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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 Tel: 225-8491, 225-8458, 225-8465 Fax: 225-8473 or 226-8210

Editorial

MADNESS ON THE ROADS CONTINUES Recently, several senior police officers attached to the Traffic Department mounted a road safety campaign in an attempt to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities on the roadways. However, despite the launch of the road safety campaign, the madness on the roads continue. The most recent was a head on collision on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway which claimed the lives of four people and injured several others. While the public is alarmed at the disregard for the traffic laws by some reckless and drunk drivers and has called for draconian punishment to end such lawlessness, there appears to be more talk than action by those in authority. With road fatalities and accidents on the rise, it seems that the society cannot afford to ignore this troubling menace on the roads. The country’s population is too small to lose 130 people per year in traffic fatalities. Now is time for the police to mount a serious, meaningful and sustained campaign to discourage the dangerous practices on the roads. Harsher penalties must be imposed on all reckless drivers and motor cycle users. There should be lengthy incarceration, hefty fines, suspension of licenses and the impounding of vehicles. Delinquent drivers should also be mandated to attend classes so that they can be taught discipline and how to be careful when using the road. Guyana is a civilized society with laws which must be obeyed, therefore, such tough measures are needed to make sure that violators of the road ordinance codes are arrested and severely punished. They must be held accountable for their actions. Such measures will also go a long way toward reducing traffic accidents and fatalities on the roads. If society stands idly by and do nothing or turn a blind eye to delinquent road users, more will perish on the roads. Last year has been one of the most tragic in terms of traffic fatalities. Enforcement of the traffic laws is critical to curbingdrunk and dangerous drivers. However,it seems that there are not enough resources and manpower to enforce the traffic ordinance codes. Police data have shown that in 2016 and in previous years, pedestrians continued to be the largest category of road users killed. There were 32 such deaths last year, followed by 23 traffic deaths for motor cyclists. Driving in Guyana can be potentially hazardous. According to the World Health Organization, traffic fatalities in Guyana account for 27.5 percent of total deaths and Guyana ranks fourth in the world in terms of traffic deaths per capita. While the road conditions in Guyana differ significantly from those in the United States, based on population ratio, the rate of traffic fatalities in Guyana is higher than in the United States. Minibus drivers are responsible for the majority of traffic accidents and fatalities. Although they have been severely criticized by the media and the citizens for speeding, aggressive and reckless driving, overloading of vehicles, poor vehicle repair and maintenance, yet very little change has been noted in their driving behaviour. Enforcement of the traffic laws in Guyana is pathetic. Be that as it may, caution should be exercised at all times while driving at nights, especially outside of Georgetown. Most of the highways are not properly lit; some drivers do not lower high beam lights; livestock, horses and stray dogs sleep on the roads and many pedestrians congregate by the roadways. We must stop the madness on the roads.

Sunday January 08, 2017

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People asked me why I was not awarded Silk Dear Editor; This letter is in response to the numerous enquiries made by friends and colleagues of mine who have been enquiring of me as to the reason why I was not appointed a Senior Counsel. I wish I could have responded to their concerns, but all I can do is put the facts of my professional practice to them through this medium and let them be the judge as to whether or not I ought to have been so elevated. I have been in active and continuous practice at the Bar for over 37 years. During the first seven years of my practice I practised exclusively at the Criminal Bar in both the Magistrates’ Courts and the Criminal

Assizes. During that period I did trials in excess of 32 serious criminal (indictable) matters. However, at this point in time, I only have records for 22 of those cases. Of those 22 cases, 1 was for simple larceny, 1 for rape and 20 were for murder. In each of those cases the accused was freed for the offence charged. I also did trials in at least 15 cases of causing death by dangerous driving. In all those cases the defendants were freed after their trials. From about the year 1986 to the present time I concentrated my practice exclusively in the civil law jurisdiction in the High Court. I have established a very

wide civil and commercial practice, and, in so doing, several written and oral presentations were made. For 35 years I had been the retained lawyer for the Georgetown City Council and I am currently the retained lawyer for the Central Housing and Planning Authority for over 17 years. I also served as a Magistrate in 1982. My work as a Magistrate was highly commended by the then Chancellor Mr. Victor E Crane, the then Chief Justice Mr. Kenneth George as well as the then Guyana Bar Association. This is what Chancellor Crane had to say of me as a Magistrate: “…it was a pleasure to have you adorn to Bench”. Said Chief

Justice George: “Robert Ramcharran, from all reports is possessed of the qualities which make for a worthy member of our profession; he has a great future”. The Bar Association which then comprised men of the ilk of Messrs Ashton Chase, SC, Robin Stoby, SC, and the late David de Caires and Ayube Mc Doom had this to say of my stint as a Magistrate: “Mr. Robert Ramcharran off the Bench. We regret he could not continue. He did extremely well”. My professional expertise and professional integrity have never been called into question by any member of the judiciary or by my (Continued on page 5)

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Legal arguments in support of the President’s Red House decision DEAR EDITOR; Article 112(1) of our Constitution provides “There shall be an Attorney General of Guyana who shall be the principal legal adviser to the Government of Guyana …” I merely cite this provision, presumptuously, as a reminder to our former Attorney General Mohabir. A. Nandlall that it is not tautologous, or mere surplusage, in either content or purpose. To whoever the President of – the – day assigns this high indispensable constitutional portfolio, the constitution – makers has endowed and entrusted him with advisory responsibilities over governmental legal matters. Can it be “lawlessness” to do the very thing the Constitution itself prescribes – act on the AG’s advice? So, if relying and acting on its principal legal adviser’s advice amounts to “executive lawlessness”, then the constitution – makers are complicit. Are they? The facility of advisory opinions from courts does not exist in our legal system. Professionals are expected to advice. Our legal system affords protection of the law, which means unimpeded right of access to a court; not some a priori duty to go to court for a judicial determination. Litigation is not compellable! I mention all of this because in his vexed criticism of what the Government has done in this Red House lease – revocation matter, Ralph Ramkarran, SC. writes “The attempt to eject the occupants of Red House is a straight case of the height of executive lawlessness…. ,If the Government requires possession it must obtain an

order of Court. That is the rule of law”. Mohabir A. Nandlall writes “A tenant has security of tenure. The rule of law and the Constitution dictates that legal issues are to be determined by a court of law” (see “In Red House case obligations of landlord do not change because of a change in Government” S.N January 01, 2017. See Ralph Ramkarran’s Column “A portent of what will happen in 2017?” S.N, January 01, 2017). Both counsels are prominent supporters of the PPP. So, I, desire to examine the soundness of their views from a position of political detachment. To the extent that both writers seeks to convey to your readership that it is contrary to the “rule of law” for the Government (acting on the advice of the learned Attorney General) to have treated the Red House 99 years lease as null and void and consequently to have elected to eject its occupants, by re-entry (in the exercise of its common law rights) rather than elect to pursue some court option, I say without equivocation, that both (with due respect to the learned Senior Counsel) has misdirected themselves and misrepresented and misstated the true legal position and options . The true legal position is this: the, Government of – the – day as landlord, unless some statutory (protected) tenancy exists, can elect to pursue the common law option of self-help (i.e. peaceable re-entry) to eject a trespasser, rather than seek an order of the court. What the Government did, fell squarely and properly within

such legal position. The AG in his constitutional advisory capacity advised the Lease is void. There being no statutory tenancy under the Rent Restriction Act Cap. 36:23 no other law requires that the Government obtain a court order to eject, rather than peaceable reentry. I endorse as sound, evidentiary informed as it is, the learned AG’s legal analysis and advice that the Red House lease, because of the clear, palpable and irrefutable noncompliance or nonobservance of section 10(1) of the Lands Department Act Cap 59:01 (“LDA”) was null and void (see “AG’s Statement on Red House lease” GC, Saturday

and treat it as it is, as if it was sanctioned? Can he as President, should he as President, waive the noncompliance with section 10(1)? Can he, should he as President, ratify the imperfect, unsanctioned lease by now sanctioning it by his written consent, adopting and consenting to all its present terms and conditions? I would argue that the true answer to all these questions/ issues and points lies in one provision of the Constitution – article 111(1). Relevantly, it reads – “In the exercise of his… functions under this Constitution or any other law the President shall act in accordance with his… own deliberate judgment

except…” [those exceptions not being relevant]. Case law has interpreted this wording as conferring on, or vesting in the President, an unfettered discretionary power and that accordingly there is no limit as to the materials and consideration to which he must address his mind in his deliberations as to how to exercise his judgment in this Red House Lease matter. (See the instructive decision of the Privy Council in Adegbenro V Akintola And Another [1963] 3 All E.R 544). This power means that Jagdeo’s “mistake” cannot be foisted on President Granger. Maxwell E. Edwards Attorney –at-Law

In the United States, all lawyers have the same status DEAR EDITOR; The legal profession in Guyana has been in the news for the past week after President David Granger announced the names of nine persons including a sitting High Court Judge and three women to be members of the inner bar. This is the first time in two decades that the government has decided to award ‘silk’ to lawyers. There have been letters to the press, social media, and discussions in clubs, bars and the like about the method of appointment and who should or should not have been elevated, whether the appointees were connected to the administration, whether they deserved it, and most importantly, the persons who were not chosen. In the United States all lawyers are attorneys and have the same status; there is no inner bar, and in 2003 an English Minister, Lord Irvine,

People asked me why I was not... From page 4 colleagues. I am currently a member of the Legal Practicioners’ Committee. I was recently appointed by the President of Guyana, after being recommended by the Judicial Service Commission, to sit on a tribunal to inquire into a complaint and to report and advise the Presi-

December 31,2016). Editor, the long and short of this matter, the crux, the gravamen is this: the incontrovertible evidence is that the Red House lease was not sanctioned by then President Jagdeo (see AG’s statement supra). One does not anticipate that the Lessee would deny (not admit) this fact. So this unsanctioned feature is not an issue in dispute. Assuming, without conceding, then a position most favorable to the Lessee that the lease is nonetheless not void or invalid, what then is the legal position regarding now President Granger concerning it? Should he, can he, as President disregard its non-sanction and condone it

dent on whether a certain public official should be removed from a constitutional office. These are the facts. You be the judge as to whether you think I ought to have been elevated to the status of Senior Counsel or not. Robert Ramcharran Attorney-at-law

tried unsuccessfully to scrap the Queen’s Counsel system in the United Kingdom. Guyana abolished the term ‘Queen’s Counsel’ and replaced it with Senior Counsel in February 1970, when the country gained Republican status, and since then the elevation process to the inner bar was not too consistent and there were complaints that persons who did not deserve silk were elevated and people who deserved it were side-stepped. However, we should always remember that we do not live in a perfect world. The Council of Legal Education (CLE) was established in 1971 following an agreement signed by the Governments of Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the

University of the West Indies (UWI) and the University of Guyana (UG). The first Director of the CLE was Guyanese Aubrey Fraser, who was named Principal of the Norman Manley Law School, and Dr. Fenton Ramsahoye as his deputy who headed the Hugh Wooding Law School. The establishment of the law schools in the region attracted hundreds who no longer had to journey thousands of miles to London in the bitter cold to read law, and because of this the Caribbean is now flooded with lawyers mainly females. I would like to note that in the late 1970s and in the 1980s the English trained lawyers did not recognize Caribbean trained lawyers. They sniffed at us, calling us Caricom lawyers. Now more than 90% of the senior

judges and top lawyers in the region are products of the CLE. Only two of the nine persons named in the last list as SCs were UK trained. I refer to Claudette Singh and Vidyanand ‘Vish’Persaud. The first West Indian trained lawyer to receive silk was Tapley Seaton of St Kitts/Nevis, and that was in 1988, 28 years ago. Incidentally he was the first Caribbean trained attorney to be an Attorney General. Now Sir Tapley is the Governor General of the twin island state. He is only 66 years of age. The legal profession was known to be a noble profession, but over the years some lawyers have been receiving a battering and have been accused of ripping off people, (Continued on page 6)

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THE RULING ELITE IS OBSESSED WITH POWER

Juan Edghill accuses Chronicle of unprofessional journalism

DEAR EDITOR; It seems that the New Year will not bring any relief to the poor and the lower working class who continue to be the casualties of the mismanagement of the economy under the current government. This is weighing heavily on them who are struggling to put food on the table or a roof over their heads. The promises made to the youths have gone for naught. But this is alien information to the ruling cabal who are isolated from the pains and perils of the masses. The more the administration borrows the more they are likely to squander the taxpayers’ money on more Ponzi scheme projects like the Durban Park Project, the drug bond scandal and the expensive audit reports which seems to be a waste of money and time. This is the story of the administration which has abandoned the youths who came out in droves to vote for the government. But it is important for youths to understand that their fight against the PPP is fleetingly and temporarily. Temporarily because today the country is saddled with a bunch of incompetent, corrupt, arrogant and abrasive public officials who are confused and inexperienced and

are driving the country over the abyss. However, the young people should never be ashamed of their action for standing for truth and justice in the 2015 election. Had the PPP not lost power, its leaders also would not have stepped out of their ivory tower and humble themselves and listened to the people. Today, we have an administration that is mismanaging the country, manipulating the treasury and disrespecting the poor by paying themselves a fifty percent salary increase and granting two ministers millions of dollars to pursue graduate and post graduate degrees. It is now clear that both the PPP and the APNU+AFC government are bad for Guyana. It is time for the rational middle class to start mobilizing again. We are calling on the youths and the rational middle class to start raising their voices against wrongdoings by the bankrupt political forces. After 18 months in office, there is hardly any change as promised by the coalition. In fact, what the people got is exchange and not change. The economy is failing, unemployment is high, crime is rampant and the social services are crumbling, and yet the non-

descriptive characters at the helm of the government seem to believe that all is well with the people. Those in authority have no interest in the youth and no energy or interest in chartering a course to transform Guyana. What is the purpose of the Ministries of Social Cohesion, Immigration or Business or the department of GO-Invest? It seems that the Ministry of Agriculture is operating as if it has a ghost for a Minister? The Ministry of Health has two medical doctors and yet people continue to die from simple illnesses, infant mortality rate remains high and the public hospitals are plagued by simple problems. There are failures in every government department, yet the head of state seems to believe that this is the best cabinet. If this is not delusional, then what is? These “knick knack paddy-whacks” are so obsessed with power that they have become power drunk. At the minimum, the people had expected a competent, transparent, accountable, honest and trustworthy government; instead they have the opposite. Asquith Rose and Sasenarine Singh

Not even one AFC official attended this Xmas party in Bath C h r i s t m a s s o c i a l . T h e Dear Editor; The Alliance For Change (AFC) has died in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice). I wish to respond to Mr Abel Seetaram’s claims in the Stabroek News and Kaieteur News via letters to the effect that the AFC is not dead in Region Five as

the Opposition claims in December 2016. I wish to point out that the AFC has lost all grounds in Region Five. My reasons for making this statement is that, indeed Mr Abel had organised a Christmas social for the members and friends of the AFC. Not a Government Minister or any senior official from the AFC attended that Christmas social that was held in Bath, Berbice. My evidence is that no one from Bath attended the

venue was chosen to be “Bath” because to showcase the political drama show that Bath is fully behind the AFC. The AFC has failed its supporters in Region Five. The executive members of the AFC have not held an outreach to its members since elections. The leaders of the AFC are hiding from the grassroots supporters in Region Five. ROVIN KALICHRAN, RESIDENT OF BATH, BERBICE

DEAR EDITOR; The article carried in the Guyana Chronicle, Saturday 7th January, 2017 titled “Bishop Edghill opposes curbs on illegal rum shops” is mischievous, misleading, a total fabrication, a nasty piece of editorial intervention, yellow journalism and displays the pettiness and vindictiveness of the APNU+AFC Granger led administration. It is clear that this propaganda piece was not designed to inform the public of the debate which took place in the National Assembly on the 6th January, 2017 but it was a calculated attempt to bring my ecclesiastical office into disrepute and to create suspicions in the minds of readers. The headline and story do not match and from all indications, the editor of the Guyana Chronicle must take full responsibility for facilitating this despicable act. At no time in my presentation to the National Assembly during the debate of Bill #32 of 2016 “Intoxicating Liquor Licensing (Amendment) Bill 2016” did I indicate that I am against illegal rum shops or even made any such insinuations. As a matter of fact, nowhere in the bill even in the explanatory memorandum, was the issue of illegal rum shops addressed. The bill was about increasing fees and penalties (100% in every case). It is clear that this Government having inflicted greater burdens on the people of Guyana through their taxation measures are now seeking to deflect the criticism coming from the masses. This attempt exposes the lack of decency and ethics; in seeking to denigrate one’s religion and vilifying their stance on moral

issues to camouflage the Government’s moral bankruptcy. I strongly reject this continuing attack by members of the Coalition Government, many who claim to embrace Christianity as the religion they practice. This article is a continuation of the unending and relentless cynicism, sarcasm and downright persecution that I have endured in the National Assembly without adequate protection from the Speaker of the House. The fact that the Guyana Chronicle chose to insert this Headline along with a picture of me clothed in ecclesiastical vestments is a clear indication that the target audience is the church community but I am assured by the Scripture in Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment. You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from me,” Says the Lord.” In direct response, I make these several calls: 1) Every media entity who is interested in conveying factual information to the people of Guyana should air and make available my full presentation as it related to my contribution to bill #32 of 2016. 2) I c a l l u p o n a l l Guyanese to visit the parliamentary website and view my presentation in full which was live streamed and is now archived. 3) I c a l l u p o n t h e Guyana Chronicle to make

public the story submitted by the reporter who was present in the National Assembly and to indicate who gave the instructions to make changes, who gave the instructions to insert that Headline and who gave the instructions to insert a picture of myself in ecclesiastical vestments. 4) I call upon Christian leaders of all the various denominations to denounce this despicable attack. ‘Silence for the purpose of political expedience is not an option.’ 5) I call upon leaders of all religions to state publicly their position on the abuse of religious leaders by the State media for political purposes. 6) I c a l l u p o n t h e Board and management of the Guyana Chronicle to immediately retract and offer a public apology with the same level of prominence that the article was published. 7) Finally, I wish to give assurance to all Guyanese and more particularly the Christian community that I will continue to advocate for righteousness, justice, fairness, accountability and transparency in Government, social justice and all that is expected of me in keeping with my convictions and beliefs. I reject this diabolical plot that has been hatched, that is a reflection of the “sick minds” that exist in our country. I pray that those responsible will find a way of purging their souls from this evil. Juan Edghill – MP PPP

In the United States, all... From page 5 betraying clients, acting irresponsibly and becoming the object of suspicion rather giving counsel. Perhaps I should add that the Inns of Court in London have certain ethics whereby lawyers cannot advertise their profession as their counterparts do in the United States. However, a West Indian trained lawyer, Israel Khan of

Trinidad and Tobago dared the authorities, and carried an ad in the Trinidad Express in 1980. Efforts to discipline him failed, Khan argued that the CLE does not have a written restriction against advertisement by lawyers. He is now a Senior Counsel and the leading criminal attorney in the twin island republic. Oscar Ramjeet

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The bitter sweet history and legacy and NAACIE General Secretary of the stakeholders on sugar on of sugar Kenneth Joseph, and executives the last day in 2016, to prove that

FLOODING IS A RESULT OF POOR HOUSING DESIGNS

DEAREDITOR; The commencement of engagement among stakeholders- Government, Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), Opposition and trade unions- with a view of determining a way forward for GuySuCo, as an organisation, is a first for this society since Article 13 was enshrined in the Guyana Constitution, via constitutional amendment in 2001. Article 13 identifies the Principal Objective of the political system, requiring of us as Guyanese to engage in inclusionary democracy, where individuals and groups would be involved in the management and decisionmaking processes of the State that impact their well-being. This principle was valiantly fought for by citizens/workers under the leadership of Desmond Hoyte, then Leader of the Opposition. The present engagement sees a composition where the Government’s team is headed by Vice President and Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan, Opposition by General Secretary Clement Rohee, the trade unions’ by GAWU President Komal Chan

of GuySuCo. The bittersweet history and legacy of sugar run in the veins of every Guyanese, bar none. Though this industry is often addressed in a partisan manner, political and otherwise, on this occasion all the groups are urged to leave divisive motives outside of the doors where the engagements are taking place. The future of sugar is not about negotiating or horse trading (i.e. where you take one, I take one), it is about finding common ground as to the future of GuySuCo. Common ground has to factor in evidence such as input of technical expertise, inclusive of the body of work on the industry by Professor Clive Thomas; the Commission of Inquiry Report on GuySuCo; the corporate services GuySuCo provides via drainage and irrigation on the coastland, health centres, and community grounds; the Consolidated Fund; global price; reconfiguration of the industry; contribution of private cane framers; and social impact for sugar workers and the society. This country in 2017 is poised, based on the interaction

diverse views and skills can be brought to bear in chartering a course, not only for sugar, but for every other area of governance. Coming from the bauxite industry where during 2001-2005 similar calls were made to the government to have stakeholders’ engagement in determining the future of the industry, though these were ignored, I am nonetheless encouraged that sugar is being used as catalyst to bring about a change in our divisive political culture. Sugar belongs to every Guyanese and what is required is a national consensus in determining its future. It is not lost on me that sitting around the same table there may be persons inclined to look at this new beginning as an opportunity to stymie every effort in developing a cohesive position. Sugar must no longer be treated as a partisan issue in creating political fodder. One of the ways this can be avoided is that the consensus that emerges from the discussion on each day be initialed by all the leaders in the stakeholders’ configuration. Lincoln Lewis

Guyana does not need advocates like Hydar Ally and Eric Philips DEAR EDITOR; I refer to a letter in the press from Eric Phillips, ACDA member now turned SARU member where he said the RED HOUSE is an example of the “misuse and abuse of state”. But isn’t Eric Phillip being a big hypocrite? Where was his voice when the Granger administration misused and abused the Treasury by squandering some $1.2 billion on the now famous Durban Park Project or $500 million on a building that is unsuitable to store drugs? This is what is wrong with this country, when the PPP is in power the Hydar Allys bury their conscience and support

everything that the PPP does blindly and condemns the PNC and likewise the Eric Phillips of this world because of racial reasons, bury their conscience and support everything a black PNC government and condemns everything the PPP does. There is no rationality in these men, yet the state has collectively paid them over $10 million each a year for services renders for this anti-nationalist thinking Shame on you Eric Phillips! You cannot be drawing all this much from the taxpayers and only speak halftruths. Please use some of the poor people’s money that is paying you and buy some

credibility and some conscience. Guyana will always be a broken nation down at the bottom of the barrel once we have people like Eric Phillips and Hydar Ally advising the government; they are the most biased and barefaced advocates a nation can ever be unfortunate to have. When will these people seek redemption for their narrow-mindedness? Lisa Ally

DEAR EDITOR; Poorly constructed turnkey homes coupled with lopsided infrastructure seems to be the order of the day in Guyana’s endeavour to find housing for its people. Alongside this phenomenon is the urge for house lot owners to embark on building their own homes primarily to save some costs but also from the pressure to erect something before the lot is repossessed. This is a recipe for catastrophe. With the Hon. Minister, Valerie Patterson, quoting figures pertaining to revenue, expenditure, decline in constructed units, low occupancy etc., one is left to wonder if she thinks the Titanic could have stayed afloat with an extra coat of paint. The crux of the matter is plain and simple: Guyana is poorly equipped with urban planners, infrastructure designers and archaic building codes. And no one has found a solution for heavy rainfall. Here are a few suggestions that the housing authorities need to consider: 1. Open green space: In housing construction, a significant percentage of the lot, say 30%, must be left open (the so-called green rule) and not concreted. This will allow rainwater to be absorbed

rather than drained off into overburdened drains especially in regions like Georgetown. 2. Retention ponds: In designing communities, say like 100 homes, retention ponds are a dire necessity with its two-fold purpose: it will collect drain-offs to alleviate flooding, in addition to being a source of water in dry weather . 3. Regular garbage collection: Compactor trucks for garbage collection would see significant removal of waste that blocks main drainage channels. 4. Household wells: In the further retention of rain water small wells need to be instituted in building codes (the dry well concept). These wells of say 64 cubic feet (4x4x4) will also prevent unwanted runoff into the poorly maintained drainage system. 5. Recycling: The collection of plastic, cardboard and glass containers must now be of high priority as it not only provide an ‘income’ but it is a great deterrent for blockages. 6. Illegal dumping: Regulations in regards to dumping should be enforced with preventative fines. A cursory look at the dilemma facing the housing authority reveals that the entity

is overwhelmed with indecision, lack of planning and initiative. Then there is litany woes such as poor materials, workmanship, lack of building inspectors and virtually nonexistent construction codes. The end result is often the dreaded 4 S’s - slipping, shifting, sinking and sliding houses. In Guyana construction ought to be relatively straightforward as builders do not have to contend with the vicissitudes of temperature changes like North America that sees a range in one year from near zero to over 100 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale. Obviously the burden of having a wide range of materials is eliminated, along with furnaces for winter heating and insulation materials like Styrofoam and fiberglass. Regularization of squatting areas are a definite NO. These areas are poorly designed and rife with infrastructure deficiencies. Offering superficial solutions to serious problems will not work. If this is done, then problems will persist and Guyana will perpetually remain the Land of Many Waters & ….. Many Disasters Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine Real Estate Builder New York

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Sunday January 08, 2017

History shows appointment of a sitting Judge as Senior Counsel not acceptable practice - says former T&T AG Since the recent appointment of Senior Counsel by President David Granger, various sections of society have debated the validity of the list. Of the nine newly appointed members to the inner bar is Justice Alison Roxanne McLean George-Wiltshire, a sitting judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature. Historically, such an appointment was seen as going against the meaning of the appointment to those in the legal profession. In 2011, Karl Hudson-Phillips, former Attorney-General of Trinidad and Tobago, had condemned the appointment of sitting judges to receive their ‘silk’, the term used to describe the award since the robe they are given is made of the material. He said that the award should be limited to practising advocates who would have distinguished themselves at the bar. He even went further to limit his welcome to the inner bar to practising members and withheld his congratulations from those members of the judiciary who he said had given in to accepting a title which is usually handed back, not granted, on elevation to the bench. One of the justifications behind this position is that a judge is above the bar. The former AG said it is still thought by the more discerning that the honour should be reserved for advocates, par-

Justice Roxanna George-Wiltshire receiving her commission of appointment from President David Granger ticularly those who defend the liberty and the rights of the citizen in the High Court or Court of Appeal, not as judges but as advocates. This issue came up once more the following year when in January 2012 then President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Michael de la Bastide, had criticized the appointment of a sitting judge of the Trinidad and Tobago Court of Appeal, Wendell Kangaloo and Chief Justice, Ivor Archie as Senior Counsel.

Included in the list of those appointed were Attorney-General Anand Ramlogan and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bisessar. He described the move as an outright ‘aberration”. De la Bastide’s argument was that the award is for practising attorneys and not for judges. In his letter to the Trinidad Guardian, the former CCJ President said, “The award of silk to an incumbent Chief Justice or to a sitting (Continued on page 12)

Sunday January 08, 2017

Veteran broadcaster, Ron Robinson sacked from NCN Veteran broadcaster, Ron Robinson, who had been performing duties as Programme Manager (ag) at the National Communications Network (NCN) has been sacked, and he feels it was an unjust act. Robinson was hired on May 3, 2016. According to him, he was

placed on probation and he received a letter in September stating that his probation period would be extended until December without any reason. However, he was given another letter on December 29, which stated that his employment would come to an end last week Friday.

Robinson stated that he was given no reason why his services were terminated. He said “I feel I was unjustly treated by NCN. I believe the CEO has personal issues with me. I have built a relationship with the staff that he envies.”

Dem boys seh...

Jagdeo has a Foot in

Ron Robinson

Loophole allows for counterfeit drugs to enter The regulator of food and drugs importation has warned Government that a number of critical law changes are necessary to ensure that counterfeit products are not entering the local market. Marlan Cole, Director of the Government Analyst Food and Drugs Department (GAFDD), made the statements in late November when he appeared before a Board of Inquiry. The inquiry, headed by Winston Cosbert, Assistant Commissioner of Police (retd.), was convened to investigate leaking of information to suppliers by a staff member of the Ministry of Public Health as well as probe reports of mismanagement and malpractice with the procurement of billions of dollars in drugs and related supplies. Cole’s department falls under the aegis of the Ministry of Public Health and carries out its statutory responsibility independently as prescribed by the Laws of Guyana. The report disclosed that the Food and Drugs Department consists of an Inspectorate Division that controls the importation of food and drugs, five

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- Food and Drugs chief tells inquiry laboratories and administrative staff. The director said that the department is responsible for ensuring food, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices manufacture, exported and or imported into Guyana meet the highest standard and efficacy by extracting regulatory oversight on these items. It was also disclosed that as it relates to importation of pharmaceuticals (drugs) and medical devices into Guyana for use or release both into the public or private health care system, the department ensures importers are licensed annually. When this criterion is met, the importer is issued with a Permit to Import. The director said that the laws make it clear that pharmaceuticals (drugs) must be registered and the registrant issued with a Marketing Authorization before the drug/medical device can be released for sale and/or use on the local market. “The chemistry lab at the Food and Drugs Department also carries out testing on pharmaceuticals or drugs

intended to be imported to Guyana; in relation to medical devices, the Importer and medical devices must be registered.” It is against this background that Cole expressed his concerns for the requests of repeated waivers. “This has resulted in the drug registration laws being flaunted by some importers/suppliers who are non-compliant with the registration requirements for pharmaceutical (drugs) and medical devices.” REVISED LAWS According to the director, over time it was noted that there are weaknesses within his department.

“The Food and Drugs Act and Regulation need to be revised to deal with registration of medical devices and reagents, enforcement aspect relative to cosmetics, improvement in technology, medical products (food supplements that are not synthesized), electronic documentation, blood and blood products.” Cole also highlighted a shortage of pharmacists to be appointed as Food and Drugs inspectors. The repeated waiver allows for counterfeit and substandard goods to be imported, Cole warned. He added that he wrote the former Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, highlighting the importance Continued on page 61

Jagdeo, that scamp, is now de General Sex-a-3 fuh de Pee Pee Pee. He get more vote than everybody else fuh that Sexa-3 position. That position is de main one in de party. In short, he is de boss. He can knock off any Pee Pee Pee MP or kick out anybody from de party. This position is like when he was president and he want to go back, badly. He think he is Putin but he is really a Foot in fuh de prison. When he was president he encourage nuff people to do wrong thing and mek nuff of dem get filthy rich. Dem boys hear nuff of dem who thief didn’t put de money in de bank because dem would get ketch. Some of dem build big house, buy fancy car, buy property all over de world and some build some high rise buildings across Guyana. Many of dem all over standing like white elephants, not even a mosquito inside. While they were thiefing de international bodies and de World Bank was looking on. Is dem tell Soulja Bai and Tommy to check pun all of dem and find out who are de owners and wheh dem get de money from to build these high rise buildings. Dem boys always remember de Man above don’t sleep suh he eye don’t shut. Dem boys want to tell SARU is not all de high rise building come from scampishness. SARU got to be careful how dem mapping de country. Dem boys hear couple of dem want bruck down dem high rise buildings and seh he fall down, just not to answer question. Jagdeo got couple high rise and dem boys know wheh all deh and dem plan to tell SARU. Dem boys also want to tell SARU don’t believe that scamp if he seh he don’t have high rise because he did tell reporters when he was president and in Trinidad that he would never run fuh a third term. Lo and behold as soon as he touch down in Guyana was a big campaign fuh third term all over Guyana. Contractors put up posters all over de place. Is Donald Dumb who shoot it down. Yesterday, again he tell a reporter he not interested in a third term. Talk half and believe him.

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Sunday January 08, 2017

Kaieteur News

CONFLICT OF INTEREST!!!

NICIL’s Officer in Charge is also head of LINMINE - Auditor says LINMINE debacle is further evidence that NICIL was used as a parallel treasury

By Kiana Wilburg By holding the position of Officer in Charge of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and head of one of NICIL’s subsidiaries; LINMINE, Horace James, is obviously caught in a conflict of interest. This viewpoint was expressed by Chartered Accountant, Anand Goolsarran. Goolsarran, who also prepared a forensic audit report on NICIL, said that James should not hold both positions. He added, “It is either one or the other. In fact, it is inappropriate for the head of LINMINE to also be the Officer-in-charge of NICIL. This can pose a serious conflict of interest.” The forensic auditor was also concerned about recent statements by James to the effect that LINMINE has become a department of NICIL. Goolsarran strongly contradicted this. He explained that NICIL was incorporated under the Companies Act 1991. He stressed that it is a Government company since

NICIL Officer in Charge, Horace James the Government is only a shareholder. In the case of LINMINE, the former auditor general said that this entity was incorporated under the Companies Act 1991. According the notes to the financial statements for year ended December 31, 2012 (the latest audited financial statements), Goolsarran said that it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NICIL by Order No. 45 of 2003. The auditor said however, that this Order relates to the dissolution of BIDCO and the transfer of assets to NICIL. Goolsarran said, “I have

found no evidence of LINMINE becoming a department of NICIL. For this to happen, LINMINE had to be dissolved in the same way that BIDCO was dissolved, i.e. an order had to be issued and assets transferred to NICIL. I have found no such Order. The fact that LINMINE continues to produce audited financial statements, the latest being for the year ended December 31, 2012, substantiates that LINMINE could not have been a department of NICIL.” Additionally, the Chartered Accountant expressed that NICIL cannot claim holding companysubsidiary company status by virtue of Order No. 45 of 2003. He said, “Even if this were so, for example, through the transfer of Government shares, the integrity of both companies remains intact in terms of assets/liabilities and income/expenditures. Nor can NICIL cross legal boundaries by integrating LINMINE into its operations since there is

no provision under the Companies Act for this to happen.” PARALLELTREASURY Speaking to the expenditure incurred by NICIL on LINMINE’s behalf, Goolsarran said that the circumstances expose once again, how NICIL was used as a “parallel treasury.” During the period 20022014, Goolsarran said that NICIL incurred expenditure totaling $1.260 billion on behalf of LINMINE. He said that this relates to the payment of salaries of 75 staff members ($983.319 million) and rates and taxes ($122.342 million). Instead of showing the expenditure as receivable from LINMINE, Goolsarran found that NICIL treated it as its own expenditure. Similarly, he found that NICIL incurred expenditure totaling $590.839 million on behalf of LINMINE, comprising privatization expenses ($75.378 million), maintenance ($84.197 million), fuel ($53.543 million), payments to contractors

($111.903 million), and other expenses ($265.818 million). The Chartered Accountant said that these were absorbed in the accounts of NICIL as Administrative Costs. It therefore means that total expenditure incurred by NICIL on behalf of LIMNIME for the two categories of expenditure was $1.851 billion. As a result, NICIL’s accounts over the period 2002-2014 have been overstated by the latter amount. In relation to the aforementioned, NICIL offered the following explanation: “LINMINE represented a loss on the NICIL side with the expenses relating to securing the many assets that were still being held, pending a sale or lease in a transparent manner. In fact, by virtue of this being a NICIL department, the Treasury was insulated from supporting these operations.” Goolsarran said, “This is an extra-ordinary statement coming from NICIL and is further evidence of NICIL’s de facto status as a ‘parallel’ Treasury. NICIL cannot usurp the role of the Treasury by meeting the losses of

Forensic Auditor, Anand Goolsarran another State-owned company.” The Chartered Accountant said that the logical course of action should have been for the Government to provide a subsidy to LINMINE through the National Budget. In addition, as indicated above, Goolsarran said that LINMINE is not a branch of NICIL since it has its own corporate existence and identity, quite distinct and apart from those of NICIL. IN ARREARS As regards financial reporting and audit of LINMINE, according to NICIL’s website, the last set of audited accounts was in respect of 2012. Goolsarran said that therefore, LINMINE is three years in arrears in (Continued on page 14)

Sunday January 08, 2017

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Kaieteur News

Govt. establishes Task Force to find effective drainage - Will utilise recommendations from solutions for Georgetown Dutch Risk Reduction report Shoppers navigating through the flooded Robb Street on Christmas Eve Day.

An entrance into Bourda Market flooded two weeks ago.

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, said on Friday, that Cabinet has setup a task force to focus on improving and managing the drainage of the capital, Georgetown. Guyana’s coastline, earlier last week and some days during the previous week, had experienced flashfloods from what authorities have described as a series of ‘irregular’ deluges with the added effect of the high tide. This occurrence left officials scampering to bring much needed relief to residents, especially those that occupy low-lying areas. Minister Harmon told media operatives that Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, will lead the

Task Force which will also be expected to prepare a plan for the long-term development of works they will undertake. The team will include members of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of Georgetown; the Ministries of Agriculture and Public Infrastructure; and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA). Last year, the Dutch Risk Reduction team comprising students from the Delft University in the Netherlands had conducted a series of studies and subsequently presented their findings and recommendations at the end of September to the Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson. Some of their

recommendations included increasing flood resilience of people and businesses; the upgrading of dredging capabilities; the development and application of a life cycle approach for the drainage assets; and data management through digitisation. Quizzed on the government’s plan to implement some of these recommendations, Harmon said that it is expected that the task force will utilise some of the suggestions that was put forth. “The entire drainage system here in Guyana was built by the Dutch, so when they came, what they discovered was that a number of the canals were filled in and we made roads where those

canals were. In very many cases where we had outfalls to be drained we had actually built car parks and all these kinds of things over them” Harmon said. RADICAL CHANGES The Minister noted that there will have to be some “radical” changes in the way things are done in relation to drainage pointing out that the overall strategy will have to take these matters into account. “We cannot complain that every time the rain falls that

we are flooded and we are seeing that the reason for the flooding, for the water not going off very quickly, right before our very eyes. We have to be strong about this matter and take some very hard decisions about it.” Harmon said that Cabinet was also updated on the fresh water catchment areas and conservancies which were experiencing levels well within their safety margins while adding that the NDIA is working assiduously to drain flooded areas.

The Guyana Civil Defence Commission (CDC) is also monitoring the situation countrywide, the Minister said. A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC)’s ascension to office back in May 2015, began its campaign on behavioral change which sparked an almost nationwide clean-up drive. That initiative has somewhat paid off. Flood waters in some areas, now receding at a never before seen rate.

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GuySuCo to give presentation on Sugar Industry at PSC tomorrow The Board of Directors and Management of the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc. (GuySuCo) will appear before the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Economic Services to make an oral presentation on GuySuCo and the Sugar Industry tomorrow. The meeting would come on the heels of a recent meet-

ing between the Government of Guyana and National stakeholders which included the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C); the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE). Additionally, workers’

representatives from the various estates in the sugar industry were also present at that meeting which was held at the boardroom of the Ministry of Agriculture, Regent Street and Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown. Documents related to the state of the sugar industry and the possible options (Continued on page 13)

Sunday January 08, 2017

History shows appointment of a sitting Judge as Senior Counsel... From page 8 judge of the Court of Appeal of T&T is an aberration which if previously committed, should not have been repeated.” He said that the honour of the award can only be conferred on a ‘counsel’. De la Bastide added that there can be no definition or interpretation of the term ‘counsel’ that can include a judge of a superior court or record. It was explained that a judge

who has been a practising attorney before assuming judicial office, or may after a prescribed period return to practice after retirement, cannot serve to qualify them for the award while still on the bench. He said that it is fundamental to the concept of justice that the roles of judge and counsel be kept strictly separate. “Those who accept judicial office are required to forego many of the advantages and opportunities that were available to them while in practice - one of these is the possibility of taking silk, at least while still on the Bench.” De la Bastide was of the view that such an appointment could only serve to be a source of embarrassment and amusement for Trinidad and Tobago before the rest of the Commonwealth Caribbean jurisdictions. After the outcry from many sections of the legal profession and civil society the appointed Court of Appeal Judge and Chief Justice had returned their patent or award. He suggested that the responsibility for making such appointments should be taken out the hands of politicians. The

learned Justice said that this duty should be given to an independent body comprising representatives of the legal profession and members of civil society. On Wednesday, President Granger, during his remarks at the ceremony conferring the title of Senior Counsel to those appointed sought to defend his decision to select Justice George-Wiltshire. “As far as sitting judges are concerned as in the case of Justice Roxanne George, she served for several years in the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) office and were this a normal jurisdiction, during those years, she would have had the (Senior Counsel appointment) long ago.” Additionally, according to Justice George-Wiltshire she was invited to apply for the title of Senior Counsel since 2003 which she did but nothing happened until now. Granger said that there has been a 20-year absence of appointments which meant that a generation of qualified legal practitioners have missed out on receiving the honour.

Sunday January 08, 2017

SARU conducting... From page 3 the previous ruling political elites promoted collusion, through mutually-supporting networks, with criminal endeavours seeking to evade the regulatory and oversight functions of the state,” Dr. Thomas said. He added, “As I have argued elsewhere, this constitutes the starkest reminder of the ongoing criminalization of the state…” While the drivers of the collusion between state officials and criminal operators were too many for him to mention, Dr. Thomas cited some of the key ones: the realization of the gains from crime, ranging from individual raiding of state coffers to the transfer of organized crime proceeds, the evasion of political and economic uncertainty and most importantly, fears caused by bad governance. The economist said that these drivers reveal that illicit capital flight is deeply intertwined with other criminalities such as procurement fraud, money laundering and the criminal underground economy. He then made reference to data accumulated from two

international sources responsible for annual tracking and reporting on aspects of global capital flight, including Guyana. One is the United Nations, and the other is the Global Financial Integrity (GFI) founded in 2006. Dr. Thomas said that for the years 2010-2012, Guyana's illicit financial flows had averaged US$443million or about $90billion. Although these flows do not fully account for total capital flight, he said that they provide an order of magnitude for that sum. He said that by any standard, this is a humongous amount that has risen rapidly during the 2000s. “Retrospectively, the20102012 average compares to US$83 million back in 2003.This had doubled to US$173million by 2006, and doubled yet again by 2010 to US$575million. The recorded growth in capital flight therefore, has been explosive during the 2000s,” he added. The new government, he said, if committed to good governance, should carefully milk this potential windfall for the benefit of Guyana's poor and hither to powerless.

GuySuCo to give... From page 12 regarding the future of GuySuCo was shared with these stakeholders who are scheduled to attend a follow-up meeting shortly. Meanwhile, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, told media operatives at the Post-Cabinet Press Briefings on Friday that the Government has made no decision on the future of the industry or that of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo). In fact, the Minister stressed that no decision will be made without consulting stakeholders. There has been a lot of tension in the air as it relates to the future of the sugar industry – which from all indications – is on ‘life support’ as was highlighted by one observer last year. The David Granger-led Administration has for the last year or so, been accused of making decisions without consulting stakeholders, resulting in the Opposition and respective Trade Unions airing their concerns. Chief amongst their concerns was the diversification exercise which has already been carried out at the Wales Estate which they claim, had been done without any consultations.

Kaieteur News

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Sunday January 08, 2017

Sparking wires cause work stoppage at Diamond Hospital Sparking wires at the Diamond Hospital resulted in a two-hour work stoppage at the institution yesterday, with at least one doctor and several nurses refusing to resume duty until electricians remedied the fault.

- X-Ray, ultrasound equipment down; staff only treating emergency cases Up to late last evening, hospital staff members were reportedly only using the Triage area, since they feared returning to the section

where the sparking occurred. Kaieteur News understands that a staffer observed the sparking around 07.00hrs and notified

the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, who is a Cuban. According to sources, the CEO attempted to reassure the staff that there was no danger.

There were even attempts to wrap duct-tape around some of the defective wiring. Nevertheless, a doctor and other medical staff refused to

resume work and milled around outside the building. Around 09.00hrs, a crew from the Guyana Fire Service and a team of electricians arrived. After examining the area, the technicians reportedly told the staff that they could resume work. Some staff had also reported seeing wires sparking on Friday and the hospital is said to be experiencing fluctuating current. The hospital is reportedly plagued by several problems. At present, the Xray machine and Ultrasound equipment are allegedly out of order. Hospital officials have posted signs notifying the public that only emergency cases will be seen.

NICIL’s Officer in... (From page 10) terms of financial reporting and audit. The forensic auditor said that this is a violation of the Companies Act. He pointed out that both the 2002 and 2003 audited accounts, which were issued in June 2004 and August 2006 respectively, reflected disclaimers of opinion because of matters of a fundamental nature which affected the Auditor General’s ability to express an opinion on them. He said, “The accounts for the years 2004-2011, that is, eight years of accounts, were not approved by LINMINE’s board until 20 September 2012. Reminiscent of NICIL’s accounts, the Auditor General issued his opinion on them on 25 September 2012. Needless to mention, he gave an unqualified opinion i.e. a clean bill of health on these accounts, notwithstanding that they did not reflect any assets/current liabilities and income/expenditure.” Goolsarran continued, “In addition, the 2012 audited accounts reflected long-term liabilities totaling $17.780 billion of which amounts of $11.609 billion and $6.172 billion represented loans from the Ministry of Finance and SYSMIN (a foreign company), both of which were shown as having been guaranteed by the Government of Guyana. “However, the Public Accounts for that year as well as subsequent years do not reflect these amounts in the Statement of Loans granted by the Government nor in the Statement of Loans guaranteed by the Government.” On a final note, Goolsarran said that a year ago, the Cabinet took the decision for the Auditor General to conduct a transaction audit of NICIL, following through on the forensic audit that was conducted. He said that to date, the public is yet to hear of the results of this audit.

Sunday January 08, 2017

Kaieteur News

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Sunday January 08, 2017

Kaieteur News

Transparency and Accountability…

Pres. David Granger still has unfinished business After 20 months in office, the APNU+AFC administration continues to fall short of its promise to restore transparency and to

address a number of issues which reek of corruption. In fact, President David Granger has entered the New Year with unfinished

business from 2016. In a number of instances, his administration promised last year that there would be significant action regarding

certain issues but it continues to leave much to be desired. Here are just a few of the issues which the Head of State is yet to pursue, aggressively. ACCESS TO INFORMATIONACT Since the appointment of former Chief Justice, Charles Ramson Snr. as Commissioner of Information in 2013, Parliament is yet to receive a report on the application of the Access to Information Act as well as the operations of his office. While Parliament is left in the dark about the work of the Commissioner of Information, Ramson Snr. continues to draw a salary of approximately $1.2M a month. After 18 months in office, the Government is yet to take affirmative action on this matter. ASHNI SINGH It was the APNU+AFC Government that insisted that justice will be served when it comes to the illegal spending of $4.5B from the Consolidated Fund by former Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh. To date, there has been no movement on this matter even as the Government continuously claims that it intends to hold officials accountable for their corrupt acts. OMBUDSMAN’S REPORT STILL TO BE ACTED ON If no action on the reports of the Ombudsman is taken, then what is the point of having one? This question has been asked time and again by anti-corruption activists as they reflect on Government’s inaction on the damning reports of the late Ombudsman, Winston Moore. One report deals with the issue of Kaieteur News columnist Freddie Kissoon and the University of Guyana. Kissoon was on a contract with the University of Guyana, but it was abruptly terminated by the tertiary institution in January 18, 2012. This was in spite of the fact that Kissoon’s contract had five months remaining, at the end of which, he would have reached the age of retirement. The University said that it merely ended the contract earlier – eight months before the contract expired. The contract stipulated that it could be terminated and three months’ salary paid in lieu of notice. Kissoon did not hear from the University despite several efforts for a reason for why his contract was terminated prematurely. Moore had also ruled on another controversial matter relating to the New Building Society (NBS). The Office of the

Ombudsman concluded in November 2015 that police wrongfully charged the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and two of his managers for an alleged $69M fraud at the New Building Society, in 2006. SARU’S LEGISLATION After 18 months, the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU) continues to be confined to a straitjacket as it awaits the passage of its draft legislation which was finished since last year September. Anti-corruption advocates believe that the Government has no excuse for not moving swiftly on the matter and have even accused the Government of undermining the Unit. FORENSIC AUDITS From 2015 to now, more than 30 forensic audits and special reports on a number of controversial projects and agencies have been released by the coalition administration. These reports which have cost taxpayers more than $100M, document numerous instances of corruption, mismanagement and abuse of state resources. In spite of this, there has been no action of consequence against those who have been fingered in the corrupt acts, and the public remains uninformed. SANATA COMPLEX / WELL For more than three decades, this well was under the control of Government. Then in the last decade, a water well at the Sanata Textile Complex, Ruimveldt was sold for an unstated price. In fact, the nation is uncertain if the well was actually sold or simply handed over with the complex. What is known was that the transaction was done under questionable circumstances by NICIL to Queens Atlantic Investments Inc, a group of companies under the direction of Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, the best friend of former President Bharrat Jagdeo. Dr Ramroop was found to be in breach of all the terms and conditions of the Purchase Agreement for the Complex. Since the matter of the well has come to the attention of the Government, no prompt action has been taken to review the Sanata Complex Deal with an aim to retrieve what is essentially a state asset. CONTRACTS TO BE RELEASED Despite President David Granger himself saying that he believes all contracts and concession agreements should be made public, a brick wall continues to face media operatives who try to get such

President David Granger documents. Transparency advocates believe that this should not be the case. They are saying that citizens have a right to know what is going on once the information does not interfere with national security. PRADOVILLE TWO CASE The infamous Pradoville Two case remains a crucial area of contention with many local critics. It has been more than year and no action has been taken. INFAMOUS L AND DEALS A significant portion of the front part of the former cane fields, stretching from Eccles to Diamond, has ended up mainly in the hands of close friends of the PPP leaders and party officials. The situation has now left Government scrambling to find lands for almost 10,000 applicants for house lots that are reportedly pending. Government has been saying for months that it would investigate these land deals and revoke those which were found to be illegally granted. It is yet to do this. BK SETTLEMENT For months, several Government officials sought to defend the US$5.7M outof-court settlement with BK International, claiming that had the government decided to challenge any suit, then it would have risked losing double the amount. Government officials also suggested that BK International’s initial claim of US$10M was made before the courts, hence the haste to hammer out the deal and pay the contractor off as quickly as possible. Efforts to get hold of documents to that effect all proved futile. Court officials said that no such records existed. Attorney General Basil Williams refused to cooperate, and the owner of the company, Brian Tiwarie, made numerous promises to provide the mystery document, but failed to do so. Minister of Communities, (Continued on page 62)

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Suffering in silence is not always an ideal option By Sharmain Grainger A smiling face does not always mean that everything is right with the world. In fact, a smiling face can at times serve as a mask to a world of grief and pain that could be brought on by so many varying factors. These factors, if left unaddressed, could lend to the development of depression. Factors can include the loss of a loved one, rejection, the sense of being misunderstood, among so many others. But there are occasions, too, that some people simply are unable to explain from whence their depression came. However, since depression is classified as a medical condition, experts in this field would usually insist that there is always a root cause, and it is often a traumatic situation that the individual might have opted to have suppressed in their sub-conscience rather than have it addressed. There are many people in our society who suffer in silence. This is due to the fact that like many health issues, talking about depression is often “taboo”. Moreover, although many are aware that their behaviour is simply not normal and is in fact a form of mental illness, it isn’t always easy for them to avail themselves to medical attention Some may have the strength to face the world day after day and make it home before another episode of their depression surfaces, but they may not always be able to hide this from their loved ones. However, one would have to be very alert, in some instances, to recognise things that can characterise a depressed state. Depression is essentially a condition that targets one’s mind and thus affects the mood. It is often referred to as a “mood disorder” that may not manifest itself every day of an affected person’s life. It is, however, said to be rather common and could prove to be serious, since this disorder can considerably affect one’s routine activities including sleep, appetite, and even impact how one feels and thinks about situations or individuals they interact with.

There are many reports that suggest that depressed individuals prefer to be left alone and suffer in private, because they are convinced that “nobody understands me anyway.” But there have been severe cases where depressed individuals were able to suppress their fears simply by creating thoughts in their minds that once a relative or friend is close, everything will remain right in their world. There are others who conjure up thoughts that can even cause them to fear the worst when they are in the presence of some persons. But these conjured up notions, at times, are just that. According to the United States National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), depression can manifests in a number of forms including: -Perinatal depression This form of depression is much more serious than the “baby blues” (relatively mild depressive and anxiety symptoms that typically clear within two weeks after delivery) that many women experience after giving birth. Women with perinatal depression experience full-blown major depression during pregnancy or after delivery (postpartum depression). The feelings of extreme sadness, anxiety, and exhaustion that accompany perinatal depression may make it difficult for these new mothers to complete daily care activities for themselves and/ or for their babies. -Psychotic depression This occurs when a person has severe depression plus some form of psychosis, such as having disturbing false fixed beliefs (delusions) or hearing or seeing upsetting things that others cannot hear or see (hallucinations). The psychotic symptoms typically have a depressive “theme,” such as delusions of guilt, poverty, or illness. -Bipolar disorder - Although different from depression, this disorder is included among the list of depressions. This is due to the fact that someone with bipolar disorder experiences episodes of extremely low moods that meet the criteria for major de-

pression (called “bipolar depression”). But a person with bipolar disorder also experiences extreme high – euphoric or irritable – moods called “mania” or a less severe form called “hypomania.” Other forms of depression, according to NIMH, include: disruptive mood or dysregulation disorder (usually a childhood condition of extreme irritability, anger, and frequent, intense temper outbursts) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD - a condition in which a woman has severe depression symptoms, irritability, and tension before menstruation. The symptoms of PMDD are more severe than those seen with premenstrual syndrome (PMS)). Among the signs and symptoms of depression are: a persistent sad, anxious, or “empty” mood; feelings of hopelessness, or pessimism; irritability; feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness; loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities; decreased energy or fatigue; moving or talking more slowly; feeling restless or having trouble sitting still; difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions; difficulty sleeping, earlymorning awakening, or oversleeping; appetite and/or weight changes; thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts; aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems without a clear physical cause that do not ease even with treatment. A diagnosis of depression is certain if an individual experiences some of the aforementioned signs and symptoms most of the day, nearly every

The Baccoo Speaks There will be a mini revolt by a section of the business community over the fact that they are not transacting the level of business to which they were accustomed. This is because of the competition offered by the very people to whom they rented their extended business houses. The good thing is that the level of competition will force prices down, to the enjoyment of the buying public.

** Another fire is going to strike in the Eastern part of

the country, largely because of a faulty electrical connection. There would have been reports but these went unheeded. Fortunately there will be no casualties. ** One would have expected better use of the roads, but there are always people who feel that they are immune to accidents. Sadly, the only things that provide immunity are care and caution.

day, or for at least two weeks, according to NIMH. However, while seeking the relevant medical attention could help dispel symptoms of depression, doing so means reaching out to a psychiatrist. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in mental health and can assess both the mental and physical aspects of psychological problems. But in many societies, including our own, persons reaching out to these medical experts are usually labelled as “crazy.” It is no won-

der many people opt to suffer in silence for fear of being so labelled. But the Ministry of Public Health is on a mission to improve its Mental Health Unit under which issues of depression fall. At a recent press conference, former Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, said that the goal of the Mental Health Unit is to promote mental well-being, prevent mental disorders, offer care, enhance recovery, and promote the human rights of persons with mental

disorders, to reduce morbidity, disability, and mortality. This is in light of the fact, the Minister noted, that it has been recognised that such illnesses account for more morbidity than HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria combined in Guyana. This, of course, is an alarming state of affairs, which becomes evident when there are reports of too many suicides and senseless homicides that have for some time plagued our nation. Learning to pay attention to the actions and attitudes of our loved ones and close friends could be the first step to detecting mental illness which can be treated and by extension, help to reduce the associated mortality rate. Words of kindness and appreciation extended to an individual suffering from a mental disorder can sometimes go a long way, so we should all opt to choose our words wisely and embrace wisdom when we react to some individuals because maybe, just maybe, we could be helping to save a life.

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Sunday January 08, 2017

Kaieteur News

Who terminated the exterminator? - The gunmen wanted Mohamed Baksh dead and they didn’t seem to care where the job was done and who saw them do it By Michael Jordan The gunmen wanted Mohamed Baksh dead and they didn’t seem to care where the job was done and who saw them do it. They didn’t care that he was sitting in an enclosed place; didn’t care that two women and an ex-cop from the feared ‘black-clothes’ squad were at Baksh’s side. It was Saturday, June 16, 2012; the time was 10 p.m., and Baksh, owner of Pest Control Plus, the ex-cop, and two women were sitting in a Thomas Street restaurant named Flava’s Grill, when a car stopped nearby. It is said that two men entered the restaurant, and one of them, with gun in hand, walked over to Baksh. And though the 43-year-old busi-

nessman was also carrying a handgun, he never got to touch it. The gunman fired. Baksh slumped to the ground, with two bullets in his head, while the shooter and his accomplice fled in the waiting car, described as a burgundycoloured Mitsubishi Lancer. Police reportedly pursued the car along Mandela Avenue but lost sight of it. Baksh died a few hours later. Police would later recover a 9mm shell at the scene, but failed to find the gun from which it was fired. Baksh’s friends all claimed that they were unable to describe the killer, since they had all dived for cover when the shooting started. The police also got nothing from the staff

at the Thomas Street restaurant. But investigators knew that someone had wanted the pest control expert dead for a long time. On Thursday, August 7, 2008, Baksh had just exited his vehicle in the vicinity of Camp and Lamaha Streets, North Cummingsburg, when a man emerged from a vehicle and shot him. Bleeding from five gunshot wounds, Baksh managed to seek refuge in his property, which was located nearby. From there, he called his wife. Baksh implicated a former business partner in the attempt on his life. This led police to Paul James, 41, of Barrack Street, Kingston, and Dexter Lynch, 36, of West La

Penitence Housing Scheme. They were charged with attempted murder. In court, Baksh had stated that James was his business partner and that James owed him $31 million. That matter was still before the courts when Baksh was executed. Two days after Baksh’s death, police detained the same former business partner. But aside from the fact that the businessman and Baksh had a financial dispute, police reportedly had nothing else to connect him to the murder. The former business partner denied any involvement in Baksh’s slaying and reportedly gave detectives an alibi for his movements at the time of the attack. Some of the man’s associates also reportedly told investigators that he was with them at the time Baksh was slain. Detectives impounded a burgundy car that fit the description that eyewitnesses gave of the gunmen’s getaway vehicle, but that turned out to be a false lead. The vehicle belonged to a police rank and was handed back to the owner. Investigators were given a 9mm warhead and a bullet fragment that were extracted from the slain man’s skull. They failed to match it to any firearm. But though Mohamed Baksh was dead, someone apparently still wanted to hurt his family. Just a few days after his death, someone doused the slain man’s Lot 322 Rohinital Street, Prashad Nagar office and storage bond with petrol and set the building alight.

Mohamed Baksh According to the slain businessman’s insurance agent, over $50M worth of products was destroyed. ”This clearly shows that this is a serious vendetta against this man. It is clear that his death and this fire are linked,” the agent said. Almost similar views were expressed by former Magistrate Fazil Azeez, a cousin of the slain businessman. Azeez said that they believed that whoever had wanted Baksh dead, would stop at nothing to wipe out his legacy. At the time, Azeez stated that the family had provided the police with all the necessary information about the case, and felt that investigators should have very strong leads. But he expressed dissat-

isfaction at the manner in which the matter was being investigated. Azeez said that the venue where Baksh was shot was not a place he visited often. He believed that the killers must have known where he was going and followed him. Also expressing dissatisfaction with the legal system, Azeez said that the Preliminary Inquiry into the attempt on Baksh’s life was postponed more than 40 times, despite pleas to have the case concluded. Baksh had been the foundation of his family and his murder had left his relatives in a state of fear. Because of these security concerns, relatives temporarily took the slain man’s nine-year-old son out of school. The pest control business that Baksh had operated has now closed, and there appear to be no new leads about his murder. ”It will remain like that,” a close relative had said. “Nobody will pick it up.” If you have any information about this or any other unusual case, please contact Kaieteur News by letter or telephone at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown office. Our numbers are 2258458, 22-58465, 22-58482 and 22-58491. You need not disclose your identity. You can also contact Michael Jordan at his email a d d r e s s : mjdragon@hotmail.com

Sunday January 08, 2017

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Kaieteur News

Confronting the continuing violations in Guyana in 2017 Most rational minds will express a feeling of wanting to change life for the better as the aging process comes into being. There is this feeling that though you cannot live forever, you should try to leave the world with something that will. That is what aging does. It drives into your psychology the drama that the curtains are drawing. Then reflections, dreams and passions take over. The pursuit becomes relentless that you must do something good for those who are left to live in a world of uncertainties. But most of all, try to change the world so those uncertainties will not rule and ruin the lives of those you left behind. Guyana is a special theatre of melancholy that sets it apart from the rest of the world. I have always pontificated with friends when we polemicize informally that for me, the two enduring tragedies of the 20th century are Guyana and Russia. Never mind its painful past of genocide, Rwanda will move on and its people will be joyful

achievers. While Rwanda moves on, the peoples of Russia and Guyana will continue to live in the only world they have ever known – the receding hope of a freer tomorrow. It is outside of the scope of a column to describe this ontology of Russia that makes it an ongoing European tragedy, but Russians will for a long time remain people who will look inwards and have to accept that perhaps Hobbes’ Leviathan is the only form of government they will get for a long time to come. Far from Russia is Guyana. The difference is the gloom that the cold brings in Russia. Here the sun shines deeply into the hearts of the trees that dot the roadways in what was once referred to as the Garden City of the West Indies. The sun gives way to the nightly Atlantic breeze; young and old savour its moments, but perhaps that is all we can savour – the inviting sun and the breezy nocturnal ambience that the mighty Atlantic endows us with. Malls, cinemas, mid-

night bacchanals, food courts, high-rise buildings will continue to spread in 2017, so will misery. I am under no illusion that in this, a brand new year, democracy, liberties, justice and equal access to Guyana’s cake will be a mirage. I am under no illusion that justice in 2017 will continue to elude people that have no money to buy it. I am under no illusion that in 2017 people who are in advanced age will die without getting a settlement from their court litigation that they started ten years ago. This is not only a melancholic land, but a funny one that makes you laugh, and that laugh actually suppresses the angst in Guyanese citizens. A man brought nuff money to West Indian cricket. His name was Allen Stanford. The US charged him with Ponzi fraud. Stanford’s case went right up to a US Court of Appeals. It is finished. He will spend the rest of his life in jail. In the US with over 300 million people, the case is over. In Guyana with a mere, I

repeat, a mere 700,000 persons, both civil and criminals cases initiated over a dozen years ago are still to be completed. I woke up one morning in 2016 and found a note in my mailbox. I had to attend court over a libel Dr. Walter Ramsahoye filed in 2002. May I remind you that was 14 years ago. My witnesses have all left Guyana since then. How can any tiny populated country like Guyana have such a caricatured justice system? I am getting on in age, and I want to leave something for the people who will inherit this barren land. They are entitled to it. That something is purposeful change. There are horrible violations that

smother the people of this country; these abominations must be confronted. Early in this year, I want to test in court the requirement that once you leave an interior location in Guyana and land in Region Four at the Eugene Correia Airport, you have to go through customs. Why do interior residents have to endure this? You can travel from Region Two into Region Three into Region Four, go up to Region 10 then head back to Region Four and pass through Region Five and end up in Region Six, and you don’t have to go through customs. I am bent on confronting these violations in my coun-

Frederick Kissoon try this year. I am not a supporter of any party, and King Kong ain’t got no dirt on me, so I intend to leave something in 2017.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday January 08, 2017

OUR PEOPLES’ INALIENABLE RIGHT TO LEARN AND EARN This year holds a basketful of opportunities for personal growth for Guyanese throughout the length and breadth of this land. Government has absolutely no intention of reneging on its promises to the nation’s youth, whether they live in the city, in towns or the hinterland regions, to create that enabling environment where they could thrive as they learn. This past Christmas, Vice President and Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Hon. Sydney Allicock, and Minister within the Ministry, Valerie Garrido-Lowe, lost no opportunity to highlight the strides that our young people have been making especially in the Hinterland - the North West District, the Pomeroon, Moraikabai and Karasabai included. It won’t hurt to repeat that the Parliamentary Committee of Supply during the recent debates in December has approved $2.4B that allow this Ministry to carry out its mandate, activate the programmes carved out for the next 12 months. The teams are rearing to continue on with the ambitious programmes that the

Ministry started in 2015. These include the Hinterland Employment and Youth Service (HEYS) Programme which is geared to impact the lives of at least 1000 youths in 2017, adding to the 1,976 youths who have already benefitted from the programmes conducted in 2016. The main objective of HEYS is to equip the young people with the necessary knowledge and skills to become successful entrepreneurs, and to empower them to face the world markets with confidence, whether online via the ICT hubs that are being set up in their communities, or in person when they develop sufficient capacity to meet their product distributors in person in Japan, or China, or Canada. Minister Valerie GarridoLowe was out and about over the holidays and she took every opportunity to point out the early achievements of the HEYS programme over the past year, and the few setbacks it encountered such as the delay in procuring the funds to pay stipends to the participating youths. From all appearances, that

Minister Valerie Garrido-Lowe in parliament defending Indigenous Peoples’ right to a high standard of education, equal to anywhere else in Guyana. delay or any other did not stifle their ambition. Some refused to wait for delivery of the necessary farming equipment and tools. Instead they utilized makeshift implements and community resources to start work on their peanut farms and furniture workshops. Some are already re-

ceiving orders from other villages like Santa Mission. In Parima they are making and selling wooden, cane and tibisiri furniture. At Paramakatoi initial work has started on the $35M sun-dried organic tomato project which will be complemented by a solar drying system. The residents involved in the project will grow, dry, package and market their smooth, red organic tomatoes. This project is intended to provide employment, and to purchase additional processing and packaging equipment so that the venture could stay abreast with advancing technology. Added to this is the $50M Chicken project slated for the popular Bina Hill Learning Centre, Annai, Region 9. The meatbirds grown by the students will provide food to that village and its environs, to schools near and far,

and guest houses. The MoIPA’s blueprint also includes construction of a Hinterland Students Dormitory in the city to house students over 18 years old who are attending the Government Technical Institute (GTI), the Carnegie School of Home Economics, the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) institute, the Teachers’ Training College and even the University of Guyana. This is all in the national design to ensure that every young Guyanese has access to good education and fitting accommodations, and that every village and community gets the chance to earn from the villagers’ talents. The architectural design for the dorm will be ready shortly. Minister Garrido-Lowe, at one of the get-togethers over the Christmas holidays, spoke about the very first large scale solar farm being set

up in Mabaruma, Region 1, to provide some 3000 residents with an additional 17 hours of electricity. She pointed out that the installation of internet-ready equipment in hinterland communities will positively affect every facet of life and broaden the opportunities for the people to earn substantially from tourism, craft, agricultural and medicinal products and indigenous foods. For 2017, a minimum of 150 persons will be trained free of charge in business support skills such as graphic design, writing and office management tools. Further, the MoIPA in 2016 had supported two small business ventures run by women’s groups. That support will continue in 2017 and other business ventures involving agro processing, furniture and tool manufacturing and construction will be added to the programme. Budget 2017 provides for an increase in the number of students who can benefit from the existing Hinterland Scholarship Programme. In 2016, this scholarship programme provided for 450 youths. This year it caters for 530 students The HEYS Programme is spread throughout the hinterland from Mabaruma to South Rupununi, and spans several inland towns and villages as well. Last December, youths from Wikki-Calcuni, Region 10, presented the very first coffee table they made to H.E. President David Granger. According to the HEYS area monitor, the table was made from indigenous marble wood called ‘Snake Wood’ because of its natural patterning. The trees grow right there in the community. Carpentry/Joinery is among the several vocational skills that youths in the HEYS programme are being taught. Others like the budding junior chefs at Kabakaburi, Upper Pomeroon River, are creating quite a stir in the kitchen. The young people there have grasped with both hands the opportunity for promising careers in Events Catering and food preparation.

Sunday January 08, 2017

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Kaieteur News

My column

The funny side of the Christmas holidays Guyanese are known for their sense of humour. We laugh even in the midst of worries and this is what makes us stand out from the crowd. The holidays just past offered a lot of humour for those of us who have outgrown the night clubs. There I was preparing to visit some relatives for the traditional Old Year’s Night party when I got a call from a friend. She wanted to know where she could get a rubber for her pressure cooker because she wanted to finish her cook-up before the dawn of the New Year. I asked her whether she thought that I had some hardware store and she became angry and accused me of being of no help. I had already checked my pressure cooker rubber. In fact, I always keep a spare in my fridge, because someone once told me that the fridge is the best place to keep rubber since it would not dry rot. The problem with my friend was that her rubber simply burst because she was using a knife to remove it from the cover. Another friend courted disaster because she was gossiping while the pot was

on the fire. She later told the world that it was a good thing she had company in the house and one of them smelt the burning meat. You do not drink alcohol and cook, because you could drop to sleep and court disaster. And you do not try to do anything that would take your attention from the pot. I remember the days when hair straightening was done with a hot comb. Those were the days before weave became popular. Today women with short hair suddenly have a full head, some with curls and others with simply coils of rope or whatever. Natural look was not the vogue. Every woman wanted to look as though she was born with straight hair. It mattered not that when she went to the party later that her dancing partner would smell burnt hair mixed with pomade. Of course some of them added curls with a curling iron. Imagine the fun when they are caught in the rain. I saw my fair share of women whose hair got a dose of rain and simply reverted almost to the original style. These days they use something that contains caustic soda and smells like caustic

soda. But the fun for me was seeing people as old as me with jet black hair. In fact, my old music teacher, Lynette Dolphin never had a shred of gray hair in her head although she was close to eighty. This time around hair gets the colours of the rainbow, regardless of how old the woman looks. Men are not to be left out. There was another friend who simply shaved off the gray that dared to grow outside the dyed area. The fun comes when the hair outgrows the dye and unaided becomes rainbow-coloured. My stepfather blacked his hair the old-fashioned way, with the bottom of a pot. There were times when he mixed a cosmetic stick with Vaseline. He too could not walk in the rain because his clothes would become dyed. I have seen many men wiping away the running dye from foreheads and eyebrows to the back of the neck. That in itself provides unending humour because these things happen mainly on Old Year’s Night when everybody tries to look his or her best. Suits are fairly commonplace these days, but they were very common back then. I played marbles for buttons

and my stepfather’s suits paid a handsome price to keep me in the habit. So there he was going to the midnight mass on Christmas Eve night. He put on his pants and buttons were missing. My mother had to find replacements while glaring at me. Don’t ask what happened to me. The jackets were no less fortunate, so invariably he had a jacket with mismatched buttons. As fate would have it when I got children of my own buttons were no longer the craze and pants had zippers by the crotch. But I had shoes and my growing sons took a liking to them. They would wear them and put them back without cleaning them. Nigel McKenzie would always remember the day when my grandson embarrassed me. I was at a wedding reception as the Master of Ceremonies. The venue was Water Chris. My grandson perhaps with the eyes of a hawk blurted out, “Grandfather, you shoes ain’t clean properly.” Try as his mother might to

shut him up he would not be silenced. But there were others who suffered a worse fate on other occasions. Many have gone to an Old Year’s Night party only to have the soles of their shoes leave them making extremely close contact with Mother Earth. Many women ended up walking as though they were crippled because one heel simply collapsed. These past few days, however, provided the most humour. For a woman to be asked out on Old Year ’s Night is to “get pick.” I saw one woman sitting on her verandah with her hair well styled. She was still there long after midnight. The man simply failed to turn up. I could only hazard a guess that he had other picks and he made his choice. One year I was at the Police Old Year’s Night ball. Everything went well until dawn. When I looked around some popular people were slumped in their chair dead to the

Adam Harris world. The alcohol had flowed unending. The fun was to see the wives trying to get them up. There were the slaps, the sprayed mineral water in the face and eventually the feet failing to move steadily to the mode of transport that would take them home. Were there any such scenes this past New Year’s Day? I can’t say, because by five that morning I was in my bed a little worse for wear. I too had my fair share of alcohol, but I made my way home unaided.

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Sunday January 08, 2017

A land that is richly endowed and truly blessed In his address to the nation on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Guyana’s independence His Excellency Brigadier David Granger President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana said, “We are proud of our achievements over the past fifty years. We are proud of our efforts to transfer our people from logies and tenement yards into their own homes. We are proud of the infrastructure that was embedded

and the opportunities provided to our people to hold the highest offices in our public service. We are proud of having established a University of Guyana, a Teachers’ Training College, the multilateral schools that provided greater access to education for our children and the health facilities throughout the ten administrative regions. Guyana achieved all of these things and more even as we faced threats to our ter-

ritory and to internal unity. We resisted, for fifty years, the threat to more than twothirds of our territory by Suriname and Venezuela. We repelled an incursion into a large part of our country claimed by Suriname. We suppressed an internal insurrection in the Rupununi in 1969. Our nation has faced its tribulations but, because of our unity and strength, we have overcome them” As we close the book on the first fifty years of political

independence and look towards our centenary, the prospect of achieving economic independences are real. There is no doubt that within the next fifty years Guyana will emerge as a prosperous modern state. The recent discovery of oil bearing sandstone reservoirs in our territorial waters (the Stabroek Block), signals the beginning of our commercial petroleum industry. It is reasonable to assume that there will be other petrocarbon discoveries off shore and even on-shore. This new development (oil) taken in conjunction with government’s policy to promote social cohesion, national unity and a green economy can work to the benefit of ensuring that Guyana emerges in the short term as a small global player. President Granger in his address to the nation shared similar optimism when he said, “Guyana should not be a poor country. Guyana is endowed with rich natural resources. We are among the smartest and most industrious persons in the world. We have always been known to possess the values of self-sacrifice and solidarity. We possess the resources – both human and natural – to banish poverty.” We have all heard time and

again that Guyana is a land of great potential. However successive generations have failed to maximize on that potential. We have all boasted that Guyana is the only Englishspeaking country on the South American continent; an English-sp e a k i n g s t a t e , whose geo-strategic location, natural resources and market access position us to become a significant regional player. Our strategic geographical location makes us a natural bridge to Caricom and the huge South American continental market. Our resources which include gold, diamonds, bauxite, sand, stone, manganese, water, oil and timber are the envy of many, who only possess white sand beaches. We have 15 million hectares of pristine forest, more than 200 types of fruit and vegetables along with large expanses of arable agricultural lands. Guyana is also the signatory to numerous international trade agreements and preferential bilateral arrangements. Guyana is a land that is richly endowed and truly blessed. Guyana over the next decade must position itself to take advantage of the fact that both food and water are scare

global commodities. We must move from producers of raw material to exporters of finished value added products. We must become the food-basket of the region again. Caricom countries import over US$4 Billion annually in food, and the global need for both fresh water and food will become more acute in the next two decades. In short, Guyana’s economic prosperity is achievable because of its natural endowments and we must capitalize on this now. In his charge to the nation, President David Granger said, “Every generation has the responsibility to move our country closer towards the common aspirations which were ignited on May 26, 1966 Independence – the dream of the good life for us, our children and our grandchildren. Our fore-parents sacrificed so that we could have a better life than they did. The responsibility of this generation is to lay the foundation for the good life for our children and grandchildren. The next fifty years must find us engaged in realizing that vision.” A prosperous and productive 2017, from A Partnership for National Unity- APNU

Sunday January 08, 2017

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Kaieteur News

Fibre: The dietary workhorse By Dr Zulfikar Bux Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine I have put on some weight over the past year and like most people, I am looking for the easy way out - losing weight without much exercise. It is obvious that exercise plays an important role in weight loss, but the most important factor is obviously our diet. We would not gain weight if we didn’t eat. But we need to eat to survive. I therefore had set out on extensively researching the easy way to lose weight, since I have gotten a bit tired these days and routine exercise is not as lucrative as it was in the past. What I found interesting was that all weight loss and healthy eating guidelines had one thing in common eating a fibre-rich diet. While we are all told to eat a high fibre diet, we are often not sure why, and it’s difficult to comply when you do not understand the facts. I will therefore share some important facts about fibre and why it has become my number one dietary priority. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOWABOUT FIBRE

Fibre is a form of indigestible carbohydrate found mainly in plant foods. Over the years, fibre has been hailed as a potential weapon against cancer, high cholesterol, and heart disease. It is known that fibre slightly reduces LDL cholesterol, improves insulin resistance, and is linked to a lower rate of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. There’s also some evidence that fibre might reduce the risk for duodenal ulcers, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer. It’s considered one of the most important health attributes of foods. Fibre slows digestion and therefore lowers a food’s glycemic load, which likely helps to prevent diabetes. By increasing the bulk of foods and creating a feeling of fullness, fibre may also help you avoid overeating and becoming overweight. You can probably identify some high-fibre foods, such as bran cereals and whole-grain bread. But not all foods billed as “high-fibre” really have much; read the labels on packaged foods to see the number of grams of fibre they contain. You can be sure of getting fi-

bre if you eat fruits, legumes, vegetables, and whole-grain foods such as whole-wheat bread, brown rice, bran, or oats each day. Fibre can also take the form of over-the-counter supplements, which come as pills or powders. These provide some of the same benefits as fibre in foods. But foods naturally high in fibre have the edge, as they help you feel full on fewer calories, which can help keep your weight in check. Fibre pills don’t provide that feeling of fullness. If you decide to take fibre supplements, be sure to take them with plenty of water to maximize their benefits. OTHER IMPORTANT HEALTH BENEFITS OF FIBRE Blood sugar control: Soluble fibre may help to slow your body’s breakdown of carbohydrates and the absorption of sugar, helping with blood sugar control. Heart health: An inverse association has been found between fibre intake and heart attack, and research shows that those eating a high-fibre diet have a 40 percent lower risk of heart

disease. Stroke: Researchers have found that for every seven-grams more fibre you consume on a daily basis, your stroke risk is decreased by 7 percent. Skin health: Fibre, particularly psyllium husk, may help move yeast and fungus out of your body, preventing them from being excreted through your skin where they could trigger acne or rashes. Diverticulitis: Dietary fibre (especially insoluble) may reduce your risk of diverticulitis – an inflammation of polyps in your intestine – by 40 percent. Hemorrhoids: A high-fibre diet may lower your risk of hemorrhoids (piles). Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): Fibre may provide some relief from IBS. Gallstones and kidney stones: A high-fibre diet may reduce the risk of gallstones and kidney stones, likely because of its ability to help regulate blood sugar. EXAMPLES THAT WILL ENSURE YOU MEET YOUR DAILY FIBRE REQUIREMENTS Eat whole-grain cereal for breakfast. Oats are an excellent choice, particularly steel-

cut oats, which have the most fibre and the lowest glycemic index. If you prefer cold cereal, choose products that contain bran or list whole wheat, oats, barley, or another whole grain first on the list of ingredients. Choose whole-grain breads. As with cereals, true whole-grain breads list a whole grain first in the ingredients. Whole-grain sliced bread, pita bread, and rolls are equally good. Skip the French fries and baked potatoes. Instead of white potatoes, eat sweet potatoes (yams, etc.). Instead of white rice, eat brown rice or another intact grain as a side dish. Good choices are buckwheat (kasha), bulgur, millet, quinoa, and barley. Try whole-wheat pizza and pasta. Prepared pizzas made with whole-wheat crust are joining wholewheat pastas on supermarket shelves. Many are now made with a variety of flour or flour blends that look white and cook up lighter, but are actually whole wheat. Cook with whole-wheat flour. You can make breads, muffins, and other homebaked goods healthier if you mix whole-wheat flour

Dr Zulfikar Bux with white flour. Eat your fruits and vegetables. It is recommended that you take 1-2 cups of fruits and 2-3 cups of vegetables per day. In addition to being fibre-rich, fruits and vegetables are nutrient-rich and their daily use can prevent the need for daily multivitamin supplements. Let’s make a stronger effort to get more fibre in our diet. Now that I am finished with this article, I will share it with my wife so that we can plan together. You should also do your p a r t t o s pread the word about fibre.

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Sunday January 08, 2017

SUNDAY SPECIAL THREE WOMEN NAMED FOR FIRST TIME AS SENIOR COUNSEL – AG BASIL WILLIAMS, CLAUDETTE SINGH, LLEWELLYN JOHNAMONG NINE ON LIST After 20 years without an award, Attorney General, Basil Williams, and three women were among a list of nine persons named by President David Granger as Senior Counsel. Effective last Sunday, it would represent the first time that women have been named as Senior Counsel. 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…” The persons included Neil Aubrey Boston. He was admitted to the Bar in November 1982, and was named for “service with distinction as a trial lawyer for over 34 years”. For his 33 years as Parliamentary Counsel and Deputy Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Charles John Ethelwood Fung-A-Fat, was also recognised. He was admitted to the Bar in August 1983. The list also included Justice Alison Roxanne McLean GeorgeWiltshire. She was admitted to the Bar in October 1990, and has served as a Senior State Counsel, Assistant Director of Public Prosecution, Deputy Director of Public Prosecution and Director of Public Prosecution. The oldest of the persons named was 91year-old Clifton Mortimer Llewellyn John, admitted in 1952 first as a solicitor and then as a barrister. He has practised for 64 years in both the High Court and the Magistrate’s Court. Rafiq Turhan Khan, admitted to the Bar in November 1984, is now Senior Counsel for his service as an advocate, member and CoChairman of the Legal Practitioners Committee. Vidyanand Persaud, called to the Bar in London in July 1976, and admitted to the Bar in Guyana in October 1976, has served as an arbitrator in disputes and in private practice for 40 years. He was appointed an Acting Puisne Judge of Guyana Supreme Court in 1994. Also on the list is Rosalie Althea Robertson. She was admitted to the Bar in November 1983 and for 33 years has served as a Legal Advisor, Corporate Secretary and as Registrar of Lands. Justice Claudette Margot Cecile Singh, called to the Bar in London in 1973 and admitted to the Bar in Guyana in 1976, was said to have served as Deputy Solicitor General and as a Puisne Judge and a Justice of Appeal. She has also spearheaded the Modernisation of the Justice Reform Project, and is currently the Guyana Police Force’s Legal Advisor. The current Attorney General, Basil Williams, admitted to the Bar in October 1983, was recognised for his service in the practice of the law in both criminal and civil law for over

33 years. FORMER SECURITY HEAD, TRINI EQUIPMENT SUPPLIER BLACKLISTED…IDB GETS TOUGH ON CORRUPT PROCUREMENT PRACTICES A former coordinator of a security programme and a Trinidadian firm that has been supplying medical equipment, have both been blacklisted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for fraudulent and collusive practices. The Coordinator of the Citizen’s Security Programme, Abel Khemraj Rai, was for banned eight years from August 23, 2016 to August 22, 2024. Four other companies and individuals that seem to have connections with Rai – including Sidrai Radiator Works, Sidrai Enterprises, Siddaharta Rai and Ron Jaisari were also sanctioned and banned for four to eight years. They were found guilty of fraudulent and collusive practices. Western Scientific Company Limited from Trinidad which did business with Guyana was handed a four-year ban from March 31, 2016 to October 15, 2020. One related company and two individuals – SCIMED, Mario Ricard Dell and Edwin Mackoon -were also sanctioned for fraudulent practices and cannot bid for another four years. According to the IDB website, the firms and individuals sanctioned by its Group’s Sanctions Committee were found to have engaged in fraud, corruption, collusion, coercion, or obstruction in violation of the IDB Group’s anti-corruption policies. These findings were made through an administrative process that permitted the accused firms and/or individuals to respond to the allegations pursuant to the Sanctions Pro-

cedures. ”Sanctions are meant to prevent and deter fraud and corruption in IDB Group-financed activities. The Sanctions Committee may impose any sanction that it deems to be appropriate under the circumstances, including but not limited to reprimand, conditions on future contracting and debarment. Debarred firms are declared ineligible to be awarded and participate in any IDB-financed contract for the periods indicated. Ineligibility may extend to any firm or individual who directly or indirectly controls the debarred firm or any firm which the debarred firm directly or indirectly controls. In the case of a debarred individual, ineligibility may extend to any firm which the debarred individual directly or indirectly controls,” IDB said. ONE YEAR LATER…INVESTIGATORS YET TO BUILD STRONG CASE ON PRADOVILLE TWO MATTER It is officially over a year since investigations started into the Pradoville Two case and a strong case is yet to be crafted. This was confirmed by officials attached to the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU). SARU’s Chief Executive Officer, Aubrey Heath-Retemyer, said that his Unit is taking the lead in investigations into the criminal aspect of the case while SOCU is providing whatever support is needed along the way. The SARU official said, “Work is ongoing in this matter. This case has a criminal aspect and a civil one. We are looking at the latter. With regard to the criminal aspect, it was known by now that investigators had to get the valuations for the lands at Sparendaam. ”These were sold to officials with strong ties to the former regime. But even after this was secured, SOCU is still without a strong

case.” Retemyer said that plaguing the criminal side of the case for SARU is securing statements from persons within the various agencies that would have been involved in the Pradoville Two scheme. ”We were able to get the valuations of the lands but SOCU was subsequently advised that there were still other requirements. They are still to get corresponding statements from government agencies that are implicated in the entire scandal.” The anticorruption advocate continued, “These agencies include the Central Housing and Planning Authority, Lands and Surveys Commission and the Deeds Registry. I believe SOCU has about 60 persons that it has taken statements from. We are still putting together a strong case for the civil and criminal aspect.” It was in October that Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, disclosed that the APNU+AFC Government agreed for there to be a special team which would be established to ensure the prosecution of criminal offences arising from the sale of land at the ‘Pradoville 2’ scheme. TUESDAY EDITION NICIL IS 100 PERCENT SHAREHOLDER IN MARRIOTT HOTEL -BUT YET TO EARN A SINGLE CENT ON INVESTMENT –OFFICER IN CHARGE Even though the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) has invested millions of dollars in the Marriott Hotel, the entity is yet to draw back a single cent from the business venture. This is according to Officer in Charge of NICIL, Horace James. During NICIL’s end of year press conference on Friday, December 30, the officer was (Continued on page 33)

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(From page 32) asked that given the state of affairs, why is there a strong interest in moving forward with the completion of the Entertainment Complex for the Hotel. The Casino and Entertainment Complex of the facility was proposed at an additional US$16M. James said, “We attended the Annual General Meeting for the Marriott Hotel and the Board still believes that it is the way to go. The members believe that once they go through with that, they will be able to get over the financial hurdles being faced now.” The NICIL Officer said that the Marriott Hotel is able to generate finances to remain operable. He emphasized, however, that the company is yet to make enough to service its debt. He said, too, that the decision to go forward with the Entertainment Complex is hinged on the fact that the feasibility study for the hotel supports its establishment. James was asked to identify who is going to fund the Entertainment complex. He said, “There is still some outstanding money from Republic Bank that might be possible. The board in charge of the Hotel will obviously have to revise its plan to the Bank and I believe that it is working on that aspect.” The official confirmed that NICIL would be held liable for that loan as well. James was also asked who is going to repay the loan if Marriott has found itself in a position where it is only able to break even. The Officer in Charge of NICIL said that the entity has written to the Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, requesting help in this regard. He said that Atlantic Hotel Inc. (AHI), the Special Purpose Company established to own the Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown, has also written the Bank on the matter. This issue is yet to be resolved. ”Most of the money that we had was utilized in Marriott hotel. We have purchased shares in the hotel to the tune of US$4M ($800M) and that gives 100 percent ownership. We have the subordinated bonded shares with US$15.5M. There was also some bridge financing done by NICIL which was done prior to June 2015.” Additionally, the NICIL Officer was asked to say if there were any preferential buyers outside of NICIL for the Marriott Hotel. In this regard, James said, “I am not certain. I know a loan was taken in the name of AHI. NICIL stood as the guarantor and that is a problem…But it is correct to say we are the 100 percent shareholder in the Marriott.” WHISTLEBLOWERS DEMAND FORENSIC AUDIT INTO IAST -ACCUSE SENIOR OFFICIAL OFABUSING, WASTING HUNDREDS OF $$MILLIONS Calls are being made for a forensic audit into the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST) with accusations of abuse of resources and funds being leveled against a top official. The organization, based in the University of Guyana, is tasked with developing technologies for local use. However, despite hundreds of millions of dollars being plugged into the entity over the last decade, very little success has been seen, it is being claimed. In recent months, there have been a number of scathing letters appearing in Kaieteur News and other media, regarding the operations of IAST and its current Director, Professor Suresh Narine. A number of internal documents handed over to Kaieteur News by whistleblowers in IAST – also complaining about the situation – indicated that President David Granger was written to last May.

Kaieteur News

Details of spending indicate that accounts have been manipulated to cover-up what appeared to be many trails of wrongdoing. According to documents, IAST between 2009 and 2014 was granted almost $500M to do research on various projects. One allocation had to do with a $100M project relating to Coconut-Derived High Value Chemicals. Four years later, critical equipment for this project has not been completely installed and work has not commenced. It was alleged that in 2009, nearly $29M was spent on an “old” rubber recycle plant purchased from a friend of a senior IAST official. The plant was repainted and placed into operations for a short while. The plant was supposed to cut old tires to produce asphalt using a mobile plant costing in excess of $24M. TWO EXECUTED ON NEW YEAR’S DAY – TWO SUSPECTS APPREHENDED Poultry vendor, Desmond Singh called “David” was one of two persons who were riddled with bullets around 19:00 hrs on New Year’s Day at Humphrey Street, Friendship, East Bank Demerara (EBD). The incident is being described as a planned hit. Singh, 34, of Lot A- 1 Orange Walk, Bourda, and 24-year-old Azrudeen Hussain, of Little Biaboo, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara (ECD) were shot just as they were heading to the main road to get a minibus, after leaving a gamecock gambling spot. Investigators said that the 34-year-old man, who goes by the alias “Fix-up,” was shot 15 times about the body with high power rifles. He died at the scene while his friend, who was shot once to the neck, died on the way to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). The Guyana Police Force said that its ranks were investigating the circumstances surrounding a double murder which occurred on New Year’s Day at Friendship by two men who concealed their faces with kerchiefs and armed with rifles. While there are no leads or motive for the killing so far, two known suspects have been arrested and are assisting the police with their investigation. At the scene, scores of onlookers gathered on the roadway peeping at investigators as they checked the body for bullet wounds. A rank was seen removing valuables from Singh’s pocket which included a smart phone and a small amount of cash. The fact that nothing was taken from the victims is one of the reasons that the police have ruled out robbery as the motive. Divisional Commander, Clifton Hicken and senior police officers, Das and Vanderhyden were at the scene communicating with the investigators. This newspaper understands that Singh, who is a frequent visitor at the gamecock gambling spot, won a few bets on roosters earlier in the day at another location and later in the day went to the Friendship spot to continue the game.

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It was at that spot that he lost the money he won earlier in the day. A source said that after losing his money, Singh borrowed $100,000 from someone there and lost that money in bets too. It was after losing that Singh and Hussain left to go home when they were attacked by the gunmen, who were hiding in the bushes nearby. WEDNESDAY EDITION “MANAGEMENT PROBLEM”, CRITICISMS AT HEALTH MINISTRY SPURRED DECISION TO ‘SHIFT’ NORTON – PRESIDENT GRANGER -VOLDA LAWRENCE NEW MINISTER; AMNAALLY TO HEAD SOCIAL PROTECTION The administration has downplayed its decision to remove Dr. George Norton as Minister of Public Health and place him at Social Cohesion. On Tuesday, President David Granger in a released statement was quick to stress that it is not a “reshuffle” of his Cabinet but a “shift” to ensure that the Government continues to deliver the quality of public service to the people of Guyana. Norton, who has been under pressure since last year, will now head the Ministry of Social Cohesion which falls under the Ministry of the Presidency. Volda Lawrence is the new Minister of Public Health, after being moved from the Ministry of Social Protection. Taking up that position now will be Minister Amna Ally who was the Minister of Social Cohesion. Norton faced flak last year for the rental of a drug bond in Albouystown for $12.5M monthly. There were calls for him to be sanctioned. There have also been criticisms of drug shortages in some regions and even at the Guyana Public Hospital Corporation. He was asked to and later apologized to the House for making misleading statements regards to the National Assembly about the drug bond transaction. According to President Granger, at the start of 2016 he had made some adjustments. “I appointed Catherine Hughes as the Minister of Public Telecommunications. This was later followed by Raphael Trotman named as Minister of Natural Resources. My responsibilities as head of Government are to continuously assess the ability of the Cabinet to fulfill its functions and this is a normal activ-

ity,” the Head of State explained. With regards to this recent ‘shift’, he said that he found it necessary to look at the way the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Social Protection and the Ministry of Social Cohesion were performing and as a result, some adjustments were made. UNLESS WE MOVE AWAY FROM SUGAR …BUILDINGARESILIENT ECONOMY NOT POSSIBLE BY 2020 -FINANCE MINISTER Given Guyana’s continued reliance on primary production and the overall performance of its traditional sectors, it is not likely that the APNU+AFC administration would be able to build a resilient economy by the next General and Regional Elections. This is according to Finance Minister, Winston Jordan. The Finance Minister said that government would have to set the ground work first, in order for this to be done. He said that with the recent budgets, this process has already started. The economist said, “I don’t foresee the economy being resilient by 2020. We have to set the ground work. Sugar is still a major aspect of the Guyanese economy.” With regard to the ailing sugar industry, the Finance Minister said that “unless Guyana is prepared to move away from sugar as we know it, into value added and take opportunities available in Caricom markets —but more particularly Brazil once we can get a road going there—” then the nation cannot expect a sudden turnaround in the way the economy responds to external shocks. The Finance Minister said that Guyana would have to move away from primary production into the next stage of the value chain. He said it would also require that the Government put in place, climate resilient infrastructure and practices. JILTED MAN TORCHES GIRLFRIEND ON OLD YEAR’S NIGHT A gold miner who became annoyed after his girlfriend tried to end their relationship is accused of throwing gasoline on the woman and setting her on fire. Roy English, 42, of Tiger Creek, is alleged to have unlawfully and maliciously inflicted grievous bodily harm to Yvonne Richmond on December 31, 2016 at Three Mile Junction, Tumatumari, Potaro River. English, who was unrepresented, (Continued on page 34)

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(From page 33) appeared in court with his head wrapped in bandage. He was not required to plead to the indictable charge read to him Tuesday in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. The court was told that English and the woman shared a relationship and lived together. According to Police Prosecutor Deniro Jones, the man became annoyed when the woman tried to end their relationship. In a fit of rage, English drenched Richmond in gasoline and set her on fire. She was picked up and rushed to the hospital. She sustained second degree burns to her right eye and foot. When asked if he had any objections to bail for the accused, Police Prosecutor Deniro Jones replied in the affirmative and pointed to the injuries Richmond sustained. Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan upheld the objections and remanded English to prison until January 13, when he will appear in the Mahdia Magistrate’s Court. THURSDAY EDITION THREE DEAD IN HIGHWAY SMASH-UP Three people died in a head on collision on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway last evening. Two of the dead have been identified as Dextroy Griffith, 25, a mechanic attached to Roraima Airways; and David Primus, 52, of Self Help Amelia’s Ward, Linden. No fewer than five people are currently in hospital. Among those injured are Whitney Griffith, 23, and wife of the now dead Dextroy Griffith. She was said to be four months pregnant. Also injured are Louren Mendonca, 22, of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Arletta Kendall, 47, of Speightland, Lower Kara Kara. The collision occurred in the vicinity of Long Creek shortly after 19:00 hours. According to reports one of the cars driven by Primus, HC 5326, was heading to Linden. Initial reports are that it was transporting goods purchased in the city. The other vehicle, PRR7151, a silver-coloured Toyota Spacio, was heading to Georgetown. There are conflicting reports. One report was that Griffith, who would have celebrated his first wedding anniversary on January 16, next, was driving the Spacio. Another report listed the second driver as unidentified. That report stated that Griffith, his wife and the other named injured persons were in Primus’s vehicle. Another report stated that Primus was in the process of overtaking a truck on the highway when he slammed into the Spacio. Yet another report was that one of the vehicles suffered a blowout. Rescuers were forced to cut-open the badly mangled vehicles to free the men, but they were already dead. Those involved in the operation included fire fighters, police and public-spirited citizens. An eyewitness said that he was two cars behind Primus’s when suddenly he saw

no headlights. The eyewitness said that he immediately realised that something was amiss.”When I reached up I see de driver dead and me mother-in-law unconscious. I just tek she out and put she in me vehicle and bring she to hospital.” NEW COMPANY REPLACES WARTSILA FOR GPL ENGINES It is official now. Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) has ended its management contract with Finnish-owned Wartsila. A new company, Power Producer and Distribution Inc. (PPDI), was established in early December and from January 1, has taken over the operations of Wartsila, which during its two-decade-long relations, maintained engines which now total almost 20. Over that period, Wartsila trained locals and collected hundreds of millions of dollars in fees. Wartsila will remain in Guyana as it will still have to supply parts and provide other services to GPL. According to Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, during 2016 review of his ministry, all of the local staffers have been retained by PPDI. They will be assisted by a number of Guyanese who have returned from overseas. According to Patterson, the new company is headquartered in the same building that housed Wartsila in Kingston with better terms and enhanced maintenance, services and trading mechanisms expected under the new arrangements.

cused of lobbing a grenade at a vehicle belonging to Kaieteur News Publisher, Glenn Lall, last June. As a result of the ruling, Alfie Garraway, Janeil Howard and Leroy Williams have been committed to stand trial at the High Court. Williams, 25, of 11 D’Urban Backlands; Howard, 20, of 322 Section ‘C’ Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara; and Garraway, 36, of Norton Street, Lodge, Georgetown, are accused of conspiring together with other persons to cause an explosion by way of throwing a grenade, likely to endanger lives and cause damage to property. The offence occurred on June 4, 2015, at Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown. According to reports, on the day in question, a member of the Kaieteur News security staff heard an unusual sound near Lall’s Toyota Lexus SUV, PRR 8398. The vehicle was parked on the western side of Saffon Street outside the building housing the newspaper’s offices. On checking the front of the vehicle, the staff member spotted a grenade lying near one of the front tyres. Video footage from the company’s CCTV cameras showed a greycoloured vehicle slowing as it approached Lall’s vehicle. The driver accelerated after the explosive was thrown. Shemar Wilson, also known as ‘Abdue’, is still wanted by the Police for questioning in relation to the grenade attack. He is 20 years of age and his last known addresses have been given as 43 North Sophia and 51 West La Penitence, Georgetown..

FRIDAY EDITION KAIETEUR NEWS GRENADEATTACK TRIO TO STAND TRIAL IN HIGH COURT Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on Thursday ruled that prima facie cases have been established against the three men ac-

DEATH TOLL FOR LINDEN HIGHWAY CRASH NOW FOUR Wednesday evening’s horrific collision on the Linden Soesdyke Highway claimed its fourth life with the latest victim, Louron Mendonca, succumbing to his injuries early

Thursday morning at the Linden Hospital Complex. According to reports, Mendonca, who had been in Linden on holiday from St Vincent, was a guest of David Primus, his uncle. Primus and Dextroy Griffith died instantly as a result of the collision that occurred in the vicinity of Loo Creek. Primus was the driver of motor car HC 5326, in which both Mendonca and Griffith were travelling. Griffith’s wife, 22-year-old Whitney Ann Griffith, who was also in the vehicle, is hospitalized in Linden. She is reportedly five months pregnant, with her third child. The driver of the other vehicle, motor car PRR 7151, who also perished, is 38-year-old Raul Aaron of 748 Section C, Block X, Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara. The two vehicles were travelling in opposite directions, with the Primus’ returning to Linden. LEAKING OF INSIDER INFOAT HEALTH MINISTRY…REPORT PAINTS PICTURE OF COLLUSION, “INTIMACY” WITH SUPPLIERS IN CONTRACT AWARDS – PS RECOMMENDED REMOVED; SHAKEUP IN MMU An explosive report probing the leaking of information and the procurement of drugs at the Ministry of Health has found worrying instances of collusion with suppliers last year. The Board of Inquiry, ordered by President David Granger late last year, was headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (Ret’d), Winston Cosbert. Based on the three weeks of investigation, it is now being recommended that the current Permanent Secretary, Trevor Thomas be removed for failing to effectively carry out his duty. He was also accused of being willfully evasive and deceptive during his (Continued on page 49)

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(From page 34) testimony. It is not the first time that the Health Ministry has been under scrutiny for contracts. With billions of dollars annually allocated to the ministry to buy pharmaceuticals for its health centres and hospitals countrywide, state audits under the administrations of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had found serious procurement flaws which tilted the process in favour of one company- New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation (New GPC) and its sister company. The Coalition administration, which came to power in May 2015, had vowed to level the playing field for pharmaceutical suppliers and implement systems to ensure transparency. But it appeared that wrongdoing at the Health Ministry was continuing. Procurement and management processes by which the ministry awards contracts for the procurement of pharmaceuticals, services and supplies were not adhered to in many cases, the report indicated. In some cases, companies were awarded contracts for products which they were not authorized to distribute in the first place. It appeared the ministry paid little attention to this. For example, Caribbean Medical Supplies was awarded a contract to supply HIV Rapid Unigold Test Kits for which they were not the authorized distributor. Another company, Meditron Inc., was awarded a contract to supply four Hematology Analysers while they were not the authorized distributor. Caribbean Medical Supplies signed a contract for $70.8M, with the monies paid, but the test kits were not delivered. There were incidents of unauthorized disclosure of information in a specific case, a supplier from Trinidad – Western Scientific Company Limited. This was the same company that last year was blacklisted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). It was alleged that Western Scientific President, Edwin McKoon, breached procurement rules by calling the ministry to verify which drugs were out of stock – this information had not even been made public yet. It showed clearly he knew what was going on. An Office Assistant, Kandasie Aaron, whose close relation to McKoon sparked the probe after a whistleblower threatened to go public, appeared to have been intimately in-

Kaieteur News

volved with the Trinidad businessman.

later.

ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION IN AWARD OF $$B CONTRACT…GOV’T WILL RESPECT FINDINGS OF IDB PROBE – MINISTER PATTERSON Government will respect the findings and recommendations of an investigation that is currently being carried out by an anti-corruption arm of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) into a major electricity project. On Wednesday, during an end-of-year press briefing of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Minister David Patterson, admitted that there has been a complaint filed to the Office of Institutional Integrity (OII), an independent arm of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). He said that as far as he is aware, the project in question has not been halted. ”I was informed that it generally takes one month and that time is rapidly expiring. Due process will prevail and we will respect whatever the results,” he said. The project in question is a US$18M-plus one to run new low and medium voltage transmission lines along the coast and the installation of at least 25,000 new metes. It is targeting an improvement of the efficiency of the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL). However, the controversial project was thrown in limbo after one of the bidders complained that the evaluation process was corrupt and that the winner, China National Machinery Import and Export (CMC), should not have qualified. The aggrieved bidder, Colombian-owned Enrique Lourido, which has partnered with local contractor, Fix It Depot, is also insisting that it is highly questionable that the Government of Guyana has agreed to pay CMC $1B over the engineer’s estimate, despite other bidders being qualified and lower in the tender amounts. The bidder is expected to be joined by at least one other company in its protests in the coming days. The project, part of a bigger one to improve the technical efficiency of GPL, has been generating attention locally, not only because of the billions of dollars involved, but with questions raised over the procedures to evaluate the bidders. The tenders of the rehabilitation project had been opened since February, and were only reportedly granted Cabinet’s no-objection a few weeks ago – more than nine months

SATURDAY EDITION BILLION$$ IN PHARMACEUTICALS POORLY MANAGED …GOVT. UNCLEAR WHAT IT HAD IN STOCK AT DRUG BONDS A key inquiry report into alleged leaking of information to drug suppliers at the Ministry of Public Health last year is pointing to poor management of the inventory of pharmaceuticals. The inventory, worth billions of dollars, was last year stored mainly in the state-ofthe-art Materials Management Unit (MMU) facility at Diamond, East Bank Demerara and Central Stores Unit (CSU) at Mudflat, Kingston. Another bond, at Albouystown, has since been established. According to the report prepared by Winston Cosbert, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ret’d), a Field Auditor of Ministry of Public Health, Hemchand Persaud, testified before the Board of Inquiry late last year that his responsibilities entailed checking the MMU at Diamond and the CSU at Kingston quarterly and submitting a report with his finding to the Permanent Secretary. According to Persaud, during the period July 25th, 2016 to August 31st, 2016, he conducted an audit at the MMU Diamond warehouse where he unearthed several discrepancies. Among other things, it was found that expired products were being disposed of without any proper documentation or Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) followed. “Over ninety-five percent (95%) of the product balances in the Management Accounting System (MAC) Inventory System is incorrect, in some instances they are understated or overstated by the thousands,” the report said. The Board of Inquiry was ordered by President David Granger in October to investigate reports of the unauthorized disclosure of information to suppliers. The inquiry was also supposed to investigate reports of malpractice and mismanagement of the pharmaceuticals that had been bought by the ministry. Among other things, the auditor found that at the new Diamond facility, unauthorized personnel were entering the warehouse and uplifting supplies. “Internal controls are seriously lacking at the facility. Currently random checks are not made to items being dispatched to facilities to

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ensure the correct quantities or products are dispatched. The dispatches are just prepared as gate passes stating the amount of cartons leaving the warehouse.” At the Kingston bond, the auditor found that management was also poor. None of the product locations were labelled. “Like items are stored in multiple locations. Whilst counting the Stationery Store, the department came across a large quantity of items packed on three separate pallets. A query was made, to which the response given was that the items were already sorted, issued by the store, and awaiting shipment to the various regions.” In other instances, drugs and other supplies were issued without approval for computers and other high value items. “The department requested a master list for both stores. The lists presented were incomplete. In both cases bin cards found were more than triple the amount of items listed on the master lists. The department then requested a list of all bin cards kept by the Stationery Store to aid the preparation of the Master List. The Store Keeper was verbally reminded daily for over a week to which no progress was made,” the report said. The report had also mentioned several other worrying revelations with regards to the procurement and management of the country’s drug supplies for its regional hospitals and health centres. It recommended the sacking of current Permanent Secretary (PS) Trevor Thomas, for failure to properly carry out his duties. He was accused of allowing a major supplier, New GPC, to be overpaid more than $100M in an advance for pharmaceuticals last year. The PS was also accused of turning a blind eye when it was brought to his attention that a staffer was colluding with a Trinidadian company in leaking information about other suppliers. There was no investigation, yet the staffer was transferred. There were several other instances of what appeared to be wrongdoing at the ministry, the report said. The report by the retired senior cop also recommended a shake-up in personnel in the procurement, finance and management departments of the ministry. The Cabinet of Ministers is set to consider the report next week at its weekly (Continued on page 40)

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had made its way into public without being considered by Cabinet. He said that the persons named had a right to be heard and replied. He said that action will be taken, based on the recommendations, but these will be dependent on the considerations of Cabinet. CHANCELLOR, JUDGES WERE ENGAGED IN SENIOR COUNSEL SELECTIONS – HARMON Pointing out that the recent appointments of Senior Counsel by the President have become somewhat ‘contentious’, Minister of State Joseph Harmon, was quizzed about the selection process that was undertaken. Before responding to the question, Harmon, at a PostCabinet Press Briefing on Friday, reminded media operatives that the appointments would come after a two-decade-long hiatus meeting. Yesterday, Minister of State Joseph Harmon, expressed displeasure that the report

which he referred to as an ‘aberration’. He made reference to remarks that were made by the Head of State, David Granger

during a recently held ceremony which saw the Senior Counsel being presented with their instruments. “The comments made by His Excellency the President was that the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, as an independent nation, established a system of National Awards which included the award of Senior Counsel,” Harmon added that before Guyana achieved Republic-status, Senior Counsel Awards came from England and were called “Queen’s Counsel”. “After we became a Republic State, we instituted a number of things which were national in character. We dealt with our own National Anthem; our own Symbols of Nationhood...and the appointment of Senior Counsel was part of that process,” he said. Harmon said that after 20 years, the President took a ‘strong ‘position to resuscitate the awards. He continued that the process of the persons being appointed starts with a letter by the President to the Chancellor of the Judiciary, requesting that he/she identify persons to whom the Senior Counsel can be given. “And so, the Chancellor in consultation with the Judges of the Supreme Court, prepares a list of persons – whom in their opinion – have acquitted themselves so well in the courts,” Harmon said. The State Minister continued that the list is then sent to the President, who is then guided by that list and by his own ‘deliberate judgement’. “It is from that process that you have the list of persons who were granted this national honour.” Harmon said that the President has given his assurance that this would be a regular feature in the coming years. PRESIDENT HAS ‘FINAL SAY’ IN CHOICE OF NEW GECOM CHAIRPERSON - HARMON The APNU+AFC administration has denied it has already made up its mind in the choice for a new Chairperson for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, during

Sunday January 08, 2017

the first post-Cabinet press briefing of the year, disclosed that the process of selection is ongoing. On Tuesday, the Cabinet of Ministers was updated. Former Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally, who served over a decade, had late last year signaled his intentions to resign. His last day on the job was supposed to be November 30th. Explaining the process, Harmon, said it is clearly set out in Article 161 of the Constitution. It involves the President writing Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, to supply a list of six nominees after consultations with the wider society. This process was apparently followed by the Opposition Leader and a list was submitted to the President. Since then, the President has requested curriculum vitae (CVs) of the six persons. Making it clear that there is “some amount of misinformation out there”, Harmon stressed that if unsatisfied with the current list, the President can ask the Opposition Leader for a fresh one. If after that is done, there are still persons who do not fit the requirements, the President can then call in Jagdeo for “meaningful consultations” and if no agreement is reached, the President has the right to appoint somebody whom in his estimation is right for the job. According to Harmon, there is no truth that President Granger has skipped the steps and has already chosen someone. “Certainly that is not the case. I want to lay that to rest right now,” the Minister assured. The six persons submitted last month are Major-General (Ret’d) Norman Mc Lean, Lawrence Lachmansingh, James G. Rose, PhD, Ramesh Dookoo, Ryhaan Shah and Christopher L. Ram. The list had been dispatched by the Leader of the Opposition to the President on December 21, 2016 but Granger had asked for the CVs. Last month, President Granger said that the CVs would help to better determine him determine the suitability of the candidates.

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Fish oil during pregnancy may reduce risk of childhood asthma Omega-3 fatty acids are one of the two major classes of polyunsaturated fat. They can be found in certain foods like flaxseed and fish, as well as in dietary supplements such as fish oil. So far, research has indicated that omega-3 fatty acids - when consumed directly from food - have a variety of health benefits. A moderate consumption of seafood has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and has also been associated with a reduced risk of cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia. A weekly consumption of at least 8 ounces of seafood by pregnant women also seems to improve health outcomes in their infants. A new study - carried out by the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC) research center in Denmark, in collaboration with the University of Waterloo, Canada suggests an additional health benefit: reducing the risk of childhood asthma. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 6.3 million children in the United States under the age of 18 - or 8.6 percent of all U.S. children currently have asthma. As the CDC report notes, the prevalence of asthma has

increased in the U.S. over the last decade, and the disease is currently at its highest level. The authors of the new study hypothesized a link between the rising numbers of children affected by asthma in Western countries and the low levels of anti-inflammatory omega-3 in their diet. The researchers therefore examined the effect of omega-3 supplements in pregnant women on the risk of wheeze and asthma in their offspring. The researchers were led by Prof. Ken Stark, Canada Research Chair in Nutritional Lipidomics and professor in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo. Prof. Stark and team selected 736 pregnant women who were 24 weeks into the gestation period. They randomly administered some of the women a daily dose of 2.4 grams of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) in the form of fish oil. The control group received a daily dose of olive oil as a placebo. The LCPUFAs included eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These can be found in coldwater fish and are crucial for regulating the human body’s immune response.

The researchers used rapid analytical techniques to measure EPA and DHA levels in the blood of pregnant women. Prof. Stark, who led the testing procedures, explains the benefits of using such a method. “Measuring the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in blood provides an accurate and precise assessment of nutrient status. Our labs are uniquely equipped to measure fatty acids quickly, extremely precisely, and in a cost-efficient manner.” Prof. Ken Stark The mothers’ offspring formed the 2010 COPSAC cohort, and they were followed for 5 years - the age at which asthma can be clinically diag-

Vitamin D deficiency increases risk D to an increased risk of chronic headache vitamin of chronic diseases. Low viVitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of chronic headache, according to a new study from the University of Eastern Finland. The findings were published in Scientific Reports. The Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study, KIHD, analysed the serum vitamin D levels and occurrence of headache in approximately 2,600 men aged between 42 and 60 years in 1984-1989. In 68% of these men, the serum vitamin D level was below 50 nmol/l, which is generally considered the threshold for vitamin D deficiency. Chronic headache occurring at least on a weekly basis was reported by 250 men, and men reporting

chronic headache had lower serum vitamin D levels than others. When the study population was divided into four groups based on their serum vitamin D levels, the group with the lowest levels had over a twofold risk of chronic headache in comparison to the group with the highest levels. Chronic headache was also more frequently reported by men who were examined outside the summer months of June through September. Thanks to UVB radiation from the sun, the average serum vitamin D levels are higher during the summer months. The study adds to the accumulating body of evidence linking a low intake of

tamin D levels have been associated with the risk of headache also by some earlier, mainly considerably smaller studies. In Finland and in other countries far from the Equator, UVB radiation from the sun is a sufficient source of vitamin D during the summer months, but outside the summer season, people need to make sure that they get sufficient vitamin D from food or from vitamin D supplements. No scientific evidence relating to the benefits and possible adverse effects of longterm use in higher doses yet exists. The Finnish Vitamin D Trial, FIND, currently ongoing at the University of Eastern Finland will shed light on the question, as the five-year trial analyses the effects of high daily doses of vitamin D on the risk factors and development of diseases. The trial participants are taking a vitamin D supplement of 40 or 80 micrograms per day. The trial also investigates the effects of vitamin D supplementation on various pain conditions. h t t p : / / www.medicalnewstoday.com/ articles/315014.php.

nosed. During the 5-year period, researchers monitored the children’s health for asthma and persistent wheeze, as well as respiratory tract infections, asthma complications, eczema, and sensitization to al-

lergens. In total, the clinical trial included 695 children, 95.5 percent of whom completed a 3-year, double-blind followup period. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Omega-3 reduced childhood asthma risk by 31 percent The results of the study seem to confirm the authors’ hypothesis. “We’ve long suspected there was a link between the anti-inflammatory properties of long-chain omega-3 fats, the low intakes of omega-3 in Western diets and the rising rates of childhood asthma. This study proves that they are definitively and significantly related.” Prof. Hans Bisgaard, first author The study revealed that pregnant women who took the daily dose of LCPUFA during the third trimester re-

duced their children’s risk of developing asthma or persistent wheeze by almost 31 percent. The treatment group had a 16.9 percent risk of persistent wheeze or asthma, compared with 23.7 percent in the control group. This corresponds to a relative risk decrease of 30.7 percent. The blood tests also revealed that the supplements most benefited the women who had low levels of EPA and DHA at the beginning of the study. The supplements reduced the risk of asthma in their children by 54 percent. “Asthma and wheezing disorders have more than doubled in Western countries in recent decades,” adds Prof. Bisgaard. “We now have a preventative measure to help bring those numbers down.” h t t p : / / www.medicalnewstoday.com/ articles/315014.php.

A closer look at the eye Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have developed a new imaging technique that could revolutionize how eye health and disease are assessed. The group is first to be able to make out individual cells at the back of the eye that are implicated in vision loss in diseases like glaucoma. They hope their new technique could prevent vision loss via earlier diagnosis and treatment for these diseases. In a study highlighted in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ethan A. Rossi, Ph.D., assistant professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, describes a new method to non-invasively image the human retina, a layer of cells at the back of the eye that are essential for vision. The group, led by David Williams, Ph.D., Dean for Research in Arts, Sciences, and Engineering and the William G. Allyn Chair for Medical Optics at the University of Rochester, was able to distinguish individual retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which bear most of the responsibility of relaying visual information to the brain. There has been a longstanding interest in imaging RGCs because their death causes vision loss in glaucoma, the second leading cause of acquired blindness worldwide. Despite great efforts, no one has successfully captured images of individual RGCs, in part because they are nearly perfectly transparent. Instead of imaging RGCs directly, glaucoma is currently diagnosed by assess-

ing the thickness of the nerve fibers projecting from the RGCs to the brain. However, by the time retinal nerve fiber thickness has changed detectably, a patient may have lost 100,000 RGCs or more. “You only have 1.2 million RGCs in the whole eye, so a loss of 100,000 is significant,” said Williams. “The sooner we can catch the loss, the better our chances of halting disease and preventing vision loss.” Rossi and his colleagues were able to see RGCs by modifying an existing technology - confocal adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO). They collected multiple images, varying the size and location of the detector they used to gather light scattered out of the retina for each image, and then combined those images. The technique, called multioffset detection, was performed at the University of Rochester Medical Center in animals as well as volunteers with normal vision and patients with age-related macular degeneration. Not only did this tech-

nique allow the group to visualize individual RGCs, but structures within the cells, like nuclei, could also be distinguished in animals. If Rossi can achieve that level of resolution in humans, he hopes to be able to assess glaucoma before the retinal nerve fiber thins - and even before any RGCs die - by detecting size and structure changes in RGC cell bodies. While RGCs were the main focus of Rossi’s investigations, they are just one type of cell that can be imaged using this new technique. In age-related macular degeneration, cone photoreceptors that detect color and are important for central vision are the first to die. AOSLO has been used to image cones before, but these cells were difficult to see in areas near Drusen, fatty deposits that are the most common early sign of the disease. Using their multi-offset technique in age-related macular degeneration patients, Rossi was able to assess the health of cones near Drusen and in areas where the retina had been damaged.

Sunday January 08, 2017

Mariah Carey’s Manager Sounds Off on New Year’s Eve Performance Mariah Carey’s performance during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve still has everyone talking, but no one has more to say about that unfortunate debacle than her manager, Stella Bulochnikov. For those who missed it, Carey experienced some technical difficulties on NYE that affected her sound. In turn, it affected her ability to properly perform along with the pre-recorded tracks (which is normal protocol for a singer who is performing live) of “Emotions” and “We Belong Together.” While she tried to continue the performance as best she could, Mariah got a bit irritated and told the crowd, “Well, happy New Year! We can’t hear. I’ll just get through the moment, OK?” she said, later adding, “I’m trying to be a good sport here.” “The country deserved better than that,” Bulochnikov said of the performance, and added that she was disappointed Carey didn’t have an opportunity to reshoot for the west coast. Noting that she hasn’t spoken to host Ryan Seacrest since that night, but adding that she’s not mad at him for what happened, Bulochnikov tells E! News, “They came to me and said, ‘What do you want us to do?’ I said, ‘I want you to cut the west coast feed, I want you to edit the west coast feed, I want you to do right by Mariah.’” However, she explains that TV exec Michael Schimmel told her, “We can’t do that.”Bulochnikov continues, “It’s disgusting that they wouldn’t edit a better performance for west coast and say, ‘Hey, listen we’re so sorry that we had a mechanical prob-

lem but we love you Mariah, we’re grateful to you Mariah, we’re going to do anything we can to give America the right performance.’ “No one even ran out to say to us, hey would you please reshoot? Can you hang back for a few minutes? And can we shoot something else? And we would’ve stayed on that stage and shot it, but nobody ran out...There’s not a human being on the planet that could change my mind that they didn’t do this for a viral moment for ratings and that’s my problem.” Carey’s manager also responded to Mariah’s former manager (and ex-husband) Tommy Mottola’s criti-

cism of the entire ordeal, and she didn’t hold back. “I’m sure he’s jealous because Mariah Carey is conquering every single medium despite him… So I’m sure Tommy Mottola can’t handle it. I’m sure he’s jealous because nobody’s worked for him in 15 years and he decided to crawl out of his cave and dust himself off. And you know what my response is? He can just shut the f—k up and mind his own business. He should shut the f—k up and mind his own business, he has some nerve.” While many still seem very worked up about the performance, Carey, herself, seemed to just brush it all off.

Ciara Drops Her $15 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against Future Ciara is ready to put the past behind her. E! News has learned the “I Bet” singer has dropped her defamation lawsuit against her ex Future. According to court documents, the case has been “dismissed with prejudice” meaning she can’t refile in the future. The Hollywood stars have also reached a custody agreement in regards to their son Future Zahir Wilburn. While the duo experienced relationship drama in the public eye, Ciara has shown several signs of moving on with her life. In addition to finding love and marrying Russell Wilson, the singer is now expecting her first child with the Seattle Seahawks quarterback. Recently on New Year’s Eve, Ciara looked back at some of her fondest memories of 2016 including her magical wedding day. “Truly one of the best moments in my life!

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I married the love of my life,” she wrote to her followers. “My god is an awesome God. Grateful. Thank you 2016.” As for Future, he recently opened up about his relationship with Ciara during an interview with Rolling Stone. At the time, he assured fans that he wanted the best for his ex. “Her being successful, her being happy, helps me,” Future shared with the publication. “I’m attached to you. If you’re happy, I’m happy. You’re connected for life.” He added, “I don’t want you to go through this s—t and for it to come back on my son, my kid. I want you to be in the best situation.” TMZ was first to report the news. http:// www.eonline.com/news/820206/ciara-dropsher-15-million-defamation-lawsuit-against-future

Drake Is ‘’Completely Falling’’ for Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lopez may just be “having fun” in her new kinda-relationship with Drake, but it looks like the rapper is completely smitten with his lady, who also happened to be his childhood crush. A source tells E! News exclusively that Drake is “completely falling for J.Lo. He has always had a crush on her growing up, so the fact that this is all coming to life is pretty cool for him. He really likes her though.” The insider adds, “They laugh and get along perfectly. The age gap is not an issue for him, because he digs an older woman. J.Lo has always been into younger men, so it’s a good combo.” As for the seriousness of their relationship, the source shares that the pair are “taking things as slow as they could, but a relationship may be in the works between them,” and explains, “He treats her like a queen and loves her work ethic and family values. This is the first girl besides Rihanna in a while that he is really into. Drake is looking for a relationship and something solid.” Drizzy and Jenny from the block continue to make waves

as one of Hollywood’s hottest new couples. The pair, who have been spotted out and about together on numerous occasions, were most recently seen on New Year’s Eve, when J.Lo attended Drake’s show at the Hakkasan Las Vegas nightclub. Lopez had recently canceled her own New Year ’s Eve show at Miami’s E11even nightclub. Drake did not give his girl a public shout-out during his 40-minute set, but did perform some of his tracks off of Views, such as “Energy,” “Hotline Bling” and “Fake Love.” He also performed his

and RiRi’s duet “Work” before cutting the song short and saying, “Alright, that was the vibe for 2016...you’ve got to give it up to my new music.” Lopez and Drake have not commented on the status of their relationship. Another source had told E! News exclusively recently that J.Lo is enjoying her time with Drizzy, but isn’t considering him as a potential serious boyfriend, adding, “she’s having fun.” http://www.eonline.com/ news/820239/drake-is-completely-falling-for-jenniferlopez-he-s-always-had-acrush-on-her-growing-up

Vivica A. Fox and Ex 50 Cent Made Peace in the New Year Vivica A. Fox has a refreshing New Year’s resolution: let bygones be bygones. The 52-year-old Empire actress appeared on The Wendy Williams Show Tuesday, and the conversation turned to her ex-boyfriend 50 Cent. The two, who dated in 2003, have been feuding since 2015 when the rapper, who is a producer and actor on Power, blamed a slip in Empire’s ratings to a homosexual plotline the show explored. They’ve continuously dragged each other in the press since then, but Fox told Williams that they’ve reached a ceasefire since running into each other at a New York Knicks game. “I walked to him and I said, ‘Happy New Year,’” she said. “It is so time for this to be over with, as far as beefing back and forth.” She added, “Someone has to be the bigger person. I walked over to him. We sat down. I gave him a hug, we talked for a few minutes and that was that.” Cheers to starting with a clean slate in the New Year! Nearly a year and a half ago, however, they were singing a

different tune. The feud took off after Fox insinuated on Watch What Happens Live that the “In Da Club” rapper was gay. “What were your thoughts when 50 Cent blamed the season ratings dip on ‘gay stuff?’” host Andy Cohen asked Fox in November 2015. “First of all, you know the pot called the kettle black is all I’m saying,” Fox responded. Cohen flat out asked her if 50 Cent could be gay, and she said, “he’s not,” but added that he “just seems like he’s got something that’s not quite clear.” 50 Cent then shared unflattering photos of his ex-girlfriend, including one of Fox wearing a low-cut dress with the words “really bad boob job!” written over the picture. “Bitch remember when you told me f—k Halle Berry and you could have played all the roles she did better then her? And I just looked at you like what the f—k kind s—t did you take? LMAO,” he wrote alongside the photo. 50 Cent also responded on Twitter, calling the Inde-

pendence Day actress “crazy.” The exes let their feud go for a little while, but 50 Cent reignited it in September 2016 when he shared a split photo of a woman with botched plastic surgery and Fox. “I don’t know why people would want to cross me. I would stay out of my way, if I wasn’t me because I’m gonna keep winning,” he wrote in the caption. “I think they do it for attention then get more attention than they want. I told you POWER was the show to watch. Now Empire lol forget it.”Now Fox is relieved to have buried the hatchet with her former flame. “Listen…I will always have love for him,” Fox told Williams. “As much as we’ve been through, I will always have love for him. I’ve said he was literally like…my true love.” She even became emotional at the thought of rehashing their beef. “I hated to have beef with him, but I let nobody mess with me. I ain’t no punk,” she added. “I told him, ‘I will always love you, We’re not meant to be together, but I’ll always have love for you.’

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phone thief granted bail Cattle farmer to stand trial for rape Suspected A 27-year-old man, East Coast Demerara, and a purchase when he rested his A West Berbice cattle farmer was on Friday, committed to stand trial at the Berbice High Court, accused of rape. According to the evidence presented in court, Vibert James, also known as Tarzan, 48, broke into the dwelling of the 30-year-old victim, at the time, held a knife to her throat, and had sex with her without her consent. At the time of the incident, he was residing at Vandetta,

aback of Blairmont, West Bank Berbice. He allegedly committed the act around 2:00 hours on February 2, 2012, at Vandetta. The victim, after her ordeal ran to her neighbour screaming at the top of her voice. The matter was reported at the Fort Wellington Police Station, and James was arrested and placed on bail pending investigations. Charges were laid against

the accused on October 10, 2016, and on Thursday, January 6, 2017, at the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court, Magistrate Rhondel Weever, ruled that there was sufficient evidence to commit James to stand trial at the next practicable sitting of the Berbice High Court. The accused was made to post fresh bail at $250,000.

accused of stealing an Iphone on Boxing Day, was granted bail to the sum of $80,000 when he appeared in court on January 5 in the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court, West Coast Berbice . The accused, Claude Bazilio, was denied bail when he made his first appearance at the Weldaad Magistrate’s Court on December 29, 2016, and gave his address as, South Ruimveldt, New Hope,

Northwest District. However, the second time around he was able to secure bail on condition that he reports to the Grove Police Station every Friday. He is required to appear in court, again, on January 28. The case before the court is that on December 26, last, an overseas- based Guyanese had gone into a shop at Number Twenty-nine Village, West Coast Berbice to effect

Iphone on the counter, and turned away for about one minute to attend to a relative. He returned to discover the phone stolen. The matter was subsequently reported to the police at Fort Wellington, and the phone was traced to an address at Grove, East Bank of Demerara. Ranks were able to recover the phone, and Bazilio was arrested and charged.

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CONSUMER CONCERNS

You can get your landline phone now PAT DIAL

Since last December, the Public Utilities Commission

(PUC) under its Chairman former High Court Judge, Justice (retd) Prem Persaud CCH has been conducting

Hearings to consider GTT’s request to increase landline rates. The Guyana Consumers Association

(GCA) has been opposing such increases, and later in this article we will outline the respective positions of GTT and GCA and the consumer community. As a spinoff of these Hearings, however, GTT has indicated that it has always been willing and able to supply landline telephones to those who require them. Many consumers have complained that they had applied to GTT, sometimes years ago, for landline phones, but GTT has never supplied them. Now it seems that the situation has changed and landline phones would be supplied on the asking. If any members of the public require landline phones now, they may of course apply to GTT, but as a service to consumers and to be able to follow up on their requests, they may send the GCA an e-mail stating name, address, and desire to have a landline phone. The GCA e-mails they may use are jainarined2001@yahoo.com or patdial26@gmail.com. If they have any difficulty in respect of their application to GTT, they may contact the PUC at their office at 106 New Garden Street, Queenstown, Georgetown or e-mail at their complaints section. Together with this easy availability of landline phones to those who require them, GTT is also promising to repair with promptitude landline telephones which have been out-of-order. This failure to repair telephones in good time and

A mini health check is the first step to donating blood

failure to supply landline phones have forced many people who live alone, the poor, the sick and the aged, to be driven to buy and use cell phones whose charges are eight to 10 times more expensive than landlines. Many parents would like to have landlines so that their children could use the internet to help them in their studies since cellular smart phones are very expensive and inappropriate for the purpose. But GTT assures the public that these two lapses will be corrected and will be things of the past. But back to GTT’s demand for increasing landline rates: GTT claims that the international calls which had always been priced higher than elsewhere, were always high-priced in Guyana by GTT so they could crosssubsidize the landline. The persons who paid these high rates were Guyanese telephone users trying to keep in contact with their relatives abroad. GTT is now complaining that these lucrative rates it enjoyed as a monopoly are being overtaken by the advances in modern technology and affecting their monopoly international market. As such, the gradually contracting international business could no longer subsidize the landline rates and so the landline rates have to be increased. The GCA, in addition to pointing out that every telephone operator in every country in the world is faced with the same challenge, has met the challenge by skillful management and up-grading their technology and has not surcharged customers. Most important, the GCA has shown that the landline is lucrative in its total

earnings but these earnings have never been credited to the landline. If its earnings were credited to the landline, the landline would be selfsustaining for many years to come. In its filing with the PUC, GCA has identified some of these sources of income owed to the landline, but we could not list them in the interest of space of this article. However, we give an example of one such earning: GTT uses the landline’s fibre optic and copper lines to transmit cellular and internet traffic but the landline has received no rental for this which we estimate to be US$1.5 to US$2. million per annum. GTT tries to prove its case by hiring foreign consultants instead of having proper Accounts. If GTT had proper disaggregated and segmentalized accounts, whatever position they wished to have taken would be transparent and acceptable. But GTT, for its own reasons, has been fiercely resisting having disaggregated and segmentalized Accounts which every big public company in Guyana has. It is well-known that companies choose consultants who are sympathetic to them. The GTT consultants use “models” to prove the case they are making. “Models” imitate reality, they are not reality and invariably produce conclusions based on the data fed into them. Proper accounts would have avoided the excursions into consultants, models and other such activities. The next PUC Hearing into this matter would take place on 16th January at 10.00a.m.at the PUC’s office and interested members of the public are invited.

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LAUGHING GAS By Dr. Neromini Fagu Toothache has been around since the dawn of human existence, and no doubt the desire to cure this pain has existed just as long. Until relatively recently, bad teeth were a part of life and pulling them out without any form of anesthesia was normal. But the ability to control pain is a critical part of all dental procedures, and throughout history dental professionals have used a variety of methods to try to create a comfortable and trusting environment for the patient. Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, was discovered in 1772 and was used recreationally to achieve euphoria. It has no colour, no smell, and does not cause any irritation. In 1844 a dentist by the name of Horace Wells introduced laughing gas to dentistry. Dr. Wells first tested the gas on himself by inhaling a large amount and then had a dentist extract one of his teeth. The procedure was a success as the tooth was extracted painlessly. However, a year later a failed

demonstration in front of the dental fraternity caused a disgraced Dr. Wells to leave the profession and become a travelling salesman. Nitrous oxide did not gain general use until 1863, when Gardner Colton successfully started to use it in dental clinics. During this time, the concentration used was 100 percent nitrous oxide. In 1868 Edmund Andrews, a Chicago surgeon, began to use nitrous oxide in combination with oxygen to provide anesthesia. Today, the ratio used in laughing gas in dentistry is 70 percent oxygen and 30 percent nitrous oxide. Laughing gas is inhaled through a small mask that fits over your nose to help you relax. It is not intended to put you to sleep. It keeps you in a conscious and conversational state but yet is strong enough to suppress the pain caused by dental work. You will be able to hear and respond to your dentist. You may experience lightheadedness or a tingling in your arms and legs but, ultimately, you should feel calm and comfortable. The effects of laughing gas wear off soon after the mask is

removed. Advantages of laughing gas - Rapid onset – it reaches the brain within 20 seconds and begins to work after 2-3 minutes. - The depth of sedation can be increased or decreased. - The gas is eliminated from the body within 3-5 minutes after the supply is stopped. - Doses can be given incrementally until desired the dose is reached. - It has painkiller effects on soft tissues such as the gums. - No needle injection is required for administration. - It is safe with very few side effects. There are some disadvantages of using

STANDARDS IN FOCUS

Consumer protection is founded on standards development Consumers in Guyana represent the largest public body in the country and therefore the protection of their interests, health, safety and the environment is of vital importance. As a result, a number of consumer and regulatory bodies including the Guyana National Bureau of Standards were given the mandate to develop standards which provide a benchmark for importers, manufacturers and producers to ensure that whatever is publicly offered to consumers is not unjust and adverse to life; but is safe and wholesome for consumption. The establishment of the GNBS as the National Standards Development Organisation under the Act of 1984 was necessary, and until today, the support of the Bureau continues to be a demonstration of the commitment of Policy-makers to the protection of the consumers. Ultimately, all of the services offered by the Bureau protects and promote consumers’ interests. One of the major activities

carried out by the GNBS to protect consumers is Standards Development. The Bureau of Standards is entrusted with the task of developing and promoting standards in all sectors of the economy, such as the Agriculture, Health, Manufacturing, Mining, Tourism and the Building Sector. The standards developed by the GNBS provide a means of communication between regulators and manufacturers, and manufacturers and the consumers by clearly stating requirements for products and services. This ultimately creates customer confidence that if the consumer engages in a service or orders goods which comply with a standard, the quality of that service or goods would be more than satisfactory. Standards also apply to safety in use, facilitate compatibility, regulate environmental impact and ensure quality goods and services of a wide range, from household goods to domestic appliances, medical

instruments, plastics, telecommunication, transport, computers, sports equipment, and many others. Almost every service or industry can be standardized. In 2017, one of the main objectives of the GNBS is to continue to ensure that crucial standards are available to key sectors of the economy. Hence, where necessary, new standards will be developed and available standards will be aggressively promoted to ensure that stakeholders are aware of the requirements therein and the benefits which can be accrued by businesses for the improvement of practices, products and services. With these improvements, consumers will be the beneficiaries and they would be protected. For further information, please contact the GNBS on telephone numbers: 2190069, 219-0065, 2190062. You can also visit our website: www.gnbsgy.org or like our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/gnbsgy

laughing gas. Some people may not like it because it gives the effect of losing control. Also, mouth breathers or people with stuffy noses may feel claustrophobic when the mask is placed over their nose. Some side effects include nausea, vomiting and

headaches. Nitrous oxide has to be mixed with oxygen to a specified maximum concentration and not everyone may achieve the required sedation levels without exceeding the concentration limits. On rare occasions, people have reported a bad experience with laughing gas. Usually this is due to over sedation which is caused by having too much nitrous oxide in the mix. This is easily reversible by reducing the amount of nitrous oxide. Your dentist will work with you to find the correct dosage. Laughing gas is widely used in both dentistry and medicine today. It has proven to be a very safe and popular sedative agent and a mild anesthetic agent at higher

Dr. Neromini Fagu concentrations. Administered properly, the nitrous oxide-oxygen technique has a very high success rate with a very small number of adverse effects and complications. For more information contact OMNI DENTAL at 295 Quamina Street, Georgetown Tel: 227-0025, Parika Tel: 260-3133 or send emails to nerominifagu@hotmail.com.

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VEHICLE FOR SALE 1 Toyota Allion PVV series: TV Camera, HID, lights, alarm & remote start $2.2M negotiable Call: 649-0956 Leyland DAF 65 (sand truck). Call: 623-3895 SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY,ETC.-CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 2161043; 677-6620 Visa Application: U.S.A, C a n a da & UK; Guyana p assport application. Graphics design, advertisement. Tel: 6267040; 265-4535. INNOVATIVEMARKETING & PUBLISHING INC –TEL: 600-4212: We create A/ works, logos, busi ness cards, posters, etc, placements of ads included. Repairs & spare, fridge, freezer, A/C, washers, stoves – Contact Nick: 6831312, 627-3206 LANDSCAPING: We design, supply and implement residential and commercial indoor & outdoor landscaping. Call: 648-1821 Passport, permanent & visitor visa application, Professional Immigrant Consultant – Sabita Immigration Services. Call: 225-6496; 662-6045 Hello the doctor is back! Have your gas stove service and repair. Call: 601-0595 Do you need a building contractor, estimate, house plan to be drawn? Give us a call: 216-0671/692-8464/6220267 Brian Moe @ 642-3543: Computer Technician, FB: Brian.Moe.165; Home and office visits at your comfort!!

SALON - Make-up Courses with Mac, Bare Minerals, etc. - Cosmetology Courses: $120,000 - Technician Course: $45,000. Call: 6471773/660-5257 EARN A CERTIFICATE IN CERTIFICATE IN COSMETOLOGY AT ARTEE’S BEAUTY SALON (W.C.D) - $75,000 & WATCH REPAIRING SERVICES .CALL: 2750267/ 680-0156

Oswin J’s Auto Imports: New Arrivals: Premio, Allion, Fielder, Axio, Rush, X-Trail. Free full coverage insurance. Call: 609-2815 1 RZ Mini Bus, BTT Series $2.4M negotiable. Call: 6632600/ 226-4419 1-AT 192 Carina, 1- Bluebird Nissan Sylphy, 1-Toyota Raum & 1- Spacio. Call: 6469161/ 687-2648 Saturn Jeep Left hand drive, stick gear. Call: 223-9677

FOR RENT PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 Fully furnished apartment in South & 2 Bedrooms unfurnsihed apartment in Holmes Street Charlestown. Call: 689-5877 Two bedrooms @ Light Street Alberttown -$60,000. Call: 669-3467/ 643-3467 Lodge apartments (Vlisssengen/Durban): unfurnished $40,000-$80,000 monthly, furnished (for visitors) USD$600USD$1,000 monthlyCall:668-7687/ 677-9638/6976421 Lodge (Vlissengen/ Durban):650Sq.Ft Professional/Office/Business (no food retailing) space. Call: 668-7687/ 677-9638/697-6421

PROPERTY FOR SALE Transported property @ Grove and Diamond $16M negotiable. Call: 625-5461 2 Storey house 35X45 3 bedrooms, 1 self-contained @ 5th Avenue Diamond, H/ Scheme.Call:677-0583/664-5052 Riverside property, Roed-enRust, East Bank Essequibo, 3 Miles from Parika. Call: 2662217/694-5109 One concrete building (incomplete) in residential area. Price negotiable. Call: 699-4114 Transported property $4M per acre, shopping centre/house @ Soesdyke. Call: 615-3054 One two storey building and business for sale @ Anna Catherina W.C.D. Call: 661-9880

FOR SALE/RENT American Pool Table. Call: 277-0578

FOR SALE LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY$19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754. Cargo trawler- Call: 682-8724, 616-5954 Great Deals on video games & all gaming consoles. PC, video games & repairs – Call: 672-2566; 265-3231 PALMS: Any variety, all sizes, we deliver and plant anywhere. Call: 643-7193 Adult Rottweiler dogs, 1 male, 1 female, German Shepherd pups. Call: 2202277/629-1471/220-8904 One complete sawmill situated at Yarrowkabra Industrial Site Soesdyke/ Linden Highway. Call: 6441190/ 609-8041 German Shepherd pups for sale. Call: 699-6006 01 Leyland DAF55 Truck, excellent condition, no dump. Call Reaz: 675-4287/ 661-7186

CAR RENTAL PROGRESSIVE CAR RENTAL: CARS& SUV FOR RENTAL- $4,000 & UP PER DAY- CALL: 643-5122, 6560087 , EMAIL: PRO_ AUTO RENTAL@YAHOO. COM

DOLLY’S CAR RENTALCALL: 225-7126/226-3693 DOLLYSAUTORENTAL@ YA H O O . C O M / W W W. DOLLYSAUTORENTAL.COM

WING’S CAR & PICKUP RENTAL: LOW DOWN PAYMENT, CHEAP REATES,SPECIAL OFFER FOR THE SEASON. CALL: 690-6494

AIDAN’S CAR RENTAL:PICKUP,9-11 SEAT MIN BUS, GOOD FOR AIRPOTR & FAMILY OUTING, CHEAPESTRATE . Call: 698-7807

CAR RENTAL

One two bedrooms flat concrete house. Call: 6852690 House to rent @ La Parfaite Harmonie, W.B.D. Call: 6223197 Available Now! Apartment to rent @ 1st Bridge West Minister; all utilities to bus route. Call: 674-5779 One bachelor’s apartment for rent in Industry, E.C.D. Call: 638-5330 KITTY APARTMENTS: FURNISHED, GRILLED, 2BR, NEW, GRANITE, SECURE $120,000 MONTH, NO AGENTS CALL: 6724532 KITTY APARTMENTS: UNFURNISHED, GRILLED, 2-BR, NEW, GRANITE, SECURE $70,000 MONTH, NO AGENTS CALL: 6724532 Apartment to rent at Lot 8 Mon Repos E.C.D. Call:2207330/602-4105 2 Bedrooms apartment at Tuschen – Call: 669-1448

Mixed Pitbull with German Shepherd puppies, 5 weeks old $30,000 each Call: 2690711/666-7895 DRESSMAKING Turn your flair for fashion in an exciting career or hobby, classes starts in January. Call: 626-2629/ 676-6312 EDUCATIONAL Lessons. Grades 1-6, Queenstown. Call: 695-9625

Working suits and more, professionally made within 3 days. Call Sharmie: 626-2629/ 676-6312 (Canadian Trained)

Sunday January 08, 2017

WANTED One Floor Manager, must have at least five (5) years, experience in Hardware Store. Contact # 650-0402

VACANCY

Urgently: Handyman to work 7 days per week ½ day in Campbellville, ages 35-45yrs. Call: 641-3687

Cook/Baker and Kitchen Assistant for interior location. Applicants must be experienced, for details call: 618-2020

Popular East Coast Gas Station (Non-Pareil) Day/ Night: pump attendants, sales clerk & office assistant. Lorry drivers and porters to Contact: 695-9880/684-4197 work on water truck. Experienced Required. Call: Articulated hauler/dump truck operator for interior 682-1048/602-0001 location, applicants must be Security Guards. Call: 218- experienced with verifiable references. Call: 618-2020 1156

Primary School teachers. Apply to teacher @ OBSC, 8 Office Assistant/Customer Oronoque & Lamaha Street, Representative. Contact Queenstown. Call: 695-9625 Pacific Development Inc, Lot 3 Church Street, G/Town. Cleaners. Apply in person @ 1 Canter Driver/Porter Shikhan Hotel, Princess preferably from Diamond/ Street, Wortmanville. Call: Grove Area. Call: 216-1043/ 227-7749 677-6620 Experienced Diesel machine to work in the Interior must have knowledge of Perkins Engine & Doosan Excavator. Call: 661-5307/ 625-1413

Skill experienced carpenter, apply in person at Alabama Trading, Georgetown Ferry Stelling, Stabroek.

One live in couple or a general domestic to work in Mahaicony River. Call: 6559419/644-6905

Office clerk age 18-25, security guards, care taker to work in Atlantic Garden, E.C.D- Call: 638-5303/2277380

1 Female Shop attendant to work in the Interior. Calll: 6780565

Cashiers & Sales staff @ Nirva Supermarket. Apply in person with written application @ 49 Sheriff & Craig St. Tel: 227-5771

1 Male or female to look after layer birds in the Interior. Call: 678-0565 Experienced bar/shop worker & handyman for Interior and Bahier to cook in the interior. G/Town. Call: 231-0363 from Call: 678-0565 9am-4:30pm 1 Porter to work on vehicle in the Interior. Call: 678-0565

Able-bodied driver/salesman for Leyland DAF lorry, involves lifting. Telles Steel. Call: 226-6771

Experienced cleaners, waiters and counter servers. Apply with written application, Receptionist, Security Guard, Hack’s Halaal, 5 Commerce Room Attendant. Apply to St. (Day Shift only). 233 South Road – Tel: 2250198 Domestic help/babysitter required in Kitty. Police One fast food supervisor, Clearance, ID, Proof of one chef, dhal puri maker, one Address a must. Call: 652- cashier. Call: 225-0723 for 3593/652-3587 more information. Wanted land to buy: Uitvlugt, Tuschen, Zeelugt & La Parfaite Harmonie. Call: 6579594 American Variety Store: 140 Regent & Light Street: experienced & mature cashier; apply in person with application.

Giftland Mall: External Security, Internal Security, $447 per Hour. Contact: 2227334 – 63 Chef to cook for a family (food handlers certificate)$25,000 Weekly. Contact: 2227334 – 63

1 Domestic worker within G/ High school multi subject Town. Call: 223-9677 teacher needed with research, computer & New Management: GT organization skills, teaching Express wanted contract cars certificate is not required. (1 week free base fee), Call: 690-9378 Dispatcher & Drivers. Tel: WANTED 231-0316/ 231-0002 One Arc/Acetylene welder Live in couple: husband – c o n s t r u c t i o n and driving, handyman, semi fabrication skills, excellent construction skills an asset. rates. Call: 227-1830 Wife – domestic. Call: 227Continue on page 61 1830

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Pres. David Granger still has unfinished... (From page 16) Ronald Bulkan subsequently revealed that BK never moved to the court for compensation. He said that by way of letter, BK made a claim for over US$10M to the government. Why Government caved due to a letter as opposed to taking BK to court for breaching his very contract remains unanswered. The President has also remained

silent on the issue. BK $900M STEEL The questionable acquisition by BK International of eight containers of steel, worth hundreds of millions of dollars from Government, is refusing to go away. A valuation of the contents of the containers early last year had placed the value around $900M. BK

claimed that it received the eight containers of steel based on a court judgment which was executed in July last year. That judgement came after BK sued Indian contractor, Surendra Engineering Company Limited (SECL), for work on the troubled Specialty Hospital at Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara. BK was claiming $180M in a lawsuit filed in mid-

2014. How the company received the $900M worth in steel when its judgment was for $180M is what is raising questions. More important, why all eight containers were handed over is what remains baffling and the government continues to remain quiet on the issue. FUEL EXPORT LICENCE Government’s silence over a fuel import and wholesale licence granted to a company that was formed just three months before the historic May 11, 2015

elections, remains deafening. The company, Atlantic Fuels Inc., has five directors, one of which is Dr. Richard Van-West Charles. With fuel being one of the most lucrative of business in Guyana, rivaling gold for generating cash, licences have been a coveted thing for businessmen wanting to enter the trade. KATO SCHOOL INVESTIGATIONS Kaieteur News had carried a story stating that the Chambers of the Attorney General would be conducting an investigation into the Kato Secondary School in light of

numerous defects which were found during a site visit. To date, Attorney General Basil Williams is yet to state what has become of this investigation and if the responsible contractors would be held liable for producing shoddy work. RADIO LICENCES During the election campaign, the Coalition complained on numerous occasions that it suffered from the PPP’s domination of the airwaves. During its time in the Opposition benches, it called over and over for the revocation of those licences which were illegally granted by former President, Bharrat Jagdeo, to his friends, family members and favourites before he ended his terms in office, back in 2011. Even with new board members in place at the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority since2015, the Government is still to say how soon the nation can see the settling of this matter which it deemed on several occasions to be a national tragedy.

Sunday January 08, 2017

Kaieteur News

Help Caribbean Immigrants, Coalition Pleads With US President WASHINGTON, United States – Outgoing US President Barack Obama is being urged to draft policies to assist Caribbean immigrants before he leaves office this month. Cities for Action, a coalition of over 100 mayors and county executives from across the United States, is calling on Obama to commit to further protections for Caribbean and other immigrants in their communities. In a letter to the American president, they recommended that his administration strengthen support for young immigrants with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) by accepting early DACA renewal applications. The programme permits young immigrants who are brought to the US illegally as children to remain in the country without threat of deportation and also to work legally. The letter was signed by mayors from cities in Pennsylvania, Texas, Maryland, Alabama, Massachusetts, North Carolina, California, Rhode Island, Illinois, Iowa, New York, Tennessee, Wisconsin, New

Barack Obama J e r s e y, C o l o r a d o , a n d Washington. “As local government leaders throughout the country, we know that immigrants make our communities stronger economically, culturally and socially,” said the leaders. “For this reason, we have enthusiastically embraced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, expressed repeated support for and defence of your 2014 executive actions on immigration, and worked closely with your administration to promote citizenship and the economic, social, and civic integration of immigrants.”

In the letter to Obama who leaves office on January 20, at least 30 members thanked him for his administration’s support for immigrant families. “On behalf of millions of our immigrant residents and their families, we thank you for the steps your administration has taken to support vulnerable immigrant populations, from bright young people who may only know life in this country, to immigrants who cannot return to their home countries because of conflict or natural disaster, as well as those who look to the US to lead on human rights and nondiscrimination. “These actions reflect the ideals of inclusion and refuge that our country is founded on,” the letter added. The leaders also asked the US president to commit to “timely processing” by the United States Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) for initial and renewal DACA applications, and to implement additional privacy protections for DACA holders “to reassure recipients that they will not be punished as a result of coming out of the shadows.

Venezuela bribery scandal in U.S. widen U.S. prosecutors filed new criminal charges against a Venezuelan man living in the United States who they allege bribed officials at Venezuela’s staterun oil company, PDVSA. The bribes — free hotel rooms, meals and cash — were meant to help get lucrative contracts for U.S. energy companies owned by Venezuelans, according to prosecutors. Earlier this year, two Venezuelan oil barons living in the United States pled guilty to being part of a bribery ring valued at about $1 billion. The defendant in the latest case, Juan Jose Hernandez Comerma, is accused of carrying out bribes between at least 2008 and

2012 for his business partner, Abraham Jose Shiera Bastidas, who owned several U.S.-based energy companies and pled guilty to bribery charges in March. Comerma allegedly paid for hotel rooms in Miami and New York for PDVSA o ff i c i a l A l f o n z o E l i z e r Gravina, as well as other bribes. In court documents prosecutors cite emails between the two men, including one where Comerma told Gravina, “I take care of you.” Comerma was also allegedly giving bribes on behalf of another Venezuelan man who pled guilty to bribery charges in June, Roberto Enrique Rincon Fernandez. Rincon owned

energy companies in the U.S., and received contracts from PDVSA. Rincon received 13 years in prison as part of a plea deal. Shiera posted bail in May. CNNMoney didn’t immediately know the status of his case. Comerma, if found guilty, could potentially face several years in prison. The allegations come against the backdrop of Ve n e z u e l a ’s s p i r a l i n g economy that’s running out of money. Venezuela badly depends on selling its vast oil reserves to survive. It’s been crippled by skyhigh inflation under the socialist regime of President Nicolas Maduro. (CNNMoney)

Caricom Council holds 39th meeting responsible for Caricom Understanding between the in Guyana isters Affairs, will be addressed by Caricom Secretariat and UN GEORGETOWN, Guyana - CMC — The Caribbean Community (Caricom) Council, the second highest organ of the 15-member grouping, will hold its first meeting for the year tomorrow. The Guyana-based Caricom Secretariat said that the council, comprising min-

Carl Greenidge, the vice-president and minister of foreign affairs, Guyana and the Caricom Secretary General Irwin LaRocque. It said the two-day meeting will also receive a presentation on the Caricom Results Based Management System as well as signing a Memorandum of

Women.The council has primary responsibility for the development of community strategic planning and coordination in the areas of economic integration, functional cooperation and external relations in accordance with the policy directions established by the Caricom leaders.

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US officials not ruling out terrorism in airport shooting Miami (AFP) - US authorities are not ruling out “the terrorism angle” as a potential motive of the Iraq war veteran accused of killing five people at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport, officials said yesterday. Police interrogated the suspect, 26-year-old Esteban Santiago, throughout much of the night after the shooting rampage that killed five people, wounded six and sent thousands scrambling for safety before authorities shut down the airport, a major gateway to the Caribbean and Latin America. “We continue to look at all avenues and all motives for this horrific attack,” George Piro, the special agent in charge of Miami’s FBI field office, told journalists. “We are continuing to look at the terrorism angle in regards to the potential motivation behind this attack.” Piro said the suspect ap-

Esteban Santiago peared to be acting alone and that “every indication is that he did follow (Transportation Security Administration) procedures in checking in the weapon,” a nine-millimeter semi-automatic handgun he had declared and stowed inside his checked luggage. The incident occurred in the baggage claim area of Terminal 2, where the alleged gunman opened fire on pas-

sengers collecting their luggage. Santiago had traveled from Alaska to Fort Lauderdale, with a stopover in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In November, Santiago had walked into the FBI’s Anchorage office exhibiting “erratic behaviour” that led agents to contact local police, who took him to a medical facility for a mental health evaluation, Piro said. However, he was not placed on a no-fly list, Piro added. A former member of the Puerto Rico and Alaska National Guard, Santiago served in Iraq from April 2010 to February 2011. He ended his service in August. Investigators were probing Santiago’s recent travel. “Indications are that he came here to carry out this horrific attack,” Piro said, adding that officials had not yet “identified any triggers.”

Zuma’s ex-wife given boost in South Africa leadership race Reuters - The chances of South African President Jacob Zuma’s ex-wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, becoming the next leader of the African National Congress were given a boost on Saturday with the endorsement of the ruling party’s women’s division. The ANC will pick a new leader at a conference in December and, given its national dominance since coming to power at the end of apartheid in 1994, the winner is likely to go on to be South Africa’s next president when elections are held in 2019. Dlamini-Zuma, the chairwoman of the African Union, is viewed as a frontrunner. She is a Zulu, the largest tribe

in South Africa, and is expected to have the backing of her former husband, who will have a major say in who succeeds him. The Women’s League’s endorsement is the first for a specific candidate by a national section of the ANC and will intensify the debate over who will take the party forward after it suffered its worst local election results last year. Dlamini-Zuma was regarded as a capable technocrat during her time as South Africa’s minister of home affairs between 2009 and 2012 and has since gained international exposure during her time as the first female head of the AU. However, critics of

Dlamini-Zuma, a medical doctor trained in South Africa and Britain, say she should have done more to intervene when former president Thabo Mbeki denied that HIV causes AIDs and imposed anti-scientific policies. Mbeki’s stance has been blamed by health activists for more than 300,000 preventable deaths. Dlamini-Zuma was foreign minister in Mbeki’s cabinet and one of his closest allies. Vice President Cyril Ramaphosa, a unionistturned-business tycoon, is viewed as her most likely rival after powerful trade unions endorsed him last year. Neither Dlamini-Zuma, 67, or Ramaphosa, 64, have declared their intention to run.

Saudi prince readies strategy if clerics oppose reforms – report Reuters - The young prince leading Saudi Arabia’s drive for economic reform has laid out a three-pronged strategy to avoid a backlash from any religious conservatives opposed to his plan, according to remarks reported by Foreign Affairs magazine yesterday. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 31year-old overseeing the kingdom’s biggest-ever overhaul of state and society, told visiting researchers last month punitive measures would be considered for any clerics who

incited or resorted to violence over the plan, one of the researchers wrote. Prince Mohammed said he believed only a small percentage of the kingdom’s clerics were too dogmatic to be reasoned with, the journal reported, while more than half could be persuaded to support his reforms through engagement and dialogue. The rest were ambivalent or not in a position to cause problems, he is reported to have said. There was no immediate comment from the royal court. Prince Mohammed has couched his “Vision 2030” reform

plan to wean the kingdom’s economy off oil in terms referencing Islamic tradition and has kept the focus on the economy, with scant concrete pledges of social change in the highly conservative kingdom. But in a country that adheres to an austere brand of Wahhabi Sunni Islam, where gender segregation is mandatory and concerts and cinemas are banned, the plan’s seemingly anodyne goals to empower women, promote sports and invest in entertainment are controversial.

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Govt. bows to opposition request Donor to PM May’s party says to cut funds if single market access lost for JSC on FACTA legislation Reuters - A leading donor PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago government late last week bowed to opposition demands that the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) legislation be sent to a joint select committee (JSC) of Parliament ending months of wrangling on the matter. But Finance Minister Colm Imbert, who moved a motion to withdraw the legislation from “the Committee of the whole to the JSC” accused the opposition of being “deadly scared” of having to meet with some of the criteria outlined in the legislation, including having to report US bank accounts to the appropriate American authorities. “When this matter goes to the joint select committee it is to return here on the third of February and I want to signal to the members opposite it still has to go the Senate afterwards so in order to meet our February deadline we will be taking the vote when the report of the joint select committee returns

Colm Imbert to this Parliament. “We are not playing. They want a joint select committee, they want it, they are blackmailing the country and holding the country to ransom with their vote. That is how they see politics, they want the joint select, well you getting it…and we will come back here in the public interest, in the national interest within 21 days…and we are putting this matter to

the vote,” Imbert said. Opposition leader Kamla Persad Bissessar said that opposition legislators were insisting that there were some measures within the bill that infringed upon the human rights of Trinidad and Tobago nationals and d i s m i s s e d government statements that they were fearful of the bill being passed. “If we so afraid of it we would not ask for a joint select committee, we would have just sat here,” she said, adding “but from day one we said put it to a joint select committee”. She said there were many reasons the opposition wanted the matter to go before the JSC, saying “we do not trust that government. “We do not trust them and where it is that fundamental rights are going to be violated as in this legislation, complex and far reaching clauses, over reaching …then that is an ideal kind of piece of legislation to go before a joint select committee,” she said.

to Theresa May’s Conservative Party warned yesterday he would cut his financial support if the government pulled Britain out of the European single market as part of Brexit negotiations. Andrew Cook, chairman of engineering firm William Cook, backed remaining in the EU during last June’s referendum. He said it was critical the country maintained its membership of the single market or jobs would be lost. “I would find it impossible under those circumstances (to keep donating to the Conservative Party should it back leaving the single market),” the Times newspaper quoted him as saying. “...It is very difficult to make a political donation to a party when, although I support it ideologically, I do not believe that my interests and my ideology are ...(in agreement) with the principal Brexiteers.” Britain’s historic vote to leave the group it joined in 1973 has divided the country sharply, with many businessmen and women fear-

Theresa May ing that companies will face tariff and non-tariff barriers to continue trading into Europe. May’s party, once led by Margaret Thatcher, is traditionally close to the business community and draws much of its funds from individual donations. Prime Minister May has so far said little publicly about her negotiating position ahead of

what are expected to be some of the most complicated international talks Britain has engaged in since World War Two. She has said she will ensure the “best possible access” to the European market but some investors fear the government will opt for a ‘hard Brexit’ by prioritising immigration controls over ensuring full access to the single market.

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Federer unable to stop French advance PERTH, Australia (AFP) — A singles masterclass from Swiss champion Roger Federer wasn’t enough to stop the French pairing of Richard Gasquet and Kristina Mladenovic winning through to the Hopman Cup final Friday. Federer’s comeback from injury gained momentum when he produced a flawless performance to beat Gasquet in the men’s singles, but it was the French who won the tie 2-1. Mladenovic squared the tie with a three-set win over Belinda Bencic, before the French claimed the deciding mixed doubles. After being beaten by young gun Alexander Zverev

in his previous singles match, Federer bounced back to thrash the 18th-ranked Gasquet in straight sets in under an hour. The Hopman Cup is Federer’s first tournament since a six-month layoff due to knee and back injuries. The 35-year-old entered 2017 ranked 16th — his lowest placing since 2001 — but in brushing aside Gasquet, showed he was again ready to be a serious contender at the Australian Open, starting a week from tomorrow. The 17-time Grand Slam champion barely missed a groundstroke, getting his first break of serve in the fourth game of the match and dominating proceedings from that

point on. He also sent down 11 aces in nine service games, winning 6-1, 6-4 in 56 minutes. Gasquet had been in good touch heading into the match, beating Zverev and Dan Evans, both in straight sets. Even Federer was a little stunned by his own form. “It was completely different from the previous two,” he said. “Today was great, I started to feel the ball better and better and just moving around the court better. “I am surprised how well I am playing already. “I couldn’t be more happy right now.” Three matches into his comeback, Federer said his

Sunday January 08. 2017 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Empty promises and a lack of cash may put a damper on your plans. You will attract members of the opposite sex readily. Deal with inlaws today. TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) You may blow situations out of proportion when dealing with the one you love. Moneymaking opportunities will surface. Your high energy will enable you to enlist the help of those in a position to back you. GEMINI (May 21–June 20) You should focus on moneymaking matters and stay away from emotional disputes. Throw yourself into your profession. You can make financial deals, but it may be best if you're not using your own cash.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) You may have to explain your actions to your family. You have to let go of your past if you wish to get out of any sentimental mood that might be hanging over your head. Take the time to help old friends or relatives who have had a stroke of bad luck. SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Positive connections can be made if you get involved in environmental organizations. Try to accommodate them without infringing on your own responsibilities. SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) You will impress others with your initiative and ability to accomplish while on short business trips. Plan to get together with someone special later in the day. Don't bend to the pressure.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) You can accomplish a lot if you put some effort into household duties or redecorating plans. Your ability to relate will close the generation gap.

CAPRI(Dec.22–Jan.19) Spend time with friends or family. Try not to push your philosophies on others. Try to visit friends or relatives you don't get to see often.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Try to satisfy both of your needs. Courses dealing with psychology or health care will be of interest. Property investments, insurance, tax rebates, or inheritance should bring you financial gains.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Control your emotions and everything will fall into place. Be careful not to confuse issues when discussing the matters at hand. Try not to let your emotions interfere with the completion of your work.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) If your lover tries to curtail your freedom, it may lead to conflict. If you act with anger you may blow the relationship. You can find solutions if you are willing to communicate.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Look into ways to better yourself through improving your dietary habits and daily routines. Upgrading at this point is not a bad plan. Unreliable people will be negative about your ideas.

body was feeling great. “Today is the best I have felt since I have arrived and that is super encouraging.” Gasquet admitted Federer was simply too good. “He played unbelievable,” Gasquet said. In the women’s singles, Mladenovic played her best match of the week to level the tie by beating the in-form Bencic 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. France has won the Hopman Cup once, while the United States has claimed the title six times.

Roger Federer (Photos: AFP)

The unfair treatment of the... (From page 70) team after Management of the RHTY&SC spoke to Mr. Colin Stuart of the GCB. Anderson at the age of sixteen proved his worth with the bat, while Sinclair in the recent three days tournament, finished as one of the best fast bowlers including a five wicket haul. (4) While outstanding players like Junior Sinclair and Sylus Tyndall was not even called to trials, yet a player who has never scored a halfcentury in his life was selected, played in a match and as expected failed to trouble the scorers in his two innings. To make the matter even more laughable, this same player was unable to make his own Club team in the recent Balram Shane Memorial Match. Imagine a player being unable to make one of the weakest teams in Berbice but playing in the GCB tournament at the Inter Zone level. Poor Collis Butts had to be selected by West Berbice despite being one of the top off spinners in the Upper Corentyne Zone. (5) Delbert Hicks and Winston Smith, both qualified Coaches are reportedly being replaced despite leading the Upper Corentyne to 3rd place in the GCB three days tournament. Is it true that the proposed new coach does not have any coaching certificates. Was Hicks and Smith, replaced based on the recommendation of an individual

Another dominant... (From page 69) will convene its 2017 AGM on Saturday next at the National Racquet Centre, Woolford Avenue from 09:00hrs. The agenda for the AGM is as follows: 1. Renewal of Affiliation, 2. Minutes of 2016 AGM, 3. President’s Report, 4. General Secretary’s Report, 5. Treasurer’s Report, 6. Election of 2017 Office Bearers, 7. Any Other Business.

who could not get them to do things his way? The RHTY&SC is fully committed to the development of cricket in Guyana and would work along with all to make a positive difference. The officials of the GCB who are organising the tournaments are fully aware of the above mentioned issues and it is our sincere hope that the situation would be corrected as soon as possible. Personally, I have my hands full as Sec-

retary/CEO of the RHTY&SC and have no interest in being a part of the team but there are many more qualified persons available to do the job. For the sake of our cricket, please act now GCB. Each Zone should have a management team consisting of the best available personnel along with a three man selection committee headed by the coach. Awaiting your promised action. Mr. TDO. Hilbert Foster Secretary/CEO.

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Sunday January 08, 2017

Kaieteur News

Rooney equals goal record in Man Unitedrout of Reading (Reuters) Manchester U n i t e d s t r i k e r Wa y n e Rooney equalled Bobby Charlton’s club record of 249 goals as the FA Cup holders reached the fourth round with an emphatic 4-0 h o m e w i n o v e r Championship side Reading yesterday. As Charlton watched on from the stands, Rooney gave United a seventhminute lead with an opportunist strike and missed chances to set a new record after Anthony Martial had added the second. Marcus Rashford, who wasted several opportunities after being given a rare start up front, sealed United’s eighth successive victory with two quickfire goals in the closing stages. United, who left top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic and France midfielder Paul

Pogba on the bench, dominated throughout with some crisp passing at Old Trafford. Rashford and Rooney went close early on before the latter found the net with his knee after a dazzling solo run by Martial and a fine lofted pass from Juan Mata. Martial doubled United’s lead in the 15th minute with a composed finish after a delightful one-two with Rooney, who missed two gilt-edged chances in the second half with the crowd roaring him on to reach the 250-goal milestone. Rooney shot wide from close range and goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi blocked his shot from two metres when a record-breaking goal seemed imminent. Rashford made it 3-0 with a composed finish after

Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford scores their fourth goal past Reading’s Ali Al Habsi. (Action Images via Reuters / Jason Cairnduff Livepic) a defence-splitting by Michael Carrick in the 75th minute and he soon took advantage of Al Habsi’s howler to blast the ball home

from point-blank range. In full results from Saturday 7th January, 2017 Man Utd 4 – Reading 0

Ipswich 2 - Lincoln City 2 Barrow 0 – Rochdale 2 Birmingham 1 – Newcastle 1 Blackpool 0 – Barnsley 0 Bolton 0 - Crystal Palace 0

Brentford 5 – Eastleigh 1 Brighton 2 - MK Dons 0 Bristol City 0 – Fleetwood 0 Everton 1 – Leicester 2 Huddersfield 4 - Port Vale 0 Hull 2 – Swansea 0

Dimitrov stuns Raonic to set up Nishikori final (Reuters) Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov upset top seed and defending champion Milos Raonic of Canada at the Brisbane International yesterday to set up a title clash against Japan’s Kei Nishikori. Seventh seed Dimitrov saved a set point in the opener on his way to a 7-6(7) 6-2 win over world number three Raonic in 88 minutes in the second semi-final at the Pat Rafter Arena. World number five Nishikori had an almost identical win against Swiss U.S. Open champion Stan Wawrinka, who went down 7-6(3) 6-3 in the first semi-final of the warmup event for this month’s Australian Open. There was little to separate Dimitrov and 2016 Wimbledon finalist Raonic in the first set, both players making the most of their big serves and not offering a single break-point opportunity. Dimitrov managed to nose ahead by edging the first set tiebreak 9-7 before racing away in the second with two breaks of serve to seal the match. “I couldn’t imagine a better scenario for sure,” Dimitrov said in a court-side interview. “I have lot of respect for him and it’s always a pleasure playing against him. “Right now I am just focused on my performance. In previous matches I wasn’t returning as well. Against Milos, the only chance you have is to get into a rally against him.” Dimitrov has never won against his opponent in today’s final with Nishikori enjoying a 3-0 head-to-head record. “Nishikori is one of the trickiest players out there,” Dimitrov added. “He has a tremendous fighting spirit and has improved his game quite a bit. “He has quite a few weapons if you think about it. It’s not going to be an easy match for sure. But I am focused on myself and what I need to improve and what I need to get better for Melbourne.” Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open finalist, won five of the final six points in the tiebreaker to claim the first set. After an early exchange of breaks in the second, the Rio Olympic bronze medalist got the decisive break in the seventh game. “I’m feeling very happy to be in the final tomorrow. I’ve tried many times and this is the first time to get to Sunday in Brisbane,” the 27-year-old said. “Especially beating Stan today, it’s been a good start to the year. “Dimi started playing much better last year, especially at the end of the season. He’s going to be a tough opponent.”

Sunday January 08, 2017

Kaieteur News

PAGE 69

Tennis players receive prizes for outstanding performances Despite a late start to the Guyana Tennis Association (GLTA) 3rd Annual Awards c e r e m o n y, t h e e v e n t provided its small audience with the distinction reflective of the grand sport of tennis. Hosted by the Le Ressouvenir Tennis Club, the association sought to recognise players and individuals who continuously give of themselves with the expectation of elevating tennis in Guyana. Master of Ceremonies, Shaquille Bourne acknowledged the presence of distinguished guests Mitzy Campbell, PRO of Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation,

Director of Sport, Mr. Christopher Jones, Professor Dawn Duke former tennis player of Roraima Tennis Club and tennis scholar Gavin Lewis. The Ceremony was a moment of reflection on the hard work done during 2016 to build the organisation as an institution that provides development opportunities for the children and nation, as pointed out by the President of the association, Jamal Goodluck. Lots of work was done to build on the policies to guide the association beyond the executive. Former President, Grace McCalman and now Chair of

Mini Tennis, recounted the work of the association over recent years to establish documented procedures and systems to ensure a smooth flow of operations and to forge better relationships between executives, coaches and parents. To date there is now a tournament manual, an online ranking scheme, a player ranking table and guidelines for travelling player, coach, parent and chaperon. Further work is almost complete to establish contracts for better output for all official jobs. She alluded to the fact that this work is being done to strengthen the association i n t e r n a l l y, w h i l e t h e

association agonises waiting for the sports authorities to help to develop proper tennis courts and to increase the number of coaches and equipment for the expansion and development of tennis nationwide. Director of Sports, Christopher Jones, raised the hope and excitement of the Tennis community with his announcement of a signed MoU between the two entities and lights at the National Racquet Centre before IGG in October. Cheers echoed from the enthusiastic persons at the prospect of finally seeing some light in the journey of building the dream of a home

for tennis. This point was made earlier by President, Jamal Goodluck, that this year the association will do everything to have facilities of acceptable standard before IGG. M r. G o o d l u c k a l s o thanked the sponsors who have always stuck with tennis during the years. Special mention was made of Trophy Stall, represented by Ms. Devi Sunich, GBTI, Bakewell, parents, players and the media. President Goodluck also pointed out Travis Hopkinson of NCN, Neketa Forde and Delvon McEwan who have now become part of the tennis family through their extensive support. Coming in for high praises was overseas-based Dr. Arthur Ingram Hazlewood, who once again sponsored the awards and has been financially supporting the GLTA for the past 6 years. Additionally Professor Duke made her annual donation to the GLTA for 2016. The Awardees: Senior Male Year End winner Anthony Downes 5200 points, Senior Female Year End winner Cristy Campbell 3200 points, Junior Male Year End winner Heimraj Resaul 7550 points, Junior Female Year End winner Afruica Gentle 6775 points and Most Improved Junior was Mark McDonald. The 6th edition Trophy Stall Doubles winners also shared in the spotlight of the evening’s event. Men’s Open Doubles winners Jason Andrews and Anthony Downes, RunnersUp Heimraj Resaul and Jordan Beaton; Ladies Open Doubles winners Cristy Campbell and Afruica

Gentle Runners-Up Nicola Ramdyhan and Shelly DalyRamdyhan; Mixed Open Doubles winners Anthony Downes and Afruica Gentle Runners-Up Heimraj Resaul and Kalyca Fraser; Men’s Over 35 Doubles winners Leyland Leacock and Ronald Murray Runners-Up Alexander Almeida and Sandeep Chand. In her remarks Afruica Gentle passionately described her desire for the last three years to achieve the top spot in junior tennis. She thanked her parents for their support and Cristy Campbell for personal training as she gave an early hint that she will not relinquish the title for 2017. Heimraj Resaul thanked his parents and coaches and friends for their support. He also joked about leaving the U14 category this year but knowing that there will always be good competition among his close rivals Joshua Kalekyezi, Jordan Beaton and Mark McDonald. Senior Female Awardee Cristy Campbell thanked her mother Mizty, coaches Dexter and Rebecca for their support and her friend Nigel Niles for introducing her to tennis. She also wished all players an injury free year 2017 and charged them to execute good sportsmanship throughout the year. Awards were presented to Samuel Barakat and Harry Panday, both tennis veterans with private lighted tennis courts, in recognition of their continuous support for tennis activities and to Grace McCalman for her continuous selflessness, hard work and dedication to the GLTA.

Djokovic makes statement in epic win over Murray in Doha final (Reuters) Novak Djokovic made an immense statement in his bid to rule men’s tennis again when he defeated Andy Murray, the man who deposed him as world number one, 6-3 5-7 6-4 in an epic Qatar Open final in Doha yesterday. Looking back to near his peerless best at times in a game of searing quality, the Serbian missed out on three match points and had to repel a roaring Murray comeback before ending the Briton’s 28-match, fivetournament winning streak. In their first meeting

since Murray won their season-ending climax at the ATP World Tour finals, the Briton ran into a rejuvenated Djokovic who, despite having problems with his racket hand and receiving two warnings for his b e h a v i o u r, p r e v a i l e d thrillingly in their 36th contest. It was a perfect tonic for the world number two in his build-up to the defence of his Australian Open title later this month and provided food for thought for Murray, who lost for the 25th time against his old rival.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday January 08, 2017

Australia romp to emphatic win for series sweep

Sarfraz Ahmed, who remained not out on 72, eventually ran out of partners, Australia v Pakistan, 3rd Test, Sydney, 5th day, ©AFP

SYDNEY (Reuters) Australia ended Pakistan’s resistance before the scheduled tea break on the final day of the third test to claim an emphatic victory by 220 runs and a 3-0 series sweep yesterday. Two months after being plunged into crisis and overhauling their side in the wake of a series humiliation at the hands of South Africa, Australia reasserted their dominance of home tracks in some style. The tourists had shown great fight at various points of the series but, handed a test record victory target of 465 to chase, wilted in the Sydney Cricket Ground sunshine and lost their final nine wickets for 189 runs. Paceman Josh Hazlewood led the way with three for 29, striking with two early wickets and again to remove final batsman Imran Khan with the new ball as Pakistan were dismissed for 244. “These last three matches, that’s what we’re about, that’s sort of cricket we want to play,” said Australia captain Steve Smith, who was named Player of the Series. “We want to score big runs, bowl well, we’ve held our catches. It’s been a great turnaround and I’ve been very proud of the last few weeks.” Pakistan, who briefly topped the test rankings last year, have now lost six straight tests, one to West Indies in Sharjah, two in New Zealand and three in Australia. It was also a 12th straight

defeat over four series in Australia in the last two decades. “It was a tough series, full credit to Australia, they obviously outplayed us in every department,” skipper Misbah-ul-Haq said. “They bowled well, they caught well and they batted well. They utilised the conditions very well.” The tourists had been on the back foot from the first day in Sydney, when Man of the Match David Warner knocked off a century before lunch, and only some disruptive wet weather allowed them to stave off defeat until the fifth. They managed 315 between showers in response to Australia’s first innings 538-8 declared but the writing was on the wall when the hosts reeled off 241 in less than three hours in their second dig on day four. Hazlewood struck in the first over of the final day, removing the dangerous Azhar Ali, caught and bowled for 11, and soon trapped Babar Azam leg before for nine. M I S T I M I N G MISBAH Younus Khan, who hit an unbeaten 175 in the first innings, made 13 before he was caught playing a false shot off Nathan Lyon, leaving him 23 runs short of becoming the 13th batsman, and first from Pakistan, to record 10,000 runs in test cricket. Nightwatchman Yasir Shah also perished with 13 runs to his name when he edged behind off spinner Steve O’Keefe (3-53) to

send Pakistan into lunch on 128-5. Paceman Mitchell Starc removed Asad Shafiq for 30 in the fifth over after the break and O’Keefe sent back Misbah for 38 and Wahab Riaz in the 40 minutes before tea, the latter clubbing three successive fours off Lyon for his 12. Should the 42-year-old Misbah decide to retire, he will not want to be reminded of his final stroke in test cricket, a mistimed heave which looped into the waiting hands of Lyon at mid-off. Wahab was less to blame for his exit, given out caught behind when a review revealed a tiny spike in the Snickometer waveform. Mohammad Amir, who is carrying a rib injury, then ran himself out for four before Hazlewood performed the coup de grace by having Imran caught in the cordon. Sarfraz Ahmed fired his 11th test half century to frustrate the Australians and finished unbeaten after a 70ball 72. The hosts had won the day-night opening test in Brisbane by 39 runs and the second test in Melbourne by an innings and 18 runs. Scores: Australia 8 for 538 dec (Renshaw 184, Warner 113, Handscomb 110, Wahab 3-89) and 2 for 241 dec (Khawaja 79*, Smith 59, Warner 55) beat Pakistan 315 (Younis 175*, Azhar 71, Hazlewood 4-55) and 244 (Sarfraz 72*, Hazlewood 3-29, O’Keefe 353) by 220 runs.

Entries for Wiltshire Dominoes close today Teams interested in competing in the Mark Wi l t s h i r e D o m i n o e s tournament will have up to 15:00hrs today to enter. Entries can be done through Mark Wiltshire on 6655855, Samuels on 6649469 or Abbe on 668-8419. The East Coast zone will commence today at Narine Shop Line Top Lusignan at 15:30hrs, while the Georgetown leg will start tomorrow at Dynasty Sports Bar at 19:30hrs. The West Demerara zone will commence shortly. Entrance fee is $12,000 and the winning team will take home a trophy, medals and $175,000, runner up a trophy, medals and $75,000,

third place a trophy and $35,000 and fourth place a trophy and $15,000. The best female player in the tournament will receive $10, 0 0 0 , t h e player sharing the first love with the best average and first double love will be given $5,000 each and the man-of-thematch in the finals will

pocket $5,000. One re-entry will be allowed and all GDA rules will be in effect. Among the sponsors on board are N and H Car Rental, Eswick North, Sweet Point, Linden Boston, Noel Elliott, Strikers SC, Dynasty Sports bar, Lawrence Beaton, Norman Gibbs and Chief Mike.

Kaieteur News

Sunday January 08, 2017

PAGE 71

Another dominant year for POWERLIFTING 2017 will be a year of consolidation

Carlos Peterson competing at RAW Nationals in September 2016.

Frank Tucker The Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Federation (GAPF) has reported that 2016 was an encouraging year for the body which has continued to hold its own locally and internationally. Under the leadership of former multi talented athlete and powerlifter, Ed Caesar, the federation fulfilled its local mandate of hosting local tournaments at the novice, intermediate and senior levels and for the first time introduced the RAW segment of the sport to Guyana when the RAW Nationals was held in September at the Critchlow Labour College. The young executive also, despite persistent challenges was able to send a team of athletes to compete at the Caribbean level and they did themselves and nation proud. Even with successes being recorded locally and i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y, t h e

federation did face a number of challenges, among them were varied public awareness about the sport; limited technical adeptness on updated International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) Rules by Coaches and Athletes alike; limited awareness and enforcement of World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) Protocols throughout the federation; outdated competition fees (which have since been reviewed and updated and hopefully will be instituted in 2017; l i m i t e d sponsors/partnerships; l i m i t e d Te c h n i c a l Resources - need for capacity building e.g. referees, coaches, scorers for all involved in the sport (athletes and coaches alike); limited Administrative Resources; limited Volunteers. With regard to the last named challenge, the GAPF is encouraging lifters to

make themselves available as volunteers whenever they are not competing. Following are 2016 Highlights Launch of GAPF’s Facebook Page and Youtube Channel in attempts to increase GAPF’s public outreach to lifters and other interested persons. Specifically through the FB page, lifters readily obtain information on upcoming competitions, download registration forms, offer feedback directly to Exec Members, make inquiries and communicate (exchange ideas) among themselves. T h e Yo u t u b e channel stands as a digital repository of past competitions to be viewed publically. Reconfiguration and automation of Competition Registration forms, which can now be downloaded. R e v i e w

Medalists at the 14th Annual NAPF Caribbean Powerlifting Championships, from left, Karel Mars (gold), Andrea Alicia Smith (bronze), Erwyn Smith (silver).

(Amendment and Update) of GAPF Constitution by Executive Members. This effort was spearheaded by Ms. Tracy Shamsudeen; athlete and volunteer to the 2016 Executive. B u d d y ’s G y m signed on as a partner with the federation by donating to all the competitions hosted for the year under review. They sponsored the 2016 National Team that participated in NAPF/Caribbean P o w e r l i f t i n g Championships (St. Croix) by housing one of the GAPF’s Eliko Competition Sets and allowed the team access to their facility to train. Outstanding Lifters for 2016 Local Competition Novice (Overall Winners) Carlos Petterson 93kg, M e l i s s a Tu c k e r 8 4 k . Juniors Unequipped Carlos Petterson, Tracy Shamsudeen. Equipped Tineisha Toney, Romario Gonsalves. Intermediate (Overall Winners) - Carlos Petterson, Romario Gonsalves, Nadina Taharally. Masters - Martin Webster, Frank Tucker, Nadina Taharally. Raw Nationals (Overall Winners) - Vijai Rahim, Tineisha Toney. Senior Nationals ( O v e r a l l Wi n n e r s ) Equipped Tineisha Toney, Vijai Rahim. Unequipped - Carlos Petterson, Nadina Taharally. 14th Annual NAPF/Caribbean P o w e r l i f t i n g Championships, St. Croix – Karel Mars (105kg) set new

Winston ‘Little Master’ Stoby

Tinesha Toney enjoyed an outstanding 2016. Caribbean Records in the Squat and Bench Press. The GAPF in association with Buddy’s Gym hosted a novelty Bench Press Competition. The event was well received and attended and served a s useful tool in spreading awareness, fielding new talent and garnering support for the sport. Fitness Express remained the primary Financial partner of the GAPF and continues to be acknowledged for this effort. Powerlifting Guyana went back to its roots by hosting its Claude Charles Intermediate Championship at the

Critchlow Labour College. Accomplished Powerlifter Winston Stoby was honored at the 2016 Senior National Championships as a medal with his image was fashioned and distributed to winners in various categories. Honoring lifters who have made, and continue to make noted contributions to the sport on and off the platform will be a key part of the GAPF’s modus operandi for 2017 and beyond. Resuscitated ties with the National Sports Commission and Guyana Olympic Association. Meanwhile, the GAPF (Continued on page 65)

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Sunday January 08, 2017

Kaieteur News

WICB Regional Super50 tournament

Foo returns for Guyana Jaguars English County Kent Spitfires to make debut By Sean Devers The National cricket selectors yesterday released a 14-man Guyana Jaguars squad for the 2017 WICB Regional Super50 tournament, which runs from Tuesday, January 24 to Saturday, February 18 in Barbados and Antigua. Leon Johnson leads a team which has no major surprises as 26-year-old Jonathon Foo, who played three Regional 50-over games for Guyana in 2011, returns to WICB Regional Cricket after enjoying success with the bat in both the eight-team GCB 50-over and three-day Franchise League in Guyana. There is some confusion over the selection of Montserrat-born Guyana and West Indies ‘A’ pacer Ronsford Beaton as Chief

Operations Officer (COO) of the Leeward Islands Cricket Board (LICB), Vernon Springer, told Antigua’s Daily Observer that Beaton was one of the ‘overseas’ players expected to join the Leewards franchise ahead of a preparatory camp at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground starting tomorrow. “We have 20 guys who will be here over the next couple of days or over the next two weeks and we are going to have some trial games. We promised you we are going to have the best franchise and whatever it takes, we are going to make sure it works,” he said. “The other big name for you is Ronsford Beaton — the Guyanese fast bowler — who is also going to be part of our 20-man squad, and from last year we would

have had Daron Cruickshank who is also coming back into the One Day squad,” he added. The Jaguars, who departs for Barbados on January 21, plays in Zone B along with last year ’s runners-up Barbados Pride, Jamaica Scorpions, Combined Campuses & Colleges Marooners and the ICC Americas. The renovated Coolidge Cricket Ground (formerly the Stanford ground) will stage all the day/night matches in Antigua in Group A, in addition to the semifinals and the Grand Final on Saturday, February 18. ESPN will televise matches in this year ’s tournament and the Coolidge Cricket Ground will be the prime ground from the Antigua zone. The CCG will be one of

Letter to the Sports Editor

The unfair treatment of the RHTY&SC by the GCB must stop Dear Editor, The Management of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, M.S would like to use the national media to urge the Guyana Cricket Board to review the way how the Inter-League three days, 50 overs and 20/20 tournaments are being organised. The good thing is that we have learnt via the media that the 50 overs tournament has been postponed and as such the GCB should use the opportunity to correct the situation especially the selection of team officials, who selects the Zone teams and the overall operations of the Zone teams. The RHTY&SC, M.S along with Albion are the powerhouse of Berbice Cricket and produces the majority of players for the ancient county at all levels but for some strange reason has been kept in the dark about plans for the tournament. The RHTGG first division team currently holds all the titles in Berbice in the Upper Corentyne Zone, our players are far superior in terms of talent and performance by the Management of the

RHTY&SC knows nothing about the tournament. No one from the GCB or the person/s organising the Upper Corentyne Zone has contacted the Club but one individual who is the President of another Club has been disrespectfully contacting our players directly without permission of Management. This individual who has no proper cricketing background or any experience in cricket Management, seems to be the boss of cricket in the Upper Corentyne Zone and he is fully aware where our Club Office is, what is the Club’s telephone number and our email, yet we are being kept in the dark. We wish to inform him and others that our players must be contacted via the Club Office whose number is 3374562. We clearly remember our colleagues at the Albion Cricket Club telling the Berbice Cricket Board to not contact players directly but to do so via senior Club officials. As Secretary/CEO of the RHTY&SC I am often amazed that players have to update me of the status of the tournament including when trial matches are being held

and which players are to turn up. The Management of the Club is very upset at this state of affairs and would like to inform the general public of the following. (1) The Guyana Club of the Year 2016 only has seven players called to trials, while a Club that has not won a first division title for over a decade has over twelve players at the trials. Outstanding youth players like Junior Sinclair, Brandon Prashad, Sylus Tyndall and Keith Simpson were left out. (2) Shawn Perriera, one of the most successful first division captains in the history of Berbice, former national youth captain and Vice-Captain of the Berbice senior team was for reasons unknown, overlooked for the captaincy. Shawn is not only a disciplined individual but a visionary leader who has successfully led the RHTGG first division team to numerous titles including all the titles currently. Shawn is always one of the top performers with both bat and ball in Berbice. (3) Players like Kevlon Anderson, Keon Sinclair were only selected on the (Continued on page 65)

Jonathon Foo five match venues used during the three-week event which also features matches with the others being the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua, along with Kensington Oval, Windward Cricket Club and the 3Ws Oval in Barbados. The West Indies Under19s, Spitfires, Marooners and ICC Americas are all specially invited teams which will join the six WICB Professional Cricket League franchises for the tournament. The West Indies Under19s, the 2016 International Cricket Council Under-19 World Cup champions, are using the tournament as part of their preparations for the next ICC Under-19 World Cup to be played in January, 2018 in New Zealand. The Jaguars squad: Leon Johnson (Captain), Veerasammy Permaul (ViceCaptain), Anthony Bramble, Shimron Hetmyer, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Christopher Barnwell, Raymon Reifer, Rajendra Chandrika, Steven Jacobs, Assad Fudadin, Devendra Bishoo, Ronsford Beaton, Paul Wintz, Jonathan Foo, Esuan Crandon (Headcoach), Rayon Griffith (Assistant- Coach), Ernesto Gonzalez (Physiotherapist). Zone ‘A’ comprises Leeward Islands Hurricanes, defending champions Trinidad & Tobago Red Force, Windward Islands Volcanoes, West Indies Under-19s and English County side, Kent Spitfires. MATCH SCHEDULE Tuesday, January 24 Scorpions vs Marooners – 3Ws Oval, Barbados Pride vs Jaguars – Kensington Oval, Barbados Wednesday, January

Ronsford Beaton 25 Volcanoes vs West Indies Under-19s – Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua (9 am) Hurricanes vs Spitfire – Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua (1:30 pm) Thursday, January 26 Marooners vs ICC Americas – Windward, Barbados Jaguars vs Scorpions – Kensington Oval Friday, January 27 Hurricanes vs West Indies Under-19s – SVRCG Red Force vs Volcanoes – CCG Saturday, January 28 Pride vs ICC Americas – 3Ws Oval Marooners vs Jaguars – Kensington Oval Sunday, January 29 Red Force vs Spitfire – SVRCG Hurricanes vs Volcanoes – CCG Monday, January 30 Jaguars vs ICC Americas – Windward Pride vs Scorpions – Kensington Oval Tuesday, January 31 Red Force vs West Indies Under-19 – SVRCG Volcanoes vs Spitfire – CCG Wednesday, February 1 ICC Americas vs Scorpions – 3Ws Oval Pride vs Marooners – Kensington Oval Thursday, February 2 West Indies Under-19s vs Spitfire – SVRCG Hurricanes vs Red Force – CCG Friday, February 3 Pride vs ICC Americas – Windward Marooners vs Jaguars – Kensington Oval Saturday, February 4 Volcanoes vs West Indies

Under-19s – SVRCG Hurricanes vs Spitfire – CCG Sunday, February 5 Pride vs Jaguars – 3Ws Oval Marooners vs Scorpions – Kensington Oval Monday, February 6 Hurricanes vs West Indies Under-19s – SVRCG Red Force vs Volcanoes – CCG Tuesday, February 7 Marooners vs ICC Americas – Windward Jaguars vs Scorpions – Kensington Oval Wednesday, February 8 Red Force vs Spitfire – SVRCG Hurricane vs Volcanoes – CCG Thursday, February 9 Jaguars vs ICC Americas – 3Ws Oval Pride vs Scorpions – Kensington Oval Friday, February 10 Red Force vs West Indies Under-19s – SVRCG Volcanoes vs Spitfire – CCG Saturday, February 11 Scorpions vs ICC Americas – Windward Pride vs Marooners – Kensington Oval Sunday, February 12 Spitfire vs West Indies Under-19s – SVRCG Hurricanes vs Red Force – CCG FINAL FOUR Semi-finals Wednesday, February 15 Zone A winners vs Zone B runners-up – CCG Thursday, February 16 Zone B winners vs Zone A runners-up – CCG GRAND FINAL Saturday, February 18 Semi-final 1 winners vs Semi-final 2 winners – CCG

Kaieteur News

Sunday January 08, 2017

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Guyana Boxing Association kicks off year’s itinerary with international card Fresh from their commendable performance where they procured 10 gold medals and a silver at the Caribbean Development Boxing tournament in Bridgetown Barbados, local amateur boxers will continue their quest for international accolades when they square off with their counterparts from St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and St Maarten in a tournament slated for Saturday February 18 here. President of the GBA, Steve Ninvalle, revealed this much when he spoke with Kaieteur Sport yesterday afternoon. The GBA boss is collaborating with head of the Briso Promotions, Seon Bristol and former amateur boxer, Alford MacDonald. He explained that the duo had approached him late last year with the proposal and

Alford MacDonald

Seon Bristol after discussions with other executive members, he has given the green light. He further said that the tournament will comprise boxers in the youth, junior and elite category and would serve to inform administrators of the effectiveness of constant

international tournaments. Meanwhile, both Bristol and MacDonald are scheduled to arrive in Guyana soon to complete arrangements for the card. In a telephone discussion with MacDonald yesterday afternoon, he assured that the card will feature some of

the best talent out of the Caribbean. A former boxer who represented the Cliff Anderson Boxing Gym, MacDonald said that he fought among some of the country’s top amateur boxers. The former boxer said that he had attended some of

Steve Ninvalle t h e (amateur) cards when he had returned to Guyana last year and he was impressed with the performances. However, he said that he was somewhat disappointed that the youths were not exposed to constant international contests and had vowed to do

something about it. He assured that the imminent card will be a yearly feature and he intends to make it better every year. “Our objective is to provide quality competition for our boxers while giving back something tangible to the sport,” he said.

The AAG’s attitude poses threat to athletes’ future By Edison Jefford The failure of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) to fully capitalise on an Olympic, and Pan American Games’ Training Grant that the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) received last year undermines its fundamental role to develop the sport and its athletes. According to the GOA’s Financial Statements for 2016 that was presented at its Annual General Meeting and Elections last December, the local Olympic body received $41,300,000 as an Olympic and Pan Am Training Grant. However, in the statement, only $3,968,000 was expended. The statement did not specify who benefited from this expended sum and for what purpose. But this is an aspect of the presentation that caught the attention of people who felt that the AAG would have raised questions over this revelation. The monies expended from this grant according to the statement means that a remaining balance of $37,332,000 should be part of the association’s total surplus; the $3,968,000 expenditure was explicitly itemised under a list of Coaching/Training Programmes, which

K. Juman Yassin amounted to some $21,757,621. It was not clear whether the Olympic/Pan Am Training Grant covered the other expenditure, but what was listed specifically as Pan Am and Training Expenses was $3,968,000 that suggest that only that sum was expended from the $41,300,000 grant. It must be noted that the athletics association is a main stakeholder of the GOA because it is the only sport that qualifies for the Olympic Games. In the context of this fact, President of the AAG, Aubrey Hutson nominated K. A. Juman Ya s s i n f o r a s i x t h consecutive term to be at the helm of the Olympic body. General Secretary of the

Aubrey Hutson G u y a n a Ta b l e Te n n i s Association (GTTA), Linden Johnson seconded the nomination that embedded Ya s s i n i n t o t h e G O A Presidency (unopposed) after an already 20-year plus tenure as head of the association. Apart from funding its participation in the Olympic Games last year, it would be interesting to know how the AAG has benefitted from the GOA last year to fully assess if it is maximising its obviously close, incestuous relationship with the Olympic association. W h a t t h e G O A’ s Financial Statement suggests is that the AAG did not access funds for domestic programmes in any substantial way. This fact is a

misrepresentation and caricature of the sport and its athletes. If monies come to the GOA for training, then as a uniquely positioned national association, it is mandatory for the AAG to access that funding for its rightful purpose. The inaccessibility to this funding for athletes’ training and development demonstrates either of two realities. It is either the athletics association lacks an ability to develop programmes that will attract the attention of such a fund or it is simply not interested in this aspect of its function. Either way, this fact is an indictment of the leadership

of the AAG because in plain terms it could mean that representation was not made on behalf of athletes and clubs, who desperately are in need of such financial assistance. To have this grant come to the GOA for such a purpose as training and returned with less than 10 percent spent is grossly negligible and irresponsible from a sport that often finds itself in need of financial support. And this is putting it mildly. Maybe depraved is a better description. Perhaps the AAG is so fixated on the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) grant it

receives that it treats the GOA funding with no importance. Either way, this fact threatens the development of the a s s o c i a t i o n ’s m a i n constitutions, which are the clubs and athletes. This is not the kind of representation they deserve, especially given the intimacy of the AAG and GOA. This relationship obviously does not produce appropriate results, but there has never been any divorce. Instead, there was a strengthening of the relationship between them at the Elections. Maybe it has been blissful, but it remains publicly repulsive.

Budhan Turf Club to hold race meet on Sunday March 12th The Budhan Memorial Turf Club and Sports Complex of No.66 Village Corentyne, Berbice will stage a one day horserace meet on Sunday March 12th at their racetrack at No.66 Corentyne and over $3M in cash and trophies will be on offer during the day for the outstanding performers. Seven races are carded for the day’s programme with the main event being for horses

classified J and lower with the winner collecting a $200,000 purse while the runner up claims $100,000, third $50,000 and fourth $25,000. Other events on the programme caters for K and lower class horses, 3 years old Guyana bred, L1 and L2 and lower horses, Unclassified and nonwinners. According to a release from the organisers, the

track is in good condition despite the current rainfall which should ease by race day clearing the way for an excellent day of horseracing. Entries for this meet will close on March 5 at the Club’s office at No.66 Village, Corentyne, while informatio n c a n t h e accessed by calling Club President Neville Budhan on telephone 338-2283 and or Mr. Shines on 3253192.

t r o Sp

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