Wednesday January 10, 2018
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Kaieteur News
Local institute offers state-of-the-art therapy for cervical cancer - Set to offer free pap smear services this month State-of-the-art treatment is currently being offered at the Guyana Cancer Institute in the form of Brachytherapy. This form of therapy is one that has proven to be successful treatment for a number of cancers, but according to officials of the institute, it is being used to exclusively treat cancer of the cervix for the time being. About 50 applications of the treatment have already been administered to some 20 patients at a cost of some G$300,000 per application. This cost, according to Medical Director and Consultant Oncologist at the Cancer Institute, Dr. Sayan Chakraborty, is in fact a fraction of the cost required by some overseas institutions. “If you send the patient to a hospital outside of Guyana it is US$5,000 [approx. G$1 million] and in Guyana we are doing it for G$300,000,” asserted Dr. Chakraborty. This new treatment was acquired during the latter part of last year. Added to this, the Institute is able to offer a pap smear, a form of cervical cancer screening to patients, at a cost of about $3,500. But for this entire month, women will be eligible for this service at no cost. However, the Institute is looking for support from the private sector to sustain this gesture aimed at combating the challenge of cervical cancer. “Saving lives is something really noble and as we say ‘early detection saves life’ and we are here to save lives...if we join hands and combine our efforts, the corporate businesses or people who have sympathy for the people who suffer,” said Dr. Syed Ghazi, the Outreach Director at the Cancer Institute. This move comes as part of the Institute’s commemoration of Cervical Cancer Awareness month which is observed annually during the month of January. “We [are] inviting any woman who is living in Georgetown or anywhere to come here and get themselves screened,” said Dr. Ghazi. The criteria for this screening service, he disclosed, is once a woman has attained the age of 20 and is sexually active. Cervical cancer is caused by the Human Papilloma Virus [HPV] and Dr. Ghazi at a press conference yesterday said that often, because of the immense attention given to Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, little is
The Brachytherapy machine at the Guyana Cancer Institute
Dr. Syed Ghazi (left) and Dr. Sayan Chakraborty during yesterday’s press conference given to other daunting ailments. But according to him, cervical cancer cannot be placed on the back burner, since it is the second most common cancer in women globally. He disclosed that based on available statistics 36,000 women die every year in the Americas from this cancer. “It is like an epidemic in the Caribbean and particularly in Guyana,” said Dr. Ghazi. For this reason, he underscored that the cancer institute has been in the forefront in fighting against the scourge of cervical cancer, which he described as a “monster”. He noted that through its outreaches, the Cancer Institute has been reaching women countrywide to ensure that they are screened for cervical cancer. Currently, keen focus is being given to Regions Six and Seven. A number of other regions including Regions One and Nine have already been covered, and Dr. Ghazi anticipates that the Cancer Institute’s outreaches will cover the entire country by next year. This is especially important since the Institute is part of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition, which is an umbrella organisation for all the cancer organisations in Caribbean countries. Last year, the Cancer Institute was named among the top three performers in the ongoing campaign to eliminate cervical cancer from the Caribbean and South America by 2025. “We at the Cancer Institute are trying to address that issue as much as we can, to eliminate this monster, and we have provided state-of-the-art treatment which most Caribbean countries do not yet have,” related Dr. Ghazi. Sharing the spotlight yes-
terday was, Dr. Chakraborty. He pointed out that while cervical cancer is a troubling cancer, its impact is often compounded by misinformation or ignorance regarding the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. This, he said, has often resulted in most patients seeking medical attention until they are at an advanced stage. For the past year alone, about 80 patients were attended to at the Cancer Institute. But according to Dr. Chakraborty, before seeking proper health care, many patients are not privy to information that their condition can be addressed at an early stage or they simply do not know what to do when they are having problems associated with cervical cancer. The cervix is the lowest part of the womb and, according to Dr. Chakraborty, symptoms associated with advancing cancer in this area of the body include prolonged discharge, foul-smelling discharge, bloody discharge, discharge mixed with blood, pain or bleeding after sexual intercourse. “These are some of the symptoms that should ring alarms immediately. So if somebody is having these kinds of symptoms, it is advised that they go to the doctor,” said Dr. Chakraborty. But to address this condition the Cancer Institute has being using pap smears to detect cancer in the cervix at an early stage. A pap smear, he explained, is a three to four-minute procedure which is completely out-patient based, and does not cause pain. “It is simply taking swabs from the vagina and the cervix and reading it under a microscope. So if there is even a precancerous lesion which
has not yet turned into cancer but has the potential of turning into cancer, even that lesion can be taken up. A screening is highly recommended for all the female population of Guyana who are at the reproductive age, after their first sexual intercourse.” This is important, Dr. Chakraborty underscored, “because cancer of the cervix does not spare anybody. I have found patients as early as 17 years of age and as late as 78 years of age having cancer of the cervix.” Screening with a pap
smear should be done once yearly or, at the least, once every two years, Dr. Chakraborty recommended, since cancer of the cervix
poses a big threat. Once detected and treated early, he said that cancer of the cervix can be cured and persons can have a healthy and normal life.
CORRECTION It was brought to our attention that there was an error in an article titled “Former soldier accused of killing mother of ex-boyfriend listed for trial,” and published on page seven of our Monday, January 7, 2018 edition. In the article, it was reported that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) published a list of cases set for hearing at the High Court in Georgetown. This was incorrect. The list was published by the Supreme Court of Judicature.
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Wednesday January 10, 2018
Kaieteur News
KAIETEUR NEWS Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: ADAM HARRIS Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491 Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210
EDITORIAL
SOUND FOREIGN POLICY NEEDED In the age of globalization, technology and a chaotic social-media world, Guyana has to take steps to protect its image and reputation in international affairs. Since independence, the country has achieved a stellar reputation in international affairs, especially at the United Nations (UN) and during its active participation in the Non-Aligned Movement. Regionally, under the leadership of the late Forbes Burnham, Guyana championed the cause for free trade in the Caribbean which led to the creation of CARIFTA in 1965 and which became CARICOM in 1973. Today, with a United States President who seems to be very irrational, and who is incapable of restraining himself from even the slightest possible tweets or name-calling, small countries like Guyana needs a stable, conscious, thoughtful and farsighted government with a sound foreign policy to guide it safely through the rough waters of the international system. Guyana needs leaders who are strong in their convictions and are willing to change and adapt to changing circumstances on the world stage. While some believe that there is such leadership, others are of the view that the APNU+AFC coalition government has not demonstrated that kind of skillful and robust management to deal with an unpredictable White House approach to international politics. Guyana needs a government to enhance its role to seek new partnerships for trade and investment and to assist it in its border controversy with Venezuela. This should and must be the cornerstone of our foreign policy. We do not need a foreign policy that is akin to a particular ideology, but one that is flexible and adaptable to serving our best interests abroad. As such, our current foreign policy positions need to be reassessed, and there is evidence of that so far, particularly on the position Guyana took when it voted against President Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel at the UN. That was a necessary and courageous position for Guyana to take, since the US has ignored the two-state resolution. Crime and corruption also need to be addressed and dealt with locally, and there is no doubt that they are important and could impact negatively on the country’s reputation. The question we need to ask ourselves is: can Guyana oppose the Trump administration without a backlash from the White House and can it hold its own in an everchanging world, preserve its partnership with its traditional allies, and expand its relationship with other countries on the basis of what is best for the country? To withstand sanctions, if any, from the Trump Administration due to the vote at the UN, strengthening our partnerships or creating new ones with the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and others, must be on the forefront of our foreign policy positions, mainly for economic reasons. We need to meaningfully partner with these countries for trade, expertise and investment. Guyana’s foreign policy was soundly hatched in the late ‘60s and solidified in the ‘70s with the push for CARICOM to formally have a free trade deal with the European Union, like what it had with other regional bodies and countries. The country also maintained as much as possible the traditional America-led Western alliance that we have grown up with, and that has provided peace and security since 1945. All these and more are all positions that the current administration should consider this year, and going forward, have a clear plan on how to address and/or implement them. Because much more than what is patently obvious to everyone, and no matter what the government does or does not do, Guyana’s future is going to depend substantially on external factors, which are beyond our control. That is a sobering thought, considering where we are at this moment in time. Steady heads are what Guyana needs to navigate a fast-changing world.
Black Gold and the Harbingers of Doom DEAR EDITOR, I can fairly say, with some modesty, as we paraphrased that popular song of the early 70’s, we were environmentalists, when environmentalism wasn’t cool. We have had some modest gains, environmentally speaking, since we were environmental pragmatists – a not very popular group, but a successful one nevertheless, as we pursue our education and careers, into the field. Today, Guyana has not just made a monumental discovery in oil (Black Gold), but a monumental explosion in its financial status. It is expected the various groups and individuals, all with a self-sacrificing interest in saving Guyana and its peoples, of course, would emerge. I could remember, about a decade ago, asking the Director of the Environmental
Protection Agency what determines his decision to approve a mining or logging permit. He mentioned that he knew who signed his paycheck, and if a directive came across his desk from the responsible minister or president, he signed it. I asked him if there was a special tax on these various companies, whereby the monies would be used to repair environmental damage to land and water, and to replace trees in the Rainforest, which had taken at least seventy-five years to reach harvesting stage – that bit of information was told to me by a forest ranger. He did not want to comment further. I do not know if that situation was corrected, over the years, but I am now reading from newly formed groups, invited experts, most of whose titles begin with, ‘former’, (this or that), individuals, academics, and at
least one Nigerian multibillionaire, who was reported, by one local newspaper – which shall remain anonymous, since no one else has commented on the article), to have gained his wealth in oil. He spent one evening, somewhere in Guyana, giving a talk that seemed similar to recent visitors, at an unknown location, on an unknown date, at the invitation of persons unknown. My research on his web pages suggest that he gained his wealth in holding companies (buying and selling companies for a profit) which included some oil companies. He, it was stated, traveled around the world, in his luxury yacht, or his private luxury jet. I am perfectly confident, if anyone had arrived in Guyana via a luxury boat or plane, AND WAS A MULTI BILLIONAIRE, Guyanese
would still be talking. And most assuredly, he would have been a guest of the President, or at least paid a ‘curtesy call’. No one has disputed or confirmed this report, to date. What is most troubling, is statements and lectures by some, who have made considerable progress, in their field, and have greatly improved the standards in those respective areas, but have now shown clearly Black Gold, or its vast discovery, is having some effect. Because of this trend, I feel compelled to make some observations, which can be researched, to give an interested public, a better understanding of this new phase through which Guyana is being launched. 1. All accidents relating to oil spills are not the same. Environment and other factors preclude that. Continued on page 6
Something smells with the bulldozer purchase DEAR EDITOR, As the plot thickens with the ‘obsolete bulldozer’ saga more revelations and questions have emerged to transport this ‘deal’ into the realm of the corrupt. However, in order to make the explanation offered here more explicit and comprehensible I will need to give some specifics. For the year 2017, there was an RDC budgetary allocation of $20 million to purchase an ‘angle blade bulldozer’ for the urgent repairs of dams within the agricultural areas. But the ‘urgency’ was soon forgotten. Nearly, six months later on July 1, 2017 an invitation to tender for ‘the supply and delivery of one reconditioned D3 angle blade bulldozer’ was made in the media. It stated that the Engineer’s estimate was at $15 million. The tenders received would have been evaluated on 11th July, 2017 and the ‘lowest evaluated bid’ would have been awarded the contract. This means that by 25th July this notice of award to the supplier would have been sent. Furthermore, it was expected that the contract would have been signed and the bulldozer delivered within a ‘reasonable time’. The bulldozer arrived at the RDC Region Six Compound on January 3, 2018, approximately five months after the supplier was awarded the contract. Some pertinent questions need to be asked at this point: Why was the tender advertised at such a late date when the machinery was urgently needed, especially
to repair the dams in the rice cultivation areas which were almost impassable? Why was the Engineer’s estimate just $I million above the Regional Tender Board limit but just remains at $15 million in order to avoid the perusal by the Minister of Finance and Cabinet? Why was the entire budgetary allocation of $20 million not utilized to acquire a ‘fit and proper’ bulldozer? Why did it take the supplier five months to deliver? Was the delivery into the new calendar year accidental or coincidental? I must submit that the delivery of the ‘junk’ into 2018 is intentional. There is a growing trend if we look at the RDC capital expenditure that the majority of such expenditures take place towards the latter half of the year with some being done at the last minute, just like Christmas shopping. In addition, all cheques are raised before the end of the year to ensure that monies are not returned to the Treasury. In this bulldozer
case the cheque was raised at the end of the year and delivery done in January 2018 to mask the fact that the machine is not ‘fit and proper’! No other explanation will suffice! Another pertinent question is: Did the bulldozer meet the specifications of being a ‘reconditioned D3 angle blade bulldozer’? The answer is a resounding NO! An investigation conducted by the Regional Chairman on 5th January by a team of engineers confirmed that it was a D4D bulldozer manufactured in the 1970s. It was further discovered that the bulldozer’s engine is back pressuring and has about 10 other defects. The engineers pointed out that the machine is at the end of its useful life! Therefore, the bulldozer did not meet the specifications and it was not ‘fit and proper’. At the RDC Statutory meeting on 3rdJanuary, 2018, one day after the machine was received, the REO having expressed her surprise that the bulldozer had arrived at
the RDC Compound made a commitment to return the bulldozer to the supplier if it was not according to the specification and if it was not ‘fit and proper’. However, at a press conference held on 8th January she made a volteface! She declared that the supplier had agreed to repair the bulldozer! IN conclusion, I must remind all government officials that the main objective of the Public Procurement Act is to ensure that economy and efficiency are maximized and that taxpayers get value for money. It is useless to brag about a massive budget when the dollars do not translate into value, the inherent corruption at the tender boards level and the equally corrupt inspections and certifications will continue to eat away at our social and economic development unless drastic measures are taken against the corruptors! Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf RDC Councilor-Region 6
THERE SHOULD BE A HALT TO FURTHER EXPLORATION DEAR EDITOR, Given the high success rate of the recent explorations undertaken by Exxon it may be in the best interest of the country to stop further exploration until they can determine the financials of the current total oil they have found. This will provide a solution to the ring fencing problem by ensuring that we are clear on the operational costs current and projected faced by the usable oil fields found thus far. Another consideration to keep in mind is that if Exxon were to continue to explore, there
is a risk of finding dry wells and thus adding more cost to the same level of oil, further reducing our profitability in the future. At some point there needs to be an agreement as to the minimum level of profitability the two parties (Exxon and Guyana) would like to maintain. This minimum threshold should be set and used to guide decision making for both sides especially given the structure of the current contract. Best regards, Jamil Changlee, Strategy Consultant
Wednesday January 10, 2018
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Kaieteur News
Linden has a new Guyanese must resist an dispensation with the coalition emerging gang culture
DEAR EDITOR, The Linden Town Council voted overwhelmingly for Ms. Arrindale and Mr. Bethune to serve as mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, for the final year of Council’s term. It is, arguably, one of the most critical decisions by any group of Lindeners in the history of Linden. The choices portend, possibly, a new relationship between the Linden Town Council (the people of Linden) and the PNC/R. This decision suggests that Linden is finally ready to claim its unique promise and potential, reflective of the strength of its people, and not continue the decades-long march to the bottom To-date, after two years in office, this Council has been an abject and embarrassing failure. It has lost the interest and support of the Citizens. Even among Government agencies, Linden as seen as the sick child, the identified
patient, the headache!! The 2016 LGE was to have been a catalyst for growth, an empowering of local communities, and, for some, a continuation of the “Village Movement.” But, from the very start, even during the campaign there were troubling signs: President Granger, while campaigning in Linden along with the Prime Minister and the Attorney General, asked Lindeners to give the ruling coalition total control; they already controlled the National and Regional Governments. He suggested that the citizens of Linden should vote for “those who already had connections”. The inimitable Phillip Bynoe once said, “even if the PNC puts up a dog in Linden, they will win”. In 2016 the ruling coalition selected the mayoral candidate even before they had completed their slate of candidates. One councilor’s informal exit-poll after the elections informed
the citizens voted for the Party/Coalition, not the individuals. He was admonished for stating his findings on social media. Recently at the local PNC Congress in Linden, a senior official claimed that the PNC has complete support in Linden. She used the results of the 2016 elections to support this assertion; the coalition got 15 of the 16 seats. And she further stated that the representative of the other group in the council is a PNC member so, in effect, “we control the whole thing”. Therefore, apparently, the Linden community did accede to President Granger’s request. Mayor Holland was “elected” by all 16 councilors in March 2016. After less than a year in office, in December 2016, the tally was a revealing, six in favour, five abstentions, three absent and two against. And, this was after the councilors were summoned to Continued on page 6
Tit for tat verbal assault DEAR EDITOR, Far from debunking ‘all the misrepresentations’ Mr. Harri P. Beharry has now implicitly concurred with all that I have written in my letter. I am elated that Mr. Beharry has now admitted that ‘he is not enslaved by any political party’, which is sufficient evidence to support my view that he has taken ‘trips’ with all the major and minor political parties. He may be using different words but it all amounts to the same. It proves that he has no political loyalty. He is so ego-centric that he cannot bear the fact when anyone has a different view hence his hasty departures from these parties. Mr. Beharry as an elderly person who has wide experience, should know that lack of loyalty is one of the major causes of failure in life. I am sure that his current experimentation with the URP will produce the same results. Let me give him some advice on loyalty: ‘Those who don’t know the value of loyalty can never appreciate the cost of betrayal’. It is easy to speak about ‘navel strings’ not buried in any political party but if you want to be independent you should never undertake the role of a confidence trickster. You seem to feel that it is easier to change political allegiance rather than strive to put your own house in order (URP or whichever). Am
I the only problem you can find in Region 6? Why don’t you write about your grievances with the APNU/ AFC Coalition if you have any, instead of targeting me? Mr. Beharry then tried in vain to vindicate himself by saying that the vehicles parked on the road sides in front of his house do not belong to him. This is a blatant lie. The dam (Baker Shop Dam) he mentioned is a few hundred yards from his house so I am not mistakenthe vehicles and pumps belong to him. He manufactures water pumps for rice farmers and deals with heavy duty Agriculture machinery. Mr. Beharry then seeks to promote me to ministerial status when he argued that I ‘should make certain decisions on the spot’. This man has to be badly affected by his geriatric afflictions. I have mentioned that I am the ‘ear and eyes of the various ministries and the mouth of the complainants’. It seems that he believes that listening to grievances and forwarding those to the relevant ministries and departments are a waste of time. He feels that all the ministers and government heads should traverse the country and make on the spot decisions to satisfy everyone. May I remind him that running a country is vastly different from running his little fabrication workshop.
This great entrepreneur then went on in his characteristic abrasive and insulting manner to say that my job can be done by a ‘work study student’. This man’s penchant for mediocrity and ‘gutter’ attacks would make a lady of the night blush. Mr. Beharry then in his innate puerile characteristic attempted to obliterate my input in exposing the theft of the 150 bags of fertilizer by claiming that, ‘a senior regional functionary’ told him that he called me to ‘see what best ‘ I could do about the matter. If this was indeed so then why would MrBeharry ask me to throw some light on the matter? Why would farmers ask him, ‘Ah wanda wha happen wid da fertilizer story’? I do feel that Mr. Beharry is craving some relevance. The farmers have no interest in the fertilizer, it was not stolen from them and neither did they steal it. He should have contacted the relevant authority I cannot give information which I am not privy to. I am wondering if he asked this’ senior regional functionary’ gave information to me. This exposes this man’s lying and diabolical trait. His futile efforts to defame me seem to know no boundaries. Yours sincerely, Mr. Gobin Harbhajan Regional Democratic Councilor
DEAR EDITOR, A worrying trend is beginning to develop in Guyana. There are signs and evidence of an emerging gang culture. A random drive through communities in and around Georgetown has revealed sneakers with the laces tied around electricity cables, the unsightly graffiti tattooed across public and private properties and groups of young men huddled together smoking marijuana. The incident involving the death of 16year-old Brian Charles-Yearwood who was mercilessly stabbed while attending a concert organized by his school on April 29 last year, drives home the point that Guyanese youths are adopting an affinity for gangs. Two young men, Shannon Cox, 20; and Andy Peters, 17; will now face a judge and jury to defend murder charges which sprang from this “gang-related incident”. There must be a concerted effort and a proactive approach to dealing with and confronting the emergence of gangs in society, but it must not be allowed to fester and flourish into disorder and mayhem as evident in other countries. A grassroots approach can be taken to address this issue before gangs take over and cement their destructive tentacles deep inside communities some of which may already be grappling with drugs-running, a spiraling crime rate and many misguided, uneducated minds searching for acceptance and belonging. According to the US National Institute of Justice 2014 report, gangs can be organized based upon race, ethnicity, territory, or moneymaking activities. They are generally made up of members ages 8 to 22. The members display specific paraphernalia or articles of clothing in order to create a distinction from other groups. They
wear articles such as bandanas, hats, scarves of certain colors, or gang-related tattoos and other symbols. Gangs are known to be one of the leading factors for the spread of violent crimes both on and off school property. According to Carlie PhD, Michael K.”The Gang Culture.” Into The Abyss: A Personal Journey into the World of Street Gangs, April 7, 2014, when joining a gang, often times there is often an initiation involved. The initiation is usually a violent crime that could include theft, murder, gang-rape, or a drive-by shooting. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in 2011 pointed out that there were 33,000 violent street, motorcycle, and prison gangs active in the U.S, with more than 1.4 million members (a staggering 40% increase in just two years). In recent years, gangs have been participating in more non-traditional crimes such as prostitution, alien smuggling, and human trafficking, identity theft, and mortgage fraud. These crimes allow the perpetrators to operate below the radar with less visibility while they secure higher profits. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, identifies several cities and areas where gang homicides are prevalent highlighting that neighbourhood-based gang pose the highest threat for violence than national street gangs, prison gangs, and outlaw motorcycle gangs. The authorities must do all in their power to address this creeping scourge frontally, or run the risk of the country descending into a dangerous, gang-infested territory threatening our fledgling tourism base and undermining the efforts being made by security forces. Sincerely, Danielle Campbell-Lowe
Some junior ranks feel oppressed DEAR EDITOR, Kindly permit me space in your newspaper to draw the public attention to the lawless activities going on in a certain police Division of the Guyana Police Force on a daily basis. This Commander took command of this Division some time during October 2016 and from then to now it’s just chaos and confusion. He is involved in several inappropriate relationships. Is the administration of the Guyana Police Force aware of this behaviour and failed to act? Is it because this commander is affiliated to the outgoing Commissioner of Police and the Acting Commissioner of Police that a blind eye is turned? This is the same individual who was involved in similar relationships while he was Personal Assistant to the Commissioner and he continued with his act in Police ‘A’ and ‘C’ Divisions while he was Deputy Commander. We the junior ranks are being pressured and even transferred while this guy is being promoted all because he and an official of the Police
Service Commission are very close. This indispensable Commander has several known characters who frequent the Mackenzie Police Station on a daily basis with heavily tinted cars and policemen and women can only whisper to themselves. They have to turn a blind eye because of tremendous pressure being meted out to us. This indispensable Commander and the Finance Sergeant are involved in a serious fraud. This indispensable Commander always told us to change the crime statistics to suit him. If there were five robberies he would tell us to put two for him to look good. This indispensable Commander always pressures us when his friends complain to him. This indispensable Commander’s known characters pretend to fix police vehicles although there is a Police Mechanic in the division. These characters are only thieving out the batteries from Police vehicles leaving us to get the blame. This indispensable Commander
always harasses us when we arrest his Comrades upon instructions of his friends. How much more are we going to take from this Commander who feels he is indispensable. We the Junior ranks are suffering at the hands of this commander. We are calling on Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, and President David Granger to help and rescue us from this Police Commander. Concerned Rank
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Wednesday January 10, 2018
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The dead, sugar, PPP and GAWU gains DEAR EDITOR, We should all know by now that the PPP will do anything and everything to get back into power. We all know that GAWU will do all that it can towards ensuring that sugar workers remain as the major supporter of the PPP. So, when false promises are being pelted out to the public especially the sugar workers at this time, I am not and we should not be surprised. In December 2017 as stated in the news, almost 4000 sugar workers were given termination letters in Berbice. What I know for a fact is that those letters were not given to them without notice. It was in the news for a long time that they will receive termination letters due to the fact that a few estates will be close. We all know that sugar is not making a profit, so something has to be done to ensure that Guysuco does not go into further debts. If the company is to go into further debts then some time soon it means that they will not have money (it is not like they have any now) to pay workers and then the
same would have to happen in terms of termination. But it seems like the PPP and GAWU do not know this. We need to understand that even a private business person will do same if he\she is not making a profit. They will close the business down and send home their workers, all because they do not want to run at a loss and incur more debts. Let me give my sympathy to the families, relatives and friends of the two sugar workers that committed suicide in December 2017. I know that sudden death can have an impact on the families and I ask that you all stand strong especially for the children that have a future ahead. But, I was surprised when the PPP supporters and some of its executives linked the suicides to sugar. This PPP and GAWU will do anything even using the dead for political power. I am not surprised at all because Dr. Jagan’s name is what keeps the PPP alive. During their campaigns they use that name more times that it is written in the history books of Guyana. They also use his pictures towards
invoking the dead. How would anyone say that the termination letter is the cause that those two gentlemen committed suicide? I don’t believe that the investigation is completed as yet into what caused the death of the two men. The workers knew for months now that they will be terminated; PPP and GAWU said it almost every hour of the day in public, be it newspapers, social media, television, bottom house meetings, etc. So it should have been no surprise letter. I do believe that the PPP and GAWU are the ones that should be blamed for those workers’ deaths. The reason for those two suicides could very well be because PPP and GAWU are going to workers and spreading lies about what’s the real happenings in the industry. They are the ones that are putting it over to the workers as if they will have no future and cannot live when they are terminated. The PPP and GAWU are the ones that are taking the suicidal thoughts of workers and their families. They are the ones that are causing the workers and their families to think as if they have no future.
It’s a shame that PPP is once again using the dead for their political gains. PPP needs to stop using the grieving families as their tools for political power. It’s shameful to see the length to which the PPP will go to regain power. At a recent Funeral House, the PPP members were waving their party flag and singing the party song over a dead body. It’s a shame that they are campaigning on the dead. The leader of the party Bharrat Jagdeo was there and he also took part. GAWU also seems to be one of the driving forces into taking the negative messages to the workers and their families. GAWU fight is not for the workers but for the union dues; that’s what they are fighting for and to ensure workers keep the PPP as their supporters. For twenty-three long years, the PPP was in power and they cannot find any solution to sustain the sugar industry and the workers. Now they are saying they have solutions. Maybe their solutions are to fool the workers and spread false messages so that
they can have the worker’s votes come 2020. After that, the solution will dissolve and they will forget the workers the same way they did since 1992. So workers need to be aware of the false fight from the PPP. Now with the oil monies, the PPP will promise gold and diamond to the people of Guyana especially sugar workers, but we all need to think. Think of the neglect for the past 23 years that you the workers had to face from the PPP and think if they go there again the pressure will be worse than those 23 years that they had. GAWU and the PPP need to stop spreading the fears into the lives of the sugar workers and their families. GAWU must start telling workers and their families not to listen to the PPP because they are inciting fears into their lives. But we all know GAWU would never do that because if they do, their President who is a PPP sitting MP, will be recalled from his post in the National Assembly. I am also calling on all the NGOs that are preaching suicide prevention to
condemn the PPP and GAWU behaviour towards spreading of the wrong messages to the workers and their families that are creating suicidal taught within their minds. To all the workers and their families be strong. Don’t allow anyone to use your grief or death for their political gains. Stop them from driving fears into your life’s, because they are living happily and fearless. All is not lost; there is a bright future ahead of us no matter what. Don’t try to tell yourself that it’s the end of things or life, NO. Continue to shoulder each other at this time when some come to you as sheep in wolf clothing, because they have created what is happening within the industry today. I call once again on the PPP and GAWU to stop this type of political campaigning because thousands of people’s lives are involved when you go out there and spread lies and try to send fear into the minds of the people that can motivate them towards taking their lives. Regards Abel Seetaram Regional Councilor RDC Region 5
Linden has a new dispensation... Black Gold and the Harbingers of... From page 5 a meeting prior to the public vote. This year the Councillors categorically rejected even the thought of his return as mayor for the last year of the term, in a secret vote. Mr. Holland was given a gift, and did not have the sense to use it wisely. He mistakenly felt that the “blessing” of the national leadership was absolute.
Mr. Holland’s tenure proved, convincingly, that he had neither the temperament, nor aptitude, nor leadership skills, nor instinct to lead the LM&TC at this critical stage of Linden and Guyana’s development. So it begs the question; why was he chosen? Why were the Councillors instructed to vote for him (twice) in 2016? With a total majority, why didn’t the ruling coalition
allow the councilors the latitude/ freedom to vote their conscience in deciding who will lead the Council, as Mayor? At the introduction of this letter I asserted that the councilors’ decision was “arguably, one of the most critical decisions by any group of Lindeners in the history of Linden”. They rebelled and asserted their independence and right to serve the Linden Community based on their conscience and knowledge. That the leadership of the PNC/R acceded to their rejection of Mr. Holland also suggested a different posture and a maturing of the relationship with the people of Linden. Yes, the citizens voted for the party/coalition, but they expected that the coalition/ party would act in the interest of the community, and to promote self-reliance and self-actualization, to assure continued growth within the Community. The above established the context for the following question: If the population voted for the party/coalition, what should be their (party/ coalition) role in furthering good governance and development in Linden? And, I am making a distinction between the party and the government. Samuel Wright
From page 4 2. Guyana cannot have an ‘Exxon Valdez’ type accident. 3. Oil tankers are now required to have double hulls. The outer hull could be damaged without an oil spill automatically happening. 4. Accidents are not caused by oil companies, but by one or two trained employees, who for a variety of reasons, have erred. (It was reported that the captain of Exxon Valdez was drunk and had turned control, of the vessel, over to a relatively inexperienced co-pilot) 5. Oil companies are owned by large and small shareholders, who to be sure, would like to see profits in their bank accounts, instead of paying for oil-cleanup. Hence the tendency of the industry is to research better ways and means to extract and ship oil. It is in their economic interest. 6. Though devastating at most times to the environment, most oil production in the world is relative accident-free. BUT ACCIDENTS CAN AND WILL HAPPEN. 7. Oil clean-ups usually involve three different factions, not including the Courts; Government, oil company and the myriad ‘environmental’ organizations, that will claim to be speaking for the people. Hence court cases can take months, if not years, while the environment deteriorates. Oil companies are now speaking out about this, some claiming that Courts are even colluding in the delay, while environmental organizations are mostly interested in filling their pockets and some local governments are not using the settlements where it is intended. 8. It is absurd for anyone, of reasonable sanity, to expect an oil company to tell a government what they should do with their payments/bonuses In Guyana, resistance to this great oil discovery, is coming in many forms. The
environmentalists, who may have a myopic environmental view, since they are solely interested in their own environmental concerns, the groups who feel that they will be victimized, when it comes to profit-sharing. The talk about civil war, especially stating that such is an occurrence in other countries, as validation for such total erroneous comments, is troublesome. Nigeria’s Boko Haram is NOT fighting a civil war with the Nigerian government, as one such learned lecturer said. There are no civil wars being fought today over oil! The war between Sudan and South Sudan concerned their boundary line. Sudan wanted more territory from the South, which included more oil fields. The talks broke down, so war may be imminent -unless the USA backs South Sudan, since Iran is now sending its military to support Sudan. Iraq sent military contingents to stop the Kurds from declaring independence, which would have incorporated most of the northern Iraq oilfields. The Kurds backed down. But that is not over. A civil war in Guyana, in my humble opinion, would not be due to Black Gold, per se, but the tremendous influence one religious faction may have over the society. It is worth noting. Environmental groups need to look at all environmental problems Guyana now has, and firstly try, to work with the ‘green government’, in the best interest of a healthy Guyana. “Greed is good!” said Michael Douglas in Wall Street, that famed movie of the 1990’s. Greed is a great motivator for us to do evil. We ought to keep that in mind, as Guyana makes its first economical quantum leap, since bauxite was discovered in 1924. Thank you Albert R. Cumberbatch, Ph. D. (Environmentalist, Author. Educator)
Wednesday January 10, 2018
Ministries continue to ignore Auditor General’s recommendations Auditor General Deodat Sharma has once again expressed concern over the nonchalant treatment of the recommendations that he makes yearly to improve the financial landscape of Guyana. Most of the recommendations made by the Audit Office have been ignored. Only a small percentage of that which was recommended in 2014 was fully implemented; it was no different for 2015 and the trend continued in 2016. In his report covering a review of the fiscal year ended 2016, Sharma said, “Each year, my Office issues recommendations to Ministries, Departments and Regions that are designed at improving systems and practices at these entities and improving the Government’s governance and accountability mechanisms. Four hundred and fortytwo recommendations were made in my 2015 Audit Report. We reviewed each recommendation to determine what action, if any, was taken by the respective Accounting Officers. At the time of reporting, 160 or 38 percent partially implemented, while 91 or 22 percent were not implemented.” The Auditor General continued, “Overall, I am concerned with the lack of action towards the implementation of these recommendations, since, sixty percent of the recommendations have not yet been implemented.” In addition, Sharma said that in many instances, recommendations are repeated each year without appropriate
Auditor General, Deodat Sharma action and as a result, weaknesses and issues that impacted negatively on Government’s governance and accountability mechanisms continue to occur. “Once again, I encourage the Government, through the Ministry of Finance, the Accountant General’s Department and the respective Head of Budget Agency, to take appropriate actions and put measures in place to address the recommendations made in my prior report and this year as well,” stated Sharma. The non implementation is nothing new. Just over 379 recommendations were made in his 2014 Audit Report. Sharma had said that he and his team reviewed each recommendation to determine what action, if any, was taken by the respective Accounting Officers. Sharma said that to his disappointment, at the time of reporting, 115 recommendations which represent 29 percent of his overall recommendations were partially implemented, while 223 representing 56 percent were not imple-
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mented. Therefore, only 15 percent of the recommendations were implemented. Also, in a previous report, Sharma said, “My Report for 2015 has 442 recommendations, of which, 62 or approximately 14 percent were in relation to overpayments on construction works and related issues. Of the 62 Recommendations, 31 or approximately fifty percent were in relation to contracts that were awarded and or completed in 2015, with overpayments valued $36.197M.” Sharma said that the difference of 31 or approximately 50 percent of these recommendations were in relation to contracts that were awarded and/or completed up to 2014, with overpayments amounting to $376.995M. In addition, Sharma said that of the 442 recommendations contained in the 2015 Report, 388 or approximately 94 percent were in relation to generalised areas. Of these 388 recommendations, 191 or approximately 49 percent related to weak or non-existent internal controls, and breaches of legislation, including the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act and Stores Regulations. “The Audit Office continue to view the lack of action towards the implementation of prior recommendations with serious concerns and suggest stringent action be taken to address these findings, especially those related to overpayments on construction works, lack of/weak internal controls, including poor record keeping and breaches of relevant legislation,” Sharma concluded.
Malfunctioning x-ray machines force GPHC to rely on private institutions The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation [GPHC] has in recent days been relying on other health facilities to provide x-ray services to its patients. This publication has been reliably informed that since the weekend no x-ray machine at the premier health institution has been working, thus patients in need of this service are being taken to other institutions. GPHC has multiple machines. Among the institutions that it has been relying on are the privately-operated Guyana Cancer Institute, which is situated in its compound, and the Woodlands Hospital. In an invited comment on the state of affairs, GPHC’s Chief Executive Officer, Retired Brigadier George Lewis, said the dilemma currently being faced by the institution is linked to an imaging problem. Even as he admitted that GPHC has been utilising the services of private institutions, Lewis concurred that the x-ray machines are inoperable because of a technical problem with the production of images. “As a result we have an arrangement with a number of private health care institutions to provide that service to our patients,” said Lewis. Lewis reminded that the GPHC is tasked with offering a free service to patients, but
is currently faced with a challenge that undermines its ability to do so. He however noted that patients must be patient and understand that such situations may occur at times. The GPHC in this case, he said, “has put in place measures to ensure that emergency and necessary x-ray services are done...that is what we are dealing with.” A number of patients who reportedly sought assistance from private institutions because of the situation at the GPHC had shared their concerns with this publication. Many of them claimed that they were required to seek this service at private institutions because their conditions were not ruled as pressing enough. In commenting on the xray dilemma, Lewis did not share the cost the hospital has thus far incurred or is prepared to expend as a result of the prevailing situation. He, however, did assure that moves are apace to address the situation in the shortest possible time. As such it is expected that those patients who do not require emergency x-rays will be attended to when the machines become operable, Lewis said. He also noted that patients who have the wherewithal are free to independently seek x-ray services at private institutions. And while there have been reports
GPHC’s CEO, Retired Brigadier George Lewis that suggest that the inoperable GPHC x-ray machines have been linked to limited or a lack of maintenance, Lewis did not corroborate this. During a visit of the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Social Service at the GPHC in May of last year, among the concerns that were raised was the lack of maintenance of some of the equipment. Officials of the institution had revealed then that “the issue of maintenance of equipment has been challenging...since there is a lack of qualified persons in the country to maintain [some] equipment, hence maintenance could take some time.” In fact there were calls made for portable x-ray machines to improve the efficiency of the hospital’s operation.
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Wednesday January 10, 2018
GAWU questions 80% increase to management costs at GuySuCo The country’s largest sugar union is denying that it has been receiving almost $30M monthly in union dues from workers. In a statement yesterday, responding to an article in this newspaper, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), while not disclosing what the actual figure is, also took a jab at the management of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), claiming that senior management costs shot up 80 percent in 2016. GAWU’s grouse has to do with claims of two senior officials who confirmed in separate interviews, that more than $30M in union dues was deducted from workers last year. It would mean that the layoffs of workers would have significant impact on the unions. About $29M-plus was going to GAWU, while about $3M monthly was going to the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE). The monies have to be deducted and remitted to the unions of the 16,000 workers that GuySuCo had until late last year. About 4,000 workers were sent home late last year as part of the ‘right-sizing’ of the lossmaking GuySuCo by the administration. They were from Skeldon, Rose Hall, Enmore and Wales. The four estates are now in the hands of Government for privatization and divestment. In responding to the article on the reported $30M, GAWU noted that “Kaieteur News, known for its ‘investigative’ reporting, should seek to find out how is it that GuySuCo made a profit in 2016 though production sank to just over 183,000 tonnes or how is it that the senior management cost shot up by 80 per cent in 2016 when compared with 2015”. “Clearly, there is a lot more than what meets the eye and rather than spuriously attack-
- denies receiving $30M monthly dues ing the workers organization, the Kaieteur News may want to find out why perfectly good estates are being shuttered and thousands put on the breadline,” the union advised. GAWU, in expressing “deep disappointment”, claimed that it would have been good if the figures were reflective of the reality. “The facts, however, demonstrate that the figure quoted by the Kaieteur News is highly inflated and possibly a figment of someone’s imagination,” GAWU said. However, the union did not immediately say what it was raking in. Senior officials, in Government and at GuySuCo, confirmed those figures. GAWU noted that its finances up to the year ending 2016 have been audited by the Office of the Auditor General, in keeping with the Trade Union Act. The finances were given a clean bill of health. GAWU denied that its defence of laid-off sugar workers has anything to do with safeguarding the loss of income. Such supposition, it said, would be both wicked and misleading. “The GAWU has a long and proud history of standing in the workers’ corner in representing their several interests and advocating and struggling for better wages and working conditions against callous owners and administrators who have an uncaring, exploitative approach to workers. Our approach this time faced with a genuine life and death situation for many, has been no different. For us the workers’ well-being is paramount regardless of the implications, financial and otherwise, on our union,” GAWU said in its statement. The union noted that in its years of association with the sugar industry and GuySuCo, none of the plans previously advanced have
GAWU’s head, Komal Chand been as grave as the plans in recent times to shut down estates. And it is in view of the fallout that it could not sit by idly. “In seeking to paint our union with the brush of blame, the Kaieteur News speaks to the number of strikes in the sugar industry. It seems that the Kaieteur News was not aware that Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Keith Scott in his 2018 Budget debate contribution pointed out that strikes in the sugar industry are at their lowest level in years. Certainly, the worn out strike argument has lost its allure and basis.” Questioning the purpose of the Kaieteur News report, GAWU vowed not to be “daunted by tangential attacks” which seek to propagandize an issue that has serious implications for Guyanese now and tomorrow as well. “GAWU believes that sugar has a viable future; this is buttressed by the substantial interests being expressed in acquiring estates which the Kaieteur News described as “least performing”.” Government’s decision to downsize GuySuCo and privatize a number of operations has been meeting with objections from the unions, with protests held at Berbice yesterday.
Diamond family’s home riddled with bullets Police are trying to ascertain who fired several shots into a home at Lot 263 Section A, Block X Diamond, East Bank Demerara at around 22.30 hrs on Monday.
The upper flat of the twostorey house is occupied by Anita Alli, 57, and two of her sons - Steven Alli, a 25-yearold accounts clerk and Shafeek Alli, a 29-year-old en-
gineer. According to a release, Steven Alli said he was in bed when he heard several explosions. On checking, he saw several holes in an eastern window. Six pieces of metal fragments were found on the floor, while police retrieved two 9mm shells on the road next to the Alli’s house. A senior police source said that they have found no motive yet for the shooting.
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The numbers do not tell about the terror A family, according to reports on social media, was recently returning to their home when they were waylaid by an armed bandit who had secreted himself in their yard. They were taken, at gunpoint, into the house, and the husband placed under the bed, while the bandit demanded money and valuables from the wife. Later in the ordeal, the wife was forced to perform oral sex on the bandit. Can you imagine the terrifying ordeal which that family went through? Can you imagine the trauma which that family will have to endure for the rest of their lives because of that incident? Can you imagine the psychological damage which that incident has inflicted on the members of this family? It is all well and good to learn from the police high command that the incidence of serious crime has fallen. It is all nice to receive such assurances, but the reality is that what has happened to that family can happen to any family in Guyana, because of
the actions of bandits who are roaming our streets with guns. Guyanese are extremely vulnerable. No one knows if he or she will be the next victim. A contractor and a few of his employees were ambushed recently after they had left a bank at Diamond. He was robbed of his money at gunpoint. So, it is not just persons who go to commercial banks in the city that are being robbed. Persons who conduct transactions at banks outside of the city are also being attacked by bandits. The police have also tried to downplay the high incidence of carjacking. They have reported that there were 47 cases of carjacking in the last three months of last year, an astonishing rate of one carjacking per every two days, in a country in which the ratio of cars to population is far below what exists in the developed world. The number of cars per person in Guyana is less than three times that in Barbados. It is therefore astounding that
a country with such a low ratio of cars per person should be having such an astounding high number of cases of carjacking. What is going to happen when that ratio increases? Guyana has a serious crime problem. The numbers tell a frightening story, but the numbers do not always, also, tell the whole story, as we have seen in the case of rape victims. Crime has been the bugbear of all governments. The intellectual arguments about the criminalized state are not comforting to those who on a daily basis have to live with the possibility that they will be the next victim. There are too many criminals in Guyana. Too many persons are involved in crime. Crime is all around. People are stealing in offices. Students are stealing each other’s belongings in schools. Gone are the days when you can put down something, forget it, and come back the next day and find it. The society is highly criminalized. We have reached
Female dental surgeon, pensioner trailed, robbed after leaving commercial banks Gunmen targeting commercial bank customers struck twice in the space of three hours yesterday, robbing a female dental surgeon at Eccles, East Bank Demerara, and a pensioner at Mittelholzer Street, Festival City. Police said that Debra Skeete, a 49-year-old dental surgeon, was held at gunpoint outside her Eccles, East Bank Demerara home. She had just left the Republic Bank branch, located on the public road at Diamond, East Bank Demerara. The gunmen, who were on a motorcycle, robbed her of 60 Pounds Sterling, $25,000 in local currency, which were in a shoulder bag containing
an iPhone, a Samsung galaxy phone, Republic Bank and GBTI cards, and national identification and NIS cards. Police said that Dr. Skeete went to the Republic Bank at around 10:45 hrs, she deposited $25,000 in the ATM, then drove to Bounty Supermarket, located on the public road at Grove, East Bank Demerara. Dr. Skeete then drove to her home located on the East Bank. She had just parked when two men on a motorcycle rode up to her. One of the men then went to the driver’s side and ordered the dental surgeon to hand over her bag. When she hesitated, the robber drew a handgun, opened the car door and
snatched the bag. He then escaped on the motorcycle with his accomplice. Then, at around 13.45 hrs, a gunman on a motorbike struck in similar fashion at Mittelholzer Street, Festival City, robbing Whitfield Wright, 74, of $527,000 in his yard. Police said that Wright had withdrawn the cash from a Scotiabank branch. He then drove to his Festival City home, and had entered his yard when a man, who was riding a motorcycle, held him at gunpoint and relieved him of an envelope containing the money. The attacker then escaped. The bandits in both attacks are still at large.
DEM BOYS SEH People gone to India to check dem bank account Every year at this time dem shops does give out calendars. Some does give out calendars and dem small pocket diaries. De big companies does send fancy diaries to dem friends and some big ones in de society. Sometimes you don’t even got to ask and de diary coming. It wrap up fancy. Some use to got de photo of de president because dem always buttering up de government. De first Christmas de coalition spend in power dem boys see some diary share. Every Minister get a diary wid he name engrave in gold and it mark Honourable in front. Some of dem get pen engrave in gold. This year three of dem send back de pen and de diary because de person who give dem talk bad bout de ExxonMobil deal. De man write how dem sellout Guyana and how dem did plan to thief de signing bonus. That is why people don’t print something that can’t change. Dem does buy likker. Some
people send some real high end likker and dem boys was waiting to see if dem gun send it back. Just like how de whole of Guyana waiting to see if India gun send back Rohee. Dem boys know dem woulda see something special when Rohee tek out he pen to full up de immigration form. De form ask fuh he name and he write that. De part wheh he should write nationality he write Indian. De immigration people didn’t seh nutten because dem know de man was a Minister and he should know if he born in India. He is just one. Irfaat married bout one week now and instead of spending de nice time wid he wife, he lef she and gone to India behind Rohee. Guyana got less people than Uncle Sam but de delegation it send to India bigger than Uncle Sam own. That is because nuff of dem tek de chance to check pun dem foreign bank account. Talk half and ask youself why Jagdeo going so steady to India.
a state where people have very little moral scruples about persons associating with criminals. Some persons actually idolize criminals. Persons are walking past your vehicle these days and they are peering inside to see if you have anything of value which they can steal. If you leave a bucket in your yard, you will be lucky to awake the next morning and find it. Security costs are increasing even for the poor. Businesses now have to invest millions in CCTV cameras and in hiring security firms. Private citizens have to get dogs
in order to try to prevent crime. These dogs have to be fed. This costs money. And yet all we are hearing is about security sector reform. The British government cannot come and help us improve our crime rate. It will not bring down the numbers, much less reduce the fear in society. The bulk of the resources which they are providing will go towards hiring their own consultants who have little experience of living in Guyana, and therefore knowing how to deal with the problem we have. Security sector reform has never helped with bringing
down numbers. What helps is a different kind of policing. The numbers which are being churned out by the Guyana Police Force about crime are of little comfort. The numbers do not tell the whole story of citizens living in a country in which they can be pounced upon at any time by criminals. The name of that country is Guyana.
Wednesday January 10, 2018
Kaieteur News
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Wednesday January 10, 2018
Auditor calls on GRA to focus on lifestyle audits While many have acknowledged that the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has made a number of changes for the better, there are others who stress that more still needs to be done. One such person is Chartered Accountant and former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran. In his recent writings, the anti-corruption advocate stated that indeed, GRA has the potential of doubling its assessment and collection of revenue from the various taxes that it administers. Goolsarran noted, however, that one area which GRA needs to pay particular attention to, is in relation to the conduct of arbitrary assessments, also called lifestyle audits, where there appears to be a significant mismatch between the reported income of individuals and their observable lifestyles. “Suffice it to state that too many of these persons continue to flaunt unexplained wealth with impunity. There are also many large unincorporated entities for which there are no legal requirements to file audited accounts with the GRA. This poses significant difficulties when considering the tax liabilities of the owners of these entities.” On the other hand, Goolsarran said that while there is a requirement for incorporated entities to file audited accounts with GRA within a specified timeframe, and duly certified by chartered accountants in public practice, GRA must be more proactive in carrying out its own independent assessment as to whether these audited accounts do indeed reflect a fair presentation of the financial condition, performance and cash flows of these entities. Goolsarran said that GRA must be prepared to challenge these accounts rather than accept them at face value simply because they have been certified by chartered accountants. IMFHIGHLIGHTS Goolsarran also pointed to the fact that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in one of its latest reports, highlighted that there were several weaknesses within the revenue authority. In the area of verification of returns filed by taxpayers, the Fund noted several problems. It said that there was no automated cross-checking of
- says “too many persons continue to flaunt unexplained wealth with impunity”
GRA Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia
Chartered Accountant, Anand Goolsarran
internal and external information to detect and deter inaccurate reporting; no proactive initiatives to encourage accurate reporting; and no monitoring of the extent of inaccurate reporting in any of the core taxes. In addition, the IMF found that GRA’s Customs Department was not used on a systematic basis to verify amounts reported for personal and corporate taxes. The need to monitor regular tax revenue losses from inaccurate reporting was also highlighted, especially by business taxpayers, so that the necessary actions can be taken to ensure compliance. Accordingly, the IMF gave a D grade for this activity which is considered the lowest level of performance. There was no system of public or private rulings nor were cooperative compliance arrangements in place to facilitate GRA’s clarification of tax issues. There was also no legal framework to support the issuance of binding rulings nor were there any compliance gap studies for Value Added Tax (VAT). MOVING FORWARD In the face of the aforementioned, GRA’s Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia informed this newspaper that efforts are already in place to correct such deficiencies. In fact, Statia revealed that the IMF report was done based on his request. He noted that last year, a team from the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) visited Guyana. The Commissioner General said that he asked the team to have a diagnostic study conducted on the revenue authority to ascertain its
strengths and weaknesses in tax administration. Statia said he was later informed by the said team that such a study can be conducted by the IMF. The assessment was carried out in March and the report on the findings submitted to the revenue authority in May. The Commissioner General asserted that the IMF made recommendations based on its findings. He noted however, that several of these suggestions for improvement were either already a work in progress or envisaged to be done next year. Statia acknowledged that there is a manual system at GRA, but noted that the very weaknesses regarding declarations exist because of an IT system that is not working effectively. He said that moves are already in the pipeline to correct this. The Commissioner General said, “I am very much aware of the findings regarding false declarations. But let me say this, taxation is circular. What you miss at the customs part you ought to find at the VAT part, and what you miss there you ought to catch it at the Income Tax part. In order to do that, it therefore means that all the information must be stored in a common database…for you to do that, you need a proper IT system.” He continued, “IT systems are not only lagging at GRA, but all over. GRA is now straightening up its IT system. Unless you have a proper IT system, you cannot crosscheck, because everything is manually done; so if the IT system is not up and running you will have problems.” Statia added, “What we have done is, we have now started doing all the scanning of all the (Income Tax) Returns and all these documents that come in, so by mid next year, when a man comes, he brings his original, the scanning is done there and then fed into the system…There is no need for him to bring that back.”
Wednesday January 10, 2018
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British crime expert to help speed up processing of SOCU cases British crime expert, Dr. Sam Sittlington, is back to help the police’s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU). The advisor’s face was prominent in a number of high-profile investigations last year, including the Pradoville Two matter involving ex-government officials. His stint ended last year but the administration asked for his return. However, his return was dependent on the contract being advertised, and evaluated - a process that was above board, British High Commissioner, Greg Quinn, insisted yesterday. Sittlington will be here until March 2020, in six-week and 24-week deployments. Sittlington’s departure last year was mired in controversy, with the Opposition claiming that he was seen celebrating in a city night spot with Government officials and investigators, after the arrests of Opposition officials, including former President Bharrat Jagdeo. During a briefing yesterday at the Bel Air residence of the British High Commissioner, it was disclosed that the advisor, who is described as a financial crime expert from Northern Ireland and with 20 years experience in investigating financial crimes in the US
- Hundreds of investigations; up to $300 billion in transactions and Europe, will be providing advice on ongoing probes and will take no direct role in investigations. Sittlington’s return will come as SOCU is bogged down with almost 300 investigations, stemming from Government-ordered forensic audits. Several persons have been charged, with a number of files completed, and some with the Police Legal Advisor (PLA), Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh and the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Some of the files were sent back to the SOCU for further investigations. SOCU had expressed frustration over the sloth of return of the files. The administration had hired five special prosecutors to assist the process, but that process has not been going too well. Up to 17 staffers have been hired. It will be Sittlington’s task to train them. In addition to helping to speed up the processing of the cases, the advisor will be meeting with the DPP and the PLA as well as magistrates and other representatives of the judicial system to help build capacity.
The official, who is being paid by the British government, disclosed that SOCU has over 300 cases, stemming from 26 forensic audits. Four of the cases alone involved transactions totaling $116B. Another 22 audits involved sums of up to $170B. It does not get easier for SOCU. From the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), a body that deals with suspicious transactions, there are 39 such cases, with only two in court. There has to be significant emphasis on the role of SOCU and its successes, Sittlington insisted. He made it clear that the cases must be seen through to the end – in the interest of fairness for all involved, including investigators. He stressed that those under investigation have the right to a speedy process. Dr. Sittlington was also critical of the sloth in the court system, acknowledging that magistrates are forced to take every bit of evidence by hand. Among some of the changes he would like to see for SOCU is the hiring of an in-house lawyer. The entity already has an auditor and forensic accountant.
Questioned about criticisms, Dr. Sittlington said that he is relying on the public to see his work - he is unfazed by the scrutiny, and the Guyana situation is not new to him Meanwhile, the official was also questioned about the recent high-profile case between SOCU and the Guyana Bank For Trade and Industry (GBTI). Last year, SOCU requested bank details for the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) relating to a billiondollar rice-for-oil deal that happened over the previous two administrations. The matter ended up in court with SOCU professing frustration. Late last year, eight directors of the bank, including the Chairman, were charged in the court for contempt over those records. It was uncharted waters for both SOCU and the bank and by extension, Guyana. The matter is still ongoing. Yesterday, Dr. Sittlington said that he is familiar with the matter. He believes that there should have been common
British High Commissioner, Greg Quinn (left) and crime expert/SOCU advisor, Dr. Sam Sittlington yesterday. sense and there are reporting obligations. There is a problem for Guyana - a serious one at that. The world is watching and it is being reported on. Authorities like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) can deem Guyana as a non-cooperating
territory in the financial sphere. This has huge significance and implications. Sittlington insisted that all Guyana must understand that the fight against money laundering is a collaborative one that has international importance.
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Wednesday January 10, 2018
Self-styled Bishop charged for alleged rape of church member - granted $350,000 bail Joseph Persaud, a selfstyled Bishop of a La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara church, appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts yesterday to answer a charge of rape. He was granted bail to the tune of $350,000 after the charge was read to him by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan. Following a brief appearance before the Court, Persaud, was seen bowing his head as he left the courtroom. According to the allegations, Persaud raped a female church member. The incident
allegedly occurred at his Diamond, East Bank Demerara residence. The two had previously shared a three-year relationship which reportedly ended. Reports are that the woman ended the relationship with Persaud after his wife found out, but he refused to leave her alone. He allegedly called and stalked her. However, the victim subsequently met Persaud at his home, where he is alleged to have forcefully had sexual intercourse with her. The victim had claimed that the
Joseph Persaud Bishop recently forced himself on her when his wife was away. Persaud is scheduled to return to court on January 18.
Guyana extends condolences on passing of former TT President The Government of Guyana yesterday sent a message of sympathy to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago on the passing of the twin-island Republic’s former President George Maxwell Richards. The following is the message in its entirety: “The Ministry of the Presidency, through the Department of Public Information (DPI), `conveys on behalf of the President, Government and people of Guyana, its deepest condolences to the President, Government and people of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, on the passing of Professor George Maxwell Richards, former President. Guyana, along with the people of Trinidad, and CARICOM, mourns the loss
Former T&T president Professor George Maxwell Richards of a distinguished son, who during his two terms of President, helped to advance the cause of the integration movement. A chemical engineer and Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Professor Richards
will be remembered for, among other things, his renowned contributions that lifted the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of the West Indies (UWI), to international standards.” The 86-year-old Richards suffered a heart attack on Monday and was admitted to hospital in critical condition. He later died. Richards was the country’s fourth President whose time in office spanned 2003 to 2013. A chemical engineer by training, Richards was Principal of the St. Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad from 1984 to 1996. He previously worked for Shell Trinidad Ltd before joining the University of the West Indies in 1965.
Guyana Goldfields romps to 160,500 ounces in last quarter surge Guyana Goldfields Inc., which has its operations at Aurora, Region Seven, last year produced 160,500 ounces. The Canadian mining entity finished the year with its strongest quarter to date, it indicated in a statement. In the last quarter of 2017, the company produced 48,900 as compared to 41,000 ounces in the previous one. In 2016, the total production would have reached 156,000 ounces. “Gold recoveries also continue to trend favourably with gold recovery for the month of December of 92.6% representing the highest monthly recovery in the company's history.” According to Scott Caldwell, President and Chief Executive Officer: "The fourth quarter was the strongest quarter for gold production in
the company's history, despite undergoing four scheduled down days in November for a mill liner change. The operational improvements and capital investments made throughout the year in the mining fleet, bulk emulsion delivery system, and logistics haulage fleet are yielding operational efficiencies which are expected to translate to lower unit costs in the fourth quarter.” To date, Aurora has proven to be a strong, high grade asset with exceptional cash flow generation, the company noted. While local miners have contributed to the final national declared production of 640,000-plus ounces (official figures have not been released as yet), Guyana Goldfields has become the largest private producer.
“The company is well positioned financially to grow near-term production and significantly increase exploration efforts with an unaudited cash balance of approximately US$75 million at the end of the year versus a total debt balance of US$60 million.” The company disclosed that it plans to issue an updated mine plan along with 2018 production and cost guidance and an updated reserves and resources statement later in the first quarter. The 100%-owned Aurora Gold Mine achieved commercial production January 1, 2016 and has a total gold resource of 6.54 million ounces. Gold has been the mainstay of foreign currency earnings for the country, ahead of rice and sugar.
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Kaieteur News
16 yrs for machine operator who killed woman after sex act By Feona Morrison A machine operator, who does not know his date of birth, was jailed for 16 years after he pleaded guilty to killing a female taxi driver after engaging her in sexual intercourse. The custodial sentence was imposed on Sylvester Bristol also known as ‘Rambo” by Justice Navindra Singh, who he appeared before yesterday, at the High Court in Georgetown Senior State Counsel Natasha Backer, State Counsel Tiffini Lyken and State Counsel Abigail Gibbs presented an indictment for murder against Bristol, who according to reports, was 23 years old at the time of the killing. Particulars of the murder charge stated that between February 15 and 16, 2014 in the country of Demerara, he murdered Savitri Parma, also known as “Mya”. Bristol, after guidance from his Attorney, George Thomas, pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. When quizzed by Justice Singh as to if he had discussed the case with his lawyer, Bristol replied in the affirmative and said that he is aware that he will be sentenced to a term of imprison-
JAILED: Sylvester Bristol
MURDERED: Savitri Parma
ment. According to State Counsel Tiffini Lyken, Savitri Parma was last seen alive on Saturday February 15, 2014. Lyken said that the woman’s nude body was discovered the following morning at Yarrowkabra, Soesdyke/Linden Highway with several marks of violence and a piece of bamboo lodged in her vagina. A shoelace was found not too far from the corpse. The prosecutor said that the woman’s son was found sleeping in the rear seat of an abandoned car she used to ply her trade. Sometime after the murder, Bristol was handed over to police by public-spirited citizens, Prosecutor Lyken informed the court. Prosecutor Lyken said that at
the time of his arrest, Bristol, who was only wearing one shoe, led police to an area not far from where Parma’s body was discovered, where his missing shoe was found. In a caution statement, the prosecutor disclosed that Bristol confessed that he had sexual intercourse with Parma before choking her with the shoelace and making good his escape. In a plea of mitigation, Thomas told the court that his client was raised in Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara, where he spent most of his life. Thomas added that his client was forced to seek employment at a very young age due to the death of his parents. According to the lawyer, Bristol did “odd jobs” and
later acquired the knowledge to operate heavy duty machinery. Since his incarceration, Thomas said that his client could be described as a “model prisoner”, who works in the kitchen at the prison. “He has shown remorse and has chosen to not waste the court’s time,” Thomas added. George in asking for the “most minimum” sentence, pleaded with the Judge to take into consideration the time Bristol spent on remand pending trial. Bristol murmured, “I beg for mercy.” The killer told the court that he was not in his “right senses” when he killed the female taxi driver
and pointed out that he cannot recall what transpired on the day in question. However, Prosecutor Lyken urged the Judge to consider that Parma’s two sons were left without a mother because of the gruesome act. The Prosecutor revealed that the piece of bamboo that was lodged in Parma’s vagina punctured her uterus. The Prosecutor also asked the Judge to think of the fact that the woman was slain a short distance from her young child who was left in the cab. Justice Singh, in arriving at the custodial sentence, took into consideration
Bristol’s early guilty plea. “You have accepted that what you have done is wrong.” Justice Singh advised the killer to use his time in jail to reflect on what he did. He told Bristol that he hopes he makes a meaningful contribution to society when he is released from prison. The Judge stated that the prison authorities would be ordered to deduct from Bristol’s sentence, time he spent on remand pending trial. Several family members for Savitri Parma, including her son who was left in the abandoned taxi, were present for the court hearing yesterday.
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Wednesday January 10, 2018
Measures in pipeline to improve efficiency of public spending During 2018, work is expected to continue with regard to improving the efficiency and quality of the public sector investment programme (PSIP), management of oil and gas resources, tax administration, public expenditure reviews and the strengthening of monitoring and evaluation systems. This is according to Finance Minister, Winston Jordan. Jordan noted that the aforementioned are crucial, given their collective contribution to the goal of realizing effective results-based management. He said that the Government has continued to implement its Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) Action Plan and the Budget Transparency Action Plan, in addition to improving capacity improvements in these areas. The Finance Minister also stated that in addition to efforts on the procurement side of public financial management, his Ministry has piloted a Budgeting for Results (B4R) system with the Ministry of Public Health. Jordan explained that the B4R platform is data-driven; it forces the user to adapt a programmatic, results-focused approach to budgeting and planning. He said that the pilot will continue during 2018, when it is anticipated to utilize the platform to assess performance of public health, and to assist in the preparation and delivery of the Ministry’s Budget 2019 proposal. Once the platform proves successful, Jordan said that the Government anticipates a roll out to other key ministries. Another platform that the Government has rolled out this year is the upgraded version of the Government accounting software. Jordan said that going forward, his Ministry will be examining the effectiveness and user-friendliness of the existing and alternative platforms. In his 2018 budget speech, the economist said that this will be in an effort to improve on processing times within the Integrated Financial Management and Accounting Systems (IFMAS) across Government. He said, too, that the Government will be moving to design the Integrated Financial Management and Information Systems (IFMIS) to replace the IFMAS. TREASURY MANAGEMENT In the area of treasury management, Jordan said that the Government has decided to transition to a Treasury Single Account (TSA). Based on international experience, the Finance Minister said that best practices and expertise, as well as structural changes
- Finance Minister to the Accountant General’s Department (AGD) were recommended. He said that these would best facilitate the move towards the TSA and enable smoother implementation of reforms in the future. Jordan said that these changes to the AGD are being considered by Government for implementation in 2018. He said that support will be provided to plan for the implementation of the TSA, as well as the adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and the reconceptualization of government’s chart of accounts. In addition to this, the Finance Minister said that the upgrading of the National Payment System (NPS) to a digital one will facilitate more effective monitoring of Budget Agencies and public funds flows, cash management, and financial reporting. Jordan said that all of this is designed to protect the integrity of the treasury and improve accountability and transparency. “All of the aforementioned have largely focused on improving our planning, budgeting, and financial processes. However, we must also improve the capacity of our human resources to ensure that there is sufficient analytical rigour to drive these processes. The draft report assessing child-focused public expenditure was completed and preliminary findings show that Government, between 2015 and 2017, has placed significant emphasis on interventions that benefit children, with child-focused expenditure rising from $35.5 billion to $50.8 billion.” The Finance Minister in his 2018 budget revealed that the final report will also include analyses of the effectiveness and efficiency of select government programmes for children, and, when completed in early 2018, will serve to guide interventions and policies, going forward. “We will be undertaking further public expenditure reviews, in different sectors, commencing in 2018, and will continue capacity building in this area, along with economic forecasting and modeling. The child-focused public expenditure assessment also incorporated a capacity-building exercise which sought to train officials of several key ministries, such as the Ministries of Public Health and Education, in the methodologies behind the exercise.” Jordan said that approximately 30 public servants were sensitized on measures of efficiency and effectiveness
Finance Minister, Winston Jordan when assessing public programmes. The economist said that the intention is to develop the analytic capacity to undertake such assessments, in-house, so as to programme development and evaluation DATA FOR DECISION MAKING The Finance Minister had told the House last year that the experiences of 2017 make it plainly evident that Guyana still has a long way to go in strengthening its data systems. “To be able to have effective monitoring and evaluation systems, make the most of planning and budgeting platforms, such as B4R; and produce quality analytic reports, as we are doing for the childfocused public expenditure assessment; we must do more to improve data collection, management, quality and analyses. “ “As such, capacity building, under the umbrella of our National Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Strategy, will continue in 2018, with at least five sessions of training planned in key concepts of M&E and indicator building. As we continue to implement performance budgeting and results-based management, the need for effective M&E systems, underpinned by strong data development, remains critical.” With regards to national statistics, the Finance Minister said that the Labour Force Survey (LFS) took the field in the third quarter of 2017 and will continue into 2018. The LFS – the first for Guyana – is now in its second round and the first profiles of analysis are expected to be delivered in the first quarter of this year. In addition, the all-Urban Consumer Price Index is expected to be implemented in the first quarter of 2018. Further, Jordan revealed that the Government will be launching the Household Budget Survey and the Living Conditions Survey in the last quarter of 2018. The latter survey is the first major output of the newly established Poverty Measurement and Analysis Unit.
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Kaieteur News
Proposals in for DHBC’s Quality Control Laboratory Building At the year’s first official session at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board yesterday, the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) secured financial proposals from four companies for design and supervision services for the construction of DHBC’s Asphalt Plant Administrative and Quality Control laboratory building.
In addition to these proposals, the DHBC also received bids for the supply of two double cab, manual Pickups.
And the Ministry of the Presidency secured bids for a consultant in Guyana’s National Climate Change Policy and Action Plan.
Further, bids were read for the design and building of a ‘Whole-of-Government’ EDMS platform for the Ministry of Public Telecommunications.
Bids for three different projects were obtained by the Ministry of the Presidency, Climate Change Office. Tender documents were first read for a consultant to the National Climate Change Communication Strategy and Implementation Plan.
Guyana joins India in observing ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Divas’
Receiving bids also for a five-year strategic plan and implementation plan for the office of Climate Change was the Ministry of the Presidency.
GGMC signed rental agreement way before Shields became board member - Chairman The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) is maintaining that it begun rental of the Subryanville building long before Hilbert Shields became a member of its board. This was told to Kaieteur News before by GGMC Commissioner, Newell Dennison, and was reflected in the initial article that was published. That article can be read online via the following link: https:// www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/01/01/ ggmc-rents-building-from-its-director/. GGMC has however issued a written statement from the desk of its Board Chairman, Stanley Ming. Ming said, “Having advertised in the various newspapers during 2016 that the GGMC was in the market for additional office space, several expressions of interests were received, including that for Mr. Shields’ property. A shortlist of properties of interest to GGMC was then done by Management, and senior GGMC management personnel then visited each of the shortlisted premises, in the company of Commissioner, Newell Dennison and myself.” Ming said that the GGMC conducted “very careful and thorough inspections of each building site to determine suitability. He said that the Commission also did assessments of the floor space, conditions of the premises and the various amenities, including the availability of air-conditioning, IT facilities, standby power generation, etc.” The Chairman said that the facilities at the Subryanville building site belonging to Shields was at the time of our inspection, occupied by a tenant, whose contract, was about to expire.
Ming said that the senior management of the Commission was of the opinion that the Subryanville premises was by far superior, and would incur less cost outlays to fit the needs of the GGMC, when compared to the others. He added, “The Commissioner and I were in support of their opinions and it was agreed that the position would be tabled to the Board for approval to enter a contract for lease of the building. The matter was discussed at a subsequent Board meeting and approval was granted on November 15, 2016, for the rental of the building. The building was then subjected to the necessary internal installations to facilitate occupancy.” Ming went on to note that at the time of signing of the rental agreement on Thursday, December 1, 2016, Shields was not a member of the GGMC Board, “nor was he being considered as a potential future member. The Board for 2017 was subsequently appointed by Cabinet via the Official Gazette, on March 7, 2017, effective on March 1, 2017 and Mr. Shields was nominated on April 4, 2017 by the Guyana Gold & Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA), as one of their two representatives on the new Board of Directors of the GGMC.” The statement continued, “The chronology of events described above, clearly illustrates no conflict of interest existed when the GGMC and Mr. Shields entered the twoyear lease contract. Further, the GGMC Board subsequently took the decision on October 5, 2017, to remove from the said building and has since advertised for expressions of interests for the rental of a building, with the intention to relocate as soon as a suitable location was identified.”
High Commissioner of India to Guyana, Mr. Venkatachalam Mahalingam, addresses the gathering. While the prominent People of Indian Origin (PIO) from Parliament attended yesterday’s Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in India, a similar event was held locally which sought to honour some of the most exemplary IndoGuyanese. The event was held at the Indian Cultural Centre, Bel Air, Georgetown. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is a celebratory day observed annually on January 9 by the Republic of India to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community towards the development of India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas means ‘Diaspora’, as explained by the High Commissioner of India, Mr. Venkatachalam Mahalingam. In an invited comment, the envoy said the event is one that, “Signifies the first greatest Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Indian Diaspora) person Mahatma Gandhi, who came back from South Africa to India to lead the Independence struggle in India”. It is an event that started in 2003, according to an Indian Official. Mr. Mahalingam said it was also “aimed at reconnecting the Indian Diaspora with its ancestral land and spirit”. Additionally, the High Commissioner said, “We celebrate every year on the ninth of January as the Indian Diaspora day. So far we have had 13 annual conferences (in India). 2015 was the last annual Indian Diaspora Conference, which was held in India. Subsequently we have been having Diaspora
Conferences every two years”. In the absence of the Diaspora Conferences, seminars are held. This year happens to be the first year that the Diaspora Conference has in its audience People of Indian Origin from Guyana’s Parliament. The High Commissioner noted that during this year’s conference in India, the Prime Minister lauded the delegates for preserving the Indian culture, while excelling in many different areas such as Sports and Arts among others. As previously reported, Guyana has sent the largest delegation of the 24 countries that participated in the activity. Some 134 participants were in attendance at the Indian Conference, the envoy said. The Prime Minister of India, according to him, wanted to meet and thank these persons for their contributions towards their mother country. In further enlightening the public of yesterday’s proceedings, Chairperson Indranie Mangra said, “During the event, individuals of exceptional merit are honoured with the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya award, to appreciate their role in English… as well as their exceptional contributions made in their chosen field. This is also a forum for discussing key issues concerning the Indian Diaspora”. This was the third of its kind that was hosted in Guyana.
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Kaieteur News
WANTED FOR RENT
SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY,ETC.-CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 2161043; 677-6620 Visa Application: U.S.A, Canada & UK;Guyanapassport application. G r a p h i c s design, advertisement. Tel: 626-7040; 265-4535. ICONIC MARKETING & PUBLISHING INC –TEL: 600-4212: We create A/ works, logos, busi ness cards, posters, etc, placements of ads included. Eagle’s: Re-gas –low prices, washing machine repairs, gas stove, plasma flat Screen, computer repairs & more. Call: 697-2969/646-0966 Xtreme Clean- Janitorial and Home Management Services. For washing, painting, renting and administrative services. Call: 216-3467. Repairs at affordable prices: fridge, air conditioner, washing machines, dryers, TV, microwaves & freezerCall: 610-5846 or 661-8158 REPAIRS AT LOW COST: FRIDGES, AIR CONDITIONERS, WASHING MACHINES, FREEZERS,SALE OFAC’S TEL:6294946,225-4822. Desmond Repair Services Fridge, AC, gas stove, microwave, washer, etc on the spot repairs –Call: (592)6788683 For efficient repairs, installations, assembly of imported furniture and gym equipment, mounting TV etc. Call:673-2692/233-3006 Are you moving out, need transportation, have stuff to fix up/disassemble? Call: 6585897/233-3006
VEHICLE FOR SALE Allion, Primo, Fielder Wagon, Spacio, Bluebird, 212 Carina, NZE, Honda CRV, Toyota IST, RZ & Pitbull – Call: 650-7501 One RZ minibus BRR series, mag rim ,cat eyes. $1.5. Tel: 668-9672, 686-9965.
FOR SALE LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY-$19,000PERPOUND CALL: 592-227-4754. Video games and consoles at affordable price. Repairs to video game system .Call:6722566/265-3231 1 BMW Car $1.7M 1 Cement mixer truck $2.9M 1 Bobcat $3.3M. House lots @ Blankenburg . Contact 6500402/603-1402. One- 113 KVA Olympian Genset 2.2M, One- 75 KVA Perkins/ Stamford enclosed Genset 2.5M #622-3940 One miller, welding generator, excellent condition. One mig welder. Contact: 699-4300, 228-2734 Corner property at 2006 Festival City Entrance. Call: 665-3622/670-8799. Pure breed German Shepherd for sale (Black & Black and tan) Tele no: 626-0953 or 6509998 1 used Jialing JH125-35B Motorcycle. Call: 613-7771/ 688-8887 3 storey wooden building for sale and removal in Queenstown,Georgetown. 610-7558/223-4125/225-0018
EDUCATION Register your child for after school classes for slow learners in Mathematics, Reading, Phonics, Spelling, etc. Call: 675-4379 Lessons: Phonics, Reading & Writing for kindergarten, grades 1-5 Mathematics & English lessons for form 1-5. Call: 690-9378 Alliance Françaíse Guyana French classes January 2018, Register 61 Upper Robb Street Bourda, Thurday 11th Friday 12th 4:30-6pm & Saturday 13th 10:30-12pm #692-2965. Learn Mandarin now! New year, new skills, new you! Call now for more information! #603-0018 PEN PAL You deserve a relationship filled with love. Call Harmony: 676-6312.
PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY,ETC.-CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 2161043; 677-6620 Vreed-en-hoop junction. Lessons place, storage bond, office, other. Call 6036400. 1 Flat concrete house (Tiled, grilled,PVC ceiling) 3 bedroom, 1 self-contained room @ Parafaite Harmonie & Onderneerming, $50,000 monthly #662-6818. 3 bedroom Apt in Diamond 3rd Avenue. Tel: 666-6503, 592684-7599, 695-7427
CAR RENTAL PROGRESSIVE CAR R E N TA L : S U V F O R RENTAL- $4,000 & UP PER DAY- CALL:6435122/656-0087, ,EMAIL:PRO_AUTO RENTAL@YAHOO.COM DOLLY’SCARRENTAL-CALL: 225-7126/226-3693 DOLLYSAUTORENTAL@ YA H O O . C O M / W W W. DOLLYSAUTORENTAL.COM AIDAN’S CAR RENTAL: PICKUP,9-11 SEAT MINI BUS, GOOD FOR AIRPORT & FAMILY OUTINGS, CHEAPEST RATE . Call: 698-7807 WING’S CAR & PICKUP RENTAL: LOW DOWN PAYMENT, CHEAP RATES,SPECIALOFFERS! . CALL: 690-6494 TOLET One business space, located at 177 Charlotte & Alexander St. Kindly call: 689-3462, 6443555. Serious enquiries only. One three bedroom house at West Riumveldt $50,000 per month. Tel: 672-7194/692-7377 LAND FOR SALE Parafaite Harmonie $1.5M Uitvlugt-$2.5M Zeelugt$2.4M.Tel:642-1252 Parafaite Harmonie- High income 2nd Avenue pitch road with big parpet, concrete wall (100ft x 50ft) $3M Tele: 6560701/651-1969 Farm (Newly fence) (East Bank) $3.5M Uivlugt (100ft x 50ft) $3M Herstelling $2.5M Parafaite Harmonie $1M & 1.4M Tel# 656-0701/651-1969 PROPERTY FOR SALE Supermarket at 17th Avenue, Diamond. Tel: 626-3423
Full time waiter/waitress to work at Aagman Restaurant, Sheriff street, experience preferred. Call: 219-0158/ 2190161. Live in waitress to work in bar. Call: 604-6606/ 692-4649 Car/Van driver, mechanical skills an asset, live-in preferably. 227-1830 Live in or live out babysitter/ domestic- Call: 223-7500 Monday to Saturday 8:15am4:15pm Wanted experience wash bay workers Nandy park. Tel:2335227 Experienced shop workers and handy man to work in the interior. Age 18 and older. 2310363 4am-4:30pm. One cashier, one secretary, attractive salary. Call: 2237165. Security guards, 1 heavy duty mechanic, 1 cashier, 1 filing clerk, 1 accounting clerk, 1 company secretary. Call: 6044149 Experienced drivers, Waiters, Roti & puri cook, apply with written application, Hacks Restaurant, 5 Commerce St. General domestic with cooking experience, ages 3045 Call 629-9450 Security Guards, ages 40-55 East Bank area preferable. Call 226-1100 Experienced hire car drivers and dispatchers for princess hotel Contact 616-5419, 2657076 Heavy duty mechanic to work in interior. Must know to drive and welding is an asset. 6802702 One welder to work in the interior. Meals and accommodation provided. Must have driver’s license. 680-2702 300+ acres fertile agriculture land on E.C.D. to lease OR partnership in agriculture project. 682-8251 1 Live-in nanny to take care of children and home. Must know to cook various food. 682-8251 1 Live-in maid between age 3550. Prefer out of town persons. Contact Ms. Edwards 6643918 between 8am-4pm Salesman, good verbal/ excellent attitude, knowledge in stocktaking, computer literate & team player. Keyfood McDoom. Experienced Handyman, porter all below 40 years. Apply with written application. Keyfood McDoom Village. Kitchen assistant Call #6445884 ask for Tanya Private tutor for ACAA, Any two papers among F5-F9. Email interest to odalexa@yahoo.com
VACANCY Male factory worker, age 18 and above, must have working experience. For more info call: 223-0090 Chef and assistant cook. Call: 225-7933 or visit us 172 Sheriff Street. General maintenance man, Ages 24-55. Address 233 South road, Tele# 225-0198 One customer service representative. Age 18 and over. Must have working experience, send application via email: humredes@gmail.com One receptionist, age 18 and over, must have working experience. Please send application via email: humresdes@gmail.com One Mechanic with sewing machine experience, age 25 and over, please send application via email: humresdes@gmail.com One maid to work in Atlantic Gardens, ECD, Live-in (optional) 638-5303, 227-7380. Vacancy exist for 1 female 2545 years to work @ Del Ice Co. Must have Maths, English & Accounts. Call 231-1408/6429191. Cook/Baker & Kitchen Assistant for interior location. Applicants must be experienced. Call: 618-2020 1 Live-in domestic maid/ couple to work in Mahaicony river. Serious enquiries only. 655-9491/225-6571 1 cleaner & kitchen assistant, preferably female (to work in chinese restaurant). Contact: 231-5108, 625-8884 Experienced Security Professionals. Must have 3 yrs. experience, past military/ security. Send resume & picture by email:. bvisecurityandinvestigators@gmail.com. One Domestic to work 2 half day per week. #225-6571 One female cleaner and driver for office in Eccles. Call: 2332745 One maid for East Bank area, must know to cook and clean. Call: 614-4358 Cleaner – submit written application to Barton-Sukhraj Accounting Lot 78 Breda & Hadfield Street, Werk-en-rust or e-mail to bs.taxes@yahoo.com Office clerk Senior/Junior CXC English/Mathematics, Computer knowledge an asset, Call: 223-7500 Live-in or part time maid, call 695-5505 or 611-6364 between 9am to 4pm WANTED We buy land in Eccles and Herstelling, we buy oil paintings on canvas. Tel# 656-0701/651-1969
Ecuador seeks mediator to resolve ‘untenable’ Assange standoff: Minister Quito (AFP) - Ecuador is seeking a “third country or a personality” to mediate a final settlement with Britain to resolve the future of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the foreign minister said yesterday. Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa said the South American country was “considering and exploring the possibility of mediation” to end the “untenable” five-year impasse. Assange moved into Ecuador’s embassy in London in 2012 to avoid arrest over now-dropped Swedish rape charges. He remains over fears he will be extradited to the United States and put on trial for WikiLeaks publishing leaked secret US military documents and diplomatic cables in 2010. “No solution will be achieved without international cooperation and the cooperation of the United Kingdom, which has also shown interest in seeking a way out,” she told foreign correspondents in Quito. It is the first time Ecuador has proposed mediation to resolve the case. VACANCY Minibus driver living in G/ town to work with company. 664-0802 Temporary Tax Consultant – Minimum qualification – CXC inclusive of Mathematics, Accounting & English, e-mail application to bs.taxes@yahoo.com General workers and sale girl and boy needed. Call: 6680159 One maid. #639-9449
SALON Make-up Courses with Mac, Bare Minerals, etc. -CosmetologyCourses: $90,000 Nail Technician Course: $35,000. Call: 647-1773/688-0009 LEARN TO DRIVE Ultraviolet driving school is offering a 6 days driving lesson for $7,500.Come and enjoy it! Tel: 602-2583 C. Persaud & N. Outar Driving School formerly Soman & Sons Driving School @ Maraj Building- Call: 644-5166; 6222872; 615-0964; 689-5997 (affordable packages).
Wednesday January 10, 2018
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Kaieteur News
Single mom gets 12½ years for killing man over $1,000 By Feona Morrison Vanessa Baird was the first person sentenced to a term of imprisonment when the January session of the Demerara Criminal Assizes opened yesterday at the High Court in Georgetown. The killing stemmed over a $1,000 she had given a man to purchase a meal for her. Baird was indicted for the capital offence of murder before Justice Navindra Singh. Particulars of the charge stated that on Saturday, December 21, 2013 in the county of Demerara, she murdered Percival Williams. According to reports, Williams was 43 years of age at the time of his demise. It was reported that Williams of Hague, West Coast Demerara, was murdered at Parika Stelling, East Bank Essequibo. However, the mother of a seven-year-old son opted to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. Justice Singh sentenced Baird to serve a jail term of 12½ years.
Baird was represented by Attorney-at-Law Mark Conway who presented a plea of mitigation on her behalf. Senior State Counsel Natasha Backer, State Counsel Abigail Gibbs and State Counsel Tiffini Lyken represented the prosecution. According to the case presented by Prosecutor Gibbs, on the day in question, Baird met Percival, who she had given $1,000 to purchase a Chinese food for her. Baird had confronted the man and inquired about the money during which an argument ensued between them. It was reported that Percival converted the money to his own use. In an effort to acquire her belonging, Prosecutor Gibbs said that Baird held on to Percival’s jersey and a scuffle resulted during which she whipped out a knife and stabbed the man to his lower chest. As a result of the injury received, Percival fell to the ground and was later transported to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where he
was pronounced dead. The cause of death was given as perforation of the lungs and heart due to a stab wound. During his address to the court, Conway said that at the time of the killing his client had a three-year-old son to support and she was finding it very frustrating and difficult to maintain the child since she was a single parent. According to the lawyer, although the money is insignificant when compared to life, Baird would have used it to buy food for her child. Conway stated, “Since that incident and being at the Berbice Prison, she (Baird) has had many years to reflect and improve her mental state with respect to self control.” The lawyer further stated that during her time incarcerated, Baird has not been “in trouble” with any inmate or Prison Officer. Conway said that prior to the killing, Baird never had any trouble with the law. He said that his client has been utilizing her time by attending drama and sewing classes which are being provided by
Ex-employees charged with 2016 killing of Brazilian miner Two former employees of slain Brazilian gold miner Nandinho De Costa Souza have been charged with murdering him two years ago. Phillip Williams and his relative, Fidel Williams of Rock View, Essequibo River, were both remanded when they appeared in the Bartica Magistrate’s Court yesterday. A release stated that they are to return to court today. Nandinho De Costa Sousa, called ‘Vandam,’ of Boa Vista, Brazil, was found with his throat slit in his Fish Creek, Cuyuni River camp on February 9, 2016. The corpse was next to a sluice box, and a
quantity of gold was missing. The victim, who reportedly owned two land dredges, was reportedly last seen washing down the sluice box with one of the men suspected of killing him. Police had stated that they had obtained confessions from two suspects. One of the men was arrested last week at Goshen, Essequibo River. He had reportedly implicated a relative, who is currently incarcerated at the Mazaruni Prison, serving a sentence for robbery under a fictitious name. Prior to this, police had issued a wanted bulletin for Fidel Williams.
the prison. He said that she has also been regularly attending church services. The lawyer told the court that his client eagerly awaits the day when she can return home to take care of her son. State Counsel Gibbs said that although the financial struggle that Baird faced at the time of the commissioning of the offence is understandable, Williams’s family is still mourning his death which was over a
“pointless situation.” Baird, on the other hand, said “I am really sorry for what I did. I am begging you (the judge) for mercy. She wept periodically and at one stage it became difficult to understand what she was trying to say to the court. In arriving at a sentence for Baird, Justice Singh took into consideration her early guilty plea, which he said, saved the state’s resources Continued on page 24
JAILED: Vanessa Baird
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COCAINE IN PLYWOOD…
Farmer, alleged accomplice remanded Rajesh Kissoondyal, a West Bank Demerara farmer and his friend, Shamkumar Hariprashad have been remanded to prison on charges related to trafficking in cocaine. The matter came up before Chief Magistrate Ann Mc Lennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court yesterday. According to the indictment, Hariprashad, 38, of 67 Alliance, Canal Number Two Polder, West Bank Demerara, was charged with intent to pervert the administration of the law, in that he offered Ly n d o n T h o m p s o n , a n officer of the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) $1,495,000 for the release of his friend Rajesh Kissoondyal called “Paddle,” who was in custody pending an investigation into a trafficking in narcotics allegation against him. Meanwhile, Kissoondyal, 47, of 12 South Section, Canal Number Two Polder, West Bank Demerara, was charged with procuring a narcotic for the purpose of trafficking. The charge read that between April, 1 2016 and April, 21 2016 at 37 Ya r r o w k a b r a , Linden Soesdyke Highway, East Bank Demerara, Kissoondyal, knowing or having reason to believe that parcels, packages or other things (in this case sheets of plywood)
REMANDED: Rajesh Kissoondyal
REMANDED: Shamkumar Hariprashad
contained narcotics 48.554 kilograms of cocaine, handled same with a view of procuring the commissioning of trafficking in the said narcotics. The men stood side by side in the prisoners’ dock and pleaded not guilty as the charges were read to them. Attorneys Keoma Griffith and Mark Waldron applied to the Court for the men to be granted their pre –trial liberty. However, CANU Prosecutor Konyo Thompson opposed the bail application. She told the Court that she believes that the men are flight risks. The Prosecutor explained that her contention is based on the fact that the number one accused (Kissoondyal) had
been on the run since 2016, for his alleged involvement in a 100-pound cocaine bust at a sawmill along the Linden Soesdyke Highway. Thompson told the Court that Kissoondyal was recently arrested at a funeral by CANU who received a tip-off about his whereabouts. And even after that, when he was in C A N U ’s c u s t o d y a t i t s headquarters, a bribe was offered to a CANU agent to free him. The CANU Prosecutor emphasized that the two men had already proven that they have the ability to interfere with possible witnesses. As such, bail was denied and the men were remanded to prison. They will return to Court in two weeks for continuation of the case.
DEAD: Sahadeo Sankar
A fisherman and resident of Orealla Village, East Berbice, Corentyne was yesterday remanded to prison for the murder of his friend and ‘drinking partner’. Stanley Edwards, 32, appeared at the Springlands Court before Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh where the charge was read to him. It is alleged that on January 3, 2018 at Crabwood Creek Edwards murdered Sahadeo Sankar, a fisherman, of Crabwood Creek. He was not required to plead to the indictable charge and was remanded to prison until January 29. According to the facts of the case, Sahadeo Sankar’s lifeless body was found on the bridge of a grocery shop in Crabwood Creek by the owners of the business. Edwards was arrested shortly after the body was found. Surveillance footage from the business reportedly saw Sankar running away from Edwards, who eventually caught up with him and was seen ‘cuffing and stabbing’ him (Sankar) until he fell to the ground.
Orealla fisherman charged with drinking buddy’s murder
MURDER ACCUSED: Stanley Edwards
Single mom gets 12½ years... From page 23 and the court from having to conduct a trial. Justice Singh told Baird that he believes she was sorry for her actions and that she is now better able to control herself. Before the hearing concluded, Justice Singh advised Baird to make the most of anger management classes if any are available to her during her time of incarceration. The judge informed Baird that the Prison Authority will be ordered to deduct from her sentence the time she spent on remand pending trial. The judge also told her that he believes she can become eligible for parole depending on her behaviour while incarcerated.
Wednesday January 10, 2018
Kaieteur News
Trump says he would beat Oprah Winfrey in White House race WA S H I N G T O N (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he could beat Oprah Winfrey in a presidential race, while one of Winfrey’s closest friends said the media mogul and actress was “intrigued” by the possibility of running but was not considering it now. Speculation about a 2020 White House bid by Winfrey blew up on social media and news outlets after her rousing “new day” speech at the Golden Globes awards show on Sunday night, which touched on female and black empowerment, her roots in poverty and support of those who speak up about sexual abuse and harassment. But some media commentators also injected skepticism into the surge of excitement among fans of the former talk show star, saying the Democratic Party and the country might well reject the notion of another celebrity political novice following Trump’s 2016 election. Winfrey, long associated with Democratic politics and fundraising, has not commented publicly on the speculation. Known to millions by her first name, Winfrey, 63, has been a cultural force in the country for decades. Trump, speaking with reporters during a White House meeting with lawmakers, said in response
to a question, “Yeah I’ll beat Oprah. Oprah would be a lot of fun. “I do think she’s intrigued by the idea, I do think that,” King said on the “CBS This Morning” program. “I also know that after years of watching ‘The Oprah (Winfrey) Show’ you always have the right to change your mind. I don’t think at this point she’s actually considering it.” However, CNN, citing two of Winfrey’s close friends, reported on Monday that the television and movie producer and actress was actively thinking about a White House bid. Winfrey has raised millions of dollars for various causes, including shelters for battered women but, like Trump when he launched his White House campaign, she has no prior experience in government. Trump, a businessman and former reality TV star, based part of his appeal on the fact he was truly not a Washington insider. “NOPRAH! Do we really need another celebrity president?” read the front page of Tuesday’s New York Post. A critique in Slate on Monday was headlined “Oprah? Really?,” and bemoaned the “impossibly boring” current crop of major political figures, making people more likely to vote for celebrities like Trump or Winfrey.
Former Trump White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who was the public face of some of the Trump administration’s early missteps last year, said on the “Good Morning Britain” show that Winfrey lacked “political infrastructure” and would have a hard time adjusting to the White House. Winfrey first gained national fame with her TV talk show, which often focused on self-improvement and touched on previously taboo subjects like incest, rape, eating disorders and depression. She used the show’s success to build a media empire encompassing movie production, magazines, cable TV, and satellite radio, becoming one of the world’s richest women. Winfrey also branched out into acting. She is credited with roles in nearly 30 movie and TV productions, including a role in director Steven Spielberg’s “The Color Purple” that earned her an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. “I know her very well. ... I like Oprah. I don’t think she’s going to run,” said the Republican president, 71. Winfrey confidante Gayle King said earlier on Tuesday there was no change in Winfrey’s past position - that she is not interested in running for president.
Salvadorans say going home not an option after U.S. axes protection RED BANK, N.J. (Reuters) - Three decades after fleeing civil war in his native El Salvador, Luis Munoz has built a life for himself in the New Jersey coastal town of Red Bank, working as a mechanic and raising three children with his wife. Now Munoz and his adult kids may face deportation in 2019 along with around 200,000 other Salvadorans, after the Trump administration said on Monday they would no longer have legal protection under a program k n o w n a s Te m p o r a r y Protected Status (TPS). “I cannot go back to my country,” Munoz, 58, said on Monday evening, sitting on the couch with his bichon frise dog, Hachi, in the apartment he shares with his wife, an immigrant from Belize. Not only did he get death threats before he left El Salvador in the 1980s, he
said, but current gang violence makes going back too dangerous and the ailing economy offers few opportunities. Salvadoran families across the United States faced an anguished choice, with those like Munoz saying a return to their crime-ravaged country was not an option. Many had feared an end to their protected status after the Trump administration cut TPS for Nicaraguans and Haitians as part of its broader push to tighten immigration laws. TPS, which began in 1990, offers protection from deportation to immigrants already in the United States, including those who entered illegally, from countries affected by natural disasters, civil conflicts and other problems. Salvadorans were admitted following a pair of destructive earthquakes in 2001. U.S. officials on
Monday said TPS by definition was not intended to become permanent and that the unsafe conditions created by the earthquakes no longer exist. They said the protections would expire for Salvadorans in September 2019. Many of the recipients were not affected by the earthquakes but took advantage of the program to gain legal status. Ricardo Lemus, 38, crossed the Mexican border with his brother in 1997. As a legal immigrant under TPS, he has started his own hardwood flooring company in Rockland County, New York. He said he had put expansion plans on hold while he determined whether he would lose his business. “I don’t have any options,” said Lemus, who has three American-born daughters and is not willing to take them to a country they have never known. “I‘m not sure yet what I can do.”
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Opposition candidate concerned…
“Dirty Money” and upcoming general election ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada - CMC – A candidate representing the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the constituency of St. George’s South, has expressed concern about the use of “dirty money” in the run-up to the upcoming general election. Without providing evidence to his claim, Raymond ‘Ray” Roberts made the allegation while speaking with journalists at a press conference called by the opposition party on Monday. “This election is being infested with dirty money, don’t ask me where it come from, don’t ask me for no evidence, you must go and do your research, do the work itself, there is a court house, there are institutions that you can trace, all I am saying to you is that I am very worried that this election can be bought out one,” Roberts was commenting on the 2018 Budget Loan Authorisation Bill which according to the Ministry of Finance is procedural after the presentation of the annual Estimate of Revenue and Expenditure. This Bill which was approved by the Parliament following the budget debate was gazette on December 20. The Authorisation Bill permits the Government to seek funds for capital projects to a ceiling of US$100 million through loans, bonds and other capital ventures to fund capital projects in the 2018 budget. Lending institutions named in the Bill are the International Monetary Fund, the International Development Association, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Caribbean Development Bank as well as other companies, banks and or financial institutions. According Roberts, he fears that some of the money will not be used for the reasons outlined in the bill. Presently, Grenada is without legislation to govern election campaigning although it is one the recommendation made over the years by Election Observer Missions. A General Election is constitutionally due no later than mid-2018 and Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell is expected to announce the date at an endorsement rally on January 28.
Wednesday January 10, 2018
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St. Kitts Nevis receives support from POLICYHOLDERS CAUTIOUS ON CLICO PLAN Qatar for hurricane recovery efforts
Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris and Ambassador Khamis Al-Sahouti BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – CMC – St. Kitts and Nevis’ post-hurricane recovery efforts have been boosted with a donation of US$300,000 from the Government of the State of Qatar. The money was presented by NonResident Ambassador of the State of Qatar to St. Kitts Nevis, Khamis Al-Sahouti during a courtesy call with Prime Minister, Dr.Timothy Harris . In September of 2017, the Federation was significantly impacted by the passing of two dangerous category five hurricanes – Irma and Maria. As a result the Federation suffered
significant damages to key public infrastructure, including schools and police stations as well the agricultural sector over US$150 million. The Prime Minister expressed gratitude to the Government and people of Qatar for the contribution which he said will undoubtedly assist in alleviating the effects of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. During the meeting, Harris and Ambassador Al-Sahouti also discussed bilateral relations between the two countries and the means to strengthen and develop these relations.
Trinidad Guardian Members of the Clico Policyholders’ Group are not convinced by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s declaration that an end is in sight in the Clico/CLF matter and are waiting to see when and how their members will benefit. The group’s chairman Peter Permell described Rowley’s announcement on the disposal of the company’s assets as comforting. He had previously raised concerns that the process to dispose of the assets was clandestine and non-transparent. “In that sense, I take comfort he has addressed those concerns,” he told the T&T Guardian Monday. However, he added: “The issue of outstanding monies owed to the policyholders has not been addressed.” Rowley said in Sunday that the asset transfer process was continuing apace: “In order to ensure the widest possible public participation in ownership of these shares, it is our intention that the major assets of the group, as they become available from the liquidators, will be placed in a newly created National Investment Fund (NIF), units of which will be available for purchase by all.”
Dr. Keith Rowley
Peter Permell
He said once the NIF is established units will be available to the public and institutions for purchase before the middle of this year. Rowley said it was not in the public’s best interest for CLF and Clico companies to be sold to selected private individuals. Instead, they should be preserved for the benefit of citizens who will share in them by purchasing units through the NIF, the Unit Trust Corporation, or by becoming beneficiaries through the NIB. The CLICO Policyholders’ Group had previously expressed grave
concerns that the companies’ assets were being undervalued and sold for far less than they are worth to selected party financiers. Monday Permell conceded that Rowley’s explanation of the proposed process signalled a level of transparency and accountability that had been previously lacking. But he added: “Yes, he has addressed the Clico issue but not specifically as it relates to the 15,000 plus policyholders’ who have not yet received the full extent of their contractual obligations from Clico.”
Lootings, scattered protests BVI issues multi-year entry permits hit Venezuelan industrial city
TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands - CMC – The British Virgin Islands is now issuing multi-year entry permits to some nonnationals. Acting Chief Immigration Officer, Geraldine RitterFreeman says the multi-year entry permit will be granted in three year intervals and will be given after the expiry date of the person’s present entry permit. Non-nationals were traditionally given entry permits yearly. She disclosed that nonnationals who are contracted government workers, employees of statutory bodies, as well as persons who have indefinite work permit exemption and have lived here consistently for five years or more will be eligible for a multi-year entry permit. “This will positively
impact those persons and their dependents who are ordinarily resident in the territory but are still subject to Immigration control. It will also aid in enhancing the department’s operations as we seek to provide efficient and reliable services to the public,” RitterFreeman said in a statement on Monday. However, she said receiving a three-year permit is not automatic adding that they “will be issued accordingly by the interviewing officer based on the individual’s satisfactory history with the Department.” The cost of a three-year permit is US$75. But, according to the Immigration Department, the cost is likely to change ‘pending the proposed increase in Immigration fees’. The department says changes are slated for this
year. The changes were announced just weeks after Premier Dr. Orland Smith promised to overhaul deficient immigration policies in the British Overseas territory. Multi-year entry permits are said to be in keeping with regional and international immigration reform initiatives.
CIUDAD GUAYANA, Venezuela (Reuters) - A second day of lootings and scattered street protests hit the Ciudad Guayana in southeastern Venezuela yesterday, as unrest grows in the once-booming industrial city plagued with food shortages and a malaria outbreak. At least five food stores were looted overnight, with police sources saying some 20 people had been arrested. Angry Venezuelans also blocked three major roads to demand anti-malaria medicine, food,
cooking gas and spare parts for trucks. There has been increasing unrest around the South American OPEC member in the last few weeks as a fourth straight year of painful recession and the world’s highest inflation leaves millions unable to eat enough. The overnight lootings follow at least four similar in the early hours of Monday. Around 10 liquor stores were also looted on Christmas day in southeastern Bolivar state, according to the local chamber of commerce head Florenzo Schettino.
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Wednesday January 10, 2018
3,700 people were arrested during Iran protests, lawmaker says
Students protest at the University of Tehran (CNN) Roughly 3,700 people were arrested during
recent anti-government protests in Iran, one of the
country’s lawmakers claimed on Tuesday.
The number is far higher than the 450 people Iranian
authorities previously said were detained. US officials had put the number held at 1,000. Te h r a n m e m b e r o f parliament Mahmoud Sadeghi said Tuesday that 3,700 people had been arrested, including 40 to 68 students, in six days of protests that broke out in late December. He added that “due to the fact that several security organizations had made the arrests, it will take some time to give an accurate count,” according to the Iranian parliament’s news agency. The new figures come as Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that the country had struggled for 40 years against attacks on “the revolution” and would not be daunted now. He made the remarks during a speech commemorating protests against the Shah of Iran in 1978.
“Revolution politically uprooted the enemy and now the enemy continues these attacks but always fails and cannot achieve its goals,” said Khamenei in a speech made before t h o u s a n d s i n Te h r a n , according to the semiofficial MEHR News agency. “This is due to our people’s continued support. The solid people’s stand will again tell the US, UK and those who live in London that you failed this time and will fail again.” UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson told the British Parliament Tuesday that “it is vital that the people of Iran and government of Iran should understand that we in this country support right to peaceful demo within the law.” He also urged the UK’s “friends in the White House not to throw away” a nuclear deal with Iran that Trump has pledged to decertify.
At least six dead in Southern St. Kitts Nevis and Republic of California flooding, mudslides Gabon establish diplomatic relations LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - At least six people died and thousands fled their homes in Southern California on Tuesday as a powerful rainstorm triggered flash floods and mudslides on slopes where a series of intense wildfires burned off protective vegetation last month. The heavy downpours subsided early Tuesday after prompting evacuation orders for residents along the Pacific coast north of Los Angeles, but forecasters warned of more rain throughout the day. Rainfall totals ranged from 2 inches to 4-1/2 inches (5 to 11 cm) in the area, the National Weather Servicesaid. At least six people died in the storm and mudslides in Santa Barbara County, the hardest-hit county in the region, incident command spokeswoman Amber Anderson said in a telephone interview. She did not specify the cause of the fatalities, but said they occurred in several locations in Santa Barbara where there were
mudslides. Television personality Ellen DeGeneres, who owns a home in the upscale community of Montecito where mudslides hit on Tuesday, posted a photo on Twitter of a roadway choked with mud and brown water. “This is not a river,” DeGeneres wrote on Twitter. “This is the 101 freeway in my neighborhood right now. Montecito needs your love and support.” The threat of mudslides prompted the county to order 7,000 residents to leave their homes before the rains came and to urge 23,000 others to evacuate voluntarily. The county set up an evacuation shelter at Santa Barbara City College and also gave residents a place to take their animals. The weather in Southern California was mild this week, so residents who fled their homes did not have to endure the cold snap that has gripped the U.S. Midwest and East Coast in recent weeks.
Ambassador of Gabon – Aichatou S. Aoudou and High Commissioner of St. Kitts & Nevis to the UK Dr. Kevin Issac BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - CMC – St Kitts Nevis and the Republic of Gabon have established diplomatic relations following the signing of a joint communiqué formalising ties. The communiqué was that was recently signed in London at the the Gabonese Embassy, marks another significant milestone for the Federation and progresses the Government’s commitment to expand its diplomatic footprint in Africa. Ambassador of Gabon, Aichatou S. Aoudou exalted the establishment of diplomatic relations by committing herself to the nourishment of the relations in London and beyond. She further noted the
Gabonese Republic and the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis will work together to establish deeper relationship and move towards a visa free regime soon for citizens entering both countries. She also expressed best wishes to St. Kitts and Nevis and hoped that both countries continue to cooperate with each other and prosper. For his part, High Commissioner of St. Kitts & Nevis to the United Kingdom Dr. Kevin Issac spoke of the smooth and efficient cooperation between the Gabonese Republic and the High Commission of St. Kits and Nevis in preparing for the establishment of diplomatic relations.
Isaac welcomed the idea of both countries sharing expertise and best practices in areas such as tourism as both country’s share a similar tourism brand message of unspoiled natural beauty. Both envoys also called for increased bilateral and multilateral cooperation across important matters such as tourism, education and climate change. Isaac, on behalf of Foreign Minister Brantley – extended an invitation for Gabonese Foreign Minister and Ambassador to visit the Federation. The Gabonese envoy reciprocated and pledged to advance the spirit of cooperation enshrined in the joint communiqué.
Wednesday January 10, 2018
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Forty-two Russians appeal Gibson wants four quicks against Olympic bans: CAS throughout home summer ZURICH (Reuters) - Forty-two Russians have lodged appeals against bans issued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) following doping violations at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said yesterday. The athletes were among 43 disqualified from events, banned from participating in future Olympics and in some cases stripped of their medals following the IOC’s investigation of widespread doping in Sochi exposed by an independent report for the World AntiDoping Agency. Maxim Belugin, part of the two and fourman bobsleigh teams which finished fourth at Sochi 2014, looks to be the only athlete not to
have filed an appeal. CAS said the cases will all be heard together in the week beginning Jan. 22 and expects verdicts to be issued by Jan. 31. That is nine days before the start of this year’s Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea and three days after the I n t e r n a t i o n a l O l y m p i c C o m m i t t e e ’s deadline for entries, other than those in exceptional circumstances. The IOC last month banned Russia from the Pyeongchang Games as a result of its “unprecedented systematic manipulation” of the anti-doping system, though individual athletes will be able to compete effectively as neutrals if they can prove their anti-doping credentials.
Wednesday January 10, 2018 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) You’re not sure which way to turn because there are too many variables in the equation. Perhaps you thought that everything would fall into place, but instead, those things that were already handled yesterday may need additional attention today. TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) You may be caught up in a net of fantastic illusions today, but they are so convincing that you can’t discern your dreams from reality. GEMINI (May 21–June 20) You are not ready to set aside unrealized personal goals in order to concentrate on growing responsibilities. But you’re getting tired of fighting against the inevitable, especially if others are expecting you to show up and do your fair share of the work. CANCER (June 21–July 22) You could be fighting an uphill battle today as you try to keep your attention on the present moment. But each time you settle into a relaxing state of mind, you drift off into the future where your dreams have already come true. LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) You might feel stuck in a routine that is limiting your true expression of happiness. Although there may be many reasons to keep you in your present situation, you’re not as trapped as you think. You have a choice to make today that will influence your future. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) You are torn between being the practical person others think you are or shocking your friends with your wildest dreams.
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) You may appear to be supportive as ever to those around you. You can put on a happy face and move through your day without stirring any suspicion that something is awry. SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) You could be so attuned to your emotions today that they flow into your environment without having to say a word. Those close to you will probably know what you are feeling, but just in case they are in denial, you tell them in no uncertain terms. SAGIT (Nov. 22–Dec. 21) Your creativity might not be obvious to anyone else today, but that’s fine with you. You’re not seeking attention now because you have important goals to focus on. CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) The weight of the recent cosmic shift may finally be dawning on you. Your drive to make an impact on your world is not just a fleeting thought. Your desire to reexamine your goals, establish priorities and achieve success is part of the new you. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18) You are not one to be trifled with at work today. In fact, if someone gets on your case now, they might wish they never disturbed the hornets’ nest. Unfortunately, you may not possess as much self-control as you wish, especially if a sensitive button is pushed. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) You are at home in the cosmos today while the planets draw your attention to your all-toofamiliar dream world. Fortunately, you have little problem loosening your ties to logic as you drift through the distant reaches of inner-galactic space.
ESPNcricinfo - South Africa will field four frontline quicks as often as possible, particularly at home, as they aim for a more aggressive approach in familiar conditions. After the team’s 72-run win in the opening Test against India, which was effectively achieved inside three days with a fourpronged pack pack, coach Ottis Gibson indicated the team balance will not change and South Africa will keep firing with their fast men. “I’m a very fast-bowling minded coach and I guess we will always have to find a balance to see if we can get four fast bowlers in the team, first of all. We’ll look at things like are the conditions suited to four fast bowlers. If not we try and shape the team in other ways,” Gibson said. “Ultimately, especially in this series and for the rest of the summer, we will be looking to see how best we can fit four fast bowlers into whatever formula we come up with.” The hosts went into the Newlands Test with their strongest quartet of seamers - Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada - and on a pitch with good pace, bounce and carry bowled India out for scores of 209 and 135 despite losing Steyn to injury midway through the match. With surfaces only expected to get spicier as the series moves up-country to Super Sport Park and The Wanderers, Gibson wants to keep the same structure to the side. Steyn has been ruled out of the remaining matches with a heel injury, which means one of Duanne Olivier, Lungi Ngidi, Chris Morris or Andile Phehlukwayo will likely be included in the XI for the second and third Tests. Which one will depend on whoever can convince Gibson they’re up for the biggest fight. South Africa’s new coach is interested in a bowler who is willing to show his fast and furious side. “When you are playing at home, you must play to your strengths,” Gibson said. “If you want to beat the best team in the world, which India are, then maybe we have to do something slightly different to what we’ve done in the past. We have to get stuck in and be tough with the bat and the ball; get in their faces a bit and use our physicality in terms of our pace. We had, in this game, three guys bowling over 140 [kph] so we need to use that and have a presence that says we are trying to get to where you are as a team.”
Given that South Africa have six more Tests in the next 12 weeks (two against India and four against Australia) and Gibson’s approach to the team make-up, a logical question will be over the fitness of the fast men. Already, South Africa are one down, with Steyn’s injury, and over the last year all of Philander, Morkel, Morris and Ngidi have had relatively serious injuries. Asked how he intends to keep them all firing through the summer, Gibson explained that he is working on a national plan that will cover all the country’s quicks to achieve their long-term availability. “Last week we had a discussion with the medical panel about trying to set up a a group of people to look after fast bowlers better. I think that fast bowlers are the bedrock of a really good cricket system and if we want to be No.1 in the world, especially in our conditions, fast bowlers are very important to that process,”
Gibson said. “We need to find ways of looking after, monitoring, training our fast bowlers better because there have been a lot of injuries even before I got here.” The flip side to Gibson’s approach is that it will also have effects on players of other disciplines, such as spinners. South Africa has never been a country renowned for its spinners but recently, Keshav Maharaj has been so reliable that he is often the only slower bowler included in Test squads. Maharaj played at Newlands but bowled only 10 overs out of the 116.2 South Africa delivered and it’s difficult to see how he will have more to do on the Highveld. Still, with a winter tour to Sri Lanka later in the year, Gibson has provided Maharaj with reassurance that he is a key part of South Africa’s plans. “He has been spoken to about how we will look to shape up for this series and he is very much a part of it,” Gibson said.
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Kallicharan confident of successful campaign LINCOLN, New Zealand, CMC – Batting star Kirstan Kallicharan, believes the Caribbean’s capture of three titles in 2016 was a huge filip for the region, and is convinced the current West Indies Under-19s can repeat their success at the ICC Youth World Cup bowling off here next weekend. Kallicharan was part of the Young Windies squad, l e d b y c u r r e n t Te s t batsman Shimron Hetmyer, which stunned pundits to capture the ICC title in Bangladesh two years ago. West Indies men and women then swept the titles at the Twenty20 World Cup a few months later in India, to make the Caribbean the toast of the cricketing world. “At that time it was very important for cricket in the West Indies, especially because in that time cricket in the West Indies was just going down,” Kallicharan said. “Nobody wanted to support the West Indies, especially in the Caribbean itself. From the senior men to the women in the T20 formats, to the Under 9s I think we brought a lot of joy to the Caribbean people.
Young Windies star Kirstan Kallicharan “I learned a lot on that tour, about how I wanted to be at my best, and wanting the West Indies to be like they were in the past.” Kallicharan is part of a strong Young Windies squad which are expected to again challenge strongly in the January 13 to February 3 tournament. T h e Wi n d i e s w i l l contest Group A alongside South Africa, Kenya and hosts New Zealand, and open the tournament with a clash against the Kiwis on Saturday. The vice-captain of the
2016 squad and now one of the mainstays of the batting, Kallicharan said the unit were confident of a successful campaign. “Watching the videos from that World Cup, watching the guys go out there, I can say it was a very good experience,” Kallicharan noted. “For the guys on this team, I think that inspires them to want to do well for themselves and the West Indies. Most important is to enjoy it, but I think we can bring back the title again.” Kallicharan had limited playing time in the last Youth World Cup but now sees himself as a mentor to the inexperienced players in the current squad. “I was the youngest one in that Under 19 squad, so chatting to the older guys I learned a lot,” he explained. “I also learned a lot from meeting new people from around the world and seeing how they play, not only on TV but live and getting to talk to them and learn from them. One main thing I learned was to stay humble. “Now I try to share my experience. It helped me a lot then so I think I can help them a lot by talking to them, trying to bring them out of down days, trying to help them, uplift them spiritually and mentally can help them reach a long way.”
Wednesday January 10, 2018
Defending champion Konta, Williams exit Sydney International
Johanna Konta (Getty Images) SYDNEY (Reuters) Defending champion Johanna Konta was bundled out in the first round of the Sydney International by Agnieszka Radwanska and Venus Williams also lost in her first match of the tournament yesterday. Radwanska, overpowered in 82 minutes by Konta in last year’s final, raced to a 6-3 7-5 victory over the Briton at the Olympic Tennis Centre. Neither player was able to dominate on service in the first set and Konta won just two of her 11 second serve points as Radwanska converted three of her five break opportunities. Konta again had trouble holding serve in the second set but showed signs of a fightback when she broke
while trailing 4-1, but she could not push on as Radwanska sealed victory in one hour, 49 minutes. Second seed Williams was beaten 5-7 6-3 6-1 by Germany’s Angelique Kerber in under two hours. Kerber started the first set stronger and looked to have Williams on the ropes when she opened up a 5-3 lead and created two set points on the American’s serve before Williams rallied.
The seven-times grand slam champion survived the Kerber onslaught with an ace and a forehand winner and, with her confidence restored, took the first set. But Kerber fought back strong as Williams struggled with her service. The German leveled the match at a set apiece and raced into a 5-0 lead in the decider before Williams rallied again, but the American succumbed to the inevitable on her fifth match point, sending a backhand return wide. Konta’s first-round loss continued some worrying early season performances for the 26-year-old world number nine. She struggled last week in Brisbane before withdrawing from her quarter-final with a hip injury. Radwanska, who was upset by American qualifier Sachia Vickery in the Auckland quarter-finals last week, meets American qualifier Catherine Bellis in the second round in Sydney while Kerber faces Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinals.
Brathwaite, Roach remain in top 20 as Rabada assumes top spot LONDON , CMC – West Indies’ two highest-ranked players, Kraigg Brathwaite and Kemar Roach, lost ground but remained in the top 20 of the International Cricket Council’s player rankings released yesterday. Opener Brathwaite dropped one place to 18th in the batting rankings, while seamer Roach also slipped one spot to 20th in the bowling rankings. The pair is the only Caribbean players in the top 20 of either set of rankings. Brathwaite scored 706 runs in 10 Tests last year, mirroring his career average at 37 per innings, to surge into the top 20 in the world. He managed a single hundred – 134 in the first innings of the Leeds second Test against England which West Indies won by five wickets last August. Roach, meanwhile, snatched 25 wickets in seven Tests last year at an average of 25, after being recalled for the England tour following 18 months on the sidelines. Three other Windies players sit in the top 50 of the batting rankings with Shai Hope at 31st, Roston Chase, 38th, and Darren Bravo, 41st, though the left-hander has
West Indies opener Kraigg Brathwaite not played a Test in 14 months. In the bowling, speedster Shannon Gabriel lies 21st, legspinner Devendra Bishoo is perched 23rd while captain and Jason Holder sits 34th. There was a major change at the top of the bowling rankings with exciting 22year-old South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada dislodging veteran England seamer Jimmy Anderson for the number one spot. Australia captain, Steve Smith, retained the top position in the batting rankings.
Wednesday January 10, 2018
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Kaieteur News
Guptill overcomes rain and Pakistan Manchester City ‘reach agreement with
Martin Guptill began New Zealand’s chase in sprightly fashion with some pleasant shots ©AFP ESPNcricinfo - For the second time this series, rain intervened before the match was finished with New Zealand in front. This time, it subsided early enough for further play to be possible and for Martin Guptill to storm back to form. An explosive innings from the opener - who scored 86 off 71 balls - ensured New Zealand carried a 2-0 lead into into the third ODI at Dunedin with an eight-wicket win. After a two-hour delay, New Zealand’s target was revised from 247 to 151 in 25 overs, with a further 87 required in 11 overs after the resumption. Guptill made it look supremely straightforward, smashing Hasan Ali for consecutive sixes in his first over back. The sixes were hit at will for Guptill - five of them in total while Ross Taylor provided suitable support. Pakistan fell apart spectacularly in the field, and New Zealand completed the chase with seven balls to spare. Before the interruption, New Zealand spent much of the game enjoying the upper hand, and barring the salvo of a 49-ball 70 run partnership between Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan, Pakistan couldn’t quite lay claim on any passage of play. Sarfraz Ahmed might have made a different decision at the toss, but that didn’t change how the innings panned out. Pakistan, batting first, turned in another limp batting performance. All five regular bowlers chipped in with wickets, and it was left
to Pakistan’s lower order to respond with a magnificent rearguard action as halfcenturies from Hasan and Shadab took Pakistan - once tottering at 141 for 7 - to a more presentable 246. “It’s been a difficult time for Colin and I know the group are excited to catch up with him,” selector Gavin Larsen said. “Everyone has been thinking of him while he’s been away, He’ll play for Auckland on Wednesday and, all going well, will join the team in Dunedin on Thursday.” The surface in Nelson looked dry, and even Kane Williamson admitted he would have much preferred to bat first, but his opening bowlers didn’t leave him wistful for too long. Tim Southee and Trent Boult were at the openers straightaway, Azhar Ali and Imam-ul-Haq - in for the injured Fakhar Zaman struggling against generous early swing. At the same time, Boult was dangerous with the short ball, with Azhar survived a caught behind after a review showed it was in fact his helmet that had grazed the ball on the way through to the keeper. Boult wasn’t to be denied in his next over, though. It was the short ball that brought the breakthrough, as Imam was unable to get on top of the bounce, and the pull shot went straight to Colin Munro at square leg. Azhar followed him in the next over. Tim Southee got the wicket in almost identical fashion to the first ODI, Azhar falling over to off stump and
missing a straight one that thudded into his pads. Babar Azam played a loose shot unbecoming of the reputation and class to leave Pakistan wobbling at 39 for 3, and it was up to old hands Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez to regroup. A 45-run partnership provided some hope of a Pakistan revival, as the pair began to rotate the strike regularly and use their feet to the spinners. But just as the momentum was shifting, Malik danced down the wicket and hit one straight to long-on. Sarfraz and Hafeez were Pakistan’s last recognised batsmen, but both fell to indifferent shots. Sarfraz’s was shocking, coming down the wicket to a short ball from Todd Astle and getting himself stumped. A few overs later, Hafeez, after compiling 60 classy runs, charged Mitchell Santner in similarly unseemly fashion, only succeeding in chipping to short cover. The innings looked to be petering out well under 200, and it took a whirlwind partnership between Shadab and No. 9 Hasan to restore some competitiveness to the contest. Hasan took charge in their stand, striking four boundaries and four sixes, beginning his assault with successive sixes off Mitchell Santner. Ferguson struck him with a vicious bouncer around the neck, but he wasn’t dissuaded, taking the attack to the quicks as well as New Zealand lost their discipline. Astle went for 21 runs in an over, while Boult bowled two full tosses around waist height - only one of which was called - as the runs began to flow freely. Southee was smashed for 12 in three balls to bring up a 30-ball fifty, but the bowler dismissed Hasan off the next ball. Shadab continued to attack, as Pakistan took 13 off Southee’s final over. Boult wasn’t spared either as a gorgeous cover drive off the left-armer brought up Shadab’s half-century. New Zealand started their chase shakily, Mohammad Amir - looking near his fearsome best - forcing a false shot from Munro to send him back for a duck. Williamson and Guptill restored some order, before a superb diving catch at point from Shadab left New Zealand at 47 for 2. Pakistan may have felt they were right back in the game, before the rain break. By the time the rain subsided, Guptill appeared to be a different batsman, one against whom a lackadaisical Pakistan stood no chance.
wantaway Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez’ Yahoo Sport UK Runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City look to have clinched the signing of Arsenal’s contract rebel Alexis Sanchez. According to Italian football writer Fabrizio Romano, City have reached an agreement for a free transfer for the 29-year-old Chilean – who was subject of a £60m bid from the same club just one year ago. City are also offering Sanchez £13m a year in wages PLUS a £30m signing on fee. However, if Arsenal are willing to sell their prized asset immediately, City are willing to spend an extra £20m to ensure the player joins this month. City are awaiting a response from the Gunners – who claim they have heard nothing from the Etihad club. Manchester City are 15 points clear at the top of the table but have been hit with an injury to Brazil striker Gabriel Jesus and want cover for the club’s record goalscorer Gabriel Jesus. Sanchez will be eligible to play in both the Champions
Alexis Sanchez is on his way out of Arsenal it seems. League and FA Cup as City challenge for the Quadruple. Arsenal have been unwilling to sell him but recent reports of dressingroom unrest and an apparent lack of desire to celebrate goals with Sanchez mean manager Arsene Wenger has
softened his stance – although it is believed he is holding out for £35m. Sanchez’s four-year Arsenal contract runs out at the end of the season and he will be available for free at that time but City are happy to pay now for their No.1 target.
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Wednesday January 10, 2018
Kaieteur News
Xavier cops Hustler Pool Trophy and $100,000
Anthony Xavier (3rd from left) shows off his championship trophy along with the prize winners & Organiser Ricardo Devers (2nd from right) after the Presentation. From National U-17 Cricketer to Pools tournament organiser Ricardo Devers took a giant leap to stage the Hustler eight ball knock-out best of three, Pool competition at the Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club (GMRSC) on Sunday last. The tournament climaxed in the early hours of Monday morning with Anthony Xavier producing a dominating display of Pool against Deenashwar Rampersaud in the final; winning two games to none to take Championships honours.
Xavier captured the first prize of $100,000 from Nauth’s Motor Spares and the Trophy Stall trophy in a tournament which attracted over 43 players. Rampersaud, for his second place effort received a five-stop trip on the Essequibo River inclusive of Lunch and a Trophy sponsored by Vnet Communications. Earlier, Deenashwar Rampershad got a free draw into the final since there were three players left in the competition leaving Xavier to battle Chrisnah Rambarran for
a place in the Final. Xavier took the first game while Rambarran won the second before Xavier won the decider leaving Rambarran to settle for the third prize of a Trophy and a bottle of Absolut Vodka sponsored by Nicky’s Natural Fruit Juice. Solomon Jones won the Raffle of a Pool Cue and case sponsored by West Indies Sports Complex, while Advertising and Promotion was sponsored by Gbay Deals and Cell Point. Speaking at the presentation, Devers, a
Kagiso Rabada takes top spot from James Anderson Kagiso Rabada celebrates a wicket. (Glyn Kirk / © AFP/Getty Images)
ESPNcricinfo - South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has displaced James Anderson as the No. 1 ranked Test bowler, after his spells of 3 for 34 and 2 for 41 led his team to victory in the Cape Town Test against India. Rabada, 22, earned five points for that performance, taking him past Anderson’s tally of 887 by one point. Anderson’s tally reduced by five points after the final Ashes Test in Sydney, where he took 1 for 56 in Australia’s only innings. “It’s special to be ranked as the No.1 Test bowler in the world. It is a surreal feeling,” Rabada said. “It’s what you dream of
achieving when you start playing the game. “Cricket is ultimately a team sport and I’m thankful for the support from my team-mates. It’s a great start to the year personally and for us as a team, hopefully we can continue putting in winning performances.” Vernon Philander, who was Man of the Match for his nine wickets against India at Newlands, jumped from 12th place to sixth. In the rankings for Test batsmen, Steven Smith remained No. 1 with 947 points, but Joe Root overtook Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson to move into second place. Cheteshwar Pujara dropped from third to fifth.
The Pools Dr (Mr Mangru) presents Solomon Jones with his Raffle prize of a Pool Cue & case. talented Pool player himself, said this was the first time that he held such an event which he described as a success. He said that holding such a tournament was because he wanted to have all of Guyana’s top Pool players competing in one place since
there is no Pool Association in Guyana to stage such tournaments. Devers said unlike in the USA and Canada where Professional Pool is played and players can making a living from the sport this is not the case here.
“I opened the competition to both Males and Females and while I know of females who are good Pool players no female entered and in my plans for future tournaments I hope to hold a female Pool competition,” concluded Devers.
UCAA/Roy Baijnauth T20 tourney
Crabwood Creek and #72 Cut and Load record victories Crabwood Creek and Number 72 Cut and Load registered victories when the Upper Corentyne Cricket Association (UCAA)/Roy Baijnauth T20 tournament commenced last weekend. At the Number 72 Cut and Load ground, hosts Cut and Load got the better of #59 Youth and Sports Club when the batted first and scored a massive 174 from their allotted 20 overs. A brilliant 70 not out from Clavern Beresford and 33 not out from Davenand Chatterpaul added to 30 from P. Joseph were the highlights of the Cut and Load batting. Bowling for #59 YSC, Edwin Netehrandra took 2 for 38 from his four overs, while R. Sukwah took 1 for 38 in his bowling spell. The lads of the #59 YSC failed to show any resistance and were all bowled out for 75. Edwin Netehrandra top scored with 11 for #59 YSC. Bowling for Cut and Load R. Omaperaaud 3-21, D. Chatterpaul 2-14, C. Beresford 1-15, M. Singh 1-9 and R Persaud 1-0 were the principal wicket takers. Number 72 Cut and Load won the match by 99 runs. Over at the Number 73 Young Warriors Cricket Club ground, Crabwood Creek Sports Club headed by Darshan Chalitar defeated host Number 73 Young Warriors by 78 runs. Batting first, Crab Wood Creek scored 151 with Qadir Khan 37, N. Deo 25, T. Totaram 17 and L. Seegobin 12 being the principal scorers. Bowling for #73 Young Warriors, Odraj Singh took 4-18, Asad Mohammed 3-24 and Lakram Lathman 2-19. In their reply, Number 73 Young Warriors failed to live up to the challenging target set
by Crabwood Creek and fell for 75. Lakram Lathman scored 33 and Odraj Singh 14. Bowling for Crabwood Creek, Captain D. Chalitar was impressive with 4-16, while M. Bhola supported with 2-18. President of the Upper Corentyne Cricket Association, Mr. Hamant Jagdeo, has expressed his satisfaction at the professional manner in which the competition has commenced. He commended the players for their display of discipline and good sportsmanship in the games so far, and encouraged them to continue to remain committed. Mr. Vadanand Sugrim, Secretary of the Upper Corentyne Cricket Association, speaking at the after match at the #73 Young Warriors Ground, expressed his gratitude to the members of the public for their tremendous support. He assured the audience that there is more to come next week as the competition heats up. Sugrim is of the view that with the support his Association has received from the public, the UCCA is definitely on the move upwards. He is optimistic that the way forward for the development of the Association is to engage all Clubs in serious competitions, so that the talent will be given more exposure. He expressed his gratitude to Mr. Roy Baijnauth for the timely sponsorship and is encouraging all businesses in the Upper Corentyne Area to support their initiatives. The Association intends to use this competition to select its Senior Team, as well as to grade Clubs based on their performance in the matches.
Wednesday January 10, 2018
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Kaieteur News
GUYANA FOOTBALL REVIEW (PART 1)
Disappointing show in 2017’s Int’l Friendlies but positive youth thrust It wasn’t a busy year in 2017 for the Golden Jaguars, Guyana’s senior men football team, having played only a meagre three matches on the International scene, all being friendly encounters. This was due to the fact that the team was unsuccessful in their bid to qualify for the Caribbean Cup, after losing to Jamaica and Suriname in the third round of qualifications. Last year can be labeled as a disappointing year as well after the national side didn’t win any of those matches, losing two and drawing one. In the first friendly, played away at Grenada in the Kirani James National Stadium, the Jaguars were needled 1-0 thanks to a 90th minute strike from Grenada’s Saydrel Lewis on Saturday October, 7th. Guyana’s starting eleven in that friendly featured predominantly overseas based players, the starters included Andrew Durant in goal, Jake Newton, Adrian Butters, Terrence Vancooten, Walter Moore, Samuel Peter Cox, Brandon Beresford, Christopher Bourne, Shaquille Agard, Neil Danns and Emery Welshman. In the second friendly international of the year, Guyana’s senior national men’s football team, played to a disappointing 1-1 draw against Trinidad and Tobago on November 14th last, after failing to protect their lead in the away fixture at the Ato Bolton stadium. The Jaguars took the lead early in the first half, before the T&T’s attacking threat allowed them to equalise in the second half of the match. Sheldon Holder, who outfits
GFF President, Wayne Forde
Guyana’s Christopher Bourne, right, and Trinidad and Tobago’s Neil Benjamin challenge for the ball in an international friendly at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva. (Newsday Photo) for T&T pro-league Morvant Caledonia during the regular season, fired the Jaguars ahead with a goal in the 19th minute, as they head into the half-time break with the advantage. But, 15 minutes after the break, Trinidad and Tobago equalised through Shahdon Winchester. The final and most exciting friendly for the Jaguars last year was the away fixture against Indonesia, another match that local side scored
Ian Greenwood, GFF Technical Director first but failed to protect their lead. It was the first instance that these two sides were meeting and the Golden Jaguars managed to score first in their second consecutive international friendly of the month, in the historic match in Asia, but couldn’t hold on to the lead as the host didn’t just equalised but completed a superb fight back in front the thousands of home fans that packed the Patriot Stadium in the city of Bekasi.
Action between Guyana and Indonesia (Red) in their historic International Friendly, November last. (PSSI Photo)
Agard who plays the left attacking position and outfits for Durham United FC, a league one team in Canada, broke the deadlock early in the ninth minute of the match with a calm finish. He showed great balance and strength to shrug off a challenge from a defender within the box before gently slotting home a right-footed shot from the left side of the box to the bottom right of goal. Indonesia equalized during the first half of the game which began at 07:30hrs local time after Ilija Spasojevic converted a penalty that was awarded to the hosts in the 37th minute of the game with a rightfooted strike left of the goal. As both teams pressed for the winner as the match elapsed into the second half, Spasojevic completed a brace after firing home from close range in the 75th minute. The effort winded the Guyanese and the Asians held on during the remaining 15 minutes of normal time to record success in the friendly. During an interview with Kaieteur Sport in December, president of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Wayne Forde, had stated that the purpose of the international friendlies in 2017 was to look at various coaching methodologies while experimenting with the squad composition and team formations. Meanwhile, Technical Director of the GFF, Ian Greenwood, reiterated the fact that the future of the Guyana’s senior men football team is dependent on the development of locally based players and more importantly the youth players. Being cognizant of this fact, the GFF executive committee (Exco) that
had made it one of their mandates to develop a solid youth programme during pre-election and are making strides to realize this dream. The current GFF exco had promised if elected to office that they would’ve overseen the running off of youth leagues in four age groups in the under-13, under-15, under-17 and under-20 age groups. And, at the end of the 2017, two years after the current exco were elected to office, the organizing of successful under-17 and under-15 national leagues have been realized with the sponsors of each of those leagues committing to five-year contracts. In addition, the GFF boss, Forde, noted that this year will see the launching of the critical under-13 and under-20 national leagues. Currently, the sponsor of the under17 league is the National Milling Company (NAMILCO), while the Pele Football Club Alumni sponsors the under-15 league. However, Forde didn’t disclose the sponsors of the under-20 and under-13 leagues since negotiations are still undergoing. Technical Director of the GFF, Ian Greenwood, reiterated the importance of solid youth development programmes and noted with Kaieteur Sport his intention of working with the under-13 squad to have them be the best players Guyana has ever seen. “The current u-13 team put together this year (2017) will be the best when they reach the senior level, not only because of the work we will put in with them but we intend to keep the squad together,” Greenwood shared.
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Kaieteur News
Wednesday January 10, 2018
Reliance All-Stars retain Shivanandan Madholall Memorial trophy
Members of the victorious Reliance All-Stars team display their accolades.
Overseas based Guyanese group continues to pour in support Holds Football extravaganza in New Amsterdam
Reliance All-Stars retained the fourth-annual Shivanandan Madholall’s Memorial trophy after defeating Wild Oats in an exciting three-wicket victory played recently at the Anna Regina Tarmac, Essequibo Coast. The match was originally set for Boxing Day at Reliance ground also on the coast but the inclement weather forced its post-postponement. H o w e v e r, a t A n n a Regina Wild Oats won the toss and without hesitation opted to take first strike but could only manage an insufficient 93-8 from the allotment of 15-overs, while Reliance All-Stars, in reply, safely reached 96-7 with 10 balls to spare. Leading the way was the experienced Cecil Shivamber with 24 not out, while useful contributions came from Sunil Lall and Narindra Madholall with 19 and 17 respectively. Seon Wa l l a c e c l a i m e d t w o wickets for 17 runs from his three overs. E a r l i e r, P e r m a n a n d Persaud top-scored for Wild Oats with 24 as Ravi Madholall claimed three wickets for 12 runs in his three-over spell. Ryan Shivamber, who was later adjudged man-ofthe-match by adjudicator Romain Khan, hit a six, claimed a wicket, effected a run-out and took a catch, all at crucial times. In the other match to open the day’s proceedings, Mandholall’s X1 beat Reliance Masters by 22 runs.
Mandholall’s XI batted first and tallied up a competitive 72-7 from their 10-overs with Narindra Madholall hitting 26. The Masters responded with 50 for 9 when the overs expired as Narindra returned to claim three victims to take home the MVP prize. In another exhibition match, Cotton Field got the better of Bush Lot by 15 runs in a 12-over affair. At the presentation ceremony, the elder brother of Shivanandan, Rovendra thanked the teams for their participation and reserved special mention to the various sponsors. And some of those are Dent Wizard and PGI Ltd, Baksh Brothers, GE Plastics, Anil Sarwan, Sunrisers Cricket team, R e m s , Av i n a s h S i n g h among others all of Canada. Jerseys for the teams were also provided, while medals were given out to all the participating players. Rovendra, a former Guyana youth cricketer, related that the two main trophies were played for Shivanandan, who passed away in 2013 at the age of 30. Shivanandan also represented Guyana at the under-15 and under-19 levels. The other trophy was in memory for his father, Seeram Madholall, who died early in 2017 at the age of 64. In addition to that, special remarks on Shivanandan’s life were mentioned by two former senior inter-county players Elroy Stephney and Raul Khan.
Johnson revels what... A victorious Corriverton Links under-11 team pose with their hardware. Overseas based Guyanese group “Overseas Disturbance Sports Club” continues their generous benevolence with support of various kinds back home. The group, which is mainly based in the United States of America, is made up of former football players and residents of Berbice and would from time to time return or send items back home for use by Guyanese. On Sunday, for the third year running, the group held a one day football extravaganza and Fun day at the All Saints Scott Church Ground, Princess Elizabeth Road, New Amsterdam Berbice. There were matches in the U-11, U-13 and U-21 categories. The players were drawn from Corriverton Links,
Arsenal, Cougars and Hearts of Oak Football Clubs. The day’s matches were highly competitive with a number of raw talents being exhibited. The games were played on a round robin basis with the top two from each group advancing to the respective finals. In the Under-11 category Corriverton Links edged past Arsenal FC in the final on Penalty kicks in the 20 minutes affair. This was after the game ended on a 2-2 basis. In the U13 final Hearts of Oaks FC got the better of Arsenals FC by a 2-0 margin. The U21 saw the newly formed Shoe Lane Dominators rising to the occasion as the edged out season campaigners Cougars FC on penalty kicks to be
crowned champions. At the end of regulation time the score was locked at 1-1. The ensuing penalty kicks were nailbiting with the Shoe lane Dominators showing much determination as they held their nerve for a 7-6 win from the penalty spot. The presentation ceremony followed immediately after with the outstanding players being rewarded for their efforts. In the under 11 category Mikel Georgeson was adjudged the MVP, Shaun Pestano best goalkeeper, Timothy Harris best defender, Jamal Adams best midfielder and Michael Cumberbatch the best striker. The U13 and U-21 winning teams and outstanding players were similarly rewarded.
The Overseas Disturbance Sports Club recently held their Annual food drive for the elderly on the 29th December, 2017 at the All Saints Anglican Church, New Amsterdam. Activities continue today at the same venue with the annual old students’ game between old nemesis Berbice High School (BHS) and Berbice Educational Institute (BEI). The action is expected to continue on Friday with a number of games at the same venue. Expected to feature are the Hearts of Oak Masters team and the Overseas Disturbance team. A number of former national players are expected to be on show. The coordinator is Former National Player Owen Humphrey.
From back page advice of non-striker Kirk Edwards did to ask for the replay which confirmed that the ball would have missed the wicket. He made 41 in the second innings and in nine Tests has two fifties. In his last Test against Pakistan in November of 2016 he was asked to open the batting. Johnson, who made 51 in the second of his six ODIs against Canada in Canada, has over 5,000 runs with 32 half-centuries and five centuries from 97 First-Class matches. Johnson has captained his School (St Roses High), his Club, his County, Guyana U-19s, and was West Indies under19 Captain for the 2006 U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka before being appointed Guyana First-Class Skipper in 2013 against the Windwards in St Vincent and while he has been consistent he has an ordinary conversion rate. Johnson has only managed to convert five of his 37 innings of 50 or more into hundreds at First-Class level but Johnson has a fantastic work ethic; he feels that Captaincy has not been the reason for him not scoring more hundreds. “No it (Captaincy) isn’t affecting me, captaining teams is something I’ve done for a very long time and it’s never affected my batting,” Johnson declared. Johnson is confident that the Jaguars who will face Barbados in Barbados from tomorrow is confident that his team will finish the season unbeaten. “My biggest satisfaction thus far is determination and attitude of the players, they have always given 110%, the most disappointing thing would be the tie against the Windward Islands, we were in a position to win that game and made some mistakes which let them back in,” the Guyana Captain concluded.