight 116-112 and 118-111 respectively, in favour of Atwell, while Jamaican judge, Clifford Brown had it 115-113 for Mullings. Mullings was resigned to his fate after and admitted that the bout was a keen contest. He admitted that he got off to a slow start and had to play catch up. However, he was adamant that the fight could have gone his way. “I agree that there was neutrality with the judging but as a fighter I will take my losses when I’ve been bested but tonight I have to wonder how come the (World Boxing Council) rules were not followed when I was head butted!” Mullings pronounced. He then cited the requisite rules in support of his claims, “The rules state that a point should be deducted from the agitator for causing the injury. Also, a blind man could have seen that Atwell was holding excessively and that infringement went unchecked without a point deduction or even a warning,” bemoaned the Jamaican Contender champion. He further pointed to the 6th round slip/knockdown and said that he thought he got a raw deal. “I knocked my
opponent down from a legal punch which many who were at the fight feel was a legitimate knockdown but it was ruled a slip. That incident along with more questionable tactics makes me wonder,” he concluded. Quizzed on plans for his career, Mullings said that he will huddle with his management team and reevaluate his position. On the issue of a possible rematch he stated, “I suspect that that will be the general consensus and if that’s what the fans want, why not?” The DeClou/Richmond fight was a dull affair with the former boxer using jabs and crosses to stay ahead while taking no unnecessary chances. Richmond attempted to lure his man into close range while attempting to replicate his previous feat but DeClou stayed at long range where he built up his points and scored a unanimous verdict. All three judges had it in his favour; Bernard DeSantos saw it 8077, while Trevor Arno and Andrew Thorne scored 79-74 and 78-75 respectively. The card benefited from corporate input of Fly Jamaica Airlines, Guyana Beverage Company Ltd, Guyana Tourism Board, Hand in Hand Insurance, GTM and Castrol among other business entities. A lucky patron won the airline tickets put up by Jamaica Airline.
Flying Ace Cycle honours long serving president The Flying Ace Cycle Club (FACC) of Berbice recently recognized the services of their long serving president John Lewis. Mr. Lewis, who is the third president of the club having taken over from Neville Mars, has been in the president’s chair since 1999. Allan Tinnie was the first president of the club. Lewis a former Chief executive officer of the Berbice Mining Enterprise (BERMINE) is also the manager of the Water Chris Hotel. According to Lewis he is always interested in seeing youths develop and gainfully occupied, be it education or sports. He stated that he is happy with the role the FACC is playing in the career of the young cyclists. He mentioned that once the cyclists vote for him he will continue to do what he can to assist them and the club.
N2N team cop top... From page 35 Melissa Smartt in the best of three set, 2 games to nil. In the other results: Mixed Triples 701 sponsored by GUYOIL Co – the trio of Rosetta Hiralall, Lalchand Rambharose & Sherwyn Greene won from Sudesh Fitzgerald, Seepersaud & Sanjay Bhupan 3 games to 1. While in the playoff for 3rd place, Mary Correia, Luis Ramirez-Merlano and Jamal Holligan prevailed over Anthony Bissoondyal, Vishnu Bhupan and Jean DeSouza, 2 nil. Mixed Doubles 501 sponsored by Mr. Bholonauth Ramdial – this was taken by Anthony Bissoondyal and Jean DeSouza over Mary Correia and Luis Ramirez-Merlano, 3 games to 2. In the race for the prize for the most hundreds, 129 hundreds were scored overall with Sudesh Fitzgerald leading with 29. While for the most 180s prize, Anil Lachhman is in the lead on two. One each was thrown by Lalchand Rambharoseand Sudesh Fitzgerald. Action continues tonight.
Monday February 23, 2015
Kaieteur News
REDEMPTION:
Atwell defeats Mullings to take WBCCABOFE welterweight crown By Michael Benjamin He lost out to Johnny Gonsalves in May last year in his World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight world title bid and suffered another crushing blow six months later, in Australia, when the referee stopped his fight against Australian, Kye McKenzie, but Clive Atwell redeemed himself when he rebounded from those losses to register a hard fought split decision victory over Jamaican Contender welterweight champion, Sakima Mullings, and add the World Boxing Council Caribbean Boxing Federation (WBCCABOFE) welterweight title to his bulging collection. The fight was the main attraction of a proposed 36 rounds boxing card staged by the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) last Saturday evening, truncated by 8 rounds after Mark Austin collapsed in the dressing room moments before his jnr/ welterweight fight against Dexter Gonsalves and had to be rushed to the Public Hospital Georgetown (see indepth report in this edition). Edmond DeClou then avenged the loss he suffered to Dereck Richmond that kept him out of the ring for several months with a lopsided unanimous points decision in their 8 rounds middleweight shindig. Quincy Gomes was also in winning mode and unanimously took his 4 rounds lightweight scrap against debutant, Keeve Allicock one fight after another debutant, Travis Fraser, boxed his way to a one sided unanimous decision verdict over Barbadian based Guyanese, Shurwayne Estwick, in their jnr/ welterweight scrap. It was clear from the onset that Atwell meant business and he started the fight dancing around while sticking the occasional jab in Mullings’ face. The Jamaican shuffled forward with jabs and right crosses of his own but Atwell started to create angles while stitching in several telling blows. Moments before the bell sounded, Mullings caught up with Atwell and sneaked in a wicked right cross and the fair sized crowd settled down for the treat in store. Atwell started round two on his toes, punching and moving while Mullings
stalked his man, searching for that one big punch. In the meantime, Atwell danced around while using selective punches to pick his man apart. The Jamaican, clearly the burlier of the two, resorted to strong armed tactics on the inside but Atwell stayed up on his bicycle while nullifying his opponent’s aggression with stiff left jabs and occasional right crosses. Mullings scored a vicious three punch combination at the start of the third stanza that pushed Atwell into one of the neutral corners. Mullings pursued his man and unleashed a wicked two fisted attack before Atwell spun out of the ‘V’ and retaliated with one two combinations. Not to be denied, Mullings stepped up the pace and clearly took this round after forcing his man on the back foot. The battle of attrition continued into the fourth frame and Mullings, who seemed to be having problems with his timings, resorted to bullying tactics. Atwell refused to be bothered and systematically picked his man apart with crisp jabs and right crosses. The two gladiators then became locked in close combat and referee, Eon Jardine was forced to issue a warning to Mullings after he had dealt Atwell two rabbit punches. At the start of the fifth round, Mullings retained his flat foot stance and stalked Atwell while throwing several mean salvoes. The Guyanese seemed to be growing in confidence and countered with punches to his opponent’s head and midriff while dancing out of range. Mullings got into his rhythm in the sixth round and had Atwell backing off as he (Mullings) lashed out with mean punches. Atwell stayed on his bicycle and responded with crisp combinations and though they managed to slow Mullings down, was not enough to win the round. It was in that round that Atwell hit the canvass after stepping into a small puddle near his corner. Referee, Eon Jardine ruled it a slip but Mullings later said that Atwell went down from a legitimate blow. Subsequently, the two pugilists engaged in close combat to the end of the round even as blood gushed from a wound over Mullings’ left eye. The stocky Jamaican Continued on page 32
Page 33
WICB Four-Day Franchise Cricket
Kraigg Braithwaite’s second ton puts B’dos in control By Sean Devers in Barbados In Association with Western Union, Carib Beer & Meet Your Match Dating Service Tournament leaders Guyana Jaguars will be hoping to pull off what could be a pulsating win against the Barbados Pride today to give their supporters back home another reason to celebrate on Mashramani day as the South American Country celebrate its 45th Republic Anniversary. Kraigg Braithwaite’s second ton of the game pushed Barbados into a commanding position on the penultimate day of their seventh round WICB FourDay Cricket Franchise match against the Jaguars at the Kensington Oval yesterday but the Jaguars began their run chase auspiciously yesterday and showed that they were not going down without a fight. The Jaguars resumed on 173-9 and a 48-run last wicket stand in 104 minutes between Devendra Bishoo (38) and Ronsford Beaton (15*) frustrated the home team and ensured they got a batting point as the Guyanese Franchise reached 221 in reply to the 312 made by Barbados. Pacer Miguel Cummins finished with 5-63 and offspinner Ashley Nurse (3-46) for the hosts, who declared at 241-6 in the second innings after Kraigg Braithwaite (112) and Kyle Corbin (52) had put together 97 for the first wicket and Braithwaite and Shai Hope (28) added 63 for the third. Set 333 runs to win from 11 overs yesterday and a possible 110 more today, the Jaguars reached 41 without loss with Rajendra Chandrika (25) and Vishaul Singh on 14 at the crease with another 292 runs required for victory. The elegant Chandrika stroked Tino Best for two gorgeous back-to-back boundaries while Vishaul Singh cut Best for four and danced into left arm spinner Jomel Warrican and hammered him for four to keep hopes alive of avoiding only their second loss of the season after their only defeat was against Barbados at Providence, when, set 69 to win, the Jaguars were bowled out for 66. The 22-year-old Braithwaite batted for 271 minutes, faced 179 balls and hit 10 fours and a six in a delightful 112 and became the first ever batsman to score two tons in a Regional First-
But Jaguars still with a chance of a Mash day win Kriagg Braithwaite mixed solid defense with enterprising shots yesterday.
Class game at this venue and joined Ryan Hinds, who made 165 & 150 against the Leewards in St Thomas in 2006, as the only other Bajan to do so. Chris Barnwell (2-33) and Beaton (2-37) were the main wicket-takers for the Jaguars, who have set up a thrilling finish today once rain does not spoil the run chase. When play resumed in overcast conditions, Bishoo got going with a four in Warrican’s first over. Beaton showed a level head and sound defence while the Bishoo was not afraid to cut when the ball was pitched short by the pacers. The partnership flourished with Bishoo stroking Best for three and Beaton stroking the former West Indian pacer for a couple of sublime boundaries that would have made any top order batsman proud. Beaton’s boundary brought up the 200 and he celebrated the landmark with another four off the clearly frustrated Best, while Bishoo thumped Nurse to the boundary as his confidence increased as his innings progressed before Nurse ended the Guyanese resistance by bowling Bishoo for 38 from 46 balls and 71 minutes to leave Beaton unbeaten on 15. Barbados, with a lead of 91 runs, began their second innings in positive mode and Braithwaite smashed Beaton for two majestic fours before cutting Raymond Reifer elegantly behind point for four as the Barbados skipper galloped into double figures while Corbin latched into Beaton and drove him in
bullet-like fashion down the ground for four. Watched by another fair sized crowd in bright sunshine, the Bajan openers built a firm foundation for the team. Braithwaite is usually a very cautious batsman, but yesterday he took the attack to the Jaguars pacers in a pugnacious manner as he clobbered countryman Reifer for a murderous four through cover while Corbin, who is known to be the more attacking of the two, settled in to play the supporting role. But Corbin could not contain his aggression when Reifer pitched up and was clobbered disdainfully back over his head for a onebounce boundary and by Lunch the score was 41 without loss with Braithwaite on 22 and Corbin on 19. Braithwaite was in a nononsense mood and dumped Bishoo into the stands over long-off as he tucked into the bowlers with increasing relish while Corbin stepped on the gas and rushed past his Captain with a flurry of audacious shots to reach his first fifty for Barbados from 88 balls, 104 minutes with four fours and a six. Corbin, looking to ‘up the tempo’ to give his team the opportunity to declare and have enough time to bowl out Guyana twice, charged Beaton and skied the ball ‘miles’ into the air for Bishoo to take the catch at mid-on. His 52 lasted 95 balls, 127 minutes and reached the boundary four times and cleared it once. Braithwaite soon got to his 30th half-century in FirstClass cricket by stroking
Bishoo to cover for a single. His fifty took 144 minutes, 94 balls and was decorated with six fours as the Bajans pressed for a 300 plus victory target. Kirk Edward’s string of failures continued when he was brilliantly caught by wicketkeeper Anthony Bramble off Beaton for one at 101-2 to bring Shai Hope to the crease. Hope banged Bishoo to the mid-wicket boundary to get his innings started and along with Braithwaite carried the Bajans to 124-2 by Tea. Braithwaite was on 55, Hope on 12 and the overall lead 215. After the break and under clear blue skies with a very strong breeze blowing across the ground causing the Broken Trident and the Golden Arrow Head (the only two flags among the CARICOM Nations with names) to flutter merrily in wind, the Barbadians continued to bat fluently. Braithwaite pounced on Reifer like a cat upon a mouse and mauled him through extra cover for four and then steered him to the third man as he played with refreshing positivity. Hope played some lovely shots in a cameo 28 before he was removed by Reifer to leave Barbados on 164-3 to end a 63-run third wicket stand. Royston Chase and Braithwaite scampered some quick singles and put away the bad balls as the Bajans made a consorted effort to score rapidly before Braithwaite played a maiden over from Permaul when on 99. Braithwaite reached his second ton of the match with a glorious back foot punch to the cover boundary off Barnwell and celebrated by depositing the next ball over long-off for six to join 10 others who have scored two hundreds in the same game in Regional Cricket. His sixth FirstClass ton came from 264 minutes, 172 balls with 10 fours. But in the interest of quick scoring he missed a big drive and was bowled by Barnwell for 112 at 211-4 while his unrelated namesake Carlos (1) was removed by Barnwell, while Chase (19) was bowled by Permaul to leave the score on 224-6. Nurse (21*) hit a few lusty blows before the declaration was made to set up a fascinating final day in which starts at 09:30hrs and in which 110 overs should be bowled.
Page 34
Kaieteur News
Monday February 23, 2015
Berbice beat Demerara to take GCB U-15 Inter County title
Members of the victorious Berbice team display their hardware along side officials of the GCB. By Zaheer Mohamed Berbice were crowned champions of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Inter County U-15 50-over tournament after defeating Demerara by 31 runs at Wales Community Centre ground, West Bank Demerara. Led by a fine half century from Garfield Benjamin, Berbice scored 160-5 from their allotted overs after they were asked to bat in hazy conditions. Openers Junior Sinclair and Brandon Mangal added 34 before Sinclair was caught and bowled by
medium pacer Alphius Bookie for 19 (2x4). Steady bowling by the host restricted the scoring rate to some extent, but Mangal and skipper Kelvin Anderson inched the score to 61 before Mangal was taken off Pradesh Balkishun for 17. Bengamin joined Anderson and the pair rotated the strike nicely before Balkishun had Anderson caught and bowled for seven at 94-3. Pacer Qumar Torrington sent back Alex Algoo (12), while Bookie accounted for Andre Bissoon (00) to leave
the Berbicians in a some difficulty at 121-5. But Benjamin played with a straight bat and shared in a 37-run seven-wicket stand with Sean Glasgow to beef up the visitors total towards the latter stages of the innings. Benjamin, who was later named man of the match, struck six fours before he was dismissed for a well played 59. Glasgow and Kelvin Omroa were the not out batsmen on 16 and two respectively. Balkishun took 2-20, Bookie 2-32 and Torrington 1-32. Demerara lost opener
Robin Williams (09) with the score on 20, but Adrian Hinds and Balkishun added 39 for the second wicket to put their team on course. However, skipper Anderson provided his team with the breakthrough when he had Balkishun caught for 17 (2x4). Hinds continued to play his shots and shared in a third wicket stand of 24 with the level-headed Bookie. The pair seemed untroubled as they kept the score board ticking. But Berbice stuck a double blow which proved to be the
turning point of the game. Left arm spinner Omroa disturbed the stumps of the left-handed Hinds for 24 (3x4) before Anderson had Bookie caught and bowled for 16 as the host slipped to 89-4. The Berbicians maintained a decent line and length and only Qumar Torrington of the remaining batsmen reached double figures (14*); Demerara lost their last six batsmen for 40 runs as they were bowled out for 129 in 44 overs. Off-spinner Anderson finished with 4-15 while
Navindra Persaud had 2-12, Omroa 2-28 and Nigel Deodat 1-34. At the presentation ceremony, Territorial Development Officer Colin Stuart congratulated the winners, while chairman of the GCB junior selection panel, Nazimul Drepaul urged the players to take the game seriously and said that the players will be selected on the national team based on their performance in the tournament which is one of the main criteria for selection.
Mark Austin collapses moments before his bout with Dexter Gonsalves GBBC President, Peter Abdool, orders investigation Although boxing officials are working assiduously to curtail injury and death in boxing, there is no absolute guarantee that such efforts are sufficient. This reality was forcefully driven home last Saturday evening when local jnr/welterweight pugilist, Mark Austin, was rushed to the Georgetown Hospital after he collapsed in the dressing room less than fifteen minutes before his scheduled bout. It was later discovered that Austin, who was scheduled to face Dexter Gonsalves in an 8 rounds jnr/ welterweight scrap, mysteriously collapsed in the dressing room. Sources revealed that Austin had experienced problems making the required weight one day earlier and swallowed a tablet (we were unable to confirm the exact medication) to assist him in shedding the excessive poundage. When this reporter visited Austin in the dressing room, he was lying with his eyes shut, still feeling the ill effects of his actions while GBBC
Mark Austin Nurse, Patricia Green, who had rushed to his assistance, was engaged in preliminary checks. She said that Austin’s temperature, which should have read around 110/60, had shot up to an alarming 140/ 90. She decided to act immediately and ordered a more thorough evaluation. The stricken boxer was then whisked away to the Public Hospital Georgetown for a more thorough analysis and treatment.
Austin’s coach, George Oprecht, said that he was not a part of the Austin’s decision to take the pill and only learnt of it when his charge complained of feeling unwell before collapsing in the dressing room. He was aghast that something like this could have happened under his watch devoid of his knowledge. When contacted, President of the GBBC, Peter Abdool confirmed knowledge of the incident and said that he has ordered an investigation. He said that several theories have been swirling around, some of them suggesting the use of illicit substance. However, the GBBC boss said that he will desist from listening to those rumours and await a report from the investigating team. Board officials have also withheld Austin’s purse and said that if there is any confirmation of wrong doing, the Board will impose serious sanctions. Kaieteur News will keep tabs on ensuing developments.