Monday February 01, 2016
Kaieteur News
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Letters... Where your views make the news...Letters... Where your views make the news
Questions for Clinton Williams Victim’s cousin says this is a murder not vehicular accident DEAR EDITOR, On Tuesday June 30, 2015, three of the leading dailies in the print media reported with no surprise to many, that senior staffers of a Government entity were clamoring for the removal of Mr. Clinton Williams as their Board Chairman. The news item further stated that Williams in response stated that he was just “a mere rubber stamp”. Is that is management style in all the organization under his remit? On January 9, 2016 Stabroek News carried another article announcing, much to the appreciation of many, that prominent and credible business man Mr. Stanley Ming will succeed Mr. Williams as the chairman of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission board. With this development and the unfolding situation at Guyana National Industrial Company, a company headed by Mr. Williams, it is anticipated that the various subject Minister including Minister of Social Protection will see it fit to examine the tenure of Mr. Williams as chairman of Board of Industrial Training. During the period mentioned above they were several back and forth missives between Mr. Williams and other interesting parties but his attempt at a response on November 20, 2015, to a letter published is sections of media which highlighted some of the issues and failures of the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) under his stewardship has been on my mind ever since.
In his ‘enumeration’ Mr. Clinton Williams was very misleading which borders poor analysis. An Apprenticeship Programme is a four(4) year period of training, hence, the apprenticeship output and certification over the immediate past three(3) years cannot be credited as work achievements Secondly, the 2012 Annual Report for the Ministry of Labour, Human services and Social Security reported that Barama Company was registered to receive and train apprentices. Third, Comparative statistical data from the Ministry also revealed that short- term training programme such as the NTPYE had an output of 2,047 in the year 2010 and 1,476 in 2009. Further, the late Dr. Dale Bisnauth is his capacity as Chairman of BIT, presented Masters’ Registration licenses to Caricom Rice Mills and Demerara Distilleries Ltd. Dr. Bisnauth died in April 2013, at which time the CEO/ Administrator was not the incumbent. Maybe, Mr. Williams can tell the public which ‘four companies were added to the list of approved Masters in the immediate past three years. The records will reveal that Mr. Nowrang Persaud was not part of the interview and selection panel in 2013. The Board members on the panel were Mrs. Rosemarie Terborg Davis, a former lecturer of the University of Guyana, a prominent political activist of the People’s Progressive Party, Mr. Desmond Morian and the former Human Resource
Director of Guysuco, whose name eludes me at this time. So Mr. Williams should desist from mention of the name of Mr. Nowrang Persaud. Mr. Williams should tell the Guyanese people, why as chairman of both the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) council, BIT does not include TVET training, why to date BIT cannot meet the minimum standard set by the Caribbean Technical and Vocational Education and Training council (CTVET), why BIT certificates are not being recognized by many local agencies and what is the status of BIT as it relates to the council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). Can someone in the past government tell us why the daughter of a former Minister was paid large sums of monies for unverifiable services and were given the trainees stipend in lump sum despite complaints from trainees of receiving less stipend. I now ask Mr. Williams if he knows about this. Does Mr. Mr. Williams know why inspectors of the Board of Industrial Training were prohibited from visiting training centers managed by pro-PPP operatives in an effort to verify number of trainees and training quality? Tanniceia Sandiford
DEAR EDITOR, Guyana government pathologist , Dr. Nehaul Singh, performed an autopsy on the body of Curt Burke, who hailed from Drill, Mahaicony, Guyana. Curt was killed on January 27, 2016. His body was discarded in a cluster of bushes a distance from the Drill main road. Dr. Singh found that his injuries are consistent with a large or heavy vehicle running over his body possibly multiple times. The injuries are multiple broken bones, severely damaged organs; all major arteries punctured; smashed brain
and severed limbs. Photographs and reports from the scene showed no blood stains or brain matter on the ground; suggesting that the body was brought to the scene where it was discovered. The findings of the pathologist support our family’s conclusion that Curt appeared to have been murdered and that his body was subsequently dumped in the bushes in vicinity of his home in an attempt to stage an accident. Dr. Sing’s findings render the police’s speculation that this was a hit and run accident,
inexplicable. I’m particularity frustrated that the Commanding Officer of the “C” Division of the Guyana Police Force, Assistant Commissioner of Police Marlon Chapman, who has jurisdiction for this investigation, continues to speculate in the press about this crime being an accident. His assumption is not consistent with the prima facie evidence, which points to premeditated murder. Deliberately running over a human being with a vehicle, which was used as a weapon to inflict serious bodily injury Continued on page 23
Is Zika’s arrival inevitable? DEAR EDITOR, No cases of the Zika virus have surfaced in Guyana yet, but our Government ie, the Ministry of Health, should take steps and measures as a national public health emergency of the threat of the virus, surfacing here. We understand that to date the virus is reported to have spread across more than twenty countries in the Americas. With the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is responsible for spreading Zika, many Guyanese are worrying of its arrival here which may be inevitable. A Zika outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern. Be that as it may the Minister of Health, should be cognizant of this and make known to the public what measures are in place in case its ugly face grace our country
Guyana. There must be fogging, spraying and dissemination of information to the public. The Ministry of Health should be already providing logistical support on the ground in terms of vehicles and in terms of people to assist the vector control department and in putting boots on the ground to knock doorto-door, to assist in fogging and spraying, if it reaches here The Guyanese public also has a part to play in both reducing preventing the population of mosquitoes by covering water barrels, drums or buckets with a tight fitted lid; keeping drains and guttering clean; emptying and scrubbing the sides of water vases; wearing clothing to cover their arms and legs; applying insect repellent to exposed skin; and sleeping under a mosquito net. Rooplall Dudhnath
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Kaieteur News
Monday February 01, 2016
Eight months later…
Little progress made by Coalition govt. to correct Broadcasting legislation In 2012, David Granger, the then Opposition Leader was of the view that the Broadcasting Legislation was riddled with inconsistencies. The inconsistencies, he said, conflicted with freedom of speech and did not provide a wholesome and fair environment for the development for Guyana’s broadcasting sector. He was most passionate about this topic, calling for an immediate reconsideration. However, it has been eight months since Granger’s ascension to office as President and the Broadcasting Legislation remains untouched. In fact, Granger during his address to the Parliament in June, 2015 said that the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill would be tabled to allow greater independence to the National Broadcasting Authority and to ensure standards of fairness, balance and accuracy on matters of public interest. But this is yet to be done and there is no telling when this will be addressed. Only recently a GNBA member was unable to say
President David Granger what the Board’s position is regarding the changes which need to be made to the legislation. He further advised that it is a subject that could be raised at a press conference which will be held soon by the Board. A press statement dated September 25, 2012 from the APNU, noted that ever since the former Government tabled the Broadcasting Bill in Parliament in July 2012, the APNU objected to several aspects of the legislation. Apart from the major reservations which were
expressed by many entities, the APNU had said that note should be taken of the objectionable haste with which the Jagdeo administration passed the Bill, through all its stages in the National Assembly, without the participation of the Parliamentary Opposition Parties, in the midst of the Parliamentary Recess, just a few months before the 2011 November Elections. It said that the legislation itself contained several provisions that clearly were intended to grant the then PPP government the power to dictate who are entitled to a license and what content they can broadcast. The APNU, which is headed by President Granger had said that the critical problems with the Broadcasting Act No 17 of 2011 can be grouped under several headings: the formula to compose the Board of the GNBA, the powers granted to the subject Minister to instruct licensees, the role of the NFMU and the excessive conditions imposed on content, many of which it said, violate the principles of freedom of expression. In the 2012 press release, it said that when it comes to the composition of the Board
of GNBA, the 6 to 1 formula has been universally condemned. The APNU said that the formula violates the basic sense of fairness of the Guyanese people. “Significantly, it also discards, in typical style, the agreement reached in the 2001 Hoyte to Jagdeo Bi-Partisan Committee on Broadcasting and State Media Boards. The formula agreed to in that committee is that commissioners of the authority are to be, ‘selected by the Standing Parliamentary Committee on Appointments and appointed by the President’.” The PNC further noted that the Chairperson of the GNBA is to be elected by the Board at its first meeting. With regard to the powers granted to the subject Minister, the APNU said that the former Government had objected to two provisions in the legislation: Clauses 37 (1) and (3) which give the Minister unfettered powers to direct broadcasters by notice from the GNBA “where it appears to be necessary or expedient” to broadcast specified announcements and to “refrain from including in the programmes, any matter or class of matters specified in the notice.”
GNBA Head, Leonard Craig It had even said that while it understands the need for Government to issue public statements through the media in times of national emergencies, the power of the Minister to instruct broadcasters what to broadcast and what not to broadcast must be carefully and properly circumscribed. The PNC had also ventilated its objection to provisions such as 16 (1) and (3) of the Act which place the subject Minister between the National Assembly and the GNBA. It professed that the GNBA should report directly to the National Assembly and that it should have access to funds for its operations directly from the Consolidated Funds. As for the role of the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU), the coalition party had said that it supports stronger inclusion of provisions in the Act to prevent the NFMU from possibly abusing its role for the allocation of
frequencies. It had said that NFMU must be compelled by law to allocate frequencies in a transparent and objective manner. With regard to the violations of freedom of expression, it had said that the excessive conditions and obligations imposed on broadcasters with regards to program content actually and potentially violate their freedom of expression. As one example, it cited Clause 32 (1) of the Act which states, “all programmes should be fair and balanced in content and show a respect for truth in ways that do not under-represent any significant strand of thought, and that accuracy is founded on a commitment to check, cross-check and double check and, wherever possible, to gather first-hand information from credible documentation, or official spokespersons of fully attributable eyewitnessed sources.” It was this very coalition party which said that it supports responsible journalism, but stressed that to impose these ideals as a precondition, stands in violation of a person’s right to express himself freely. It had said, “APNU fully endorses the growing call for fairness, impartiality and predictability in the execution of broadcasting legislation in Guyana. This can only be achieved by a properly revised broadcasting law and a suitably constituted and autonomous broadcasting authority.”
Monday February 01, 2016
Kaieteur News
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CAMERON, TUSK FAIL TO STRIKE DEAL ON BRITISH REFORM DEMANDS
Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron, right, greets European Council president, Donald Tusk, at his official London residence, 10 Downing Street, ahead of crunch talks, yesterday. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)
LONDON (AP) — European Council President Donald Tusk and British Prime Minister David Cameron failed yesterday to strike a deal aimed at keeping the U.K. in the EU — but agreed to extend talks between the two sides for another day. Both sides had hoped the dinner meeting would close the gap over Britain’s demand for more control over immigration. But Tusk emerged from 10 Downing St. and told reporters there was “no deal.” Cameron tweeted that it had been a “good meeting” and said late yesterday the two men had agreed on “another 24 hours of talks” before proposals were published. Before the meeting, Tusk had said that if the two men reached an agreement, he would present a draft text to the 27 other EU member states today. After the two politicians failed to resolve their disagreements over a distinctively British dinner of smoked salmon, fillet of beef and fruit crumble, Tusk
tweeted that “intensive work” over the next day would be crucial. Britain and the EU have been hoping to reach a final pact at a Feb. 18-19 summit — an increasingly unlikely prospect unless there is quick progress. Welfare benefits have become the key issue, and main sticking point, in Britain’s negotiations with the rest of the EU before a U.K. referendum on whether to remain in the bloc. The referendum must be held by next year and could come as early as June. Cameron wants to limit British welfare benefits to migrants from other EU countries — but other EU leaders say that undermines the right of EU citizens to work and live freely among member nations. Britain’s Conservative government says hundreds of thousands of people from Eastern Europe who have flocked to the U.K. are straining schools, hospitals and social services. On Friday, top EU officials offered Britain a mechanism
known as an “emergency brake” that would let the U.K. temporarily limit tax credits — given to workers in low-paid jobs — and housing benefit to immigrants if the country’s welfare system comes under pressure. The proposal could satisfy Britain’s goal of regaining some control over immigration and other countries’ desire to maintain the principle of free movement. Cameron said the proposal was positive, but didn’t go far enough. Britain wants the “emergency brake” to take effect immediately after a British vote to stay in
the EU, and last for as long as it takes to reduce the level of migration. Cameron’s initial proposal was for a four-year halt on benefits to new EU immigrants. Cameron’s office said Sunday that the meeting with Tusk had made progress on that key issue, but “there is still more hard work required.” Britain also wants more power ceded from Brussels to national parliaments, exemption from the EU’s commitment to “ever-closer union,” a reduction in EU red tape and protection for the nine EU countries, including Britain, that do not use the euro single currency.
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Kaieteur News
Monday February 01, 2016
Monday February 01, 2016
Kaieteur News
Page 9
THE BEST BUDGET EVER The estimates of revenue and expenditure tabled in the National Assembly for 2016 should be passed without debate. There is nothing to debate. This year’s Budget is the
best ever in the history of Guyana. Here are ten reasons why. 1. It was the shortest Budget speech ever. There was no need for fluff. There was no need to oversell the
measures contained within the Budget. It was short and sweet. 2. Old people run things. This year’s Budget was an old person’s dream come through. Imagine the savings
Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi authorities have arrested nine American citizens among 33 “terror” suspects rounded up over the past week, the Saudi Gazette newspaper reported Sunday. Four Americans were arrested last Monday and five others over the past four days, the paper reported, citing an unidentified source. Washington, a strong ally of Riyadh, confirmed it was aware of the report but declined to elaborate. A US State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP: “We are aware of reports alleging that several US citizens were detained in Saudi Arabia. “The Department of State takes its obligation to assist US citizens abroad seriously. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.” The Saudi Gazette said the arrests also included 14 Saudis, three Yemenis, two Syrians, an Indonesian, a Filipino, an Emirati, a Kazakhstan national and a Palestinian. It did not say if any of the “terror suspects” was linked to the Islamic State jihadist
group, which has claimed several deadly attacks against security forces and Shiites in the kingdom since last year. On Friday, a suicide bomber attacked a Shiite mosque in Eastern Province, killing four people before worshippers disarmed and tied up his accomplice who had fired on them. IS, a radical Sunni group that considers Shiites heretics, did not claim that attack. The Saudi Gazette said some 532 IS suspects accused of plotting attacks in the kingdom are being questioned ahead of their trial at the criminal court in Riyadh. They are members of six cells arrested in “pre-emptive” raids across the kingdom and include a Saudi woman and a
Filipina, the paper said. Also on Sunday, the interior ministry said they were searching for nine suspects allegedly involved in an August suicide bombing that targeted a mosque inside a police headquarters, killing 15 people. IS had claimed the attack in the southern city of Abha. The ministry said in a statement that three other suspects, including a member of the kingdom’s special forces, had been arrested in connection with the Abha mosque bombing. The oil-rich kingdom offered rewards of between one million riyals ($276,000) and seven million riyals ($1.87 million) for anyone who helps in the arrest of a suspect or thwarts an attack.
Saudi police arrest 9 American ‘terror’ suspects
A mini health check is the first step to donating blood.
that desperate old men and women will have. When they go to the airport, after spending hundreds of thousands on a plane ticket, they will not have to be further burdened by paying the departure tax. This will save them $2500 every time they travel. All the old people who living in America and Canada will now want to come home for holiday. They also will save an additional $800 per year by not having to pay to renew their driver’s licence. On top of that they are obtaining a massive $40 per day in pension. Things looking up for old people especially since these old fogies are being rehired en masse in government offices. 3. Retro- fitting of cars. All the vehicles presently on the roads will soon sport new tyres rather than the old used tyres which were a safety risk. 4. New cars instead of old new cars will soon be rolling on our roads. All the vehicles on our roads will be new vehicles. This marks the end of old tyres and reconditioned cars. This will also mean that in a
few years, fewer vehicles will be on our roads because not everyone can afford to buy a new car. Guyana is preparing itself for the petro dollars. 5. The threshold has been increased by a $5000. On top of this, the 50% increase coming, after negotiations with the unions. The Ministers already earned their 50% and it is now time for the ordinary Public Servants to earn theirs. 6. Vat decrease deferred. With all the increases due to be paid, the anticipated reduction in the VAT was put on hold. The government cannot afford any more reduction in the cost of living. The government is already losing hundreds of billions by that $20 per liter reduction in the price of petrol. This is a good move because there will be no revenue shortfall this year. 7. Electricity tariff reduction has also been put on hold. This will encourage businesses to reduce the high wastage of energy that is presently taking place. Brilliant move! 8. Completing PPP projects. Most of the incomplete PPP projects such
as the widening of Sheriff Street and the construction of the Del Conte Road will commence. The mess that the PPP left is being cleaned up. 9. Back to the old days. In the old days if you wanted to go on a holiday you had to get a tax clearance. Today if you want to renew your driver’s license you have to get your tax clearance. The burden is now on you to prove that you have paid your taxes rather than on the Guyana Revenue Authority to ensure that you do. This is good news also. 10. Licence fees increase. This is long overdue. These fees are too low. The increase in the fees on firearms will discourage persons from wanting to own weapons. As a result there will fewer weapons in society. The bandits will have fewer firearms to steal and this will reduce crime. Congratulations on the Best Budget ever! Now on to celebrate the $300M set aside for Independence.
Monday February 01, 2016
Kaieteur News
Relatives of murder victims voice strong objections to release of condemned killers
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Finalists selected for Assured Services Career Day competition
“That was a merciless act he did. My father begged him but instead, he chopped my father’s head off. He did not show my father any mercy, now he wants mercy?” Imagine losing your daughter or niece in a brutal rape/murder and then those who are responsible for seeing that justice is served are contemplating setting her killer(s) free. That’s the dilemma facing the relatives of Roshana Kassim, an 18 year old Sheet Anchor, East Canje girl, who was brutally murdered on September 18th, 31 years ago. Those guilty of murdering her, Shireen Khan, Muntaz Ali and Terrence Sahadeo were condemned to die by hanging, much to the satisfaction of the victim’s family. But a constitutional challenge led to a lengthy delay in carrying out the sentence and this later resulted on the death penalty being commuted to a life sentence. One of the condemned, Shireen Khan has since died in prison, but recently, her two co-accused through their Attorneys, have been making moves for them to be released from prison. In fact, the Parole Board met recently to consider their application for release. For the family of Roshanna Kassim is maintaining that since the convicted were condemned to hang and they managed to bypass that, they should not even be considered for release but should spend the rest of their lives away from society. After reading that the Parole Board is considering the convicts’ application to be released, one of the murdered teenager’s bereaved relatives Zalina Deen wrote to this newspaper expressing her opposition to any possible freeing of her niece’s two remaining killers. “It was brought to Roshana’s family’s attention that her killers are seeking release. Should such a pardon be given, Roshana would have been betrayed. Betrayal is a strong word to use without facts to give its use any substance. It is with tremendous distress that the family of Roshana use this
word when it was made known that these vicious individuals are even being considered for release,” Deen wrote. She is even more worried that the Parole Board might rule in favour of the men, since at the time of their convictions Roshana Kassim’s killers were represented by Khemraj Ramjattan, the current Second Vice President and Minister of Public Security. The Minister did indicate that he has the final say in such matters, and he will not be bound by the decision of the Parole Board. “I have the power under the Parole Board Act. I have to grant the licence for their release. But I am not bound by the Board’s recommendations. Who I feel in the public’s interest should not be released, I will not release them,” Minister Ramjattan declared. The relatives of the murdered woman have been advised to write to the Parole Board, voicing their objections to the convicts’ application for release. “Betrayal to Roshana is what will occur should her killers be freed if the government turns away from the facts of this brutal rape and murder of a young aspiring girl, a daughter and sister. Those with the power and the capacity to represent the victims of vicious crimes, namely our prosecutors, our Justices, the entire judicial department are the entities that families rely on to have justice served for the loss of their loved ones,” the dead teen’s aunt stated. Roshana Kassim was a teenager who was violently raped and killed in a robbery at her home. Her throat was cruelly slit and she was strangled with her beautiful hip-length hair and discarded under a suitcase by her killers. After Roshana’s death her entire family anguished and grieved in disbelief. The family was further plunged into greater pain Continued on page 12
The selected finalists of the 11-13 years category pose for a photo following the completion of the preliminary phase. Ten contestants and a wild card were selected to contest the finals of the Assured Services Children Career Day Competition for students attached to Secondary Schools across the country. The preliminary phase of the competition was held on Thursday and Friday at the Girl Guides Pavilion on Brickdam where students were engaged in a competition designed to prepare them for the challenges that may be encountered in the professional world. Manager of Assured Services, Natheeah KingMendonca, said that the purpose of the initiative is for the participants to obtain better understanding of the changes that impact the local, regional and global economies, especially when it comes to the labour market, adding that another important feature is the introduction of various occupations and at the same time guide their thinking towards decision making for future careers. Assured Services is a small business company that provides professional business services in the areas
of Marketing, Public Relations, Data Entry, Research & Analysis and Graphic Designs. According to her, the competition between the participants was fierce. In her opinion all those who participated in the event will leave with a much better understanding of how the professional world of work operates and most likely are equipped to adapt to its changes. The Finals will be held on February 5, at the Theatre Guild in Kingston, starting from 09:30 hrs. It will be rebroadcast on the Learning Channel. Among the corporate entities on board are Ansa McAl, Unicomer Guyana Inc, Ministry of Education, New India Assurance and Sterling Products. Meanwhile, the finalists are: Category 1 (11-13 age group) Latoya Dasilva, Actress – St. Joseph High School; Shadiamond Assanah,
Paediatrician- Brickdam Secondary School; Ravina Naraine, Social Studies TeacherKingston Secondary School; Emely Jagassar, Teacher - Hope Secondary School; Faraaz Alli, Mechanical EngineerBeterverwagting Secondary PIC; Mandy Peters, Paediatrician - Kwakwani Secondary School; Mythily Dilchand, Social WorkerWest Demerara Secondary School; Brandon Seepersaud, General Surgeon – Bishop’s High; Tagepaul Sooknanan, Farmer – Zeeburg Secondary; Patrick Thompson, Neurosurgeon – New Guyana School; Wild Card Performance from the preliminary to the final – Akiema Boodram, Police Officer - Sophia Special School. Category 2 (14-16 age
group) Mia Rodriques, Paediatrician– Mae’s Secondary; Emmanuel Simpson, Astronomer – North Georgetown Secondary; Hannah Meusa, Teacher – Kwakwani Secondary School; Seanice Moonsammy, Teacher – St. Joseph High; Richard Bhainie, Politician – The Bishop’s High School; Teneisha Thompson, Cardiologist – Brickdam Secondary School; Shania Boston, Nutritionist- West Demerara Secondary School; Shamal Khan, Aeronautical Engineer – New Guyana Secondary; Anita McGarrel, Nutritionist–Uitvlugt Secondary School; Wild Card Performance from the preliminary to the final – Kezia Moore, Agronomist Plaisance Secondary.
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Kaieteur News
$24.6B allocated to develop and modernise security sector
The Guyana Police Force will receive substantial funding this year The 2016 National Budget has proposed an allocation of $24.6B for the security sector towards its developmental and modernisation programme. The sum of $21.1B was allocated to the sector in 2015. Minister of Finance Winston Jordan, during his presentation of the $230B budget in the National Assembly, yesterday noted that government recognised that the sector needed boosting in order to fend off internal and external aggression. The Finance Minister explained that security is close to the Coalition Government’s
heart. “We committed unreservedly to implement policies to secure our citizens from the threat of national and transnational crime, violence and disorder,” said Minister Jordan. The Minister mentioned the US$15M Citizen Security Strengthening Programme which was recently launched as one of the initiatives that will aid in the crime fight. The CSSP is expected to reduce crime through preventive strategies with institutional strengthening activities. The programme will be focusing specifically on boosting the effectiveness of the police force, the level of
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repeat offenders and violence among youths in communities. “The CSSP activities will focus on skills training to improve community engagement, as well as systems strengthening in order to more pro-actively prevent and investigate crime and violence,” Minister Jordan stated. With the CSSP, crime prevention actions will target 20 communities. Minister Jordan noted that government will be placing emphasis on curbing the bad habits in the identified communities. High on the prevention list are homicide, burglary, robbery and domestic violence. In addition, emphasis will be placed on rebuilding citizens’ trust in Guyana’s law enforcement officers. (GINA)
Monday February 01, 2016
Youth unemployment to be tackled - as 2016 budget allocates funds Finance Minister Winston Jordan today told the National Assembly that government recognises youths as “assets”, and hence, the 2016 National Budget caters for education and job creation for this category of citizens. During his presentation of the National Budget, he said the National Youth Policy has been completed, and preparatory work has commenced on the National Youth Empowerment Action Plan. With the high employment rate among youths, the Minister gave a snippet of what the government initiatives are meant to realise. “We intend to develop youth who are creative, industrious, skilled, ambitious and qualified to fulfill career and vocational aspirations while enjoying their youth.” The Minister pointed out that in tackling unemployment, education training and job creation must be taken into consideration. According to Minister Jordan, substantial funds are allotted to deal with youth unemployment as there are “resources for training at both the technical and vocational levels and in youth
entrepreneurship.” Minister Jordan noted that youth consultants from all the regions explained that youths are ill equipped and unemployed. Therefore, “We will work to establish a more permanent funding structure for entrepreneurship and microlending for persons under 30, as a special Youth Investment Fund.” Further, Minister Jordan noted that apart from unemployment, the policy addresses health, sport and
culture. “It is believed that Guyana’s youth population needs a healthy and safe environment in which to develop their sport and cultural skills,” the Minister explained. The youth policy details the vision of the Government for youths, and also how this vision will be realised. The policy caters to the needs of youths aged 15 to 35 years, which constitutes over 50 percent of Guyana’s population. (GINA)
Relatives of murder victims’ voice... From page 11 when her father Khalil Kassim, unable to bear the loss of his daughter, died and was soon after followed by the death of her mother. Roshana’s sister has vowed never to return to Guyana because of the emptiness and memories surrounding her death. “Her brothers suffer daily torture with the loss and fracture of their family—all due to the malicious, intentional, vulgar, brutal nature of the “convicted killers Muntaz Ali, Terrence Sahadeo and Shireen Khan,” Deen wrote. “We appeal to the Hon. President Granger not to BETRAY ROSHANA KASSIM and pardon her killers. We appeal to Hon. President Granger to not BETRAY Khalil Kassim in pardoning the killers of his daughter. We appeal on behalf of Roshana’s sister and brothers, cousins and friends for our Hon. President
Granger to allow justice to be served for the death of this young defenceless girl and let her killers spend the rest of their natural lives in prison.” Several relatives of murder victims have been publicly expressing their objections to the consideration of release for convicted killers, who would have already served life sentences after their death penalties were commuted. The relatives of the victims wanted death for the people who brought death to them. These relatives always say that the system does not take their grief into consideration; that the relatives of the victim must bear their grief alone because they do not have rights. The relatives of Raphael Seecharran are also objecting to the release of convicted killer Lawrence Chan who has also made an application to the Parole Board. Seecharran, along with a 15 year old Venezuelan boy
were brutally murdered on January 11, 1991 by Chan in the Port Kaituma River, North West District. Chan who went into hiding after the murder was subsequently captured and later convicted in 1995. The killing of one of the victims was said to be as cruel as anything could be. Seecharran’s son John is adamant that Chan should receive no mercy since he showed no mercy to his victims. “That was a merciless act he did. My father begged him but instead, he (Chan) chopped my father’s head off. He did not show my father any mercy, now he wants mercy?” John Seecharran said. Any release of death row inmates is bound to spark public controversy, especially if one was to judge from the reaction to former President Donald Ramotar’s pardoning of convicted killer Ravindra Deo, shortly before he was ousted from office. Then there were voices raised after President David Granger pardoned several persons convicted for “petty crimes”. It will also raise eyebrows since there have been renewed calls for the death penalty to be reintroduced to combat the increase in violent murders.
Monday February 01, 2016
Kaieteur News
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AMONG THE BELIEVERS I don’t believe in all these internet conspiracy theories. I think they were put there by aliens to confuse us. Let’s face it, since the dawn of time we humans have demonstrated the ability to conspire and speculate simultaneously. There are no secrets in the Caribbean. We know things before they happen and we have theories to fit any event, regardless of how bizarre it is. In our culture, revelation comes before genesis, rumour before and after gossip, and the answers invariably before the questions. In fact, I started a conspiracy theory about missing flight MH370. It didn’t really take off. Wikipedia says that there are many unproven conspiracy theories of varying degrees of popularity, frequently related but not limited to clandestine government plans, elaborate murder plots, suppression of secret technology and knowledge, and other supposed schemes behind certain political, cultural, and historical events. Jews have been an early target. In medieval Europe it was
Consumer Concerns Pat Dial From time to time consumers have approached the Guyana Consumers Association asking our advice as to what are the better cosmetics or even shaving lotions. Except when we have specific complaints, we have avoided making any general comprehensive statement on cosmetics because such products are very personalized and individual. Our Committee now feels that we must make a comment on the issue. Women, throughout History and in every Civilization, have evinced an atavistic desire to be clean, well-groomed, distinctive and beautiful and have used “cosmetics” to help in this process. The use of modern cosmetics, as we know them today, begun with the ladies in the Courts of the French Kings of the 17th and 18th centuries and from there, spread to all classes. In the 20th century, this was reinforced by Hollywood which employed many cosmeticians in the film industry. Max Factor, for example, served Hollywood before venturing into the wider national and international markets. In Guyana, the most
widely believed that Jews poisoned wells, had murdered Jesus Christ and consumed the blood of Christians in their rituals. They and the Freemasons have got together to take over the world. Now they own Wall Street, the Federal Reserve Bank, Hollywood and the news media. Worse yet, the Holocaust under Hitler never happened. Like the moon landing it was a hoax arising out of a conspiracy to advance the interests of Jews at the expense of other people and to justify the creation of the State of Israel. One skeptical comedian quipped, “I just met a pop music conspiracy theorist. Apparently the moonwalk was faked.” No doubt Michael Jackson and Elvis are in a hidden bunker somewhere working on a new song-and-dance routine, which is exactly what conspiracy theorists do when anything happens. On July 20th 2009, Time Magazine had a special article which was introduced with the words, “On the 40th anniversary of the moon landing — or was it just a
sinister hoax? — TIME looks at 10 of the world’s most enduring conspiracy theories.” In the article Time described the top ten conspiracy theories including the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the 9/11 cover up, Area 51 and the Aliens, Secret Societies controlling the world, the moon landings being faked as was the whole hullaballoo about Jesus and Mary Magdalene, the Holocaust as a myth, the CIA developing AIDS as a weapon to use against Africa, and the conviction that the world is ruled by a reptilian elite which included comedian Bob Hope and other powerful people. When it comes to conspiracy theories, there are some people who follow a dose of realism with cold water or sparkling wit. Sir Oswald Mosley, a British politician and the founder of the British Union of Fascists, declared, “Anyone who knows how difficult it is to keep a secret among three men - particularly if they are married - knows how absurd is the idea of a worldwide secret conspiracy consciously controlling all mankind by its financial
power.” American author and journalist, Matt Taibbi, there is something out there, “Conspiracy theorists of the world, believers in the hidden hands of the Rothschilds and the Masons and the Illuminati, we skeptics owe you an apology. You were right. The players may be a little different, but your basic premise is correct: The world is a rigged game.” I like the comedian who said, “The anniversary of 9/11 approaches and I don’t usually buy into conspiracy theories, but did you spot that if you add 9 and 11 you get 20. And that is curiously the average IQ of an American.” Some people will say that even if you’re paranoid it does not mean that “they” are not out to get you. The Independent newspaper identified seven conspiracy theories that turned out to be true including the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment (giving 400 black men syphilis); Project MK-ULTA (giving unwitting human subjects drugs as a form of mind control and subjecting them to electroshock therapy, hypnosis, subliminal persuasion and isolation
techniques); Operation Paperclip (Nazi scientists brought to America to develop chemical weapons including LSD); the “Nayirah” Conspiracy (false claim by the daughter of the Kuwaiti Ambassador that helped to start the first Gulf War about Iraqi soldiers removing babies from incubators and leaving them to die); Hillsborough (police cover-up of the death of 96 Liverpool football fans); Prohibition (US government deliberately poisoning alcohol) and a combination of several dealing with Castro including attacking Caribbean countries and blaming Cuba. A few days ago, I heard that when Sunil Narine, the cricketer, was banned for “chucking”, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) big-shots were elated because it meant he had to come to them, cap-in-hand, for help and they were going to spite him by changing the regulations which allowed him to continue playing
league cricket in Trinidad. It was supposedly part of a bigger conspiracy started by the Chennai Club in India and supported by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to help settle the $49 million claim made by the Indians against the WICB and to keep Clive Lloyd from having to explain how a Barbados team with nine test players could be so soundly defeated by a second-string Trinidad team that had only two. My only reaction was to remember what John Ridley, the American screenwriter (12 Years A Slave) advised, “I try not to belittle the thought process of the conspiracy theorists. As a cocktail waitress in Vegas once schooled me: never get down on anybody else’s hustle.” *Tony Deyal was last seen saying that several of his friends believe that his obsession with conspiracy theories is getting out of control. He wonders how much money the WICB and TTCB are paying them.
Use beauty aids and cosmetics wisely common cosmetics used are hair-dyes and hairstraighteners, skin lotions and creams of many kinds, even skin-lighteners, lipsticks and nail polishes of many hues and eye-shadows and of course, there were always perfumes. To keep their bodies shapely and healthy many women now engage in controlling their diet and indulge in regimes of physical exercises, Yoga being the most popular and effective. Cosmetics have always changed or adjusted to the changing concepts of beauty. Two or three generations ago, cosmetics were largely of the nature of masks. Lipsticks and nail-polishes were all red or scarlet and rouges were very common. Hairstyles were also elaborate and were used, among other reasons, to create the illusion of oval faces, then regarded as the ideal shape of the feminine face. Today, the “natural look” holds sway and this is assisted by emphasizing certain strong and desirable traits of the female physiognomy. For example, a face which may have been once regarded in the past as indifferent is now metamorphosed into a striking one by emphasizing distinctive eyes or other particular features such as mouth or forehead.
Elaborate hairstylings have been succeeded by having the hair hanging down loosely towards the neck or shoulder or by the stylized disheveled-look. These hair-styles were first popularized by the French actress, Bridget Bardot, over a generation ago. In the Guyana cosmetic market, there is a large number of products produced by a variety of producers, some of them from Asia. The cosmetics on offer by the reputable stores tend to be middle-of-the-line. The expensive top-of-the-line products from such companies as Chanel or Balenciaga are not very common. Not all cosmetics on the market are safe and it is wise not to go for the cheap ones. For example, some of the very cheap lipsticks peel the very thin upper skin of the lip after
a few usages, leaving the lip looking raw or whitish. The cheap hair straighteners could damage the scalp leading to loss of hair. Not all cheap toilet powders are healthy and could sometimes lead to itchy skins or even skin rashes. In buying cosmetics, one should be careful to check where the product is made for there are a large number of forgeries of the major brand-names sold on the local market. Almost all these forgeries come from East Asia. Before we conclude this offering, it is apposite to say a word about perfumes. Perfumes are one of the oldest cosmetics used by both men and women. In the East, perfumes tend to be oilbased while in the West, they are alcohol-based. The odours of very cheap perfumes disappear in a few minutes and many of them
Man in controversial... (From page 13) convinced otherwise. Sanjay Persaud of Sanjay’s Jewellery, told this newspaper last night that after the doctored video was posted online, his nephew began to feel embarrassed and became afraid when racial and threatening comments were posted. The businessman said that relatives had asked the person who posted it to remove the video but he refused. “If my nephew dies, I think the person responsible should be charged for posting the video, or I will personally take legal action,” Sanjay Persaud told this newspaper.
end up by having the smell of food essences. It is always safe to buy at least middleof-the line perfumes though the better investment would be in top-of-the-line products. And top-of-the-line products seem never to go completely out of fashion. Whenever they are used they always remain distinctive. For example, at functions or occasions attended by affluent ladies. Most may use top-of-the-line brands of perfume like Chanel #5 but yet there is no sameness or lack of distinctiveness among them. This is due to the fact, as a French perfumier explained to us, that individual body odours and personality
become synthesized with the perfume. At risk of this article being longer than permitted, we would like to enjoin ladies to always strive after the “natural look”. Nature, in its wisdom, has decked Man and other living things in colours reflective of their climate and general ecology. For instance, it is characteristic of those living in the colder northern climates to have light or blond hair and those in equatorial and tropical zones to have dark hair. For someone with a brown or fairly dark complexion to dye one’s hair in a deep sparkling blond may look incongruous. (GRA’semail:patdial26@gmail.com)
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Kaieteur News
VACANCY Cook/baker and truck driver for the Interior location, applicants must be experienced. Call: 618-2020
SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. – CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 Visa Application: U.S.A, Canada & UK; Guyana passport application. Graphics design, advertisement. Tel: 626-7040; 265-4535. Repairs at low cost: Fridges, air- conditioners, washing machines, TVs, microwaves, freezersCall:629-4946 or 225-4822 Building Contractor: drawing of house plan, general home maintenance, free estimatesCall: 216-0671; 692-0267; 6928464 INNOVATIVEMARKETING & PUBLISHING INC –TEL: 600-4212: We create A/ works, logos, business cards, posters, etc, placements of ads included.
WANTED One experienced cummings mechanic to work in the interior. Call: 678-0565 2 Male cleaners- Apply at Technical Services Inc, 18-23 Industrial Site, Eccles. E.B.D Merchandiser. Call: 231-6256 for more details. One salesgirl and boy to work in shop, text your information to: 617-7823 Snackette attendant. Call: 609-0794 Wanted land to buy at Parfaite, Tuschen, Providence, Diamond, Eccles, Uitvlugt, best price pay-call: 604-6724 One live in maid-Call: 6683985; 264-2563 One live domestic must know to cook, salary-$70,000$80,000 monthly - Call: 6103974 Carpenters and mason. Call: 602-9469; 668-9863 One experienced dispatcher. Call: 231-4000
TAXI SERVICES GR TAXI SERVICE. CALL: 219-5000; 227-1982 & 225-7878 (24HRS)
Staff for plant shop: literate, hardworking, pleasant, team player 18-28 years. Plant knowledge an advantage. Tel: 648-1821 Experienced cake decorator, roti/puri cooks, counter servers. Apply at Hack’s Halaal, 5 Commerce St. 1 Mechanic welder to work in the interior, interested persons can call 625-5136 on Mon-Fri between 8am-4pm.
PEN PAL Overseas male is seeking female 29yrs up – professionally employed. Call: 671-6591(No texting!)
Live in home aid needed in Peters Hall: 1 week on, 1week off, must be 45plus- $13,000Call: 667-2535 5 Years and older, experienced truck driver (sand pit). Contact: 626-8003
MASSAGE Happy Touch Day Spa: come & experienced heavens touch, visit us today! –Call: 690-6079 The Gent’s Spa: deep tissue & 4 (four) hands massage: Angel, Tiffany and Alicia. Call: 689-5056 WANTED One experience fish processing plant supervisor and fish processing workers. Attractive salary Contact 697-5221; 225-8645
Salesgirls, porters and security guard. Apply with written application at Lot 1E Dennis & Middleton Street, Campbellville. 1 Bond clerk to work in factory from age 25 & older; must have working experience & a valid police clearance. Call: 223-0090 Live in waitress must have secondary education, courteousness & honesty is a must. Call: 610-5043 Experienced washbay attendants, living in Georgetown. Call: 646-8748 1 Able body male- porter/ clerk- Call: 225-2313; 226-1497
1 Driver- apply at Technical Services; 18-23 Industrial Site, Eccles. 1 Professional nail technician to work at new spa- Call: 6967337 for details. Male security, male desk staff, room attendants, between ages 25-45yrs @233 South Road, Lacytown- Call: 2250198 Senior accounts clerk; apply in person at Alabama Trading Geogetown, Ferry Stelling. One experienced room maid. Call or text Sheik on 621-9759 or Donald: 673-4628 Security Officers; apply in person. Massey Security (Guyana) Inc, Lot 0 Ruimveldt, Georgetown. Call: 225-5773-6 Internal Security: must be literate, 3 years’ experience, A valid police clearance -Tel# :227-5195 Hairdressers, nail technician, barbers, also hair & nail stations available for rental location: New Market StreetCall: 638-1106 Popular East Coast Gas Station: day/night: pump attendants, sales clerk & office assistant. Contact: 6694755; 695-9880, Non-Pareil Drivers/Salesman to sell bakery products- Call: 2541399; 627-2515 Girls to sew with heavy duty sewing machine, apply at R.Sookraj & Son’s, Regent St.
Monday February 01, 2016
SALON - Make-up Courses with Mac, Bare Minerals and Black Opal - Cosmetology Courses - Nail Technician Course Call: 647-1773/660-5257 Earn a Certificate in cosmetology, nails, wig designs & hair cutting etc. Classes commencing February! Register Now! Call: 666-5241; 619-7603
LAND FOR SALE ONE 50FTX80FT HOUSELOT WITH FENCE @ MON REPOS (MARTYRSVILLE) E.C.D, PRICE -$3.9M NEGOTIABLE. CALL: 2200538/645-2395 (JOEL)/ 629-5300 Double lot 9950 Sq. Ft @ Republic Gardens, price $25M (negotiable). Call: 6247686 Gold & Diamond blocks for sale or rent in the Ekereku, Puruni & Siparuni area. Call: 615-8810 Turkeyen:transported 246’X28’. Call: 609-0794 Parfaite Harmonie -$ 1.6M, 1.8M, $1.5M, 1.3M, Tuschen 11 street -$3M with foundation, Phase 2 – $1.4M, Providence -$3.5M, terms available – Call: 604-6724
Noah & Voxy in ‘G’ series, fully loaded, never registered -$1.7M –Call: 617-2891 Isuzu Truck 2.5 ton GNN 6385, New Model 1-212 Toyota Motor Car, PLL 739. Call: 639-6839 Sliver Nissan Murano, late PNN series- $6M –Call: 6815548 or 695-5701 RAV4 2001, 91000km, crash bar & roof rack -$3M negotiable- Call: 216-1893 2 HB Allion for sale, “as is, where is”, best offer. Call: 6902250 Black Toyota Celica 2002; 2 door sports car, immaculate condition- Call: 614-8870; 222-2431 Greene 4 door LHD 96-97 model, 3 litre, 3VZ 4X4, asking -$1.6M or $8000USD. Good condition- call: 657-6063
To y o t a R a u m , S p a c i o , AT192, Allion, L-Touring Wagon, EP71-starlet, IST, Nissan March & Pickup 4X4 (4door). Call: 6445096; 697-1453
Local & International e m p l o y m e n t : www.jobfairworldwide.com. Call: 233-6517/622-1957/6380595 between the hours of 9am-5pm Mon –Sat.
Two house & land for sale, excellent condition, one located at Tuschen & one at Goed-Fortuin. Call: 668-3985; 660-3235
We buy & sell vehicles for cash, also parts available & 30 seater buses; Extra Cab pickups; 2006 Tacoma- Call: 680-3154 1-Volvo Crane & dump truck -$3M- Call: 619-0898
AT192, 212, Allion, unregistered Premio, Hilux Surf, BNN, RZ & Pit-bull, 7 seater super custom. Cash / terms - Call:680-3154
1 Male junior Accounts clerk, computer literate & passes in Maths & English. Bring application @ Mike’s Pharmacy, Bel-Air.
Diamond 4 Bedrooms house, marble tiles, granite countertop, telephone, electricity & water - $15M negotiable –Call: 601-0889/ 680-0920
Honda Accord, 2003, leather, TV, DVD, radio, 35,000km, like new, price negotiableCall: 689-1194
1-TM 4-wheel drive truck with crane -$3M, 1-TL 500 truck crane -$2M- Call: 619-0898
Electrical Technicians to fix dryer & washing machineCall: 223-6147
Experienced: female bar/shop worker & handyman for Ekereku Bottom (Interior), ages 17-30yrs. Call: 231-0363 PROPERTY FOR SALE
VEHICLE FOR SALE STAR CARS AUTO SALE: 30-06 PREMIO, 03-07 FIELDER, NEW RAUM, IST, BLUEBIRD, AXELA, PITBULL. CALL: 679-3140; 268-3509 Noah & Voxy: unregistered & fully loaded -$1.7M (black, white & silver). Call: 603-9700
1- Toyota Surf with 3RZ engine -$2.9, 1-double cab pick-up -$1M. Call: 619-0898
TO LET One- two bedroom upper back apartment @ C/Ville $55,000 –Call: 223-1051; 6195357; 650-0716 1-Furnished two flat bedrooms flat @ Garnett St, N/Town -$80,000 monthly, including lights & water. Call: 676-2000; 227-3307; 226-2503 Two bedrooms apartment in Eccles, rooms in Alberttown –Call: 225-3234
One new shape Allion, very clean condition, for sale at bargain price. Call: 678-8035 PROPERTY FOR SALE Church and 2 storey building Lot 180 Charlotte Street Bourda-Call: 227-6817; 6247341 Transported Property at Parika/Hydronie, Public Road, prime spot for business, size 0.47 acres. Call: 647-7878; 669-2800
FOR RENT PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 1-3 Bedrooms upper flat @ Section ‘A’ Diamond, H/ Scheme E.B.D, fully grilled & concrete fence with parking space- Call: 6629335; 612-3244 Two bedrooms house “A” Field Sophia, fully grilled off road parking, CCTV, $40,000 monthly with 2 months security-Call:693-2237; 2190211 Apartments for rent @ Nandy Park -$90,000$80,000 negotiable, recently renovated, free wifi, 2 bedrooms. Call: 227-5194 Vreed-en-Hoop Junction: lessons places, storage bond or church -$25,000 per month. Call: 603-6400/2642123 Building for rent on Croal Street near to Stabroek Market. Call: 647-6075 Executive 2 bedrooms apartment in exclusive Residential Area close to the Ogle Airport. Call for appointment: 653-2920 1-3 Bedrooms bottom flat: toilet, bath, large sitting room & Kitchen, lately renovated in C/Ville area-$75,000 monthly. Call: 225-2147
CAR RENTAL DOLLY’S CAR RENTALCALL: 225-7126/226-3693 DOLLYSAUTORENTAL@ YA H O O . C O M / W W W. DOLLYSAUTORENTAL.COM PROGRESSIVE CAR RENTAL: CARS& SUV FOR RENTAL- $4,000 & UP PER DAY- CALL: 643-5122, 6560087 , EMAIL: PRO_ AUTO RENTAL@YAHOO. COM Aidan’s Car & 4WD Vigo pick up, cheapest rate, low security- Call: 698-7807 Wing’s Car & 4WD Vigo pick up rental- Call: 690-6494 Vehicles for rental: cars, SUV, pickups etc, long term only @ Ray’s Motor Spares and Auto Sales. Call: 231-7839 PROPERTY FOR SALE Property for sale, Grove $20M / Rent: $50,000 per month. Tel: 625-5461. Lot 1884, 20 Ave, First corner, Diamond H/Scheme, 3 bedrooms, flat house- Call: 662-4676, 602-9403 Continued on page 23
Monday February 01, 2016
Kaieteur News
Page 23
Letters... Where your views make the news
Tony Vieira’s career in sugar was/is a failure DEAR EDITOR, In a letter which appeared in the news media on Jan 27, Anthony Vieira a Director of GuySuCo and a member of its Commission of Inquiry (CoI) expressed the opinion that given the circumstances of high wages and its inability to mechanize harvesting the only way forward for the Corporation to become economically viable and bring wealth to Guyana was through crop diversification. He gave no detail for this transformation but promised that full disclosure of the proposals will be available by Oct’16 which when implemented will make loss of the Wales factory conglomerate a memory of bad times since the workers will not face displacement but have continued employment working in an industry with a future. He was therefore seeking the trust of sugar workers and a little more time for his miracle solution to turn around GuySuCo. Unfortunately, Tony Vieira has been a dreamer for most of his life. By profession he is an agriculturist. He came from a family which owned three sugar estates two of which are on the West Bank of Demerara (WBD) where he was the Manager until he ran their operations into the ground due to lack of investment, strategic planning and poor management. The sugar factory has since been abandoned and the sugar lands are being sold in bits and pieces to developers. The other estate, Pln. Houston on the East
Bank of Demerara (EBD) has suffered a similar fate as the WBD estates. Interestingly, there were no crop diversification on any of these estates after sugar cultivation failed although the then PNC Govt. had subsequently experimented on the WBD estates with a dairy farm which subsequently failed also. Tony Vieira in his missive expressed conflicting views on the re-structuring of GuySuCo to make it profitable. He felt that suggestions made in a news media letter of Jan 16 by Khemraj Tulsie, a former GuySuCo employee for needed improvements in many critical areas of the Corporation was off base since in his opinion growing sugar cane in Guyana had become completely uneconomical and in his personal capacity (not as a GuySuCo Director) he did not see how the fortunes of the Corporation could be reversed cultivating sugar cane under existing conditions. However, he later recanted his views in the closing remarks of his letter and admitted that he had accepted a Directorship for GuySuCo after he perceived that he could make a difference as the opportunity existed for converting the proposed abandonment of sugar cane lands which in his opinion are uniquely and perfectly designed for other things such as crop diversification which could provide continued employment for proposed displaced sugar workers
Sempiternal corruption in Guyana DEAR EDITOR, In the mid-1960s in London, when a Eurasian colleague told me how much money her family had to spend on bribing government officials in India to get visas for herself, her mother and two sisters to settle in the UK, I was surprised, and told her so. I said that could never happen in the country of my birth. If only I had a polished crystal ball at that time! Reading the letter about Guyana now being “one of the most corrupt countries in the Caribbean” convinces me of my optimism and naivety. . When I tried to resettle in Guyana in the mid-1990s, I experienced corruption, from top to bottom, and I wrote about these experiences while there and will not repeat them now. However, what I will say is that there is no turning back - things can only get worse.
It is the nature of the beast, and started way back in the 1970s, slowly creeping forward, eventually blanketing every aspect of life. When, in the mid-1980s, a new President took over and tried to halt the creep, many recognised that he meant well. Then we all know what happened. Now, corruption is well and truly entrenched. And it is difficult to see, with even the best will in the world, what could be done to stop it. A whole generation knows no other way of life - or how to survive in different circumstances. The rich and powerful enjoy the benefit that their position affords them, and who is there to stop them? One suspects that every successive government will eventually be infected with the virus.Best wishes during the next 50 years. Geralda Dennison
and bring wealth to the country. The APNU+AFC Government is yet to make public its proposals for the future viability of GuySuCo. Turning around any corporation is difficult; turning around a farm based one is unheard of. However, it appears that based on the experience and advice of one of its Directors who claimed he was born in the sugar industry, GuySuCo will close down much of its sugar cane losing assets and introduce other crops to form an economic and viable combination which will not only prevent the displacement of workers but be profitable to the country as well. To bring new crops into profitable production on abandoned cane fields will require substantial capital investment, re-trained workers and a minimum of 5 10 years as soils have to be analysed, fields laid out, plant types determined and produce markets negotiated and assured. These and other requirements necessary for successful crop changes would be unattainable during the life of the present Government and therefore for continuity there has to be consensus among the politicians of both parties that the benefits of crop diversification
as envisaged is viable and therefore worthy of capital investment if the money could be found. If not, the proposed scheme should be considered to be just a pipe dream as the eventual displaced workers wait it out to find work in a sluggish economy and/ or receive severance pay, if any. Finally, Guysuco is the largest employer in Guyana and its workers can determine which political party governs the country. Because as a core they have the trump card, politicians of both parties are making all sorts of conflicting populist promises and solutions without merit to return GuySuCo to profitability and ensure its long tern sustainability. Therefore, President Granger conscious of the fact that cutting jobs can cause social unrest nevertheless will have to bite the bullet and do what is evidently necessary which is to divest the assets, operations and activities of an industry which is financially bankrupt and cannot be returned to its former glory and sooner or later if nothing significant is done will take the country with it. After all the APNU+AFC Govt. under estimated the complexity of the challenges it inherited from GuySuCo and now appears bewildered in its ability to deliver. Charles Sohan
Victim’s cousin says... From page 5 or cause death, is not an accident. It is murder! The Police’s inexpert conflation of an “accident” with a “homicide by vehicle” does not inspire confidence in this investigation. Instead of speculating about a cause of death, the Police should conduct a professional investigation with dispatch. The Police must also provide a justification for why officers at the Mahaicony Station declined to detain and/or interrogate two potential suspects who showed up at the station to retrieve a cell
phone that was found at the crime scene. We believe that the investigation by the “C” Division has been sloppy and unprofessional and therefore repose no confidence in their investigation. Consequently, we call on the Commissioner of Police to direct investigators from the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Division to take over the investigation of this crime. Rickford Burke President Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID)
From page 22
FOR SALE Stalls 64-72 (47feet long x 7 feet wide) @ La Penitence Market Albouystown. Call: 663-1597; 218-4837 Cheap! Cheap! CCTV Security Surveillance Kit, 8 Channels DVR with built in Hard Drive, 8 bullet cameras – Tel: 621-4740; 686-3500 Pure bred Akita pups, fully vaccinated, parents imported, one Cummings generator 350KVA. Call: 694-1418; 2604157
PROPERTY FOR SALE
invited to do so. We are all aware that for a short time we are indeed players on ‘the stage of life’. We are required to play our part and play it well, hence we should use the time allotted to us to make this country, the best it can be. Indeed, the fullness of time has come when our unity as a nation beckons. It would be wise for us to demonstrate that we have heard the call and are prepared, with magnanimous
Wholesale & Retail quantity of all types of belts Call: 670-2343 ADORABLE PUPPIES FOR SALE. CALL: 6004212 AMERICAN BULLYDOGS, REMYLINE&GOTTILINECONTACT HARRY: 6100068/220-7933, WHATSAPP: 667-4845 TM 6X6 parts for sale: engines, gearbox, power box, def, drive shaft, etc. Call: 601-7001
Lots @ Blankenburg behind One 2 family back house in the gas station- $3.9M- Call Lamaha Street drive with own Us Today: 650-0402 way parking for vehicles, price:$30,000,000 negotiable. Over 12,000 stamps from 1840 to 1940 from all over Call: 226-1935 the world, old coins etc. Call: One roadside, 2 storey 624-7341; 227-6817 building @ V/Hoop, ground excellent for restaurant or Minibus, SUV, Pickup 39.8 other business –Call: 654- rear deferential & 14.5ft fiberglass boat with trailer 0779 and 35HP motor- Call: 678Brand new 2 storey concrete 9536 building in 5th Avenue, Diamond, E.B.D, all modern 290 MF Tractor- $1.4M, amenities –Call: 662-9335; 330TK Bedford dump truck$1.2M; in working order612-3244 Call: 614-9262; 604-2540 One slate pool table, price $300,000- Call: 228-2098; 6285796 Household items: carpet, blender, dinette set, wall divider, blinds & many more items. Owner migrating- Call Allison: 688-5446 LEARN TO DRIVE Soman Son & Outar Driving School at Maraj BuildingTel: 644-5166; 622-2872; 6150964; 689-5997
For our advertising rates call: 2258491, 225-8465.
Minister Keith Scott points to... From page 4 success of such an event. Subsequent letters to all unions requesting them to meet and form an organizing committee to realize this dream clearly demonstrates our role as facilitators. For us, political intervention and interference in the affairs of any independent body or organization is not an option. We shall continue to facilitate and conciliate whenever and wherever invited we are
FOR SALE LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY$19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754.
minds, to positively respond and begin to make this country a unified and better nation for all future generations. A few hours ago, I watch with great admiration the conclusion of a T-20 Unity Cricket match, and was forced to ponder, if we can have a unity cricket match, why not a May Day Unity Rally ? Keith Scott Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection
50X85 house lot in Grove/ Diamond Scheme, property @ Yarrowkabra, land size100X200- Call: 676-0931 Gang Nail Plates, in stock: 3X4, 4X6, 5X7- Call 2664166; 666-2361 Mon-Sat between 8-6pm One wedding dress, size 6, off-white, brand: Maggie Sottero. Call: 647-6075 1-6" Dredge complete with Lavador -$6M- Call: 6190898 5 Bedrooms; 2 bath, fully furnished, transported property located @ Rosignol W.B.Berbice. Motivated seller- call: 602-6333; 6793496; 699-4689; 666-2528 All types of alternators and starters and winch. Call: 2234124 German shepherd pups- Call: 220-8904; 220-2277; 629-1471; 629-1419
Monday February 01, 2016
Kaieteur News
Page 25
86 Dead as Boko Malala seeks to raise $1.4 billion Haram Burns Children to educate refugee children Alive in Nigeria
Reuters - Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai will seek to inspire world leaders at a conference in London on Thursday to commit $1.4 billion this year to give Syrian refugee children access to education, she told Reuters yesterday. Heads of state and government and ministers from countries around the world will converge on London for the “Supporting Syria and the region” conference, which aims to raise funds for humanitarian crises caused by the Syrian war. Some 700,000 Syrian children living in refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon and in other Middle Eastern countries are out of school, according to a report issued by the Malala Fund, which campaigns and fundraises for educational causes. “I have met so many Syrian refugee children, they are still in my mind. I can’t
Turkish and NATO radars detected Russian jet’s airspace violation: Turkish PM ANKARA (Reuters) - Both Turkish and NATO radars detected a Russian jet violating Turkish airspace, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said yesterday, refuting Russian claims that the violation was “pure propaganda.” Turkey said on Saturday a Russian SU-34 jet had violated its airspace despite warnings, once more stoking tensions between two countries involved in Syria’s war, but Russia had denied that there had been any incursion. “Russia can not cover up its violation of our airspace. It’s not possible to hide such an incident if it did happen, or to make up a violation if it didn’t happen,” Davutoglu told a press conference in Riyadh. Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov denied late on Saturday that any Russian plane had entered Turkish airspace, and called the Turkish allegation “pure propaganda”. In a similar incident in November, Turkey shot down a Russian warplane flying a sortie over Syria that it said had violated its airspace, triggering a diplomatic rupture in which Russia imposed economic sanctions.
Malala Yousefzai (R) listens to 17-year-old Syrian refugee Muzoon Almellehan speak to journalists at the City Library in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Britain December 22, 2015. REUTERS/DARREN STAPLES forget them. The thought that they won’t be able to go to school in their whole life is completely shocking and I cannot accept it,” Malala said in a telephone interview. “We can still help them, we can still protect them. They are not lost yet. They need schools. They need books. They need teachers. This is the way we can protect the future of Syria.” A Pakistani teenage education activist who came to prominence when a Taliban gunman shot her in the head on her school bus in 2012, Malala continued campaigning on the world stage and in 2014 became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner. Now 18, she lives in
Britain but devotes much of her time and energy to the cause of education for Syrian refugee children. An accomplished public speaker who brought a United Nations audience to its feet in a celebrated speech in 2013, she hopes to make a powerful impact at the London event. “I’m hoping to encourage and inspire world leaders to take action. I’m not going to wait. We can’t wait. It needs to happen.” She will appear at the London conference alongside 17-year-old schoolgirl Muzoon Almellehan, who will be the only young Syrian refugee to address world leaders at the event. “Without education we cannot do anything,”
Muzoon said on the same call as Malala. She said she was working hard on improving her English so she could complete her schooling in Britain and go to university, but also wanted to dedicate herself with “my sister” Malala to the cause of education for fellow Syrian refugees. The pair first met in 2014 at the sprawling Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian desert, and were reunited in December last year when Muzoon was resettled in northern England. “She is the one that I want people to listen to. Her story is so powerful, it’s so inspiring. She’s going to tell world leaders that these children have a right to an education and they must not ignore it,” said Malala. Co-hosted by the United Nations and the governments of Britain, Germany, Norway and Kuwait, the London conference is not limited to education but aims to obtain pledges from countries to meet a range of Syrian humanitarian needs. U.N. agencies are appealing for a total of $7.73 billion to cope with Syria’s needs this year and an additional $1.2 billion are required by regional governments for their own plans to deal with the impact of Syria’s conflict. In previous years, donor funding has fallen short of U.N. appeals.
(DALORI, Nigeria) — A survivor hidden in a tree says he watched Boko Haram extremists firebomb huts and heard the screams of children burning to death, among 86 people officials say died in the latest attack by Nigeria’s homegrown Islamic extremists. Scores of charred corpses and bodies with bullet wounds littered the streets from Saturday night’s attack on Dalori village and two nearby camps housing 25,000 refugees, according to survivors and soldiers at the scene just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram and the biggest city in Nigeria’s northeast. The shooting, burning and explosions from three suicide bombers continued for nearly four hours in the unprotected area, survivor Alamin Bakura said, weeping on a telephone call to The Associated Press. He said several of his family members were killed or wounded. The violence continued as three female suicide bombers blew up among people who managed to flee to neighboring Gamori village, killing many people, according to a soldier at the scene who insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to journalists. Troops arrived at Dalori around 8:40 p.m. Saturday
but were unable to overcome the attackers, who were better armed, said soldiers who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. The Boko Haram fighters only retreated after reinforcements arrived with heavier weapons, they said. Journalists visited the carnage yesterday and spoke to survivors who complained it had taken too long for help to arrive from nearby Maiduguri, the military headquarters of the fight to curb Boko Haram. They said they fear another attack. Eighty-six bodies were collected by yesterday afternoon, according to Mohammed Kanar, area coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency. Another 62 people are being treated for burns, said Abba Musa of the State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri. Boko Haram has been attacking soft targets, increasingly with suicide bombers, since the military last year drove them out of towns and villages in northeastern Nigeria. The 6-year Islamic uprising has killed about 20,000 people and driven 2.5 million from their homes. (AP)
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Monday February 01, 2016
Syria opposition considers U.N. offer after ‘positive’ talks
…trouble after Damascus blast kills 60 Reuters - Syria’s main opposition group is considering a proposal by U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura that could pave the way to the delegation pressing ahead with talks after holding their first meeting with him yesterday, a Western diplomatic source said. Representatives of the Saudi-backed Higher Negotiation Committee (HNC), which includes political and militant opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, had warned earlier in the day that they may yet walk away from the Geneva talks unless the suffering of civilians in the five-year conflict is eased. With Islamic State bombers killing over 60 people near the country’s holiest Shi’ite shrine, the Syrian government’s chief delegate retorted that the blasts in Damascus merely confirmed the link between the opposition and terrorism - even though Islamic State has been excluded from the talks. The United Nations is aiming for six months of talks that would focus on achieving a broad ceasefire,
while working toward a political settlement to the civil war that has killed over 250,000 people, driven more than 10 million from their homes and drawn in global powers. After the HNC initially insisted air strikes and sieges of Syrian towns must end before it joins the “proximity talks”, in which de Mistura would meet each side in separate rooms, there appeared to be some signs of a softening in their position yesterday evening. HNC spokesman Salim alMuslat described discussions with de Mistura as very positive and encouraging “concerning humanitarian issues.” The delegation met for several hours later yesterday to debate the proposal. The U.N. special envoy’s office said he would meet the Syrian government delegation today at 1100 (1000 GMT) and the HNC at 1700 (1600 GMT). “De Mistura made them a proposition, and that’s tempting them to enter the negotiations. They are very prudent,” a Western diplomatic source said, adding he was not aware of
Salim al-Muslat the content of the offer. The delegation representing the HNC is seeking a halt to attacks on civilian areas, the release of detainees and a lifting of blockades. It has a list of 3,000 women and children in Syrian government jails. The measures were mentioned in a Security Council resolution approved last month that endorsed the peace process for Syria. “They want tangible and visible things immediately. Things they can give to their grassroots,” the source said. “Certain things aren’t possible immediately like the end of the bombings, but the easiest is the release of civilians, women and children.”
U.N. asks for $861 million to help Iraq meet humanitarian bill BAGHDAD (Reuters) The United Nations appealed yesterday for $861 million to help Iraq meet a big funding gap in its 2016 emergency response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war against Islamic State. Baghdad, whose revenues have fallen as oil prices have plunged, has said it would manage to finance less than half of its $1.56 billion plan to assist 10 million people in need. “With the expanding needs, the allocation through the federal budget will not be sufficient. We expect that the highly prioritized (U.N.) Humanitarian Response Plan will help cover part of the gap,” Minister of Migration and Displacement Jassim Mohammed al-Jaff said in a statement. U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Iraq Lise Grande said she expected the crisis in Iraq “to widen and worsen” in coming months. The United Nations expects huge numbers of civilians to flee Mosul when Iraqi forces mount an
Jassim Mohammed al-Jaff offensive to retake the northern city from Islamic State, which the authorities have pledged to do this year. “The number of people who need help is going up, the amount of resources is going down and that’s why you have a really big gap. What we’re trying to do in a very clear way is to prioritize,” she told Reuters after launching the appeal in Baghdad. Among the 10 million Iraqis requiring urgent
assistance are more than 3.3 million people displaced by the conflict with Islamic State since 2014 and a quarter million people from neighboring Syria who have fled from their country’s nearly five-year-old war, according to the United Nations. Children make up half of the displaced population. The Iraqi government allocated around $850 million last year for efforts to shelter such families and help them return to recaptured areas, but it ended up funding less than 60 percent of that, according to a government report. The U.N. plan said it was only asking for a fraction of the $4.5 billion deemed necessary to meet humanitarian needs in an acknowledgment of security and funding constraints on its operations. “The amount being requested is not commensurate with the overall humanitarian needs in Iraq... (but) accurately reflects the absolute minimum required to help Iraqis survive the crisis,” the plan said.
Monday February 01, 2016
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PM issues passionate call ...New VAT regime one of biggest political lies, says Kamla to end upsurge in crime BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris, has issued a passionate call for the end what he calls the senseless killings taking place in the country. Harris, who is also National Security Minister, made the plea in the wake of the recent fatal shooting two young men from his constituency and the upsurge in gun violence that has resulted in at least two other deaths this month. “We must bring a message of rebuilding, of renewal from our own households—so we have illegal weapons, we have to ensure that we call in the police to make sure that that situation is cleaned up,” Harris said to a group of constituents on Saturday, adding that (if) we have persons who we know are involved in drugs—wherever there are drugs, guns are not far behind—we have to ensure that we encourage these people to give up that life for one which is more law-
Dr. Timothy Harris abiding.” He said the Government is prepared to provide special support to those who are involved in drugs and guns and who are determined to make a turnaround so that they can become more lawabiding citizens. He urged the community to share information about what they know of criminal activities to the relevant and confidential authorities.
“The police are charged with protecting us and we have to ensure that we cooperate with them…we can also find a friend, a pastor, parliamentary representative, somebody who we could tell,” he said. “We have to begin to get our communities cleaned up because innocent lives are being lost that way and as people come into the communities to take revenge, it is quite probable that an innocent person’s life would be lost, so all of us can do something, can share some information, can insist among our family members and friends by giving them strong warning,” the Prime Minister said while admonishing those involved in gangs to withdraw from them. “It is destroying families, it is destroying communities. Eventually, if we don’t curb it, it will destroy our country and so we have to nip it in the bud,” he said, while encouraging young persons to be exposed to a life of prayer and godliness.
Trinidad Express - “No amount of propaganda can change the reality that this is a diabolical lie being perpetuated on the population,” Opposition Leader Kamla PersadBissessar said Saturday as she described the new value added tax (VAT) regime to be introduced today. Persad-Bissessar waded into the issue in a statement on her Facebook page Saturday. She said, “With the introduction of a new value added tax regime (VAT) on Monday February 1st (today), the Rowley Government will implement one of the biggest political lies ever told to the population of this country.” She said, “When the Rowley PNM launched its manifesto in late August 2015, they trumpeted a proposed VAT decrease from 15 per cent to 12.5 per cent as a highlight of their pledge to ease the economic burden on citizens.” She added, “Those who were swayed by the Rowley
Kamla Persad-Bissessar PNM promise to reduce VAT last August must now ask themselves if they ever thought the Rowley Government would use that promise to raise VAT by 12.5 per cent on thousands of items that were zero rated.” She said: “Many voters believed the presenter of the manifesto but never expected that once he became the Finance Minister he would betray them and put a 12.5 per cent tax on thousands of items
— mainly food — that the People’s Partnership government had made tax exempt. “Today the Rowley Government has gone into fullspin mode with Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie trying to market the idea that the change will bring greater benefit to the people.” Persad-Bissessar said: “The truth is that the Rowley Government’s VAT tax grab will pick the pockets of the poorest in our society and increase their food bills significantly. Even those who might benefit from the tax break will find that while they may pay $250 a month less in income tax, they will have to give back twice that amount – or more — just to buy what they were/are purchasing before Monday 1st February. The harsh truth is that (tomorrow) people will pay 12.5 per cent more for basic items that are today exempt from tax. For example if you are buying salt or oil today, (tomorrow) you will pay 12.5 per cent more for it.”
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Monday February 01, 2016
Brazil’s ex-President Lula Zika Virus could spread across entire region – PAHO summoned over penthouse GENEVA- CMC – The Pan American Organisation (PAHO) has warned that the Zika virus is spreading rapidly through the Americas, including the Caribbean, and could potentially reach all countries, except Canada and continental Chile. However, PAHO’s Dominican-born director, Dr. Carissa F. Etienne says countries of the Americas have been responding robustly to the Zika threat in collaboration with the organisation. She told health officials from around the world, during a briefing of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) here on Thursday, that the region’s cooperation will continue as countries work to mitigate the impact of Zika. Etienne said the most important prevention is effective mosquito control, “which requires action by national and local governments but also by individuals, families and communities to eliminate potential mosquito breeding sites in and around homes, workplaces and schools.” “PAHO is a region with long experience in tackling mosquito-borne diseases, including dengue and chikungunya,” Etienne added. “I congratulate Brazil
Dr. Carissa F. Etienne and all the other 21 countries in the Americas for their prompt reporting under the International Health Regulations (IHR). The IHR is the WHOmanaged global system through which member states report on outbreaks of potential international impact. WHO Director Dr. Margaret Chan has called a meeting of the IHR Emergency Committee today to discuss the Zika epidemic and what needs to be done at the global level to address the disease. The committee will ascertain whether the outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Since May 2015, PAHO said 22 countries and territories in the Americas have reported local transmission of Zika virus infections. PAHO said it “anticipates that the virus is likely to spread to all countries in the region that have Aedes mosquitoes,” the mosquitoes responsible for transmitting the virus. The mosquito is present in the entire region, except Canada and continental Chile. Etienne noted that “proactive collaborative action” on the outbreaks at the regional level has been ongoing since Brazil first reported local transmission of Zika to PAHO in May 2015. PAHO said it has been working closely with affected member countries since then, mobilizing staff and members of the Global Outbreak and Response Network (GOARN) to assist ministries of health in strengthening their abilities to detect the arrival and circulation of Zika virus through laboratory testing. “The aim has been to ensure accurate clinical diagnosis and treatment for patients, to track the spread of the virus and the mosquito that carries it, and to promote prevention, especially through mosquito control, which is key.”
US official says Govt. showing strong leadership in moving country forward KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) – Deputy Assistant Secretary in the United States (US) Department of State, Juan Gonzalez, has hailed Jamaica’s economic programme and the leadership being shown by the Government in making the right decisions to take the country forward. He noted that the Government is doing what is required to attract investments from the US and other parts of the world. Noting that the programme is bearing results, he cited among other things, Jamaica’s most recent success as the best performing stock market in the world. “Jamaica has been a star performer through the International Monetary Fund Economic Reform Programme. In some cases, I think, the show of true leadership is making the decisions that are right for your country when sometimes they may not be the easiest decisions
Juan Gonzalez politically,” he said. Gonzalez, who was in Jamaica for the Caribbean Nations Security Conference (CANSEC), was addressing a press conference held recently at the US Embassy in St. Andrew. The Deputy Assistant Secretary, who has responsibility for Central America and the Caribbean, said the US is looking to
strengthen cooperation with the region and take advantage of the successes being experienced by Jamaica and other countries. He noted that the “numerous visits” by President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry are in keeping with that goal. “We see an amazing set of opportunities, political and economic, in the western hemisphere and to take advantage of them we have to be active... countries in the Caribbean, like Jamaica, are leading the way and we want to have a stake in that success,” he said. Gonzales hailed Jamaica as an important partner and leader in the region. “When we look at the US relationship within the western hemisphere, in few places is it as strong and broad-based as in Jamaica. You name the issue; I think we have strong cooperation with this Government,” he pointed out.
BBC News - Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife, Marisa Leticia, have been summoned to testify to an enquiry into corruption at the state oil company, Petrobras. A prosecutor is investigating whether the former president failed to declare ownership of a seafront penthouse flat. It now belongs to construction firm OAS, which has been implicated in the Petrobras corruption scandal. “The suspicions are unfounded,” Lula’s foundation said in a statement. “The accusations over the alleged hiding of assets by former President Lula and his family are frivolous,” added the statement. His lawyers rejected the allegations of money laundering. They said Mr Lula’s wife was given the option to buy the flat but they never purchased it. The luxury penthouse in the resort of Guaruja is estimated to be worth up to $550,000, Brazilian media reported. Sao Paulo state prosecutor Cassio Conserino told Globo television that there are indications that the former president tried to hide the fact that owned the flat. Mr Lula will testify in Sao Paulo on 17 February.
Dilma Rousseff and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva A former president of OAS, Leo Pinheiro, will also be heard on the same day. He was sentenced to 16 years for corruption but has been freed after appealing against his conviction. Prosecutors estimate that the corruption scandal at Petrobras cost the stateowned company $2bn (£1.4bn). Several politicians, businessmen and Petrobras officials have been convicted. Prosecutors say the country’s top building companies paid bribes to senior officials in the company to secure lucrative, overpriced contracts. More than 40 top politicians - including the
presidents of both houses of Congress - have also been under investigation. Mr Lula’s former chief of staff Jose Dirceu and the Workers Party treasurer Joao Vaccari are among those arrested in connection with the scheme. The scandal has damaged the popularity of President Dilma Rousseff, who succeeded Mr Lula in 2011. Ms Rousseff is not implicated in the corruption scheme, but she was head of Petrobras during the years when much of the corruption is believed to have taken place. Opinion polls show that her approval rates have plummeted since she was reelected in October 2014.
Don’t get pregnant until more Zika info, says doc Daily Nation - Senior gynaecologist is suggesting that Barbadian women not seek to have children until further medical investigations reveal how widespread the Zika virus is in Barbados. “I recommend women in Barbados delay getting pregnant until it is found out how widespread Zika is and those who are pregnant to take precautions,” obstetrics consultant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Dr Wayne Welch, told the SUNDAY SUN. The mosquito-borne virus, now spreading rapidly in some countries of the Americas, has been circumstantially linked to a rise of a severe birth defect in Brazil. “There are some people here who are afraid of catching the virus but I advise them, if they get symptoms, to get tested to see if they are producing antibodies against it, which is how we know they are infected,” Welch said.
Dr. Wayne Welch
PNP will increase number of seats - Phillips Jamaica Observer - Minister of finance and planning and People’s National Party (PNP) campaign director, Dr Peter Phillips, has said that the recent findings of the Radio Jamaica-commissioned Don Anderson polls will have no bearing on the prime minister’s decision to announce a general election. The poll found that 27.5 per cent of committed voters said that they would mark the ‘X’ for the PNP, against the JLP’s 23.2 per cent. This is a 4.3 percentage point lead over the JLP among committed voters. “We not calling it because of the poll [results]; we calling it because we will win,” Phillips told the Jamaica Observer at a PNP Face2Face meeting in Gregory Park, St Catherine, last week.
“We do our own polling. We do our own assessment of the state of preparedness of the organisation and the prime minister and party leader has made a judgement, and she will share it with the country,” he said, while insisting that the party’s margin of victory will be greater this time around. “I am confident that we will increase the number of seats that we have,” added Phillips. And in the same breath, the man, who has been lauded for the country’s economic progress by some economists, told the Sunday Observer that should the PNP lose the election, there will be no challenge to Simpson Miller’s leadership. “That’s not an issue that arises, and the answer is no,” he said when asked.
Monday February 01, 2016
Kaieteur News
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Letter to the Sports Editor New Zealand win rain-hit What is the Guyana Cricket Board thriller, bag series vs Pakistan (GCB) in shock and disappointed about? (Reuters) Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson hit brisk fifties and combined in a record stand of 159 to power New Zealand to a thrilling series- clinching three-wicket win against Pakistan in the third and final one-day international in Auckland on Sunday. Babar Azam (83) and Mohammad Hafeez (76) laid the platform for a big total with a stand of 134 for the third wicket after Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat. But the touring side, needing to win the match to tie the series at 1-1, suffered a mid-innings collapse to be shot out for 290 in the 48th over. Brendon McCullum, returning from a back injury to lead the side, fell on the first delivery he faced from Mohammad Amir but Guptill (82) and Williamson (84) steadied the chase with their stand, the highest for the second wicket for the hosts.
Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson added 159 for the second wicket, New Zealand v Pakistan, 3rd ODI, Auckland, January 31, 2016. (Getty Images) Pakistan captain Azhar Ali dismissed both batsmen in quick succession with his part-time leg spin to bring his side back into the match and New Zealand were quickly reduced to 210-5.
But a rain interruption disrupted play and when New Zealand returned their target had been revised to 263 off 43 overs by the Duckworth-Lewis method. All-rounder Corey Anderson (35) was given not out by umpire Billy Bowden off Rahat Ali after a confident appeal for caught behind and the powerful left-hander made most of his fortune by smashing the paceman for two sixes on the next two balls. New Zealand, needing six to win off the last over, got over the mark with two balls to spare with Mitchell Santner hitting Wahab Riaz for two boundaries. Earlier, Pakistan were comfortably placed on 215-3 in the 31st over, riding on halfcenturies from Hafeez and Azam but lost their remaining seven wickets for just 75 runs to fall short of the target they would have liked to set New Zealand. They would have folded for even less had wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed not scored 41. Adam Milne accounted for Pakistan’s tail, picking up 349 while Trent Boult and Matt Henry picked up two wickets each.
Namibia stun SA; Burnham... From page 30 that danger with a 55-run ninth-wicket stand. Sipamla and last man Ziyaad Abrahams ensured South Africa batted out the 50 overs, but could only stretch the score to 136 for 9. Coetzee finished with three wickets, and Michael van Lingen with four. The win was Namibia’s first over a Test-playing opposition in a Youth ODI since they beat Sri Lanka Under-19s in the 2002 edition of the tournament. Nazmul Hossain Shanto’s unbeaten century followed by tight bowling performances from Saleh Ahmed Shawon (3 for 27) and Mohammad Saifuddin (3 for 17) sealed Bangladesh Under-19s’ quarter-final
berth with a mammoth 114-run victory over Scotland Under-19s. Bangladesh were reduced to 17 for 2 in the eighth over, after they were asked to bat. Shanto then walked in took control of their innings with an unbeaten 113 off 117 that included ten fours. He was a part of two century partnerships, adding 101 with Saif Hassan for the third wicket, after which he put a 100-run stand with captain Mehedi Hasan Miraz (51) for the fourth wicket. By the time Miraz fell in the 48th over, Bangladesh were at a commanding 218 for 4. Shanto then propelled the hosts to 256 for 5 by the end of their innings with Bangladesh taking 30 off the last two overs.
DEAR SIR, In response to a letter in your paper captioned “GCB sternly reprimands Claude Raphael” I pen this missive in support of Claude Raphael and his right to express his opinion. At the outset it should be made clear to all that Mr. Raphael’s right to criticize and or lawfully demonstrate are enshrined in the Constitution of Guyana and further there is a legal principle in the free world that justice delayed is justice denied. I support both his constitutional right and that legal principle. Mr. Raphael’s credentials as a cricketer and cricket administrator makes him part of the establishment and adds gravity to his outrage at what is being perpetuated by the GCB in the name of cricket. On the other hand the vitriol in the response from GCB suggests among other things the truth hurts. Andrew Gordon Ganteaume the eldest West Indian test cricketer alive; famous for making a century in his first test inning, once described the Trinidad cricket board as “deader than a dead duck” although he was considered an outsider his views reverberated around the region. What is the GCB disappointed about? a. The only country in the free world where the President of the Cricket governing body owns a betting shop. b. Or the One Day International on April 3, 1993
at Bourda between the West Indies and Pakistan ruled a tie by the match referee Raman Subba Row even though provision for a tie was not in the playing conditions. c. Or the One Day International on April 21, 1999 at Bourda between the West Indies and Australia ruled a tie by the match referee Raman Subba Row even though provision for a tie was not in the playing conditions. d. Or claiming several Under 19 West Indies championships while several players in the victorious teams were well above the legal cut-off age. Bringing shame to all Guyanese. Mr. Raphael though awe struck by the lengthy miscarriage of justice in his tone he is very respectful of the judicial system and has no need to apologize. Lampooning the judiciary in our country has become a cottage industry. Did the GCB not notice? a. Dr. Jagan’s vehement objections to the appointment of Ramraj Jagnandan to the bench. Was Dr. Jagan disrespectful? b. At her private swear in; when presented with papers signed by the then Chief Justice; Mrs Jagan tossed the papers to the floor. Was Mrs. Jagan disrespectful? c. It has been a well held view by many that high judicial functionaries are not acting fairly and that the justice system operates in favour of one class. In fact six of the leading senior counsels in Guyana by letter drew President Dr. Jagan’s
attention to the virtual breakdown of the justice system. GCB should investigate. d. In our courts, in the matter Green vs. PNC when the present Mayor Green challenged his unlawful expulsion from the PNC a procedural finding was made by a judge on an application by Mr. Hoyte that was never made. GCB please check the record. e. Many GCB members / associations / clubs / cricketers can add their own personal encounters with the system to this list. Guyanese in the Diaspora are sick and tired of being sick and tired of our legal system. Claude Raphael very astutely pointed to a problem that has affected cricket for a long time and needs to be resolved. It appears as if the GCB wants to serve as counsel for Mr. Raphael and hang on to power at the same time. It is unfortunate how political we have become as a people; instead of addressing issues and seeking to find common ground we look for wiggle-room in the legal system that allows us to impose ourselves upon those who financial or otherwise are unable to access the same wiggle-room. To the GCB; wake up and smell the coffee; wrong is wrong and right is right but they are definitely not the same things. Peace. Respectfully yours, “Friends of Malteenoes Sports Club” (New York)
Troy Cadogan officially... From page 32 obligation to fix the situation. “The fact is, that I have the resources at my disposal and it would be remiss of me if I should shirk those responsibilities,” he informed the gathering. At the moment, the ground where the footballers practice their trade is in a disheveled state and the Ansa McAl executive said that he has already put the modalities in place for rehabilitative works to at least half of the field. He said that the other portion would be attended to upon the availability of the requisite funds. Plans are also in train to erect a clubhouse so that executives could work in comfort and where the players may engage in (other) club activities. “The aim of this (new) executive body is to prepare you to be better members of the society,” the newly inaugurated President intimated. He implored them to be ambassadors of the club and reminded them that they all have a responsibility to the club and should always display exemplary behavior. Touching on the acquisition of funds for the club’s advancement, Mr. Cadogan told the membership that they should start thinking
along the lines of self sufficiency. He noted that club members could organize small fund raising ventures that could liquidate the expenses for small things like water and other (small) necessities during training sessions. “I am prepared to do all that is necessary towards the transformation of this club but I cannot do it devoid of your input,” concluded Mr. Cadogan. Earlier, President of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA), Clifton Hicken, engaged the players in discussion and spoke of the adverse effects of drugs. He urged the players to abhor such practices and instead, aspire to be good role models for residents of their community. “I’d like to also urge you all to engage in wholesome activities in an effort to remove the (unfair) stigma that has been plastered on the (football) community,” he urged. Cadagon’s installation brings the Roger Moe’s two years reign to an end and most of the members are optimistic of a bright future for the club which had once ruled the roost after winning the K&S football accolade a few years ago.
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Under-19 World Cup 2016 ESPNcricinfo - Group C Jack Burnham’s second century in five days stamped a dominant England Under19s performance in Chittagong. They chose to bat, their top three all scored fifty-plus and a total of 288 for 4 proved 129 runs too many for Zimbabwe Under19s. Dan Lawrence provided the early impetus by hitting fast bowler William Mashinge for a hat-trick of fours in the fifth over. Then came a special hit for six over square leg, which showcased Lawrence’s strong wrists. He got to 50 off 54 balls and his pace was vital to England because the other opener Max Holden struggled to keep his strike-rate up - he was 6 off 17 by the end of the 10th over. Zimbabwe’s spinners did well though: Wesley Madhevere, the 15-year old, and Rugare Magarira gave away only 18 runs off six overs which led to Lawrence’s wicket in the 20th. England were 91 for 1 and out walked Burnham, with the responsibility to push the run-rate up. Holden, at the other end was, on 24 off 48 balls. Holden’s nickname of “little chef” was a clear giveaway of his batting style considering the big “chef” is England Test captain Alastair Cook. It is easy to imagine that he has been placed at the top of the order for the bighitters to bat around, and this England side do have some. Burnham made up for a slow start - 9 off 22 balls - with a six and a four off Zimbabwe captain Brendan Mavuta’s legspin in the 27th over. Holden reached his fifty off his 87th delivery but was dismissed off his 90th looking to make a little too much of a back of a length ball from Mashinge. That though did not end
Kaieteur News
Namibia stun SA; Burnham ton helps England sail on and Windies win
Gidron Pope (ICC) up in Zimbabwe’s favour. The next man in, Aneurin Donald, a former England Under-19 captain, contributed to a fourth-wicket partnership of 52 runs off 33 balls and when he fell Burnham took over. He hammered a couple of sixes to move to 92 but his spotlight was stolen when 17-year old Sam Curran smashed five fours in the 48th over bowled by Mashinge. He had been disappointed not to get a single off the second ball, and the next four disappeared. Burnham finished unbeaten on 106 off 104 balls with five fours and six sixes and there was even enough time before the lunch break for England’s bowlers to knock over the Zimbabwe openers. The only resistance came from Jeremy Ives, who made 91 off 132 with 12 fours, a lot of them through the arc between cover and point. He was strong against pace bowling, especially with the cut shot, but might need to work on getting singles against spin. The contest was done long before the match was and the question of if
Ives might reach his century was answered in the negative with an emphatic inswinger from Sohaib Maqsood, who finished with 4 for 39. An all-round display from Gidron Pope and a blazing century from Shamar Springer lifted West Indies Under-19 to a 262-run win over Fiji Under-19s, who ended the group stage without once having crossed the 100 mark. Pope’s 76 at the top of the order got West Indies off to a solid start, before they lost four wickets in the space of scoring 20 runs to slip to 140 for 4. From there, Springer and Jyd Goolie added 157 for the fifth wicket, before Goolie fell in the 46th over for 66 off 75 balls. Springer was out in the final over for 106 off 78, having struck 10 fours and four sixes, and West Indies finished on 340 for 7. Six of the seven wickets went to the medium-pacer Cakacaka Tikoisuva. Fiji had been bowled out for 72 against England and 81 against Zimbabwe. Now they were bowled out for 71, their innings folding inside 28 overs with fast bowler Alzarri Joseph (3 for 15) and offspinner Pope (4 for 24) in the thick of the action. As against England, Peni Vuniwaqa waged lonely resistance, scoring 29 off 49 balls, with five fours. GroupA Namibia Under-19s reached the quarter-finals with a sensational upset, pulling off a two-wicket win over South Africa Under-19s in Cox’s Bazar. Defending champions South Africa, who also lost their opening game against Bangladesh, are now out of contention for the quarter-finals. The match-winner in a low-scoring game was Lohan Louwrens, who came in at 10
Golden Jaguars commence... From page 35 (Tuesday), the focus will be on building the pattern of play using fitness work. A Camp will then follow just prior to an international friendly match against Suriname in Guyana on February 21st, next. The overseas based players will be considered for the CFU Men’s Caribbean Cup in March. Shabazz stated that the local based players would be used to build the team and they will bring in overseas based players to add where necessary. Commenting on the strength of the two CFU opponents for Guyana
Monday February 01, 2016
between March 21-29, Shabazz indicated that there are no soft teams or opponents around now since nations have players who are based in other countries that they turn to for strengthening their respective teams apart from having leagues. “No more time to take anybody for granted there’s no given. The only thing in football today is that we’ve got to work hard and get the result. Listen, who would have thought that the special one would have had to leave Chelsea? There are no more guarantees in football.”
Shabazz is calling on all the stake holders to support the GFF in making the team the best prepared since it takes a lot of financial investment in order to succeed today. “Football costs a lot of money to run. The national team needs a lot of resources if you want to develop a squad that can compete. Outside of what FIFA gives to a federation, you need corporate Guyana to step on board and government. It cannot be done without a tripartite approach; GFF, Government and Corporate Guyana. This is what will drive this project to success.”
for 2 and scored an unbeaten 58 to steer Namibia to a target of 137. Louwrens did not receive too much support apart from Charl Brits, who scored 27 and added 52 with him for the sixth wicket, as Namibia steadily lost wickets. But he stayed there even as
Brits, Chrischen Olivier and Francois Rautenbach fell in the space of 13 balls, steering Namibia home in the 40th over. Having chosen to bat, South Africa were on the back foot right from the start. Leftarm seamer Fritz Coetzee dismissed both their openers
within the first three overs, and reduced them to 2 for 2. Namibia kept chipping away at the wickets, and South Africa were 60 for 8 and in danger of falling short of 100 before Willem Ludick (42) and Lutho Sipamla (17) averted Continued on page 29
India clinch thriller to complete sweep over Australia
India pose with the T20I series trophy, Australia v India, 3rd T20I, Sydney, January 31, 2016. (Getty Images) SYDNEY (Reuters) Shane Watson’s unbeaten hundred could not prevent Australia falling to a seven-wicket defeat to India in the third and final Twenty20 match on Sunday as Suresh Raina hit a four on the last ball to complete a 3-0 clean sweep in the series. India were chasing 198 to win and needed 17 runs in the final over as Yuvraj Singh hit a four and a six off the first two balls from paceman Andrew Tye and Raina hit the final ball through point with his team needing two. All-rounder Watson, leading Australia in the absence of the injured Aaron Finch, powered the hosts to 197-5 with an unbeaten 124 after winning the toss and opting to bat. Australia made five changes to the side that lost the last match in Melbourne to concede an unassailable 20 lead in the series, handing debuts to batsman Usman Khawaja and part-time wicketkeeper Cameron Bancroft. Watson, named player of the match, was the fulcrum around which the hosts’ batting revolved and it was due to his 71-ball knock, which was studded with 10 fours and six sixes, that Australia posted a strong total. India replied with halfcenturies from in-form opener Rohit Sharma (52) and Virat Kohli (50), who was named the player of the series, and
then Raina’s 25-ball 49 to chase down the steep target. Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan got India off to a rollicking start, scoring 46 in just 3.2 overs, with fast bowler Shaun Tait going for 24 runs in the third over. Rohit and Kohli then added 78 for the second wicket to keep India strongly on course, before both batsmen fell to leg spinner Cameron Boyce. Yuvraj, who did not get an opportunity to bat in the last
two matches, was sent in ahead of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni at number five and though the left-hander struggled initially to put bat on ball, he produced the goods when his team needed. Raina and Yuvraj added 53 for the unbroken fourth wicket. The 3-0 sweep in Australia took India to the top of the T20 rankings in a timely boost ahead of the World Twenty20 at home from March 8-April 3.
Monday February 01, 2016
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Cookson confirms motor found Djokovic domination total as on bike in new cycling storm he wins sixth Melbourne title (Reuters) Cycling was being forced to confront a new controversy on Sunday after the sport’s head confirmed the first top-level case of “technological fraud” with a hidden motor being found on a Belgian cyclist’s bike. The motor was discovered inside the frame of the machine being used by teenager Femke Van den Driessche at the world cyclo-cross championship in Zolder, Belgium, Bryan Cookson, the president of the International Cycling Union (UCI), said. “It’s absolutely clear that there was technological fraud. There was a concealed motor. I don’t think there are any secrets about that,” Cookson told a news conference. Yet the 19-year-old Van den Driessche denied suggestions she had deliberately used a motorized bike in the women’s under-23 race and was in tears as she told Belgian TV channel Sporza: “The bike was not mine. I would never cheat.” Van den Driessche said the bike looked identical to her own but belonged to her friend and that a team mechanic had given it her by mistake before the race. The bike was later seized after she had withdrawn from the race on Saturday with a mechanical problem. “It wasn’t my bike, it was my friend’s and was identical to mine,” Van den Driessche told Belgian TV channel Sporza. “This friend went around the course Saturday before dropping off the bike in the truck. A mechanic, thinking it was my bike, cleaned it and prepared it for my race.” Van den Driessche said she feared her career could now be over but she still hoped for a second chance and was not afraid of any investigations into the case. “I’m aware I have a big problem. I have done nothing wrong,” she said. In a sport that has long battled with a major doping problem, suggestions and rumors of ‘motorized doping’ have long floated around too but nothing has been proved in major competition until this case.
Femke Van den Driessche (Getty Images) It prompted Cookson, who confirmed the case would be investigated by the UCI’s disciplinary commission, to say: “We’ve heard some stories for a long time now about the possibility of this. “We have been alive to a potential way that people might cheat and we have been testing a number of bikes and a number of events for several months. “I am committed and the UCI is committed to protecting the riders who do not want to cheat in whatever form and to make sure that the right riders win the race.”
MELBOURNE (Reuters) Novak Djokovic vanquished Andy Murray for the fourth time in an Australian Open final on Sunday to win a record-equalling sixth title and serve notice to his rivals that he could surpass even his stellar 2015 this year. The Serbian’s fifth crown in six years on his favorite court not only allowed him to match Roy Emerson’s record Australian Open tally but also brought him level with Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg on 11 grand slam titles. He has won four of the last five slams, 38 of his last 39 matches, and at this rate Roger Federer’s record 17 is within range of the 28-yearold. Although world number two Murray battled hard after losing the opening five games in the blink of an eye, the dominant manner of Sunday’s 6-1 7-5 7-6(3) victory vindicated Djokovic’s opinion that he was at the zenith of his powers. “There’s no doubt I’m playing the best tennis of my life over the last 15 months,” the 28-year-old, who topped the ATP rankings for the whole of 2015, said. “I do feel that I’m at the peak of my abilities and my career. I don’t think about limiting my ambitions or what I might be able to achieve.” For Murray, distracted on his 11th visit to Melbourne Park by the illness of his father-in-law and the
SIMPSON WARNS JUNIORS AGAINST THE USE OF SUPPLEMENTS Jamaica Observer MONTEGO BAY, St James — Sherone Simpson has warned junior athletes to try and avoid the mistake she made three years ago that almost ended her career and one she said will forever tarnish her good name and integrity. Simpson, a three-time Olympian who has won medals at just about every level of track and field, tested positive for a stimulant from a tainted supplement at the JAAA National Senior Trials in June 2013 and warned junior athletes to “stick to what you know, you don’t need supplements now anyways”. Addressing students at Tuesday’s launch of the 38th Milo Western Relays in Montego Bay, Simpson, who won the Pan American Games 100m gold medal in Toronto, Canada, last year, said: “It has been very hard and I have learned a lot from it but you must stick to what you know, your yam and bananas, have
your fruits and vegetables, but do not rely on supplements.” The athlete pointed out that with the cool weather conditions being experienced in many parts of the island some athletes were susceptible to colds but said even then they must be on guard. “I know the weather is cool now and you need your vitamins etc, but don’t take anything that you are not familiar with…stick to a balanced meal.” Not even a successful law suit against the makers of the supplement, she said, would be able to remove the memories of one of her darkest times. “It was really rough, a very hard time for me in track and field and we eventually filed a law suit against the manufacturer and we won, but no amount of money can ever, ever replace the damage that has been done to my career and integrity,” she said. Simpson recounted the
Sherone Simpson nightmare, telling the attentive audience at the event she was in Spain, getting ready for a meet when she got the call. “I got a call at 2:00 am on the Saturday morning at a hotel and was wondering who was calling at that time of the morning. I took the call in the bathroom so I would not disturb my room-mate and the person told me I failed a drug test. I fell to the ground and asked him ‘Are you sure
this call is for Sherone Simpson?’ and he said yes and then gave me some instructions”. Simpson said afterwards they found the source of the failed drug test but said she had “checked everything on the bottle. I googled every ingredient in the supplement, nothing came up that was banned by WADA or IAAF and so I thought it was fine. “I just want to say to you young athletes, supplements are not the way, you have to ensure that you have a wellbalanced meal. First of all breakfast is very important and you have to ensure that you know what you are taking into your own body because at the end of the day you are responsible for what you are taking, it does not matter who gave it to you, you are responsible for what is inside of your body. I have been there and it was hard and I would not want that to happen to any athlete.”
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic kisses the men’s singles trophy after winning his final match against Britain’s Andy Murray at the Australian Open. (Reuters/Thomas Peter TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) impending arrival of his first child, a dispiriting night ended up with a record of the wrong sort. The Briton’s defeat was his fifth in five finals at the Australian Open. Only his former coach Ivan Lendl has lost as many at one grand slam and he at least wedged three U.S. Open titles in between the defeats. Murray gave it everything he had in the two-hour, 53minute baseline battle that was compelling viewing throughout an engrossing and pivotal 80-minute second set. DELAYINEVITABLE He was only able to delay the inevitable though. “A lot’s been going on,” twice grand slam champion Murray, who was catching the first flight home, told reporters. “I started the last couple of matches quite slowly, understandable in some respects. “Obviously it’s not good to begin matches like that against someone like Novak. But I’m proud of the way I fought and managed to get myself back into the match. “Now I just want to get home.” Djokovic reprised the two sets of flawless tennis he played in his semi-final against Roger Federer to race to a 5-0 lead in just 19 minutes. Murray contributed to his downfall, a double-fault handed his first service game to his opponent, but the depth and accuracy of Djokovic’s groundstrokes had the Scot chasing shadows on the Rod Laver Arena. To his credit Murray, who beat Djokovic to win the U.S. Open and Wimbledon titles and probably would have claimed several more but for the Serb, rose to the challenge. He had chances too. He
was 5-5 40-0 ahead in the second set with Djokovic under pressure before he came off second best in a spellbinding 36-stroke rally as Djokovic roared back to break before clinching a two-set lead despite two double faults. Murray even fought back from 2-0 down in the third, but his resistance snapped in the tiebreak and Djokovic fired down his seventh ace to secure victory. “Every grand slam title is very significant in its own way,” Djokovic said. “Here, I managed to make history tonight and equal Roy Emerson’s six Australian Open titles. “I’m honored to be mentioned alongside legends of our sport.” While Emerson’s triumphs came in the pre-professional era of the 1960s when few players from the rest of the world made the long journey Down Under, Djokovic’s dominance is international. He won 11 titles including three of the four majors last year and already has a 12-0 record this season, having thrashed the other members of the “Big Four” — Rafa Nadal, Federer and Murray — to win in Doha and Melbourne. Only Australian Laver, who was on the court named after him watching the final, has managed to win all four grand slams in one year and Djokovic would have to break his Roland Garros duck to match the feat and make more history. He said he thought he was getting closer to winning the French Open title every time he played the claycourt grand slam but had learned not to think too far ahead. “(I’m) very hungry (for Paris),” he concluded. “But the wolf needs to eat a lot of different meals to get to Paris. Paris is a dessert.”
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Kaieteur News
GCA’s Trophy Stall, GISE and Star Party Rentals Cricket
Monday February 01, 2016
Demerara claim Masters and female titles
TSC, UG WIN, RAIN SAVES MSC
Dennis Squires
Kemol Savory By Sean Devers Transport Sports Club (TSC) and University of Guyana (UG) registered outright wins in the latest round of action in the GCA’s Trophy Stall, GISE and Star Party Rentals two-day Cricket competition which ended yesterday. Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) and Everest played to a draw, while rain saved Malteenoes Sports Club (MSC) from a possible defeat against DCC. Abhilash Dookie and Kemol Savory scored the only centuries of the round while five bowlers including UG’s Haymant Persaud who took a helmet-trick. At DCC, UG reached 303 on the back of 80 from Melroy Stephenson and 70 from Dennis Haywood. Trevon France (4-61) and Surendra Heralall (4-58) did the dame with the ball for GYO who dismissed for 88. Abdool Raheem (38) top scored as Persaud befuddled the batsmen to finish with 718 including four wickets from four balls. Following on, GYO produced a much better batting performance to reach 276. Dookie (155) and Chris Deonarine (38) batted well as Lloyd George (3-19), Dwayne Dodson (3-23) and Damion Van Tull (2-38) were the main wickets takers for UG who were set 60 to win. Trevon Ford took two more wickets as UG reached 66-2. At Eve Leary, the hosts fell for 134 despite 27 from
Corwin Austin. Shawn Massiah took 5-29 and Devaughn Nandand had 4-43 for TSC who replied with 168. Charwayne McPherson (22) and Supaul Sanichar (23) put together 50 for the first wicket but only Massiah of the other batsmen with 30 offered resistance. Stephen Harris (4-63) and Kevin Leitch (3-41) did the bulk of the work for the Cops who made 214 in their second innings. Harris top-scored with 73 batting at number nine and along with Jermaine Reynolds (25) added 62 for the eighth wicket after Brentnol Woolford had contributed 31. Set 181 to win the match went down to the wire with the scores being tied with the last pair at the crease. A wide gave TSC the win by one wicket with Adrian Hinds unbeaten on 44. McPherson (37) and Nandan (38) also contributed to the nail biting win. Harris took 4-49 to end with eight in the match. At Camp Road, GCC piled up 325 with Winston Forrester (66), Vishaul Singh (53), Renaldo Mohamed (36), Anthony Adams (27) and Robin Bacchus (22) batted well. Akshaya Persaud picked up 5-76. Everest fell for 205 with Tagenarine Chanderpaul (46) and Renaldo Renee (53) putting together 112 for the first wicket but nobody else stepped up with the bat. Forrester took 6-44 and received support from Adams who took three wickets. GCC were 32-3 when play ended with Shameer Khan taking 2-14. At MSC, DCC rattled up 378-7 in their first innings with Kemol Savory (104) stroking his second consecutive hundred in two weeks. Darwin Christian (94) and Jahron Byron (79) batted well with Darien Bess taking 4-86. MSC were bowled out for 56 with Floyd Rawlins (27) scoring almost half of the runs as the experienced Dennis Squires taking his third successive five-wicket in as many matches. The Offspinner bagged 5-11 and was backed up by Carlton Jacques who took 2-19. Following on 323 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat MSC were 188-8 when rain stopped play at 17:05 hrs with three overs left to be bowled. Elton Baker (62), Marcus Watkins (38) and Kellon Carmichael (23) led the MSC fight. Totaram Bishun took four wickets, while Squires added three more to the five he took in the first innings.
The victorious Demerara Masters team. Demerara won the male Masters and Female open titles when the Unity softball cricket tournament was contested on Saturday at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence. Demerara overcame Berbice by six wickets in the Masters’ category by six wickets. Batting first, Berbice managed 113-4 of their allotted 15 overs. Eon Abel struck three fours and one six in a top score of 45, while John Sumair made 43 with five fours. Ramo Malone had 1-20. Demerara responded with 119-4 in 14.3 overs. Jagdesh Persaud slammed one four
and four sixes in scoring 56, while Mohamed Rafeek made 25 and Malone 19. Sumair, Jaga Bojh and Rajin Moonsammy had one wicket apiece. Demerara overcame Berbice by 35 runs in the female encounter. Batting first, Demerara posted 109-5 off their allocation of 10 overs. Matana Cambridge clobbered three fours and ten sixes in a top score of 75 while Latoya Smith got 19. Shamkia Gajnabi had 2-19. Berbice responded with 74-7 in 10 overs. Tishanie Cort scored 19 and Jenifer Qualie made 15.
Smith snared 3-5 and Haseena Mohamed 2-10. Regal beat Cotton Field of Essequibo Coast by seven wickets in the male open semi final. Essequibo took first turn at the crease and made 113-3 in 10 overs. Patrick Rooplall led with 69 inclusive of one four and ten sixes; Amir Nizamudeen, Richard Latif and Martin Dutchin had one scalp each. Regal replied with 114-3 in 9.5 overs. Dutchin slammed one four and eight sixes in scoring 62, while Chien Gittens got 18 and Navin Singh 12. G. Singh, D. Dindyal and Shawn Grovensor took
one wicket apiece. Wolf’s Warriors defeated Karibee Boys of Berbice by 57 runs in their semi final encounter. Wolf’s Warriors scored 119-7 in 10 overs. Safraz Karim stroked 43 and Wazir Hussain 32. Karibee Boyz responded with 62-7 in 10 overs. Keon Sinclair and Seon Hetmyer made 15 and 12 respectively. Azaad Azeez captured 3-6. However, the organisers called off the male open final between Regal and Wolf’s Warriors due to time constraint much to the disappointment of the players and fans.
Troy Cadogan officially installed as Western Tigers President Commits to forward movement of the entity
Mr. Cadogan (3rd right) and his other executives enjoy each other’s company moments after the elections had concluded. By Michael Benjamin Ansa McAl executive, Troy Cadogan, was yesterday morning formally installed as the President of the Western Tigers Football Club, replacing incumbent, Roger Moe, when affiliates of that entity convened for their Annual General Meeting at the club’s West Ruimveldt headquarters. Earlier, the members had moved a motion to install two Vice Presidents and accordingly, Alexander Elliot and outgoing President, Roger Moe were elected to serve in those capacities. Another Ansa McAl executive, Nigel Worrell assumed the post of Secretary, while Mark Cliff is the Treasurer. The final
executive position of Assistant/Secretary Treasurer went to Edmond Fraser while two other appointment positions, Manager and Public Relations Officer, were deferred until the new executives convene shortly. Minutes after he was installed Mr. Cadogan expressed gratitude to the electorate and pledged to give of his best in the transformation of the club. A former resident of that community, Mr. Cadogan, who played among other former members of the club, said that he had noted the rapid deterioration of the club over the years and felt a personal Continued on page 29