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Kaieteur News
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KAIETEUR NEWS Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: ADAM HARRIS A. A. Tel: 225-8491, 225-8458, 225-8465 Fax: 225-8473 or 226-8210
Editorial
Private business A recent event that has probably been already forgotten by many really holds deep national significance and needs to be formally addressed. The signs that were erected at the beach adjoining the Marriott Hotel declaring it private property raise concerns well beyond the incident itself. It brings into sharp focus our national position, if such exists at all, regarding use, access and ownership of the foreshores and waterways in Guyana. This issue will inevitably re-emerge and requires a clearly articulated official position that is reflective of the dispositions of the populace. It would be a shame to be confronted with this issue again in the future without having utilised the opportunity currently presented to engage in a national conversation to devise appropriate regulations. This has been and continues to be a highly controversial issue in other countries in the Caribbean. It pits the interests of businesses against those of average citizens. It raises vital questions regarding how natural treasures should be treated. In some countries where private beaches exist, citizens feel deprived of what they deem as their birthrights. They lament the fact that foreigners are able to enjoy the most attractive beaches and other natural treasures which citizens can only access at a prohibitive cost. There have been various accounts of the embarrassment faced by citizens being barred from beaches. In addition, the beaches where there is public access are usually of lower quality and poorly maintained. The prevailing mindset is that the country has been sold out to foreign commercial interests at the expense of the locals. This has led to suspicion and even antagonism towards commercial entities which, ironically, have critical importance to the economic standing of the country. Whether or not, from a strictly legal perspective, one has any such birthright, it raises more fundamental questions as to what is in the country’s best interest; who should make the decisions and on what basis. In addressing the issue of private beaches in other Caribbean countries, one writer emphasised the fact that it speaks to the culture of the citizens of the country—highlighting the fact that their citizens would never allow their beaches to be privatised. This indicates a national consensus on the topic which we as Guyanese have never officially arrived at. Strong arguments can be put forward from both perspectives and lessons can be learned from the experiences of our sister territories. It would therefore behoove us to begin the consultation process and devise for ourselves an official position that is reflective of a national disposition. It is vital that these decisions are made with transparency and are reflective of such consensus. The existing laws should be examined and where necessary updated to ensure they fit the contemporary context. More importantly, widespread sensitisation should be done to fully inform our citizens as to the prevailing official position, their rights and responsibilities in relation to same. Once Guyanese have a stake in determining these regulations there would be greater support for the positions arrived at. This avoids the demonisation of commercial entities and creates a basis whereby all can co-exist in the interest of national development. We must, as a nation, develop a strong culture of collective responsibility for the preservation and development of our resources. These exercises go a long way in instilling such a culture and lead to greater social cohesion.
Sunday January 07, 2018
Send your letters to Kaieteur News 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown or email us kaieteurnews@yahoo.com
The police force is in worse shape than we could ever imagine DEAR EDITOR, If the media report that the Commissioner of Police said that it was not improper for Deputy Superintendent Dookie to leave the station when he was detained in connection with the discovery of smuggled top shelf liquor, then the police force is in worse shape than we could ever imagine. This is another example of the unbridled arrogance and bombast that is acceptable only in banana republics; and surely Guyana has reached no such state. Am I to understand that if Dookie had been held in a matter of let’s say a fatal accident or shooting incident, where he was the alleged perpetrator that he would have been allowed to walk unescorted out of the station? Wait a minute! I understand that the excuse proffered is that Dookie is a senior officer. So he is guaranteed certain exemptions regardless of the gravity of the offence. Editor, we have all seen instances where subordinate ranks have been arrested and placed under close custody for mere allegations of offences far less serious than
the one allegedly committed by Dookie against the State. What makes Dookie so special? I smell protection in high places. The first action that the arresting ranks should have taken under the supervision of the Duty Officer or Commander should have been to search and relieve Dookie of the property in his possession including his firearm and - if found on him, his passport. The usual police action including questioning by Divisional Detective Officer and caution statement should have followed. That these actions seem not to have been taken speaks volumes and cries out loudly for a review of the operational and administrative procedures of the police force. We are constantly bombarded with catchy phrases and words like “SOPs were followed” or “the force have adopted a posture of” which are intended to lull us into a false sense of security, but alas, we experience serious slippage regardless. Editor, there is plenty of cause for alarm when we are told that the Strategic Planning Unit is where
Dookie has been sent until this Johnny Walker affair blows over. All I can say is that the SPU seems to be the new dumping ground, taking over from the Mounted Branch and Tactical Services Unit, particularly if you were to consider the qualifications that one should possess to contribute meaningfully to the strategic development of the force. One wonders if Dookie possesses those qualifications or if he is receiving preferential treatment. Again the question of protection emerges. If you were to do some investigative work you would observe that special units in police forces have a tendency to operate as though they are untouchable. One police officer was involved in an incident concerning drugs on the upper East Coast; he too was a member of a special unit. Another one produced bogus certificates; he retired as an Assistant Commissioner. Another claimed certification that he did not possess to be selected for an overseas course; he is now a senior officer. No disrespect to the diligent, honest, hardworking
cops, but this is the kind of rotten barrel of mangoes that the Guyanese people have to live with unless there is an urgent administrative and operational review of the force. I understand that the SWAT Unit has lost members in recent months and I am left to wonder if interviews were conducted to ascertain the reason for any voluntary separation especially in light of the sums expended for their specialised training. Finally Editor, one other observation that I think warrants attention is the selective application of force policy on tattoos. An applicant bearing visible tattoos on the forearm has been green lighted for recruitment into the force. Her brother was recently directly inducted into the Immigration Department against force policy upon instructions from high up. These are just a few of the niggling things that are affecting morale within the ranks and part of the cycle of abuse of authority that continues within the organisation. Gervais {Gervy}Grandison
Sunday January 07, 2018
Kaieteur News
Kaieteur M@ilbox Dr. Richard Van West Charles & Mr. Godfrey Statia are exemplary public servants DEAR EDITOR, Please allow me this opportunity to express heartfelt congratulations to two public officials who have impressed me with their sincere and efficient approach towards the management of their respective organisations. Often times we are most critical of public officers and how ineffectively they carry out the functions in the ad-
ministration of their entities. It therefore affords me great pleasure to compliment Mr. Godfrey Statia, Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, and Dr. Richard Van West Charles CEO of the Guyana Water Inc. on the exemplary exhibition of honest, efficient and effective management of their respective institutions. In my opinion these gentlemen have demon-
strated a high level of efficiency, improved consumer confidence and overall functioning in the entities they manage. Other organisations’ leadership must endeavor to emulate the efforts of these two officials and thereby improve on the performance of their own organizations so that we can collectively take Guyana forward. Claude Raphael
We have the resources to make Guyana one of the best countries to live in DEAR EDITOR, Please permit some space in your most informative news paper to share my views which will surely help our struggling nation to live a more comfortable life… I began attending Primary school in 1949 ( The only school I’ve attended } and since the early 1950’s I was told about El Dorado the City of Gold, and that city is in British Guiana, and in 2003 I had the great opportunity of touring the gold mining and processing facility of OMAI GOLD MINES where I’ve seen tons and tons of liquid gold spinning in several huge tanks, all the gold we’ve seen is gone and Guyana is still dirt poor with many families going to bed hungry (Not the Politicians). When I was a child going to school, my mother and father were sugar workers and during those days Bookers were the owners of the sugar industry, although sugar was King,
Bookers used to provide lands for sugar workers to grow rice, cash crop and cattle rearing etc. Bookers also provided cane punts for the workers to transport their paddy from the fields to the public road because they understood the importance of food production (Agriculture). Today, we are hearing so much
about OIL and our Govt. is dreaming of the oil money as if it will fall like rain, failing to look East, to Suriname, North to Trinidad and West to Venezuela who are all oil producers but still suffering, because the oil money alone is not enough to buy food and improve the lives of their (Continued on page 6)
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Sunday January 07, 2018
Kaieteur News
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Agreement versus meaningful consultation DEAR EDITOR, “The Chancellor and the Chief Justice shall each be appointed by the President acting after obtaining the agreement of the leader of the opposition.” So mandates Article 127 (1) of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. The Constitution is our country’s Supreme Law and anything that contravenes that law is, as far as it so contravenes, null, void and of no effect. It was not always the case that the President was obliged to first secure the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition before the President could appoint the Chancellor and the Chief Justice. Indeed, prior to 2000 when the Constitution was amended, under what is popularly referred to as the 1980 Constitution, all that was required was for the President
to have “consultation with the Minority Leader.” We have still retained in today’s Constitution only “meaningful consultation” as the necessary engagement between the President and the Leader of the Opposition regarding some Constitutional office holders such as the three persons nominated by the President to the Teaching Service Commission. Appointment of the Chancellor and Chief Justice, however, require agreement by and between the two Leaders. When, how and why did we as a country change from requiring our President to have consultation with the Minority Leader to mandating the President to secure the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition in the appointment of a Chancellor and Chief Justice? In the Report of the Constitution Reform Commission
A Colgate Comedy Hour DEAR EDITOR, Each time you hear from the Georgetown City Council, it is always something more outrageous and bizarre than the previous declaration. On this occasion the Town Clerk revealed an ‘ambitious’ plan which he has that would involve placing security guards within the cemetery to patrol from sundown to sunrise, which will in fact be having them watching the dead. Can you imagine that? This is the very City Council which always claims to be shorthanded in its City Constabulary Department. This is the very City Council that is unable to halt the almost daily robberies in and around the municipal markets, that said that they had to retrench staff because it claims to be unable to meet its monthly payroll of over $120 million, this is the very Council that cannot prevent chic chic board men from operating on its pavements and is unable to prevent itinerant vendors from selling rat poison, pesticides and other toxic chemicals which are dangerous to health and against the
law. This must be the Colgate Comedy Hour at City Hall. Persons are getting robbed routinely in Georgetown when they leave the commercial banks, city by-laws are being broken daily with impunity, pirated DVDs and CDs are sold openly on the pavements, touts continuously harass mini bus passengers, juveniles are molested by elements within the Council’s security arm, and yet the Council’s priority is to protect the dead. The great ideas of the ages have come from people who weren’t paid to have great ideas, but here in Georgetown, we are paying super salaries to some senior municipal officers for them to come up with ideas and plans that fly in the face of reason, and common sense. Demosthenes the Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens once said ‘As a vessel is known by the sound, whether it be cracked or not; so men are proved, by their speeches, whether they be wise or foolish’. Sincerely, Modi Sankar
to the National Assembly of Guyana dated July 17, 1999 in a Chapter titled “Background to the … Reform Commission…,” it is recorded “… after the election, there were four weeks of street protests led by the PNC generated by claims relating to the delay in the counting of votes for Region 4, and the allegedly premature declaration of one winning candidate for the Presidency. Ethnic tension and Ethnic violence escalated. This was the context which gave rise to the Herdmanston Accord, which was brokered by a CARICOM mission comprising former Attorney General and Foreign Minister Sir Henry Forde QC; then Vice Chancellor of University of the West Indies, Sir Alister McIntyre; and former Commonwealth Secretary General, Sir Sridhath Ramphal SC, assisted by the United Nations crisis management expert, Hugh Cholmondeley. The Accord was signed on January 18, 1998 by representatives of the PPP/Civic and the PNC. The Herdmanston Accord provided for a Menu of Measures which the CARICOM mission felt could “contribute significantly to the resolution of existing problems”… One of the measures, implemented within a few days of the signing of the Accord provided for a three month moratorium on public
demonstrations and the simultaneous lifting of the ban which the Minister of Home Affairs had imposed on such demonstrations earlier in January. The other main measures in the Accord were a sustained dialogue between the PPP/Civic and the PNC “with a view to fostering greater harmony and confidence;” an audit or independent enquiry into the elections; and Constitutional reform….On July 4, 1998 an addendum to the Herdmanston Accord was signed in Castries, St. Lucia following talks between the CARICOM Heads and President Jagan in her capacity as the representative of the PPP/ Civic and Mr. Desmond Hoyte as the representative of the PNC. …. The statement also committed the parties to completing the process of Constitutional reform in accordance with the Accord timetable. … On August 6, 1998, three weeks after the PNC Parliamentarians took up their seats; the National Assembly approved a resolution establishing the Special Select Committee of the 7th Parliament to determine the terms of reference and composition of the Constitution Reform Commission….” According to the Accord, the Commission had a wide mandate and a broad based membership drawn from rep-
resentatives of political parties, the Labour Movement, religious organisations, the private sector, youth and other social partners. The Commission complied with the requirement for wide consultations, and hearing and giving effect to what the people want, by having scheduled public hearings across the length and breadth of Guyana, inviting the public to send in written submissions, extracting submissions written in the newspapers, hearing from overseas Guyanese through the internet, establishing special public hearings as a result of special request from persons and organisations, hearing from local and international experts etc. At the conclusion of, and being informed by, the consultations the Commission made several recommendations regarding the Judicature. It offered as a rationale for the recommendations made, inter alia, that “the Judiciary is the citizens’ chief protector against oppression or mistreatment by the State. It must therefore be, and be seen to be, as free as humanly possible from Executive pressure and influence…” The specific recommendations were made on two broad principles: 1. “the Judicial system should be independent and free from official in-
fluence and control” and 2. “The appointment and promotion of Judges should be removed as far as possible, from all party control.” Regarding the appointment of the Chancellor and Chief Justice, the Constitution Reform Commission was categorical in its recommendation: “the Chancellor and Chief Justice should be appointed through a consensual mechanism.” The consultations with the people of Guyana resulted in Article 127 (1) of the Constitution, which states unambiguously, “The Chancellor and the Chief Justice shall each be appointed by the President acting after obtaining the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition.” Haslyn Parris, CCH was the Secretary to the Commission. He opined that the People entertain expectations, hopes and desires that “the country’s leaders would work together [through a consensual mechanism] so that the People’s aspirations could be fulfilled.” This is a summary of how we came as a country to have a Constitutional provision that is different from what existed before and which mandates that before a Chancellor and Chief Justice can be appointed, the President must first have the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition. Priya Manickchand
Open letter to Exxon’s Country Manager DEAR EDITOR, This is an open letter to Exxon’s Country Manager DEAR SIR: We the people desire to be appraised as to the basis of your pronouncement that seven billion US dollars is the sum to be paid to Guyana for the e n t ire life of the ‘Oil
Project.’ Explanations are needed here to get further clarification to your seemingly curt statement. Points are: (1) What period is the Life of this Project? (2) Is LNG (liquefied natural gas) included in your seven Billion?
(3) How did you arrive at the figure of Seven Billion? (4) To whom shall be the payee? (5) Which entity has responsibility for the Environment? (6) What volume of LNG is to be extracted? (7) Export LNG price to
be paid host country per cubic foot? (8) When are payments to be paid to host country? (9) How often will Reports be m a d e t o t h e Nation? We w o u l d b e m o s t grateful for your full cooperation. John De Barros
We have the resources to make Guyana one of the... From page 5 citizens. Here we can produce food to feed ourselves, the Caribbean and export to other countries, and when oil comes, that money will be a plus, but our Government is neglecting the agriculture sector, and is sleeping and dreaming of oil money only, or maybe they are not “Fit and Proper Persons” (FPP) to look at the Past, Present and Future (PPF) because all the civilised countries in this world have persons to move Agriculture to a higher level of production and Agro processing for local consumption and export. If Agriculture is to be placed on the front burner, it will not only create
employment in the fields but many of our women will be employed in factories and our young persons in offices. Who knows what will be the price of oil come 2020; and after because the big countries are moving away from fossil fuel to other sources of energy, so why depend so much on oil? England has already announced from 2040, NO cars, SUV’s will be allowed to run on its roads using Gas or Diesel, which means they have already began the change to alternative energy. We are aware that almost everything changes, but for sure regardless of all the changes, food will always be in demand
and Guyana is blessed with fertile land and tropical climate all year, so why kill a bird that we have in our hand? I am aware the Ministry of Agriculture falls under the AFC and I have spoken to Minister Ramjattan when he was leader of the AFC and I have spoken to PM Nagamootoo about the very poor and disappointing performance of our Agriculture Minister and to date we have not seen any action to improve the sector in Region Six (Aunty Sheela must be turning in her grave to see how the AGRI sector is being neglected). Some ministries that have little or no use have senior and junior ministers only
wasting tax payers’ money. Why? For a country with a population of approximately 750,000 to have twenty-six Ministers work out to one Minister to about 28,846 persons young and old. This is too burdensome for a ‘donkey cart economy’. In concluding, I hope the persons governing our beautiful land grasp the opportunity and make Guyana one of the best countries in the world to live in because we have the resources. All we need is fit and proper persons to do the job and give us the good life we were promised before May 2015. Harri P. Beharry
Sunday January 07, 2018
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The area where Exxon has discovered oil is not in dispute DEAR EDITOR, I refer to your Editorial in the KN of Friday 5 January and would be grateful if you could permit me to react to some of the statements therein. This I do, given the role of the media in general, and your newspaper in particular, as the purveyor of accurate information and as a medium for educating our populace, both here and abroad. This after all, is a subject of national importance, not familiar to many, including, it would seem, your editorial writer. The editorial states that ‘…it is not fair for the nation to be under constant threats from Venezuela, especially since the recent discovery of oil in the disputed area’. Sir, there is no dispute over Guyana’s maritime space; indeed no dispute exists over the land territory, on which Venezuela has from time to time laid spurious, unfounded and illegal claims. What exists is a controversy arising from the Venezuelan contention that the 1899 Arbitral Award which provided a full and final settlement to the land border between Venezuela and British Guiana at the time, is
null and void. Hence from 1977, with the passage by Guyana of the Maritime Boundaries Act, it has delimited its offshore areas and established its sovereignty over the territorial sea; and sovereign rights over the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, without objection by its neighbour to the West – 40 years is a long time for the purposes of international law. Just over two years ago, on Guyana’s Independence Day, President Nicolas Maduro, through a unilateral act of extraterritorial legislation – the Maduro Decree – purported to annex a vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, thereby encroaching on the maritime spaces of a number of counties – e.g. Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, Grenada, Suriname and some of the French Overseas Territories. When this was pointed out to the Government of Venezuela, the Decree was withdrawn and another issued, removing some of the offensive parts, e.g. as regards the waters of Colombia, but still encroaching on the
Trafficking in people DEAR EDITOR, Reading about “people trafficking” takes me back to 1950 in my first B.G. civil service job; at around the age of 20. Every day on the way back from lunch just before 1:00 pm, a mature man on a bicycle, always wearing dark glasses, a cream suit and what was then known as a Panama hat, would join me to say ‘hello’. I never minded, as the environment with several lawyers’ offices was predominantly male, and I thought he was ‘one of the crowd’. Then one day just before my turning-off point, he offered to accompany me up the stairs, while I locked my handbag in a cupboard and have an ice cream soda with him at the nearby ‘Brown Betty’ soda fountain. I just had lunch, so I was not hungry and had no intention of complying. But how to ‘escape’, since every colleague
would be at lunch and few people would be around? By chance, the clerk I was sharing space with was about to leave for a late lunch. I told him about the man waiting outside and his request. He went to have a look - the man had disappeared. I never saw him again. I sometimes wonder even now whether he was a ‘trader in people’. I am a firm believer in ‘invisible guardians’ looking out for us. May we all be helped by ours in 2018. Geralda D.
maritime territory of others countries, i n cluding Guyana. This had been raised formally with the Venezuelan Government, given that a country’s claim to maritime territory is premised on its sovereignty over the adjacent land territory. However, there is no dispute over the area where Exxon continues to discover oil, as recent as yesterday. Extra-territorial legislation is notoriously a nonstarter in international relations. What remains ominous however is the provision in the Decree for the Venezuelan Navy to protect the maritime space annexed by the Decree. Suffice to say that if and when this issue is referred to the ICJ, or any other international tribunal for that matter, the question to be answered will be simple and straightforward, specific to the 1899 Arbitral Award. It will have nothing to do with Exxon, oil discoveries, the Stabroek block, the Maduro Decree or the waters off the Essequibo coast of Guyana. Yo u r e d i t o r i a l a l s o states that ‘…it is known that over the years the [Good Offices] process never produced any positive results’. I respectfully beg to differ as, in my estimation, that fact that the controversy never degenerated into armed confrontation over the years is a positive result. Apart from the occasional over-exuberance of Venezuelan military forces, and Venezuelan attempts to frustrate Guyana’s economic development, the Good Offices process kept a channel of communication open, specifically related to the controversy, and provided for the exploration of options,
and set the stage for various forms of cross border activities and functional cooperation not known to exist between bellicose nations. This, in my estimation amounts to positive results. In fact, the Good Offices process was never intended to solve the controversy and must be recognised as such. Further, the editorial states that ‘…the decision established by the 1899 Paris Tribunal was final. V e n e z u e l a disagreed…’.This is a major misrepresentation of the facts as they pertain to this matter, and which, as stated here, are to the disa d v a n t a g e o f G u y a n a ’s case. The record will show that after the award, for a period of about 60 years, the official statements and state practice of Venezuela all point in the direction of acceptance of the Award and compliance with its findings. This is of heavy evidential weight in support of Guyana’s contention of the finality of the award. It is only from the 1960’s as Guyana moved towards independence – oil was not a comparable factor then - that these claims and objections arose from Venezuela. The public should be made aware as well that in as much as Venezuela claims that the Award is null and void; it has never relinquished the territory which it was awarded by the Tribunal! Again, erroneously, it is stated that ‘…five months after Guyana obtained its independence from Britain, {Venezuela] seized half of the country’s Ankoko Island in the Cuyuni River.’ The truth of the matter is that the island of Ankoko
featured prominently as part of the settlement consequent to the 1899 award. Hence, as accurately stated in the KN of 25 October 2015, ‘the Mixed Venezuela-British Boundary Commissioners drew a line passing through the island and dividing it from north to south in roughly equal parts. The eastern part of about three square miles falling on the British Guiana (Guyana) side of the boundary and the western part falling on the Venezuelan side’. What in fact happened in October 1966 is that Venezuela overran the border and illegally annexed the eastern half of the Island. This portion of the island had been awarded to British Guiana decades before, with the acquiescence and agreement of its neighbour. Finally Editor, it is the opinion of the editorial writer that ‘…the Granger administration would like to see an end to the controversy this year’. My knowledge of the Granger
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administration leads me to the irresistible conclusion that it is neither possessed of powers of clairvoyance nor magic. Hence anyone remotely familiar with the intricacies of this controversy or with the workings of international tribunals would know that even if the matter were to be referred to such a tribunal this year, and the parties agree to be bound by its findings, it would be impossible to ‘see an end to the controversy this year’. But make no mistake: the law, the facts, the state practice and other evidence is in Guyana’s favour. What could be a possibility this year, and doubtless the aspiration of the Granger administration, is that the matter is referred to such a Tribunal, preferably the ICJ. Thereafter, Guyana would have entered a whole new vista as regards the conduct of its foreign policy and its relationship with its neighbour to the West. Neville J. Bissember Former Legal Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
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Kaieteur News
Regional Chairman calls for full investigation into bulldozer purchase
The bulldozer parked at the RDC compound in New Amsterdam A caterpillar bulldozer that was proposed to be purchased in the 2017 Budget proposal at the Regional Democratic Council Region Six has been the centre of attention after it arrived at the RDC compound in an apparent ‘deteriorated’ state. This was the observation by councillor, Zamal Hussain, during the statutory meeting on Thursday. Kaieteur News understands that $20 Million was proposed for the purchase of the equipment and was approved in 2017 Na-
tional Budget. However, the purchase of the bulldozer which appears to be used is said to be not what was documented. The piece of machinery arrived at the RDC compound on Wednesday and showed signs that it was used. There was dirt on it; it was not ‘brand new’ as expected. The Regional Administration had made the recommendation to purchase the machinery to assist rice farmers. Regional Chairman, David Armogan, stated that the equipment appears to be a D3
Caterpillar Bulldozer that had D4 painted over the D3 sign on the machine. He added that from the way it looks, close to $6 Million will have to be spent on it, judging by the extent of deterioration and condition. Meanwhile, the Regional Executive Officer, Kim Stephen - Williams has said that the machinery is not yet the property of the region and that the administration is currently awaiting registration to be handed over by the supplier.
Sunday January 07, 2018
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New oil find is no reason to rejoice but to weep - Chris Ram USA oil giant, ExxonMobil recently announced that it has discovered more than 230 feet of high quality oil-bearing reservoir at the Ranger-1 well in the Stabroek block. This represents the sixth discovery in Guyana since 2015. But Chartered Accountant and Attorney-at-law, Chris Ram believes that the latest oil find by ExxonMobil is not a reason to rejoice, but one to weep. Ram stated there is no reason to be exalting when Guyana is saddled with a lopsided contract which the government allowed to be imposed on the nation in 2016. Ram said this means that the share of the natural resources is necessarily circumscribed by the terms and conditions of that agreement which includes a number of illegalities. After reviewing the contract, the auditor opined that Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman displayed complete disregard for Guyana’s laws. Ram asserts that the Minister takes “legal gymnastics” to new levels. Ram said that the
Petroleum contract makes mention of a “Bridging Deed.” The purpose of this agreement is to replace the 1999 Agreement and the 1999 Petroleum Prospecting Licence. “Readers will recall that then President Janet Jagan signed the 1999 Agreement in violation of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Act (the Act) to the extent that the company (Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited) was granted approximately 600 blocks instead of the 60 blocks permitted by law.” The Chartered Accountant continued, “The 1999 Agreement and Prospecting Licence appears to have been contained in a single package and included a full description of the blocks and a map of the area allotted to the oil company. The 2016 Agreement merely states that on that date, Minister Trotman granted a Petroleum Prospecting Licence for an initial period of four years.” Ram added, “In other words, the whole idea of Mr. Trotman was to pretend that
the 1999 Agreement never existed. Trotman has to be given credit – This takes legal gymnastics to a completely new level. Trotman obviously decided to complete the concealment of the 2016 Agreement by failing to comply with Section 16 (2) of the Act.” Section 16(2) of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Act states: “The Minister, shall, as soon as may be practicable after a licence has been granted, cause notice of that fact to be published in the Gazette stating the name of the licensee and the situation of the land in respect of which the licence has been granted.” The Attorney-at-law told Kaieteur News that Trotman failed to observe this aspect of the law. That is a worrying precedence, he added. The auditor added, “Did Trotman decide that he could bypass the provisions of the legislation and do as he chooses? Clearly, he does not consider himself bound by any laws, and is free to violate them as he chooses.” Ram also stated that a prospecting licence can only be
Dem boys seh...
Keep dat man and shoot de daktah 2018 is still very new and people still mekking resolutions. Some people promising to stop womanizing like de Baccoo. Some promising to stop beating woman, like Jagdeo. Dat is not de only promise Jagdeo mek; he promise to tun over a new leaf and dem boys seh ee got a big leaf wid two feg; he should tun dem over. He is de first man who start giving away fake licences—remember de radios— and a lot of people following in ee footsteps. And Jagdeo is a daktah. But a licence medical daktah give a man a prescription. Dem boys never
see or hear anything like dat. De man guh to ee boss man yesterday morning and present de prescription. De boss had to call de Waterfalls boss man to find out how to deal wid something like dis. De prescription seh de man must tek one shot of likker every day and if he feel he is not OK he can tek one mo’ shot. De Waterfalls boss man tell de person to keep dat man employed and to shoot de daktah. Wheh laugh deh, cry deh. Exxon declare another big oil find. Some people laughing and some bigging up demself and pumping up dem chest. Some of dem happy so
much dat when dem laugh water running out dem eye. De wise people, including dem boys she, you better cry fuh truth because de bigger de find is de bigger de tears. Remember de e-mail wha Exxon boss man send to a Minister. It said, “Man this kind of exposure by de Waterfalls paper does happen after, not before.” Dem boys seh de only way Exxon can talk to an official like dat is if dem wrap up tight like camoodie where only death can part dem. Talk half and Soulja Bai should ask to see dat email. He gun know who done tek pay.
granted on the basis of an application made in accordance with the Act. He said that the application must contain a whole range of information as prescribed by the Act and Regulations, including proposals for local content in terms of employment and the procurement of goods and services. Ram identified another worrying part of the agreement. “ExxonMobil has the upper hand because it has an agreement which says that the laws of Guyana only play a secondary role because it must now be consistent with the rules of international law and customs and usages of the international petroleum industry. Now who set up those customs and usages? Obviously, it is the oil companies themselves.” He continued, “If one looks at Article 1.5 of the Agreement it says, ‘the provisions of the Act and regulations dealing with
Chartered Accountant, Chris Ram Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman rights and obligations of the contractor shall be read as part of but not nullify the provisions of this agreement and any licence issued to the contractor.’ In other words, even if the licence and the agreement are inconsistent with the law, the law and regulations cannot nullify the contract. But that is unlawful…” Ram added, “…So for me, the new oil find, when I hear
about it, I don’t exult; I weep because it is not being developed for us but for the international oil operators. I notice that Trotman was excited but I thought that is for Exxon and their shareholders and employees…” The Chartered Accountant said that ExxonMobil exploited the poor negotiating skills of the Guyana team and the inadequacies of Trotman. He said, too, that a number of environmental issues remain unaddressed yet there continues to be praises coming from the Government camp.
Woman fraudster jailed in absence A female Georgetown resident who decided to travel to Berbice and commit a series of frauds, using United States Currencies has been jailed in her absence. The woman, Diane Chase, 35, a housewife of Lot 38William Street Kitty, Georgetown, has been sentenced to a total of 12 months. The matter was tried before Magistrate Rhondell Weaver in the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s court. She was accused of uttering counterfeit US$100 bills while making her purchase. The case for the prosecution as presented by Corporal Rochell Mars was that on July 31, last at No. 30 Public Road, she bought a number of items including floral arrangements costing $3,000 from Alana Price. She then paid with a US$100 note knowing that the money was counterfeit. She then collected $17,000 in Guyana Currency as
change. Price subsequently realised that the money was counterfeit and made a report at the Fort Wellington Police Station. On August 21, last, at Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice, Chase, in company with two men ordered $3,000 worth in breakfast from Reana Nauth. She then paid with US$100 currency knowingly that the money was counterfeit. The woman then collected $17,000 Guyana currency. Nauth subsequently went
to change the money at a dealer and was told the money was counterfeit. The matter was reported and the police acting quickly was able to nab the woman who was still in the area. She was positively identified as the culprit on both occasions. In court, she was subsequently granted bail, but did not return for her trial. She was found guilty and sentenced to six months on each charge. The sentences will run consecutively.
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26 of 218 cases disposed of in October session of Demerara Assizes The High Court in Georgetown
Twenty six of 218 matters were disposed of in the last session of the Demerara Criminal Assizes. Of these 26 matters, 20 were heard at the High Court in Georgetown. The remaining six were nolle prosequi by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Justice James BovellDrakes, Justice Brassington Reynolds and Madam Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall were the presiding judges in that session. Out of the 20 cases heard by the High Court, two were for the offence of sexual activity with a child family member and three were for the offence of rape of a child under 16 years of age. Thirteen cases were for the offence of murder; one for the offence of murder and inflicting grievous bodily harm; and another for the offence of attempt to commit murder. There were five guilty verdicts by jury, one formal verdict of not guilty, eight guilty pleas, five not guilty verdicts by jury and one hung jury. Eight of these were prosecuted by State Counsel Nerrisa Leander, State Counsel Seeta Bishundial and State Counsel Abigail Gibbs before Madam Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall. Of these eight cases, two were for the offence of sexual
activity with a child family member, four for the offence of murder and two others for the offence of rape of a child under 16 years. In one of the two cases for the offence of sexual activity with a child family member, the accused, who was indicted on two counts, was sentenced to life imprisonment after the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty. In the other matter, the accused was indicted on three counts of the offence and was found guilty on all three counts by the jury. He was sentenced to a total of 65 years’ imprisonment. He will have to serve 50 years before becoming eligible for parole. In two of the four murder trials, the accused were acquitted after the respective jury returned unanimous verdicts of not guilty of murder and of the lesser offence of manslaughter. In the other two matters, both accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and were respectively sentenced to 45 and 40 years imprisonment. However, one of these two prisoners will serve 22 years imprisonment after the trial judge deducted a total of 18 years for the guilty plea and for time spent in custody pending trial. In the matter for the offence of rape of a child
under 16 years and sexual activity with a child family member, the accused who was indicted on two counts, was acquitted by the jury which retuned with a majority verdict of 11 to one not guilty for rape of a child under 16 years and 10 to two not guilty for sexual activity with a child family member. In the other matter for two counts of rape of a child under 16 years, the accused was sentenced to life imprisonment on each count with a possibility of parole after serving 35 years imprisonment. Another seven of these 20 cases were completed by Justice Bovell-Drakes and prosecuted by State Counsel Orinthia Schmidt and State Counsel Mandell Moore. Of these seven cases, one was for the offence of rape of a child under 16 years and the other six cases were for the offence of murder. The complainant in the rape matter testified that she did not wish to proceed with the matter and the trial judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty for the accused. In three of the six murder cases, the accused all pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and were respectively sentenced to 23 years’ imprisonment, 20 years’ imprisonment and 12 years’ imprisonment.
In another one of these six cases, the accused who was indicted for murder with an alternative count of inflicting grievous bodily harm was found guilty by the jury for the lesser offence of manslaughter. He further pleaded guilty to the alterative count and was sentenced to 21 years imprisonment. In another one of these cases, the accused was acquitted after the jury returned a not guilty verdict. While the accused in one other murder case was found unanimously guilty by the jury. He will be sentenced on January 15, when a probation report ordered by the trial judge will be presented in court. Justice Reynolds completed five matters which were prosecuted by State Counsel Shawnette Austin, State Counsel Lisa Cave and State Counsel Tiffiny Lyken.
Of these five matters, four were for the offence of murder and the other for the offence of attempt to commit murder and discharging a loaded firearm with intent. In three of these four murder cases, the accused all pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. In one of these three cases, the accused who was indicted on two counts of murder and was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment on each count. His sentences are to run concurrently. The other two accused were respectively sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment and 12 years’ imprisonment. In another matter, the accused was acquitted by the jury which returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty. The jury, in the matter for the offence of attempt to commit murder and
discharging a loaded firearm with intent failed to reach a verdict. The accused was remanded to prison and ordered to await a new trial. The six matters nolle prosequi by the DPP were for sexual offences; two for the offence of sexual activity with a child family member, three for the offence of rape of a child under six years and one for the offence of rape. In all of these matters, the complainants by way of written statements indicated that they did not wish to proceed with their matters. The January Criminal Assizes for Demerara will open on Tuesday. There are 229 cases listed to be heard during the session. Justice Navindra Singh, Justice James Bovell-Drakes and Madam Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall have been rostered to sit during this session. (Feona Morrison)
Orphanage saga over, new owners move in The saga over the ownership of the Berbice Anjuman Orphanage, situated at 30 Philadelphia Street, New Amsterdam, Berbice is finally over. The plaintiffs who were represented by Prominent Attorney at law Murseline Bacchus were finally being allowed to occupy the premises. This was after a lengthy court battle between family members. The legal battle began in July 2013. The matter ended recently with Justice Navendra Singh, in the Berbice High Court, ruling in the plaintiff’s favour and ordering the defendants to vacate the premises. The plaintiff, Abdool Jabor Rahim, sought and got judgment from the defendants, his brother, Abu Bakre Mandal, who was the occupant, and their father, Abdool Rahim. The elder Abdool Rahim subsequently joined Abdool
Jabor Rahim in seeking judgment for the property against Mandal but by then Mandal had evicted the elder Rahim from the property. The defendants and his servants had initially refused to move forcing Attorney at law Bacchus to file contempt of court proceeding in the High Court. The respondents had retained new legal counsel and attorney-at-law Tanya Warren Clements. After reappearing in court before Justice Navendra Singh, attorney Clements had asked for time to sort things out. Attorney Bacchus on behalf of his clients had agreed. The occupants through Clements subsequently handed over the keys to attorney Bacchus in the Judge’s Chamber and vacated the premises The contempt proceeding was withdrawn by the plaintiffs with the relevant permission of the court.
Murseline Bacchus Justice Singh awarded judgment to the plaintiff who holds a valid lease of the property. He ordered that the purported transfer of the lease on July 15, 2013 be recalled revoked and cancelled. The judge also granted a permanent injunction restraining Mandal, his servants and or agents from entering and or remaining on the property. He also ruled that if they neglect to obey the order, they will be liable to a process of execution for the purpose to compel them to obey same.
Sunday January 07, 2018
Kaieteur News
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Sunday January 07, 2018
Georgetown businesses now require M&CC sanitation certificate This year, the Mayor and City Council will be dropping the hammer on businesses around Georgetown. They are all now required to present a ‘sanitation certificate’.
Addressing this matter was Town Clerk, Royston King, at a recent Press Briefing which was held by the Council. King said, “It is necessary to confirm that our Public
Health, and our environmental health inspectors have visited and inspected their premises and that they are complying with public health standards and regulations, that they have adequate wash-
rooms, for example, and other sanitary facilities. They must also have adequate and proper ventilation and that their businesses are in good repair.” King said that this will be
done at the cost of a “small administrative fee”. Lumber yards, saw mills and all manufacturing places, including food and beverage businesses, must be inspected by the inspectors. They must also be registered with the Mayor and City Council. This new initiative is in keeping with the Municipal and District Councils Act, Section 301. “Under the Act, all businesses operating in the City must be properly registered with the City Government, which is the City Council. We are working with our legal team to ensure that we have all the necessary things in place to encourage compliance,” he said. Section 301 (G) of the Municipal a n d D i s t r i c t Councils Act stipulates, “The Council has the authority to regulate the mode and place in which any trade or manufacture may be carried out within the City or the Town and to prescribe the conditions under which machinery…” Further King stated, “Section 35 outlines the Council having the authority to prescribe fees and charges and to issue licences or permits which may be subject to conditions, in respect of the doing of anything which the Council is entitled to establish, maintain control or carry on and to remit any such fees or charges
Town Clerk, Royston Clerk and to vary or revoke any such licence or permit.” He continued, “At 36, it says to incur all expenditure necessary for the performance of its function, whether functions arising from this section or otherwise and for the doing of all things incidentally there to”. The Town Clerk said, too, that he has begun discussions with several key agencies, the formation of alliances, to ensure that rates are paid to the Council before registration or re-registration occurs, by those agencies to operate in Georgetown. Some of the agencies that have been written to by the Town Clerk include Guyana Water Inc (GWI), Guyana Power and Light (GPL), the Guyana Fire Service, Commercial Banks and even the Guyana Revenue Authority.
Sunday January 07, 2018
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Kaieteur News
Court orders Republic PSC wants Govt. to hire better Bank to produce negotiators for future oil contracts records in breach of contract lawsuit Justice Navindra Singh has granted an order for inspection of any declarations made by Republic Bank to Precision Woodworking Limited in relation to a matter over a loan approved back in 2011. The loan is at the centre of the legal dispute between Republic Bank and the Woodworking Company for an alleged breach of contract. The company is contending that Republic Bank had unlawfully appointed a receiver to seize its assets even after they had reached an agreement to settle the matter. The company had reportedly fallen back in honouring its commitment to repay the loan but later reached an agreement with the bank to settle the matter. It was this said agreement that Precision Woodworking is contending that the Bank breached. According to the action filed in 2012, Republic Bank, as part of the process of recovering the loan, had appointed a receiver to secure assets of Precision by
way of notice of a Court Order in June 2011. However, Precision Woodworking through its Directors, Rustum Bulkan and Ronald Bulkan, claimed that the receiver was unlawfully appointed. In the action, Attorney-atlaw, Nigel Hughes is representing Precision Woodworking while Attorneys-at-law, Robin Stoby, S.C and Tariq Khan are the Counsel for Kashir Khan (the receiver) and Republic Bank. The case was originally set to be heard five years ago before Justice Rishi Persaud but the trial never commenced due to several delays at the preliminary stage. There were in excess of 60 interlocutory appearances of the case before Justice Persaud but the matter never went to trial due to a number of reasons; among them, a failure by the second named defendant (Republic Bank) to file witness statements. The Judge thereafter recused himself and the matter was reassigned to Justice Singh last year.
The Private Sector Commission (PSC) of Guyana made a recent call for the Government of Guyana to hire better negotiators for future contracts. The Commission made this call after a detailed review of the Petroleum Agreement between ExxonMobil, Hess Corporation and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and the Government. The Commission said that while it believes that the disclosure of the Agreement bodes well for a transparent and accountable oil and gas industry, several concerns rise to the surface. As an initial commentary, it is the opinion of the PSC that much more could have been done to incorporate more local content provisions into the agreement. In addition, the Commission said it expected greater benefits would have accrued to local businesses as a result of the agreement. The Commission also made reference to the findings made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in relation to the agreement. The IMF had highlighted that there were no provisions in the contract regarding ring-
K/News staffer accuses cops of extortion…
Rural Constable dismissed, other ranks transferred - no charges laid because of death of complainant Consequent to an article published criticising the Guyana Police Force (GPF) for not charging five ranks for allegedly extorting money from now dead Kaieteur News Staffer, Harry Brijmohan, even after charges were recommended eight months ago by Justice Cecil Kennard, Chairman of the Complaints Authority; the police, in a statement, announced that a Rural Constable implicated in the matter was dismissed several months ago. According to the statement, “Additionally, no criminal charge was preferred against any of the police ranks on the basis that the complainant subsequently died but they were all removed from their substantive duties via transfer to another department of the Force. This is in keeping with the legal advice received.” Kaieteur News had previously reported that charges were recommend for the five ranks The incident happened on
August, 17, 2016 at Red Road, Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD). Brijmohan was stopped for riding without a helmet. While the ranks had all denied stopping or seeing him, video footage of the incident—clearly showing the 27-year-old being stopped and his motorcycle placed at the back of a police vehicle–was presented to investigators at the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). According to reports, the five policemen demanded that Brijmohan pay them $5000 despite him agreeing for them to write him a ticket. They reportedly threatened that if he refused to pay, he would be dumped in the lockups for three days without anyone knowing his whereabouts. Brijmohan died on November 18, 2016 in an accident at Houston, East Bank Demerara. However, a source at OPR had indicated that even though Brijmohan passed
Harry Brijmohan away, the ranks can still be charged and placed before the court. Giving details of the allegation before his passing, Brijmohan had indicated that the ranks searched him, demanded his documents, and then informed him that they had to charge him and place him before the court, despite his offence being one that required him being given (continued on page 14)
fencing. This principle ensures that ExxonMobil is unable to transfer expenses from one well to another. As a result of this, the Commission noted that Guyana will be left to bear the costs of unsuccessful exploration. A matter of great interest to the Commission is the fact that given the early stage of development, Guyana does not have the right to renegotiate the terms of the Agreement. The PSC noted that this
is specified in Article 32 of the Agreement’s Stability Clause. The Commission said, “We are concerned, since this Agreement encompasses the entire Stabroek Block, an area of 6.6 million acres of water with 3.2 billion barrels of equivalent oil so far. With the projected massive oil discoveries, we believe that there should be increased flexibility given to the Government of Guyana, to ensure a fair and equitable deal on both sides. At present, the cost of
energy is the primary limitation to the expansion of business and growth in Guyana. There is nothing in the Agreement to indicate that with Guyana owning such large oil reserves, this would translate into reduction of the costs of energy to Guyanese.” The Commission continued, “The business sector and general populace of Guyana deserve to benefit directly from the abundance of oil at its disposal and we (continued on page 14)
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Sunday January 07, 2018
Kaieteur News
Venezuela took 35,000 tonnes of Guyana rice last year By Malisa Playter Harry During last year, rice exports did well despite a major market to Venezuela was lost in 2015. A whopping 540,000 tonnes of rice was exported for 2017 from Guyana. The previous all time high was in the year 2015 with 535,000 tonnes. According to the Chief Executive Officer, (CEO) of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Nizam Hassan, exports to the Caribbean were extremely lucrative with Jamaica standing as a major market importing nearly 48,000
tonnes of rice from Guyana. Trinidad and Tobago took 28,000 tonnes while St Vincent and other islands managed to bring the total to 89,000 tonnes from Guyana last year. Hassan was in the Black Bush Polder, Corentyne area for a meeting with farmers and other stakeholders. He had accompanied Agri Minister, Noel Holder, to the area on an outreach. Europe imported 186,000 tonnes with Portugal, Italy and the United Kingdom leading with the imports. There was also an increase in exports recorded in South American and Latin American countries with
A rice field on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two
Mexico in the forefront. The exports were backed up by Cuba, Brazil and Nicaragua. Over 40,000 tonnes were exported to Panama in 2017. There were also exports to the United States. The private millers have also been doing well with the Venezuela market with over 35,000 tonnes exported to that country. The CEO revealed that there was an increase in production of rice last year and based on the data for sowing; 2018 is expected to
have a huge crop. He stated that Guyana has a diverse base of rice and rice products that auger well for the country. “We have seen increase in production and based on the data provided to me for sowing for this crop in 2018 we expect that it will be a very big crop if not the highest in terms of production and this is because of the responses from you and your colleague farmers have been putting towards the demands of the market.
“It is also because of all the services provided by all stakeholders (GRDB), the quality control efforts by GRDB as well as the private sector in terms of the Miller’s”. The GRDB, through Nand Persaud and Company Limited, who are the producers of Karibe rice brand, had offloaded 7,500 tonnes of rice to be exported to Cuba in the last quarter of 2017. It was recorded as the first rice shipment to Cuba in 40 years.
Gold miner, worker crushed by falling tree A gold miner and his employee were killed around 14:00 hrs last Friday after they were crushed by a falling tree at Amatuk Backdam, Potaro. Sources identified the victims as Kedar Ganesh, and his worker, Sydney Hernandez, also called “Dougla,” who is from the North West District. Photographs of the bodies indicated that Ganesh’s head was crushed while Hernandez’s lower body bore massive injuries. A police source said that reports indicate that recent heavy rainfall, and work that the miners were doing in close proximity may have caused the tree to fall. According to reports, Ganesh and Hernandez were in the process of ‘washing down,’ when the tree came crashing down. They were killed instantly. Ganesh’s friend, Sherlock Rodrigues, along with three ranks from the Mahdia Police Station, had the gruesome task of taking the bodies from the backdam to the river. The corpses were then transported by boat to Mahdia, where they were officially pronounced dead. (photo and information supplied by Mikhail Rodrigues, AKA Guyana Critic)
PSC wants Govt. to hire better... From page 13 look forward to seeing future Agreements for other blocks offshore include provisions with greater benefits to Guyana and its people.” The body added, “We also expect that for all other blocks offshore, the Agreements with operators/contractors will consist of provisions that will ensure Guyana receives more royalty, rents, training and development for Guyanese and better local benefits for all Guyanese through the enlisting of the services of world class negotiators who can competently negotiate with major oil companies.”
Kedar Ganesh
Rural Constable dismissed, other... From page 13 a ticket. He was told that he could have only made a phone call after 72 hours. “One of them tell me that I should have ride away, that his gun rusty because long he ain’t use it,” Brijmohan had recounted. The Kaieteur News staffer was only allowed to continue his journey home when the policemen demanded that he give them $5000. When Brijmohan’s experience with the lawmen made the news, the Office of Professional Responsibility launched an investigation. Before his untimely passing, Brijmohan had made contact with ranks investigating the case almost daily, but never got any positive response.
Sunday January 07, 2018
Kaieteur News
Even more awareness needed... From page 20 Leaders in Diabetes, the youth arm of the GDA, and Salome Dos Santos, Youth Leader of IDF. The delegation secured funding from the Guyana Office for Investment, the New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation and Ansa McAl, among others, to attend the significant IDF conference. According to Beaton, among the high points of the confab were deliberations on the importance of diabetes awareness. “Promoting education…diabetes education can help to save many lives,” Beaton emphasised. As such, her goal for this year is to work even closer with the Public Health Ministry through its Chronic Diseases Department with a view of bringing about more awareness to diabetes. This renewed effort is particularly important, Beaton noted, because of the increasing number of cases being recorded. Taking the lead in this regard comes naturally to Beaton, because she understands all too well the intricacies of diabetes, as she has been living with it for many years. In fact, her father and his father before him have all battled challenges associated with diabetes. As part of her mission to ensure that more people are knowledgeable about the disease, Beaton has been helping to spread the word through national outreaches spearheaded by the Association. She is poised to do even more not only for the Region she represents, but for Guyana especially, from her even bigger platform at the IDF. According to Beaton, she anticipates being able to bring to fruition strategic projects that can help improve the
response to diabetes. “You can be a walking sugar bag and not know it,” she said of persons who haven’t sought to know their blood sugar level. For this very reason, she said, “We have to do so much more to bring awareness to our people.” For those who are diabetic, she explained, it is especially important that they learn to manage themselves properly. But some people, especially those of the young generation, she noted, may see this as a great task. Beaton can relate to this because she too was relatively young when she was diagnosed with the disease and, at times, was not compliant. She has over time recognized that taking charge could be as simple as “getting to understand from your body weight how much you should be consuming per day and when should be your heaviest meal. Your size and proportion is very important...that can help you to deal effectively with diabetes and over time it will become normal for you.” While some people are worried that once they are diagnosed with diabetes there are foods that they would have to eliminate altogether, Beaton made it clear that “there is nothing that you can’t eat, but there are foods that you can’t eat in abundance.” In fact she pointed out even if people aren’t diabetic, they should refrain from eating any food in abundance, even fruits, as these could cause some harm. An important tactic, Beaton advised, is to “learn to count your carbohydrates and calories before consuming food.” But the work does not end by taking awareness to the diabetic patients. According
The Baccoo Speaks The holiday season is over; crime against the shopper is not an option because the shoppers are off the streets. But the criminals are still busy. The switch will be to homes again. A group will attack a home on the west side, but they will find the situation difficult because people are banding themselves to protect the community. This group will run into that opposition. One will be shot and another caught. ** The discovery of a missing girl will once more turn the spotlight on human trafficking. This trafficker will seek to supply some miners with young girls. However, this discovery will be disastrous for the traffickers
because it will expose something that was not seen before, the kind of support that the traffickers enjoy from the police in the area. ** There will be smiles for a household because a member is going to suddenly get rich, courtesy of the lottery. Look out for long lost friends and relatives.
to Beaton, “we also have to work on educating our physicians. Diabetes every day is changing, so we have to educate our physicians on how the various types of insulin work, so that they work better with patients.” Even as she emphasised the need for more of our doctors to be exposed to diabetes care and management, Beaton spoke of being ready to work closely with experts within the Public Health Ministry to conduct a research to better understand the diabetes situation in Guyana. In fact, she disclosed that “we have various things in Guyana that we can use with management. For example, the foods that we eat that are not high glycemic – those that will not bring a rush of blood sugar – and that patients can use to manage their diabetes better.” Without proper management, Beaton noted that diabetes complications could extend to just about every part of the body including the feet, eyes, nervous system, the lungs and even the pancreas. Given its far-reaching impact, she underscored that “we need to be more vocal on diabetes.” This is especially in light of her understanding that if the complications of diabetes are not urgently addressed; it could potentially cause any country to become bankrupt. “Some people develop heart conditions and worse yet, kidney problems…and taking dialysis to address kidney failure is very, very expensive, and we aren’t even talking about the cost of transplants for these conditions,” Beaton asserted. According to her, it must be recognized that combating diabetes requires a teamapproach including the patient’s willingness to make certain lifestyle changes, such as including exercise and proper diet, together with the support of the health workers. She is convinced that Guyana could be well poised to stand up against diabetes if more strategic collaborations are forged. “Added to the things we have been doing, we have to do even more and not become complacent,” stressed Beaton. Coming out of the IDF conference, moves will also be made to recruit even more persons to aid the process of educating the nation. This, according to Beaton, will see a two-day lay-educator training programme in February for board members of the GDA and community members, who will be exposed to a simplified version of diabetes material, so that they can help take awareness to the public on a wider scale.
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Kaieteur News
== THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN ==
A death in 2017 reminded me of my mother On June 10, 2015, a man by the name of Baytoram Ramharack published a letter on me in the Stabroek News. I quote the relevant section; “I am would not venture so far as to convene on Kissoon the label of self-hating Indian as some have done, but I am more inclined to believe that perhaps Kissoon lacks an understanding of a rich cultural tradition or that he may have rejected an important element of himself that defines his cultural background.” People like this man and Ravi Dev have peddled that kind of propaganda against me, all because I have criticized an Indian Government for mistreating other ethnic groups in my country (not their country, since both Dev and Ramharack have American citizenship) and because I have shown impatience with the Indian supporters of the PPP, a party that ruled my country in destructive ways.
Frederick Kissoon You do not have to study carefully what Ramharack wrote about me. His point is simple - I have had little Indian culture in me, or I did, but I rejected essential input into my cultural evolution as an East Indian. Ramharack is speaking about a man who married an Indian woman and has a child whose first name is a Hindu one. The laughable thing about Ramharack and Dev is
that they lived the greater part of their lives in a country where East Indians are not even one percent of the population, but I have lived all my life in a country where Indians are half of the population and equally share the contents of Guyana as any other racial group. I have refused to describe my cultural background to people like Ramharack and Dev, because I thought it was degrading of me to do so for two men whom I consider racially tribalist and racially ignorant. Why dignify their abysmal ignorance of how I grew up as an Indian person. This column here grew out of sadness I felt on hearing about the death of a great film star as 2017 was about to end. It is a death that reminds me so much of my mother and my Indian background that Ramharack and Dev are ignorant of. Shashi Kapoor was one of my favourite artists of all
times. He was my mother’s favourite Hindu actor. All my brothers and sisters grew up in a Hindu home. My father played tassa drum at Hindu weddings. My mother was an extreme Hindu devotee. She had a little temple in the home. She prayed to her Hindu gods every morning. My mom had her altar from the time she married at eighteen until she died at 70. It was impossible not to be influenced by my mom’s culture and religion. We went to see Hindi films every week. It was there I came to like Shashi more than the other great Hindi actors. Because of my mother’s religion, I became close to a Swami and actually spent an inordinate amount of time at his ashram on Craig Street, Campbellville, with Guyana first unofficial African pandit, Ronald Gordon. Gordon and the father of prominent political activist, Gerhard Ramsaroop and I, never
missed a Diwali fair at Gandhi Youth Organization ground on Woolford Avenue. In my first year as a UG student, I went to Gandhi Youth Organization to participate in chowtal singing in preparation for the coming of Phagwah. I was taken there by a fellow UG student who is the brother-in-law of insurance magnate and cousin of Khemraj Ramjattan, Bish Panday. Chowtal singing is pure fun. Gordon later moved on to Islam and became the right hand person to Muslim priest, Alim Shah, father of wellknown Indian rights activist, Ryhaan Shah. Mr. Shah remains to this day the official moulvi of the mosque on Winter Place, opposite the head office of the NIS, a mosque whose construction my in-laws contributed financially to. I doubt whether there is any Indian pandit in Guyana that knows the ancient Hindu
texts as this African Guyanese. He went from Hindu pandit to Muslim priest and then back to civilian life. Quite a journey! If anything brought back memories of my mother and her religion and my sojourn into Hindu films, songs and culture, it was on reading of the death of Shashi Kapoor. I grew older and moved away from all types of religions and cultures. I don’t know what I am today, but Dev and Ramharack and others of their ilk know more about me than I know of myself. They describe me as a self-hating Indian. I do not hate any race group or person. But I do hate bigoted racists. Everyone should.
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Sunday January 07, 2018
Kaieteur News
A national problem requires a national solution, not self-serving ones Earlier this week, GAWU, the union that is owned and controlled by the opposition People’s Progressive Party, appeared to welcome announcements by Demerara Distillers Ltd that it has an interest in any of the sugar estates where molasses is produced, because it obviously has a deep and abiding interest in ensuring that adequate supplies of the commodity are available for its rum production. To some in both the industry and government, this must be good news to the ears but from leaders in GAWU, we often wonder why suggestions of this nature were not put in the public domain before. Too many in society, including GAWU executives and members, put most of the pressure about GuySuCo and the sugar sector on the government, despite the businesses and communities,
for example, who directly benefit or depend on the services that GuySuCo provides. For years there had been demands for the government to keep pumping billions of dollars into the sector at the expense of teachers, soldiers, nurses, the police, and other deserving citizens within the various areas of national life. The coalition government must consider itself quite lucky that unions representing civil servants and others have not stepped up their agitation for a better deal. That these union leaders and members continue to be patient as they sit and watch the finance ministry pump more than $40 billion dollars into a problem-plagued, money-losing, debt-ridden sector for the past three years. They still see the sugar industry wanting to be financially spoon fed as the previous government heedlessly did for their own benefit did. Despite it being clear as day that pumping billions into GuySuCo is like throwing money into a black hole, GAWU, the PPP and its allies
continue to demand that the heavy subsidies continue at the expense of other sectors. They refuse to work with the sugar industry to acquaint themselves with the beneficial programs and opportunities being offered for ex-sugar workers so that they are better able to inform their membership. Again for their own gain, they have chosen to sit on the sidelines and criticise. They spew propaganda to their membership that this government is uncaring yet they offer no ideas to help the situation. Unlike the PPP, this coalition government does not wish to make false promises like Mr. Jagdeo, who told ex-workers in Berbice that he would pay them an additional salary outside of their severance pay if voted back into office. How careless and disrespectful - giving out free money to sugar workers for votes while completely ignoring other sectors that work overtime to hold up an economy that the ailing sugar industry is helping to destroy. It therefore makes perfect sense that companies like
DDL and others with umbilical cords attached to sugar, would want to throw their hats in the ring and offer solutions to what is clearly a national problem, requiring a national solution. Not selfserving ones. This coalition government is actually working not only to rehabilitate the entire sugar industry, but to also empower workers who have been laid off from various levels of the company. The amount of ongoing professional training programs, workshops and business seminars to encourage self-employment and entrepreneurship will speak for itself. As plans for the workers intensify, more progress will be seen soon, especially as the government plans heightened publicity on these programs, so that the nation, and especially those affected by the revamping, can see that government’s intensions are genuine and indeed geared toward benefiting those who require it most. The coalition government is not offering free money. We are not buying votes. We are trying to build a strong nation by empowering our
people.Some stakeholders would want to continue bleeding this nation rather than working with the new administration in this bold, yet necessary step to save the industry and most importantly the workers. If the industry was not subsidized for all those years, the industry would have already collapsed and massive job loss would be the case. This coalition government cannot continue this economically unsound and cowardly act. Maybe it was best said by former PPPmember and minister, Robert Persaud in his Facebook post when he described the true colours of the PPP and by extension GAWU. He stated, “Fact to ponder #2018Guyana #IAmHopeful - Maybe the New Year’s festivities caused many not to notice a ‘masterful’ textbook political stroke (albeit a sad and disastrous one for thousands of sugar workers), the country’s old, grand political entity was guilefully outmaneuvered and basically defanged with the inadvertent help of a sugar union that has lost its way many moons ago.The
colonialists nor the Burnham regime was not able to pull off such a political ‘feat’ of basically disabling a political group without recourse to violent and unconstitutional acts. But what took place across the sugar belt on the eve of 2018 will reverberate beyond 2020 and change the complexion of Guyana’s politics forever. The term ‘defang’ must now enter the national political lexicon of our country. Will it be a harbinger for genuine national unity and a changed political attitude? Only time will tell and how the affected sugar workers and their families allow themselves to be (mis)led through the tough and stricken times. Possible is that in addition to the logical economic restructuring of the estate-based economies, this tribulation can herald a much needed socio-cultural renaissance in the sugar belt and a form of existential economic and political liberation. #IAmHopeful # 2 0 1 8 P r o m i s e #ParadoxicalHappenings”
Sunday January 07, 2018
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Kaieteur News
My column
The uphill fight against corruption Dishonesty is a part of human character. People will do those things that are wrong, because they believe that they will not be caught. Such is the case with smuggling. This past week the authorities nabbed a senior police officer with a large quantity of whisky. Surely this could not have been the first time that the officer was involved in such a thing. However, this time a junior rank was not fazed when he spotted a case of whisky in the minibus. A search revealed another 30 cases. We learnt that the officer said that the whisky was the property of the Guyana Police Force. There was a time when a junior rank would accede to the senior rank but this time, perhaps with a new dispensation, the junior rank opted to question what he heard. He found that his senior had lied, so he made an arrest. One of the things people in power often do is to blame a junior or to get a fall guy. This fall guy, for a few promised dollars, would take blame. In this case the penalty for smuggling whisky
is not jail. At best it would be a huge fine which the fall guy may not be required to pay, because the other person will get the money.
Adam Harris In cases like this, there is often a buyer who is no mean person when it comes to having cash. Although he may have lost out on this shipment, he knows that there will be more in the future. That is how the senior police officer was able to offer this excuse. He tells the authorities that he had begged for a lift and was unwittingly caught in this
situation. True to form, the minibus driver claims the smuggled whisky. But there is something that the investigators know. They know of the early statements given by the senior officer at the time of the arrest. This is not the only case of someone asking a junior to take the blame. The law enforcers from the Guyana Revenue Authority managed to bust a large truck with smuggled chicken. It was a huge bust and explains why the local producers contend that they are operating on an uneven playing field. In Guyana we talk about creating employment; we ask for local investors to help create jobs. But there are the smugglers who always put paid to the efforts of the local investors. As was the case of the senior police officer with the whisky, the vehicle owner removes himself from the scene. He claims that he loaned his truck to someone. We have heard nothing from the truck driver, except that the tons of smuggled chicken were found in his truck.
This situation opens up an interesting situation. If I have cocaine in my car and I ask someone to take it to a source, then when he is caught I can easily say that I am not responsible, that I loaned my vehicle to someone. But there is another situation that depends on the kind of insurance that I have. Secondly, whatever the case, as owner of the vehicle I am liable. Further, the police have the right to seize the vehicle so that I lose my cocaine and my vehicle. But I suppose some people do not mind that, because they are going to stay out of jail. The vehicle will one day go on sale and the owner with his money will get someone to bid for it. He will get it cheaper than if he had to buy another. But while that thought process is underway, there are other things happening. The people with the money and the head of the smuggling operation are approaching those in law enforcement who are always reaching out for money. For the smuggler the inducement
is peanuts. If things go well, then the investigating ranks will prepare a weak case and the case is thrown out. But these days there are people who monitor the preparation of the case. They see the weaknesses and they order the corrections. What is known is that there is a lot of money outside the system. People have been salting away money because they want to avoid paying the taxes. The anti-money laundering legislation now means that the money cannot readily get into the banking system. But money is money and it has to be spent. The next best thing to do is to launder it. That is why there is so much smuggling. The idea that people in the administration are being approached is known, but the general public does not know that action is taken as soon as the corrupt official is spotted. The Guyana Revenue Authority has sacked more than 100 people this past year. That translates into one every three days. In some societies the
courts would have been busy. In Guyana, we simply rid ourselves of the corrupt ones, leaving him/her to seek employment in another area. Of interest is that the authorities are aware of where the contraband enters the country. Because of scarce resources they cannot plug every loophole, but they do try. That explains the large cocaine bust recently and the arrest of some foreign nationals. Meanwhile, the disciplined services are going to get a huge stock of chicken and some other law enforcement agency is going to get a lot of whisky. Who gets the cocaine? That should be put in a place until it is time to dispose of it. But in our society, the cocaine also disappears from custody. If it disappears, the prosecution is stymied. We are in a Catch-22 situation.
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Sunday January 07, 2018
Kaieteur News
Continental security cooperation in South America (Address of H.E. David Granger at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Brasilia, Dec. 21, 2017) Brazil, seventeen years ago, celebrated the quincentenary of the arrival of Pedro Álvares Cabral who claimed the country for Portugal on April 22nd 1500. The celebration of the 500th anniversary of Cabral’s arrival in Brazil signified, also, the confirmation of Brazil as a continental and hemispheric power. The Federative Republic of Brazil is correctly called the ‘colosso do sul’ – the colossus of the South. It is the fifth largest country in the world and the biggest on the continent of South America, occupying almost half of the 17, 840,000 km2 of the continental land mass. Brazil is the most populous country on the continent and shares borders with all of the countries of South America except Chile and Ecuador. It is a regional and global economic power with active armed forces numbering in excess of 300,000 troops. SOUTHAMERICA - ZONE OF PEACE Brazil has used its diplomatic influence, economic strength, and military power as a moderating force on the Continent, ever since the turn of the century. It has been committed to reducing threats to peace in
st
- Changes and challenges in the 21 Century the western hemisphere and to strengthening organizations which enhance cooperation and improve stability on the Continent. These include the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, the Common Market of the South and the Union of South American States. The promotion of South America as a Zone of Peace is an integral element of Brazilian foreign policy. Brazil has been supportive of declarations which affirm the right of the continent to be a zone of peace: The Brasilia Communique of 1st September 2000, committed the leaders of the continent to the establishment of a “South-American Peace Zone.” The Guayaquil Consensus of 27th July 2002, issued two years later at the Second Meeting of the Presidents of South America, declared the continent as a Zone of Peace and Cooperation and proposed that: … the use of or the threat of the use of force between states shall be banned, in keeping with the principles and provisions of the United Nations Charter and of the Charter of the Organization of American States. Brazil was in the forefront in establishing a continent-
wide mechanism of Defence cooperation – the South American Defence Council (SADC). Brazil’s advocacy and its soft power were pivotal to the acceptance, by the other states of the Continent, of the establishment of the ‘Council.’ Brazil has a proud record of military cooperation within and outside of the Continent. Brazil has participated in more than 50 peacekeeping missions since 1947 including those in Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of Congo, East Timor, Haiti, Lebanon, Liberia, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Sudan and the Western Sahara. It was part of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti since 2004, boosting the size of its contingent in that mission to more than 2,000 following the earthquake of 2010. Defence cooperation, for Brazil, is a sine qua non for ensuring the South American Peace Zone. The inter-state incident of 1st March 2008 between Colombia and Ecuador triggered a response from Brazil. Defence cooperation, however, was not confined to the continent and to these peace-keeping missions. Defence cooperation between Guyana and Brazil
has involved the tactical, technical and staff training of defence personnel in Brazilian military schools. Guyana’s President was trained, 48 years ago, at the Jungle Warfare Instruction Centre in Manaus. The Brazilian Army, at the moment, has a small team of instructors at the Officer Cadet School and the Jungle Warfare School of the Guyana Defence Force. SOUTHAMERICAN DEFENCE COUNCIL Brazil’s Minister of Defence – Nelson Azevedo Jobim – canvassing idea of the South American Defence Council (Conselho SulAmericano de Defesa), defined four clear objectives. These were: to develop a defence policy; resolve international disputes on this continent without resort to extra-continental mediators; act collectively on peacekeeping missions; and combat organised crime. Jobim had advised that the Conselho would aim at dealing with what he called ”lowintensity conflicts that may spread out of control.” The South American Defence Council was aimed at consolidating the South American Peace Zone, promoting a regional Defence identity and strengthening regional defence
cooperation. It was not intended to be a military alliance but a mechanism of collective security aimed at promoting a community of cooperation among South American Defence forces. Brazil, in pursuing the establishment of the South American Defence Council did not ignore the concerns of the continent’s small states. Guyana and Suriname, the two independent small states of South America, were assured that their special security concerns would be met in a continental security system. Jobim paid a brief visit in April 2008 as part of a series of meetings with Guyana’s Bharrat Jagdeo in Georgetown, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez in Caracas and Suriname’s Ronald Venetiaan. These visits and this initiative which took place in the wake of the ColombiaEcuador confrontation fostered a feeling of confidence that a mechanism such as the ‘Council’ could create a comprehensive platform, including small and large states, to prevent political controversies from degenerating into military conflict. DEFENCE COOPERATION The South American Defence Council is an idea whose time has come. The
Council has not yet graduated towards providing collective security. The Council, as a Defence community, however, can use diplomatic suasion and peace-keeping initiatives as means of deterring interstate conflict, including conflicts between states of asymmetrical capabilities. The security of South American states, particularly small states with limited military capability, is best guaranteed through a multilateral system which, as a form of functional cooperation, can: - strengthen peacepromotion norms by encouraging greater respect for principles which promote peace and deter aggression, such as the peaceful settlement of disputes, the prohibition on the use of force or the threat of the use of force and respect for international treaties and agreements; - strengthen the Defence capabilities of small states by providing training, sharing experiences and joint participation in peacekeeping exercises; and restore stability to countries affected by natural disasters and humanitarian crises; - strengthen regional integration through the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA) which aims at physically linking the countries of South America through networks of bridges, communication, energy, ports, roads and waterways. A bridge linking Guyana with Brazil has already been built across the Takutu River; and - strengthen institutions and agencies for the sharing and exchange of information which would allow for the neutralizing of transnational syndicates operating across national borders. The services of agencies such as SIVAM and SIVAP could be expanded to more countries. Defence cooperation, through the South American Defence Council, can help secure a South-American Peace Zone. It can deter aggression, promote respect for international law, improve the Defence capabilities of smaller states, strengthen regional integration and confront non-state threats. Small states are very vulnerable to transnational terrorism. One such threat took place forty-one years ago. On a sunny Wednesday 6th October, 1976 eleven Guyanese were among the 73 passengers who were blasted (continued on page 28)
Sunday January 07, 2018
Kaieteur News
Getting Pregnant:
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A nightmare for some couples By Dr. Zulfikar Bux Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine If you and your partner are having a difficult time getting pregnant, you’re not alone. Infertility is the inability to conceive a child. It is a condition that is often misunderstood and inappropriately stigmatized in society, and it burdens couples worldwide. A World Health Organization (WHO) study, published at the end of 2012, has shown that the overall burden of infertility in women from 190 countries has remained similar in estimated levels and trends from 1990 to 2010. The WHO also found that one in four couples is affected by infertility in developing countries. Today I will try to answer some questions that couples are sometimes scared to talk about with their doctor. WHYARE WE HAVING TROUBLE GETTING PREGNANT? Getting pregnant depends on both the woman and the man. A couple might not be able to get pregnant because of an issue with the man’s body, the woman’s body, or both. When a couple has trouble getting pregnant, doctors often do tests in both partners to try to figure out the cause. But even with tests, doctors sometimes cannot figure out why a couple can’t
get pregnant. WHEN SHOULD WE SEE A DOCTOR? Most doctors recommend that a couple begin having tests if they cannot get pregnant after having unprotected sex for one year. But if you are worried, talk with your doctor. He or she might recommend that you have tests done sooner. Tests are done sooner in women over 35. Tests are also done sooner in women who don’t have a period every month. WHAT TESTS ARE DONE FOR MEN? If you are a man, your doctor will ask you questions about your health and sex history, and do an exam. He or she will often order a test to check how many sperm you make and how healthy your sperm are. Other tests that a man might have include: * Blood tests – Some blood tests check male hormone levels. Abnormal hormone levels can make it hard to get your partner pregnant. * Ultrasound – This imaging test creates pictures of the inside of the body and can check if a sex organ is abnormal. For example, some men have a block in a structure called the “vas deferens,” which is the tube that sperm needs to travel through. * Urine tests – Urine tests can check if sperm are moving in the wrong
direction and going back into the bladder during sex instead of out the penis. * Biopsy – A biopsy might be done if a sperm test shows that a man has zero or a very small amount of sperm. During a biopsy, a doctor collects a small tissue sample from inside the testicle. Then the doctor can look at the sample under a microscope to check if sperm are present. WHAT TESTS ARE DONE FOR WOMEN? If you are a woman, your doctor will ask you questions about your health, monthly periods, and sex history. He or she will also do an exam. Women might then have 1 or more of the following tests: * Blood tests – Blood tests can check female hormone levels. Abnormal hormone levels can make it hard to get pregnant. * Ovulation tests – Different tests can be used to check if a woman is ovulating. Ovulation is when an egg is released from the ovary into the fallopian tube. It needs to occur for a woman to get pregnant. * Tests to check the uterus and fallopian tubes – These tests may range from
x-rays and ultrasounds to a minor surgery where a doctor looks into your belly with a small camera. Problems with the fallopian tubes and uterus can make it hard to get pregnant. For example, some women are born with an abnormally-shaped uterus; or women might have blocked fallopian tubes from past infections or surgery. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE TESTS ARE DONE? Test results might show that one or both partners have a problem that can be treated. In that case, treatment will
likely be aimed at fixing that problem. Some people might have a problem that can’t be treated. Or the tests might not show what the problem is. In these cases, there are other treatments that doctors can do to help couples get pregnant. Talk with your doctor about different treatment options so that you can choose which treatment is right for you. WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO? Trying to get pregnant can be tough on couples. People can feel sad, worried, angry, or guilty. It is important
Dr. Zulfikar Bux to get help for these feelings. You might find it helpful to learn ways to relax, or to go to a support group for people who are trying to get pregnant. Do not blame each other or show resentment to your partner. Sometimes when life does not work out as planned, we should try to remember that there is a greater force at work.
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Sunday January 07, 2018
Kaieteur News
Continental security cooperation in South... From page 26 out of the sky off the west coast of Barbados. The small states of the Caribbean became the target for the deadliest terrorist attack in the Western hemisphere up to that time. The Cubana de Aviación flight CU 455 in which they were travelling had originated in Guyana. It went to Trinidad and then to Barbados with the intention of heading to Jamaica before terminating in Cuba. It was no coincidence that the Prime Ministers of the same four Anglop h o n e Caribbean states – Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago – had made the courageous, and at that time outrageous, decision to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba in December 1972. Their diplomatic démarche might not have been unrelated to their being selected as targets for a terrorist attack. The terrorist attack on Cubana de Aviación flight CU 455 took place twenty-five years before 9/11. It was an assault on the Caribbean as a zone of peace The nature of the security threats confronting South America has changed since the start of the 21st century. Interstate threats to peace on the Continent, however, still include a number of unresolved and longstanding border and territorial controversies, such as the dispute between: - Ecuador and Peru, over the Condor Mountain Range; - Bolivia and Chile, over
access to the sea; - Guyana and Venezuela, over the latter’s claim to Guyana’s territory; and - Guyana and Suriname for the same reason. New security threats have emerged. Transnational crime, climate change, natural disasters – including earthquakes, hurricanes and landslides – and humanitarian crises now present security risks to the continent. South America must be preserved as a Zone of Peace. The South American Defence Council, by promoting Defence cooperation, can reduce threats, build trust and graduate towards the eventual goal of continental collective security. Defence cooperation can lead to responses to these threats which are often costlier in human and material terms than armed conflicts. The Continent’s armed forces are already involved at the national level in responding to such threats. Defence cooperation in summary, can lay the foundation for the creation of continent-wide collective security mechanism that would deter internal interstate conflict. Brazil played a visionary role in conceiving the South American Defence Council. It must now play a role in consummating the ‘Council’ by making it fully operational. The Continent looks f o r w a r d , w i t h B r a z i l ’s partnership, to the invigoration of the South American Defence Council as a vehicle for peace and security in South America.
Sunday January 07, 2018
FOUR NEW SENIOR COUNSEL IDENTIFIED Having considered their quality of service to the legal profession, and knowledge of the law, President David Granger, has identified four long-serving legal practitioners for the status of Senior Counsel with effect from January 1, 2018. The appointees are Attorneys Kalam Azad Juman Yassin, Fitz Le Roy Peters, Andrew Mark Fitzgerald Pollard and Josephine Whitehead. This is the second batch of attorney to be conferred with the prestigious honour. In January 2016, after a 20-year hiatus, President Granger elevated nine legal luminaries to the status of Senior Counsel and has since pledged to ensure that these honours are conferred annually. The last set of Senior Counsel, prior to 2016, were appointed in 1996. The 2016 appointees included Senior Counsel, Neil Boston, Charles Fung-A-Fat, Justice Alison Roxane McLean GeorgeWiltshire, Clifton Mortimer Llewellyn John, Rafiq Turhan Khan, Vidyanand Persaud, Rosalie Althea Robertson, and Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams For President Granger, these appointments are an important part of his personal obligation as President of Guyana. Senior Counsel is recognition by Government of the highest esteem held for certain members of the legal profession. According to the Ministry of the Presidency, the Senior Counsel recognition is for persons “learned in the law in Guyana, on account of their exemplary experience, erudition, excellence and diligence in the practice of the law.” GUYANADESERVES HIGHER SHARE OF OIL PROFIT – IMF RECOMMENDS REVISION OF PSA FRAMEWORK The Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) that Guyana has with ExxonMobil is fraught with opportunities for abuse. In fact, these very loopholes could result in a significant dent in the revenue Guyana is supposed to get from the oil find by the operator. This was noted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a report that it prepared on Guyana’s looming oil sector. Given its findings, the IMF recommended that Guyana hastens move to revise the current framework of its PSA. Specifically, the IMF said, “Introduce a revised production sharing mechanism for new PSAs that provide the government with a higher share of profit oil as the profitability of projects increase.” In the agreement with ExxonMobil, Guyana gets 50 percent of the profit oil. Going forward, the IMF said, too, that the government should apply tighter ring fencing arrangements at the field level, including for the allocation of cost oil. The IMF highlighted in no uncertain terms that this was missing from Guyana’s contract with ExxonMobil. The ring fencing provision ensures that an oil operator cannot transfer the expenses incurred at one well to another. The IMF said that in principle, the ringfencing arrangement ensures that the government’s revenue from the Stabroek Block is calculated based on each field or well separately. The Fund stated, “However, this is undone by the Production Sharing Agreement framework, allowing the contractor to allocate cost oil to any field within the contract area.” But the Government believes that there is no need for alarm or worry as several international bodies, the IMF included, are lending tremendous support to help Guyana remove every possible chance for exploitation by the operator.
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Kaieteur News
Andrew Pollard
Fitz Le Roy Peters
Josephine Whitehead
Kalam Azad Juman Yassin
This was noted recently by Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman. Trotman said that on November 30, he and the Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, sat with IMF representatives and those issues were ironed out. Trotman said, “We went through them with the Guyana Revenue Authority and others. The answer is that we are working. IMF, World Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Inter-American Development Bank are giving us tremendous support. And we are building capacity on a daily basis and hiring capacity and ensuring that we cover all that we are supposed to…” The Minister said that with the help of those international agencies, Guyana will be in a position to tighten all loopholes. He added, “We invited the IMF to tell us what we are lacking in this regard, so Guyana is not alone in this.” $40.7M allocated for special swing doors at GPHC Several special purpose swing doors are to be purchased and installed for operating theatres at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) at a cost of $40.7 million. The procurement process started months ago and ended with Cabinet awarding the contract to K.P Thomas & Sons Contracting Inc. last week for the doors to the hospital’s six operating theatres. Health officials have since defended the cost, telling Kaieteur News that the doors are ‘special-grade’ that meets international health standards to aid the continued infection prevention and control efforts at GPHC. When contacted, Chief Executive Officer of GPHC, Brig. (ret’d) George Lewis said that the acquisition of the doors is part of continued efforts to improve facilities in the health sector. ”These operating theatre doors are absolutely necessary because the current doors are not performing the functions that they are supposed to perform which increases the chances of patentees being infected during surgeries,” Lewis stated. He added that the doors are unavailable locally and as such they have to be procured,
imported and installed. ”This contract deals with not only with the procurement, but the installation of the doors,” Lewis noted. Kaieteur News understands that the contracting company will supply a total of 17
are in place to ensure Guyana is not robbed through such claims. At a recent press conference, Trotman said that the authenticity of cost recovery claims was one of the main discussions he and others had with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and its experts. Trotman acknowledged that indeed, several countries around the world; Kenya, Ghana, the USA and Great Britain, have had struggles with ensuring cost recovery is precise and transparent. The Natural Resources Minister said, “We have turned to some of the best financial experts in the world and they have come, they have done their assessments and they will be guiding us. It is a work in progress and we are doing better by the day.” When Kaieteur News still insisted on him outlining a few provisions in this regard, he said that the Guyana Revenue Authority was able to garner $900M in taxes due to its attentiveness in this regard. Guyana’s limited resources will certainly put it at a disadvantage when it comes to verifying the accuracy and reasonableness of cost recovery claims which will be made by ExxonMobil, according to Chartered Accountant and former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran. The anticorruption advocate insists that the Coalition Government should consider renegotiating the contract it has with ExxonMobil to allow for a revenue-sharing model to be in place, similar to that which currently exists in Indonesia. More than 20 countries give 3 to 5-year tax holiday … Guyana gives ExxonMobil unlimited Oil companies always have a long list of demands; one of them being tax holidays. In the case of Guyana, the Government has granted ExxonMobil a premium tax exemp-
doors, 15 of which are to be installed and two will be retained as spares. Specifications of the doors to be supplied have been obtained by Kaieteur News. The doors are to be ultra-hygienic glass reinforced polyester and wrap resistant to withstand heavy use without denting or bending. MONDAY With oil production just 2 yrs away…Govt. still fumbling to put measures in place to authenticate cost recovery claims Oil production is expected to get into to full swing by March 2020. That is less than two years away. But even at this point, the Government is yet to point out what ‘specific’ measures are in place to ensure that it can authenticate cost recovery claims by USA oil giant, ExxonMobil. Kaieteur News had asked President David Granger to provide some details in this regard and he was unable to. The said question was also put to the nation’s point man on oil and gas, Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman. He, too, is yet to list just two things that
tion package. According to Article 15 of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with ExxonMobil, “no tax, VAT, excise tax, duty, fee, charge or impost should be levied at the date or from time to time thereafter on the Contractor or affiliated companies in respect of income derived from Petroleum Operations or in respect of any property held or transactions undertaken or activities performed, for any purpose authorised or contemplated…” This tax holiday will last for the life of the contract. However, while Guyana gave this premium package to ExxonMobil, there are more than 20 other nations which provide only a three to five-year tax holiday to oil companies. This allows the operators a specific time period in which to recoup some of their investments. Some of these nations include: Myanmar, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, Syria, Thailand, United States, Vietnam, Ireland, Congo, Cameroon, Angola, Australia, Ireland, Gabon, Egypt, Morocco, New Zealand, India, (Continued on page 38)
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From page 37 Albania, China, Colombia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Philippines. This information is also noted in the text, Petroleum fiscal Systems and Production Sharing Contracts by Daniel Johnson. Speaking with Kaieteur News recently, Chartered Accountant, Chris Ram noted that it is not illegal that Guyana provided such a package to the company. Ram noted however that it is important for the Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, to explain why this arrangement was given to ExxonMobil. GGMC rents building from its Director The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) is paying millions of dollars for the rental of a building from one of the Directors of its own Board. Hilbert Shields is the owner of the threestorey building located at Fourth Street, Subryanville,which the Commission is utilising. Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, has admitted to being aware of the incestuous rental arrangement. However, Trotman said that Shields was not a member of a sub-committee of the Board that decided to rent the building. Trotman also said that when the matter was brought to his attention, he instructed GGMC that for the sake of good practice, to discontinue use of the building. Despite such an instruction, GGMC continues to rent the facility and is yet to even locate an alternative. GGMC’s Chairman, Newell Dennison, was contacted on the matter. After he was pointed to the topic of concern, Dennison questioned, “So where are you going with this, what is the problem?” Told in clear terms about the issue of conflict of interest, Dennison insisted that there was none. He said that the Commission made a decision to rent the property at a time when “Shields had nothing to do with GGMC.” Initially, Dennison said that all negotiations and arrangements were in place since September 2016; he later said that it might have been October the same year. Dennison jumped on the safe side and said, “It was definitely late 2016. And at that time, Shields was not a Director.” Shields became a GGMC Director early 2017, around the same time that the building was first occupied. Dennison said that this was just “coincidental”. “It just so happened that we moved into the building around the same time that he became a Director.” Dennison said that the GGMC knew for a long time that it was in need of the extra space. WEDNESDAY MINERS COMPLAIN OF LAND HOARDINGAS GGMC DIRECTOR GRABS 12,000 ACRES Several miners are quietly shouting, “disadvantage!” They contend that while they are getting a hard time securing a few acres of land, prominent miner, Hilbert Shields, is being given several thousands. Shields is a member of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) Board of Directors. GGMC is the very body that approves the allocation of mining lands. Kaieteur News understands that during the tenure of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) administration, Shields acquired a prospecting licence to explore thousands of acres of land. He is now in the process of converting those prospecting lands to regular mining lands. Prospecting licence entitles the holder to tax concessions, duty free concessions on fuel, equipment and vehicles. For these benefits, the licence holder agrees to fulfill certain requirements stipulated by government. One miner said, “I am not particularly interested in Mr. Shields. However, it is very
Kaieteur News
unfair to miners, including myself, when Mr. Shields can choose the best lands in the country, take more than 12,000 acres for himself and receive millions of dollars in Government concessions. ”Then, without fulfilling the government’s requirements he converts theses lands into regular mining lands and continues to exploit the system.” The miner continued, “To further the injustice, when I or any other miner apply for a block which is 1200 acres, Mr. Shields is one of the GGMC officials who makes the decision to deny us. This is the case even though we receive no benefits from the government and have to pay our taxes. It is unfair, very unfair.” According to the GGMC website, “Medium scale permits cover areas between 150 and 1200 acres…” Shields applied for medium scale permits. However, he made several applications. When combined, Shields is seeking almost 12,000 acres of land, all in the same area. Granny, 73, dragged to death on her way to collect pension Seventy-three-year-old Joycelyn Joseph wanted to be among the first in line to collect her $19,500 monthly pension. She left her YY, Bent Street, Wortmanville home around four o’clock Tuesday morning, and was heading to the Bourda Post Office when a speeding car struck her near the intersection of Winter Place on Brickdam. The vehicle, PLL 2838, dragged Mrs. Joseph for 39 metres, severing her left leg. The driver finally came to a halt some 158 metres from where he had struck the old lady. She was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. Police investigations revealed that the driver, a 35-year-old labourer of ‘A’ Field Sophia, was proceeding east along Brickdam Public Road allegedly at a fast rate, in anticipation of passing the stop light at the intersection of Winter Place, “since the light was reportedly showing ‘green,’ with a few seconds remaining.” In the process, he struck Mrs. Joseph, who was reportedly crossing Brickdam from south to north. Mrs. Joseph’s daughter and only child, Shirlene Joseph, said that her mother would leave home early to collect her pension, “to avoid the crowd.” She wasn’t too worried at first when hours passed and her mom had failed to return home. She knew that her mother sometimes “went to
other places,” after uplifting her money. But panic set in late Tuesday afternoon, when a niece called to say that she had seen the body of a woman on Facebook, and the victim looked like Mrs. Joseph. The Police Public Relations Department had posted the photograph in an attempt to identify the victim. The daughter then went to the Lyken Funeral Parlour when she confirmed that the victim was her mother. She revealed that individuals at the accident scene may have made off with her mother’s handbag. The bag contained Mrs. Joseph’s national identification card and pension book. GOLD BOARD PARTS COMPANY WITH SUSPENDED GM, OTHER OFFICIALS– THOMPSON CONFIRMEDAS NEW CHIEF The Guyana Gold Board (GGB) has opted not to renew the contracts of three senior officials, including its head. The three were sent home last year amid investigations of alleged collusion. Rather, effective January 1, 2018, its General Manager (ag), Eondrene Thompson, has been confirmed to that key position, the Ministry of Natural Resources announced Tuesday.
Sunday January 07, 2018
”The Guyana Gold Board (GGB) announces the appointment of Miss Eondrene Thompson as its new General Manager, effective January 1, 2018. Miss Thompson, who was the substantive Finance Manager, has acted as GM since April 24, 2017 when the then GM, Ms. Lisa Ramotar, along with two other senior officers were sent on administrative leave.” GGB disclosed that its Board of Directors unanimously agreed that the GGB needs to proceed in a new direction under new leadership. ”The board holds in high regard the integrity, skills, and commitment of Miss Thompson to positioning and leading the organisation forward. The new GM has been at the Gold Board since March, 2010 after a 15-year-stint at the Bank of Guyana. She is a graduate of the University of Guyana and holds an Executive MBA in Executive Leadership from Liverpool John Moores University.” Explaining the decision on the three officials, GGB said that the contracts expired on December 31, 2017. ”In keeping with its visions of new direction and new leadership, the Board of Directors decided not to renew the contractual relationships.” Last April, the then General Manager, Ramotar, was written to by Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, who indicated that the police requested several staffers to be sent on leave to facilitate the investigations. Ramotar is the daughter of former President, Donald Ramotar. The investigations were being conducted by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), an arm of the police, which has been focusing on financial crimes. In addition to Ramotar, also to receive letters were Deputy General Manager, Andrea Seelochan, and Legal/Compliance Officer, Suzanne Bullen. THURSDAY EXXON CONTRACT MANDATES MINISTER AS MIDDLEMAN BETWEEN COMPANYAND GRA While Guyana’s tax act establishes a direct relationship between the taxpayer and the collecting agency, the Petroleum Agreement signed by the Government of Guyana and ExxonMobil stipulates a completely different set up. Based on this agreement, the Minister of Natural Resources will be the middleman (Continued on page 39)
Sunday January 07, 2018
From page 38 between ExxonMobil and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). In effect the Minister, who is supposed to be looking out for the interest of the nation, will essentially be working with the GRA on behalf of the ExxonMobil. Such a unique provision is made in Article 15.5 of the contract. It states, “The Contractor(ExxonMobil and its partners) shall provide the Minister (of Natural Resources) with the Contractor’s income tax returns to be submitted by the Minister to the Commissioner General, Guyana Revenue Authority so the Minister can pay income tax on behalf of the Contractor as provided under Article 15.4.” The drafters of the agreement were keen to make sure there is no ambiguity. They did not even leave room for any other interpretation. It was written that the Minister will indeed be acting “on behalf” of the company. Here is what the contract states, “On such returns, the Minister shall note that he is paying the income taxes on behalf of the Contractor, so that the Commissioner General, Guyana Revenue Authority can properly prepare the receipts required under this Article 15.5.” That clause further notes, “Within one hundred and eighty (180) days following the end of each year of assessment, the Minister shall furnish to Contractor proper tax certificates in Contractor’s name from the Commissioner General, Guyana Revenue Authority evidencing the payment of the Contractor’s income tax under the Income Tax Act and corporation tax under the Corporation Tax Act. Such certificates shall state the amount of tax paid individually on behalf of Contractor or parties comprising the Contractor and other particulars customary for such certificates.” This provision is a new one. While there was indeed an Article 15 under the Petroleum Agreement signed by the Peoples Progressive Party’s Janet Jagan, it did not include the provision for the Minister to act as ExxonMobil’s representative. Attorney at Law, Christopher Ram also
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Kaieteur News
highlighted Article 15 in one of his recent columns. SMUGGLING OF JOHNNY WALKER WHISKY… SWAT TEAM BOSS CHANGES TUNE – FILE TO BE SENT FOR LEGALADVICE Guyana Police Force investigators have wrapped up their investigation involving one of their fellow officers, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Motie Dookie, who has been fingered in the smuggling of 30 cases of Johnny Walker whisky on December 31, last. Kaieteur News has been informed that the file will be sent for legal advice by ranks from the Criminal Investigation Unit (CID) at Eve Leary, as Dookie remains in custody. Dookie was reportedly travelling in a mini bus with its driver when the vehicle was stopped at a roadblock at Whim, Corentyne. Dookie reportedly told ranks that he only had one case of alcohol which he was taking to a party. However, when the mini bus was searched, 30 cases of the smuggled alcohol were found. During interrogation, Dookie reportedly changed his story. He told the investigators
that he had only begged a drop from the mini bus driver when he was nabbed and subsequently linked to the Johnny Walker. Dookie claimed that he never admitted ownership of the whiskey at the roadblock and that he was being framed. The driver of that vehicle has since admitted to the cops that the alcohol belongs to him. The investigation is ongoing. GO-INVEST FORENSIC AUDIT REPORT… NO ACTION TAKEN AGAINST THOSE FINGERED IN FINANCIAL MISDEEDS A damning forensic audit report on the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) had revealed that there were grave instances of mismanagement of funds and abuse of authority. More than one year later, those who were implicated in such actions have not faced any disciplinary action. This was confirmed by Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin during an interview with Kaieteur News.
To begin, Gaskin emphasized that there was no recommendation for disciplinary measures to be instituted against anyone. Further, he said that there has been personnel change at the leadership level. So, even if there was a recommendation for administrative discipline, this could not have been effected. The Minister stressed that GO-Invest is now led by a very capable Board of Directors that is operating with a measure of independence – in that, there is no interference from the office of the Minister or the office of the President, as was the case in times past. He said that the board is therefore free to act on the findings and recommendations of that audit report as it sees fit. The Business Minister said, “There have been a number of positive improvements at GO-Invest which began before the completion of the audit report. I am also aware that the Board of Directors has taken steps to address some of the recommendations and findings of the report. This includes the hiring of a Deputy CEO and streamlining certain administrative procedures such as the updating of the Human Resources and Accounting Manuals.” He added, “GO-Invest/investor services have improved because the manner of engaging investors has been streamlined. There is greater emphasis on due diligence, accountability, transparency and professionalism.” The Minister also boasted that there is a better relationship between GO-Invest’s key agencies such as the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission. Gaskin said that this has certainly improved investor confidence in dealing with the agency and has won over a lot of skeptics who might have had unsavory experiences with the agency three or more years ago. FRIDAY ”NEST OF VIPERS IN CITY HALL MUST BE CLEANED OUT” – PROTESTERS DEMAND DISMISSAL OF MAYOR, TOWN CLERK The “Nest of vipers” in City Hall must be cleaned out, stated a protester just outside City Hall. He was part of the few who were continuing to picket the Mayor and City Council, while calling for dismissals and arrests. The few concerned citizens together joined voices against the reinstatement of the corporal who is alleged to have sexually molested a teen, last August, while he was in custody for loitering. The protesters contended that, “(Mayor Patricia Chase-Green) is accused of being negligent in reporting the rape to the police. She can do whatever she wants to do; that negligence will remain…” ”It has taken her two months, 60 days, (Continued on page 40)
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From page 39 before they made any effort to report this matter to the police and the only reason this was done is because the press broke the story,” expressed Jonathan Yearwood. He and his confederates continued to make calls for the Mayor and the Town Clerk to be dismissed from their positions. Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan was the object of disrepute by the picketers for ordering, not only the complainant, but the perpetrator of the heinous crime to be reinstated. ”How do you reinstate someone who is being accused of rape?” Sharing his views also was Don Singh. He said, “I agree with everything Jonathan just said…Corporal (The lance corporal) was charged with this exact same thing a year before and he was let off a year before”. Singh shared the view that the officer is a serial rapist who seems to have the necessary protection. Such action, as taken today, will continue, according to the protesters until justice is rightfully served. CHICKEN SMUGGLING RING BUSTED – BERBICE CUSTOMS OFFICERS FACE THEAXEAS CONTAINER SEIZED Enforcement officials of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) on Thursday reportedly seized a container of what is believed to be smuggled chicken. A truck was also confiscated and a number of Customs Officers stationed in Berbice are likely to face the axe over the incident. According to officials, information was received that the container filled with chicken was heading to the city. GRA’s enforcement arm got into action, dispatching a team. The container was stopped and inside the officials found about 1,000 of the 40-pound boxes of chicken. The consignment came from Suriname. What the enforcement officials found strange was that while there were Customs seals on the container, there were no corresponding documents that suggest that the necessary duties and taxes were paid. The truck, container and the driver were all taken into custody. Investigators believe that there was collusion. The Berbice-based Customs Officers, Kaieteur News was told, are all facing termination if it is found that they were involved. Officials, while not disclosing details of the players, indicated that from all indications they have busted a major chicken-smuggling operation. While Guyana has a number of large chicken farms, and a number of smaller, satellite operations, it has been disclosed that a number of individuals have been granted licences also for the importation of chicken. SATURDAY EXXON ANNOUNCES LARGEST OIL FIND TO DATE IN STABROEK BLOCK Another well drilled at the offshore concessions of US-owned ExxonMobil and its partners, has struck more high quality oil. On Friday, in separate announcements by both the Government of Guyana and ExxonMobil, it was disclosed that a more than 230 feet high-quality oil reservoir was discovered during a drill at the Ranger-1 well. The sixth discovery in Guyana since 2015, it would push the estimated amount of oil past the 3.2B barrels found so far in the Stabroek concessions. According to Government, in a statement, in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited and Hess Guyana Exploration Limited, it “is pleased and gratified by the information that more than 230 feet of high quality oil bearing reservoir has been discovered at the Ranger-1 well in the Stabroek
Kaieteur News
block. This represents the sixth discovery in Guyana since 2015.” This latest discovery is also being hailed as the largest single find to date and adds to the quantities which have been confirmed in the five previous finds. “The news of an additional find of this magnitude, particularly, at the start of the new year, can be seen as a further blessing and underscores the richness and diversity of Guyana’s natural resources. Managed prudently, these resources will allow for an enormous transformational effect on the lives of every Guyanese in the years ahead,” the Government statement said. “The Ministry of Natural Resources is particularly pleased that its strategy of engagement with Esso Exploration/CNOOC/ Hess and its partners is leading to bountiful discoveries, and overall, the Government is elated that Esso Exploration/CNOOC/Hess remain ahead of their exploration schedule for the entire Stabroek block.” The ministry said that it expects “other international operators” will draw confidence from Esso Exploration/CNOOC/Hess’s presence, and these six finds, and diligently pursue their own exploratory work programmes. Several companies have advanced their seismic data collection and are expected to drill in 2018, Government said. “The Government remains committed to all efforts for the safe and efficient development of the offshore Guyana basin. Finally, government calls on all stakeholders to act responsibly and patriotically, as Guyana continues its thrust into this new sector, and as news and events continue to unfold about the extent of the oil reserves offshore and the manifold opportunities and benefits for the Guyanese people.” In a release also, ExxonMobil noted that the Ranger-1 well discovery adds to previous world-class discoveries at Liza, Payara, Snoek, Liza Deep and Turbot, which are estimated to total more than 3.2 billion recoverable oilequivalent barrels. ExxonMobil affiliate – Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd.- began drilling the Ranger-1 well on November 5, 2017 and “encountered approximately 230 feet (70 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing carbonate reservoir. The well was safely drilled to 21,161 feet (6,450 meters) depth in 8,973 feet (2,735 meters) of water.” Steve Greenlee, President of ExxonMobil Exploration Company, insisted that “this latest success operating in Guyana’s significant water depths illustrates our ultra deep-water and carbonate exploration capabilities.” In fact, this latest discovery proves a new play concept for the 6.6 million-acre Stabroek block, and adds further value to the company’s growing Guyana portfolio. Following completion of the Ranger-1 well, the Stena Carron drillship will move to the Pacora prospect, four miles from the Payara discovery. Additional exploration drilling is planned on the Stabroek block for 2018, including potential appraisal drilling at the Ranger discovery. The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers). K/NEWS, CN SHARMA, AMONG SIX RECEIVING RADIO LICENCES A little more than six years after protests against the Bharrat Jagdeo government for the controversial issuance of radio licences to the former president’s close friends and party members, the new administration has managed to distribute a few…mere baby steps in correcting an injustice. The issuance Friday to a number of media owners would come belatedly and be a bittersweet moment.
Sweet because the wait is over; bitter because the coveted frequencies to operate those radio stations have already been hogged by a few. The ceremony took place at GNBA’s headquarters on Lamaha Street. There was little, the current administration is saying, that can be done to reverse the ar-
Sunday January 07, 2018
bitrary distributions by Jagdeo. His party, the People’s Progressive Party, and even a former minister, and close friend Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, were all beneficiaries. The licences were not supposed to be distributed until reforms and consultations with the Opposition, in keeping with a standing (Continued on page 41)
Sunday January 07, 2018
From page 40 arrangement between the then administration and the Opposition, which is the Government now. However, Jagdeo went ahead and secretly issued the licences in the last days in office, in 2011. The entities receiving the new licences on Friday were the National Media and Broadcasting Company Limited, a sister company of Kaieteur News; Blackman and Sons which is linked to HBTV; CNS Channel Six; Brutal Grouping, Two Brothers Inc. and Panicle. National Media, according to Adam Harris, Editor-in-Chief of Kaieteur News, is hitting the ground running, and is expected to start broadcasting in a few weeks’ time. “We are of course planning on lots of local programming and news to keep the people informed. It will be the hard-hitting material that Guyana is accustomed to from us.” Chairman of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA), Leslie Sobers, disclosed that while there is little space for new radio stations in the primary area (Georgetown and the coastland up to West Berbice and Parika), it is the intention of the Authority to licence radio stations every three years. BRITISH FRAUD EXPERTBACKATSOCU British fraud expert, Sam Sittlington, whose tenure ended last year, is back to help boost the capacity of the police’s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU). On Tuesday, British High Commissioner, Greg Quinn, is set to introduce Sittlington as a Financial Investigations Mentor/Advisor to SOCU, the British High Commission announced Friday. Sittlington, under a British-funded arrangement, was present last year as SOCU conducted a number of high profile investigations, including the Pradoville Two probe of the Sparendaam lands sold to former President Bharrat Jagdeo and a number of his ex-ministers and other government officials.
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The current Coalition Government had expressed an interest in his return, but British officials here had indicated that this was dependent on the tender process for a crime consultant. It appeared that Sittlington was chosen again and given a new contract. Britain has been collaborating with Guyana to improve this country’s crime-fighting capacity. In May last year, Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, disclosed that he had approached the British High Commission in Guyana to assist in having Sittlington return. Ramjattan had explained then that he was
given the assurance by the High Commissioner that the request would be looked at. He had acknowledged that there are other experts in the UK, but he was keen on Sittlington, because of the good work he has done. Ramjattan had said that during Sittlington’s stint at SOCU he had made a number of recommendations to strengthen that entity. The Public Security Minister said that Sittlington is the best person to evaluate if those recommendations were properly implemented. Ramjattan had also disclosed that
Sittlington played a pivotal role in helping SOCU officials to strategize during the investigation of financial crime, and this was another key reason why he was keen to have him return. The Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), now in opposition, has been at odds with Sittlington, and has accused him of meddling in the nation’s affairs. SOCU is the police’s special arm dealing in investigating money laundering crimes. A number of cases involving former government officials are currently being addressed by SOCU.
Sunday January 07, 2018
STANDARDS IN FOCUS
THE ROLE OF GNBS AS A STANDARDS BODY A standards body or standards developing organisation (SDO) is any organisation whose primary activities are developing, coordinating, revising, amending, re-issuing, interpreting, or otherwise producing technical standards that are intended to address the needs of a relatively wide based of individuals or businesses. Standards bodies can be private or public, national or international and are set up within a country to develop, promote or where necessary implement standards to regulate the quality of goods and services. Standards organisations are established in almost every country, worldwide. The priority areas of interest for the development of standards depend entirely upon local conditions and stakeholder requirements. However, most National Standards Bodies are geared to develop technical standards to improve production and trade, ensure safety and protect consumers against health hazards and fraud in all aspects of life. The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) is the National Standards Body of Guyana. It was established under the Standards Act No. 11 of 1984 and its vision is to improve the quality of goods and services in Guyana by partnering with Government, Consumers and Industry, through the process of standardisation. In an effort to fulfil its mandate, the Bureau executes the following critical work programmes that impact the various sectors: Standardisation (Standards Development), Consultancy, Training Services, Auditing Services, Product Certification, Laboratory Certification, Laboratory Services, Legal Metrology, Standards Compliance, Metrication, and Codex. The Standards Act provides for the preparation and promotion of standards in relation to goods, services,
procedures and practices falling under the purview of the Bureau. The aims and objectives of the Bureau include the: - Development of National Standards based on the needs of stakeholders. - Promotion of standards for the improvement of goods, services, processes and practices in Guyana. - Provision of Technical Assistance (Consultancy services) to industries desirous of implementing management systems. - Provision of verification, calibration and testing services in areas such as mass, length, volume, temperature and pressure to maintain traceability and accuracy of measurements. With its Main Office in the Sophia Exhibition Centre, suboffices in Regions 2, 3, 6 and 9, and a complement of about sixty trained and competent staff members, the GNBS provides a wide range of services to its stakeholders including, industry, regulators, and consumers. Services and standards are offered by the GNBS to improve product and service quality and to enable access to overseas markets. As the National Standards Body, the Bureau has always engaged in a process of continual improvement to meet the needs of stakeholders. Through continued collaboration with other standards bodies worldwide, the GNBS will maintain its efforts to build the necessary capacity to offer the services needed to enhance the various sectors. The GNBS takes this opportunity to wish all of Guyana, a prosperous 2018 and looks forward to every citizen embracing standards and quality in every aspect of life. For further information, contact the GNBS on telephone numbers: 2190062, 219-0065 or 2190069. Please visit our website: www.gnbsgy.org and like our Facebook page: gnbsgy
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FOR RENT
SERVICES
FOR SALE
PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION, W E D D I N G S , ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620
LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY- $19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-2274754. 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
Visa Application: U.S.A, Canada & UK;Guyanapassport application. G r a p h i c s design, advertisement. Tel: 626-7040; 265-4535. INNOVATIVEMARKETING & 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
VEHICLE FOR SALE Allion, Primo, Fielder Wagon, Spacio, Bluebird, 212 Carina, NZE, Honda CRV, Toyota IST, RZ & Pit-bull – Call: 650-7501 For sale-1- White Toyota Fielder 2010 unregistered Tel: 624-5650. Unregistered Axela 2011 dark interior, fully loaded, Nissan pickup extra cab. Call: 617-5536 One RZ minibus BRR series, mag rim ,cat eyes. $1.5. Tel: 668-9672, 686-9965.
One miller, welding generator, excellent condition. One mig welder. Contact: 699-4300, 228-2734 Two Hino 30 seater buses in good condition BLL series. Contact 679-2497 One Mark two vehicle in good condition with very low milage. PKK series. Contact: 679-2497 1 two story concrete building completed with all amenities, 44 Village Corentyne. Large yard space 104ft by 1 mile. Contact 679-2497 Land 2,500 acres excellent for logging in Kortbradt to Plentanchor, East Bank Berbice areas. Contact: 6792497 Land 4.018 acres, suitable for a number of activities situated at N ½ mudlot 10 Strand New Amsterdam. Contact 679-2497. Four stories full furnished building, in good condition, situated at Lot Q Springlands, Corentyne. Contact 679-2497 Over 13,000 square ft (6 acres) of real estate situated at No 75 Village Corentyne. Contact 679-2497. Spacious four story building on large land space situated at Lot 3 Springlands. Contact 679-2497 LEARN TO DRIVE Ultraviolet driving school is offering a 6 days driving lesson for $7,500.Come and enjoy it! Tel: 602-2583 PROPERTY FOR SALE
SALON Make-up Courses with Mac, Bare Minerals, etc. -CosmetologyCourses:$90,000 Nail Technician Course: $35,000. Call: 647-1773/688-0009
Sunday January 07, 2018
Kaieteur News
Supermarket at 17th Avenue, Diamond. Tel: 626-3423 PEN PAL Overseas Indian male seeks female 30-32 with good personality. Call 664-3119
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. 2 Bedroom bottom flat @ C Field,Sophia Tel: 619-0094. 1 Flat concrete house (Tiled, grilled,PVC ceiling) 3 bedroom, 1 self-contained room @ Parafaite Harmonie & Onderneerming, $50,000 monthly #662-6818. One three bedroom upstairs in Station street, Kitty, prefer one family. Contact: 627-6132. Bottom flat, two bedroom apartment in 19 Ave Diamond. Call: 647-6056. 2-Bedroom apartment at La Grange, Indepence St. Call: 592-667-8896 Business place to rent . 14 Lombard St, Georgetown. 2271385, 653-0506.
EDUCATION Register your child for after school classes for slow learners in Mathematics, Reading, Phonics, Spelling, etc. Call: 675-4379 Lesson classes, Abeka System-Phonics, Reading,Language and Maths.Age 4-12 years old. 197 Roxanne Burnham Gardens. Call :218-2076,6194355 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. TOLET 2 bedrooms apartment, fully furnished, in Eccles New Scheme. 698-7807,225-3234 One business space, located at 177 Charlotte & Alexander St. Kindly call: 689-3462, 6443555. Serious enquiries only. One (2) bedroom, lower flat apartment- 2162 Festival City$45,000 monthly. Contact: 6290052. Lodge apartments (Vlissengen/Durban): unfurnished $40,000-60,000 p/ m. Furnished (for visitors) $600 US p/m. 668-7687/6779638/697-6421 Lodge (Vlissengen/Durban): Professional/Office/Business space (no food retailing) 6687687/677-9638/697-6421
WANTED
VACANCY
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 One (1) Driver/ Purchaser to work at a Mining firm in G/ Town. Contact #226-9768/6615307 or 615-6172 Security Guards to work in the interior with Mining firm. Age range 38-48. Contact#226-9768/615-6172 One (1) Manager/Promotions Manager to work @ Hotel/ Club on Essequibo Coast. Accommodation & attractive salary. Contact: 226-9768/6156172 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. Contact 6165419, 265-7076 Drivers for private cars & Mini bus route 44 @ 4 First St Albertown, walk with application. Car/Van driver, mechanical skills an asset. Live in preferably. 227-1830 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
Male factory worker, age 18 and above, must have working experience. For more info call: 223-0090 Urgently neededExperienced canter drivers & bond clerks. Call: 223-5020
1 Live-in nanny to take care of children and home. Must know to cook various food. 682-8251 LAND FOR SALE 100 acres Agricultural land, right bank, Barima river,NWD, Essequibo. 6687687/677-9638 Parafaite Harmonie- $1M and $1.4M and $2.6M Farm $3.5M Herstelling- $2M. Tel# 656-0701/611-7223
Farm workers, maintenance workers, labours (@500 per hr) 265-3586. Two workers to work on a cow farm, must be able to milk and graze cows. Tel# 233-2049 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 231-1408/642-9191. Cook/Baker & Kitchen Assistant for interior location. Applicants must be experienced. Call: 618-2020 One Domestic to work 2 half day per week. #225-6571 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. Vacancy exists for individuals in Berbice. Work your own time, unlimited earnings, and attractive benefits. Call: 679-2497 One maid for East Bank area, must know to cook and clean. Call: 614-4358 One female cleaner and driver for office in Eccles. Call: 2332745
Opposition begs for Edghill to attend Parliament (From page 3) included a date of when the suspension would come to an end which was December 15, 2017. “Therefore, there is no doubt or ambiguity as to the commencement of the suspension at the sitting on December 12, 2017. If Minister Ally’s motion did not include the date of the conclusion of the suspension, one may be tempted to understand the need for the Speaker’s intervention to interpret the motion as to when the suspension began and ended,” the PPP noted. Further, the PPP said that one must remember that on December 12, 2017 prior to the commencement of the adjourned of the 79th sitting, Edghill was prevented from coming to the Parliament Buildings and arrested at the traffic lights approximately 100 feet from the gates of the Parliament compound. The Parliament Office wrote Edghill on December 12, suspending him for four sittings from the 79th sitting, the very sitting which Minister Ally brought the motion of suspension. According to the PPP, the suspension was in effect on December 12. During the start of the considerations of the budget estimates, Edghill clashed with Dr. Barton over the need to extend time for questions. The Speaker insisted that based on an agreement, the allotted time was fixed. Edghill, after refusing to sit, was deemed out of order, and moves were made to eject him from the chambers. He refused and the police were eventually summoned. However, Opposition members refused to allow the police to remove him. They formed a ring around him. After the ensuing confusion between police and the Opposition members, the day’s proceedings were suspended.
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CONSUMER CONCERNS
EFFECTUATION OF TOBACCO CONTROL ACT A GREAT BOON By Pat Dial In August 2017 the Tobacco Control Bill became Law. The Ministry of Public Health was given the responsibility of deciding on the commencement date on which the Law will become effective. The Law became effective on 11th December, 2017 and the Regulations under the Act are being publicised among the business community. Such Regulations include the erection of “No Smoking” signs and the packaging and labelling of tobacco products. The consumer community and the public as a whole applaud the enactment of the new Law and regard it with a feeling of relief. For it is now 20 years since the Tobacco Control Bill was drafted under the tutelage of the former Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy. Dr Ramsammy personally had a missionary zeal and enthusiasm for controlling and severely limiting tobacco use in Guyana and there were several members of the Ministry of Health who were fired with the same
CAR RENTAL DOLLY’SCARRENTAL-CALL: 225-7126/226-3693 DOLLYSAUTORENTAL@ YA H O O . C O M / W W W. DOLLYSAUTORENTAL.COM 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 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 LAND FOR SALE Farm (New Housing scheme, East Bank) with reserve, title ready $3.2M Tel: 656-0701/ 651-1969 Parafaite Harmonie $1.5M Uitvlugt-$2.5M Zeelugt$2.4M.Tel:642-1252
enthusiasm and commitment. But their efforts to have the Tobacco Control Bill become Law were frustrated in one way or another to the great chagrin of consumers.
Minister Lawrence’s efforts in successfully piloting bill through Parliament are therefore highly appreciated. Tobacco was first used by the Amerindian people and
strictly limited to religious ceremonial. Europeans adopted its use and Sir Walter Raleigh, the Elizabethan explorer and courtier who wrote the famous
“Discoverie of Guiana” was attributed of popularising it. It quickly became so popular that King James I felt constrained to write a counter-blast attacking
tobacco and its use. But despite the valiant efforts of King James and others, it use quickly became worldwide. Then just over a (continued on page 54)
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Sunday January 07, 2018
Kaieteur News
China’s Seaport Shopping Spree:
What China is winning by buying up the world’s ports In a bid to bolster its position as a maritime powerhouse, secure key supply chains, enhance its international trade capacities, and build up geo-economic leverage, China has been buying up the development and operational rights to a chain of ports that stretch from the southern realms of Asia to the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and even South America. While big Chinese stateowned firms began acquiring ports around the world rather quietly roughly a decade or so ago, now, under the strategic framework of what has been dubbed the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) — the watery part of the broader Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — these acquisitions have taken on a booming significance as this inter-continental network begins to take shape. It seems as if it is now almost daily news to hear about how a Chinese stateowned shipping firm has purchased a seaport or won the rights to develop a new ocean or land terminal in another country. China Merchants Port Holdings just bought a 90% share of the Brazilian port operator TCP Participações for nearly a billion dollars. Before that, it was announced that Jiangsu province paid $300 million to build a free trade zone around Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi — a seaport which saw a new terminal go to China’s COSCO at the end of last year. In July, China Merchants
took control of Sri Lanka’s Hambantota deep sea port for $1.12 billion. Next, we may hear about how Lithuania finally opens the doors and lets China Merchants move in and do their thing at Klaipeda Port. In the past year alone, China has invested over $20 billion into seaports on foreign terrain, doubling the amount they spent in the previous year, according to estimates by the Financial Times. These new acquisitions add to China’s growing portfolio of international port holdings, which now span the world with terminals in Greece, Myanmar, Israel, Djibouti, Morocco, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, and around a dozen or so other countries. The Maritime Silk Road The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road was first announced by Xi Jinping in Jakarta a month after the initial revelation of the Belt and Road Initiative (then called One Belt, One Road) in Astana in 2013. The vision was for China to construct an array of three enhanced sea routes from China to Europe and Africa, and filling them with new ports, manufacturing zones, and even entirely new cities. While this initiative was initially often met with skepticism and even abject mockery by the international community, China has been cobbling it together piece by piece — port by port — and is now something that is extremely difficult to
marginalise or ignore. Over the past few years, China has created a fully state-owned and operated global shipping empire. Giant SOEs like China Merchants and COSCO Shipping are now running 29 ports in 15 countries and 47 terminals in 13 countries, respectively. On top of this, other, relatively smaller state-owned entities like Shanghai International Port Group, Ningbo Zhoushan Port, and the Port of Lianyungang are also jumping into the fray, gobbling up the world’s sea and land ports. What does all of this mean? Ocean shipping is, almost by definition, an international affair, and we need to ask if
China’s recent maritime expansion is really anything out of the ordinary. Are we putting an undue emphasis on the port acquisitions of China without proper contextualisation? We live in a world where port operators from one country own and operate terminals in other countries. PSA (Port of Singapore Authority) operates terminals in 15 countries, Denmark’s Maersk Line has 76 ports in 41 countries, Switzerland’s Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) has 35 terminals in 22 countries, while Dubai’s DP World runs 77 ports in 40 countries. So if we just look at the raw numbers it would seem as if China’s maritime movements are in step with
EFFECTUATION OF TOBACCO CONTROL... From page 53 century ago, Science began to identify how harmful and dangerous to health tobacco usage was. It was found to be the cause of mouth cancer, kidney, heart and lung diseases and several other lifeshortening ailments. Today, over 7 million people die every year from tobacco use. Tobacco use was also found to be economically harmful: Some of the workforce became ill or died prematurely thus affecting economic production and productivity. Large numbers had to be hospitalised causing an added burden to the public purse. Many others, the poorest, would spend their scarce funds on tobacco rather than on the welfare of their families including education of their children. Premature tobacco deaths in a family often leave the survivors in penury. The Tobacco Control Act is an event of positive social significance and the Ministry
of Public Health are determined to make it effective. In this effort, they enjoy the full support of the World Health Organization (WHO) through the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The Ministry intends to effectuate the Act in a gradual manner stretching over the entire year. Its first effort, beginning this month, is to meet the Tobacco Industry and reiterate to them that tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship is prohibited. The public is also looking forward to the publishing of the regulations affecting labeling and packaging of tobacco products. The Ministry would have to do this now since the Industry would have nine months to comply. CROSQUE, the Caribbean Standards body, had put forth model tobacco control legislation with a large number of graphic
illustrations in colour depicting diseases caused by tobacco use. These graphics were effective and occupied one of the two main faces of a cigarette box. Some of the Caribbean territories have already effectuated the use of these graphics by the tobacco industry. The Ministry of Health needs to give priority to have DEMTOCO, the main importer of cigarettes, conform. In the past, that Company kept asking for more time to have the graphics done; the Ministry should therefore be alert of this possibility. In passing, we may mention that DEMTOCO had complained of cigarettes being smuggled into the country and unfairly competing against them. With the cigarette boxes having the graphic warnings, smuggling would be more difficult and easier to stamp out. The way in which the Law will affect tobacco users is
practised and known worldwide: Smoking is prohibited in indoor public places, indoor workplaces, public transportation, and specified indoor places such as schools, health facilities and places for the commercial service of food and drink. This would help to protect others from second-hand smoke which is as dangerous as direct smoking. There would be training for the implementation of the Legislation including a comprehensive and continuing programme of sensitisation and education in respect of the dangers of tobacco use and the effectuation of the Legislation. Since the implementation of the Act will extend over a lengthy period, there is the ever-present danger that sloth, lethargy or nonperformance could affect its effectuation. In the month of January, the Ministry should therefore publish its timetable and the first of its monthly reports.
the rest of the world. However, there are often some key differences between how China’s maritime companies operate internationally and what their projects look and feel like. “COSCO and China Merchants H o l d i n g s — unlike PSA and DP World— do not function according to a fully commercial logic, but also have to align to state policies, such as the Belt and Road Initiative,” Olaf Merk of the I n t e r n a t i o n al Transport
Forum at the OECD explained. “Hence their willingness to pay higher prices for some terminals than any other operator would do.” A case in point: COSCO shipping was given no less than $26.1 billion by the China Development Bank to throw into Belt and Road projects earlier this year. While China’s new array of port holdings are fundamentally economically motivated projects, there is a glaring political dimension as well.
Bountiful harvest projected for first rice crop of 2018 The first rice crop for 2018 is expected to be a bountiful one according to General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Nizam Hassan. At an outreach with farmers of Mibikuri, Black Bush, in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), Hassan said the expected increase in rice production is as a result of farmers’ positively responding to the increased demands for Guyana’s rice and rice products internationally. “We have seen increases in production and based on the data provided to me for sowing for the first crop of 2018, we expect that it is going to be a very big crop, if not the highest in terms of production,” Hassan said. Additionally, Hassan said the increased production is a result of collaborative work among several stakeholders of the rice industry. “This is because of the responses that you and your colleague farmers have been putting towards the demand of the market and the various
services provided by all the stakeholders. The GRDB and its extension and research staff, the quality control efforts of the GRDB, as well as the private sector in terms of the millers and the input suppliers. So, this augurs very well for our responses; your responses, as well as Guyana’s responses, to addressing the demands of the market and this augurs well,” Hassan told those present. Pledging Government’s continued support, Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder, encouraged farmers of Mibikuri to utilise “every inch” of coastal land to expand rice production since there are now market demands that have to be met. Meanwhile, stakeholders were informed of the 14 new pumps from India that will soon be installed, to aid in drainage and irrigation in riceproducing areas. The outreach was organised by representative to the Prime Minister in Region Six, Gobin Harbhajan.
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Arab League to lobby U.N. to recognise Palestinian state AMMAN (Reuters) - Arab states will soon embark on a diplomatic drive to persuade the United Nations to recognise a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said. Six Arab foreign ministers met in Amman yesterday to follow up on earlier decisions taken by the Arab League to counter U.S. President Donald Trump’s move in December to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a decision that overturned decades of U.S. policy on the Middle East. A committee made up of Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinians and headed by Jordan was set up after an emergency meeting of the Arab League in Cairo shortly after Trump’s decision that called on Washington to abandon its decision. The Arab League said at the time the move would spur violence throughout the region and described Trump’s announcement as a “dangerous violation of international law” which had no legal impact. Safadi said the ministers would recommend a series of moves to a full ministerial meeting of the Arab League due later this month. “We will confront the decision by seeking a (U.N.) resolution, an international one, to recognise a Palestinian state on 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital,” said Safadi. He did not elaborate on the timing of the diplomatic moves nor say whether he was referring to a U.N. Security Council or General Assembly resolution. Arab League SecretaryGeneral Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the ministerial meeting
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi speaks during a news conference in Amman, Jordan yesterday. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed would also discuss Washington’s role in future Arab-Israeli peacemaking that members states said was now jeopardised by what they see as U.S. bias towards Israel. “We want to lessen any losses on the Palestinian side and lessen the Israeli gains,” Aboul Gheit added. Arab states would also discuss whether to convene an extraordinary summit of their leaders or wait until a scheduled summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh at the end of March, he added. Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem has infuriated the Arab world and upset Western allies, who say it is a blow to peace efforts and risks sparking more violence in the region. Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Israel regards Jerusalem as its eternal and indivisible capital.
Most countries consider East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after capturing it from Jordan in a 1967 war, to be occupied territory, and say the status of the city should be decided at future IsraeliPalestinian talks. On Dec. 18, the United States blocked a United Nations Security Council call for Trump’s declaration on Jerusalem to be withdrawn. Three days later, more than 120 countries defied Trump and voted in favour of a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for the United States to drop its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In 2012, the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine in a resolution that said the status of Jerusalem should be resolved through negotiations.
Eleven Saudi princes detained following protest over utility bills R I YA D H / D U B A I (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian authorities have detained 11 princes after they gathered at a royal palace in Riyadh in a rare protest against the government suspending payment of their utility bills, the public prosecutor said yesterday. Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, has introduced reforms that include reducing energy subsidies, introducing value-added tax and cutting some perks to royal family members to try to cope with a drop in crude
prices that has caused a budget deficit estimated at 195 billion riyals ($52 billion) in 2018. The princes had gathered on Thursday at Qasr alHokm palace demanding the cancellation of a recent decree that halted state payment of water and electricity bills for royal family members and seeking compensation for a death sentence implemented in 2016 against one of their cousins, Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabeer. “Despite being informed that their demands are not
lawful, the 11 princes refused to leave the area, disrupting public peace and order. Members of a security services stepped in to restore order and the princes were arrested,” the public prosecutor’s statement said, without identifying the princes. “Following their arrest, they have been charged on a number of counts in relation to these offences. They are detained at Al-Hayer prison south of the capital pending their trial.”
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City introduces $200 fee for garbage collection - to acquire two garbage trucks The two solid waste contractors, who resumed their services only yesterday, can ‘hopefully’ look forward to their bills being paid on time. The Council, on Friday, announced that the residents will be expected to pay a fee ranging from $100 to $200 for the collection of their garbage. This announcement was made yesterday at City Hall, by Town Clerk, Royston King, following the recommendation of the decision by the Finance Committee and approval, some time last year. “…We cannot run the City on general rates of assessed rental values of properties done 20 years ago. All property owners must be given the opportunity to pay their fair share of rates to the City.” In addition to that announcement, it was also announced that the Council is seeking to acquire its own garbage trucks before the first half of this year. In explaining the fees that will be attached to garbage
collection, he noted that the initiative is still in discussion mode. It is however expected to become effective by February. King found it necessary to clarify that the $200 fee will be paid by home owners and is actually just a fraction of the actual cost that is attached for the disposal and collection of garbage per barrel. “The real cost to collect one barrel of garbage is about $600,” he said. The Town Clerk acknowledged that there are a few businesses around the City that are paying for their garbage to be collected, however this will now be imposed to all businesses. King said that he is in the process of writing officially to the Council to opine that a “special fee” must be attached to the collection of industrial waste. He said, “This is important because those who harm our natural environment must adequately compensate the local communities in which they operate whose health
and well-being they put at risk.” When questions were raised about how these fees will be paid, King responded, “They (homeowners) will be required to bring that money to City Hall. They will receive an official receipt. We are still working out the modalities to ensure that all homeowners take the opportunity to pay…” He continued, “The Council has indicated that it is moving, as it must do, to build its capacity.” City Hall will purchase two garbage trucks which will be used around the city, he added. An estimated $70 million is expected to be spent on the trucks and related equipment, from the $200 million that was allocated to the Council by the Government, King asserted. This year, according to him, will see special emphasis being placed on training of its mechanical and technical staff, to be able to maintain the trucks that are expected to be purchased during the first half of 2018.
CH&PA to deal with applications for house lots from 1991 - 2009 The Central Housing and Planning Authority, (CH&PA) is expected to deal with house lot applications dating back to 1991 and reaching 2009. Officials attached to CH&PA have explained that as part of their plans for this year, the agency is continuing to address the low occupancy rate of lands which were already allocated during those periods. During a recent Press Conference, Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, detailed the plight facing the Housing Department. According to the Minister, the CH&PA has found that approximately 80 percent of the land already distributed remains unoccupied. Bulkan explained that based on their evaluation of house lot allocations dating back to 2000, the Housing Department has taken steps to offer applicants house lots with already constructed unit, hence disposing of the problem lack of funds to construct which may be the problem with many potential homeowners. According to statistics provided by the Minister, between 2000 and 2015, approximately 66,000 house lots allocated, some 28,000 or 40 percent remains unoccupied. During 2011 and 2015, 38
new schemes were developed. These made available 20,000 house lots; over 80 percent of those lots remaining unoccupied. Taking these figures into consideration, Bulkan said that the Department has taken steps to provide housing to citizens opposed to just house lots. This move, the Minister believes, will allow for immediate occupancy of the plots allocated. Minister Bulkan also reassured that Government is committed to ensuring infrastructural developments of the Housing Development Projects. Last year, the Housing Department recorded 4,927 interviews conducted but only issued 1,131 house lots with Region Four accounting for the majority of 3,122 interviews and 513 allocations. During last year, work also commenced on the first batch of duplexes, in Onderneeming, Essequibo; Onderneeming, (WBD), Perseverance, EBD and Hope Experiment, (WCB). The Central Housing and
Planning Authority (CH&PA) also strengthened its planning function with respect to settlement development and land use control and management, and is deepening its collaboration with officers in the land development and upgrading process. The policy for the housing sector has been redirected with the focus being on providing affordable housing solutions to lowincome earners, State employees and youths in communities outfitted with recreational, educational and sports facilities; in addition to basic infrastructure services such as electricity, telephones, roads, solid waste disposal and pure water supply. Additionally, initiatives were undertaken to strengthen the CH&PA’s Planning Function, public relations and awareness, hosting of national planning forum. An action plan for implementation of an improved planning framework was also completed.
A model of the garbage truck to be purchased by Council
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SEC probing Kushner Cos use of wealthy investor visas – WSJ (Reuters) - The real estate company of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, is being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its use of a federal programme that grants visas to wealthy fore i g n e r s i n v e s t i n g i n t h e U n i t e d St a t e s , t h e Wa l l Street Journal reported yesterday.
Kushner Cos was asked by the SEC for information on its use of the visa programme, known as EB5, in May 2017, according to a person the Journal said was familiar with the matter. The EB-5 visa is a method for eligible immigrants to become lawful permanent residents, or “green card” holders, by investing at least $500,000
(£368,552) into a business in the United States that will employ 10 or more American workers. Most holders are wealthy Chinese individuals. The Journal said the company also received a separate request from New York federal prosecutors in the same month for information on development projects financed in part by the EB-5 programme. Kushner, the White House and New York prosecutors did not reply to requests for comment from Reuters. The SEC could not be reached for comment. “As we said months ago, we are cooperating with all government requests for information about our past legal use of the EB-5 programme,” a Kushner Cos representative said in a statement to Reuters. The exact subject of the SEC’s inquiry, or whether it identified particular projects, is not clear, the Journal reported. The Kushners’ use of EB-5 visas to raise cash to finance developments came to broad attention in M a y l a s t y e a r, w h e n K u s h n e r ’s s i s t e r, N i c o l e Kushner, spoke at a publicly advertised event in Shanghai to attract Chinese investment into a twotower luxury apartment complex in New Jersey, called One Journal Square, being developed jointly by Kushner Cos and KABR Group. The company later apologised for mentioning Jared Kushner ’s name while wooing investors. The developers were seeking to raise $150 million, or 15.4 percent of funding for the project, from investors through the EB-5 visa programme, according to marketing materials posted by the event’s organizer, immigration agency Qiaowai, Reuters reported at the time. Kushner Cos is not a publicly traded company but the EB-5 is considered a securities offering, the Journal said, hence the SEC’s interest. Kushner resigned from his role leading Kushner Cos when he was appointed Trump’s senior White House adviser early last year but still owns a stake in parts of the business, according to his most recent personal financial disclosure form, the Journal said.
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Khawaja hits 171 as Australia build lead in Sydney SYDNEY (Reuters) Usman Khawaja hit a mammoth 171 and Shaun Marsh was approaching his sixth test century as Australia eased 133 runs ahead of England on 479 for four after the third day of the fifth Ashes clash yesterday. Khawaja shared a stand of 188 with captain Steve Smith, who was dismissed just before lunch, and another of 101 with Marsh, who just missed out on his second hundred of the series in the over before stumps. Marsh will resume on 98 on day four with his brother Mitchell, who was 63 not out, as they look to bat the tourists out of the
match and set up an opportunity for their bowlers to secure a win that would give Australia a 4-0 series triumph. The Marsh brothers combined for 104 in the final session and punished England with a flurry of boundaries in the last hour as the bowlers tired after a long day’s slog in bright sunshine at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It was Khawaja’s sure hand, though, that guided Australia past England’s tally of 346 after Mooen Ali (1-125) had stunned a packed house by moving the apparently unmoveable when he dismissed Smith caught and bowled for 83.
“It’s awesome,” Khawaja said of his innings. “The SCG was where I grew up playing cricket for New South Wales and an Ashes century is something I have wanted for a long time and I haven’t been able to achieve, so it was very satisfying. “You don’t get to celebrate test centuries too much unless you’re Steve Smith. You’ve got to enjoy them when they come.” Smith had already scored three centuries, two of them unbeaten and one a double, in the series and although denied a fourth, walked off his home ground having amassed 687 runs at an average of 137.4 over the five tests.
Sunday January 07, 2018 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) It’s as if you hitched a ride on a comet and all you can do now is grin and hold on for dear life. You can see the future open up before you as one ingenious idea after another catches your attention and takes you in a new direction. TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) Naturally, you relish receiving support from your friends. However, too much praise makes you feel awkward and you don’t trust what you’re being told. GEMINI (May 21–June 20) You can talk up a storm today, impressing people with your brilliant ideas and lightning-fast mind. Your communication is effortless as you smoothly jump from one topic to another, keeping up with multiple conversations at once.
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) You’re quite picky as you prioritize your dreams today, consciously deciding which ones to follow and which ones to let fade. Paradoxically, it’s not as easy to control a conversation because it involves other people, and they might have different ideas about what’s off limits. SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) There is something you need to get off your chest today, and it might prove upsetting to someone else. However, it’s not your job to moderate the truth in order to protect others. SAGIT (Nov. 22–Dec. 21) You may appear even more outrageous today as you say whatever pops into your awareness. Your social filters aren’t functioning very well now, triggering reactions faster than you can sort them out.
CANCER (June 21–July 22) You may try to say less and listen more today, for you believe that others have plenty to teach you. However, as soon as a subject of interest comes up in a conversation, you can’t help but add your two cents to the discussion.
CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) You might surprise someone who expresses concern about your long-term plans. Rather than defending your choices today, you may just tell them to mind their own business.
LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) You have every intention of staying off the public radar today. The timid Virgo Moon sits in your 2nd House of SelfEsteem, discouraging your ego from making grandiose gestures that attract the spotlight.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18) Your current thoughts are so innovative that even your best friends may think you’re crazy. Whether or not others can keep up with you, you are at ease when talking about a new project or your next adventure.
VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) You are like the little boy in the story of The Emperors New Clothes. You see the unspeakable truth of the current situation and you feel responsible to tell others what they are missing.
PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Your visions may be too big to handle today, but you can still enjoy them from afar. Although the practical Virgo Moon urges you to bring your fantasies closer, they may serve you better now from a distance.
Khawaja had an lbw scare in the following over but was reprieved when TV pictures showed Mason Crane had bowled a no ball and he otherwise looked assured as he calmly totted up the runs in the face of some tight English bowling. A fine stroke-player but considered suspect against spin bowling, Khawaja has had a stop-start career in the baggy green since making his debut at the SCG in the corresponding Ashes clash eight years ago. OVATION He wasted no time in knocking off the nine runs he needed to secure his maiden hundred against England at the start of the day, cutting Moeen for two before soaking up the ovation from a crowd largely clad in pink in support of Glenn McGrath’s cancer charity. Spinner Moeen was again bowling when he reached the 150-run mark, two consecutive fours to get over the mark a rare flourish in a 381-ball innings that contained 18 of them along with a solitary six. England captain Joe Root came closest to a breakthrough in the second session when Shaun Marsh, on 22, was given out caught behind only for the decision to be reversed when TV pictures showed a big gap between ball and bat. It was debutant legspinner Crane who finally ended the 31-year-old’s time out in the middle to claim his first test victim, beating the bat to leave Khawaja stranded and Jonny Bairstow with a simple stumping. Crane, 20, attracted the ire of the crowd with his habit of pulling out of his run-up but kept his head up despite finishing with figures of 1125. It was a very good day on the decision review system for Australia with Mitchell Marsh also reversing a late lbw decision after the snicko revealed an inside edge. “It was pretty tough,” said Bairstow. “We’re 150 overs into the innings so there’s going to be a few tired bodies but I thought the way the guys toiled out there and worked hard was really impressive.” Australia won back the Ashes with victories in the first three matches in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth with the fourth test in Melbourne finishing in a draw last week. Scores: Australia 4 for 479 (Khawaja 171, S Marsh 98*, Smith 83, M Marsh 63*) lead England 346 by 133 runs.
Usman Khawaja resumed needing nine more runs for a first Ashes hundred... ©Getty Images
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Sunday January 07, 2018
South Africa ahead despite ECB to commence preparation Pandya’s all-round heroics for inter county U15 tourney
Pandya ensured India stayed in the contest with a brilliant, fighting 93 from 95 balls. (ESPN Cricinfo) In their first innings of a season in which they’ll be living out of their briefcases, India realised they forgot to pack something rather important. The middle of the bat. They were 92-7 and the Newlands Test began to look like another one in a long line of dismal performances away from home. Two months ago, when Hardik Pandya was rested from the Test team, he spoke about playing in South Africa in this way. The 24-year old all-rounder defied a fearsome fast-bowling attack to make 93 off 95 balls. South Africa did eventually secure a lead of 77 runs, bowling India out for 209, but it might have come at a sizeable cost. With three overs to tea, Dale Steyn injured his left heel and there are concerns that he may he out of the series. Cape Town, as it did on the first day, continued
spoiling cricket fans rotten. Vernon Philander began the day with five successive maidens. Kagiso Rabada was just plain mean. Morne Morkel seemed to be pushing through his action better; the snap of his wrist had been more palpable and those awkwardly rising deliveries came with greater frequency. Steyn, while fit, calmly moved to 418 Test wickets, three away from the national record. Given helpful conditions, each of them can be a spearhead. They also pose different questions to a batsman, are incredibly accurate, and hate giving away runs. All of that meant India had not a moment of respite. They made only 29 in the first 18 overs - the point when they lost their first wicket of the day. They also got frustrated because Pandya wasn’t
trussing himself up and presenting his wicket to them. As audacious as the shots he played were - upper cuts to quick bouncers, a flat-batted biff over extra cover to get to his fifty and a still-headed down-the-track flick through midwicket - he was also thoughtful. Pandya asked Bhuvneshwar Kumar whether his execution was off or if the ball had kept low. The exchange of information continued all the way through their 99-run stand for the eighth wicket. That his stroke play is eye-catching is no surprise. But his ease in countering a quality bowling line-up was. India may have finally found a bankable seam-bowling allrounder. South Africa could, of course, have saved themselves some irritation if Dean Elgar had held on to a sharp catch at gully when Pandya was only 15. But as in Perth 2016, Rabada stepped up. His third ball of the day was clocked at 146 kph. It beat the splice of the bat on its way to the wicketkeeper. In light of that, there may be sense in playing him off the back foot. But, he is just as adept as pitching the ball up, and has sensational speed through the air. Rohit Sharma found that out the hard way when he was late to bring the bat down and was out lbw. Pandya’s day was not quite done yet. He came on second-change for India and dismissed both of South Africa’s openers but their lead is already at 142 and the Test remains in their control. Scores: (South Africa 286 and 65 for 2 (Amla 4*, Rabada 2*, Pandya 2-17) lead India 209 (Pandya 93, Philander 3-33, Rabada 334) by 142 runs.
South Africa celebrate a wicket.
The Essequibo Cricket Board (ECB) has shortlisted a squad of 20 players to commence preparation for the upcoming Guyana Cricket Board inter county U15 tournament which is expected commence once the inclement weather improves. The players will commence encampment at the Essequibo Cricket Board Hostel at Anna Regina from next Friday to Sunday and will continue the following weekend before the final 14 is being selected. The players were drawn from the eight area committees and will be under the guidance of Coach Forbes Daniels and Manager Vickram Ramnarine. Those shortlisted are
Ronaldo Scouten, Ryan Atkins, Mahendra Basdeo, Davindra Ramdahin, Ramesh Ramnarine, Ricky Persaud, Jarad Allicock, Shaheen Haniff, Kevin George, Raynard Ramroop, Adaish Ramdial, Steven Corbin, Anthony Deonarine, Dwayne Fredericks, Terrence Softliegh, Irfan Bradshaw, Avick Ramdial, Jonathan Lynch, Gladwyn J Twan and Komal Shaw. Manager Ramnarine said that their preparation is being hampered somewhat by the inclement weather so they will be looking closely at the players in the camp in order to arrive at the best possible squad. Ramnarine added the Essequibo U-15s will be looking to follow in the
Vickram Ramnarine footsteps of their senior team who have won the GCB Jaguars three-day Franchise league and are leaders in 50 overs format at play-off stage.
Barcelona will sign Liverpool’s Coutinho in one of most expensive transfers ever
Barca will sing Philippe Coutinho
Barcelona will sign Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho for 142 Million Pounds in one of the most expensive transfers all time. The Reds are expected to receive £105m up front - a British record - for the 25-yearold Brazil international, with the rest in realistic add-ons. The playmaker will sign a five-and-half year deal at the Nou Camp and will have a buyout clause of 400m Euros (£355m). Coutinho joined Liverpool from Inter Milan for £8.5m in January 2013, The final deal will be eclipsed only by the £200m Paris St-Germain paid Barcelona for Neymar last summer, and the £165.7m Kylian Mbappe will cost PSG
at the end of his initial loan spell from Monaco. Coutinho stayed behind on Merseyside while final negotiations were concluded as his Liverpool team-mates flew to Dubai for a mid-season break. “In the next hours we will inform you of the details of the player ’s arrival and presentation,” the Spanish club said in a statement Liverpool rejected three Barca bids and a transfer request from the player during the summer transfer window. The last of Barcelona’s three bids was £118m - which included add-ons totalling in excess of £30m based on Coutinho winning the Ballon d’Or and other built-in
clauses. Coutinho only signed a new five-year deal, which did not include a release clause, with the Anfield club in January. “It is no secret that Philippe has wanted this move to happen since July, when Barcelona first made their interest known,” said Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp. “Philippe was insistent with me, the owners and even his team-mates this was a move he was desperate to make happen.” Klopp said the club had “hoped” they would be able to persuade the player to stay, adding: “The club did everything within our means to convince Philippe that remaining part of Liverpool was as attractive as moving to Spain. “It is with great reluctance that we - as a team and club prepare to say farewell to a good friend, a wonderful person and a fantastic player in Coutinho. “The relationship we have for him means with a heavy heart we wish him well.” The player has a minor thigh injury and missed the club’s past two games, including Friday’s FA Cup third-round win against Everton. He will not be eligible to play for Barcelona in their Champions League last-16 tie against Chelsea, having already played a key role in Liverpool’s qualification for the knockout phase. Coutinho’s name briefly appeared on a Nike advert for Barcelona shirts last week before being removed. (BBC sport)
Sunday January 07, 2018
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Kaieteur News
Coventry pile misery on Stoke, Chelsea held by Norwich LONDON (Reuters) Fourth-tier Coventry City piled on the misery for Stoke City manager Mark Hughes by pulling off the only genuine upset on a hectic day of FA Cup third-round action yesterday. Former Cup winners Coventry, now plying their trade in the bottom division of the Football League, revived memories of happier times as Jordan Willis and Jack Grimmer scored the goals in a 2-1 victory at the Ricoh Arena. Elsewhere, the 25 ties offered only crumbs for the romantics seeking Cup magic although second tier Norwich City did hold champions Chelsea to a 0-0 draw. Top-flight Bournemouth needed a late Steve Cook goal to draw 2-2 at home to League One leaders and 2013 Cup winners Wigan Athletic and Leicester City drew 0-0 at third-tier Fleetwood Town who struck the post in stoppage-time. Chelsea manager Antonio Conte made nine changes and his side struggled to make clear-cut chances in a dour game at Norwich who created the better opportunities. Runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City maintained their pursuit of an unprecedented four trophies, Sergio Aguero scoring twice as they came from a goal down to beat Burnley 4-1.
Stoke City have lost eight of their last 11 games and Manager Hughes paid the price as the fans called for his head. (Getty Images) Goals by Leroy Sane and Bernardo Silva killed off Burnley who had led at halftime thanks to an Ashley Barnes effort. Several clubs in the thick of the Premier League relegation battle survived potential banana skins. Alan Pardew enjoyed his first win as West Bromwich Albion manager as his team beat fourth-tier Exeter City 20, Southampton overcame Championship Fulham 1-0 and bottom club Swansea City held on for a worthy 0-0 draw at free-scoring Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers. Seven-times Cup winners Aston Villa, fifth in the
Championship, lost 3-1 at home to third-tier Peterborough United while Brentford, also from the second tier, were humbled by fourth-tier Notts County with Jon Stead scoring the winner. RELEGATION ZONE Stoke manager Hughes would have hoped for respite after his side’s tumble into the Premier League’s relegation zone, but there was none coming in the Midlands clash as they suffered a sixth defeat in the last eight matches. “It’s clearly a difficult time for us. When we make mistakes, they’re getting penalised,” Hughes said. “We’re all under pressure.
Monfils back in business with Doha title
Gael Monfils is ranked 46th in the world, having been as high as sixth back in November 2016. (AFP) (Reuters) - Persistence finally paid off for fit-again Frenchman Gael Monfils as he claimed the Qatar Open title with a 6-2 6-3 victory over promising Russian Andrey Rublev yesterday. Monfils had lost three times in the final, most recently in 2014 against Rafa Nadal, but left nothing to chance this time as he
outclassed Rublev in 61 minutes. The 31-year-old former world number six slipped down the rankings last year as injuries struck and ended his year after the U.S. Open citing a right knee injury. “ I ‘ m v e r y h a p p y, ” Monfils said. “I like this tournament so much. I always come back and I
finally got it. So I‘m just very happy and very proud. “It’s been a while. I was waiting for that moment to get back in shape. In 2016, I was almost on my top and I had a very good year, finishing at six. I couldn’t really defend my chances in 2017. I had a long rest and came back strong in 2018.” Although it was a disappointing day for Rublev, the 20-year-old has sent out an early signal that he will be a force this year. He more than matched Monfils for firepower but was frustrated by the Frenchman’s defensive skills and despite defeat he is projected to rise to a career-high 32 in the rankings. Monfils, who reached the final after top seed Dominic Thiem withdrew on Friday due to illness, made it a good day for Frenchmen in the build-up to the Australian Open after 33-year-old Gilles Simon also returned to form to beat Kevin Anderson and win the title in Pune.
I can take the pressure and the focus. I‘m not naive and I
realise people will talk about my position. But we’ve got good owners who will make the right decisions for the club.” Coventry won the Cup in 1987 but have been on a downward spiral since they were relegated from the top flight in 2001 and are in England’s bottom tier for the first time since 1959. But there are signs of a revival and the mood was, for a change, joyous on Saturday. Willis headed Coventry in front and although Charlie Adam levelled for Stoke from the penalty spot Grimmer fired home Coventry’s winner in the 68th minute. Manager Mark Robins said he would love to draw his old club Manchester
United in round four. “For us it’s brilliant, we’re in the fourth-round draw. Hopefully, we’ll get a big club away from home - United away would be perfect,” he said. Newcastle United scored three times in nine minutes Ayoze Perez with two - to see off League Two leaders Luton Town while fellow top-flight side Watford made light of a poor recent run to beat second-tier high-fliers Bristol City who are in League Cup semi-final action against Manchester City next week. In a north-east derby, Middlesbrough deepened Sunderland’s gloom with a 20 victory at the Riverside Stadium. FA Cup holders Arsenal face Nottingham Forest today.
Simona Halep wins Shenzhen Open as Elina Svitolina takes Brisbane title
Simona Halep is guaranteed top seeding for the Australian Open. (Getty Images) BBC Sport - World number one Simona Halep and number six Elina Svitolina continued their preparations for the Australian Open with contrasting tournament wins. Halep recovered from losing the second set at the Shenzhen Open in China to beat reigning champion Katerina Siniakova 6-1 2-6 6-0. Earlier, Svitolina claimed the first WTA title of the year at the Brisbane International. The Ukrainian beat surprise finalist Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2 6-1. Sasnovich, the world number 88, had come through qualifying. She came up against a determined Svitolina, who controlled the match throughout. The 23-year-old sent down 10 aces and never faced a break point on the way to a 10th career title. Halep’s match against Siniakova was moved indoors because of rain, and the Romanian started strongly, winning the first set without facing a break point. She appeared to lose
focus in the second set but regained her composure in the decider to break her Czech opponent’s serve three times and seal her first tournament win since May’s Madrid Open. Meanwhile, top seed Caroline Wozniacki won two matches in just over four hours to set up a final against second seed Julia Goerges at the Auckland Classic.
The schedule had been affected by rain, forcing organisers to play the quarterfinals and both semi-finals on Saturday and move the final to Sunday. Denmark’s Wozniacki got the better of 19-year-old American wildcard Sofia Kenin 4-6 6-2 6-4 before defeating US qualifier Sachia Vickery 6-4 6-4. Vickery had earlier upset third seed Agnieszka Radwanska. Goerges, who had lost to American Sloane Stephens in the 2016 Auckland final, was far more comfortable in both of her matches. She beat Slovenia’s Polona Hercog 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-finals before moving into the final with a 6-1 6-4 win over Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei. Elsewhere in New Zealand, Britain’s Heather Watson made a winning start in qualifying for the Hobart International, beating Australia’s Kimberly Birrell 6-3 6-2. Watson will next face Japan’s Nao Hibino, who at 97 is ranked 22 places below her.
Svitolina has now won her last six finals. (Getty Images)
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Kaieteur News
We want back ‘Superman’ ‘Jumbie’ Wiltshire Birth - David Christopher Anniversary Domino set for Jan.14 President of the St Lucian Boxing Association David ‘Shakes’ Christopher has promised to send a team to ‘extract revenge’ on Guyana when the Guyana Boxing Association and Alford McDonald stages a card at the National Gymnasium on February 17. “We want a rematch with the man called `Superman’. We wouldn’t rest until we get him. We are coming in his home town seek and destroy. It is going to be lights, camera and then canvas,” Christopher told Kaieteur Sport yesterday. ‘Superman’ referred to by Christopher is the Caribbean light welterweight champion Colin Lewis. The gangly Lewis flattened the St Lucian champion Nathan Ferrari when the two met last month in the Caribbean Championships. Christopher said St Lucia is willing to send a team of three boxers to the upcoming event. “We are going to Trinidad for the training camp then come down to Guyana to extract revenge,” the St Lucian president declared.
- ALL SEASONS RACING SERVICE ON BOARD
Alford McDonald
Colin Lewis
When contacted McDonald disclosed that Jamaica is another country expected to participated. “The competition is now an annual event as I had promised last year. It will have and international flavor as several Caribbean territories have intentions of participating. We (GBA and the promoter) have been in contact with Jamaica and received the thumbs up. My expectation is that there will be high-quality boxing in Guyana next
month,” Mc Donald said. The competition is being used as part of preparation of local boxers for several international engagements in the first half of the year. “I am committed to seeing our boxers reach their full potential. As a former amateur boxer I know what fighters go through. My aim is to make it a bit easier for them,” Mc Donald added. The February 17 12-fight card would be the first on the GBA calendar for the year.
He has one of the most recognised faces within the domino fraternity and when he celebrates his 63rd Birth Anniversary on Sunday, January 14, the turnout of teams is anticipated to be large. Senior Organising Secretary Mark ‘Jumbie’ Wiltshire has organised a Domino Tournament to celebrate his birthday, at the New Turning Point Sports Bar. Yesterday, during a simple presentation ceremony, All Seasons Racing Service representative Tiffany Johnson handed over a sum of money that represented sponsorship to Wiltshire, at the entity’s location on Robb Street. According to Johnson, the sponsorship is to go towards the tournament and the Service was happy to be part of the event, adding that Wiltshire has been a long standing friend of Proprietor Raymond Ali. Wiltshire in his remarks thanked the entity for its support adding that it will go a long way in making the tournament a success. Over $300,000 in prize monies and trophies
will be up for grabs with the winning team set to receive $175,000 and the winner’s trophy, while second, third, fourth and fifth place finishers will take home $80,000, $40,000, $20,000 and $10,000 along with trophies respectively. Wiltshire said the tournament will run on a points system, while all the Guyana National Dominoes Federation rules will be in effect. Most Valuable Player of the finals will receive $5,000, while the Best Female Player in the tournament will be given $10,000. All prizes are guaranteed and the Organisers have stated that zero tolerance for indiscipline will also be in effect. Entrance fee is $12,000 per team. There will be an after domino Oldies with Big P and Revolution One Man Band. Bar-b-Cue will be on sale at a cost of $1,000. Among the other sponsors on board are: Yhip’s Bakery, Sweet Point, Big Boss Trucking Service, Hopkinson Mining, Strikers DC, Dynasty Restaurant, N&H Car Rental, Tony’s Jewellery, Faye Joseph and Spartans.
Stoke sacks Manager Stoke City sacked manager Mark Hughes following their FA Cup defeat yesterday, after a run that saw them win just twice in 13 games. The 2-1 defeat at Coventry City of League Two proved to be the final straw, after chants of “Hughes out” had been heard from Stoke fans after Monday’s 1-0 home defeat to Newcastle. That followed a 5-0 drubbing at Chelsea two days earlier. A club statement said: “We would like to thank Mark for all he has achieved for the club over the last four and a half years, notably in guiding us to three successive ninthplace finishes in the Premier League, and we wish him every success for the future.” Stoke are in the Premier League relegation zone in 18th place on goal difference, with 20 points from 22 games. The club have also conceded the most goals of any team in the division — 47 from their 22 games. Supporters had already been voicing their displeasure
Sacked Stoke City Manager Mark Hughes after 3-0 loss to West Ham on Dec. 16, and though the club turned things around with a 3-1 win over West Brom in the following game, a 1-1 draw with Huddersfield on Boxing Day did little to quell the tide of criticism before the latest setbacks. Hughes was appointed at Stoke on May 30, 2013, taking over from fellow Welshman Tony Pulis. He had exactly 200 games in charge of the
Potters, following spells in charge of QPR, Fulham, Manchester City, Blackburn and Wales. Speaking after the FA Cup defeat at Coventry, Hughes suggested the result might be a blessing in disguise — only for it to prove to be his last game in charge. “The fact we’ve gone out, even if it’s a little bit raw at the moment, might help us,” Hughes said. “At the moment we don’t want to discuss Premier League games, but maybe when we wake up on Monday the reality clearly has to be our league form.” He questioned whether the result would affect his future, and added: “It just highlights that we need to do better. But in the long term, certainly until the end of the season, it might be a blessing for us.” The perilous nature of Stoke’s position was not lost on him, and Hughes had been planning transfer window business until being told his services were no longer required. Charlie Adam had equalised with a second-half penalty after Jordan Willis opened the scoring but Jack Grimmer scored for the home side to clinch the upset. Stoke finished ninth in each of Hughes’ first three seasons in charge but for the 2016-17 campaign they had slipped to 13th. Bookmakers rated former Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs and Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill among the early favourites to succeed Hughes.